Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone!!

Check back tomorrow for trick or treating photos!

Fall Colors in a Flower

Here are some pictures I took of mums. They are gorgeously colored. They scream "fall" and make me smile. So I snapped a few pictures of them while I had the chance, before they were gone, and edited them a bit. I am also going to use these to link up. I haven't done that in a while, so I figured it was about time.

 

My Last Class

Last night was the final night of photography class. I am glad I did it, I just wish it didn't turn into an inconvienence like it did. Its done now though. Our last assignment was portraits. I of course put it off until last minute. I spent a couple of mornings trying to get decent pictures of the boys while the light was decent. They came out ok, but nothing impressive. The light was pretty good in each shot though. So I thought today I would show you a few.

I really want a new lens. It is a totally different lens than I have now. Last year, when I got my camera, I felt limited by the kit lens. I wanted a zoom lens. I enjoy taking landscape shots. The kit lens wouldn't zoom enough for me. Now, though, I want a prime lens. A lens that doesn't zoom. Something better for portraits or close up shots. So that I can get closer to things. I am doing some looking around and then I get confused. So that's where I am now. Confused. So who knows. I sure don't. But I would like to try something a little different.

Monday is here again

I really wasn't ready for Monday. This was the first morning in a long time that at 8am, Ethan was NOT screaming his head off to get out of his crib. To get out the door in time, I had to get up and get everyone up. I could have slept for a little while longer. Tomorrow? He will be up at like 6:30. We didn't do anything this weekend. I was glad really. I didn't really feel like leaving again. So we didn't.
Ryan tried to get some more beans in, and was planning to do more today, but it rained this morning. So no go on that one. Tonight is my last photography class. After this it should be a pretty easy and quiet week. No places to be...no appointments. Just preschool and back.
Since there isn't much happening right now, I want to share some photos from the first week of harvest.

And I've had these pictures for a few months. The sky one evening was a really weird but pretty shade of purple. These photos are un-edited. I did not mess with the colors!

Have a nice week!

So glad the week is over

Go go go. It feels like the theme of the last few days has been "go." I am tired of going and even more tired of spending money on gas. Wednesday was the day to volunteer with Dylan's class. We made it out the door in time to drop Ethan off with Ryan's mom. Before I even set Ethan down, he started to whine. He knew I was leaving. He has it all figured out now. I guess he only cried for about 10 minutes or so this time. Not too bad I guess. Things went well with Dylan's class. I sure was ready to get out of there though. I started the day pretty tired, and had no coffee. So I only became more tired. After class we had some time to kill before Dylan's 5 year checkup with the doctor. So we ran to the bank and the went to Bob Evans for a sit down lunch. He and I both had spaghetti. The waitress was so nice. Its refreshing to get a friendly face these days. After lunch we headed to Walmart. For his birthday my Aunts had sent him some money and a note in the card to go get him a game for his new Leapfrog game system. So while I had him with me, alone, I wanted to get over there so he could pick one out himself. He looked at a few and finally settled on one. I also picked up the AC adapter for the thing so that we weren't constantly recharging the batteries. To the appointment we went. Our appointment was at 2:15. We waited 15 minutes in the waiting room to be called back, and then waited for even longer in the room for the doctor to come in. She wasn't in there long. Then we waited again for the nurse to come back and give the vaccines. Which he hated. He is just now 40 pounds and is 42 inches tall (I think). We didn't get into the parking lot until 3:50! We were in there way too long. Why do doctors offices make you wait so long? I hate the afternoon appointments too. If I can, I always try to get one of the first few appointments of the day to prevent the waiting. It just wasn't possible this time.
After we finally got out of that place we went to go pick up Ethan. We sat there for a little while before going back to meet up with Ryan and watch a load of cattle come in. It was one of the first few loads coming in, so I wanted to be there and take a few pictures. Unfortunately, it was pouring down rain, just as it had been the entire day. So we all sat in the car the whole time. After sitting for a while the boys were getting antsy so we started to leave. The truck pulled in finally. Once they started unloading the cattle, the boys were totally interested. I don't know how long it took, but not long. As soon as they were done, we left. By the time we got home that day it was 6:30. We had left the house at 8:30. We were all pretty tired and the boys were starving. Thank heavens for leftovers! Ryan ended up being up there until 1 am or so waiting on more cattle. Talk about being tired.
Thursday we did nothing. I did nothing. A load of laundry I guess. And I did make dinner. But not much else! We would have left that day to take warmer clothes up to Ryan, but I guess while up at the cattle barn the night before I picked up a nail in the tire. The tire was flat. Completely. So Thursday was a nothing day, but that was great.
Ryan got home after dark last night and didn't get a chance to change the tire. So this morning before we all left, he was out there changing that damn tire. It took him a bit, but he got it. Off to preschool we went. After dropping Dylan, Ethan and I went to have the bad tire fixed and put back on. And errands for Ryan. I had a few things to do as well, so we rushed around to get everything done and get back to pick up Dylan. I don't know how we managed it all, but we did. We are home now and don't have any plans to leave again for a while. I want a nap. Not that I will get one, but I want one.
I hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Pizza Sub Sandwiches

