March 2021 Life Goals

Let’s check in on February’s goals and my progress.

• Read 15 books, at least 5 Unread Shelf reads ✓

• Layout podcast episodes - Until J gets the hang of editing, this is on hold for a bit.

• Make 4 52 Dessert Recipes - Fail

• Walk at least 20 miles on the treadmill - Fail. Although I did a respectable 17 miles.

• Put together drawers for boys ✓

• Make eye appointments - Fail. It was dentist month apparently.

• Make dentist appointments ✓

• Make driver’s license appointment ✓

• Make a spring wish list ✓

March’s Goals: Lots of carry-over goals for this month.

• Read 15 books, including 5 Unread Shelf reads

• Layout podcast episodes

• Make 4 52 Dessert Recipes

• Walk at least 20 miles on the treadmill

• Make eye appointments

Next up on the TBR pile:

2021 Desserts and Snacks - January and February

Week 1: Cranberry and White Chocolate Cake

This was such a tasty and easy recipe to start off the year. I loved the tart cranberries and extra sweet white chocolate chunks scattered through this simple cake. Arthur also loved it!

Recipe used from Kylee Cooks

Week 2: Peanut Butter Cookie Gooey Bars

Oh so incredibly good! Next time I should use less condensed milk (just a tad too much), but I loved the balance between peanut butter and chocolate flavor.

Recipe used from Crazy for Crust

Week 3: Earl Grey Tea Bread

Another great recipe! I have some ideas of how to tweak it (smaller prune pieces for one), but this was great as is toasted with a bit of butter and a cup of tea.

Recipe used from Food & Wine

Week 4: Sicilian Apple Cake

I liked the taste of this one, but it just didn’t really hit for me. For one, I dislike raisins and unfortunately the ones of the top got really hard. the cake portion didn’t bake like I wanted it to.

Recipe used from Recipe Winners

Week 5: Inside Out S’mores Bars

These were amazing! i was afraid that these would be too sweet, but they have a great balance of flavors. Definitely will make these again.

Recipe used from Tablespoon

Week 6: Baked Banana Oatmeal

Meh. This tasted okay (make sure to drizzle it with extra maple syrup), but I wasn’t wowed at all.

Recipe used from Five Heart Home

Homeschool W25: SO Many Interruptions

What We Studied

This ended up being a very strange week. I had an emergency dentist appointment on Tuesday and the office could fit Arthur in for a regular cleaning on Thursday. And I had promised the kids a trip to the zoo, so we went on Wednesday (along with a library visit). All in all, I felt very discombobulated this week…

Literature and Poetry

We continued reading Sideways Stories and finally got to my favorite story: Sammy! Arthur didn’t seem to love the absurdist humor of that story, but I loved sharing it with him.

• Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar

• The Proper Way to Meet a Hedgehog selected by Paul B. Janecko

• Space Cows by Eric Seltzer (Arthur read)

Math

We worked through Unit 4 from Singapore 2A. We did a concept review of multiplication and division. Arthur grasped it very easily again and so we added in some challenge pages throughout the week.

Social Studies

We went back to A River of Voices United States History and did lessons on the Salem Witch Trials, the Triangular Trade, and Fort Mose. Definitely not the happiest week for history class, but I found some good sources for videos and readings.

• A Young People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn and Rebecca Stefoff

• Making Thirteen Colonies by Joy Hakim

• The Salem Witch Trials by Sarah Gilman

• A Child’s Introduction to African American History by Jabari Asim

• If You Lived When There was Slavery in America by Anne Kamma

• Fort Mose by Glennette Tilley Turner

• A Kid’s Guide to African American History by Nancy I. Sanders

Playground in the snow. How Midwest of us.

Science

Wrapped into our Unit Theme

Art

Nothing Formal

Music

Continuing with our jazz study. We finished the 1940s and 1950s and started the 1960s.

• Jazz ABZ by Wynford Marsalis

• Jazz Day by Roxane Orgill

• Birth of the Cool by Kathleen Cornell Berman

• Before John was a Jazz Giant by Carole Boston Weatherford

• Spirit Seeker by Gary Golio

• Sonny’s Bridge by Barry Wittenstein

Unit Theme

We started a 2-3 week unit on Space and the Planets! We started with the big picture and then started to narrow down to our own solar system. We started a great series of episodes from NOVA focusing on space. This particular selection was all about the Hubble Telescope. I learned so much about the history of the program and what we have learned. We also watched an episode from the series The Planets about the Inner Worlds. I learned a ton about Mercury and Saturn’s moon, Titan.

• G is for Galaxy by Janis Campbell and Cathy Collision

• Me and My Place in Space by Joan Sweeney

• Boy We Were Wrong About the Solar System by Kathleen Kudlinski

• Galaxies Galaxies by Gail Gibbons

• Looking Beyond by Steve Parker

• The Stellar Story of Space Travel by Patricia Lakin

• 70 Thousand, Million, Million, Million Stars in Space by Paul Rockett

• Galaxies by Howard K. Tramnel

• The Solar System Through Infographics by Nadia Higgins

• DK Space

• Space Visual Catalog by Sean Callery and Miranda Smith

• The Dinosaur that Pooped a Planet by Tom Fletcher & Douglas Poynter

• In the Sky at Nighttime by Laura Deal

• The Darkest Dark by Chris Hadfield

• There was an Old Astronaut Who Swallowed the Moon by Lucille Colandro

• Space: Planets, Moons, Stars, and More! by Joe Rhatigan

• Journey Through Our Solar System by Mae Jemison

• Planet Earth by Christine Taylor-Butler

• If Pluto was a Pea by Gabrielle Prendergast

• Life on Mars by Jon Agee

• The Space Walk by Brian Biggs

• Earth Space Moon Base by Ben Joel Price

• Space Mice by Lori Haskins Houran

• Planet Mercy by Ann O. Squire

• 11 Planets by David A. Aguilar

• Planet Venus by Christine Taylor-Butler

• Planet Mars by Ann O. Squire

• Letters from Space by Clayton Anderson

• Mousetronaut Goes to Mars by Mark Kelly

• Space Dog by Mini Grey

• Lego Man in Space by Mara Shaughnessy

Misc. - Random picture books read

• Froggy’s First Kiss by Jonathan London

• A Scent-sational Valentine by Mary Man-Kong

• Love, Z by Jessie Sima

• Snuggle Down Deep by Diane Ohanesian

• Worm Loves Worm by J.J. Austrian

• This is NOT a Valentine by Carter Higgins

• 10 Fascinating Facts About Dinosaurs by Rachel Grack

Highs

• The zoo visit was much needed.

