Spending time with your grandchildren is a gift and a blessing. For grandparents who are raising their grandchildren, they receive the gift of time every day.

For grandparents who live far away or do not have the opportunity to see their grandchildren often, the joy of seeing them and them seeing you, still exists with the use of modern technology, specifically, audio, video and digital photos. Today, I would like to focus on digital photos.

The 3 basic steps to sharing photos on the Internet

• Selecting the camera to use
• Selecting the photo viewing program to use
• Importing the pictures into the photo program

Selecting the camera

If you do not have a digital camera yet, I encourage you to do so. Digital cameras now range in price of $59.00 all the way to thousands of dollars. The inexpensive ones work very well and serve their purpose. They are actually higher quality and less expensive than they were 10 years ago.

Look for a camera that uses a memory card that fits into your computer. On your computer, you may see something like Compact Flash, Micro Drive, SD*MMC*MS, Pro*XD, or something similar to that. Your computer’s owner’s manual can help you select the correct media storage device. Most cameras also offer the option of downloading the picture using a USB cable. If you are shopping online, the product details should give you all the information. Just make sure your camera’s storage device can be used in your computer, or your camera can be connected to your computer to import the pictures.

Selecting the photo viewing program

There are several online photo services that let you organize, edit and share your photos. Many are free. The 3 that I use are Picasa, Flickr and Kodak Gallery. Today, I will focus on Picasa.

Picasa is free photo editing software from Google. Enjoy this two minute video about Picasa.

[youtube gYO2uhrIZJ4 550 336]

If you have a Google email (gmail.com) account, the Picasa service can be accessed by your Gmail account. If you do not have a Gmail account, you can create one for free at Google.com.

You will also need to install the Picasa program on your computer, which is also free. If you don’t see it as an option on the Google home page, just enter picasa.google.com in your browser to bring it up, and click “Download Picasa 3.”

Importing photos

Once you have created your Gmail account and installed Picasa, you are ready to download (or import) your pictures from your digital camera. Once you have set up the Picasa application and have downloaded pictures from your camera, the Picasa program should automatically open every time you insert a media storage device in your computer (or connect via USB cable).

Once you have downloaded the pictures from your camera, you can click on “Web Albums” on the top right portion of your screen, which will take you directly to your Google Web Album in your Internet browser.

You can also access your web album by going to www.google.com to log into you Gmail account. When you are in your account, click on “Photos,” which is located on the top left portion of the page. If you don’t see it, then click on “more” and it will be under that.

It takes a little time to maneuver around Picasa, but it is my favorite one to use. When you become familiar with the program, you can sort photos into different albums. You can also set up privacy features on your albums so only your family and friends can view selected items. Google also has a lot of nice features that are great for sharing with your family, such as calendars, blogs and groups, but more on that another time.

If you don’t have a digital camera, or have one and haven’t set up an account online to download your photos, I encourage you to do so. Picasa is free to use, and once you set it up, you can have your family upload photos to your albums for your whole family to enjoy.

Warm regards,

Kay Fontana
“The Grandcoach”
www.CoachingForQuality.com

[In future posts, GrandparentsTLC will review more ways of sharing photos online, including Apple's Macintosh iPhoto application and MobileMe.]

Have you used Picasa or another photo sharing program? How has it enabled you to connect with your family and grandkids? Please share your comments. We enjoy reading about your experiences.

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If you had fun watching this video, please give it a quick “thumbs up”: vote for it on YouTube, and leave a comment there also. Thank you!

Now, I’d like to make a disclaimer: I don’t usually wear a beard. (I don’t particularly like the look. And Tanda gives me ”the look” when I kiss her, like it’s dis-”taste”-fully itchy.)

The simplest toy, one which even the youngest child can operate, is called a grandparent. ~Sam Levenson

How to post your own YouTube video

We are creating more in-depth tutorials that we will post later. But these steps will get you going.

Step 1. Shoot movie

Shoot a movie with a video camera, camcorder, anything that takes video. A digital video camera is the easiest to use and upload. Here’s a couple we recommend that have great consumer ratings.

• Flip Video Mino Series Camcorder, 60 Minutes for $159.00
• Canon VIXIA HV30 MiniDV High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom for $542.00

Step 2. Import movie into computer

Plug your camera into your computer with the USB of FireWire cable. Plug in the camera’s power cord. Power up the camera. Launch your video editing software. (This is one reason we love the Mac, iMovie comes free, and is so easy to use.) Some software lets you queue up the video to the first of the scene, or you can do this before connecting the camera to the computer.

Step 3. Edit movie (optional)

You can fine-tune the beginning and end of the scene, add title text, transitions, music, effects and adjustments. (Be sure to save your work if the software doesn’t automatically save it.)

Step 4. Upload video to YouTube

Note: You will need a YouTube account. You can sign up for free account if you don’t have one yet.

Some software, such as iMovie, lets you do upload directly. It also lets you add the description and tags. You can also upload videos from the YouTube site.

Step 5. Publish video

Once your video is uploaded, YouTube takes a few minutes to get it ready to view. Be sure to check all the settings, description and tags. If you have a blog, you can embed the video on your site, just like I did with my video above.

Step 5. Promote video

Email a link to your blog post, or to the video’s YouTube page. Tweet it. Put it on FaceBook. Ask all your friends and family to vote for it and write a comment, just like I’m doing now. I can’t wait to read your comments!

The "Real" Santa

So, have fun and create your own YouTube movie. Who knows, it just might be the next viral video! (Right after mine, that is).

Enjoy – Shayne

Please vote and comment on my Shorty Claus video now. Thanks!

You can give us a Christmas gift by bookmarking or emailing this to a friend!

My grandson applying stickers

Have you ever had aspirations to write a children’s storybook? Not necessarily a published storybook, but at least a simple one for your own children or grandchildren? Come on, admit it! I have. I’m going to show you how to create a simple childrens storybook using stickers.

Ever since our children were young, my wife and I enjoyed telling bedtime stories to them. Tanda Loved to read good books to them. (They got their love for reading from her.) I love to read also. I love to make up stories even better. So I would invent impromptu adventures about Silver Long Johns, the pirate, and Oowey Goowey the worm. (Sometimes Oowey was sticky bubble gum or roasted marshmallow). As the children got a little older, I’d stop the story at the pivoting point, just as something exciting was about to happen, and have them take over for awhile. Like a choose your own adventure. We would all take turns. It helps develop creativity and imagination. The wilder, the better. Now I make up fun stories with my grandkids — in person, on the phone, in video chats — and we all enjoy it!

They say genes skip generations. Maybe that’s why grandparents find their grandchildren so likeable. ~Joan McIntosh

My young grandkids love stickers (also known as an autocollant or decal). But sometimes they stick them in places that their mom isn’t too happy about. So I thought of an idea, to combine stickers with my desire to create a storybook for children. So, I created one. And as most of my projects do, it started with a simple idea, and ended taking more time than I expected. But, oh was it fun! Don’t you just love getting into that creative zone where you can let your imagination soar? It is an exhilarating experience.

Daniel working on his sticker book

So far now, I’ve made two of these sticker storybooks as birthday presents for two of my grandsons, Daniel and Joshua. They just turned 4 and 6. I plan to make one for each of my grandchildren. It is a personalized storybook; a keepsake. It is also an interactive storybook because the grandchild applies the stickers on each page of the storybook story. The first one I made was for my 4 year old grandson, Daniel. I documented my storybook project and took photos so I could share the process with you, and show you how you can make your own children’s storybook with stickers. Yes, you! You are just as creative as me or anyone else.

Joshua working on his sticker book

By the way, anyone can make a storybook like this. You don’t have to be a grandparent, but this blog is viewed with grandparent glasses on. So whether you are a grandmother, grandfather, aunt, uncle, mother, father, or kuala bear, the process and techniques explained here are the same. You can also create one that is much simpler than mine. Just try it! Your special child will love the handmade gift from you. I think homemade presents are the best! Don’t you? (Unintentional hint for my children that Grandparent’s Day is September 7th this year.)

So, click and play the tutorial presentation I created for you now. It includes the story I wrote, along with my commentary. Enjoy!

One more thing… I kept a copy of the story. So when Daniel was finished with his book, I had a video chat with him. I read it to him as he turned the pages. It was fun!

Daniel reading his finished storybook

Now go and make a sticker storybook yourself! Then please come back and let us know about your experience. Have fun!

Grandpa Shayne

Copyright 2008, Shayne Packer. All rights reserved. You may review this article and link to it, but please do not embed the slideshow in another website. Thanks, Shayne

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