Adventures in Books

For the past two years, Tucker has constantly chosen the book, Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs, as a nighttime read. Our routine at naptime (less and less these days) and at bedtime is for Tucker to pick two books out. Over the past two years, I have added more and more of my classroom picture books (now they are all in our "library"). Now, some would say this book is too advance for a 2 or 3 year old, but I would disagree. From the beginning, we have fully read books to Tucker. Not just little books that have shapes and small pictures (we have read those too). But we have read books that have meat too them. He loves them and whether or not he fully gets them is besides the point. The point is to expose Tucker to as much language as possible. He loves the pictures and learns so much from the new words. These days we take forever getting through a book because of all the questions. Questions he learns from!

So, that being said, this book is one of our favorites- especially the beginning where the pancake is a flying object that lands on Henry's head. We love pancakes and I think Tucker can relate to this part of the book since he and Daddy make waffles and pancakes together. Well, we knew that a movie had come out last year and Harris and I had wondered if it would be any good or even appropriate for Tucker to watch (which it isn't). And now that we have entered the land of DVR, we decided to tape it one evening so Tucker could see it. On Saturday, Tucker and I sat down to watch and see what it was like. From the beginning, Tucker kept asking about the pancake part (and yes, we did at least finally get a pancake on the school scene). And then he kept asking about who this boy was and why was he not in the book or was he Henry (no he isn't ). He even remarked that the movie was not the book- Wow! From a old teacher's point of view, this is a great start with reading comprehension!

Last night, Tucker decided we needed to read Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, along with Curious George and the Perfect Carrot (b/c carrots and meatballs go together- did you know that?). He still was comparing and looking for things from the movie. It was a great nighttime read and reading discussion. We both decided we didn't want to see the movie again and would just keep reading the book (over and over and over again)!

Am I claiming that Tucker can truly read? Heck no! Am I excited that he is getting enough from the books we read to make comparisons that help him understand the book even more? Yes! Maybe this blog is the teacher in me missing teaching (yes, this happens about this time every year). Maybe just a proud Mama. I think a little of both! :)

All I know to say is read with your little ones. Read all kinds of books- not just the little board books that they can chew on too! Reading starts so early and in ways you might not normally think of!

First Day of 3K

Amazing how fast our little man has grown from a little baby to our big boy! Too fast if you ask me. It was difficult going through a car line today for the first time- difficult for Mommy. Tucker was very excited to go today and had lots to tell when he was picked up. Great start!

Fun Shots of Summer

All about dressing up these days... here I believe he was a boy scout.

Couldn't resist this photo opportunity!

Another dress up time... train engineer who needs "gloves"

Staying cool in the heat!

Where the Wild Things Are... or should I say Exotic?

Upon moving into our home in Jasper, I was ready for all kinds of wild animals to visit our home and property. Have had a fight with a camel cricket or two. Waiting to see all that will come...deer, turkeys, various birds. Yes, I said birds but not peacocks!! Peacocks originate in South Asia, not Walker County. But, yes, we have two peacocks that visit us. One was even walking around our deck at odd hours and left us a present or two (including feathers but not pretty ones). These two peacocks come to visit us from neighbors up the road. They actually come to visit our immediate neighbor's chicken and rooster. Imagine looking out your window and seeing a peacock walk by... talk about taking a double look!

Pickles

Spent a day this past week with my dear friend, Jennifer. She and her husband, Marc, had a huge harvest of cucumbers. So, we decided to have an adventure in canning! We canned bread and butter, sweet and dill pickles! What fun we had testing things out and trying something new! Thank you, Jennifer for a wonderful day!

Three Times the Charm

Tucker's favorite park in Gardendale is the "Carrot" park- or as he calls it due to a small picture of a carrot. So, when asked what park he wanted to celebrate his birthday at he very quickly said, "The Carrot Park!!!" We celebrated Tucker's 3rd birthday this year the day after the 4th and this was his first birthday to combine family and friends. Tucker was very excited to share his Diego party with all his friends and family. He ran around like a wild man and even had a few three year old tantrums. But all in all, h had a great time. So great, Diego might even say, Mission Complete!!

Ready to eat his Diego cake. Tucker had been waiting for this cake since October.
Every time we would visit the store, he would go down the dairy isle yelling, "I'm coming Diego!!" I think this picture sums up the relationship between Tucker and his cousin Sarah.

A tired party boy!! At least he has shoes on in this picture! He ran around the park without shoes on for most of the party- one less meltdown to deal with for the day!

Our FAVORITE cookies! Moonlight Cakes makes Tucker cookies each year! She does an awesome job for an amazing price! Check her out! She'll even put personal names on each cookie if you want!

Party, Party!

Born on the Fourth of July

Yes, a little behind in blogging about our sweet baby boy's birthday, but that is just how it goes these days! :)

Tucker had a big celebration this year- a three day celebration! We didn't know if we would be in our house by the 4th or not, so in advance we had reserved a park pavillion for his official party. Since we did end up being in the house, we ended up having multiple celebrations- 3 to be exact which was fitting for it being his third birthday!

We started the celebrations off with dinner with Grandma and Pop King on Saturday evening. We enjoyed a yummy dinner out, homemade cupcakes and then presents afterwards. Then on Sunday, the official day, we had a potluck dinner with the Rhodes family, the Franklins and our dear friends, The Rollins. Tucker had a great time swimming and playing with Sarah Catherine.