Week 25 Summary

Okay, so I'm waaaaay off schedule this week.  The trip to Boston this weekend has my days all messed up.  And I'm still pretty tired from being in a van for about 28 hours over a 3 day stretch.  If I never see the inside of that church van again, it will be soon enough.  :)

But the kids all did great in Bible Quizzing.  We came home with a gold, a silver, and a bronze medal.  Congrats Rachel, Keira, and Lexi!

Anyway, here's what last week looked like ... in pictures ...

19 - A milkweed beetle - taken with the help of my 10X macro filter.

20 - Muddy-faced kids.  I told them I'd let them get all muddy if they'd let me photograph them all together.  :)

21 - Keira and I went on a little photo shooot.

22 - A juvenile Robin that the kids caught then set free.

23 - Honey had her first visit to the groomer's.  She came home so pretty and fuzzy.  :)

24 - The hills/mountains of Pennsylvania ... taken out the van window on our way to Boston.

25 - Quincy Bay, Massachusetts.  We had time before our girls started quizzing and the beach was only a few blocks from the college where the quiz was taking place, so we walked over to put our toes in the sand/ocean.

Week 24 Summary

Another great week!  The kids had VBS all week and Doug was out of town for work, so I had some much-needed time to myself.  For a few days anyway since I helped out at VBS on Thursday and Friday.  Everyone is home today and things are semi-normal.  The kids have been getting along so far today.  Here's hoping it lasts.

This morning I chose to go for a bike ride (instead of a run) on the bike trail.  (It was a little too warm to run by the time I rolled out of bed.)  :)  Nick decided he needed to go with me.  While there, I concluded that I will leave him at home the next time.  :)  He needs to stop way too much.

Anyway, here's my week in pictures ...

12 - Pretty little butterfly on milkweed flowers.  We frequently look for Monarch caterpillars anytime we come across some milkweed.

13 - Nick enjoying a fresh-picked strawberry from our neighbor's greenhouse.

14 - Took the kids fishing at a different lake and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

15 - Random purple flower growing on our hillside.

16 - We finally got some rain and my lilies were very happy.

17 - Gold Rush VBS decoration painted by an incredibly talented lady from our church.

18 - Saw a mama turkey and her two babies on our bike ride this morning.

And if you happen to be stopping by from Inspire Happiness Daily, here's the photo that Tracey chose as one of her top 5 this week ...

It is our first teeny, tiny baby Monarch caterpillar of the year next to a grain of rice to show how small it is (was - he's grown quite considerably since then).  This photo isn't in this week's collage because it is from last Saturday.  My weekly summaries run from Sunday to Saturday.





To answer your question/comment Tracey (and anyone else who is interested), if Monarch butterflies live where you live, they lay their eggs on milkweed because that's what the caterpillars eat.  My kids can spot milkweed from a mile away now, so we stop and inspect them for eggs and/or caterpillars.  If we find one, we pluck the whole leaf and bring it home and place it into our bug box.  We give them a fresh leaf to eat every day or two, depending on how big the caterpillar is and how much they eat.  We also clean the container out every day because all caterpillars do is eat and poop and shed their skin.  :)  (We just wipe it out with a dry paper towel).


Here's the website Glorious-Butterfly to read all about how to raise them.  It is incredibly easy or else we wouldn't do it.  :)  We successfully raised 34 butterflies last summer and would like to raise more than that this summer, which I believe we will do since we started earlier.  It was like an ongoing science experiment for my kids.  They loved it!


Oh and as of today, we have 4 small caterpillars happily munching and 3 eggs awaiting to hatch.  :)  Can't wait to post butterfly photos!


Have a fabulous week!

Week 23 Summary

Another week gone!  Not much to say this week.  The kids are done with school and when they aren't playing nicely with each other, they are trying to kill each other.  I can feel my hair turning gray as I type this.  What hair I have left, that is.  :)  But, hey, only about 75 more days until school starts again, right?

To see a larger photo or find out more about it, click on the links.

