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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Our 30th Week ~ 2014

We finished up Keira's third and last week of summer gym on Friday.  Yay!  She's happy to be able to sleep in once again.  Even if only for a little while since school starts back up in about a month.  And she has an early bird class, which means she starts at 7:20 every day.  Which also means I have to drive her.  Which means I have to get up early every day.  :/

Anyway, we had a family picnic at our home last Sunday, then a church picnic yesterday.  Both were fun!  The boys and I went swimming on Saturday and had a blast!  (Keira was babysitting for a friend).

We are also going strong with the Monarch raising.  As of today we have 21 in chrysalis, 18 caterpillars in various stages of growth, and 4 eggs.  I check for caterpillars or eggs every chance I get, which is why we have so many.  I even found 3 eggs on a tiny milkweed plant that was growing in my garden.  I had planted hundreds (thousands?) of seeds but didn't fare well with plants.  Of the 3 eggs, only one hatched.  But still, imagine how many more I will have next year when I have much more milkweed growing in my garden!  

Okay, so onto last week's photos.  Still playing along with the Photo a Day group on facebook.  And still loving it.  If you will remember, I challenged myself further to include at least one family member in my photos this month.  Even if it is just fingers or toes.  See if you can spot the person or body part.  :)

So without further ado, here they are ...

{July 20: Moment}

I wasn't there the moment our Monarch caterpillar formed its chrysalis, but I hope to be there the moment it emerges as a butterfly.

{July 21: Basic}

Spent some time teaching Alex the {basic}s of playing jacks. Including how to spin them like a top. He was impressed when learning of my hidden talent.  :)

{July 22: I wore this ...}

I wore (and still wear every day) my Fitbit band. It keeps track of my fitness and gives me my "happy buzz" when I reach 10,000 steps in a day. It is very motivating!

{July 23: Macro}

I had promised a macro shot of our Monarch butterfly's chrysalis to the PAD group. The trick was getting a person in the shot to keep up with my personal challenge. So, I managed to get part of my finger in the shot - lower right corner.  :)

{July 24: Water}

Even at 8 years old, he still loves to take bubble baths.

{July 25: Home}
WARNING! GROSS BUG ALERT!  Scroll on by if you need to.  I will understand.  :)

This cicada decided to make his temporary home on our pine tree. The boys discovered him shedding his skin/shell this afternoon. I'm not a fan of cicadas but I have to admit this is cool and gross at the same time.

{July 26: Fun}

This is not a photo you will see often - me in a swimsuit.  :) But the boys and I went to the pool this afternoon to swim. I don't normally swim with them but I did today. And I'm so glad I did. We had a blast! (Nick took this photo of my with my husband's little waterproof Fuji camera).

If you missed Sunday's Scavenger Hunt post and want to see a few more pics from last week, head over and take a peek.  Here's the link ... Scavenger Hunt Sunday 07/27/14.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great week!

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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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 Fourth Week ~ 2014

Last week was interesting.  {ahem} 

The kids had off Monday for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  Tuesday they were off for an in-service day.  Wednesday they had a 2-hour delay because of the frigid temps.  Thursday was finally a normal school day.  But Friday they had another 2-hour delay because of the cold.  

(For those of you who don't know what a 2-hour delay is, that is when the kids start school two hours later than normal.  The idea, I guess, is that the roads will be clearer or the temperatures a bit warmer if they start later.)

Doug and I had planned to take the kids snow tubing on Tuesday.  He took a vacation day to do just that.  But as Tuesday approached and we saw that the high for the day was supposed to be in the low teens with wind chills below zero, we decided that wasn't the best idea.  The higher you get in the mountains, the lower the temps.  So we opted to drive down to Cabela's instead.  Being indoors was a much better idea.

Anyway, here are a few photos from last week, including some from inside Cabela's.

On Sunday afternoon Alex was playing with one of his trains and asked me to take pictures of the track that he had built.  I did, but then I snapped a quick one of him also.

The kids in front of the big mountain that is inside Cabela's.

I was impressed with the animal exhibits they had there.  They looked so real.  And the background paintings on the walls were great.

Keira asked me to take a picture of the coyote.  We both agreed it is kinda creepy, the way it looks like it is smiling.  :)

Just having a conversation with a moose.

Scary polar bear.

Nick traded a bunch of LEGOS with a friend in exchange for a used air soft gun.  He asked me to take his picture with his new toy, and since he doesn't often ask to have his picture taken, I was glad to oblige.  Tough guys wear mittens, ya know.  :)

We were out playing in the abundant snow on Saturday.  Honey, who loves everything about snow, was refusing to look at me as she often does.  I have many profile shots of her.  :)

So there's just a snippet of our week.  Other snippets can be found in Sunday's Scavenger Hunt.  (In case you needed something to do.)  :)

Linking this weekly summary with Tamar.  Go show her some love, won'tcha?

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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 04.28.13

It's been another crazy, busy week!  But somehow I managed to get all the prompts again.

{walking}

Keira is now part of the Strolling Strings program so she been practicing walking while she plays her violin.

{yummy to my tummy}

Does this really need an explanation? :)

{favorite toy}

Nick has a new favorite toy - a LEGO set he bought with his birthday money.

{what I did this week}

Just one of the many things I did this week ... visited Phipps Conservatory with my mom.  I shared more photos a few days ago.

{anything}

I bought a cake stand at the thrift store the other day.  It doubles as a trifle dish, which is great because now I can try some of the yummy recipes being shared around blog land lately.  Like this Red Velvet Blackberry Crash Cake from Kleinworth & Co.  Anyway, when I placed it on my kitchen counter, I noticed that the lid top makes my back splash look abstract.  Cool, huh?

We're going to watch Nick get baptized this morning so it is an exciting day here!

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great week!  

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Project 52 - Week 16 ... My 1,111th post!

Hello!  Happy Monday!  It was a beautiful day today!  I had a wonderful time with my mom.  We visited Phipp's Conservatory.  We haven't done something like that - just the two of us - in a really long time.  I can't wait to process the photos I took and share some of them with you!

But first, allow me to share what we did last week.

We had fun with bubbles.

We got a new family member.  Thanks, Gina!

Alex got a new toy.

And we enjoyed some springtime flowers.

As I was starting this post, I noticed that this is my 1,111th post.  Cool, huh?

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you have a fabulous week!

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