mommy bytes

All Things Light and Shiny

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 16:22:00 +0000

Sometimes, it's nice to step back from all the expensive gadgets and delight in the simpler things. Things that cost little money but still amaze. Over the holidays and birthday season (we have 3 birthdays in the 3 months around the holidays in our family), we got a chance to step back and revel in some of these simple pleasures.

For her birthday, Dova received an Orbeez Light Up Star from one of her friends. What are these magical shiny balls, you ask? Orbeez start as tiny beads of superabsorbent polymers, like the stuff found in diapers.

But once hydrated to 100-300 times their size, they become firm but squishy, slippery, shiny, bouncy balls. They are so much fun to play with, you just can't stop touching them. Dova made a batch of blue, green and clear Orbeez and they are still sitting on our counter.

The intended use for this gift was in the light up star, which even our cat Wysiwyg found enchanting.

At our local senior center, there is a swap table where people donate items. I saw this pyramid-shaped candle cover for $2 and picked it up after a few weeks when I had cash to spare. I wasn't sure if it was part of another set, as it didn't fit over any existing candle jars because of its square footprint. I lit a votive candle inside and put a coaster under it, and it was instantly transformed into a magical pyramid of stars. Beautiful!

After the holidays, we went for half-price ornament shopping and I found this delightful USB Fiber Optic Christmas Tree. The beauty of this mesmerizing device is that we have a power strip full of USB chargers for our various devices on our kitchen counter and we always have a port open for it!

OK, I guess you can't take the gadget geek out of me!

Merry Fishmas!

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 04:48:00 +0000

Adam found this Merry Fishmas chocolate last year, but not the Pocket God kind.

Everyone in our house, including our fish are having a wonderful holiday season! Once upon a time, we had simple 30 gallon aquarium with goldfish. We tried the $8 tropical fish that were all of 1.5 inches long and they died within a few days. So we went for inexpensive feeder goldfish instead, at 27 cents each. Only the finest non-dying fish will do!

We eventually settled on four fish which have lasted 6 years now. We have white and gold colored fish with long and short tails. It was a happy fish family which cost all of $1.08 (never mind the cost of the oversize aquarium). I cleaned the aquarium every few months (or more) and it was extremely low maintenance.

Over the summer, Nicole of Wyoming Girl *turned* Coastie Wife asked the Boston Parent Bloggers group whether anyone would adopt her goldfish since her family was relocating. I guess fish are not high on the list of "pets that travel". Since we had a huge tank for four tiny fish, I gladly offered to take them.

Instantly, we had a full aquarium with nine fish. These goldfish were the fancy red fantail and black moor (googly-eyed) variety, which actually cost $8 in the store. Oh my! Can we handle such exotic fish?

The first couple months went fine. But I noticed that these new fish pooped A LOT. Of course we feed them more because they were bigger, but the poop problem was getting out of hand. After the first time I cleaned aquarium, it fogged up with algae only three weeks afterward, as if Nemo had stopped by to clog the filter.

Finally I broke down and bought a double-sized filter, one for a 30-60 gallon tank, and this wonderful device.

Lee's Ultra GravelVac

I had never heard of a gravel vacuum, but the engineer in me was curious. It took a few tries to get the pump primed (vigorously push the tube up and down in the water a bunch of times until the water jumps over the loop of the tube and starts siphoning). But once it got going, it was a dream come true for finally removing all that poop stuck amidst the gravel. Plumes of poop got sucked up while leaving the gravel clean and white for the first time in years (be thankful I did not video this!).

Sure you can get a fancy vacuum with an electric pump, but the good old-fashioned siphon was so cool. Plus I got to teach Dova a bit of fluid mechanics. To her it was like a magic trick.

We also purchased a simple air pump and tube for the volcano that had sat dormant for months. I didn't have a diffuser, but Doug improvised by using a fuel filter for a chain saw such as this one.

Stens Fuel Filter

Now we have happy bubbles for our Mount Wannahockaloogie.

Having a clean aquarium with happy bubbles sure makes for a Merry Fishmas!

Happiness is a Cardboard Box

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 23:53:00 +0000

With the acquisition of our new chairs, we got perhaps the best present for the kids alongside it. What kid needs beautiful new chairs, when the boxes they came in are even better?

At first, Dova placed all her stuffed animals in it and it became a cozy spot for her and sometimes her mom.

With some stop animation photography, we filmed a Dova-in-the-box sequence.

It was all very civilized until we added a certain big brother. With Adam's and my stuffed animals, the box was filled to brim. It became a bit octagonal as well.

But the stopped animation photography session was total mayhem. It quickly became screaming-monsters-in-the-box and an indoor tornado. Here's the combined result.

Adam is getting way to big to be causing this sort of chaos, but as long as there's a box big enough, he'll be in it. You just can't take the kid out of the box!

Note: It's been a long time between posts because I have been contemplating what should be post #1200 for some time. Hooray for eight and a half years of blogging and 1200 posts!

Leaf Jumping Ninja, Splits and Zen

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 16:48:00 +0000

No autumn season is complete at our house without a leaf jumping photo session. I tried jumping into the leaf pile once and found that it barely cushioned my landing. So, "leaf jumping" is just an excuse for my kids to blow off their energy and show off for the camera. First, we bring you ninja Adam.

Adam took his ninja jump one step further to "crazy sweatshirt swinging ninja kick". Not so stealthy, this ninja.

