Photo Editing in Fast Stone, Picasa and Picnik

Lets face it. Photography isn't always easy; and for that matter, neither is blogging when you are a beginner and all the technology is new to you. I believe that both should be demystified, however, so that more of those who truly love to take pictures and blog can enjoy success.

If you are reading this, chances are you're a parent. That would mean you most likely take a lot of indoor shots of your kids. When that 'Kodak moment' lends itself, the lighting and background aren't always what we moms and dads hope for. Quite often with indoor photography the pictures come out darker than you want even with your white balance set correctly. I don't really like using the flash, so more often than not, my indoor shots are really murky.

The other day my daughter was standing in front of the quilted wall-art with her baby brother, talking to her big brother. Baby brother commenced to chew on her arm, making her laugh. Mom grabbed the Canon and started clicking. I didn't want to miss the shot despite the fact that it was nearly evening and I wasn't using a flash. The window provided enough light and my white balance was set to shade or cloudy (can't remember which). I think I might have tried both of them on different shots.

After uploading the photos from the camera on to my laptop, I put them in their folder (I keep mine by year and month in folders on a separate external drive - and every time it thunders, I UNPLUG it from the wall). After looking at my shots, I picked a few favorites and started editing them. No sense in deleting a good shot if it's too dark. There are ways to doctor your photos and bring out the best in them - even ones you really don't think are salvageable.

The tools I use are FREE programs. I don't get paid to review them, either. Although I'd love a sponsorship to BlogHer in case anyone is listening. This is the Welfare version of a photo tutorial, folks. For the higher end photo touch-ups, you'll have to rely on people like Ree or Dawn. They have the expensive gear and software to back it all up with. Since I'm a photo-nut, "a girl has to do what a girl has to do". Life isn't going to stop happening long enough for me to become rich and buy expensive gear, software and college courses. I'm not planning on missing out on all the photos it has to offer while I wait for my photographic ship to come in, either. So if you, like me, are Photoshop and Lightroom wanna bes... and just haven't had the time or money to buy, learn, and use the REAL tools... by all means, read below to find out how to quickly tweak your photos FOR FREE. Add some pizazz to your blogshots. It's what the photo-hobos do.

I happen to know some designers out there who use these free services even though they have all the expensive software, anyway. So there.

So what do I use to edit my photos? The Poor Photographer's Tools: Picasa, Picnik and Fast Stone. There are things that all of these do which are unique. It's hard to pick a favorite. For example:

Fast Stone is a downloadable program that you store on your computer. I use Fast Stone to resize my graphics, crop graphics, add my signature to photos, and organize my pictures on my PC. It does those things the quickest and easiest. It also does many of the same things Picasa does - but Picasa has some cool features that Fast Stone doesn't....

Picasa is another downloadable program that you keep on your computer - which has a nice organizational system for your pictures and is a super way to star your favorites and make collages. All of my photo collages come from Picasa. The collage feature, the favorites feature, and the one-touch "glow" effect are my favorite things about Picasa. I also think it's neat that you can easily upload a set of photos to a webpage with Picasa. I've had to do that for some pictures I took for a church function and it saved me the time it would have took to save them on a disc and take them to someone.

Let's not forget about Picnik. It's my latest discovery. It's very different than the other two because it's an online service that has a bunch of free one-click actions that change your picture into works of art. It also has creative tools like text and "stickers" to make graphic buttons out of your photos. I have used this program to make small graphics for my sidebars when we have contests or give-aways.

Here's an example of a graphic from a photo that I made on Picnik:


I changed the exposure and colors, added a frame, added a butterfly sticker, and added some text. The original picture is below:



My daughter actually took this shot. It was detailed and had good composition, but too dark to post. I edited it in Picnik and the edited version went on my "How Does Your Garden Grow?" post. Click over and go see it! It is so pretty that I kept a copy on my phone as a background.

I used Fast Stone to resize all of the pictures in this post and to add my blog name and copyright symbol. The editing of the photo past that was done in Picasa or Picnik; both of which do a great job and are user friendly enough for even a non-techie person to get around in. If you have a photo that you are planning to print for grandma, taking it for a spin through Picasa or Picnik would be a great way to make the photo POP and look more professional.

Take for example my dark evening photo-shoot with 7pm window light:

The first original of three I'm sharing today:



Cute photo, but here are some cool things I did in Picnik with it...



After altering the exposure and colors to brighten the picture and make it more vivid, I used the 'Create' tab and selected a few fun applications that automatically create artwork-type results out of your picture. The one above is called "Posterized". Really groovy. You can play with it to get the exact look you are going for. The one below is called "Circle Splash". It reminds me of a nativity picture. Baby K looks like Jesus with a Christmas-card glow.



Then we have another original:



I loved the way the baby was sucking on her hand and the animated expression. I didn't like the fact that she had written on her hand in pen. Nor did I like the darkness of this shot and the coloring seemed a bit off. The baby also had a red spot on his cheek.

I did some edits in Picnik and in Picasa on this shot. Below each are the steps I took for the effect (of course, I can't remember every little click, but the general gist is there):



The above was Picasa. I edited the exposure, highlights, color and then used the retouch tool to erase the baby's red spot and her pen marking. All that took seconds. Much better looking already, right?



After that, (still in Picasa), I used the "saturation" one-touch alteration. It brightened up all the colors for me without me having to use my brain. I love a program that helps my brain activity... of which there is little after childbirth.



Here is the same editing in Picnik (online, mind you). It takes a bit longer since you have to wait for it to load. Like Picasa, all I did here was minor changes to exposure, temperature, color and contrast. And then I used the "blemish remover" tool - same as the "retouch" tool in Picasa - to remove the spot from baby's cheek and pen mark from her wrist. A neat feature in Picnik that Picasa didn't offer is the TEETH whitener! Move over red-eye remover. This one is a keeper! I do still plan to take the kids to the dentist, though.



Then comes the fun part. This is one of the "create" tab's one-click actions called 'Ortonish'. It kind of reminds me of Picasa's "glow" feature, but you can really get artsy with it. There are a TON of neat one-touch actions on Picnik. It would take up all of Blogger's bandwidth for me to sit here adding copy after copy of this shot. I use this particular one a lot.



This one is the "Cinema Scope". Very fun. I also love the 1970's, Pencil Sketch, Cross Process, Gritty, and Lomo-ish. The frames are also really nifty. You can round your edges, add a mirror-look, make your picture look like a postage stamp (like I did with the "Spring Flowers" graphic above)... etc.

Just with a few clicks. There's no magic to it. Really.

Here's what the screen shot looks like when you are working in the creative actions of Picnik (for those of you who need a visual):



So clean and easy to use. Really.

And the third and final original. Really (then I'll leave you alone).


I just love these shots. Almost as much as I love those kids. Miss M. is always holding her brother and he's always chewing on her. It's just so sweet. I couldn't let this picture go to waste just because it was too dark.

Picasa to the rescue!



Four or five clicks... and a nice colorful glow.



Or you could antique a shot... make a black and white... whatever floats your boat.

The secret is out. Anyone can photo-edit with class... even if you don't have Photoshop or Lightroom. If you aren't a hard-core photographer and you just want to edit a few pictures here and there for your scrapbooks, prints, or blogging... why not give these programs a try. Come on. It's better than deleting your photos.

Works for me!


Buzz

MEMO from the New Blog Editor:

Staff and Subscribers:

Hi. My name is Kohen. I'm cuter than Mr. Daddy... as you can see from my shirt. This note is to serve as an announcement that this blog has been taken over by new management and: I am the boss.

I have been known in certain circles as "High Maintenance", but I assure you, I'm worth all the effort you'll put out working for me.

I say when my staff is allowed to post. I will be giving them assignments from now on. Most of these assignments will not be blog-related, but are time sensitive and very important.

Such as...



1. Bath time. Hint: wait until after you know I've pooped in my diaper before putting me in the bath. I'm not sure about that yellow plastic thing with eyes that floats around in the water. Please keep it away from me or I will cry.



2. Press Photos. Only staff with one-handed photo-editing capabilities will be allowed to post photos with articles. In fact, one-handed blogging is a required skill now that I'm calling the shots. Just pretend like you have one arm. Don't ask me to feel sorry for you. You're whining to someone who can't eat chocolate. We all have our own problems; don't we now?



3. Keeping the man from blowing raspberries on my belly. Can we say "harassment"?! Note: please tell him to shave. Whassup with the whiskers on my exquisitely soft skin? What exactly is Mr. Daddy's job-assignment again? We don't need any slim-shadies around here with five o'clock shadow.



4. Making me smile. When I'm not happy, 'ain't nobody happy. Not even the neighbors.

5. Food. Constant supply of warm milk should be top on the to-do list. No exceptions.

As long as these and other duties are performed in a timely and adequate manner, the blog may or may not run smoothly. I'm not promising anything, people. I have my moods. Live with it.



