Nurture Photography ~ Yellow/Shine

Last week the Nurture Photography fall challenge started with the color green.  This week we are exploring all things yellow.  I love yellow!  It is such a cheery color.

Here are a few of the yellow things I have come across lately ...

The promise of things to come ...

A new sign in a park we visit frequently.  I can't wait to see what they do with this!

Even though daisies are usually most common in spring and summer, we came across quite a few on our nature walk this week.

The sunsets this time of year are so colorful and vibrant!  Purples, pinks, yellows, and oranges.  Gorgeous!

My zinnias are still going strong.

And a couple that represent "shine" ...

My daughter on her 15th birthday.  It was a rainy, wet, cold day until right before sunset.  Then the sun came out and shone beautifully.  It was a great end to the day.

Thanks for stopping by!  Before you go, check out the giveaway I am hosting for a sweet children's board book, Ryan and Rufus Go to Church!  Today is the last day to enter.

Have a great week!  Next's week color challenge is Orange/Fiery.

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2013 Farm Show

Every year we visit our local farm show.  The kids look forward to it all year.  Seeing the animals, photos, and crafts.  Riding some rides.  Eating a funnel cake (or two) :).  This year Alex and Nick even entered some artwork into the farm show for judging.  And if you saw yesterday's Scavenger Hunt post, you saw that Alex won a second place ribbon and now has three bucks in his pocket!  Nick, who is disappointed that he didn't win, is already planning at least one of his entries for next year.

Here are a few photos of our fun ...

Alex tries to pet as many of the animals as he can.  Even if they are tricky to get to - like this cow.

Keira making friends with a calf.

While Doug, Nick, and I were waiting for Keira and Alex to ride the Fire Ball, this guy made his way over the Farm Show grounds.  I guess he was checking things out from above.  (Textured with Kim Klassen's Isobel).

We actually went twice this year.  Monday evening and Saturday afternoon.  Doug and I got in free on Monday, which left some money left in the budget for some more fun.  And Keira got in free on Saturday since she was going with a friend who had free tickets.  Gotta love free tickets!

Alex talked me into riding something called the Orbiter with him.  They should call it the Vomiter because that's what I felt like doing when riding it.  :)  When we got off, I needed to lay down for a while.  Or at least sit, which I did while the kids rode something else.  I guess I'm getting too old to be riding stuff like that.  Give me a roller coaster over something that spins any day!  :)

Alex was checking out the cars from Erasers.

We even got some BOGO tickets to use there!  I think we will use them this week.

Alex, Chelsea (Keira's friend), and I rode the carousel together.  Well, we tried to ride the carousel.  It went around one time and sort of died.  So we decided that was a good time to look around a little more and head home.  We were all pretty tired by then anyway.

You may be wondering why there are more pictures of Alex than anyone else.  It is because he is the most cooperative one when it comes to pictures.  He often asks me to take his picture while Nick avoids me like the plague.  Keira is hit or miss.  :)

Nick won a goldfish at one of the games.  He had found $12 on the ground right after we got there.  (There was no one near where he found the money - otherwise we would have tried to find the owner).  He used ten of it trying to win a Despicable Me minion (fail!).  Another dollar to win this goldfish, which sadly died today.  And another to buy the light saber in his other hand.

On the way to the car I noticed the sun streaming through the clouds so I had to stop and take a picture.

I entered some photos into the Farm Show and this one won a 3rd place ribbon!  So now I have one of each color hanging on my wall - blue, red, and white.  :)

We had a good time at the Farm Show and look forward to next year!

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Scavenger Hunt Sunday 08.11.13

I almost didn't participate this week because I've had a headache for a few days now that just won't go away.  Too much Farm Show activity, I guess.  But I managed to get all the prompts, so ...

{family}

This small family of fawns (and their mama) have been frequenting our neighbor's pear tree lately.  We have spotted them snacking several times this week alone.

{grass}

After the rain the other day the sun shone brightly.  So I ventured out to capture some sparkles on the wet grass.

{silly}

At the Farm Show this week we met up with a friend of Keira's, Krista.  Krista was nice enough to ride the Tilt-a-Whirl with Nick and Alex.  And they all got silly together while I was taking their picture.

{half}

This little toad that Nick found was no bigger than a half an inch long.  He was crawling up Nick's arm while I tried to take his picture.

{bow}

Bow as in cow?  Or bow as in tow?  That was the question this week.  :)  Read on to see which I chose.
Alex got to take a bow this week after winning a second place ribbon in the farm show with his "Marine Train" painting.  This painting took him all of 5 minutes to create a month or so ago.  He made it not even thinking of entering it into the farm show.  But since he did and won a ribbon, he also got a check for $3.00.  Sweet!

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you make this week a great one!

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Week 31 in Pictures

Whew!  We made it through a whole week without anyone getting sick ... without having to leave the house unless we wanted to.  :)  And we even managed to throw some fun stuff in too.

We have Alex's follow up appointment at Children's Hospital on Tuesday.  Then hopefully he'll be cleared to resume normal activities.  He's been asking to ride his bike a lot since we've been home.  We might just have to hit the bike trail Tuesday evening.  :)

We also have some fun stuff planned for this week as long as the weather cooperates.  We are really looking forward to spending some time together as a family.  Our local farm show is this week.  We go every year and always have a good time.  I entered some photos into their photo contest again this year.  I'll post them later in the week.

Anyway, let's look at last week's photos, shall we?

