Another Month done!

October 2009 is complete. 304 days of photos every day!

304/365 Halloween Pt 2

When I got back home, we set up the front yard in anticipation of Trick or Treaters.

First my pumpkin (get it, pumpkin pi!)

And then our pumpkins together (awwww)

Our front yard display

After the trick or treaters were done, we headed over to a party at Charles and Aubrey's house.

Yep - Matt was a Google Doodle!

Aubrey (on the left) was dressed up as Derek (on the right)

Charles dressed up as a flame

All the boys together

304/365 Halloween Pt 1

My Halloween began with a drive over to the First Coast to visit my girlfriend in Jacksonville. We had a Halloween brunch at Jenn's house and the food was AWESOME!

I also did a mini session with Jenn's son A.

And another with Kimberly's son J.

They boys were adorable!

Then I got to spend time with my friends and their super adorable children!

303/365 Halloween at Montverde Academy

Today was a BIG day at Montverde. The Lower School celebrated Halloween all day with a Fall Festival in the morning and the big Halloween Parade in the afternoon. Lots of parties happened in between.

Before we get to their cuteness - check out the way cool Chemistry Lab that Mrs. Strahl did. She had several spooky experiments to try out and the Upper School students loved it.




And then there was Charles. Gotta love his costume!



The Lower School students had a blast!



Mrs. Shackelford (Dean of the Lower School) and General the dog.



Here is a slide show of the Lower School Halloween Fun!

302/365 Pumpkin Carving

We had a pumpkin carving party tonight. A few friends came over and enjoyed the food and good times

Carving the pumpkins and hanging out.

Jen and her pumpkin

Charles and his pumpkin

Matt and his pumpkin

The finished products!

301/365 Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies today and they were delicious! I was inspired by this recipe, but I omitted the nuts and added about another cup of chocolate chips. I also mixed up the chocolate chips - milk and semi-sweet. They turned out great.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookie Recipe

This chocolate chip pumpkin cookie recipe is a family favorite. The spice of the pumpkin blends great with the chocolate chips.

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1/4 teaspoon allspice

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1 teaspoon nutmeg

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter, softened

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 1 (15 ounce) canned pumpkin

• 2 large eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Vanilla Glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar

• 1 tablespoon milk

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Hardware

• Whisk

• Large bowl

• Medium bowl

• Cookie sheets

• Mixer

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Step 2: Grease cookie sheets; set aside.

Step 3: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, ginger, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

Step 4: In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar with an electric mixer.

Step 5: Beat in pumpkin, eggs and vanilla extract.

Step 6: Gradually beat in flour, scraping down sides as needed.

Step 7: Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

Step 8: Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared cookie sheets.

Step 9: Bake 15-20 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned.

Cool on cookie sheets for 2 minutes before transferring to cooling surface.

Vanilla Glaze: Step 1: In a small bowl, beat together powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract. Step 2: Drizzle or spread glaze over cooled cookies. Makes about 36 cookies.

300/365 300 Days!!!!!!!!!!

Three Hundred Days of a picture every day this year. Not one day skipped, though not all are gems.

To celebrate - something special.

And a little playing with the leftover light

299/365

Some pictures from around campus today.

This week's theme in Photography Club is BW. I took a quick picture to use as an example. Kate in Black and White.

Here's Kate in motion

The Gilchrist Academy kids doing their afternoon exodus.

298/365 125 Birthday!

The city of Clermont celebrated 125 years with a downtown carnival. Things wrapped up today with a fireworks show. You can see a mosaic of my pictures here.

After the fireworks, we enjoyed the fun.

My favorite person holding my favorite fair food!

Did you know?

And because we wouldn't be good Americans if we didn't - Deep Fried Oreos.