I'll be watching to make sure that things are done according to my schedule. I'm a real stickler for putting people to work - making the most of their time, you know. I run a tight ship, but I'm sure that these changes will be better for the blog in the long-run. That's why I'm the boss and you're not.


Sincerely,
Baby K

Trees in the Baby Nursery

I'm not done yet, but now you know why it has been so quiet in here. Well, painting a mural would be one reason. The other reason is the baby that eventually will go in this room... with his sister. We had homeschool friends over to play and keep me company while I nursed and painted today.

I painted trees and layers of earth. Yup. Right on my keylime green walls... but I'm not finished yet. It was bound to happen after staring at this blog template for the past three years and watching the virtual seasons change. I made it summer on here today. Did you notice? Well, if you're in Texas - it's hard NOT to notice the temperature change. Ick.

I also managed to get my desk area uncluttered for the most part on Memorial Day. I'll share before and after photos when I get my list-update post together. You know me and my lists. I'm just excited to be checking it off... one item at a time.

Next up... the baby crib. After we buy the white spray paint.

I wish I knew someone who would make a FREE quilt for me. That seems too much to ask probably because, well... it is. From the colors on my mural, of course... with owls somewhere on it. I want to make one for Morgan's twin and the baby bed. Possibly both twin quilts because who wants a baby quilt after you are big enough for a twin? Quilts are everlasting heirloom presents that stay with you for a lifetime. If I can't find a quilter willing to donate the time and effort... I'll have to learn how to do it myself. Of course - I'm all for adding things to my to-do list that are nearly impossible to accomplish. Didn't you know that I was "Super Mom"?

I'll start on the quilting lessons just as soon as I get the checkbook done, the bills paid, the laundry folded, the paperwork sorted, the school planning done, the calendar updated, my in-box emptied, my emails cleaned out, a menu made, my photos downloaded, the house picked up, the kids on task doing school work, our meals cooked tomorrow, and the baby fed-bathed-rocked-snuggled-and-changed.

It's a good thing it's too hot in Texas to truly 'enjoy' summer outside. I have no desire to go out there and sweat with a sticky, grumpy baby stuck to my chest. We're doing school in July and August to make up for all these crazy postpartum months in late spring.

Speaking of summer... enjoy my summer tree here at Sprittibee. It might be my last season with this template for a while. I'm hoping to get a blogiversary present from a homeschool design whiz! So thrilled I can hardly sleep. ...Or was that the baby keeping me up? Either way. I look like a train hit me. Which is why you aren't seeing me in any photos of late.

But I digress... (which is really easy to do nowadays, by the way)...

Bee watching for a new s-'pretty' in June.



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Buzz Words: hobby, painting, wall art, trees, nursery, baby, motherhood, homeschool, getting things done, life, paint, decorating, fun, personal, design

Camera Blues

Kaden in 1999 - taken with 35mm. Kohen looks like a mix of the kids, no?

I know you are going to laugh at me. But I have to be honest... I have the camera blues. It's not camera ENVY, because I do have a great camera. I'm just unable to use my camera like I want to. I have tried reading the manual. I have tried buying gadgets (like the white balance lens cap). But I'm just not getting the photos I want.

They aren't bad photos. They just aren't ... PERFECT.

That's where the sadness comes in. You see... before I got my 'bigshot' camera (a splurge we made because of a once-in-a-lifetime event my son needed to attend and a cross-country driving trip we had to make)... I had a point and shoot digital. It wasn't the best camera, but many of my blog shots came from that camera and a lot of them are really good quality - despite the lack of tools. One feature that my point and shoot had was a great macro zoom. I was used to just getting down in the weeds with the bugs and snapping their shining little chitinoid faces.

No more.

My Canon 40D has a kit lens. Well, I dunno. Maybe it's a better than kit lens. All I know is that it doesn't take as good of macros as I hoped. And for the money I shelled out for the goods, I should be able to take photos made of GOLD, baby. GOLD; do you hear me?!

It's not just the macro inability, though. It's the bokeh. I want bokeh that makes photographers drool. Soft and seductive bokeh. Amazing bokeh.

And even more. It's the whole light thing.

I bought one of those groovy white balance caps upon Dawn-the-Nikon-Mama's recommendation. I seem to get just as good of results playing with my 40D's automatic white balance presets. The presets have made a difference... but I'm just not THERE yet. Maybe I just don't understand the whole indoor lighting thing as good as I should. Or all those numbers and such. I have "the eye and no brain", as I told Dawn in her comment box this week.

