P52 Week 52 Merry Christmas

This past year while participating in the P52 Photography Challenge, I realized just how much I love to take pictures. I pick up my camera pretty much every day and I am constantly thinking about how to compose a shot even when I don't have a camera in my hand. I was looking over the year in photos and realized how great it is that I have captured so many moments that I would probably have forgotten about otherwise.

Here is the very last P52 of 2012.

I had such a hard time choosing just one shot for this post though. I have been pushing my skills this week and playing around with the decorations, lights, ribbon and bows. So here is a collage of some of my favorite photos along with one that I posted last week just because I love it so much.

P52 Week 52 - Merry Christmas

I don't know... which one is your favorite?

Christmas Bells

I plan on participating in the challenge again in 2013 because it was just so much fun. Do you like taking pictures? Do you want to catalog your year in photos? If you do head on over to Photography Essentials with Kent Weakley for all the details. New themes, new "rules", new year. I can't wait. It'll be so much fun!

The Greatest Gift

I love watching my kids this time of year. They love Christmas time and all that the month of December entails. They love the family time, the traditions, the songs, the movies, the presents...

Oh yes, the presents. This year they bought each other so many gifts that under the tree was overflowing with presents. It was so strange knowing that the majority of gifts were not from me but that the kids spent their hard earned money on each other.

Christmas Morning

Each gift was carefully thought about and then lovingly wrapped. The excitement on their faces as they watched the recipient open their gift was more fun than anything. Seeing them more excited about giving gifts than receiving gifts makes this mommy heart so happy.

 
In our house there was much more anticipation from the giver than the recipient. I wonder if that is how it is like with our Heavenly Father. We are given the greatest gift of all. He came in the most humble and most vulnerable way. As a little baby who was born to parents who had very little means. There wasn’t a guest room for them so they stayed where the animals were kept. Yet shepherds came to see this glorious baby and worshiped Him. The magi came from miles away on a long journey to see this baby who was to be King. Not the king they were expecting, but the King of Kings. Our Savior is our greatest gift ever. The One who gave Him, I am sure is more excited about us receiving the greatest gift ever, than we could ever be about getting Him. I hope that train wreck of a sentence made even the slightest sense. What I am stumbling my words to get at is this. The Creator of the Universe the very one who spoke everything into existence at the beginning of time has given us this incredible gift, one that He planned out and prepared the world for. He set the stars and planets in the sky on their clock work of movement so that on just the perfect day the star would appear for all to see. It’s like when you go from store to store and search everywhere agonizing over that perfect gift for someone. God did that with Jesus. Then He gave the greatest gift to us, not wrapped in pretty paper with a beautiful ribbon but wrapped in a simple blanket. This gift though is such a great gift that angels sang about it in the sky. And stars shined more brilliantly.

Have you received this gift yet? This gift that was given to us 2000 years ago (give or take).

Christmas Tradtions

I’ve been thinking a lot about our family traditions this week. There are things we do every year during Christmas time. One thing we always do, is drive around to look at all the fun light displays while sipping hot cocoa. This year as we were driving around Little G was excited, you could hear her oohing and aahing at the displays and even at one point she exclaimed one as being “spectacu’ar”. I love it when my little one uses big words like that.

We also always decorate cookies and bake as many yummy treats we can fit into the month. Then whatever we can’t fit in we just bake in January. We love baking, in our house it’s not Christmas without a powdered sugar mess in the kitchen. This year we have baked but not yet decorated. We are hoping to change that this weekend.

Making Nativity scenes and other crafts all month makes this month so much fun and very glittery. But what’s a little glitter during Christmas?

Something I think of doing every year is sending Christmas cards with a family photo. It seems to be a tradition that is declining and I have never even succeeded in sending them out once in all my adult years. One year I actually bought some but then never took them out of the box. (Way to follow through, right?) I love getting cards from friends and family, each year and sadly I have never returned the favor. I have really decided that next year will be different. But then again I decided that last year too. So who knows maybe next year I will actually send them out. It’s the thought that counts, right?

Christmas Card Pic 2012

I'm linking up with Kent Weakly for Project 52 Photography Challenge.

A Nature Walk

Last post I had mentioned a nature walk we recently took. It was supposed to be a walk full of insect discoveries and plant discoveries however the objective of the nature walked changed a bit.

