Our Little Reader and his reward

Taylor is such a sweet spirited little man that amazes us more every day. Recently, we started a new "reward" system for his reading. I got the idea from My great Mother in Law. They do it at the school she is principal at. I started keeping track of what books and how many he was reading on "Taylor's Reading List." Our goal was to encourage him to read and make reading something fun rather than just something boring we do with school. After ever 25 books he reads, he gets a treat! He heard the word treat and he was instantly motivated! The rules are none of the books can be repeats and he has to read them out loud to me. So he started reading everything he could find! It was really fun to do with him. After 24 hours, he already had the first 25 read so he could get some ice cream! Such a boy....rewards that include food are always a winner. :-) At 50 books Zac and Taylor had a sleepover in a tent they made in Taylor's room and at 75 books he got to have all of his cousins on the King side come and have a sleepover. For those of you who don't know, there are 9 cousins on that side. I knew the treat was pretty big, but after reading 75 books in less than 2 months, he deserved something BIG!! So below you will find lots of pics from our sleepover extravaganza. It was a lot of fun...the kids did great and I was exhausted, but I would do it all over again. You just can't put a price tag on memories with family. It was so worth it. I love all of those kids and we are blessed to call them family! We did miss Baby Eli and Jocelyn though....maybe next time!

Here is Taylor with his reading list.

At the park with Zac

There was no question on how to eat an Oreo with this bunch!

Hannah is the greatest helper ever. I was so blessed by her responsibility and servant heart. She was a machine! Here she is helping me make Ice Cream in a Bag. So fun! Love you Hannah!

So you make the ice cream and pour it in bags....

Then place ice cream bags in ice and salt bag.....

Then squeeze it around until it makes Ice Cream!

Then you can EAT it! It was delicious. We made chocolate, cookies n cream and vanilla.

The Whole Gang minus Grayson

Evan was such a big boy wanting to get his own chocolate syrup.

Showing off his creation....

...and eating it!

We played games before bed....Clifford Bingo and Boz Adventure!

Buds Forever

In the morning time we made donuts. They were surprisingly really good! Here are my early birds that were helping.

We made vanilla, chocolate and cinnamon & sugar for toppings

Donuts before dressed up.....

...and here they are! These kids scarfed down 25 donuts! Nothing like a good sugar high first thing in the morning!

All the boys (except Eli)

Sleepover Survivors

Yes, if you come to my house to play, you will definitely get sucked into playing some sort of "band". Inside or out, it doesn't matter! Taylor is our "Band King" and this time we had an outdoor concert. It was wonderfully loud. :-)

Water balloon time!

Water Balloon Wars 2009

Nice shot Hannah

Look at Hannah's throw....she is a PRO! Ethan's karate skills weren't enough to stop that balloon!

Run for your life Ethan...Taylor is about to get you good!

And lastly, Hannah and myself decided it would be a good idea to play a little game of chubby bunny. I think she got three in her mouth....

and Emma got one marshmallow...don't let her fingers deceive you. :-)

And yes, being the classy Aunt that I am, I decided why not join in. I was going to puke, but Hannah cheered me on. I got a total of 7. So yes, I am the chubby bunny winner of the kids. Good times.