Good books for Kindergarten boys

Austin LOVES to read!! 

He thoroughly enjoys it. 

He likes me to read chapters from his "Minecraft" handbooks and chapters in his kid's Bible. I think he's over the comic books for now....thank goodness because that print is tiny and hard for me to follow. 

When he was little we'd go to the library regularly and read books at home. Austin would love picking out all those big picture books. I miss those days when we would sit and read book after book with him cuddled on my lap. 

 Reading is so important to start at a young age. I heard that all. the. time. But...turns out...it's very true! Once in KG, he started bringing 2 books home from school daily with a record sheet for me to write the names of the books and what number he received. He loved getting 4's!! Like, he was really sad if he didn't get a 4 :). A 4 meant that he didn't need any help reading the book and a 1 would mean that a majority of the words were read to him.

 At bedtime one night he read me one of the books. I think it was called "The Amazing Ocean." That book was tough & long! So he got a 2 (his first 2 and he's never gotten a 1). And he was a sad little boy. But, I told him the next time he reads it he'll probably know more of the words. 

Finding good books is key! I am not really a fan of the "Captain Underpants" books. He got one from school and he enjoyed getting it read to him. But, it had characters like "Professor Poopypants." Although it was good at grabbing his attention I got extremely tired about his talking about poopy pants throughout the day. He actually got quite a collection of those books. Since reading through them all and after I discovered my dislike for them....we haven't been reading them. And A has not even mentioned them. 

My beautiful + wonderful Mom recently bought these books. "The Sugar Creek Gang" books are the best!! Austin loves getting these chapter books read to him and they are GOOD. Every character in the "gang" is unique, fun and they talk about Jesus Christ and that is cool. Austin wants to start a "gang" of boys like they have. A good gang.

You can purchase them here at Amazon. 

Happy Reading!

Jamie :)

Summer Fun

We've already been having a lot of fun this summer.

But I wanted to make a formal list of the things that we've wanted to do (some we've already done!).

#makingthemostofthissummer

Here we go...

1. Go to the beach

2. Tent out at our house

3. Go to the Farmer's Market in town

4. Play at different parks

5. Have ice cream before lunch

6. Go to a water park

7. Austin go to Football camp

8. Walk around our cute town

9. Have a water balloon fight

10. Get muddy

11. Go on walks

12. Go to the Library

13. Spend a day in our PJ's

14. Have a late supper 

15. Eat freezies outside

16. Swim in Grandma's pool

17. Fish/boat at T & K's

18. Go fishing at Blue lake

19. Go to a parade

20. Go to our county fair

21. Have playdates with friends

22. Go to the Zoo

23. Go to Gooseberry Falls

24. A & T go to Vacation Bible School

25. Play Hide n Seek outside

26. Catch fire flies

27. Have a bonfire with smores

And I'm sure I could go on & on...

Happy Summer to you!

What's on your summer list? I'd love to hear some other fun ideas!

Jamie :)

Father's Day

"Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord."

-Colossians 3:18-20

 I was filled with even more respect for my Hubby at our Church service yesterday. Our wonderful Pastor spoke about how daughters want to marry someone like their Dad and sons want to be like their Dads when they get older. Wow! It just shows how important Daddys are.

{Troy dressing up like Daddy}

Dads have a profound job in their very own home.

 Our Pastor also spoke about how Dads are the head of the household. Amen. The Dads were all asked to stand up and he prayed over them. They had their hands lifted and my eyes just welled up with tears because I feel so fortunate to have an amazing Church with a Pastor who prays over us. I also feel so grateful to have such a dedicated Husband and Daddy for our kids. I need to be my husband's biggest cheerleader. 

We watched this video Butterfly Kisses and it was so beautiful!

Billy teaches our boys about hunting.

Teaching them how to play sports.

About fishing.

He works so hard and never complains.

My sweet husband. 

He's a strong Daddy and most importantly teaches them who God is and to love God with all their hearts.

I hope you all have a great Father's Day!!

Jamie :)

Taking time

Everyone has a story. And when I get a chance, I love to hear their stories.

We went to the beach on Tuesday after Football camp. The kids loved going to the beach. First beach day this summer. Woohoo!

Austin wanted to be buried in the sand. I happily covered him in sand. I felt like a big happy kid :). And he loved it. Especially when I tickled his cute little toes!

Breaking free.

Troy boy's turn.

Didn't last long. He wanted out.

