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A Disney Ice Castle

Posted on August 21, 2013 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

When people think of iconic images from Disney Parks, there are a group that automatically come to mind. Each of the parks has what they call Disney Weenies. Imagineers refer to them by that name. So what are Disney Weenies? They are focal points within the lands of Disney Parks that you can see from a distance and make you want to walk a little bit closer. For Walt Disney World, Cinderella’s Castle just screams out as the magical image that most think of for the Orlando destination. While I have seen Cinderella’s Castle countless times, our most recently trip in December was even more magical. It was the first time I witnessed the ice castle lit up at night. There are no words, simply take in the beauty.

Be sure to stop by Focused on the Magic by clicking on the button above to join in the Disney magic this week.

Categories:
Disney travel vacation

Tuesday Tales – Doctor Who: The Visual Dictionary

Posted on August 20, 2013 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

It wasn’t long ago that TechyDad was the only Doctor Who fan in our house. Then, one day, I decided to try watching the new series with The Ninth Doctor. Before I knew it, I was hooked and quickly catching up with the series. By the time Father’s Day rolled around, I was practically caught up and I knew that TechyDad really wanted to get the boys involved in the show, but they had little or no interest. That is when I bought them a special gift to give to him for Father’s Day. Yes, my purchase of When’s The Doctor slowly hooked the boys into interest in all things related Doctor Who. Once the summer started, the kids finally began to watch the series. I think it is safe to say that we now have two younger Whovians in the family. Not only did JSL want his own sonic screwdriver, but NHL would beg to know more about everything as he waited to watch the next episode. When I stared to get a few things for NHL’s tenth birthday, I knew there had to be something related to Doctor Who.

NHL was in Doctor Who heaven. He kept racing through the book looking for people, places, and things that he has seen. Just days before he received the book, the boys had gotten a few episodes into the David Tennant years. Thanks to this, NHL knew what happened to the Ninth Doctor and how the Tenth Doctor came onto the show. Of course, if you look at the table of contents from this DK book you will see there is a lot within this dictionary.

My somewhat reluctant reader has already spent a lot of time diving into this book. The visual dictionary is nearly 150 pages long and filled with beautiful photos of some of the most memorable parts of Doctor Who. In addition to this, there are fantastic facts about the history of the show, characters, places they have traveled, and times they have visited. You can quickly read about the eleven Doctors that have already been a part of the history and see exactly what a sonic screwdriver is for.

Then my favorite part was looking at a character that was near and dear to me. For Doctor Who geeks, you will get my message below about Donna Noble and the shirt I purchased from TeeFury.

If I can get the book away from NHL long enough, I will take some time to read more. No doubt there were items that I missed while watching the show. Now, TechyDad and I are trying to stop him from reading spoilers.

Have you ever watched Doctor Who or read books about the show? As always, Tuesday Tales is all about sharing our love of books. Please let me know what you have read recently. Be sure to link up to your book posts in the comments below. Include something you read on your own, with a child, or someone else.

Categories:
books television Tuesday Tales

Photo Fun with the Nokia Lumia 928

Posted on August 19, 2013 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

My smartphone camera plays a big role in my world. As a blogger, social media influencer, and parent, I use my phone for on the go photos. Of course, I rarely post them as is. Most of the time I crop them, edit a bit, make a collage, and always watermark them. When I moved over to using the Nokia Lumia 928 as part of the Verizon Lifestyle Bloggers, I worried about finding the right apps for what I need. Being a realist, I knew that many of the apps I was used to on the Android platform are not currently available for the Windows OS. Thanks to blogging friends like Robyn at Robyn’s Online World and Amy at Selfish Mom, I knew work around solutions could be found. This is the current view of tiles when I open my phone.

During a great webinar with the folks at Nokia, I learned about some great features in my phone. I will share some of those along the way. Most of the #VZWBuzz people were very curious about apps. There was some talk about Instance which is a work around app for Instagram (that should be Windows OS by the end of the year). It can not do Vine at this point, but it allows me to post to Instagram and share on Twitter and Facebook at the same time.

When looking at the Windows Store for apps, I immediately recognized PhotoGrid. It is a great tool to make collages across platforms, but that is all that it will allow me to do. If I want to add text to the collage or a watermark, I needed something else. Since I was in a pinch, I quickly located Picture Perfect.

Picture Perfect had more photo editing capabilities, many that I have not explored completely. In addition to this, I could add text that would allow me to write TheAngelForever.com. While the combination worked out nicely together, it still was not quite what I was looking for, especially with the watermarking.

Just as I was settling into these options, SelfishMom came to the rescue. She asked me if I had tried Phototastic. I had not tried it and immediately checked it out. Color me impressed. Not only were there amazing collage options, but I could use many different fun fonts and change the color and opacity for watermarking on the fly. Yes, this one app pretty much had everything that I was looking for all in one. Although it was already really late, I had to try one out. Once it was finished, I shared it as a thank you to Amy.

I have to admit that I am in love with this app and am curious about the full version of Phototastic. Just look at some of the items that I made for fun while sharing on Instagram.

While I am still learning the quirks to the Lumia 928’s camera (every phone has them), I now know more ways to creatively share them when I am out and about. Plus, I can even use them here on my blog if/when I need to.

It's Me

Disclosure: As a member of the Verizon Lifestyle Bloggers, I receive different devices to check out in my life. There is no other compensation. I am a long time Verizon customer, and all opinions are my own.

Categories:
Phone Apps Technology

Tenth Birthday Milestones

Posted on August 16, 2013 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL,

I sit here in disbelief. Ten years ago right now, I thought I had another two weeks before you would arrive and was trying to finish the latest Harry Potter book that had come out. I knew that once you were here, I would have little time to read. Of course, you decided to surprise me on the evening of August 16, 2003. When I stood up, heard a pop, and ran because I knew it was going to be time. The next twenty-four hours were a blur. I only remember seeing your sweet little face and falling so much in love.

How can you be turning ten already? I find it too hard to understand the concept of you being in the double digit numbers already. Even harder for me is to realize how much you have grown up this past year. Of course, a lot of that was not by choice. Circumstances happened and you had to learn to be an advocate for yourself. Though I wish some of the items never occurred, I am so proud of you and how you handled yourself. Though your new independence and tween attitude is hard to get used to, I will always love you no matter what.

Now let’s take a look back at the last year that has become a tradition of sorts.

Your ninth birthday was filled with all things related to Harry Potter. You loved all of the special LEGO books, the Hagrid’s Hut set, and the Hogwarts set that people gave you. You spent a lot of time building and rebuilding all of them while having nightly read aloud of the books with Daddy.

Fourth grade started and you were an amazing big brother. I think you may have been more excited about JSL being in the same building than anyone. You showed him our first day of school traditions and helped us to get him ready for the day. Meanwhile you could not wait to meet your substitute teacher who would be starting the year in your classroom. Little did we know that she would be an angel to our entire family to get you off to a fantastic start. (September 2012)

Much of the month of October was spent getting your Halloween costume ready. For the first time in many years, you knew exactly what you wanted even before we went to the store. It was no shock to us that you wanted to channel your inner Harry Potter. I have to admit, your glasses really made the entire thing work beautifully. (October 2012)

November started a stressful time with a lot of changes to your world. By the time Thanksgiving rolled around, we were all ready for some time away from school. The long weekend gave you time to play with your cousins, celebrate Chanukah a little early, and get some fun back into your life. (November 2012)

During part of November and December you were participating in Science Club once a week after school. You adored the experiments and items that you learned. I think it was thanks to this that I knew the camp we had to look into this summer. Along with celebrating Chanukah, you adored getting to go outside and actually play, build, and explore in the snow. (December 2012)

2013 began rather quietly. Behind the scenes I was working on items to help you at school. There were a lot of road blocks and I think you likely sensed my frustration. As you know, I did not give up and eventually we were successful in turning things around. I only wish I had raised my voice a little louder and not let some bullies stop me. As we go along this journey, you will see that I learn something new about parenting while we move forward. You and JSL also helped me to do some book reviews. Both of you loved when they involved using the iPad. (January 2013)

Snow, winter break, and power outages meant that we stayed inside a lot. We made forts and even tried something new that I found on Pinterest. You loved helping to create the slime and used it for hours over many days. Another favorite item was creating mazes with the bricks that you received for Chanukah from Aunt A and Uncle J. (February 2013)

Spring time was a bit rocky from time to time. You were so very frustrated with some items happening outside of home and nobody else was listening to us. Then you did something that I was so very proud of, you learned to use your words and voice to be an advocate for yourself. You told people why you were scared of certain things and in doing this helped to teach others about autism. Of course, while all of this was happening we also prepared for Passover and you had fun being silly during our Seder. (March 2013)

As the weather started to get warmer, things started to settle. It was so nice to see you happy and excited about things again. Seeing the smile on your face made me know that I was doing everything right as your advocate. One of the highlights for our family was going to the Albany Children’s Book Festival. You made getting author and illustrator autographs a sport. (April 2013)

As testing season at school began, we told you that we were not going to allow you to take them. This was hard for you to understand. In the end, you realized that it was not a punishment to you, rather we were looking out for you. One day you will understand more of why we were vocal about this topic. The rest of the time you were busy helping us to prepare for JSL’s birthday and making Mother’s Day special with my boys. (May 2013)

The end of the school year was filled with supporting teachers and educators. Dad and I made the decision to take you and JSL to the rally at the NYS Capitol. It was a powerful day seeing you there with your teachers. As we made our signs for the rally, we talked about the importance of learning and why your teachers need to have more freedoms to do what is needed in the classroom. In addition to this, we went on your field trip, got to pick strawberries, and went bowling a number of times. (June 2013)

The summer has been a time to get to something rather big. Just before Independence Day, you had your braces put on. You were amazing when they went on and have done so well following the rules. You also went to Science Camp for a week and had a blast. I think you were sad when it ended. We have also gone to visit a lot of science museums thanks to our membership at miSci. (July 2013)

I hate to admit to you, but this birthday of yours is making me extra sappy. Turning ten just seems like such a milestone and is hard for me to really imagine. It seems like only yesterday that you were starting kindergarten and now here you are going to fifth grade and your last year of elementary school in a few weeks.

Always know that I am standing behind you and cheering loudly as you not only show me, but everyone else in the world who you are and why they need to get to know the real NHL. Never let anyone tell you that something is impossible, if you put your heart into it you can make any and every dream come true.

Love,

Past B-day posts to NHL:

Categories:
birthday looking back milestone parenting

Making Granny Square Bags

Posted on August 15, 2013 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Crochet projects have been on my mind a lot this summer. Even before I finished making my Rainbow Afghan, I had something in the back of my mind for my next project. I knew that I wanted to do more granny squares since I really enjoy them. I can make them on the go and eventually work them together into something larger and more complex.

I searched on Ravelry, Pinterest, and YouTube for something that called my name. In the end, I decided to try a pattern called Inga’s Crocheted bag (pattern PDF here) using smaller versions of the Granny Square pattern from my blanket. I figured that I would make one in cotton yarn eventually, but wanted to test the pattern with left over yarn from the blanket that I had just made. So I made sixteen squares with the yarn scraps that I had. I was able to make half of those in the colors and half with the larger amount of black that remained. Once all of the squares were complete, I single crocheted them together into four strips.

Since I was not completely clear on the pattern and how to put it together, I went to YouTube. Yolanda Soto Lopez made a video tutorial of this bag that helped me to make sure I was on track. This video was very helpful and before I knew it the bag was coming together.

Next, I secured all of the strings on the inside and turned it right side out to see the side of the bag and pattern of the squares from all sides.

The second to last part of making the bag was to single crochet two straps to sew onto the bag. This was tedious to me since I am not a fan of crocheting straight lines, but I got it finished and put them onto the bag.

The bag is perfect for a purse. I just want to add in a liner and possibly a button to keep it closed. I am not a fan of sewing, so this may not be finished until after the kids go back to school. I did buy fabric for the inside since I found something that I fell in love with. Of course, I also found cotton yarn and made a rather large bag using the squares that are called for in the pattern and only have to complete the straps for that one.

Needless to say, I have already asked TechyDad if he will help me to figure out my next crochet project. This time, I want to do something 8-bit style using solid colored granny squares. So the geeks that we are need to do some math and work to make that happen before I can buy my crafting supplies.