Look at these pics!

I had the kids pictures made last week while I was at my parents. I recently reconnected with a friend from high school on Facebook. She is a part-time photographer & asked if she could take pictures of the kids for her website. Her work is GREAT! so of course I took her up on the opportunity. These pictures are SO cute...some of the best that I've ever had made. I copied this one from her website just to give a sneak peak, but you can view all of them here:

http://flickr.com/photos/monicareid/sets/72157606631533607/

She has her own website as well where you can view more of her work.

http://www.monicareidphotography.blogspot.com/

Observations of a 6 year old

Sometimes I don't think we give kids enough credit. They think very simplistic... it's black or white for them & just as they see... or hear... it. We brush them off because they are little & don't know. But reality is, they think pretty clearly. Yeah, I know they don't always understand the full meaning or context, but it does make sense some of the questions they raise. For example, when teaching my boys to read, we've encountered several frustrating moments of pronouncing a word that doesn't sound they way it's supposed to sound. "Why not just write it the way it sounds" was & still is a frequent comment that comes from both of my boys mouths.

Another example....Today, Carter was sitting with me on the couch & a commercial came on for an iPod. He said "if it's an iPod and you put it in your ear.... why is it not called an ear pod? you don't stick it in your eyes to listen to it." Very good point there. Then later this evening we were driving to the YMCA & he said "mom, why do they make cars to go to 100 or faster? you're not supposed to drive that fast. do they just want you to get a ticket or something?" Yet again, another good point.

Children's Consignment Sale

It's that time of year again... consignment sale. I've done this one in particular for several years now. I love to shop there & I really love the check I get when it's over, but I always dread getting ready for this sale. It's A LOT of work! You have to tag, price, hang, box, bag... etc. whatever it is you are selling before you take it to drop off. I have a small house & not a lot of room to spread out stuff while I am preparing. This year I have 6+ tubs of clothes... that's just clothes & not all the toys, shoes & other stuff I will take. I had the bright idea of taking several tubs with me to my parents this week to tag. I thought I might make it through 1 1/2... but I did all 3 tubs plus 2 more tubs that I found in their basement. Granted, they are not on hangers yet, but the hard part it done. I'm on a role!

** If you know anyone who might be interested in looking through me stuff before I drop off, I would love to get rid of a good chunk before I take it... otherwise I probably won't have room to fit it all in my van. I've got girls 0-3 mth to 12 mths and boys 2T to size 6.

Sea Urchin

When we were at the beach week before last, I caught a sea urchin.

Actually, it was just kind of laying in the shallow water... it looked prickly & I didn't want any of the kids to step on it, so I scooped it up. I wasn't exactly sure what it was until some onlookers informed me that it was a sea urchin. I wasn't sure if it was alive or not until we left it alone & it's prickly spines started moving around. We left it in a bucket & the kids wanted to keep it. I thought it might be kind of neat. Someone said they made really pretty shells after they dried up but they stunk really bad until they died. Boy, they were right. We brought it home & it started stinking within a day or two. So I soaked it in clorox water & by the next day all of it's spines fell off. By the next day it looked like this.

Top side

Underside


Kinda cool isn't it! I've never had more than just the ordinary sea shells. What puzzles me is that when all of the spines fell off & it dried up, where did all the guts & stuff inside of it go? There was a mouth looking thing in the top of the shell in the small opening. Nothing was in the bottom of the bucked except the spines and a couple odd looking spines... no slimy nothing. Hmmmmm....

Oh by the way... today is my birthday... I'm 33... ugh!