One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure

My kids are fond of collecting. And by collecting, I mean finding things that are seemingly unimportant and random to the average, uncouth eye, yet are very special to the refined eye of a 3- and 5- year old. I have also learned that some things are constant "treasures," and others change depending on the day, on how they are feeling, on how much they can hold in one hand, etc.

Here are Aidan's treasures:
His western scrub jay, that makes cooing sounds when you press on the stomach; two rocks - one of which he colored green; his very important lighthouse; and a fish keychain whose mouth has a red flashlight inside of it. He also had in his pile a nametag that Christian used at ISU, but since we're trying not to use our last name anywhere, and I don't know how to use Photoshop to blur out the last name, I didn't include it.

Now, on to Ethan's treasures:
A soapstone necklace (given to him from Dad's treasure box); a shark tooth (also from Dad's treasure box); a polished rock (from my treasure collection); a fishing badge he got while ice fishing in Iowa; and a mini sheriff's pin from Grandpa Al (who is a policeman). I was surprised that none of his rock collection was included in his group of treasures today. He has quite a collection, and he won't let any of them go. Maybe if I ask him about his treasures next month, they will be included.

It will be kind of fun to see how their collections/treasures change over time.