And who has cataloged the contents of their house for insurances purposes? Probably not many.

Turns out, that you can do both right now.

DropBox is beta testing a new version of their Android app that auto syncs photos and videos you take to DropBox. For every 500MB of photos and videos automatically uploaded, you’ll receive another 500MB space, up to 5GB total. So all you need to do is install the beta app and start uploading.

After uploading all the images and videos on my phone, I got an additional 500MB. That left me wanting more. So I was thinking about what takes up the most space and I realized that was videos. Then I decided it was time for a home tour!

God forbid my home burnt down tonight, they’d ask me what was in it. I can list off some stuff, but I’ll never remember everything. Chances are I won’t remember most of it. So I recorded it instead.

I took my phone, fired up the video app and started a tour. I walked through each room, opened drawers, cupboards, closets and looked inside things. I pointed out a lot of what we own but even what I didn’t point out is at least on video.

This took me about 40 minutes. 40 minutes of video on my phone is a pretty large file size. Now it’s automatically uploading to DropBox and I’ll get more free space!

Really though, the free space is nice, but it won’t help in a disaster. If a tornado, fire or something else takes out my house, that video is going to be invaluable. Putting our lives back together on just our memories is hard, video and photo proof should help a ton.

So take some time, record all the belongings in your home and get some free DropBox space as a nice benefit.

Get more DropBox space AND be better prepared for a disaster. originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Thankfully I have all my Christmas shopping done. I did most of it online again this year, but I tried to buy stuff in stores. It just seems like so much work. Plus I went to Wal-Mart this year. It just amazes me how such a big and popular retailer can have the worst stores. Even the new ones are dirty and I feel like I’m going to catch something just walking down the aisles. The downside to online however is that my packages haven’t all arrived yet. Soon though.

I am excited for Christmas though. It’s Lily’s third Christmas and this year she’s two and has a good idea of who Santa is and what’s going on. She’ll be so excited, if not overwhelmed, by all the gifts. We’ll do one weekend at home and then another at the grandparents. So she’ll have two overly exciting weekends. Plus I’m sure she’ll get tons of stuff. Hopefully things Dad like to play with too.

Lily with Santa & Mrs Claus

One thing that I would like, but isn’t happening this year, is a white Christmas. Call me old fashion, but I like snow in December. They keep saying there’s going to be a lot of snow this year, but would have liked a little before Christmas. Heck, I’d be fine if it snowed November, December and January and then all melted in February. I just think it makes Christmas a little bit more festive. Plus we’d like to go sledding.

If I don’t get another post in before Christmas, I hope everyone has a great holiday and enjoys spending time with those they love.

Here comes the holidays, ready or not. originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

It was fun seeing how much Lily likes daycare. She was running all around, wasn’t the least bit shy and just enjoyed herself the whole evening. Plus she gets to sing and dance so that’s always a win in her book.

FYI: Lily is the one in the lower right corner with the black dress with pink arms and legs.

Lily’s Christmas Performance originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Happy Thanksgiving from Lily! originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

As I was testing them out I was finding it a bit difficult at first. However when Lily took ahold of the iPad, she had no problems; and that was a problem.

She’s be playing her piano app and use her whole hand to hit all the keys; which then registered as a five-finger gesture. Before we knew it, her piano app was gone and she was now in Facebook, or Mail, or whatever else I had open.

Turns out, the new multitasking gestures are cool, but I still don’t get to take advantage of them unless I remember to turn them off when Lily uses the iPad.

New iPad multitasking gestures are not so hot with a toddler. originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

We’re all having more fun for Halloween this year as Lily is 2. She has a better understating of what’s going on and has been practicing her Happy Halloween and Trick or Treat.

Costume Sneak Peek

This year she’ll be going as a pink cat. It’s a warmer costume which is nice but also has quite the big belly. Trying to get her into the car seat in it sure was a lot of work.

Cleaning Out Pumpkins

Lily also helped clean out some of the pumpkins this year. She wasn’t so sure about it, but eventually stuck her hand right in.

Tonight we’re going to the grocery store for indoor trick or treating and then around the neighborhood. After that we’ll be handing out candy at the door and having some Halloween fun.

Then, after she goes to bed, Dad is taking most of the candy and hiding it away. Halloween is a lot of fun, but Lily doesn’t need a whole pumpkin full of candy.

