Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Today I got to go on a nature photowalk (and a great lunch) with 10 people from my photoclub.  I tried to get all the prompts there, but some of it was easier to do at home.

Draw:

I felt these branches against the sky looked like a pencil drawing...though not by a great artist necessarily.

Asian:

Huckleberry enjoyed his trip to China, but he enjoys his little sister even more.

Soft:

 The clover looked very soft; I'd just wished I'd seen it last week.

Wavy:

Sunflower's wavy hair makes a perfect subject for backlighting...if only she knew what smile meant.

Texture:

We saw lots of different textures during our walk, but the ridged texture in these leaves fascinated us.  But I must be hungry, while I was editing all I could think about was potato chips.

Happy Hunting!

Texture Tuesday

I confess I created this a few weeks ago, so I don't remember which texture I used, but I know it is one of Kim's excellent creations, on soft-light, with a Gaussian blur on the face and arms of my little Sweet Pea.  It just fit this weeks theme so well and I love it so much, I decided to share.  Have a happy Tuesday!



 

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

#5

This one is ALMOST 5...which means we need to register her for Kindergarten in the next few weeks.  We are hoping she'll be able to go to the school her brothers attended, but they may not have space, so it'll be interesting to see what happens.

Word of the Day:

Ball.  She loves balls and can say the word very clearly.  She'll even wad up a piece of paper and grin and say "Ball!"

Sharing:

SnapDragon was cutting down weeds with his "sickle" when Sweet Pea wanted a turn.  He shared with her very happily...even using his hands to cut a few weeds to show her she was making progress.

Wiggle:

When I went behind Sweet Pea to push her, she wiggled in her seat until she could see me still.  I feel safer pushing her swing from the front for now.

Cookies:

Or Crackers?  Either one creates a lot of crumbs.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Well...I took photos today specifically for the hunt, and the card corrupted all the photos.  Not sure why.  I am bummed to lose the pictures from today's Awana Grand Prix, but it certainly is not the end of the world.  After all we have several more Grand Prixs in our future (the kids carve little wooden cars and race them.)  But I did have to go to my archives for today's hunt pictures because today was the only day I took pictures all week.  Rainy, gray days will do that to you.

Red:

The little red cherries on her pants match her favorite red swing.

Orange:

Yellow:

She insisted on posing on the yellow slide. 

Green:

Blue:

From the window of the bus in China as we traveled from Sweet Pea's home for the first 9 months of her life back to the capital city of Jiangxi Province.

I hope you all had happy hunting and no card corruption!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday -- February 17th

Candy:

Sunflower came home from preschool Thursday with a lot of candy.  Hopefully it will all be gone by Monday so she can stop asking for another piece.

Pink or Red:

We never ask pink or red when the answer should clearly always be both...plus some green and blue.  Yes, the shoes are on the wrong feet.

Love:

These two love each other and I love my new 85mm 1.8 lens that helped me capture this moment (even if I did chop a few fingers and toes...)

Kiss:

Tickles and whispers, okay, but an actual kiss?  No way!

Smile:

When Sunflower smiles the whole world smiles with her.

I hope you had happy hunting!  This week I was able to be a little more intentional and remembered the prompts as we were out and about.  It felt great.  Getting a new lens for Valentine's Day/Christmas money/Make up for birthday made it all the more fun.  I look forward to next week!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday -- February 10th

The Small Things:

Illustration:

The design on the shirt of these dancers at the Asia Pacific New Year Celebration illustrates the flag of Taiwan -- the featured country this year.

Valentine:

I thought it was pretty punny.

Work of Art:

My photos aren't, but the many performances we had the privilege of seeing were all Works of Art.

Window Beauty:

If eyes are the windows to the soul, my children all have beautiful souls.

Have a fabulous Sunday!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday - February 3rd

Hidden:

The small ball Sweet Pea is holding in her hand is hidden under the water at the Children's Museum.  If she let go the ball would float down from tray to tray, but she didn't like loosing track of it that way so she would dip it into each of the 5 pools on her own and then get another ball to try the same thing with again.

Plain:

 There is nothing plain in the way this girl dresses.  Sunflower loves color; and who wouldn't?

Left:

Sweet Pea seems to be primarily right handed, but she does often point with her left arm.

