Family – Page 99 – M. Sullivan Photography

September 25, 2009September 25, 2009 M. Sullivan Photography Animals, Family, Flowers, Photos

Outwit, Outplay, Outlast

Despite the challenges brought on by chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits, deer and even raccoons, we finished the growing season with one beautiful sunflower plant, a plentiful amount of grapes and a tree full of apples. We thought we outwitted the chipmunks by starting our sunflowers indoors, but other animals (and kids, though they won’t admit it) decimated all but one of our plants. The flowers have been blooming for the past couple of weeks outside our kitchen window.

Sophia and I outwitted the raccoon this year by picking our grapes before he could devour them in his nighttime feedings. Mike actually saw the raccoon last night when he let Daphne outside. Apparently he has been eating well this year, without our grapes, as Mike said he was HUGE! He must have come to check out the if the vines were ready for picking. We did leave a few that weren’t quite ripe, but still have two huge containers. I made the mistake of telling my Dad how many we had picked. Now he is expecting me to make grape jelly. Wish me luck! I haven’t done any canning since I was a kid and helped my Mom. Needless to say, I don’t remember a lot of the details.

We are still waiting for the apples to ripen, but they are coming along nicely. There are about 6 dozen apples on the tree. Most of the apples are high enough up to be out of the reach of deer. Sebastian is looking forward to the harvest since last year there was only one apple on the tree. The year before we picked three. We have quite the bumper crop this year in comparison.

September 17, 2009September 18, 2009 M. Sullivan Photography Family, Photos

Favorite Photos (& Video) Of The Week

This photo taken last night at Sophia’s last soccer game of the season. We brought Daphne with us to the game. Sophia was more excited when she was on the sidelines playing with Daphne than when she was out on the field playing the game. This photo was taken during one of the few moments that she was watching her teammates on the field rather than playing with her new dog. 🙂

9.16.09 — Serious - Photoshop Action "Soft & Faded"

This second photo was taken at Sebastian’s first flag football game of the season this past Tuesday night. The wind had picked up off the lake and it was freezing. I think Sophia told us that she was cold about 40 times. I promised her that we would bring hot chocolate to the next game. That seemed to do the trick.

Smile - 9.15.09 — Smile - Photoshop Action "Seventies"

Here is a short Sebastian “Jared Allen” highlight from his first game. Sebastian is in the white pants and yellow shirt rushing the QB.

September 15, 2009September 16, 2009 M. Sullivan Photography Family, Photos

First Day of School

Sophia and Sebastian had their first day of school last Thursday. They were both ready for the school year to begin. We had been at the open house the night before, met with their teachers and dropped off their school supplies. We thought Sophia might be nervous starting Kindergarten and riding the bus for the first time, but she gave us hugs and hopped on the bus with the rest of the kids. Mike and I drove down to the school and got there before the bus pulled up. We wanted to be sure that she arrived safely and also wanted to walk with her to the classroom. We followed behind her as she led the way. She found her locker, gave us hugs (again) and she ventured off into the room to meet her classmates and explore.

When I picked the kids up later that afternoon they both told me that their days went well. Sebastian was a bit concerned about how much homework he would have this year, but has a great teacher and a lot of friends in his classroom. Sophia also has a wonderful teacher and one little boy from her soccer team is in the same class. She met some “new friends” and enjoyed playing on the playground on her first day. The only glitch during the day was when another little girl took Sophia’s lunch box by mistake (what girl wouldn’t want a cute pink lunch box?), leaving Sophia without a lunch. The helpers in the cafeteria straightened it out right away and she was able to eat before it was time to head back to class. Overall, a good start to the school year.