Summer Reading

Both of the kids did a few summer reading programs this year (C was the only one who did them last year). Once again, we (they) ended up with some really nice prizes.

2 Library programs: both of the libraries had basically the same prizes. They were mostly coupons for free kids meals (Olive Garden, Bob Evans), free desserts (Applebee's, Chik Fil A, Dairy Queen) tickets to the Indiana Fever (WNBA). One of the libraries had a free ticket for the fair (so a total of 2 tickets). Really nice cuz K gets in free; therefore we only had to buy one ticket.

Barnes & Noble: Only C did this program. It was very specific as to the age of the participants. He got a free book; I think it was about Thomas Jefferson.

Half Price Books: both the kids did this program. For every week that they read 15 minutes 5 days, they got a $3 gift card. The first time we went to spend their money C got two books and K ended up with 5 (I'm missing one in each picture) I think they each spent $6. Daddy also used one $3 card to buy a CD.

The next time we went to spend money, it was just the kids and I. They got almost $44 worth of books, I bought one DVD, we didn't spend any money out of pocket, and I still have one $3 card to spend!

All together I think we spent $6 out of pocket and got $62 worth of "stuff" and still have $3 to spend! Plus I think it's good for them to read (or be read to) all summer. I'm pretty proud of them (and us since we had to read to K).

Updates

I have a few different topics to update you on, so I thought I'd combine it all into one post. Hopefully it won't be very long.

#1:C's baseball games
There are 15 games in a season.
His team has won 7.
His team has lost 4.
He has 2 to make up due to rain/cancellation, plus the last 1 on his schedule.
He played 1/2 of one Tuesday night before they called the game due to impending weather. And let me tell you, it let loose! It was horrible driving home. They were losing when we left.

There is an upcoming really cool post about one of his games. Check back.

#2: my garden
Is exploding!
I have 9 tomatoes and a bazillion buds.
My lettuce is getting close; my carrots and onions look good.
Everything should be ready around July 4th.
I'm thinking of making homemade salsa with all my produce. Anyone have a good recipe?

#3: Summer reading programs (go here too)
This year both kids are participating in various programs.
I think I've entered them in 6: 2 libraries, Barnes & Noble, Half Price Books, Pizza Hut, HE Buddy (never heard of them before; we'll see how it goes)
We went to Half Price Books the other night and the kids spent the first 2 of their earned gift cards.

Funny story: K bought a coloring book. She is on "crayon restriction" for coloring on the floor-AGAIN! Seriously?!

#4: Daddy's late birthday

Since we had company during Daddy's birthday week, I didn't have a chance to get him a present and we didn't get to celebrate with just the 4 of us.

So one day we decided to have a "surprise party" waiting for him when he got home.

We had balloons and a few presents for him.

And a cookie. The best part, I think.

He was surprised and it was bunches of fun.

Feed your brain!

One of the reading programs that C was in this summer was through Half Price Books. It was called "Feed Your Brain." To receive a reading reward ($3 gift card), he had to read at least 15 minutes per day for 5 days each week. He had already remeemed some of his gift cards and today we went and redeemed more. He had a total of 4 ($12). He shared one with his sister and he used 2. So he still has 1 more plus there are 2 weeks left in the program. Between the two kiddies, they got 12 books and 2 bookmarks. I thought it very interesting what type of books each picked. K picked mostly Disney books (Pinocchio, Bambi, Aladdin, Tarzan). C picked more "educational" type books (Bees and Wasps, Earth, Bats, Nebraska, New Mexico, Virginia). I think he is going to be exactly like his Daddy and enjoy learning. Both of them retain facts (sometimes useless information; love you honey!) very well. I'm excited for C to start school (Aug 4); I think he's really going to enjoy this year.

We also went to Wal Mart and got the kiddies bike helmets. It was sad that we waited this long. Once we get them all adjusted, I'll get pix of them in their helmets and on their bikes.

K also spent some birthday money. She picked out a little doggie in a purse. I think she really wanted it for the purse. Next time we'll just go look at purses. She's a girl (so unlike her mommy--although a friend had a really cute pink Coach purse at church last night. I liked that one)

In all our shopping, what did I get????? Draino!!! for our bathtub. It keeps stopping up. Maybe this time will fix it. Oh I did get coffe at DD--with a coupon; does that count?

