Week 48 Summary

Do you ever feel like you are so far behind, you will never get caught up?  That's where I'm at right now.  I had such a busy week last week.  Mostly FUN stuff, but still very busy.  So to those of you whom I haven't had a chance to visit, I apologize.  Hoping to get around visiting tomorrow and Wednesday.  This week looks better.  Thankfully.  I need a break before the busyness of Christmas kicks into gear.  Anyway, here's what last week looked like in pictures ...

27 - Put the Christmas tree up while the kids were on Thanksgiving break.

28 - Alex lost another tooth.

29 - Rainbow.

30 - Playing with starbursts and bokeh.

1 - Laura meeting Melissa in person for the first time (they've been online friends for about 6 years but never met in person until now).  Melissa is from Baton Rouge and blogs at Little Mrs. Married.  Laura made arrangements for her to visit us in PA for a week and asked if I'd go to the airport with her to pick Mel up.  So, of course, I had to snap some photos of their first meeting!

2 - Girls' Night fun.  Myself and Mel.  I've been reading Mel's blog for about 2 years and she's just as much fun in person as she is on her blog!  And she's got an awesome southern accent!  :)

3 - We celebrated Alex's 6th birthday and bought him this ukulele that he asked for.  (His actual birthday is today, December 5).  He loves it!

Linking up with:

       

                                                                                                           Monday Rewind at Chic Homeschool Mama

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Thanksgiving ... SOOC

This week's Shoot & Edit/Good to WOW theme is Thanksgiving.

I'll be completely honest ... with hosting Thanksgiving at our house this year and doing the majority of the cooking of the meal, I really didn't take many photos.  It just wasn't something I thought about that day.  Go figure!  :)  So my photo is from Thanksgiving weekend.

We had such gorgeous weather for late November.  Warm and sunny with some spectacular sunsets.


So, as rare as it might be, I leave you with only one photo this week.  :) 


Be sure to stop over at Jill's to see some great Thanksgiving photos.

    

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Gratefulness ... SOOC

This week's Shoot & Edit theme is gratefulness.  That is kind of a hard one to pin down.  There are so many things to be thankful for.  We are all healthy.  We have a safe, warm home to live in.  We have plenty of food and clothes.  We have good friends.  We have a loving family.  I could go on and on.  But what I'm most grateful for (aside from my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ) are these sweet kiddos that call me Mama.  :)

{keira}

{nick}

{alex}

These two boys have really been enjoying playing together.  Unless, of course, they are trying to scratch each other's eyes out.  Or slay each other with their imaginary light sabers.  It is truly a love/hate relationship.  :)

Even the three kids can get along with each other.  This pose was all their idea.  I just let them go with it.  This picture would have been a good one for last week's family theme, but we just didn't have a chance to get out for photos.  Thankfully we found some time this weekend.  Once I crop/clone out Honey's leg that happened to sneak in there, it will be great.  :)

      I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a safe and blessed Thanksgiving.  My edits will be posted on Thursday, so feel free to stop by anytime over the long weekend to see them. The kids and I have some fun things planned and it looks like the weather will be wonderful for outdoor activities.  

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Macro ... SOOC

This week's Shoot & Edit/Good to WOW theme is Macro.  Now I don't have a macro lens (yet!), but I did purchase a set of macro filters a while back and have enjoyed playing with them.  Here are a few SOOC shots taken with my 18-55mm lens and a 10x macro filter ...

I took this photo a couple weeks ago and forget what kind of flowers these are buds for ... impatiens maybe?

These teeny tiny flowers are still hanging on despite the frost we've had.

I posted a similar (edited) photo for my photo of the day yesterday.  I just love all the color in the background from the colorful leaves on the bush where these berries were found.

My sweet husband cleared out the flower bed in front of our house a couple days ago, preparing for winter.  He cut down all the flower stems (that were all dead).  However, he missed this wilting gerber daisy.  It was pretty close to the ground so perhaps he didn't see it.  I'm glad he didn't.  :)

Last, our porch is decorated for autumn with pumpkins, scarecrows, and corn stalks.  I was playing around with photographing the corn stalks and loved this one of the tassels.  The tassels in the background are what is making the bokeh.  Love it!