I wanted a pizza for lunch. I just didn't want to take the extra time to make a dough. Or dirty all of those dishes. So I took some hoagie rolls that I had bought, and made a sub! I enjoy pizza subs from time to time. I like the crispiness of the subs that you get from a pizza place. I just haven't had much success in making them here at home. They tend to be soggy. So anyway, today was my best result so far.
I used my little toaster oven today. I like how quick it is. I opened the hoagie rolls and then spread a very small amount of butter on them. I stuck them in the toaster oven on "toast" setting for about 5 minutes or so, to get the bread a bit crispy. After that, I topped them with pepperoni.

Then I put on a small amount of pizza sauce (maybe 2-3 tsp) over the pepperoni.

Next of course is the cheese. I used Mozzarella.

Then I put them back in the toaster oven on the "broil" setting to get the cheese brown and bubbly. I don't remember how long, but I didn't walk away from the toaster oven. I stayed and watched them cook to keep from forgetting about them and burning them.

Once they were done, I let them cool a bit before putting the 2 halves together.

I made 3 sandwiches. One for me and one each for the boys. Both are great eaters, so yes, they got their own sandwich. And they ate every last bite too, plus an apple. They like to eat!

I had to do the top halves of the rolls together and then do the bottom part of the rolls together. For one, the tops and bottoms were different thickness, so I didn't want the uneven doneness. And two, I just didn't have enough room in the toaster oven to do all of them together. Next time, I think I would sprinkle on some garlic powder after I buttered them for a little added flavor.

Give it a try! They hit the pizza craving spot pretty well and took no time at all to make!

Relaxing

It is so nice just to sit here and do nothing. To be nowhere but home. I mentioned the other day that I am kind of tired of running around. Today, I am doing nothing. There is a sink full of dishes to do but I am not doing it until I go to start dinner. They can wait. I know I have a load of laundry that needs to be done, but  will put it off until later.
Tomorrow will be a busy day. It is my day of the month to go volunteer in Dylan's class. After we get out of there, we will grab a quick lunch and go to his doc for his 5 year check up. Since the appointment is in the afternoon, I am sure the office will be behind, and I will wait longer than the appointment itself lasts. Dylan doesn't know about the doctor part yet. Im sure there will be shots involved, so I haven't told him yet. Ethan is spending the day with Ryan's mom. Feel bad for her. Ethan can be a turd. He tends to cry a lot. I mean a lot after I leave. His crying drives me insane. I feel bad that she has to listen to it too. But he needs to get used to not being up my butt his whole life. I don't think that I am asking much from him when I leave him once a month (ok maybe a few other times too). So yeah, wish her luck with him!
This morning I let the boys decorate thier pumpkins that we got on Dylan's field trip. No paint here. Only washable markers. I am not brave enough to get paint and let them have at it. So they got to use washable markers. I did take pictures of course but, they didn't amount to much. the decorating lasted all of 10 minutes and both boys were done with it. The pumpkins are filled with scribbles, and Dylan added a couple smiley faces to his pumpkin. I had them set the pumpkins out on the porch. It is supposed to rain tomorrow. Im curious to see how the washable markers stand up. If it washes off, then I guess we get another 10 minute activity one day.
Happy Tuesday!

Weekend Picture Post

We had a decent weekend. My mood could be a bit better, but overall a pleasant weekend. Saturday we had Dylan's birthday. He enjoyed himself. Ethan was a turd and spent half the time in his room. So lets talk about Sunday!
Sunday I went with a friend of mine and her kids to a pumpkin patch. The boys already had their pumpkin from Dylan's field trip. So we didn't need to worry about that. We were just there for the fun. Both boys had a lot of fun. We weren't there long, because it was getting sooooo busy, but we were there long enough for them to have a lot of fun. Here are the pictures!

As you can see, neither boy really paid much attention to me. I have so many pictures of them looking away and of their backs, haha! It was a bit chilly out, but no one noticed. I was worried that Ethan wouldn't stay near me, but he did great.
This week is a bit slower thankfully. I am kind of tired of running around and spending money on gas.

Field Trip Day

Today was Dylan's first field trip with his class. It is a cool and very windy day. But at least it wasn't raining. We had just gotten some rain the other day, so I packed Dylan extra clothes, because I had no idea what we were getting into. I dropped Ethan off with Ryan's Mom. When everyone arrived they pretty much had free play. There were a lot of things for the kids to play on and with. The big draw for all of the kids was a huge slide that they had built into a hill. It went underground and came out at the bottom of the hill. All of the kids loved it. We also got a short tour of the barns with the animals inside and then were given a chance to pick a pumpkin before we all left. Dylan had a great day and the kids seemed to enjoy it all.
Here are the pictures!
*edited to add: I uploaded these same pictures to facebook and they look fine, yet HERE on blogger, they look out of focus and wonky. Damn you blogger.*