Free online class. Make a talking photo book!

It has been to long since I have posted on this blog. Life has been super busy with lots of adventures with my kiddos.

A few months ago I decided to put together a photo book of my daughter. But, not just a photo book. I wanted something more than that. This book needed to communicate the real personality of my daughter.

Marlo and I have been busy updating Heritage Collector with some amazing abilities. One of which, is the capability to make a talking photo book with video.

My little daughter LOVES that she can hear how she sounded at this age, and, since she is just learning to read, she can hear mom's voice narrating what the pages say. So, she is hearing her story right from my mouth. This will be such a pricless book to here one day.

On the pictures below, when you mouse over them,  will be me narrating what happened with my daughter in these photos.

These are two pictures from my daughters talking photo book.

After I had this photo book designed and ready for print, I decided to take one more step and I will be adding QR codes to the pictures. With your smart phone and a QR code reader, you can hear and see video of my daughter that was taken during this time. All on your phone. How cool is that! So, you get the best of both worlds.

I will be teaching a free online class on how to do this. It's easy and you will get the help you need to get started! Come join me.

The class will be held on July 22, 2014 at 1:00 pm MST.

Sign up for the free online class here.

Special Announcement! List of Free online classes.

Keeping family history fun and exciting!

Announcing a list of free online classes to help get you started. Creative ideas, or a refresher course,
Something for all! Be sure to scroll all the way down to see the list!

Tuesday January 21st, 2014 10:00am to 11:00 am MST

• Heritage Collector Storybook Users Group. Turning a Calendar into Family History 
  

At this class you will learn how to turn a regular wall calendar into an interactive family history.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday February 11,2014 10:00am to 11:00 am MST

• Storybook Users Group. Creating one page histories with sound and video clips.

During this class you will learn how to document precious family memories and turn them into beautiful one page histories with sound and video clips.

 

Time Zone Examples

 If a webinar is scheduled to begin at
7:00 pm MDT
it would start at the time listed in the following time zones:

 

6:00 PM - Pacific
7-8:00 PM - Mountain
8-9:00 PM - Central
9-10:00 PM - Eastern

Toronto, Canada. 9:00 pm.
Sydney, Australia. 12:00 Noon (next day) London, England. 1:00 am (next day)
Auckland, New Zealand. 2:00 pm (next day) Oslo, Norway. 2:00 am (next day) 
Jerusalem, Israel. 3:00 am (next day)

Tuesday February 18, 2014 10:00am to 11:00am MST

• Storybook Users Group Meetings. Family New Year Resolutions

During this class you will learn how to. . . (New Feature To Be Announced) to your pictures and storybook pages










Time Zones Examples:

 

6:00 PM - Pacific
7-8:00 PM - Mountain
8-9:00 PM - Central
9-10:00 PM - Eastern

 

Toronto, Canada. 9:00 pm.
Sydney, Australia. 12:00 Noon (next day) London, England. 1:00 am (next day)
Auckland, New Zealand. 2:00 pm (next day) Oslo, Norway. 2:00 am (next day) 
Jerusalem, Israel. 3:00 am (next day)

 

 

Tuesday March 4, 2014 10:00am to 11:00am MST

• Storybook Users Group Meeting. Creating an Heriloom Cookbook

Learn how to preserve and share family history in a whole new way! We will be demonstrating to how to preserve and share those precious family recipes.

 

 

Time Zone Examples:

 If a webinar is scheduled to begin at
7:00 pm MDT
it would start at the time listed in the following time zones.

 

6:00 PM - Pacific
7-8:00 PM - Mountain
8-9:00 PM - Central
9-10:00 PM - Eastern

Toronto, Canada. 9:00 pm.
Sydney, Australia. 12:00 Noon (next day) London, England. 1:00 am (next day)
Auckland, New Zealand. 2:00 pm (next day) Oslo, Norway. 2:00 am (next day) 
Jerusalem, Israel. 3:00 am (next day)

 

 

 

Tuesday March 11, 2014 10:00am to 11:00am MST

• Users Group Meeting. Getting Started With Storybook

 

Come join in an hour reserved just for questions and answers! We will be discussing the Storybook module and how to use it.

 

 

 

Time Zone Examples

 If a webinar is scheduled to begin at
7:00 pm MDT
it would start at the time listed in the following time zones:

6:00 PM - Pacific
7-8:00 PM - Mountain
8-9:00 PM - Central
9-10:00 PM - Eastern

Toronto, Canada. 9:00 pm.
Sydney, Australia. 12:00 Noon (next day) London, England. 1:00 am (next day)
Auckland, New Zealand. 2:00 pm (next day) Oslo, Norway. 2:00 am (next day) 
Jerusalem, Israel. 3:00 am (next day)

 

Tuesday March 18, 2014 10:00 am to 11:00 am MST

• Storybook Users Group. Creating Family History Gifts.

  During this class you will learn how make and personalize wonderful gifts for your friends and family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Family History Jar

Sneek Peak!
The Thanksgiving Holiday is approaching very fast. This happens to be one of my favorite Holidays. I love it!

 A few weeks ago, I was thinking about doing a fun family activity that would hopefully get the family and the children excited about their family history.

As I looked around and thought some more, I came across this idea from musings from mommyland. It was a jar with family history questions inside. Though hers was made the traditional way, which was still very cute, I wanted to make mine more simply and without making a trip to the craft store.

I created a template within Heritage Collector that all you have to do is print, cut, fold your paper flowers and glue. Very simple, yet very cute.

This isn't the greatest picture. I will post more in a week.

 

The idea for this jar  is to first select an ancestor and someone to take notes. Start passing this jar around the table and have each family member, and yes the kids, too, pull out a question. Then together, the family will answer the question and have the one selected to take notes or even have a recorder going.

 

Here is a list I made up if you need some ideas on questions to ask.

 

 

When you make your own, you could simply print this right from home, cut into strips, fold and place inside your jar. This puts a fun twist on family history!

 

Once we complete ours, I will post more pictures and information about our experience. If you would like the above template, please contact me.

 

If you need help on how to fold the paper flower, see this blog.

 

Thanks for reading and have fun making your own family history jar!

 

View the free recorded class on how to do this here.

 

 

 

 

 

Children Saturday Job List. Free Printable

Happy Saturday! I hope you all are having a great weekend! Sometimes, I wish Saturday would last about two days so I could put a dent in my eternal to list!

Today's post is an exciting one for me. Like any young mother with children just learning to take some responsibility around the home can be a bit challenging and frustrating.

Over the past year or so, I have been slowly giving my young children some simple jobs to do around the house. I started out by just writing a simple list on some paper for each child and checking them off once completed.

One thing I learned rather quickly was that the Saturday job list was a bit different than the job list during the week. Saturday is when the home gets more of the deep cleaning done. Therefore, I needed more help from my children. After all, I am not the only one that lives here, right? I tell my children all the time that our family is a team working together to keep our home clean. Mom, isn't (or shouldn't) be doing all of the cleaning around the home.

The past several months I have been brainstorming about a way that I could come up with something that would help my children get their jobs done in a timely manner on Saturday so they can have plenty of time for play. And also, feel some sense of responsibility for their jobs.

This is what I came up with!

 A laminated Saturday Job list on a clip board my kids can carry around the house. I included a dry erase marker to each one of them so they can check the jobs off as they go.

I did add some cute ribbon to dress it up a bit.

Simple instructions:

• Print and cut out the printable on card stock.
• Laminate the printable. ( I used the clear contact paper, super easy, less expensive and I didn't have to leave the house!)
• Place the printable on the clip board, add some ribbon and a dry erase marker, and there you have it!!

The clip boards were about $1.25 a piece. This entire project cost about $3 including the dry erase marker.

 

Boy Saturday Job Chart

 

Girl Saturday Job Chart

 

 

Simply click on the image. Do a save as, then print as an 8.5 x 11.

 

Print and enjoy!

 

Thanks for visiting today. Come back soon.

The Homework Helper!

Okay, so where did the summer go? For us over here in Utah, the leaves are changing, and, the air is getting more and more crisp in the mornings. This could only mean one thing, Fall is on the way!
 This is one of my favorite times of the year. For many reasons. Spending time in the mountains enjoying the stunning landscape, fishing from a bank of a river soaking in the beauty all around, and enjoying looking at wildlife through the lenses of my binoculars.

Now your probably wondering why I chose the post title to be the homework helper. Right? Well, because fall is in full swing around here, so is back to school and the dreaded word (at least for me) HOMEWORK.

I enjoy nothing more than parking outside my children's school anxiously waiting for them to come out to the car and greet me with a smile and a kiss. I can't wait to have my kids home! I've missed them all day! My feelings quickly turn to frustration once we get home,  the nagging starts to keep my children on task and to get their homework done before play.

Many of you have probably seen some different spins on "the homework helper" Maybe Pinterest, or just doing a Google search. So, I can't take complete credit for it. Just for my spin on it. :)

This is what I came up with just by walking aimlessly around the Dollar Store trying to come up with the perfect getting homework done, solution.

 

 

 

This was my supply list.

• A plastic bucket to hold all of the supplies
• Name tag for each child
• Scissor
• Glue Sticks
• Erasers
• Pencil sharpener
• Crayons
• Pencil and eraser holder
• And of course a SNACK!

When school began for my children a few weeks ago and the homework started, I quickly learned that part of the problem with my frustration was my kids constant fighting over the supplies to complete their homework.

 

This was my PERFECT solution!!

 

By adding a name tag and a special snack inside, my kids actually get excited to take their homework helper to their designated homework spot, and get working!

 

 

 

You don't have to get crazy with the snacks. All I do is simply cut up an apple or another piece of fruit, place in a plastic baggie, put inside the homework helper and set on the counter for easy access once the kids get home from school. You could even put fruit snacks in there. You have many options. I've just found that by adding the snack before hand, allows for more time for me to make sure they are getting a nutritious snack and I don't have to prepare it while trying to help with homework. And, it only takes five minutes or so.

 

Thanks for reading this post! Stop by again soon! -Kathleen

Start Organizing your Pictures FREE!

 

 

Proper Care and Handling of CD's and DVD's

“Saving Your Bacon”

I got permission from the "Wizard" Marlo Schuldt to share some amazing tips on Preserving your CD's and DVD's. You will find these tips eye opening and very interesting!

Over the years I’ve had some ‘almost’ tragic experiences losing information and digital images. Fortunately I had multiple backups on different kinds of media and devices that saved my bacon.

I’m writing today to help save your bacon and protect you from yourself. I’m guessing you are like many people I speak with via the phone or at family history conventions. Unfortunately you may have acquired some bad habits over the years. Worst of all, you thought you were doing the right thing by protecting the reflective side of your CDs. Oops!

First of all, let’s shed some light on a few myths.

1. There’s no perfect medium for preserving information and photos unless you can afford to write and record on gold, stainless steel or stone.

2. All the archival media of today have trade offs. CDs, DVDs, Blu ray, hard drives, flash drives (have the lowest life time expectancy and are meant for temporary storage), tape drives etc. Each has a vulnerability for future destruction, failure or data loss. Not to mention having no access in the future to a device that can read or “play” the media. Here’s an example. Do you have any old 8-track tapes? Do you have an 8-track player? Ah haw! I got you there. So without the player you can’t play any of the tapes making your old tapes worthless and inaccessible no mater how well preserved. Do you know a friend with an 8-track player? That would be me. However, as time marches on, access to old technology will become impossible and the old device may not work anymore.

What’s the Best Archival / Storage Method?

Let’s be very clear and realistic – there is no single, best method for archiving and preservation. My recommendation is somewhat simple.

• Use different kinds of media.
• Create multiple copies that are stored in different locations outside your home.

Why? A flood, fire, earthquake, theft or other natural disaster could wipe out ALL your family history in seconds. Sharing your photos and information is the BEST survival strategy.

Please refer to my newsletter for an interesting perspective on preserving and archiving. Following the simple recommendations in this newsletter will assure your photos and family history will be backed up and preserved using the latest and most sophisticated technology. Best of all, it won’t cost you a dime to utilize this preservation strategy.

You should also consider learning how to embed photo information directly into the photo file (IPTC) so information will survive with the file into the future. It’s doesn’t do much good to go to all this work to preserve photos without any identifying and associated information. See this newsletter.

CD/DVD Do’s and Don’ts

Protect the correct side of the CD. It’s NOT the reflective side. Trust me and read on. Protect the label side of the CD from scratches and abuse. Any damage to the label side may destroy the information on the CD. If you must lay the CD next to your computer, lay it down with the reflective side up!!

Don’t Write on a CD. The acid in the ink will eat through the thin layer of protective coating. The pressure applied while writing with a ballpoint pen may damage or pierce the surface coating. Always use pens that are made specifically for writing on CDs. You can find these at any office supply or stationary section of a department store.

Never Put Post-It Notes or labels on a CD. Once a I put a post-it note on a CD. A week later when I removed the post-it note and part of the reflective coating came off with the note. However, all was not lost since the CD made a nice drink coaster.

Labeling CDs? I admit it – I’m paranoid. I never put any kind of a label on a CD. One fear is it may cause the CD to wobble in the drive which makes it impossible for the drive to read the CD. This is kind of like the wheel on your car vibrating at high speed because the tire is out of balance as it spins.

Never Put a Partial Label on a CD. If you must use a paper label select from a high quality brand. I’d never put any paper labels on a CD to use for archival purposes. I prefer to create colorful jewel case insert for a CD/DVD I’m sharing.

Protect the Reflective Surface of a DVD. Just when you thought you had a one size fits all strategy for protecting CDs I throw this next curve at you.
Protecting a DVD is the opposite of CD. Unlike a CD, a DVD has two layers of plastic so you don’t need to worry about protecting the label side of a DVD. You need to protect the reflective side. Why? Because a DVD uses smaller dots to record the information which is why they hold more data than a CD. However, scratches on the reflective side of a DVD are much more serious than a CD. In other words, a few small scratches on the reflective side of a DVD may be the kiss of death when trying to access anything stored on the DVD.

Protect BOTH Sides of a CD/DVD. This is obvious. I added this so I would not be embarrassed by some sending feedback Titled – “Well Duh, you should protect both sides dummy!”

Proper Storage of CD/DVDs. Just like the old vinyl music records of past years, store your CD/DVDs in a protective plastic jewel case standing on its edge in a dark, cool dry place. The plastic and coating used may age when DVDs and CDs are left out in the sun. Even ambient room light can deteriorate the surface of CD/DVDs.

Use Archival Quality CD/DVDs. Consider purchasing “gold” archival DVDs. Why use an expensive CD? A CD holds less information. The cost of archival DVDs will be less than the cost of using archive CDs. Just because it looks like it’s gold doesn’t make it a gold archival quality CD/DVD. Read the CD/DVD specification to be sure it is an archival quality CD/DVD.

You can find more information about preservation in the book written by Marlo Schuldt,

Digital Family History Guidebook 

Download the FREE standard version here.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you were able to learn something from these amazing tips from Marlo!

-Kathleen

Family History, Family Activity.

Make Family History a fun Experience for your children
For those of you that know me, know that I have a deep passion for family history. I love it! Sometimes I feel a thirst for it. One of my dreams as a mother is that my children will too have a deep love for their history.

As a young mother, I feel it an incredibly important responsibility to teach my children about their family history and ancestors. To help achieve this, I have decided to take one Monday night out of each month and dedicate it to a family history lesson for my children. Once a month my family will have the privilege to learn about an ancestor from either mine, or my husband's side of the family.

In today's post I am going to share the family history activity we participated in last night. We decided to spotlight the children's great grandmother on my side of the family.

A few days ago when I decided to teach my children of their great grandmother Mary, the ideas just started flowing into my mind! I couldn't wait to share and teach about this incredible person, I was privileged to have in my life as a young girl.

We started out our evening with a fun song to help the children get their wiggles out, and be ready to participate in a night full of fun.

After the song, I held up a few pictures of my grandmother, introduced her, and gave a five minute description of her and how she grew up on a farm.

I was amazed at my children's attention,  how they asked questions, stayed interested, and wanted to learn more.

Next, we gathered at the kitchen table to color a picture of what they thought their grandma Mary looked like. (Making a coloring page is extremely easy to do!) (I just selected a nice picture of Mary, cut out the background, brightened it a little, then turned up the sharpness. Then printed few copies. It only took about 10 minutes to make.)

My kids were really getting into this activity. My oldest son, even drew  himself next to his great grandmother and said to me "mom, this is me standing next to my great grandma. I think she would like this". I can't tell you in words how this made me feel.

 

 

 

 

 

Next, we were onto another activity, playing Jacks. This was one of great Grandma Mary's favorite games.
As we pulled out all of the pieces of the game,  placed them on the floor, my children's eyes were lit up with total excitement! They couldn't wait to learn this "new" game. Which they soon learned  was a very old game, and their great grandma played it too, when she was their age.

I felt like this activity was a total success! I heard my children speak of their grandmothers name many times during our activities! Even my two year old twin boys spoke of her.

Family history is something that needs to be taught to our children. Our ancestors have stories that need to be told and shared. They have experiences that were faced that changed lives during their time on earth and can continue to changes lives after they've passed on. It's our responsibility to make sure their Legacy never dies!


While we my kids were busily engaged in their fun activities, I was busy shooting video that will later be tagged to some of the photos you see here. The photo collection with photos will later be given to my children when they get older to cherish and hopefully pass on to their children.

These were the materials I used for the activity night.

• Three ring binder to file what we did for the evening.
• Coloring page I made of the ancestor we were spotlighting.
• The game Jacks. This was one of our spotlighted ancestor's favorite game as a child.
• A short description of the ancestor with pictures.

This book will be something my children will get a chance to study and continuing to learn from for years to come.

 

Fun easy coloring page I made using Heritage Collector Storybook. Took about 10 minutes to make.





 

A game used to spotlight as a fun activity. (yes for those in the family, I did change her name for protection)

 

 

What will be filed away for safe keeping. All of the coloring pages were filed behind the one you see here.

 

Thanks for visiting today! I hope you enjoyed this post. As always, I appreciate your comments and feedback! Leave me a quick note. :)

 

Your can learn more about what I love to do HERE!

 

I have linked up with this neat blog. Check them out, HERE.