3 new actions...same cute baby

I think this last one is my fave...

Fall...better late than never?

So I'm allergic to hay and I'm not really a fan of bees flying all around my head, but I had to get right in the middle of this sunflower field to get some shots. I found a clearing that had some bales of hay so I sat down, leaned back, started to compose a shot and watched that little ladybug land right on one of the top petals...it was a total perfect moment...until the itching and sneezing started. Then it was time to go pick out our punkins and get some peppers and then go pick some apples and eat apple-y things...I love the fall in AZ and I love Apple Annie's!! Now, I do realize that it's now the end of winter and these shoulda been posted forever ago...but, I got really busy and I still think these are blog-worthy pics so I'm posting them now...what a fun trip this was. I totally love this stage of my life...I've always tried to take the kids to some cool places and to do fun activities...ya know, the hands-on kinda stuff...like standing an egg on end during the equinox, or driving away from the city lights to catch a meteor shower or to farms to see where their food comes from but the hubs was often too busy working or just too tired to come along. I'm so thankful for the time he has made over the past few years to spend some of these crucial moments in our kids' lives...we don't get do-overs in life and I am so glad to have a darling husband who gets that NOW is the time to create memories with our last kid. The older two have since moved out and moved on...I only hope that they realize that while we were out celebrating birthdays at Six Flags, or Universal Studios or Disneyland and Disneyworld, and while we were taking trips to the zoos and museums and Science Centers and farms and going off on our adventures their Dad was home working his butt off making a living so we could do those things. Wow, this is getting too deep so I'm gonna quit blathering...and let you check out our fun fall festivities!

oh, Apple Annie's, I do love you so.

Orange Punkins...

Green, warty punkins...

Red Hot Chili Peppers...

and corn...we did the corn maze and had a blast!

we even met a fuzzy caterpillar along the way...sooo cute. The kid wouldn't touch it. Wonder why...oh, maybe it's because I said, "No, don't touch it...it could be poisonous!!"

ahhhh...a field of sunflowers...so lovely!

mmmm...peppers. I love peppers...

even the sun-dried ones...they go perfect in some Pozole!

Yay! The hubs got his punkin picked out. A practically perfect, round, non-dented or bruised punkin!

the kid just picked one that was large and heavy. here he is now asking me to bring the wagon over...just a sec, kid...I gotta get your picture!

oh how I LOVE LOVE picking my own apples. It totally reminds me of growing up in New York. My mom used to take us kids out to the farms and orchards...

and apple-y things. I basically love anything made from apples, but most especially things made from apples and cinnamon and butter...oh, and sugar.

yesssss...apple butter is amazing!

pahahaahaaa...the apple of MY eye! He would have a fit if he knew this was up on my blog...don't tell!

so, this kid is no relation...just some random kid walking through my shot while I was imagining an awesome photo shoot I could do here. Good thing he's cute cuz he basically made this shot for me...with his little arms all full of apples...I love it. Thanks, kiddo. Tell your parents I'm not some creeper taking pics of random children...

sometimes ya gotta just get right in there to get the good ones!

a good one. i ate it. right there on the spot.

** SIGH ** another lovely set up for an awesome photo shoot...

oooh, they look like some serious lacrosse players, or something. So intense.

...a few of my {new} favorite things

I love me some edamame, especially the organic kind from Whole Foods 365 brand. delish.

fresh-squeezed tangelo juice from my neighbors' tree branches that hang into my yard, which kinda makes them mine, but I asked nicely anyway. she said help yourself so we do. often.

the kid got this game for Christmas called dicecapades...love it. a lot. especially these little guys.

just look how cute they are!!

...mmm and frozen blueberries...

and found items. especially ones with old lead paint. i plan to mount these on a plank-o-wood and use them to hang things from.

My NEW craftroom!

Yahhh...woooot! It's done! The hubs...that darling man...he masked, painted, installed the wood floor, put the cabinets back in, re hung the shelves and cleaned everything all up. Merry Christmas to me. Now I get to rummage through all my stuff and organize it all...NEATLY and colorfully...then time to start creating!!

Christmas 2010

my sissy...the most amazing person on the planet sent me these ginormous stockings years ago...they now get to adorn my front yard tree every Christmas season. The kid went out and hung them himself...I love that! Like I love this fog. We don't get fog very often in Gilbert so when we do, I take a picture. I have TWO fog pictures...

My Danae. She should totally be a fuzzy slipper model, dontcha think?

The girl got her some jammies from her grammie..

The kid got a BASS GUITAR! I love it. he's taught himself a few songs already...beginning with smoke on the water...yah...rock on witcher bad self...

The hubs...he got the most awesome scrapbook from his mom...it's amazing. His whole life story and generations and generations of photos and info and documents. Fantastic!!

he's the baby. he loves his mommy.

pahaha...the in-laws! Gotta love em!

Danae and her grammie...so pressh!

 Santa says buh bye...'till next year!!

my three stooges...if you ask me, they're the best on the planet!!

spreading some holiday cheer thanks to jessicasprague.com

...and my pup...waiting patiently for his stocking...

cute baby huh?

I was just playing around with a new technique on an old picture I took forever ago...what  a darling baby.

yes please.

I had to hurry and claim one as mine. Kidding. It just made for a more interesting shot if one had a bite missing...and I also told myself that it would make for a more interesting shot if I had more than one Sprinkles cupcake...and well, in the design world, as we all know...things just look better with odd numbers, so that means I needed another one...you know...to make it three. An odd number. (wink)

Never had one of these before. A Red Velvet cupcake. It was good.

...very good.