Fall Colors

Get your swimsuits kids, it's fall in Memphis!
Nothing like putting your two-piece on as the leaves are changing hues and falling to the ground.

This Wednesday I took the chance to photograph the girls against the beautiful Crape Myrtle trees in our yard with the temperature in the 70's I'd say. Finally, after a two month absence, we found our camera battery charger on the night stand. Silly battery. So I was finally able to get some good pictures unlike the past couple of weeks.

Here are some of the better shots:

(P) is in the white and (G) is in the green.
Holding hands, so sweet!
(Daddy would look at this as Peyton putting Grace in some sort of WWE submission move)

Both smiling: check
Four eyes open: kinda?
Verdict: I'll take it.

Aww Rowie!
That's Grace she's looking at (i.e. not the camera)

The outtakes:

Sure Mom! One more pictures sounds awesome!

Wait, I thought you just said one more.

That's it, we quit.

Seriously, we're done here.

Luckily Rowan was still up for another shot!

To even out the P & G pictures, here are a couple more R ones.

Loving life and all things chewable!

Here she is showing off those two bottom pearly whites!
(And her Michelin tire arms)

Disney Halloween 2010

There is a reason it's taken me so long to document one our family's favorite holiday.

Old film.

Yes, believe it or not - film does expire. Who knew? Luckily, the Griz team photographer and friend, Joe, was able to quickly pinpoint [one of the reasons] why my pictures turned out like this and this. (I knew it couldn't have possibly been user error.) The Halloween pictures I was sure would turn out GREAT were even worse than those. I do have a couple shots taken with my iPhone and I bought the CD from Walgreens of those from my expired film so here is our Halloween, kind of.

It all started with some shirts the girls made at school, complete with glittery puff paint!

Here is Rowan working the pumpkin hat.

Mommy playing with an iPhone app.
Big thanks to GRACE for humoring mommy.

Next was the school Halloween party. The girls dressed up as pirates, which some of you may remember they did last year. The teachers said they might get messy with all the festivities so we thought it was best not to ruin our real costumes.

Here is Rowan dressed for school on the Friday before Halloween.

Here is evidence of the full moon.
All three of my children in the same picture!

On to some pumpkin carving and decorating.
We use the Mr. Potato Head princess and pirate kits so the girls can help decorate.

We learned last year that power tools make even pumpkin decorating that much easier.

Here is Mommy's finished project.

(I know you don't need me to point out the fine photography work at hand. Just wait, it gets better.)

Finally, Minnie Mouse (G) and Ariel (P) make their Halloween 2010 entrance.

A rare close up of a mouse.

Yes, she's blinking. But how lucky are we (and you!) to see this picture of a real mermaid. Blinking or not, I'm feeling pretty starstruck right now.

For all those wondering, yes, I will be starting my own photography business in the near future!

And there off!

Fuller Fashion

I don't want you to think that because the baby has some fashion sense, that the older girls do not. The pictures below prove just how ahead of the curve these trend setters are. Paris, Milan and NY here are your fashion trends for NEXT year...

Grace

aka the Fairy Cinderella Beach Bum look.

The girls raided Daddy's closet before he got home one night...

Ties as neck wear - genius. Michael Kors eat your heart out.

They even apply their fashion sense to their baby sister.

Good thing she loves it!

And now here is a shot from their ready-to-wear line.
(aka the Gap via Grandma)

Whoops! It looks like they'll be able to wear these boots clear through the 3rd grade.

Ordering shoes online is hard! Looks like Mommy needs more practice... just kidding Daddy. Or am I?

Pumpkin Patch Kids

As tradition would have it we took the girls to Cedar Hill Farm to visit the pumpkin patch and all the fun things the farm has to offer this time of year. Our digital camera battery charger has been MIA for awhile now but we remembered my Cannon EOS Rebel 2000 camera that I got as an awesome gift from my parents upon graduation from high school in - you guessed it, 2000. It takes film, something the girls will never fully grasp. Crazy isn't it? Ten years old and it still worked like a charm.

I had about 15 pictures left on this particular roll and we got some decent shots. Apparently I had some weird setting on though because the pictures kinda came out grainy as opposed to crisp. (I welcome any and all camera advice in the comment section!) It was different having to think about taking a picture instead of just snapping away like normal. The best part was definitely getting the pictures back - a little bit of Christmas morning excitement a la Walgreens.

The Canon Rebel 2000
(the name says it all!)

35mm film

(for those of you who forgot what it looks like)

To the pictures...
(In all fairness and full disclosure, there are a LOT of them)

Here is our owl and chick also known as Peyton and Grace (or Grace and Peyton).

My little cowgirls...

This ride lasted 8 seconds... literally.
(Mommy and Daddy were a tad miffed their $4 didn't stretch farther than one lap!)

Meanwhile, Rowan kept yelling "mush" as her "pony" (aka stroller) carted her around in luxury.

The big girls on the train ride.

So sweet!

All three kiddos!

Rowan and Mommy

(Work it Rowan! The camera LOVES you!)

On we moved to the hayride out to the pumpkin patch. With our mouths full of dust from the tractor, it was pumpkins as far as the eye could see.

Look what we found!

Meanwhile, Rowan continues to work the camera (and Daddy!) amongst the pumpkins .

Before we left, the girls climbed on the hay bales so mommy could get a picture.

This is the shot (aka attitude) I got!

Masterpiece Theater: Teacher Edition

Theme: Halloween

Medium: Bulletin Board

Vehicle: Photos

Check out this genius idea for the baby room's Halloween decorations at daycare!



The pumpkin patch is filled with super cute pictures of smiling babies including this gem of Rowan.




And for my favorite part: the scary haunted house!



Love this!

I'd like to think Rowan doesn't cry at daycare but I know it happens (as evidence above show us). Her teachers said they got most of the photos right before the kiddos ate, which is obviously their most fussy time. I hope we get to take home the pictures! Her future boyfriends will LOVE this!

Grace hammin' it up!

Here is Grace hammin' it up in her Tigers shirt and mommy playing with her new iPhone app: Diptic. I'll give one guess as to who was being a sourpuss this morning and refused to get her picture taken...