Greyson's 12th Birthday

How in the world have we gotten to the very last birthday before he becomes a teen? It just does not seem possible.  I have watched him  change so much over the last year and have noticed the little boy slipping away and being replace by a young man.  It is bittersweet,  I am excited to see who Greyson will turn into, but sad to be saying goodbye to my first little boy.

We started the morning of Greyson's birthday off with a donut cake. We like to have candles with every meal on our birthday, so he started off his morning making a wish.

Later that afternoon he opened presents from us and from his Gigi & Papa. This year he is all about camping gear, ropes, carabiners, tools, & tool boxes.  He did get an awesome Lego architecture set from my parents that he was very excited about.  

Greyson requested a YouTube cake this year because he loves making videos for his YouTube channel.  I always get nervous when they request their cakes, because I really don't know how to decorate cakes.  Thankfully this one was easy.  

Greyson loves rollercoasters and has been wanted to get back to the amusement park after going with a friend a couple months ago, so we all made the trip to Fantasilandia. It's a small park, but had a pretty good selection of rides.  The boys got to ride all the coasters and rides they wanted without any wait at all.  

Lincoln went of his very first upside down ride.  

Britton taking me on an afternoon drive. 

Greyson and Ben are on there somewhere, 

And they finished our fun day with icecream.  

Happy 12th Birthday, Greyson!  Now, let's slow down a little, ok?

What we are reading this week

I think we must still be in a Harry Potter funk because all the books we are reading this week are just not keeping my attention.  I feel bad.  I feel like I am not giving them the chance they deserve.  But we are pushing through.  I'm sure they are wonderful books.  We just miss our friends at Hogwarts.

Nighttime Read Aloud

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan


                                                    

This book was up next on our reading list and I think it may have been too soon after Harry Potter. We are all liking it, but we are getting annoyed when there are similarities between this book and Harry Potter.  We are enjoying all of the Greek gods and I am really amazed at how much my boys already new about Greek Mythology.  This was something that I really never learned, but they seem to be really interested in it.  I do think we will probably end up reading this series.  It is a pretty fast read and I am curious how it all ends up.

Greyson & Lincoln Read Aloud

Anastasia Krupnik by Lois Lowry

                                                           

I had never heard of this book before and had no idea what to expect from it.  We are only a couple chapters into this book and I don't really know how I feel about it.  Anastasia is quite the character and I think we can all relate to how she jumps from interest to interest like she does, but the parents in this book kind of bother me.  We will see if I change my mind the more we get to know them.  I also think this story may bring up some interesting topics to discuss further with the boys.

Britton Read Aloud

The Celery Stalks at Midnight by James Howe

                                                         

Britton and I are on the 3rd book in the Bunnicula series and this series makes us laugh.  There are quite a few jokes that go right over Britton's head, but the book is really clever.  We love seeing what crazy ideas Chester the cat thinks up.  Britton just mentioned to me last night that he can't wait to see what they do in the upcoming books.  We will be following Chester, Harold, Howie, & Bunnicula around for a while.

What are you reading this week?

What we are reading this week

What are we reading this week?  I know I say this every week, but we have another great week of reading.  There are just so many amazing books out there.  I need to stay off of Pinterest because I keep pinning all of these book suggestion pages and have turned my 100 book list into my 200 book list.  I seem to add at least 2-5 books a week to my list.  Then I get overwhelmed that I won't have enough time to read all of these amazing suggestions to the boys.  I guess I just have to read to them for the rest of their lives!  Here is my Pinterest page for book suggestions if you are looking for a book for your child.  

After Lunch Read Aloud

All-of-a-Kind-Family By Sydney Taylor

                                                       

Last year when we were still in Bangkok, I was so excited to find this book at a book sale.  The school my husband was at did not have this book in their library and I knew it was on my book list.  Again, I really had no idea what this book was about except that it is added to quite a few book lists, so it must be a good book.  We are only a couple chapters into this book, but I have to mention chapter 2.  Mother is brilliant!  Turning cleaning into a game.  I have to try this out with the boys.  I feel like some great parenting advice will be offered in this book and I will learn quite a bit from this mother of 5 daughters.  And the girls are so realistic.  They are little girls that you feel like you have met somewhere before.  My favorite part about this book so far is that the girls may get annoyed with each other or fight, but when it comes down to it, they love each other and are each other's best friends.  

