Archives for 2011

Thankful Thursday!!

June 2, 2011 By JulieK

First and foremost… I am very thankful that the storms from last night are over… It was crazy, the sky got all oddly orange… It was beautiful, but scary at the same time… Then there was the crazy lightning… Like I remember when I was little, we called it “heat lightning” when it just lights up the sky, but there’s no thunder… (we got plenty of thunder earlier in the evening)… but once it got dark, the light show was amazing!

I’m also VERY thankful that my hubby got me my new camera :) I LOVE the thing… So far, I’ve been nothing but thrilled with it… We had such a wonderful weekend… It was busy, but we took Sunday afternoon and went out for a ride in the “race car” Up route 133 (one of our favorite drives) into Gloucester… This is picture heavy… But, here’s a picture view of what we did Sunday…

Ok, this is another Iris picture… I’m justifying adding it here ’cause we did yard work before the little road trip :) so it still ties in… Well, I should rephrase that… Mike did yard work, and I walked around taking pictures of the Iris’…

Here we are… On the road… Sean’s trying to duck out of the breeze :)

Kathryn never tries to duck anywhere! If you hear a random WHEEEEE coming from outside, we’re probably driving by in the “race car”… She thinks it’s her own personal roller coaster…

Oh, hey, look! It’s me :) and Kathryn giving me bunny ears…

I didn’t get a picture of Mike driving ’cause I was “distracting him” while he was “trying” to drive :)

About 30 minutes down the road, we stopped in Ipswich to see the falls… but 2 someones had fallen asleep, and couldn’t be woken… So, we continued on our way (in peace and quiet for a few minutes!!)

Then we got to Gloucester! LOVE IT! And, you know I’m not a “water” person, but it was a beautiful day! We stopped at a random beach where we found a parking spot (not near the “big beach” areas) Pretty!

Look at that seagull… I used my “super zoom” we were NOT close to that little guy!

Happy boy on the beach!

Seaweed!! Yucky, but cool!

Oh, look! More rocks for the rock collection… We definitely don’t already have enough rocks at home…

the shore…

Kinda looks like he’s fishing, but I have no idea what he’s doing exactly… prpbably inspecting more rocks to take home :)

Think the water’s a little chilly??

Then we came home… It was a beautiful day!! And, I’m loving my new camera!!!

Whoo… New Camera Love!!!

May 28, 2011 By JulieK

We’re going on a trip… A LONG trip… To places where I need to take great pictures… Grand Canyon, Arches National Park, Sequoia National Park, Yosemite… You get the idea… BUT although I have a dslr that is great and takes wonderful photos (Nikon D70s) I don’t want to lug it around (it’s not small or light) and I also don’t want to have to worry about it… At Christmas time, I got a new point and shoot camera… Super cute, indestructable, waterproof, freeze proof… Seemingly the “perfect” camera for what I wanted… and did I mention it was super cute?? Ummm… yeah, I can’t get a decent picture with that thing to save my life… I’m sure it’s user error, but I even read the manual, and I simply can’t get a decent picture with it…

So, with the big trip looming… I did some research, and decided that I “needed” the Nikon P500… It’s not small, it’s not pocketable, it’s just plain black, and not super cute… But I picked it up yesterday, and I LOVE it already!!! It looks like a mini-dslr… It’s much lighter than the D70s, but has a very similar grip, and I love the Nikon grip… Here’s the first few shots off the camera, no editing at all… It’ also takes video (which I didn’t test yet, we have a Flip, I’m not sure we’ll use this much for video) I did test the panorama, and it came out great, but you don’t really need to see my messy living room in panorama :) You know, the room I *should* be cleaning right now, but am playing with my new camera instead…

We have a TON of Iris coming… Just 3 blooms opened today, but there are seriously hundreds about to pop!!

This is the canopy of our big tree in the back… I zoomed WAY out to get it, and still got a clear shot…

Of course, when you get a new camera, someone needs to pose on the back deck for a pic!

And I even got a decent pic of the pupster… who stays still even less than the kiddos!!

So far… I’m in LOVE with the camera!! I’ll need to get a battery charger ’cause the one it comes with only charges the battery in the camera, and I’ll also need an extra battery for long days in the National Parks.. but, So far, so good!!!

Made for… Thankful Thursday!

May 26, 2011 By JulieK

What a GLORIOUS day!!! So much to be Thankful for!!!

First… I missed Made for Monday!! I actually made something too :) Look at this little card I made for Mia’s birthday party… She’s 1 and just the sweetest!!! I triple cut the butterflies and layered them for dimension… I thought it came out cute…

And now… Thankful for… a stretch (ok, 2 days… but that’s more than we’ve had!!) of beautiful days!!! It is so nice outside!!

