Category Archives: Life

Life

Five Things Friday: Movies for Halloween Weekend

It’s the weekend before Halloween which means America is abuzz with all things ghoulish. While I don’t fully understand why people become so excited about decorating their front yards with skeletons and headstones (seems a little morbid to me), I CAN get into the spirit with a great scary movie – whilst wearing my witch’s hat of course.

I love scary movies. Actually, let me clarify that. I love suspenseful movies – the kind that keep you guessing  and then surprise you with an ending that you didn’t quite expect. I’m not a fan of the movies that try to outdo themselves with gore and violence (the SAW series will not make it to my Netflix queue anytime soon), I like scares with more intelligence twists and fewer decapitations.

So here’s my top five.

You’ve probably heard of them all before – I’m not an art house scary movie girl which is probably why I didn’t pursue a career as a film critic. That, and the fact that my writing often pushes grammatically-correct boundaries.

1. The Sixth Sense (1999)
Remains one of the biggest twist endings in movie history and takes you a wild ride along the way. Bonus points for turning my teenage popstar crush into someone unrecognizable.

2. The Others (2001)
Although this movie was largely panned by critics (and my husband), I find it creepy, moody and very scary. It’s also easy for me to empathize with a mother who seems to be losing her mind.

3. Silence of the Lambs (1991)
I can’t believe this film is 20 years old – which makes me WAY too young to have seen it when it was released. It remains one of the creepiest, most disturbing movies I have ever seen and explains why I have never, ever bought a bottle of Chianti and cant stand fava beans.

4. The Shining (1980)
Another movie about descent into madness. Earns bonus points for starring Oregon’s own Timberline Lodge.

5. The Omen (1976)
The original, not the remake. A demon child, a Catholic church conspiracy and just enough blood and gore without crossing into gratuitous violence.Also made me never, ever want to name a child Damien.

Honorable mentions:

I’m sure I missed a bunch – apparently I haven’t watched many scary movies during the past 10 years. Please share your own favorites in the comments so I can bring my Netflix queue into the 21st century.

Early Pumpkin Picking

We did the pumpkin patch early this year for a few reasons:

  1. I was trying to avoid going after the Portland rain has set in and the pumpkin patches become on massive mud patch, trampled by thousands of people.
  2. The weatherman promised we would have a sunny day… and then said it likely would not last. When you live in Portland, you make the most of the sunny days, especially in October.
  3. I wanted to get the Pumpkin Patch thing out of the way. It’s one of those American traditions that I have embraced (and enjoy) but, if I leave it too late, I feel as though it’s infringing on my ramp up to Christmas. I realize that Thanksgiving is in the middle there as well, but I can’t wait until December to begin thinking about gifts and Xmas music. And, thanks to my annual takeout Turkey dinner, Thanksgiving is one of the easiest holidays.

We skipped the Pumpkin Patch last year. Having just returned from a couple of weeks in Japan, it was just a little too much. This year we decided the more the merrier and invited our friends Amelia and Alison (and their Mum Suzi). Our destination? Plumper Pumpkins Patch.

I promise Samuel was there – he just started the day a little camera shy.

And a little tractor shy. He and I walked behind the very-slow-moving vehicle.

The best thing about plumper, besides their good selection of carve-worthy pumpkins, is the number of kid-friendly activities they have available. We spent at least a couple of hours exploring corn mazes, sliding down hay bales and saying hi to some farm animals. I tried not to think to much about the fate about to befall the dozen or so turkeys.

Oh, and before you peruse the rest of the photos, I want to point out one small thing… Neither of my children are wearing sweat pants – the first time this has happened in…well…ever! Sure, it was mainly because I was yet to do the laundry and I refused to allow them to wear pants with holes in the knees, but I consider this a HUGE accomplishment. They’re both very attached to their “soft pants.”

Bonus point to Samuel for managing to dress himself in pumpkin colors. The perfect choice for blending into corn mazes.

Hay ride.

Obstacle Course and string maze (harder than it looks).

Races down the hay bale slide (faster than it looks).

Farm animals (smellier than they look).

And the duck races.

Finally, after a run through the kid-size hay maze, we were ready to pick out our pumpkins.

Not those ones, of course, they’re just pretty to photograph.

Then it was off to lunch where the impatience of a long wait for food was eased a little thanks a little invention from Steve Jobs that we like to call the “sanity saver”.

