365 challenge - weeks 28 and 29 and life lately

Hi,

Have you ever taken on something only to discover that it wasn't what or how you thought it would be - or maybe that it was too difficult?  

Well, I have decided that this 365 photo challenge is not a good fit for me.  While I have enjoyed it, it has also been really difficult to carve out the needed time.  Frankly, my time is currently needed elsewhere.  

To give an attempt of a feeling of completion, I thought I would post the remaining photos that I have taken so far - of course, a few are missing, in true Carol fashion. 😉  I also thought that instead of completely stopping, I would try to switch to a 52 week challenge.  Just one photo per week.  I think that might be more manageable for me, but I'm not making any promises.  

Week 28

[ 191/365 - full ]

[ 192/365 - shadows ]

[ 193/365 - a self portrait ]

[ 194/365 - noon ]

[ 196/365 - five ]

- Week 29 -

[ 197/365 - little ]

 [ 198/365 - negative space ]

[ 201/365 - free choice ]

[ 202/365 - rule of thirds ]

[ 203/365 - my guilty pleasure ]

So there you go.  I hope you've enjoyed the photos.  I enjoyed taking them.  😊

. . . . . 

It's hard to believe it is the end of July!  We have worked hard (really, really hard) each weekend, and we were at it again this weekend too, but we moved all the wood and chipped all the downed branches and the front is completed!  It will be so nice to have a very good supply of firewood for this season and hopefully a few seasons to come.  There were times that I thought of the pioneers of Little House on the Prairie era and how no matter how tired and sore they were, they just kept working day after day to complete their necessary projects.   I'm glad we just worked on the weekends.  Can I just say how thankful I am to the Lord for a month of no rain? !

. . . . . 

Hannah has enrolled at the local community college for the fall.  It's such an exciting new season for her.  She is busy applying for scholarships - lots and lots of scholarships!  It's a funny thing, beginning in May she applied to probably twenty jobs in hopes for a summer job, but no one will hire her.  No experience.  Don't you love that catch-22?  - no hire - no experience - no experience - no hire.  

Well, God knows what He is doing.  Because Hannah does not have a job, she has time to apply for the scholarships.  She is diligently writing essays and in some cases making videos.

Seriously there are so many scholarships out there.  It's a big goal - apply for 100 scholarships.  You know, if she won 10% of them, she may have all of her college expenses covered!  What a blessing that would be since we don't qualify for financial aid, and we are not a debt kind of family.  

She has decided to claim photography as her major. 😀  With the way social media marketing is going and our new family endeavor she (and Eric and I) feel it's a smart choice. 

. . . . . 

I'm beginning to plan for the upcoming school year.  I've got all the subjects/curricula for each child, but now I must plan the details of how and when.  I'm looking forward to our year, but glad we still have some summer left.  I'm definitely not feeling prepared or ready. 

. . . . . 

If you've been reading here for a while then you know Hannah has digestive issues.  IBS, but nothing defined beyond that.  She's had so many tests, none of them really pointing to anything specific. She has an endoscopy scheduled a week from Monday.  We would covet your prayers.  We are hoping for answers, but at the same time I'll be honest,  not finding anything means they aren't finding big, scary things either.  I do so want my girl to have relief!  I pray for the Lord's strength to carry us through.  

. . . . . 

Summer Success...

 Mary learned to ride a bike without training wheels! 

Where did the baby go? 

. . . . . 

A reader recently made a comment that my life seemed quite crazy and chaotic.  You know, it kind of is right now, but no worries, I promise, we do take time out to smell the roses!  😀

Enjoy the remainder of your weekend.  Until next time
- Carol

365 challenge - weeks 26 & 27

Hi,

Well, I have not caught up yet, and I know I still need to fill in the blanks, but thought I would post the photos I do have from week 26 and 27.  ( Remember my corrupted SD card? 😞 )

Week 26

[ 176/365 - an errand ]

[ 177/365 - what I'm proud of ]

[ 178/365 - my addiction AND 180/365 - pink ]

[ 179/365 - alive ]

[ 181/365 - a piece of jewelry ]

[ 182/365 - change ]

Week 27

[ 183/365 - I love this ]

[ 184/365 - what I did today ]

[ 185/365 - patriotic ]

[ 186/365 - salty ]

[ 187/365 - an accessory ]

[ 188/365 - nature ]

[ 189/365 - what I see ]

Summer is speeding along.  We are taking full advantage of  our weather and on weekends, as a family, have been working hard on moving wood rounds, splitting wood, and chipping all the branches.  It's exhausting work, but we are making progress. 😀

I have been most blessed by the attitudes from the younger girls, who are more than willing to help with all the hard yard work.  We don't even have to ask, they just head outside with us.  They work hard and accomplish much for their little selves, and believe me, we so appreciate it.

As I write this evening,  the older kids are sitting outside, wearing sweaters (because it's chilly tonight) drinking hot tea, and playing cards.  I am so thankful for the relationships my children have with each other.

