Reading Party

Call me a nerd, but I adored Read-a-thon days back in school. Uninterrupted reading and candy time?  Two of my favorite things!  So we invited the cousins, bought some treats (letting them each pick a kind of candy in the bulk section scored me major mom points), and picked out some books.  Don't forget to drag bedding, pillows, and anything soft to the floor so you can all lie down together!

If you aren't addicted to buying books (like me), or you just want to throw some new ones in the mix to make it special, you could go to the library or the bookstore first.  I bought a million {ahem} a few books with our school book orders and saved them for special incentives or rewards, so I was planning on pulling out the stack and letting everyone choose one to read.  When the special day came, I forgot.  But hey, they didn't know, and they still had fun!

In the end, they were a tadge more interested in the candy than the books...what was I expecting?  But I think a read-a-thon is a great way to make reading fun and exciting.  And your kids' teachers will be proud of you for remembering to read this summer!

 

Click HERE for more fun summer ideas!

The Escape Artist

We were gonna wait to transition to the toddler bed until the house was finished, but... well...

See for yourself.

This girl is in the 10th percentile for height, folks. 

Granted, she's 75th for weight. Apparently it's all muscle!

And before you suggest that it was merely boost via the stuffed animal, think again. I took all the stuffies out and put her in again. She got out even faster that time. 

*sigh*

It's been quite the exciting naptime around here. 

I figured I'd coax the child into her sister's toddler bed (see that big twin mattress leaning against the left wall? Emily will use that now), and when I pulled her quilt back, there was a giant wolf spider hiding underneath. 

Alive. 

Just waiting for a victim.

I may have screamed. Just a little.

I herded the midget out of the room, as the beast fled over the edge of the bed.

A tentative and very girly hunt followed (thanks to my mom for lifting things off the floor while I stood nearby waiting with Kirby's hiking boot.) I even turned the toddler bed up on its side to make sure the thing wasn't hiding underneath in the slats.

We couldn't find it anywhere. 

Finally, I figured I'd put the room back together and turned the toddler bed back onto its legs. I tuned to say something to my mom across the basement and then turned back. 

It was there. On the mattress. Again.

It crawled under the skinny side of the mattress that was resting on the floor when I turned it on its side. 

This beast was too smart to live. 

So I killed it.

THE END.

Good story, huh? 100% true. I even made sure the thing was dead before vacuuming it up. 

Kirby will be so proud.

After removing all the sheets, and vacuuming the room, we now have a whole lot of this going on:

Getting her to sleep was no small task, but I think that's a story for another day.

Time for some Oreos, I think!

Five Minute Friday: Story

Everyone has a story, and every time I take the time to put mine on the back burner and listen to someone else's, I grow.  My own life story changes just a little--I interpret what I'm going through or what I've gone through with a slightly different spin.  It's good for me.  And have you noticed?  The people that you like the very best are the ones who can do that: listen to your story and care about YOU.  They draw it out of you and make you want to tell them everything.

I want to be that kind of person.  The one that talks less and listens more.  The one that really wants to hear--what's your story today?  How much will you tell me in the time we have? 

There's my first Five Minute Friday, folks.  Play along at Lisa Jo Baker's.  And while you're at it, if you feel like telling me a bit about your story today, feel free ;)