Weekly Summary ~ 6/21/15 - 6/27/15

Vacation Bible School week!  Fun. Long. Exhausting. But oh so worth it!

{June 21: Performance}

Alex's performance in yesterday's kickball game wasn't stellar, but he still had fun. Until he decided that jumping on the trampoline would be more interesting.  :)

{June 22: Loud}

Nick definitely lives life out loud. He can have fun in just about any situation. He can also get himself in trouble in almost every situation.  :)

{June 23: Tickled Pink}

I was tickled pink to see these two Great Spangled Fritillary butterflies loving on my milkweed blossoms this afternoon. They aren't Monarchs, but I'll take what I can get right now.   :)

{June 24: Photographer}

One from the archives. During Vacation Bible School week my time is not my own. Plus I hate taking selfies. That is probably why I became a photographer ... so I could spend time photographing other people.  :)  This particular photo is my profile pic on my Facebook photography page, Kimberly Vensel Photography.

{June 25: Stands Out in a Crowd}

This gorgeous lady, who surprised us with her arrival, most definitely stands out in a crowd. Say hello to Frances, formerly known as Rambo.  :)  We came home from Vacation Bible School to find this beauty had emerged from her chrysalis. Then we walked up to show her to our recently-widowed neighbor and asked her if she would help us rename her since Rambo isn't a good girl name. Her sister's name was Frances, so we blessed her day by allowing her to name our first Black Swallowtail butterfly.  (Posted this in the group on Friday due to being so busy with VBS stuff on Thursday).

{June 26: Tick Tock}

The window of time to capture a gorgeous sunset is limited. Although sometimes when you slow down, sit, and enjoy watching the sun setting, God treats you to an even more beautiful sky.

{June 27: The Big Day}

The big day for this incredible couple is in just under a month. I have the honor of photographing their wedding in July. I can't wait!
This photo was chosen as one of the Top Shots of the day!  WOOT!


I posted in time to link with Tamar!  :)



Sunday we celebrated Father's Day.  Doug cooked dinner, as he often does on the weekends.  I offered but he said he didn't mind.  That way he can cook what he wants (corn and sweet potatoes).  :)
Monday VBS started.  Need I say more?  :)
We actually had a great week at VBS.  Everyone who helped was right where they were meant to be.  Everything meshed together nicely.  We had an average of 40 kids each day.
Also on Monday my sister-in-law sent me a cell phone picture of a Monarch butterfly she saw while out walking.  Yay!  It was about 10 miles from my house.  I have yet to see one with my own eyes.  Soon, I hope!  If this stupid rain would ever go away for more than a day at a time.
On Thursday after VBS Nick left for Boston.  He qualified to go to the Regional Bible Quizzing event.  It was kind of tough letting him go alone but I knew he was in good hands.  They got to the college in Quincy around 2 a.m.
I was up until almost 2 a.m. finishing up the slideshow for Friday's VBS.  I always take pictures all week and make up a slideshow to show the kids on Friday.  They love seeing their pictures up on the big screen.
The last day of VBS we always host a picnic in the fellowship hall for the kids and their parents.  Everyone had a great time.  We had been raising money all week to help dig water wells in Burkina Faso, Africa.  On Friday at the end of VBS, Jenn announced that we had raised $3,000!   But then during the picnic she announced that someone had put in an additional $1,000 taking us up to $4,000 raised!  It costs around $6,000 to dig a water well so the villagers can have clean drinking water.  We plan to continue to raise money until next year when missionaries from Burkina Faso come to visit our church.  I can't wait to present them with the amount we raise!
Keira had made chocolate chip cookies for the picnic.  They were a huge hit!  Several people asked for the recipe and there were NONE left at the end.  
When we got home from VBS, we had a wonderful surprise.  Our first Black Swallowtail butterfly had eclosed!  She is pictured above as the June 25 photo.  I didn't get to post my photo on Thursday because of VBS busyness.  Some days are like that.  :)
On Saturday we got up early (instead of sleeping in like I usually do after VBS week) and Doug drove Alex and me to Ohio to get some Monarch eggs and baby caterpillars.  A very generous woman that I met on one of the Monarch butterfly groups on Facebook offered them to me.  And since she was just over 3 hours away, we made the drive out.  It rained and poured and rained some more, which made me very thankful that Doug was driving.  :)  Sarah, the butterfly lady, was so gracious.  She took us to lunch at a local diner called The Nutcracker.  We loved the place!  They had nutcrackers all over the place and an old jukebox where you can play 3 songs for a quarter.  And very cool retro decorations.  We didn't let her pay for lunch though.  After her generosity with the Monarchs, I couldn't let that happen.  :)  Buying her lunch was the least we could do.
On the way home we stopped at Cabela's.  I bought a tent for butterfly rearing.  Got the idea from Sarah.  I am hoping to breed some Monarchs this year and have eggs and cats to share with others.  Wish me luck!  We made it back home around 7:00, exhausted but excited to be back in the Monarch raising swing of things!
On Saturday I also got word that Nick was awarded a Silver medal at Bible Quizzing Regionals.  So proud of him!

Here's hoping for another great week!

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Weekly Summary ~ 1/4/15-1/10/15

During the first full week of January I pretty much hibernated.  It was so cold this week that I only went outside when totally necessary.  :)

{January 4:  I hear ...}

Keira practicing on her new acoustic guitar. Her natural talent amazes me!

{January 5:  Square}

Totally uninspired today, so this is as good as it gets.

{January 6:  Round}

Something round that I use almost every day.

{January 7:  Currently reading}

(I actually just finished a book last night, Iscariot.  Wow.  Powerful story.  So I had to come up with something else.)

My favorite magazine.

PS - I hate selfies.

{January 8:  Landscape}

My favorite tree as seen today. I think I have a photo of it in every season.

This photo was taken through my dining room window which is currently frozen shut. It is a whopping ZERO degrees here today with a wind chill of -18F. School has been cancelled due to the frigid temps. All of that means that this girl will continue her hibernation until further notice.

{January 9:  Pattern}

Playing around today trying to capture water drop patterns. This isn't as sharp as I would like, but it will have to do. It is really hard to focus on a water drop!

This photo got 307 likes on the FMS PAD page.  That blows me away!  I almost didn't post this picture because it wasn't up to par.  :)

{January 10:  Hello}

Honey says HELLO from sunny, but frigid Pennsylvania!

I did actually step outside today to take this photo of our beauty. She LOVES the cold and snow. We were only out for about 5 minutes and my face was already hurting from the blustery winds. So now we are back inside - she's napping; I'm getting some editing done - and inside is where I plan to stay. 

Absolutely nothing exciting happened last week.  It was bitterly cold and snowy.  Although the sun did shine several days which made the cold a bit more bearable.  We missed church on Sunday because Alex wasn't feeling well.  We did go to Ministry School in the evening though because he was feeling better by then.  Or else he was faking it.  :)  Keira had a violin lesson on Monday evening.  Then we stopped at Panera Bread to pick up dinner because we were starving.  :)  The kids had school delays on Tuesday and Friday and school was canceled on Thursday.  Which also meant my PTO meeting was canceled.  Church services were canceled on Wednesday night.  Keira was sick on Friday - thus prolonging my hibernation since I didn't have to drive her to school for early bird.  I did have to run up to the boys' school though.  That was all I did though.  It took about 20 minutes to clean off and warm up my car in order to run a 5-minute errand.  Saturday I taught some great ladies how to knit a ruffle scarf then came home and hibernated some more.

Doug did start ripping apart the bathroom on Saturday so I guess that's kind of exciting.  Hoping it doesn't take too long to renovate the bathroom!  We have everything bought except the commode.  It is picked out but not yet purchased.

So that's pretty much it.  I'm not feeling the greatest right now.  Headache and upset stomach.  I'm hoping I'm not getting that yucky stuff that's been going around.

Hope you have a great week!

Linking with Tamar:

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Our 28th Week ~ 2014

Another fun week has come and gone.  We started out the week with church (as always) and a birthday party at a good friend's house.  The boys had a blast launching water balloons with this sling shot thing they had.  Then Keira started summer gym on Monday.  For 3 weeks she has to attend since she doesn't have room in her schedule for gym once school starts in the fall.  Funny thing happened though ... Keira told me that summer gym was from 9AM-noon Monday through Friday, so I dropped her at 8:55 Monday morning and went on my merry way.  When I picked her up at noon, she told me she was actually supposed to be there at 8:00 and was an hour late!  Her teacher was easy on her though and isn't going to make her make up that hour that she missed.  So the rest of the week, we made sure she got there before 8:00.  :)  It was tough on both of us since we are both night owls and don't like to get up early.  Though I have to admit it is harder on her because she has four hours of gym class where I go exercise for 30-40 minutes and I'm done.  :)

On Monday my new camera body was finally delivered!

I had ordered my new camera on June 30.  With Amazon Prime I get things in two days typically.  So when I checked the tracking on the package on Tuesday and it hadn't changed from the shipped status, I began to wonder.  All day Wednesday we stayed home because I had to sign for the package.  But the man in brown never came.  I was so disappointed.  Tracking still showed the same.  Thursday I got onto a chat with a customer service rep from Amazon only to find out that my camera got lost somewhere between Amazon and UPS.  She placed a new order for me and told me it would arrive on Monday, July 7 because of the holiday.  More disappointment.

The main problem was that I knew I couldn't stay home all day Monday and wait for the UPS man.  Keira had to be dropped off and picked up from summer gym.  So I prayed that the UPS man would come while I was home and he did!  I know that may seem like a silly, petty prayer, but God answered it.  I was able to sign for my package and try out my new baby!

Another funny story, on Thursday the UPS man pulled up our driveway, which puzzled me because I hadn't ordered anything.  He needed me to sign for a package, which he thought was odd also.  When he handed me the package, I knew exactly what it was - the lost camera!  I brought it inside and went immediately to Amazon to contact customer service.  My boys, in the meantime, decided to go ahead and open the box.  Grrr.  Not the camera box, but the shipping box.  After some checking and discussion it was decided that I needed to ship the camera back (well, duh!) and that they would reimburse me the amount I would pay.  So Friday I took the camera to the UPS store and shipped it back.  I just find it funny that it eventually turned up.

Anyway, as I still play along with Fat Mum Slim's Facebook photo a day challenge (remember I am challenging myself this month to include at least one family member in my photos), here are last week's photos ...

{July 6 - View}

This was my view of Alex playing on a caboose - now a tourist information center.  He loves trains so much and was in his glory!

{July 7 - First}

 I am super excited about tthis photo for a couple reasons. The photo is of Alex holding a milkweed leaf containing a teeny, tiny Monarch caterpillar. The first of hopefully many we will raise this summer. We hatched this one from an egg that I found on July 4th. When we got up this morning, it had hatched! The second reason I am so excited is because this is the first photo I took with my new Nikon D610 - my first full-frame DSLR. I was still trying to get it all set up at this point, but so far I love it!

{July 8 - I've never ...}

I've never been a fan of taking selfies.  I always look like such a dork.  :)

{July 9 - Alive}

Our new little Monarch caterpillar is alive and well!  Eating like crazy and cuter than ever!

{July 10 - Sharp}

Sharp(ies) are fun to color with.

{July 11 - Gold}

Gold(en) hour is my favorite time of day to take photos.

{July 12 - Interior}

Alex was excited to see the interior of the mill at McConnells Mill State Park the other day. He was very curious about how everything works. However, he wasn't patient enough to listen to the tour guide who was teaching about the history of the mill.  :)

We also took Honey to the vet for her yearly checkup.  She is doing well.  I had a family photo session Thursday evening.  Will post that session soon.  Friday Keira and Nick both had sleepovers.  Since I couldn't get anyone to take Alex so Doug and I could have a date :), Alex and I snuggled up and watched a movie on Netflix.  Then on Saturday morning, Doug, Alex, and I went for a bike ride.  And Alex took me on a lunch date to Applebee's.  But somehow I ended up paying.  :)

Linking with Tamar.

