Scavenger Hunt Sunday 09.02.12

Time for another Scavenger Hunt!  The kids went back to school this week, so we're all adjusting to the new schedule.  I have to admit, I'm enjoying having all three kids in school all day.  No more half days for Alex.  Although I haven't been home much to get anything done as I've been helping my friend, Laura, clean her new house and get ready for painting.  It has really been fun and surprisingly good exercise.  However, it is absolutely exhausting.  We took the weekend off and will get right back to it on Tuesday after Bible study.  I can't wait to see what it looks like with fresh paint!

Anyway, let's get on with the Scavenger Hunt ...

{candid}

Candid shots seem to be the only kind I can get of Nick lately.  He's not that fond of my camera these days.  Although he did cooperate during our back-to-school mini photo shoot on Tuesday.

{toys}

We have lots and lots of these toys around our house.  Nick loves playing with LEGOs.  And I love that he needs to use his imagination to build things.  And what interesting things he builds!

{any of the five senses}

We were looking but not touching this garden spider that was hanging out on the side of our pool.

{batteries}

Keira finally had to change the batteries in her talking dictionary this week.  She's had this for several years and I think this is only the second time the batteries needed replaced.  And she uses it all the time.

{half}

Alex made it about half way across the monkey bars the other evening after our photo shoot.  A day or two later he came home from school telling me that he was able to make it all the way across.  He was so proud of himself!

Be sure to head over to Ashley's to see more great photos!
Have a fabulous week!

Tweet

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. 

Tweet

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 05.20.12

This week's items are Rainbow, Fluffy, Letters, Metal, and Tree(s).  And here are my interpretations ...

{rainbow}It's too bad we didn't have this prompt last week because we had two double rainbows in the sky the week of May 6th and none this week.  At least none that I saw.  So instead I'm loosely interpreting the colorful sun flare in this photo as rainbowish.  :)
{fluffy}We had our church's ladies' luncheon yesterday at which we set up a photo booth where I took pictures of the ladies that came.  The only catch was that we had photo booth props (silly glasses, mustaches, masks) for them to use during their photo shoot.  Some opted not to play along but most of the ladies thought it was a great idea.  I didn't get my picture taken at the luncheon, so I did a rare selfie at home.  And thought I'd be a little silly with the glasses with the fluffy eyebrows and mustache.
{letters}I like to remember the kids' handwriting so I decided to have them write their name a few times during the school year.  This also helps them see how much progress they are making in their writing.
{metal}This photo is actually from a couple weeks ago at my niece Jordan's birthday party.  This is her baby sister, Christy, playing on the playground where there were metal climbing bars.  She didn't stay still for long so it was a challenge to get photos of her.  And she's so unlike her sister in regards to getting her picture taken.  Jordan is very photogenic and loves to pose.  Christy always gives me this look like I'm interrupting whatever she's doing.  :)
{tree(s)}If you've been around here a while, you should recognize this tree.  It is my neighbor's tree and I absolutely love it.  It has so much character.  I captured it one morning this past week when it was terribly foggy.
Well, that's it for me.  Be sure to head over to Ashley's for more great photos.  And if you'd like to play along for next week, here's what to hunt for ...

1. Beneath Your Feet
2. Capturing Movement
3. Texture
4. Face Your Fears
5. Currently

Have a great week!

Tweet

A Beautiful Morning with Alex

We've been having some pretty nice weather this week.  Chances of thunderstorms almost every day but they either come during the night or miss us altogether.  So we've been taking advantage and spending our mornings outside when possible.  Monday we went to our church so I could walk/run and Alex could play at the playground.  But instead of playing, he took along a Bible and sat down to "read".

He is learning how to read very simple books, so I'm sure he wasn't really "reading".  But the fact that he picked the Bible over all the other books we own to bring along with him makes me smile.

Once I was done exercising, I joined him at the playground for some fun.

And took lots of pictures.

I have a hard time getting a genuine smile out of him, so I was happy that I got this next photo.

Even if you can see the gum he had in his mouth.  :)


We're still waiting for two of his adult teeth to come in on the top.  They must be lost in there somewhere because he lost the baby teeth months ago!

Now that school is in the home stretch for this year, I feel a sudden urgency to cherish our mornings together.  Because during the summer it won't be just the two of us with Keira and Nick home also.  And in the fall when he starts first grade and will be gone all day ... well, I just don't want to think about that right now.  :)


            

Tweet

Wild & Wonderful Wednesday #2

Welcome back to my second week of Wild & Wonderful Wednesday!  Today just happens to be the 15th wedding anniversary for Doug and me.  Wow!  I can't believe it has been 15 years! I don't think I'm old enough to have been married that long.  :)


Thank you to everyone who linked up last week!  And for those of you who gave my new photo party a shout out on your blog!  (you know who you are)  :)

I have a variety of photos to share this week.  Just a few that I took recently that make me smile.

I took Alex to the playground on Saturday while his sister was on a field trip to the circus and his brother was at a birthday party.  He apparently thought it was more fun to ride on the dino's head than on its back.  :)

We brought home some milkweed seed pods the other day so we can plant the seeds for our future Monarchs.  I thought it would be fun to see what I could get with my macro filter and the fluffy stuff that the seeds are attached to.  Well, let me tell you ... photographing milkweed fluff is no easy task.  First, don't breathe or it will fly away.  Second, don't let the dog walk past wagging her tail or it will fly away.  Third, don't let the kids run past or ... well you get the idea.  :)  For this photo, I added a layer of soft pink at 16% opacity.  Mouse over to see the clean edit version.
             

This bird stayed in the tree long enough for me to get off a couple shots.

Since we removed Alex's training wheels, he just keeps getting better and better at riding his bike.  As I wrote on Monday, I had to do a lot of running to keep up with him on the bike trail.  He was doing awesome!  Now I'm thinking he needs a new bike for Christmas.  His legs are getting a little long for this one.  :)

Anytime I try to take pictures of Nicholas, I always end up with a few faces like this.  This boy knows how to make me smile.

Finally, I dare you to look at this and not smile.  Can't do it, can you?  :)


Now it's your turn to link up your Wild and/or Wonderful photos!
Just a few things first ...
1.  Grab my button and link up below.
2.  Link up your post URL (or Flickr photo URL), not your blog URL.
3.  Photo(s) must be yours please.
4.  Try to visit and comment on a few other linker uppers.  We know how much everyone loves comments!
5.  Please bear with me while I work out the kinks of my new photo party!  Thanks!



<center><a href="http://kimberlysperspective.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfwwyaMEvjZkk1W2QvexI3Mq6nMxsLltPDHIZ9MGgTqe6vRUdZBrqjZkUU5MSlwqcNCqKkln6_IfbLazBDkdcnTctpPuYXZ1vFqN06YX7wkpoTJiIkvHB0dH7VlNb3nMGT-3GxFBHjrk0Q/s1600/Wild-and-wonderful-wednesda.jpg"/></a></center>

Also linking up with:

          

Tweet