Dova preferred to perform gymnastics stunts. Her very first split jump was amazing.

Dova got so warm jumping that she changed into shorts and tied up her hair. I prefer the crazy flying hair myself.

When asked to calm down a bit, we captured these levitating lotus position poses.

Adam reached ultimate zen with his lotus position.

One thing is for certain, you cannot deny the absolute joy on their faces!

Happy Autumn everyone!

Back to Basics Knitting - Scarves

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 12:16:00 +0000

After making complicated sweaters and hats that have never been worn by Dova, we finally decided to stick with simple knitting projects. This way, my twitchy fingers are occupied with easy, mindless knitting and I won't feel so bad when they don't get used.

I knit this "raspberry chocolate ice cream" scarf for Dova last year, and created a matching scarf for her Asian-American Girl Ivy Doll. They are quite the matching pair!

They look perfect in our new set of bedroom chairs, the first furniture acquisition since having kids, yay!

Since then I've knit a scarf for myself, using a one row lace pattern of: *P1, yo, k2tog; rep from * to end. It was my first time knitting lace, which took a bit more concentration than Dova's scarfs in straight garter stitch. As a reward for my efforts, I promised myself this pea coat that I've been eyeing after the scarf was completed.

After Dova took this photograph, I immediately cried, "Agh! Who is that old lady in that photo!?!?"

Maybe the pea coat with hand knitted scarf isn't the look for me after all!

Disney Take 3

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 04:06:00 +0000

You know your kids are spoiled when... They've gone to Disney World three times in the last six years! This time we battled the Florida heat in August and lived to write a Haiku Deck about it. Less words, more photos!

Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app for iPad

Shaking with the Shakers

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 21:35:00 +0000

Every year, we head out to the Berkshires in western Massachusetts for vacation. Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, is one of my “sacred places”, where I remember visiting as a child and then attending the summer program as a teen. Oh, the days when I thought I would become a concert pianist!

In subsequent years, we’ve added more Berkshire places which we must visit every year. Hancock Shaker Village is one. The first time I learned about the Shaker religious sect, I completely disagreed with their philosophy. Celibacy for a community is simply not a natural human state! The only way they added members was through conversion, and indenturing and adoption of children. That is not a sustainable model, especially once children hit adulthood and were free to leave. Eventually their society died off, but they left beautiful villages to visit and impeccable craftsmanship behind.

Over the years, I got over my indignation of their celibate philosophy. I opened my mind to the other positive aspects of their society: plowing the earth, sustaining livestock as well as embracing technology (this is where they differ from the Amish). Just look at this beautiful setting!

The only way I get Adam to visit every year is to give him my DSLR camera.

The one curious aspect of the Shakers is the reason for their name. They believed that they needed to “shake” evil spirits away by singing and dancing into a frenzy. My initial reaction was – of course they need to shake their bodies to get rid off all that sexual tension! Then again, everyone needs to get out and have a good whole body dance every once in a while.

During a Shaker demonstration, I gladly hopped in to try it out while my family watched embarrassed. Woo hoo, shake it baby!

It’s wonderful to watch volunteers hand quilting a quilt that they raffle off every year. These volunteers are not Shakers themselves, but carry on their traditions.

Isn’t it beautiful?

Visiting the Shaker village always inspires me to pick up my crafts again. Dova could help me card wool for knitting.

And Adam can help me with the weaving kit I purchased at their store.

I saw this cross-stitch pattern displayed in their store.

They were out of kits at the time, so at home, I painstakingly mapped my own version of the pattern in Excel and added a title and a contrasting border. Contact me if you’d like a copy of the pattern. I even considered selling the pattern on Etsy, but really, I’m not that craftsy.

Here is my cross stitch so far.

The way the embroidery hoop cut off the words, only the letters “cock shaker villa” is shown of the words "Hancock Shaker Village”. Oops! That’s not what they had in mind.

We’re looking forward to more visits with the Shakers in the future!

PSF - Greetings from Under the Lake

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 22:59:00 +0000

Long time no Photo Story Friday! Good to be back.

Sure, we have thousands of picture from land and air, but now we can finally have photos from the sea, or lake, in this case.

Dova had a blast performing for our latest gadget.

We even got our friend's dog doing the ol' doggie paddle.

Adam just didn't like looking underwater in the lake (unless baby catfish are involved), but I managed to take this fun still photo.

And this unassuming video produced the lovely underwater portrait of Dova.

Here's the new underwater camera we took these photos and videos with:

Oregon Scientific ATC 9K Full 1080P High Definition Water Resistant Action Camera

No, this is not a review post as I paid cold hard cash (well Groupon dollars anyway) for this camera. The camera has a fixed wide angle lens, which is great for keeping motion shots from being shaky, but not exactly ideal for artful photography. It's been rugged and fun so far!

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Worms, Snails and Toads – Oh My!

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 04:17:00 +0000

Growing up in New York, the worst thing that came out during rainstorms were earthworms. I would see them slithering on the ground and try not to step on them. They were gross-looking to me, sometimes huge and blood-colored. But even if they appeared to swarm all across the sidewalk, I managed not to step on them. Once at a school bus stop, a classmate unknowingly stomped on a worm while she was chatting away. I watched as the free half of the worm wriggled violently next to her sneaker, but I didn’t say anything. Would it be too weird to say, “Um, you’re stepping on a worm!”

