So this morning I was sitting down to write my weekly e-mail that I send out to family. I picked up the camera, and pushed the "on" button to see if I had any pictures on it that needed to be loaded to the computer. The camera turned on, but the screen stayed black, and no lights came on. It was like it was off, except the lens was out and open. I tried to push different buttons, but got no response. I then tried turning it off. Still no response. My mind started going through the worst case scenario. The camera is dead, we won't be able to get out any pictures to anyone, we'll have to spend lots of money to get it fixed or buy a new one, what ever will we do?
So I went and woke up my husband. "The camera is broke!" I said. He groggily rubbed his eyes and said, "well it lasted 3 years." I was already in panic mode, "doesn't he care that the camera is busted. What are we going to do?" My mind was already going into "fix it" mode. I know that is generally the guy's response, but hey he wasn't responding, at least to my liking.
He took the batteries out, and I saw some lights blink. There was a response, something must still work. He tried the buttons again, nothing. I suggested putting in some different batteries, and see if it will work. So we hunted and finally found some, and guess what, it worked. Yeah!!!
Now my pessimistic attitude says, "it's already fritzed out, it will die before we know it and we will be with out a camera." But then the optimistic side kicks in and says, "hey at least it is working now, and might work for a long time."
Anyway, I noticed there were no pictures on the camera, and so I set it aside, and turned to the computer. I opened our Picasa, to see what pictures I had from earlier in the week. And can you believe it, all that Picasa was reading, was broken images. "NO!" my head screamed, "now all of our pictures on the computer are goners too!" We had backed up a few months ago, but nothing since.
I pointed it out to my husband, who coolly responded, that it just looked like Picasa was re-indexing my pictures. "Of course it is re indexing my pictures, it can't find any of them." my mind said.
It is at this point that I should have realized, that I wasn't thinking rationally anymore. My husband is a computer programmer, so he understands more than I do about how computer programs work. I don't usually question what he says about computers. But if I'm not thinking rationally, like I would notice that, hello.
So I opened my folders looking to see if it was Picasa, or if the pictures were really gone. They were all where they were supposed to be. I asked my husband if I should uninstall and reinstall Picasa. He told me just to close it and restart it. So I closed Picasa, and reopened it, and what do you know, it worked. All of our stuff showed up right where it was supposed to be. Silly me :)
Showing posts with label computer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label computer. Show all posts
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Monday, December 10, 2007
Can't have Christmas without Snow
Cinderella was sick this weekend. So much so, that she missed church on Sunday. Going to church is one of her favorite things. Particularly nursery. (The class for children aged 18 months to 3 years). Daddy stayed home with her, and Guy and I went to church. Later in the day, I thought I would help her Sunday feel more like Sunday.
On Sundays in our home, we try to behave differently than we do the other days of the week, and we try to do things that help us remember our Savior, and Father in Heaven. So I suggested watching a movie. Well of course she was all for that, but when I pulled one off the shelf that wasn't one of the standards, she wasn't incredibly happy. The move was "Mr. Krueger's Christmas." A film staring Jimmy Stewart, and featuring the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I tried to pacify her by telling her it is a Christmas movie. She said "NO! I DON'T WANT TO WATCH THE CHRISTMAS MOVIE. I DON'T WANT CHRISTMAS!"
I didn't respond to this the best. I have to admit, I was tired and emotional, and frustrated with my daughter. Well after some thought and prayer, I finally got her to sit down and read stories with me.
Well I kept thinking on this incident, and decided that she was tried with "Christmas" because all she understood about Christmas, is that it is something that has been changing a lot of things, like movies, and music, etc. from stuff that she likes, to stuff she isn't really familiar with, and she was tired of it.
So then we used our Little People Nativity, to tell her the Christmas story and try to explain what Christmas is.
Then this morning, she corrected my assumption. She found the case for "Mr. Krueger's Christmas" and asked me what it was. I told her it was the case for the DVD that was in the computer, and I took the DVD out to show her. She then told me "Cinderella doesn't want to watch that movie."
I told her, "you don't have to."
