Seven Snippets (7.07.12)

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After about five years of sleeping on the bottom bunk, he has decided to start sleeping on the top so that he can permanently use the bottom as his fort/clubhouse.  Some of the things he's keeping in there are toy guns, his "book of knowledge" (journal), a lantern, a clock CD player, and other random club paraphernalia.  He has been enjoying hanging out in there reading and listening to music.

 

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This week he went to history club and though he said he had fun, he's told me absolutely nothing about it, except that he saved the Gamma Gold he earned so that next month he'll have enough to buy a kaleidoscope. Hmmm...I'm glad he's having fun.

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He received the latest LEGO Club magazine in the mail this week; this is always cause for great joy and excitement.  In it he learned of a Lord of the Rings contest, so he has been busy working on his entry.  The final product is top secret, so I can't post pictures of it yet.

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He has decided he'd like to go to the monthly free mini model builds at the LEGO store.  His first one was a torch.  While there he also bought a cup and filled it from the Pick a Brick Wall; he needed more gray blocks for his LOTR contest entry.

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Speaking of Lord of the Rings, Rick finished reading The Fellowship of the Ring.  He says that absolutely nothing happened in that book and that the movie is far better.  Gerrick says that he agrees not a lot exciting really happened, but he thinks the book is better because, in his words, "It is the original.  It was all Tolkien's idea!"  Rick wanted to read something else before starting The Two Towers, but Gerrick would have none of that!

In other books, I finished reading aloud On the Banks of Plum Creek and we moved on to By the Shores of Silver Lake.  So far, it is my least favorite of the Laura books. (Chapter 1--Mary is now blind. Chapter 2--The dog dies.) Gerrick doesn't seem to mind, though.  All I hear is "More, more, more..."

In addition to our Harry Potter night on Sunday, we had an extra HP night on the 4th of July.  Gerrick doesn't like the noise of fireworks, so staying in and hearing more about Harry was excitement enough for him!

He has continued to read a lot on his own this week.

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He's still working on addition facts.  We signed up for a free account with Xtra Math, and I was surprised by his reaction.  After being on the program for a couple of minutes he said, "Hey!  This is a real person!  Not some animated kiddie character!...I like it!"

I also downloaded Math Fact Master to the iPod.  I like this app because he can select which facts to practice (+2, +3, +4, etc.), so he can practice getting faster on the ones he's familiar with without getting stressed out by those he's not so familiar with being thrown in the mix.  Gerrick also likes that this app is just the stripped bare facts--no music or things flying across the screen.  Similarly, I've noticed that, though he likes the game, he turns the sound off when he plays Math Bingo. 

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We went swimming with friends at their neighborhood pool!

When we got home we found that a storm had blown through.  Part of one neighbor's privacy fence blew over, part of another neighbor's gutter blew off his house, and our new trampoline blew across the yard!  Fortunately it didn't flip or get damaged.  Ironically, the anchor system we had ordered to stake it to the ground had been delivered earlier in the day and was sitting on our front porch. But at least everything got a good soaking and my empty rain barrel is full again!

Have a great week!

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