F-stops and all that jazz. Whatever.

I know I got better bokeh and light with my 35mm camera back in the good'ol days of film photography. My old lens was a 2.8 and let in more light. I bought my digital camera thinking my film lens would fit on it. Sadly, it gives me error messages and is a real pain to work with. So I'll have to splurge on a real macro lens if I want to get closer shots.

No macro lens.
No Photoshop.
No Lightroom.

I'm a WYSIWYG photographer. Well, unless you include the free alterations I do in Fast Stone, Picasa or Picnik. I'm no dummy. Free is better than nuthin' baby. Just imagine what I could do if I had the right gear. A girl can dream, can't she?

I'm a photo geek without the tools, baby.

Morgan in 1999 - taken with 35mm. I see baby K in that face.

Hopefully I'll be able to beat these blues one day with a copy of Lightroom, Photoshop, and a Macro lens. I'm sure that day will come. Until then... I'll just keep shooting away and playing with my pictures in Picnik.

In the mean time, if you have a favorite PHOTOBLOG, please share your links. I'm collecting places to waste more of my time online! Because you all know I have nothing better to do as a homeschool mom with a 2 month old in the house, right?!

Love in Him,
Heather


Quick Links
Join my friend Dawn for her 9 Days of NAPP contest
Bokeh
Portraits
Flickr
Displaying your Photos
A Hobby for Heather


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Buzz Words: hobby, photography, bokeh, portraits, pictures, love, Photoshop, camera, photo, life, images, photo editing, fun, personal, whine

Please Pray for Jessica Hulcy

The week before last I got to meet Jessica in person at the homeschool book fair in Arlington, Texas. I posted the photo above of her and her sweet hubby on my book-fair photo essay. She's the co-author of KONOS curriculum and a great inspiration to homeschooling parents in Texas and all over the world.

This past week she was in an accident involving a fire truck that has her in critical condition at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas. People all over the world are praying for her to have a complete and speedy recovery. She has a lot of healing to get done after multiple broken bones, possible punctured lungs, and some brain bleeding.

If you would like to help out, you can keep up with her status at her Caring Bridge site. You can pop over to Konos.com and purchase some wonderful curriculum to help out their financial state while she can't be on the road speaking at book fairs (she was scheduled to speak in Austin, Texas at the Cheact fair in June). Best of all, you can continue to pray for her and her family.

She's a homeschooling inspiration to me and has been the creative genius behind so many years of our schooling at home. I love Jessica and Wade even though I really don't know them personally. I hope you'll join me in lifting them up to the Father so they can be restored to full-speed and get back to doing what they do best: inspiring and encouraging other homeschooling parents to raise kids with character.


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Buzz Words: prayers, friends, accident, hospital, homeschooling, homeschool, critical condition, Jessica Hulcy, KONOS

A Kitchen Revolution

This morning I decided we needed a change. It all happened after something fell out of the freezer and smashed my foot. It was one of those 'aha!' moments... that required ice and restraint of my vocabulary. It grew into a huge plan of epic proportions as I dug through my freezer, pulling out pasty ice-cream, experimental pickle-pops, year-old brisket that never made it to the grill, and bag after bag of un-used bread flour.

"How in the world did tiny pieces of broccoli get all over my freezer bottom?" I asked the kids (who weren't listening). [Sounds better than saying I said it to myself.]

"I didn't know we had frozen ground turkey." The kids were still ignoring me.

"Look! Pecans!"

I found at least four items in the freezer I had no idea were in my kitchen. I got at least that many ideas for dinners while I was wiping down the base of the freezer and rearranging the items on the bottom shelf.

A lightbulb went on inside my head. What if I try to use up all the items in my freezers and pantry before we go to the store again for a long list of ingredients?! What if we really hunker down and start cooking every meal at home to save money?! I felt like the little engine that could... "I think I can!" I said to myself. "I can do this!"

So... I pulled out the sausage for tomorrow's lunch and put it in the fridge to thaw. I pulled out the frozen soup from January to cook for today's lunch (it was GREAT, by the way - my daughter even asked me to make it for her next birthday). The frozen soup gave me ideas about freezing meals for the future. Especially since it cooked up just like I had slaved over it all day (and saved me at least an hour and a half). I made notes about what was in the freezer so I could make a menu to use up our excess food. I didn't even stop there, though. I also added all the items in the fridge and pantry. I was on a roll.

