School is out! It is summertime! A break from the alarm clock and laundry for a little while!

Each summer, I sketch out our weeks. It makes things a little easier on everyone. It gives us a goal and helps give a little structure to those slower days. I was looking over the last few years blog posts, and it is so fun to see what has worked for us. Week one is always reading week. For us, that means a really good trip to the library and to Barnes & Nobles. We sign up for their reading reward programs and get their story-time days and times.

This makes for a fun outing that first week that we all look forward to. We wrap it up with a trip to our local ice cream shop, which is always a hit.

A few years ago, my dear college roommate, Kelly, who knows all the awesome mom things, recommended these books. Julia had flown through every book I had gotten her and I was needing new inspiration that was age appropriate. These books are excellent resources! They even have suggestions for different genres, to help find books that your kids will really, really enjoy.

These are what I will start with when the littles are awake. I have a hard time when I get into a book and get interrupted, so I keep it light and fluffy. Then we are all happy.

Golden books. I heart them. They are always the first books I read to my babies.

I can do a pretty mean Grover impersonation, so for a few years my kids actually think I’m cool.

This stack. This is the “I should read things that fill up my soul” stack. I’ve had One Thousand Gifts for three years. Yes, I know it’s awesome. Yes, I know I need to read it. I’m trying. Promise.

This stack. These are books recommended by moms in the same place in life. I just finished The Temperament God Gave You Kids, recommended by the most stylish mom I know, Emily. We were visiting at a track meet and she thought it might help me with my crew. She was right! I loved it so much. I think I have one of each, which could explain a lot about why I have to discipline, praise, talk, hug, correct, encourage, and slow down each kid completely differently.

And this stack. My dear college roommate, Kelly, who knows all the awesome mom things and I share a deep love for historical fiction. When she finds a book she thinks I’ll love, she sends it on. She’s always right. I can’t wait to dig into this stack.

Wildflower is a gift from my dear I-can’t-believe-I-have-a-friend-this-cool Aimee. She knows how much I adore Drew Barrymore (like her makeup line and how we are twins).