Playing Baseball in the House

by Sara Merritt on June 13, 2013

When my four-year-old was searching for a movie to watch at my parents’ house last month, her little heart began to race when she spotted an old VHS tape of The Sandlot.  Since then, we have watched this movie no less than a dozen times because… well, because she’s boy crazy & convinced that watching the movie will enhance her baseball skills.  

the-sandlot

 

Yesterday, while we were running errands, she casually asked me from the backseat, “So, Mom… do you want to talk about sports or something?”  {She was clearly talking to the wrong parent.}

“Sure, Honey,” I replied, “What sport do you have in mind?”  

“Baseball.  I think I really know how to play.  Do you have to wear a helmet when you’re the glover or only when you’re the batter?  I’m not sure if you have to wear a helmet all the time like skateboarding or if you can take it off.  I’m a little bit afraid that the helmet will get stuck on my head and I’ll have to wear it like forever or something.  And then do the girls & boys play on the same team or do the girls try to beat the boys?”  

She rarely takes a breath.  

Before we went home, we stopped at the world’s most depressing discount retailer {Rose’s} & picked up a wiffle bat & ball.  If the girl wants to play baseball, then let’s play baseball.  Only one problem… it meant that I was going to have to play baseball because waiting for Daddy to get home feels like an eternity when you’re four. 

It was 93 degrees outside when we got home and I couldn’t stand the begging anymore so I suggested that we play baseball in the house.  Lizzie & I were on one team and Ellie & Yeah-Yeah {her newest imaginary playmate straight from the movie} were on the other.  

“Mom, I’ll just stand here and put my glove out like Smalls, okay?  And you be like Benny and get it right in my glove.”  And for the next hour we went back & forth between a movie reenactment & learning to play catch.  

Now if you’ve ever watched The Sandlot then you may remember that the boys use some choice words that you most definitely don’t want your kids to repeat.  Since Ellie doesn’t really know many swear words, she thinks “stupid” is the most offensive thing to come out of the boys’ mouths.  And of course, I should know better but talking about baseball for seven hours made me delirious.  

“Mom, what’s that line they say in the movie?”  

“You’re a pee drinking, crap face?”  Oops.  Did I really just say that?

“Mom!  That’s a bad word.  I was just going to say, ‘watch out… I’m gonna throw the heater’.”  

 

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Smart Cameras Make Photography Easy #PixBundle

by Sara Merritt on June 7, 2013

CB-sponsored-post-green-script-600

I love taking photos and I love sharing photos — that’s how I got into blogging in the first place.  When Ellie was a little baby, I splurged and purchased a big DSLR camera {which I absolutely adore} because my little point & shoot was taking terrible photos.  I take a lot of pictures, but I’m not an expert at photography and I don’t always remember to share them with family & friends.   And with my parents, siblings, and entire extended family over 500 miles away, posting pictures to Facebook & talking on the phone is how we all stay in touch.  This is why I was so excited to get my hands on a Samsung Smart Camera.

When I was asked to try out the new Samsung Smart Camera, I expected it to function like my old point & shoot, but I was wrong.  I am amazed at the technology — 16 megapixels & the ability to capture video in full HD.  It is by far the best purchase I’ve made in a long time and I got it at Sam’s Club {believe it or not}.  

Let me show you how this camera is making my life easier.  On Tuesday, we went to the Science Center to see the new Butterfly habitat exhibit.  Instead of dragging my big camera out & attempting to shoot on manual while wearing a baby, I tossed this camera into my diaper bag:  

Samsung Smart Camera WB800F #shop #cbias #pixbundle

 It weighs half a pound, has a cute little zip-up bag, & it’s small enough to fit in the pocket of my baby carrier, too.  While I carried Lizzie around, here are some of the cool photos we snapped and THEN {here’s the cool part}… I uploaded them to Facebook while we were still at the Science Center from the back of the camera.  My smart phone can’t take photos like this but my SMART CAMERA sure can!

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES - #pixbundle #shop

By selecting Wi-Fi, I can connect to Facebook to upload my photos immediately.  The viewing screen on the camera is a touch screen – when Wi-Fi is selected a number of different options are available.  Using my Samsung cell phone {just download a free app}, I can upload the pictures from the camera to my phone just by putting them next to each other.  Imagine all the amazing, high quality photos you could take, transfer, & then use with Instagram.  Additionally, I can set up the camera on a tripod & then use my camera to take photos remotely.  How smart & convenient is that?    That means I can actually start being IN the photos of my family and not just the one taking the photos!

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

In picture viewing mode, I am also able to edit my photos RIGHT ON THE CAMERA by selecting Menu, then Edit Photo.  I can select fun filters, crop, change the saturation or brightness of a photo all in the camera without having to mess with Photoshop.  I know this will come in handy, especially when I’m blogging on the road all summer long.  

Here’s an example of two photos that I edited in the camera:

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES{I could never accomplish an edit like this with my computer software.}

Ellie edited with Samsung Smart Camera #pixbundle{I like the way this edit blurs around the edges & draws my eye towards Ellie’s sweet face.}

To see more photos that I’ve taken with this camera & where to purchase it, see my google+ album.  Thank goodness I have another camera {a SMART camera!} to capture family moments — one that I can toss in my purse or diaper bag and quickly share photos with family and friends.  I know that somewhere, 500 miles away, there’s a lady who looks a lot like me who is *really* happy about that.  {Right, Mom?}  And keeping Mama happy?  Well, that’s SMART, too!

 

 

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