Boys Book Club

Do you have a boy who doesn't like to read??  Do you have a hard time getting them to settle down and take in a new experience through reading???  I totally have one and am always trying to figure out how to get him motivated to pick up a book and read.  I am an avid reader and just can't understand why you wouldn't want to get lost in a book...but, as we all know, we are all different people:)

Working in a library (in the children's section) does have it's advantages.  I get to see what's out there and can bring home different kinds of books to try out with him.  Some were failures and some were successes!! My favorite all time series for boys around the 2nd or 3rd grade level is the Stink Series.  Stink is the little brother of Judy Moody.  He even has his own web-site:
Stink Website

Very cool books.  AND...he read them no problem.  He would even read them on his own.  He liked them so much, he saved up his points at the library reading program this summer and bought the first 5 books before he spent the rest of his points on junk!!

Last summer, trying to keep him going with his reading, I started a Boys Book Club and invited a few of his friends to read along and meet to discuss.  Last summer was a BIG hit!!  The boys read 3 of the books during the summer and they got to get together, do something fun and discuss.  Really exciting to see them excited!!  There were only 3 of them...but that meant each mom took a turn with each book.  We each did a craft and led the discussion and served snacks.

This summer, we were all a little bit busier and it was going to be tough getting them together again.  BUT, we did it in July for the latest installment of Stink's adventures and they had a blast (can you tell it was a zombie theme)..

OK...fast forward to the choosing of the next book and our 2nd and final Book Club Meeting of the summer...  Not so successful.  Stink had run his course and the boys had pretty much read them all.  Hmmmmmmmmm....... what to have them read next??  No clue...  But, 2 of the boys picked up Mr. Poppers Penguins while at a library program (and, it's a little bit harder) and we decided to do that book.  Ummm, yeah... that was a difficult book to get through with my son.  Really, really, really, really...etc... difficult.  But, he got through it and even squeaked out a summer book report on it.  Whew...

Book Club was all set to happen...BUT...turns out it wasn't in the cards.  One of his friends is just finishing up a virus and would not have been able to make it while the other one had trouble getting through the book as well.  So...Book Club was cancelled.  This summer, Boys Book Club was not as successful as last year.  Glad they were able to get together once this summer though... they always have fun!!

With the summer coming to an end (school starts next week), there would not have been enough time to pick a new one and go with it.

Since DJ managed to actually make it through the book (with a lot of help from hubby reading to him and DJ reading back), I felt like I should try to do something for him...it's so hard to get him to do these things and I want to reward him for it... Oh, 'what to do' I kept thinking to myself.  Aha... take the movie out so he can watch it with Daddy...  after the babies go to bed.  BUT...he was pretty disappointed that his buddies wouldn't be coming.  You see, the original plan was pizza, movie and possible sleep-over... that's what he was looking forward to.  Not that hanging with Daddy isn't fun...but... ya  know!!  And I know life is full of disappointment...but, like I said, this was a huge accomplishment for him.  So, we invited the Book Buddy that is not sick to still come over and watch the movie.. I hope it goes well and the movie is better than the book.  Usually the book is better than the movie, so if that's the case, these boys will not be sitting and watching it..lol

How do you get your boys to sit and read??  I know DJ will read weather books, world record (or any fact giving kinda book) books, sometimes planet books, etc.  Here are some websites with reading suggestions (funny, the first one has Mr. Poppers Penguins as #1...lol)

http://ingenira.hubpages.com/hub/101-Books-for-9-Year-Old-Boy-Third-Grade-Student-Reading-List

http://www.squidoo.com/good-books-for-9-year-olds

http://www.booksforboys.com/page14.htm

If you're up for it, you may also want to try the Doctor Proctor's Fart Powder Books (not sure if DJ is ready for these or I will ever be ready for them...lol).
http://series.simonandschuster.net/Doctor-Proctor's-Fart-Powder


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The Clothing Cycle

It's that time of year again (seems like just yesterday we did this for spring/summer) where I go through all of my children's drawers, closet and any bins that could be holding larger clothes.  I really don't enjoy this task as it takes forever and let's just say it's hard to do with little ones running around destroying everything you're trying to do..lol

This time around, I think I got smart.  A little bit more work, but so far (and I've only gone through one child)  it worked great!!  I started with Kyra last night...WOW did she sprout up this year.  She zipped through those size 8's and is pretty much in a 10.  STOP GROWING!!!!

Kyra has been lucky in clothes so far.  There have always been bags and bags of hand-me downs for her so has never been in need of a lot.  Usually, I only have to supplement her with new undies, socks and undershirts.  She even gets bags of leotards which is HUGE b/c those things can get pricey.  I bought her a nude one last year to wear under her costumes...but other than that, I haven't  had to buy her one in 2 years.

