TheAngelForeverYou’ve got a friend in me… Now that you have the tune in your head, think about Disney friends. Picture certain faces from different places and spaces of Disney history. The possibilities are rather interesting and fun to think a little outside of the box. This week, the theme of the Disney Wordless Wednesday is Disney Friends.
Be sure to stop by Focused on the Magic by clicking on the button above to join in the Disney magic this week.
The summer of 2012 has been a fantastic summer of reading. Not only have I read some great new books for myself, but the boys have kept the love of learning and reading about things alive. TechyDad has been reading the Harry Potter series with NHL. Right now, they are in the middle of the third book. My fourth grader (yikes), has read many other books, magazines, and items on his own and to his little brother.
JSL and I started the Magic Tree House books at the end of May. Once he finished school, we really got into the series. Over the months, we have sailed on from book 1 of the series to starting 37. We have traveled with Jack and Annie all over the world, in many different time periods, and even gone into the world of Camelot. As you can see in the photo below, we have more books to read before kindergarten begins after Labor Day. We may catch up to where Mary Pope Osborne has written. The latest book release is A Perfect Time for Pandas #48.
When the summer reading program opened at our library, we signed up online. It was quick and easy to log in, record the titles of the books, and minutes the boys had read. Of course, the reality is that the kids read more than we managed to log. Still, they managed to have a lot of reading for the program which just ended over the weekend. Check out the stats:
I know the reading amounts at home will decrease as the boys head back to school, but I will cherish the memories that we have this summer.
With some more time until the official end of summer, do you have any reading plans? I would love to know how your summer reading tuned out. What books are you reading right now? I would love to know. Please be sure to link up to your book posts in the comments below. Include something you read on your own, with a child, or someone else. Tuesday Tales are all about spreading the love for books.
For months now NHL, has wanted to add to his Harry Potter LEGO world. Finding these items locally has been a bit tricky since the popularity has declined a bit with the completion of the movie series. Of course, you can still locate them if you know where. Truth be told, NHL was more interested in the Harry Potter mini figures. To get those at a reasonable cost (not on eBay), you had to get the sets. His favorite character aside from Harry Potter has always been Hermione Granger.
In the sets that are currently available to purchase in retail stores, Hermione is only found in two of them. She is in the GIANT LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle set
On his birthday, we went to have cake with Nana and Papa. Before we had The Cake Boss creation, NHL opened up his birthday surprise. Check out his reaction as he realized what was inside.
Parts of the weekend have been spent constructing Hagrid’s Hut so NHL can use them to play. The camera has been out to document the progress (more on that later from TechyDad), but I have a little sneak peek.
TechyDad and NHL have been spending a lot of time following the step-by-step directions to make this part of Harry Potter come alive.
This means the summer of Harry Potter continues in our house and probably will for a few more week – or possibly longer.
Are you a fan of Harry Potter LEGO sets or others? Which are your favorite to build?
Disclosure: Two Amazon affiliate link are included and, should you purchase the LEGO sets mentioned, I will receive a small percentage from the sale. As always, all opinions are my own.
Hello, my name is Beth and I am addicted to Back to School supply items. Perhaps it is from my time in the classroom teaching, having young kids, or maybe there is just something special about new goodies for heading back to school. Times sure have changed a lot. Now, you can personalize items for yourself, your child, a special teacher, or anyone else thanks to Tiny Prints.
As part of a Global Influence campaign, I was reminded to check out the products that Tiny Prints has to offer this year. With my little guy heading to kindergarten, I am on the look out for something cute to make him smile, know how loved he is, and to surprise him. I love that they have lunch box notes that would be perfect.
There are options that would be great for boys, girls, and all different age groups if I wanted to toss one in that would not embarrass my fourth grade son. In addition to this, I could get something as a welcome back to school gift teachers. Tiny Prints has stationary and stickers that this teacher would have loved to write notes to parents. Sure they often call home or e-mail, but personal notes are still a classy way to go. Teacher stationery would be great or even some custom stickers and labels.
I think I will be ordering some of the adorable notes to send to JSL along with their Super Cute Hero stickers and other items because they will make me happy when surprising my kindergarten kid.
Giveaway Time:
The folks at Tiny Prints would like to give you the opportunity to do some Back to School Shopping with a $50 promo code and free shipping. You can select the items that would work well for your family. I only mentioned some of the Tiny Prints Back to School items – there are many others to check out as well. Please note promo code excludes calendars, photo books, Erin Condren notebooks & planners, and gift certificated.
Rules for Giveaway:
The following Bonus Entries may also be done. Please be sure to leave separate comments for each that you complete below to make sure you get the right number of entries.
Please follow the rules above within the comment section. Giveaway begins August 19, 2012 and ends August 31, 2012 at 10:59 EST. You do not have to be a blogger to enter (you will need a Twitter account), but must leave a valid e-mail address for me to contact you for mailing address once the giveaway is over. I will select the winner using random.org and contact you via e-mail. You will have 48 hours to claim the prize. If there is no response, another winner will be selected. Open to US residents only.
Disclosure: I wrote this post as part of a compensated Global Influence campaign. I will be receiving a promo code from Tiny Prints to thank me for my time.
Dear NHL,
I do believe that your ninth birthday was a success. We managed to surprise you with all of your presents. I genuinely think we did a great job getting items that you wanted and were into. We spent the day at home testing out your new goodies (which I will write more about later). Then, it was time to figure out where we would go for your birthday celebration.
At first, you were said you wanted to go to The Cheesecake Factory, but get cheesecake at another location to celebrate with Nana and Papa after. Then, we listed some other possibilities. Once we were able to get you away from the Dunkin Donuts idea (not sure where that came from), you said you wanted to head to Buca di Beppo for the second year in a row. We had a great meal.
Then, it was time to head to get a quick birthday cake. Since we were not close to a grocery store, we went to BJ’s Wholesale Club to look for a cheesecake. On the way over to the cheesecake area, something caught my eye.
You kept right past it, but had looked at them briefly. Then, you decided you wanted a marble cake more than a cheesecake. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any of those that were not monster size. So you asked to go back to the other display. When we read the cake description, you were sold.
It’s My Party: Moist yellow and velvety chocolate cake layers are married together by an indulgent fudge filling.
Of course, there was also the fun design on the outside. Before we knew it, the cake was heading to the cash register to go to Nana and Papa’s house with us. We realized we forgot candles, but we improvised. Thank goodness there is an app on the phone for that.
The cake was really delicious and everyone enjoyed your selection. It was a relaxing and fun day to celebrate you turning nine years old. Now, I look forward to watching how the next year goes.
Love,
