Halloween Fun

It's been a week of Halloween fun. After much coaxing by the children and patiently waiting while Dad went away for business at the beginning of this week, we finally carved pumpkins on Wednesday. As usual, the kids jumped right in to start cleaning those pumpkins out and draw and carve their jack o' lantern faces.

Owen was especially excited!

Although once he started digging in, he wasn't so sure...

"Ewww" was his comment on the pumpkin guts and he chose not to do that so
sister helped him clean out his pumpkin...

after she finished cleaning out hers.

He did draw his own face, which Dad helped him carve.

And this was Hannah's face complete with eyebrows.

And Justin's scary face. Owen's comment was, "That's a scary mouth, Justin.
That's Awesome!"

Then more Halloween fun was on Saturday when we had the 3rd annual Halloween party. I wasn't going to do it this year, but apparently once you have a party two years in a row, it is a tradition and people will start asking over a month beforehand if you're having it again. My sister, Marcie, actually persuaded me to do it again, so everyone pitched in and brought goodies and we had another great party.

Before everyone else arrived, we got a photo of all the cousins in their costumes.

We played games like pumpkin bowling.

Owen is determined to bowl that strike.

And we did an eyeball on a spoon relay and mummy wrapping.
Everyone had a great time.

Trying to wrap someone in tp is not as easy as it looks.

Then finally, Halloween was here and the kids got to go out and trick or treat.

Justin was a stormtrooper

Owen was Optimus Prime

And Hannah was Cleopatra

The Jack O' Lanterns in all their glory

It was Dad's turn to take the kids out this year.

They of course came home with lots of loot to tide them over at least a few days.

Christmas Card Photo Shoot

Yes, I said Christmas Card Photo Shoot.

If you know me, you know that I LOVE taking photos.

I am OBSESSED with taking photos.

I take a LOT of photos.

My photography obsession has definitely evolved over the years. BK (that's Before Kids) Dale and I were really into landscape photography on our travels. We were always in search of that perfect sunset, that brilliant blue water, and that awe inspiring mountain shot. Of course, most of this time was (Gasp!) before digital photography, so we basically got what we got, and there weren't really any ways that we could change what we got. But now in the digital age, we are blessed to be able to see right away what we get, and I can also dramatically change the look of what we get by working some magic in Photoshop. Lately I have been playing with Photoshop more and more, and now I am also OBSESSED with Photoshop. The only problem with this is that now I am never happy with any SOOC (Straight Out Of the Camera) shots. They might be a great shot and something I would normally be happy with, but now with Photoshop, there is always some way I can make it better. To illustrate this, let me show you a shot before and after.

Today I took advantage of a gorgeous, sunny fall day and a half day of school and took the kids into downtown Vancouver in search of a large red door that I have been wanting to get photos of them with. I decided that now would be a good time to get photos for the annual photo Christmas card. As usual, the kids weren't thrilled with me dragging them away for a photo shoot, but I bribed them with candy and ice cream afterward if they were good. All in all, they were very good, and I got about 230 photos. So here is one shot I got with the SOOC shot and then my Photoshopped version. This isn't the best shot because I don't want to show you the best now and ruin the Christmas card for you. You'll have to wait until December for that.

SOOC (Straight Out Of the Camera)

Photoshopped

Did I tell you that I LOVE Photoshop?

I LOVE Photoshop.