During graduate school, I lived in the Bay Area of California. During the rainy season, snails would come out and invade the sidewalks. I had never seen such a thing before. Sometimes, there would be so many snails, that there would be no place to step without crushing one. This freaked me out to no end, I couldn’t stand the CRUNCH of a fragile snail shell under my foot. But sometimes the snail cover was so dense that there was no way to avoid them. When that was the case, I’d look up to the sky and walk as if I were blind. I’d cringe at every crunch, but just kept repeating “There’s no place like home” and kept going. It was extremely traumatic for me.

Now in New England, the toads swarm the roads when it rains in the late summer and fall. When you drive at night, they look like leaves on the ground until they start jumping. Sometimes there are so many toads in the road that you must be running over some of them as they jump in your headlights. Just this evening, I saw what looked like a leaf in my driveway suddenly jump two feet into the air, at which I slammed on my brakes. It was a good sized toad, about three inches long, but not as big as the chipmunks which I routinely run over in our countryside. I’m not sure if it’s a throwback to my worm and snail days, but the toads totally freak me out. It reminds me of the line, There's a Toad in the Road, We Will Have to Unload! from A Crack in the Track.

Am I crazy or does the rainy wildlife get to you as well?

Gingerbread Man Pizza

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 01:06:00 +0000

After the holidays last year, I purchased these giant cookie pans on clearance knowing that Dova loves to bake together (the paper example inserts are way better looking than our creations!).

Indeed, we had a lot of fun creating our giant gingerbread man cookie.

Afterward, she said that we needed to use the pans again in the summer for gingerbread man pizzas. I'm not a huge cook, so I put it off as long as possible. When we finally took the pans out again, she whole-heartedly spread the pizza dough to the edges of the pan and followed my instructions exactly. It made me wonder if I were more of a cook whether we'd spend more time bonding in the kitchen, or whether it would become passé after a while.

It was good enough to eat without baking!

But even more delicious afterward.

I hope that she will always enjoy cooking despite my lack of interest. But most of all, I hope she fondly remembers the precious times she spent with me in the kitchen together.

Nigel Kennedy and Vivaldi

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 04:17:00 +0000

Vivaldi II

Back in 2006, when I had a million blog drafts, this post was created just after hearing selections from Nigel Kennedy's Vivaldi II on the radio just after it was released. I have listened to classical music all my life, and fashion myself to be somewhat of a snob and connoisseur of classical performers. But I had never heard of Nigel Kennedy. My violinist collection contained classic performers such as Jascha Heifetz and Ruggiero Ricci to current day performers such as Joshua Bell and Anne Sophie-Mutter. All passionate players with impeccable virtuosity.

When I heard the recording of Nigel Kennedy playing these lesser known works of Vivaldi, I was surprised and even a bit offended at first. Where those slides I heard? And furious growling of the strings? How utterly uncivilized! But then I bought the recording and listened to it again. And again. And I was hooked. Kennedy takes the violin to a new level of virtuosity, passion and depth.

Later I purchased Nigel Kennedy's recording of The Four Seasons after my family started to learn the violin a couple years ago. My original recording of this piece was with Isaac Stern, and was quite solid. But Nigel Kennedy's version had insanely fast tempos, completely different styles for each movement and extra flair whenever possible. It was a bit much at first, but after listening to it several times, I got used to inhumanly fast speeds and looked forward to the extra bits of twang. I listened to the Stern performance for comparison, and it became downright boring, simply slow and perfect.

With the CD/DVD, there were videos of Nigel Kennedy performing movements from The Four Seasons surrounded by candles (sort of like the music video of The Police - Wrapped Around Your Finger). I forced my kids to watch it as an educational thing. The kids were fascinated by the huge amount of rosin accumulated around his bridge area, where we had been taught to wipe after every practice. At one point, a bow hair becomes loose and it is flying around as he jumped around and played. As a finale, he performed the third movement of Summer and Adam asked to see it over and over again. He loved this performance so much, that it became the song on his iPod that he woke to every morning. My little classical music boy! The brainwashing is clearly working.

In this video of the Summer 3rd movement, Nigel Kennedy's flamboyant style is clearly contagious with members of his ensemble who clearly share his energy and zeal. It's almost like a rock concert.

My favorite movement of The Four Seasons has always been the first movement of Winter. The beginning is more Halloween to me than winter, with tree branches scratching against a window, before it explodes. This video is of a younger, more subdued, but no less brilliant Nigel Kennedy. He clearly embodies Vivaldi like no one else.

If you are interested, I recommend getting the definitive Nigel Kennedy recording of Vivaldi: The Four Seasons. It will take you off this planet to a realm of pure genius.

Vivaldi: The Four Seasons [20th Anniversary Edition] [CD & DVD]

Bach, The Beatles and Boynton: Exposing My Infant to Books and Music

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 23:51:00 +0000

This guest post is written by Katherine E. Reilly Mitchell, who is an assistant for a website about single mothers and also CollegeGrantsandScholarships.org, which provides help for potential college students. She also maintains a personal blog at humantextuality.com.

It's so easy to set lofty goals when one has a baby on the way.

In the months before my daughter was born, I planned to be the mom that read to her baby every day and had wonderful music playing 24-7. Of course I could easily fit these around freelance work, vegetarian cooking, breastfeeding, cloth diapering and some exercise.

Of course.

