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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A fun week at VBS

Whew!  Vacation Bible School finished up on Friday and I'm still trying to get caught up on rest!  We had such a great week!  73 kids in all came to our VBS this year!  We had gorgeous weather!  And a really great time learning God's "secret ingredient" which is, of course, L-O-V-E.  In case you didn't know.  :)

One of my [many] jobs for the week was to take pictures and create a slideshow which was shown at the closing program on Friday and then again Sunday morning during our worship service.  I love hearing the kids get excited when they see themselves up on the big screen.  Even the kids who I had to sneak up on to get their pictures (yeah, there were a few) lit up when they saw their pictures.  (I told them so!)  :)

I won't show the slideshow because I didn't ask permission from all those parents, so I will just show a couple snaps of my babies.

Alex was excited to be in the 7 & 8 year old group this year.  No more preschool group for him!  He's a big kid now!  :)

When I asked Nick to let me take his picture, this is how he chose to sit.  I have no idea why.

Keira helped out with the 11 & 12 year old group again this year.  She prefers being with the older kids when it comes to VBS.  After games the kids all got to relax and eat popsicles.  Her group decided to relax on top of the playground equipment.

VBS is always so much work but it is also so much fun.  And so rewarding to see all those kids having fun learning God's Word and praising Him during music time.  I already told the woman in charge that I'm in for next year.  I just want to start planning a little sooner.  :)


On a totally unrelated note, you may have noticed that I haven't been around much lately.  Or perhaps you didn't.  Either way, I don't plan to spend much time blogging this summer.  Just a post once or twice a week.  Maybe.  I'd like to spend as much time as I can with the kids.  We have that bucket list to work on.  And they are only this age once.  As crazy as they make me some days, I want them to look back and remember how much fun we had this summer and not how much time Mom spent at her computer.

Perhaps it is because we lost a lot of last summer due to Alex's extended hospital stay.  Or because I'm feeling a bit nostalgic lately.  Whatever the reason, I'm hoping to make this summer a great one.

Have a wonderful summer!  Make it memorable!

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Week 26 in Photos (minus 1)

Hello there!  We're still hanging out at Children's Hospital while Alex is on the mend from his appendectomy.  He's still pretty sore, but we were able to get him up and walking around this morning.  In fact, we visited the play room down the hall.  He really enjoyed that but it seems to have wiped him out for the rest of the day.  We're hoping he'll feel up to going again tomorrow because the man in charge of the play room promised Alex he could feed the fish they have in a big tank.  Alex is excited about that.

Everyone is so incredibly nice here.  They really go out of their way to make us feel welcome and comfortable.  Even the ladies who take my food orders over the phone are wonderful.  I'll probably gain 5 pounds while we are here from lack of activity and having my meals delivered.  Hopefully that will change tomorrow and Alex will feel like walking more.  I finally got to leave the room for a few minutes today while my mom stayed with Alex and even went out in this nice garden they have right outside the play room.  I saw a huge bumble bee that had buried himself inside a butterfly bush blossom.  (Say that three times fast!)  :)  He dug himself out and flew away, but hopefully he'll be there again tomorrow when I am prepared with my camera in hand.  :)

This post of last week's photos is minus one because, although I did manage to get a phone photo of Alex while we were in the ER on Saturday, the photo is still in my phone and right now I have no way of getting it off.  I can't seem to access my email from the hospital so I can't email it to myself, and the cord that connects my phone to my laptop is at home.  Doug will bring it to me tomorrow.  So Saturday's photo will be included in next week's recap.

Last week was pretty much all Vacation Bible School.  Every morning, Monday through Friday, from 9am til noon, we were at VBS.  Some days we were there later helping with clean up or prep for the next day.  Then most afternoon/evenings were busy with more VBS stuff, like putting together a slideshow of some of the photos I took.  It was crazy busy and exhausting, but fun and rewarding too!


And one more thing, before we get to the photos ... my photo of my niece was chosen among the four finalists for June.  Would you please take a moment to go vote for me?  I'd really appreciate it!

