Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Goodies Galore - and The May Queen's debut as a photographer

There was about a 2 week window last month where it seemed I was winning all sorts of drawings and such at blogs across the nation, and I've gotten some great stuff! As I said last week, I've been remiss in posting about it in my NOT AT ALL LAZY summer blur. But I am trying to put that right, because really, you gotta check out the loot. How did I get so lucky? And why didn't I buy a lottery ticket while the luck was hot?



In all honestly, pretty much everything I won was for The May Queen, so maybe SHE should have bought the lottery ticket, although I don't believe that's legal. I could have let her pick the numbers, though, like my grandparents always did with us.

This week the May Queen has been enjoying taking pictures with her brand new Discovery Toys Slide and Shoot Digital Camera, won in a mother's day drawing from the fabulous Susie J.

She instructed my husband to tickle me so she could take a picture. My husband more than willingly obliged.
She thought it would be fun to get a picture of me first thing in the morning. Ack. She took pictures of her toy creations.

However, the cat remains her most constant and reluctant muse. Yesterday I heard her insisting "Shakespeare! Look at the camera!!!"



There's no flash on the camera, and the resolution isn't good, but there's no question that she's having a ball with it. She loves that she can wear it around her neck and take pictures all she wants. We admittedly haven't played with the software that came with it... maybe when we come back from vacation. Speaking of vacation, this will be great for her to have on vacation, and she's really looking forward to taking her own pictures. Oh, and it's pink. That was a high point. Here she is checking out her latest shot.
(FYI - the price listed on the box is 39.95, which I think is steep for a camera with such low quality. You can get cameras with much higher pixels and a flash and a zoom, etc for not much more than that, but it is really nice to have an easy to use camera for her to start off on, and maybe once she gets used to this and gets better, I'll pass my old camera on to her. Plus, it does come with software, which, as I said, we haven't played with yet.)


This adorable barrette was won from a drawing at Jen's review site. As promised it was both adorable AND stayed in The May Queen's super slippery fine hair. And it sparkles. (don't mind the green hair. That's from swimming every day at camp. But here's a tip: cover the hair in tomato sauce and let sit for 10-30 minutes, wash hair and... NO MORE GREEN! How did people learn these things before google, I ask you?) You can't see the barrette in this picture very well, but she is wearing it. I couldn't pass up a chance to show her off with her daddy. And yes, the family resemblance is scary. She has my pointy chin, but otherwise looks nothing like me.

And finally, on our road trip I hope to read this book to The May Queen. Magpie had an extra copy, and passed it on to us. When I opened the package the picture on the cover instantly brought back memories of reading it as a child. I hope reading it on our road trip creates some fond memories for the May Queen. It is all ready to go with a bookmark I made just waiting to hold our place.

Thank you all very much! During a very busy and hectic time it was great fun to open the mailbox and find your goodies there!

19 comments:

Girlplustwo said...

she's a little artist. i so love that. and you.

Woman in a Window said...

Holy crap. It just occured to me while reading this and seeing May Queen so independently take photos that ONE DAY OUR KIDS MIGHT START TO BLOG ABOUT US. AH! I don't mean a Facebook type thing but a real blog. Oh boy, that's creepy.

flutter said...

oh she is too funny

Life As I Know It said...

Oh, I love pictures taken from a kid perspective!
She's got talent!

We read Charlotte's Web to our 5 year old over the winter. I think I liked it more than he did, but it's a great read out loud book.

Candygirlflies said...

Oh, the toes!! Loving that photo to bits.

I found zillions of snapshots of our guinea pigs on my digital camera the other day... Child Number Two has obviously not only found my camera's secret hiding spot, but has also figured out how to take photos, too... Danged how these whippersnappers manage to figure out high falootin' technological gizmos in the blink of an eye... I'm still trying to read through the tome that is the instruction manual, for crying out loud.

xoxo CGF

ps. Excellent choice of literature, btw! One of my absolute favourites. Enjoy it!!

JCK said...

That's great that she has a camera to use and create her own thing. Encourages her independent, artistic soul!

OH, I loved Charlotte's Web as a child.

the dragonfly said...

What fun! I especially love MQ's pictures. The perspective of a child is always so unique and wonderful. :)

Enjoy the book...and your vacation!

Kat said...

Looks like she might have a future career in photography!
I love the photo of hubby tickling you. Too cute!

Anonymous said...

Fiona got a camera for her birthday and it's so terrible (probably from the dollar store), she lost interest in it. I think I'll put one on the Christmas list, though....

Because I have a bad memory and very little imagination, I picked up a book called "The Read-Aloud Handbook" at the library. I haven't looked at it yet, but I'm hoping it will jog my memory, give me some new titles, and give me an idea which books are appropriate for age 6.

Have a great vacation.

tracey.becker1@gmail.com said...

Oh, Charlotte's Web. So sad...

Have a fun vacation!

Jen said...

Cool Beans! I also love to see young kids' photo shots - what they think are good pictures can be just hysterical.

Beck said...

Those are FUN photos. I would love a sturdy digital camera like that for The Boy.
Charlotte's Web! I cry harder at that book than any other, I think.

Furrow said...

cool stuff. I kinda like the low-res pics. They look like they've been filterized in photoshop.

Mad said...

Miss M wants a camera for Christmas. Yes, she's started planning already. You've given me some helpful pointers here.

MamaGeek @ Works For Us said...

I love that little photographer and her furry muse! SO CUTE.

Bea said...

Hey, I thought you said your kitchen was yellow! That looks more like green to me.

Mary Beth said...

Charlotte's Web is a wonderful book to read aloud. I just can't finish it - I have to have someone else read the last few chapters.

Love the MQ's pictures - Shakespeare is in for a whole new level of discomfort now:)

Amy Y said...

I love looking at kids' photos. We've started letting the kids use old 35mm film cameras (though digital would be smarter) and they have a blast. It's interesting to see things from their point of view, eh?

Congrats on all the goodies ~ there's not much better than getting something other than bills in the mail!

Magpie said...

i can't wait to hear how the reading aloud goes!