Our Week in Review 2014 ~ 11/2-11/8

Another week bites the dust.  Seriously, does time seem to be flying by?  Or it just me?

Doug worked looooooonnnnnnngggggggg days this week.  Starting on Sunday.  He hasn't worked on a Sunday in a long time.  I barely saw him all week.  :(

Keira's violin lesson got cancelled on Monday, which enabled me to stay in my yoga pants all day.  I love days like that.

Tuesday I finally got to release my last three butterflies.  I thought I would get to release them on Monday and even took the female outside a couple times but she agreed that it was too cold and windy, so they spent one more night with us.  The temperature was much warmer on Tuesday so the boys helped release them before school.  One of the males went first, then the female.  The last male was a bit more hesitant. I took him outside and he stuck around for a while.  I had left to run some errands and found that he was still here when I got home.  I kept telling him he had to go and finally he did.  Praying they are well on their way to Mexico by now.

Tuesday was also Election Day so I voted.  Except the one guy I voted for lost.  I hate when that happens.  :)

Wednesday I attended another school consolidation meeting.  The school board had a lot of questions and none of them have seemed to have made up their mind what to do yet.  I hope that is a good thing.

Thursday I had a PTO meeting, had to leave early to take the boys to Bible Quizzing practice, and then Keira had an orchestra concert.  Everything seems to happen on the same day.  But thanks to some friends helping out, it all worked out okay.  The boys got to go hang out at one of the quizzing teacher's homes and I picked them up after the concert.

Friday the kids had a half day of school.  I had conferences with both boys' teachers, which I wasn't really looking forward to.  However, I left informed and encouraged by all of them.  They really have awesome teachers.

Keira went away for the weekend on a Youth Group retreat.  She came home on Sunday "physically exhausted but spiritually refreshed".  (Her words)  

With Keira away, Doug working, and Nick grounded (don't ask), that left Alex and me.  We had a nice time together.  Just hanging out, reading and watching movies.  I edited all day Saturday while we watched movies together.  He said it was a really fun day.  And we didn't even do anything.  :)

As I have really been enjoying participating in Fat Mum Slim's photo a day challenge, I have decided to continue again this month.  Here's November's list in case you want to play along ...

And here are my interpretations ...

{November 2 - I saw this!}

Our last two Monarch butterflies emerged Saturday but it was (and still is) too cold to release them. So these two males and a female are going to hang out with us until the weather is nicer. The forecast looks good for tomorrow. In the meantime, I take them out of their little homes and feed them and let them fly around a little.

Today Nick was being silly with the boys. Letting them climb all over him. Next thing I know I look over and see this. He would have added the female too but she was being feisty and only wanted to fly around. She's more than ready to go free.

Tomorrow will be a bittersweet day. While I raise them in order to set them free so the circle of life can continue, I will miss having them to take care of. Hoping for an even better year next summer! (By the way, we successfully raised 172 Monarch butterflies this year. WOOT!)

{November 3:  Weather}

I thought the weather was going to be warm enough to release my last 3 babies today. However it is still chilly thanks to the wind. Tomorrow's forecast calls for even warmer temps so I promised them they would go free then. In the meantime, they will continue to eat from sugar-water-soaked cotton balls and hang out inside with us.

My female (on the right) is very anxious to be free. When I take her out of her home, she flies straight to the windows. So I took her outside to prove to her how chilly it is. She agreed and didn't even attempt to fly from where she was perched on my finger. She's a feisty one.   :)

{November 4:  Can't live without}

Today is such a bittersweet day here at the Vensel house. This morning I released my last 3 babies as the temperatures were finally warm enough to do so. One female and two males are hopefully now on their way to Mexico where they will stay for the winter. They have a long journey ahead of them and I pray they make it. Hoping I get to raise their great grandbabies next summer!

I'd say that I {can't live without} my Monarchs, but that's not completely true. I love raising them - taking care of them in order to release them to continue the circle of life - but I would still survive if I didn't. My life would go on. However, we as the human race do need pollinators such a butterflies and bees in order to live. They serve a very important purpose. I just hope that those that keep developing "new and improved" pesticides and insecticides come to that realization before it is too late.

{November 5:  8 o'clock}

We woke up to frost covering the ground one day last week so I threw on a coat, grabbed my camera, and tried my best to capture some of the beauty that was surrounding us.