Lows

• Emergency dental visit made me lose all momentum.

Next Week

We will be finishing Jazz, Sideways Stories, and Singapore Math 2A,. We continuing over our Space Theme and U.S. History.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• Movie month has taken some interesting turns. I’ve really been loving our weird selections. The other night we watched The Guest House starring Pauly Shore and it was delightful.

• All soft foods for me for this month before I finally get my dental work done in April.

• Historical romances are my sweet spot right now.

• Not having a dryer is really not great. I hate having to hung the clothes everywhere.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W24: So Much Reading!

What We Studied

This was our last week covering Rome (and boy am I ready to move on). We also continued with jazz, finished one read aloud and started another, and completed another unit in math. It was much too cold to do anything or even go outside (average temperature was -20). Here’s hoping this is a bit warmer.

Literature and Poetry

We finished Fortunately, the Milk on Tuesday and started Sideways Stories from Wayside School on Wednesday. Beyond that, we continued with Arthur reading books to me and a few literature studies.

• Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman

• Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar

• Polar Bear, Arctic Hare by Eileen Spinelli (poems)

• Dumpy’s Valentine by Julie Andrews Edwards (Arthur read)

• Thomas & Friends: Valentine’s Day in Vicarstown (Arthur read)

• Thomas & Friends: A Valentine for Percy (Arthur read)

• Mouse Loves Love by Lauren Thompson (Arthur read)

• Valentine Surprise by Corinne Demas (Arthur read)

• Too Many Valentines by Margaret McNamara (Arthur read)

• Porcupining by Lisa Wheeler (literature study)

• The Littlest Valentine by Brandi Dougherty (literature study)

• Brave Irene by William Steig (literature study)

• Robot in Love by T.L. McBeth (literature study)

Math

We finished off Unit 2 (review of addition and subtraction) and Unit 3 (measurement) along with another unit on Khan Academy. Next week we should be moving back into more challenging units. We also covered the basic idea of algebra.

• Mystery Math by David A. Adler

Social Studies

We are dong with Rome! This week we covered the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, various art and mythology from Rome, and a general wrap-up of the main people and events we covered.

• Eyewitness Ancient Rome

• Barbarians by Steven Kroll

• The Ancient Romans by Shuter

• Ancient Rome by Mack

• Roman Myths by Eric Braun

Science

Nothing formal this week

Art

Nothing formal this week

Music

Continuing jazz! We got through 1930s-1950s this week. Arthur still likes swing and ragtime over all the other forms we listened to. I’m partial to the blues. He really did not like bebop.

• Jazz by Walter Dean Myers (poems)

• Jazz ABZ by Wynton Marsalis

• Sophisticated Ladies by Leslie Gourse

• Looking for Bird in the Big City by Robert Burleigh

• Dizzy by Jonah Winter

• Little Melba and Her Big Trombone by Katheryn Russell-Brown

• Jazz on a Saturday Night by Leo and Diane Dillon

• The Little Piano Girl by Ann Ingalls and Maryann Macdonald

Unit Theme

Another week, another two holidays to celebrate. We finished up our Valentine’s Day Study in the beginning of the week. And then we covered Presidents’ Day toward the end of the week.

Valentine’s Day

• Celebrate Valentine’s Day by Carolyn Otto

• If You’ll be My Valentine by Cynthia Rylant

• Love by Matt de la Pena

• There’s This Thing by Connah Brecon

• Moo-Moo, I Love You! by Tom Lichtenheld

• Here’s Comes Valentine Cat by Deborah Underwood

• A Short History of Valentine’s Day by Sally Lee

• Love Ruby Valentine by Laurie Friedman

• Duck and Hippo: The Secret Valentine by Jonathan London

• Pete the Cat: Valentine’s Day is Cool by Kimberly and James Dean

• A Giant Crush by Jennifer Choldenko

• Ruby Valentine Saves the Day by Laurie Friedman

• Groggle’s Monster Valentine by Diana Murray

• Mr. Goat’s Valentine by Eve Bunting

• Hedgehog: A Sharp Lesson in Love by Ben Sutton

• The Valentine Express by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace

• Love by Stacy McAnulty

• Tucker’s Valentine by Leslie McGuirk

• Love, Splat by Rob Scotton

• Chick n Pug: The Love Pug by Jennifer Sattler

• A Valentine for Frankenstein by Leslie Kimmelman

Presidents’ Day

• Presidents’ Day by Anne Rockwell

• Presidents’ Day by Rachel Grack

• Abraham Lincoln by Peter Benoit

• George Washington by Peter Benoit

Misc. - Random picture books read

• Snow Day by Lester L. Laminack

• Penguin Flies Home by Lita Judge

• Snow Sounds by David A. Johnson

• William’s Winter Nap by Linda Ashman

• If You Come to Earth by Sophie Blackall

• This Pretty Planet by Tom Chapin

Highs

• We started reading Sideways Stories from Wayside School. This was one of my early elementary favorites and I’m really hoping Arthur loves it just as much.

• We read so many books this week! I love reading and I’m so glad that the boys are into it also. Arthur’s reading has improved dramatically since Christmas and I’m super excited!

Epic “snack” dinner that Arthur helped me prepare

Lows

• We didn’t get to spend any time outside because of the frigid temperatures. It’s really hard as we still don’t feel comfortable going to the open gyms and indoor play spaces this winter. Here’s hoping next week gets a bit warmer and we can go outside at least.

Next Week

If the temperatures hold, I’m thinking about a trip to the zoo Wednesday or Thursday. And we’ll make sure to get to the library like usual. As for our subjects, we going to try and finish our jazz unit, complete Unit 4 in math (multiplication), read a chunk of Sideways Stories, and start our Plants and Solar System unit for science. I can’t wait for the Planets and Solar System unit, it’s always one of my favorites. We will be focusing more on space exploration and will definitely highlight the landing of Perseverance last week!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W23: Two Holidays in One Week!

What We Studied

We crammed in two holidays this week: Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day. Even though February is the shortest month, it’s full of holidays and events! We’re trying to hit most of them. Beyond that, we stayed into most of the week as the high temperatures were below zero. The boys lasted about 10 minutes outside one day attempting to play in the snow.

Literature and Poetry

We finished Just Beyond the Very Very Far North and started Fortunately, the Milk for our read aloud. I was sad to leave Duane the Polar Bear and his friends. I really enjoyed those two books.

