Candy Girl

Most Recently Read Book:

Candy Girl

By Diablo Cody

I feel as though I haven't really been reading at all lately...although I have actually been trying to read (slowly) through all my National Boards stuff, so technically I have. I guess I have to come to terms with the fact that I'll be reading less because of National Boards.

So, this was our book club book for this month. I honestly would have never picked up this book to read it had it not been for book club! This book is about a girl who decides one day that she's going to try stripping and then she likes it so she goes back to do it again until finally she is stripping full time. I have to (proudly) admit that I have never been to a strip club and I had no idea what it was all (really) about. It was interesting and I learned a lot.

This book is a memoir so it's all true. The only thing that really bothered me really was that there wasn't that much exposition that would have let us kind of get to know the author better so it was hard for me to understand who she really was. Other than that, it was a good book. Weirdly, it was a fast read, also.

Fourth of July 2009 Part 3

On Sunday, we went to the festival/carnival again! This time we went with Chad's parents and my parents, and then met the Benassi's and Castillo's there later! Jordan was excited again about the ambulances! Here he is with Grandma Sue! He could only look at at them, he couldn't go inside, but he liked it anyway.

We ate lunch at the Munch. Bubba should have just gotten an ice cream for Jordan because Jordan ended up eating all of his!
Bubba, Jordan, and Grandma Sue
Jordan got to go on more rides! Here he is in a snazzy, purple, sports car!
The train again!
I went on these spinning elephants with him, this picture just shows us inside. His face was so funny when we started spinning like crazy. It was really cute. He shouted, "Woah!"

Fourth of July 2009 Part 2

On the real Fourth of July, we went to the parade with our friends the Garneau's and the Benassi's. Here's Jordan with his cool, decorated bike!

Here are the kidlets lined up waiting for treats from the parade! Jordan is on the left in the baseball cap, Alex is in the middle with the plaid hat, and Madd is in the polka-dot dress!

After the parade, we went to the park where they had lots of cool things going on. Jordan was most excited to sit in the police car and the ambulance. He probably could have stayed all afternoon! He was pushing the siren button like crazy!
Dad and Jordan in front of the police car!
Me and Jordan in front of the back of the ambulance!
Jordan listening to the man talk about the ambulance.
It started to drizzle and Jordan was pretty tired so we headed home to take a nap!

Fourth of July 2009 Part 1

Friday before the Fourth of July we had a fun-filled day! In the morning we headed over to Lunch in the Park where Jordan got to sit in the fire truck! He was so excited! The fireman gave him a badge sticker!

He also got to go inside the Book Mobile and read a book!
After nap, we went to the carnival where Jordan got to ride some of the rides! Here is he on the bees!
I went with him on the rollercoaster!
He loved being on the train!
These were a little wild, but he liked them. The hot air balloons went up and around. Jordan is in the blue balloon, you can see his little face in the bottom, right corner.

Great America!

Last week, my brother came down with my nephews for a few days. On Monday, we went to Great America. Jordan had never been to Great American and he had a lot of fun. He loved the rides and did a great job of waiting for everyone and waiting in line. Luckily, he did take a nap, because that would have been a disaster. After his nap he was totally ready to go.

Here's Jordan on his first ride! I took him on Triple Play, which is kind of a big kid ride, but he loved it! Wile E. Coyote and Speedy Gonzalez with Jordan
Wile E. Coyote and Speedy Gonzalez with Sawyer and Wyatt
Jordan showing off his awesome tattoo!!!
Tough guy Sawyer with his tattoo!
Sawyer and Jordan watching Wyatt go on a ride with Chad since he was big enough.
Little kids' rides! These ladybugs are classic. Jordan and Sawyer!
Sawyer and Jordan again. These went up and down. I love their "cheese" faces.
Wyatt and Jordan
Silvia, Rob, and Alex came and met us at the park. Here we are watching the parade: Alex, Silvia, me, and Jordan
We bought Jordan a light up Superman cape (I got a pink Supergirl cape). We had fun running around and playing Superman the other day!
The cape is a little big so he was holding it up! We stayed to watch the parade. It was fun!

How to Get Your Child to Love Reading

Most Recently Read Book:

How to Get Your Child to Love Reading

By Esme Raji Codell

Ah! I should be sleeping but I'm blogging about this book because I just finished it and now have to talk about it. I think this one is going on my list of books to buy, too! Raising Bookworms had awesome ideas for how to read with a kiddo and it is perfect for relaying that information to families I work with, and it had lists of books...but this book is the ultimate when it comes to lists of books! I haven't seen anything like it. This book is only $18.95 so to me it is so worth buying. It has lots of ideas for reading but mostly has lists of books and then activities mixed in that you can do with our around the books. I think this book would be a great reference. I find books from other people or from online sites, but this book is so easy to refer to and just has sooooo many books.

I do have to admit that I didn't read every word in this book, I read the beginning, some things throughout out and the end, but I did turn to every single page to see what it was all about...and it's a thick book. The lists take up most of the book and there are just too many to read each and everyone, this to me would be a really useful book to refer to for book ideas depending on what you were looking for, but it definitely has everything, from baby books, to milestone books, to poetry, to history, to drawing even. It's awesome!

Sunday Funday Antics

I have blogged this week but somehow I'm still a week behind! Here are pictures from our crazy fun day last Sunday! We really packed a lot in!!!

We drove to Deerfield to play in this awesome park! It was our first time and we loved it! We are definitely becoming experts when it comes to parks!

Chad and Jordan pretending to be Spiderman!

Jordan and Mommy!

After the park we went to Cheesecake Factory to use a gift card I got from Chad's parents for my birthday. Jordan tried on my sunglasses to keep him busy....

Here's my Luau salad! This was the lunch size! It was awesome...this week I saw the Eat This, Not That guy talking about salads and how some can actually have tons of calories in them...I'm sure this wasn't the most healthy salad...but I did at least eat the veggies, right?
We went home, took a nap, and then jetted over to the waterpark!
Jordan got a little cold and we sat by the side of the pool. I don't have a picture, but we also spent a good chunk of time playing with the lockers, opening and shutting them, I tell you, it's crazy what can be entertaining to a two-year-old boy!
After the water park we went over to Grandma and Papa's house to eat pizza and hang out with Jordan's cousins! They played with trucks and trains and then played downstairs in Papa's pond. Luckily, no one fell in this time! It's so fun to see Jordan with his cousins. He likes to do what they do and is so intrigued by them, you can see him leaning over to really see what they are doing!