Here is what we started with last night:

We separated everything into piles of similar  clothing (ie- pants, sweats, pj's, shirts, etc).  Following that, we picked a pile  and went through them.  I could tell,  for the most part, what was going to fit and what wasn't. Anything questionable she had to try it on...no hardship for her:)  Not looking forward to that part with DJ tonight..lol

I put the keepers on 1 couch and the give aways on another.  Whew... that was FUN... and yes, it was a 2 glasses of wine kinda activity..lol

Here is what she wound up with:

And here is the pile of give-aways...or you could say, passing it forward:)

Going through all of this stuff, I realize I could probably open my own consignment shop with my children's clothing alone..ha ha.  But, since we have been so lucky in receiving, I always like to pass it on to others that could use it.  Clothing is pretty expensive, ya know??

So, tonight we conquer DJ's stuff.  That kid doesn't grow much so am pretty sure most of it will still fit him.  I think I will just  be downsizing his stuff to make it  more manageable.  We have space issues in both of their rooms and it's hard to keep the older kids stuff for the little ones.  There is such  a big gap in their ages and I just don't  have the space to hang on to it all.  Jackets, snow boots, snow pants and  stuff are keepers but anything else pretty much won't  fit anywhere for 5 or 6 years.

What do you do with your kids clothing??  Do you have a system for organizing them and storing them??

Hope you all have a great day!!  Oh, and don't forget to vote..lol...  only 12 more days of voting..

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The Family Vacation

Whew... we are back from our annual family vacation.  I always feel like parents need a vacation from the family vacation...lol... it's great fun...BUT...you're still the parent!!

We had a great time this year...although, it was probably the rainiest weeks we've ever had down at the beach.  Good thing we brought school work for them to work on...LOL... just kidding...kinda...  Yes, they read some books and did some math during those times when you just need them to settle down and leave each other alone.  We also had some 'new' toys to whip out and a deck of cards.  DJ and Kyra learned how to play Black Jack this year..good for math skills:)

The worst part of our vacation is usually the drive down and the drive back home.  I always guess that it will take us 14 hours.  If it's less, than that's Awesome...any more and we are pretty much ready to kill each other.  Well...ok...so it takes less than 14 hours of being in the car to want to kill each other, but who's counting??  ha ha..

Was trying to think of what to write about this vacation and some driving tips... re-read my post from last year...
http://honestfamilyliving.blogspot.com/2011/08/family-driving-vacations-top-10-list.html

Funny how we were trying to sleep train Franny last year and we finally accomplished it about a week before we left this year...  AND ...  since I admitted to my husband that it was probably a little bit of my fault it never worked before, I will admit it to you all as well.  I think I just didn't want to let go yet knowing that she is the last one and I really did love sleeping with her:)  This year, she slept wonderfully in her pack and play every single night.  Some nights she was even asking to go Night Night!! And, she's back in her crib with no problems.  Yeah!!!

Things that were different from last year:
1. I was totally unprepared for being in the car... unfortunately, bronchitis kicked my ass the week before leaving and I was not thinking straight
2. Snacks were few and far between... needed to incorporate more of these this year.. so unprepared:(
3. We didn't do our 'links' to mark the time.  Totally wanted to get this done and really should've done it.. it worked out so well last year.
4. I didn't pack activities for them to do, but made them pack their bags of things to do.  I did, however, pack a 'snack' bag (with a few things in it) that included a white board for each kid to use during the trip.  Kyra played hangman on hers.  Max and DJ could really care less about theirs.
5. Apparently, their listening skills depreciated while on vacation this year...though, Kyra was excellent.  The boys, not so much!!
6. Seating arrangements need a lot of thought when there are 4 of them... had to switch them in both directions at some point  (here is one 'seating' arrangement)  think next year we will have to put one of us back there to play referee..ha ha

7. Kids didn't get to run through the water that spouts out of the ground b/c of the rain...missed getting those pics...but they did other stuff while we were at Broadway at the Beach (trampoline and darts)... even Max got to do both..he was soooooooo happy to be doing what the big kids were doing

8. Franny discovered that she could yell really really loud in the car...
9. I was lax in the Vacation Journal area this year and forgot to make them fill it out.  I know I will regret that b/c I always enjoy reading and re-reading them.  I even printed them out and made them fill out the title page before we left.  Just didn't have them fill it out while we were there..boo on me!!
10. Max was A LOT braver jumping in the pool this year... Franny walked right in on the first day before she realized she couldn't reach the bottom.  She walked around the pool and eventually would walk down the steps and/or jump in with you.  She is just a bit scary b/c she would run around the pool and come really close to the edge so we all had to keep an eye on her!!

I also want to put out the disclaimer that while NONE of my children pooped in the pool (yes, someone's kid did and they had to shock it and close it for 24 hours), Max felt it was ok to get out of the pool and pee on the wall.  Oh, and he tried to pee on a tree too... gotta get that fixed or he'll be peeing everywhere

All in all, our family vacation was a complete HIT with the kids.  And yes, Mommy tried lots of new drinks this week:)  My favorite was this one from TGIF's where you pour the martini over cotton candy..totally cool:

Here's a money saving tip:  buy those frozen drinks they are now selling for like 2 bucks and throw them in your freezer.  You can drink 4 of them for the price of 1 at the hotel bar!!

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