My turn to share books...

My small group is starting a new book and I'm really looking forward to it.  It's by Liz Curtis Higgs, the same author as the Bad Girls of the Bible book series.  I have only read the introduction so far, but it looks so good.  Click here for more info if you are interested in it.

I also read one of the most buzzed about books lately, Gone Girl.  That is one Cuh-razy book.  Good,  but, Cuh-razy.  

Any recommendations for me?

Our favorite girl books right now

Around our house, we definitely have lots of books, and we definitely have our favorites.  Abby is now reading chapter books and we also read some chapter books together. 

I thought I'd share some of our favorites, in case you have a young girl and you're looking for a new book and you haven't discovered these yet.  They are all series, so there are multiple books of all of them.  Most of them are about a second grade reading level.

Ivy and Bean:  They are ornery and fun.  Ivy is very quiet and Bean isn't.  They make quite a pair.

Kylie Jean is a very new find.  As in a week old for us.  Abby and I happened upon it at the library and she loves it.  I have already put a hold on two more.  We've reserved Singing Queen and Dancing Queen next, I think.

Most parents know A to Z Mysteries, so this one is much more well known; and girls AND boys love them.  They are for sure one of Abby's favorites.  She always gets one at her school's library.  They are about a group of smart kids that solve mysteries.  The titles are things like X-ed out X-ray and Zombie Zone (Abby has read those two).  The author is Ron Roy.

What do your kids like to read?

A Second Grade Mexican Celebration!

Today was the culmination of a unit that Abby's class has been working on about Mexico, and boy, was she excited.  It was the Mexican Celebration!

You can tell I have lost my blogging mojo, because I hardly took any pictures.  Nonetheless, it was very fun.  The class was divided into groups and each group was in charge of a "shop" at the market that they needed to set up when we got outside to our location (the outdoor shelter).  Once they were set up, their teacher, Mrs. E, had them all close their eyes and talked them through an airplane ride and landing and being transported to an outdoor market.

First on the agenda was a Mexican Hat Dance.  It was great.  Then, we headed into the Market and the kids shopped.  All of the shops were selling handmade creations (by them):  maracas (Abby's group), tissue paper flowers, mosaics, a cup game, and pinch pots.

Next, they got to sample Mexican cuisine provided by the parents.  I brought in tamales, but there were many things to sample.  The funniest thing was that among all the moms there, and many of us are active PTO moms that know each other, we all thought everyone else would send in chips and salsa so we didn't do that, and then NO ONE sent in chips and salsa!  Isn't that funny?  We decided maybe that was better because that might have been all they would have eaten if we had it, but this way they tried more.  I was excited because my tamales (which weren't homemade, but still new to me) were a hit.  

The big finale was pinatas.  One for the boys and one for the girls.  :)

So far second grade has been very good to Abby. 

Things have been a little crazy around here...

I haven't blogged in a bit, and that is because we have been very busy around our house.

The big news is that we just listed our house!  It is officially for sale.  For safety reasons I'm not going to put the listing here, but if you know anyone who is looking for a cute open-concept 3 bedroom house, it's for sale!  It has a great deck and beautiful landscaping.

We've just outgrown it.  Matt desperately needs an office where he can close the door since he works from home many days.  We are also looking for a home with a basement.  We spent about 2 weeks packing up stuff and doing some staging.  Now, we are ready to sell!

As for where we are moving?  Most of the summer, that question was in the air.  It was either Pennsylvania, where Matt's company's home office is or stay where we are.  Both have pros and cons.  We actually took a trip to PA just a week or so ago to see the area.  (The girls stayed home.)

We flew into Newark so we could have a direct flight and I got to see NYC!

After a lot of long talks, we decided to stay where we are.

Just yesterday, we looked at some houses here locally.  Now if we can just sell our house.  Matt says I need to give it some time, but I'm just so nervous.

In addition to all that, Lily started Preschool!

She LOVES it.  This week, she was the snack girl.  We sent in Nilla Wafers (cookies, in her words) and Rainbow Goldfish Crackers, both of which she picked out.