Summer Reading Mid-June 2013

As I was thinking about what to write about books I am sharing with my son during the summer months, a major disaster has happened in our city. We are safe, but Colorado Springs is near more wildfires like last year. Last year it was the west side having to evacuate because of the Waldo Canyon Fire. This year it is the north side that is having to evacuate because of the Black Forest Fire. Already the Black Forest fire is worse than the Waldo Canyon Fire in terms of number of homes destroyed. This evening an announcement was made that two people have perished in the fire. They were trying to flee, but the fire was moving too fast.

Times like these make me pause and think about the small day to day life. Am I really making memories for my son? Memories that he will cherish for a lifetime? Memories that he will look back and say, "Wow! Mom and Dad loved me so much that I knew it in the way we lived each day together." I strive to create memories that he will remember and cherish forever. I hope and pray that he knows how much we love him.

A few of the simple day to day things include cooking together. My son has a soy allergy so a lot of convenience foods are out of the question. He is five years old and he likes kid-type foods. One of those things is graham crackers. I found a recipe for homemade graham crackers online. You can find it at www.weelicious.com and search for homemade graham crackers. I will put a link here.

During cooking activities, he helps get the ingredients out. I show him how to measure dry ingredients, liquid ingredients and show how to mix it all together. The best part of all is getting the dough out of the bowl and shaping it into a disk then rolling it out and cutting the crackers with cookie cutters for any shape you like.

It is a fun memory. We also went to the farmer's market today. He was able to get his arm painted there. Usually a bath is part of the nightly routine, but to keep the artwork on until tomorrow I gave him a sponge bath tonight. He wants to show his dolphin on his arm to his therapists tomorrow.

Here is a list of several books I am reading to him. There are two sets of books that he is starting to read. I will put that at the end of the list. Again, some are our own collection and some are from local libraries. Enjoy!

These are all from the base library.

1.4 Pups and a Worm by Eric Seltzer

2. Animal Playtime Kittens by Cathy Drinkwater Better illustrations by Steve Caldwell

3. It's Not Fair! by Anita Harper illunstrated by Mary McQuillan

4. Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. illustrations by Eric Carle

5. Rabbit's Birthday Kite by Maryann Macdonald illustrated by Lynn Munsinger

6. Tumford's Rude Noises by Nancy Tillman

These are from our own collection.

Caillou My Storytime Box Set of 6 books

Adventures in Reading Disney Winnie the Pooh Leveled Stories for Beginning Readers Set of 10 books