Paws for Reading

Amherst Town Library

Busy bees in the library.

Since we moved to New Hampshire, Maks has been participating in a program at our town library called Paws for Reading.  It's not consistently offered, but about once or twice a month he has the opportunity to pick out a few of his favorite books from home, bring them to the library and practice reading them to "Brook the dog."

The program is designed for children struggling with reading or hesitant to read aloud - the goal being to help children develop reading confidence.  However, I figured it was a great opportunity for Maksim to continue to foster his love for books and reading.  He selectively picks out new books each visit - as many books as he can fit in his backpack - and sits down and reads them to Brook one by one.

A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee:

The Very Hungry Caterpillar:

Deklan has been a little bit too young to reserve a time slot to read to Brook, but he spends plenty of time practicing his reading with friends throughout the library.

Here's a little video of him reading to me while we were at Urgent Care post-Holiday traveling (Maks had an ear infection).  We'd never read this Dr. Seuss book before.

On our most recent visit, Deklan asked to join in on the reading...

Make yourself comfy, Brook.  You might have another little reader in the near future!

Valentine's Day!

Our 2017 Valentine's celebration started early this year, on a visit to the town library..  We were at the library and visited the craft table - a requirement before leaving whenever we stop in.

Maksim made a one-of-a-kind Valentine's Day card to be sent to a Veteran at the nearby VA Hospital. Although I wrote the words, Maksim told me exactly what he wanted the card to say.  He made sure to tell him/her "Merry Valentine's!" as well as "Thank you for your service; my daddy serves now, too!"

Bryon was in San Diego during the week of Valentine's Day, so Maks asked to get him a gift early.  I love that he's reaching the age where he thinks about others!  We were at Trader Joe's and I let Maksim choose two things on his own.  He was adamant about flowers - red roses, to be exact.  This is interesting because we rarely have flowers in the house.  He made a good call on the dark chocolate peanut butter cups, too.  Daddy demolished them in two days!

Maksim's current school celebrates Valentine's Day differently than his previous school (and differently than the schools I attended as a child).  Instead of giving Valentine's Day cards to classmates, his teacher asked parents to make a single valentine or note of some kind to be read to their child sometime throughout the school day.  I loved this idea, and made a Valentine for both of my children!  Deklan received his while Maksim was away at school.  Maksim received his (as a surprise) during class.

Maksim/Deklan,

Happy Valentine's Day!
You're humble, fearless and kind.  You make me so very proud!
Every single day I'm happy to spend time with you, see you smile, listen to you laugh, and watch you learn & grow.
You'll always be my favorite "Maksim/Deklan" in the world.
I love you to the moon and back!

Love,
Mama

Bryon prepared his own Valentine to be read to Maks at school.  He's not one to celebrate Valentine's Day, so I was curious as to what his card was going to say.  I wasn't completely shocked a couple of weeks later when the Valentine's Day cards made their way back home and I was able to read his note, "Who needs Valentine's Day?  I love you EVERY day!!!".  It was short, simple & spot on.  

The littlest Valentine is growing up and wants to be just like his big brother - hair band included.

The boys received Valentine's Day cards in the mail from their grandparents - which included gift certificates for ice cream treats at Dairy Queen.  Believe it or not, they'd never been to a Dairy Queen before, so it was a first for them both!  I let them pick whatever they wanted.  Maksim chose an Oreo Blizzard (he's really just like me in more ways than one!) while Deklan ordered a Triple Chocolate Brownie.

THIS is the face Deklan makes when I ask him to take a picture before eating his ice cream treat.

There was silence, sharing, a few "brain freezes" and (as expected) no leftovers...

Taking turns.

Teamwork makes the dream work.

A quick reminder as to how much my oldest Valentine has grown.  Look at this little bug!

Happy Birthday, Deklan!

3 years!  Time really does fly!  Days and weeks can seem to take a lifetime, but the years really do pass so very, very quickly!

(Patiently) waiting for us to finish singing to him.

Blew out those candles like a pro - time to dig in!

Anyhow, January 28th marked another year around the sun for our littlest man, Deklan.  We celebrated with some cake and opened a few cards he received in the mail from relatives.

Listening - very carefully - to The True Story of the Three Little Pigs.  It was especially interesting to see their reactions because the don't know the original version of the story!

It was extremely cold the weekend of Deklan's birthday, so we decided to hold off a week before taking him on his birthday "adventure" - a trip to the ICE CASTLES!  The following Sunday we loaded up the car and drove an hour north into the White Mountains...

A rare picture of me & my boys.

The castles were interesting and the kids had a lot of fun roaming around, finding tunnels and going down ice slides.  My unstable hip make things challenging since we were basically walking on 6" of snow and ice pellets.  And, it became chilly quickly.  A cookie break and some warm drinks helped.  Bryon's always such a good sport and genuinely excited and willing to participate in activities with the boys, so that makes our family adventures twice as much fun.

Ice Castles Tunnel:

Ice Castles Slide:

So excited!

We tried to stick around as long as we could because once the sun goes down the castles are backlit with lights and sound/light shows ensue.  We were able to hang on to see the very beginning of it, but headed out for dinner and a drive home shortly after the sun set.

Happiest of Birthdays to you, Deklan!  I can't wait to see what's in store for you (and the adventures you take us on as well) throughout 2017!

Mama loves you!

Daddy does, too!

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