Tonight, when I got ready to make my sesame chicken fingers and fried rice (a family favorite), I ground up the Italian wheat bread (that had been in the freezer - too stale to eat) and made bread crumbs for my chicken. It was the best chicken fingers I've made in a long time - the bread was crunchy and made a super coating!

I decided today that I really need to get my kitchen's act together if it is going to serve our family through this recession. I'm certain that eating at home can not only save me money, but it can be such a huge blessing to our family - bringing us back to a time that has nearly been erased from American history... a time when the family lingered at the dinner table... a time when our hearts were at home.

I want to save money. I want to cook more. I want to grow veggies. I want to teach my children how to make menus and omelets. I want to freeze more meals and save more time. I want my kids to have their WHOLE family at the dinner table eating WHOLESOME food each night. I dunno - maybe I'm a little nostalgic, but I'm pretty sure that the dinner table is a big part of raising kids up to be good Christian people.

If you want to join me in this kitchen revolution, you can pop over to Gathering Manna and sign the linky. You don't have to wait until a bag of frozen green beans falls out of your freezer.


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Buzz Words: food, cooking, eat, saving+money, parenting, money, motherhood, recession, thrifty

Foto Friday: L is for Little Mama

Sometimes even the least 'perfect' of expressions are perfect after all. I love candid shots. They let humanity shine through.

My kids are great helpers with their little brother. He's going to be spoiled rotten. All of us fight over him. This pose is a typical one in my house. We've dubbed big sister as "Little Mama" around here.

Of course, you have to say it in your best Elvis voice for it to sound right. Might help if you had on blue suede shoes, too.


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Buzz Words: siblings, baby, children, mommy, parenting, kids, motherhood, photography, portraits

Free Rosetta Stone? Pick me!

Jen and me are passing ships. I missed her at the book fair, but she contacted me via email and told me (since I drooled all over her Rosetta Stone booth, most likely) that she's giving away some RS! Check out what she says on her blog (below) and then DON'T GO ENTER THE CONTEST. Why??? Because I want to win it!

***

Rosetta Stone is the fastest way to learn a language and has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while — and you can WIN the *all new* version 3 Rosetta Stone Homeschool LATIN program… FOR FREE! This is the first year you can get Latin in the brand new Version III update.

This is a $259 program (and believe me it’s worth every penny!).

This is a computer based curriculum and Rosetta Stone will also include a headset with microphone, and a supplementary “Audio Companion” CD so you can practice lessons in the car, on the go, or where-ever! Students participate in life-like conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program.

Rosetta Stone incorporates listening, reading, grammar, vocabulary and writing along with speaking and pronunciation lessons. For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program to allow parents to easily enroll up to ten students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, grade completed work (the program grades the work automatically as the students progress- I love that!), and you can view and print reports for transcripts. Homeschooling a lot of kids at your house? This program is designed to enroll and track up to ten students (five users on two computers) and will work for nearly all ages — from beginning readers up to college students.

To win this most excellent Latin program copy these paragraphs and post them in (or as) your next blog post, and/OR link to the contest from your facebook page and/OR email the information to your homeschool support group – Then go to the original page http://Jeneralities.com and leave a comment saying that you’ve posted about, or have linked to, the contest. Please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post. And good luck!

****

Oh, the languages I could learn! I'd love to have the Italian and Spanish versions, too. How about you?

Texas Homeschool Book Fair: A Photo Essay

What is better than the Arlington Texas Book Fair (#txhsbf on Twitter)? Meeting up with BLOGGERS at the Arlington Texas Book Fair, that's what!

I went this past weekend to see some family in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and attended the book fair all day Saturday. Unfortunately, my conference-loving blogging friends from Houston and Austin weren't able to go this time, so I was on my own. I decided to drag my daughter along with me let my daughter attend with me. It was her first book fair (that she can remember). She did a great job as a pack mule helping me carry things (since they don't allow strollers in the convention center - WHO'S idea was that??!).



After we registered and checked in our extra baggage, we scoped out the bathroom and nursing room so we could flee there at the first sign of trouble. Mr. Viking needed a diaper change and I made sure he was well fed before we rushed to make it to our first conference session: Family Man Ministries!



Todd Wilson was giving a talk about his book, "Lies Homeschool Moms Believe" (now in my sidebar - go buy it and tell them I sent you!). I am quite certain that I believe most of the lies he writes about, so I figured I needed his pep talk. I snapped this photo right after another mom in the audience took one and he said, "She's taking pictures of me, too! I bet you both are bloggers." How did he know?! I guess Bloggers are the only ones carrying heavy-duty digital SLRs in to the convention center and taking photos of everything from books to balloons. Sorry Family Man. We just can't help it.

