Simply Dawn

And They’re Gluten-Free Too!

So today I found out that you don’t need a VitaMix to make rice and oat flours, and that nobody would have known a thing if I could ever learn to keep my big mouth shut!  A new family favorite and it’s healthy too!  I will get the recipe posted tomorrow…no process shots, just a recipe.

Lovies.

New Post on Just Clickin’

I posted a couple over at Just Clickin’ this morning, here are the some teaser photos…

John @ 3 months

John @ 4 months

or as I like to title this one, “Look Ma!  I’m flyin’!”

Other than that, I am editing some more photos for Tribal Warfare.  I sort of got behind on that.  I had started it, and then I was talking with a friend and found out she was working on a project and well…one thing led to another and now I get to help my friend out with her project.  I have to wait a little while before I share EXACTLY what that project is, but it is fun and exciting to be a part of.

Then there is clothes sorting, which I guess is catchy, because many of my friends are doing it.  I have completed sorting the middle boys things and should complete John’s today.  The girls is so daunting that I am very tempted to procrastinate, but if I keep up the momentum I should be done this weekend.

We are also gearing up for our annual Family Celebration.  Excited about this one.  We have the pool going and a fire pit and thanks to my son’s ingenuity and Grandma’s need for working equipment, we now have a broken awning that is fixed!  There are still a lot of loose ends to tie up before the day, but it should come together nicely.

So, hope all is well in your world and thanks for all the comment love you have been leaving lately!

Oh, and Addie is very appreciative of the nice comments on her story.  Now I have something to keep her busy with, when she is “bored”!

Alrighty, back to the fray!

Lovies, DJ

My Afternoon Crew

Everyday that STRIDE has school Bear has to do homework.  Once he is done with spelling, I recline the seat and assume a naplike position.  Usually the girls take a nap.  The twins were having trouble settling into the nap thing, so they just kind of sat there and looked at books or tickled each other…getting constant shooshes from their momma who was trying to find something like a nap in the front seat.

Digital Photograph Organization a la Simply Dawn

I can’t quite remember how long ago that I got Creative Memories Memory Manager (MM) software.  I think it’s been at least one, if not two years.  Anyhow, I was all excited that I could do some editing (ugh) and that I could organize all my photos into sort boxes.  The photo was only on my computer once, according to MM…depending on how you uploaded.

I found that MM wasn’t uploading my video, so I opted to use my Canon upload software (I was shooting with the ELPH still) as it did upload the video and then import the images into MM.  Not too bad to work with.

Then entered my Nikon and I was shooting in RAW.  MM doesn’t recognize RAW files.  Fortunately, a friend had an extra copy of Photoshop Elements 6.0, so I could then see and manipulate my RAW files.

So then what was a girl to do with 5000+ photos already organized into the sort boxes in MM?  Should I use the Photoshop Elements Organizer and was there an export to that software that would convert the sortbox data to tag data?   I haven’t found it, that is for sure.

The above mentioned problem and rapidly decreasing hard drive space have pretty much forced me to shoot in JPG…with it’s wonderful loss of 1/3 of the data!

so, until MM gets some more gusto in the editing area and starts recognizing RAW and NEF files allowing manipulation/editing of said files… or PSE gets a tagging system that is as easy to use as MM, this is what I do:

-upload to the computer using PSE…if I am catching on correctly, this is creating the familiar file folder with the shoot date title and the photos & VIDEO tucked neatly inside.  That way if there was a major problem with the photo that required editing (ugh), I can take care of it.

-any editing done, I purge…I have decided as hard as this is, it needs to be done…digital has made us take so many more shots than we will ever use and why not just take the best and trash the rest…this isn’t easy for me to do, especially with emotional attachment to so many…but it is a necessity, absolute necessity.

-I then pull the files into MM and sort into their respective boxes.  Did I mention that not only does MM store the date that the photo was shot (or edited), but it also stores the date that the file was imported into MM?  I can’t quite put into words how this helps, but on a few occasions this has been helpful, I suppose when scanned images were used or the editing took place on dates later than the original shoot date.

-Finally I back up my MM storage vault and then back up the original file folder to an external HDD.  I will eventually have another external HDD that I store in a fireproof safe that I back up at least once a month, if not weekly.  It is best to have it backed up twice, leaving you with your eggs in three baskets instead of one.  For now, I HAVE to settle for two, but it’s better than nothing.

So that’s my rigor-ma-roll that I go through to take care of my photos…and that is all before scrapping!

I have about 6 months of NEF files to edit/convert and get pulled into MM.  I am trying to do this because of all the penny print deals that come out and I would like to send photos to my parents.  Plus then I can pull these into SBC and digital scrap them or print them to make some altered projects.

Well, anyhow, that’s what I do…what’s your organization look like?  Can you pull up all the photos of so and so to scrap with at a moment’s notice?  What do you use for organization and do you just love it or is it simply a means to an end?

Oh and just because I am an organizing freak and I prefer digital scrapbooking to paper, I am planning to scan in all my old photos and sort them into sort boxes and scrap them that way.  Yes, I know.  I am an obsessed freak!

Have a great day! oh and don’t forget to keep up with Project 365 over at Just Clickin' Together!

