What a summer this has been so far.
We've been participating in a summer reading program at the library. For every two hours the kids read they get a prize. Each level is something different, ranging from a kids frosty at Wendys, to movie tickets, or tickets to the Creative Discovery Museum in Chattanooga. So far out of the twenty hours, we have done 14 and are quickly approaching 16 (the end is 20 hours). Needless to say that has been a lot of trips to the library, and many, many books checked out. I'm not complaining though, because Amy is loving reading and is actually starting to read a little bit on her own. She is spelling out words, sometimes sounding them out, and will take the more simple books and read them to us (mostly by memorization, but it's still a beginning.)
And at the other end of the spectrum, we've had our share of temper tantrums and power struggles this summer. Amy definitely has a strong will and an independent streak, which can be good at times, but quite frustrating at others.
She's been having fun harvesting raspberries and now blueberries from our garden this summer. We've had about 20 raspberries so far and picked our first 4 blueberries. Amy made her own fruit salad for lunch, ate all of them and then some we had bought at the store as well. She did manage to share 3 raspberries and 1 blueberry with me. When I first turned them down she got very upset and insisted that I have them. I've never seen anyone get quite so upset when you refuse to take something they are wanting to share.
And a hard lesson has been learned for Amy. Although I think it was harder on Dean and me. We had gone out for dinner the other night and she wanted to bring her baby with us. We said okay, with the stipulation that she would take care of it, carry it, and we were not going to be responsible if she lost it. Well you can see what's coming. Yes, she forgot it in the restaraunt. Fortunately I saw it, and picked it up, then hid it in my sweater. She however didn't realize it was missing until she got back in the car to go home. The realization that she had lost it sent her into a tizzy. Tears, sobbing, and general distress, the entire drive home (all of 15 minutes, but it felt like 15 hours). This all happened on a Sunday evening, it's now Tuesday and she still hasn't gotten baby back yet. She doesn't know that we have it, she thinks it probably got thrown away at the restaraunt. But what we've decided to do is take my mom's suggestion of putting baby outside the front door, knocking and letting Amy answer the door. She'll then find baby and baby can tell her that she's spent the last few days walking home and then see if she's learned her lesson. Based on what she's said so far when she's asked about what happened to baby, she seems to have realized that it was her fault and that she needs to take better care of her things. As for me, that had to be one of the hardest moments we've had, because I know how much she loves her baby, and it devastated me too to have to play along like that.
And so as to not end the month on a sad note, I will share a funny thing that she did. We happened to be at a mall where they had one of the cookie stores that makes the big cookies with whatever you want written on them. Well she saw that and knowing that our friends the Whitts were moving away, she wanted to get one for them. When we asked her what it should say, she said "Go Away". Dean and I both got a good laugh out of that, and then explained that they were going away, but you don't want to tell someone intentionally (usually) to go away when they are your friends. We shared that story with Patrice Whitt and she got a great laugh out of it too. And after all that, we never did get the cookie like we had planned.
Here are the pictures for June - and it just goes to show, when you are tired, you'll fall asleep anywhere.
