Weekly Summary ~ 5/10/15 - 5/16/15

We had another busy, fun week!  Mother's Day was great!  The boys (aka Doug) made me breakfast in bed.  French toast and tea.  I'm not a breakfast eater - usually just drink a protein shake - but for them, I ate and enjoyed every bite.  :)

Last week I mentioned a Plumb CD giveaway.  I got busy and forgot to choose the winner, so thanks to random.org, I chose it today.  The winner is Jennifer Pittman!  Congratulations!

I haven't mentioned it in a while but if you ever want to check out my Facebook photography page, here it is:  Kimberly Vensel Photography.  I'd love it if you'd go over and give me a 'like'.  :)

Now onto last week's pics:

{May 10:  Something Orange}

The sun glowing behind a dogwood tree at golden hour.  {love}

{May 11:  Eyes}

Somehow I didn't manage to get a photo of eyes today, so I'm sharing a photo from last week. The eye(s) of this Julia Longwing butterfly look like a checker board. Pretty cool! 

{May 12:  Pieces}

Many little pieces make up this dandelion fluff.

{May 13:  Lucky}

While I really don't believe in luck, in the spirit of playing along with today's prompt ... 

I feel super lucky (blessed) to have spent several hours with my friend, Sharon, and the polar bears today. They were in the water MUCH longer than normal and Sharon and I had a blast interacting with them and taking pictures. This is Kobe. She's 14 years old and is AMAZING!

{May 14:  The Human Condition}

The connections we make and the emotions we feel aren't always with other humans. Love and admiration for God's creatures is indeed part of the human condition. After all, He did put humans in charge of them. 

{May 15:  Under Pressure}

Nick was under pressure this afternoon during his 1600 meter race. He was determined that he "wasn't going to get beat by a girl. No way. No how."   :)  Boys!

He did great and finished in 5th place! He was in the back of the pack in the beginning - starting out slow - but he really picked up the pace and passed several of the other kids during the 3rd and 4th laps. I'm so proud of his effort!

This photo was chosen among the Top Shots of the day! WOOT!

{May 16:  Connections}

I would have to say these two frogs were feeling a connection, don't you think?    :)

Linking with Tamar:

Sunday afternoon my mom and sister came up.  Linda made an incredible apple pie.  I broke my sugar fast for the day just so I could have some.  And some chocolate chip cookie pie that Keira made.  I had a slight headache on Monday - probably because of all that sugar.  :)  We played UNO as usual.  The kids love playing UNO with them.  Doug made dinner.  It was a great day!
Monday night we attended Keira's National Junior Honor Society ceremony.  She wasn't really into it.  I guess knowing that she's going to be cyber schooling next year (her choice) is making this year's events less exciting to her.  Either that or she's just ready for school to be done.  Maybe a combination of both.  :)
Tuesday morning I went to the boys' school to take some pictures for the yearbook.  A couple students and staff members needed their photos taken.  The kids are much more cooperative than the adults are.  :)
Wednesday I met my friend, Sharon, at the Pittsburgh Zoo where we spent the entire time with the polar bears.  Fifteen minutes or so after arriving, Kobe, the female, jumped in the water, followed shortly by Kona, the male.  They were in and out for the next four hours.  That is the longest they have ever been in the water while I've been there.  Sharon, who visits them more often than I do said the same thing.  They were so fun to interact with!  So playful!  Kobe was very interested in my blue back pack.  She tried to bite it through the glass many times.  (That is what Sharon is holding in the photo from the 13th).  She must have thought it was one of her toys.  I can't wait to go back and visit them again!  Hoping to post photos of our visit soon.
Thursday I went to get my car inspected and fixed (again!).  The same thing they "fixed" back in April.  Which still isn't fixed.  :(  Good thing it is under warranty.  While there I had the pleasure of meeting a World War II veteran, Chester.  He's 91 years old and was a joy to listen to.  We told him he should write a book about his life.
After a PTO meeting, I had to dash out to a Monarch presentation.  I spoke to 22 Girl Scouts about Monarchs and other pollinators.  It was fun.  Every time I speak it is a completely different set up that I need to adjust to.  This time I actually took notes to refer to.  I had written them out while waiting for my car to get inspected/fixed.  It went really well.  Several of the kids there had raised Monarchs in 1st grade at school.  And I believe I inspired several of them to try to raise more outside of school.
Friday evening Nick ran the 1600 meter race at the 6th grade track meet.  (See the photo above).  He likes running and thinks he'll stick with it.  Afterward we stopped and ordered pizza, then met Doug at Home Depot so I could pick out a toilet for our newly-remodeled bathroom.  The original one that I had picked out wasn't going to fit.  :(  Then Nick and I stopped to pick up a couple half gallons of ice cream (instead of going to DQ to celebrate his effort at the track meet), picked up our pizza, and went home to relax.
We rented the movie UNBROKEN and watched it Friday night.  Wow!  An amazing story.  If you haven't seen it yet, you must watch it.
Saturday morning Honey and I went for a walk, came home and did some planting.  Doug helped me plant my Spicebush trees and Black Cherry trees - both host plants for butterflies.  :)  After a shower, we headed over to the Spring Garden show at a local park.  We made sure to visit the Master Gardener's area and talked to the ladies we had met last month while volunteering at another local park.  I bought some dill plants (another host plant) and some Shasta Daisies.  Then we went to my niece's birthday party.  It was a bowling party.  The kids had fun bowling.
Oh, and I did week 2 of couch to 5K over again since I had missed running all the prior week.  Today I started week 3.
It was a fun week!

