Weekly Summary ~ 3/1/15 - 3/7/15

Posting a day later than planned due to lack of internet access.  We apparently had a bad wire leading up to the house and it got replaced yesterday.  No more losing internet and phone service!  WOOT!

It appears that winter might be over in these parts.  I realize we could still get a random snowfall here and there but the past few days have been really nice.  The sun has been shining and the temps around 50 degrees.  Today is a rainy day but it is still warmish.  The snow is melting and the robins are back in town!

Anyway, this is probably my last month participating in Fat Mum Slim's photo a day challenge.  At the end of this month I will have completed a full year with that group.  And since I joined another photo a day group, it is hard participating in both.  So here are my photos from last week ...

{March 1:  Starts with R}

Roses. These two roses are real, dipped in a preserving/hardening agent and then dipped in gold. Both gifts from my dear husband. When I look at them, I am reminded how much he loves me.

{March 2:  Part of me}

Part of me really wanted to stay inside all day where it is warm. But another part of me really wanted to go outside and see how pretty everything was covered in a fresh coating of snow. You can see which part won.

{March 3:  Open}

My vintage camera is much more interesting to look at when it is open.

{March 4:  Geometric}

We have thousands of these in our house. Not all this shape, but still. 

{March 5: Out the window}

I had a completely different picture in mind for today's prompt and then this happened when I was dropping my daughter off for worship practice at church this evening. We haven't had many gorgeous sunsets lately so I had to stop and shoot this out the window of my car with my phone.

{March 6:  Remedy}

The remedy for this cabin fever - daffodils and sunshine. The daffodils are from the market. With about 8 inches of snow still on the ground, it will be a while before we have flowers sprouting.

{March 7:  Sweet}

Keira asked if she could help set this prompt up, so here you go. Ice cream with chocolate syrup. She enjoyed every single bite.  :)

Linking with Tamar:

A quick rundown of last week:
Monday the kids had another 2-hour delay, which really should have been a cancellation since the roads were pretty bad even with the delay.  Wednesday and Friday brought with them cancellations.  Wednesday because of snow and Friday because of the below zero temps we woke up to.  Friday was supposed to be a half day so a delay wasn't going to work.  As of right now, the kids will be in school until June 12.  :(
Spring seems to have arrived here in Pennsylvania!  We have had a couple pretty nice days after all of last week's mess.  Looks like the kids will have their first full five-day week of school since the week of December 15.
Alex had soccer on Saturday, as usual.  His team lost again.  There is one boy who is a good player but he has "anger issues" as Alex puts it.  Anyway, Alex was playing goalie and the other team scored against them.  This boy went over to him and called him an idiot for allowing them to score.  This mama bear wanted to go get in that boy's face, but I didn't.  I let it go and told Alex to do the same when he brought it up later.  The funny thing is - this boy has never played goalie as far as I know.  Frustrating.  We only have 3 weeks left in the season and Alex is having fun, which is really all that matters.
Saturday night we went to the symphony.  It was Broadway night.  What a great show!  Keira was able to volunteer for the National Junior Honor Society (passing out programs and showing people to their seats) so Doug's parents came in to stay with the boys.  When she was done, she was able to come sit with us and watch the show.
That's about it.  Not much excitement here.   :)

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Weekly Summary ~ 2/15/15 - 2/21/15

Another week under our belts.  One more week closer to spring.  Thanks to our lovely Pennsylvania weather, the kids had school cancelled on Monday, Thursday, and Friday last week.  We had record-breaking low temperatures.  Their Easter break is now gone with a couple days tacked on at the end of the year.  And winter isn't over yet.  :/

We had a bit of a warm up on the weekend along with about 6 more inches of snow on Saturday.  But back down to high temps in the single digits today.  Brrrrr!  Global warming sounds really good right now.  :)

Anyway, I'm still chugging along with Fat Mum Slim's photo a day challenge.  And I think I mentioned last week that I started another Project 365 challenge.  I'm allowing myself to use archived photos when I'm stumped or just not feeling it.  When I finish up my year with FMS PAD, I will make more of an effort to take a fresh photo every day.  After all, that's what these challenges are about.

Of course, now that I said that, the first photo of this week is an archived photo.  :)

{February 15: Spot}

This Spicebush Swallowtail caterpillar has spots that look like eyes in order to scare off predators.  We had the pleasure of finding one a few years ago and keeping him in chrysalis form over the winter.  I hope to attract more of these lovelies to our butterfly garden this year.

{February 16:  From where I stand}

It may look pretty outside, but from where I stand it is too stinkin' cold to go out! We are in the middle of "it is so cold it makes my face hurt" temperatures right now. Only 31 days until spring!

{February 17:  Routine}

Exercise is definitely part of my daily routine. For now while it is too cold and slippery to exercise outside, I will continue to do my workouts indoors. Today was strength training. Tomorrow will be intervals.

{February 18:  Bedside}

Today's view from my bedside. Snow, snow, and more snow.

{February 19:  Fresh}

Fresh blackberries anyone?

{February 20:  This is so me!}

Butterflies and sunshine. We had the sunshine today but I had to improvise with the butterflies since it is very much winter here right now.  :) This is a wind chime I bought recently. I can't wait until the weather warms up and I can hang it outside.

(This photo got chosen among the FAB photos for the day!  WOOT!)

{February 21:  Matching}

We bought this matching tea set several years ago for our now-teenage daughter. Sadly it has been stored away for a while. She's a bit old for tea parties. But perhaps my youngest will want to have one with me. He's not too cool (yet) to hang out with his mama.  :)

Linking with Tamar:

Like I said, the kids had school cancelled Monday, Thursday, AND Friday.  
Keira had a violin lesson on Monday.  The boys and I dropped her off and ran a quick errand.  Their doors were frozen shut (motorized sliding van doors) so when we got back to her teacher's house, I asked if I could have some warm water to pour on my doors so we could open them.  When we had run our errand, the boys forgot they couldn't open their doors but they tried anyway.  Well, the doors were closed, but the sensor kept indicating that they were open, so the car was beeping over and over and over again on the way back to Stephanie's.  Ugh.  So incredibly annoying.  Warm water does the trick.  Even if only for a moment.  :)
Wednesday I went up to help set up our store at church.  But then we ended up cancelling Wednesday night kids' classes.  At least it is already set up for this week.  Hope we don't have to cancel again!  Oh spring, you can't come soon enough!  :)
Thursday and Friday were full of movie watching and laziness.  Although Alex and I did run up to the mall.  My Rite Aid register rewards were expiring and I didn't want to lose $8.00.  We also stopped at JCPenney to look for a new purse for me.  Didn't find one.  Alex wanted me to buy him a pretzel.  And a book.  And a toy.  And, and, and ...  Next time I think I will go alone.   :)  (He didn't get any of those things, by the way).
Saturday morning we woke up to snowy roads so we decided it wasn't worth it to go to Alex's soccer game.  When our road looks bad (a main road), it is best to just stay put.  We ended up getting about 6 inches of snow.  However it was a little warmer.  I think we almost hit the freezing mark.  After all those below zero temps, it felt like a heat wave!  :)

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Weekly Summary ~ 1/18/15 - 1/24/15

Last week started with a trip to Lancaster to see the show Moses and ended with me teaching some lovely ladies how to use their cameras in manual mode.  It was a good week!

{January 18:  Today is ...}

A day of traveling. We were on the road a little longer than we had planned. We dealt with ice, snow, a snow/rain mix, rain, and fog. We made it to our destination unscathed though. Keira took this picture with her phone while I was driving.  The mountains of Pennsylvania are so beautiful!

{January 19:  Homemade}

I haven't really made anything (except food) lately. But I haven't photographed any of it. So this is the little rice pack that my daughter made. You heat it in the microwave and put it on sore muscles. My neck has been enjoying the company of this cute little guy quite a bit lately.

{January 20:  Window}

This is written on our front window with liquid chalk markers. Counting down until spring arrives. Although I must admit I was excited about the snow that we got today. It wasn't bitterly cold so we could actually go outside and enjoy it.

{January 21:  In a row}

Dipping into the archives for this one. This is my favorite kind of row. A row of Monarch chrysalises just before the butterflies eclose (aka emerge). I am sooooooo looking forward to this year's butterfly season!

{January 22:  Collection}

Alex likes to play with his collection of Toy Story toys. Woody will always be his favorite though.

{January 23:  Something far away}

Now, in the dead of winter, when surrounded by lack of color, summer seems so far away.

I spent the day getting ready to teach a photography class tomorrow, so this is a stretch, but it'll have to do.   :)

{January 24:  Play time}

I spent the day with these lovely ladies teaching them how to use their cameras in manual mode. We had a fun time playing and practicing their new skills. They want to go for a photo walk when the weather gets nicer so they can practice what they learned. Now, that's my kind of play time.  (Yes, I know that Leslie has her lens cap on.  I didn't notice it when I was taking their photo.)  :)

Linking with Tamar:

We left Sunday right after church for Lancaster.  We took the Bible Quizzing kids since they are doing the book of Exodus this year.  Moses was the perfect show for them to see.  We spent the night at a hotel, got up Monday morning and saw the 11:00 show.  It was incredible!  I had never been to a Sights and Sounds show before and now I can't wait to go back!  

I'm pretty proud of myself for driving all that way.  I'm so used to Doug driving when we go on long trips but he didn't go due to work.  Not everyone could fit in the church van so a second vehicle was needed.  Jenn drove the church van with all the kids (God bless her!) and I drove my van with Keira and two of the moms.  It was exhausting but I did it.  Next time we go I would like to spend more time in Lancaster.  I hear it is a great town full of photo ops!  :)

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful.  I got some stuff done around the house, prepped for my camera class, and watched a movie or two.  Alex had soccer practice on Saturday morning which Doug took him to since I was teaching my class.  We did get some snow on Tuesday and Wednesday, which was kind of nice.

