Happy Leap Day

Happy Birthday to all you Leapers, Leaplings, etc! Hope it's been a great day for you!

 

 I wandered around my town in yesterday morning taking pictures of steeples and churches. this is a steeple of a Baptist Church that sits high on a hill with the clouds and sunrise behind it.

 

 Our magazine rack was over flowing so I decided to clean it out... by the looks of things, it probably should have been my husband's turn to clean it out as very few of these are mine. 0_o

 

Parts of Me

February Bucket List ~ Jewelry
Part of a bracelet that was given to me a few years back. I got it out to photograph because I am having an extremely rough school year and in the past week or so am going through some what of an identity crisis as far as my profession goes. This bracelet also contains the words "inspire" and "wisdom" which are words I'm having a hard time seeing in myself right now.

 

I spent the morning driving around town taking pictures of churches, steeples and chapels.  This is an edited picture of the chapel at one of our local parochial schools.  It's a very old building as are most of the buildings at this school.  I personally have never been inside this chapel, but I find the outside just gorgeous.

Going Up

 

Love and Aggrivation

February Bucket List ~ Romance
While my husband is definitely a man, he still has a very definite romantic streak. It's just one of the many reasons I am so lucky to have him in my life. This is a photo taken with my cellphone and edited with one of my apps.

 

Here is another one of my husband taken with my cellphone and edited with a cellphone app.

 And then there's this for today...
Really???

Today it's All About the Dogs!

February Bucket List ~ New
Tonight was Izzy and Livvy's first time with their Kong treat toys. Everything was fine until Livvy stole Izzy's Kong and was hoarding them both in her crate. We now have a convicted thief in our house.

 

 My younger brother had a book when we were growing up called "The Grouch Book." It was about Oscar the Grouch and all the grouchy things he liked. One of those things was hangers.... maybe they are grouchy, either way they are definitely a necessary evil... a PITA!
Of course Izzy isn't into making anything easier, not even the task of trying to sort out hangers.

 

 This is my Livvy doing her "pretty girl" sit for a treat.  I love both of my puppies beyond reason, but Livvy is Mama's girl.  She will even sit up like this to get my attention and when she wants to be picked up.  She only does that for me.

A Learning Day

The theme of the day seems to be learning.  My pictures include an outdoor classroom, a group of swimmers learning to work together and me learning to use the camera apps on my phone.  

This is for the tag challenge and for the bucket list. It is for passion in the bucket list because learning is one of my passions. And, for the tag challenge, I got park and classroom. We have a couple parks in our town that have outdoor classrooms in them. This is not the actual classroom setting in this park, but it is one of the informational panels that is used to help with instruction for the outdoor classroom.

 

 Swimmers working together to make a spirit poster during our pep rally gearing up for our District Swim meet.

 

 This was taken with my phone using an ap called retro camera. I then did some tweaking with Photoscape.

 

Dogs, Editing, Benches

February Bucket List ~ Wild Animal
Ok, so this is not LITERALLY a wild animal, but she likes tennis balls so much that when a friend of mine was standing with her chuck it over her shoulder this gorgeous girl jump up as high as my friend's head to try and grab the ball out of the chuck it. She's a wild one!

 

 Just some editing fun using an app on my cellphone



As I was out wandering around with my camera, I found this wonderful old rickety bench that was much better suited for taking photos of than it was for sitting. I did perch gently for a few minutes on it, but mostly I photographed it.

 

Memories: New and Old

February Bucket List ~ A Favorite Memory
This was taken a year and a half ago. It is the first time we took our kids to Johnson Shut Ins. This is an amazing place with lots of cool water in which to splash and play around. It's a couple hour drive from where we live and went through a total reconstruction phase after the levy above it broke several years ago flooding the whole valley that in which Johnson Shut Ins is located. Not far from here is Elephant Rock State Park. We went there in the morning before going to Johnson Shut Ins and it was just an amazing family day.

 

 An unusual view of one of my roses that I got for Valentine's Day.



This is where I am when I'm doing small group instruction at work.

