My weekend, in photo form because I know how much you all love my pictures.

Friday afternoon, my couch, colored on in black permanent marker, along with a little boy who also has marker on his body.

Saturday morning, a container of cereal and silly putty found in a little boy's bed while getting ready to change the sheets.

Saturday afternoon, a baptism for a very sweet niece, Miss Nora Wynn. The little boy was pleasant although he was seated next to his father and not by his cousin or very loud talking sister.

Sunday a garden is cleaned and a nice neighbor tills it up for us.

Sunday after the garden is tilled, two children run amuck in the dirt.

Sunday evening, a walk to the waterfalls with a grandma. Two children all filthy with dirt, a mom in a mismatched outfit, and it just happens to be the busiest day ever at the falls. (Not to mention a temper tantrum by a little boy while there.)

Seriously you guys? I'm going a little insane over here. October is crazy busy for us and having a child that has gone from energetic to high energy is not helping matters. Somethings got to change, so I'm changing up some parenting techniques in hopes it will lead to better results. Wish me lots of luck; I'm going to need it.

Daddy is home with us today, so while running a few errands I successfully convinced him to let us stop at the pumpkin patch. And by pumpkin patch I do mean one of those tourist traps that pretend to be a pumpkin patch. But don't you worry, Daddy had a very fun time feeding the goats!

Max made sure the giant sheep was properly fed.

And Rory? Well that girl was rocking it in her pigtails, jean skirt and rain boots. I'm telling you Auntie Katie, best birthday present ever, that girl goes nowhere without her boots unless we bribe her.

And I decided to let Max take a picture with my camera. The sun was bright as it tumbled out of a cloud so I pulled down my sunglasses. The only picture Max got that actually had me in it? Yup, with me squinting and pulling down my sunglasses.

We are a classy family. And also? A family that now has 3 awesome pumpkins to carve! Yippee!

Yesterday the kids and I took Maya for a walk down to the waterfalls. It was a beautiful day and since the fall colors have peaked this week I wanted to try some pictures before the leaves started falling. I also just wanted to get out of the house before Max started acting out, hence him spending the day in his pajamas for these pictures. It really wasn't worth the fight.

Max and Rory had fun throwing the leaves in the air and having them fall all over them. I got lots of pictures of this, but it is still cute to show off!

Once we got to the waterfalls it was just gorgeous. The lighting wasn't the most ideal according to all the books, but I thought it was perfect to highlight just how bright and colorful the leaves were on the bluff!

Rory was so shocked at how well that photo turned out!

When we turned to walk back, Maya tugged so hard at her leash she was standing up on her hind legs. Since I had her pulled in close by the waterfall I couldn't get a good picture to show her standing but notice her head in the right corner of the photo, and then look to the center.

Did you see that? I'll zoom in for you.

Yup, there was a chipmunk not even 10 feet away just taunting her as she tried with all her might to get loose and chase it. (Please note how I was capable of holding Maya back and also get those pictures. Yes, that is skillz, with a z for emphasis.)

I have to show this baby off too.

That leaf was caught in mid-fall! Do you know how hard it is to catch a leaf in mid fall? Try it, let me know how it goes for you. I'll be over here, flaunting my abilities in front of anyone that will listen.

Yesterday I snapped this picture outside of our grocery store.

I had no desire to take Max with me to the grocery store with his recent state of disapproval but thanks to our plans this week it could not be avoided. Max fell asleep on the way to the grocery store and was extremely upset when he woke up. It was impossible to strap him into the cart because every time I snapped it closed he would rip it back open. (Seriously Cub, lets get that worked on, m'kay?) So Rory and I sat on the bench outside of the store while Max had one glorious fit. And since I can't show him emotion or it will just get him more wound up, I snapped this picture and sent Dusty a text. Thankfully, he was close by and came and took the kids home so I could shop in peace.

In other Max news, later that evening, after all had calmed down, we went to his last swim lesson to watch him show off his skills he learned. He chose to do the back float for 5 seconds and was so proud when he showed us!

And can I just say? I'm pretty sure he was the youngest in his preschool class. Either that or just the smallest.

We won't be signing up for classes again soon, maybe when they start offering day classes we'll consider it again. I enjoy unwinding in the evenings and I might as well enjoy that while I can.

Max has me dreading the teenage years. Late last week Max started imposing his independence on us and has been going out of his way to start problems. He'll deliberately ignore something you tell him, when he is told to go to time out he will fall to the floor instead, when he is put in time out he will turn around and walk right back out of his room, and to top it all off, he has started talking back. I got told I was "stupid" numerous times while we struggled with each other yesterday.

Today? He almost didn't get to go to preschool. He would not get dressed and had every toy in his bedroom removed while he sassed back. Thankfully I was somewhat prepared and had him getting ready for school an hour before it started. He also had to apologize to his teacher when we got there because he was late. He didn't like that, but she was very willing to wait for him to talk and gave me a little wink when it was over. Sadly, I actually needed that reassurance, it was nice to have her support.

I know, I know, this is just yet another phase that he will outgrow. This is also an extremely trying time as I'm really struggling with keeping my cool and not showing too much emotion. He is doing this specifically to get me riled up, I can see that, so trying to keep calm and use few words is the problem. It's wearing me out. Somebody tell me this will be short lived? Pretty please?

Oh and did I mention I've decided to remove his nap? I know, that seems counter-productive but really it isn't. He's been staying up later and later and getting into more and more trouble at night, so we're removing the nap. He can take naps when he needs them, maybe twice a week, and we'll go from there. Hopefully that will help out with the bedtime struggles. He already slept later this morning after falling asleep shortly after being put to bed last night, so I'm going to call that a win. And I need a win today.

So, I'm still working on figuring out how to get a glow in the dark picture...but I still had to show it off.

I got these pajamas a couple weeks ago ($7 at Walmart!) and have been waiting for October so they could wear them.

How could I not own these? Matchy matchy!

Thankfully Max was feeling better today as we had plans to meet up with my friend Amy and her two girls. It was cold for the park today so while we did stay there for an hour and a half, I spent most of my time chasing the kids to keep warm.

But I did get this picture. I thought it was cute and since I'm practicing new settings on my camera it was fun to try to figure out how to get the shot to work with the sun directly behind the teddy bear.

No, definitely not professional worthy, but it was still fun to play around! I think I found a new favorite hobby, next to books of course but certainly ahead of cooking. And by favorite hobby, I mean I'm actually enjoying trying to improve my photography skills instead of just taking a bunch of pictures in hopes to get one good shot. I'm aiming for better odds!