Raking Leaves

We had a small amount of time to play as a family one Saturday and this is what Anya chose to do.  She was so happy to have the whole family out creating a huge pile for her to jump in.
Aaron was in charge of picture taking and putting the leaves in the yard waste bin at the end.  Anya got us all started and was willing to use the worst rake to keep everyone happy, Talmage did just enough raking to qualify for a few jumps but for the most part he doesn't think yard work is his thing, and I got to use the best rake and move lots of leaves.

 This is how Anya thinks we should dress to do yard work.

I made that skirt for her birthday and she wears it every weekend.

 

Talmage loves posing for pictures.

 

 And this is proof that I do exist.  Usually I'm the one behind the camera so we don't have many pictures of me.  And that's ok.

Halloween Costumes and a Poem

Talmage is a hobbit. Frodo to be precise.  He wanted to go bare foot and have hairy feet but I told him he had to wear shoes to go trick or treating.  He thought I was being a mean mom.  I did make this costume and let him borrow a gold chain to put his ring on.  So I'm not that mean.  He also had a thick wooden walking stick.

 

The weather was so warm today.  Nearly 70 degrees out.  It was a perfectly comfortable evening to go knock doors and beg for candy.

Anya wanted to be a witch.  She wears these pink striped tights to school as often as she can.  This was a trow together costume, but she was pleased with it.

 I just happened to have this pink feathery thing in my craft room so we put it on the hat-- Anya can never have enough pink.

She looked too cute to be a witch so we put eye liner on her lips and a big black mascara mole on her cheek.  It didn't really make her look less cute.  I guess she's doomed to be cute. 

She even tried to make a scary face.

The following is a poem that Talmage wrote in class today.

Happy, happy all day long
After candy is our song
Let us go down the big slide, oh no now its time to hide
Lollipops chocolates let us cheer,
Oh man, he's a gigantic ear
Wow a monster passing by
Eek, I think I'm going to fry
Even bed time's passing by
Noon is gone and so am I

Green Canyon

We finally went hiking up Green Canyon.  Like it's name implies it is a lovely green place.  I would say that it is green all year round, but it gets awfully white in the winter.  These pictures were taken in August in a drought year.  Not bad.  Now that fall is here we need to head up there again and try to catch some fall colors.  I love the Fall!

Talmage would like everyone to know that Anya is standing up hill from him, and she is NOT taller than him.

Spring Recital

 In May, Talmage had his spring violin recital.  He was more nervous than usual because his teacher assigned him a hard song that really stretched his abilities.  He hadn't perfected it to his liking-- but he had it memorized and did his best.  I could tell he wasn't ready to perform when he decided to wear his suit instead of his tux.  His tux his his "show off suit" and he wasn't feeling like he could show of this night.  In all honesty he was one of the best performers of the night.   He got flustered introducing himself and made a few mistakes but pulled himself together after each one.  It was a great learning experience for him in many ways.  Talmage was so happy to have gotten through the recital and have this song behind him (I was too).  In the background you can hear the little girl behind us humming along. 

Here's the link

http://youtu.be/km2msUXUFPw

Mustache

Anya got this awesome mustache at the dentist.  Way cooler than the toys I remember getting.  She loves it and can't wait to go back to the dentist for another one.