Doug is making slow progress on the bathroom.  He started putting up some of the drywall on the ceiling.  But he's thinking he might want to do something else instead.  When we get time to go shopping together, he's going to show me his idea.

The kids had a snow day today.  We're not getting as much snow as is forecasted for the New England states but we got several inches.  It's about time!  :)   If you are in the area getting all that snow, I pray that you don't lose power!  Keep warm and safe!

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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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Scavenger Hunt Sunday 04.06.14

Happy April!  Spring has officially arrived!  Flowers are starting to spring up in my flower beds and the temps are gradually warming up.  Except for Saturday when it snowed (just flurries) and was rather chilly.  :)  I'd probably be lying if I said that will be the last snow we see this spring.  Though I am hoping.

Anyway, on to this week's Scavenger Hunt ...

{macro}

A macro shot of something in our home.  Can you guess what it is?

{wheels}

I told Alex I needed a photo of wheels so he asked me to photograph his newest toy car.

{shiny}

I bought some Jelly BeadZ a while back and never did anything with them until this week.  I put them in water so they could expand, which is their main purpose.  The kids had a blast playing with them.  And they are pretty shiny.

{weather}

We experienced all sorts of weather this week.  Snow on Sunday; a thunderstorm and lots of rain on Thursday and Friday; and some sunshine in between.

{favorite sport}

This one of from the archives.  Alex's favorite sport is soccer.  This is from last year after he got his award.

That's all from me!  Be sure to pay a visit to Ashley to see more great Scavenger Hunt photos!

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Our Eighth Week ~ 2014

Last week was another unusual one.  The kids had school on Monday (President's Day) to make up one of their snow days, but then had Tuesday off due to more snow.  Then freezing rain moved in which caused a two-hour delay on Wednesday.  Thursday morning I was finally able to meet my friend Amy at Panera.  We had postponed two weeks in a row because Alex was sick.  It was nice getting caught up.  Friday I watched another friend's toddler for a few hours.  You saw pictures of her in Sunday's Scavenger Hunt post.  She's such a cutie!  Saturday I taught a class teaching folks how to move out of auto mode on their cameras.  It was really fun!  I came home to a really cool snow fort built in the back yard.  (That was shown in the scavenger hunt post too.)  Then my two nieces hung out with us Saturday night while my sister-in-law went out with friends.

Here's hoping this week is more normal.  So far, so good!  :)

Anyway, here are a few snaps from last week ...

Sunday afternoon I noticed the snow had changed from pellet-like to more fluffy, so my macro and I went out to investigate.  I managed to capture some more snowflake close ups. (If you didn't see the last batch, here's the link ... Beauty can be found).  I'm eager for spring to arrive, but I will miss seeing all the details in the snowflakes.
(Linking this to P52 - Sweet Shot Tuesday)

I "caught" Nick reading his Bible on Tuesday afternoon (the snow day).  I love seeing my kids dig into the Word of God!

Tuesday evening Nick had finally dug a big enough hole out of this pile of snow to be able to fit in it.  He wanted to build an igloo but ended up with more of a cave.  :)

The sunsets last week were all very different but all very beautiful.  At least on the days that we saw the sun.  :)  This sunset was on Saturday.  You can see most of the snow is gone now - after the warmer temps we had.

While my nieces were here on Saturday, they had fun with Nick and Alex playing in Alex's tunnel.  I managed to get him to be still long enough to snap a pic.

That's it from my neck of the woods.  Thanks for stopping by!  Make your week memorable!

Linking with Tamar, NC Sue, and Create with Joy.

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Scavenger Hunt Sunday 02.23.14

Welcome to another Scavenger Hunt Sunday!  I sort of fell off the face of the blogging earth this week.  I was finishing up the prep work for the class I taught on Saturday - Saying Goodbye to Auto Mode.  The class went really well and my students left with some knowledge in hand, equipped to move that dial from auto to manual and actually know what they are doing.  Yay!

Anyway, let's get to the hunt ...

{see, sea, or c}

Alex wanted me to go outside to "see" the snow fort he built with his dad on Saturday while I was teaching my class.  I was impressed!  I wonder how long it will last, with the warmer temps we're having right now.

{chair}

I babysat for a friend of mine for a few hours on Friday.  Selah loves Yo Gabba Gabba and sat quietly in this cute little chair for a while watching it.

{symmetry}

I had an opportunity to photograph some more snowflakes last Sunday afternoon.  One of the things I notice about snowflakes, besides their beauty, is their symmetry.  Fascinating!

{blanket}

Another photo of Selah, this time with her blanket.  We were playing peek-a-boo.  My kids are too old for photos like this now.  :(

{giggle}

My nieces came over for a while on Saturday evening while my sister-in-law had some time to herself.  There were lots of giggles going on!

Thank you, once again, for stopping by!   I do appreciate your visits!  I hope to get time to return the visit this week, now that my class is out of the way.  In the meantime, be sure to visit our gracious host, Ashley, for more great Scavenger Hunt photos!

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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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