Reading Fun!

I've got C signed up in 3 different reading contests this summer. The nice thing is, they kinda over lap. The 1st is through Half Price Books. He has to read for 15 minutes per day for 5 days per week. For every week he completes this, he gets a $3 gift card for Half Price Books. The 2nd is through Barnes & Noble. He has to complete a "journal" of 8 books (name, author, favorite part of the book). Once he completes his journal, he gets a free book (from a list) from B&N. He can do 2 of these journals this summer. The 3rd one is through one of our local libraries. I have to log every book he reads online. For every 10 books he reads he gets prizes and gets entered into a raffle. So far he has read 26 books, gotten 1 free book, and gotten $6 to spend! I'm pretty proud of him! I usually have to remind him to read (he is just 6), but he usually does it without complaint and sometimes it's longer than 15 minutes. I hope he's enjoying it. I'm enjoying seeing him read. You go, C!

While K and I were at the shower the other night, Daddy took C to Half Price books to spend some of his money. He got 2 books: one on the planets and one on dangerous animals. A little more "educational" than I expected but still nice books. (I think they missed the BoxCar children type books-maybe next time). "On the way home" (it isn't really) they got smoothies from Cold Stone. YUM! They saved me a little to try once we all got home. YUMMO! I'm glad they had fun.

I Won!

Not too long ago, a blogger friend (momma) had a give-away on her blog. It was in celebration of her 2 years of blogging. I was so excited to find out that I won! I usually don't win anything, but when I do, I usually win big (maybe I should try the lottery). This was a big win; bigger than I had expected. I got the box in the mail on Friday and had so much fun looking through everything. I think there was just as much stuff in there for my kids as there was for me! But momma is a 1st grade teacher and so I think she had a soft spot for my new 1st grader.

Here is a picture of what was in the box-and she said something more is coming later!

I'll try to list everything: 8 books (mostly kids books-which I love as much as the kids do), a necklace, Bath and Body lotion, bookmarks, new pencils for the kids, a stuffed kitty for K (which she loves; and BTW momma, you spelled her name right), a whole bunch of zoo animals for like a bulletin board, and some other "punch outs" with the kiddies names on them. K immediately claimed the pink and purple pencils cuz "boys don't like pink." I'm sure I'm forgetting something too.

It was so nice of momma to do this! Thanks much! You made our day!

PS: The box that everything came in was a big hit too. It became a robot, a plane, and a car.

K's bookshelf

Ever since C got his new bookshelf, K has asked for one. She didn't really need one right now; she doesn't have that many books. But I went ahead and got her one yesterday. I put it together last night while Daddy was gone and the kids were watching Lion King. It's very easy to put together, right Daddy? Anyway. After it was put in her room, I let her put her stuff on it. I left to go do other stuff. When I got back, here is what I saw.
She definitely filled her dresser up. There are a few books on there. Can you see them? I thought it was kinda cute what she had done. She's my organizer.

C's new bookcase

The other day a blogger friend had pictures of all the books in her life. I got to thinking about all of C's books. They were scattered all over the house. And since he has started getting chapter books, I thought he needed a central location (in his room) to keep them all. So while were at Wal Mart this week, I bought him a bookshelf for $20. Not bad. And it's actually a nice one. And easy to put together: I did it with K's "help." He is very excited about it and I really like it too. Now he just needs more books to fill it up. I actually thought he had more than this; I'll have to keep looking.

C's doctor's appointment

C had his 6 year well-child appointment today. We have recently switched doctors and this was his first appointment with this doctor. K has seen her before, but not C. He did very well at answering the doctor's questions and everything was good when she checked him out. He is 3 feet 8.25 inches tall and only weighs 38 pounds. Later when I asked the nurse his weight/height figures so that I could write them down, she didn't think there was any way that a 6 year old could only weigh that much. He is in the 5th percentile for weight. The doctor never said that she was worried about his weight but she does want him to try to eat more and wants him to go back to drinking whole milk instead of 2%. I guess we need to fatten him up.

