Gus has been enjoying his sister’s dresses lately. Not sure how this got started, but he goes up and put them on. Then, he comes to me and says, “can you zip please?”

Ah, when did he get so big?

The cute just kills me.The very best part was when he told me “I look kind of pretty, mama.” And I replied, “you look SO pretty.”

Awhile back, I wanted to play around with double exposures. It’s an interesting photo technique, exposing a photo twice. There are some incredible examples on Flickr. Technically, what I am doing is a digital merger of two images, unlike a traditional film double exposure where the film would have actually being exposed twice.

This can be done with photo editing software or in some DSLRs. I was playing around with it in-camera, but I’d like to play around with it some in editing as well.

Lena modeled for me first. She is my go-to model, because she’s the best at taking direction and standing still.

This is how one of these exposures looks straight out of camera, no editing applied.

Once Reed saw what I was up to, he wanted to be turned into a rock person, too.

Here’s how his looks, fully edited.

We also took this one and I merged the two photos together, so his body is double exposed, but his close look normal. This is so he’d really look like a rock person.

It seems to work best with textures. I need to experiment more with it, but it’s lots of fun.

Sunday is my favorite day of the week. It’s not uncommon for Aaron to work on a Saturday, so Sunday is the day that either, we do something as a family or I get a little bit of kid-free time.

I’ve been itching to go back to the International Forest of Friendship. We had so much fun there last year. We were planning to go back two weeks ago, but when our van died, that was no longer an option. Instead, we went last weekend.

We had so much fun playing under this gorgeous Red Maple tree from Rhode Island last year (left picture). I was sad to see it with almost every single leaf off already this year (right picture). We actually went one day earlier this year than we did last year.

Instead, we found a different tree to play under.

Reed and Lena decided to roll down a hill. “Let’s roll down holding hands!”

Aaron and I just sat there and watched them roll down the hill. Eventually even Gus joined them.

We walked by this bench. I love the message.

Gus is quite good at the resting part. He was carried for a good portion of our walks today and often requests to be carried like a “baby”.

We also went on a hike in a conservation area. Rocking some 3D glasses, looking for void stuff. 🙂

The left is Reed on his “throne” as he called it. The right photo, I had just told Reed that he was a cross between a monkey and a mountain goat, in reference to his excellent climbing skills.

I took a couple of shots of all 3 kids together. Both boys really need hair cuts, although neither of them seem to particularly want them.

At some point, the boys got way ahead of us on our hike. Lena and I were just chatting.

She is such a lovely person.

Aaron told the kids about tree rings.

Reed said, “So this tree is older than me?!” And I explained that most trees older than him!

We found a geocache at the end of our hike, but these two would rather just sit in the leaves.

It was a nice day of rest, at least rest from the daily grid of work. We did lots of hiking, though!

Two posts ago, I told you about the chickens. We walked to pick up our car, making a special stop to see the chickens. Gus loves them so, so very much.

He also loves his belly.

Running up to them.

He literally could not stop “jumping for joy” at the sight of them.

If I need to remember something about him most of all from the age of 3.5, it is that he literally jumps for joy when he can contain his excitement no longer.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an add. This is his “But, chickens, mama!” face.

They’re not too far, Gus. We’ll be back to see them again soon.

Reminder!!! 8 days left to order shirts! Here’s the link.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled content…

We’ve found a little Friday night routine that we’re enjoying. We’re still keeping up the movie night tradition, but we’ve added on another special part, homemade pizza.

I’ve made homemade pizza many times over the years, but it’s never been a hit. However, this summer, my sister made it regularly and that encouraged me to give it another try. And, I’m so glad I did.

The hard part about homemade pizza is nailing the crust. I found this recipe for homemade thin crust and it’s really delicious. The ingredients are simple enough to keep on hand at all times, too.

The other part of this activity is that Reed and Lena help me. They find rolling out the crust to still be a bit too hard. But, Lena spreads the sauce. Reed puts on some pepperoni. And they share the final touch of cheese.

Once the pizza is in the oven, we unload the dishwasher, they make a salad and I get to work on the dishes.

Oh, and they sit and watch the pizza bake.

This has become a favorite part of our week. After a week of work and school, it gives us time to hang out and chat while we cook together. And, you know, pizza.

Movie night is still a favorite, too. Did I share that we got an air popper several months ago? Not only does this make popcorn really cheap, but it also provides endless entertainment.

Gus joins us for movie night just for the popcorn.

“Mama, you?” Just kidding.