5 - Alex playing on the new slip-n-slide

6 - Me ... taken by Keira

7 - Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly male

8 - Playing with sunbursts/sun flare

9 - Pretty yellow flower

10 - Blue Jay in flight

11 - Baby Monarch caterpillar - our first of the summer

Week 22 Summary

Wow!  Now that this summer-like weather has arrived, I'm finding myself spending way less time on the computer and visiting folks in Blogland and lots more time outside enjoying my kids and the sunshine.  Of course, that is a good thing, but it means that I don't always post my photo of the day on time ... or the weekly summary.  Oh well, better late than never.  Here's how this past week looked ...

29 - Playing with glow sticks.

30 - Memorial Day parade.

31 - Playing in the splash pool.

1 - The daisies in my flower bed are blooming.  This photo was picked as a Top 5 this week!

I'm always excited, amazed, and humbled when one of my photos gets picked.  Seriously.  Thank you!
2 - My daughter and her teacher at the 6th grade award ceremony.
3 - Nick and Keira on the last day of school.  (Keira is wearing a shirt with her school's name on it ... which is why I blurred it out.  You understand.)
4 - Okay, so you really need to click on the link to go see the full photo of this beautiful sunset reflecting off the water.  :)  I couldn't fit it all in the collage.  Just sayin'.


Also, just a note for those of you that follow this blog.  
One - I appreciate each and every one of you.  Really, I do.  You make my day with your visits and comments.
Two - I will be discontinuing this blog and will be posting my project 365 photos on my main blog, My Perspective, starting July 1.  I'm a little anal about making a clean break, which is why I'm waiting until a new month.  If you'd like to follow me over there (if you're not already), I'd be delighted to have you.

Week 21 Summary

What a crazy, busy week!  We're adjusting to Alex not having preschool and preparing for Keira and Nick finishing up school next week.  (Yikes!)  We had lots of sunshine AND plenty of rain.  And we are looking forward to a great weekend ... one that my husband actually has off!  Yay!  So here's the recap of our weekly photos ...

22 - Finally caught a bumble bee in flight!

23 - Playing with sunbursts.

24 - Fun with bubbles.

25 - Pretty purple flower (or is it a weed?).

26 - My lilies after the rain.  Can't wait until they bloom!

27 - We finally hung our hummingbird feeder and this is our first visitor.

28 - Nick showing me the toad he found this morning.

On another subject ... I've been contemplating either eliminating this blog and just posting my project 365 photos over at my main blog, My Perspective, OR changing the name of this blog to "My Perspective - 365 Photos" (or something like that).  It seems I'm pretty good at keeping up with the project 365 photos, but my main blog gets neglected.  Any thoughts?

So that's it for me!  Hope you all had a wonderful week also!  Have a fabulous weekend!

     

Week 20 Summary

Week 20 already?!  We had a crazy busy week.  Here's just a glimpse ...

15 - Still sick with strep throat, so I snapped a photo of a cardinal from my dining room window.

16 - Picked these flowers ... found out they are called Mayapples and that they are poisonous, which probably explains why my fingers were itchy for a while afterward.  :)

17 - Alex picked me a flower then decided it would be more fun to just pull the petals off.

18 - Pretty white flowers growing on our hillside.

19 - Alex graduated from Preschool this evening.  He's so excited to be starting Kindergarten in the fall!

20 - Keira had her 6th grade dance.  She looked so pretty in her purple dress.

21 - My first 5K race of the year!

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Week 19 Summary

What a week!  Some fun stuff, some not so fun stuff ... but a good week overall.  Let's take a look ...

8 - My first butterfly capture of the year.  Unfortunately the butterfly was being elusive and staying near the top of the lilacs.  Not to worry, there will be plenty more butterfly photos to come as we will be raising Monarchs again this year.

9 - A USAF C-130 plane was flying over the playground when Alex and I stopped by so he could burn off some energy after preschool.  Several cool things about this photo ... 
{one} my friend Jeannie's son was in this plane for ROTC, 
{two} she bought the photo from me (my first photography sale!), 
and {three} this photo was picked as a Top 5 by Inspire Happiness Daily!

