Little red nose reindeer...

The holidays are upon us and I have been putting aside the pleasure of blogging in order to get ready for the holiday. Terrence came home with some Reindeer antlers he made in preschool, so I thought I'd share the cuteness and some add some holiday spirit to this blog.

Cuteness on the right and the mess the cuteness did during Halloween's pumpkin carving on the wall to his left. Reminds me to paint that over before the families come over for Christmas.

Whenever Terrence comes home with something, he has to show it off to everyone within sight. I find it so cute.

Missed the focus on this shot. It's always so difficult taking photos of T. He is so used to the camera, he developed very good evasive maneuvers. I know his teacher and other parent photographers have the most difficult time taking photo of him.

Red nose Terrence.

He was using the toy to hide his face and pretend to take photos of me. I simply wait and capture his expression in between.

And one mood-i-er picture of my little reindeer.

Pow...pow...Power Wheels...

It was nice and sunny...and then foggy out of nowhere. As soon as the fog hit, the weather got super chilly. So I dress Terrence appropriately and we took his Power Wheels to the local park.

We rode around and found trails, so we took it for some off road test.

I think it's cool that you can find locations like these that makes it feel like one is much further away from home. The morning sun allowed for some nice backlighting.

This was right below a little stone bridge that separated the park from the hiking trail.

Only content to sit for a sec, Terrence was more interested to find what lies beneath the rocks. Kids don't cooperate for a sitting picture, but I enjoy capturing them at play as well.

Terrence said the ride is bumpy. I think I need to check the suspensions.

There was water...moreso than seen here. We heard it cascading over some rocks. Terrence was intrigued by the "waterfall." He proceeded to explain to me that water falling over rocks is a "waterfall." Where the heck did he learn that?

I keep having to remind him to watch where he's driving. Especially when you can drive right off the cliff in some parts of this trail. He did do a good job avoiding all the Coyote poo on the trail though.

Today.

Just a couple of photos from today.

After a bad fall over the weekend, you can barely make out the bruise on his forehead.

Terrence after his noon nap and a haircut.

When the sun goes down...

...the heroes goes to work. Cuz you know, the thieves and robbers like to operate in with the veil of darkness as their ally.

The day after Halloween, the kids wanted to wear their outfit. Actually, it was Terrence that wanted to wear his costume...but he also wanted the Spiderman outfit for Jason to wear as well. Pretty demanding these 3yr olds. We figure these costumes will only fit once and it allows me to get some better photos of them. They get so much attention going out with them on in public so it's certainly a treat for everyone. Fun and cute.

The setting sun always makes for gorgeous photos. With the sun lower in sky, the rays of the sun has to go through more of the atmosphere, scattering and diffusing the light, resulting in flattering photos. It's my second favorite time of the day. But the lower the sunlight, the quicker the light changes, eventually losing it completely.

So I was only able to get a few shots off before Terrence was joined by other neighborhood kids and the whole lot of them ran around uncontrollably. :)

Sunlight streaming through the trees. Side lite foliage is a fav of mine to shoot againsts. The colors are awesome.

Getting set up and had Terrence run down the aisle. He took off and was not seen by my camera lens until much later.

Oh well. At least I have one more subject I can shoot.

But that didn't last long. Having lost all my subjects and the sun quickly disappearing, I aimed my camera towards the trees instead, trying to capture the warmth of the sun's rays through it.

Once we were able to round up the kids, we did get some cute moments out of them.

Buzz likes to hug with wings and all.

I love this one.

I love this one. Wait, I already said that. :)

Here's a photo I had on facebook. But much clearer since Facebook heavily compresses photos, making it look so soft.

Such a perfect pose for a little spiderman.

Here's a clearer shot of Terrence that I shared on Facebook.

Here's an alternate, higher contrast version.

It's been an unusually warm Novemember thus far. So we were able to enjoy the soft glow of the reminding sunlight while getting these last few photos. We didn't stay much longer cuz my remote trigger battery is no more.

