Time to carve the Pumpkins

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Michael did not want to get his hands dirty, sheesh...So he grabbed a big spoon...how can you carve a pumpkin into a Jack-o-lantern and not get your hands all gooey?

Notice the tongue...it means he's working hard, lol.

He's so tired he can barely keep his eyes open...

I don't remember what made him laugh but I love it!

He sure was having fun.

Finally after I harassed him enough he stuck his hand in the goo...Yea!! Check out the facial expression....ewwwwwwwww!

But it didn't last long, he couldn't stand it...he found a smaller spoon to scoop with, sigh!

Then Daddy came to the rescue...

And the finished results...Jack-o-lanterns.

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Today (since it's past Midnight) is Halloween. Michael is really excited and can't wait to scare all the other kiddo's, lol...We'll be trick or treating with some family and some friends and I hope to get some great photos!

Michael and KitCat

"Mom take our photo." So I obliged as most of you know my son normally doesn't like his photo taken...These are straight out of the camera...

Yes, he (Michael) is growling at me! I guess I was only allowed one photo but I kept snapping away and they both just ignored me, lol.

Purrrrrrrrr

See I told you I was being ignored, lol...

Macro and critters

I was out in the pasture shredding when I looked up at the Mesquite tree I was next too and spotted this guy...Wow he was gorgeous!!

Of course I had to stop the tractor and ran to the house to get the clippers. I cut the branch he was on and brought him up to the house for a photo session...
Isn't he cool...Fred came out of the house to see why I had stopped shredding, oops! He just shook his head and went over to the tractor and started shredding...Yea! That left me with the camera and time to take some photos...and if you can believe it I was able to identify the caterpillar above...he will actually turn into a species of Spinx Moth. If you click below it will take to the identification page.
SPHINGICAMPA HUBBARDI
I'm not good with Latin so don't even ask me to pronounce that name but it says they are easy keepers and like Honey Mesquite trees. So I was going to take him into Michael's teacher to share with the students. I left him out on the front porch in a plastic case. The next morning when I went outside it seems something turned the case over and the caterpillar had disappeared, grrr...I was so looking forward to sharing him with the children, sigh! I'm glad I was able to get some photos.
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After I finished the photo session with the above caterpillar I found some more subjects to practice my Macro skills on...
Green lynx spider

Moth hiding on a T-post out of the wind.

Still haven't been able to identify this one but I loved this close up of his head.

Unidentified but still a cool close-up

Beetle

And yet another grasshopper...

That is all the time I had, I didn't want to push my luck :o)

Mom and Heidi

My Mother enjoying her new kitty, Heidi.

Thank you Karen for the photos!

Credits:

Each and Every day kit by Sue Cummings

Imagination

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Michael watching him and Dacey running and playing.

I did this layout for a challenge at

Penscrappers.com

You can go vote for it if you'd like...I might just win a Wacom tablet :o)

Credits:

Storybook dreams kit designed by Nicole Young.

Just a few photos from today :o)

I did NOT plan on taking any photos today. I had some photos I wanted to put into a digi layout but while I was outside watering the chickens I saw a Monarch Butterfly and I had to get a photo...So I ran into the house and grabbed the camera, ran back outside, and guess what NO Monarch, ugh!! It had fluttered away...But it didn't take me long to find other photo subjects and wait for another Monarch butterfly...

Isn't he cool...you can see the pollen stuck on his legs!

I wanted to show y'all the wild mums that are in full bloom...The picture did not come out but I added a texture and thought cool!

A Queen Butterfly with a texture added to the photo.

Then I spotted this one, isn't it gorgeous...It is a Painted Grasshopper and one I've never seen before. If you click on the photo and bring it up larger you can see it's tiny little wings.

And of course another beautiful Peacock Butterfly with a bit of texture added to the photo.

Guess what? The Monarch came back, Yea!! It wasn't doing a good job of posing for me but I did manage a few photos of it!

Isn't it beautiful! Migrating to Mexico!

A different view of the Monarch just before I scared it off, Oops!

Two queens...one eating and the other in flight...I also added a texture to this photo.

