Mother's Little Helper App: Naturespace

My littlest guy is sick right now with an upper respiratory cold. Some Vicks Vapo Rub on his chest, along with some snuggles and this app is helping to keep him calm.

Naturespace: Relax Meditate Escape Sleep with 3D Sound by Holographic Audio Theater
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/naturespace-relax-meditate/id312618509?mt=8

Smartphone Photographers Community Hangout for November 21, 2013

This was another fun Hangout On Air with the Smartphone Photographers Community.
(That link will take you to the Google Plus page until there is a more official link which I'll update if that happens!)

If you click this link it will take you to the part where we discuss my "Butterfly Kiss" photo at the 36 minute mark. (Otherwise watch the show from the start below.) I had fun talking discussing this photo and the other suggestions that were made sound like another cool challenge for me to try! I really enjoyed learning about High-key photography technique from Michael Sweeney and I'm looking forward to trying out the effect.

An iPhone app called FX Photo Studio was discussed and I wanted to let you know it's on sale at the time of this posting so go grab it because it looks like a winner. I haven't yet had a chance to play with it, but it's got lots of recommendations so far. There is also an HD iPad version:


What do you think of smartphone photography? Come join us sometime.

Here is the "Butterfly Kisses" image I posted. I have several more eye images I'm working on and I'll post more once I process them. You have heard of a butterfly kiss, right?

Have Fun

Children remind us of what is simple and most important in life: have fun, the rest will follow.

Playing With The Sun

A play on words and a play on, well, play. There is this awkward time on certain days of the week in between errands and appointments, specifically about an hour before I need to go pick up Lucian from school where it's not enough time to nap or really go anywhere, so on this beautiful fall day, Keagan and I got on the floor to play. We had some little squirt guns that had been gifted to the boys over the summer. Normally I don't allow them in the house, but Keagan was being impossibly cute with the asking so I caved. I figured I could at least have some fun with it if I set some ground rules about where he was allowed to squirt the water. I set up some little targets for him to aim at and as I was showing him how to shoot the targets, the sun was coming through with such intensity so, I decided to do some shooting of my own with my iPhone 5s — also my idea of a good time. I was able to catch a rainbow AND lens flare in one shot and I'm really pleased with the results. The only editing I did was in iPhoto; just some cropping and a little bit of bumping up the contrast on this first shot. I played with some other effects in the other two shots as the challenge was all that sunlight with which to work.

I love all of the elements in this shot: lines, curves, curls, shadows, rainbows, sun rays, color, highlights, the way my son's little lips are formed while he's making little sounds or thinking about where to aim.

Playing With The Sun 

Target Practice

At this time I am reminded of a newspaper clipping photo I once saw of my Grandfather as a middle school-aged child shooting a rifle at target practice during a class. I believe he was in some type of rotary gun club at school in the 1930s. Upon seeing that photo is was no wonder he later became a sharpshooter for the military during WWII. It's hard to imagine that there was ever a time when guns were in schools as a source of education if perhaps some sort of early military inculcation. 

This day, however, I chose to set those negative thoughts aside in order to have some simple fun with my son and some plastic toys that shoot water. He is innocent and unaware, just having a good time knocking little bottles and medicine cups off of triangles with water and studying the trajectory. I am not innocent, but somehow I managed to have fun with this time all the same.

Spritz

Household Critters

Living in the southwest, it's not uncommon to find different types of critters inside your house. Geckos commonly show up at our front door, on top of it or scurry out from under a chair. They're quite cute and less troublesome than mice or other bugs I experienced out east.

Last night was a bit different because we discovered a snake for the first time! The boys and I could barely contain our excitement over observing this little creature that crawled into our home.

Here is my Flickr photo set of some various shots I took and these are my favorites.

Curious Keagan

Wrapped Around My Finger

Perssssssspective

My Toddler Loves Photo Booth on iPad

And here I was wondering why the iPad was running out of space! Attack of TheKeaganator!

App Review: Max's Pirate Planet - A Board Game Adventure

This is our family review of the universal iOS app "Max's Pirate Planet - A Board Game Adventure." Whether playing together as a family of 4 or 1 on 1 or as a single player, this game has been fantastic fun for the whole family!

When we have visitors or play dates, this is the game the kids ask me to set up on the Apple TV to play and share with their friends.

We'd like to thank Slant Six Games for the loot, err, um, for gifting this app for a review!

Click here to get this game for your family, available on multiple platforms:

iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch devices, click here:


Android devices, click here:

Kindle Fire devices, click here:

Here is a home movie (10 minute sample) of one of our first game sessions together. As you can see, there was much delight. Even Keagan, our 3-year-old likes to play with assistance. It's nice to play a multi-player game where he doesn't feel left out for a change.