{Sunday}

My brother's cow had her calf so we went out to see her.  She's just one week old in this photo.  She was feeding and her mama gave her a big lick on her face right before I took this photo.  Isn't she adorable?  I love her little tongue sticking out!

{Monday}

I planted some other bulbs this year so now we have purple and yellow gladiolus flowers along with the red ones we already had.  I love the deep purple of these!

{Tuesday}

I finally got a photo of a bird nest with an egg in it!

{Wednesday}

Another beautiful butterfly I came across this week.  And, of course, I had the wrong lens on so I couldn't get real close like I wanted to.  :)  The color palette consists of colors I managed to find in the butterfly's wings.

{Thursday}

The kids and I went to a local lake with some friends from church.  While there I got to teach one of the teenage girls how to shoot in manual.  We walked around looking for something interesting to photograph and came across these hibiscus growing along the lake.

{Friday}

We have lots of sunflowers blooming right now.  Some are about 10 feet tall!

{Saturday}

Okay, so I have lots of butterflies and flower photos this week.  :)  This Tiger Swallowtail was loving my liatris flowers.  I sat outside and enjoyed watching it flutter around for about 10 minutes.  It stayed longer but I was getting too hot.  :)

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a fabulous week!

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Scavenger Hunt Sunday 08.05.12

Time for another Scavenger Hunt!  I wasn't sure I'd make this one, but I scrounged up some photos, even if they are a stretch.  I claim poetic license all the way!  :)

This week's items are Going back in time, Something just for me, Best part of my day, Night & day, and Look up.  And here are my interpretations ...
{going back in time} I went back two years ago and found this photo from August 5, 2010.  Our first Monarch butterfly.  The one that started it all.  That summer we ended up successfully raising 34 Monarch butterflies!  Looking at this photo also reminds me of how much I've learned about photography and editing in the past two years.  Sheesh!
{something just for me} At the lake the other day I was teaching a teenager from our church how to shoot in manual.  (She has the same camera I do.)  We were walking around looking for something other than scantily-clad people (who really shouldn't be) to photograph when this beauty happened by.  I believe God brought him our way just for me.  :)
{best part of my day} While we had fun at the lake, probably the best part of my day was showing Alyssa how to shoot in manual.  I love teaching people how to turn that dial from Auto or P to M.  We probably both have this same photo on our cameras.  I'm still waiting for her to turn in her homework.  :)
{night & day} Or in this case day & night.  :)
{look up} Some of our sunflowers are nearly 10 feet tall!  You really have to look up to see them!
Thanks for stopping by!  I really hope to have time to visit blogs this week, but with PTO meetings, doctor visits, and school shopping, plus some fun stuff thrown in there, I may not make it by until later in the week.
Be sure to head over to Ashley's for more great Scavenger Hunt photos and to find out what to look for this week.  Make it a great week!

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Week 23 in Pictures

Well, school is officially out for summer vacation.  We don't quite get 104 days like Phineas and Ferb do, but we'll make the best of what we do get.  In fact, you should prepare yourself for lot of pool pictures since we got a pool yesterday and had the fire department come fill it up with water today.  The boys couldn't wait to get in the pool and jumped in while the tanker truck was still here filling it.  They didn't seem to care that the water was freezing cold.  :)  The fireman got a kick out of them.

We're also keeping busy raising our Monarch caterpillars.  Unfortunately we lost five to parasites.  (Well, four we know had parasites; one we're not sure how it died.)  So out of the ten we had, we are down to five.  One is successfully in chrysalis as of Saturday, one just got in to J form, and the other three are just doing their normal thing.  I'm really hoping we get to see them all become butterflies.

We also received our Monarch Waystation seed kit from www.monarchwatch.org.  Doug is going to till up a nice section of the yard for me to plant the seeds.  I don't know how much will grow this year, but most of the seeds are perennials so they should grow again year after year.  I'm excited to have some milkweed on our property instead of always having to search elsewhere for caterpillars.

Anyway, let's take a look at last week's photos ...

{Sunday}

I had been so busy with other things that our lawn was feeling (and looking!) neglected.  Thankfully now that Doug is on a normal Mon-Fri daylight schedule, he has time in the afternoons to do stuff around the house.  So he took care of the lawn this week.  
My "other's perspective" photo for Project 366 Rewind ... because this is how bunnies, chipmunks, and squirrels see my lawn.  Buckeyes and all.  :)

{Monday}

Keira received a High Honor Award at her school's seventh grade award ceremony.  High Awards are given to students with a 4.2 or higher GPA.  Way to go, Keira!

{Tuesday}

Alex's last day of afternoon Kindergarten.

{Wednesday}

To celebrate the start of summer vacation, the kids and I went out to lunch then spent a couple hours at our local petting zoo.  This young camel really wanted the carrot I was teasing him with in order to take this photo.  I gave it to him eventually.  :)

{Thursday}

A hot day spent playing on the slip-n-slide.  We probably won't be playing with it much more now that we have a pool.

{Friday}

The whole family went fishing after supper.  I think Doug was the only one who caught something - one small fish - which didn't make Nick very happy.  I was enjoying watching the boats more than fishing.  Because, let's face it, fishing is boring when you aren't catching anything.  :)
My "water" submission for Project 52.

{Saturday}

The kids brought this strange-looking caterpillar to me to identify.  We think it is a gold moth caterpillar.
My "small" submission for Be Inspired.

Hey, I actually managed to get each theme this week!  Yay me!  :)
Hope you have a wonderful week!  Make lots of memories and take lots of pictures!

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