I am kind of bummed that I just found out Sunday evening that one of my photos from October was in the running for best SOOC.  I was so busy with funerals and stitch removal and field trips and birthday parties that I didn't get a chance to visit Jill's blog until after the voting was over.  :(  I'm excited that my photo was picked.  I just wish I had found out sooner.  I really want one of Gina's camera straps, which was the prize.  Oh well, I'll just have to get one myself.  My thanks to Jill for picking my photo!


Anyway, head over to Jill's today to see more great Macro shots!


I hope to see you back here on Wednesday for my Wild & Wonderful Wednesday photo link up!  And on Thursday for my edits.

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I think I have a problem ...

I have a confession to make.

My name is Kimberly Vensel and I'm addicted to sunbursts.

Whew!  It felt good to get that off my chest.  :)

Seriously though ... ever since I figured out how to get a decent sunburst photo, I can't stop trying to get more!

Here's the first one I did back in July ...

I was so excited to finally get a good one where the sun didn't look like a big blob.  :)

And here are some of the ones I've gotten since ...

Collage template found here.

These were all taken over the past few months.  The big leaf photo was taken just last week.


And here are a few that were taken over the past few days.




Rainbow!  :)



I loved how the light was filtering through the trees onto these dying ferns.



Photo of the Day - October 17 - ISO 400, f/22, 1/100s, 18-105mm lens on Nikon D40
The last three were actually taken this morning while Alex and I were walking on the bike trail.


I realize that not all of them are "perfect", but they still make me happy. And I can't help myself.  


Do you think I need professional help?  I'm not sure they have a name for what I have.  :)

                    

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Leaves ... SOOC

I invited my friend, Laura, and her adorable kids, Liza and Jason, to join Alex and me on the bike trail this morning for a walk.  We haven't seen much of each other lately and we needed some time to catch up.  While it was a bit difficult to get completely caught up with three kids in tow, we did get to talk some.  Hopefully we'll get more time without kids soon.  :)

Anyway, we took our cameras along on our walk to capture some photos of the changing leaves. What a difference since just last Friday when Alex and I were just there!  

Here are some SOOC shots of our walk ...

Jason, Alex, and Liza had a good time running when we first got there.

Alex found a walking stick.

Then ditched the walking stick so he could run.

Laura with her two adorable kids, Liza and Jason.  They were tired out on the walk back.  Guess it was all that running in the beginning.  :)  And maybe the fact that we went about 3 miles.


I really enjoy photo walking with Laura.  We both learn from each other.  She's great at people pictures, which is my weak area.  And I'm pretty good at still-life (at least I think I am?), which she claims to be weak in, although I tend to disagree.  :)  So we inspire each other to step outside our comfy little boxes and try new things.

This leaf caught my eye ... it was caught in some poppy plants.

Liza collected flowers and BIG leaves on our walk.

Finally, this photo was taken on Saturday.  The kids and I went to a fall festival in the small town where my in-laws live.  We parked at their house and walked down and passed this grassy stuff on the way there.  I told the kids to remind me to get a photo on the way back ... with the yummy leaf bokeh in the background.  I sure do love me some bokeh.  :)  And I really love it with the beautiful colorful leaves!

If you would like to see some more great SOOC shots, head over to Jill's.  You won't be disappointed!


Happy Monday!

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Orange ... SOOC

This week's theme for Shoot & Edit/Good to WOW! is orange.  Alex has this orange jacket that he wears all the time, so orange was a pretty easy theme for me.  :)

At last week's final soccer practice, the leaders surprised the kids by breaking out the parachute for some play time.  The kids loved it!

Then when soccer practice was all done, the kids each got a medal for participating.  Alex was so excited, he actually stood still long enough for me to snap one photo of him.  :)  Then he was off to play at the playground for a few minutes.

A few weeks back I was admiring the gerber daisy that was growing in my flower bed.  I'm pretty sure I took this with a macro filter attached - probably 10x.  Now there are 3 more flowers blooming!  I hope they stick around for a while.  We're not supposed to get any frost this week, although it has felt cold enough the past couple days.  But it is supposed to be 78 degrees next Sunday!  I love the crazy temperature fluctuations of fall!

    


Oh, and did you notice?  I now officially have 100 followers!  Thank you!  I'm am truly honored and humbled that 100 people are interested in my little ol' blog.  Even though probably half of you never even visit anymore.  :)  And since I completely forgot about my blogoversary being last Sunday (September 25), I'll be hosting a giveaway this week to celebrate both occasions, so stay tuned!  (Gotta love a good teaser, right?)  :)

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