Britton- Nighttime Read Aloud

Gooseberry Park by Cynthia Rylant

                                                        

We love Cynthia Rylant.  We have read quite a few of her stories about life in the Appalachian mountains and we just finished Missing May a couple of weeks ago.  Gooseberry Park was a recent add to my book list and I am so pleased that it was added.  It's a cute story about a dog, a snail, a bat, & and a squirrel.  It is such a feel good story, so far.  These unlikely friends are so supportive and encouraging to one another. It's a great book about friendship and I am excited to see what adventures come their way.  There is a follow up book to this story and I am hoping we can get our hands on it. 

Greyson & Lincoln Read Aloud

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

                                                           

We are still working our way through Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and it is almost too much for me to deal with.  The adrenaline rush we experience each night during each and every chapter is honestly shaving minutes off my life.  We are about a third of the way through the book and I am seriously tempted to take a day off of school and just read Harry Potter all day.  It's so good and hard to put down each night.  

We also had a special delivery this week.  A few weeks back I placed my first order with Better World Books in Chile.  I have used them many times before, but I had heard that books do not always make it to Chile, so we were quite surprised when they were delivered yesterday. We love Better World Books because the books have discounted prices and FREE international shipping!  I ordered seven books from our book list. They were books we could not get at our library here.  I really think we have a "read all day" day in our future!  

Happy Reading!

What we are reading this week

We have another great group of books to get through this week.  Well, one of the books will take us about a month, but the other two we should get through pretty quickly.  We love library day at our house, but this week brought a bittersweet moment as we get ready to say goodbye to some of our favorite literary characters.

After Lunch Read Aloud

The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies

                                                         

I had never heard of this book until I had my "100 Book List". We started this book at the end of last week and we all like it so far.  It seems to be a case of sibling rivalry and how an argument can get out of control.  I also feel it is a really good lesson on how there is always two sides to every story and how one person perceives a situation may not actually be how the other person intended it to seem.  I sure hope this brother and sister can work out their differences, although it is a series, so we may have to keep reading to find out.

Britton- Nighttime Read Aloud

Bunnicula By Deborah & James Howe


                                                        

This book was recommended to us by friends when we lived in Thailand.  My friend's children loved it and talked so highly of it that Lincoln started reading the series last year.  He also really enjoyed the whole series, but I had not read them with him.  Britton and I were in search of another good series to start after we finished up the Fudge series by Judy Blume and I thought this would be a fun one to start with him.  I don't know much about the book except that it is from the perspective of the pets in the house and they are all convinced that the rabbit is a vampire.  I am excited to see where this story goes.

Greyson & Lincoln's Nighttime Read Aloud

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

                                                               

The time has come to start the last book in the HP series and we all have very mixed feeling about it. This series is so time consuming and you honestly start to get swept into their world.  We are anxious to see what happens in this book but also sad to know that it is coming to an end.  Will we be happy about what happens with all of the characters?  I know we were left dumbfounded after the last book.  This book will take us a good month to get through, so we will have time to prepare our goodbyes to our favorite characters, but that won't make this goodbye any easier.  So, here we go, we are jumping in to see what happens to Harry and his friends.

What are you reading this week?  I would love to know any suggestions you think we should add to our list.

Britton's 7th Birthday!

Britton staying up until midnight to celebrate the very first minute of his birthday. 

A few weeks ago, Britton celebrated his 7th birthday.  He was lucky this year to have his birthday on a weekend and was able to spend his whole day with all of us.  We started off like we do every year, with a decorated table and a special chair for the birthday boy.  He also had a donut cake for breakfast.

After breakfast we headed to a near by mall that is all about sports.  They have a great rock climbing wall and bouldering wall, and that is what Britton really wanted to do on his birthday.  All three boys love rock climbing and will be starting in a rock climbing club.  It is such a great workout.

 All 3 boys on the bouldering wall

 Getting the harness on to tackle the big wall. 

 Britton in the red

 Lincoln

Greyson up top in the black shorts and blue shirt

After rock climbing we went to the Lego Store so Britton could pick out a couple gifts with his birthday money.  He has been all about Nexo Knights lately, so that is what he chose. 

Back home to open presents.  His favorite present from us...a cozy blanket and zebra pillow.  His reaction was hysterical.  

And we finished the night off with cake and ice cream.  I cannot believe my youngest is 7! We had a wonderful day celebrating Britton.  I cannot wait to see what year 7 has in store for him!