Dive Into Reading

On Wednesday, July 18, I met some of my Study & Share gals in the evening at Starbucks to catch up. I love my family more than anything else in this world, but I'm thankful when Shawn says "Go, have fun!" and I get to relax with friends. :)

Thursday, July 19, was Mamaw's birthday. We went to her house in the morning to drop off the gifts we had purchased and wrapped for her. From there, I took the boys to the mall to enjoy a special Auntie Anne's soft pretzel treat, using a coupon from our Kidstuff book (thanks, Aunt Missy!). They LOVED it! I realized that as they get older, it's easier to go out and take them for a special treat somewhere and not worry as much about how it will go. They are good boys! We also picked up Caleb's pictures from JCPenny's while we were there and scheduled a free haircut for Joshua in August for him going into Kindergarten.

From there, we left to head to the library. Each one of the three completed their summer reading for the library's "Dive into Reading" program. They had to listen or read 30 books each and color in the pictures for each book (I filled out the names of the books on the back of the paper, along with the author). Most of the books we had borrowed from the library at one time or another, and I highly enjoyed the variety that we get from borrowing new books rather than just 30 of the same ones we read day after day, week after week.

There was one about two brothers that looked different but became best friends through all seasons of life. In the fall they liked to rake and pancake bake! Love, love, loved it! Another one of my favorites was a true story from an author who told about her grandma being her pen pal. She would draw pictures to start and eventually write short stories about her day. The grandma would write back, telling what she was doing in her day. She'd also send seeds to plant in the garden and other special gifts along with recipes, etc.. The mom helped the girl make a little collage of her letters from grandma, and the grandma also kept a book of the letters from the little girl. It went on to say that as the grandma got older, the writing got shakier. Eventually the letters stopped, but she had precious memories. It was sad but a neat book. We got a few that we said we never wanted to read again, but most of them were really good and really fun. We even got a few new 'Froggy' books, which have become a family favorite. :) :) :)

The boys helped Ryan color in his paper. Each one of their lists were a little different because I read to them together at times and individually at others. But, we enjoy reading! And I think it's nice the library offers programs like this.

The boys were excited to get their prizes. They each got a little stuffed animal (here's the librarian handing Ryan his).

And they each got to pick a sticker.

Then she gave us the coupon books. They each got a free ice cream cone, a lawn ticket to see the Barnstormer's baseball team play, and a child's ticket to ride the railroad with a paying adult. :) We treated them to the ice cream cones that week. :)

That afternoon, the boys enjoyed Little Ninjas at the gym again while Ry-guy played in the kids club. Fun summer days!