Monday, March 5, 2012
Morning Routine Chart
I have a 5 year old. My 5 year old is easily distracted and has a difficult time remembering and focusing what she should be doing. I made her a chart for her morning routine to remind her. I put it in a glass frame and Velcro-ed a Dry Erase pen to the side.
I got the idea from Pinterest (of course). Here's the site.
This chart has worked wonders! My daughter wakes up, looks at her chart and starts on her tasks. She loves to mark each of them off with the pen. She hurries to do the tasks so she can. I love that I don't have to constantly be reminding her of what she needs to do every morning. I love that she's in control and can get everything done before she has to go to school. I love that she's ready when it's time to go and we're not rushing to get her clothes on 5 minutes before she has to leave. Finally, I love that I don't have to remember everything that needs to happen in the mornings. I often forget things like having the kids brush their teeth or put their dishes in the sink. This way it always gets done.
I got the idea from Pinterest (of course). Here's the site.
This chart has worked wonders! My daughter wakes up, looks at her chart and starts on her tasks. She loves to mark each of them off with the pen. She hurries to do the tasks so she can. I love that I don't have to constantly be reminding her of what she needs to do every morning. I love that she's in control and can get everything done before she has to go to school. I love that she's ready when it's time to go and we're not rushing to get her clothes on 5 minutes before she has to leave. Finally, I love that I don't have to remember everything that needs to happen in the mornings. I often forget things like having the kids brush their teeth or put their dishes in the sink. This way it always gets done.
Yummy Potato Salad
Here's my yummy potato salad recipe. CLICK HERE to print. Enjoy!
Potato Salad
10-12 med-large potatoes
6 eggs hard boiled chopped
1/2 cup celery finely chopped
8 green onions finely chopped
1/2 pickle finely chopped
1 cup+ bacon
1 1/2 cups miracle whip
1 1/2 tsp. mustard
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt (maybe 1/2 tsp. more to taste)
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. pepper
Peel potatoes and cut into 1 inch cubes. Place in pot and add water until it just covers the potatoes. Boil for 8-10 minutes until you can stick a fork in the potatoes and they feel soft. Drain and place on paper towel to cool (Don't rinse in cold water!). While potatoes are cooling, combine eggs, celery, green onion, pickle, and bacon. In another bowl combine miracle whip, mustard, apple cider vinegar, sugar, salt, paprika and pepper. After the potatoes are cooled, gently fold them with the other ingredients. Add dressing. If it seems to be too dry for you, add more miracle whip. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
Potato Salad
10-12 med-large potatoes
6 eggs hard boiled chopped
1/2 cup celery finely chopped
8 green onions finely chopped
1/2 pickle finely chopped
1 cup+ bacon
1 1/2 cups miracle whip
1 1/2 tsp. mustard
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt (maybe 1/2 tsp. more to taste)
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. pepper
To hard boil eggs, put them in cold water with 1/4 tsp of salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a medium boil. Boil for 10 min
then put into cold water as soon as they are done. Peel and chop.
Peel potatoes and cut into 1 inch cubes. Place in pot and add water until it just covers the potatoes. Boil for 8-10 minutes until you can stick a fork in the potatoes and they feel soft. Drain and place on paper towel to cool (Don't rinse in cold water!). While potatoes are cooling, combine eggs, celery, green onion, pickle, and bacon. In another bowl combine miracle whip, mustard, apple cider vinegar, sugar, salt, paprika and pepper. After the potatoes are cooled, gently fold them with the other ingredients. Add dressing. If it seems to be too dry for you, add more miracle whip. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
Date Night Ideas - Learn to Swing Dance
My husband and I started to learn how to swing dance for one of our date night activities. I've taken classes before but he never has. It was a lot of fun. There are a lot of different types of swing dances you can learn. If you're a beginner, I'd start with the East Coast Swing.
There are tons of YouTube videos you can watch that teach you how to swing dance. Here are a few to get you started.
There are SO many moves and fun things you can do with swing. These moves are just the beginner basics. After you get those down here are a few more fun moves to try.