As I said, this photo is from last week as I was just waking up at 8:00 this morning and was sitting in a school board meeting at 8:00 tonight. 

{November 6:  Made me smile today}

I try to find something positive in every day. Especially on rough days like today. And while I did have a few things that made me smile today, I don't have pictures of any of them. So I'm sharing something that happened a few days ago that made me smile. It's not a great picture - got a little motion blur going on there - but it warms my heart to see my boys and Honey having fun together. We took Honey to this park for the first time on Monday (we have been there many, many times but never with her) and she really enjoyed herself. We will be taking her back again soon to do some more exploring.

{November 7:  On the floor}

Our dog, Honey, often lays on the floor. Though I think she prefers the couch. I can't say that I blame her.  :)

{November 8:  A place}

A place I'd like to be right now since I bet it is much warmer there than it is here.  :)  (This was taken during a sunrise while we vacationed at Sandbridge, Virginia Beach, back in June).

Linking with Tamar:

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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)  :/

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Our 24th and 25th Weeks ~ 2014

Didn't get around to posting my weekly summary last week due to being on vacation.  I didn't want to spend much time on the computer.  So this week I will bombard you with two week's worth of photos.  Just warning you.  :)

I'm still participating in Fat Mum Slim's Photo a Day challenge over on Facebook.  A few days are missing because I used archived photos for them.  As much as I try to take new photos for each day, some days it just doesn't happen.  Especially when you are trying to finish everything up and get ready for vacation.

{June 8: T is for ...}

Teenager.  Love her!

{June 11:  The Beginning}

Here's hoping this is the beginning of something beautiful.

{June 12:  Pastel}

Alex was excited to help me with this prompt.  Especially since it meant he got to eat a rainbow sherbet cone.

{June 13:  Simply}

Simply a boy and his snail.  Not an original idea of mine but when we came home from a nature walk with a couple snails, I knew I wanted to give this a try.

{June 14:  Cross}

We had to cross under the Chesapeake Bay through a mile-long tunnel in order to get to our vacation destination.  While in there I decided to play around with some long exposures in order to show movement.

{June 15: Lovely}

It was a lovely end to our first full day of vacation.

{June 16:  In the shadows}

Keira and I got up at 5 a.m. so we could witness a sunrise while vacationing at the beach.  Even though we were both tired that day, we are glad we did.

{June 17: Peaceful}

This lion looked quite peaceful while sleeping at the zoo.

{June 18: Quirky}

The mirrored hallway at the aquarium made for some quirky photo ops.

{June 19: Habit}

I don't make a habit of waking up to watch the sun rise, but after witnessing it twice last week, I might consider it.  Of course, the location might have something to do with it.  :)

{June 20: Yay!}

Yay for taking silhouette photos on the beach!

{June 21: Here I Am}

After leaving Honey at my in-laws for the week while we were on vacation, she is happy to be home with us.  Following me around and sleeping at my feet.  It is like she's saying, "Here I am and I'm not letting you out of my sight!"

Thanks for stopping by!  I have lots of vacation photos to edit and post.  Hoping to do that later this week.

Linking with Tamar.

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Scavenger Hunt Sunday 01.26.14

Welcome to another Scavenger Hunt Sunday!  It has been a cold and snowy week here in Western Pennsylvania.  I didn't pick up my camera as much as I would have liked.  Because of that, one of my photos this week is from the archives.  Just keepin' it real.  :)

{ribbon}

LOVE with a little ribbon.

{writing or letters}

Since the kids had Tuesday off of school, Doug took a vacation day from work and we made a trip to Cabela's.  It was interesting ... all the animal figures on display in the store.  It is kind of like a museum.  But not somewhere I plan to visit regularly.  I wanted a photo of the statues outside the front of the store, but I couldn't get them without getting the letters of the sign also.  And no one wanted to stand in front of them for me because it was cold, windy, and snowing.  They just wanted to get to the car as fast as possible.

{notice}

It is said that no two snowflakes look alike.  But you can't really notice that unless you inspect them closely.  I did just that on Saturday.  These are nowhere near perfect snowflake photos, but still pretty cool for my first attempts.

{silhouette}

The silhouette of the trees against the morning sky.