When we left, the office gave him some books and stickers to take home. I was very disappointed in the books. They gave him a chapter book (since he is such a great reader) that I threw away. We will go and buy him one to replace it. For those of you who know me, that's drastic measures for me when it comes to books. I actually called the dr's office and complained about the book. It has some language in it that is not appropriate for any kid--not just mine or his age. You'd think a pediatrician's office would screen what they give out a little better. Hopefully next time will be a little more positive.

Mr. Popper's Penguins

Anyone remember reading this book when you were a kid? We (actually Daddy) just finished reading it to our kids. Awhile ago, we started reading a chapter of a book each night before the kiddies go to bed. This is our 3rd book. The 1st one we read was Charlotte's Web (I cried when we were done). The second was a book about a gorilla named Barnaby. The book was called Who's New at the Zoo? by Janette Oke. We read the last chapter of Mr. Popper tonight and my son cried. He really, really liked this book. He wanted to read it again. Since he is such a good reader, we suggested that he read it again by himself. I'm trying to get him to see the excitement of reading a good book on your own. I can get lost in a good book. I've always loved to read. He's not quite there yet, but he agreed to try to read it on his own. The next book we are going to read is the first in the Little House on the Prairie series-I think it's called Little House in the Big Woods. I'm looking for suggestions for something after that (we are going to break up the Laura Ingalls Wilder books). I have a few on my short list (thanks to a teacher friend), but could always use more. I think we have all enjoyed reading these books, even my K girl. She doesn't sit the stillest, but she does OK. I'll keep you posted on how the next book goes.

"catching up"

This post is going to be a "catching up" of the past few weeks or so and from now on it will all be present/future stuff.

C played PeeWee Baseball this year. He was on the Yankees team which is cool since we (I married into it) are big Yankees fans. He did really well and loved playing. He actually had 4 games that were rained out and not re-scheduled--we weren't really happy about that but oh well. He won a fair amount of his games. He won the last one, so we ended on a good note. He got a really nice trophy for playing. All in all he had fun. I know I did. I loved watching him. Daddy is making a very professional baseball video (complete with ESPN and Baseball tonight music) That's what you get when your Daddy owns a video production business. C also took swim lessons the past 2 weeks. He did such a good job. I am so proud of him. He jumps in and goes under without freaking out about the water in his eyes-an accomplishment for him. He is already asking about lessons for next year and he wants the same teacher (good job, Miss Kim)

Now onto my other kiddie--that K is something else. For those of you who know, you are laughing right now. Some days I don't know what to do with her. Here are just a few of her antics: she likes to hang on my counter tops--I'm waiting for her to climb up on top; she loves to be naked--the other day Daddy went to get her up from her nap and she had not one thing on, sound asleep--funny thing is, she didn't pee in her bed until she stood up; same day she had a poopy diaper and somehow got ahold of the wipes and started stuffing them up her shorts--she hates being dirty or wet; her newest thing now is not wanting to go down at night--I am the only one allowed to put her down and then she wants me to "tit" outside her door--so I put our laundry hamper outside her door and she thinks I'm still there--that could be classified as a bad mother or a smart mother. (By the way, as I type this K is running around with no shirt cuz she stripped it off)

Daddy had 2 baseball games last night-one at 7:45 that we watched and one at 10 that me and the kids went home for. K was grumpy about 9:15-her normal bed time. A friend looked at me and said "you aren't staying for the next game, are you?" I'm thinking he was getting tired of her crying too. Daddy won 3 games this year. Oh well. They had fun....I think. Daddy actually coached. Good job, Daddy! Now we have the tourney on July 12--it's always a long, hot day.

Not much to post for me. Keeping the house in order, trying to get ready for our 4th of July party, nothing exciting. I am reading a book called Mistaken Identity. It's about the 2 girls from Taylor University that got "switched" So far it's good. I haven't read much. I got it last night so I should finish it today. I'll let you know. And I'm in the midst to trying to re-organize my pix and scrapbook stuff. That's a huge job. I am so far behind in scrapbooking. It almost doesn't sound fun.

The title on a friend's blog says it all: "We may not have it all together, but together we have it all!"