1000 Books

Ben and I are quite avid readers.  Ben can plow through a book in no time flat.  For me, I take a little longer...usually because I just don't have the time.  I love to read in bed at night, but let's be honest, aftr I get the kids to bed and spend some time with Ben I sometimes just collapse on my pillow!  My goal is to read 12 books a year, one per month.  Sometimes it is a challenge, other times I become so engrossed I can whip through a few in a month.

We have passed on this trait to our kids, who also love to read.  Connor will ask to read 5 or 6 books each night during our bedtime routine and he is starting to get into chapter books, which is cool.  At least it is better than some of the "little" kid books we are still reading with Alaina.  And the little peanut will trot herself off to her room by herself (she gets away for quiet time on her own) and when we got in to peek at her, she is surrounded by board books, completely amused.

It got me to thinking about the importance of developing a love for reading (and reading comprehension) at a young age and I started researching "books for kindergarten," "reading challenges," etc.  I came across the 1000 book challenge.  Quite a few libraries hold these challenges in their local communities.  Of course, I couldn't find one close to us but it didn't mean I couldn't hold a little challenge of my own....and now the 1000 Book Challenge has begun.

I created a couple excel documents.  One is a 2-columned page with about 30 blocks in each column, providing enough space to write down the book, the author and the date.  I used a hole punch and hooked them all together for one big packet we keep in Connor's bedroom.  I also started researching books for his age group and made another excel document of books to make sure I grab to pick up.  If he (and by "he" I mean "we") read 1000 books before his first day of kindergarten we will do something super special together.  I am not sure what we will do yet, we certainly have time to figure it out and honestly, if I were to tell Connor the reward now...ha!  He would nag me about when we are going to go constantly!!  I was thinking something along the lines of going to a water park (it will be the right season up here)...who knows, but more than anything, I love that I am challenging him to read more.

If you are interested in a copy of the reading list (it currently has about 300 books on it, some we have read, most we haven't and does not include any we have in our current bookshelf) or the reading log, please leave me a message with your email address or you can PM me on Facebook.

Happy Reading!

Movie Night

It's back! Movie Night! We were slowing starting to implement this months ago but then football season happened, Ben's weeknight schedule was completely unpredictable and I wasn't organized at all to undertake a full-fledged memory making movie night. I spent the last couple weeks researching, planning and preparing movie nights to cover us for the next 6 or 7 months. Tonight was our first night and we watched The Little Mermaid.

Normal movie nights will have a craft or activity that kind of matches the movie and the dinner is movie themed. Tonight, for example, we had peanut butter and jelly(fish) sandwiches, seashell pasta and starfish fruit (clementine oranges.). For dessert we had mermaid tails (pistachio pudding), which Connor thought was hysterical.

Another fun one is for Tangled. We have long haired spaghetti (buttered spaghetti noodles), roasted butternut squash and for dessert we have blue jello with an orange slice on top (kind of like the boat on the water).

Anyway, Connor is really getting into it and I am so excited for next week- The Fox and the Hound. It is all about friendships....unlikely friendships, at that and in perfect timing for Valentine's Day. Stay tuned, I will actually take pics next week!