{on water}

The only water around here lately comes in the form of snow or freezing rain.  And while I could have set something up inside, like oil on water or something, I opted to dig into the archives.  This boat was racing on the water in July at the Pittsburgh Three Rivers Regatta.  We didn't stick around to see who won.  It was really hot and sticky that day.  Which sounds really good now considering we are on the verge of another Polar Vortex.  :)

Thank you for stopping by!  Be sure to visit Ashley for more Scavenger Hunt finds!

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Week 49 in Pictures

I know I probably say this every week now but ... one week closer to the end of this year's Project 365!  WOOT!  :)  At this point in the year, I'm so ready to be done.  Even with all the pretty Christmas lights and decorations.  I'm sure I'll look back at my photo books one day and be glad I did this for three years in a row.  And, who knows, I might even decide to do it again another year down the road.  But for now, I'm excited to be almost done.  Have I said that already?  :)

This week was another busy one.  (When aren't they busy anymore?!)  Meetings, sick kids, doctor appointments, and birthday celebrations, just to name a few things I was busy with.  Doug was on vacation and we had planned to go shopping, but that didn't happen.  We're planning to try again on the 18th when he has the day off for Keira's Christmas concert.  Her concert is at 8:00 a.m. so we'll leave straight from there.  Unless, of course, I have all the shopping done by then.  Which is highly possible.  I'm more of an online shopper these days.  I can take my time and very often get better deals and free shipping.  Gotta love it when Christmas presents get delivered right to your door.  And I can shop in my jammies.  :)

Anyway, let's take a look at what last week looked like ...

{Sunday}

Keira made this sign in "shop" class and asked me to photograph it, along with a few other items she made.  She needed to make a display board documenting her time in class.  

{Monday}

I picked up this cute ornament at Target.

{Tuesday}

Tuesdays are one of the few days I'm up early enough to see the sun rise.

{Wednesday}

Alex turned 7 today!  Seven!  My baby!  I did a little tribute post to him.  You should go see it.  He was so stinkin' adorable when he was smaller.  He still is, but you know what I mean.  :)

{Thursday}

We had some cupcakes left over from Alex's birthday celebration at church Wednesday evening.  So I photographed them for the "colorful" prompt for the Scavenger Hunt.

{Friday}

When all else fails, photograph some bokeh.  :)

{Saturday}

We celebrated Alex's birthday with family today.  I made his cake again this year.  I didn't want to, but my cake-making friend was all booked up this weekend.  I need to remember to ask earlier.  Her cakes are incredible!  Although mine wasn't bad for whipping up on the fly.

This week is another busy one.  Fun stuff, but busy.  We already had our church's Christmas dinner, had a quick photo shoot yesterday, and Bible study this morning.  Coming up are: prepping for Wednesday night church (yes, I tend to wait until the last minute), painting my living room (I hope), craft night with the girls, my birthday, possibly a girls' movie night out if I can swing it, Praise & Coffee, and the Toby Mac concert with Keira and the youth group.  I think I might just sleep all next week.  :)

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Scavenger Hunt Sunday 12.09.12

Welcome back for another Scavenger Hunt!  This week we had a sick kid (Alex), fun sewing with a friend, a super quick PTO meeting (just the way I like them!), Alex's birthday and party, and just general busyness.  I also decided to repaint our living room, so we bought the supplies to get started on that.  Hoping to have time to do that this week.

This week's items are Season, Colorful, Weather, Silhouette, and Calm.

{season}

'Tis the season to buy new Christmas ornaments.  Like this sweet camera I found at Target for five bucks!  Now to just get the kids their ornaments.

{colorful}

Colorful sprinkles on cupcakes to share at Wednesday night church.

{weather}

Our weather has been a bit strange.  One day it is unseasonably warm, others are more in the normal (cold) range.

{silhouette}

A silhouette of the trees against the sunrise.  I normally dislike these trees.  Especially the walnut tree on the right.  I think it is terribly ugly.  The squirrels like it though.  :)

{calm}

Alex was pretty excited to get for his birthday a Buzz Lightyear to go with his Sheriff Woody.  He did calm down long enough for me to take his picture though.

Be sure to stop over at Ashley's to check out more Scavenger Hunt photos and to find out what to hunt down for next Sunday!

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