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Scavenger Hunt Sunday 05.04.14

Hello!  It is Scavenger Hunt Sunday time!  I missed last week's hunt - just didn't get around to it, I guess - but I'm back this week.  After a mostly-rainy week I'm really hoping for some sunshine today and the rest of this week.  Despite the chilly, rainy weather, I did manage to get outside a few times and enjoy the fact that it isn't freezing anymore.  :)

Anyway, here are my interpretations of this week's prompts ...

{on my feet}

On my feet are these cute little sneakers.  Too bad they aren't as comfortable as they are cute.

{shapes}

Nick used some of his birthday money to buy an airsoft gun and some ammo.  Now I am finding all these little round BBs all over the house.

{little things}

I have been participating in Fat Mum Slim's photo a day challenge since the beginning of April.  "Enjoy the little things" was one of the prompts for which I used this photo.  And I get to use it again today.  :)

{good}

So, yeah, two flower pictures with quotes this week.  I have been trying to take photos with more negative space lately because I love a good photo with a quote.  I will probably order an enlargement of this one and hang it in our dining room.  I'm creating a wall of inspirational photos to help encourage my family and me.

{egg}

Obviously this is not an egg, it is a goose.  But he was defending his mate's nest, which was probably full of eggs, from another goose.  They are very territorial, I have read.  I'm hoping to go back in a week or so and see some baby geese.

Linking up with Ashley.  Be sure to go visit her for more great Scavenger Hunt photos!  And have a great week!

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Our 17th Week ~ 2014

Whew!  Last week flew by!  We started out with Easter Sunday church service where Keira played her violin accompanied with Josh on the piano and Sean on the bass guitar.  They sounded great!  My mom, sister, and nephew, who was on leave from the Marines for a week, came to hear her play.  She was so nervous before she went up.  Then afterward she said she wondered why she was so nervous.  Here's the link to the video I made.  (Very non-professional - just a proud mama recording her daughter.  At least it is in focus!)  :)

Sunday after church we had our Easter dinner and then celebrated Nick's 11th birthday.  The weather was soooooo nice that we were outside the majority of the day.  We had a fun egg hunt with Jordan and Christie.  Kyle, my nephew, and Doug threw a football around with the kids for a while.  And we just enjoyed each other's company.

Most of the pictures I am sharing today are from the Photo a Day challenge I am doing this month.

{April 20 - Egg}

My sister gave each of my kids one of these cute little M&M eggs for Easter.  Like they need more sugar after having cupcakes and Dairy Queen ice cream cake for Nick's birthday.  :)

{April 21 - Close}

The lilacs blooms are getting close(r) to opening!

On Monday afternoon my friend, Melissa, came over and showed us some skin care items and did my and Keira's makeup.  Once we were done, Keira thought we needed to do a mini photo session.  This is her favorite shot from that session.  She says she looks "fierce."  )

I also got this sweet one of Nick.  I have figured out that we can't do a full-blown photo session with him.  He prefers if I take his picture in smaller chunks of time.  He seems to cooperate better that way.  :)

{April 22 - Four Things}

Four things ... that are no longer.  YUM!  :)

I was having a good hair day (before going out in the rain anyway), so I decided to take a few selfies.  I needed an updated profile pic for my facebook page.  Selfies are not my favorite thing.  I truly hate taking pictures of myself.  I always feel like such a dork.  Maybe some day I'll share the ones that didn't make the cut.  Or not.  :)

I was trying to hold a branch on our maple tree down low enough to take a picture of some of the blossoms when Nick decided to help me out.  He climbed up, broke one off, and handed it to me.  Not exactly the way I wanted to get a photo of a maple blossom.  :/  I still like how colorful they are though.

{April 24 - A Pop of Color}

One of the buds on our neighbor's bush.  I don't know what kind it is.  I just know I like to photograph it while it is flowering.  :)  And I'm really into negative space in my photos lately.  Could you tell?

{April 25 - Remember}

The photo challenge was created by an Australian woman and I guess April 25 was Anzac Day, which is like America's Memorial Day.  Hence the "remember" prompt.  Many people were posting pictures of war memorial type stuff.  I took this picture of my photo books because I created them so we can look at them and remember the good (and bad) times we have had.

