according.to.kim

10 things on the 10th (August)

A great deal of cooking happens at our house (thanks Neil!) and while we often use the Internet for recipes, we still love and use cookbooks. Here are our top 10 most frequently used cookbooks or series of cookbooks or magazines (yes, we're sneaking in a few more this way!):

1. The All New All Purpose Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker and Ethan Becker
2. The Big Book of Soups & Stews by Maryana Vollstedt
3. Canadian Living Everyday Favourites by Canadian Living
4. Canadian Living's Best series by Elizabeth Baird
   (top 3: Quick Suppers; Soups and Stews; Vegetables)
5. Company's Coming series by Jean Paré
   (top 3: Salads; Select Series: Ground Beef; Greatest Hits: Biscuits, Muffins & Loaves)
6. The Complete Canadian Living Cookbook by E. Baird
7. Cooking Class Mexican by Publications International
8. Food Network Magazine (used very often right now)
9. Good Eats: The Early Years and Good Eats: The Middle Years by Alton Brown
10. Weber's Charcoal Grilling by Jamie Purviance

For a listing of this month's participants, see 10 Things at Shimelle.com.

PI 22/52: Finding our tribe

I took this photo in the park on Monday evening. I'm so glad I ran across a similar photo from last summer which inspired me to get this photo for "finding our tribe." Dash is on the left.

The girls having been having a fun week. Neil took them (including B) swimming at the Sandra Schmirler on Monday, bowling at the Golden Mile on Tuesday, and to PlayEscapes (-B) on Wednesday afternoon. There were several other kids there that they know. This afternoon, Georgia enjoyed a playdate at Henry's house. The girls have also been playing with Zoe (neighbour) at every opportunity.

The girls' swimming lessons end tomorrow. I look forward to going along on their last day. Neil says he's going to miss swimming lessons because he gets to sit and read all morning. (He's enjoying the Malazan Book of the Fallen series by Steven Erikson.) All three are doing quite well so I'm sure they'll pass. They won't have swimming lessons again until next summer.

Sophia and Madeline are super excited about going to camp in a few days. They have already started packing, but we will spend quite a bit of time this weekend making sure they have everything they need and that it's all labeled. The list of supplies they require is quite long! The weather looks great for their camp days -- sunny and hot. I don't think they'll be cold at night, but I hope they don't get any severe storms!

I'm off work now until August 8th! Woohoo! And, other than driving the girls to and from camp, I'm staying home the whole time! I love that. I will be working practically the whole time (housework, paperwork, yard work, BSS work), but that's okay. Actually, it's GREAT! I have so much to do. All progress will be thrilling! (I always remind myself that any progress is good because I can never get everything done.)

The past couple of weeks, I have been doing a lot of extra work for Bite-sized Scrapbooking in addition to my usual weekly tasks:

• I'm supplying a 6-month subscription as a prize for a contest at a major scrapbooking store in California, so I provided some information for their blog post.
• I'm writing a guest post for a popular scrapbooking website and I want to provide high-quality content, so I'm working very hard on that! When it goes live (which may be several weeks away), I will certainly share the link here (and everywhere!).
• I'm developing another Bite-sized Scrapbooking product. I've been working on this project a little every weekend for a couple months now. I'm not quite ready to share details, but I'm excited about it!
• I'm in the midst of finding and getting permission for the last 19 layouts of the first year of BSS. This is my third time doing a big search for layouts, spread over a couple of weekends each time. (In January, I lined up the first 17 layouts; in April, I secured the next 16 layouts, and this time, I need 19 to complete 52 weeks of BSS). From my efforts last weekend, I've received permission for 10 layouts, and I will spend several more hours this weekend trying to establish the last nine. I estimate it takes me about 90 minutes per layout when all is said and done (that doesn't include developing the content when the layout is scheduled). Sometimes I wonder if it would be easier to design my own layouts! But there are many more good things that come out of connecting with others in the online scrapbooking world. Plus, it's great for subscribers to get layouts from different designers, and my layouts would certainly not be as varied in design or products used.

