Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Here is our winner of the $10 Target gift card and the Scentsy car candle. Thanks again to everyone who played along with session 3!

Please email me your mailing address and I will get it right out to you!

* Hopefully this video works...It was my first time trying to upload a video to the blog. I'm not as funny as Mama Kat, but hopefully I can participate in some of her video blogs now that I have my fancy new Flip camera that I won on her blog!!

Friday Shot of the Day

Thank you to everyone who participated in the My Life. In Pictures. challenge this week. I always enjoy looking at what everyone shares.

The winner of the Friday Shot of the Day is ..... Kristie at Kristie's Notes. Her husband gave her some beautiful roses that used to show us the sense of "smell". Great job, Kristie and Happy Anniversary!

I will tally up all of the entries and announce our winner tomorrow! I have to work up the nerve to use my new Flip camera to post the winner with a video for ya'll!

Two side notes.... Curly Muse commented yesterday that all of our winners were pictures of/ with children- I had not noticed that- how interesting!

And ...this week Dorinda showed us her beautiful yellow frilled canary and I commented about our bird.... and our poor Henry bird died this afternoon. So sad... we had had him for over 2 years. boohoo.

Tuesday's Shot of the Day & a few reminders

The Shot of the Day for Tuesday goes to Giggly Girls. If you have not checked out this picture- make sure you stop over and look at it. It makes me laugh (or should I say giggle?) because it is always funny to see someone else's kid screaming or throwing a fit. All of us that are parents have all been there and it makes us feel a little better to see that everyone else has kids that act up too (you do, right??? It's not just me is it???)

With a very active almost 5 year old and a house full of daycare kids- this is actually exactly what I picture when you ask me what do I think of when I think of "hearing". It is always so loud here at my house!

Great job, Giggly Girls- you have earned an extra entry for our Target gift card!

I also wanted to give you a few reminders as well:

Please be sure that when you are linking your post up to Mr. Linky that you use the URL to your entry POST, not the URL to your blog. Here is what the difference looks like:

my blog URL:
http://www.everythingexceptthegrill.blogspot.com/

and here is the URL to an exact post: ( you can find this by clicking on the title of the post you want to link up and then highlighting everything that is in your browser)
http://everythingexceptthegrill.blogspot.com/2009/11/my-life-in-pictures-session-3-day-1.html

That way when people want to click to see your pictures, they will be directed right to the entry for that day and don't have to search through your whole blog.

**********
Speaking of visiting other blogs.... be sure to visit the blogs of those who are playing along and leave them some comment love on their pictures they are submitting to My Life. In Pictures- everyone wants to be loved.

That's it- enjoy the rest of your day and don't forget to link up your picture for TOUCH!

My Life. In Pictures. Session 3/ Day 3

The challenge for Wednesday is to show something that represents the sense of "touch". I knew right away what I wanted to show for this. Last week, I went to a craft fair in Omaha. I fell in love with one of the booths, Bebe Bella Designs. They had the cutest things in the minky chenille material.... so soft to touch. If I had a girl, I could have easily got several things for her. But, since I don't- I had to settle for finding something for myself. I was torn between the scarf (oh, you know how I love scarves) and the pillowcase. We walked around a bit and I decided to go with the pillowcase. There was only 3 or 4 colors to choose from at the booth, and none of them really matched my bedroom, so I went with baby pink of course! So girly! And all for me! I didn't plan on sharing!

It is so soft. I love the lay my cheek on it when I am going to bed. It feels like sleeping on velvety bubble wrap. I know you are probably thinking that sleeping on all of those little bumps would not be great- but I love it!

Which, speaking of my pillow.... What the heck! It is after 1 AM and I need to get to bed! I am telling myself it is okay to not post the SOTD right now for Tuesday. I will do it first thing in the am!

Goodnight, don't be jealous that I get to go sleep on that soft, cozy, pink pillow now you hear?

My Life. In Pictures. Session 3/ Day 1

This week in the My Life. In Pictures. photo challenge we are looking at "The 5 Senses". You are welcome to join in all 5 days or just one of them- click here for more info on this challenge! We are looking forward to what you can show us about your life!

Today the challenge is "Sight". One of the great things about the midwest is all of the beautiful trees we have in the fall that change color and drop their leaves. This is our first fall in our new house and our neighbors had some beautiful colored leaves that were so pretty to see. If you remember from our first photo challenge, I really enjoy looking out our front doors at the world.

The schedule for the week is:

Monday: Sight

Tuesday: Hearing

Wednesday: Touch

Thursday: Taste

Friday: Smell

* Be sure to use Mr. Linky to visit the blogs of all the others and take a peek at their life!

Our neighbor directly east across from our house had two full trees that filled his yard with beautiful yellow leaves. I know that tons of leaves in a yard like this are sort of a pain, but when I see a yard blanketed in leaves, it just looks so full of possibility. Leaf fights, leaf piles to jump in, and leaves to kick with your feet as you walk through them.

I enjoyed looking our our front door and living room windows each day at the colors right in front of me!

My Life. In Pictures- Session 3

The purpose of this photo challenge project is to encourage you to pick up your camera and start capturing details of your life. This project should also serve as a way to look at what others are finding to shoot and will hopefully keep you inspired to look for more moments in your life you wouldn't always think to capture with your camera.

My Life. In Pictures #3 challenge will start on November 16 and run through November 20.

The assignment will be: The five senses!

Thanks to Naomi at Delhi Bound for suggesting it. I have been so busy and didn’t feel the energy to come up with some great topics. If you have not been to her blog, please take some time to check it out. She has the coolest experiences and I love reading about her life in India. I think we can have so much with this! It will be fun to see how everyone interprets this and what you find to share.

Monday: Sight
Tuesday: Hearing
Wednesday: Touch
Thursday: Taste
Friday: Smell

New on Challenge #3… I’m trying to mix it up a little bit here, and will be giving away a prize at then end of the week. Now, I’m not rich- so it’s not much! I just wanted to be able to make it fun and have a little incentive for playing along with us. Each day you enter I will count as one entry. At the end of the week I will count all of our entries and choose a random winner for a $10 gift card to Target- my other love.

The other day I won a flip camera on Mama Kat’s blog. I don’t know how long it will take me to get the camera in the mail, but if I have it by then, I might even get the nerve to break it in and create my first vlog entry when announcing the winner!!! How fun would that be???

The point is... be creative! You can interpret these "assignments" any way that works with you! I want you to have fun and enjoy looking at Your Life. In Pictures.

Here are a few details, but please feel free to email me with any more questions you might have!

* How does the challenge work?
I will post the challenge "assignments" for the week and you pick up your camera to capture a photo that meets the assignment. Post the picture on your blog (or Flikr) . You are welcome to write a story with your photo or just include the photo if you would like. There will be a Mr. Linky for you to to fill out with your name and the URL from that assignment's post. (Mr. Linky is a link hosting program for websites. It allows blogs to host all of the links to participants in the challenge. Your job is to sign the Mr. Linky each day you participate so we can all view your post and photo. )

* Who can participate?
Everyone! You can be a beginner or a professional. It will be interesting to see all the different styles of photography.

* Do I have to have a blog to participate?
No. You can use your Flickr account and post a link to a picture from your account. Remember- you can get a Flickr account for free!

* Do I have to participate every day of the week?
No. You can participate all 5 days or just one. It is up to you.

* Does my photo have to be edited?
No, but you are welcome to edit it if you like. If you are interested in some free editing sites, check out Picasa or Picnik. They are lots of fun to play around with your photos, and did I mention FREE?

* Can I link to your blog?
Yes- please do! If you are participating in My Life. In Pictures. please help us spread the word. The more people who know about this and participate, the more photos we will have to inspire us and the more fun it will be for all of us! You can place the button in your side bar or post it in your blog. Share the love!

* What next?
You are encouraged to use the Mr. Linky and visit the blogs of all the participants and see Their Life- In Pictures!

Be sure to check back through the label archives to see how much fun we had with Challenge 1 & 2!

See you Monday!!!

My Life In Pictures- Session 3

Apparently I said that we were going to do round 3 of My Life. In Pictures. in October. Well here it is November and I am a little late.

So without further ado......next week...starting Monday November 16-20 we will run My Life. In Pictures. Photo Challenge!!!

Check back this week for a list of what the catergories will be (and this time leave a comment on this post if you have any suggestions for a catergory!)

HOORAY!! We always have so much fun!

Feel free to use the button if you are going to play and invite your friends along.

Are you in?

My Life. In Pictures- Session 2*

Okay ya'll... I'm back from our little va-ca and just worn out! I had planned to go through the photos from day 4 of My Life. In Pictures. and choose our Shot of the Day on Friday and then do the same for day 5 on Saturday.

Little problem. Downtown Marriott in Des Moines did not have wireless in the rooms. (um, well they did, but it was $12 a day and I was to cheap to pay that)

So, here I am with the much anticipated (okay, maybe that is an over statement!) SHOTS OF THE DAY.....

Day 4- Something you are proud of- okay, honestly this was hard to pick because people posted great accomplishments such as learning to cook, a great climbing adventure, a husband/ father in the service, kids, kids, and more kids, and a great variety of other things.... how could I choose between all of these? They were all great things to be proud of!

So, I wasn't going to pick one. But then I thought, hey you know what.... just pick one. So I did. I am awarding the Shot of the Day to: JoeyBelle at Brilliant Brunette. She spoke at a Girls Camp Out and I am just drawn to this. I can't wait to hear more about this which she is later going to post about. I think that mentoring young girls and being a good leader for them can be so important.

The Shot of the Day for Day 5- Black and White goes to Sandy at the Adams Family! Love this shot!

Thanks again for everyone who jumped in and played, for a day or all week! It is always fun to get a peek into each other's lives!

I hope that you will join us in October!

My Life. In Pictures- Session 2/ Day 5

We are leaving for vacation this afternoon (Thurs.) so I have not picked a "shot of the day" for Thursday yet. I will post SOTD sometime this weekend.

I want to first thank eveyrone who joined in My Life. In Pictures. this time! Some of you played only for a day and some were in all week! I think this photo challenge is lots of fun because we get to know one another a little bit better.

It is especially fun for me to see those who post each day and wonder what they will post the next day.

I was excited to have a few new people join in for round 2. Yea! Welcome, and it was nice to meet you!

We only had about 1/2 as many players this time, but that's okay... it didn't keep me up as late each night. I am hoping that maybe since it is summer and everyone is so busy that some were not able to participate this time around.

We will try for Round 3 in early October. That should give us some fun fall things to take pics of. As always, please email me with any suggestions for ideas for next time. amberloo22 AT AOL DOT COM

Here was my list of things from Session 1 that I needed to work on doing better for Session 2... Let's see how I did:

I need to:
* post it at the right time and day- Check... I got each post to go right when I wanted it to
*have a Mr. Linky that works - Check... Mr. Linky worked each day. On day one, I had the wrong one up, but the wonderful help desk at Mr. Linky got it straightened out with no interruptions!
*remember to post Mr. Linky on the post - Check... I put him on each day!

Yea! I am proud of myself!

For Friday's Black and White Photo Challenge I am giving you a picture of two of my very good friends Wendeline and Hollie. We taught together for two years and became good friends. Hollie was a deserter and moved to Des Moines however. It is nice when we are able to still get a little time together if she comes back or if we visit in Des Moines.

My Life. In Pictures- Session 2/ Day 4

The Shot of the Day for Wednesday's "Out & About " challenge goes to Kate B. I LOVE this shot of the daddy walking with his little ones on the streets of Chicago. I love the city. Never been to Chicago, but big cities in general. I love the black and white and all of the surrounding people and buildings. Great job, Kate!

Thursday's challenge is "Something that you are proud of". Since it is late, and I am tired as usual... I am going to post something easy.

Here is a picture of the last cake I did on Saturday. My friend Ashley got me started in cake decorating and I have enjoyed doing it for about a year and a half. I had an order to make this Thomas the Train birthday cake for a friend's 2 year old son.

My Life. In Pictures- Session 2/ Day 3

The Shot of the Day from yesterday goes to: Cris at Elemental Baby. She selected a favorite photo that she took of her daughter. I love the emotion you can see in her little one's face as she enjoys some of her first "rides". The laughter you can almost hear through the picture is priceless! Great job!

For day 3 of the My Life. In Pictures. Challenge we were to show something "out and about". After we ate dinner I grabbed my camera and we all jumped in the car. I didn't know what I was going to find to shoot.

We ended up stopping over (unannounced, I might add) at a friend's house. She had mentioned a while back that they have two calves and how friendly they were. I thought if we could sneek in a little visit that I could get a shot for our "out and about" catergory.






Hubby, B, and I all enjoyed feeding the calves named Frosty and Brownie. They came running right up to the fence and let us pet them. They were just the cutest things. We also enjoyed looking at all of the fresh produce they have growing in their garden. The kids all found a few ripe tomatoes to pick as well.


Tomorrow the challenge is to show us "Something you are proud of". I know some of you have already posted pictures that could have worked in this catergory as well!

My Life. In Pictures- Session 2/ Day 2

Yesterday the challenge was to show us something representing Summer Fun. Lots of great pictures came in for that! I was a little jealous at all of the beach pictures I must say. I love the beach and haven't been in several years. I can't wait for the chance to take B to visit one and for him to play in the water and with the sand.