Fifteen minutes in to his awesome lecture, the timer went off (the baby one, that is). I discreetly stepped on ten or eleven people trying to make my way out of the crowded room before the little guy blew his top. There was not a spot on the floor to walk - people were standing all around and sitting on the ground. Everyone had to move so I could exit. Nice and embarrassing. I didn't stop to get a picture of that.

Morgan got to stay in the room and listen to the rest of the speech. She told me later when she found me in the nursing room: "Mom, you really needed to hear the rest of what he said. He said you shouldn't worry so much about the house being clean. It's like a ZERO on the scale of 1-10. Ten is your relationships with your kids."

Thanks, Family Man. Now they aren't going to help me clean the house. There's proof that his lesson is sinking in already (you should see my house since we got back home from the trip).

After another nursing session (and seeing some friendly familiar sleep-deprived faces - glad I'm not the only one!), I was determined to go hear Renee Ellison of Homeschool How-To's. She's such an awesome wealth of information! Her specialty is training mothers on how to effectively discipline and raise their children in a Godly fashion. I brought along another lady from the nursing room as we had been talking about discipline while feeding our babies. We managed to catch the last fifteen minutes of Renee's talk and I stopped by her booth to get a photo afterwords.



What a great picture (even if it makes the convention center walls look pink)! I didn't even have to ask them to pose. When I arrived at her booth, she was sitting in her husband's lap. He told me, "It's the best thing to do for your kids to show love and affection for your spouse." Amen to that! I just love the people at Homeschool Conferences!

I was bound and determined to find some bloggers. I knew that Smockityfrocks and Reflective (my twitter buddies) would be there somewhere. I didn't know they had lots of other bloggers lined up to meet as well.

I searched through the entire convention hall - taking pictures as I went. A lady behind one of the booths said, "What a great idea to take photos of the curriculum you are interested in so you can buy it later!" If only she knew that I hadn't stopped to look at ANY curriculum. I was there for the bloggers this time. My kids would be lucky if they got the basics done next year with a newborn in the house. Aren't I such a great homeschooling example? Just as I started feeling guilty for ignoring all this great curriculum I couldn't afford, I bumped in to Connie!



We picked the spinach out of our teeth and posed for the kids (...who managed to take our picture without even rolling their eyes! Aren't homeschool kids great?!). Unlike Connie, I was unable to do the "Funky Chicken" with a baby sling and a fifty-pound camera bag diaper bag slung over my shoulders. How purdy she is! Her ultra-polite children said 'Hello' to Morgan. Too bad we aren't neighbors. That would be cool. I could be a bad influence on her and we could both play hooky all year!

I asked her what she was up to and she said she was stalking waiting around for JenIG. I didn't even know that Jen was at the conference! My blogging eyes lit up with glee. Unfortunately, I was unable to find Jen for a photo even after a siege of the Rosetta Stone booth. After the fifth time that they asked "Can I help you?" in a worried tone, I decided to head for the next conference session (afraid they might call security). I wished they could have helped me by offering free Italian or Spanish curriculum. I heart Rosetta Stone.

On the way there, I ran in to my old buddy Jessica Hulcy and her groovy husband, Wade (the authors of KONOS). Of course, I had never actually MET Jessica. I had seen her at a few conferences, but was way too shy to go up and meet her. She was always busy at the booth with her countless admirers anyway, but THIS time she was free! I sauntered up to the booth and asked if I could take their picture. After an awkward pause, they both agreed. I told her I was a blogger. That explained it, I'm sure.



Aren't they a cute couple? Morgan was thrilled to get to meet the lady who had created all those fun unit studies we've done since they were wee tiny tots. Jessica said she would link to my site so I could share all my old unit study posts - even after I told her that I was a really poor example of a KONOSer. "I miss those fun days of school with Konos," I confessed to her.

She made my school year by telling me this little known secret, "You shouldn't feel bad. There was one year when we were teaching the kids that we did nothing but math..." WHAT?! This homeschooling giant was a slacker like me?! "...instead we built a house that year and the kids learned more that year than I ever would have imagined. They jumped ahead academically by two years even though we only did math!"

I could have cried. Inwardly, I did. It was probably the nicest thing anyone had ever told me. I thanked her for telling me that and treasured it as I made my way towards the convention room doors.



Outside, I bumped in to Connie again. Only this time, she had a crowd of bloggers with her! From left to right is: Smockityfrocks, Are We There Yet?, little-ol' me, Life Nurturing Education, and Mandigirl Muses. I did the happy dance without dropping the baby or the diaper bag... and whipped out my Canon for a few poor-lighting photos that barely came out. So what if they aren't "I heart Faces" quality? At least I got to meet BLOGGERS! And I have PROOF! Look at all those pretty ladies! And aren't y'all jealous that I got to hug sweet Renae's neck. I just love her. Even if she got to see King Tut and I didn't. All you other groovy bloggin' mamas that I didn't know before but should have, "I love you, man!" We so need to get back together where we don't have to share the day with a homeschool convention.

Since we were holding up the session with our picture taking in the back of the room, they had to announce that the program was starting and threaten to lock the doors (what they really meant was that they wanted to lock out us weirdos). We took the hint and said quick goodbyes. I sat down to listen to John Erickson (who I affectionately refer to as "Hank the Cowdog Man") do a banjo concert. To my surprise, the baby started fussing again. I mean, who wouldn't fuss if their overall buckles were crammed into their pudgy little cheeks while their body was being compressed into the size of a soup can inside a hot, sticky sling.



I had seen a lady earlier with a much more comfy looking sling. Her baby didn't look quite as angry at her, either. I had sling envy.

I made my way out of the Cowdog Concert at the end of a beautifully executed old church hymn. Wish I could remember which one it was. I do a love a good old-time hymn! The nursing room was full when we returned. I got to meet a bunch of other nursing mamas and we compared each other's slings, diapers, and birth stories. I learned more in the nursing room than anywhere else at the conference. And there were gourmet chocolate mints. [I love you, McCords!]



The nursing room was really nice. There were changing tables, complimentary mints and water... and free wipes in case you ran out or forgot yours. They had tables to eat at and lay your books and bags on, plenty of chairs, and a quiet atmosphere - tucked away from the conference and directly across from the baggage check room. That was handy. Made getting something from your stroller a cinch (like the lunch that we brought with us to avoid paying concession stand prices).



However, it was nice to have the concession stand around when we got thirsty later. Seven dollars for two bottled drinks is a little steep, but boy, they hit the spot!



I was glad that I had given my old cell phone to Morgan. I handed it to her as she ran off to go meet her idol: Grace Mally. Grace and her siblings wrote the book, "Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends", which is a favorite devotional book we have used for years! She also took my camera. Grace was giving a talk about marriage and courting or something like that. A little over the age limit for my ten-year-old, but Morgan was determined to meet her beautiful favorite author. She waited patiently for Grace to finish her discussion and asked someone to take a photo with her. I can't believe I let her carry off my Canon 40D SLR. Good thing the baby and the chocolate mints were there to distract me! The photo came out wonderful! In fact, who-ever took it must know more about cameras than I do. Nice to be outdone by a perfect stranger.



Although I scoured the convention hall for my long-lost blogging buddies, I wasn't able to ever find them again. I did run in to Hank... er, John, who was finished serenading us Texans and ready to sign books. Morgan got a picture with him as well. We sufficiently thanked him for his wonderful books and continued our search for the bloggers.

Somehow, the sling kept getting heavier. The diaper bag, too. The convention hall seemed to be getting bigger, as well. My spry young legs having been replaced by some old lady's; I wasn't sure I could last much longer. "If I don't see [insert groovy blogger's name here] again soon, I think maybe we should just leave." I told Morgan.



After one last lap around the hall, we went to get our stroller out of captivity and placed the disgruntled Viking in it. He let us know in no uncertain terms that he was FINISHED gallivanting around Arlington. I'm quite certain that his last fussy whimper could be translated as, "I'll get you back for this next week, lady." He turned on the puppy-dog eye charm and I couldn't resist. I guess he was just too young to enjoy a good book fair, bloggers or no bloggers.



As a parting gift, one of the friendly book fair workers handed me a tiny cup of mints to take home with me. I guess that was my consolation for not getting to spend any money on books or more than five minutes with my blogging friends. Oh, well. At least now I know a lot more about cloth diapering, sling brands, and nursing. Not that I would ever actually USE a cloth diaper. Nursing is as 'earth mama' as I get, y'all. Maybe next year I can leave the Viking behind and hit the halls with renewed interest in all those great homeschool products again. I'm sure that there will be plenty of bloggers there in 2010. Next time, I'll make sure they don't get away so quickly!


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Buzz Words: blogging, bloggers, convention, Homeschool+Book+Fair, homeschool, homeschooling, DFW, nursing, Texas

Homeschool Blog Awards

Been wondering what is up with the Homeschool Blog Awards site? Well,... it's a long, complicated story.

Basically, in a nut shell, the blame for the domain issue rests on ME and the distractions I've had lately (namely: Baby K). They sent me a renewal request a few months back in my 'decoy' email box (the one I send all my JUNK to). Lord knows I don't want GoDaddy and their tacky advertisements in my regular email box. Thus led to the problem of not finding out about the domain expiration before it was too late.... because I was busy having a baby and such, and didn't check that 'other' box.

So, here's what it means to you: The Homeschool Post (our real name) is still around! Don't write us off just yet. Our team of 15 SUPER AUTHORS are still on board. We are just working on the domain and WordPress issues and will hopefully have our 'pretty face' back on soon.

In the mean time: PLEASE UPDATE YOUR URL LINKS! If you have us on your sidebar (brownie points!!!), just go in and change the homeschoolblogawards.com to hsbapost.com!

We at the HSBA Post all thank you for your continued visits despite Sprittibee's big bobo.

...and I'll be back in later tonight to update you on my super fun trip to the Homeschool Book Fair in Arlington, Texas! I got some awesome photos of some famous homeschool curriculum and book authors... and even some bloggers you might know of! I'm beat after an exhausting trip with baby in tow. And there are bills to pay and bags to unpack... but until then, please update your Homeschool Post Bookmarks and check back with me later!


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Buzz Words: blogging, bloggers, HSBA, Homeschool+Blog+Awards, homeschool, homeschooling, forgetful, mom+sites

Because Eating is Important

It seems like lately all I can get done is feeding the baby and making sure we get our meals and snacks taken care of at home. Not that I am complaining, eating is important... but it seems like I should be able to get more done than just that. Well, OK, we did get some laundry done, the bills paid, bath time for baby, dishes and picking the house up, and some thank-you cards written. I even managed to get my menu for the week typed out.

I'm learning that perfectionism is a thing of the past. Not that I actually was perfect before the baby got here. But I always thought that if I just checked one more thing off on my mile-long list I would be closer to it.

I'm trying to focus on my new super-powers and let go of the ideals I had of how baby was going to fit-right-in to our schedule and allow me to continue getting things done 'as usual'.

Ha.

Yes, I actually thought that. You can tape that "kick me" sign on my back now.

Oh, well. At least we are fed. Time to nurse the baby and get in bed so we can eat again tomorrow. I'll leave you with the link to my menu and get back to making milk:

Menu Plan for May 4-10, 2009



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Buzz Words: milk, food, eat, humor, menu plan, planning, babies, mommy

Twitter Addict

Me. The two babies... Kohen and the i-Phone. 140 Characters of tweety goodness.


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Buzz Words: social networking, iphone, twitter, photos, fun, cell phones, babies, mommy

Bokeh

Another picture post. I know I can never stay on any one topic for long... that's why I can't label this blog as a 'homeschool blog' or a 'parenting blog' or a 'photography blog' or a ... (you get the picture). It is all those things and more. It is all about my passions... the things that interest and inspire me. Photography is one of my 'favorites'. I have a lot of favorites. Have you noticed?

Some of you are scratching your heads... "Bokeh??? What in tarnation is Bokeh??" Others of you are photographic pros out there and know exactly how wonderful bokeh is.

To give you an idea of what Bokeh can do to a picture, here are a few in my photographic bokeh pool at Flickr:



Bokeh is the blurred part of the image... the background that fades out and isn't in focus. It is supposed to pop the focus of the photograph out and direct your eyes to what is IN FOCUS. It helps to tell the story better. It adds an artsy flair to your pictures. It makes a subject seem to stand out in a surreal and timeless manner. It is one of my very, very favorite photographic techniques of all time. I just HEART me some bokeh!

So that's why I'm writing this post... to tell you about the 'i heart faces' bokeh give-away. Not because I want you to enter. By all means, you can leave that for me! I'd really, really love to win the Alien Skin Software they are giving away! But because if I don't tell you about it, I can't earn myself another chance at winning. And Lord knows I needed another thing to do before bed-time and between my insanely short breastfeeding sessions... ya know?!

So please, DON'T enter their contest. But DO look through my flickr photo-stream and leave me some comments! I heart comments as much as 'i heart faces'... and I heart bokeh. Hopefully I'll be hearting me some Alien Skin Software after I win this thing.


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Buzz Words: software, bokeh, contest, photography, win, pictures, flickr, photos