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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Our Sixth Week ~ 2014

Last week was one like none other.  (Of course, aren't they all?)  :)

I took pictures at a baby dedication on Sunday, spent the day at my church on Monday for craft day, hung out at the hospital photographing a labor/delivery on Tuesday, had the kids home on Wednesday due to school being cancelled (again!) because of snow, spent the day with Alex on Thursday because he wasn't feeling well, took Keira to her violin lesson and went to a PTO meeting Thursday afternoon/evening, on Friday took newborn photos and went bowling, watched Alex's soccer game Saturday morning and went to the symphony with Doug on Saturday night.  Whew!  No wonder I needed a nap Sunday afternoon!  :)

Our Pastor got to dedicate two babies on Sunday.  And they are cousins!  I loved seeing him holding two babies at one time.

Ted and Melody were loving on baby Emerson shortly after he was born.  Being involved in a labor/delivery was the coolest thing!  I hope I get to photograph more births.  Soon!  I shared another of Emerson's birth photos on Sunday's Scavenger Hunt post.  Can't share too many yet until mom and dad get to see them all.  :)

The sun was glistening off the newly fallen snow Thursday morning.  It was a beautiful sight!  If you'd like to see more of my latest winter photos, check out this post ... Winter Continues.

My friend, Jenn, brought baby Jonathan over on Friday afternoon so I could take some newborn photos of him.  He's such a doll baby!  Another photo shared of baby Jonathan in Sunday's Scavenger Hunt post.

My kids had a blast bowling on Friday night with our church family!

Looking back at all the photos posted here, I guess I was in a black and white mood this week.  :)

So that was my week.  What were you up to?

Linking with Tamar ...

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Scavenger Hunt Sunday 02.09.14

It's Scavenger Hunt time again!  This week's list was relatively easy, which was nice.  As much as I love playing along, I don't like getting stumped on prompts.  So let's get right to them ...

{looking up}

First off you get to see me being a dork.  :)

Keira took this photo of me while we were bowling with our church family on Friday night.  We had a blast!  Apparently things were looking up at this point of the night.  However, by the end of the evening, I realized that I was a bit rusty at bowling.  Guess we'll need to go more often.

{light}

Using the natural light from our big picture window, I took newborn photos of this sweet little guy on Friday.  He's only 9 days old in this photo.

{favorite mobile device}

No question about it, Keira's favorite mobile device is her Kindle.  She spends way too much time on it.  :)

{outside}

On Thursday, the day after the big snow/ice storm, Honey and I walked around outside to see what cool things we could find.  Like this frozen water drop.  More pictures from that day can be found here.

{inside}

On Tuesday, I spent the majority of my day inside a hospital awaiting the arrival of this sweet baby boy.  This was my first labor/delivery photo session and I loved it!  I hope to get the opportunity to do them again!

Well, that's it from me.  Be sure to visit Ashley to see more great Scavenger Hunt photos!  Make it a great week!

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Project 52 - Week 21

As I mentioned before, last week was incredibly busy.  But not with things that I would take pictures of.  Like a sick kid, two funerals, and Keira's spring concert in her dark school auditorium - just to name a few.  However, I did get a chance to stretch myself photographically on Friday with a newborn shoot.  I typically shoot outdoors but with a newborn, it is almost necessary to be inside.  Especially on a day when it doesn't quite hit 50 degrees.  I had a fun time preparing for this shoot ... buying fabrics and wraps.  Figuring out backdrops.  I didn't get to use all my ideas because babies don't always fully cooperate, but we did get some shots that I'm sure the mom will love.

I shared a couple in yesterday's Scavenger Hunt.  And here are a few more.

Tamara brought a few outfits for the baby.  We tried to get some sweet naked baby shots at first but quickly discovered that she much preferred being clothed.  So we worked with that.

This is the only shot I got of her wrapped in this scarf.  She didn't stay settled long enough.

I had told Tamara that if she wanted to be in any shots to wear either a plain black or white shirt.  Here the baby is wrapped in her blankie and is very content to sleep in Mama's arms.

I learned a lot during this shoot.  (Like I need elbow and knee pads if I'm going to be crawling around on our hard wood floors.)  And I look forward to getting more opportunities to stretch myself.  Photographically, that is.  :)

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Scavenger Hunt Sunday 05.26.13

Hello!  It is time for another Scavenger Hunt.  In all honesty, I didn't take many photos this week.  I attended two funerals and was busy with other things, so my camera got neglected.  Until Friday when I photographed a newborn.  However, despite my camera neglect, only one of my photos this week is from the archives.


{vacation}

Not exactly a vacation, but the kids and I went to a local lake for a few hours last Sunday.  They liked seeing the sailboats out on the water.

{food(s)}

Just a snapshot of the jelly jar pies we made for the Staff Appreciation Luncheon we hosted at our school earlier this month.  They were a big hit.

{sound}

We got to enjoy the sound of Keira's spring concert Thursday evening.  And a miraculous thing happened ... I left my camera in the car and didn't take a single photo!  I never get good shots in the school auditorium anyway.  It was really nice to just sit there and listen to the music.  Keira had a small solo part in one of the songs and did great!

{texture}

I bought this furry fabric for just this reason ... to photograph this sweet little girl (and hopefully more babies).  She's eight days old in this photo.  Isn't she precious?!

{anything}

And since I could choose to show anything, I chose to show another one of the baby.

Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to visit Ashley for more great Scavenger Hunt finds!

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