We were met with this almost eerie scene were there was obvious death with life standing firm in the midst of the destruction. It seemed so symbolic of so many things to me. Many life lessons can be pulled from a scene where destruction from fire is evident but yet a lone tree full of life stands tall in the midst. The dried vegetation you see around it is actually really sparse with lots of charred area but with the angle it looks more filled in.



While I know the beginning of new life lay below the surface just waiting for spring and that new growth will be so much more amazing, I am still sad to see the scaring from the fire.

P 52 Week 38 - Birds/Flying

I have never seen so many turkey vultures in one spot before. There were probably 10 of these guys flying overhead the whole time we were there. I attempted to capture a few shots of these guys and this was the best one I was able to get.

It was clear that there were a lot of poor creatures who were no longer enjoying life if there were so many scavengers hanging out. Then we saw evidence of that up and down the bank of the little lake. It was making me so sad that everywhere I looked, I saw death. We saw skeletal remains of many fish and birds all along the bank. There were still some plants growing but there was not the abundance of life we usually see.


And then just as we were at the end of our walk, we saw that so many of the ducks we had seen last spring were still around. All the little ducklings were just now starting to get their color. We were so excited to walk by their nesting area and see that in the midst of it all they were doing well. Here are just a few of those ducks we saw. Swimming together, playing together and getting really curious about my camera.

Linking up with Project 52 Photography Challenge with Kent Weakly.

P52 Ice

P52 - Ice

We are in the middle of some hot, hot weather all month. You know it is bad when 95 is considered "a cool down" and I am thankful that in the forecast there are no 100 temps. That hopefully means we are approaching the end of summer weather. (One can hope, right?) One of the kids' go to summer snacks is shaved ice. Yes, we consider ice a snack during the summer. I had found some cute snow-cone cups at Target at the beginning of summer and we have some flavored syrups for Italian Sodas so for a treat they got snow-cones with syrup on Friday after we finished our school day. (If you are wondering what I use to make snow cones click on over to this post.)

This post is linked up with P52 Photography Challenge with Kent Weakley.

Summer Time Goodness

Where have I been? What have I been doing? Am I still here? Are you wondering? If you aren’t I won’t be hurt. I know you are probably just as busy as I am trying to fit every ounce fun, responsibility, rest, more fun, and craziness into the very short 24 hour days as I am. I have been so incredibly busy that I can’t remember all that I have done.

We led our church junior high camp a few weekends ago. To say that the weekend was amazing would not come close to describing it. We spent each night in a different location and found ways to bless those around us everywhere we went. God’s glory and power was evident every step of the way.

P52 Week 30 - Sunshine

Cotton Candy Ice-Cream

The first night before hitting our camping destination we stopped for ice-cream. Little G ordered cotton candy flavor and showed everyone how to savor every last lick as she became one with the cone. I think adults can take a lesson from littles. We often forget to savor every moment as we get so caught up in doing what needs to get done and moving on to the next thing.








Little G got to go camping for her first time that weekend. She absolutely loved the whole experience of staying up too late, sleeping on the hard ground, waking up at the crack of dawn and getting dirty without having to take a bath right after. And the older kids got to go tubing on the lake for the first time. They all had a blast and loved every minute of their time on the lake. That weekend is our favorite part of the summer so far.

P52 Week 32 Summer Favorites

Another first for Little G this weekend was her overcoming her fear of dogs. She has been afraid of dogs since she was tiny. Looking over and spying this moment made me smile big. She fell in love with this dog and as G petted and played with her, so did I.

P52 Week 31 - Dog Days of Summer

PB&J with Love

One afternoon we gave sandwiches to homeless people in town. Little G insisted that she had to make a sandwich to give away also. I have never seen her make a sandwich so carefully before, and she has made her share of sandwiches. She clung tightly to the baggie while we walked around and she intently looked for that special person she made the sandwich for. She rejected all my suggestions of whom to give that sandwich telling me each time that the sandwich she made was for someone special. And she was right, that sandwich made its way into the hands of someone who was hungry. All of the students we had with us and even my little ones who tagged along got to see God move like that everywhere we went.

Never underestimate what God can do through even the youngest of kids. And never underestimate what a young person can do when they are walking in their gifting.

I got to see my kids grow in every way imaginable while we were camping and I was stretched in ways I didn’t expect. A long time ago I learned to stay teachable and over the summer I have been learning to hold my plans loosely (Thanks Kendra for that bit of wisdom.) and allow God to direct my steps. That weekend was like taking a final exam in that lesson, as almost nothing went as we had planned it. God had much bigger plans than we did and His plans are always better. Always, even when we don’t think so, they are.

Proverbs 16:9 A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps. 

Life is still going full speed ahead and I have been learning so much about who God is and how He works recently, I wish I had time to write it all down so I don’t forget any of it. I will leave it at that for now as this post is longer than planned, but know, there is so much more to come.

This post is linked up at Project 52 with Kent Weakley.

Summer Time

I seriously cannot believe how fast this summer is flying by. I know that is a bit cliche but it is totally true. We are trying to make the most of every day and enjoy as much family time as possible. Daddy Reg has had an unexpected break from work and has been home pretty much all day everyday which means lots of family time for us. This weekend was no exception. We enjoyed the farmer's market, played in the creek and hung out all day. When we got home I made watermelon salsa with some peppers we bought.

P52 Week 28 - Summer Treats

Have you ever had watermelon salsa? If you haven't, what are you waiting for? I make it all the time and totally love it with pretty much every chip and cracker you can think of. Pita chips and watermelon salsa are perfect on a hot summer afternoon. I was out of pita chips so I settled for basic corn chips.

But my favorite part of the day was dinner. Daddy Reg taught Princess K the fine art of grilling hotdogs.

She was a quick study and since then has also grilled some steak and some chicken. I'm such a proud mommy.

This post is linked to Project 52 and Sweet Shot Tuesday with Kent Weakley.

Our Own Waterslide

This past week's Photo Challenge P52 theme is School's Out. It's week 26, the halfway mark of this fun challenge. I have really enjoyed the first half and totally look forward to the second half of the challenge.

We don't normally take a true summer break from school. Normally we do half days most the week and take whatever days off we want. This year, everyone agreed that we just really needed a long break from formal school time. I can't believe how fast the month of June just flew past us like lightning. And just to state the obvious, it's already July! Such craziness I tell you.

Our first official day of the new school year is the last week of this month. We are going to start school with the Olympics doing a lapbook and unit study to go alnog with the games. I have so much planning a prepping to get done it's quite crazy.

The kids however are having fun playing all day and creating some very cool stuff. Like their own water slide.

They did this last year but someone was always holding the hose or they would water it down in between each pass. This year, duct tape is holding the hose quite nicely. And this is what a homemade water slide looks like. I love how creative my kids are. And the ingenuity my kids have. It has been a lot of fun watching them learn when they think they are on break.
 

Fathers

This last week's theme for the Project 52 Photography Challenge was Fathers. I am blessed to have a husband who is an amazing father. He makes a point to spend time just talking with the kiddos with no strings attached. The relationship he has formed and is strengthening is evident whenever you watch him interact with them.

 And even more so when you watch them interact with him.

 A few nights a week, Daddy goes to work at Little G's bedtime. She loves to make sure that Daddy has all his gear and that he stays safe, has his food, drink, hat, shoes, phone... the checklist varies from night to night but the whole process of sayng good bye and good night takes about 10 minutes. Then she runs out the door yelling, Good bye! I love you!" at the top of her lungs as he is walking to the car. It is truley and absolutely adorable to see how much she loves her daddy.

As my littles become bigs I love watching the relationship change. The conversations get harder and the bonds become stronger. I am excited to see how the relationship changes as they become adults and have their own children. 

This post is linked to Sweet Shot Tuesday and Project 52 with Kent Weakley.

P52 Catching Up

This is my Project 52 Photography Challenge catching up post. We have had so many things going on that I really haven't been able to stay on top of it all. I prefer life to be slow and steady like a marathon, not fast and furious like a NASCAR race. However, sometimes you have to just go with the flow and adjust. Right now the flow is fast and crazy. Here are the photos I have taken for the photography challenge that I just haven't been able to post. I am linking up with week 24, Sunlight and then hopefully tomorrow, I will be back into the full swing of posting. I have so many posts just waiting to be written.

