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This is the last year we can go visit Linder Farms in Kuna. We checked it out last year and had fun. This year William got a job working the farm for the fall. I adore the shots of Clara running around the hay maze. I also love William so much for squeezing on that little toddler train because Clara wanted him to ride with her. He's such a good big brother. She gets a kick out of him. Clara loves the pony ride so much. We took her on the pony ride at the fair a couple months ago, too. She seems to really enjoy it, so I'm going to look into lessons for her. We stayed here for a few hours. We enjoyed the bonfire for a bit, too. Although I was really sick by the end of the night with HG from being pregnant with Stella.   
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We had a nice day trip up to Idaho City today. The day started off early in the morning and i went to the salon to have my hair demi colored, glossed, and washed. It always feels good to go in for a hair appointment. Especially these days when washing my hair isn't easy due to taking limited showers with my picc line in. There was some land for sale in Idaho City that we wanted to look at. It was so tempting. It was a beautiful drive to the land, and there was a sweet, small ankle deep creek on the land. We've dreamed of land for 12 years. I hope someday we find something that fits us and something we can afford. Until then.... So went to Sasparilla's for ice cream, and then played in Mores Creek.   Today we took Clara out to Dedication Point. It's a beautiful spot in the desert, along the Snake River Canyon. She had such a cute outfit on and I wanted to take some photos of her. She played with a lizard for awhile, and it seemed to not mind her. It kept coming up to her.             This year's Halloween has been so much fun. We've taken gobs of photos, and I went all out like never before to decorate. I've wanted to decorate the house outside for so many years. My dad used to decorate a lot when I was a kid,and I always thought I'd have my own place someday when I grew up that I would decorate for my kids. Finally, this year, even though I've owned my own house since I was 26, I finally splurged a bit on decorations and did it! Totally worth it, too. My kids and every family that came to the door to trick or treat was happy about the house. It's awesome to bring some magic to a holiday like this. Next year I hope to add a bit more. This was also the first time throwing a Halloween party. So all the family came over, grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, and cousins. There was lots of food, including chilli and cornbread that I make every year on Halloween. And as for firsts, it was also the first time we tried to get Clara to trick or treat, but she wasn't having anything to do with it. She still has quite a lot of stranger danger fears going on, so she cried at the first attempt. She'd rather just have brother give her the big bowl of candy that we were passing out to the neighborhood kids. So here's to a bunch of photos and some stories in between..... CostumesThis year we dressed up as clowns. Clara's gorgeous romper is from a small shop called Little Willow Tree, and I'm totally obsessed with Jada's creativeness. When I saw her 'Ella' romper I waited for it to drop, and swooped in like a hawk to buy one before they sold out, and they sold out in like under 5 minutes! I really wish William would have participated in the family photos this year, but he was having a particularly bad day when we shot these, and also was too cool to participate. Then, of course later on, he wished he would've. I did get some pics of him as the reaper in the above series on Halloween. He helped pass out candy, and then decided, once he saw some friends trick or treating that he wanted to trick or treat one last time this year. So he took off and I took over candy duty. It's always a challenge to get images of Clara, I mean she's 2, so I never hold expectations, just try to do my best and use lots of positive reinforcement and fun when doing her photos. Towards the end, she was annoyed by my hat and wanted me to take it off, so I did, and then she used the horn to hit Jack across the nose, which gave hima bloody nose. After we got him cleaned up, and tried again she honked the horn in his ear, which you see in our photo below. We laughed knowing she was being an onry toddler, and called it a night. She really loved the horn and balloons though, so that did help to get the photos I have here. And I got one quick snap of my brother being himself, haha, psycho killer bunny. Wednesday Addams and Halloween Fashion Clara has been brand repping for a shop called Rugrats Ragz on Etsy. I picked up a dress called the Neverland dress, and had the gal that makes the clothes make it black with a white collar so I could do some Wednesday Addams inspired pics. Now, let me tell you, these images were tricky. We tried for weeks to get photos of her in the dress. We drove an hour away on the freeway to a small, old town, to a big, old house (Chase house) built by a railroad tycoon, located across the street from where the old brothel was. She hated being on the grounds. She cried and clung to us. No children ever lived in the house either. I