Drop Everything And Read Day

Yesterday Ava's school celebrated Drop Everything And Read Day (D.E.A.R Day).

To celebrate, students were invited to come to school dressed as a favorite book character. You know we can't miss an opportunity to play dress up so the girls and I were pretty excited about this.

When I was a kid in Australia we always celebrated Book Week at school with a dress up day and a parade. Every year I see my friends' kids dressed up for Book Week on Facebook and I feel like my girls are missing out. Of course, we get Halloween which is much bigger, but still I feel a little jealous that we're missing out on the fun. So when the opportunity to dress up for D.E.A.R Day came up I jumped on it.

Ava loves Swampy

Ava has a new obsession...

Goodbye Angry Birds, Cut the Rope and Fruit Ninja. You've been replaced by the loveable alligator Swampy in the Disney mobile game Where's My Water?

Both Ava and Lola have been pretty mad about playing Where's My Water? since I downloaded it a few weeks ago. Ava seems quite smitten with the main character Swampy, a cute and friendly looking alligator. In the game Swampy is desperate to have a bath, however the water has been blocked off - hence the title. The player digs through dirt to get the water through to the bathtub, collecting rubber duckies and avoiding moss and slime along the way.

Ava has been talking about Swampy quite a bit lately and a few days ago she spent much of the afternoon making a book about him and the game. Of course, Ava features alongside Swampy in her book as well. Who wouldn't want to share a bath with an alligator? :)
Here's a look at Ava's book:

Swampy and Ava

Two Little Chefs

Kim received his Father's Day gift from the girls in the mail today so I can finally share it now on Little Hiccups!

This year for Father's Day Ava and Lola dressed up as little chefs, Ava in an apron and Lola in a chef hat, and made a special Father's Day breakfast for Daddy - or at least they pretended to for the camera!

I had originally intended to use the photos for a card in a collage style similar to some our Mother's Day card from this year. However, there were so many good photos that I wanted to use that it just ended up looking messy. I couldn't bring myself to cull the photos so instead I decided to turn them into a little book with a short story about two little chefs.   

Here is the finished product...

The completed Father's Day books

Friend Book

Ava loves drawing pictures and making cards for her friends. This is quite a good activity that keeps her occupied for a long time and that she can do on her own without any supervision - until she needs to write her friend's name. That's when I have to become involved and help out with the spelling.

As Ava is always making cards and pictures for her friends I feel like I spend half my time spelling one name or another to her. I decided to make her a "friend book" so she doesn't need my help spelling her friends' names.

I chose clear, close up photos of Ava's friends to feature in her book and tried to make them as fun as possible. As a result most of the photos are from birthday parties and there is an awful lot of face-painting featured! Under each photo I typed the friend's name. I decided to make the book with one friend per page to avoid any confusion over which name goes with which photo.

I laminated the pages to protect them from the inevitable drink spills or "accidental" texta marks that appear on everything. Once laminated I bound the pages with hinged rings. I chose the hinged rings instead of alternative binding methods so that the book can easily be expanded as Ava makes new friends.

Here are some shots of Ava's "Friend Book":