When the kids were done swimming, we walked over to the playground. It was really a fun time. This summer I want to spend more time visiting new n' cool playgrounds.

Austin mingles very well with other kids. He was playing on the big jungle gym that spins around. After, he decided to swing on the swings. Next time I looked at him, there was an older boy pushing him. I thought that was sweet. I smiled at him and thanked him for being so nice to Austin. He was such a polite boy. I wished his Mom was there so I could tell her she's doing a great job raising such a nice and polite boy.

Then, Troy wanted a push so this boy pushed him while chatting with me. He said he came with his little brother who I think was 5 or 6. He then told me his name was Josh and he was going into 7th grade. He said his one sister is 18 years old and has a boyfriend but doesn't care about anyone at home. That made me feel sad for him. I told him that one day she will care about him. That age is tough. But, seriously, this boy was so kind and has a bright future ahead of him. I just know it. I pray for that boy. His smile was bright and full of braces. And I appreciate the kindness he showed to my kiddos.

We went to Target last week. While we were checking out there was a cute elderly couple behind us. She was smiling at me and asked how old my kids were. I told her and she said they were cuties. She said they have brown eyes and she is partial to brown eyes. Her eyes were a beautiful blue color. She asked her husband how many grandkids they had :) and he said 17. Wow! We said good bye and I stopped by the restrooms. We ended up walking outside at almost the same time. They were walking in front of us and close to eachother and then he held her hand. I melted! How adorable. We walked by them and I told them they were so cute and that I hoped my husband and I would be like that one day. They beamed with joy and told me that I would with those cute kids of mine. :) She told me they've been married for 57 years and he said 59 years. 57 or 59 years is a long wonderful time. That is amazing and such an inspiration!

Here they are holding hands.

Maybe this will inspire you to get to know someone new. 

Jamie :)

Life lately

Schools out for the summer!

And boy is Austin happy! This was him on his very last day of Kindergarten. 

He really has enjoyed Kindergarten and learned so much. That makes me happy. He told me on the way to school "I think my teachers will have tears in their eyes." What a sweetie.

This boy is done with school, too. He started PreK in March when he turned 3. He loved every second of it. He actually cried when we went to his school to bring Thank you cards to his teachers because he wanted to stay. :) 

Bathroom Selfie time. 

Austin has had football camp this week. And he's really had a blast. It is an excellent program. It's also been fun chit chatting with other Mommy friends, too. 

We are going to make the most of every.single.day. Whether it be to take a walk, go to a park, have a freezie, go on a bike ride, go to the beach or zoo....it's going to be fabulous!!

Hope yours' is, too.

Jamie :)

Austin's Angry bird birthday party

I was praying that Austin would have beautiful weather for his birthday party. I prayed with Austin, too. But I made sure to also make a point that in sun OR rain we would still have a fun time! 

It was a beautiful day! The kids had a blast running around outside in the sun!! And I was glad that the kids could be outside, too ;).

I looked to Pinterest on an "Angry Bird Birthday party" for some inspiration.
 And it didn't dissapoint. Austin even helped.

After clicking on a neat photo from Pinterest I was brought to this blog. She put on an awesome Angry Bird party for her son! Check it out here. It was so helpful!

{Photo time}

This Pinata I purchased at Party City. It was fun!!

I forgot to take a "before" photo of the food. But we had Pizza, juice boxes, waters, strawberries, carrots, and a meat & cheese tray with buns.

My hubby made this slingshot in about 30 minutes. He's pretty amazing like that. He looked at a picture of one and put this together. He did buy a water balloon launcher and used some of the pieces from that. 

Austin really got the tennis balls far. Once it got warmer outside, the water balloons came out...put in the slingshop. I got wet. :)

Austin was the target. Haha! 

Troy's turn.

And Austin was getting warm so he took his shirt off. #ichoosemybattleswisely 

This game was fun! Pin the beak on the angry bird. 

Austin didn't like spinning in a circle or having his eyes covered. But he still did great!

Little pep talk before striking the pinata. :)

Filling up water balloons. 

A turtle came to say "Happy Birthday" to the birthday boy. Those kids had so much fun with the turtle they named "Austin."

Here are the wonderful kiddos who came...School friends, neighbor friends and sweet cousins. We were so thankful that they came. 

Posing in their masks.

Good buddies!

Cake time!

We always get our cakes from our local Coborn's. I'm impressed every time. They do an amazing job. And the customer service at Coborns is fantastic!!

Austin had a blast at his party. And so did we.

God bless you,

Jamie :)