A pipe-vine swallowtail. With the cooler temps. and the rain the day before most of the butterflies were eating with their wings fully open to catch the suns rays...I was having fun as they were gorgeous!! Texture was added to this photo also.

This is a Buckeye and isn't it Beautiful. Sheesh the colors are awesome. I saw one the other day but didn't have the camera! I think this is my favorite from the day! And yes I added a texture to the photo...lol.

Another Skipper!

I had to show you what my yard fence looks like...Wild Mums all the way around...Most people down here call them weeds and knock them down but I couldn't do it...The butterflies, caterpillars and bugs love them!! I also added a texture to this photo and I love it!! I think the textures give the photo character!

Another unidentified Caterpillar with dew on it.

And sweet Julie! I whistled and got her to look up! She's a good Ol' girl, 22 yrs old this year. She came up to me and once she figured out I didn't have a treat she gave me the cold shoulder, lol...Can you see all the Green!! It sure is amazing what a little water will do! I'm fix'in to shred all those weeds down soon, just waiting on my back to stop spasming. My back and the tractor don't like each other :o)

I took this photo of the deer out in the pasture on my way to pick Michael up from school. The sun was harsh and pretty much blew the photo out. But I added a texture to it and at least now you can see the deer. They thought they were hiding but little did they know I captured them with the camera!

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Even though I did NOT plan on taking photos today I had fun when I did, lol...I didn't get much else done but I think it was worth it!

Hope y'all have a good rest of your week :o)

3 inches of rain...

Yes, 3 inches of rain and our road has flooded once again....

I had a conference this morning with Michael's teacher and knew the 3 inches of rain we had Monday more than likely flooded the creek and it did! So we were up early (5am) to leave for school 20 minutes earlier than normal to take the long way around...It wasn't early enough, sigh! I got behind idiots that like to drive slow (30 mph in a 60 mph)...grrr and then we got behind a school bus, Argh!! I hate being rushed, really hate it and I hate being late!!

We finally arrived at school and we hurried off to his class room...Michael's teacher and I had a good conference. It's always good when you see how well your child is doing compared to the previous year...He aced his math tests :o) He has aced his AR (reading) tests, she's moving him up to harder books. He needs some work on a few site words but in my opinion not many and we can work on that...He's having a few problems with one of his computer labs and he may get a tutor for that, and we need to work on strengthening his grip and fine motor skills...Michael is left-handed and writes with his right hand (left-handiness) so he's a bit shaky when it comes to writing...but that is something we can work on...I am so PROUD of him. We've worked hard and it's paying off...We get report cards November 2nd.

I thought to show you...

What I do when I go down to the property to work...

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First off I usually try to carry the Canon Powershot S3IS with me as you just never know what I'll see...I have a small case for it and hang it off the seat of the tractor...

The other day when I was at the property I was sitting on the tractor getting ready to take off when I spotted this guy sitting on some of the equipment...I didn't dare get too close because I knew he'd run but isn't he cute? I didn't look him up but I think he might be a scaly lizard.

A view of what I had already shredded the day before, this is at about 7:30am. I love the wispy clouds and the blue sky.

I decided to burn some of the brush piles that have been sitting for over a year...I'm really tired of shredding around them. There was no wind, the humidity was high and plenty of dew on the ground so it was safe to burn!

Dry brush is finally catching!

Another view looking off towards the well house and done shredding. I need to shred under the trees but I'll save that for another day. One thing at a time...

Textures...

The day we went on our wild goose chase I also took some photos in the yard...I didn't want to bore you with ho-hum caterpillar, flowers, and hummingbird photos again so I decided to add a bit of texture to them...another words I was playing around with the photos, lol...

Immature Ruby-throat hummingbird.

I loved the way they came out...I'm really thinking about printing these out to frame and hang on the walls...too cool.
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I did another search on the caterpillars tonight but had no luck identifying them, which is aggravating me to no end. I could send the photos to the college bug people but I hate bothering them, lol...I do it a lot and imagine when they see my emails they all run for the hills, (chuckling)...So I guess we'll sit back and enjoy the beauty!