We've got mail

Notice this new little button on the side?

Aimee at Adventures and Pursuits is behind this fun postcard swap. I love getting mail and so does Will (okay, not as much as momma). As soon as I saw this swap, I knew I wanted us to participate. Aimee had such a response that she organized not one but four groups of swappers. We mailed out 40 postcards last week and should get one back from most of the other 49 states in the coming months. I say most because our group is missing a few states and each group is missing North Dakota.

Now I need to print up a map of the United States. As we receive a postcard I plan to spend a few minutes talking about the state and looking at how far it is from us here in Alabama. I'm pretty good with geography and maps. I loved looking at license plates when I was a kid and at one point earned $5 from my dad by learning the state and state capitals. I'm not going to make Will do all that but he is ready to learn about the wide world that's out there waiting for him to conquer.

It's about responsibility

Photographed this week at BP gas station in Mississippi (BP owns Amoco). I'm sure you can find the same sticker on gas pumps across the nation. I don't want to get heavy-handed. I'm waiting patiently to see if BP acts responsibly in the Gulf of Mexico. If not, my list of places to get gasoline will shrink again (I haven't bought Exxon since their big accident in 1989).

But I teach my children that if they make a spill in the house, they need to go into the kitchen, grab a towel and wipe it up. Or tell momma. They know not to leave a spill to sit and get all sticky. So yes, I expect adults running a rather large company to do the same.

I'm watching and waiting.

Bird brain

So I still have birds on the brain since I'm going with a birdie theme for Joseph's first birthday party. You might think this is a new thing for me but it's not and I thought I would prove it. This is one of my favorite posters for kids by Robin Rosenthal. I love this poster so much I wrote fan mail. Yep.

When I found this poster several years ago, it was like seeing an old friend. That's because I had seen Rosenthal's work (and lots of it) in my much-loved copies of Martha Stewart Kids magazines. Sadly they no longer publish Kids and I miss it. It was well done and full of fun stuff to do together (dorky inside joke because that was the magazine's tagline.)

Isn't it cute? And it comes in pink too.