After the baby came, I had a few blissful weeks of no work, disposable diapers and gifted meals. Music and reading magazines aloud during feedings were top of the list, and I was feeling very successful at exposing my daughter to smart habits and diverse culture.

Then we transitioned to cloth diapers and I started working again. I managed to read to the baby most days, but at some point I realized that I wasn't playing music. I was even forgetting to sing.

How does someone who often sings to herself forget to sing to her infant? I was most certainly robbing my child of cultural roots and probably some math skills.

Adding “music time” to our already full schedule was not an option. I needed to plant music in the house so that it would occur organically with certain activities.

I put a CD player in the nursery and grabbed a few discs I like – selections including Bach, Enya, The Beatles and Mozart. Each morning, I set a CD to repeat and walk away. Now, every time we enter the nursery we're accompanied by great music. I also keep Pandora up on my laptop, ensuring that my daughter will recognize the culturally significant sounds of Pearl Jam and Gaelic Storm.

Reading, as I mentioned, was easier. The problem was that I was reading the same books over and over. Like music, reading material needed to be placed around the house. With a book diaspora reaching the living room bookshelves, dining room table, nursery and master bedroom I can squeeze in quick reads all day long. We also made Sandra Boynton's (I'm a big fan) The Going to Bed Book part of the bedtime routine.

It's important to me to expose my baby to music and literature that I like. While I definitely want her to be well rounded and develop her own interests, I know I'll be more enthusiastic about things I actually enjoy myself. Besides that, I think I have decent taste – might as well share it. Plus, I absolutely cannot tolerate those “kid” compilations with annoying songs and yell-singing.

Until my daughter can verbalize her desire and preferences for books and music, it's up to us as her parents to get her to a place where she knows to ask for them. I believed that before she was born and I hold to it now, despite the challenges involved. The key is to not over-think it and use the resources on hand.

In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy listening to the music of my choice, until my child decides that it's the epitome of uncool and never removes her earbuds.

You've come a long way, iPhone camera

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 02:49:00 +0000

Back in July 2007, four days after the very first iPhones hit the shelves, I purchased the original iPhone for way too much money. The camera was pretty mediocre in today's standards, but it was leaps and bounds better than the flip phone I had. The one thing that the original iPhone was notoriously bad at was motion photography. They way it scanned photos, images would often "shift" from one side to the other. Here's an example:

My kids' heads aren't that slanted in real life! There wasn't much in the way of EXIF data either. The only data with this photo is f/2.8, which was probably fixed.

Now I have an iPhone 4, and use it just about everywhere. If there is enough light, I can safely say that motion photos are now captured perfectly. Check out these pool shots from our vacation earlier this month:

Perfect stop motion with incredible detail. You can see individual drops of water on Dova and Adam. Plus the photos are now complete with EXIF info:

Camera Apple iPhone 4
Exposure 0.001 sec (1/1875)
Aperture f/2.8
Focal Length 3.9 mm
ISO Speed 80
Flash Off, Did not fire
Orientation Horizontal (normal)
X-Resolution 72 dpi
Y-Resolution 72 dpi
Software 5.1.1
Date and Time (Modified) 2012:07:01 11:59:52
YCbCr Positioning Centered
Exposure Program Program AE
Date and Time (Original) 2012:07:01 11:59:52
Date and Time (Digitized) 2012:07:01 11:59:52
Brightness Value 9.979069767
Metering Mode Multi-segment
Subject Area 1295 967 699 696
Color Space sRGB
Sensing Method One-chip color area
Exposure Mode Auto
White Balance Auto
Scene Capture Type Standard
Sharpness Hard
Compression JPEG (old-style)

I had fun making impossible "walking on water" shots as well (they fell immediately after the photo):

Now with lenses that you can buy for camera phones, you can do incredible macro shots. You can see the reflection of the phone in these bucky balls which are 3/16" in diameter:

Ice cream is so much more fun in a fish eye lens:

I hardly ever wish I had my DSLR with me when I'm traveling light with my iPhone and lenses. I purchased these lenses which are similar to the ones at Photojojo on Amazon for pennies. Check them out here:

AGPtek® 3 in 1 Camera Lens Kit for Apple iPhone 4 iPad (Fish Eye Lens, Wide Angle + Macro Lens)

The macro lens is screwed into the wide angle lens, so it appears that there are only two lenses in the set, but there are actually three.

EMPIRE Apple iPhone 4 / 4S Detatchable Telephoto Camera Photography Lens

The 2x telephoto lens is not as useful, but helps keep your resolution up with some telephoto capability. Both sets of lenses use a magnetic ring that attaches to the iPhone or iPad. They go with me everywhere!

Along with these lenses, I use this nifty tripod mount which is handy when taking videos. You can mount the iPhone in one of two grooves, which can be used by itself to prop the phone at an angle.

Stand with Mini Tripod Mount Adapter for iPhone 4G (Black)

Check out the cell phone lenses, you won't be sorry!
This post is proudly !

Review–Michelob ULTRA Light Cider

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 13:00:00 +0000

When summer weather arrives, there is nothing more refreshing for adults than a cold hard cider. Let’s face it, when it’s time to relax from a hectic day at work or with the kids, it is great to reach for something refreshing, that isn’t the same old beer or wine.

Traditional hard ciders tend to be super-sweet, which also means tons of calories, often over 200 calories. Michelob ULTRA Light Cider is different. Imagine a crisp, ripe apples, turned into cool, refreshing goodness at only 120 calories.