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Weekly Summary ~ 5/3/15 - 5/9/15

Not much to say today so I'll get right to the pictures from last week.

I will mention the giveaway that I am hosting though.  Go check out this blog post for your chance to win a CD from Plumb.

{May 3:  Color theory}

Not sure if I got this one right, but the soft greens and purples in this photo are very soothing to me.

{May 4:  Rough}

Don'tcha think?  Ouch!

{May 5:  Falling}

I decided to dig into my archives today and share a photo of the famous Fallingwater house that Doug and I toured in 2011. It was built by Frank Lloyd Wright for the Kaufmann family between 1936 and 1939. It is built over a waterfall and is one of a kind. Now owned by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, it is a much-visited national monument. If you'd like to learn more, check out fallingwater.org.

{May 6:  Inanimate object}

There's nothing like a fresh, new box of Crayola crayons.

Surprisingly, this photo was chosen among the Top Shots for the day. WOOT!

{May 7:  Tickle the senses}

My neighbor's lilac bushes are starting to bloom and they smell divine!

{May 8:  Minimalist landscape}

It is hard to get minimalist landscape pictures without trees in the background when you live in western Pennsylvania. All these rolling hills. Not many big wide open spaces.  :)

This photo was chosen as one of the Top Shots for the day! WOOT!

{May 9:  Cars}

This rusty old car is part of a bigger display of antique items on a road that we traveled today. I have passed it before but today I was brave enough to stop and take a photo.  :)

This photo was chosen as one of the Top Shots for the day! WOOT! Two days in a row!

Linking with Tamar:  (late again - sigh)

Sunday we had a meeting about the upcoming Bible Quizzing trip to Boston.  Nick is pretty excited to go.  I have no desire to spend 14 hours in the church van again.  :)

Monday I spent the day at Phipp's with my once-Facebook, now in-real-life friend, Sharon.  We "met" in the FMS PAD Facebook group and realized that we lived near each other.  We both love photography and Phipp's so we decided to meet up and spend the day shooting.  It was great meeting her!  In fact, we are meeting at the zoo tomorrow.  She is the "polar bear whisperer".  Her photos of the polar bears in the water are spectacular!  So I'm hoping that she'll rub some of that off on me and I'll get some more good shots of them.  She calls me the butterfly whisperer.  :)

Tuesday I spent the day gardening.  Weeding and planting. 

Wednesday was Grandparents' Day at the boys' school.  My in laws came to visit with the boys.  I was having a rough morning so I decided to stay home.  I usually go to help with PTO stuff, but they had plenty of help so it was all good.

Thursday was Alex's field trip.  I was picked as a chaperone so I got to go to this one.  It was fun.  We saw an IMAX movie at the science center.  That was a new experience for both of us.  We saw the movie, Born to be Wild.  After lunch we walked over to Heinz Field and took a tour.  It was neat.  The kids certainly enjoyed it.  None of the Pittsburgh Steelers players were there though.  :(
Thursday night was Keira's school orchestra concert.  Doug brought the boys and my in-laws came also.  I had to take Keira early so she could make sure her violin was in tune.

Friday the kids had a day off of school - an Act 80 day.  Since the consolidation was voted in during Wednesday's school board meeting, the teachers needed an opportunity to meet at their new schools.  We didn't do much.  Stuck around home most of the day.

Friday evening I had a prom photo session with one of the seniors I photographed back in the fall.  She looked like a princess.  :)  Hopefully I will share those photos soon.

Saturday Keira and I went to my mother-in-law's church for a mother-daughter banquet.  It was really nice.  They had a medieval theme.  There were grapes and bread with comb honey on the tables for appetizers.  Then we had this super delicious salad and shepherd's pie for our meal.  The shepherd's pie was like a turkey pot pie except with mashed potatoes on top.  Yum!  

On the way home I stopped and took the photo of the car that is pictured above.  I have never been brave enough to stop.  I'm not one to trespass on someone's property for the photo.  Knowingly, anyway.  :)  But I was assured that the owners put all that stuff there for the purpose of people to stop.  No one yelled at me, so all is good.  

When we got home, I changed into my gardening clothes and went back to pulling weeds and planting.  I planted my dahlia tubers in the front.  I still have more to plant but this week is so busy, I don't know that I'll get a chance.

I think that about covers last week.  I'm sure I forgot something but this is long enough.  :)

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Our Week in Review 2014 ~ 12/14-12/20

Last week started out with my birthday.  On Sunday I turned 29.  Again.  The rest of the week pretty much consisted of me helping make candy to give out to our church family.  It was a lot of work but it was fun.  We managed to get it all finished up and boxed on Saturday morning.  Just in time to hand out on Sunday morning.  Whew!

Tuesday we had a Christmas party at Bible study.  I had to leave right after I got there to deliver Keira some ibuprofen for her headache.  She ended up asking me if she could just go home because she felt so bad.  Migraines stink.  So I took her home and got back to the party in time to make a pretty ornament craft.

Wednesday night at church we had our kids' Christmas party.  We sang Christmas songs, listened to Pastor tell a story, had pizza and veggies, and played a gift exchange game.  It was fun.  Mostly.  :)  We are on a break now until 2015.
Our Youth Pastor left on Saturday.  He got a job offer at another church and decided to take it.  The kids are bummed.  They all really liked him and his wife and kids.

Now that things are slow on the business front, I have been enjoying some down time.  I discovered the show New Girl on Netflix.  It is really hard to just watch one episode at a time.  I find myself staying up way too late watching just one more.  :)  I don't really watch TV so I don't even know if that show is still on.

During Christmas break I plan to do some learning.  I bought a couple classes on Creative Live that I really enjoyed when they were broadcast - but I missed parts of them - so I will be watching them again.  I also want to learn more about lighting and camera flashes.

Anyway, here are the photos for last week's prompts from Fat Mum Slim's photo a day challenge ..

{December 14:  Drink}

Since I am celebrating yet another anniversary of my 29th birthday today  I figured I'd better incorporate a photo of myself in today's prompt. So here I am.  Drinking a nice cup of hot cocoa after tucking the boys into bed. I'll probably be up all night now, but oh well.  

We had a really nice day today. After church this morning, we went to the science center where there were a bunch of train displays set up. My youngest LOVES trains. Then we went to the botanical garden because that's what I wanted to do. Lastly we stopped and picked up dinner because you shouldn't have to cook on your birthday, right?  Keira wasn't feeling well so she stayed home to rest.  :(

P.S. I hate selfies!

