OC Family - Moms. Kids. Life. - (Mommy iMoments)

The story behind the first days of kindergarten...

Tue, 28 Sep 2010 08:48:00 GMT

It's not news to any seasoned mom out there that no matter how prepared we are to document the lives of our rapidly growing children, we're going to miss some things. Although I'm armed with charged cameras all around the house, often the story I want to tell unfolds at the exact moment that I have nothing but my iPhone.

Here is CJ on his first day of kindergarten. It was the usual story of mom taking child to school, choking back tears, fighting the urge to make a name tag and pull up a chair right next to her child once she enters the classroom. Likewise, child faced with nerves, perhaps fear, and excitement--but demonstrating an incredibly annoyed attitude when faced with being asked to pose in front of eight to ten various scenes. I mean, come on....really? Am I asking that much?

But the real story begins the next day at pick-up. With no Canon Mark II charged at my hip, I walk up toward the classroom to the sound of a child crying. And like any other finely attuned mom, I know--though I can't see him and I'm 50 yards away--that it is my child. When he rushes to hug me, he is blazing hot, running a high fever. After a piggy back ride to the car, he's asleep before we can even leave the parking lot.

He missed the next four days of kinder. But, in retrospect, he had a true kinder experience that I will remember to tell him about once he's grown. And although I feel slightly guilty for snapping a photo when he's sick, it's a known fact that no matter how wild and mischievous your child may be, they all look like angels when they're sleeping!

Filmmaking doesn’t get more indie than this

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 12:18:00 GMT

It was a few generations ago that I got a new iphone.
To my grandma, that sounds like 90 years or so. And that is how it felt for me. Watching all the new iphones come out with their fancy new tricks. Now that I have my new iphone 4, I have been dying to try out a few new applications that can only work with that new operating system. The first: imovie.

Familiar with the imovie application on my computer, I was excited to watch the complex program fit into the format of a mobile phone.
Cost: $5. This is a lot for someone who likes to stick to the free or low-cost applications, but I knew it had the potential to change my life. (That is sarcasm there.)

First off, the simplicity of the program resembles the full-sized application on my computer. Drag and drop clips. Double-tap to edit those clips with titles, and click on the boxes between clips to change transitions. Period. Soooooo easy. Second, have I mentioned that this is HD? High Definition recording and editing. On your phone. This application would have had stellar reviews, five stars to be exact, had it not been for one small problem. CRASHING! After I took the time to edit the video (probably 30 minutes total), when I went to export it, it crashed. The video was ruined. Trying to salvage that 30 minutes of my life cost me another hour researching online how to get it back. As it turns out, crashing is a common problem of this application. One they claim has been fixed with newer versions. (My version is the latest.)

Eventually I deleted the program, video and all, and reinstalled it. It is working fine now.

Laguna Beach: on an iphone from Noel on Vimeo.

Watching all this, my brother asked, when would a person need to have a full editing program on your phone?Hmmm, I don't have an answer for the "need" part of that question. Because who really "needs" another pair of HUDSON jeans? As long as we're dreaming, I'd actually like to have a full editing program on my phone. Make one or two videos a week waiting in your car in the school pick-up line, and at the end of the year you've got yourself a whole dvd of adorable videos.

Ramona and Beezus, an iMoment review:

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 16:34:00 GMT

Last week I took my lil' five-and-a-halfer to see Ramona and Beezus, a film full of imagination and wonder. My motivation to go see it would have to be the fact that after teaching elementary for ten years, by far the most popular author in my classroom was Beverly Cleary. I loved her books, too, and was so excited to see a movie made of one of them--finally! So, off we went, CVS licorice tucked away in my purse.

I can pretty much measure my son's enjoyment of a movie in direct correlation with the number of times he asks to go to the bathroom during it. So when I report that this was a three-trip movie, understand that it held little interest for him. There were a few moments of big eyes and cracking up, but for the most part, this movie had a slower plot line and fewer potty jokes than he would have liked in a movie.

For me, it was worth all the shushing and bathroom trips just for the chance to see this adorable movie. Ramona is CJ. CJ is Ramona. The way her imagination takes over her world and her reality reminded me of CJ's day-to-day life. We are forever turning everyday things into grandiose schemes and scenarios. In the beginning of the movie Ramona imagines the monkey bars are spanning across a deep canyon, and she must get to the other side. It was cleverly animated, and set the perfect tone for her character for the rest of the movie. I'm pretty sure Cj has done that exact same thing.

At one point in the movie, she goes to school with her pajamas on under her clothing. I'm pretty sure I remember him trying to get away with that ten times last year.

Perhaps it reminded me too much of CJ, and I was too closely connected to the sweet characters. Ramona as a "pest" was really just a curious and creative individual finding boundaries in her adult-centered world. For there were no doggie deaths and no real tragedies, yet I was pretty much crying throughout the last half of the movie. It was a real tear jerker. I absolutely loved it, but maybe it wasn't made for a Ramona. Ramona had already turned the theater into a licorice construction zone.

An iphone picture of my Ramona:

Shoes, a favorite subject of mine.

Sat, 26 Jun 2010 15:27:00 GMT

I am slightly obsessed with shoes. There seem to be almost as many pictures of CJ's shoes on my phone as his face. When I look back at pictures of his shoes, it reminds me so much about the day and the fun we had.

Shoes are a big part of our life for the following reasons:
•We love to wear rainboots on a sunny day.
•If we forget to put them on our feet, we can conveniently get carried piggy back.
•We love our matching converse slip-ons, but somehow ONE of the smaller sized ones disappeared at Chuck E. Cheese.
•Some of our favorite places in the world don't require them. (beaches, parks and friends houses)
•We dirty them so much it is hard to tell what they even are.

What NOT to wear....

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 15:11:00 GMT

I guess there are a few factors why I let my kid dress like lady gaga's offspring.

Part of me doesn't want to stifle creativity. Coming from a mom who let me PAINT on the walls of my room, I want to be able to foster that same outlet of expression of self.
Part of me doesn't want the fight at 6:30m in the morning. I mean, who really cares that we wear a batman suit to the grocery store. It must be entertaining to someone out there in the cereal isle.
And then there is this other part, that let go so long ago, and now realizes that it is almost too late to turn back and start making dress rules.

So instead of my kid slowly realizing what is acceptable dress. And instead of getting tired of testing the waters of what counts as a proper outfit, he is slowly headed the other direction.

Here is an example of how I Iet it get OUT OF CONTROL

1. pants on backwards, well,who could really tell anyway?
2. sweats under jeans, no one can see that, right?
3. fireman boots, you never know when a sudden downpour is on its way
4. jacket, backwards too, cause it just makes more sense if the pants are already backwards, right?
5. (not pictured: dodger jersey under jacket, and shark socks from old navy. both expressing a sporty/toughness in this five-year old.

Well, here's to a wonderful kindergarten year coming this fall. Can anyone say uniform??

Shake it like a poloroid picture...

Fri, 28 May 2010 10:35:00 GMT

an iphoto app review

If you are looking for an application on your phone that can be used to make your pictures look cool, without much brain power, "shake it photo" is the program for you. It is a one step editing application that gives the super duper retro style and feel to your photos in one easy click. (see photos below)

And because it is memorial weekend, and some of you may be headed south, I am recommending not only a photo application for you phone, but an amazing museum for your young children. This San Diego museum takes creativity to the next level. But be prepared to get painted on, chalk on your hands, clay in your fingernails and for a resistance equal to say the French, on ever leaving this place.

Have a wonderful Holiday weekend!

Inspiration needed

Mon, 24 May 2010 10:42:00 GMT

As a working mom, I find that I am often drained of all energy and inspiration after say, ten o'clock in the morning. Filling out kindergarten forms, dropping of dry cleaning, getting kids out of bed, and doing breakfast dishes are a few of the things that can drain me. I am often distributing, and rarely take the time to collect.

But I am going to argue, not that any one is arguing with me, and say that collecting is very important. Weather you collect from that sweet kiss from your kid as you take a moment to appreciate it, or appreciate the joy and beauty around you, these things can fill up your inspiration jar.

A walk or run is my favorite me time, to soak in the beauty and silence that comes when there is no five-year old around to shout it away.

And that is where I found my imoment this morning. Not sure if the sky or the wild flowers are what inspired me...... but I am thankful I had my iphone with me.

And since this is officially imoment monday, share your inspiration here.

If you do not have a blog, and would like to share, send your phone picture to noel@boshimages.com. I will share them later this week.

Mommy say whaaaat?

Fri, 21 May 2010 10:22:00 GMT

When we were about to have our first kid, there were some phrases I was prepared for. Like, I knew I would probably someday say, "Nice try!", "Pick up your Legos!", and, of course, "Pleeeeeease, eat just one more pea." I get those--words every mom says. But here's a Top Five countdown of things I wasn't prepared for:

5. "Climb down from that car, we don't know them!"
4. "Drop that...quick. It's poop." (muttered sideways from the corner out of the mouth
3. "Don't you eat one more bite of that dog food, young man."
2. "Keep that gum in your mouth!"

And the number one phrase: 1. "Yuk, what a mess. Oh, wait--let me take a picture first!"

imoment monday

Mon, 10 May 2010 09:55:00 GMT

My son, CJ, defines shortcut: An alternative way from point A to point B that involves adventure, exploration, difficulty, and or rad-ness. Why use the sidewalk when you can go up a greenbelt, around five or six trees, over a drainpipe, through bushes as big as you are, and take five times as long as it would walking with your mama?

With my camera phone, it does give me the tool I need to take a deep breath, and refrain from yelling at him to hurry. My patience is found in the ability to take that moment in, and take a picture. This imoment saved me from losing my cool, and realizing that it isn't where we end up that makes life so interesting, it is how we get there.

(This picture was edited using PS mobile for my iphone. After toning down saturation as far as it could go converting it to black and white, I toned it so it had that sepia feel. The edges were blurred with vignette blur.)

Please share your imoments here. After all, I have dubbed this as imoment Monday over here at OC family, and we would love to see the imoments you have captured on your phone.

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PS Mobile, a review

Sat, 08 May 2010 10:48:00 GMT

If I take a picture on my iphone, it is edited on my iphone. That means, no opening it up in Photoshop, and fixing and changing around. I mean, what is the point of making it simple, if it isn't…..well, simple? So I am going to highlight some of my favorite iphone picture applications that I feel are a must for taking great imoment pictures.

The first application I will review is PS Mobile. Unlike the hundreds of dollars you can spend on Photoshop, this image editing program will not break your wallet. Yeah, not that a few bucks would set you back, but save it for your next latte, 'cause this application is FREE.

Here is an application that can help make your iphone images go from now to WOW! We know that your iphone was not equipped with the accuracy in exposure that you might have hoped for, and with that, and ten other major functions, PS mobile will help you out. The best part? It is a FREE application. (Not sure if I mentioned that yet or not.)

So first, decide if you are going to take the photo, or choose one from your library of pictures you have already taken. Then, make sure you are happy with your exposure, and with a simple tap of your finger, you can make it brighter.

Cropping the image is almost always next. And if you want to get crazy, the effects that are built in can turn your photo into art.

So, here is an example of an image that I edited in Photoshop mobile:

Before

After

Once edited, you have the option to upload that image straight to Facebook or Twitpic.

So, have fun playing around with your images, and come Monday, hopefully we will have a few of you brave enough to share them here at OC family.

imoment, defined.

Tue, 04 May 2010 09:33:00 GMT

I am obsessed.

Obsessed with images, pictures, cameras, taking pictures--anything that remotely has a connection to any of the aforementioned terms.

Luckily, I find comfort knowing that I'm not the only one out there, right?

(Awkward silence)

Because of my obsession, I am the proud owner of 11 cameras, listed in the order they were acquired:
1 Nikon F150 film camera
1 underwater film camera
1 Canon 5d (back-up work camera)
Olympus underwater point and shoot camera
1 Canon 5d Mark II (work camera)
Canon G9 point and shoot hybrid (my term, don't quote me)
Flip (for video)
2 Film cameras (decorative purposes only)
Fuji Instimax (for fun)
iphone 3G (the camera used daily for capturing all those what I like to call "in-between moments" or, for short, imoments!)

And it is that camera alone that I will use to post images to this blog. Although all my cameras get a chance to shine, the camera that single-handedly captures every unplanned photo session is my iphone 3G.

Likewise, I encourage you to find the joy in those everyday imoments, the ones that are simply your everyday life-- unplanned, unprepared special glimpses into your world today.

I would love to see your imoments as well, so when you get a chance, (and I set it up) leave your own blog entry right here, along with the picture from your phone that captures your memorable life!

(Pictures taken with the other cameras are found here, and here)