Hard cider is brewed from apples as opposed to barley and hops for beer or grapes for wine. Here’s a nifty primer on the process:

Images from www.Facebook.com/MichelobULTRA, collaged by me.

We’ve tried many brands of hard ciders in the past and most of them are simply too sweet. A lot of them are similar to wine coolers from the eighties. The first sip of Michelob ULTRA Light Cider was completely different. It definitely had the taste of tart apples with just a hint of sweetness, more along the lines of wine or specialty beer. Michelob ULTRA Light Cider is naturally sweetened with stevia, which keeps the calories 120 for a 12 oz. bottle. It is definitely lighter than traditional hard ciders, but with plenty of authentic apple flavor.

If you’ve shied away from hard ciders in the past because of the sweetness or calories, you should definitely try Michelob ULTRA Light Cider. For more information, check out the Michelob ULTRA Light Cider page on BlogHer.com as well as the Sponsor’s site.

Remember, always drink responsibly and never drink and drive. So tell me, what would be your favorite way to enjoy Michelob ULTRA Light Cider this summer? Let me know! Cheers!

Disclaimer: Michelob ULTRA and BlogHer provided Michelob ULTRA Light Cider for review as well as compensation for the post. The opinions are strictly my own!

The Sky is Blue on Cherry Hill

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 16:52:00 +0000

There is a super quaint ice cream place in Leominster, MA complete with a round roof barn. Cherry Hill Ice Cream is picture perfect New England, where we visited one afternoon last summer. It is set on a bucolic hill, just check out the view.

After enjoying our super fresh, super delicious ice cream, Adam and I laid on the benches to gaze upon the blue, blue sky for what seemed like an hour.

The sky was deeply, irrefutably blue.

Even with a pink solar flare for contrast, the sky was blue as blue can be.

Recently, I heard an episode of Radio Lab on Color, where they show that the word for blue is introduced later in classic literature perhaps because it hadn't been defined. No one had called the sky blue, and the color rarely occured in nature otherwise. They ask the question "Why Isn't the Sky Blue?" and even go so far as to say that we think the sky is blue only because we've been taught that. Is the sky blue because we say it is? Or is it really blue?

All I know is that the sky is definitely blue on Cherry Hill. What do you think?

Travel the World on your iPad

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 23:32:00 +0000

I resisted getting an iPad for quite some time, but finally caved with the iPad 3. And since then, my world has opened up under my fingertips. The kids are too old for interactive reading apps, so they haven't ventured much past their slew of kid-oriented games. Now there is an interactive app that is seriously for any age from 0 to 99 (or older!). Barefoot World Atlas from Barefoot Books and Touch Press is amazingly rich and full of information that is easy and fun to find.

Dova has a report due on Siberian Tigers for school, so she immediately went to look it up on the World Atlas. Within seconds, she found the entry. Not only can you press the audio button to have the entry read to you, you can click on the photo icon at the bottom to view a high res photograph.

Wow, this image really pops on the iPad 3 display! The World Atlas even has recent events. This tsunami tidal wave is animated across the screen.

Check out the beautifully illustrated colors of the Middle East! There are even space craft to learn about.

Here are two things that I learned from the app. Table Tennis was invented in England in the 1880s. It's not a Chinese game that has been around for centuries!

I scrolled through the countries and found one that I had never heard of, Burkina. But as soon as I saw the capital city of Ouagadougou, I remembered that it was the capital of Upper Volta. More research showed that the name was changed in 1984 to Burkina Faso, from its original name as a former French colony. Apparently, I have not advanced my African geography since I graduated from HS in 1983.

No trip around the world is complete without a visit to one of my bucket list destinations, the Tah Majal. Whenever you scroll to a new area, the music of the region also comes on.

I will see you someday, my beautiful!!

Get the Barefoot World Atlas for the iPad for $7.99 here:

If you don't have an iPad, you can enjoy the hardcover version of the book here:
Barefoot Books World Atlas

I've had so much fun spinning the world and virtual globe trotting. Where would you like to travel too?

Disclaimer: Barefoot Books gave me the World Atlas app to review. No other compensation was received and the glowing recommendations are strictly my own (and Dova's) opinions.

APM's Piano Puzzler Turns 10!

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Fri, 18 May 2012 23:02:00 +0000

For several years, I had lost the Piano Puzzler from my podcast line-up because I hadn't realized that it moved from National Public Radio (NPR) to Performance Today on American Public Media (APM). But happily I was reuinited with my favorite classical geek podcast through this post on the Piano Street Blog. I also didn't realize that you can now purchase the scores for some the super cool creations from Bruce Adolphe here:

Piano Puzzlers: Thirty Familiar Tunes Disguised in the Styles of Famous Composers

Wow, how cool is that? Last time I geeked out over the Piano Puzzler was back in 2006. Lately, I've been catching up on everything on the feed and was really awed by the April 25, 2012 show (clicking the link will open a streaming window). The contestant was a pianist in the US Marine Band. Not only did he correctly guess the tune (Mozart Symphony No. 40) and the composer (Chopin) whose style it was performed in, he also took to the piano and played the Mozart Symphony in a jazz style. A piano conversation between Bruce Adolphe and the contestant! It made the music geek in me completely flip over the awesomeness of it all.

If you're in Minnesota, check out the Piano Puzzler 10th Anniversary party being held at the UBS Forum in St. Paul on June 20th. Happy piano puzzling!