And then she said, "We don't have any snow. Grandma, has lots of snow."
I asked her, "so we can't have Christmas without snow?"
And she said, "No. We need snow."
Well for Christmas this year, we are going to Grandma's house, in the state with the slogan, "The Greatest Snow on Earth".
So hopefully for Cinderellas sake, we will have snow on Christmas.
On Sundays in our home, we try to behave differently than we do the other days of the week, and we try to do things that help us remember our Savior, and Father in Heaven. So I suggested watching a movie. Well of course she was all for that, but when I pulled one off the shelf that wasn't one of the standards, she wasn't incredibly happy. The move was "Mr. Krueger's Christmas." A film staring Jimmy Stewart, and featuring the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I tried to pacify her by telling her it is a Christmas movie. She said "NO! I DON'T WANT TO WATCH THE CHRISTMAS MOVIE. I DON'T WANT CHRISTMAS!"
I didn't respond to this the best. I have to admit, I was tired and emotional, and frustrated with my daughter. Well after some thought and prayer, I finally got her to sit down and read stories with me.
Well I kept thinking on this incident, and decided that she was tried with "Christmas" because all she understood about Christmas, is that it is something that has been changing a lot of things, like movies, and music, etc. from stuff that she likes, to stuff she isn't really familiar with, and she was tired of it.
So then we used our Little People Nativity, to tell her the Christmas story and try to explain what Christmas is.
Then this morning, she corrected my assumption. She found the case for "Mr. Krueger's Christmas" and asked me what it was. I told her it was the case for the DVD that was in the computer, and I took the DVD out to show her. She then told me "Cinderella doesn't want to watch that movie."
I told her, "you don't have to."
And then she said, "We don't have any snow. Grandma, has lots of snow."
I asked her, "so we can't have Christmas without snow?"
And she said, "No. We need snow."
Well for Christmas this year, we are going to Grandma's house, in the state with the slogan, "The Greatest Snow on Earth".
So hopefully for Cinderellas sake, we will have snow on Christmas.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
G is for Guy Smiley
So I had my sister-in-law visit us for a week, and she decided Guy Smiley was a good name for my baby. So between that, and reading a few other blogs of people I know, I decided I want to include pictures of my children in my blog, but I am going to use pseudonyms for them, for security reasons.
Anyway so I will from here out refer to my son as Guy Smiley, possibly shortened to Guy or Smiley, and we will call my daughter Cinderella, because she wants to be her when she grows up, and talks about her dreams coming true.
Guy is one of the smiley-est kids I have ever had acquaintance with. He is perpetually happy. Unless he has a need; he is hungry, needs a diaper change, wants in his pj's (yes my 7 1/2 month old cries to get in his pajamas, and has pretty much his whole life), wants out of his swing, play yard, crib, or highchair, or gets hurt he is just plain smiley.
Guy is anxious to grow up, and be on the go. He was scooting at 3 1/2 months. Crawling on the day he turned 6 months old, standing up fairly well (mostly assisted, but unassisted for 5-10 sec.) all ready and he is only 7 1/2 months old. I figure he will be walking by the time he is 9 months old. He loves to play with his sister, and get into things he shouldn't, like the cords under the computer desk. But he is so much fun. I am glad to have him in my family.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
K is for Kwala
About a year and a half ago, shortly after my daughter had turned one, she started showing interest in the computer and playing the computer. Well we don't have any kid friendly computer games, and our finances were tight at the time and so I did a Google search to see what I could find on line. I tried fisher prices web site, but had difficulty getting the activities to work so I continued looking elsewhere. Then I came across a website called Up To Ten Kids. This website is full of songs, games, and activities, specialized for children under the age of 10.
They have 2 sections. One for kids under 6 and one for kids between 6 and 10. I haven't explored the older section yet, due to the age of my children, but the younger section has become a favorite in my home.
It features a dog named Boowa and a koala named Kwala. It is an educational site, but it is also entertaining and fun. Almost any time I sit down to the computer, if my daughter is in the room she comes up to me and says "I need to play Kwala."
At the age she is right now it requires me to sit with her and control the mouse, but she really enjoys seeing what happens on the screen. They have many different actives on their free site and even more available. But if you are not wanting to spend money they still have a lot available and more released ever month.
So other than having my daughter request it any time I sit down to the computer and making it hard for me to get anything else done. I really enjoy this website. If you have been searching for computer games friendly to young children I highly recommend this site.
They have 2 sections. One for kids under 6 and one for kids between 6 and 10. I haven't explored the older section yet, due to the age of my children, but the younger section has become a favorite in my home.
It features a dog named Boowa and a koala named Kwala. It is an educational site, but it is also entertaining and fun. Almost any time I sit down to the computer, if my daughter is in the room she comes up to me and says "I need to play Kwala."
At the age she is right now it requires me to sit with her and control the mouse, but she really enjoys seeing what happens on the screen. They have many different actives on their free site and even more available. But if you are not wanting to spend money they still have a lot available and more released ever month.
So other than having my daughter request it any time I sit down to the computer and making it hard for me to get anything else done. I really enjoy this website. If you have been searching for computer games friendly to young children I highly recommend this site.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
W is for weaning
So in my family right now there seems to be a lot of weaning going on. And before you get the wrong idea, no I am not weaning my 5 month old from his bottle yet, unless you count the fact that we have started rice cereal.
Most of the weaning involves my toddler. Another way to say it is we are trying to break habits, or one case, she is breaking a habit or routine.
So I will start with what she is doing. She has recently decided that she doesn't need naps anymore. This is difficult for me, because I still need naps, and I can't take one if she doesn't. She is down to about 2 naps a week. And don't get me wrong I totally appreciate those two naps. In fact I couldn't be writing this right now if she wasn't taking one of her two naps for this week, right now.
We are also in the process of weaning her from her "plug" or pacifier. This is one that is hard for me, and I have tried different ways different times and have yet to succeed. However right now we are trying a replacement method. She uses her plug as an item of comfort, so we are trying to displace that affection and comfort to another item. We bought her two stuffed bears that are identical. One is only for when she is taking a nap or going to bed, the times that she is allowed her plug. The other one is for when we are in the car, a time when she seeks comfort in asking for fruit snacks (another habit we are trying to break at the moment.) I'm hoping she will develop an attachment to the bear and then we can gradually remove the plugs and fruit snacks.
The last item that we are trying to wean right now is movies. If you read my "M is for movies" post you noticed that she watches a lot of movies. I decided she watches too many movies. I decided that instead of a movie a day (on weekdays) I would cut it down to one movie per week, plus special occasions. What I didn't count on were withdrawal symptoms. The first day that I tried no movies, I found myself craving TV, and movies. I think my daughter was having similar problems. She told me probably 6-10 times that day that she "needed to watch a movie". I didn't give in, however I decided that going from a movie a day to a movie a week in one shot was maybe too crazy of a move. So I have altered my plan for the moment. Right now I am trying to cut it down to a movie every other day on weekdays and none on weekends unless it was a special occasion. Once we have adapted to that schedule then maybe it will be twice a week, and then down to once a week.
So I don't know if it is my timing is bad, or that I am trying to do too much at one time, but my daughter has also lately become incredibly clingy. She has always been an outgoing independent child, but now if I go somewhere, even somewhere that is familiar and the people are familiar, she doesn't leave my side for very long. And she is clingy at home too. She always seems to need me right there doing what she is doing, and need my very attention. If I am on the floor paying attention to the baby, she will climb on my back, if I am at the computer she comes and pulls at my arm. If I am in the kitchen, she is underfoot constantly.
So what I want to ask all of you is, do you have any advice for a struggling parent in this situation. Am I doing too much at once do I need to cut back on all that is being cut out of her life at one time? Is there some way that I can pay her attention, and have her take some "own" time too?
Most of the weaning involves my toddler. Another way to say it is we are trying to break habits, or one case, she is breaking a habit or routine.
So I will start with what she is doing. She has recently decided that she doesn't need naps anymore. This is difficult for me, because I still need naps, and I can't take one if she doesn't. She is down to about 2 naps a week. And don't get me wrong I totally appreciate those two naps. In fact I couldn't be writing this right now if she wasn't taking one of her two naps for this week, right now.
We are also in the process of weaning her from her "plug" or pacifier. This is one that is hard for me, and I have tried different ways different times and have yet to succeed. However right now we are trying a replacement method. She uses her plug as an item of comfort, so we are trying to displace that affection and comfort to another item. We bought her two stuffed bears that are identical. One is only for when she is taking a nap or going to bed, the times that she is allowed her plug. The other one is for when we are in the car, a time when she seeks comfort in asking for fruit snacks (another habit we are trying to break at the moment.) I'm hoping she will develop an attachment to the bear and then we can gradually remove the plugs and fruit snacks.
The last item that we are trying to wean right now is movies. If you read my "M is for movies" post you noticed that she watches a lot of movies. I decided she watches too many movies. I decided that instead of a movie a day (on weekdays) I would cut it down to one movie per week, plus special occasions. What I didn't count on were withdrawal symptoms. The first day that I tried no movies, I found myself craving TV, and movies. I think my daughter was having similar problems. She told me probably 6-10 times that day that she "needed to watch a movie". I didn't give in, however I decided that going from a movie a day to a movie a week in one shot was maybe too crazy of a move. So I have altered my plan for the moment. Right now I am trying to cut it down to a movie every other day on weekdays and none on weekends unless it was a special occasion. Once we have adapted to that schedule then maybe it will be twice a week, and then down to once a week.
So I don't know if it is my timing is bad, or that I am trying to do too much at one time, but my daughter has also lately become incredibly clingy. She has always been an outgoing independent child, but now if I go somewhere, even somewhere that is familiar and the people are familiar, she doesn't leave my side for very long. And she is clingy at home too. She always seems to need me right there doing what she is doing, and need my very attention. If I am on the floor paying attention to the baby, she will climb on my back, if I am at the computer she comes and pulls at my arm. If I am in the kitchen, she is underfoot constantly.
So what I want to ask all of you is, do you have any advice for a struggling parent in this situation. Am I doing too much at once do I need to cut back on all that is being cut out of her life at one time? Is there some way that I can pay her attention, and have her take some "own" time too?
Thursday, August 23, 2007
M is for Movies
So my husband and I decided that we didn't care to have TV in our home, because we don't feel that there is much that is broadcast that we would care to watch or have our children watch. We decided however that movies are OK, and so we have a passle of movies, mostly Disney, that we play on our computer and that is our media center.
Well our current movie collection started maybe about a year and a half ago, when we purchased a Veggie Tales DVD. Our daughter, who was one at the time, loved it and requested it over and over. Unfortunately at least part of this time period was in my first trimester of my second pregnancy. So once I got past the majority of the nausea period, this video would still make me nauseous. In fact it still does. Isn't it amazing how those kinds of connections work? Anyway, I developed a strong desire to build up our movie collection with other films that our daughter would like, so that I wouldn't have to watch that one repeatedly.
We now have at least 18 DVD's that she watches on a regular basis. Now I know that for some people that really isn't that big of a collection. But for us it seems huge. Plus we have some other movies that she isn't as enthralled with.
Anyway, Monday through Friday, there is usually at least one movie shown in our house. And unfortunately the number watched per day has escalated since our son was born, and I find that sometimes the only time I can get anything done is to turn on a movie.
So now I have created a monster. I have a two year old who quotes movies left and right. She can sing many Disney tunes, and can identify a movie just from you humming the tune to one of the songs in it. And she tends to throw quite the tantrum if I tell her no when she asks to watch a movie.
Well yesterday, I realized an even bigger problem. She doesn't know what things aren't the best to repeat. Now we try to not have any movies that have swearing in them. But almost every show has words like; stupid, idiot, bozo, etc. Now I know these aren't the worst words in the world, and that she will eventually learn them anyway. But I don't want my children to learn that calling people names is all right.
I'm sure that this is a battle that most parents have to face at some point in time or another. So I want to know, how do you, or would you handle this situation, if faced with it? How do we teach our children that not all the things they hear in the world around them are worth repeating?
Also what kind of indoor activities can you think of to entertain a 2 1/2 year old?
Well our current movie collection started maybe about a year and a half ago, when we purchased a Veggie Tales DVD. Our daughter, who was one at the time, loved it and requested it over and over. Unfortunately at least part of this time period was in my first trimester of my second pregnancy. So once I got past the majority of the nausea period, this video would still make me nauseous. In fact it still does. Isn't it amazing how those kinds of connections work? Anyway, I developed a strong desire to build up our movie collection with other films that our daughter would like, so that I wouldn't have to watch that one repeatedly.
We now have at least 18 DVD's that she watches on a regular basis. Now I know that for some people that really isn't that big of a collection. But for us it seems huge. Plus we have some other movies that she isn't as enthralled with.
Anyway, Monday through Friday, there is usually at least one movie shown in our house. And unfortunately the number watched per day has escalated since our son was born, and I find that sometimes the only time I can get anything done is to turn on a movie.
So now I have created a monster. I have a two year old who quotes movies left and right. She can sing many Disney tunes, and can identify a movie just from you humming the tune to one of the songs in it. And she tends to throw quite the tantrum if I tell her no when she asks to watch a movie.
Well yesterday, I realized an even bigger problem. She doesn't know what things aren't the best to repeat. Now we try to not have any movies that have swearing in them. But almost every show has words like; stupid, idiot, bozo, etc. Now I know these aren't the worst words in the world, and that she will eventually learn them anyway. But I don't want my children to learn that calling people names is all right.
I'm sure that this is a battle that most parents have to face at some point in time or another. So I want to know, how do you, or would you handle this situation, if faced with it? How do we teach our children that not all the things they hear in the world around them are worth repeating?
Also what kind of indoor activities can you think of to entertain a 2 1/2 year old?
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
H is for Happiness
I think that happiness is something that you can always have if you so choose. Yes bad things will happen, and sometimes life will be hard. Sometimes your child will color on something like the computer monitor, or you will have to get up in the middle of the night to bath a child and change the sheets on their bed. Sometimes you might lose someone you love, or get in a car accident. You may lose your job, etc. I could go on listing all kinds of negative things, some more so than others, but all of them can have the tendency to seem overwhelming when they occur.
But you can be happy through it all. It may be hard, but it is possible. Happiness is a choice.
I was thinking about this this morning as things weren't going the way I would choose to have them go. I decided that I wouldn't let life get me down. I would be happy. And you know what, I am. I might be overwhelmed and tired, but I am happy.
Life is wonderful, I am so blessed. I have a wonderful husband who loves me, I have two adorable children, who light up my life. I have my basic needs provided for; a place to live, food to eat, clothes to wear.
Decide today to be happy. Decide that you will enjoy your life. Take time and count your blessings. That is what I have done.
As a note on how the potty-training is going. I decided to let my daughter give me the cues and I will respond to them. Yesterday, she disappeared for a while and when I went to check on her I found her sitting on the potty. She didn't go, but she did it all on her own. It is progress.
But you can be happy through it all. It may be hard, but it is possible. Happiness is a choice.
I was thinking about this this morning as things weren't going the way I would choose to have them go. I decided that I wouldn't let life get me down. I would be happy. And you know what, I am. I might be overwhelmed and tired, but I am happy.
Life is wonderful, I am so blessed. I have a wonderful husband who loves me, I have two adorable children, who light up my life. I have my basic needs provided for; a place to live, food to eat, clothes to wear.
Decide today to be happy. Decide that you will enjoy your life. Take time and count your blessings. That is what I have done.
As a note on how the potty-training is going. I decided to let my daughter give me the cues and I will respond to them. Yesterday, she disappeared for a while and when I went to check on her I found her sitting on the potty. She didn't go, but she did it all on her own. It is progress.
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