The Pretzel
The Helicopter
Pretzels, Tunnel, Bull Rider, Four Leaf Clover
Find music that is 140-175 beats per minute. Here are some links to swing dance music ideas
http://www.flyinfootwork.com/guide/music/
http://www.dance-forums.com/music/genre/east_coast_swing/
Have fun!
There are tons of YouTube videos you can watch that teach you how to swing dance. Here are a few to get you started.
Beginner Swing Dance Moves
Partner Communication in Swing Dance | Basic Step |
|---|---|
Triple Step | Underarm Turn |
The Elbow Turn | He Turns She Turns |
The Sweetheart Move | The Barrel Roll |
Around the Horn | The Belt Loop Move |
Stop Turn | Stop Spin |
She Turns He Spins | Combine the Moves |
Intermediate Swing Dance Moves
The Pretzel
The Helicopter
Pretzels, Tunnel, Bull Rider, Four Leaf Clover
Music Ideas
Find music that is 140-175 beats per minute. Here are some links to swing dance music ideas
http://www.flyinfootwork.com/guide/music/
http://www.dance-forums.com/music/genre/east_coast_swing/
Have fun!
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Delicious Dinner Rolls
Here is my favorite dinner roll recipe. Pin It
Dinner Rolls
1 C. Hot Water (microwave water for 1 1/2 minutes to get it very hot)
2 C. Milk (also microwaved for 1 1/2 minutes or scald on stove top)
1/2 C. Sugar
1 Cube Margarine
Slice margarine into small slices and put in mixer (I use a Bosch mixer. It's wonderful). Add hot water and scalded milk. Add sugar. Let margarine melt and temperature to cool down a bit (don't let it get too cold).
Then add:
2 Eggs
1 Tbsp. Salt
1/3 C. Vital Gluten
2 Tbsp. Dough Enhancer
1 Tbsp. Yeast
Enough Flour to make dough
Add the eggs, salt, vital gluten and dough enhancer. Next add three cups of flour and put the yeast on top of the flour. I use Saf yeast. It is wonderful and makes the dough rise every time. Also make sure you use dough enhancer and vital gluten. It helps your yeast work better and keeps your bread moist and less crumbly.
Turn on your mixer. Add a cup of flour at a time (or less) until the dough starts to pull away from the sides. It should look something like this:
When the dough clears the sides of the bowl and is not too sticky let it mix for 6 minutes in the Bosch. Let rise until double.
Grease pans and form rolls. To form the rolls, pull all the corners of the dough down and pinch off the bottom. Like so:
I like to cook my rolls in a glass pyrex pan because it tends to make the rolls crispier on the sides and cooked through.
Let rolls rise again.
Bake at 375 degrees for 18-22 minutes (for me it's 18 minutes by my stove tends to cook 2-4 minutes faster than the recipe calls for). When done brush tops with butter and then turn upside down on a clean kitchen towel to cool.
CLICK HERE to print this recipe.
Dinner Rolls
1 C. Hot Water (microwave water for 1 1/2 minutes to get it very hot)
2 C. Milk (also microwaved for 1 1/2 minutes or scald on stove top)
1/2 C. Sugar
1 Cube Margarine
Slice margarine into small slices and put in mixer (I use a Bosch mixer. It's wonderful). Add hot water and scalded milk. Add sugar. Let margarine melt and temperature to cool down a bit (don't let it get too cold).
Then add:
2 Eggs
1 Tbsp. Salt
1/3 C. Vital Gluten
2 Tbsp. Dough Enhancer
1 Tbsp. Yeast
Enough Flour to make dough
Add the eggs, salt, vital gluten and dough enhancer. Next add three cups of flour and put the yeast on top of the flour. I use Saf yeast. It is wonderful and makes the dough rise every time. Also make sure you use dough enhancer and vital gluten. It helps your yeast work better and keeps your bread moist and less crumbly.
Turn on your mixer. Add a cup of flour at a time (or less) until the dough starts to pull away from the sides. It should look something like this:
When the dough clears the sides of the bowl and is not too sticky let it mix for 6 minutes in the Bosch. Let rise until double.
Grease pans and form rolls. To form the rolls, pull all the corners of the dough down and pinch off the bottom. Like so:
I like to cook my rolls in a glass pyrex pan because it tends to make the rolls crispier on the sides and cooked through.
Let rolls rise again.
Bake at 375 degrees for 18-22 minutes (for me it's 18 minutes by my stove tends to cook 2-4 minutes faster than the recipe calls for). When done brush tops with butter and then turn upside down on a clean kitchen towel to cool.
CLICK HERE to print this recipe.
How to Get a Newborn Shot with Black Background Part 2
I mentioned a few "what NOT to do's" in the previous post when taking pictures of a newborn on a black background. Let me illustrate them.
So to recap, when you are taking photos of a newborn on a black background you want your assistant to wear black and/or cover every part of them that is not black with a black cloth so that when you look through the viewfinder of your camera you see black immediately around every part of the newborn. So in the photo below you see two places where that didn't occur (by the head and by the foot). You can still Photoshop this out, but it's just so much faster and easier if you don't have to and look for this problem before shooting the picture.
The second major problem is to make sure you don't cover anything that shouldn't be covered. So also in the photo below you see part of the ball covered and part of the baby's leg covered.
Here's another example. The assistant was holding the baby's shoulders and neck. Unfortunately he was covering the shoulders with the black cloth in attempt to hide his hands.
What would have been an adorable photo if the shoulders were there, turned out like this after post production...very unnatural looking.
Now I'll demonstrate how to get another fun pose, again with the black background technique used in the previous post.
Have you assistant sit cross legged on the floor. Sit the baby on your assistant's leg, one hand supporting the neck, the other on the back.
As you can see in the photo there is black all around the baby which is good, but unfortunately part of the black cloth covered the ball, so that required a bit more Photoshop work for me.
Using the technique in the previous post, burn out the background. It should look something like this.
Then you just rotate the image, make it black and white, bring the color back into the ball, etc. Do whatever you want until you like the way it looks.
So to recap, when you are taking photos of a newborn on a black background you want your assistant to wear black and/or cover every part of them that is not black with a black cloth so that when you look through the viewfinder of your camera you see black immediately around every part of the newborn. So in the photo below you see two places where that didn't occur (by the head and by the foot). You can still Photoshop this out, but it's just so much faster and easier if you don't have to and look for this problem before shooting the picture.
The second major problem is to make sure you don't cover anything that shouldn't be covered. So also in the photo below you see part of the ball covered and part of the baby's leg covered.
Here's another example. The assistant was holding the baby's shoulders and neck. Unfortunately he was covering the shoulders with the black cloth in attempt to hide his hands.
What would have been an adorable photo if the shoulders were there, turned out like this after post production...very unnatural looking.
Now I'll demonstrate how to get another fun pose, again with the black background technique used in the previous post.
Have you assistant sit cross legged on the floor. Sit the baby on your assistant's leg, one hand supporting the neck, the other on the back.
As you can see in the photo there is black all around the baby which is good, but unfortunately part of the black cloth covered the ball, so that required a bit more Photoshop work for me.
Using the technique in the previous post, burn out the background. It should look something like this.
Then you just rotate the image, make it black and white, bring the color back into the ball, etc. Do whatever you want until you like the way it looks.
Photographer Secrets Revealed - How to Get a Newborn Shot with Black Background
Ever wonder how photographers get babies into crazy cute poses when they can't even hold up their heads?
In this post I'm going to show how I got this shot.
If you've had a newborn or seen a newborn, you know that there's no way you could stick a baby on a football and expect them to stay like that. The ball moves, the baby is like a rag doll...it doesn't work (and don't attempt it!).
Getting this shot was pretty simple actually. You'll need the following:
* A camera
* A newborn
* A football
* An assistant (don't try it by yourself!)
* A black piece of fabric (I just used 3-4 yards of black mirco suede from Joannes).
* A very large window/sliding glass door
* Photoshop or Elements
Have your assistant sit cross-legged next to the sliding glass door. Drape the black cloth over their legs and hands. Have them squeeze the football between their knees/legs. Have them carefully hold the newborn, one hand on the stomach, one hand always supporting the head. Place the baby on the ball and position the arms how you want them. Make sure that the black cloth is not covering anything you want to see (part of the football, the baby's shoulders etc.) Make sure you see at least a little black all the way around the baby (in other words make sure you don't see your assistance's skin right next to the baby's head etc., that there is at least some black between the two). Here is the shot I actually got.
Take your photo into Photoshop or Elements.
Grab your clone stamp tool.
Now hold down "alt" and click in a black area. Let go of alt and click on an area that is bright, so in this case I'd click on the white carpet or my assistant's white arms. Repeat these steps until all of the lightest areas are black (or at least pretty dark). To make your clone stamp tool circle smaller or larger push the bracket keys.
[ makes the brush smaller
] makes the brush bigger.
Here's what mine looks like after cloning out the light areas.
Now grab your burn tool. Make sure the Range is set to "shadows" and resolution is "100%".
Zoom into your photo (ctrl+). Make your brush size small when you go around the edges of the baby and football and bigger when you are burning out larger sections of the background. Again use the bracket keys to make your brush size smaller or bigger [ ].
Here's what your photo should look like after you've burned out the background.
Now you can do whatever you want to your photo. I just used a free action called "B&W Beauty" by Pioneer Woman.
That's all there is to it! Pretty easy. If you're not familiar at all with Photoshop you could just use the burn tool and keep burning until everything eventually turns black. The clone stamp tool makes things go a little faster.
One of the reasons why I love shooting with a black background is because it's so fast and easy to Photoshop afterwards, and when you have 4 kids demanding your time, fast and easy is the way to go!
To see more of my photography visit bonniesorensenphotography.com.
In this post I'm going to show how I got this shot.
If you've had a newborn or seen a newborn, you know that there's no way you could stick a baby on a football and expect them to stay like that. The ball moves, the baby is like a rag doll...it doesn't work (and don't attempt it!).
Getting this shot was pretty simple actually. You'll need the following:
* A camera
* A newborn
* A football
* An assistant (don't try it by yourself!)
* A black piece of fabric (I just used 3-4 yards of black mirco suede from Joannes).
* A very large window/sliding glass door
* Photoshop or Elements
Have your assistant sit cross-legged next to the sliding glass door. Drape the black cloth over their legs and hands. Have them squeeze the football between their knees/legs. Have them carefully hold the newborn, one hand on the stomach, one hand always supporting the head. Place the baby on the ball and position the arms how you want them. Make sure that the black cloth is not covering anything you want to see (part of the football, the baby's shoulders etc.) Make sure you see at least a little black all the way around the baby (in other words make sure you don't see your assistance's skin right next to the baby's head etc., that there is at least some black between the two). Here is the shot I actually got.
Take your photo into Photoshop or Elements.
Grab your clone stamp tool.
[ makes the brush smaller
] makes the brush bigger.
Here's what mine looks like after cloning out the light areas.
Now grab your burn tool. Make sure the Range is set to "shadows" and resolution is "100%".
Zoom into your photo (ctrl+). Make your brush size small when you go around the edges of the baby and football and bigger when you are burning out larger sections of the background. Again use the bracket keys to make your brush size smaller or bigger [ ].
Here's what your photo should look like after you've burned out the background.
Now you can do whatever you want to your photo. I just used a free action called "B&W Beauty" by Pioneer Woman.
That's all there is to it! Pretty easy. If you're not familiar at all with Photoshop you could just use the burn tool and keep burning until everything eventually turns black. The clone stamp tool makes things go a little faster.
One of the reasons why I love shooting with a black background is because it's so fast and easy to Photoshop afterwards, and when you have 4 kids demanding your time, fast and easy is the way to go!
To see more of my photography visit bonniesorensenphotography.com.
Cute Crochet Newsboy Hat
Buy one of these adorable newsboy hats in sizes newborn, 3-6 months or 6-12 months on Etsy.
Check out all the other cute crochet hats, headbands and hair bows made by Cute as a Button Little Boutique including this adorable frog hat.
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