Reading buddies

Page One

 Andrew has been reading up a storm, even more than usual, because of an awesome program called Page One at our school!  He's read all but 1 already on a list of 85 books.  So proud of him!  This weekend they had a Fun Day full of book-related games with some of the other surrounding schools. They will compete in sort of a quiz bowl against those other schools to answer questions about all 85 of those books in just a month.  I only have pictures from the set-up, but he had a fabulous time.  Such clever & devoted parents make this whole program come together.  Feeling blest!

Rebecca the Reader

Rebecca is getting better at reading everyday!  I can't believe how fast she has picked it up.  She was able to read at Mass recently & was SO excited... not one bit nervous.  There were some seriously big words, too!  She gets her hands on a Magic Treehouse book & devours it in half an hour.  We have a reader!

Sharing a book

Teresa loves playtime with Leo & Gus.  They especially like to "read" each other stories.  They're the best of friends.

Reading at Mass

Another year & another chance for Andrew to read at Mass.  He really loves to do it & it's fun to watch him.

Story time

 We start 'em young!

Bookworms

I love that our kids love to read!

When we get home from a trip to the library, this is usually about how far we get inside.  They barely take off their coats before they dive in to the whole bag full of books.  Awesome!

(I think my favorite out of this bunch was "Dragons Love Tacos"... pretty funny!)

Reading

Andrew is an avid reader.  He will read for most of the day if he's able.  His favorites right now are the Magic Treehouse series, anything related to Star Wars, & Charlie Brown's Question and Answer Books.  Lots of good reading material!

My favorite though is when he is able to read for Mass.  He read the very long & complicated 1st reading in early October.  He practiced & practiced... I had to even look up how to pronounce a few of those words!  I was so proud of him. 

What we've been up to

 Castle construction

(complete with the purple "logs" to roll down on you if you cross the moat)

 Rocket rendering

 Grandparent reading

 Pretty posing

 Too tall tower building

(This one actually touched the basement ceiling!)

Still not sure...

Happiness

A little light reading

Storytime

with Uncle Fr. Jon.

Take a look,

it's in a book

Teresa loves to read now. She often comes running or hopping (because she never walks anymore) with a "bookie" & immediately requests to sit in your "lappie". It's so sweet. She's actually a decent listener now, too, & rarely just keeps flipping pages as in the past. Sometimes she even says a few of the words, if it's a favorite.
Andrew is an awesome reader. It's so fun to hear! He's starting reading to the girls & they love it, too. One of his summer project plans is to make books on tape for them, so when he goes back to school in the fall he can still read to them. Isn't that sweet? Now Mommy's just got to get on the ball & hook him up with a kid-friendly tape recorder. Rebecca can pour over one page of a book for five minutes... one book can keep her busy for half an hour! She looks at the pictures, tries to find letters she knows, & who knows what else. She has such an imagination.
Reading is such a great way to learn, a good pasttime, & a continual challenge. How do you encourage reading in your kids? How do you find/make time to read yourself?

For the love of literature

& Red Grandpa & Grandma
These books are two of my favorites; The New Teacher is one we had growing up about a bunch of hedgehogs that never gets old to me & Mortimer's Christmas Manger is a gift from my sister Denise who has fabulous taste in children's literature. I highly recommend both!

Clive Staples?

I just finished reading El Viaje del Amanecer (The Voyage of the Dawn Treader) by C. S. Lewis. What a great book! I've read it before...last year actually, but that was in English. I love reading fantasy books in Spanish. It was kind of interesting how much I didn't know...I don't care to read with a dictionary anymore. But it was pretty evident that words like bordo, proa, & velas had additional meanings related to ships. It's a fun challenge for me to see how much I can understand without knowing every word. Anyway, I'm excited to have another Spanish book in my brain.

I'm also reading Ignatius Catholic Study Bible's Acts of the Apostles, Benedict XVI encyclical Spe Salvi, and To Know Christ Jesus by Frank Sheed. I especially like To Know Christ Jesus . I started it during Advent so it was a perfect fit talking about what the world would have been like when Jesus was about to be born. It kind of pulls together what we know about Jesus' life based on the Bible, writings of the Church Fathers, and general history of the time. It's pointed out some seemingly obvious things to me...like Jesus probably knew all of his apostles...maybe was even good friends with them...before he chose them. Growing up in a small town myself, I can't imagine that never really crossed my mind! I love books that help me make new connections. I highly recommend it!

Oh, yeah, and who names their kid Clive Staples? I'm thinking I'd probably go by C.S., too. What are you reading? How do you choose your next book?