Week 19 - Still Life

There is a story with this daffodil. It was growing amongst a bunch of weeds along the side of our house. The girls found it so we cut the blooms and brought them int he house to enjoy. There was no way we could enjoy them where the plant had decided to grow - on it's own. 

Week 20 - Mothers

The girls gave me this sculpture for Mother's Day. The Best Mom Award. Isn't it great? The only problem is that if it is sitting in a room and you are walking past, you think it is a person. So, it now resides in our guestroom. You know, to freak out any guests we may have.

Week 21 - Favorites

One of our favorite things to do is go for walks. We have this great park with a lot of trails and paths to follow. I found this lovely thistle ready to bloom along one of our favorite paths.

Week 22 - Playtime

Little G's favorite thing to do is play. She loves to run, jump, bounce, fly, and move. Here she is playing at the park. See her face? Pure joy.

Week 23 - Water

Have you ever played badminton in the sprinklers? My girls have so much fun playing in the sprinklers. See the little ballpit balls, they also love playing badminton with those too. 

Week 24 - Sunlight

We went to a wedding last weekend. It was a blast the couple knows how to have fun. Me saying that a wedding was a blast is something because I hate weddings. I barely liked my own I hate weddings so much. I just think they can be so over done with stuff, that what really matters gets missed. However, it was hot, hot, HOT! The temp reached the century mark and beyond for the first time this year. I don't think anyone was really ready for the heat.

There you have it. 6 weeks of photos in one quick post.  I am linking this post to Project 52 over at Photography Essentials with Kent Weakley. Have a great Friday.

 

P52 Fiesta or Siesta

This week’s theme for the P 52 Photography Challenge is – Fiesta or Siesta. Really having no idea what I was going to post for this picture, I started going through all the pictures I took this week while we were on a field trip to an Arboretum a couple hours away from us. The Arboretum was so much fun but the temperature dropped quickly and we had to cut our visit a little short. I hope we can go back again soon; there are so many more areas to explore.

While at the Arboretum, we spied this little turtle taking an afternoon siesta in the afternoon sun while floating on the algae in the creek.

I cannot relate to turtles at all. Really, to take an afternoon siesta, just doesn’t happen for me. I have to consciously make an effort to relax. I always have a list of things to get done. Even when I go to bed, I am running through the list of things I accomplished and moving what I didn’t onto the next day’s list while trying to figure out the best way to fit everything in. And I never get it all done no matter how hard I try. Life seems to always get in the way of my over planned day. I am very much a Martha and have been for as long as I can remember.

I really need to remember that it is okay to be a Mary and rest at His feet. This year God has been reminding me to just rest in Him. Take a siesta (figuratively), be quiet and still so that I can just soak in what He has for me. Some days are easier than others to remember to take a few moments to just be. Making my brain stop is hard though. Even when I am too tired to think, it seems I am still over thinking, and remembering to rest in the Lord and rejuvenate is difficult to do. I know I need to the lesson of the turtle, take it easy and just rest a while.

Luke 10:38-42
While they were traveling, He entered a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who also sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to what He said. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, and she came up and asked, “Lord, don’t You care that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand.”
The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.”

This post is linked to P52 Photography Challenge with Darcy at Life With My 3 Boybarians.

P52 Challenge: Green

This past week’s for the P52 Photography Challenge theme was Green. At first I was going to go obvious and take pictures of a tree or the grass but I wanted to shoot something different. Then I thought, should it be a “green” picture, or should it be a picture of something that is green? I totally started to completely over think the challenge. I do that often, it’s how I’m wired. Then the other night we had artichokes. I love artichokes and could eat them daily if they weren’t so expensive and if they were in season all the time. We grew some artichoke plants last year one produced an artichoke that was rather small but we were so excited. Then, this year the 3 that barely grew at all when they were first planted had a total growth spurt. I was so excited at the prospect of more artichokes before we even planted the seeds for this year and to my great dismay, the were sucked into the ground by our friendly local garden destroyer also known as the gopher I would like to whack with a shovel.


As I was prepping these gorgeous thistles for their steam bath, I decided they were the green that I wanted to capture for the assignment.

I think they are just lovely all prepped and waiting for their destiny.

