The Latest in our Library Basket

Tomorrow is the big day! For selfish reasons, Lindsey and I are not excited. Not.one.bit. I’m not sure how we will get by without our creative, fun, energetic Lauren. She’s the party planner, the instigator of doing fun things. And she always includes Lindsey. Even when she has friends over. Pretty much Lauren spoils Lindsey and I both. She will do great things in Kindergarten!

In our library basket right now

Tomorrow is the big day for Taylor! 2nd grade. Super excited for him! We’ve had a great summer. But we are also ready for a new routine. A change of pace is good.

Caldecott and Newbery Books

Taylor has a small bookcase  by his bed. I try to keep books that are on his reading level on one of the shelves. However, he reads so much, I’m having a hard time keeping up with him.

Over the years. I have collected the Caldecott and Newberry books. They have been on a bookshelf that the kids can’t get to. Recently, we moved bookcases around and Taylor got a bigger one in his room.  So I put them all in his room.  At first, he didn’t want “mom’s” books in his room.  Then he realized what they were.  Over the next week, he went through all the Caldecott books and read most of them.  Since he has become an independent reader, I really have no idea if they are on his level or not. So between my curiosity and my type A personality, I had to find out. I made a list of all the Caldecott books and wrote down what the Guided Reading Level was since they use that in his school and the grade level. And just in case you were wondering the same thing- you can get it all HERE. And if you’re gonna do it.. you gotta do it right. So I did the Newbery books too. Just in case you were wondering!

Fun Books

Lauren has discovered the Rainbow Magic Series and is loving having Greg and I read her “Chapter” books. What’s great about these books is there are like 20 different series lines. Party, music, animals, holidays, etc. You name it- there is a fairy book out there.

And we also found a new (to us) series for Taylor. The Magic Tree House series kept him busy for awhile. Then we went to The Little's which he liked as well. He also read most of the Ready Freedy books. But now he is hooked on the Weird School series. Taylor still likes Greg and I to read to him at night so he will read a chapter and then we will read a chapter. However, he finishes these books so fast that I haven’t had a chance to read them very much. However, I do hear Taylor laughing out loud when he is reading them so they must be pretty funny.

Summer Means...

reading Scooby Doo and Dora at Barnes and Noble! 

Lauren would have been right there too, but she was having the time of her life with Aunt Dilys and Uncle Kyle in SLC.

Masters Degree

You would think that my Masters Degree in Reading Education would clue me in that I need to start reading chapter books to Taylor.  Nope- it was my friends.  Thank goodness for great girlfriends.  So we've been reading the Andrew Lost series.  Taylor LOVES it. It's totally boy- funny, gross, science, suspense, silly all wrapped up. And...  you just mention the simple fact that we can read more if you quickly put on your jammies- Done! It's a win win.

Fun Holiday Books

We are kind of into holiday books around here. It's just what we do. Gma Pence introduced us to this book last October and it quickly became a favorite.
We were all sad to see it go when we put away the Halloween decor and books. So in December, when I saw the Christmas one, I couldn't wait to surprise the kids!


So of course when I saw the Spring one, it was a must! Perfect for Lindsey's Easter basket.


Now I'm wondering if we need all the animal ones too. You can check them out HERE.

Kohl’s Cares for Kids

We love this program. We love what it stands for, we love that 100% of the raised money goes to help kids, we love the books and we LOVE the price! What is there not to love about these great books for $5 each? We are having so much fun reading these books over and over and over again!


You can check it out HERE. They have the cute little plush animals that go with each book too. (But I don't do stuffed animals- that's another post in of itself!)

Real Simple

I really like this magazine, and now you can get it for 1 year for $5!! WOW!! Go HERE!

Eat This!

Have you seen this book? I LOVE it! I'm not a real healthy person, I wish I was. I mean I do serve whole grains and a fruit and veggie at most meals. I make my kids eat fish- that's good, right? Do I know if they are getting their 1.4 Cups of veggies or their 4t. of oil? Who knows? What I do know- is this book is going to help me. It tells me things I shouldn't buy. Then it goes a step forward and tells we what things I SHOULD buy. That's HUGE! It's small, it fits in my purse, it's cute- the pages are color coded AND it has bright colorful pictures for us visual learners!!

It has a restaurant section that will tell you what you shouldn't eat AND what you should eat instead. So if you buy these for your kids, you might want to push the chicken nuggets vs. the cheeseburger. Nuggets- 375 Cal, 13 g fat, 610 sodium

Cheeseburger is 575 Cal, 16 g fat, 935 sodium- Ouch!

It even tells you what to buy for Easter, Valentine's Day, Halloween, etc. My neighborhood kids will not be getting fun Starbursts this year for Halloween- 170 Cal, 3.5 g fat, 24 sugars Instead, they get Skittles, 80 Cal, 1 g fat, 15 g sugars. I'm sure their Mom's will thank me!
Okay, I love these as much as my kids do- but for 160 cal, 10 g fat, 370 sodium? I would much rather have these- 120 cal, 3.5 g fat, 220 sodium
Pepperoni is a stple at our house- 140 cal, 13 g fat
Who knew there was turkey? For 70 cal, 4 g fat I'm SURE it tastes the same!

Bye Bye Capri Sun at 100 Cal and 26 Sugars

Hello Minute Maid Fruit Falls 5 Cal, 1 Sugar- Are you kidding me? My kids will never know!!
Ranch Dressing is more like a beverage at my house. 140 cal, 14 g fat
We are heading back to the "South Beach Diet Days" 70 Cal, 7 g fat

Those are just a "few" things I learned- fun stuff huh?

It doesn't get any better