Caden's Photog Skillz

Caden got a hold of my camera without my knowledge, and somehow managed to snap over 30 shots. Most of them consisted of his immediate surroundings, (ie. carpet, wall, couch). But here are the pictures he took of himself. We can see from this photo session that he's got a very artsy approach to the self portrait genre of photography.

I am so far behind...

on updating my blog; it isn't even funny. I keep thinking that I'm going to catch up, but obviously this isn't happening. Since it's the beginning of the new year, I'm going to start fresh instead of waiting until I have all lingering 15+ posts authored and posted. And to make myself feel better, I will continue to tell myself that I WILL catch up on my backlog. Someday. Eventually. In the near future. Or maybe a little later than that.


Here are are some things that deserve an honorable mention before I begin 2010:


Halloween



Caden's birthday (how terrible is it that I haven't blogged about my baby's second birthday)




Soccer



Art Docent



Moxie Kitty



Tyrone Wells



New Moon




Bookclub



Cole's birthday (how terrible is that I haven't blogged about my six year old's birthday)




Christmas (this would include several posts because of all our fun activities we did this year surrounding the holiday)





As clearly demonstrated, I must force myself to move on and accept the fact that I'm going to be skipping a decent amount of time in my blogging timeline. But once again, I repeat, I WILL catch up. Maybe.

Pumpkin Carvin' Boyd Style

It's pumpkin carvin' time at the Boyd house! Now, the Boyd men don't do anything half-heartedly, and the carving of pumpkins is no exception. Be prepared to see artistry at it's finest.

Prior to the carving festivities, the boys went out to survey their blank pumpkin canvasses - as true artists would! Notice Cole's man-sized gloves for the job.

Several days passed before we moved on to the actual carving portion of this endeavor. Here are the boys in the design stage of the process; sketching their ideas before committing to anything.

Chad and Cole are like two little peas in a pod - artists that take their work very seriously.

Next it was time to hollow out the pumpkins.

Caden had his spoon at the ready.

Cole and Chase were ready too...

Once the biggest pumpkin was emptied, Caden decided to check it out. Hey, what's in there?

Well, look at that! It's Caden!!!

After the necessary prep work was completed, the serious artistry began...

This level of creativity can't be achieved without proper sustenance, so the boys got to enjoy hot chocolate (with whip cream - of course) and caramel apples. This created a bit of a sticky mess, but that's part of the fun...right?

And here you have it...the finished masterpieces!

Chad was especially proud of the spooky "Booyds" pumpkin. He truly is very creative. Great job, Boyd men!

BOYD's vs. WILD (by Chad E. Boyd)

As winter sets into the Northwest and with snow levels dropping quickly I instructed my people (my Dad) to set up another foray into the wilderness. For this trip I will be bringing along my Dad as well as my Grandpa. This trip will also mark the first for my younger brother Chase. He is destined to be a good woodsman but he has a lot to learn.

Our trip plan was to scale Rattlesnake Ledge and enjoy the spectacular views of Mount Si, Mount Washington and Rattlesnake Lake. However once we arrived at the trail head I was forced to re-think the hike. We would be covering 1200 feet of elevation over the 2 mile accent so with the thick fog and wet conditions I just couldn't justify the risk. My Dad and Grandfather would most likely make it okay but Chase is a rookie and I have to look out for the little guy.

Not wanting to waste the trip I decide to take the team on an expedition around the exposed lake bed. This would be the perfect trip for Chase to cut his teeth on.

Here Chase is examine the corps of an old growth Cedar. These trees stood for 700 years before the early settlers cut them down to provide heat or shelter. Now they spend most of their time under the water of Rattlesnake lake. However as you can see the lake has been drained in preparation for the coming rain and snow and finally Spring run off.



Here I watch as Chase explores another of the ancient giants. He's doing well on his first trip, not bad for a rookie.
Here's that same stump. I just liked this picture.

Here I am looking through one of the stumps that was still nearly totally surrounded by lake water.
I covered the perimeter and then went down into the belly of the beast to make sure nothing was hiding.
Once I had cleared the stump and was confident it was safe I let Chase come out and explore it with me.During his search he found an old tennis ball. He was really excited about this find.It was inevitable however and he soon ran out of steam. We loaded him into the carrier that Grandpa had brought along and headed back to the rig. It was a good showing from the young adventurer.

Back at the Dodge we unload the crew. A good trip in the books!

I Have A Punk-Weasel-Rascal For A Baby

I can not believe what my punk-weasel-rascal baby did today while I was upstairs doing important things (looking at Facebook). Normally if I'm going to be upstairs for any length of time, I will confine Caden to his Jumperoo because of his rascal baby ways (you have no idea the amount of ingenuity and effort this child will expend to do mischievous things when no one is looking). But since I was just going to be a quick minute, I left him to roam free. I was about halfway down the stairs when the smell of chocolate came wafting up to me. I unsuspectingly thought to myself, "Mmm, that's a pleasant smell. Chocolate-y. I like chocolate. I wonder where it's coming from." It didn't take me long to realize what had happened. Caden used his 1 minute of unsupervised freedom to yank on the food cabinet doors until the lock popped off, find the messiest possible food item, and then help himself! He indulged in an entire (brand new) container of hot chocolate. I hope you enjoy the photos as much as he enjoyed smearing the chocolate-y powder all over himself and everywhere else. Guess where he sits while I type this little tale??? That's right...trapped safely in his Jumperoo!

Caden's thought process was probably something like, "Hmm...did I do this? Well, I better make the most of it!"

Right when Caden saw me, he said very matter of factly, "Oops. Sorry, Mom." But there was no remorse in his voice.

Clearly he's having a lot of fun.

Empty Swiss Miss container!

Figure eights in the powder!

"Hmm. My hand is dirty. I hate to be dirty. My mom should really do something about this."

"Mom? A little help, please."

Sometimes as a mom these are the things that I find myself having to laugh at. I think the only other alternative would be to cry! It's a good thing the world's craftiest punk-weasel-rascal baby is also the world's cutest baby! Love you, Caden!!!