PI 18/52: Exploration

I was delighted to realize I had captured "exploration" on Sunday without thinking about the prompt at the time. My girls -- especially Sophia (in pink) -- are always exploring like this. I love how curious they are!

Yesterday morning, I was listening to the radio and heard about the Loggerhead Shrike, an endangered bird species, being in southern Saskatchewan right now. Anyone who sees one is asked to report the sighting. I thought this bird (also known as the "Butcher Bird") sounded quite interesting, so I mentioned it to the kids. We spent the next few minutes looking up images on the Internet. Later, at school, Sophia was required to write a short story in English. Based on our conversation and brief research, she wrote about the Loggerhead Shrike. :)

Last week, I scribbled down a few things that the girls are "into" right now:

• finding and keeping caterpillars in containers with hole-punched lids (which are not always secure; I have found two caterpillars roaming free in our house. ick!)
• jumping on the trampoline (as always!)
• checking the growth of seedlings in the garden and pots
• Harry Potter books and movies - Sophia
• Fancy Nancy books, every night - Madeline and Georgia
• making circle "spinning art" -- I love how they've taken an art toy that was meant to be used in one way (with dripping paint that sprays unpredictably) and are using it to make art in another way (with a marker touching the paper as it spins).

A library of colour

I've been wanting to do this, and now seemed like the perfect time! (Neil helped and it only took a few minutes.) Inspired by Meg Duerksen and my rainbow board on Pinterest (@kkbyrns).* It's amazing how much neater this looks than random or other placement. These shelves are in Georgia's room and she's delighted with the new arrangement. She asked excitedly, "Can we keep it this way?!" Why, of course! Although I suspect it won't stay this way for long. Also, we need to go through these books and give some away. There are more books below these shelves, and many more in Sophia and Madeline's room. And we *have* given away quite a few children's books in the past. They seem to multiply at our house!

Georgia attended her very last day of preschool today. Originally, they were going to go to the spray pad, but thanks to today's forecast for rain (which didn't materialize, thank goodness), they went on Wednesday instead. Today, they made dirt cups (chocolate pudding, cookie crumbs, and gummy worms) to celebrate the end of the school year.

After Georgia was home from school, she wanted me to pull her tooth which was quite loose (this is her second; she lost the first one in early December 2010). I think this is the first time I've actually pulled a child's tooth out; they've all come out on their own -- but she insisted I do it. And then it bled quite a bit! Oh well. She's over it and is very excited about the tooth fairy coming tonight (fingers crossed!).

The girls' school was supposed to do their annual Walk Around Wascana today but it didn't happen as planned, either. Madeline's class (and a few others) walked to Wascana Centre yesterday. They played in the park for awhile before walking back, but didn't walk around the lake. Sophia's class (and a couple others, including Bronwyn's) walked to the park and back this morning. They didn't spend any time there and were back by the end of first recess. Normally, they spend the whole day on this activity. It turned out to be a very nice day today, so it's too bad everything didn't go ahead as usual. And now, just three days of school remain for the older girls. This month has flown by! I look forward to updating the calendar less frequently over the next two months. :)

*I miss Pinterest! I haven't been there for weeks. Too busy with Picture Color and blogging this month, but I'll be back.

Ambient yellow

This was a tough one. I'm not sure these cookbooks were the best subject for the prompt as they don't show off the ambient light very well, but I ran out of time and couldn't think of anything better. At least I've captured a little slice of life at our house (which I'm tempted to reshoot in better light!).

10 things on the 10th (June)

Ten books I'm planning to read:

1. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver
2. The Book of Even More Awesome by Neil Pasricha
3. Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler (VitalSmarts)
4. Expressive Photography: The Shutter Sisters' Guide to Shooting from the Heart edited by Tracey Clark
5. Hand Wash Cold: Care Instructions for an Ordinary Life by Karen Maezen Miller
6. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollon
7. The Organized & Inspired Scrapbooker by Wendy Smedley and Aby Garvey
8. Organized Simplicity: The Clutter-Free Approach to Intentional Living by Tsh Oxenreider (started reading it this week)
9. The Scrapbooker's Almanac by Elizabeth Dillow (purchase direct from author)
10. The 10 Things You Need to Eat by Anahad O'Connor

Hmmm, what does this list say about me? I think it's pretty obvious: I'm a big fan of food, scrapbooking, photography, organizing, self-help, life, awesomeness, and non-fiction!

