Weekly Summary ~ 12/28/14 - 01/03/15

Happy New Year!

Thus ends another week.  And another year!  They do seem to fly by as I get older.

Here's what last week looked like ...

{December 28:  Book}

My kids love to sit and look at a scrapbook from time to time. Usually they look at their own books, but occasionally they will pull out one of their siblings' books so they can snicker and giggle over the photos inside.   :)

{December 29:  I need less of this ...}

I need less gray, cloudy skies and I need more sunshine!!!!!

{December 30:  Us}

Our most recent photo ... A friend took this photo of us (with my camera) on Christmas Eve. The wise man pointing at Doug's ear cracks me up. I should edit it out, but it makes me chuckle.

{December 31:  My best bit of 2014}

It is so hard to narrow down 2014 to just one photo! I don't wish to minimize any people / places / accomplishments from this past year. But since 2014 was my best year to date in raising Monarch butterflies, I chose this photo. This was one of the last butterflies to leave my care. I successfully raised and released 172 Monarch butterflies in 2014. That just blows me away! My best year prior to this was 2010 when I raised 34. I'm excited to see what 2015 brings!

{January 1:  Sky}

The sky at dusk - the view from our deck.

{January 2:  Something yellow}

Cute, little Woodstock who hangs on our Christmas tree. He'll probably get put away tomorrow.

{January 3:  Me today}

Alex and I went on a date to the movies this afternoon. I had intended to take our picture together there but forgot all about it, so this was taken shortly after we got home. (phone pic)

I'm still participating in Fat Mum Slim's photo a day challenge.  I wasn't sure I would continue in the new year, but I really enjoy it, so I'm sticking with it for now.  Maybe I will complete a full year (I started in April 2014) and then call it quits. Then again, maybe not.  :)

Not much happened here last week, which was great!  Lots of relaxing, watching movies, doing nothing.  I did leave the house a couple times just to get out of the house.  Moms need to do that sometimes.  :)  I picked up a new pair of sneakers for Nick who seems to go through shoes like crazy these days.  We had our New Year's Eve party at church.  Just food and a movie, but it was fun.  Got home in plenty of time to watch the ball drop on TV.  On Friday I took Nick to Chris's house for a sleepover.  He is like one of the family there.  Then Alex talked me into getting Subway for dinner.  Saturday Alex and I went to see Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb.  It was pretty good.  And we watched our Steelers lose to he Baltimore Ravens in the wild card playoff game Saturday night.  Boo!  

That was pretty much it!  Everyone is back to school today.  It snowed overnight (just a coating) and is really windy today.  But the sun is shining now, so all is good.  :)

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great week!

Linking with Tamar:

Tweet

Our 37th Week ~ 2014

Had another great week!  We are getting into our routine now that the kids are back to school.  Wednesday night classes have started back up at church and are going well.  Had a couple more photo sessions, spent time with friends, went to open house at the boys' school, and celebrated Keira's birthday.  She's 16 now!  

This week is pretty much the same.  Except the kids have a day off of school on Friday.  I was hoping to go have some fun with them, but both boys are grounded right now.  {sigh}  It is tough being a mean mom.  :)

As always, I am still participating in Fat Mum Slim's photo a day challenge with Keira being my subject this month.  She is also helping with the photo ideas.  So this is what we came up with last week ...

{September 14: Healthy}

Keira wasn't feeling all that healthy again today ... still fighting a cold ... so she stayed home and worked on her butterfly collage all day. It is due tomorrow, after all. Apparently she works better under pressure. I wouldn't know where she gets that trait from.  :)

{September 15: Remember}

In order to remember what she looked like when she was little, Keira occasionally pulls out her scrapbooks. This is one of my favorite spreads. She was about a year old in these photos.

{September 16: I don't like}

Keira doesn't like emptying the dishwasher. It is one of her chores that she tends to put off. Which ended up being a good thing today because she hadn't emptied it yet until after I got home from a photo shoot tonight and I got to take this picture of her in action.

{September 17: Key}

Keira was serenading me this afternoon with Lindsey Stirling's Master of Tides in the key of G. 

{September 18: Person}

Keira is such a sweet, fun, joyful, and kind-hearted person. I really enjoy being in her company! 

{September 19: Even}

Only two more days! (Two is an even number).  :)

{September 20: Beginning}

We celebrated Keira's 16th birthday today!  This is what Keira's cake looked like at the beginning of her party. It didn't look nearly as pretty by the end.  :)  It tasted pretty darn good though!

So that's it from my neck of the woods!  Hope you have a fabulous week!

Linking with Tamar.

Tweet

Our 33rd Week ~ 2014

This is going to be quick.  I have LOADS of editing to do.  Especially after having my computer go flaky on me Sunday morning.  I was able to have a friend fix it and I am back in business, but not having it for almost two whole days has put me even further behind than I already was.  :)  I have to admit that I am looking forward to the kids going back to school soon.  That way I won't have so many interruptions and distractions throughout the day.

Just a reminder - I am still participating in Fat Mum Slim's photo a day challenge.  I really enjoy having a prompt every day to try to interpret.  Here are last week's photos ...

{August 10: Art}

The best art is made by the Creator's hands, not human hands.

I got to stop and visit my love, Slick, this evening. (Our neighbor's baby horse.) He's getting so big. He even came up to see me and let me feed and pet him, which absolutely made my day. He still has a blaze in the shape of an F on his face. All natural artwork.

{August 11: Mirror}

When I was cleaning out one of my containers of Monarch caterpillars and giving them fresh food, I found these two snuggled up together on a stem. Looking like a mirror image.  (I think I shared this one before - maybe for Scavenger Hunt Sunday - but it fit this prompt and I hadn't shared it there yet).  :)

{August 12: Gather}

Had to head out today to gather some leaves for my hungry caterpillars. These big guys can really eat! 

We released two more butterflies today - both males. Still have LOTS of caterpillars, as you can see. Believe it or not, this is just a small sampling.

{August 13: Inside}

I love seeing the butterfly inside its chrysalis just before it emerges. Today we had two beauties joining us. Happy day!

Did you know that the chrysalides are actually clear and what you see is the caterpillar (then butterfly) inside? There have always been questions about the gold dots on the chrysalides. While they are still a mystery, I can tell you that they remain there after the butterflies emerge.

{August 14: Give}

My friend, Reva, who also happens to be a relative, shared a photo of a ducky night light on her page last week. I instantly fell in love (yes, I am 5 years old :) ) and asked her if she would buy one for me and I would gladly pay her back. Instead she graciously offered to give one to me. It arrived yesterday from sunny Florida. Isn't it the cutest?  :)

{August 15: Clouds}

Saw these lovely clouds the other evening while walking around our neighbor's property.

{August 16: Clean}

I was totally drawing a blank on this one until I stopped to fill the car up with gas and saw the car wash. So this is my $4 photo for the photo-a-day prompt. Hey, my car needed cleaned anyway.  :)

Linking with Tamar:

Have a great week!  I will be editing my eyeballs out!  And prepping for another wedding on Saturday!

Tweet

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.

Tweet

Our 28th Week ~ 2014

Another fun week has come and gone.  We started out the week with church (as always) and a birthday party at a good friend's house.  The boys had a blast launching water balloons with this sling shot thing they had.  Then Keira started summer gym on Monday.  For 3 weeks she has to attend since she doesn't have room in her schedule for gym once school starts in the fall.  Funny thing happened though ... Keira told me that summer gym was from 9AM-noon Monday through Friday, so I dropped her at 8:55 Monday morning and went on my merry way.  When I picked her up at noon, she told me she was actually supposed to be there at 8:00 and was an hour late!  Her teacher was easy on her though and isn't going to make her make up that hour that she missed.  So the rest of the week, we made sure she got there before 8:00.  :)  It was tough on both of us since we are both night owls and don't like to get up early.  Though I have to admit it is harder on her because she has four hours of gym class where I go exercise for 30-40 minutes and I'm done.  :)

On Monday my new camera body was finally delivered!

I had ordered my new camera on June 30.  With Amazon Prime I get things in two days typically.  So when I checked the tracking on the package on Tuesday and it hadn't changed from the shipped status, I began to wonder.  All day Wednesday we stayed home because I had to sign for the package.  But the man in brown never came.  I was so disappointed.  Tracking still showed the same.  Thursday I got onto a chat with a customer service rep from Amazon only to find out that my camera got lost somewhere between Amazon and UPS.  She placed a new order for me and told me it would arrive on Monday, July 7 because of the holiday.  More disappointment.

The main problem was that I knew I couldn't stay home all day Monday and wait for the UPS man.  Keira had to be dropped off and picked up from summer gym.  So I prayed that the UPS man would come while I was home and he did!  I know that may seem like a silly, petty prayer, but God answered it.  I was able to sign for my package and try out my new baby!

