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.

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.

Rocking the little one to sleep...

Lil Jason isn't feeling too well. I think this is the third cold/flu/whatever he's gotten in succession since the storm hit San Diego. Perhaps it's the cold and wet weather or a case of the whooping cough going into its second stage. J'ase (something I call him every now and then. Kinda like Chase, but with a J) been coughing a lot since last night.

The school Terrence attend twice a week sent a general notice via email, saying there have been some confirm cases of Pertusis, better known as whopping cough at the school. Julie took Terrence in for some test and that came back negative. However, with a prescribed dosage of antibiotics, Terrence seem to have recovered and is all better now.

However, Jason looks like he's going through the worst of it right now. With a fever over the weekend, throwing up a couple of times last night and now the coughing spells. The weather is back to beautiful here in San Diego and my cousins from Oz dropped by for a visit. They are in San Diego today and I was hoping to hang out with them before they leave. But gotta take care of the little ones first and foremost.

Sleeping is always the best remedy for any cold or flu and help mitigate the annoying symptoms. Especially when the sick is young and can't be medicated with traditional medicine. So I am rocking J'ase to sleep at my feet and typing up this post with my free hand. Using a rocking technique I developed by observation of us ocean running, wave jumping fisherman who often fall asleep on the boat because of the rocking motion of the boat. With this technique, I can get the little one to sleep for 3-4 hrs straight if needed.

Anyways, here are a couple of photos of them before bed time while his mom was in Maine two weekends ago. I send photos like these to share with his mom so she doesn't miss them too much or get worried. Anyways, I need to get a nap in myself to kick this cold that seems to be growing in me.

J'ase tackling his brother from behind.

Edit this post to update with a shot with my iPhone and the Instagram app. He's snoring peacefully right now with some Jack Johnson's Angel playing via the Pandora Lullaby Theme (Family) station.

Lil' Bumpkins at the Pumpkin Patch...

I surmise that with Halloween coming up, I should get this post out before then. :) A couple of weeks ago, Julie had an opportunity to go to Maine for a learning conference related to her career. So while mother is away, dad and sons went out to play.

With a small break in the stormy weather, we dressed up warmly and went to play at the nearby pumpkin patch. Our old housemates Florence and Phong brought along Charlie. Denny was also there to provide support and take photos of all the fun.

Here are a few photos from the outing.

Terrence had a great time picking up pumpkins and loading up the wagon.

Wagon loaded with pumpkins and little brother. Time to take it to market to trade for a some nachos.

Jason looks a little worried.

We paid our 3 bucks for each kid and went into the petting area. The feed was 25cents each.

Jason keep wanting to feed this calf the dry, bedding hay.

I helped him find the nicer green ones they prefer to eat. Here, the calf is eating from Jason's hands.

Charlie the wiser one watched from afar because the Llama looks like he's hungry.

Back outside for a couple shots of my little Jason.

Quick group shot courtesy of Denny.

I like this one of the three of them in the car carousel.

One one last shot.