• Just Beyond the Very Very Far North by Dan Bar-el

• Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman

• The Missing Mitten Mystery by Steven Kellogg

• It’s Snowing! It’s Snowing! Winter Poems by Jack Prelutsky

• Thomas & Friends: James Goes Buzz Buzz (Arthur read)

• Outside Your Window by Nicola Davies (poems)

• My Friend Rabbit and the Snow Geese by Eric Rohmann (Arthur read)

Math

We continued with Singapore Math 2A Unit 2. The material is not a challenge (mostly 3 digit addition and subtraction), but it’s been good practice for Arthur before we move on to Unit 3 next week.

Social Studies

We moved on to the Roman Empire. We did a day on the Celts, a day on Julius Caesar and the fall of the Republic, a day on Pompeii, a day on the Colosseum and Roman mosaics, and a general day about the rest of the Empire. We ended up watching three documentaries throughout the week: Nat Geo’s Secrets of the Dead (Pompeii), NOVA’s Roman Catacomb Mystery, and NOVA’s Colosseum. We will be wrapping up Rome next week.

• What Do We Know About the Celts by Hazel Mary Martell

• Hands-on History! The Celts by Fiona Macdonald

• Ancients in Their Own Words: Roman by Michale Kerrigan

• The Ancient Romans by Cohn

• The Ancient Romans by Shuter

• Ancient Rome by Mack

• Eyewitness Ancient Rome

• The Genius of the Romans by Izzi Howell

• Pompeii: Lost and Found by Mary Pope Osborne

• Pompeii: One Roman City, One House… More Than 2000 Years of Change by Richard Platt

• Roman Amphitheaters by Don Nardo

Science

Nothing formal

Art

Nothing formal

Music

Continuing our jazz unit for the month. Turns out Arthur really enjoys swing jazz but not blues jazz. Every week we are covering between 4 and 10 jazz artists. I have a giant stack of picture books featuring various artists and lots of music pieces notated.

• Jazz by Walter Dean Myers (poems)

• Jazz ABZ by Wynton Marsalis

• Sophisticated Ladies by Leslie Gourse

• Stompin’ at the Savoy by Bebe Moore Campbell

• Bring On that Beat by Rachel Isadora

• Piano Starts Here by Robert Andrew Parker

• Duke Ellington by Andrea Davis Pinkney

• Ella Fitzgerald by Ma Isabel Sanchez Vergara

• Skit-Scat Raggedy Cat by Roxane Orgill

• Ella Queen of Jazz by Helen Hancocks

• The Jazz Man by Karen Ehrhardt

• Swing Sisters by Karen Deans

• Benny Goodman and Teddy Wilson by Lesa Cline-Ransome

Unit Theme

We covered Chinese New Year for the first half of the week. I found a great stack of picture books from the library and we learned a lot!

• Behold… the Dragons by Gail Gibbons

• Celebrate Chinese New Year by Carolyn Otto

• How to Catch a Dragon by Adam Wallace and Andy Elkerton

• Chelsea’s Chinese New Year by Lisa Bullard

• The Nian Monster by Andrea Wang

• Chinese New Year Colors by Rich Lo

• Ruby’s Chinese New Year by Vickie Lee

• Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas by Natasha Yim

• Nian, the Chinese New Year Dragon by Virginia Loh-Hagan

• The Little Pigs and the Sweet Rice Cakes by Li Jian

• Bringing in the New Year by Grace Lin

• Peppa’s Chinese New Year

On Friday, we make Valentine’s and talked about the holiday. We’ll be continuing Valentine’s Day into next week.

• Valensteins by Ethan Long

Misc. - Random picture books read

• What’s That Noise? by Naomi Howarth

• Lego Star Wars: A New Hope

• Snow by Uri Shulevitz

• I Wish It Would Snow! by Sarah Dillard

• Secret Pizza Party by Adam Rubin

• Pizza Day by Melissa Iwai

• Winter White by Christianne C. Jones

• Henry and the Yeti by Russell Ayto

• Terrible Storm by Carol Otis Hurst

• Be Brave, Little Penguin by Giles Andreae

• Oh That Snow! by JeongHo Kim

• My Penguin Osbert in Love by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel

• All Right Already! A Snowy Story by Jory John & Benji Davies

Highs

• We celebrated National Pizza Day on Tuesday with takeout pizza! We don’t do pizza very often so the boys were very excited.

Lows

• It was too cold to get outside. Meaning I had two kids full of energy and no where to get it out. Pre-pandemic, we would have gone to the gym or the indoor playground. But obviously not right now.

Next Week

We’ll finish our read aloud and start another one (one of my childhood favorites!) and continue with our poems. For social studies, we’ll wrap up Rome to head back to U.S. History of the last week in February. I think we’ll finish Unit 3 in math and get to the 1960s in Jazz. Our theme will be split between Valentine’s Day, Mardi Gras, and Presidents’ Day.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• Temps have been hovering around 0 degrees. I’m definitely feeling the cold this week.

• Started a new giant project last night and I’m super excited about it. Hush hush for now, but I’ll share soon!

• The kids want to make Saturday morning crafting session and regular thing. Ooof! I may have to beg off a few Saturdays, but I think I can make this happen more regularly.

• Trying to hold myself back from blowing through the rest of the Scythe series by Neal Shusterman. Loved the first one!

• Dreaming of the day when I can meet my book club at a restaurant or coffeehouse. Maybe this summer…

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #2

Reading: Scythe by Neal Shusterman. It’s been on my list and comes highly recommended by many bloggers. I’m enjoying it so far.

Watching: We’re a week into New-to-Us movie month. It’s going really well right now. We’ve watched some decent movies and a couple of good documentaries.

Listening: I’ve had A Day to Remember on repeat for about a week now. Really really digging the new songs.

Making: I finally got back into our 52 Desserts and Snacks projects with two different recipes this week.

Feeling: It’s so incredibly cold this week! The highs are all in the single digits. It’s too cold to even play outside right now.

Planning: I’ve got a huge list of Valentine’s crafts. I really need to look at the list and find a few that we can do on Saturday morning.

Loving: It’s cold and I need hot tea every night!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W22: So Much Snow and Jazz!

What We Studied

We had a big week full of snow and jazz!

LEGO creation of the Week

Literature and Poetry

We made progress with our read aloud and covered a few literature studies and Arthur read alouds.