Happy Mother’s Day to Me–Kitchen Gadgets

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Tue, 15 May 2012 01:14:00 +0000

Everyone knows that you should never buy utilitarian gifts for Mother’s Day, such as a vacuum cleaner or kitchen gadgets, because it sends the inadvertent message that she is only good for cooking and cleaning. In fact, on Chicago Tribune’s list of What NOT to Get Mom, you can see that kitchen utensils hit the list twice:

Chia Pet – tacky!!
Obscure kitchen gadgets – that’s me!
A wig – “Only really reminds us about how often mom can make us want to pull out her hair!”
Socks – this must be akin to ties for Father’s Day
Pots and pans – cook, woman, cook!
Vacuum cleaner – only if this was specifically requested
Popcorn – tins of popcorn are only acceptable from work suppliers during the holidays

But if you’re a gadget geek like I am, and you specifically pick out the obscure kitchen gadgets yourself, it can make for a very sweet Mother’s Day. This year, Amazon was running a 20% discount on Kitchen and Dining items with their credit card up until Mother’s Day (hmm, did they not get the memo on what not to get?). I took the opportunity to find some really cool kitchen gadgets for fruit. We love eating fruit at our house (all of us except for Adam who will only eat soccer oranges), so anything that makes preparing fresh fruit easier is welcome. Here’s my new arsenal:

Chef'n StemGem Strawberry Stem Remover: Kitchen & Dining

This little gem works like a charm! Press the button, insert, twist and a perfectly hulled strawberry emerges. Even 8-year-old Dova can handle it. It will also save my marriage because I always complain that Doug lops off too much of the strawberry when he uses a knife.

MIU France Stainless Steel Pineapple Corer/Slicer: Kitchen & Dining

I absolutely love fresh pineapple but hate the huge time sink and mess of cutting one up. This pineapple slicer and corer took all of 30 seconds to extract the juicy pineapple slices from a fresh pineapple. A co-worker joked that you could use the leftover shell as a huge drinking cup for a tropical themed party. Well, it would work if you didn’t core right through the pineapple like a did the first time. But, we can still pretend.

OXO Good Grips Cherry Pitter: Kitchen & Dining

This cherry pitter looks like fun as well as being useful. I can’t wait till cherries come into season. In the past, I’ve actually sliced cherries and pitted them by hand for fruit salads. Now cherries will regularly appear in fruit salads as well as fresh cherry pies! Mmm, pie.

Starfrit 93013 Pro-Apple Peeler with bonus core slicer: Kitchen & Dining

For over ten years, I have used the the Apple Master Apple Peeler, Corer, and Slicer for peeling, coring and slicing apples for apple pies. The kids have loved the tradition of peeling apples for Thanksgiving pies. Here’s a shot of Adam from 2007:

I’ve always had issues setting up this contraption because the core has to be lined up exactly or else you have to touch it up afterward. Sometimes the peeling blade cuts too deep, sometimes it misses huge sections. So when I spotted the Starfrit peeler and read the reviews, I jumped on it. I peeled one apple and it came out perfect with far less waste. Can’t wait to make the next apple pie, because you know we love pie around here.

Hope you had a Happy Mother’s Day!

Hiking for Photographs

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Fri, 11 May 2012 22:52:00 +0000

Beautiful Dova tree-hugger taken by Adam.

Last summer, when I suggested to hiking to the kids, they immediately said, "Nooooo!!! That's BORING!!!" So I bribed them with a camera for each and lots of snacks. Adam got my brand new Canon EOS Rebel T3i and Dova used my Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5K.

Adam has taken photographs along these trails for years now, and he's always had a great eye. This year, he was more interested in getting as many "butt shots" as he could.

Good thing Dova has a cute caboose! Dova took the high road with her camera and captured this amazing photograph of the waterfalls near a dam. Such movement! Such texture! And the light through the water!

Later, Dova gave up the camera and took to tree hugging.

I asked Adam to take a close up of her. Closer! Zoom in! He starting joking around and exaggerated everything I said. And then this beautiful shot emerged.

This has now become our favorite photograph of Dova. It is framed in our house and in the homes of both grandparents. Wow, Adam you are quite the photographer!

Later, Adam finally gave my camera back and I captured these shots during the golden hour on our hike back. Here they are taking a rest along the edge of the trail.

It was a beautiful spot to stop, overlooking a lake.

They got a bit silly, here's Dova pretend-slapping Adam in the face.

It was a beautiful day to get outdoors for a hike. I love to see the kids this happy.

We've since moved onto to mountain biking as a family, and now they've finally stopped groaning whenever I suggest hitting the trails. Yay!

Percolate My World

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 22:52:00 +0000

There are so many apps for the iPhone and iPad that modify and enhance photos that you can spend days just wading through them. But when I happened upon a photo run through the Percolator app, it was an instant "I want!" It's retro, it's bubbly, it's altogether an awesome way to be creative just a few taps.

The gingerbread man and Christmas tree above were simply to remind myself of the graphic that came inside cookie molds.

Instantly transformed from boring to pop!

Since then, the kids and I have gone into quite extensive percolations. Adam took a shot of a street light going by in the car and percolated it.

Dova took that image and percolated it again.

And then again with stars.

Holy triple percolation!!!

Stars look mighty fine on cute chihuahuas too.

I went for artful usage of percolator with this sunset.

And this view of a concert held in a church, like looking through stained glass.