I can't help, but smile when I hear their laughter.

Until next time.
- Carol


Linking up with Serendipity is sweet Good, Random, Fun

365 challenge - week 25

Hello!

I am so behind in posting the photo challenge photos.  Each week I seem to get stumped with one of the prompts, so I hold off on posting, in hopes to squeeze it in before my goal of posting each Monday.

At any rate, I was planning on posting both week 25 and 26 in the same post as those would complete up through June, but I discovered that my SD card somehow got corrupted.  I can not copy off any photos from it.  The saddest part of that is that all of Ellie's birthday pictures were still on that.  Eric tried all his nifty high-tech tricks, but to no avail.  All I can do is reformat the SD card.  😞

I will need to take all of week 26 photos again.  😞😞

So... here is what I have for week 25.

[ 169/365 - Dad  ]

[ 170/365 - curly ]

[ 171/365 - my view today ]

[ 172/365 - from above ]

[ 173/365 - peace ]

[ 174/365 - an animal ]

Until next time. 

- Carol 

Linking with image-in-ing

365 challenge - week 24

Hi!

Here's my photo challenge week...

[ 161/365 - modern *from week 23 ]

modern art on a modern device.

[162/365 - a bottle ]

 reminds me of Blue Bottle Coffee. 

[163/365 - the weather today ]

 rain!

[ 164/365 - walk ] I do have an idea for this one....

[ 165/365 - dessert ]

[ 166/365 - hello ]

 Did you know that Eric once had a pet crow - that he trained how to talk.  No, really!  He did!

[ 167/365 - free choice ]

Who stole my little boy?  

 [ 168/365 - I found this ]

This robin's nest is right under our deck.  There are 2 little blue eggs in there.  We can peek down through the spaces above to see them, but we haven't seen the mama in a while.  I am not sure if it is because we scared her away or if she comes, but we don't know it because we are trying not to look very often so that we don't scare her away. 

365 photo challenge - week 23

Hello Everyone.  

In true Carol fashion, I am running a bit behind on posting the photo challenge pictures.  These were the ones I took for last week.  I am missing a couple, but I'll try to get them this week (even though there are only a couple days left of this week. 😵 )

[ 155/365 - local ]

This children's museum is FAB.

[ 156/365 - what I'm reading ]

This is our summer reading goal poster that the girls made.  For every 15 minutes of read aloud time (each one of them to me, and I to them), we put a sticker on the rainbow.  When the rainbow is completely filled, everyone will get an ice cream treat.

[ 158/365 - feet ]

 Freshly painted little toes.

[ 159/365 - I cherish this ]

I cherish my littlest one, I cherish that she sees the world with such wonder, and I cherish that she picks flowers for me each time she goes outside.

[ 160/365 - self portrait ]

This challenge has so many self portrait prompts.  They are not my favorite.  I find them to be the most challenging not just because I am the subject and the photographer, but finding creative backdrops and positions is also a challenge.  And...I'm just not comfortable in front of the camera. Selfies (unless with others to document an event or occasion) are just not my thing.

. . . .

Today is Hannah and Matthew's last day on the East Coast.  We'll pick them up at the airport tomorrow morning, and I am so looking forward to hugging them and hearing all about the adventures they had.  It's such a different dynamic when people are missing.

- Carol

365 photo challenge - week 22

Hi,

Before this week gets too far along, I better post last week's photos. 

[ 148/365 - top ]

that colored sugar though!

[ 149/365 - even ]

[ 150/365 - sound ]

[ 151/365 - what I'm looking at ]

This girl loves her chickens.

[ 152/365 - lines ]

[ 153/365 - starts with j ]

Me: Hey kids, what starts with J?
Them: Jelly beans, jam, jelly, Jeremy, JUMP.
We waited until the evening for lighting, and had a lot of laughs while taking JUMP photos.

[ 154/365 - to do ]

We have lots of big trees on our property.  These trees in the front of our house need attention. The tree on the right needs to be topped, the other two need to be taken down.  

Summer is just about here.  I hope you are able to get out and enjoy a bit of it this week. 

- Carol 

Linking with Image-in-ing

365 challenge - week 21

Hello Friends, 

Can you believe we are almost to JUNE?!  I'm sure looking forward to summer vacation.  No big, special plans except to have fun with the kiddos.

Here is my 21st week in photos. 

[ 141/365 - self portrait ]

I used the reflection of a big window.

[ 142/365 - the sky ]

this cloud is almost heart shaped.

[ 143/365 - my morning ]

I know it's sky again, but sometimes the skies in WA are really amazing.  Each morning the sun comes up over that mountain.  It's stunning.  I've got to figure out how to capture that.

[ 144/365 - sweet ]

these roses smell so sweet.

[ 145/365 - arrow ]

  

[ 146/365 - my passion ]

Breathe in - breathe deep - smell the salty sea air... repeat!

[ 147/365 - old school ]

circa 1975

Until next week...

- Carol

Linking with Image-in-ing