The graphics are beautifully drawn with careful attentions to detail. I love how the characters sail in their ships when crossing water, but get out and walk on dry land. The voice artists are top-notch. Game play is very smooth and not too predictable.

Form Factors
We have played this game on both an iPhone 4S and a 4th-generation iPad on the local screen as well as streamed to our Apple TV. Both form factors worked great. Playing it on the iPad is nice for when there are 2 players whether it's a parent and child or 2 siblings because of what I like to call the "Hand-Held Device Cuddle Factor." Personally, as much as I love to see my boys play physically with each other like little puppies, I also love to watch them cuddle up on the couch with each other to play a game on our iPad. Max's Pirate Planet encourages taking turns and cheering each other on with a healthy dose of friendly competition. This is something my 6- and 3-year-olds really need right now during these formative years.

Playing this game on the iPhone is more comfortable for 4 players passing the device around while viewing it together on the Apple TV. It's kind of like hot potato. When it came time to do a duel on the iPhone I was initially concerned with two fingers swiping on that smaller scree, but it worked surprisingly well I'm sure it had nothing to do with my ability to kick my husband's butt in the sword fighting challenge

Come On, Girls!
If I had one criticism it would only be to add more girl pirate characters from which to choose. As a mom in a house full of boys, I'm the only girl pirate here, Yarr!

Piratey Pirates
Normally, as a parent, I'm a bit squeamish about the idea of "encouraging" pirate culture, but I have to say, this app has done it tastefully in a fun way that doesn't encourage or promote violence. It allows the player to role play pirate-esque adventures in a creative, challenging and safe way. Even Skully the Skeleton manages to skip creeping me out. He's my oldest son's favorite character and he rushes to choose him each time we play. My younger son is in to all things red, so he loves Rusty the fox.

Go Ahead, Duel Me In.
My favorite part is dueling! I especially like sword fighting. I'd like to see other types of duels beyond just the two currently available: sword fighting and cannons. The family and I discussed what types of duels we'd like to see and we were immediately faced with the challenge of trying to avoid something that might promote violent behavior if not carefully planned out. Lucian, our 6 -year-old, suggested a pistol gun fight duel. We as parents couldn't think of a way game developers could avoid becoming mired in the whole gun violence issue we're currently facing as a nation here in the U.S. so we decided that wasn't something we could get behind suggesting as a feature request.

More Monsters, Please!
We all agreed that we'd like to see new monsters to challenge in future app updates. The current monsters are great — so great that we think the app developers will have fun coming up with more monster characters to eat us — uh — I mean — for us to beat for a chance to win treasure!

I really hope you consider either getting this app for your family or gifting it to a friend. It's a real...treasure!

Check out more from Slant Six Games Inc.

Simplicity

Simple joys. Children are a reminder of how to live when you forget.

Interpretation

Wait Your Turn

My Turn

Enlightened 2

Enlightened 1

Hanging Around & Dropping Down

a.k.a "How To Sprain Your Ankle"
featuring my 2.5 year-old daredevil son, Keagan and his fabulous big brother, Lucian v6.0

(in the background you can hear the hissing noise of our Arizona Apache Cicadas during our Monsoon)

Music credit: The New Mastersounds
http://www.newmastersounds.com
from the album - Keb Darge Presents The New Mastersounds - "Drop It Down"

Recorded from my home office window using my iPhone 4S and the native Camera app. Edited and produced exclusively on my iPhone using the Splice app available from the iTunes App Store.

We'll see what our pediatrician has to say about this fall. My poor little dude :( Hopefully he'll heal soon and get back to his monkey business! (and that my boys won't be too mad at me for making this video!)

Watering Hole

Sparked

I hope your 4th of July was a blast!

5th Annual TUAW Mother's Day Edition

The Unofficial Apple Weblog hosts a TalkCast every Sunday night. For the past five consecutive years, it's been my privilege to be a guest of honor on the Mother's Day Edition of this podcast.


Click this link to listen to the audio in iTunes.
TUAW Talkcast 2012-05-13: Mother's Day Edition

Click this link to listen to the audio in your browser's audio player.

Podcast Description:

Calling all Mac Mommies out there -- it's our annual Mother's Day show, where we celebrate the Mac, Mom and iOS too. Join Kelly and the crew for the fun!

Febrile Seizures - Our Story

My aim in sharing this horror story is to bring about awareness of febrile seizures and the aftermath. If left unattended, they could become far more serious. Please take some time to learn more about febrile seizures so you can act quickly and appropriately.