attempted to calm her down by nursing her on the steps, also hoping it would ease her into sitting on the steps for a photo. She did calm a bit, but what was spooky, out of nowhere, it was quiet, and it was just her and I, she started busting up laughing. Something caught her eye, and I looked, but there was nothing, and she was just staring, laughing. Perhaps a silly ghost? ;) Still, she wouldn't let me put her down,and she clung to me or daddy. She wanted to be off the grounds, away from the house. None of the usual reinforcers I use, like treats or cartoons worked. She just wanted to leave. So we did. Now I'll say, I don't place expectations on her for photos. I get what I get and that's ok. It takes effort, every time we do images, but I never want it to be stressful for her or for me. I want her to have fun. With that said, I was so bummed, because I first saw this house in 2014 when we worked on an Idaho William documentary video about Payette. I knew I'd go back for a photoshoot at this house. Fast forward here we are, and what I had in mind didn't pan out. But that doesn't mean I won't try again at some point again. Not anytime soon though. I have to say the neighbor that was sweeping outside her apartment was super nice, and she told us some history about the house, and introduced me to the groundskeeper. The groundskeeper was really friendly, too, but both of her legs were broken. She explained that she sometimes takes people through the house. Her son, at least I think he was her son, was very skeptical about me being on the ground or taking photos. I gave him a card, assured him we'd be respectful, and that I wanted to make sure I had 100% permission to be on the grounds. So I asked if they could call the owners, and the lady said she would. She really was sweet. The owners gave the go ahead and were fine with it. But her son, kept a watchful eye, and grunted a couple times about me taking photos, and then suggested he'd keep my card if I became a millionaire or famous off the photos. Bwhahahahaha! Right, man, right! I tried a couple times visiting a graveyard for photos, but same thing, crying, hysteria, clinging to us. She was only calm if daddy would hold her. Who knows perhaps she's sensitive to thin veil between the worlds at this time of year, maybe ghosts were spooking her? We could let our imaginations go, but odds are, she was just being my stinker of a 2yo toddler, and only doing things on her terms, as the norm goes. ;) So I did studio shots and she had fun. Anyways, I hope you get all the Halloween, spooky, Wednesday Addams vibes from these shots. Her other outfits aren't rep shots, but just some fun outfits I picked out for her. I've been toying around with the idea of opening a clothing shop, so I have been digging around some wholesale places. I don't know that I'll do it, but I sure love scoring a great price on clothes for her when I'm not working with small, mom-owned handmade type shops. Chase HouseGraveyardFave Halloween BooksI put aside seasonal books each year that I bring out only at the time of the holiday. So for the month of October these are our Halloween books, The collections doesn't include our favorite fall theme books, which I'll include in another blog. Clara's fave book this year has been by far, Bone Soup. We picked it up at a used bookstore about a month ago,and she has been obsessed with it. We read it multiple times a day. Of course, we have our favorite Halloween movies we watch every year, too. Addams Family, Casper, Hocus Pocus, are always a hit. The Hotel Transylvania series has become an instant classic for us as well. Then I like to squeeze in other fave flicks when I can, like Practical Magic, and as many of the spooky, scary classics that aren't g rated, but those are more challenging to get around to these days with a 2 yo running around. American Horror Story this season has been awesome, so we watch that when we can. Now, there's still gobs of images to sort through from visiting pumpkin patches this fall season, too, and pumpkin carving pics, so I'll have to load those up to blog about soon. But this sums up our Halloween spirit for 2018. It was a fun success! The rest of the year will be a whirlwind from here on out. Peace be with you all, because the holiday season is among us now. Clara is modeling this dress from the shop Lil Rugratz. We had fun setting up different shoots. We traveled almost two hours to the old house, to the Kuna cemetery, and did some studio shots. She didn't like being in the cemetery, so it didn't work as planned, but that's alright. Halloween 2018 photos here.     