Finally, here's what last week looked like ...

{Sunday}

If you saw yesterday's Scavenger Hunt post, you already saw this photo with a verse on it.  A pretty sunset taken behind our church.

{Monday}

Our church's Vacation Bible School started today.  Alex really enjoyed the craft time.  They got to primer their project today and then paint the next few days.  I thoroughly enjoyed my jobs this year.  I was photographer, points keeper, money counter, and registration person.  Some days were incredibly busy, like Thursday when I had to finish up editing and putting together a slideshow for Friday morning, but it was great fun.

{Tuesday}

This handsome little boy belongs to a friend of mine.  This was his first year participating in a VBS.  He loved it!

{Wednesday}

This beautiful lady joined the world today.  She actually emerged from her chrysalis while at VBS.  I took the container with me since I knew she'd be arriving today.  The kids thought it was really cool when I was walking around with a butterfly hanging from my finger.  We brought her home and let her hang out on our flowers until her wings dried and she flew away.  That's three down with one more to go.  I'm hoping we can find more caterpillars once we get home!

{Thursday}

I am totally cheating on this one as this photo was taken earlier in the week.  Thursday was consumed with photo editing and creating a slideshow.  I was up until almost midnight finishing it up.

{Friday}

All week our VBS Explorers discovered keys to help them open this treasure chest, but they weren't able to open it without all the keys.  Once opened, the kids learned what Jesus would do.  Love.

I apologize for not getting any photos of the themes for Project 366 Rewind (playtime) or Be Inspired (beach).  It just wasn't happening last week.  Although some play time at the beach sounds pretty good to me right now!  :)

    

Have a wonderful week!

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Scavenger Hunt Sunday 07.01.12

Time for another Scavenger Hunt.  This ones comes to you from a hospital room.  My youngest son had his appendix removed this afternoon and we are spending some time at our local children's hospital while he gets better.  More details on that coming soon.  Instead, let's get to the hunt.  I need the distraction.  :)


Sarah is hosting the hunt this week since Ashley just had her baby girl.  Congratulations to Ashley!   Be sure to stop by and congratulate her.  And stop over and say hello to Sarah and link up if you haven't already!

{sunset}

Our church's Vacation Bible School was last week and sometime during the week, the lady in charge asked me if I could do something pretty with our main Bible verse for the week.  We made magnets out of this to send home with the kids.  This sunset photo was taken at the church so I thought it was appropriate to use.  I had a completely different picture in my brain that would be have been great, however I am not in possession of such a photo.  Yet.  :)

   

{sweet}

Our grapes are probably not sweet yet, but by the end of the summer, if the birds haven't eaten them all, they will be.


{hanging around}

We had our third Monarch butterfly emerge from her chrysalis this week.  So we have released three females so far and still have one more in chrysalis.  The butterflies like to hang around for a while after they emerge to allow their wings to dry.  I like to take advantage of this time and get as many photos as possible of the butterflies while I can.  :)


{funny face}

This is the son of a friend of mine.  I hope she doesn't mind me using this photo because this is only one of two funny faces I got this week.  My mind was on VBS, not the hunt.  Anyway, this is C.  He insisted on having me take a silly photo of him after his "serious" one.  I didn't mind at all.  He cracks me up with his funny faces.


{space}

I took this photo for a couple reasons.  One - to show the difference between a newly formed chrysalis (left) and one where the butterfly is ready to emerge (right).  And two - because I chuckled at how little space the second caterpillar left between herself and her sister.


So that's it for me.  If you'd like to play along for next week, these are the things to hunt for ...

1. Patriotic (Paper Heart Camera Theme)
2. View from Above
3. Mosaic
4. Something Tiny
5. Vibrant

I hope I can get all the prompts as I will be hanging out at the hospital for another five days or so.  I guess as long as the hospital people don't mind me wandering around with my camera, I'll be golden.  :)  Here's hoping we can see the fireworks from our window!


Have a great week!

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