Fast:

Sweet Pea loved how fast Huckleberry pushed her in her stroller on our walk last week though she did get nervous when she thought he was going to crash her into Sunflower.

Peace:

I feel so much peace when my children are playing happily together.  Huckleberry will feel more peace when Sweet Pea's baby swing for the swing set arrives next week.  Sweet Pea won't leave anyone in peace unless she is allowed on the swing while we are outside.

Have a most blessed Sunday and happy hunting!

Memories, Dreams, and Reflections

Me

I'm trying to get better at actually being in some pictures; it is important for my family.  It isn't exactly that I don't like myself in photos, but I don't like handing off my baby camera.  Thankfully at Christmas my cousin knew what to do with it.  My photo club has a self-portrait theme coming up soon, so that will stretch my creativity...in a good way.

I Love You

Still Laughing

I really did assume that after tasting the orange one she would know better not to take a bite out of the green chalk.  Otherwise, I would have stopped her, really.

Winter Wonderland

 Our first snow this year led to a whole post of great winter photos.  This one is my favorite.

Birthday

We celebrated 6 birthdays in our family this year, but since I turned 40 it seemed like the most important.  We had cake and cuddles and while sometimes I feel so very old, my life has never been sweeter.  I wouldn't go back in time for the world.

Friends

I have a lot of truly fantastic people in my life as friends some near, some far, but...I don't have very many pictures of them!  However, I did get the chance to take pictures of two of my friend's newborns this year, and though I doubt I'll start a business anytime soon, I loved doing it.  Apparently I'm only overwhelmed by newborns when they are mine.

I Was Inspired

 A new ND filter and polarizing filter for my birthday inspired me to try my hand at some slow shutter speed waterfall shots.  Now I just need an even wider angle lens and some more hikes.

Spring Fever

Travel

We haven't really traveled since we came home from China with our new daughter.  It was an amazing trip. 

Summer Days

 The beaches in our state aren't exactly what one envisions, but they can still provide hours of fun.

A Day in My Life

 I really wanted to come up with something better, but in reality this scene or some version of it is played out in our house almost every day for at least a little bit.  Sweet Pea would be on the floor dancing to the Wii music.

All Smiles

Autumn Harvest

Family

We did make it to Oak's family camping trip this summer.  Sweet Pea did not sleep well which made the trip a little difficult, but it was worth it for the kids to see most of their aunts and uncles and cousins and for everyone to meet Sweet Pea.  I said, "If I thought this might be my new permanent home, I'd cry too!"  Though really she mostly only cried at night; she thought hiking and playing in the dirt a blast.

Celebrate

So much to celebrate this year, but Sweet Pea does top the list.  A year ago today we saw her picture for the first time and what a fabulous year it has been.  We are looking forward to many more years with this sweet little girl.

Let's Do it Again

I would go to China again in a heartbeat, over and over.  Someday we will all go back as a family, hopefully more than once.

I Miss You

We celebrated my Grandma's 93rd birthday just before she passed.  It makes me very, very sad that she didn't get to meet Sweet Pea and I miss her very much.

Beautiful

Dress Up

She loves dressing up in her outfits we brought her home from China.  This particular day we forgot to have her change back into her play clothes before going to the park.

Macro

My Favorite

One of my favorite shots of these two together.  SnapDragon feels it is his special duty to make Sweet Pea feel loved and goes out of his way to see that she does.  All the kids love their baby sister, but there is something unique in this relationship.  I look forward to see how it continues to grow.

Don't Ever Change

This girl approaches life with so much energy and enthusiasm.  I hope she is always this intense about life even if it does exhaust me.

Just Because

Huckleberry has been sadly neglected in this post, but he is a very important person in our home.  He is thriving in 7th grade and constantly astounds me with his kindness, wisdom, and sense of humor.  He is fantastic with his sisters and a great help around the house.  Our home would not be the same without him.

Hopes and Dreams

These two are still searching to find the right balance in their relationship.  Sunflower loves Sweet Pea intensely but sometimes a little too closely.  I hope, and know, that eventually they will learn to love being together and not just peaceably but separately share their family.  (It is actually good progress that Sweet Pea (the younger one) will just get down from my lap when Sunflower climbs on instead of pushing her sister off.)