Olivia’s outfit : coat : Gap Kids / top : Janie and Jack / shoes : c/o Janie and Jack other option here / jeans: Target / sunglasses : Janie and Jack other option here JavaScript is currently disabled in this browser. Reactivate it to view this content. It was Valentine’s day when i was taking pictures of my daughter after we did our errands , then we went to her pre-school’s Valentine’s day party. After the party, i picked up my son from his classroom. It was a great day, even though it was cold. It was nice and sunny. When we went home, my husband told me about the shooting that happened in Parkland Florida High School. As a mom with school aged kids , i got really affected with the devastating and horrible news. I mean anybody would be, it doesn’t matter if you’re a parent or not. It’s such a heartless and inhumane act. I’m sure my post is nothing new to you, everything is being said all over social media platforms. But since the incident, it’s whats all in my mind the whole weekend . It makes me weak reading and listening to all the news. I was grieving too but most of all, i am afraid. Now, i’m thinking of homeschooling my kids. But that is something that me and my husband will have to think through more about it. My kids go to a school with small class sizes, where everybody knows everybody and pretty much everybody’s family. As far as i know they have cameras and security systems but it still bothers me somehow because i’m a parent. We will do anything for our kids. So I signed up this petition for Gun control and i encourage you to do the same too. Owning firearms shouldn’t be easy and have to go through an extensive mental and background check. They should increase the age limit as well. Most of all we should watch over our kids and raise them as good and compassionate human beings. I believe that everything starts at home. That empathy for that matter should start at home. It’s not just we say, “Be kind to everyone and don’t bully.” but we need to show our children what it means to accept others. We also need to teach our children on how to act or deal on disagreements instead of rushing to insult or physically hurt people. It starts by setting an example of the way we act and the way we say things on certain situations, of how we speak our minds without being disrespectful. All these is easier said than done because we are not perfect but we have to keep on trying to re evaluate ourselves and our actions because we are our kids greatest influence. I wanted to share this poem from Charles Swindoll that hits me home. It reminds me that we have choice on how we want to live our life base on how we react to certain events of our life. It’s not about what life has given us but it’s how we react upon it. Attitude by: Charles Swindoll The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company …a church …a home.The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude .I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you …we are in charge of our attitudes. Empathy and good attitude goes hand in hand and should start at home.
Mommy and Me Valentine’s Day Casual Outfit + Valentine’s Day Date Ideas with your Kids
On me: coat: Express similar here / top: J.Crew / bag : Prada similar style here / sunglasses: Prada / boots : Hunter On Olivia : coat: Gap kids similar here / sweater: Gap kids similar here / jeans: Target similar here / boots: Target (s0ld out ) other option here/ turban: J.Crew kids JavaScript is currently disabled in this browser. Reactivate it to view this content.
A Breakthough Ice Experience – Cirque Du Soleil Crystal
coat : Amazon / boots: Hunter kids / scarf : Zara kids / beanie : Amazon / dress : Gap ( old ) other option here JavaScript is currently disabled in this browser. Reactivate it to view this content.
Year End Recollection 2017 + Cirque De Soleil Crystal Giveaway
Our Christmas Card 2017
Tips and Tricks on Taking Holiday Lifestyle Photos
* This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SamsungTargetTech #CollectiveBias The holidays are here ! It’s the season where lots of memories are made whether from doing our annual family traditions, friends and family gatherings, holiday parties or holiday vacations. There is always something that makes our holidays memorable. You know, time is fleeting and capturing those little moments is the way to make those memories last a lifetime. With the help of the innovative technology of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 that we got from Target, i can do bigger things wherever and whenever. As a blogger, it is essential for me to take great quality photos for my blog, so i’m going to show you how. How to take Holiday Lifestyle Photos using the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 1. Know your light – This is the most important thing when taking photos, there is nothing comparable with the beauty of natural daylight. I always take photos by the window during the day when i’m indoors and when outdoors i love to take photos early morning or evening when the sun is low in the sky, its a good time of the day to take photos. So when you plan a shoot you have to consider the weather, location and time of the day. There are also times that the situation calls for a photoshoot with not much lighting , don’t let the dark stop you. The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 have a low light dual pixel camera that can give you clear and crisp photo even if you have low lighting. 