Summer Break week 8

this beautiful, misty, rainy day reminds me of Autumn. 

i'm not ready for autumn yet.

we have finished week 8 of our summer break.

We enjoyed a week of :

Face Painting

Spiders

Silliness

Comedy

American Ninja Warrior

snapping turtles

water fun

new sleeping bags

and biking

what another wonderful week.

*all photos taken by me

with Gertie(1,4-12)

& Chester( 2,3,13,14)

what a November day

Yesterday was beautiful.

it was a spectacular autumn day.

Sunny and 17*C

i was determined to get out and enjoy it with the kids when they got home.

with their bikes in the back of the car

we headed to the nearest trail

i walked, Gertie around my neck, 

and they biked short distances ahead of me, finding ways to play while waiting for me to catch up.

I am so thankful for this beautiful day in November.

Couldn't have asked for a better day..

or after school time with the kidlets.

When my timer let me know we had to turn around 

the sun was beginning to set.

shorter days in November, 

but what a beautiful day it was.

*photos by me 

with Gertie

not edited

family

I am mom to these two crazy kids.

i just love them so much.

i wish they could pause at this age right now.

The Lord saw me as the perfect fit for them.

they are so different, 

yet, so much the same.

They love to have fun.

they love to challenge themselves.

they love to laugh,

and laugh loud.

they love mommy and daddy.

they love each other.

some moments i get so mad or frustrated with them.

sometimes they feel the same about me.

that's what family is.

one minute you want to yell, scream and rip your hair out.

you want to lock the person out of the house or your room so you don't have to hear or see them.

the next minute you want that person to be right there with you.

to laugh, hug, cry.

to play with and be silly.

you don't want to be without that person.

ever.

they see your worst and your best and love you for it all.

*all photos taken by me, 

with Gertie.

not edited.

Monday Munchkin

happy monday!

what a beautiful autumn day.

the colors are changing, 

the cooler temperatures are here.

and today is a new day.

today i wanted to share with you one of my munchkins.

we took this last week.

i love this girl.

she had me put that flower in her ponytail, and then needed a photo with it in.

have a beauty day.

if you have munchkins you love, 

make sure to get out today and capture a memory of their beauty at whatever age and stage they're at.

*photo taken by me

with Gertie

not edited

day 30

this is it.

the last day of my challenge.

same theme as the first day of the challenge:

self-portrait.

that's it.

challenge over.

kind of miss it.

a little.

next time i'll make sure dumb dog isn't wandering around behind me.

*all photos taken with Gertie. 

on a tripod..

with a timer.

day 28

day 28:

Flowers

not too many flowers around.

but when watering our plants i did spot this little bud.

on my walk that afternoon with the dog

*in the beautiful high winds*

i was able to find these little guys.

power may have been out for the day but it didn't stop me.

*all photos taken with Gertie

day 27

day 27:

Celebration

due to some delays in some of the challenge days it just happened that this one landed on Oct 31.

so here it is.

Halloween.

getting ready to go trick or treating.

our first house.

look it's Waldo x2! 

meeting up with friends to go around the neighborhood.

rainy evening, but such a good time.

*all photos taken with Gertie.

day 26

day 26:

CLOSE-UP

i only have one lens for my camera.
therefore my close-up is only as close as the lens allows.
one day i will get closer.

but for now:

yes, snow.  it didn't last long that day, but it still came.

i can only do basic sewing.

i know some extremely gifted artists who create beauty with a sewing machine.

i thought of them as i took this...please ignore the cobweb on my machine.

my boy placed the leaf on the pumpkin the day before, because it looked good there. 

even with it's life draining there is still a special beauty about it.

tree.  strength. gentle giant.  life. 

*all photos taken with Gertie

day 25

day 25:

Stranger

here's the deal.

i don't talk to strangers.

i thought, 

maybe,

 i could accomplish this challenge by asking some random person if i could take their picture.  

*obviously explaining what i was doing*

nope.

maybe one day.

so after gymnastics with my girl i headed to a trail in town.

it was a beautiful place..

i could sneak a pic, because it was so nice there, i could pretend they got in the way.

seriously.

that's was my plan.

so we parked at the end and headed to the trail.

there was a lady on the floating dock!  

perfect.

my girl asked 

"is she a stranger mommy?"

yes. yes she is.

before i could get down to the dock she turned around.

so i grabbed my camera and snapped this.

i didn't know why she turned around so abruptly.

maybe she knew my plan.

when we got down there i saw why.

there she is again.

that's my stranger photo challenge.

i'm a geek.

i know it.

*all photos taken with Gertie

day 18

day 18:

Shoes.

i don't enjoy wearing shoes.

so i did footwear instead.

i wear these beauts from when the snow is mostly gone until my feet are too numb to survive two minutes outside.

even in the chill..the rain...i will wear them as long as i can stand it.

and this year i bought myself some comfy cozy slippers.

(thank you value village)

shoes and i do not get along.

(although i do have a sweet pair of brown skate shoes i do love come colder weather)

*all photos taken with Gertie.

day 12

i have a 30 day challenge happening.

i started Oct. 1 with day 1.

rule 1. i do have to stay in order.

rule 2. i will not skip a day just to skip it. 

i cannot move onto the next day's challenge without completing the one i missed.

all that to say:

Oct 12, day 12:  challenge was  SUNSET.

while the sun was setting on saturday i was inside the windowless reception hall.

at 6pm i reminded myself to check outside in an hour. 

and to capture the sunset whatever it looked like.

around 8pm i remembered and, sadly, asked my husband...   

"then sun has already set hasn't it?"

he answered in the affirmative.

he had just been outside in the dark as he and our little boy were taking a break from the noisy reception.

Oct 13, day 12:  challenge was SUNSET.

Thanksgiving dinner.

we were at my parents' apartment.

all day i reminded myself about the challenge.

dinner happened.

next thing i knew i looked out the window at the dark sky.

grrrrrr.

needless to say, i was a little frustrated.

(not that the sunset on sunday would have been spectacular as the sky was completely cloud covered and it was pouring.)

i had now missed 2 days.

Monday October 14th.

we drove home.

day 12: 

SUNSET

my husband tidied up the living-room with the kids as i grabbed Gertie and the dog, and went for a walk.

**initially, if i missed a day i was going to make myself start over at day 1 again.

then my wonderful husband reminded me that the purpose of the challenge was to improve on my photography and to have my eyes open for photograph opportunities... to be creative.

so instead of penalizing myself i should just get back onto the challenge and continue where i left off.**

*all photos taken with Gertie.

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