A friend shared a post with me today and due to the subject, I felt compelled to read it in its entirety and comment at length on it because it hits so close to home. My comment in response to I Heard God Laugh. And It Sounded Like Screaming — Velveteen Mind is as follows (edited by me for this post):

For those of you who may not know, my son, Keagan, has had two febrile seizures during his two and a half years of life. The first happened early last year, and by the grace of God, RIGHT IN FRONT of his Pediatrician during a well checkup. We were just about to leave as it happened and he became unresponsive and then seized. I'll never be able to express how grateful I was that if it was going to happen that it happened in the best place possible! It was terrifying and it has caused a great deal of PTSD for me. I have nightmares and constant paranoia about his health whenever he gets the smallest of common colds.

If there was a silver lining with that experience it was that it helped to prepare me for the next one that happened within two months. I was terrified yet able to keep my cool knowing that I absolutely had to in order to keep him safe while he was seizing.

The doctors have assured me over and over that these seizures are mostly harmless but it's sooooo hard to believe when you watch helplessly as they look like they are dying violently right before your eyes and there is nothing you can do!

The look on his little face still haunts me. His lips turned blue so quickly and the violent seizure was so terrifying. My only saving grace was that I had witnessed it before and knew I just had to try not to fight it and just keep him safe which meant holding him, but not too tightly and laying him down gently if need be so he wouldn't fling himself out of my arms or off a chair. It's overwhelming how mighty a seizure can make a child of that size. (If you know Keagan, he is already mighty!)

The other thing that still breaks my heart to this day is carrying the guilt that I inadvertently caused the second seizure and now how I have to make adjustments like not holding him so much when he is feverish. That is very hard to do since we are both so cuddly with each other.

When your child is sick, your first reaction is to want to hold them and cuddle them and make them feel better. The fact that they too want to be held and cuddled makes it that much harder. Here is where the problem started with the second. We were all sick and tired from being sick. He wasn't feeling well and so he wanted to snuggle. I fell asleep holding him on the recliner. At all but two years old, I felt it was safe to do so since he is a robust climber and very strong.

As we both lay sleeping, his fever rose so quickly and spiked because of my additional body heat while holding him. It wasn't until he started crying and begging for me to hold him more that it jarred me awake and then he started drooling and becoming unresponsive and began convulsing and vomiting on me. I was able to recognize it was a seizure right away. I always, always have my iPhone either in my pocket or under my pillow or somewhere within reach, so I quickly loaded the stopwatch app and timed the seizure while calling 911. I held on to him, but not too tightly and while it was so hard to do, just tried to stay calm, not panic and the 911 operator hung on with me as we rode it out and she sent first responders on their way to the house just to check him out as he came out of it to make sure he was really done. Bless those EMTs and First Responders!

Fevers and common illnesses are an absolute minefield for us when it comes to Keagan. We were all about letting the fevers do their job and prior to the seizures, we never rushed to medicate because whenever we did, it just prolonged the sickness. But, now with Keagan, we watch his fevers like a hawk and medicate as soon as it gets above 100. We track both the boys health issues in a logging app so we can see patterns if needed and just to be able to answer questions doctors ask that you never seem to know when you need to!

I must take a moment to plug (again) one of my all-time favorite apps from ANDESigned called Total Baby. Much like a fine wine, this app just keeps getting better with age. I've been using it since the developer gifted it to me to review when Keagan was born, back in 2009. For the first year, I used this app every day, several times a day. I still use it now when the boys are sick and to log their symptoms, medications, pediatric appointments, growth and milestones. This app is so incredible it makes me want to have another baby just so I can use it even more intensely than I did before! Ok, I know that's crazy geeky talk, but that's how much I love this app and all the hard work and love the developers pour into their product.

While dealing with Keagan's seizures, I reached out to my online community for support and felt that lifeline connection to perfect strangers offering their moral support when I needed it most. Keagan and I were just peacefully napping together and to think that my holding him was what pushed his fever over the edge makes me rest uneasy.

I pray for all our little ones that they outgrow these seizures and that they don't come back or cause any permanent damage. My heart breaks for the parents, like my cousin and her daughter, who have to go through this regularly and with grand mal seizures and/or epilepsy. I thank God these are just febrile seizures yet it doesn't change how terrifying and haunting the image of your child's face and lips turning blue right before your eyes and the helplessness you feel.

I wish the best of luck to Megan and thank her for sharing her story. It's so important for caregivers to look out for the warning signs early and know what to do! Awareness is crucial and could really save a life!

I hope this helps someone in their time of need.