It's becoming tradition now to visit Cabelo's Pumpkin Patch in Kuna. I love spending time with these kiddos and I love fall. It doesn't get any better than this. 2016 here  First high school dance. First kiss. I never felt so much like a mom and so old, too, as I drove a couple teens, eek my teen, to their first dance. My 70s Pandora station playing in the car. Saturday night was homecoming. He was super nervous all day to go pick up his date. She met her in 8th grade, and they seem to be pretty good friends. He thought the dance started at 7, and I didn't check his ticket to see for sure, figuring he's a freshman now, he should be able to read it lol. So we went to pick up the girl an hour and half early. Luckily she was ready. I told them I wanted a quick pic before they got in the car. They awkwardly agreed. At first they were standing like 3 feet apart from each other, and I told them to get closer, and their faces turned red. I said, "well you guys are friends, it's no big deal to have a picture taken as friends, just be friends." They were still about a foot apart from each other, blank stares, and so I suggested William to put his arm around her, if they felt okay with it. They both giggled and said yes. Then it was all smiles after that. I dropped them off for an ice cream cone before the dance, and went back to get them an hour later, since they had time to burn. On the ride to the ice cream place, we all talked. I could tell the kids felt nervous as heck still. She is very sweet, and talked about loving art, sewing stuffed animals, and being creative. She was really nervous about her tan lines, her hair, and her dress. It was all really sweet and cute. William opened doors for her, and remembered to compliment her, too. I've never seen him so nervous around a girl before. When Jack and William came home after the dance, they stood in the garage talking for quite some time. William told me, " yeah it was really fun mom." I prodded for more details, wanting him to tell me more about his first dance as a freshman in high school. He happened to leave out the part the he got his first kiss. Later that night, when Jack came upstairs to get ready for bed, he told me all about it. The girl approached William gave him a fast peck on the lips and ran off giggling back to her friends. He explained that William said he hadn't a clue what to do after, but really likes the girl. I know I keep saying it, but I'm still getting used to my son being in high school, liking a girl, being taller than me, and everything else that has come with this year. He has changed a lot. I'm just so happy he had a great time, and likes a really nice girl that he's had a chance to be friends with first.    Fall is the time of year everyone wants family photos taken. It's beautiful outside and not too hot or too cold.I'm no different. Bring on everything about Fall. Including family photos, even if they aren't the easiest thing to do as both mom and photographer. We broke up the family photos in two sessions. The first time it didn't go well at all. William wanted to give me every terrible face he could muster up, Clara cried the majority of the time, Jack is never too thrilled when I say it's time to go do our photos, but he goes along with it. The second attempt a couple of days later, Clara was still not impressed with the idea that mom wanted family photos. She didn't want to be held by me either, just by her daddy. So more tears followed during this attempt. Every shot we got of her was either crying, running away from us, or us in the background doing every possible thing to make her laugh and smile, so we could at least have a few pics of her not being hysterical. It's always an adventure taking my family's photos. There's typically laughing, crying, and some moodiness and irritability on everyone's part at one point or another. It's family photos. I promise, it's a rare gem of a family that is all smiles and perfect during a photo shoot. Family photogs have their work cut out for them. i'm not too concerned with everything being perfect or all smiles. I like unposed images too. It tells more about the family. My thirteen year old is quite the debater and negotiator these days. He told me prior to the second shoot that he would go along with it better if I allowed him to dye his hair pink. Then he was quick to point out that when I was 17 I had pink hair, so I should be open minded about it. So if you see my son walking around with pink hair in the near future you will now know the story behind how I was coerced into letting him dye his hair pink. hahahahaha This was truly a family effort. Aside from the shots I took, my brother took a couple shots, Jack helped take a couple, and I used a tripod for some photos I was in with the fam too. Although there are many not technically great, I love all of them, because I love the people in them, the memory we created together, ... and it's Fall! ;) "I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers." Anne of Green Gables   Today we went to a local orchard to pick pumpkins for carving. They grow their apples and pumpkins without pesticides, which is a win in my book. It's not easy to find too many local farms growing food without pesticides where we live. We started out with a very bumpy hayride through some of the apple orchard to the pumpkin patch, which since it is just about the last day of October, was pretty picked over, but we still found some great pumpkins. The hayride was a lot of fun. We each picked out a pumpkin to take home. We took the hayride back over to see the goats and turkeys. Then, we walked over to the 100 year old scale to weigh the pumpkins. We had a total of 63 pounds! After that, William ground some corn for making popcorn using a 100 plus year old grinder. It was cute to watch him get excited about grinding off the corn for popping.       Carving Pumpkins at Home      Have a Happy Autumn everyone! Love The Allisons |
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