{April 26 - Enjoy the Little Things}

This little violet was growing in our yard.  It made me smile because it reminds me that spring is here!  See why I like negative space?  It leaves room for a quote.

Some things I did last week that were not photographed ... Bible study, boys' dentist appointments, Keira's dentist appointment, Keira's violin lesson followed by worship practice - now that she is playing with one of the worship teams at church on Sunday mornings, a piano recital that one of our Wednesday night church students was performing at and invited me to (she and all the other players did a great job!), and Keira's Strolling Strings performance Saturday evening.  I actually did take pictures of that - just haven't processed them yet.

How was your week?  I look forward to stopping by for a visit!

Linking with Tamar.

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Scavenger Hunt Sunday 01.19.14

Time once again for the weekly Scavenger Hunt.  This week's list was a tough one but I managed.  One or two might be a stretch though.  :)

{hat}

We got Nick a Duck Dynasty hat for Christmas.  He has barely taken it off since.

{antique}

This tractor was Doug's when he was a kid.  I think that qualifies it as an antique.  It may be old, but Alex still enjoys playing with it.

{something you are comfortable with}

Keira is helping out more and more in the kitchen.  In fact, she made dinner the other day.  And that is definitely something I am comfortable with.

{who is there?}

This was the prompt that really stumped me.  So, can you see who is there?

{a door}

Alex was peeking at me through the door on this train car.

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

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Scavenger Hunt Sunday 01.05.14

The first Scavenger Hunt of the new year!  Yay!

{photographer's choice}

Me on New Year's day (night).

{lunch}

The kids would love it if I would let them eat Rice Krispies treats for lunch.  Alas, I did not, but I had no recent photos of lunch, so this is what you get.  A Rice Krispy treat train that we made one afternoon.  :)

{starts with the letter g}

As luck would have it, we just happened to make a gingerbread house this week.  After Christmas, but still.  My motto this year is "better late than never".  Not sweating the small stuff.  :)

{my town}

Not exactly a town, but this is my neighborhood.  My favorite tree that resides in my neighbor's yard.

{words to live by}

As I stated in my growth post, this is a year of changes.  Hopefully good.  Pushing myself.  Stretching myself.  Remembering this quote.

Thanks for stopping by to see the first hunt of the new year.  Be sure to visit Ashley for more great Scavenger Hunt photos.

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Growth

I never felt compelled to have a word that I focus on for the year.  Until now.  Over the past month or so one word kept popping into my head.  Growth.

Growth in my relationship with Jesus.

Growth in my relationships with my family and friends.

Growth in my personal development.

Growth in my business.

But hopefully not growth in my waistline.  :)

Seriously though, Growth will be my focus for 2014.  And possibly beyond.  Who knows?

Merriam-Webster defines growth as:

~ a stage in the process of growing

~ progressive development

~ increase, expansion

Grow is defined as:

~ to become larger; to increase in size, amount, etc. (again, hoping to grow in a way not related to my body - in fact, I'll be working against that)  :)

~ to become better or improved in some way; to become more developed, mature, etc.

So there you have it.  What's the point of having a word if I'm not going to put it out there so others can keep me accountable?

As the year progresses I'm sure God will show me more areas where growth is needed.  I am starting a journal (which is a huge thing for me since I'm horrible at journaling) so I can record areas of growth.  And I'm hoping I can look back at the end of the year and see progress.

I will admit that it is kind of scary.  In order to grow you need to be stretched.  Pushed outside your comfort zone.  Pushed beyond your limits.  I will definitely be relying on God's strength to help me through this journey.

Speaking of growth - becoming more comfortable in my own skin is one area that I need to work on.  Getting in front of the camera more, no matter how much I hate pictures of myself.  My kids need that.  I need that.  So here I am.

I hate self portraits.  I do better when someone like Keira is behind the camera talking to me.  I feel like such a dork trying to smile for a camera mounted on a tripod.

But, as I said, in order to grow, one needs to step outside their comfy little box.  No matter how much I like my comfy little box.  Boxes can't produce growth though.  They can only contain; confine.

No more!  Here's to growth in 2014!

Do you have a word?  If so, how did you arrive at that word?  Do you post it up all around your house to remind you?

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