My Little Artist

I recently bought my daughter one of those fisher price digital cameras. I got it at a yard sale for $10 and she spent the weekend snapping pictures. She is still working on the "point" part, but has the "shoot" down. Here are some of her better pictures.
As far as my review of the camera goes, it is a great buy at $10 and for a three-year-old, but for any older, I would probably buy a cheaper, real digital camera. The quality is not great and I think she will quickly out grow it. The woman I bought it from told me that her daughter is only five and had already moved on to a better camera.

I tried it

I recently saw an idea for an idea for an indoor sandbox type thingie, that involved a filling a large Rubbermaid tub with dry cereal - I used cheerios and kix for contrasting shapes.
I filled the tub up and placed in on a clean sheet. I then gave my children, ages 10 months and almost three, a variety of cups, funnels, spoons, ladles, etc.
They played for about two hours with very little need for my refereeing.
After we were done, we took the left over cereal out and dumped it on the edge of our front yard and had the bonus that night of watching a mother deer and two spotted fawns enjoying a special treat. If you do not live where deer are a plenty like we do, I am sure the local birds would be thankful or you could always save it in an air tight container for next time.

Pros:
it was a lot of fun for little cash
great rainy day activity
I did not have to worry about the baby putting things in his mouth like at the beach or playground

Cons:
it was a little messy (I have wood floors and kix roll)
my 10-month-old thinks it is okay to throw cereal

Conclusion:
We will defiantly do this again

The Tip that Started It All

I use my digital camera as the modern verison of "counting to ten" when my kids do something that makes my head want to pop off. By the time I get the camera and take a picture of the offending deed, I have calmed down enough to rationally deal with my toddler daughter and also remind myself that they are only young once and that these are precious memories.

So when ever my kids do this...

or this....

I focus in on this....

A fabulous Idea

This blog actually came about because of a suggestion from the fabulous Jennifer Kent.
I was sharing a funny story with her and mentioned a parenting tip that I use to keep my sanity. She thought it was a great idea and suggested that I start a blog sharing my tips... in her scenario, I end up a famous author and shamefully rich - I beleive Kamora Lee Simmons was mentioned.
While that seems unlikely, I did think that the blog was a good idea.
I am hoping to turn this into an open forum where we can all share on insights on marriage, parenting, dating, home decor etc...
Please invite any other fabulous women in your life to check us out - having children is not a requirement, but being fabulous is. I can add up to 100 guest authors, all I need is an email address.
okay girls - lets start sharing!