Our Week in Review 2014 ~ 11/2-11/8

Another week bites the dust.  Seriously, does time seem to be flying by?  Or it just me?

Doug worked looooooonnnnnnngggggggg days this week.  Starting on Sunday.  He hasn't worked on a Sunday in a long time.  I barely saw him all week.  :(

Keira's violin lesson got cancelled on Monday, which enabled me to stay in my yoga pants all day.  I love days like that.

Tuesday I finally got to release my last three butterflies.  I thought I would get to release them on Monday and even took the female outside a couple times but she agreed that it was too cold and windy, so they spent one more night with us.  The temperature was much warmer on Tuesday so the boys helped release them before school.  One of the males went first, then the female.  The last male was a bit more hesitant. I took him outside and he stuck around for a while.  I had left to run some errands and found that he was still here when I got home.  I kept telling him he had to go and finally he did.  Praying they are well on their way to Mexico by now.

Tuesday was also Election Day so I voted.  Except the one guy I voted for lost.  I hate when that happens.  :)

Wednesday I attended another school consolidation meeting.  The school board had a lot of questions and none of them have seemed to have made up their mind what to do yet.  I hope that is a good thing.

Thursday I had a PTO meeting, had to leave early to take the boys to Bible Quizzing practice, and then Keira had an orchestra concert.  Everything seems to happen on the same day.  But thanks to some friends helping out, it all worked out okay.  The boys got to go hang out at one of the quizzing teacher's homes and I picked them up after the concert.

Friday the kids had a half day of school.  I had conferences with both boys' teachers, which I wasn't really looking forward to.  However, I left informed and encouraged by all of them.  They really have awesome teachers.

Keira went away for the weekend on a Youth Group retreat.  She came home on Sunday "physically exhausted but spiritually refreshed".  (Her words)  

With Keira away, Doug working, and Nick grounded (don't ask), that left Alex and me.  We had a nice time together.  Just hanging out, reading and watching movies.  I edited all day Saturday while we watched movies together.  He said it was a really fun day.  And we didn't even do anything.  :)

As I have really been enjoying participating in Fat Mum Slim's photo a day challenge, I have decided to continue again this month.  Here's November's list in case you want to play along ...

And here are my interpretations ...

{November 2 - I saw this!}

Our last two Monarch butterflies emerged Saturday but it was (and still is) too cold to release them. So these two males and a female are going to hang out with us until the weather is nicer. The forecast looks good for tomorrow. In the meantime, I take them out of their little homes and feed them and let them fly around a little.

Today Nick was being silly with the boys. Letting them climb all over him. Next thing I know I look over and see this. He would have added the female too but she was being feisty and only wanted to fly around. She's more than ready to go free.

Tomorrow will be a bittersweet day. While I raise them in order to set them free so the circle of life can continue, I will miss having them to take care of. Hoping for an even better year next summer! (By the way, we successfully raised 172 Monarch butterflies this year. WOOT!)

{November 3:  Weather}

I thought the weather was going to be warm enough to release my last 3 babies today. However it is still chilly thanks to the wind. Tomorrow's forecast calls for even warmer temps so I promised them they would go free then. In the meantime, they will continue to eat from sugar-water-soaked cotton balls and hang out inside with us.

My female (on the right) is very anxious to be free. When I take her out of her home, she flies straight to the windows. So I took her outside to prove to her how chilly it is. She agreed and didn't even attempt to fly from where she was perched on my finger. She's a feisty one.   :)

{November 4:  Can't live without}

Today is such a bittersweet day here at the Vensel house. This morning I released my last 3 babies as the temperatures were finally warm enough to do so. One female and two males are hopefully now on their way to Mexico where they will stay for the winter. They have a long journey ahead of them and I pray they make it. Hoping I get to raise their great grandbabies next summer!

I'd say that I {can't live without} my Monarchs, but that's not completely true. I love raising them - taking care of them in order to release them to continue the circle of life - but I would still survive if I didn't. My life would go on. However, we as the human race do need pollinators such a butterflies and bees in order to live. They serve a very important purpose. I just hope that those that keep developing "new and improved" pesticides and insecticides come to that realization before it is too late.

{November 5:  8 o'clock}

We woke up to frost covering the ground one day last week so I threw on a coat, grabbed my camera, and tried my best to capture some of the beauty that was surrounding us.

As I said, this photo is from last week as I was just waking up at 8:00 this morning and was sitting in a school board meeting at 8:00 tonight. 

{November 6:  Made me smile today}

I try to find something positive in every day. Especially on rough days like today. And while I did have a few things that made me smile today, I don't have pictures of any of them. So I'm sharing something that happened a few days ago that made me smile. It's not a great picture - got a little motion blur going on there - but it warms my heart to see my boys and Honey having fun together. We took Honey to this park for the first time on Monday (we have been there many, many times but never with her) and she really enjoyed herself. We will be taking her back again soon to do some more exploring.

{November 7:  On the floor}

Our dog, Honey, often lays on the floor. Though I think she prefers the couch. I can't say that I blame her.  :)

{November 8:  A place}

A place I'd like to be right now since I bet it is much warmer there than it is here.  :)  (This was taken during a sunrise while we vacationed at Sandbridge, Virginia Beach, back in June).

Linking with Tamar:

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Our 27th Week ~ 2014

It is hard to believe the year is half over already!  We had a great end to June and beginning to July!  Relaxing and playing and learning and reading.  Of course there is always some whining and bickering and fighting thrown in for good measure.  We are only human, after all.  :)  But, I have to say, for the most part, the kids are getting along well this summer.

Continuing with Fat Mum Slim's Photo a Day challenge, here are my photos for last week ...