 

Parts of My Heart

February Bucket List ~ Someone I Miss
This is my Abby girl. She was the first Scottie that my husband and I had together. We got her two years before our daughter was born. She lived a very good long 13 years. She had cancer that spread to her lungs. We all still miss her very much. She was an amazing dog. This picture was taken a little over a year before she passed.  This picture is the wallpaper on my laptop.
RIP Lady Abigale 5/25/97 ~ 7/29/10

 

As a mom, of course my children are the very air I breathe.  My daughter is an amazing young lady.  Here she is in bubbles.  I did this with one of my cellphone apps.

 

And, my son in a bubble, too...

And of course my current four legged hearts are a constant joy.   I was just trying to get comfy because I still do not feel good and it was a long day at work. Had my cushy slippers and pj's on and was trying to get at this cozy blanket when the puppies decided to start wrestling at my feet.

 

Life's Little Enjoyments

I like to play around with objects when I've got my camera in hand and I like using editing software and see what I can create with my photos. This one was taken using my light box and a heart shaped mirror. Then, I used my Phototscape software to crop and make even more reflections.
February Bucket List ~ Something I like to do

 

I have several photo apps on my cellphone and it's made using the camera on my cellphone so much more fun.  This is a picture I took of my daughter while we were waiting for a basketball game to start.  I used a fish eye camera to take this picture.

These two think that it is always feeding time. This is not my best work, and I hope ya'll will excuse me for the substandard pictures I post tonight, but I have been sick and this is all I could manage for today.

 

Sweet Fire Bag

My February bucket list picture was for the word "sweet" today.  I got a great picture of Izzy begging for a treat.  This is my picture for sweet because that face and those paws are just so sweet to me. I love when she stands up like this and asks for her treat. This is my Izzy. She cannot stand up as long as Livvy does, but Livvy does not put her paws in the air like Izzy does.

 

Some more time spent with candles and my light box gave me this shot of a candle right after it's been blown out.

 

Most mom's carry purses... Most of the time I carry my camera bag. My wallet and cellphone fit in it with my camera. It also has ibuprofen and breath mints in it. When I don't want my camera with me, those things go back in my purse... but I always have my cellphone, which has a really good camera on it, too.

 

Fire and Reflections

I played around with mirrors candles and my light box today.  I came up with a couple good shots for this.

I entered the weekly challenge at 365 project this week.  The challenge for the week was upside down.  Mine isn't very original, but it's fun... it also has reflections in the gym floor.


My FWIS picture is of me in my van on the way to the Y for Michaela's swim practice.

Looking at Things Differently

February Bucket List ~ Flowers

 

 I spend almost as much time at the Y as I do at work or at home... I think my van could drive itself there.

 

Using this as an entry for the weekly theme at 365project.com

 

Beginning and Chocolate

standing at my students' desks in the morning, before there is any mess in the room. ;-)

 

 February Bucket List ~ Chocolate
Some of my edible bouquet with chocolate on a strawberry and apple

 

Hearts, Roses and Work

I got two bouquets for Valentine's Day. My dozen red roses and this... an edible bouquet. It's super yummy... all kinds of wonderful fresh fruit with chocolate on some of the strawberries and apples. Mmmmmmm.... two pieces of pineapple are shaped like flowers with cantaloupe for the centers and then one piece of pineapple is shaped like a heart... so here is my February Bucket List for HEART.

 

 My classroom Library



one of my roses photographed and processed

 

Red and Rain

February Bucket List ~ Red
I got very spoiled for Valentine's Day. I got a dozen red roses, an edible boquet and a bokeh lens kit. This is a picture of one of my roses.

 

 It rained most of the day today. The whole day was grey and colorless and so was my mood. This was taken as I was getting into my car to leave work and go home.

 

 This is a vase I got a long time ago. It came with that bracelet on it, and I liked it on there so much I left it on the vase.

 

Love

February Bucket List ~ Love
Our family is totally a pet family. Our puppies ARE part of our family and my daughter is completely in love with both of them. Livvy is much more a cuddler than our other puppy is and she was very much enjoying napping with her human sister.

 

 My students love to use centers. This is one of their activities that they do on the floor.

 

I am very loved.  I got a dozen red roses, an edible bouquet and a bokeh kit for Valentine's Day.  I have the most wonderful family in the world.  I love my husband in a way I never thought possible and my kids are the reason I breathe.  Our wonderful Scottie girls are just the icing on the cake.