I'll leave you with one more shot of Buzz Lightyear. Three years old and growing fast.

Crawling, to walking, to running...

...back to crawling? Yup, those are the milestones of a baby in his two years. The last one is a result of him donning his hero suit.

With the boys running around the house pretending to be super heroes, we thought the idea of little super heroes for Halloween was cute. While driving over to Party City to check out the available costumes, we handed Terrence the catalog and ask him which costume he thinks Jason should be. Terrence picked out batman and was certain that was the best costume for Jason.

At the store, the batman costume didn't look that great in person and didn't fit Jason quite right. We headed into Target to take a look at what they had since they were in the same plaza. We spotted a Spiderman costume that fit Jason's muscular frame just perfectly. That little boy is just so bulky sometimes, it's hard to find anything that fit him. ;)

Hero pose.

Evil Dr. Octopus don't stand a chance.

To the batcave! oops...wrong hero. :D

Just hanging around...err...sort of.

Web slinging. Practicing shooting the web with sound effect and all.

One way to get the upperhand on the bothersome Buzz who doesn't like to share his toys.

I learn that super heroes throws their mask/things on the dresser after a long day's work, just like all of us.

Spidey and I went scouting new areas to ensure the community is safe. Peter Parker was obviously busy, so I grabbed a few photos along the way.

We found a park with a low laying rock wall that allowed Spidey to show off his ability to crawl. Even over treacherous terrain.

I like the framing of this photo. Enjoy for now. More on the way in an upcoming post.

Taking flight...

Following the super boys post, Julie and I thought we knew what Terrence wanted to be for Halloween this year. As luck would have it, Party city had the Superman costume on sale for only $10.

Of course, once we got to the store and Terrence set eyes on Buzz Lightyear the plan quickly changed. I attribute it to the recent release of Toy Story 3 that made the notion of dressing up as Buzz Lightyear just too irresistible for a three year old. The costume fit perfectly so we conceded.

The Thursday before Halloween, the kids got all dressed up and celebrated with cupcakes and a class parade afterwards. Jetpacks and other accessories were not needed. Here he is in the strip of grass in front of the school, practicing the balance that is required for all Space Rangers.

Actually, we joke that he's only a Space cadet until he gets his wings. And the wing requires him to be on his best behavior all day.

"To Infinity and Beyond...."

The morning of Halloween, Terrence graduated to the rank of Space Ranger and received his jetpack.

As a parent, I love those moments when the kids surprise you with their intelligence, acute observation skills and creativity beyond what you think they are capable of. Here, he said his wings can be folded just like the real Buzz.

And like the real Buzz Lightyear, pressing the big red button deploys the wings. Click on the following image to see it in action. LOL

Ready for flight.

Buzz didn't think a Space Ranger should be the subject of so many photos.

Either he's hiding or this is his rocket ship.

Crash landing? Actually, I have story about that.

We got the kids all dressed up the morning of Halloween and was gonna do a quick trip out to grab breakfast and perhaps take a few photos in the beautiful morning light.

Our plan quickly changed when Terrence abruptly dismounted from a piggy back ride. The slickness of the costume took he and I by surprise, so he slid off pretty quickly...accidentally planting his upper lip on the back of my pants. He didn't cry or anything. But upon investigation, I noticed he ripped the upper part of his inner lip pretty badly with that failed dismount.

So off with the costume and a trip to the emergency room to get it stitched up. After an almost two hour wait (Only manageable thanks to having a mobile device that can keep the kids occupied), the doctor said stitches are probably not needed unless he manage to rip it more. The lip should heal in about a week. We'll see if that is true...but it hasn't stopped him one bit.

Here he is with a miniature replica his uncle got for him for his last birthday.

A line from the first movie..."CAN FLY!!!" Terrence taking flight.

So happy. I'll share more photos in another post.