This and That

My days have been filled with shooting, editing, and butterfly rearing lately.  God has really blessed me in those areas which has left little time for blogging.  But I thought I'd pop in for a moment to share a few pics.  Okay, maybe more than a few.  :)

August consisted of:

A lot of this ...

And this ...

And this ...

And lots of this ...

And let's not forget my lovely assistant on several occasions ...

But August wasn't ALL work.  We did squeeze some family fun in too.

We spent a day at Idlewild.  Nick is missing from this pic because he refuses to ride the Loggin' Toboggin.  :)

We visited our local farm show and the kids rode some more.

The kids and I visited a new-to-us state park.  We hiked and swam and explored.  It was a great day!

Keira and I finally donated our hair.  We each got 10 inches chopped off!

The kids went back to school on August 27.  I will share their back-to-school photos another time.  You're welcome.  :)

Then September came.  Which brought with it this beautiful baby girl ...



And these lovely teens ...


And most recently, this polite young man ...


I have four more sessions scheduled this month.  On top of planning a 16th birthday party, helping with children's ministries, and PTO.  And let's not forget homework with the kids, the never-ending piles of laundry, keeping the house somewhat presentable, trying to spend at least 5 minutes here and there with my sweet husband, and making dinner most nights.  Why is it my kids think they need to eat supper every. single. day?!  

I think maybe I'll sleep next year.  :)

Despite all that, we are trying to squeeze in at least a little fun this month.

Alex was excited to be old enough for the Young Eagles plane rides this year.  He looks so small in that plane!


The kids have next Friday off of school, so we are hoping for nice weather so we can do some more hiking/exploring at a nearby park.

We also had more of this ...

Let me know if you see her (or any of the others I have tagged - TLA 175 - 183 so far).


My last caterpillar got into its J form yesterday ...

And went into chrysalis today - shortly after this handsome male emerged from his chrysalis.


I'm sad to see this year end, but it has been a remarkable year!  If the last four make it to adulthood, I will have raised 156 Monarchs this year!  WOW!  156 miracles happened right here in my office over the past 3 months!  Praise God!  Planning for an even better year next year, God willing!

Lastly, Keira is taking a photography/graphics art class this year as an elective (which makes this mama very happy) and needed to create a collage.  She chose to do a butterfly collage.


Isn't it spectacular?!  All of the photos are mine except for the white dots around the edges.  Apparently I don't have any photos of white butterflies.  :)  The only requirement for the project was that she included at least one photo of herself.

The template was cut out using the Silhouette machine - each wing section is about 10 inches.  She cut each photo out and placed it all on a black foam board.  Once it was all stuck down, she cut around it with an exacto knife.  Needless to say her teacher was impressed.  :)

Well, I need to get back to editing.  I hope to blog more about each session and my Monarch journey this summer soon.  Hope you are having a great day!

Linking with Kim today ...

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Better Late Than Never, Right?

We bought a gingerbread house kit sometime in December.  And then forgot about it.  Until January 2.  Too many other things to do, I guess.

So instead of pitching it, we broke it out and made it.  The kids had a fun time making and and eating it.  Even if it was a little late.  They didn't care.


You can tell which sides the boys decorated and which Keira did.  :)


It came with a packet of green fondant.  I think Nick called this his alien guy.


  


  

The gingerbread was prebaked, which made this super easy to whip up. 

Next year, if we make one, we will have to try to do it BEFORE Christmas.  :)

Linking with Tamar's new weekly link up ...



Go show her some love, won't you?

Happy Monday!

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Scavenger Hunt Sunday 10.06.13

Sometimes I'm just too tired to say anything about the Scavenger Hunt.  This is one of those times.  :)

{something colorful}

Sometimes Doug buys me flowers just because he loves me.  Like these colorful ones he brought home the other day.

{light}

I know I shared this the other day in the Nurture Photography challenge, but I just love the way the light was hitting these leaves.

{you}

A few weeks back the whole family went mini golfing together.  It was a fun time.  Keira took this photo of my trying to get my ball unstuck from between these two "rocks".

{in motion}

I asked Keira to help me with this prompt by allowing me to capture her in motion.  It was fun to play!

{afternoon}

Thursday afternoon I needed to run a quick errand and the boys came along for the ride.  While there they found these Duck Dynasty beards that they just "had to have".  :)  Nick plans to be one of the DD guys for Halloween this year.


That's it for me.  Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to go visit Ashley, if you haven't already, for more great Scavenger Hunt finds.

Oh, and if you are interested, I'm giving away a sweet children's board book that would be great for a young child in your life.  Go check it out!

Have a great week!

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Last Swim of the Summer ... Project 52 ~ Week 35

A friend of mine had told us about a pool nearby that we had never heard of.  It is tucked out of the way on a road that we don't travel often.  So since we finally had some hot summer-like weather last week (right before school started), I took the kids there to check it out.  It wasn't super busy and the kids had a blast!

Nick spent a lot of time getting out and jumping back in off this platform.

Keira enjoyed playing around with the boys for a while and a few friends she made while there.


Alex was excited to be allowed to swim in the deep end.

Once the pool started to get even less busy, the boys decided to go play in the shallow part where the fountains are.

To say they had fun would be a gross understatement.

They had so much fun that we can't wait to go there next summer!

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A Night at the Drive-In Movies

Drive-in movies bring back some great memories for me.  When I was a kid, we had a drive-in nearby and my mom would take us on occasion.  There was really not much else to do in my small town, so the drive in would be hopping on a Friday night.  I can remember stopping at the grocery store to pick up some snacks on the way there.  Cookie Crisp cereal was something we always bought since that was the only time we ever got to eat cereal like that.  :)  Then we would pile in the car and head to the drive in.  We would place the old metal speaker in the window and prepare for an evening of big-screen entertainment.

That drive-in theatre is no longer there but we do still have one in our area.  So, not wanting my kids to miss out on the experience (especially since I've heard rumors that this one is closing for good after this season), we picked up some snacks - including a generic version of Cookie Crisp cereal from Aldi :), brought blankets and pillows, and piled in the car.  The technology is different now as there are no more old metal speakers.  Instead you use your car's radio, tuned in to the station they tell you for that particular screen.  

We got there around 8:30, knowing that we'd have about an hour before the movie actually started.  So we brought a soccer ball, bubbles, and some glow sticks to entertain ourselves.  

The sky wasn't spectacular by the time we got settled, but it was still pretty.

We had lots of fun with the glow sticks.

It was a pretty chilly evening.  Temps didn't even get to 70 degrees yesterday, which was a welcome break from the oppressive heat we've been having.  However, it made for a cold evening at the drive in.  By about half way through the first movie, we had all moved inside the car.  Squeezed in as best we could.  

Alex fell asleep about 3/4 of the way through Turbo.  We woke him up at the end so we could regroup.  I turned the car around facing forward and we all sat in our own seats.  The boys complained a little - being in the back seat and all - but we made it work.  And we were much warmer for Despicable Me 2.

The second movie ended around 1:00 a.m.  I was surprised that everyone was still awake at that point.  However, as soon as we got home, the boys brushed their teeth and headed straight for bed.  Keira and I unwound for a little while and then hit the sack also.  Needless to say, we all slept in this morning.  :)

I'm glad to have gotten the chance to share this experience with the kids.  And who knows?  Maybe we'll get a chance to do it again before the summer is over.

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