Scavenger Hunt Sunday 09.28.14

It has been a few weeks since I have participated in Scavenger Hunt Sunday.  Things have just been way too crazy to add one more thing to my already-overloaded plate.  However, since this week's list coincides with Fat Mum Slim's photo a day challenge that I have been participating in, it was a no brainer to play along.  My apologies to those of you who have seen some of these already or will see them again on Monday for my weekly summary post.  :)

{key}

Keira was serenading me with Lindsey Stirling's Master of Tides in the key of G.

{triangle}

We were pretty stumped on this one. And then this happened.

{favorite word}

Naturally, on her 16th birthday, Keira's favorite word is SIXTEEN.

{celebration}

We had a celebration last Saturday for Keira's 16th birthday.  A friend made us this incredible cupcake cake.  (In case you didn't know, we're kinda, sorta into butterflies around here.  We have raised and released 153 Monarchs so far this year with 2 more in chrysalis due to come out in the next few days.  Check out this post for some photos of our lovelies.)

{best}

When I asked Keira which birthday gift she liked the best, without hesitation she answered this one.  She has been practicing almost every day and continues to improve.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great week!

Tweet

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 08.10.14

I realize it is actually Monday (my time) when I am posting this.  Things have been a bit busy around here.  Good, but busy.  I won't bore you with all the details because I will be sharing photos of all the busyness soon, so let's get right to the Scavenger Hunt photos.

{bathroom selfie}

I realize this isn't a "bathroom" selfie.  And technically my daughter took the photo, but this is all I have.  We went to Idlewild on Tuesday and took my husband's waterproof camera along so I didn't have to lug my DSLR.  We had fun taking "ride selfies".  This was taken on the Loggin' Toboggan.  Nick hates this ride so he sat out.  :)

{hop, skip, or jump}

One of my reasons for busyness ... This lovely family got married on Thursday evening at a local lake.  I had the honor of capturing their memories.  We had some fun taking family photos after the ceremony.  The three teens on the left belong to the bride and the two teens on the right belong to the groom.  Now they are one, big, happy family!

{creative angle}

I photographed a 50th anniversary party on Friday evening for a wonderful couple.  They are becoming like family to me and I've only been around them twice.  :)  They are just so sweet and kind.  I couldn't resist photographing their cake in the mirror that was on the wall nearby.  The cake topper is the one that was on their original wedding cake 50 years ago.  How cool is that?!

{box or package}

Another from the anniversary party.  The couple's daughter-in-law made up these beautiful favor boxes for everyone to take home.  They were filled with minty chocolate chips and candy-coated almonds.  Mmmmmm.  :)

{unfocused}

My best friend sent me an email with this quote in it, so I added it to an out-of-focus photo I took of my one hydrangea bloom.  I plan to print it as an 8x10 (or maybe bigger) and give it to her.  (Sure hope she doesn't see this before I do!)  :)

Tweet

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 08.03.14

Time for another Scavenger Hunt!  We are up to our eyeballs in Monarchs this year!  If you've been following along at all here or on Facebook, then you would know that we are raising LOTS of butterflies this year.  At least we are hoping too.  We have released one butterfly so far and have many more Monarchs in various stages.  Anyway, much of my time this week was spent feeding them and cleaning their containers.  On Tuesday after I left a friend's house, I decided to do more searching (since I was without kids) and found LOADS of eggs and nine (I think) caterpillars.  I plan to do a blog post soon on our progress so keep an eye out for that.

Moving on to this week's finds ...

{two things}

When I was giving these guys some fresh milkweed leaves to eat, I found that these two were hanging together on what once was a leaf.  Looks like a mirror image, doesn't it?

{animal}

Honey is the only animal we have.  Unless you count the frog, two salamanders, 6 or so snails, giant millipede, and over a hundred Monarch caterpillars we are currently housing also.  :)

{handwriting}

I write the Scavenger Hunt list down every week so I can remember the prompts.

