Halloween Spooky Cheer

SmugMug Daily Link

Aunt Debbie gave the boys goody bags for Halloween.  Johnny got a metal skeleton (I took a picture but somehow it's not on my cameras card:-( and Joey got this pumpkin sign.  Well, there were books and gummy candies and creepy spiders and other cool boy stuff in the bags too.  Thank you!  I thought this picture of Joey trying to look scary was kindof cute, and I just didn't get out to shoot in the rain and clouds yesterday.

Here's a picture of Johnny with a pop-up Fairly Odd Parents book that he was delighted with:

SmugMug Link

Did you notice Joey's shirt?  Yes, we're into Angry Birds...  Even Donnie and I were playing it on my cell phone last night...the Holiday edition on the Halloween theme:-)

Actually, I did dry by the old homestead yesterday, I just decided the shot wasn't worth processing:

SmugMug Link

Always good to see that it's still standing and to think about taking more pictures on another day...maybe even up close again.

My test results were good news yesterday.  The cancer is limited to the left breast and is not present in the right breast as best as we can tell.  Just under two weeks and waiting until the surgery.  It's on my mind a lot.

Sourwood

SmugMug Daily Link

Just some red autumn color to share with you today. Taken a couple of days ago beside the field where all my morning glory shots were taken this summer. Many of you won't be familiar with this tree since it's most common in the lower chain of the Appalachian Mountains. PA to FL and that's it. We have so many oak trees that just go brown that the bright red of the sourwood is a refreshing splash of vibrant color in our autumn landscape here in NC.

We're cooling down and clouding up here today in Raleigh.

Hi there!

SmugMug Daily Link

I stopped by to see my neighbor Julie the other day and noticed a wonderful autumn set-up on her front porch, so yesterday I went back to try to take some pics when we thought the light would be just right.  Well, it wasn't quite where I really wanted it up under the porch roof, but I took some shots as best as I could anyway.  Thanks to Julie for letting me stop by!

Make sure to look closely at the picture or you'll miss the scarecrow's friend:-)

In this collage, you can see all the decorations on the front porch.  There are things to the left and right of the door.  Wouldn't you like to sit out there for a while?!?

SmugMug Link

Besides the view I posted as my daily, here's a slightly wider view of the cool scarecrow:

SmugMug Link

We had the nicest surprise show up in the mail yesterday.  Check out these awesome homemade pumpkin men that TinaMarie sent to the boys!

SmugMug Link

SmugMug Link

Both boys went to bed happy and all snuggled up with their new friends.

Mr. Mockingbird

SmugMug Daily Link

As Don and I were leaving the diagnostic imaging center where my test was yesterday, this guy landed right in front of my van. I was running my mouth on the phone and pointed to him to grab a picture with his iPod Touch. Then he sat so long I handed over my S3 for him to take a few shots. He was on the right (left) side of the car. So, guest photo today by Don:-) I cropped it vertical and wa la.

The Pumpkins of Porters

SmugMug Daily Link

After dropping the kids off at school yesterday (they tracked back in), I stopped by Porter Farms and Nursery to take some pumpkin pictures.

SmugMug Link

SmugMug Link

SmugMug Link

SmugMug Link

Speckled Lily

SmugMug Daily Link

A shot I took one year ago. With the drive to and from dad's house yesterday and the packing inbetween, I never got to take any pictures except of the nearly empty rooms of the house. Sigh... I have a thousand images in my head of the scenes I saw along the way and wish I had time to shoot... In the morning there were some low clouds/fog/mist, and Donnie encouraged me to pull over if I wanted to take pictures of something knowing how important it is to me, but I never saw just the right spot and/or a safe spot, and before I knew it we were away from the more scenic spots and at dad's house. We got done what we needed to get done, though, so that's good. And, I figured you wouldn't mind if I shared this blue and gold beauty.

I have a surgery date now of 11/10. I haven't said anything for a few days. It's hard to know what to say and when to say it. There's one more test tomorrow and then 2 weeks of trying to get things in order. It's hard. I'm probably not going to be the best patient as doing for others comes much more natural for me then allowing others to do for me.

Back to work today. It's going to be another gorgeous fall day here.

Happy Birthday Madi!

SmugMug Daily Link

The bowling birthday party for the kids was a huge success yesterday. Buffaloe Lanes South did an excellent job hosting the party for us.  The kids got to bowl for an hour.  That's always a humorous event as little kids struggle to carry the balls and we get some neat gutter guard bumping going on.  There's the thrill of the spare or strike and the oh shucks when no pins fall down.  Definitely fun.  The pizza from La Roma was fantastic, and the cakes were delicious too.  Lots of smiles and laughter and all the things you would want at a child's birthday party.

SmugMug Link

SmugMug Link

After the party yesterday, there was all kinds of fun back at the house with baseball practice, football, the Jeep, and the new remote controlled cars Teen and Danny gave Madi and Joey for their birthday.  More on those remote cars with the neat flashing lights tomorrow!  My daily shot today was one of the after party images.  She was being soooo cute!

SmugMug Link


The original daily photo:

SmugMug Link

I think it was a reasonable improvement getting rid of Johnny's arm up top and stray hair lower right and just cleaning up the grainy feel and boosting it a tad.  I used the PerfectPortrait3 Action from The CoffeeShop Blog again.