A Day Carving Pumpkins

The only rule was that they had to pick a pumpkin they could carry. That way Tanner didn't pick one of the biggest ones he could find to make a fort out of it.


Let the goo slinging begin.


How do you like the slime?


Tanner chose a skull and cross bones pattern. And carved all but the final eye detail (it was a little trickier than he could do without popping the inner eye out).


Jordyn decided to make hers with three separate faces.


Shad, of course, had to make a HALO 3 Logo. Tanners finished Skull-n-Cross Bones. Carl with the sculpted pumpkin face. And the PI pumpkin for a party at work.


The three sides of Jordyns pumpkin, lit with a flash light.


The three sides of Jordyns pumpkin, lit with a candle from the neighbor.


Tanner's, Shad's, Carl's and my pumpkins lit with candles.



All five of the pumpkins lit with candles. Tanner, Shad and Jordyn with the pumpkins.


Here is a photo of the pumpkins that the Kids and Carl carved after 5 days. The Halo one was "melting". Jordyns held up pretty well. Tanners was starting to come apart. (These were taken early Saturday morning before it started to rain. The candles in the bigger ones burned all night.

Pumpkin carving

"Say Hello To My Little Friend"

There is one thing to be said about the desert... You can see snakes almost anytime of the year out here.

Spotted this one while out for my daily walk at work. About three or four more feet and I would have stepped on it. Luckily it was rather pissed at the idea of getting stepped on and started hissing and rattling, so I heard it over my audio book. (One of the reasons I am a big advocate of keeping the volume down on personal music devices. So you can "HEAR" your surroundings.)

So I shot the photo from my camera phone, gave it a wide birth so we could both continue on our way.

So the moral of this, if you are out here walking, running, biking in the desert, Keep You Eyes Open and on the ground in front of you.... :-)

Crazy Hair Day for Red Ribbon Week

Tanner and Jordyn did there own hair for Crazy Hair Day as part of the Red Ribbon week at school.



Need a serious look. These two are best friends, when they are not fighting.



Strike a pose! Now a disco pose! ROCK ON!


Make a crazy face.


Look mom I have extra arms....

Riding the Mules

Glenn Lasley (a neighbor of my parents) built these "mules" for the twenty-mule team days parade. So the kids got to go for some free rides around the desert area behind his house. As soon as Glenn brings them out, all the kids from across the street come running over for rides.

They are a pretty cool setup. Each one has a trailer ball in the back and a hitch in the front so they can be chained together in any configuration. Some have wheels with axels that are offset so the mules rock up and down.