The shot of the day for Challenge #1 goes to.....Jenny at Through Jenny's Lens. Her sweet, sweet little ones are showing the perfect picture of lazy days of summer. They just look like the best of friends. Great job and thanks for sharing them with us!

Today the assignment is to show us something in your life that is a favorite. One of my favorite places to go when I get a night out is Celler 19. I luva luva me some Blueberry Muffin Martinis from the Celler. Yum, Yum my favorite! I was able to go on Friday night with my hubby to meet up with one of my very most favorite friends, Kim, who lives in Colorado. It was so fun to be able to hang out with her for a while. I miss her so much and wish she was closer so we could have our kids play together!

My Life. In Pictures- Session 2/ Day 1

Welcome to the My Life. In Pictures. Session 2! I'm so glad to have you back! We had a great time with session one and it was fun to get to know one another from the pictures you posted in the challenge.

I hope you enjoy this week and get the opportunity to pick up your camera and get some pictures to share that show us a bit of Your Life In Pictures.

The purpose of this photo challenge project is to encourage you to pick up your camera and start capturing details of your life. This project should also serve as a way to look at what others are finding to shoot and will hopefully keep you inspired to look for more moments in your life you wouldn't always think to capture with your camera. You are welcome to just post a picture or tell us a story to go along with it.

If you are just joining us... you can click here to get more details on how this works.




If you are playing along, be sure to post the URL to your post (not your blog URL) below with Mr. Linky. I can't wait to see what everyone has found to show us! Be sure to visit the others who are participating and see what they have posted to share with us.

Thanks for playing and see you all on Tuesday for "a favorite".

My Life. In Pictures. Day 1--
B enjoyed a few days at some of the local pools this summer. Our town does not have a pool anymore so we have to travel to some surrounding communities to swim. We only had one day where it was over 90 so we didn't get as much pool time as usual for the hot & humid midwest summers.

My Life. In Pictures. Session 2

It's that time again! I had such a great time with our first My Life. In Pictures Challenge, I couldn't wait to do it again. It was amazing to see all of the great pictures that were submitted. I wanted to get this done a little sooner, but as you might have read a few posts back, we bought a house and moved! This had delayed things a bit but I am ready to go with Challenge #2!

Get your cameras ready and spread the word to your friends.... It's Picture Time!

The purpose of this photo challenge project is to encourage you to pick up your camera and start capturing details of your life. This project should also serve as a way to look at what others are finding to shoot and will hopefully keep you inspired to look for more moments in your life you wouldn't always think to capture with your camera.

Our first My Life. In Pictures. challenge will start on August 3rd- 7th. The assignments will be:

Monday- Summer Fun

Tuesday- A Favorite

Wednesday- Out and About (anywhere but home)

Thursday- Something You Are Proud Of

Friday- Something (or someone) in Black & White ** See below for suggestions on some free editing software if you don't currently have one you use

Remember you can be as simple or creative as you would like.

The point is... have fun!

You can interpret these "assignments" any way that works with you!

I want you to have fun and enjoy looking at Your Life. In Pictures.

Here are a few details, but please feel free to email me with any more questions you might have!

* How does the challenge work?

I will post the challenge "assignments" for the week and you pick up your camera to capture a photo that meets the assignment. Post the picture on your blog (or Flikr) . You are welcome to write a story with your photo or just include the photo if you would like. There will be a Mr. Linky for you to to fill out with your name and the URL from that assignment's post. (Mr. Linky is a link hosting program for websites. It allows blogs to host all of the links to participants in the challenge. Your job is to sign the Mr. Linky each day you participate so we can all view your post and photo. )

* Who can participate?

Everyone! You can be a beginner or a professional. It will be interesting to see all the different styles of photography.

* Do I have to have a blog to participate?

No. You can use your Flickr account and post a link to a picture from your account. Remember- you can get a Flickr account for free!

* Do I have to participate every day of the week?

No. You can participate all 5 days or just one. It is up to you.

* Does my photo have to be edited?

No, but you are welcome to edit it if you like. If you are interested in some free editing sites, check out Picasa or Picnik. They are lots of fun to play around with your photos, and did I mention FREE?

* Can I link to your blog?

Yes, yes, and yes. If you are participating in My Life. In Pictures. please help us spread the word. The more people who know about this and participate, the more photos we will have to inspire us and the more fun it will be for all of us! You can place the button in your side bar or post it in your blog. Share the love!

* What next?

You are encouraged to use the Mr. Linky and visit the blogs of all the participants and see Their Life- In Pictures!

My Life. In Pictures- MEG style

Today Meg assigned the theme of "something in your city" for her photo challenge.
We had such a beautiful day today. It was warm with a nice breeze. I took the tots to the park for a picnic and then some time to play. We were joined by my mom, my grandma, my great aunt, and a friend with her 4 kids. It was such a great day to enjoy lunch outside.

Our town has a beautiful park. It has a very pretty lake, several play areas, an outdoor ampetheater where there are shows every weekend in summer, and trails.

Be sure to check out Meg's blog for more on the photo challenge and what others have found in their town!

My Life. In Pictures- MEG style

Today Meg gave us the theme of "Helping Hands" for the My Life. In Pictures Photo Challenge. I had such a great time when I ran this photo challenge in April that it has been fun to be able to play again.

Meg has had some great shots posted to her blog for this challenge. Be sure to check them out or join right it!

Today the daycare tots and I were working on some gifts for Mother's Day (more on this later). It was a beautiful morning and even though the sun was shining bright, we had a few sprinkles every now and then.

We obviously were painting and as I started to wipe off all of the chubby little fingers and messy hands before we came inside, the idea for my "helping hands" shot came into my head!

I might blow this one up and frame it for our daycare area. :)

My Life. In Pictures- MEG style

Today Meg asked us to find something Green. As I looked around, I found several things or ways I could have found a shot to use. As my eyes settled on this little green vase, I knew I had my picture.

This tiny little stem vase is only about 3 inches tall. It was my great-grandma's. It is usually found on the back of my stove. Since it is so small, it only holds one single little stem at a time. B got a blue daisy in one of his May Day baskets so it is now sitting on our dining table proudly holding the flower in honor.


I present to you... my "something green"..........







Tomorrow the assignment is to find something to show "helping hands". Hmmm, I 'm gonna have to think a bit to figure out what I want to do for this one.

Be sure to check out Meg's blog and see what others are doing.

My Life. In Pictures- MEG style

Meg at My Edition of Gab had so much fun doing my photo challenge, she is hosting one herself this week. I think all of us had a blast with my last one, so I was excited to join in on the fun again.

Honestly, I forgot about it until I read her post today so I had to pull something out of my files seeing that it is nearly 10 PM.

The theme she selected for today was: a place where you feel most at peace. Well, since I can't photograph my new local Target store... I do feel so at home at peaceful there...




This is my sweet little boy (who is not so little anymore!) delivering a May Basket to a friend from preschool's house. I love love love being able to do these mini moments with him. Even though, I would not say that since I do daycare my days are peaceful.... I do feel most at peace doing these special things with him. I am so blessed and happy that I have the opportunity to be with him each day and that we are able to create so many memories together.

Stop over to her blog... see what other's are doing for the photo challenge, jump in and play, and see the themes for the rest of the week.

Final Shot of the Day

The day 5 Shot of the Day for "something old" goes to ....Kristie at Kristie's Notes.

Thanks again to everyone who participated in one day or all 5- it was lots of fun getting to know you a little better by seeing

YOUR LIFE. IN PICTURES.

I do hope you will join us again in June!

My Life. In Pictures.-- Day 5

Day 4 was another great day of photos for us to look at. Once again I had a difficult time selecting the Shot of the Day.

Some made me laugh, some were cute, some beautiful, some made me thirsty, and one brought me to tears. But, Sally at My Three Sons gets the honor of the Shot of the Day. I love the action shot of the coffee pouring into the mug.

Day 5. Our final day. Sniff, sniff... excuse me while I grab a tissue. I didn't think I would get all sentimental here, but I am out of my Lexapro. I had a great time with all of you. Each one of you had great pictures and I am so happy to have had the chance to get a glimpse of Your Life. In Pictures.


My photo choice for "something old" is a picture we have downstairs. The photo on the right is "old". It is my father-in-law holding my husband when he was a baby. I love this photo because my husband got his own photo in hospital scrubs with our little boy. We keep them side by side and I can't wait to give them both to our son when he gets older.

Now, since this is our last day for the My Life. In Pictures. Photo Challenge, I hope I can get everything right on one post.

I need to:
* post it at the right time and day
*have a Mr. Linky that works
*remember to post Mr. Linky on the post
...is this it? Geeze, why did I have so many problems each day?

I would like to do this again sometime. I am thinking June? Give us a few months off and then we can meet up again to see some more great photos and hear some good stories. In the meantime, I wish you all well and look forward to getting to know you better.

If you have any suggestions for future days of My Life. In Pictures. - email them to me at Amberloo22 @ aol . com

** Remember to check out my giveaway for my 200th post! Enter to win a $25 gift certificate to Elemental Baby!