Fall – Page 5 – M. Sullivan Photography

September 8, 2012 M. Sullivan Photography School

First Day Of Third Grade

Sophia’s first day of school was yesterday. Her school started a day later than the rest of the district as they are in a temporary building for the year while her elementary school is being renovated. Classes were set up in a former middle school. We were a bit apprehensive about the change in venue, but were impressed during open house with how well the school looked. Many things were done to make the environment more welcoming to young kids including colorful signs to lead the kids to their classrooms, lunch room, library and other rooms in the building. Sophia’s teacher is new to the school this year. We found out that she actually lives just a block from our house. We are looking forward to a great year for Sophia.

Sebastian begins middle school on Monday. He will be going to a newly renovated school that was formerly a high school We attended the open house on Thursday and were all a bit overwhelmed with the size of the school, but became more comfortable with the building as we toured and found all of Sebastian’s classrooms and met his teachers. I will likely only get one or two photos of him on his first day. I’m sure I will have to sneak the pictures with my iPhone instead of pulling out my SLR. He is officially too cool for school and having his mom taking pictures of him is definitely not cool.

Here are some previous “First Days”

2011 School Year

2010 School Year

2009 School Year

October 30, 2011October 31, 2011 M. Sullivan Photography Daphne, Family, Photos

Halloween Preparations

We spent the weekend getting into the Halloween spirit by attending Glensheen Mansion’s Halloween Spooktacular event, carving pumpkins and prepping Halloween costumes. I just have to start with this photo because I think it is my favorite of the weekend. We also found out from the veterinarian that Daphne’s tumor was benign and the margins were clean. She is a healthy and happy Boxer!

Back to the Glenshen Spooktacular ~ With hundreds of Jack ‘O Lanterns illuminating the seven acre grounds of Glensheen mansion, we couldn’t help but go and get inspired for our own pumpkin carving. There were many of the traditional carvings and some that caught our eye including SpongeBob, Tinkerbell, pirates, owls and other amazing designs. Without a tripod, it was impossible to photograph the glowing pumpkins. We did take a few photos along the way using flash so that we could capture some of the unique pumpkins.

The outdoor tour ended with roasting marshmallows over a fire pit and making yummy s’mores. The perfect way to end a chilly evening.

Today we started the day by gutting our pumpkins and then jumped right into carving. Sebastian and Sophia enjoyed getting their hands inside the “guts” and pulling out all the stringy mess including the much coveted pumpkin seeds. We saved every seed so that we can roast them in the oven. Mike and the kids enjoy the salty, crunchy treat.

Sebastian carved his pumpkin by himself. Mike helped tape the pattern on the pumpkin and Sebastian took it from there. Here is his finished spooky pumpkin.

Sophia chose a Dracula pattern for her mini pumpkin.

And because I needed an extra challenge this year, I chose a Boxer. It was time-consuming, but not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be.

I don’t think Daphne was quite as excited about her pumpkin portrait as I was. However, she did feel the need to lick the boxer pumpkin’s ears…but I guess that’s not unusual. She licks everyone.

Can’t wait for costumes and candy tomorrow…

October 29, 2011 M. Sullivan Photography MCP Project 52, Photos

MCP Project 52 ~ Week 43

Week 43 Theme ~ Shadow

I wasn’t overly creative this week and as often happens, I missed yesterday’s deadline to enter my photo into Project 52. I did get out this morning before anyone in the house was up and take this picture. I was more interested in the frost on the fallen leaves and not so much with the “shadow” theme, but did manage to sneak it in. Look how the maple leaf in the foreground shadows the oak leaf at the back. Suttle, but I think it counts.