{June 29: Delight}

Obviously this was taken while on vacation.  I was having a hard time coming up with a "delight" photo and this verse kept coming to mind, so there ya go.  :)

{June 30: The end}

Staring down the wrong end of the barrel.  :)  Nick was excited to help me with this prompt.  And, don't worry, all safety precautions were taken in the creation of this photo. Except for the whole pointing a gun at me thing.  :)

{July 1: Red + White}

Keira doesn't usually wear red lipstick and she's not this pale (I lightened her up a bit in PSE) but she agreed to help me make this idea come to life.

Oh, and I have challenged myself further for July ... I am trying to include at least one family member in each prompt.  Even if it is just a finger or toe.  :)  Wish me luck!

{July 2: Something beginning with K}

King.  Too bad I don't know how to play chess.  :)  Doug does though, so this is something he does with the kids.

{July 3: Match}

Or in this case {mis} match {ed}.  :)  (These are my feet, by the way).

{July 4: Stars}

Keira and I had fun with sparklers in the back yard.  And then we watched our neighbors set off fireworks.  They were LOUD!  :)

{July 5: On the table}

My cousin had this old typewriter that she wanted to find a home for.  I knew my kids would love it (and they do) so she dropped it off on Thursday.  It has been sitting on our dining room table ever since.  The kids are having a blast messing with it!

And just for fun, here are a few fireworks photos from the show we watched Saturday night.  A friend invited us to the home of the person who hosts the show every year, so we had front row seats.  It was cool!  (No electrical wires in the way this year).  :)
  

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great week!

Linking with Tamar.  
(can't grab the button today for some reason)  :/

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Scavenger Hunt Sunday 06.15.14

Hello!  Happy Father's Day!  I am writing this to you from our condo at the beach, so I will make it quick.  We arrived yesterday and are having a blast!  Just taking a quick rest until we get back out to splashing in the waves and trying to catch super-fast crabs.  :)

{finally}

I actually took this photo this morning since by the time we walked down to the beach yesterday, it was almost dark.  Alex is excited that we are finally here.  After a couple months of waiting once we made our reservations and counting down the days, the kids are super excited to be here.  Especially since this is our first big family vacation ever!

{worn}

The kids chased this squirrel around for quite a while the other day.  He was pretty fast and they got worn out pretty quickly.  Actually, I think they got bored with him and moved on to other things.

{relax}

Could you relax while a snail crawled on your face?  

{rare}

Painted turtles are not rare, but having one on my kids catch one in the wild is pretty rare.  Nick found this one while we were on a nature walk last week.  Each child held it for a moment, then we put him back where we found him.

{delightful}

The sunset was simply delightful the evening before we left.  I really didn't have time to sneak out to photograph it because I hadn't packed yet (my stuff anyway), but I took a few minutes anyway.  I just couldn't pass it up!

Thanks for stopping by!  Not sure I'll be able to return the visit this week, but I appreciate your visit!  Be sure to visit Ashley, our host, for more great SHS finds!

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Week 34 in Pictures

Another week has flown by!  The kids go back to school on Wednesday.  And I'll be partying all day.  :) Ha!  Not quite.  I'll actually be working my way down my to-do list.  It is pretty long ... the list of things I want to accomplish now that I will have six glorious hours to myself every day.  This is the first year since I've been a SAHM that will happen.  I think it will probably be strange for a while, not having my little sidekick with me, but I'm sure I'll get over it quickly.  :)

We did lots of fun stuff this past week.  A trip to the Pittsburgh Zoo, dentist appointments (okay, so maybe those weren't so much fun but good reports all around), playing at a couple different local parks/playgrounds with some friends we haven't seen in a while, seeing the How to Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular, visiting the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, visiting the Erie Zoo, and relaxing on the beach at Lake Erie.  I might have to nap in the afternoons while the kids are in school to recoup from all our activities!

{Sunday}

I took this photo for last Sunday's Scavenger Hunt coffee/tea prompt.

{Monday}

A tortoise at the Pittsburgh Zoo.  Does he look like he's giving me an attitude face?

{Tuesday}

Rainy day until sunset.  Actually it was still raining when I took this.  Right around that time I realized I hadn't taken any photos yet so this is all I managed to get.

{Wednesday}

This is the kind of face I get when I try to take Nick's picture lately.  Actually he wanted me to see saw with him instead of photographing him.  But since I weigh more than him, I had him captive.  :)

{Thursday}

We are in the thick of raising Monarch caterpillars.  We currently have three in chrysalis and 14 caterpillars - three of which are now in J form ready to form their chrysalis.  This is just one of the ones we brought home to raise.

{Friday}

Doug took the day off and we surprised the kids by taking them to the the How to Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular show.  Loved it!  Afterwards we went to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History to use the free tickets we got while in the hospital.  I took advantage of the mirrors in the hall of gems and made a self portrait.  Sometimes it is the only way to show that I've been there.  :)

    
We also had a Monarch butterfly emerge just as we were heading out the door in the morning to go to the show.  So I took the lid of the container it was in and wedged it in our maple tree (the trunk splits into a nice V shape), snapped a few photos before its wings were completely opened, and left it there.  I didn't want to leave it in the container all day while we were gone.  When we got home, of course, it had flown away.  I'm a little bummed that I didn't get better photos and that I don't know the gender since I've been recording all that stuff.  Oh well, I've got lots more caterpillars to raise so there will be plenty more photos.

{Saturday}

We spent the day at Erie.  First the zoo then the beach.  The kids had a blast.  Keira and Nick were in the water a lot.  Nick was looking for shells or cool rocks.  Keira was just enjoying the water.  Alex was covering himself with sand or running along the shore when he wasn't in the water.  Doug and I relaxed in the shade watching the kids.  It was a nice time. 

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