Ahhhh, school stuff

I've always loved to read, and I was always one of those kids that looked forward to school starting again. Don't get me wrong, I loved summer vacation, but I was always ready to go back. When I was in college I loved that Michigan State was on quarters. Ten weeks was perfect for classes. Just as I was tired of them we got to start all over again with new classes.

Now I am so excited to see Kyle show such a love of reading. I'm overjoyed to watch his enthusiasm and pride over all he is learning right now. He is thrilled to know his colors and tells me colors all the time. We'll be sitting at a red light and I'll hear, "Red car, grey car, two grey car, blue car, brown car," from the back seat. I'll look, and sure enough, there's a red car, two grey cars, a blue one and a brown one. We'll walk across the Wal-Mart parking lot and I hear, "W-A-L-M-more A-R-T," and a glance at Kyle confirms that he is eyeing the side of the building. He points things out to me all the time just to say the words and relish that he knows them.

Since he is not yet three, I am walking a line between pushing him into learning more than he needs to just yet, or taking away from pure play, yet still challenging his mind and keeping him interested. Last week I was looking for workbooks with early learning skills, and my sister-in-law, Kimberly, told me about a huge warehouse sale coming up by a publisher not far from me. My sister and I went to it yesterday. Boy did I score big time. The workbooks I was looking at in Wal-Mart for $3 were available for 25 and 50 cents, for example. Software for as low as 50 cents. It was amazing!

I did spend $50 and bought more than we will likely need, but Erin will be able to use it, too, and some stuff is actually geared toward babies. When I added up the suggested retail prices on the things I bought it came to $270!!!! I saved $220 over what I would have paid in the store!!

Kyle already has been into the box and really anxious to use the stuff. When I got out of the shower today he'd taken everything from the box I'd brought it home in and had it all spread out. He was champing at the bit for me to sit down with him. We just keep passing this enthusiasm back and forth!

Our loot, all of it, then a couple close up shots. There are a few books that Kyle already took up to his room to read, so they aren't in there, and some of the big workbooks include computer software that you can tell from the picture. The big blocks in the corner are activity packs. Kyle loves his preschool one, and the other one is a baby one for Erin.