{December 15: Super!}

There were some super-sized Christmas lights on display last night at Phipps. If I could have gotten one of my boys to pose by them, you would have a better idea of their super size. But, alas, they would not cooperate.

{December 16: Beautiful}

I may be biased but I think my girl is beautiful. Inside and out.

(Archive photo as she's still not feeling well today.) 

{December 17: Sunshine}

This is the closest thing to sunshine that we've seen here in about a week. A Dale Chihuly chandelier in the Desert Room at Phipps Conservatory. Oh, how I miss the sun. I hope it makes an appearance again very soon!

{December 18: Sign}

This sign was on the bathroom stall of the science center. It made me chuckle. 

(Archive photo as I was making candy all day and didn't get to take the photo that I had in mind.)

{December 19: Something to be happy about}

Monarchs make me happy. Planning my butterfly garden for next summer makes me happy. Thinking about all the butterflies I will raise makes me happy.

This is obviously an archive photo. Now that business has slowed down I am able to get caught up on editing personal photos so I'm slowly working my way through - starting with my gazillion Monarch photos.  :)

{December 20: Food}

Chocolate - the 5th food group. 

So that was my week.  We are gearing up to celebrate Christmas on Thursday.  The kids have school tomorrow and then they are off until January 5.  I hope to have a nice, quiet, relaxing break.  A girl can dream, right?  :)

Have a great week!  And a very Merry Christmas!  
And Happy Hanukkah to our lovely host, Tamar!

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Our 18th Week ~ 2014

Last week was a bit more relaxed than most weeks have been.  Sunday I attended a Spring for the Cure event to help raise money for cancer research.  It was a really nice time.  I saw some people I hadn't seen in a while, ate a great lunch with a bunch of ladies from church, and laughed a lot.  I also donated a photography package to the event and am looking forward to photographing the winner.  Monday I took a trip to Phipps Conservatory.  I shared some photos from that trip already so if you missed them, click on the link.  The rest of the week was mostly normal stuff.  Except for having lunch with my friend, Nikki, after Bible study on Tuesday.  It was a very rainy week.  Not much sun to speak of after a gorgeous day on Sunday.  Hoping this week is much more sunshiny!  :)

The photo a day challenge is still going strong now that we are into May.  I'm going to keep going as long as I feel inspired.  I will, at least, finish this month, since I hate starting something and not finishing it.  :)

Here is a peek into our week (haha, I made a rhyme there) ...

I mentioned that Sunday afternoon was spent at the Spring for a Cure event.  Well, after church on Sunday night, we had a surprise birthday party for our Pastor's wife, Becky.  She was definitely surprised!  And this photo doesn't do the cake justice.  It was gorgeous!  It sparkled!

My interpretations of the April Photo a Day challenge by Fat Mum Slim on Facebook ...

{April 27 - Under My Feet}

I cheated on this day.  I was so busy with the luncheon and the birthday party, that I forgot about my prompt for the day.  So I used these tulips that I photographed on Monday that reminded me of the song "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" by Tiny Tim.  :)

{April 28 - Chaotic}

This glass sculpture by Dale Chulily at Phipps looks pretty chaotic.

{April 29 - Contrast}

I played around with some low-key photography with a little help from Alex.  I need more practice but my subject was getting antsy.  :)

{April 30 - Something Silly}

I was cutting out some items on the Silhouette for our Wednesday night kids' class so I decided to cut out some silly monster mouths in order to get a group shot for this prompt.  Don't ask how many shots we took.  I let each kid have a go with the remote.  Some are more snap-happy than others.  :)

{May 1 - Begins with J}

I was at a loss for this prompt, so in order to do something different, I chose this.  John, loo, head, potty - we all have at least one bathroom in our home.  Ours was the first room remodeled (out of necessity) when we bought our house 16 years ago and is in dire need of an update, hence the vintage processing.  Hopefully this year that update will happen!

