November Photo Hunt Challenge

At the beginning of the month I wrote that there were two photo challenges I was trying out.  The first was Scavenger Hunt Sunday and the second now is Photo Hunt Challenge.  Usually there are a list of 20 words/descriptions to interpret through photography, but for November and December there will be only 10 so this was a perfect month for me to try it out.  I had a blast, but it was a challenge taking different pictures for both Scavenger and Photo Hunt and not reuse them for both.  (A criteria I set up for myself, although I did allow myself to double up on two photos.)  Anyway, here are my entries for the November Photo Hunt Challenge.
Enjoy.

1. Home Sweet Home (archived photo from October)

2. Thankful

3. Family
I don't really like this picture, but I wanted to save the one that turned out really well for my Christmas card.

4. I Ate This
(I also made this for our Thanksgiving dinner.)

5. A Turkey
This is an antique turkey candle that was passed down to me from Bryan's grandmother.

6. Something Hand-Made
An afghan I'm in the process of making.

7. Something Hot
A steamed up window after a HOT shower on a cold morning.

8. Something Cold
'Nuff said!

9. Something Orange
One of the most orange sunsets I've seen in a while.

10. Anything Goes
An old kerosene lantern Bryan's grandfather used to have in his shop. (I used CoffeeShop's Vintage Newspaper Action on it.)

Head on over to Photo Hunt Challenge to see some really amazing photography!

Dirty and Thoroughly Happy

A couple weeks ago we had quite a rainy stretch and for those of you who have boys with high energy levels, you know how important it is to take every chance you can get to be outside when the weather breaks.  Anyway, after one of our rainy stretches, my friend Alyssa calls me up and says, "We're heading over to the park so the boys can RUN.  I know Brandon needs to run, too, so do you want to come?"  YES!!  Time with friends while running--there's no better combination.  We went to a park that is full of trees and wonderful paths.  Well, instead of running like we anticipated, the boys decided they needed to attack with vigor every dead tree/stump they came upon.  And boy did they go at it!!  This is the last picture I took of the day and it's my favorite.  Nothing like filthy boys with happy smiles to end a day. 

(Sorry for the poor quality. Blogger is washing the colors out for some reason.)

Have a great day!

This post is linked to Sweet Shot Tuesday.  Click on the link below to see more great photos.

Thanksgiving Weekend

WARNING: Long picture post!!  What a fun weekend we had!  It was full of play, eating, fellowship, play, and more eating.  This blog will be full of pictures since they speak louder than words sometimes.  Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Day



Fun snow time with Daddy in the morning





We went over early to Uncle Keith and Aunt Pam's house for more fun snow time!





Aunt Pam's beautiful table





Uncle Keith did a fabulous job of carving the turkey



Micah thoroughly enjoyed being held ALL DAY LONG! 
(Except for the 2 hours his mean mommy made him take a nap.)



Brandon clocked lots of fun hours with cousins Aaron and Stephanie





The infamous "Power Grid" game

 

Food Round 2

 

Playing "Toby" card game.  Does Brandon ever look tired!

 Friday
For the past four or five years now Bryan has organized a Civilization IV network game for the day after Thanksgiving.  A bunch of guys get together, network their computers together and play in teams.  It is an all afternoon, into the night, type game with lots of ribbing and laughter.  It's fun to be on the side-lines listening to it all.  :)



Brandon and Micah scored some more Grandma time when she joined us for supper.



  Have a blessed week!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

It's that time again.  I missed last week with all the business of getting ready for Thanksgiving and the network game the day after.  Here are my entries for this week.

Black & White
These are some dried pods we saw on our walk yesterday.  I did some playing around with Wetreats textures.

I Ate This

Homemade pizza is the best!!  I did put cheese on later, but it didn't look as good after the cheese since I had to put two different types of cheese and some without cheese.

Historic
This is an old railroad kerosene lantern that Bryan's grandfather had and passed down to Bryan.  I used CoffeeShop's Vintage Newspaper action on it.

Off Center
Ever feel like this leaf?  Off center, out of balance, barely hanging on, the only one left...

The End
The end of the this snowy period is just fine by me.  Bye-bye snow...