***

This post is part of a new series by the students of Shimelle's workshop, Beyond Blogging for Scrapbookers. This month's participants are listed here: 10 Things.

Punctuation mark

We have this one volunteer giant pansy in our yard. I think it qualifies as a "punch of color that cannot be denied." Right now, it's by far the most successful thing growing in our patch of annual flowers.

I was very happy to clear some stuff out of our house today. The Diabetes Association picked up a couple bags of clothes and shoes of mine, and I donated a number of household items and toys to a garage sale fundraiser being held by Georgia's preschool tomorrow. I probably could have tripled our donations if I had had more time to gather things over the past couple weeks. I will continue to purge and donate through the summer. It feels so great to get rid of stuff! That reminds me, I'm reading Organized Simplicity: A Clutter-Free Approach to Intentional Living by Tsh Oxenreider. I'm only on the 3rd chapter, but I really like it so far.

Colour me yummy

Neil made this yummy souvlaki dinner for us today. The tzatziki sauce is Alton Brown's recipe, and it is awesome!

This morning, I attended a great presentation by author Joseph Grenny on the subject of Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success. Powerful information! I look forward to reading the book -- and changing some things. :)

P.S. Watch this Change Anything video for more information.

PI 10/52: Dishing it out

Bonne Maman jam-jars-turned-drinking-glasses. I started saving these jars to use as drinking glasses when someone mentioned doing this in one of my Picture classes last year. They're great everyday glasses for us -- a nice size and easily replaced if broken (which has happened). I like 'em!

***

The past week has been eventful with a few significant news events, plus a few things more specific to my family. I've been wanting to post something all week but these days have been too full! (I'm off work this afternoon. Yay!)

Friday: The Royal Wedding of Will and Kate. Until about two days before the wedding, I was quite oblivious. It was so far off my radar, I probably would have had trouble saying who was getting married! Then I must have read a blog or something that made me realize it was kind of a big deal: these two will become king and queen someday, right? So I decided to pay more attention and tell my girls about the royal wedding. They had no idea. We didn't watch it live, but later Friday morning, watched some of the rebroadcast on YouTube. I had asked Neil to record it on the PVR, which he did, but we didn't bother watching it on the TV. It turns out The Royal Channel on YouTube is great for seeing the highlights! When I left for my haircut appointment on Friday morning, the girls and Georgia's friend, Henry, were watching the rebroadcast on YouTube (which you couldn't fast forward). Waiting for the balcony scene, Georgia kept saying, "When are they gonna smooch? When are they gonna smoooooch?!"

Saturday: Dinner at our friends' home. Great food and great company! And our kids and dogs play together so well. We will definitely have them over to our house for dinner sometime -- but in the summer when we can eat outside. Our dining room is not very good for entertaining.

Sunday: The end of Osama Bin Laden. I was snoozing (after laying down with Madeline) when Neil woke me to tell me the news. The first and only thing I did was check Twitter. I've discovered recently that I much prefer to see how people are reacting to news over seeing or hearing the news in other media. It has been almost ten years since we first heard that name. It's good to know the bad guys can't hide forever.

Monday: Canada's federal election. I will not "talk politics." It's not in me. But I will say, I was more interested than usual due to the surprising results: the Conservatives won a majority, the NDP became the official opposition for the first time ever, the Liberals had their worst showing ever (I think), the BQ was practically decimated (save 4 seats), and the Green party won their first elected seat. Crazy times, people. I was quite glued to my Twitter and Facebook streams along side the real-time results on CBC.ca.

Tuesday: Top Chef Canada. (Ha ha, totally not a big deal, but I thought I'd fill in the week!) Neil and I watched it after the hockey game. I love the Top Chef series, and this Canadian version is getting better as it moves along and people are knocked out. I tend to prefer the latter half of all seasons -- except Top Chef All Stars, which I thought was great all the way through.

Wednesday: The Book of Even More Awesome book signing. I love The Book of Awesome. It makes me smile and laugh out loud and that's why I decided to go see the author, Neil Pasricha, at Chapters on Wednesday evening. Georgia came with me (while Neil took Madeline to her piano lesson and Sophia was in Avonlea). I bought the new book when we got there so I could get both signed. I really enjoyed his short talk. He went into his background a little and the reasons why he started the blog, 1000 Awesome Things (these are covered in his excellent TED Talk: The 3 A's of awesome -- watch this if you haven't already!). He also shared a bit of his recent experience in NYC where he appeared on The Today Show the day before. I'm very glad we went. Plus, we saw a rainbow on the way -- which is always awesome, don't you think? And (if you're reading) it was great to see you there, Tein!

Thursday: Teachers' job action. There was no school yesterday due to the teachers' one-day strike. We're lucky it didn't inconvenience us at all since Neil stays home with the kids, and it turned out to be quite a fun day for the girls. Sophia and Bronwyn were in Avonlea at their grandparents' house. Madeline and Georgia were home with Neil. They trimmed the hedges in our front yard (okay, maybe not fun for them, but I'm glad it's done!), went to Costco, and then Madeline and Georgia went for a playdate at the home of one of M's classmates who lives nearby.

Thursday: Natural gas leak. SaskEnergy located a natural gas leak in the back alley directly behind our yard. EEK. Well, they found it and fixed it without incident, so that's good! This would not be so disconcerting if it weren't for some recent explosions in our city. Very strange.

And, oh, wasn't it beautiful outside last evening?! I spent an hour in the back yard doing some after-winter clean up. We have a new neighbour on the west side who is always out in her yard doing this and that. It's, uh, rather motivating -- she can see our yard through the fence and it ain't pretty!

PI 9/52: Observation mode

Easter morning. The girls enjoyed their little indoor hunt for treats. I love that they automatically put everything on the table and divide it evenly before digging in. Madeline made a couple comments I enjoyed: "Mom, Mom! You know those plastic eggs we have? The Easter Bunny REUSED them!" and "The Easter Bunny didn't hide things very well. If I just STAND there, I can see a bunch of eggs." :)

***

Other life and family updates from this crazy month:

• While the water levels were the highest we've ever seen in our city, Neil (with the Shop Vac and dehumidifier) managed to get ahead of the water seeping into our basement, and there's no more standing water in the yard -- thanks to Neil pumping it out regularly. Phew!
• I completed and filed our tax returns on Friday, the 15th. It took longer and was more frustrating than I had hoped, but it's done and I'm confident it's correct. I used TurboTax online and thought it was excellent.
• The girls are off school this week. They've been enjoying the sunny weather and playing outside with our neighbours' four children (who are moving this coming weekend). Neil also took them to the library and the Science Centre today. Sounds like they enjoyed being volunteers in the static electricity show!
• I've been doing a lot of extra work for BSS this month (beyond the usual weekly tasks) with three giveaways, graphic updates, website tweaks, and searching for new inspiration layouts. It's all good, but it takes time. I'll get back to my normal schedule soon.
• I'm determined to get our house and yard in order (purged, organized, cleaned...) before the start of activities in late summer (last week of August), so I have planned what room or spot needs to be addressed each weekend from now until then. Other must-do tasks (such as monthly photo printing) are on the shedule, too. Two weeks into The Plan, and so far, so good.
• Neil's dad went into the hospital with chest pain on Saturday, April 16, and they found he had a low blood oxygen level. After 10 days (and a bunch of tests, supplemental oxygen, and nebulizers), he was sent home with a sufficient oxygen level, no medications, and no explanation of the cause. It seems rather strange, but I'm very glad he's okay now.
• For Easter, we were planning to go to Avonlea, but since Lou was in the hospital, Neil's Aunt Glenys invited us to her house for Easter dinner. It was lovely! Lou was able to get a day pass from the hospital on Sunday, so he and Donna came to our house for a short visit in the morning and they also went to Weisshaar's for dinner.
• My mom and Aunt Janet stopped by our house on Sunday morning for a few minutes (en route from the airport). Also, I was able to meet Mom, Grandma M, Aunt Bev, Aunt Colleen, and Aunt Janet on Tuesday morning for coffee. It was great to see all of them!
• I finished reading The Secret Garden to Sophia on Sunday evening. We LOVED it! (I was also reading it to Madeline, but she often fell asleep and I know she didn't hear the last chapter.) I bought this book three years ago at a small second-hand store. Now we'll have to see if we can find the movie from the '90s which was recommended to me.

Enter to win Sketches for Scrapbooking Volumes 6 & 7!

I have a new giveaway over at my Bite-sized Scrapbooking website this week, sponsored by Allison Davis from Sketch Support. If you like sketches, be sure to hop over now and enter to win Sketches for Scrapbooking Volumes 6 & 7 by Debbie Sanders and Allison Davis!

This giveaway ends on April 21, and is open to everyone, no matter where you live!

Enter to win Start Scrapbooking by Wendy Smedley!

I'm excited to be offering my first giveaway this week! It's Wendy Smedley's new book,
Start Scrapbooking. If you're interested, please hop over to my Bite-sized Scrapbooking website and enter to win!

This giveaway ends on April 7, and is only for those with an address in the US or Canada.

If you're OUTSIDE the US and Canada, I also have a giveaway for you! You may enter to win an eBook from Ella Publishing!

5 tips for making Blurb books from TypePad

As I mentioned on March 21, I've been printing my TypePad blog in Blurb books using their BookSmart software. This software can quickly "slurp" blog posts into it, and it allows you to easily get photos from your computer if you need a higher resolution than what you had on your blog. Since I've made many books from blog posts using this software, I've become quite familiar with the process. I'm sure I could write for hours about it, but I'm just going to cover my biggest tips and then you can ask me questions if you have any. Also, I'm talking about TypePad here because that's my only experience, but some of these tips may apply to Blogger, as well.

Tip #1: Look for missing text. Always have your blog open to the post you're working on and compare it to the text that was slurped into BookSmart. Unless something has changed recently, [edit: I just checked and this is still the case] there is almost always a problem with missing text before links, bold text, italics, and sometimes with bullet points. (Plus, bulleted lists always need to be hand-formatted because the line breaks disappear.) Here's a screen shot I took the last time I was making a book that shows exactly what I mean by missing text and having your blog open to compare. Click on the image to enlarge and take a closer look.

Tip #2: Create a style guide. If you're going to be making more than one book from your blog and you want them to be consistent, then take some time during your first book creation to document the style decisions you're making. Feel free to look at my style guide: Download ATK-books.pdf (52.4K). This document has been a life saver for me because it's often many months between making books and I don't remember the details. You'll see that my books are not fancy! There is so much more you could do, but these are the decisions I made with my first book, and I'm sticking with them. It helps me finish faster. And I really like consistency.

Here are a few images of what my books look like on the outside and inside. Please note: this is nowhere near the number of different page layouts available or even what I use in my books. For posts with photos, I always choose a page layout based on the number and orientation of the photos, and that varies greatly. For posts without photos, I always choose a two-column layout, but there are other options.

Tip #3: Decide on comments and URLs. Decide up front whether or not you want to include comments. BookSmart does not slurp comments from TypePad blogs (I don't know about other platforms), so I copy and paste all comments into my books. It's very tedious work, but I like having them saved. Also, decide if you want to include link URLs (BookSmart gives you the option for this). I started doing that and so I continue, but sometimes I wish I hadn't. And sometimes I just delete them if I need more space, or if they're a long string of characters that no one would ever type into a browser.

Tip #4: Set your headers at the end. If you set your right and left header text at some point during your book creation and then move, add, or delete any pages, your headers will get mixed up. It's best to set them at the end (and check them before uploading your book to Blurb).

Tip #5: Decide on your standard time period. When I started making these books in 2007, I was at the peak of my blogging frequency. I decided four months (about 120 pages) was enough for each book (plus it took many hours to complete those and I just wanted to get them printed already!). I have continued with the four-month span for all of my books, but in hindsight, I wish I had gone with six months or even a year. I've had a few four-month periods in which I didn't blog as often, resulting in less than 80 pages. For those, I added blank pages at the end so I could have text on the spine. It's going to depend on how often you blog, how long your posts are typically, and how big you want your books to be. Also, each time you start a book, BookSmart will slurp your entire blog. You can't preselect the time period. What I do then is deselect all posts (with one click) and then go through and select the posts during the period for which I'm making the book.

Well, I hope that helps in some way! Feel free to ask any questions! I'll leave you with a look at all of my book covers so far (I took screenshots inside my Blurb account and then compiled them into this image). I wish I had put an image on the cover of the very first book I made. Live and learn!

PI 1/52: This is me

This was the first week of Picture Inspiration, a year of weekly inspiration (prompts, challenges, and projects) from Tracey Clark at Big Picture Classes. The first prompt -- called "This is all about you" because this community/class was born out of student desire to keep going after Picture Winter ended -- was to take a self-portrait. I'm glad I tackled this on Saturday afternoon. I was feeling very happy and content that day,* so even though one invariably feels somewhat fake and silly taking big smiley photos of themselves, I really did feel how I look in this photo and I like that I was able to capture it. I took this photo in our main floor bathroom because it has the best light and least cluttered background. It took 77 shots to get this one (about 10 minutes). The glare on my glasses was a big challenge (as well as focus, composition, etc.) and I just kept shooting until I found the right angle. I was holding the camera with my left hand. I like this photo so much that I promptly changed my profile pic everywhere! (After removing the dull-blue colour from the background, which I didn't care for.)

*I must add that while I was in a fine mood anyway, it was my reading of The Happiness Project, Chapter 8: Contemplate the Heavens, as I waited during Sophia's piano lesson, that lifted my mood to a new height. I don't know exactly why it had this effect on me, but I felt almost giddy after reading that chapter. It was wonderful and I can't help but smile now as I recall that moment. (Yes, I've been reading this book for a long time; I just picked it up again after several months.)

Jan 18: Centre of attention

It was Madeline's 8th birthday today, so of course she's the centre of attention! Also, I love capturing this smile and it is near the centre of the photo. :) This was taken at Sophia's game this evening. I tried to get a good picture of M with her birthday cake and candles, but it wasn't meant to be.

We gave Madeline her gifts in the morning before I went to work. She received a real twirling baton and a little Zhu Zhu Pets bed and blanket. She has wanted a baton for a long time and had no idea she was getting one for her birthday; however, she did see the long triangular box that arrived in the mail a couple weeks before Christmas and was very curious about what might be inside. She could not figure out what could possibly be that shape and she asked about it many times. It was fun to finally give it to her.

I took an earlier bus home after work (arriving home at 4:55 p.m.), so we'd have a few extra minutes for birthday cake. Neil baked the confetti cake and made fluffy frosting during the day. We ate our supper soon after I got home, and then I quickly frosted the cake -- half pink and half green at Madeline's request. We sang Happy Birthday, ate some cake, and then headed out the door by 6:00 p.m. to go to Sophia's ringette game. It was nice that Bronwyn was with us for the birthday cake, too. (Laurel picked her up at the rink.)

At bedtime, I read to Madeline alone (i.e., without Sophia). We do this occasionally anyway, but today, I made sure to read what Madeline wanted. She has been enjoying the Help Me Be Good series (by Joy Berry) for several weeks now, and today was no exception. I always read the main part of the book and we assign speaking parts for the cartoon-like illustrations. She loves reading these books with me.

Oct 12: Take some time out

Some days, reading a book on my bus ride to and from work is the only time I have to myself -- at least until after the kids go to bed. I'm still reading The Happiness Project. It takes me a long time to read a book when I only read for 10 minutes here and there! I don't mind, though; I love this book, so I'm in no rush to finish it. Reading a good book on the bus is definitely something that makes me happy. :)

Things I haven't mentioned

• All three girls enjoyed going to K4J Vacation Bible School last week. Surprisingly (as it's unusual for her), Georgia was upset after Neil left the first morning. Sophia immediately stepped in and stayed with Georgia the entire morning, rather than going with her own age group. What a good big sister! Georgia was just fine for the next four days of VBS.
• Quick recap of the girls' summer activities: swimming lessons for the first two weeks (mornings), Summer Sports School for the next two weeks (afternoons), three weeks off, VBS for one week (mornings), and then a week and a half off. Plus, Sophia had bagpipe lessons for one week in July. This seemed like a nice, not-too- full summer schedule, and the girls were happy.
• The girls and I enjoyed our scrapbooking class, Kidding Around, at BPS. We did many of the activities -- going for ice cream, blowing bubbles, drawing with sidewalk chalk, making a pillow fort, making lemonade from scratch -- but didn't have much time for scrapbooking. I didn't make any pages, but the girls made four or five each (which was pretty labour-intensive for me as I was busy spelling out words, cutting papers, printing things out, cleaning stamps, and so on). After posting her bubble layout in the online gallery, Madeline won a prize draw! In the mail, all the way from California, she received a package containing some bubble liquid, bubble stickers, a package of Kool-Aid, and a BPS button. Madeline was very excited about her prize and she happily shared it with her sisters.
• I have signed up for a couple more BPS classes beginning in early September: Use Your Stash with May Flaum and Book of Stories with Karen Grunberg. Both of these teachers get rave reviews from past students and I'm really looking forward to learning from them! I try not to take more than one class at a time, but these are very different classes and both are in line with current goals -- to use my stash (i.e., not buy new supplies except staples I run out of) and to have a ready supply of stories and journaling ideas. Both should serve me well into the future.
• We purchased all of the girls' school supplies a couple weeks ago. They also got new backpacks (Sophia & Madeline), lunch kits, and shoes. Sophia and Madeline were so obsessed with their supplies the first couple days, they were driving me nuts! They had them in and out of their backpacks several times, and they bugged me to label their supplies until I couldn't stand it anymore. I wasn't planning to do it until the following weekend (alone!), but I gave up and labeled everything under their watchful eyes.
• We are now putting Dash into his crate before we set the table for supper and we don't let him out until the table is completely cleared and wiped. He is a pretty good dog -- except when it comes to the dining room table! If there was even a speck of food on the table, someone would have to be guarding it diligently every second, and that proved to be a challenge we weren't up to. Plus, he was just too annoying during a meal, always trying to get to the food. It's so much better now that he's in the crate. He barks for the first few minutes and then stops. I'm sure that eventually he won't bark at all (it's only been a week or so).
• Starting in September, Neil is going to provide child care a few days each month for one of Georgia's preschool classmates. This little boy and Georgia were the closest of pals at preschool last year, and I'm sure they'll have fun together when he comes to our house this fall. I think it'll be great. He is a sweet boy and his parents are very nice, too.
• I just started reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. I've enjoyed reading her blog for about a year and a half now, and I'm certain I'll enjoy the book, too. Perhaps I'll begin my own Happiness Project! I'm not unhappy, but I'm sure I could be happier. If I do make any resolutions, I'll share my progress here.
• Last Saturday, we went to the Mercury Cafe and Grill on 13th Avenue for supper. We had received gift certificates as a thank you for dog-sitting in July. It was a fun outing. We all enjoyed this little 50s-diner-style restaurant, and the burgers were great! The girls were completely delighted with their cream soda floats which were served in those big metal cups used for making milk shakes. I took pictures. :)
• I've been wrestling with what extra-curricular activities the girls will take this year. Sophia and Madeline are interested in many things and I think if it were up to them, they'd be in far more activities than any of us could handle. I have made the decision that they cannot do more than three each, not counting K4J which is only once a month, and not counting free school-based sports such as Cross Country (Sophia is now old enough and wants to do this). This is the same number of activities as last year, but some will be more time consuming. And Georgia still won't be in any evening or weekend activities except K4J -- thank goodness! Last year, we had nothing on weekends and I LOVED it. I was really hoping to continue having free weekends, but I think I'm going to have to give up on that. I will update on the specific activities once we decide.

Online photography resources

I offered to send some information about online photography classes to an acquaintance, so I have gathered the following links and decided to post them here for anyone else who's interested. There are many more online photography resources out there, of course, but here are some you may not find through a regular search (except Digital Photography School).

Online workshops:

Available and upcoming

Oh Shoot! Beginning Digital SLR Photography with Candice Stringham (JessicaSprague.com)
Begins September 6. I bet this would be a great class (great price, too).

Document Your Life in Photos with Willette
Begins September 7. This one is about taking self portraits. Looks like a cool class.

Digital Photography 101 with Erin Manning (ReneePearson.com)
Begins September 15. For beginners with any type of digital camera.

The Very Basics with Katrina Kennedy (DebbieHodge.com)
Begins September 21. Description says, "digital slr, point and shoot, even camera phones will be covered."

Picture Fall with Tracey Clark (BigPictureScrapbooking.com)
Begins October 1. This month-long class/photo project is more about inspiration and creativity than the technical aspects of photography (though you can learn some of that by experimenting and paying attention to photo settings). I will be taking this class!

Get Great Photos with Any Camera with Elisha Snow (BigPictureScrapbooking.com)
Begins October 28. This class is for anyone, no matter what kind of camera you own.

The Photographers' Workshop by Karen Russell
The next workshop runs from January to March, 2011. I'm sure this one would be stellar, too.

Future dates unknown

Maggie Holmes Photography Workshops (SOLD OUT)
Begins August 30. This would be an excellent class.

Moving Into Manual Mode with Elisha Snow (BigPictureScrapbooking.com)
This is for more advanced students as it's the third in a series. If this isn't for you, watch BPS for the first two classes (which I have taken) being offered again.

Photographing People: Portraiture 101 with Candice Stringham (JessicaSprague.com)

503 Photography Workshops with Jessica Cudzilo
Uniquely, she offers workshops for children, tweens, and teens, as well as adults.

My Life Portrait Workshops with Ana Brandt & Stephanie Carlson

Beyond Snapshots Online Classes with Rachel Devine & Peta Mazey (looks like they may run a class in August)

Project Photography with Angie Warren

E-books:

These are very affordable.

40 Top Tips for Better Photos by Rebecca Cooper (EllaPublishing.com)

Picture Perfect by Becky Novaceck, Elisha Snow & Kelly Noel (EllaPublishing.com)

Get Me Off of Auto by DesignerDigitals

Tutorials:

Digital Photography School
Tons of photography info here. And it's all free.

A Quick Guide to Understanding Your DSLR Camera by Kevin and Amanda

July 7: So subtle

(1) The poppy seed head has its own subtle beauty.

(2) White bachelor button with a hint of pink.

(3) Asparagus fern.

(4) Token pile of weeds. I can't believe I haven't really weeded the garden yet. This weekend!

(5) I finished reading Julia Child's My Life in France today. I LOVED this book! I was totally enchanted by it, and when I return it to the library, I'm going to check out Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I'm so curious to see it and read some of the recipes!

During swimming lessons this morning, Madeline did a backward fall into the water (as instructed), but she fell too close to Sophia who was at the side of the pool (where she was supposed to be), and her head hit Sophia's nose. Bronwyn and I spent almost two hours at the medi-clinic with Sophia this evening. She had an x-ray and we learned she has a hairline fracture. Fortunately, her nose is not displaced (although it looks a bit crooked due to swelling), so there's nothing to do but give her ibuprofen and have her put an ice pack on it. She is quite unhappy about the whole thing. Poor girl!

Read!

I saw this Walt Disney quote last year, "There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island," and made a note to use it on a layout. Then I saw Read! by Mou Saha in the January 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine which included a wonderful poem by Bob Raczka. I love the message and couldn't resist using it as well. The layout design is based on one from Cathy Zielske's Design Your Life class at BPS. The photos were taken in 2007, 2008, and 2009, and I'm happy to have them all together in one place.