{May 2 - Snack}

Decisions, decisions.  On one hand - chocolatey goodness.  On the other - a sweet, juicy apple.  One results in the need for hours of exercise to burn off the calories.  The other not so much.  Which would you choose?  :)

{May 3 - Collection}

When I told Alex what my prompt for the day was, he was eager to show off his Angry Birds collection.  He recently "acquired" it from Nick, who apparently no longer likes Angry Birds.

And here's something random:

Our mail man usually has a little treat for our dog, Honey, when he has to deliver a package.  Well, Monday he delivered a package and didn't have any bones.  He promised her he would get to the store and buy some so the next time, she would get her treat.  Tuesday I got home after having lunch with my friend, Nikki, to find this.  A little bone atop of the Painted Lady butterfly kit I had ordered.  How sweet is that?!  

I actually have more photos I could share, but I'll save them for another day.  My camera is feeling the love lately, that's for sure!  :)

Oh, and one last thing.  I'm hosting a giveaway over on my Facebook page, Kimberly Vensel Photography.  Go check it out and enter if you are interested.  Thanks!

Linking with Tamar.

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A Trip to Phipps

On Monday I decided to take a trip down to Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.  My membership was due to expire on April 30, so I figured I had better get in one last trip before it did.  Plus the butterfly show just started and I was anxious to see my fluttering friends.

In the morning the boys asked me what my plans were for the day and when I told them, they both exclaimed "FIELD TRIP!"  Ah, no.  I don't think so.  :)  So I sent them off to school, agonized over which lens(es) to take, decided on just my 60mm macro, and off I went.

The place wasn't busy at all and it was a nice, quiet time away.  I was in a negative space kind of mood, which you will see by some of the photos I took.  :)

My first time through the butterfly room was a little disappointing.  There were only a few butterflies and most of them were too far away to photograph.  Except for these two swallowtails who must have been newly emerged.

I get the strangest looks when I get down on the ground to take pictures - like I did with these grape hyacinths.  :)  I added the sun flare, obviously.  I can never get sun flare like that.  :)

After going through the whole place, I made another swing through the butterfly room.  I was glad I did because one of the workers was releasing some butterflies from the "incubators" and I got to see this beauty.

On my way out I had to get down on the ground again for this shot.  I probably got some strange looks from the folks who were eating lunch nearby but I really didn't care.  :)

I did not renew my membership while I was there, but the next time I go, I will probably become a member again.  It is just a really nice place to go and relax with my camera.

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Project 52 - Week 17

Another busy week has passed.  And another busy week awaits.  What is it about spring that makes my schedule get so filled up?  Today is the first day we have an extra person here with us in the mornings.  I am keeping a boy before school in the mornings until the end of the school year - about 6 weeks.  He's a very quiet, polite boy and seems to get along well with my boys already.

Last week, among other things, I went to Phipps Conservatory with my mom, visited with a friend at Panera, took Nick for his yearly check up, worked on invitations for our school's staff luncheon, had my butterfly photo featured on These Moments, and participated in the 30-Hour Famine that our church's Youth Group was doing.  And, in about hour 26 of fasting, I made cookies (one of my Scavenger Hunt finds) to be enjoyed after the benefit concert.  THAT was tough!  :)  But I'm very glad to have participated.  I will never again complain about having to fast for 12 hours before having blood work done again. :)

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

On Monday my mom and I visited Phipps Conservatory.  We had a wonderful time and can't wait to go back.  This is the photo that was featured on These Moments blog.

The boys have been very eager to help out in the kitchen lately.  This particular day Alex was helping me make home made potato chips.

Nick finds the strangest things.  Somewhere he found this HUGE remote control.  He thought we could use it so he brought it home.  I took his picture with it before it got thrown away.  :)  I don't keep other people's trash.

I helped Nick put together his new Star Wars blanket.  Photo by Keira.

These beautiful grape hyacinths are growing in our church's flower bed.

I hadn't photographed the moon in a while so since it was clear the other night, I ventured out.  This was the night after the full moon.

So that is a taste of our week.  I hope to post my Project Life pages tomorrow.  As long as I get time to work on them today.

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you have a great week!  We are expecting a butterfly any day now.  I'm excited to share photos of it with you!

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