Click it Up a Notch- June 2012 Photo Contest

{the baby bird}

It's 108 here today and we noticed something small moving out in the street...

It turned out to be this little guy...

The pavement had to be about 120 degrees...

We got him to walk into the grass and shade near water and hope he does ok...

He's feisty with an opinion and let us know it...

Come back soon mama bird...

Click it Up a Notch is having a contest for your favorite picture taken in June. I have several but I think this is my favorite. Drop by the blog and check out other entries...

{Wordless Wednesday}

 Fresh bread, visits with friends & ballgames....

Photos from the last 2 weeks...

 Shawn picked the last of our cabbage from the garden, I spent the afternoon making beirocks and freezing them for easy meals and snacks this summer. We had enough cabbage to make 4 dozen. Don't they look tasty sitting on the counter cooling?

Last Saturday, Shawn came home with a bag of fresh cherries and apricots he had purchased from a local farmer. We enjoyed them in a cherry/apricot pie. YUMMY!

 The County Fair is a month away, the girls have been practicing their baking skills for 4-H. All of us have enjoyed getting to try their yummy new bread recipes. Abigayl is taking Sally Lunn Bread this year.

 Last Wednesday, Shawn called and said I needed to call our friend, Colleen back. Colleen and her family have served for years in the Philippines, they now work with orphans, street children and building relationship in an urban poor community. I haven't gotten to see Colleen for several years so it was a treat to have her stop by as she drove through and spend the night. The kids were excited about the shirts she brought them from their ministry in the Philippines.

 Ball season is winding down and our last couple of games have been hot, windy and dusty! Tonight it was so hot (110 today) that they cancelled tonight's games.

 Overall, Clara has been a great little fan this summer at games.

Funny story I have to share, Race Across America (a cross country bike race) came through a little town where we were playing ball last week. We met several riders and their support teams on our way to the game. We had fun trying to figure out what countries they were from based on the flags flying on their vehicles. After the game, we stopped at the little gas station in town to grab Sub sandwiches. As I pulled in, I had to circle the gas station behind to get to park. Imagine my shock as we came around and there hosing down was a rider... in nothing but his tighty-whiteys! Ack!

I won't repeated the shocked comment here from one of my children as I hit the gas to quickly come around the side and parked out of sight. As we ate, the bike team came in and picked up a few things and paid for gas, thankfully they were fully clothed by then! It turned out to be one of the Brazilian teams, before we left I had to snap a shot of their support vehicle just because...

 

 And lastly, the latest "toothless" grin at our house... if we loose to many more teeth the tooth fairy might go broke!

still here...

We are enjoying summer and it seems to be flying by! Everyone is doing well just busy!

I will post an update soon!

{Camp}

Last week, Lenna went away to church camp for the first time. I have great memories of church camp as a kid, but I wasn't the mama sending me off. I will admit that I was nervous letting my girl go, it seems like yesterday she was our tiny girl. She ended up having an awesome time, she was sad a time or two at night but loved going and can't wait to go back next summer.

Today I downloaded her camera and here are a few pictures she took of her camp experience...

 The night before camp we stayed in the city at a hotel for the Homeschool Conference. I booked our room online expecting to have a generic room for the evening. What a treat the Lord had in mind for us...

It was opening weekend of the city's festival and there was a fireworks show that night. I was so surprised to find out were were on the 18th floor facing the river- the display literally right outside our hotel window!

The kids loved it and Lenna took these pictures...

Sunday Snapshots {water droplets}

I have been talking one of Lisa's photography classes and it has challenged me to think out of the box about taking pictures and really understanding what my camera can do. It is also getting close to fair time so I have been working with Lenna on her photography project and ideas as she learns about manual settings on the camera.

We spent part of Sunday afternoon playing around with water, seeing what we could catch with the lens, and understanding settings together. We are going to keep working on this idea but I thought I would share with you what we got. 

 We knew to get these types of pictures we would need to have a higher f-stop so that we could focus on the area and the drop at the same time. We also needed to adjust the ISO so that our shutter speed could be quick enough to catch the effect of the drop hitting the surface.

It actually turned into a neat little experiment because not only did we catch the drop but also the effect on the water's surface!

ok, it doesn't take much to entertain us on a Sunday afternoon...

Hope you had a beautiful day together too!

photos taken with a Canon T1i, 50mm fixed lens

Stop by Stefanie's to check out some other Sunday snapshots!

"Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack,
I don't care if I never get back,
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game."

 Jack Norworth's 1908 classic

 

Ball season has started and the kids are loving it. Tuesday night they had their first games. The middle three are on a coach pitch team together and Lenna is playing her first year of machine pitch.

So for the next few weeks, you'll find us at the ball park a couple evenings a week waiting to hear... 

"Play Ball!"

Just in case you think we live a life of total bliss...

Little Miss here has quite the spicy attitude at times...

{Herschel}

Remember Herschel? 

 I wrote about him here... 

a precious little guy in China with a very broken heart that Love Without Boundaries has been caring for.

Many of you stepped up and made a difference in his life by donating for his surgery...

On May 30th, he had surgery to fix his broken heart.

Praise the Lord, it has gone well and he is recovering. 

Please continue to pray for this little guy...

and THANK YOU for making a difference in his life!

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Philippians 4:4

 Sunday Snap Shot {Harvest Time}

In the part of the country we live in, Harvest Time is a big deal for families... 

Acres of wheat that is ripe and needs to be harvested before the hot winds dry it out too much and it shrivels away...

It is a time of long hours in the combine, late nights and waiting in line at the COOP to dump harvested grain for storage or to sell.

It is dust and dirt in every nook and cranny, never does a long hot shower feel as good as after a long day of harvest.

It is prayers for good yields, weather not to destroy the crop and safety.

For me, this time of year always challenges my heart from a Biblical perspective...

 He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 

Luke 10:2

 

 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? ”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” Isaiah 6:8

 Who is calling me to serve?

The poor?

The lonely?

The widow?

The orphan? 

The single mom?

The drug addict?

What about the "unlovable" that lives down the street?

Who is waiting for someone to tell them?

Who is longing to know Him and just needs someone to take the time to share His love?

I know He is calling... 

He wants my whole heart to run after Him with reckless abandon... 

He wants me not to question "WHY?" 

But instead... to reply with "Why Not?"

He is longing for me to draw close...

He has given His command...

 "Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow." Isaiah 1:17 

So as I watch the sunset over the field ripe for harvest, my heart longs to do His will...

To truly see His calling and follow...

Knowing He will be faithful...

The top 2 pictures are my favorites. They were taken with a 50 mm fixed lens.