Saving Memories Forever Review

  
Saving Memories Forever turns your smartphone into a family history recorder. Just sit down with your kids, parents or grandparents and hit record. Every Story Teller has the opportunity to share there thoughts and memories. Saving Memories Forever provides you with a list of story starters. They are questions that go from their childhood into adulthood. They ask everything from sing your favorite song to what historical events do you remember to tell us your favorite joke. You can always add your own questions.

The neat thing about the smartphone app is the upload button. The upload button uploads your story to their website. Once on their website you can edit your story, add pictures, and share your memories with your family. Your stories are safe on their secure website.

My thoughts:

I wish that I had this app before my grandparents passed away. I would love to be able to hear my grandfather's voice again. I can imagine standing next to my grandmother and recording us cooking together. :) I think that Saving Memories Forever is an amazing app. I plan on taking this with me when I travel and see family this summer. I am hoping to use the app to have a cooking session with my mom. What fun would it be for my daughter to be able to always cook besides her grandmother! I want to capture as many memories as I possibly can.

Saving Memories Forever has a free and a subscription account. The subscription is only $3.99 a month! Not bad. You can use their comparison chart to decide which is the best fit for your family.

Get the FREE app here.

Things That Make You Go Hmmm....

I was watching television the other day and saw a lead in that made me question some of the things that we do on a daily basis. The lead in was 'Kids and Modern Technology and their Brains'. There were some interesting points raised in the news story. The first is that the phone/text messaging is affecting children's ability to communicate efficiently with each other. They are not learning tone and the many nuisances that are learned while talking with each other. Instead of families talking over dinner, they are checking their emails, facebook or playing games on the various devices. Instead of children going over to their friends' houses and using their imagination, they are playing video games or sending ims and instagrams. The next great point that was raised is that children are losing their ability to entertain themselves. The example that was used was in a restaurant settings. The adults hand a child their smart phone so they can have adult conversations. Kids are losing their ability to wait their turn. They want things instantly. I admit that I am not the patient person in the world. When I get an idea in my head, I want it done yesterday. Back to the topic, kids tend to go to their electronics instead of going outside and inventing a game. They turn to facebook games, instead of board games.

I personally have a love/hate relationship with technology. I think that it is wonderful, but I also see the downfall. We are constantly connected now. We are never out of touch, we can be found at anytime. We no longer have a separation of work and home. Everyone brings their jobs home now. I personally feel naked without my phone. I worry that someone will not be able to reach me. I am learning that this is not the way things should work. I realize that my children are using the electronics way too much. \I want the conversations that happen over the dinner table and not during The Big Bang Theory. Instead of audio books in the car, the kids have headphones in their ears listening to the latest songs. Instead of debates about the books we have read, we are talking about the newest app they have. Instead of taking time to cook our food as a family, we are finding the quickest methods possible.

The news story reminded me that we need to slow down. We need to step away from the electronics and go outside. We need to enjoy the small things in life, because those small things will become the big things. 

Table Talk

Last week, we played hooky for 2 entire days. We boarded our furry baby, packed an overnight bag and took off. We traveled about 2 hours away, just far enough to get away. One of the places that we have to visit when we got to Charleston is Cane's Chicken. It has a simple menu, they only serve chicken fingers. Yummy! It is one of my children's favorite places in Charleston. We were sitting there eating and somehow human anatomy was brought up. I am really not sure how it came about. The kids wanted to know what the most fragile bone in your body was. We had to determine what exactly they meant. Did you mean the bone most often broken? The easiest bone to break? The final decision was the ear or the nose. Once that was determined, it was on to the strongest bone in the body. Dragon and I said head at the same time. I have always told the kids that they have hard heads. Everyone agreed that it was the head.

Later that same evening we were discussing junk food vs. good quality food. How we feel after eating each different type of food. This then lead to a conversation about good cheese vs. cheap cheese. Which lead to a conversation about food budgets, backyard gardening and much more. I am thankful that we saved the conversation on dissecting various animals for the house. I can only imagine what other customers would say about that one.

We have some of the most interesting and bizarre conversations around the table. These are the times that I live for. One night we will play 20 questions or the name game. I sometimes look for conversation starters. Everyone enjoys this family time. We turn off the tv, talk, dream out loud, and have a good time. Many of these conversations lead to games or other unplugged activities.