Or looking through a water-spotted window at this foliage.

Last but not least, here are some shots of the kids all happy and percolated. Their faces are relatively untouched by using the "dark" mode, where only dark areas get percolated.

Have fun with Percolator!

Friendship Bracelets Made Easy

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 03:48:00 +0000

Although friendship bracelets became popular when I was a child in the seventies, the whole fad passed me by and I never learned to make them. So when Dova asked me to show her how to make friendship bracelets, I thought that googling some instructions would be enough to get her going. But with a mess of colored strings, we completely failed in making a bracelet with a stripe pattern. Dova was stuck making only the Chinese Staircase she learned from a friend.

Now we have the wonderful My Friendship Bracelet Maker (MyFBM) by the Choose Friendship Company, originally known as Crorey Creations. Built-in fingers keep up to 10 strands in their numbered slots, so there is no more confusion over which color comes next. It really works to keep bracelets neat and tangle-free while you make them. You can really see what is going on!

Best of all, it is an all-in-one portable solution which holds the bracelet in progress, so there are more bracelets taped to tables and pinned to cushions. My Friendship Bracelet Maker comes with 56 pre-cut threads in 14 colors which is plenty for a dozen bracelets.

On the MyFBM.com site, we found the patterns and instructional videos to be extremely helpful. These are just some of the patterns they offer. Dova wants to make all of the them!

Since friendship bracelets are ultimately about friendship, The Choose Friendship Company has also created a music video to promote the message that kids should choose friendship, not bullying, which has become such a destructive force for kids today. Proceeds from song and t-shirt sales will be donated to non-profit organizations that support anti-bullying initiatives. You can check out the “Inside Out” anti-bullying video on YouTube.

For Dova, she was extremely proud to complete a beautiful friendship bracelet with My Friendship Bracelet Maker. What a sense of accomplishment!

Special thanks to the Choose Friendship Company for providing the My Friendship Bracelet Maker for review. No other compensation was received.

Inspiring the Violinist in Us

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 15:00:00 +0000

I recently posted on BlogHer about how my family and I were inspired to learn the violin. I’ve also posted here about how I first ~~got sucked into~~ became reacquainted with the violin. The BlogHer story ends where inspiring the violinist in us has come full circle.

My mother-in-law’s friend had once played the violin quite proficiently as a youth. Now at 80 years of age, he hadn’t picked up a violin in forty years. At a get together, I urged him to try my violin. After a couple minutes, he was able to play a Danny Boy with beautiful vibrato. He even became choked up over how much he missed the violin.

This occurred about a year ago (drafts are forever languishing at mommy bytes) and here is the rest of that story. I had come to a family get together in February last year, and was planning to visit with my fiddle friend afterward to try yet another one if his fiddles. I brought my own violin inside to keep it out of the cold. I had no intention of taking it out, as I had yet to perform in front of them.

My mother-in-law’s friend, RUP, kept asking me about it, telling stories of his glory days as a violinist. I kept urging him to try mine out, but he refused until he heard me play first. Finally, I took it out and performed the Thomas Gavotte from “Mignon” from Suzuki Book 2. This was after less than six months of lessons and no expectation of having to perform it. I played it passably enough (darn accidentals!) to garner applause from the family. Then RUP picked it up. At first, he had trouble placing his fingers, but once he found the notes, his fingers reflexively started to vibrato, and incredibly beautiful sounds came out.

RUP was so moved by holding and playing the violin again that he vowed to have his violin repaired so he could pick it up again. I received a thank you card from my mother-in-law, where she specifically thanked me for inspiring her friend.

Angela - you have inspired RUP to have his violin repaired. He told me he had a "great time" at the party which he has never said before and he thanked me for inviting him.

Wow, I guess it did leave an impression. About a month later, I received some sheet music in the mail with this letter.

The duet with RUP has not come to pass, but we’ve had many duets and more with the kids. I might even dare to say that they actual enjoy playing with me. Now if I can only get these darn posts out of draft, you’ll see what I mean.

Chamber Music with Falling Leaves

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 04:15:00 +0000

I recently posted on BlogHer about Introducing Kids to Classical Music. Our children have been taking piano and violin lessons for some time now, so they are quite familiar with the music. But they have never attended a classical music concert. I grew up attending classical music concerts, ballet, and the like, and always remember falling asleep at those events. It wasn't until I was a teenager that I really began to appreciate them. So was it too early to think about taking the kids at ages 10 and 7 to a classical music concert? It hadn't really dawned on me to take them until our violin teacher suggested that we see one to watch the technique of the violin players.

Our first opportunity came in form of a Groupon to see the Worcester Chamber Music Society. Sadly, many of our family activities come in the form of a Groupon like last summer, but heck, it works for us. When we asked the kids to join us for this very adult program featuring contemporary works by South American composers, Adam refused but Dova was game because she got to dress up. Not wanting to "force" him to attend, we set him up with a babysitter and ventured out with our precocious seven-year-old.

PIAZZOLLA Four for Tango
GOLIJOV How Slow the Wind & Lua Descolorida
VILLA-LOBOS Duo for violin & viola
Assobio A Jato
GINASTERA String Quartet No. 1

Maria Ferrante, soprano; Tracy Kraus, flute; Krista Buckland Reisner and Rohan Gregory, violins; and Peter Sulski, viola
With Guest Artists Gabriela Diaz, violin and Jan Müller-Szeraws, cello

The concert performance was phenomenal. Doug and I thoroughly enjoyed the music which included wild techniques on the violin as well as a theme based on the open strings of guitar. The music in the program was new to all of our ears, but the musicians made it quite accessible.

We allowed Dova to bring a bag with quiet activities such as drawing in case she got bored. Dova was attentive, thoughtful and quiet through most of the performance. She even bopped her head around during the rhythmic portions of the program. The only time she took out her Hello Kitty notebook was to write about what she was doing and compose a poem for school.

"today I am at the chaber music concert. tomorrow we might go to the corn maze. On monday I have computer. I have to write a poem that has words that spell Fall. I am going to write Fun jumping in the leaves. all the fun is in fall. Leaves fall red yellow and orange. liveing in the fall. I hope we go apple picking tomorow"

Sure enough, we did go a corn maze and apple picking the next day (which I posted about one day later instead of 5+ months). And Dova created her Falling Leaves poem in Computer class the following day.

After the concert, there was a reception with the musicians. If it had been Adam, he would have sulked behind us not wanting any attention drawn to him. But the musicians and audience members alike all gravitated towards Dova, exclaiming how well-behaved and grown-up she was. She smiled and spoke clearly to everyone with grace and charm. I explained that she was learning the piano and violin, which served not embarrass her, but to hold her head up high. It was a proud parent moment to have their child carry herself so well.

Many years ago, I met Yo-Yo Ma's daughter Emily when she was about 10 years old. I was amazed at how precocious and well-spoken this young lady was. I thought that someday I would be very pleased and proud have a child like this. This day has come. We love you Dova! You can be an handful, but you more than make up for it with moments like these.

Flying High at Disney On Ice Dare To Dream

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 04:54:00 +0000

Looking for some great entertainment for the kids this school vacation week? In the Boston area, check out Disney On Ice presents Dare To Dream featuring characters from Tangled. The show is runs from Friday, February 17 to Sunday February 26 at TD Garden in Boston.

We had the opportunity to attend the spectacular event on opening night. With flawless skating, fun story-telling, high-flying acrobats and pyrotechnics, even 11-year-old Adam was impressed. Dova managed not to cave into the myriad of swirling lights and wands but did insist on cotton candy, which we forked over $12. It came with a crown which she decorated later at home but refused to wear at the event, so her goofy mom had to fill in.

This was our first trip to TD Garden with the kids, so I had to point out the Boston Bruins 2011 Stanley Cup Champions flag in the rafters.

The show was emce'ed by Mickey and Minny Mouse themselves with some help from Donald Duck and Goofy.

The first story told was The Princess and the Frog, which featured colorful costumes and sets of New Orleans.

Tiana met her destiny with her frog-to-be.

At the bayou, a chorus of birds skated with Tiana and Prince Naveen in their quest to reverse the curse.

The next story was the time-told Cinderella. Adam and Dova laughed at the bumbling step sisters.

The carriage procession was a sight to see!

As well as the meeting of Cinderella and the Prince.

The clock struck 12 just in time for intermission. When the Prince went to search for the foot that fit the glass slipper, he also tried members of the audience.

The latest story to be added to the Disney On Ice repertoire is Tangled, now Dova's favorite Disney movie. Flynn met Rapunzel under a frying pan (this is Adam's favorite photo of the night).

It wasn't long before they were flying separately, then together.

Even Maximus the horse skated gracefully across the ice!

Tangled ended with spectacular pairs skating.

The evening ended with a ball featuring all the Disney Princesses in their finest costumes, including my favorte, Mulan.

The Disney On Ice Dare To Dream show is definitely Princess heavy, but there are enough "wow" moments for the whole family to enjoy.

It's not too late to see Disney On Ice presents Dare To Dream, find ticket information here!

DISNEY ON ICE is a trademark and service mark of Disney. Disney characters ©Disney. All Rights Reserved.

Special thanks to Feld Entertainment for providing a family 4 pack of tickets for this review. No other compensation was received.

Grandstanding Handstanding Dova

noreply@blogger.com (Angela) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:49:00 +0000

About a year ago, Dova was asked to join the "team" at our local gymnastics place where she had taken tumbling classes since she was four. I, of course, took this as an attempt by the gym to extort more money from us by raising the tuition. She never really showed any skill at gymnastics and wasn't even able to do a decent cartwheel after three years. But she had her heart set on it, so I shelled out the big bucks. A few months later, they had their spring show and surprisingly, she demonstrated a pretty decent handstand.

After that, she started doing handstands just about everywhere imaginable. Here she is at Tanglewood in Lenox, MA during the airing of "A Prairie Home Companion".

And at the beach.

This past November, Dova had her first gymnastics meet. Now up to this point, our only involvement in Dova's gymnastics was to pay the big bucks and send her the practice twice a week. We really had no idea what her level of proficiency was. So it was pretty exciting to watch her in all events for the first time. And sure enough, her handstand during the floor routine was nearly perfect.

Dova's bar routine lasted all of 15 seconds, but she scored an impressive 9.40.

And check out the height on her tuck jump on the balance beam

Such poise and confidence!! We were beaming with pride.

But the biggest surprise occurred at the end of the meet when Dova took first place in the all around competition for her level. Wow, that's our girl on the top of the podium!

I guess all that money and chauffeuring paid off. What a sense of accomplishment for Dova! It was a proud moment for our entire family. We are so proud of you Dova!