Gifting and Reading to the Chickens

We went to our best friend's 6th birthday party yesterday! Not buying plastic crud as a gift (and having the kid actually like the gift) can be a challenge as we all know. Here is what we decided upon.

 The morning of the party (always last minute) I went to browse at an independent school supply store (that I love) for a gift. They were selling rocks, crystals, and minerals for a little more than a dollar each. So I bought some and then added some from our own small collection. I quickly sewed up a little bag and tada! A pretty neat gift.

 In other news, my kids fell in love with a book I checked out from the library last week. It is about a chicken named Tillie who lays eggs everywhere but in the nesting box. Taven loved it so much that he took it out back to show one of our chickens.

The chicken actually listened! Well she stayed a while and pecked at the book a bit. Taven was VERY excited and now reading to the chickens is the new thing to do around here.

(Edited later to add) Look what I found! Part of my old rock collection!

 I used to have a much bigger collection, but I think I might have given a lot to my cousin a while back. I knew I still had some though, and after we got Aidan his, my girls bugged me for a collection of their own (besides the ones we have that we found). I told them they could use the money in their piggy bank to buy some on Monday. In the meantime, I searched and searched for mine, and finally, jackpot! I bought most of these at The Discovery Channel Store and a little rock and mineral place back in junior high or high school, and found some in Arkansas. The girls and Taven have been playing with them for about 30 minutes now and all are happy.