Another funny story, on Thursday the UPS man pulled up our driveway, which puzzled me because I hadn't ordered anything.  He needed me to sign for a package, which he thought was odd also.  When he handed me the package, I knew exactly what it was - the lost camera!  I brought it inside and went immediately to Amazon to contact customer service.  My boys, in the meantime, decided to go ahead and open the box.  Grrr.  Not the camera box, but the shipping box.  After some checking and discussion it was decided that I needed to ship the camera back (well, duh!) and that they would reimburse me the amount I would pay.  So Friday I took the camera to the UPS store and shipped it back.  I just find it funny that it eventually turned up.

Anyway, as I still play along with Fat Mum Slim's Facebook photo a day challenge (remember I am challenging myself this month to include at least one family member in my photos), here are last week's photos ...

{July 6 - View}

This was my view of Alex playing on a caboose - now a tourist information center.  He loves trains so much and was in his glory!

{July 7 - First}

 I am super excited about tthis photo for a couple reasons. The photo is of Alex holding a milkweed leaf containing a teeny, tiny Monarch caterpillar. The first of hopefully many we will raise this summer. We hatched this one from an egg that I found on July 4th. When we got up this morning, it had hatched! The second reason I am so excited is because this is the first photo I took with my new Nikon D610 - my first full-frame DSLR. I was still trying to get it all set up at this point, but so far I love it!

{July 8 - I've never ...}

I've never been a fan of taking selfies.  I always look like such a dork.  :)

{July 9 - Alive}

Our new little Monarch caterpillar is alive and well!  Eating like crazy and cuter than ever!

{July 10 - Sharp}

Sharp(ies) are fun to color with.

{July 11 - Gold}

Gold(en) hour is my favorite time of day to take photos.

{July 12 - Interior}

Alex was excited to see the interior of the mill at McConnells Mill State Park the other day. He was very curious about how everything works. However, he wasn't patient enough to listen to the tour guide who was teaching about the history of the mill.  :)

We also took Honey to the vet for her yearly checkup.  She is doing well.  I had a family photo session Thursday evening.  Will post that session soon.  Friday Keira and Nick both had sleepovers.  Since I couldn't get anyone to take Alex so Doug and I could have a date :), Alex and I snuggled up and watched a movie on Netflix.  Then on Saturday morning, Doug, Alex, and I went for a bike ride.  And Alex took me on a lunch date to Applebee's.  But somehow I ended up paying.  :)

Linking with Tamar.

Tweet

Our 27th Week ~ 2014

It is hard to believe the year is half over already!  We had a great end to June and beginning to July!  Relaxing and playing and learning and reading.  Of course there is always some whining and bickering and fighting thrown in for good measure.  We are only human, after all.  :)  But, I have to say, for the most part, the kids are getting along well this summer.

Continuing with Fat Mum Slim's Photo a Day challenge, here are my photos for last week ...

{June 29: Delight}

Obviously this was taken while on vacation.  I was having a hard time coming up with a "delight" photo and this verse kept coming to mind, so there ya go.  :)

{June 30: The end}

Staring down the wrong end of the barrel.  :)  Nick was excited to help me with this prompt.  And, don't worry, all safety precautions were taken in the creation of this photo. Except for the whole pointing a gun at me thing.  :)

{July 1: Red + White}

Keira doesn't usually wear red lipstick and she's not this pale (I lightened her up a bit in PSE) but she agreed to help me make this idea come to life.

Oh, and I have challenged myself further for July ... I am trying to include at least one family member in each prompt.  Even if it is just a finger or toe.  :)  Wish me luck!

{July 2: Something beginning with K}

King.  Too bad I don't know how to play chess.  :)  Doug does though, so this is something he does with the kids.

{July 3: Match}

Or in this case {mis} match {ed}.  :)  (These are my feet, by the way).

{July 4: Stars}

Keira and I had fun with sparklers in the back yard.  And then we watched our neighbors set off fireworks.  They were LOUD!  :)

{July 5: On the table}

My cousin had this old typewriter that she wanted to find a home for.  I knew my kids would love it (and they do) so she dropped it off on Thursday.  It has been sitting on our dining room table ever since.  The kids are having a blast messing with it!

And just for fun, here are a few fireworks photos from the show we watched Saturday night.  A friend invited us to the home of the person who hosts the show every year, so we had front row seats.  It was cool!  (No electrical wires in the way this year).  :)
  

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great week!

Linking with Tamar.  
(can't grab the button today for some reason)  :/

Tweet