Author: Joyce

Mushrooms

This weekend, I was having fun making kaleidoscopes with the mushroom picture I posted earlier.  Each kaleidoscope starts with the same initial cut.  Then I cut them in different sized angles to form the kaleidoscopes.

I love how one picture can create totally different kaleidoscopes, depending on how it is cut. 

The last time I tried to make a kaleidoscope, I did not do very well.   However, after Allan answered a few questions I had, I was able to do these pretty easily.

I like them all, but I think I like the six sided one the best.  The “lace work” in the middle of the twelve sided one is neat too.

Which do you like the most?

Happy Birthday Andrea

Andrea turned eleven today!

Andrea is such a special girl.  She tries hard at school and tries her best most of the time.  Even though a few subjects are extremely difficult for her, I rarely see her upset anymore. She often asks to help Adrian with his books. When Adrian needed to learn how to tie his shoes, she was the one to help me teach him (and the one to to scream when he tied his first shoe!)

While she loves “girly” things like pretty dresses and giggling often, she does not hesitate to play a rough game of soccer.  She holds her own very well.

Andrea is sweet too.  After opening her presents from us, she had one bag left.  She planned a gift for each of us! She found verses that she liked and then wrote a note to each of us on a notecard.  I am often finding love notes and thank you’s from her around the house.

It is neat watching Andrea become the girl God created her to be.  I pray that she grows strong in Christ!

Happy Birthday, Beautiful!  I am so glad to be your Momma!

Praying Mantis

On Friday, we found a Praying Mantis in the garage.  The kids put it in a jar and brought it inside.  We did a little research to learn how to take care of it so we could maybe keep it for awhile.

When no one could catch any live flies for it to eat, we decided to let it free.  On Saturday, Audrey took it outside and came back inside with it.  “Mom, what is on the mantis?”

The Praying Mantis was laying her egg sack, called an ootheca!  We will keep the egg case somewhere in the garage until spring, when we hope to see the babies hatch.

“Mom” was put on the bushes in the backyard.  Maybe we can find her again to play with again later.

 

Marbles

Quoting Audrey, “Yoohoo! I got it!”

I saw this marble picture the idea in a book and thought it was interesting.  I wanted to try it to see if I liked it on one of my pictures.  It is different, and I can see possibilities.  I even had fun playing with other pictures. But, I don’t think I will use it very often.

Potato Creek Scenery

We noticed this creek at Potato Creek and Allan stopped to let me try to get a few pictures. I really liked how the sun was shining through the trees and hitting the water. If you click on the pictures, you can see them full size.

Candid

I struggle getting good candid shots.  I am usually slow and the picture does not tell a story.  On Tuesday, I caught Megan as she watched someone fishing. She was amazed at what she was seeing.

Then, I was trying to get a picture of Andrea.  Audrey came up behind her to give her bunny ears. I was pleased to have captured their silliness.

I need a lot more practice, but this is a good start.

Family Picture

Allan took us to Potato Creek Tuesday afternoon.  It was humid, but a beautiful day to be outside. We took a walk on one of Allan and my favorite trails.  We used to walk there a lot because I really like the boardwalks and scenery.

We decided to try a family picture there.  It was the funniest attempt at a picture in a long time.  To get the picture, Allan set the camera timer and then maneuvered around a 90 degree angle, down the boardwalk, around a 45 degree angle and then raced to us.  To make it more fun, there was a huge spiny caterpillar around the railing by the camera, so he needed to be careful not to touch it as he rushed around the corner. Most of the time,  he made just before the camera flashed.

A Loves J

For our 17th anniversary, Allan and I wanted to get a good picture of just us.  We have very few, and the last one was taken over a year ago.  Before that?  I can’t remember. We tried, but they just were not right.  We did not want a formal picture, we wanted a fun one!

Then, Allan discovered a contest at a blog he reads.  To enter, we needed to send in a creative picture of the two of us and the number of years married.  If you head on over to the link, you can send your own picture. Or you can see when the voting is and see what other people came up with and vote for your favorite.

Well, our vacation this summer was mostly backyard stuff and a few day trips.  But Allan and I have been spending LOTS of evenings outside. So we decided to get our picture in the backyard.

Allan set up the camera and I did the writing with a flashlight.  After figuring out how it would all work, and what we wanted, we had fun playing!

Now, to get a good family picture!

The Lily Pad

Allan has been helping me learn how to use The Gimp better.  I had a few minutes to “play” today, so I thought I would see what different filters do to a picture.  If you click on one of the thumbnails, you can see a slide show of some of the different things I did.