• Just Beyond the Very Very Far North by Dan Bar-el

• A Snowflake Fell compiled by Laura Whipple

• Little Penguins New Friend by Tadgh Bentley (Arthur read aloud)

Math

We continued working through Singapore Math 2A not quite finishing Unit 2 yet.

Social Studies

We had a slow history month, but did cover the Roman Republic.

• Ancients in Their Own Words: Roman

• The Ancient Romans by Cohn

• The Ancient Romans by Shuter

• Ancient Rome by Mack

• Eyewitness Ancient Rome

• The Genius of the Romans by

• You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Roman Soldier by David Stewart

We also did a mini unit on Groundhog Day on Tuesday. Arthur loved reading the books and recording the various groundhog’s predictions.

• Groundhog Day by Julie Murray

• Grumpy Groundhog by Maureen Wright

• Groundhog’s Day Off by Robb Pearlman

• Gregory’s Shadow by Don Freeman

• Groundhog’s Runaway Shadow by David Biedrzycki

Science

Nothing formal, but we did so a decent amount of science with the Winter Unit Theme.

Art

We spent all of Saturday morning doing various winter themed crafts. We covered our big picture window with the completed projects!

Music

My favorite unit so far in homeschooling! I created a whole jazz unit for the month of February. Every week we are covering between 4 and 10 jazz artists. I have a giant stack of picture books featuring various artists and lots of music pieces notated. This is going to be a great month!

• Jazz Music History by Kenny Abdo

• Jazz by Walter Dean Myers (poems)

• Welcome to Jazz by Carolyn Sloan

• Jazz ABZ by Wynton Marsalis

• How Jelly Roll Morton Invented Jazz by Jonah Winter

• Just a Lucky So and So by Lesa Cline-Ransome

• When Louis Armstrong Taught Me Scat by Muriel Harris Weinstein

• Born to Swing by Mara Rocklife

• Jazz Age Josephine by Jonah Winter

Unit Theme

We finished penguins and our general winter theme this week. To wrap up everything, we watched two great Magic School Bus episodes about winter. Plus we did an experiment to see what liquids would freeze when places outside on the ~20 degree weather. Arthur got 4 out of the 6 predictions correct.

• My Penguin Osbert by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel

• Poles Apart by Jeanne Willis

• Polar Bear Island by Lindsay Bonilla

• Virgil and Owen Stick Together by Paulette Bogan

• Glaciers by Larry Dane Brimner

• Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin

• Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson

• Brownie Groundhog and the Wintry Surprise by Susan Blackaby

• The Story of Snow by Mark Cassino

• Freddie the Farting Snowman by Jane Bexley

• Lucy Tries Short Track by Lisa Bowes

• The Wildlife Winter Games by Richard Turner

Misc. - Random picture books read

• Winter Waits by Lynn Plourde

• Tracks in the Snow by Wong Herbert Yee

• First Snow by Bomi Park

• Crash, Splash, and Moo by Bob Shea

• A Day So Gray by Marie Lamba

• The Snow Day by Komako Sakai

• Once Upon a Winter Day by Liza Woodruff

• A Winter Walk by Lynne Barasch

• One Mitten by Kristine O’Connell George

• Whale Snow by Debby Dahl Edwardson

• Snowy Farm by Calvin Shaw

• Penguin and Moose by Hannah C Hall

• White Snow Bright Snow by Alvin Tressalt

• When the Snow is Deeper Than My Books are Tall by Jean Reidy

• My Footprints by Bao Phi

• Winter is the Warmest Season by Lauren Stringer

• Kate Mim-Mim: Little Kate Riding Hood

• How to Build a Snow Bear by Eric Pinder

• Chapter Two is Missing by Josh Lieb

Highs

• Saturday craft morning was a great success! It was a bit of work on my part, but pulling supplies and ideas earlier in the week made it less stressful than I anticipated. I’m thinking of making this a weekly or biweekly event.

• Even though we didn’t do any field trips, we did manage to make it to the library. Love that place so much!

Lows

• We were going to head to the zoo on Thursday or Friday, but snow and a drop in temperatures squashed that plan.

• We had a bit of a regression with screen time this week. We need to find a better system…

Next Week

We should finish our read aloud Wednesday or Thursday and have another lined up. We’re hoping to cover the rest of Unit 2 and Unit 3 for math. Continuing with our jazz unit through the 1930s and 1940s. And our theme is split between Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day.

Next up on the TBR pile:

February 2021 Life Goals

Let’s check in on January’s goals and my progress.

• Read 15 Books ✓

• Plan Out Our 52 Desserts and Snacks for January, February, and March ✓

• Walk at Least 20 Miles on the Treadmill - Fail. I only did 15.91 miles on the treadmill.

• Do a Goodwill Donation Run - Fail, although I have started two bags.

• Put Together Drawers for Boys - Fail.

• Prep for February Movie Month ✓ - I have a short list of about 90 movies to choose from.

• Make Eye Appointments - Fail.

• Make Dentist Appointments - Fail.

• Make Driver’s License Appointment - Fail.

February Goals:

• Read 15 books, At Least 5 Unread Shelf Reads

• Layout Podcast Episodes - A project J and I are working on for March or April. More info to come.

• Make 4 52 Desert Recipes - I got a big behind in January. Hoping to catch up.

• Walk at Least 20 Miles on the Treadmill - I need to be a bit more intentional about this one.

• Put Together Drawers for Boys

• Make Eye Appointments - Carryover goal

• Make Dentist Appointments - Carryover goal

• Make Driver’s License Appointment - Carryover

• Make a Spring Wish List - I’m planning on taking a bit of money (not much, but a big) of my paycheck for the last quarter to update my wardrobe a little bit. Not super exciting, but things like underwear, gym shoes, and lounge pants to replace my worn out things.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W21: So Much Snow!

What We Studied

We started our week with almost 14 inches of snow in about 24 hours! Oh goodness. The boys have really gotten into playing in the snow, but our previous snowfall had long since melted. We were super excited to watch the snow fall all day and night on Monday so we could play in the snow for the rest of the week. I’ve never been so glad to not have to leave the house for 4 days or so as we dug out.

Literature and Poetry

We did a ton of picture book studies, read alouds, and independent reading this week! We’re really leaning into being literature-based homeschoolers. Oh so good! We finished our Matilda read aloud and started our Just Beyond the Very Very Far North read aloud. On Friday night, we watched the Danny DeVito/Mara Wilson movie version of Matilda. Both boys really loved watching the movie. We even had a little discussion about the changes the movie made to the story. We all agreed that it’s still a really good movie. We also celebrated our 100th Day of School with some books and a Lego build.

• Matilda by Roald Dahl

• Just Beyond the Very Very Far North by Dan Bar-el

• Blizzard by John Rocco

• The Hat by Jan Brett

• Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner

• Ready, Set, 100th Day by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace

• Rocket’s 100th Day of School by Tad Hills

• Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin

• Dragons Love Tacos 2: The Sequel by Adam Rubin

• When the Sun Shines on Antarctica by Irene Latham (poems)

• Who Ate My Book by Tina Kugler (Arthur read)

• Rocket Brave by Tad Hills (Arthur read)

• Peanut Butter’s First Day of School by Terry Border (Arthur read)

Math

We officially started Singapore Math 2A Common Core Edition this week. It’s definitely a big review for Arthur, but it’s great to get some extra practice before we tackle the next big milestone.

• Peg + Cat: The Penguin Problem by Jennifer Oxley

• Give Me Half by Stuart J. Murphy

Monday Night

Social Studies

We got back into ancient world history this week and covered two chapters and a continent study. We covered Mesoamerica (huge hit with Arthur) and the Kushites and Aksumites. Beyond the history, we covered North America for our continent study. That leaves just Australia for the continents.

• The Ancient Maya by Jackie Maloy

• Eyewitness: Aztec, Inca, and Maya

• National Geographic Investigates Ancient Maya by Nathaniel Harris

• Ancient Maya by Sue Bradford Edwards

• Ancient Maya by Barbara A. Somervill

• African Beginnings by James Haskins and Kathleen Benson

• National Geographic Investigates Ancient Africa by Victoria Sherrow

• Arts of Ancient Nubia by Denise M. Doxey

• North America by Libby Koponen

• North America by Mary Lindeen

Science

Part of our Unit Theme This Week

Art

Nothing Formal This Week

Music

Our composer this week was Scott Joplin. Arthur was amazed at how many of his compositions that he had heard in cartoons and movies. Definitely one of those composers that we don’t know the name but know the music. By the end of the week, I made a big change to our music curriculum. Instead of doing week-long composers for February, I’m creating an almost month-long unit on Jazz for February! Joplin was a great starting point to head into next month’s lessons.

• Scott Joplin by Russell Roberts

Unit Theme

We covered Penguins this week. Arthur definitely gets into animal science and this was perfect.

• A Rookery of Penguins and Other Bird Groups by Jilly Hunt

• Penguin Day by Nic Bishop

• A Penguin Story by Antoinette Portis

• A Small Blue Whale by Beth Ferry

• If You were a Penguin by Wendell and Florence Minor

• Little Penguin Stays Awake by Tadgh Bentley

• The Frozen March of Emperor Penguins by Beth Bence Reinke

• I am Pangoo the Penguin by Satome Ichikawa

• Little Penguins by Cynthia Rylant

• Penguinaut by Marcie Colleen

• Five Flying Penguins by Barbara Barbieri McGrath

• Penguins Don’t Wear Sweaters by Marikka Tamura

• Pip the Little Penguin by Roger Priddy

• Chilly Da Vinci by J. Rutland

Misc. - Random picture books read

• Winter is Here by Kevin Henkes

• Bedtime for Yeti by Vin Vogel

• The Thing About Yetis by Vin Vogel

• Now What? by Robie H. Harris

• Waiting for Winter by Sebastian Mechenmoser

• Time to Sleep by Denise Fleming

• Max and Marla by Alexandra Boiger

• Hibernation Station by Michelle Meadows

• Baby Bear’s Not Hibernating by Lynn Plourde

• Sizing Up Winter by Lizann Flatt

• The Most Perfect Snowman by Chris Britt

• Polar Opposites by Erik Brooks

• Two Wool Gloves by Bo Jin

• Pip and Squeak by Ian Schoenherr

• Winter is for Snow by Robert Neubecker

• Snow by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace

• Best in Snow by April Pulley Sayre

• Sam the Snowman by Susan Winget

• Where's Walrus? And Penguin? by Stephen Savage

• Dear Yeti by James Kwan

• A Really Good Snowman by Daniel J. Mahoney

• The Wish Tree by Kyo Maclear

Highs

• The snowfall was a great event for the week. The boys have been outside playing every day. Glad to be able to get some fresh air this week.

• I’ve been loving all the winter themed picture books I got from the library.

• Speaking of, really loving that our library is open right now. The boys and I did our usual visit on Friday get our multiple bags of books.

Lows

• We didn’t finish our Penguin Unit by the weekend. I don’t want to just scrap up, so I had to rework this coming week to finish penguins on Monday.

• Cooking just didn’t really happen this week and we didn’t get to the recipes I wanted to make with Arthur.

Next Week

We’re going to finish up our Penguin unit and finish off our big overall winter theme with Ice and Snow for our unit theme. I have a mini lesson for Groundhog Day incorporating some picture books, geography, and weather science. We are also going to start our 3 week Jazz Unit for music. I’m really looking forward to this one! We’ll continue our usual read alouds and pictures for literature and continue with Duane’s adventures in Just Beyond the Very Very Far North. For social studies, we are starting a 2-3 week unit on Rome. So many good things coming up in February!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Winter Bucket List Update #1

2020 has been such a strange year. Here’s hoping 2021 starts off better than the last year ended. I’m not going to make a big list as I know things are still very strange. Oooffff… I am not doing great with this season’s list. Better get on some of these.

1. Read 45 books (18/45)

2. Complete Two Jigsaw Puzzles

3. Movie Month February - prepping this right now

4. Weekly Game Day/Night

5. Have an Indoor Picnic

6. Make Ice Cream Sundaes

7. DIY Spa Night

8. Buy Fresh Flowers Biweekly

9. Take a Winter Hike

10. Read 50 Winter Picture Books (50/50) ✓

11. Make a Blanket and Pillow Fort

12. Use Food Coloring to Make Pictures in the Snow

13. Bake Cookies

14. Make a Snowglobe

15. Have a Board Game Night

16. Have a Craft Day

17. Make a Bird Feeder

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• Great start to 2021’s reading! Here’s hoping that I can keep it up.

• So sad that we’re almost finished with Schitt’s Creek. it’s been such a good series.

• We’ve had over a foot of snow this week. I’m not loving shoveling our large driveway, but at least we don’t have to go anywhere this week.

• Need to make a few deserts this coming week to catch up.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W20: We Visited the Puffins!

What We Studied

Literature and Poetry

Basically same thing I said last week: “Our literature selection for this month is Matilda by Roald Dahl. Arthur, J, and I attended a performance of the musical version (lyrics by Tim Minchin!), back in 2019. It was nice to start with a book that I have read before and that Arthur is mostly familiar with. After we finish (in two weeks), we are going to watch the movie with Mara Wilson and Danny Devito. Beyond our literature selection, I’ve been having Arthur read a book aloud to me a few times this week. We will be continuing this into the rest of the semester. He even picked out a few Level 2 readers to challenge his reading for next week. We also started a few winter-themed picture books literature studies. I found a couple of great resources online to go with 30 different books. We’ll be sprinkling these in through the month. And we grabbed a few winter themed poetry books.”

• Matilda by Roald Dahl

• Winter Song by William Shakespeare

• Winter Friends by Mary Quattlebaum

• The Snowman and the Snowdog by Raymond Briggs (Arthur read)

• Duck Duck Dinosaur: Snowy Surprise by Kallie George (Arthur read)

• Thomas the Tank Engine: Treasure on the Tracks (Arthur read)

• The Mitten by Jan Brett (literature study)

• Snow by Cynthia Rylant (literature Study)

• The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett (Literature study)

• Polar Bear Polar Bear What Do You Hear? by Bill Martin Jr and Eric Carle (Quentin literature study)

Math

We wrapped up our Ruby book and did some more activities involving aspects of computer science. Arthur really loved creating his own game.

• Mission Addition by Loreen Leedy

• Subtraction Action by Loreen Leedy

• Kids Get Coding

Social Studies

Because of other events, our social studies was shortened this week. We covered the Andes Mountain Civilizations, specifically the Nazca. We’'ll cover Mesoamerica next week. We did sneak in two mini units about Martin Luther King Jr. and the Presidential Innauguration.

• Martin Luther King Jr: A Peaceful Leader by Sarah Albee

• Eyewitness: Aztec, Inca, and Maya

Science

We reached the last week in our anatomy study. We covered the reproductive system and life cycle before doing a bit review of the body. We also watched two Magic School Bus Rides Again episodes that went along with our unit. We watched one about the nervous system and one about eyes. Always entertaining!

• Eyewitness: Human Body

• My Amazing Body Machine

• Who Has What? All About Girls’ Bodies and Boys’ Bodies by Robie H. Harris

For the second half the week, we started Blossom and Root’s The Mitten Bookseed. We talked about the book and started diving into the STEAM activities. Quentin loved doing the ordinal numbers activities.

• The Mitten by Alvin Tressalt

Art

Nothing formal

Music

Our composer was George Gerswhin. I had forgotten how much I love his music! Arthur enjoyed it and even seemed to really get into learning about Rhapsody in Blue.

• The Music in George’s Head by Suzanna Slade

• Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue by Anna Harwell Celenza

Unit Theme

Our big theme was Polar Bears, continuing the cold weather theme for January. We learned a lot about the animals along with reading a ton of great picture books featuring polar bears.

• Polar Bear by Dee Phillips

• Polar Bear’s Underwear by Tupera Tupera

• What If? Then We? by Rebecca Kai Dotlich

• Sea Bear by Lindsay Moore

• Caspian Finds a Friend by Jaqueline Veissid

• A Baby Polar Bear Story by Martha E.H. Rustad

• Polar Bear Postman by Seigo Kijima

• The Snow Bear by Sean Taylor

• Do You Really Want to Meet a Polar Bear? by Marcie Aboff

• One Very Big Bear by Alice Biere-Haquet

• The Bear Report by Thyra Heder

• Love Matters Most by Mij Kelly and Gerry Turley

• Something’s Fishy by Jean Gourounas

• The Polar Bear by Jenni Desmond

• Nanuk the Ice Bear by Jeannette Winter

• Lost and Found by JiWon Beck

• Snowy Bear by Tony Mitton

• If Polar Bears Disappeared by Lily Williams

Misc. - Random picture books read

• A Perfect Day by Carin Berger

• The Little Snowplow by Lora Koehler

• First Snow by Bernette Ford

• The Abominable Snow Teacher by Lisa Passen

• First Snow by Nancy Viau

• One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo

• No Yeti Yet by Mary Ann Fraser

• Mimi and Bear in the Snow by Janee Trasler

• Snow Sisters by Kerri Kokias and Teagan White

• Coming Home by Michael Morpurgo

• The Mitten Tree by Candace Christiansen

• When Winter Comes by Nancy Van Laan

Highs

• We took a break on Thursday from our curriculum and visited the zoo. We haven’t been there in about 4 months. It was nice to walk around without many people and spend time with some of our favorite animals. Quentin requested to see the elephants (love them myself!) and Arthur wanted to visit the swamp in Kingdoms of the Night (an alligator splashing scared me this time). I think we will be going again this week to do a mini study of the penguins. Our zoo has three species, so it’ll be great to compare and contrast them. And I’m hoping we get to see the sea lions. they are at the opposite end of the zoo from the elephants and it’s quite a walk in the cold and not being able to use the shortcut through the gorilla house (closed for construction).

Lows

• Between the zoo and grocery shopping, two of our days were cut down drastically. We need to find a better balance.

Next Week

Out unit theme will be penguins to go along with cold weather. We will be catching up in history with three topics: Mesoamerican Civilizations, Kushites and Aksumites, and North America Geography. For literature, we should finish Matilda on Tuesday, so we’ll be starting a new book on Wednesday! And we hope to get to the zoo on Thursday or Friday specifically for the penguins.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #1

Reading: I finally started Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series with The Duke and I . I’m about 75% of the way through it and loving every page (except for that one bedroom scene, so many problems). I’m hoping to read at least the next three books before starting the TV series.

Watching: J convinced me to start watching Lupin S1 and I’m really digging it. It’s a lovely action, spy-style show with quite a bit of mystery and humor. As it’s in French, we have to read the subtitled version which is fine except for when I have a nasty headache. Consequently, we aren’t burning through the series like we usually do. We’ve only watched the first three episodes so far.

Listening: Still loving Currently Reading. I joined their Patreon in December, so I had a ton of back podcasts to listen to from the members only section. And they are putting out a ton of great new content on the main podcast feed. I’m all about Meredith and Kaytee (and Mindy and Mary) right now!

Making: Our 2021 Food Project of 52 Weeks of Desserts and Snacks is off to a great start. After two dessert recipes, I’m turning to more breakfast style baked goods for the rest of January. I made Earl Grey Tea Bread earlier this week and hope to make Banana Bread Baked Oatmeal later this week.

Feeling: Being stuck in our house all day every day with no real hope of outside activities is really getting to me. I’m so grateful to have a home with some space, but we are all still here together for the foreseeable future. I’m really mourning the days when we could do activities outside of our home.

Planning: As to the previous point, I think I’m going to try and schedule a zoo day this week. The zoo is usually very sparsely attended during a normal January. I’m hoping that there will be even less people so we enjoy the Jungle Building, Desert Dome, Aquarium, and maybe even the giraffes and elephants. Also wondering if we can get to the sea lion exhibit without walking the long way around outside (must inquire at the check-in…). I’m thinking maybe Thursday before or after the library.

Loving: I’m all about a hot cup of coffee in the morning and a hot cup of tea in the afternoon (during reading time) or in the evening (during TV with J time).

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W19: Back to Our Usual Routine

What We Studied

It has been so nice to get back to our usual routine. We all needed a break over Christmas, but the fact that we couldn’t really leave the house made the break seem more like cabin fever after awhile. Judging by the increasing attitude from the kids, they need to be out and about or at least have a home routine. The attitude has receded as we got back into the regular week. Phew!

Literature and Poetry

Our literature selection for this month is Matilda by Roald Dahl. Arthur, J, and I attended a performance of the musical version (lyrics by Tim Minchin!), back in 2019. It was nice to start with a book that I have read before and that Arthur is mostly familiar with. After we finish (in two weeks), we are going to watch the movie with Mara Wilson and Danny Devito. Beyond our literature selection, I’ve been having Arthur read a book aloud to me a few times this week. We will be continuing this into the rest of the semester. He even picked out a few Level 2 readers to challenge his reading for next week. We also started a few winter-themed picture books literature studies. I found a couple of great resources online to go with 30 different books. We’ll be sprinkling these in through the month. And we grabbed a few winter themed poetry books.

• Matilda by Roald Dahl

• Winter is Coming by Tony Johnston

• Winter Lights by Anna Grossnickle Hines

• Snow by Marion Dane Bauer (Arthur read)

• Fox Versus Winter by Corey R. Tabor (Arthur read)

• Sneezy the Snowman by Maureen Wright (literature study)

• The Snow Globe Family by Jane O’Connor (literature study)

Math

We’re finishing out our Ruby book this week and next. Arthur has really gotten into the various exercises from the book. We’ll be moving into using Codespark sometime next week. We are also continuing to supplement with Khan Academy’s math courses and various worksheets. We should be starting Singapore 2A in two weeks.

• If You were a Circle by Molly Blaisdell

Social Studies

This week was all about geography! We covered both Antarctica and South America for our continent studies. Antarctica because we are studying cold weather right now for our unit theme. And South America because we will be studying ancient Andes Mountain and Mesoamerican Cultures. We also learned about a few specific polar region and South American explorers from our Explorers books. (See Unit Theme for book list related to the cold)

Science

We covered the Endocrine System and Immune System for Anatomy this week. Next week will be our last week for anatomy before moving on to other science topics. I’m surprised at how much Arthur really got into this study.

• Eyewitness: Human Body

• My Amazing Body Machine

Art

Nothing formal

Music

Our composer was Leonard Bernstein. Arthur was not a huge fan except for West Side Story, which is one of my least favorite musicals. But at least he listened! He did like watching Kristin Chenoweth perform a selection from Candide.

Unit Theme

Our big theme was the cold weather regions and accompanying subjects. We covered the geography and weather of the Arctic and Antarctic, polar exploration, native groups of the Arctic, general weather, plants of the cold, animals of the cold, and animal adaptations. Plus we read a ton of winter themed picture books.

• The Coldest Places on Earth by Jennifer M. Besel

• Winter by Cynthia Amoroso and Robert B. Noyed

• Wonderful Winter by Bruce Goldstone

• Explore Antarctica by Bobbie Kalman

• Antarctic Tundra by Vicky Franchino

• Antarctica by Mel Friedman

• Eyewitness: Polar Exploration

• Winter, Winter, Cold and Snow by Sharon Gibson Palermo

• Grandmother Winter by Phyllis Root

• The Snow Dancer by Addie Boswell

• My Winter City by James Gladstone

• The Inuit by Kevin Cunningham and Peter Benoit

• Igloos and Inuit Life by Louise Spilsbury

• Ituko: An Inuit Child

• Winter Dance by Marion Dane Bauer

• Caribou Song by Atihko Nikamon

• Big Snow by Jonathan Bean

• Snow Bear by Jean Craighead George

• Today is Snowy by Martha E.H. Rustad

• Whiteout by Rick Thomas

• Plants in Winter by Jenny Fretland VanVoorst

• Weather in Winter by Jenny Fretland VanVoorst

• It’s Winter by Linda Glaser

• When the Snow Falls by Linda Booth Sweeney

• Red Sled by Lita Judge (Quentin’s favorite!)

• Mama, Do You Love Me by Barbara M. Joosse

• Sugar White Snow and Evergreen by Felicia Sanzari Chernesky

• Sweetest Kulu by Celina Kalluk

• Ocean Anatomy

• Reindeer by Dee Phillips

• Harp Seal by Dee Phillips

• Walrus Tusk Tusk by Stephen Person

• In Arctic Waters by Laura Crawford

• Immi’s Gift by Karin Littlewood

• Wolf in the Snow by Matthew Cordell

• The Stolen Sun by Amanda Hall

• Snack, Snooze, Skedaddle by Laura Prudie Salas

• Winter Sleep by Sean Taylor and Alex Morss

• A Loud Winter’s Nap by Katy Hudson

• Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit by Sung Na

• Do Polar Bears Snooze in Hollow Trees by Laura Purdie Salas

• Lemonade in Winter by Emily Jenkins and G. Brian Karas

• Chaucer’s First Winter by Stephen Krensky

• Winter Trees by Leslie Evans

• Snowman’s Story by Will Hillenbrand

• Snow is Falling by Franklyn M. Branley

• The Little Snowplow Wishes for Snow by Lora Koehler

• One Snowy Day by Diana Murray

Misc. - Random picture books read

• Thomas the Tank Engine: Easter Engines (Arthur read)

• If Picasso Painted a Snowman by Amy and Greg Newbold

Highs

• The routine is so nice! The attitudes have really turned around this week.

• On Wednesday, we stopped into the library for our usual. We also stopped at Half Price Books so I could sell some books. The boys each picked out a new book (Quentin picked a dinosaur book, big surprise, and Arthur picked a Captain Underpants book) and I grabbed a new Ravensburger dinosaur puzzle for us to put together next week.

Lows

• The melting snow made it impossible to go outside and play for most of the week. The slush makes parts of our year a mud pit.

Movie Night: Shanghai Noon

Next Week

So many things on tap for next week!

• Finishing Ruby book

• Finishing Anatomy unit

• Covering Polar Bears

• Continuing Matilda, poetry, and literature studies

• Listening to George Gershwin

• Learning about the Nazca, Olmec, Toltec, and Zapotec cultures

• Possible visit to the zoo

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• I have officially DNFed my first book in a very very long time. I suspected something was going to happen, read some GR reviews, and decided that I didn’t want to read that. DNF

• Thankfully, I read a few good short contemporary romances to help get me back on track.

• Arthur has made an entire “winter camp” in the living room complete with ice fishing area and igloo.

• We’re very addicted to S1 of Lupin right now. Unfortunately, there’s a limited list of things I can do while reading subtitles.

• Thinking I need new yoga pants…

• I’m really into all the winter themed picture books we’ve been reading lately.

• Ugh! Victoria really needs to go on The Bachelor. She is beyond unbelievable.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool Christmas Break

What We Studied

Arthur thrives on routine and structure. Too many days of unstructured activities lead to a very moody 7 year old. For Christmas break, I tried to do a bit of math and language arts most days with some little crafty projects thrown in here and there.

Literature and Poetry

I randomly picked up The Very Very Far North by Dan Bar-el from the library and it turned out to be the perfect winter break read-aloud. It’s a very gentle story about Duane the Polar Bear who lives in the Very Very Far North and who meets new friends in his explorations. Each friend has a different personality and Duane has to learn how to value each new friend. A sequel just came out and I’m currently on hold at the library for it. This was such an easy story for our cold snowy days. Perfect! We also read a few winter themed poetry books.

• The Very Very Far North by Dan Bar-el

• A Chill in the Air by John Frank

• Winter Bees by Joyce Sidman and Rick Allen

Math

We did some holiday theme math pages throughout and progressed a bit more in Khan Academy. Arthur definitely has trouble with inattentive mistakes. I’m hoping some more practice will help him get more steady so we can move on. I do know that Singapore Math 2A will be a bit of review so that might help.

Social Studies

Nothing formal, but we did do a mini unit on New Year’s Day. We read a few books (fiction and nonfiction) about the holiday and discussed how people celebrate. And then Arthur made a few mini books with resolutions.

• New Year’s Day by Dana Meachen Rau

• Squirrel’s New Year’s Resolution by Pat Miller

• The Night Before New Year’s by Natasha Wing

Science

Does playing in the snow count? We definitely did that a lot. And there was some documentary watching and random conversations about topics we have already studied a bit.

Art

We made some fun Christmas and winter themed crafts to hang around the house. Arthur and Quentin also got a huge stack of craft kits for Christmas, so we’ve been doing some of those on random days.

Music

Nothing formal

Unit Theme

We read the last of our Christmas themed books throughout the end of December. Right before the New Year, I started pulling winter themed books from the library for our first couple of second semester weeks. I also made sure that some of them were picture books for night reading.

24 Days of Books - Another successful year!

• The Shortest Day by

• Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter by Kenard Pak

• The Finest Christmas Tree by

• Christmas Farm by

• The Nutcracker Ballet

• Merry Christmas Stinky Face

• Merry Christmas Little Elliott

• The Polar Express

• The Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss

Misc. - Random picture books read

• Pirate Jack Gets Dressed by Nancy Raines Day

• One Dark and Dreadful Night by Randy Cecil

• Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena

• Fright Club by Ethan Long

• Good Night, Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle

• Quit Calling Me a Monster by Jory John

• Only a Tree Knows How to Be a Tree by Mary Murpjy

• Dino Duckling by Alison Murray

• Animal City by Joan Negrescolor

• Unicorn Day by Diana Murray

• Goodnight, Veggies by Diana Murray

• A Birthday for Cow by Jan Thomas

• Miffy Can Help

• Linus the Vegetarian T. Rex by Robert Neubecker

• A Time for Sleeping by Ron Hirschi

• Walk on the Wild Side by Nicholas Oldland

• There’s a Dinosaur on the 13th Floor by Wade Bradford

• From Ed’s to Ned’s by Gideon Sterer

• Dragon was Terrible by Kelly DiPucchio

• A Trapezoid is NOT a Dinosaur by Suzanne Morris

• If You Hopped Like a Frog by David M. Schwartz

• Up the Creek by Nicholas Oldland

• Unlike Other Monsters by Audrey Veronica

• Hockey in the Wild by Nicholas Oldland

• Al Pha’s Bet by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

• If Frogs Made Weather by Marion Dane Bauer

• Who Stole Mona Lisa by Ruthie Knapp

• Dinosaur Countdown by Nicholas Oldland

• Outstanding in the Rain by Frank Viva

• Make Way for Dumb Bunnies by Dav Pilkey

• Super Saurus Saves Kindergarten by Deborah Underwood

• Ice Boy by David Ezra Stein

• A Trip to the Bottom of the World with Mouse by Frank Viva

• The Walrus Who Escaped by Rachel and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley

• Snow Party by Harriet Ziefert

• Flannel Kisses by Linda Crotta Brennan

• The First Day of Winter by Consie Powell

• Little Red Gliding Hood by Tara Lazar

Highs

Even in the midst of a pandemic with no travel, I think we managed to have a lovely Christmas.

Lows

Arthur definitely thrives on schedules and we didn’t really have any schedules over break. I could see his attitude decline throughout. Thank goodness we’re going back to a schedule this week.

Next Week

We’re back to our regularly scheduled homeschool week.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Winter Bucket List

2020 has been such a strange year. Here’s hoping 2021 starts off better than the last year ended. I’m not going to make a big list as I know things are still very strange.

1. Read 45 books

2. Complete Two Jigsaw Puzzles

3. Movie Month February

4. Weekly Game Day/Night

5. Have an Indoor Picnic

6. Make Ice Cream Sundaes

7. DIY Spa Night

8. Buy Fresh Flowers Biweekly

9. Take a Winter Hike

10. