Our Seventh Week ~ 2014

I honestly didn't take many pictures last week.  Most of the ones I took were for Sunday's Scavenger Hunt.  But I do have a few other random photos to share with you ... 

I'm a bit obsessed with snowflakes lately.  (Did you see my close ups of snowflakes?)  I mean, as long as it is going to keep dumping snow on us, I may as well enjoy them, right?  These were stuck to our living room window.  (By the way, the kids are off school again today because of more snow and ice.)

Keira made Oreo Bon Bons for her Youth Group Valentine's Day celebration.

Alex missed school two days last week due to illness.  He slept a lot,watched a bunch of movies, and colored.  

Because Alex was sick and hadn't made his Valentine's Day box yet, I made one for him.  We decided on Olaf from Frozen.  Friday morning before school I had him hold it for this photo.  He is trying to smile big like Olaf.  :)

Once again, I helped out in Nick's classroom's party.  Cat, the room parent, came up with this game where they had to transfer tissue paper hearts down the line using straws.  At the end there was a bag to place them in.  The team who filled up their bag first was the winner.  It was fun to watch.

I also finally got to go to lunch with my friend, Nikki.  It was a great time talking and catching up with each other.  And I did some one-on-one photography/camera training on Saturday after soccer.  My student, who is a first grade teacher, is getting it!  I love that!

I have a couple classes coming up where I will be teaching folks who to use their cameras.  I'm excited to help people get comfortable switching out of auto mode.  I can see a vast improvement in my photos since I switched from auto about 4 years ago.  Makes me wish I could go back and re-take those images.  :)

Linking with Tamar today:

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Project 52 - Week 51

Last week had so much crammed into it, it seems like it lasted a month!  Is that possible?  :)  I mean, our church's Christmas play was just last Sunday but now that feels so long ago.

Anyway, just days before Christmas and not one gift is wrapped.  Maybe today I'll get a few done.  If not, they just won't be wrapped this year.  I'm not fretting about it.  Keira and I want to make some cookies.  Mainly to give as gifts to family.  And because they are fun to make.  And eat.  :)

But enough about that.  Let me show you a few photos from our week ...

Sunday morning was our Christmas play, The Legend of the Candy Cane.  The folks in this photo were the masterminds behind the whole thing so it seemed fitting that they get their picture taken in Mr. Sweets' candy shop.

Sunday afternoon I had a mini snowy session with this lovely couple.  It was COLD!  But we still had a good time.  And I discovered how fun it is to do photo sessions in the winter.  I hope I get to do more!  (Her eyes are so gorgeous, don't you think?!)

My boys crack me up.  We bought new Santa hats this year since our old one had seen better days.  The boys agreed to let me snap a few shots of them together.  I don't really know what they are doing here, but I'm sure they are up to no good.  :)

On Wednesday afternoon I had another mini snowy session with this family.  When Rachel contacted me, she said she wanted a "fun" session so I did my best to deliver.  This idea isn't mine originally.  Sarah did something similar during her Christmas minis and posted a photo to Facebook.  As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to try it too.

During our Wednesday night Children's program we had a Christmas party for the kids, which included a White Elephant gift exchange.  Only the kids didn't bring gifts; we provided them.  Things like old dish cloths, stale bread, last year's phone book, and old muddy boots were among the "gifts".  Most of the kids got a good laugh out of it.  Like Sarah who got a kick out of her old dish cloth.

On Friday afternoon I helped at the Christmas party in Nick's classroom.  One of the games the kids played was a dress up one of your teammates game.  Nick's team won.  They had to dress Clayton up like a Christmas tree.  The other teams were a snowman, a gift, and a reindeer.

Keira loves to bake.  Another great thing about having a teenager in the house.  If I need something made and don't have time, I can typically ask her to do it and she does.  So I gladly returned the favor.  I helped her make cookies to take to her youth group sleepover Friday night.  She needed help getting the Kisses unwrapped and placed once the cookies came out of the oven.


We had a family date on Saturday at the Carnegie Science Center.  The kids had a great time in the sports center.  Keira and Nick kept going on the BOYO.  It was like a human yo-yo machine.  FUN!  We also sprinted against each other and rode in the roller coaster simulator.  It was a great day!

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Back to school ~ 2013-2014

Today my kids went back to school.  So last evening we went out for our traditional back-to-school photo shoot.  (This is only our second year doing them, but you gotta start a tradition some time, right?)  :) 

I asked them to dress in what they planned to wear to school the first day.  And even though I made a few suggestions, their final decisions were their own.

The kids wanted to go downtown, so we packed up and headed out.  We were kind of all over the place in our little city and had a pretty good time.

Here are just a few of our snaps ...

I can't believe she's in NINTH grade!

Alex, my baby, is a big second grader!  {sniff sniff}

Nick is now a 5th grader.  He's growing so fast!

Gotta love free printables.  :)

I'm not sure what is up with Alex's deer-in-the-headlights look here.  :)  We may need a retake of this.

Sporting their backpacks.

This last photo was mostly Nick's idea and partly Keira's idea.  Nick had the idea to lay on the steps holding apples in their hands.  Keira had the idea to put the apples on their foreheads.  I'm not sure why exactly.  But this photo makes me smile so I'm glad we did it.  Although we got a few strange looks while we did it.  :)

What am I doing on the first day of school?  After doing a little happy dance after the boys got on the school bus, I'm headed to the laundromat to wash some clothes.  We're still having water problems and are waiting for the well drillers to come out and give us some options.  Thank God for our emergency fund!  I'll then spend the rest of the day drying, folding, and putting away laundry.  Yippee!  :)  But at least it will be quiet for a few hours.

Linking with:  Sarah and Kristi for Wordless Wednesday. 

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