Fix-it-Friday: iPhone edition.

It's Fix-it-Friday at I ♥ Faces. I'd like to play along on my iPhone. I don't know if that's allowed, but there may be some people wondering what the different photo apps can do...so I'm going to go ahead and play. I'm not sure yet whether I'll link up. I'll try to check with Angie and Amy (the I Heart Faces founders) and see what they think...

So, anywho...
This week I'm going to just use Photogene. This app. allows you to fine tune your photos with cropping, straightening, sharpening, and exposure tools. You can also add "speech bubbles" and vignettes and frames. It is definitely one of my favourite iPhone photo apps. A must have.

So playing with the photo supplied by Carebear at the Two Under Two. Whew! blog and I ♥ Faces here is my before...



And after...



I decided to put more emphasis on this little guy's happy face with a tight crop that eliminates some of the distracting hot spots. I thought the glowing green goo was pretty cool (enough to make any boy happy!) so I also made my crop so that it put his hands more in a position of interest. I also used Photogene to bump up the exposure a bit and warm the overall colour up a bit. Finally, I added a vignette (I can hardly ever resist adding a vignette!) and a Polaroid-style frame. And, that's it! I mean, it's doesn't work the kind of magic you can work with PS, but it sure is fun and a pretty cool way to jazz up your little iPhone photos and then e-mail them on...with just an added touch of fabulousness. ;-)

Hope you like it. And...if you have an iPhone maybe you'd like to share your app-processing with me! Head over to I ♥ Faces. Grab the photo. And let's see what you would do!

-- Post From My iPhone

You Capture: Technology

The challenge this week over at I Should Be Folding Laundry is "Technology". I'm going to participate using my iPhone and I'm just sticking to one single form of technology...my laptop!

Ahhh...my poor laptop. You are so neglected ever since I got Pinky (my iPhone. Yes. I named her). But, I still love you. See...















Showin' the love.




-- Post From My iPhone

Cute. Noted.

When I got home from swim lessons with the girls I noticed this tiny sign on their door.


(Welcome to Maddie's and Jamie's room!).

Cute.

Then I noticed the girls made a little sign for their baby sister's door, too.


(Welcome to Colie's Room. I love Nicole).

So stinkin' cute.
I love my girlies.

Knowing Me - Knowing You / October.

Time once again for that monthly interview project started by my friend Shan, over at Tales from the Fairy Blogmother. Why don't you join us, answer the questions yourself and then head on over to Shan's blog to link up? It's fun!

1. Crunchy peanut butter or smooth?

I'm not much of a peanut butter fan, myself...although I do get cravings for it once in awhile, usually when I'm sick and always with a cup of coffee. We get the smooth type and only the all-natural peanut butter. The kids balked at that at first...but then I started getting the kind that still has the "Bears" on the label, but the ingredient list is: "Peanuts". Seriously. That's it. I found out some of the other kinds are just filled with sugar and I have a thing against foods with super unnecessarily long ingredients lists. So, anyway, they eat the natural stuff now. It's actually really good. And, it has the "Bears" on it...so they are fine with that. LOL. Kids!

2. Do you do any volunteer work? (No judgment, just curious. I'm always on the look out for new ways to get involved.... like I have time for more stuff.)

I used to. I used to volunteer with the Humane Society as a dog walker and kitty-cat player-with. I also fostered for the humane society and I had a couple of dogs living with me as they recovered from surgery. I'm not good at that, as I tried to adopt both. I get really attached. I was crying my eyes out at work the day I had to hand one of the dogs (who had been adopted out) back over. So very professional. The other one I did adopt. I was well on my way to being "that crazy dog lady".

I also used to volunteer for the neighbourhood school. It was really fun volunteering there because I actually spent most of the day in the classroom. I got to help the little kindergarten kids do their work - basically explaining what they needed to do and helping them to do it as the teacher couldn't be everywhere at once. It was fantastically fun for me. I also helped some kids whose first language wasn't english in a special enrichment class (just them and me) once a week. And, I helped some older kids (one on one) who were having trouble with reading once a week, as well.