{frozen}

This was a late-Saturday-night, I don't have a photo for "frozen" yet, photo.  Keira didn't complain though, because she got to eat ice cream.  :)

{naptime}

We are well beyond the age of naptimes in this house, unless you are Honey who sleeps 22 hours a day :) so Keira pretended to nap for me during our hike Saturday afternoon.

That's all I have for now!  Be sure to go visit Ashley for more great finds!  Have a wonderful week!

Tweet

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 07.27.14

Hello!  It's time for another Scavenger Hunt Sunday!  We had a beautiful week here.  Lots of sunshine and comfortable temps.  And finished the week out with a thunderstorm or two Saturday night.  Just about perfect.

I didn't play along with the hunt last week, but I managed to get all the prompts this week.  Kind of.  Almost.  Well, you'll see.  :)

{eyes}

Nick can't open his eyes under water without his goggles, which he forgot to take.  I love this picture anyway.  :)  (Taken with a Fuji FinePix XP60 waterproof camera - because someone will probably ask).  :)

{upside down}

When a Monarch caterpillar is getting ready to form its chrysalis, it hangs upside down in a J form for about a day.  We currently have 19 in chrysalis as I type this.  We also have 22 caterpillars and 2 eggs.  I love raising Monarchs!

{from behind}

I crept up behind this butterfly in order to get this shot.  And this is the only one he let me get before flying off.

{sunshine}

Alex and I took our dog, Honey, for a walk on the bike trail.  When I saw the way the sunshine was hitting on this particular spot, I asked him if he would cooperate for a few photos.  As you can see, he did.  :)

{cup}

Cup, frog, whatever.  :)

That's it from me.  Be sure to visit Ashley for more great Scavenger Hunt finds!

Tweet

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 07.06.14

Hello!  I hope you had a wonderful Independence Day!  We got to see fireworks right from our backyard on July 4th, which was good because I didn't feel like going to see the local fireworks and fighting traffic.  :)  Then last night a family in our neighborhood - who hosts a fireworks display every year - hosted their display.  A friend invited us to their house which gave us front row seats.  It was pretty cool!  And we didn't have to fight traffic.  :)  (Knowing that we were going to see fireworks on Saturday night also contributed to my decision to stay home on Friday).  Our poor dog was so scared though.  Both Friday night and Saturday night.  She even followed me into the bathroom once on Friday night - that's how scared she was.  She didn't want to let me out of her sight.

Anyway, here are this week's Scavenger Hunt finds ...

{red}

One of the prompts for the Photo a Day challenge I am participating in was "red + white" so Keira helped me out with it.  She doesn't usually wear red lipstick.  And she's not really this pale.  I lightened her face up a bit in PSE.  I did not, however, do anything to her eyes but sharpen them a bit.  I may be a bit biased, but I think she's gorgeous.  :)

{white}

Okay, so it isn't pure white, but it is whitish.  I was so excited to find a Monarch egg the other day during a walk!  We try to raise Monarch butterflies every summer so I'm hoping this is the first of many butterflies to be joining us this year!

{blue}

I took the boys swimming at a friend's house again this week and took along Doug's little underwater camera.  Lauryn, my friend's daughter, was excited to pose for me under the blue water.  :)

{play}

My kids love to play with glow sticks.  We found these multi-colored ones at the dollar store.  Keira and Alex were sitting by our camp fire during the neighbor's fireworks on Friday night and were waving them around - making their own fireworks.

{sparkle}

We bought a HUGE package of sparklers at Sam's Club this week, so I expect we'll be doing a lot of this with them this summer.  :)

Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to go visit Ashley, the host of SHS, and say hello!

Tweet

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 06.29.14

Wow!  The end of June already!  We are mostly all rested up from our vacation and are looking forward to relaxing in July.  Not much planned, which is a nice change.

I want to thank Ashley for an easy list this week.  After last week, it was a much-needed break!

{pink}

Keira on a "bed of roses" ... pink, red, and white.  And, yes, I did go buy roses just so I could make this picture work.  :)  I only used 2 of each color though, so we can enjoy the rest until they die.