Do you want to know what dipping sauce I made to dip these beauties in? Head on over to Mommyhood Essentials and check it out. Hubby says that artichokes are just a delivery system for mayo and he loves the sauce. Sometimes I like lemon butter to dip, but since I discovered this sauce, I haven’t even thought about lemon butter. How do you like your artichokes?

This post is linked to P52 Photography Challenge with Darcy at My 3 Boybarians.

P52 Things That Grow

It's time for my Photography Challenge Post for the week. This week the theme is Things That Grow.

We have so much stuff growing around here with spring in full bloom. We have more stuff that we don't want growing than we do things we actually want right now. Time for actually getting everything in order for the growing season just hasn't happened yet. I really hope it does soon before it gets to late.

Princess K came in the house with a tree she pulled out of the ground. That's right she is so strong she pulled a tree right out of the ground.

I know, I know that is how tall tales start.

 

( I pulled a tree <----- T-h-i-s -- B-i-g -----> )

But really here is the tree. It is just a small one. Some silly squirrel must have buried this little nut last fall and completely forgot where they buried it. We have some absent minded squirrels around here. It's much smaller than the one Daddy Reg pulled that was actually about 4 feet tall. That's right we have trees growing like weeds right now.

It's fun joking that she is so strong she can pull a tree right out of the ground though.

This post is linked to Project 52 Photo Challenge with Darcy at My 3 Boybarians.

P52 - Sacrifice

“Sacrifice” is the theme for the P52 Photography Challenge this week. I have been so excited about this theme since I first saw it on the schedule. For me, the very word "sacrifice" brings Jesus to my mind every time. Jesus was the perfect lamb sacrificed on the cross to end all sacrifices. God demonstrates His perfect, amazing love for us through Jesus, dying on the cross for our sins.

Romans 5:7-9 (HCSB)
For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us! Much more then, since we have now been declared righteous by His blood, we will be saved through Him from wrath.

From the beginning of time the very plan for Jesus was set into action. Many believe that Jesus was "Plan B". That if it wasn't for Eve we would still be frolicking in the garden and Jesus would have never had to come. It was all her fault He had to come otherwise He wouldn't have had to conquer death so that we may have life abundantly. But that is not truth.

Truth is that from the very moment that God set the stars into the sky, God's intention was for Jesus to come and demonstrate His love for me. Before Eve even had the thought of eating that fruit, God knew the very moment that Mary would conceive so that His glory would be known to all nations at just the perfect time.

Truth is that God knew from the very beginning that Jesus was going to be born in Bethlehem of the tribe of Judah and that He would die on the cross as the perfect Passover lamb at the very moment of "In the Beginning." At the moment He spoke the stars into existence, and separated the day from the night, His perfect plan was already in action. There is no way we could know His love for us, or see His glory more clearly than to know that greater love hath no one than he who lay down his life.

That is true sacrifice. Christ died almost 2000 years ago that I may have life abundantly. Me, He was thinking of me, before I was knitted together in my mother’s womb He had already planned to conquer death so that I may have life, so that you may have life.

John 10:9-11 (HCSB)
I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Christ had to come and die for you and for me so that we may have life. But if Christ died and did not rise again than it would just be a touching story and nothing more. Instead just as it was foretold, Christ conquered death and the tomb was empty on that third day. That is what makes this sacrifice the sacrifice to end all sacrifices. You see I didn't focus on the cross in the picture. I focused on the empty tomb.

Romans 10:8-10 (HCSB)
On the contrary, what does it say? The message is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.[a] This is the message of faith that we proclaim: If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. 

That empty tomb is what is the most important. Jesus conquered death! He rose again on the 3rd day just as He said He would. That was the plan from the beginning of time. That is God's perfect plan for you and for me.

This post is linked to P52 Photography Challenge with Darcy.

P52 Challenge Foolin' Around

It's been busy, busy, busy here and seriously the kids really just want to relax and hang out. Today I am obliging on this desire as last night was the third night in a row I was up all night with a little who is suffering from some serious allergies. I took this photo of the kids in the grass and we all immediately regretted it as everyone ended up itchy all over from laying in the grass. Silly momma didn't I know that was going to happen? Probably, okay yes, yes I did, but the picture did turn out pretty cute.



I am looking forward to a low key week with no major commitments.

Photography Challenge theme for Week 14 was, "Foolin' Around." Linking up this post to Life With My 3 Boybarians P52 Challenge.