A few awesome iPhone apps for fun family pictures!

by Karen Lara mentioned a while back that her DSLR camera is broken (and I am really sad about that for her!) but all is not lost. As she mentioned, her iPhone has a pretty awesome camera - and it's true; she and I have the same phone. But, in addition to the great camera, there are some pretty awesome apps that can enhance your pictures and make fun collages right on your phone. Easy peasy! (Though I use an iPhone, some of these may also be available on other phones also.)

I have recently aquired a number of said apps that go far beyond the filters of Instagram. (Not that Instagram isn't a great app, but its uses are definitely limited.) Some are free. Some are paid. All of them combined will not cost you as much as a new point and shoot, let alone a new DSLR.

Before we start, though, a quick phoneography pro tip for you: Take your shots and save them to your photo library unfiltered and uncropped first. Use either the native camera app or something like Camera+ (which I honestly haven't gotten into like some, but I hear people rave about it) that allows you to go unfiltered. That will give you lots of opportunities to play with your pictures and you'll have one image that isn't going to be dated by a filter too.

I think most people know about Instagram, but just in case you don't yet, it's like a mini social network. You can connect with Facebook friends and  share photos to Twitter and Facebook. Followers can like or comment on your photos and you on theirs. It's great for quick sharing.

If you want more pizazz in your photos, here are a few other apps I'd suggest:

Snapseed - I've heard it called the Photoshop of the iPhone. It's pretty good. Nice filters and control with how intense you make them, as well as a few basic editing options. You can give your photos a nice little touch up on the fly without downloading to your photo editing software on your computer.

100 Cameras - This one was built by Trey Ratcliff, a photographer I've followed for a while now. It's my fun app to play with. There are so many filters and they're quite unique to anything else you'll find in other apps and it gives you full control over the intensity. You can even apply some funky textures to photos. It's not always ideal for photos of people, but you can have a lot of fun with objects and landscape photos.

Once you've edited and applied any filters your photo(s), you may want to have more fun with it! There are some great apps to create collages and add text to your photos right on your phone.

Diptic - This is a basic collage app with all square/rectangular layouts. You can manipulate the layouts to an extent and you can reposition pictures so that it the portion of the image showing is what you want.

Over - Have you ever wanted to add some text to a photo rather than just providing context in a status update with it? Over is fun for adding in text. There are a multitude of fun and funky fonts to choose from, as well as lots of colours and control over size. You can adjust the tint of the photo so your text pops more or to achieve a certain effect, but it's best to pull in the photo as you want it. Over is not an editing tool.

FuzelPro - This is my current favorite collage/text overlay tool. The collage layouts are super funky. You get a lot more than Diptic provides, but it can be a bigger time suck to use, so it really depends on what you want to do. FuzelPro also provides some frames and some text options (not as many as Over, though). It's like a combination of the two tools in one!

All of these apps will allow you to share to various social networks once you've finished editing.

Do you use your smartphone to take photos as you go through each day? What are some of your favourite apps?

Happy phoneography!

*****

Karen Wilson is a wife to Matt and mom to Brandon (4), who blogs about her life at Karen’s Chronicles. She can be found at Wellman Wilson, helping businesses use social media more effectively. Karen is also committed to doing her part to keep the coffee industry alive, because who needs sleep?

Cheo moms and dads

by Lara

As parents in Ottawa I don't think many of us don't have a lot appreciation for CHEO.  The staff is amazing, caring and the way they deal with my children when we have to go in always amazes me.

When CHEO approached me to be a contributor on their new parenting blog I was thrilled to be a part of it.  Creating community online is one of my passions.  Creating a space where parents can talk about parenting connected to our children's hospital - win!

My first post is up today.  Go and check it out and say hello to some of the other new bloggers.

And if you're visiting from the CHEO blog - welcome! Have a look around, we talk about everything from activities for kids, to food to crafts to parenting tips and we're happy to have you!

Flashback: OAMC, or simply put, Freezer Cooking

This was one of our very first posts on the blog but I've been thinking about it a lot lately as I try to figure out how to not only avoid takeout by being more efficient but also figuring out ways to save money on groceries. ~Lara by Jenn

I am very happy to write my first post as a contributor to this Blog!  I really believe that this blog will be a great way to help other parents in the Ottawa area in many, many ways!  I am not very good with figuring out new things to do with my kids (Jacob - 5, Zachary - 2.5), but I realized today that I do have something important to share.  Once a Month Cooking, also called Freezer Cooking.

Over the past 4 years since going back to work after my first child, I have struggled with getting proper, healthy meals on the table after getting home for the day after 5pm.   Then, last October, a friend posted something on Facebook about a place you could go to where you choose a certain amount of meals and then prepare those meals right there at the store.  They provide everything you need and have everything all ready to go.  You just have to follow a recipe and dump ingredients into Ziplock bags.  It sounded great!  I decided to give it a try.  It was a lot of fun, but it was also pretty expensive.  I justified it by convincing myself that we would end up saving money by not going out to eat. I thought I would just go once a month and make 6-9 meals.  Shortly after, I realized that we would not be able to do this regularly.  The cost was just too high.

Skip forward to February.  A different friend posted on Facebook how she had just made 12 meals in one day.  I immediately drilled her on how she did this.  It was that day that I was introduced to Once a Month Cooking / Freezer Cooking.  She suggested two books for me to have a look at - The Big Cook and Fix, Freeze, Feast.  I researched both books and decide I needed both of them ASAP!   So I ordered them online from Chapters.ca.  The day they were delivered, I went crazy planning my menu for the next little while, preparing a grocery list, and ultimately went shopping at Costco and Bulk Barn for my ingredients.  That first night, I had prepared 3 meals of Basil Balsamic Chicken Breasts.  It took me no more than 15 minutes of work.  We had one that night and two more went into the freezer.  I went about three days in a row doing this and then spent a Saturday afternoon making about 8 meals.  It was great!  I had 12 meals in the freezer ready to go.  All I needed to do was put it in the fridge to thaw in the morning or night before and I had dinner figured out.

Freezer cooking is not only a great way to plan meals and have something ready for dinner every night, it is also a great way to save money.  If you are a Costco shopper, this is definitely a great thing to do.  You can buy big trays of meat and use it all at once to make many meals and not be afraid of wasting.  You can watch for sales and save even more money.  I tell you, once you start, you can become a little obsessed with it!  I started seeing meat and thinking "What can I make with this".  By the beginning of March, my freezer was packed with about 30 meals.  :)  Obsessed I was!  But we have been eating GREAT food and I have been saving us money!  Win, win!

Stay tuned for more adventures in Freezer Cooking!

Jenn is mom to five-year old Jacob and two and a half year old Zachary.

Have you ever tried once a month cooking? Do you have any tips to share?

Birthday party: Midway Family Fun Park

SADLY WE HAVE BEEN INFORMED THAT MIDWAY (REBRANDED AS ADVENTURELAND) HAS PERMANENTLY CLOSED

by Lara

Three years ago we had Kiernan's third birthday part at the Midway Family Fun Park.  This year he chose it again and we had a great time again!

The midway has moved in the last year to a new location on Kaladar.  It's bigger, brighter and all of their rides are now indoors which means they're available year round.

This year the party was small, 7 kids including Kiernan and his brother and sister.  He chose two activities for his friends to do: mini putt and bumper cars, and the kids had a blast doing both - especially the bumper cars.

Cake and food are included. (Note, there isn't an option to not have food and a cake, which seemed a bit odd to me for a 3 pm party).

Then the birthday boy got to spin the birthday wheel (where he won 30 extra coins) and then they all got to hit the midway. Playing in an arcade will never get old for kids I don't think :)

Overall, Kiernan really enjoyed his birthday party and we're looking forward to heading back soon to play in the arcade some more.

Flashback: Organic Farming

This post was written a couple of years ago, at the tail end of apple picking season. It's another great option for picking your own apples this year. Have you been to Ferme Dagenais? by Misty

We made a recent trip to Ferme Dagenais in Embrun, Ontario, and exprienced a little taste of organic farming. Originally slated as an apple picking adventure, we quickly realized upon arrival that all the apples had been picked. We were given a long pole with metal prongs and a bag attached, and told "you might get some if you work really hard!"

farme_dagenais_organic_farming

When visiting a local farm, it's best to call ahead, even if you have taken the time to browse their website (many small farms don't even have websites). Pick-your-own produce tends to go fast, and it's disappointing to make a long trip only to come home empty handed.

Fortunately this trip was not a disappointing one, as we discovered many parts of the farm where our little girl could run and explore.

farme_dagenais_dog

Upon arrival, we were greeted by the sweet dog-in-residence. She followed us around the whole lot, occasionally flopping over for a belly rub.

organic_farming_geese

Next was the chicken coup, where we were greeted by the two lone geese and countless chickens.

organic_farming_donkey

The donkey had his say, serenading us with extraordinarily loud "hee-haws." The little one found this hilarious.

organic_farming_rabbits

In addition to this, there were pasture and barns for goats, cows, and turkeys, and a coop for laying hens. I also noticed a beautiful experimental garden, bee hives and a little cage of rabbits.

Ferme Dagenais is a biodynamic farm - which attempts to balance the interrelationship between soil, plants and animals, while avoiding any external inputs (e.g. artificial fertilizers and pesticides). Although not every product may be certified organic, all things grown and sold from this farm are deemed "natural." When it comes to produce such as apples - one of the "dirty dozen" for their pesticide residues - it's sometimes worth the trip further outside of town.

As a bonus, we spent some time browsing the on-site natural food store "Le Tournesol," run by Osteopath Sylvain Dagenais.

To find out more about Ferme Dagenais, visit their website.