Journal Fodder

C's teacher encouraged him to continue to work on his writing by keeping a journal this summer. The inspiration for his first entry came last Saturday.

I'm not sure why he decided to add lines to his already lined paper. It makes the text hard to read. So here it is...

"One day I bumped my head and went to the hospital and got staples."

Yup. That happened. Darn street fair Touch-a-Truck!

School's Out!

School's out for the summer! It's been a mixed bag for the kids. They're excited to have vacation but also sad to be leaving their current teachers. I remember those feelings well, so I wasn't too surprised when they were a moody mess to start the week. But we're settling into the groove. I got them each a special "Congrats on finishing the year" present which helped distract them a bit. C got the World Almanac for Kids 2012 edition, which he has been asking for since he used the 2008 one in his classroom--how could I say no to a book request?? O got the game Twister. He first played at his preK end of the year party and hasn't stopped talking about since--it was convenient that I saw it on clearance at the grocery store soon after. I also overloaded our first few free days with playdates so that helped set the tone for fun.

This is our first summer in our new house, and the boys are really enjoying having their own yard to play in. We broke out the sprinkler for the first time a couple days ago and they have asked for it every day since. O has spent so much time on the swing set that he finally learned to pump his own legs and no longer needs to be pushed!! I can not tell you how much this has changed my life. Now instead of whining for me, he just goes out and swings. So awesome!

I am not doing too well with my 10 book summer challenge. I got most of the way through a book that I was really enjoying, but then I put it down and it got kicked under the couch so it was out of sight, out of mind. By the time I found it again, I'd already been sucked into a new obsession--the now defunct show Friday Night Lights, which we have free on demand. Hubby started watching it a few months ago when he was home with a stomach bug and kept raving about how good it was. I had no interest in this show, because why would I want to watch a show about football??? I just ignored his commentary and he ended up watching all five seasons by himself. But then a couple weeks ago, there were no interesting movies on so Hubby suggested that I watch the first episode and see if I liked it. He enjoyed the show so much he was eager to watch it again! I was still skeptical but figured why not? It turns out that while the show is based around a football team, it is really a family drama with a lot of interesting characters. I have gotten totally sucked into it and am now midway through season 3. I'm definitely glad I gave it a chance, and wish I had watched it when it was actually on.  I wonder if it never truly developed a huge fan base because everyone thought it was just about football...poor marketing on their part, because it's so much more than that!

But that book was really good too, so I need to pick it up again! C & O signed up for the summer reading program at the library so they are motivated to read and log their books now. Hope they can get me going again too.
 

Adventures and Summer Book Challenge

There's only two weeks of school left which means summer is just around the corner. The big boys will go to a couple of weeks of 1/2 day camp, but otherwise our summer is pretty wide open. I'm hoping to have a good mix of lazy days and day trips. For the last few years we've had fun making a list of possible summer adventures and then crossing them off once the mission is accomplished. I might have forgotten to make a list this year, but C was quick to remind me a few days ago. Here's our preliminary list of possibilities for Summer 2012...

2012 Summer Adventures List

1. Art Museum
2. Children's museum
3. Visit Gramma & Grampa
4. Visit Auntie A
5. Go to the Farm
6. Zoo
7. Beach
8. Swimming at the Pond
9. Bowling
10. Mini Golf
11. Strawberry Picking
12. Blueberry Picking
13. Woods Treasure/Scavenger Hunt
14. Go for a Hike
15. Visit local Sculpture Park
16. Have a picnic
17. Bike Ride
18. Science Museum

I've also always equated the lazy days of summer with long hours of reading. I will probably never actually get to read for hours, but I do want to read more, even if it's in little snippets here and there. So I'm going to challenge myself to read more again. I really enjoyed reading 50 books in 2010. 2011 was a wash in terms of reading--Baby A drained pretty much all of my energy and motivation! But now that it's halfway through 2012, maybe I can get back into it again. 25 books seems too daunting though, so...I'm challenging myself to read and blog about 10 books this summer!
Let's see if I've done it by the time school starts in September!! Anyone else want to join me in a back to the books challenge?

What are you up to this summer? I'd welcome any suggestions for reading or adventures!!

q