We had a wonderful time at little Mia’s birthday party last weekend!!! It’s so wonderful to be able to get together with family and celebrate!! We’re not going to be able to call her “little” for long though, holy cow, She’s getting big!! Kathryn thought she was just wonderful, and had a blast playing with her!!

I picked up my glasses this week!! I don’t think they’ve ever seen anyone so excited to pick up glasses!! I can SEE clearly!! It’s taking some getting used to because they are progressive, and it’s a little tricky to find the “clear” spot, depending on what you’re looking at, but I’ve been psyched to not have to squint so much :) fewer fine lines and wrinkles :) I think they’re cute, and have worn them all day at school the last couple of days… I haven’t been driving with them on yet though, I’m still getting lots of “wishy washy” stuff at the bottom of my vision…

Just got home from Kohl’s and getting the kids some summery clothes, Sean didn’t have a single pair of shorts that fit him… Of course, I had a coupon, and saved more than I spent (does anyone ever go to Kohl’s without a coupon?? I know I never do…)

I’m also thankful that Mike is going to need to go to CA for work, ’cause we’re going with him!!! I’ve never been, and am so excited to see everything out there!!!

The kiddos are going to have a sleepover party this weekend with Meema and Auntie!!! Just one night, but it’s a night off :) They’ll have a blast, they always do :)

You may be wondering… What’s that crazy girl doing about her Theology Degree decision?? Well… For the moment, I’ve decided to take some continuing education type courses and try to ease into it a bit… I’m already signed up for a class that starts in June… It’s through the University of Notre Dame’s STEP program (Satellite Theological Education Program)… I figure it can’t hurt to know something before I jump into things, it’s not hugely expensive, and I’m *just kinda* OCD, so this may satisfy my OCness :) and if I win the lottery and discover I can actually afford the $500 a credit for the program I want to get into, then at least I’ll actually know something going in…

I hope the weather stays nice… And that everyone has a wonderful weekend!!!

Thankful Thursday!

May 19, 2011 By JulieK

***I’m interrupting this Thankful Thursday post with a happy reminder that I’m teaching at a breast cancer fundraiser next week… Wednesday, May 25th at Wilmington Middle School… Cards for the Cure is a wonderful workshop where we’ll be making a beautiful box and matching card set… ALL proceeds go to the Susan G. Komen 3-day walk that my friend Ryan is doing… See all the DETAILS HERE and the pictures of the project can be found HERE… let me know if you’re interested!! OK… back to your regularly scheduled post :) ***

Happy, Happy Thursday!! I hope everyone is having a wonderful week… I have to say, this weather is simply depressing… Rain, Rain, MORE Rain… Blech!! I am ready for some sunshine (which we *might* get on Sunday…) But, this isn’t “Complain about the weather Thursday” So, here’s what I’m thankful for this week… AND… being on the 3rd floor of a rather large building without A/C and with 23 or so school days left… I SHOULD be thankful that it’s not sweltering yet :)

I’m so looking forward to Saturday, and spending the afternoon with little Mia celebrating her first birthday!!! First, she’s just about the cutest child EVER (aside from my own of course :)… And, second, we get to see her wonderful Mom and Dad (Mike’s cousins) and his other cousins too, who I just love dearly and wish they lived closer!!! That is going to be a fun family-filled day!

I’m getting glasses! I know that most people are not thankful for that, but honestly, being able to see clearly is going to be *awesome* (sung in a sing-songy voice, as all “awesomes” should be :) AND I was talking about it to our school resource officer this morning… and he said “You usually don’t have to worry about that til you’re 40” OMG, I laughed right out loud and told him he made my day :) He says he seriously is surprised that I’m 42… and I’m choosing to believe him ’cause it made my day (and he has NO qualms about saying whatever he actually thinks! :)

Seeing your projects on manufacturer websites just never gets old :) I have a project uploaded to the Creative Memories Project Center… Those Farm Stickers are so cute, and I just love everything about the “Rugged” line of papers…

I think the last thing for the week… And, although my dear husband hasn’t been convinced yet… I’m looking into a Master’s in Theology… or maybe a certificate program of some sort… I’ve found some great online programs, but haven’t really narrowed it down too much yet, because many of them have some sort of on campus requirement… or are simply too expensive… the question from my somewhat more practical (not for himself) husband is “What good is that?” meaning that I certainly won’t get paid more in my public school job for that :) BUT I find it interesting, and fascinating… and want to know more about it… and Knowledge is Power :) right?? Anyway, we’ll see…

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!!

Let’s Go Fly A Kite…

May 13, 2011 By JulieK

Up to the highest height…

Here’s photos from our Kite outing on Mother’s Day… We were at Hampton State Park, the beach area just before you get to the main beach… It was gusty, but those kites really did fly!!! We saw the “Kite Guy” there, flying his kites (MUCH bigger than our little kites :) which was funny!!!

Getting ready to let them fly…