Weekly Header Challenge - Christmas Is Coming

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants

Craver VII 

Fishing Guy 

Katney 

Imac 

Lew

I'm joining in the group above for this weekly challenge.

Click on the other participants' blogs to see

what they've come up with!

Theme ~ Christmas is Coming

Chosen by Lew.

Christmas is coming...  And it's coming up quick!  Here is the full image from my header, of carolers at our door.  These carolers started at our house (in our house--we hosted!) and sang all through our neighborhood, sharing the love of Christ through Christmas song with everyone who opened their door.  They even had a neighbor pull her car over to the curb, and ask them to sing!

We know Christmas is coming when...

...our home starts to look a little more festive:

...gifts for needy children are wrapped:

...homemade gifts for family are assembled:

...peppermint candy appears in abundance!

...the kitchen starts to smell like cookies:

...greetings from friends appear on our walls:

Most importantly, our hearts and minds turn to the most precious gift of all, God become Man, our Savior!

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Weekly Header Challenge - Silver and Gold

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants

Craver VII 

Fishing Guy 

Katney 

Imac 

Lew

I'm joining in the group above for this weekly challenge.

Click on the other participants' blogs to see

what they've come up with!

Theme ~ Silver and Gold

Chosen by me.

I'll admit I was thinking ahead to Christmas when I thought up this theme.  And boy, if I look outside right now, it sure looks like Christmas--we got about two inches of snow yesterday!!  Either way, most of the images I've chosen today are also sparkly (I think that was a weekly theme last year).  Here is my header, full image:

Treats at a 50th wedding anniversary.

Two metals--silver and gold--and lots of medals!

Lots of silver and gold in this pool at Boldt Castle, Thousand Islands, New York.

Table silver at Boldt Castle.

My mom's silver servingware at Thanksgiving.

I collect snowflake ornaments for my Christmas tree each year, so here are some glittery silver and gold samples.

And one gold-topped Christmas gift.

Now I'm getting excited about Christmas--not just from sharing these images, but this year we're going to have a Christmas tree!  Yes, it's a little thing, really, but it's rather big with me after the last year we've endured.

Although I'd love to sign off with a Merry Christmas, I really need to say

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Weekly Header Challenge - Waves

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants

Craver VII 

Fishing Guy 

Katney 

Imac 

Lew

I'm joining in the group above for this weekly challenge.

Click on the other participants' blogs to see

what they've come up with!

Theme ~ Waves

Chosen by Mac.

This week, I went with the literal interpretation on the theme--actual waves, as in ocean waves.  I hope you all were more creative!  Here's my header shot, below.  I kept it cropped just like a header, since the horizontal wave lends itself to that format.  I love the contrast of the breaking wave on the left, and the curled, smooth part on the right.

A few days later, the waves looked like this.

And after another day, when all the seaweed was kicked up, they looked like this.

These images were all taken on our 2011 trip to Florida to stay with friends--they have a timeshare at Disney, and we all stayed together in a huge beach cottage at Vero Beach.  Here was my first wave image of our week-long trip:

Early Monday morning, and all those people, you may ask.  Here's why, below.  The final launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavor!

Wave close-up.

Friends and family enjoying the waves!

The waves subside a lot some nights, and I found myself on the deck of our cottage or on the beach almost every night, just enjoying the colors and sounds of the Atlantic Ocean.

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Weekly Header Challenge -- Cell Phone Pics

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants

Craver VII 

Fishing Guy 

Katney 

Imac 

Lew

I'm joining in the group above for this weekly challenge.

Click on the other participants' blogs to see

what they've come up with!

Theme ~ Cell Phone Pics

Chosen by Craver.

This week's theme was both simple, and difficult.  I rarely take pictures with my cell phone--an Android smartphone--because I usually have my camera with me.  But on those occasions I don't, or when I want to share something on Facebook right then, my phone comes in handy.

I usually take vertical pictures with my phone, so I made a composite for my header.  Here it is:

 August 2014 -- Up at Lake Bonaparte.

I made a surprise trip to the Lake this past August for my mom's 75th birthday, so not many people knew I was up there.  I wanted to share on Facebook what a typical evening up there is, so when I went down to the dock to sit and watch/photograph the sunset, I pulled out my phone to share what I was doing.  I call these evenings my dock dates.  That's the picture on the right.

The picture on the left was taken at Janet's cottage, where she was hosting a beauty products party.  The ladies let me slip out to her deck to capture the sunset, and the sun was so stunning--the picture in no way does it justice--that I had to take one with my phone to share on Facebook.  Here are the two individual images that make up my header.

Out of the couple dozen images I've ever taken with my phone, I'm now sharing the best ones here for you!  Remember, I only use my phone when I want to share something unusual, exciting, or funny (usually on Facebook), or when I just don't have my "big" camera on me.  Here goes...

January 23, 2013 -- For just a few minutes, autism doesn't exist.

April 18, 2013 -- Massive flooding in the Chicago suburbs.

Same day -- Driving through the flood to get home.

May 24, 2014.  Thomas gets his driving permit.

May 26, 2014.

Please don't ask why Danny is pushing a dresser

filled with stuffed animals down the sidewalk...!

May 2, 2014.  What happens when your friends' children are little, and yours are big.

May 3, 2014 -- Thomas' math team takes 5th place at the state competition.

May 10, 2014 -- Jacob's graduation!

August 7, 2014 -- Celebrating an 825-point game!

This last picture is worth noting since in our family, breaking the 800-point barrier in a Scrabble game is a major feat.  Mom and I pulled this one off during her birthday week at the Lake.  :)


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Weekly Header Challenge -- Unexpected Photo Result

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants

Craver VII 

Fishing Guy 

Katney 

Imac 

Lew

I'm joining in the group above for this weekly challenge.

Click on the other participants' blogs to see

what they've come up with!

Theme ~ Unexpected Photo Result

Chosen by Tom.

I really struggled with this week's theme, but I finally decided to go through my football images and see if there were any I could use.  I was the team photographer for the Crossroads Crusaders, a traveling homeschool football team, and I figured I could find some unexpected results in the gobs of pictures I took.  I decided on my header by way of this story:

We were down near St. Louis for a game against another homeschool team, the Panthers, a few weeks ago.  We were really beating them, too, so the guys were in high spirits.  At halftime, they grouped in the end zone to rest (it was in the 80s, so very hot for them wearing all their gear) before the second half began.  I started snapping candids of the players, who were laughing, smiling, and generally having a good time together.  Here are some shots I got...

Then I came across Marcello, whom the kids call Bus--because when you run into him, it's like running into a bus:  you just fall down.  And you don't want him falling on you, either.  He knew I was aiming the lens at him (he told me later), so he made a face.  This is what I found when I downloaded all the images from the game:

My full header image.

I edited it with the words, "But Coach, this IS my game face!" and put it on Facebook, where it became an instant hit with all his teammates and friends.  Glad I could help him out!  When I processed all the images, I found that Marcello had made a face every single time I aimed the camera at him!  Here are the rest of his faces.

To be fair, Marcello is a super nice guy, so in his honor, here he is leading his team out of the locker room at their homecoming game.

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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