Happy Halloween originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

For Halloween we created spiders and pumpkins out of paper plates, painted mini pumpkins, colored ghosts, created egg carton spiders, and even made banners. We’ve painted with cotton balls, our fingers and apples and then decorate with googlie eyes, stickers and construction paper.

The best part in all this is that the paint is washable so we don’t have to worry about what she gets it on; and she gets it on everything. Everything cleans up nicely and that gives us less to worry about.

It’s not just Lily having fun either. We all join in and create something fun. Then we post them around the house. Lily loves seeing the creations up on the wall and will have a blast creating new ones for each upcoming holiday.

Halloween Arts & Crafts originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Here are a few of my favorite:

Feeding cows on grandpa’s farm

Lily’s 2nd Birthday

Lily dancing with Lily

Lots of Lily videos uploaded. originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Daycare Day

Lily started her new daycare today and she was very excited. It was a bit like sending your kids off to school as she had her little backpack, supplies and some new clothes. She was going someplace new with lots of other kids, toys and the unknown. Ok, so maybe it was more Mom and Dad that was nervous about the unknown, Lily was just excited.

When I dropped her off she was as happy as can be. She was showing off all her stuff, playing with all the toys and just having a blast. I said goodbye and all was good. Turns out, she was good all day long. She did extremely well and is ready to go back again tomorrow. Hopefully every day is as good as the first.

This is now Lily’s 3rd daycare; well the way I count.

She started off in an in-home daycare which worked out really well in the beginning. When she was a baby she didn’t need much more than someone to watch over her and give her some attention. However, as she grew, it became apparent that she needed more attention and more learning opportunities which her current in-home didn’t provide.

Over the summer Grandma, my mother in-law, took care of Lily 4 days a week in our home. They cooked, cleaned, went to the library, the beach and did pretty much anything and everything. I don’t have any idea how Grandma did half the stuff she did with a toddler but she made it look easy. It was great though as Lily learned so much. The one on one attention was fantastic and the help around the house was nice too.

Now that summer is winding down, Lily is starting at a daycare center. The center is more like a pre-school where she’ll do a lot of learning and enhance her social skills. There are quite a few other kids her age so sharing and taking turns will be very important.

Lily now has her own cubby, she’ll have a show and tell day, music days, reading time, arts & crafts, field trips and just continue to learn so much. This is a perfect match as she wants to do more and wants to be kept busy.

We’ve toured lots of different daycares, seen many different setups and finding the right one is always hard. However, I think we’ve found a good one that will help our little girl grow for years to come.

Daycare: In-home, at home and now a center. originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

It started out with Uncle Josh visiting on her birthday. That’s pretty special as he was in from California. Josh gave her some plastic food so she could feed her dolls and pretend she was cooking like Mom.

Uncle Josh

Then she had the weekend with just Mom and Dad. She got plastic plates, bowls and cups to go with her plastic food and she loves to play with them. She also got some Elmo things and other fun toys. Plus we had ice cream cookie sandwiches!

Cups and Toys

Dinner with her dolls.

Since it was her birthday weekend, we took her to Edinborough Park to play in the bouncy house and the maze of tunnels and slides. We also went to not one, but two, beaches to play in the water.

Giant Slide

A very fun weekend for sure!

Her second birthday party was this past weekend with the grandparents and family. A second birthday means more presents including a kitchen, some very cute clothes and toys. Plus what’s a birthday without cupcakes; Elmo cupcakes!

Elmo Cupcakes

Lily's Kitchen

After that, it was time to run around outside and burn off some of that sugar and play with the family.

Family Time

We also took some time and went out to visit the cows on my parents farm. Lily loved feeding them, seeing the corn and all the different things. Grandpa Tom even took her on a tractor ride which she thought was a ton of fun.

Riding in a Tractor

We are extremely blessed to have our families close enough that Lily can go and experience different things. Animals at the zoo are fun, on the farm is even better!

Lily

It’s hard to believe that Lily is already two. She’s growing up so fast and it’s amazing to see how much she’s grown and how much she has learned in just two years. She’s an amazing little girl and we are grateful to have her in our lives.

Cupcakes, Cows, Presents & Water originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Lily enjoying the parade.

From the horses to the floats to the candy, there was always something to look at and something to do.

When floats played music, we danced. When there was something being handed out, we wanted it. When the big vehicles honked their horns or backfired, we ran into daddy’s arms for safety.

We all had a great time, but I never realized how much work a parade was before. Keeping Lily entertained wasn’t an issue, but she was always on the move. By the end of the parade, I was ready to take a nap!