Lovies, DJ

Monday, I Missed You

Oh, how I missed you!  And today you aren’t just any Monday.  You are the Monday after Christmas break.  The Monday that ushers in order to the chaos.  Routine gets established again.  Such a wonderful feeling.

Funny thing is, I have been feeling…how should I say this?  Compelled lately to strongly consider homeschooling again.  I have two for sure that WANT to come home and have asked.  I have said that they need to finish out the year and show me that they can take care of their school responsibilities and not give me attitude.  Then I think, why send the twinkies to school if I am keeping some of the others home…it would certainly save on driving.  I guess most of all, I want this to be a GOD thing, not just a good thing.  When my good things aren’t God things, then it all ends so badly.  So I keep pondering this decision.  My heart says yes, but we will pray and seek His will in this.

Other thing about Monday…if you are my Facebook friend you may already know…I am letting you know that David and I started Project 365 over on Just Clickin' Together (remember that photography blog I talked about in this post?)  We have two pictures posted and will, Lord willing, keep up with this endeavor.  I am excited about the prospect of working with David more on the photography and honing my skills.

It also means that I have to work on my photo storage on my PC…but I have so much to say about that, I will save it for another post.

One other project that is beginning is the potty training of Sybilla.  Or at least giving her a taste of it.  She’s never felt any bodily fluids running down her legs, so this morning she is experiencing it and I get the lovely job of cleanup.  Fortunately she loves her new princess potty seat and is very willing…but don’t you dare try to put pants on the girl!  She wants to do it herself.  I thought about taking a shot of her first accident this morning for the project 365 blog, but decided words were better than images in this instance.  The funniest part is because she is sans undies, “it” fell out on the floor and she was walking like a little old lady, saying, “potty!  Potty!”  So wouldn’t it be a blessing if she “gets” the whole idea quickly?  That’s what I am praying for.

Oh, and I have been promising to update about Thanksgiving and Christmas and such.  Soon folks, soon!

Lovies,DJ

Morning Photos

I told the girls that if they got their room clean we could do showers and finger and toe nails and hair.

I did not realize what a state their room was in!  Oh my word, I should have gotten pictures.

Anyhow, drawers and closet and beds and surfaces are all clean now, even though it took the better part of the morning, getting the overflowing drawers tamed was worth it!

So then it was time to shower and do hair and nails.  I should have taken a shot of all three of them sitting on the table.  Toes and fingers painted and legs dangling.  So cute!

I did think to grab some shots of them, and I really like the way they turned out.  I have been working hard to get to know my camera in manual and only using the 50mm lens.  These shots are SOOC (which for my friends who don’t shoot means – straight out of camera…no photoshop…photoshop is a necessary evil which I am going to have to learn someday, but right now…blech!)

This is Billy (Sybilla), who has some terrible dry skin right now.  Poor thing!  Anyways, I tried to get her to stand up, but she would have nothing to do with it.  The only way I got a smile out of the little stinker was to start talking about her favorite show – Blue’s Clues (the old one with Steve…you know, the good one.)

This is Linny (Caroline).  She won’t give me a real smile to save her soul, and this is the best smile face I could get out of the shots.  She wants to be a Purple Sleeping Beauty (me, I just want to be sleeping, the beauty part would be icing on the cake).  She is the girliest of the three (so far) and wants earings in her ears for her birthday along with her OWN nail polish…good thing that’s not till July

This is Emmy (Emily…really, you just can’t make it in this house being called by your given name alone).  Emily was my first camera victim.  She has a good knock, smack dab in the middle of her forehead, which is mostly healed, but it’s time to get some shots so that I can make some gifts.  Anyhow, Emmy wants to be Cinderella and really didn’t have too much to say…she’s just a good Huckleberry and played along well with me.  I got a lot of fun shots of her, but sometimes a mom has to try to go for equal billing.

Equal billing unless you are the newest member of the family.  These 3-D shots are a little weird, and it’s strange sharing my insides with you, but meet our little bundle of joy who will be arriving this spring!

Hopefully I can get the rest of the family to be so cooperative and get the rest of the individual shots and maybe even a family shot.  Wish me luck!  Only 4 to go!

Hope you all are having a good day, and I still will be doing a Thanksgiving recap soon.  Maybe in time for Christmas.  teehee!

Lovies and Feliz Navidad! DJ

Photowalk 2010

Here are some shots I took at St Cloud State University and Munsinger Gardens a couple weeks ago for a photowalk.  It was definitely a stretch for me, as I was having such a hard time just taking pictures “without a purpose”, “just for the fun of it”.  There is very little that I do that is just for fun…which makes me think I should work on that a little harder…someday!  Anyhow, here are the pictures.

Well what do you think?  The one with the cobweb is my wallpaper right now.  The kids keep asking where I got it from.  I tell them I took the picture, to which they keep asking where did I get it from.  Some day I will have to explain the technology to them.

-------

Today is the first day of school for Gavin and Adelaide.  I got some pictures this morning and hopefully will get to them soon.

Lots to do today…

laundry
turn jeans into shorts for David
bills, paperwork, and filing
more prep work for the family celebration
*maybe cleaning an old bookshelf off and bringing it upstairs for my albums*

So, what are you doing today????  Leave me a note!

Lovies, DJ