That makes 3 weeks in a row one of my photos got picked!  That just blows me away!
10 - My friend, Laura, invited us to join them for a day at the Pittsburgh Zoo. 
11 - Alex and I went for a walk on a local community trail.  When I told him to go get his shoes on, he came back with his cowboy boots on.  I thought the boots looked really cute with his shorts.  :)  And so did all the ladies we passed on the trail.
12 - We finally hit 80 degrees so we broke out the sprinkler.  Honey, our golden retriever, loves it just as much as the kids do.  Maybe more!
13 - A jellyfish from Tuesday's zoo trip.  (Sick day for me - strep throat.  Keira came down with strep throat and missed school Wednesday-Friday - started meds Thursday.  I started to get sick Thursday afternoon/evening.  I started meds yesterday.  Still not feeling great but better than yesterday.)
14 - Nick should have had his photo taken/posted yesterday (the 13th is the anniversary of his birthday), but being sick, well, I forgot.  Or didn't care.  Or both.  :)  So I posted a photo I took of him on Tuesday - a day late.  Obviously I'm extending myself some grace this week.


My niece's birthday party is going on this afternoon.  Alex was mad at me this morning for being sick and telling him that we weren't going to be able to go.  So he decided he was riding his bike there.  In the rain.  He got halfway down the driveway before I made him come back. It was actually pretty funny.  I wish I had taken his picture.  So I called my mom and asked her if she wouldn't mind swinging by and taking the kids with her.  She did and now it is so quiet in the house, I can hear all the clocks ticking.  I'm going to take advantage and spend some time working on a photo book.
I hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

Week 18 Summary

Wow!  Week 18 already!  Doing these weekly summaries reminds me of how fast time is slipping by.  Here's to making the most of every day!

1 - Erie Zoo has the coolest bird area that you step into.  While in there the birds will land on your shoulder or crawl up your arm.  I loved it!  I could have spent all day in there! 
This photo was picked as a Top 5 this week!  That makes 2 weeks in a row!  I'm truly honored and humbled!

2 - Our sweet Golden Retriever, Honey.  We call her Honeybuns.  :)

3 - Captured some rain drops since it has been soooooooo rainy this spring.
4 - Pennsylvania's state bird, a ruffed grouse.  Click here if you'd like to read the funny story about how I captured this photo.
5 - The 5th of the month brings you Alex, my baby.  Dirty face and all.  :)  (For those of you who don't know, I challenged myself to take a photo of each of my kids on the anniversary of their birthday each month.  They love it and remind me when it is their day!)
6 - The lilacs are beginning to bloom!
7 - Happy {inter}National Scrapbooking Day!  Hoping to actually get some scrapbooking done today.  Although it's not looking good so far.  :)


Looking at my collage, it seems I have lots of green going on this week.  That makes me happy!  I love spring!

Week 17 Summary

24 - More flowers from the Botanical Garden at the Creation Museum in Kentucky.  I didn't even pick up my camera on Easter, so I cheated on this one.  :)
25 - Baby geese!  They are sort of hidden, but if you look closely, you can see them behind their Mama.  There are 5 of them!  Hoping to get a better photo of them before they move on.
26 - A tiny grape hyacinth that we found in the neighbor's yard.  Cheated on this one also since it was actually taken on the 25th.
27 - It was a beautiful day to go play at the Purple Park.
28 - Another one I cheated on because it was actually taken on the 27th.  My neighbor's have this gorgeous bush in their yard.  Even though I cheated on this one, Inspire Me Photography picked it as one of her top 5 for the week!  Thank you!


29 - A lighthouse on Presque Isle in Erie, where Doug and I got away for the weekend.
30 - We decided to head up to Niagara Falls State Park in New York since we were only 2 hours away.


So that's it for me this week!  I'm late posting this because we didn't get home until yesterday afternoon and then I needed to drive my sister (who watched the kids for us) home about an hour away.  By the time I got home, I was pretty tired.


Oh, and I'll try not to cheat this week.  :)


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