Live it!

What fun!

We had a fun night of trick or treating.

Chloe changed up her costume a bit and informed me that she wanted to be scary... and she had a specific plan on how she wanted her make up done. Mommy just followed her orders and she informed me at the end of our night that =Momma, I love how you did my head tonight!=

Keaton loved getting to trick or treat with friends new and old and they got quite a lot of good loot this year... Mommy and Daddy  have already been sneaking into their treat bags.

I only took photos this year of the kids before we left for the night to trick or treat. Like I said, Chloe was very proud of her scary make up. Keaton was more in a hurry to get the show on the road and I managed only a few of him. I am hoping Kerri will send me some good ones that she got during the fun at dark.

 

 

 

 
 

 

It's looking a lot like Halloween!

The pumpkins are carved and I didn't manage one single carving photo this year... sometimes I'm just camera lazy. Anyhow, we carved 4 pumpkins and they are cute. Keaton came up with most the designs and I did most of the slicing and dicing. The pumpkin seeds I roasted afterwards were the highlight for all of us! MMM.

Keaton with his favourite pumpkin:

 

Chloe and her favourite pumpkin:

 

Chloe's Halloween school party was this afternoon. I was able to attend and got a chuckle out of all the kids in their costumes and crazy silly on sugar treats. Here is my spider charmer again...

 

The Lightfoots & MacDonalds do High School Musical 3

Our city had a red carpet 'event' to celebrate the opening of HSM3. The kids were really excited to go and Chloe wore her HSM Cheerleader outfit complete with pom poms... GO WILDCATS! The movie was good. It was a bit cheesy in parts but upon reflection I think that is part of what I love so much about these shows... the innocence and sweetness of Troy and Gabriella. ha.

Chloe's eyes were glued to the screen for the entire movie. Keaton admitted to being bored at times. Kerri was good enough to keep them for the night so we could attend a hockey party (parents-only).  I picked them up the next morning and they looked tired - it must of been a fun night.

I hi-jacked this photo that my friend took before we left the camera in the truck. This is Keaton, Chloe, Anna, Ben and Adi.

Halloween Party time again

Another year, another Halloween party. We had a blast... I was so busy hosting and doing games with the kids that I did not take any photos of the actual party. I am hoping my friend Kerri got some good ones.

I was a devil and Shaune was a prisoner. Typical $20 Walmart specials! Chloe was a SPIDER CHARMER complete with cobweb wrapped pigtails and spiders in her hair. She looked so pretty, despite the theme of her costume. Keaton was a clone trooper - did you really expect him to be anything other than a Star Wars character. His helmet was 3x bigger than his little head - I thought he might need a chiropractic realignment from wearing that big ole helmet on his head.

The party was a success. This year families donated new winter apparel for local school aged children in need. You would not believe how cold our winters can get and I still see kids at school who were sent without any mittens or boots on. I hope that this will help some children that would not otherwise be able to afford the necessities for winter. We got some snowsuits, winter boots, scarves, mittens, toques and hats. Thanks to all the families that came and donated.

So... I did manage a few snapshots of the kids before we loaded into the car to head to the hall party. Here is C and K in all their Halloween giddiness!

 

 

Hiking... a family thing!

For holiday Monday we took a long hike in the woods behind our house. It is unbelievable to me that we have not done this in so long. The kids were mesmerized and so excited to be on an adventure right in our own 'backyard'. The forest was so quiet and the kids saw so many interesting things... leaves, mushrooms and fungi, woodland animals, and even a snake. I must of walked right over it - we were on a trail and Chloe was right behind me... she let out a big scream (since when is she afraid of little snakes?) and I had to get it off the trail with a stick before she'd continue on. It was quite funny.

The dog came along for the walk and he was so good. So many new smells and things to discover. He was a big mess by the time we got home but nothing a bath won't fix.

We came across a stream and the kids asked if they could go in... why not?! So in they went for a funny skinny dip with the dog. We saw crayfish & threw the stick for the dog to run after... up and down the stream.

It was a perfect family day. We hope to find time to do it again next weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

Thanks be given!

We had a beautiful Canadian Thanksgiving weekend here. It was busy but the weather was gloriously warm and sunny and the food was mmm mmm good. :)

I only managed photos of our first of 3 celebrations. We started our weekend off on Saturday morning with a drive to Boulter. Along the way the scenery was breathtaking and I stopped several times to snap some photos of the trees beginning to turn colour. Aunt Judy and Uncle Milton's annual haywagon ride around Fraser lake was so fun (as always) and we had 2 wagons full of family and friends - one pulled by a Ford and one pulled by a Dodge. Keaton had a ball with cousin Joel (they are so funny when they get together) and Chloe had a little friend on the wagon too - Taylor.

L'Amable just at the beginning of Detlor Road:

 

Overlooking the hills by our former cottage, Boulter Road:

 

Farm land, Boulter:

 

Jamieson Lake (or what I affectionately call "Glass Lake")

After a couple hours on the wagon we made it back to the Whyte's for a terrific turkey supper with all the fixin's. We headed home around 10pm for the drive home just so we could get up in the morning and do it again for the Emerson lunch at 1pm. I guess by this time I was tired of taking photos because I managed none... bad me. Lunch was amazing - Aunt Ann and Uncle T are great hosts and they certainly had a house full. For supper we headed into Lynn and Larry's for Shaune's family's dinner. MMM. Yes, that is 3 turkey dinners in a 24 hr time span but you didn't see any of us complaining!

Here are some photos of the haywagon ride...

Max (Michael & Sheri's son):

 

The girls:

Shaune:

My cousin Crystal:

Miss Chloe with her bat antennas:

Keaton:

 

Cousin Joel:

 

K & Joel:

 

We celebrated today... holiday Monday with a hike with the kids and dog. It was so fun - I will edit my photos from our adventure and try and post them tomorrow.

Happy t'g to all my Canadian friends. Gobble Gobble!

Photographing Fall

Just wanted to offer a quick link to a write-up I did for the BHG Scrapbooks Etc 'photog blog'. Fall is upon us and it is glorious.

Check here for some simple tips to get the most out of your Autumn snapshots:

http://my.scrapbooksetc.com/sbe/persona.jsp?userId=a6a21c1fc30a72048ad97f63f41037f0&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3aa6a21c1fc30a72048ad97f63f41037f0Post%3a5d2ec851-2bd2-4237-a13c-c8d4bffcc3a5

It is that time of year again...

This is our 7th year hosting a Halloween Party for our children and all our friends kids too. It is fun and we hold it at a hall so it isn't "too" crazy.

Family and friends in our area, please let me know if you will be attending.  

Chloe likes school

Last year Chloe liked school about 50% of the time. Depending on her mood and which way the wind was blowing... she either loved it or hated it. When Keaton was in Kindergarten he loved school so I worried that Chloe was wanting to be home with Momma instead of at school with her friends.

What a difference a year makes. This year, in SR Kindergarten she is happy every morning as she goes out to catch the bus. She loves her teacher and she seems happy with her friends at school. She always has some interesting story to tell me the minute her feet hit the ground off the school bus. She is a funny little girl!

The other day Chloe's teacher emailed me this photo of Chloe playing and learning in class. I love the photo. It is my 'fly on the wall' photo... where I get to see what she is doing at school when I'm not around. I love that her teacher is so thoughtful and takes photos of the children to share with the parents. No wonder Chloe is loving school so much!