2. Set the mood or staging the background – This really depends on what look you want for your photo. Like for example, if you want a holiday theme in your photoshoot stage your background that is related to holidays. Try different angles to get better shot of the subject and move around to get good lighting. If you are taking product shot let is stand out by having a simple background or have a background that coordinates with the product, take note of the color scheme in the photo through the outfits, props and background so that it will look cohesive and the photo tells a relevant story. The more you stick with the style, feel, edits and even filter of the photo, the much better it is. The photos below is taken using the Samsung Galaxy Note 8. The phone features dual camera with live focus and that’s what i used in some of these shots. 3. Anticipate your model’s actions – This is my favorite and also the crucial part in taking lifestyle photos. Taking pictures of kids is hard. Sometimes i can get a good shot on “real life events” sometimes not. So what i usually do is to anticipate my kids actions or dictate them to create natural and meaningful moments. (photos below are taken by the Samsung Galaxy Note 8) How I edit photos on Samsung Galaxy Note 8 I edit my photos all the time both on my blog and Instagram. Like i said it really depends on what kind of mood, look and style you are going for. Personally, i want my photos to look cohesive and have a bit of a cinema effect so i edited my photos all the time and use the same filter or play around with the filters that would go with the look and style of my photos. Right now, i’m going to show you how i edit a certain photo for an Instagram post using the Samsung Galaxy Note 8. It’s very simple. 1.Open the Gallery app of your Samsung Galaxy Note 8. Click on the photo that you like to edit. Example of the one below. 2. On the upper right corner, there are 3 dots. Click on it and scroll down to Open in Photo Editor Pro. Then click on it. 3. Now you are ready to edit your photo. Click on Transform to crop, adjust the angle, rotate, flip, ratio, perspective or use a lasso. Click on the Tone to adjust the brightness, exposure, contrast, saturation, spot color, hue and white balance. In this photo i crop it for just a little bit and adjust the brightness and exposure higher. I also added a bit of contrast to have a bit of texture and clarity. Then add a bit of saturation to increase the color. I usually don’t do so much because i want to maintain the look of the original photo, i just want to make the photo to stand out more. 4. This is the fun part and the most that i spend the most of my time with which is choosing the right filter that would go with the rest of my Instagram feed. My advice is to play around with the filters and do some adjustments. In this photo i used the Cozy effect because it blends well with the rest of the feed. 5. The last but not the least, i added a little bit of backlight at the background. Go to the Advance option at the most right corner of the editing tools. This is the final look. Play around with the editing tools, they have so many options to choose from. Just have fun and don’t over think, you will learn some things along the way too. Since it’s the holidays, it’s the time for gift giving. A new Samsung Galaxy Note 8 sounds like a fabulous gift idea for the ones you love, don’t you think ? For a limited time only, receive a $300 Target GiftCard with the Purchase and Activation of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, Galaxy S8+ in-store at Target! Valid 11/19 – 11/27/ 17 and 12/3/ 17 – 12/9/ 17 only. Check out Samsung’s Campaign hub The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is available at Target electronics aisle. Feel free to join their sweepstakes below you might be
Rustic Glam Holiday Tablescape
Disney On Ice “Reach For The Stars” in Detroit
8 Water Safety Tips That Everyone Should Know
Playing in the pool or by the water is definitely fun especially among kids, but it is also dangerous. Drowning is the number one causes of deaths among small children. So it is always important to be educated of the what to do when you are by the water. So, i’m sharing to you 8 water safety tips that you need to know.
My Daughter’s Progress at Goldfish Swimschool
I can officially say my daughter Olivia finally knows how to swim after 3 months of training in Junior 1 at Goldfish Swim School. Now, every child is different some learned early, some are a little delay. But that doesn’t matter, what matters most is that you provide your child an important life skill that they have it in them for the rest their lives. Here is a post of the importance and benefits of swimming lessons for children. For Junior 2 ( 3-4 years old) this is what they will cover: flutter kicking with barbell float – 1 width Superman glide- 10 ft sea otter back float – 5 sec. octopus front float- 5 sec. pulling paddle, face in- 10 ft. swim, rollver, front-to-back-to-front, swim underwater jump, rollover, float climb out underwater jump, turn, swim to the wall Olivia just started Junior 2 about a week ago . Aside from the improvement of her skill level, her enthusiasm and confidence towards learning how to swim definitely improved. I believed that it has to do a lot with the instructors making it a fun experience for the kids. If you watched them it just seems like they are just playing in the water, moving their arms and legs but they are actually learning through the whole process. It takes a lot of patience to teach this little kids, i credit these instructors for doing such a great job. I admire their dedication towards their work and how they treat the kids. It’s fun to watch them. I’m just so happy with this experience with Goldfish Swim School. This is a sponsored post but even if it’s not, it is my swim school of choice. Read our Goldfish Swim School experience here. Thank you so much for reading and have a great day!