A fun day with friends. Now to find a little time to carve my pumpkin. I think I might carve a ghost design this year.

Five Things Friday: Things I Love

Quick FTF post today. See what I did there? With the abbreviation? 🙂

1. School pictures that are actually worth paying for.

2. Photos that perfectly portray the personality of a three year old who loves to jump (complete with the tongue sticking out for concentration).

3. Photographing fun charity events.

4. That an Aussie won said charity event.

5. The weekend is only hours away.

Plans for this weekend include a little apple tasting at the Portland Nursery (something we planned to do last weekend), more organizing and running errands and, I hope, a whole lot of relaxing with my boys.

Random iPhone Photo Dump

Today marks the end of a crazy week and the beginning of a crazier one. Between photographing charity events (one down, one to go), trying to keep up with a busy workload and a little business travel being thrown into the mix, I barely have time to post a few recent Phone pics.

The following photos were taken using an eclectic mix of phone apps – Instagram, Hipstamatic and IncrediBooth.

And one bonus one courtesy of Samuel. A snapshot of what’s most important to him right now.

On the agenda for the weekend is a visit to the Pumpkin Patch and a little time to regroup and reorganize after last week’s very unproductive sick weekend.

Wordless Wednesday: Running from the Boogie Man

Meet the Boogie Man, otherwise known as the very patient and entertaining server from one of our favorite family dinner hangouts.

Waiting…

Here he comes!

Is it safe?

Bless him for keeping the kids entertained.

Falling into Autumn and Trying to Get My Groove Back

When did I begin referring to Autumn as “Fall”? I got to work this morning and began a conversation about the sudden turn in the weather (read: rain, rain and more rain) and found myself saying “Fall” without a second thought. On days like this, I feel as though my Aussieness is slipping away and I need to put the Wiggles on for the kids, stat.

Good thing we’ll be getting a little dose of Aussie again in a few months thanks to an impending visit from this guy…

(Photo unashamedly stolen from my brother’s facebook page. I think it may be a Grandpa Geoff creation).

Thankfully he’ll be bringing his Mum and Dad with him because I’m not sure my Aussie accent will get much of a boost from the gurglings of a seven month old.

So why am I not posting a whole bunch of my own photos here today, you may ask? Well, it’s because I haven’t really taken any. The camera has been taking a short break while I try to manage life and work and everything in between. I just haven’t felt inspired to pick it up over the past couple of weeks.

Honestly, I think I was feeling a little burned out after our busy Summer and the thousands of pics I’ve been going through from Newport, not to mention the photos I’ve been taking for my day job.

I’m sure this hiatis is temporary and, actually, it’s making me feel as though I might need to pick up the camera for more every day shooting. I’ve been great at taking photos of the big moments – the vacations, birthday parties, first day of school – but I have been missing many of the details our lives right now.

Like the fact that we are so deep in our superhero obsession that both boys went off to school this morning while wearing superhero underwear and listening to the Batman theme song in the car. I’m pretty sure there’s no better way to prepare your kid for a successful day at school.

Happy rainy Autumn Monday. May the force be with you (ooops, wrong phrase).

This Calls for More Glitter!

I don’t have time for a Five Things Friday post today so I’m just dropping by to share one more example of why Sesame Street is so incredibly AWESOME!

This weekend promises a day alone with my boys which may or may not include a trip to the craft store, a night of Karaoke with the girls (song list suggestions welcome) and a whole lot of catching up on stuff around the house.

And, because I have to include a photo… A preview of one of our weekend activities perhaps? (that’s a very colorful Death Star he’s painting, by the way).

Confessions of a Three Year Old Superhero

Being a Superhero is 80% attitude.

There’s a lot of climbing involved.

Play equipment provides good leverage for takeoff.

You’re nothing without a sidekick.

Wait for the slow guy – it’s not his fault he’s a mere mortal. Besides, he may even be the originator of your super cape (we Superheroes believe in reusing and recycling, you know. Either that or our mums are too cheap to buy us a cape with our own super letter).

Superheroes must maintain good hydration (even if it means asking for a boost at the water fountain).

T-shirts? Not necessary. It just enhances the pecs.

The occasional smile does not undermine your power – in fact it could go a long way to winning over the ladies.

The front door could be your Kryptonite.

Don’t be afraid to hum your theme song wherever you go (it’s not at all annoying for others and adds much-needed drama) and always live to play fight another day.