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A Great Idea On What To Do With Your Child’s Artwork

Friday, May 17th, 2013

When you have kids, you end up needing a separate house to basically store their upbringing. The artwork, the pictures… you know, all their “stuff.” If you’re at all sentimental, you feel guilty tossing that piece of paper that has a fuschia smear. Especially after they tell you it’s a self portrait. Then the guilt is equivalent to throwing away the Mona Lisa.

Until it’s not.

I thought I had a pretty good idea for all the artwork Fia comes home with. I use it as wrapping paper. That way I’m reusing it and I don’t feel guilty for throwing it away. It’s someone else’s problem. Plus she has fun wrapping the presents with me.

However, we don’t go to enough birthday parties to use up the constant influx of art.

When I was at Mom2.0, I met this great guy Jedd, who created an app for parents that allows them to save their kids’ art in a different way.  It’s called Artkive. Get it? Like archive… okay, I’m babbling.

The app is amazingly simple to use… even a third grader could probably handle it. Which means I can.  You take a picture on your phone (thru the app–which has an icon for the camera) of your child’s artwork, school work, or whatever you want to document. Just take pictures. Like, every piece that comes in if you want.

If you have more than one child, you pick who created each piece, and the pictures then get stored (on their servers, thus not taking up precious space on your phone) with your child’s name, grade and the date.  It’s all in order so that when you’re ready, you hit print and the app puts all the artwork into a coffee-table book that is mailed to you.  Almost no work and no risk of your child finding their art in the garbage. Speaking of, here’s a funny video on the psychological damage done to your kid when you throw their sh-t, err, stuff away.

I wrote a few weeks back about my quandary with photos and what to do with them all. Well you could use Artkive for that too. You can upload anything from your camera roll and then rather than ordering 900 prints a year to go into 9 different photo albums (which is my current system), I can add my favorites to Artkive and get a book made for me. Or, just skip that step and take every picture through the Artkive App on my phone.

Jedd started the company after watching his wife photograph their kids’ art one day. She then uploaded it to her computer and uploaded it from there to a photo site.  She never actually made the book she had hoped because the pictures were all out of order and she didn’t have the time to spend sorting it all out and making a book.  So he created an app that would make her life easier.

What a guy, right? I’m waiting for Phil to hire a personal chef after watching me struggle in the kitchen.

Anywho, it’s a small business enterprise that I just thought as a mom myself was cool and invented by cool people. And hey, Ivanka Trump apparently likes it. Need I say more?

 

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How I Calm Down After a Tough Week

Thursday, April 18th, 2013

It’s been a stressful and also tragic week in many parts of the country. From the Boston Marathon bombings, to the town in West, Texas, to the defeat of the Senate gun bill (yes, shameful and shocking). At times like this, I find it helpful to take pause and look at the pure joy of my kids. I hug them and my pulse instantly slows down.  My heart warms up. My gratitude that they are safe, loved and healthy overflows. Here are a few snapshots from our week.

We may be Californians but the boy still represents (even though technically we aren’t Yankee fans)!

Heading into the sprinkler:

A pensive Fia working on her bubble machine:

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Fia Friday: Who is Who? Guess!

Friday, May 4th, 2012

We took a picture of Fia at about 3 months laying on her then-brother, Wayne Sanchez. Now she has a real brother and the cat is just, well, a cat again. But we thought Emmett deserved a turn as well.

Can you tell who is who? Ignore the color of the clothes. Both outfits are/were Fia’s. Phil thinks our babes look identical. I don’t think so…though definitely brother-sister. And isn’t Wayne the picture of perfection as well?

Picture 1

Picture 2

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Introducing My New Blog Title: Fearless Feisty Mama

Thursday, April 12th, 2012

Our New Blog Picture

We have a new name! No, not of Emmett or Fia, but of my blog. While we loved Of Fi I Sing, Emmett was excluded. Plus, with two kids I am entering a new phase of my life. As my blog has evolved, we realized my outlook is more than just focusing (and obsessing) on Fia. Motherhood is so all-encompassing and takes on almost all aspects of my life. We wanted the title to reflect that more. Plus, I didn’t want my boy to need (more) major therapy later on for feeling left out.

So after some massive brainstorming sessions in which I thought my computer Thesaurus was going to fire me, we came up with this new one. Introducing:

Fearless Feisty Mama: Candid and Comical Confessions of a Slightly Obsessive Mom

I’m really excited about it. I think it conveys more of my tone and style. We decided on “Fearless” because I’m not afraid to share my story. Whether it be the death of my drug- addicted mom, my decision to stay on antidepressants when pregnant, or my ugly vag issue, I tend to speak my mind and give an open and honest opinion.

We came up with “Feisty,” not only because I love alliteration, but in many ways it is my attitude towards parenting issues. From my annoyance at my babysitters for constantly losing sh-t, to the people who pay their nannies six-figures (ridiculous!), to my adamant stance on sleep training (do it!).

With my new name, we have a new look! My friend Jilly Wendell is an amazing photographer. She was kind enough to come over to our chaos and take a zillion pictures, hoping to get one without Emmett barfing, Fia screaming and me grimacing through a forced smile–though that is probably more realistic of our current state.

I’ll post some of the others this Friday.

Also, you may notice some of the older posts have images missing. And there are a few technical difficulties we are sorting out in changing my blog title. So bear with us and keep coming back. You guys help feed my creative soul.

 

Blog photo courtesy of Jilly Wendell Photography

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Fia Friday: Strange Outfits

Sunday, April 1st, 2012

Okay, I know the title says Friday, but it’s actually Sunday and I’m only now finding a few moments to myself to post. I swear I don’t know how I have so little time. But it is scarce. Seems like having just one baby was a breeze. More on all that later, as I have lots to say, but, to sound like a broken record, no time.

Fia is really into picking out her clothes. This was the latest outfit as she went with her Dad to a BBQ yesterday. I have to admit Phil did have some hand in dressing her too. They are both strange. They keep life fun!

Tutu, Snack, Boots, Hat. She’s Ready to Go.

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