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Tuesday Tales – Summer Library Fun

Posted on June 28, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Tuesday Tales

Summer break is finally here. We try to spend a lot of time outdoors playing, running, biking, and so on. Of course, we also make sure to read. The summer is the perfect time to rest/cool off at the end of a busy day and read a book. We own a lot of books, but the boys adore going to our local libraries. A field trip to the air conditioned library means time to play, read, check things out, use computers, and catch up with friends.

As a child, I have so many memories from summers with my neighborhood friends. I remember when our local library started doing a summer reading program. Our parents would take us to the branch to sign up, and we would go back each week to write in what we had read. As we got older, we would often walk to the library, have lunch on the way, and make an afternoon of the experience.

For our first day of vacation, I took the boys to the library. I had already signed NHL up for the elementary aged program. Once he reads books, he can log in and record the titles that he has completed. For every five books that he read, he will receive some sort of prize. NHL is finally into chapter books. He has finished two of the A to Z Mysteries, read JSL several picture books, and started one of The Boxcar Children books. I am so proud of how he loves to read and is trying items out of his comfort zone.

JSL was able to sign up for the pre-reader program. You receive a calendar and mark each day that you read 15 minutes to your child. This is not hard for us to do and JSL seems very intrigued. When we got back from the library, he begged me to read him three of the books we took out. The boys are also excited about events that are taking place at many of the library throughout the summer.

So did you participate in a summer reading program as a child or are your children doing one this summer? I would love to know all about them.

What have you read recently? Please be sure to link up to your Book Posts, and/or leave a comment below. Include something you read on your own, with a child or someone else. Tuesday Tales are all about spreading the love for books.

Categories:
books fun jsl looking back nhl photos summer Tuesday Tales

How Will Our Garden Grow? – June 2011

Posted on June 26, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

I always wonder what will happen when we plant our garden. You see, we have a track record with things happening. On the top of my garden worry list:

Will our neighborhood bunnies eat everything?
Will the rain/hail/storms ruin it?
Will the sun/heat/humidity kill it?
Will we get anything to harvest?

Two years ago we had some success, but last year we had nothing aside from some fresh basil. This year we hoped for the best, put the plants in a new location and kept watching. This is what they looked like just over a month ago (May 22 to be exact):

The two small tomato plants are in back, pretty sad looking zucchini plants in the middle, and the small peppermint plant. Check out what they looked like as of Friday. We will start the tour with the zucchini plants. I think you will see that it seems pretty happy.

Yes, they are thriving at this point and even have a few other items that have us very excited. Check this out:

Those tomato plants have gotten to the point that they had to move. They were too large for their location and needed a bit of extra support. As you will see, there are also some tomatoes growing on that.

That tiny little peppermint plant has already had leaves plucked from it and consumed by the boys and some neighbors. Check out how it has grown over the same period of time:

After we bought the initial plants, we found some cucumbers to grow. They had a rough start, but are finally perking up and doing better with a bit more space.

Now we just have to hope that the weather, bunnies, newly found chipmunks, and other natural issues let our vegetables continue to grow so we can pick them and eat them soon.

Did you plant a garden this year? If you did what did you plant and how are things growing?

Please let me know if you posted something about your garden. I would love to stop by and see any photos.

Categories:
flowers and plants house photos summer weather

New Third Grader

Posted on June 25, 2011 10:21 am by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL,

Second grade is finally over and I think we can all agree that it was a challenging year. I am so proud of you and how much you learned and grew this year. With everything that happened, you trusted us to make hard decisions and go with them.

The last nearly two months of school were amazing. The new school was the best choice we made. You were put into a caring classroom and thrived. The little boy who loved learning was back and excited to be doing multiplication, measurement, writing, chapter book reading, and more.

This morning, you woke up crying. It broke my heart, but I had to smile. There you were saying you were sad because school was over and you wanted to learn division now. So much different than past years when you cried and worried about going into a new grade and having a new teacher. This year you were upset about a stoppage in learning.

Daddy and I promise, we will make it a fun summer. We will keep teaching you things related to math, science, social studies, and read many more of those great new chapter books that you love. Thank you for trusting us and we can’t wait to see how wonderful you do in third grade.

Love,

Mommy

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If you want to participate in Dear Kid Saturday, head on over to Cutest Kid Ever by clicking on the button below.

Categories:
Dear Kid Saturday looking back nhl photos school summer

Wedding Day – 10 Years Ago

Posted on June 24, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Wow. Ten years ago today I married JL. Way back in the day, he was not TechyDad. The Angel Forever was getting ready to become the Mrs to her Long Island Love.

At that point in our lives we knew that one day we would be parents, but were young, naïve, and focused on our wedding day. The stresses leading up to our magical day all melted away on that beautiful Sunday morning. Before we knew it, our ketubah was signed and we were standing under the chuppah in front of all of our family and friends.

Most of the actual wedding day events are a blur to me. I hardly recall eating, drinking, or much. Thank goodness we have photos. Here is a rare moment when we sat down at our wedding table. Note that even Mickey and Minnie were invited to celebrate before we went to visit them on our honeymoon.

The next morning we left early for our long awaited Disney World honeymoon. This was JL’s first time there and I was determined to make him as crazy about Disney. I do believe it worked.

We had a magical ten days at Disney dining, exploring, relaxing, and romancing. I think JL saw that Disney World is not just for kids. We went to see Cirque du Soleil La Nouba, and did several behind the scene tours and were spoiled as newlyweds. Yes, we were Disneyfied!

Since we stayed at The Beach Club Resort, we walked from our resort into Epcot a lot to dine. We would enter the park via France in World Showcase. Almost ten years later, we stopped for a rare photo together while visiting France

My letter to TechyDad from last year still holds true. I am beyond lucky to have an amazing husband and best friend. It has been quite an adventure the last 10 years, and I look forward to many more magical moments together. I love you with all of my heart and look forward to the rest of our lives together.

So my question to everyone today:

Where did you go on your honeymoon and have you ever been back? If you are waiting for the honeymoon of your dreams, where would you like to go?

For more wedding photos and memories:

Pssst . . . be sure to stop by my Cars 2 giveaway to enter for a chance to win some great items.

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #157

Categories:
Aloha Friday Disney dreams fun jl looking back photos summer TechyDad travel vacation

The Great Summer Ice Cream Debate

Posted on June 17, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

The summer is here and most, if not all of the seasonal ice cream locations in our area are open. This often means people in our area debating which location has the best soft serve and/or hard homemade treats. The reality is that almost any ice cream is good in my book on a warm summer day.

The other day, we met Nana and Papa to do some shopping. Afterwards, they asked us to go with them to their favorite local ice cream location. We had not been there in quite some time, so that was our lunch for the day.

This special meal of sorts gave me the idea for today’s Aloha Friday question:

Do you prefer soft serve or hard ice cream in the summer time? Of course, I would also love to know your flavor preference and if you must have it in a cone or dish.

Pssst . . . be sure to stop by my Cars 2 giveaway to enter for a chance to win some great items.

____________________________________________________________________________

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #156