Hannah's new reading material

While in DC, my good friend Josh told me about this book.  I was

immediately intrigued because I am always looking for ways to 

make math easier for Hannah.  I really want to make her feel like 

she's a math master, and from his description, this sounded like 

the book to do it.  For less than $10 dollars, I have made my 

excited to do math problems, in her head, for anyone who'll pay

attention.  In just a few pages, it was very easily explained how 

to do any multiplication problem involving the number 11.  She is ready to amaze people!  

Secrets of Mental Math

For any other parents who want to make math something to be proud of, I strongly recommend this book.  The explanations, so far, are very easy to understand.  

A day trip to Topsail

My very good, and very long time friend, Susan spent almost two weeks at Topsail Island at the end of June.  Actually, on the way to Topsail, she stayed the night with me.  I was supposed to drive down for Lem's birthday but Hannah randomly got strep throat in the middle of June.  

So our trip was delayed by a few days and we ended up joining Susan on their last day at Topsail.  Unfortunately, her entire family had, or was in the process of, packing up and beginning their journey home.  So what began as a day trip turned into another sleepover with Susan.  

This was Joshua's first time in the ocean this summer and he LOVED IT!  Like charged the waves and fell into them laughing loved it.  

So Lem, Hannah, Riley and Gwen played for a few hours in the ocean.   

They pulled out a skim board and played with it for awhile.  

Then we went back to the beach house and threw together really random foods out of what was left in the fridge. 

The night ended quietly, with the kids playing on their tablets together.  Susan and I sat outside, overlooking the sound and watched a storm very close to us.  It was dark with only the frequent lightening to brighten the sky.