Cashing in on the Summer Reading Program

Something special came in the mail this week.  The mail man dropped off 4 packages, one for each child in our family.  It is summer time, and, as tradition, our family has participated in the Maricopa County Library's Summer Reading Program.  They read all their minutes (or, in the case of the smaller of the small ones, they read and also participated in fun activities to earn their prize), and now their prizes awaited them. 

Here you go:

Before!

 Man... it's almost like Christmas.  The anticipation...  it's just too much to bare.

 "My Olaf Book!"

 Next up...  Rip it open, Noelle!

 Ta-da!  A Barbie book!

 Melanie's turn!

 Nice!  Another Barbie book (dad will be so excited to read those at night!  But not as much as mom when he starts using voices for the characters!)

 And finally, Preston.  Wait, Preston!!! You aren't suppose to enjoy the book that way!

Now for my commercial for the local library!  I have said it before, but I'll say it again:  I LOVE the library!  Maybe it's because our library is just too awesome.  The people that work there are very helpful, patient, and very friendly.  They host at least one family friendly (and completely free) INDOOR activity a week.  And on top of all that, they have a fun summer reading program for ALL ages.  (That's right, people, I got my own free book in the mail a few weeks back).  If you haven't signed up for the reading program, it isn't too late.  Just go to their website (http://mesalibrary.org/) and follow their links.  While you are on their site, check out the events calendar, because, honestly, the Summer Spotlight Series are always so much fun.  I have only ever been disappointed once, and that was last year with a one man skit about evolution and dinosaurs.  Yikes!

Side note regarding the Summer Reading Program: this year it is completely online.  I am not as impressed by this because the kids don't actually see their progress.  They do still have the game sheets and stickers though.  If you go to the library, you can pick them up from the children's desk.  I find that actually putting 

the sticker on the page is a better visual thing for them.  Perhaps if I actually let my kids on the computer, they could "see" their progress that way.  But, alas, I'm not that nice.

Speaking of summer reading programs and deals, check out the "loot" we picked up today from Half Price Books.

They too have a summer reading program.  It is by month (so we will be doing it again in July).  If you child reads or has been read to for 300+ logged minutes, they get a $5 coupon for any merchandise in the store.  So, what you see there is the product of my 3 oldest children's rewards.  You have to use the coupons in individual transactions and the merchandise has to be at least $5 before tax, so when all is said and done, we probably spent around $3 for those 7 books.  Not too shabby.  Barnes and Noble also have a program.  We will be checking theirs out soon as well.  As you can tell, we like books, especially free ones.

Happy Reading!