Apparel & Accessories (6) Books, DVDs & Media (17) Home & Garden (56) Tools & Hardware (1) Toys & Games (4) And don't forget to try our exclusive Cash Dash offers, so you can earn money back while you shop.You walk into school orientation – slightly excited, slightly overwhelmed. You salivate at the thought that kids going back to school means a little more time to yourself. And then you slowly lower your fist, sadly recognizing time to yourself means those chores you left by the wayside all summer; well now you’ve gotta tackle them. So much to do, so little time. Shaking that grim feeling from your mind, into the classroom you go talking to the teacher, introducing yourself to fellow parents, and then stumbling upon the sign up sheets. Monthly play dough, class parties, and then ROOM MOM. Maybe it’s because no one has signed up yet, maybe you are an over achiever and love planning kid activities, or maybe you feel guilty about that cocktail you had every single day of summer, maybe all three – whatever the reason: you put your name in the empty space.

You’ve now transitioned from ordinary, drop off, say “hey” sometimes mom, to the everybody knows my name, email, phone number, address, better have their shit together ROOM MOM. That time you didn’t have in the first place, well now you’ve got even less. Have no fear, we are here to make your life, well, less-hellish, so here is our TOP 10 list of apps/websites to help you ROCK at being ROOM MOM!This is an online calendar app where you first block off/list the dates that work best for you, then email the other collaborators. They will then check which dates coincide with yours. And then, voila, you’ve found the optimal date for the Valentine’s Party. Easy peasy, lemon squeezey. This website is awesome for organizing who is bringing what to a party. As Room Mom, you’d set up a list that says what you need, how much you need, and when you need it. Everyone just signs up where their efforts can be best utilized. Need to create a group chat? This is the app for you.

Add all the members of your classroom to quickly and easily organize chats/texts.grommet merete curtains ikea This website is great for managing all volunteer activities – personal or for the class as a whole. curtains bottishamYou can combine, group, and schedule on a nifty calendar. the tortilla curtain candido analysisThis way you know how much time you’ve indebted that month.tong kheng curtains Need to collect money? royal velvet plaza blackout lined grommet-top curtain panel

Let’s face it, getting people to bring in money can be a drag, creating many awkward conversations. argos shower curtain lagoonVenmo allows you to easily (and safely) transfer money without ever touching any cash. Who the heck can come up with all of those creative party ideas on their own? Pinterest to the rescue! Search for what you are looking for and find awesome ideas. So much simpler than spending all night brainstorming; now you can just spend all night creating tiny homemade party flair for all the adoring children . Want to schedule a play date with some flair? Invite the class to your kid’s birthday? Send out an Evite. Select a theme, enter in some details, and send out to your guests. It automatically sends out updates to remind the group of upcoming events. There are all different ways to raise money for your school, but why not go with the simplest?

Take a photo at a game, lunch, chess match – whatever – and upload it to their site. Then, other parents can buy the photo and the money goes back to the school. Sort of like cutting box tops, yet simpler. Use this app to donate money to your school by taking a photo of receipts, and qualifying purchases will then receive cash back donations. Google docs provides assistance in planning in so many ways. Create groups for emails. Make a to-do list. Google docs is the answer to so many of your Room Mom prayers. We hope this list helps to simply some of your Room Mom woes. Hopefully, you are feeling a little less overwhelmed and are ready to tackle that Room Mom to-do list! And if all else fails, just keep smiling and know most parents are so thankful that anyone but them signed up for Room Mom. Go rock that Room Mom – we are all cheering for you, Momma! Ready to put the right foot forward and start the school year off right? Check out our Back to School Guide, the supreme list of all you will need to know to make 2016 your best year yet!

Tags: #parenting, apps, apps to make easier, back to school, back to school 2016, children, daily mom, easy, essentials, helpful, helpful back to school, helpful mom resources, kid's, mom, mom tips, Mommy, mommy tips, motherhood, room mom, sahm, sahm time management, SAHM tips, stay at home mom, time management, time management tips, tips, working momWBCS, Inc. is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Its mission is to support early-stage breast cancer and prostate cancer re...You might be a photographer if you step outside, see that it’s overcast and run back inside to grab your camera. Especially for momtographers with young children who don’t always last until that beautiful “golden hour,” overcast days are our best friend. In fact, finding the right light is a big deal. It’s an even bigger deal when our available light is less than ideal. If you’ve been following our “Getting to Know Your Camera” series, then you’ve already been exploring two of three components of the “Exposure Triangle.”

You’ll recall that aperture measures how wide the opening is that allows light into the camera; shutter speed then measures how long the shutter stays open to allow light in. ISO is the final component of the triangle and it measures our camera’s sensitivity to the light. Today we explore ISO speed a little further. ISO, pronounced eye-ess-oh, refers to film speed or how sensitive your digital camera sensor is to the light. The terminology is derived from standards adopted by the International Organization for Standardization, which is made up of representatives of several national standardization entities (you may have seen ISO followed by a number on the side of manufacturing facilities).  Their goal is to create a universal method of standardization for a number of products and industries, including an international standard for film speed or digital camera sensor sensitivity. Based on that standard, ISO 100 on one camera should have the same sensitivity as any other camera.

In short, ISO helps us understand how much light we need for how long in order to properly expose an image. As we’ve learned in Aperture Basics and Shutter Speed Basics, proper exposure has everything to do with the light. For example, if we use a larger aperture, more light will come through the lens and hit the sensor. In the same regard, if we use a slow shutter speed, whatever light is available will hit our camera’s sensor for a longer amount of time. ISO levels range from ISO 100 (although some cameras can drop to ISO 80 or below) to ISO 1600, ISO 3200 or even higher. If you’re using a DSLR (and we assume you are if you are following this series), then you have the ability to manually change the ISO setting at any time before pressing the shutter release button.  You can also allow your camera to choose the ISO level, but it doesn’t always produce the best results. In general, a lower ISO setting is preferred over a higher ISO setting.  Lower ISO settings typically produce a better overall image quality and do not produce as much image noise as higher ISO settings (this assumes that you’ve properly exposed your image and are not having to correct your exposure in post processing).

With that in mind, consider the amount of light you have available and choose the appropriate ISO level. You can use the chart below as a guide. If we use a low ISO, our sensor is less sensitive. So, we either need to adjust our aperture to allow more light to the sensor, or we need to adjust our shutter speed to deliver light over a longer period of time. If we must use a high ISO, we can make do with less light over a shorter amount of time. Most entry-level DSLRs have ISO settings of 100, 200, 400, 600, 800, and 1600. These entry-level models are great for shooting outdoors, but most photographers find that they get a lot of “noise” or “grain” in their photos if they shoot much beyond an ISO of 400 (on an entry-level camera). You may be able to see the noise in the image below (ISO 1600). Noise tends to become such an issue, that a lot of people end up upgrading to a camera with much higher ISO capabilities. Alternatively, they buy an external flash to compensate for the noise or reduce noise in post-processing.

In some cases though, raising your ISO may offer more benefits, so it’s worth a little grain. But Remember: The higher the ISO the more noise in the image and the more sensitive to light your camera is. The lower the ISO the less noise in the image and the less sensitive to light your camera is. This week’s assignment is to experiment with your ISO settings. Feel free to use either Aperture Priority or Shutter Priority mode on your camera. But, instead of allowing your camera to decide the ISO, you set the ISO level (in addition to either aperture or shutter speed). Find a fixed subject to photograph (similar to what you used in the Aperture Basics lesson). Take a photo of your object at each ISO level. See how high it goes before you start to see a lot of noise. As you can see, we used a pair of sunglasses. We took them outside and photographed them in the same spot, adjusting the ISO and shutter speed. You may want to take your object to different locations: full sun, shade, indoors by a window, indoors away from the window, etc. to experiment with the various ISO levels.

You could even wait until it’s dark to really test the limits of your camera. When you’re done, upload your shots into whatever photo editing software you use and look at the difference lower and higher ISO settings make. As we continue to learn more about shooting in manual and how to control lighting over the coming weeks, you’ll be challenged to adjust your settings manually instead of relying on your camera. PEOPLE take great photos, NOT CAMERAS, so experiment and have fun with it. And of course, don’t hesitate to ask questions in the comment section if you need a little help. For more lessons on getting to know your camera, check out our post on Shutter Speed Basics. Tags: assignment, basics, camera, DIY, experiment, getting to know your camera, how to, how to shoot in manual, iso, lesson, manual, photography, photography basics, photography lessons, photos, pictures, practice, tutorial Ashley lives in North Carolina with her husband, two children and Kitty Paw.