Parades are so much fun when you’re a kid. originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Going for a drive.

My little girl is behind the wheel; buckled in for safety of course. Oh and the car is on thanks to remote start.

This could get dangerous. originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Enjoying the carousel.

Look at us go!

It was mom’s idea to go for a ride and it was a fantastic idea. From the moment the horse started to move, her face just lit up.

I’m pretty sure I’m growing a child who will love rides. And, as she gets bigger, so will the rides!

Taking a ride on the carousel. originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Spew Photo

Sometimes parenting is messy. originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Lily's Transformed Crib

She’s yet to see it as she’s been at grandmas for the past few days, but tonight will be her first night in it.

I fully expect her to be up all night un-organizing her room. She usually takes over an hour to go to sleep in her crib as she’s up jumping and playing. Now that she has the whole room, I think she’ll be up all night!

Goodbye crib. Hello toddler bed. originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Zoo Goats

Did you know that some Minnesota libraries have free passes to all sorts of MN destinations?

We were lucky enough to get our hands on a MN Zoo pass last week and the whole family got into to the zoo for free!

We got to feed the baby goats, see the fish, lions and all sorts of other animals. Lily had a great time not only with the animals but also watching all the other kids.

The program is called the Museum Adventure Pass and they can get you into:

• The American Swedish Institute
• The Bakken Museum
• Bell Museum of Natural History
• Como Park Zoo and Conservatory
• Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Bird Sanctuary
• Firefighters Hall & Museum
• Foshay Museum and Observation Deck
• Hennepin History Museum
• The Landing – Minnesota River Heritage Park
• Minneapolis Institute of Arts
• Minnesota History Center
• Minnesota Streetcar Museum
• Minnesota Transportation Museum
• Minnesota Zoo
• The Museum of Russian Art
• Walker Art Center
• The Works: Hands-On, Minds-On Museum

To get a pass, stop by your local library and see if they have any available. They only have a set amount each week, so you have to be there at the right time to get them.

If you need more information, check out the official Museum Adventure Pass page.

How to get free passes to the MN Zoo and other great places. originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Lily's new trike.

I recently wroteabout how we got some great deals on a garage sale and one of those was a tricycle for $5.

While searching for instructions on how to adjust the seat, I had quite an amazing discovery. It seems that Kettler trikes retail for $200! Damn!

This was one great find and we’ll have to be sure to keep it stored inside at night.

Sad part is, I still have no idea how to adjust the seat so Lily can’t really ride it yet.

Wait. Our garage sale tricycle is worth how much? originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Lily loves to swing, so we looked at getting her a swing for the back yard. We went back and forth on the decision until we found the one we wanted on the clearance shelf at Target. It was such a good deal that we couldn’t pass it up.

Lily and her swing.

A few days later we were out for a walk and came across a garage sale that had a trike and a slide, two other items that we knew Lily would love. They are priced anywhere from $50 to $120 each new so we hadn’t been convinced to buy them. But when we got both for $10, it was a done deal.

Yea! A Slide!

Lily's new trike.

Lily has always loved being outside and going to the park, but now that she can just go out the back door and go for a swing or down the slide, she loves it even more.

Spoiling Lily and getting great deals. originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Swim Lessons Certificate

Today was Lily’s last day of swim lessons.

The 1 month program was just to get her comfortable with the water. She learned some things and got exposed to quite a bit.

She even got dunked under the water a few times. One of these days she’ll learn to close her eyes and mouth first, but that hasn’t happened yet.

The next stage of swim lessons isn’t until she’s like 5 so we might re-do this class in a year or two just so she continues to learn.

Interestingly enough, the certificate has her name spelled incredibly wrong. I don’t even know how they could be so far off.

Lily has completed her first swim lessons. originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com

Waconia Beach

The setup is very nice, there is play equipment and picnic tables on the grass and there is plenty of beach for everyone. There are even big umbrellas scattered across the beach to keep you cool.

It’s also free, as long as you don’t drive. If you drive, then it’s $5 to park which isn’t to bad.

Lily enjoyed it quite a bit, even though the waves from the boats pretty constant. Unlike other beaches we’ve been to, boats go buy quite often and the waves make it a bit harder for little ones. But they can also make it more fun.

We had a blast and will probably go back again this summer as it’s close to home and very nice.

Waconia has a pretty nice beach. originally posted at http://www.twistermc.com