365 in 2015 - End of Week 9

It is the end of February, so that means the end of my photography challenge. I only really tried to follow it the first two weeks, then I just made it work with what I took (not really the point - I know). I don't think the challenge helped me learn or try anything new, so I don't think I'll try another one yet. But I am hoping to take a photography class soon (probably an online one since I would never have time to go to a real one - without kids).

Day 22: Sweet

Paige curled up with Clayton Sunday evening right before bed. I love these sweet little moments when it really shows how much they love each other! 

Day 23: Animal

We went to Zoo Atlanta on Monday to make sure we got our stamp for February (and it was the only day this week we could manage to go). Most of the animals weren't out because we went in the morning when it was colder than they (or us) really liked. The lions were out though and we had fun watching the three brothers play together for a little bit. They currently have the lions separated into three groups and let one group out on different days. Monday it was the three brothers (the three boy cubs that have recently been weaned). The mama and girl cub or the daddy lion (only) come out on other days. 

Day 24: Black & White

I just loved this picture of Paige laughing and the way Shelby is looking at her! 

Day 25: Costume Fun

What better way to photograph what little snow we had than in costume? 

Day 26: Reflection

Thursday was actually the one day I didn't take any pictures, so this is from Friday. I spotted a neat little area I wanted to explore off New Hope Road, so we stopped to check it out. The kids did really well staying out of the mud and water from all the rain (since they didn't wear their rain boots)! I didn't get as clear an image as I would have liked in this puddle (I wanted to see her face too!), but I still really liked this one! 

Day 27: Stairs

These stairs are actually what I had spotted and wanted to find when we stopped to explore. It was a stairway leading to nowhere that appeared to be the remains of a house that had been torn down. The kids wanted to stay and explore much longer than we did! 

Day 28: Food (cookies)

We had a lot going on today, but I did manage to make a batch of my favorite cookies for pot luck lunch tomorrow at church. 

Random January and February Pictures

These are random pictures from January and February that I liked, but didn't put in any other posts.

Paige got her shirt stuck halfway off....and started giggling like crazy!

Cheyenne fell asleep in our bed with her ever present blankie.

Chey being shy.

Clayton showing off his new cowboy boots (not sure what's with the faces).

Gathering sticks for the fire pit.

Shelby noticed me trying to get their picture and turned around.

Cheyenne playing on the piano as soon as it was delivered!

At the Gwinnett Fairgrounds.

The most vivid and full rainbow I think I've ever seen. It was so clear and gorgeous! I wish I could have gotten a better shot of it!

Shelby doing a breathing treatment to try to get over a long lasting cold.

Paige's silly face.

Shelby cuddling with her blankie.

Shelby being grumpy.

Cheyenne's artwork.

Exploring

One day in February, I spotted this brick stairway on the side of the road. I decided to find it another day when I had the time to explore with the kids. We pulled off on a dirt road near our house and followed it back to what appeared to be an old overgrown neighborhood (or at least where a few houses used to be located). The houses were torn down, but a few things were still there including an overgrown tennis court, a brick stairway, and an old barn. 

Snow!

I realized how far behind I've fallen editing pictures from earlier this year. I finally have a little time to spend trying to catch up! These snow pictures are from the little bit we received back in February. The kids were hoping for a sled worthy amount of snow, but sadly we barely got any. The flakes that fell were big and beautiful though! 

The kids playing with the sled inside after they realized they wouldn't get to play with it outside in the snow.

365 in 2015 - End of Week 8

This week was a crazy, crazy one! We had an ice storm Monday night into Tuesday. My kids had finally gotten over the lingering colds they had had only to get a stomach virus as well. We had a pipe freeze (but thankfully thaw out and not burst), our heat kept not working properly thanks to low gas pressure (Jon thinks it's a city problem since nothing he's tried to fix it has worked), and we got to meet with our lawyer and the City of Lawrenceville for mediation because of ongoing storm water runoff issues. And I only missed one day! Needless to say, I made what pictures I took fit into another random assortment of topics from multiple photo challenges. 

Day 15: (Stuffed) Animal

Shelby couldn't get any of her siblings to play her in a game of chess, so she set up the game with her bear, Myna. I must say I was impressed she completely knew how to set up the board correctly! I didn't see the complete game, so I'm not sure how much she remembers of how to move each piece, but her brother has taught her well! 

Day 16: Growing Up

Our regular Monday plans got cancelled because of the coming storm, so we finally let Clayton watch Jurassic Park. He'd been wanting to see it for a long time and he was thrilled to finally be allowed. I remember being terrified watching that movie in the theater when it came out, but he got up thinking it wasn't scary at all! (The girls were watching a girly movie on our computer instead.)

Day 17: Ice

We woke up Tuesday to lots of ice and no power! We headed to mom's house for a little while since we couldn't make anything to eat at home and she still had power. I took a bunch of pictures which are in a couple other posts. These two were my favorites by far though, so I saved them for my 365 post! 

Day 18: Sunset

The sky was absolutely gorgeous Wednesday evening! I had to run out to the store and made a detour to get the best view of this sky (while still staying relatively close to the house).

Day 19: Freedom

Shelby was the first to get sick this week, and she was also the first to get better. Her sisters went down, and she took advantage of the situation to go play with their toys in their bed. I don't know how long she sat up in Paige's bed playing with her ponies and dolls. She was quite content playing happily by herself! 

Day 20: Someone you love

My sweet Chey (say it "shy") letting me take her picture after she was feeling better! 

Day 21: Colorful

This is Shelby's favorite toy! It plays each instrument's sound and you can add multiple instruments to the middle to hear them together. It's a really neat toy, and one all the kids actually enjoy!

Ice Storm: Fun with a Macro Lens

My camera kit came with a macro lens. I had fun trying to figure out how best to use it. I need some practice for sure, but thought a few of these were nice!