RAW(e) Photography

So I found this cool photography contest ... just perfect for me because I rarely do anything to my pictures. The point is to post your pictures SOOC (straight out of the camera) following a specific theme. The theme right now is perfect - SUMMER! To me, summer will always mean camping, campfires, and hanging out with family. Here is my entry for the theme ...

I am forever taking campfire pictures but this is the best one so far. I think the coloring is just so cool.

Project Life Tuesday

Another Tuesday, another post. I keep trying to get posts done at other times during the week, but it never happens. At least I can keep up with the Tuesday posts!

Monday, June 21

This is what I saw in my rear view mirror tonight on the way home from the campground. The girls obviously had a full day playing with grandma, grandpa, and the Czech kids!



Tuesday, June 22

I had no picture for today, but I took these pictures over the weekend of three of the best puppies known to man. They had another grand weekend playing at the campground. What would we do without them?



Wednesday, June 23

Tonight we brought the camper back over to the State Park so that we could for sure have a spot for the weekend. I had been seeing baby bunnies all last weekend, but never when I had my camera. Tonight Tricia and I were able to get very close to this little guy before he got skittish and hopped away.


Thursday, June 24

Today after work I had a meeting in Marshall to start our negotiations process. The weather was beautiful. I snapped a picture of the beautiful blue sky and this one lone cloud as I drove by Holland.


Friday, June 25

FISHING DAY! Grandpa definitely created a monster when he had both girls fishing this week. He fashioned fishing poles for all five kids - made of sticks with fishing line, a bobber, and a hook. No need for fancy equipment! Ryleigh had a blast catching "pumpkin seeds", perch, and bullheads. Tricia, well, she loved catching all of the above, but REALLY did not appreciate the large carp she ended up catching! She had visions of the snapping turtle she snagged with uncle Troy.


Saturday, June 26

The girls and I went back to town today to watch the Watertower Parade and then walk through the craft stands set up at the courthouse. This picture was taken after all the firetrucks went through ... Ryleigh hates them and spends the entire beginning of the parade with her hands covering her ears and her head buried in my lap.

PS - Note to all you Pipestone parade-goers ... please make sure to move your cars from the parade route. The girls were so excited with the tow truck came to remove the parked car from the street right next to us. I bet whoever owned that car was very unhappy!


Sunday, June 27

No picture for today. I have ticket stubs from our trip to see Toy Story 3 this afternoon. Yeah, I am a glutton for punishment! They really wanted to see the movie so we came home a little earlier than usual from the campground so that we could all get cleaned up and make the 3:00 matinee. It was a very good movie, actually a little sad in parts.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Fourth of July holiday!

Head over to Jessica's site The Mom Creative to check out some other Project Life posts!

Project Life Tuesday

Coming soon! I forgot to load the pictures.

So here it is; better late than never I guess. This working at 7:00 is REALLY eating into my blogging time!

Monday, June 14

This is a filler picture of some of the landscaping out in front of the house. I love the pretty flowers of whatever this is!




Tuesday, June 15

Muddy evidence that Miss Holly was jumping on the dryer trying to get to the dog food / treats. Naughty, naughty!




Wednesday, June 16

Today I spent some time organizing my recipes. My goal is to try to do once a month cooking so that our evenings are less hectic. This is especially important in the summer since I leave the house before 7:00 am and don't get home until after 6:00 pm.



Thursday, June 17

Tonight Ryleigh decided she wanted to use the ancient sidewalk paint. She said this creation is a mountain with a twirly slide. Really, the kid could spend hours alone, just playing in her own little world.




So here is an alternate picture for today ... Tricia, in preparation for what was to be a fishing weekend at the campground, decided to "practice" ripping worms up to use as bait. This is what was on the railing outside. YUCK!



Friday, June 18

Tonight was the program for the Holland Presbyterian VBS. The girls had a blast this year, as usual. Most impressive is the fact that there were about 65 kids there every day learning, playing, and crafting. This, in a church that currently has no kids at all. I very much hope that the church can keep it up a few more years.



Saturday, June 18

One picture just can't cut it for today! I did a very quick photoshop of a bunch of fishing pictures. Tricia had a great time fishing with Uncle Troy and Aunt Patty. Ryleigh mostly played with baby wipes. Livi wandered around the dock until 11:00, when she turned into the hungry monster :) All told, they ended up with dozens of teeny tiny bullheads. Later in the evening Tricia and Troy were at a different dock and Tricia snared a HUGE snapping turtle. Ask Troy to do his imitation of the turtle rolling over ... priceless!


Sunday, June 19

Father's Day today. I didn't get a picture of Dave with the girls ... bad mom! This is a picture of the sign at the entrance to the State Park. We have spent A LOT of time here in the last month or so!




So there you have it ... still going strong on the picture a day thing. Remember to head over to Jessica's blog to see the other Project Life posts.



Have a great week!

Flashback Friday

Ahhh, memories!

These kids - plus Ryleigh - are so far having a grand time hanging out with Grandma Peg this summer! These pictures were taken in 2007 at Camden State Park. The kids all look so little. I'll have to get a picture of all five of them now to compare.

Project Life Tuesday

Every Tuesday, I participate with many other people as we share our Project Life pictures. Jessica at The Mom Creative heads up Project Life Tuesday; head on over there to check out the pictures that others are using to document their lives one day at a time.

June 7, 2010

This is pretty much my day-to-day life at the Service Cooperative. COPY, COPY, COPY! I spent the entire day copying for one workshops today. Some day, I will plant a lot of trees to help make up for all of those I have chopped down in the past 10 years.

June 8, 2010

The view from here ... today the students of Hill Elementary got to go to the pool for a while during school. Naturally, it rained, but not enough to cancel the field trip. Here are the buses waiting to pick up the first group of kids and return with the second.

June 9, 2010

Tricia's last day of third grade! Wow! She wanted to pose for her traditional last day of school picture with Holly. As you can see, Holly was a little less than cooperative this morning. I honestly cannot believe that I now am the mother of a FOURTH GRADER!

June 10, 2010

Can you see it? The giant bumblebee in the raspberry blooms? There were several flying around and I just happened to have the zoom lens on the camera so I could get a picture without getting too close.

June 11, 2010

Here is our site number at Lake Thompson. It turned out to not be the best of sites ... the whole thing was pretty much a lake after it rained and rained and rained and rained Friday night/Saturday morning.

June 12, 2010

Our girls plus one (Aubrey) at Laura Weatherly's restaurant that is right next to the state park. It did stop raining Saturday afternoon for a while so the girls were able to play outside for a while.

June 13, 2010

The girls were very cuddly when we got home from camping this afternoon. We all spent the evening sitting on the couch watching Toy Story and Toy Story 2. It was much needed after a long weekend in the rain and wind at the campground.

It is about time to print some more pictures for the album so that I can get caught up again.

Head over to Jessica's blog to see more lovely Project Life pictures.

Project Life Tuesday

Another Tuesday, another edition of Project Life Tuesday - a showing of the mundane that is daily life in the Nissen household. I kind of feel like I am in a bit of a rut right now. I am not excited by most of my pictures ... maybe it is just because we are settling into the beginning of summer, maybe it is because I have not been feeling well again. Who knows. So, without further adieu ...



Monday, May 31 - Memorial Day

Today, we woke up early and left the campground in Ihlen to head over to Holland for the Memorial Day festivities. The "city" had a full day of activities planned, including catered lunch in the park and the dedication of the new Veteran's Memorial at the park. This image is from that ceremony. The 21-gun salute and the playing of taps always make me a little sad.


Tuesday, June 1

WE STRUCK IT RICH! Just look at all the loot I found in our washing machine! Ryleigh had a pocket full of pretend coins that did not get emptied before hitting the machine.

Tuesday, June 2

Our baby robins appear to have taken flight. The smaller image was taken in the morning, with mama and babies in the nest by the window. The larger image was taken later in the day. I do not know if this is one of OUR babies, but this baby robin made it onto the railing of the deck, another was eating food out of Holly's dish. When we looked in the nest, sure enough ... no more babies.

Thursday, May 3

Tricia's class has been working very hard on their endangered animals diorama and report. Tricia's animal was the Asiatic Cheetah (ask her about it, she now knows a lot about it!). Today was the day that the class was able to present their hard work to parents and other classes. Ryleigh and I made the trip over to Hill Elementary to check out the work. All the kids did such an awesome job on both their reports and their dioramas.

** Note to self ... remember this project and use it in the classroom! **

Friday, June 4

Today was Carol's retirement party at Kelly's Koffee here in Pipestone. This picture was of her opening the best gift of the day ... a box filled with paper. Now, if you are not a Cooperative employee, you may not get the humor. But all of the employees here know just how much Carol loves to (kill trees) provide valuable information to the teachers of the area. Penny Cammack provided a useful list of ways to use her box of paper.

Saturday, June 5

This is a cheat picture. Tricia and I actually planted these flowers a few days earlier, but I was icky sicky all day on Saturday, even took a 4+ hour nap! This is my flower box, located near the tennis/basketball courts in Pipestone. Last year I had a frog theme; this year I went with a butterfly theme. I may try to add a few more plants yet, depending on how full these get.

Sunday, June 6

At the very last minute, I decided to bite the bullet and buy tickets to go see Little House on the Prairie, the Musical. Tricia and I went together to the Washington Pavilion in Sioux Falls to watch the play. It was very cool to see Melissa Gilbert play Ma instead of Laura. After reading the bios of the actors, Tricia has determined that she wants to do something like this. The girl who played Carrie is 10. Honestly, with a little work, I can totally see that happening!

So there you go ...

Make sure to head over to Jessica's website to read all the other Project Life posts. Oh, and if you are reading this ... leave me a comment!