Summer reading extravaganza!!!!

It's no secret that we are BIG READERS at our house!

Tempe learned to read last year in kindergarten and I didn't want her to lose enthusiasm over the summer, so I made sure that reading was a big part of every day. We made time for reading (both silent and together) every day, we had some fun reading charts and incentives, and we did our mom-and-me summer book club again with some friends in the neighborhood!

We kicked the summer off with a Ramona party and a few days ago we celebrated the end of summer with an ice cream extravaganza!

 

Breyers sent me an assortment of their yummy new toppings to try and I was so excited to use them for this party. Hot fudge, chocolate sauce, and caramel come in squeeze pouches that make topping ice cream (or cheesecake) really easy. Mixed berry, strawberry, and cherry toppings are the perfect mix of tart and sweet, and rainbow and chocolate sprinkles add fun to any food!

Thanks Breyers for making our sundae bar a success!!

Along with Bookworms, we've been doing a couple of really fun reading programs. I keep all of our reading charts taped to the inside of the playroom door. One is just a generic fill-in-the-balloon chart and one is this really great reading Bingo chart. I think this is such a great idea! The chart is filled with fun ways to read ("under the kitchen table", "with a snowcone", etc). My kids (Tempe especially) had so much fun this summer finding new places and ways to read! We haven't quite filled the whole card out yet, but we're close!

"Read in the bathtub--no water, just pillows!" was Tempe's favorite Bingo square!
Another thing we did this summer was the Barnes and Noble reading program. You read any eight books and then you turn in your completed chart and get to pick a FREE book! We spent the afternoon filling out our charts and picking our books yesterday. I thought the book selection would be things like licensed character drivel, but they actually had a pretty good selection.

Tempe ended up with a Calendar Mysteries book that she can't put down ("Dad, do you ever feel like you just have to get back to your book and you just have to find out what happens?!")

Helena chose a book called "Remarkable" that I haven't heard of, but it's next on our list after we finish Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
It has been a fun summer full of books and I will miss my kiddos on Monday when school starts again!

Storybook Baby Shower

Thanks to Duncan Hines for sponsoring my writing. There's no limit to the baking possibilities, so grab your favorite Duncan Hines mix and Comstock or Wilderness fruit fillings and Bake On! www.duncanhines.com.

My sister-in-law Rachel is pregnant with her fourth girl in less than six years!
I am of the opinion that all babies deserve a baby shower, but when you have four in a row of the same gender, you need a baby shower! Everything is trashed after three kids!!

When I was planning Rachel's shower, I kept thinking about how snug and cozy it is to sit by the fire with a stack of books and a mug of hot cocoa around Christmas. I wanted to incorporate that sense of comfort and coziness into Rachel's shower and have a great "girls' night in" enjoying yummy treats and good company.

A storybook shower was the perfect theme!

Along with incorporating different storybook/fairy tale elements throughout the shower, I decided to serve cookies and cocoa--because can you think of a better girls' night in during the holidays than a cookies and cocoa party??
I set the treat table with "storybook" things that I gathered from around the house: a stuffed dragon, wooden sword, and shield; Little Red Riding Hood's basket; and a few copies of Grimm's Fairy Tales and an old storybook from DI. All the cookies that I served were in cookie jars. I found the mushroom one and the pumpkin one at DI and my mother-in-law let me borrow her gingerbread man and old-woman-who-lived-in-a-shoe cookie jars.

We had "Three Bears Porridge Cookies" (oatmeal craisin) and "Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater Cookies" (pumpkin)...
... along with "Rumplestiltskin's Golden Haystacks" (butterscotch and chow mein noodles) and Gingerbread Men.

Along with cookies, I had a hot cocoa bar. I made my famous crockpot hot cocoa and set out three different kinds of marshmallows (gingerbread, chocolate, and normal), whipped cream, sprinkles, chocolate syrup, and caramel syrup, and let people go crazy.

As a party favor, I made "Milk Mustaches". I just bought a mustache mold at Michael's and used vanilla bark. They're on sticks so you can hold them up to your face--pretty cute! I also used more storybook elements to decorate the hot cocoa bar--Rapunzel's braid, the frog prince and the princess's golden ball, a stack of Mother Goose books, and one of the three bears.

And there are the milk mustaches!
We just played one short party game. I had Rachel pick a slip of paper out of a basket that had a storybook or fairy tale character written on it and then she answered yes or no questions for us to guess who she was. Simple and fun!

We had a great shower and we are so excited to welcome Rachel's baby in a few weeks!

Remember to check out Duncan Hines' website www.duncanhines.com to find some great recipes for your holiday get-together! I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective.