Happy Earth Day

So this day went by uneventful. No rallies, or big projects for school. Maybe this weekend we can do a project similar to last year. The kindergarten Paige was in was on a farm and very earth friendly. It was one of the things I really loved the about the school. They hiked, and cleaned up litter and really made the kids aware of the environment and how to be responsible about it. While driving through Nashua in April last year Paige kept commenting on how dirty the roads were and how we should stop to clean them up. It's everyone's responsibility. Well great, I thought, but not near the roads-too dangerous.
So one nice Saturday morning I asked her if she wanted to spend an hour picking up trash at the local hiking trail that leads to her school. It was a warm sunny day, and the trail is about 2 miles from the house. Easy, right? So we get our trash bags and our gardening gloves and I head for the car.

Paige-"Mom, we can't drive there, we have to walk"
Mom-"But the trail is 2 miles away honey and there aren't any sidewalks"
Paige-"But driving isn't good for the environment. If we are going to help the earth we have to WALK."
Mom-"OK, I'm all for helping the Earth but we are driving to the trails"
Paige-"No. We have to walk."
Mom-"OK, plan B. How about we clean up around the school behind the house, since you'll be in first grade there next year. That way we can walk."

Well that solved that dilemma. As we are walking to the school I am envisioning a 16-year old Paige in dreadlocks with 3-inch long leg hair dressed all bohemian-like,giving up dance for yoga. I am all for environmentalism but you have to draw the line somewhere.

So we walk through the back of the school and the trash is pretty much everywhere. Clearly, the school did not organize any clean up for Earth Day. We picked up soda cans and papers. She was so happy to be doing something good for the Earth, and we were having a good time. Then we got to the front of the school, and it happened.
She ran over to me with more garbage. Thank god we had gloves on. Her garbage? An open condom box. Yep. In the woods by the elementary school. So we moved forward a bit and it happened again. This time it was an open wrapper. Just a wrapper. Good thing. I would have sterilized her body in a hot shower for 3 hours if it was any more than that.
So I see this go into the bag I am holding and confidently claim that we did our share. The bag is full. Time to go home.
So we went home. She skipped the whole way. We SCRUBBED our hands and washed our gloves. When I told the story to my friend, her husband replied "That is why you leave the trash alone!"
So this year we haven't talked about it much. I think it's a good exercise but clearly you have to be careful. Her public school is definitely different. I was in art today and the amount of paper that went into the trash can was obscene. I thought at least today, all of it should have been in the recycle bin. The bin is in the room, very convenient, but was empty. I think we'll celebrate this year by going to the movies to watch Disney's Earth. Not quite the same but awareness is a start!
So try to do one thing different starting today. Make sure you turn the lights off. Reuse that plastic bag for something else. Buy a cloth shopping bag. Big changes start with small steps. But only if everyone pitches in.
Kristin

Quote of the day

From Katie:
"I'm so excited, my ponytail is standing straight up!"

Soccer pictures

Saturday was a very successful first day of soccer! Paige loved it and it was really fun. I had fun sitting there with my camera too! Here are some shots from her first soccer practice/scrimmage!

She really was surprisingly into the whole thing. Paige was one of the tallest on the team, and one of the fastest. That girl can run. Mark called her a gazelle, with those long legs, and he was right. She is at a disadvantage though, having no soccer experience. They started with a drill where the kids had to dribble down the field. If the coach touched the ball you were out. When the whistle blew for them to start, Paige picked up her ball and sprinted for the sideline! She stopped about half way and realized she was supposed to use her feet! She made it through most of the drill but got caught near the end.

At the end they did a scrimmage. She did well, she wasn't in the middle of the "clump" but not far behind. When she got tired or was listening to the coach, she would take a knee. That was hysterical.

Considering Paige is doing soccer because she wanted to start with an "easy" sport, she did really well. I wasn't sure what to expect from her, but she did not skip down the field, she really went for it. She's got an athlete in her waiting to get out.

It was also really great that Uncle Jimmy, Aunt Betty, Uncle Rod and Laura came by the field to watch. Great family fun. I am really glad that it worked out that she could play this session!