I am making it a priority to have many more interesting conversations with my children. What do your dinner conversations sound like?

Under the Weather

My kiddos are loving life....mom has lost her voice. They have decided that they needed to share their germs. We spent the day at the doctor for Dragon(sinus infections) and Squirrel(ear infection) and Fire Rat(sinus infection). The good news is Mom does not have to cook as long as she is sick. Hmm, I might not get my voice back anytime soon.

Image courtesy of google images.

Mealtimes Matter

I am miss having our meals at the dining room table. I am guessing that it has been 1 month since we have been able to sit at the table. We have either had it packed high with camping gear, my pantry(during the kitchen remodel), or school in progress. Dh took the kids out Thursday afternoon and I spent the time reclaiming my house. My living room and dining room have been in total chaos thanks to camping and remodeling. I had had enough. We can now eat at the table. I cannot wait.

I received a link from PBS on Table Talk. I LOVED the ideas. This is my favorite:

Be a facilitator, not a director.
If your child initiates conversation about a topic that interests him, follow his lead, rather than trying to engage him in a different topic. For example, if your child mentions a book that he read at share time, you might ask questions that encourage your child to go beyond the plot. For example, instead of just asking, "What happened in the story?" you might ask, "What part of the story made you think that the dog would be safe in the end?" or "What makes him a character you like?" By following your child's lead, you can help your child develop his interests, while deepening his appreciation of stories, words, and new ideas.

Here are some more links:

Family-Mealtimes
Importance of Family Dinners
The Family Table
The Magic of the Family Meal
Family Meals
Family Meal Lesson Plan
Dinnertime Dialogue
Table Topics
Table Topics Keep clicking table topics at the top for new ideas!

We are going Camping...

We are leaving in the morning for a camping trip.


We are going to go hiking...


The boys will be fishing....


Squirrel will draw....

I am going to kick back and read a little....


But most importantly we are going to be doing all of this as a family.



We have been through a lot in a short time. I personally feel like the world is spinning out of control. We are going to be taking the next few days to just be with each other.



I will catch you on the flip side. :-)


Photos are courtesy of freeclipart and Clipart For Free.

A Day Away

Last week we all really needed a day away. We decided to take a day trip to Charleston, SC. We went to the South Carolina Aquarium. It is one of our favorite places to visit. While we were there we were able to see them move in the new penguin exhibit. It was really neat. We got to see the staff use math to figure out the best angle to get the exhibit in. We talked with the staff who were just as fascinated by the move. Here are some, ok a lot of, pictures from our visit.

Just a Beach Bum at heart...

I have been trying for a little bit to create a post about our day. I can't do it. Instead I want to take you down memory lane.

Growing up I was one of 13 grandkids. Twice a summer we would all get together for a family pool party at my grandmother's house. My mom and dad would go get 2 bushels of blue crabs fresh off the boats. They would pick up shrimp and corn on the cob too. All the kids would play in the pool while the grown ups cooked our meal. My grandmother, Bam, would be in charge of the crabs. She would purposely, I mean accidently, drop a few live ones on the ground to chase the kids. My dad and his brother would be 'manning' the grill. They would cook the corn, hot dogs, and whatever else we had. We would then all sit down at huge tables to eat our meals. We always had fun. There were games of all kinds. We would play football, soccer or baseball up on the fields next to my dad's childhood home. We would play games in the pool as well.

Bam's house was the one that we gathered at for the holidays. I can picture the men on the couches while watching the football games on Thanksgiving. I can see the kids all playing with the knick knacks that Bam collected as she traveled all over the world. I can see the tree in the sun room. I can picture all the food in the dining room. I can picture my grandmother so clearly and so full of life.

When I had to do a 6th grade project on a country in Africa, Bam helped me. She had just gotten back from a trip to Egypt. She gave me all of her artifacts that she collected. I got an A that day.

Many of you that read my blog know that I love the islands. I love the sand, the water and the sun. I feel like I am at home when my feet are in the sand. All of my worries go away at the smell and sight of the ocean. It is as if my worries get washed away with the tide. The reason that I am at home at the beach, Bam. She taught me to love the islands. She showed me that there was peace in the sand. Bam & I have been to few different beaches. We have been to Jamaica where we climbed a waterfall, the Bahamas where she lived part time, and we have been to the Eastern Shore of Md. The music that I love the most reminds me of the water. They are Beach Songs.

Last May, she was taken to the hospital because she fell. They didn't know if she would make it to my cousin's wedding on June. She made it. She had another goal, make it until I came for a visit in August. She made that goal too. She was well enough to make a trip to her house in the Bahamas over the holidays.

Unfortunately, Bam died this morning. I am so glad that I got the chance to see her in August. I am thankful that my kids have a great memory of eating sushi with their great-grandmother. I am thankful that she got to see them one more time. Mostly, I am just grateful that she was my grandmother.

I will miss you forever Bama. I'll see you at the beach.

photo courtesy of Virtual Tourist

Lazy 5 Ranch

For Squirrel's birthday we went to visit my inlaws. They treated us to a day at the Lazy 5 Ranch. We had soo much fun!! I got to see so many wonderful animals. We rode in wagons around the ranch and fed the animals. We got very close to them. We had water buffalo, rams, deer, zebra and many more animals approach the wagon. I even got to pet a giraffe and a zebra. I had a bison get possessive of me. He wouldn't let anyone get close to me while I was feeding him. It was rather cute, until he licked the seat that I was sitting on. The ostrich was mean. The animals were terrified of it. The baby yak was just too cute. For most of the trip we had some pot belly piglets running behind the wagon. They were absolutely adorable! I wanted to just scoop one up and keep it for a pet. The greatest part of my day was seeing the joy in my kids' faces.

Be Careful What You Wish For

I was blog hopping and came across this post at Redneck Mother: Be Careful What You Wish For. She asked the most amazing question at the end...

"Would your younger self believe what you're doing now? Did it all work out according to plan or do you find yourself doing some version of bronze horse-junk photos?"

I thought what a great question and a great topic to post about.

Would my younger self believe what I was doing now? In one word , YES. I always wanted to be a mom. That was first and foremost in my mind always. I even knew that I would marry someone who wore a uniform. I always wanted to be a teacher or work with children. I get to be a teacher to my own kids. However, I thought that I would of been sending my kids to school and teaching someone else's child.

Did it all work out according to my plan? Nope and I wouldn't have it any other way. If everything had gone according to my plan, I would never of met dh and I would never of had my rugrats.

The only thing that I could possible think that would make my life just a teeny tiny bit better... a maid and a personal trainer(so I could loose the baby weight that I am still carrying after 7yrs). Other than that I am extremely happy that things didn't go according to plans.

So now I ask you the same questions. Would your younger self believe what you are doing now? Did it all happen according to your plans?

Happy Birthday Tracker!!!

A day I will never forget. A day that brought me joy and a day that just reminded me that those who have left us have never really left us. When Tracker was born he looked exactly like my late grandfather, Pop-Pop. While I was sad to be reminded of him, I was thankful. I felt like it was his approval of everything that was going on in my life.

On a much happier note, we had a blast at the amusement park last night. I have not laughed that much in years. We went on bumper cars, the Hurricane, tilt-a-whirl, thunderbolt, log flume(or the frog log as Squirrel kept calling it), merry go round and many more. Where are the pictures you ask?? I can only plead that I was having WAY to much fun to think about the camera in my pocket.

(I tried to post this yesterday, but blogger ate it)

A Lesson Learned

For months now I have been finding excuses for my headaches, my jaw hurting and my sinuses bugging me. I don't wear my glasses, my wisdom teeth need to come out and it is allergy season. Well I learned my lesson Monday night.

While driving to go get dh, the right side of my face went numb. My face grew heavy and my speech started to slur. I picked up dh and he took me to the ER. We thought that I might be having a stroke. I was terrified. I am only 33 how could this happen. After many tests that all came back GREAT, it was determined that I had a very bad sinus infection. It was causing my face to swell and my ear aches. I am now on my 2nd day of antibiotics and I am making an appointment with an ears, nose & throat doctor. I also discovered that my wisdom tooth has finally come in at a very weird angle. I will talk to my son's dentist on Friday. I just want them to send me to the dental surgeon to get it out.

But what is the lesson that I learned? That I should take better care of myself. Moms tend to put everyone above them. If they can explain away their symptoms they will. I know that I should of gone when I had the ear pain the first time and the headaches. That was just one of the lessons that I learned. The final lesson is far more important to me. I learned that I am truly the luckiest woman in the world. I have a husband that put up with me being extremely clingy yesterday. I was afraid that if he went too far from me that something bad would happen. I saw my 10 year old grow up in a matter of seconds. He took charge of his little brother and told me not to worry. he was actually kinda cute. He wanted to know what all the tests showed and what the ENT was. Who I was seeing. When I told him that I would be seeing the doctor that took out his tonsils, he said good I trust him. LOL!!!

It was a reality check. That there is nothing more important than my family. So hug your love ones and don't sweat the small stuff. Seriously, you won't remember it next week or next month, but you will remember the memories that you make.

Little Boy

We use to have a German Shorthaired Pointer. He was a bump on a log. He would sleep all day. He was an abandoned dog that just happen to find his home with us. Unfortunately, last year we had to find him a new home. We could no longer keep him due to all of the boys in the house (dh included) allergies. We were unaware of my oldest son's severe allergy to him. We had Little Boy for almost 3 years. I know that he is in a good home.

We think of Little Boy every time there is a thunderstorm. I still expect to feel him shaking at my feet or jump up on the bed. The only time that he ever slept on the bed was if there was a storm in the area. I thought of him the other night when we saw fireworks. I miss seeing his face when we came home from the store, I just plain miss him.

I am Thankful...

I am thankful for: ...The mess to clean up after a party because it means my children have friends. ...the clothes that fit a little too snug because it means that my children have enough to eat. ...the noise that sometimes rises in my home because it means that I can hear. ...the lessons I pay for because it means that my children are developing talents. ...a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing because I have a home. ...my shadow who watches me work because it means I am out in the sunshine. ...the spot I find at the far end of the parking lot because it means I am capable of walking. ... my huge heating bill because it means I am warm. ,,,the piles of laundry and ironing because it means my loved ones are nearby. ...the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours because it means that I am alive. ...weariness and aching muscles at the end of a day because I have been productive." (Adapted from "I am Thankful" by Nancy J. Carmody, Family Circle, 11/99)

I found this online at MyKidsBrowser. Just the thing that I needed today.

Happy Father's Day

Fathers Can Be Solitary Mountains
Fathers can be solitary mountains,
All their love rock-like, steep, and strong.
Though warm and caring, somehow they belong
Halfway home to mothers' bubbling fountains.
Each of us needs love that knows no quarter,
Reminding us of bonds that cross a border,
Strengthening our sense of right and wrong.
Author Unknown

Poem courtesy of Father's Day Celebrations
Graphic courtesy of poofcat

Where Have I Been??? Part 2

On our last full day at the park we decided to enjoy it to the fullest. Tracker & Hubby went fishing after we had breakfast. They came back with 2 bass. Hubby said that Tracker did most of the work. Tracker looked exhausted. We ate a very simple lunch..sloppy joe pizzas. Hubby & I noticed that Tracker & Squirrel weren't themselves. The weather had turned HOT. We decided to go for a drive to cool them off. We ended up at McDonald's getting ice cream. We learned that the temperature was 100º and the heat index was close to 106º. After we cooled off we went back to the campsite and went for a hike. We had alot of fun. We hiked up to a place called lookout point. Just an amazing view.


It made me homesick for Wintergreen and the mountains. We went there at least 2x a month when I was in high school. We would stay there during school breaks and 2 weeks in the summer. While we were walking we found some critters.


Can you spot the lizard in this picture?

Or in this one??
After the walk we went to the lake that was at the park. We couldn't go swimming because there is a 5 foot alligator in the water. There were also lots of other creepy crawlies in there. It didn't matter. It was beautiful. It had a ton of frogs. I have never heard so many in my life. We learned that some of the frogs were river frogs. It was very unusual to find them so far north. The ranger also told us that the river frog eggs are actually bigger than the actual frog. He said that in another couple of weeks the lake shoreline would of been covered in river frogs and bull frogs. He said that the whole shore is just jumping. We also found a turtle trying to get some sun.

We also learned that the park dates back to pre Revolutionary War. There were parts of am old mill there.

All in all we had a blast. We can't wait to go back in the fall.

I Miss You Bop

I am thinking of you today
on the one year anniversary of your funeral.
I wish that I was able to be there, but I couldn't.
Just know that I have thought about you often.
I miss you and going home won't be the same without you there.