Anyway...
now I find I really, really, don't have time for anything extra. Between the older girls, and their activities, and trying to start a business, and having a little baby who is with me all the time...
well, I just don't feel available anymore. :-/

3. What's your favourite cold weather drink?

Hmmm...those sorts of questions are so hard. It is always mood/situation/time of day dependent. A nice cold Stella in the summer is a lovely thing. I also get cravings for Caesar's once in awhile. Oh, and there's always a nice, cold, can of Coke. I'd like to say that my favourite thing is water, but I'd be blatantly lying to you. I have so much trouble drinking as much water as I know I should. It's a problem.

4. What is your favourite holiday?

I would like to say Christmas but I think for the last few years Christmas has been a bit stressful, really. I seem to be on maternity leave a lot. LOL. Seems I'm always on mat. leave around Christmas...which means I'm bringing in about half my normal income. Dave and I haven't been buying presents for each other...but we still want to make sure the girls have lots of "stuff", but then I stress about what a waste that all is (I mean...they love the "stuff"...lots of shiny packages...and all that...but they really don't need one more toy! They have a
whole room full of just their toys. Its crazy!). So, I find it stressful. The whole thing.

I like Halloween. I love dressing up the girls and going trick-or-treating. They always look so cute! But, then, there is that huge bag full of junk that I don't really want them to even eat. Oh, do I sound like a humbug now, or what?

Can I say "Thanksgiving" then? I usually get to go to my MIL's for a delicious dinner, see my brother and sister-in-law (who I love catching up with), chit-chat, just have a nice time. A time that doesn't involve the spending (wasting?) of hundreds of dollars or the devouring of pounds and pounds of sugar. It's nice.

5. Okay quick - you gotta hop a plane right now, to anywhere with anyone - where do you go and with who?

Okay. My very quick answer was "Back to Jamaica with my husband. Only this time we wouldn't be getting married...so we could just relax and enjoy all our time lying around on the beach together". But, then I read Shan's answer and that sounds fairly wicked, too. ;-)

So, what would you do??

My Favourites #iPhone #Photo ;-)

The theme for this week at I ♥ Faces is "My Favourite Things" (I'm Canadian...so I have to put the "u" in the word "favourite". It's the law.) and since this week is not being judged...well, I'll get to share a bonus favourite thing!!

So now,

in no particular order,

here are a few of my favourite things!!

My baby girl.

My sweet, adorable, baby girl.

And all her sweet, adorable, little parts.

A favourite time of the day for me is when she is getting her bottle. Then I can just sit and stare at her. It is such a peaceful, quiet, lovely time in the day...when I can just love her up!

I also love to love this kiddo up. My silly girl. This picture is her. To a T. That look on her face. That's her. Funny. Full of Beans. Lovin' Life.

Pony-girl. She is a bit more serious. She takes life a bit more seriously.

She is always trying very, very, hard to do her best. But, she definitely has her goofy side, too.

I'm so lucky to have all my girls. They really are best kids you could ever want. Three big favourites!

Then there's The Man.

He is the best, too. A hard worker, smart, funny, a great daddy...just an all around great guy. This picture is not him to a T, though. He looks very serious in this picture. He's generally a bit more goofy than that. Something a bit more like this...

Yep. That's him. And, I love him. He's a definite favourite. ;-)

Another favourite are pink roses! Like this one!

The Man bought me this one, and 11 more just like it, just a couple of weeks ago. Ahhh. So nice, huh? He also bought me these three little pigs that I just love.

Aren't they cute? He got me these because he knows I have a "thing" about pigs.

I love them! Well, I love lots of animals (like my doggie, for example).

But, my girls will tell you that I also love elephants, and skunks, and goats, and ferrets, and cows. I love cows. I swear, one of these days I'm gonna' get rear-ended because I have to keep pulling over to stare at all the cows that live around me. I don't know what it is. But, they are a favourite.

Another favourite that comes to mind right now is summer! I love summer! I love being warm and being able to go for long walks around the neighbourhood with my family.

I love hanging out at the park with my girls.

I love this...(the morning glories that climb up my number post in the summer)

NOT this...(the changing of the leaves. It's 9 degrees outside. In the middle of the afternoon!)

Ah well,

at least it does make one other favourite thing even more enjoyable....

Mmmmm....Timmies....

I love Tim Hortons coffee. And, now that it is colder outside...I can drink even more of it!

Another definite fav.

Okay. That's a lot of favourites, already.

Time for just one more?

Here it is.........

My iPhone!!!

"Pinky" (as I like to call her) is my newest favourite. I LOVE my iPhone and I don't really know how I got on without one before. I think my very favourite thing about my iPhone is the iPhone camera (and all the cool iPhone camera apps. you can get).

Like Chase Jarvis says, "The Best Camera...is the One That's With You. All The Time".

I love that I can have this camera with me...all the time. It's great for capturing the little day-to-day tidbits of our lives that I would otherwise miss because, let's face it, I'm not always going to lug a SLR around with me. And you know what...it's 3 mega pixels! That's not too shabby. Not like the camera-phones of yester-minute...this one takes shots that are good enough to print.

So, it may not win ya' any challenges over at I Heart Faces (then again...maybe it might! You never know! Chase Jarvis could probably enter a few iPhone shots and do alright for himself!)...

but it is still one of My Favourites!!!

So, thanks for the great theme Angie and Amy! It was so much fun to share all these iPhone Photo Favourites!

For more favourites...or favorites...be sure to head on over to the I Heart Faces site by clicking right HERE or on the button below!

Thanks!!

Ask Me Anything!

{This is me. Right now. Hair not combed. Not a stitch of make-up. Coffee in hand in my favourite Pepe la Peu cup. My teeth aren't even brushed yet! Yep. The Real Me. More of that to come...}.

By the way...

I just had my 200th post!!

WooooT!

That is all the more exciting because it was ~actually~ about my 275th post.

Huh?

Well, you see, there was that whole period of time when I was pregnant, and having serious problems with my back, but didn't know why (turns out I have a wonky uterus and I was carrying the baby all on one side of me...which I knew a little bit about, but not the whole story...which was probably a good thing...cuz apparently it was pretty fantastic I even got pregnant in the first place...let alone carrying 3 babies to 38 weeks...) and I was all grumpy and miserable. And, then, our country plumbing went totally on the fritz for a serious amount of time so we couldn't wash dishes, brush our teeth, have a shower, or flush a toilet. Certainly, bigger problems in the world, which is something I would remind myself of over and over...and, yet, when you are 8 months pregnant and using a port-a-potty in your own home and wondering where on earth you are going to bath your new baby when she comes home...your focus tends to get a bit...myopic.

So, anyway, ya...that was a big ol' whine fest and I felt really bad about being such a whiner. So, what did i do? I erased ALL THOSE POSTS!

I felt better about it at the time. No one wants to listen to someone complain on a blog. But, now, I kind of regret it. It was a part of our life. A part of my pregnancy. Things I was feeling -- even if they weren't all dusted off and prettied up. That was me.

Sometimes I think Mommy bloggers pretty things up a bit too much. Gawd forbid you should let anyone know that, sometimes, you are miserable and grouchy and self-centered. Not me. Certainly not me.

So, I would like to celebrate this bloggy milestone (whether that's 200 posts or 275 posts) by opening up my in-box to your questions and I'll let you know more about the real me. Much like my friend Widney Woman does from time to time...ask me anything and I'll try to answer your questions as honestly as possible. Of course, I may only get 2 questions...but that's okay. If you are a lurker...please let me know and come on out and ask a question!!

I thought of doing a 200 things about me post or maybe just a 20 things about me post...but I'm never sure what to say.

So ask away!!!

And, thanks for reading by blog.
:0)

Not Wordless. Not Wednesday.

Hi Bloggy-readers! Yep...I'm still out here. But, for the past week or so I've been emersed in the whole "Branding" process. I'm going to try and take my photography up a knotch. I've been trying to come up with a new name, an entire theme to go with the name, a new logo, and a new website. All this takes a shocking amount of time when you (meaning me) aren't really all that terribly computer literate. But, it's been very exciting and I can't wait until it's all ready. Then it will be time to **GASP** actually ~tell~ people about it. So far, the only people who know about my photoblog are...well...you. And You. And the I Heart Faces people. And, um, yep...that's about it. So, I was thinking, if I want to start taking pictures for people, maybe I should let them know that I can do that. Brilliant right? Yep. I'm kinda' smart like that.

So, I'm hoping to have some exciting stuff to share with you by next week. But, I just wanted to have a quick little pop-in here in the meantime...

And, now, how about a little Wordless Wednesday. On Thursday. Cuz', ya, I'm smart like that.

Well, I saw The Blogmother's Post and I just had to play along.

See you soon!!!!