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Kristin

Soccer

Well tomorrow it's official-I will be a soccer mom. Very interesting after watching Paige dance around the house, I could just picture her skipping happily down the field. We were talking about her attire and she thought it would be just perfect to wear her little white bike shorts. They are the perfect length to reach her shin guards. And would match any color shirt! I managed to talk her into sweats, since it will be a bit cold tomorrow morning. But I did notice no "sporty" shorts in her drawer, maybe a trip to target is necessary!
I may not be giving this girl enough credit. We signed up for soccer because she wanted to ease her way into sports-you know, start with something easy. Like soccer. Then ease her way up to harder sports, like softball and basketball. I swear I did nothing to make her think along these lines...she came up with that all on her own!
And she certainly has my competitive edge. One of the things she said she was looking forward to was winning. You might not win I replied. Actually, I think you don't even keep score.
"What? You don't keep score? What's the point of playing?"
Yep. Definitely my daughter. They didn't call me Captain Competitive on vacation for nothing.
And on a more interesting note, if you are bored this month, you should head into Boston. April is "get yourself tested" month at Planned Parenthood. I heard this on the radio and it is true! Check out their website if you don't believe me. They had a great radio spot about how important it is. In fact, it is so important to them that you go in that they are offering free fun giveaways! How about that! Hey let's get tested for VD and maybe we can win a years supply of condoms. Or perhaps free antibiotics if you come back positive.... Honestly, what on earth would planned parenthood call a "fun" giveaway? I could go on, but in the interest of keeping my blog public, I will stop here.
Have a great weekend and check back for soccer photos soon!
Kristin

Edited photos from last weekend!

I got a huge compliment yesterday. My Mother-in-Law was copying some images I had taken at Walmart and was almost not allowed to purchase her prints. Why? Because the clerk thought they looked professional! For those of you who are not aware, copying professional images is illegal. It's how photographers make their money and it is consider an original work of art. Each image is therefore copyright protected. Doesn't matter what the image is of, or who, the photographer technically owns the image. And the Walmart clerk, who admittedly is not an expert on photography I am sure, thought mine looked professional. I'll take it as a compliment and send her a photo release so she doesn't have any problems in the future!

So here are some edited versions of my latest work with my new D300! Images of my favorite subjects...

Enjoy your weekend!

Kristin

Forget the stork....

I learned something new last night. We were walking into the studio and I always make the kids hold my hand in the parking lot. That place is a bit scary with all the cars coming and going. Maybe I am overly paranoid, but it's my kids so too bad. So as they were complaining about the hand holding I mentioned that they would hold their kids hands someday in parking lots and understand why.
Paige-"I am NEVER going to be PREGNANT!"
Me (silently)-"Great-keep thinking that way for another 20 years!"
Katie-"Miss Jess has a baby in her belly. Miss Jen too. If you want a baby in your belly you have to ask Santa."
Me-"Oh yeah, if you want a baby in your belly, you have to ask santa claus?"
Katie-"Yes, that's what you do, you ask Santa"
Me-"So, that's how Miss Jen got a baby in her belly?"
Katie-"Yes"
Me-"Do you think she sent in a list, or did she have to sit on his lap and ask him in person?"
Katie-"No, she can just send in a list"
I didn't ask if you had to be on the nice list....
So there you have it. Forget the stork. Not a gift from God. Santa Claus. That is where babies come from! Mystery solved. Questions averted, for now anyway.

Kristin

That girl....

Last night I read Katie a story at bedtime. It's very cute, it's called Kaite K. Whale and is about a little girl whale who becomes friends with a ferry. When we were done, Katie said how she loved the book and I replied, maybe you can take it to school next week. She got really excited and said "Can I"?
Sure I replied.
Then she started blinking. Not too fast, but just blinking both eyes over and over.
So I asked her what she was doing.
"I am saying pretty please with my eyes!"
OK, very cute, where did you learn that one?
"Auntie!"
Well, now we know how Katie Cakes gets what she wants. Auntie is teaching her all her tricks!
Enjoy the sunshiney day!
Kristin

Stuff

Today is the spring day I have been waiting for. I got up and it was sunny out, grabbed a pile of sweaters waiting to be washed and threw them into the washing machine. When it beeped I carried my pile outside and hung them out to dry. It makes me feel good. The clothes smell nice and it saves electricity. What could be better?
When I do things like this I wonder how we got to where we are today. I think I still blame highways. Everyone needs more, wastes more and wants more. Why is that? Not that long ago people lived on so much less. And I bet on some level they were much happier. Much more peaceful with way less stress in their life. I've spoken to my grandma about how she used to have 3 little girls under a year old at the same time back when they had to hand wash diapers. I told her I didn't know how she did it. Her response? Oh no Kristin, you have it harder today. For all our modern conveniences, she thinks we have it harder today. I guess on some level I agree.
It makes me want to purge all the unnecessary things we have in our life. Not necessarily big expensive things, but little things that clutter together. We had a yard sale last week and I keep finding more things I wish I had added to the pile. I want to rid our house of "stuff", but I don't want to throw it away. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. We can start with the first R now, find ways to reuse things then move on to recycling.
I think lots of people are trying to work with this philosophy now and think they are green, but they really are doing things backwards. The three Rs come in that order for a reason. If you really want to be green you need to approach all "stuff" in the following manner-

1. Reduce. Don't buy it if you don't need it. Or if something you already have is good enough. Buy items with less packaging. Buy in bulk (as long as you will use it all within a reasonable amount of time).
2. Reuse. If something can serve another purpose, use it again. Or give it away to someone else that can use it. Or sell it. Mark's grandma was a master at this. She reused those styrofoam meat trays to put homemade cookies on and wrapped them in old cereal bags. Don't laugh, when that woman passed she had more money in the bank than anyone imagined. She was a true conservationist.
3. Recycle. Most people forget this is the last part of the cycle. If you bought fresh green beans instead of canned, you wouldn't have that can to recycle in the first place. Or maybe you can use it for something else? Decorate it and use it to hold flowers. Or do you need to get rid of it? Can it go to someone else who really can use it? Try http://www.freecycle.org/. Someone out there may be willing to take it off your hands. If it's going to a good use maybe you can just feel good that you aren't landfilling it, instead of holding onto it for the $5 you might get a yardsale.

Now, I'm not saying we should rid ourselves of all worldly possessions, stop showering and live in communes. I am just saying we should be more aware of how we approach "stuff". I know it's hard. I find it hard. I see something I want and the pull is great to just get it. Who cares, right? I have the cash. It's cute. But now I am trying to be more aware of how I spend my money and how I keep and cycle through all this stuff. And I am trying to teach the kids the same philosophy. We are very fortunate to have the stuff that we have. Lots of people have much less than we do. We work very hard to have what we have. But let's keep our eye on the real prize. When they get upset that a toy is broken, or when we won't buy them something at the mall I always tell them the same thing.

It's just stuff. Stuff isn't what's imporant in our lives. People and our relationships with them are what's important.

They are starting to get it too. We are certainly always going to have stuff. And toys-both big and small. We are just trying to keep it reasonable so as not to raise another generation of spoiled children who expect the world to be given to them on a silver platter.

So next time you are out shopping, or cleaning out a closet, think twice about your "stuff" and what's really important. And when you are done with that stuff, what will happen to it? Where will it go? Or who else can use it? Let's try to clean up this world, in more ways than one.

Kristin

I did it.

I pushed the buy button. Now it's official. I am the proud new owner of a brand new camera. In true Kristin style I am excited, but also a bit scared. I love photography-I get a lot of enjoyment out of it. It makes me so happy to take images of people that they like. I feel it's important to preserve your history and when I take pictures of people I am helping them do that. It's fun. It's art. I've always wanted to be an artist. Guess that's the pisces in me.
So why am I scared? Well...pressure. Stress. Now I HAVE to get it right. There might not be a do-over. I like a challenge, but I don't want my fun hobby to become a full-fledged business. Hobby is good. Side business is OK. I never want it to be something that I need to do to put food on the table. I don't want to stress about it. I don't want people to have really high expectations of me that I may or may not be able to fulfill. I think I've done a good job at that so far, but now I am taking a big leap. Leap of faith. I can do it. I just need to make sure that I DO do it. I know I have help. I know I have the faith and trust of those I am doing these big projects for. And that really means a lot to me.
So that's where I am today. Right now. I may move from this spot in limbo today and move back tomorrow and then to the other side....just ask my husband....poor guy never really knows where my head is! He is a trooper though and always beside me no matter what. I don't say thanks enough. So I will now. Thanks.
With risk comes reward. So that is how I will comfort myself. At least I have plenty of time to prepare and to learn about my new toy. Hopefully late next week you will find tons of super fabulous images on here....but it did take me about 2 weeks to take my first camera even out of the box!
Happy April Fools...hope you got someone good today....or that someone got you!
It's all in good fun....
Kristin