Easter at the Platts

More Photo Fun!

So I discovered a few more functions on our camera. The photo above is enhanced with the "Starburst Effect". Can you see the twinkle in Toby's eyes?

"Happy Faces". Apparently it's supposed to enhance people's smiles. Or in this case, makes them creepy.

"Partial Color". Isn't it pretty?

"Fisheye Lens". Another creepy effect when you try it on a closeup face.

Another fisheye lens enhancement. Josslyn looks a bit strange!

Another fisheye lens...

No enhancement here, just having fun with Toby's flashcards.

Wii Step Board-

I had the idea to make a step platform for the Wii board (like the ones for step aerobics that sell for 50 dollars). I made it last night and tried it out today and I got a pretty decent workout with it!

I love making stuff and it was a fun and easy project, even though I messed it up the first try. It was all wobbly but I realized what I did wrong - I hammered the sides together before making sure it was steady and straight. :)

I just nailed 2x6's into a rectangle, nailed on a plywood top, then glued and stapled a rubber mat on top so the Wii board won't slip. It cost around 10 dollars and it works great! I spray painted it green just for fun and because it was the easiest spray paint can to get to.

I would recommend this project to anybody who wants to get a little more out of their Wii fitness, has a little woodworking experience, and wants to save money, rather than buying a 50 dollar step that might not be the right size. The dimensions for my step is around 6"x15"x21".

Saturday Run Heart Rates-

So Greg got me a heart rate monitor for Valentine's Day and today I tried it out on one of my typical Saturday runs and here are the stats from it:

*Resting Heart Rate- around 70

*Target Heart Rate Zone- 120-160 (according to Wikipedia, I'm supposed to exercise in this range)

*Estimated Maximum Heart Rate- 188 (according to Wikipedia, I'm supposed to stay away from this number, too high)

*Downhill with 12lb Weight Vest, 22 min- 150-165

*Uphill with 12lb Weight Vest, 26min- 175 (started to get slight side ache in ribs after 15 minutes)

*Sprint at the End with 12lb Weight Vest, 30sec- 185

*Distance Covered- 4.4 miles

*Running Time- 48 minutes

So it looks like I may be exercising too hard, getting past my target heart rate range. I felt fine during the run except for the slight side ache, but maybe I need to go slower or not use the weight vest so I don't work my heart too hard, keep the heart rate lower than 170 at least.

Are you happy?

I Was Bored One Day...

I was bored one day and decided to make a couple skirts to liven up my church outfits.

I had extra fabric from my bike jersey and thought it would make a neat skirt. I had to line the inside with fabric, but it worked out.

Next, I had this sparkly fabric that went from black to white and turned that into a skirt. I also had to line this one because the fabric had a tendency to stick to my stockings.

Looking back on these photos, I think I should have made the one above longer and the light blue one shorter. Oh well. I like to be spontaneous when I get in the mood to create something, and that doesn't leave much room for careful planning. I like the skirts anyways.

"Scalped" Game

For Greg's mom's Christmas present, he had the great idea to make her a game. Or rather, to remake a game for her. He chose the game "Bang".

Bang is a fun wild west card game with characters and weapons. Greg decided he wanted his game to have a Book of Mormon theme so we drew up our own cards:

In the original Bang game, there are 16 characters you can choose from to be. So Greg decided to have his family's faces be on his character cards:

We printed all the cards onto card stock and then used laminate paper (pretty much like contact paper) to protect them, then cut them out. We used a Christmas tin to store the game and Greg wrote a copy of the rules from the original Bang game, but changing a few things, like names.

We had a blast playing it at Christmas!

New Camera!

Wow! When Greg ordered the digital camera from Club Bing, I expected it to be mediocre. But I can't believe how much better it is than my $100 Polaroid!

For one thing, this new camera can take closeups! My old didn't.

It's a Sony Cyber-Shot 230, 12 mega pixels.

This shot would have been completely blurry and yellowed. My old camera couldn't handle natural indoor light.

It has a smile detector! You hold down the button and it waits for a smile, then takes the picture.

It can take action shots or low light shots, two things my other camera couldn't do. My Polaroid took too long to shoot for action shots, and in low light, it just did flash, making it appear like the subject was in a room with the lights out.

With a shot like this, my other camera would have blurred, confused at what to focus on.

It has a function for sepia, black and white, and vivid color shots. The one of the pennies is shot with vivid colors.

And the best thing of all - the battery pack holds a charge for hours! I can take tons of photos without having to recharge! My old camera would go through batteries every few minutes!

I'm loving this camera!

Christmas 2009-

What a Christmas!! Greg and I went pretty small this year, because we bought 2 new bikes (which we have loved and are anxiously waiting for warmer weather to ride them again) and a bike trailer. But we splurged on Toby, and he loved his gifts(we have video of him opening his gifts and hopefully someday we'll post them.). In fact, he enjoyed the unwrapping so much that he got really upset and threw a fit when he found he had no more gifts to unwrap!

Trying out the new car mat.



But Greg's parents went all out! They got for themselves a 55" LCD 1080p HDTV!! To go along with the TV, they got a new TV stand, blue ray player, and upgraded their satellite to include HD channels!


It took most of Christmas day to set up the TV, stand, and blue ray player. They got one blue ray movie, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. The picture quality is excellent!



Ben got pretty much everything he wanted on his wish list. A painting of his favorite Temple, two new video games, a new Sunday suit, two Rubik's cubes (we got him one, Julie got him one), and some other stuff.

Julie is holding up her new painting of her favorite Temple, plus she got a new 12mp camera, two boots she wanted, and the big gift - the WII Fit! She's been so nice letting us use it.

Here's Toby's new Spiderman Scooter. He can't quite ride it yet, but he gets gradually better each time he tries.

This is a puzzle we bought for him, thinking it'll take a few months for him to master the art of building it. Nope. It took a week. Now he can put in all the pieces by himself in less than 5 minutes! I didn't expect that!

Greg said one of the best gifts he got this year was the mouse pad with Toby's picture on it.

Here is Tanya, holding her new quilt, handmade by her mom, Linda! It took Linda twice as long to make this quilt as it did for me to paint the Salt Lake Temple! And twice as expensive too.

Toby trying out his new lounge chair!

Greg, showing Toby how to use his new train whistle.

And here is Toby's new train set. Along with the safari tracks that Marlan and Linda gave him, this is the best gift Toby got. He asks to play with them almost every day, and even Greg and I enjoy bringing them out, setting up the tracks, and playing for awhile.

The most useful gifts I got are the grey sweater I wear practically every day, and the new plush robe that I wear almost every day!

Bike Jersey Project-

This was a hard project at first. I had to make a practice one to work out all the bugs. Good thing I had extra material!

I made one for myself (the one on the right, below)

Then one for Greg and one for Greg's dad, Marlan, for Christmas. (below)(Greg's is the right one, Marlan's is the left one)

With the experience of making 4 jerseys, I feel confident to make more clothes. My next project is to make matching bike pants for me. We'll be ready for bike season next spring!