My summer reading.

I got some summer reading done! I figured since it is almost the end of summer, I'd post my list. Those of you who know me well know that I'm a bit eclectic. I like to think of it as a bit cheap. I have an eReader (Barnes and Noble's Nook) that I love and couldn't do without. But I like the free books - unless I'm reading something already established.

So here's the list that I went through:

Classical Education
Bella Andre's Sullivans Series
Kathleen Brooks: Bluegrass Undercover series and Bluegradd Brothers
Ilona Andrews: Kate Daniels series (the new one came out, so I had to re-read everything)
Art with Kids
Brad Thor
Everything your First Grader Needs to Know
Great Minds
Raising Your Gifted Child
Mercedes Lackey: Elemental Masters Series
How the States Got Their Names
Thirteen American Arguments
JFK, the biography
Don't Think of an Elephant
Jennifer Estop: Elemental Assassin's series.
Nicole Chase: Suddenly Royal

So that's what I've been reading over the past few months. It took me a book or two to get into Jennifer Estop's series, but the rest I liked from the get-go.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is important because it reminds us about those who have fought or the freedoms we enjoy. So after we did a little family lesson about Memorial Day we headed out to the Discovery Space and Science Museum. 

It's nice to do these things when Jon is home because each kid can explore the way they want and a parent can be with each child. Nicholas loves space and science and he loves this museum. 

What else are we doing today? Well, if it doesn't rain the plans are for a pool trip and the gym. Hopefully this kids take naps so we can finish painting our room. 

Gluten-free, blueberry ricotta cake.

So I wanted to bake tonight. I found this great recipe that I wanted to try.

http://www.eatgood4life.com/2011/06/ricotta-and-blueberry-cake.html

From www.eatgood4life.blogspot.com

So I left out the sugar, because we are trying to reduce the amount of sugar we eat in the house. I figured it was fine. I also substituted gluten-free mix for the flour and lemon for lime juice. 

I made a blueberry sauce for the top - so that was good. A good sauce can mask a whole host of problems with a cake.

It turned out okay. My family liked it. I think it is as good as blueberry muffins. And so my kids will eat it for breakfast tomorrow I'm sure. After all - when offered blueberry cake or cereal, who can blame them for choosing cake? I certainly can't.

Marshall Gold Discovery State Park

The Marshall Gold Discovery State Park had their Junior Ranger kick-off on Saturday and we decided to go. It turns out the park is pretty awesome. In addition to the Visitor's Center and trails, they had interactive exhibits and a great river/beach/picnic area. It was a wonderful day. I couldn't have asked for anything better. The drive wasn't that long, and we stayed from 10a until after 2p. It was a fabulous day. The whole thing was free- except for the day use fee for the park.

The kids got to see what an old school schoolhouse looks like. The tour guide asked Nicholas to turn on the lights and Nicholas looked up at the ceiling and said, "There are no lights." It was a pretty awesome moment to see that he does -sometimes - internalize things that I teach him about the world. They sat in the old school desks and listened as a kids' day was described. He was thrilled to learn that, like him, kids in the old days didn't have school work because they had chores after school time.

So we ate lunch at the "north beach" area. The kids actually ate sandwiches. And I've decided that we are outgrowing out little cooler and are going to need a bigger one soon. We also played in the river.

The kids had a blast in the river. They simply played and played all afternoon long. It made for some very, very tired kids. Jon skipped rocks and spent a while trying to teach Nicholas to do it. Nicholas simply preferred to throw them and make big splashed. Abby wanted to find the rocks that were thrown. It was pretty fun watching them all play.

The water was FREEZING cold. But the kids loved it. I even waded in with them for a bit.

But we all had lots of fun playing and hanging out by the river. I think I need to remember that we simply need water wherever we go. If they have water, the kids are happy.

A great picture of her and her dad.
One that I'm going to keep for a
long, long time.

They were so tired they didn't want to walk to the car - we also had temper tantrums about having to leave the water. Jon solved all these by slinging the kids over his shoulder and carrying them to the car.

The kids were asleep in the car all the way home. It was perfect.

Our arty family.

So. We are doing a lot of art projects these days. I finished stenciling the bathroom wall and putting up the chair rail. The kids painted canvases for the bathroom and the flower pots for the front yard. And I made my first stain glass pattern for the front hall.

Not everything turned out well. The kids' stuff looks great. My stained glass does t look great. It looks funny. But Nicholas traced the same stain glass pattern I did and his looks fabulous. It just isn't fair. Well, onto mosaics I guess.

A very fun weekend.

We spent Saturday with my mom. She came up and we visited the Discovery Space and Science museum. It was the perfect size for my kids and had a great outside area to play in.

We had a lot of fun. Abby got a magnifying glass that has been stuck in her hand until dance class this morning. Nicholas has a space shuttle that has been sleeping with him and helping him fly around the neighborhood.

They also got special pennies that are the bet behavior incentive ever because they don't want to lose their pennies.

Jon really likes the humans sundial thing outside. Nicholas and Abby liked the little stream. They got so worn out.

Finished the bathroom.

I finished the fun part of the downstairs bathroom. I stenciled and put up a chair rail to protect our wall. The kids have taken the doorstops and so we needed something to protect the wall. Therefore, we got a chair rail.

Here's the best picture I could get.