I Declare Today is Wash Your Entire Living Room Day

I'm having an Easy Care Extra Heavy Gentle Fast Cold Rinse kind of a day.
First I awoke to Lucian exclaiming, "Mommy! Keagan just peed on the floor right there in front of the gate!"

Sure enough, there was a diaper-less little cherub running around the living room, asking for more water for his sippy cup.

I used the last of the carpet cleaner to clean up the mess. Went into the bathroom and stepped in a puddle on the floor. I assume it was also pee.

When did we get a puppy?

Got the kids cleaned up, dressed and off to school to drop off Lucian at Kindergarten. My only saving grace this morning so far was not encountering any asshole morning parent drivers. Ah, but the day is still young and there's always afternoon pick up.

Then I got busy refilling all that needed to be refilled throughout the house while Keagan quietly played in the living room.

Wait. Quietly? Well that's a red flag that something is amiss now isn't it?

And now we come to...

Exhibit A

Evidently, Keagan thinks our carpet needs more flavor so he decided to raid our spice rack and dump sprinkle cinnamon and —I'm gonna guess— Italian seasoning — onto the carpet. And the chairs. And the throws. (I know they're called throws but because you throw them on a piece of furniture, not the floor.)

Exhibit B

Do you see the footprints in the cinnamon?

This is precisely why we have crap furniture covered up with slip covers and decorative throws.

Right now my entire living room is in the washing machine preparing for the rinse cycle.

I have yet to vacuum the floor because I have yet to eat breakfast. It's already 11:30 am — or it's only 11:30 am — the glass is neither half empty or half full around here because it's usually been spilled out onto the floor.

The floor can wait and I need a freakin nap while Dr. Destructo is napping.

Why bother getting mad when I can just get even?

Melts My Heart

This past weekend, Lucian said something that just melted my heart and I never want to forget it.

Nate and I were getting ready to go out on a date, thanks to our friends to offered to babysit for us. We have been trying to "date" more regularly now because, well, it's good for us. When you have little kids, it's really hard to find time for yourself let alone with your spouse. It feels good to take time out to shave, dress up and apply makeup or perfume once in a while.

I was sitting on the edge of our bed putting my earrings on. I had just finished most of my hair, makeup and put on some new scented moisturizer. I was feeling pretty decent about the outfit I had picked out.

Lucian was standing in the doorway staring at me. Sometimes he stares off into space like we all do, but this time he was watching me intently.

I looked over at him after a little while and he said to me,

"Mommy, I'm staring at your because you look so beautiful! And you smell so gooooood!"

Doesn't that just make you melt? I told him thank you very much and that his compliment made me feel so good.

He truly is the little boy of my dreams.

Then, Keagan barged into the room and proceeded to claw at my top and demanded to be nursed. That child has not met any cleavage he didn't like! Ah well, he won't always be a boobie boy — someday he'll wean and I'll miss it or he'll chase other girls around! I suppose I'm doing them a favor? ;)

I love to be needed and I love to be loved.

A few other little things of note from Lucian are some words he's made up that I think are just too cute.

(1) He calls hand sanitizer "hanitizer." Makes sense to me!
(2) I asked Lucian to get a pizza out of the upright freezer out back (yes, we keep our freezer, washing machine and dryer outside of the home here in the desert where those things just heat up the house unnecessarily!)

When he came back in, he said,

"Mommy, I brought the pizza in from the freezerator."

Freezerator — get it? Freezer that looks like a refrigerator = Freezerator.

Yep, that's my Lucian!

Nosillacast Tucson Tweetup

Lucian and Keagan with Allison Sheridan. Does she look charmed or what?

On 20101020, a bunch of us gathered together at the Cheesecake Factory in Tucson to hang out with Allison Sheridan of the Nosillacast podcast hosted over on podfeet.com! We all had an EVER so slight Macintosh bias which we blended with cheesecake, beer, burgers, salads, other great food and even better company.

In attendance: Myself, Nate, Lucian, Keagan, Allison, Karell, Wayde and David of the Tucson NosillaCastaways! Pat Mahon was there in spirit but unfortunately the Bandwidth Gods were not smiling on us. I think we forgot to saccrifice some cheesecake brownies or something. Next time we'll choose more wisely when it comes to wifi location. Must have wifi with food when it's a Tweetup!

@Podfeet herself...in the flesh...with cheesecake. It doesn't get much better than this.
(Photo by Lucian. Not bad for a 4 year old!)

Wayde and David enjoying c&c: company & cheesecake!

David took this photo of me, Karell, and Allison with my camera.
All of our forks are in perfect alignment. How did you do that!??

Here is a slideshow of the rest of the photos including some more Lucian took by himself.

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