We started the summer reading program yesterday. We are about a week late getting signed up because we were out of town, but we should still have plenty of time to enjoy it! We have a great library here, and the kids really like the programs they have. In the summer reading program, the kids keep a record of the library books they read, and they earn prizes for every 10 books. Businesses donate the prizes, and there are small toys, McDonald’s cheeseburger coupons, coupons for free ice cream at our local ice cream shop, and tickets to Camden Park as the biggest prize. There are also special guests and programs throughout the summer. Yesterday a police officer was there, and he talked to the kids about police and detective work. He let them pass his badge around so they could each see it. Then he did fingerprinting on each child. Skylar even let him take her fingerprints!

Most public libraries have summer reading programs, and they are a great way to stay busy and keep reading through the summer…they’re free, too!

We were driving in the car one evening, and saw a rainbow in the sky. Of course we mentioned Noah and the promise that the rainbow represents, which Jacob knows. Then we started talking about the colors of the rainbow, and the order in which they appear: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. Soon afterward, we saw a picture in a book of a rainbow, in which the colors were not in the correct order…they were reversed. Then we saw a cartoon which was about colors and was using a rainbow to teach colors…and the colors were reversed! Jacob immediately recognized the mistakes, and told me that the rainbows were not right. He doesn’t remember the entire order yet, but he knows that red is supposed to be at the top. Now, I have read that occasionally there is a second rainbow above the primary one in which the colors will be reversed. But, they are almost always in the order I mentioned earlier, with red at the top. You may have learned the same pnemonic device that I did–Roy G Biv–to remember the order of the colors. So why can’t people who illustrate books and cartoons draw rainbows accurately? If you are writing about the story of Noah’s Ark, can’t you at least draw the rainbow accurately? Of course, most people don’t draw the ark accurately either, but  a rainbow just seems so straightforward…red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. This is a simple science fact that even preschoolers can learn about, but some adults cannot get right. So, be on the lookout for the reversed rainbow and teach your kids about Roy G Biv…after you teach them about God and Noah, of course.

I tried a new recipe for biscuits last night called “Cat Head Biscuits.” Now many of you know that my husband does not like cats, so you may be thinking terrible thoughts right now. But don’t worry; there are no actual cats involved in these biscuits. They are simply called that because they are “as big as a cat’s head.” I got the recipe from an e-cookbook called “Cat Head Biscuits and Garlic Fried Chicken.”

They are a bit quicker to make than the traditional roll out and cut biscuits. The texture is different, too. They turned out to be very good, so I thought I would share the recipe. We ate some crumbled up with gravy over them, and some with jelly.

2 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

5 Tablespoons shortening

About 1 cup buttermilk

Stir together dry ingredients and cut in shortening (use a pastry blender or fork). Add enough buttermilk to make a soft dough. Pinch off about a lemon-sized ball of dough and pat out with hands. Place on cookie sheet and bake 12-15 minutes at 450 degrees. Butter tops of biscuits while hot.

I used a full cup of buttermilk, and the dough was a bit too sticky to “pat out” very well. I would recommend either using a little less milk, or just spooning the dough onto the baking sheet and flattening it a little with the back of the spoon. Essentially you are making drop biscuits. I think you could use self-rising flour and omit the baking soda, baking powder, and salt, but I have not tried them that way yet. This recipe is a very quick way to make biscuits, and they were very good!