Burgess Family Photos

So we took some family photos together on a pretty October day.  I went into these pictures with high hopes and good spirits, and left with a feeling of doom and defeat.  Let's say that an hour long photo shoot with a 3 year old girl, who wanted nothing to do with listening or posing, and an almost 1 year old boy, who can't hold still for longer than 5 seconds, wasn't the best experience.  Thankfully, we had a really nice and talented photographer, pretty weather and some great scenery on my side that day, and we ended up with some great photos. 

Here are a few:

Tommy Showing Off, Part 3

Watch as Tommy scales the stairs, both up and down.  He works extra hard to get down the stairs and finally figures it out.

Tommy Showing Off, Part 2

Here is Tommy taking lots of steps!  He gets pretty excited when he is walking...

Tommy Showing Off..Part 1

We caught Tommy on video recently showing some of his new tricks...here is one of him waving "Bye Bye"

A Happy Halloween

Ellie and Tommy had an exciting Halloween.  We trick or treated in our neighborhood.  This trick or treating expedition didn't go as well as the one at their school.  Ellie was a little apprehensive this time around.  I believe it to be due to the mixture of: older children zooming around, strangers answering the door and it being dark.  A man answer the door dressed in a werewolf mask didn't help  :)

We did manage to get a few good shots though.  Enjoy!

Embarking on the outing with Cookie Monster and Elmo.  Tommy pretty much insisted on standing in the wagon at all times.

Here we go!

Success!

You can see I had to play an "involved" role.  At the end I was the one asking for the treats, taking them and thanking them.  We pulled the plug shortly after.

She did like the decorations on the houses.

This was my favorite.  We had just left the last house of the night and Ellie pulled Tommy into her lap, where he sat happily until we got home.  Sweet moment.

Boo-Fest

Ellie and Tommy's school puts on a great event every year for Halloween - BooFest.  BooFest comes complete with balloon animals, a photo booth, face painting and food.  The kids can trick or treat at all the classrooms and enjoy seeing their friends dressed up.

Ellie picked their Halloween costumes this year.  She wanted to be Elmo, and when I asked her what Tommy should be, she replied Cookie Monster.  So I was able to track down some costumes that turned out pretty cute.

The outside of Tommy's room decorated

Tommy and his classmate's footprints.

Who loves his sister?

Hanging with mom

Ellie and her friend Syrah, fresh from face painting

Starting to trick or treat by the classrooms

Here they come!

Getting the hang of it

Posing with Ms. Heather, Ellie's teacher, and some friends

More candy

Posing in the graveyard.  Great smile by Tommy

Me want cookies...

Shot of the face painting up close.

Pumpkin Patch Round 2

After hearing this exchange at school between Ellie and a teacher, we made a 2nd trip to the pumpkin patch for some decorations...

Teacher:  "Ellie, that's a neat jack o latern you made.  Are you going to add it to the Halloween decorations you have at home?"
Ellie: "We don't have any Halloween decorations at home"
Mom: Hanging head in shame.

So we headed out to the pumpkin patch on a beautiful Saturday.  We played with some farm animals, climbed on some fun playgrounds and picked out some big pumpkins to carve.  Great day!

Riding a pony....

At $4 a pop, a pretty good time!

Papa showing them the ropes around the animals.

Telling Tommy about the pigs.

Tommy checking out the goats.

He's getting tall!

Pretty girl.

Wheelbarrow fun.

Mikey had a heavy load.

Checking out the pumpkins with caution.

Getting really crowded in the wheelbarrow.

Trip to the sandbox.

I liked this face from Tommy - scrunched up nose.

Driving the truck

I liked this picture of her...she looks calm.