My Three Kids and a Seagull

Their expressions...so them...

Huckleberry

SnapDragon

Sunflower

Sometimes I spend more time looking for an acceptable quote than blending textures.  There are no Bible verses about seagulls that I could find, but wings always make me think about freedom.  I cannot fly, but I can stand firm in my freedom in Christ.

This week's Texture Tuesday theme was white and I knew I wanted to see all the gorgeous white images people would be creating, so I pulled this Seagull out of my archives.  But my usual favorite textures and blending modes didn't work on a completely white background.  I finally hit on Granny's Cupboard on Multiply.  Then it wasn't really white anymore, so I lowered the opacity to 50% and masked it off of the bird some.  Now even more than ever I cannot wait to see the other creations.

 

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Aah, I'm ready to post at the beginning of the challenge as opposed to end.  And I get to sit down and look at other entries right away.  Hard to explain how happy this makes me.  Just know it does.

Crossed:

You might not be able to tell, but SnapDragon took Sunflower down the slide with his legs crossed.  Silly boy!  She can go down the slide all by herself!

A Glimpse:

If I stood just so I could catch a glimpse of Sunflower as she played in the tunnel at the park on Wednesday.

Handwritten:

A long time ago when a morse code message would come over the telegraph it would be handwritten for translation.  (Though I thought it was typed out on a ticker tape like thingee...)  This was from the Science Museum last Friday, so I'm technically cheating...and stretching...

Bliss:

The park put SnapDragon in a state of sheer bliss.  Getting a good shot of him gives me bliss.

Gray:

ISO 100    35mm   f/22   1/4 sec  (so fun to play with waterfalls.)

Rocks are gray...right?  I propped my camera on a gray wall to take this since I didn't have my tripod with me Sunday.

Now off to sit on the couch and wait for Sunday's Scavenger Hunt.  Fun!

Passion...and Calm

I thought for sure with a challenge only 4 weeks long I would be able to participate and visit each week.  I guess not :(  There is some really gorgeous work out there that I would love to see all of it.

We were out of town for last week's challenge, but I can't resist posting this picture of my Sunflower. It is my favorite photo from this last week.  She views everything in life with PASSION and enthusiasm.  Experiments in electricity are not excluded.

I wish I had half her excitement about life and adventure!

Last weekend on our trip we did add in a spontaneous visit to some waterfalls.  If I'd known, I would have had my tripod with me.  I always find the flow of water and soft movement of waterfall shots very peaceful and CALM:

Scavenger Hunt Sunday...no Tuesday

So I knew I'd have to give up some most of my blog time after our daughter comes home, but I am afraid some of it is already gone.  Not because I'm actually accomplishing things, but because each new step is more paperwork, more stress, and I waste hours and hours of time calculating estimates to travel.  The range never changes...sometime between late March and early May...but I spend too many hours trying to narrow that range down which is NOT something I can actually do until we get our Travel Invitation to China.  All that to say, I cannot believe it has been over a week since I last posted here.  I miss my on-line friends when I don't visit or have visitors, but I don't know where all the time goes.  At some point I will probably have to back off from Scavenger Hunt Sunday...my photos are certainly more snapshots than art as it is...but while it may be my most time consuming photo challenge, it is as always my favorite.  I love playing games and the scavenger hunt is one of the best games to play.  In fact, while I didn't get to work on my pictures until today, I actually could post two complete sets since I hunted twice :)

Once on our trip to the Science Museum on Friday (took one child out of school and went away for a 4 day weekend with lots of fun, family, and fotos), but since I've used that location more than once for a hunt, I'm going with my first hunt...breakfast Friday morning.

SnapDragon was DUPLICATED in...

...the griddle in the middle of our table at the restaurant.

Many restaurants seem to be TRENDING towards...

...the fad of the customers cooking their own food.  I must admit the kids thought it was fantastic and my chef-made non-pancake meal was pretty good, too.

You can pick from several different types of batter that come in PLASTIC bottles.

We had a peanut butter batter, sweet potato batter, and two buttermilk pancake batter bottles.

The boys loved creating their own pancakes in different shapes with many different topping choices.

Including this tree which is the source of all PAPER that SnapDragon created.  We had apples, blueberries, sausage, bacon, cheddar cheese, white chocolate chips, and bananas as our toppings.  I personally really loved the peanut butter with apple slices pancake that Oak made me to try.

But overall we just LOVED the experience in general...

...especially since it was time together and with Aunt H whom we all LOVE.  Uncle B had to work on Friday; too bad, because he missed out on some great fun. 

Happiness is...

The constantly running song in a child's heart...

Kim Klassen's Annabelle 85% Soft Light Masked off Face and hands

And working on a paper lantern with your Daddy...

Well, chewing on the string that holds the paper cup lantern.

I do really have a very sweet life.

 

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Saturday we went as a family to the local Annual Asia Pacific New Year’s Celebration.  There are several different booths to visit and several different performances representing many different Asian countries.  This time we planned our arrival and eating around the Chinese performances, though many of the other dances were also quite fun to watch as time permitted.  My goal was to capture all my hunt photos at the celebration.  I should have checked my list one last time before leaving...well, you'll see.

Facial Feature:

Sunflower's eye peeking out from one of the pieces to the flower lanterns the kids made at one of the craft booths.  This year they still had plenty of colors of paper petals left, so our three little lanterns aren't only green and white like last year.

And here's a gratuitous photo of Huckleberry with his finished lantern so you can see what they made.

Spicy:

My husband's Kim-chi was spicy, but I didn't get a chance to take a picture before he ate it all (because I was busy eating my own food) so here is the drink we had to wash down the spice.  Ummm, I prefer Coke.

Gold:

The children from the Chinese Academy looked really cute dancing in their gold tops with sparkly gold crowns.  (I blurred their faces on purpose.  I hope it doesn't make it too creepy.  Trust me they were adorable.)

Fabric:

There were many beautiful fabrics and outfits all through the center...

And since I forgot to even look for shadows I'll give you a few more fabric photos.

I love the intricate embroidery.  Reminds me of some of the needlework my mother used to do.

One last photo of the dances.  I thought the fabric of their outfits and the red fabric they were waving around made for a beautiful dance.

We are looking forward to next year's event.

Warmth

It is almost time for the second week of the Poetic Winter Challenge.  It was actually unseasonably warm the first half of this week.  I must say I love seeing the sun.

Ah, warmth...

Be sure to check out the other entries at Bumbles & Light,  Sweet Violet,  Project Alicia or Live and Love out Loud.