{wheels}

I had this idea in my head ... what if we strung glow necklaces through the spokes on our bike wheels and rode them at night?  Fun stuff!

{friends}

I took the boys to a friend's house on Friday so they could swim.  Adam was glad for the company.  He and my boys have been friends for a few years.  I couldn't get them to turn around so I could get their picture together.  In fact, they were hiding from the camera most of the time.  So you get to see the backs of their heads as they swam away from me.  :)

{emotion}

First time in the ocean = happy kids!

{sweet}

I tried a couple berries from our neighbor's mulberry tree.  They weren't as sweet as I expected.

Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to visit our host, Ashley, to see more great Scavenger Hunt finds!

Tweet

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 06.22.14

Hello!  This week's Scavenger Hunt is brought to you from home.  All the pictures, however, are from our vacation since that is where I took all my pics last week.  We are glad to be home, but I look forward to going to the beach/ocean again soon!

{unplugged}

The kids' first experience with the ocean proved to them that they can have fun being unplugged from their electronics.  (I thought this photo could also be used for unleashed).  :)

{unassuming}

If you have been around the blogosphere for a while, you have probably heard of Melissa Bliss Photography.  I have been a fan for a while so was super excited to get to meet her in person while on vacation.  We asked her come take family photos of us on the beach.  After looking up the definition of unassuming (modest; lacking in arrogance; pleasant or polite), she definitely fits this prompt.  She was such a delight!  Keira took this photo of us after our photo session.  (Look at all my freckles!  Yikes!)  I can't wait to share our photos with you!

{unleashed}

Keira was eventually unleashed from her captivity.  :)  
This display was at the Virginia Zoo and, despite the heat, we couldn't pass up the photo op.

{unapproachable}

The crabs on the beach were pretty unapproachable.  They would scurry into their holes as we got near them.  However, the kids were quick enough a few times to catch some.  We always let them go though.

{unaware}

Doug was unaware that Alex was mimicking his every move one morning while walking on the beach collecting shells.  It was fun to watch.

So that was just a taste of our week.  I'll be sharing more vacation pics as I get them processed.  I took a gazillion photos!  Some with my DSLR, some with Doug's waterproof pocket camera.  (The first and last two in this post were taken with his little Fuji.  It does a pretty good job.)  Be sure to head over to visit our host, Ashley, to see more great Scavenger Hunt finds!

Have a great week!

Tweet

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!

Tweet

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 06.08.14

Hello!  Welcome to another Scavenger Hunt Sunday!  We are gearing up for summer break that begins at noon on Tuesday (thanks to many snow days this past winter) and we are even taking a family vacation this year!  The first week-long vacation we have taken.  Ever.  The kids are so excited!  And, frankly, so am I.  The last time we went away for an entire week was my honeymoon, 17 years ago.  Anyway, I may not participate next week since we'll be hanging out on the beach.  We'll see.  :)

But enough about that.  Here are this week's prompts.  Some may be very loosely interpreted.  :)

{denim}

So they are a little hard to see, but Alex is wearing denim shorts in this photo.  :)

{light}

The light was dreamy when Keira and I took some pictures of her with her new guitar in our neighbor's field.

{watch}

Twice this week I stopped to watch the horses in the hopes that I would get some more pictures of Slick.  The first time he was sleeping and would not get up.  The second time he was laying down when we got there, but we kept calling out to him and I think his curiosity got the best of him because he got up.  Eventually he was brave enough to come closer to the fence, but not quite close enough for us to pet him.  Is he not the cutest thing ever?  I am totally smitten.

{perspective}

Same flower/weed; different perspective.  Something Honey and I came across on our walk on the bike trail on Friday.

{fuel}

This dragonfly landed on a stick to refuel.  I was glad it did because it gave me an opportunity to photograph it.  (This one is probably a stretch, huh?)  :)  Oh well, works for me!

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

Tweet