Click on the button below to head over to Ramblings and Photos to see more Scavenger Hunt entries.


Praying you are having a restful and blessed Sunday.

Micah's Growth Chart

Here are the promised pictures of Micah on the poof growth chart.

Have a good evening.

Micah

Micah is four months old today.  He is eating rice cereal for both lunch and supper (about 1/2 a cup each time) and growing like crazy.  He is sitting up more and more on his own (still needs a guiding hand for his jerky movements) and trying really hard to get moving.  He can get both his legs up underneath him, but so far they haven't done much good there yet.  I'm okay with that!  He is a real giggler and is discovering his voice and all the tones he can make with it.  (Screeching is his favorite right now.)  He is such a happy boy, and he loves to be held.  Right now he is sleeping so I can't get his poof growth picture, but I'll get that later.  In the mean time, here are some recent photos of him.



Wearing the hat that Bryan wore as a baby.





Because every baby needs a "food face" picture for their archives.

Have a wonderful afternoon!

Give Thanks to the Lord

"Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name;

make known among the nations what he has done.

Sing to him, sing praise to him;

tell of all his wonderful acts.

Glory in his holy name;

Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice."

I Chronicles 16:8-10

My Baby Can EAT!!

Tonight Micah ate about 2 tablespoons of rice cereal, followed by a 7 oz bottle of milk and then nursed for an additional 10 minutes.  No wonder he wasn't happy this afternoon--he was HUNGRY!!  With all that in him it's also no wonder he is wearing 9-12 month old clothes at 4 months.  Sheesh!  He's following in his father's footsteps.  This kid will be eating a full Big Mac meal at McDonalds by the time he's one year old.

Thankful

Today I am thankful for these beauties.  Children are fun when they're awake (most of the time) but there's just something precious about sleeping children!

I am especially thankful, as we have watched the temperatures continue to drop, that we have a warm house and warm beds.  My heart goes out to those who have no place to stay warm these days and nights.  Today our high is supposed to be 24 degrees Fahrenheit (such a weird word)--yesterday we never hit our high of 26F...


Last week



Last week



This morning

 The temperature gage did say 16.8F this morning but I was in the middle of breakfast and getting Bryan out the door so I didn't get a picture of it.  Because of the location of our gage, the temperature is usually a degree or two lower than what it reads, so really, it is possible the temp was closer to 14/15F this morning.  SOOO thankful for a warm home.

Praying your hearts and homes are warm as well.

Beauty

Today I'm pondering beauty.  (Probably because I need to find something positive about the snow outside...yuck!)  Snow is beautiful when I'm inside my nice warm house and I don't have to go out into the cold.  It's probably the coldness that bothers me about snow, not so much the snow itself.  Anyway, whenever it snows I think of Psalm 51:7 where David talks about God washing us whiter than snow.  It's such a beautiful word picture.  Fresh snow makes everything "new" again, whether it's green grass (a soul enjoying God), brown grass (a soul thirsting and wandering) or muddy/slushy grass (a soul bogged down with sin and /or needing repair).



5:30 AM with the porch light on--I love the way the snow is streaked.




It's cool (ha ha get it) how the blue sky is reflecting off the white snow making the whole picture look blue.



Children are beautiful.  The wonder and amazement (and utter confusion on Micah's part) in both Brandon and Micah's faces when they saw/experienced the snow this morning was a lot of fun to watch.  (I got some really cute pictures this morning of the boys, but I'm saving them for my Christmas cards.)  Brandon went out and played for quite a while in the snow this morning and really enjoyed it!



Love the goofy grin



There's nothing like a cup of warm chocolate after playing in the snow!

Finally, I'm thinking of the beauty of child-like faith.  Last night Brandon had a pretty bad nightmare.  He didn't tell me what it was about, but he was pretty shaken from it.  We sat on his bed and talked about Jesus being right there and holding him even tighter than Mommy was and then we prayed that Jesus would take away the scary dream and give him some peaceful sleep.  As we talked and prayed I could feel his little body completely relax and by the time I layed him back down he was already half asleep again, trusting completely!

Praying you too are find beauty in your day and in the God who won't let you go!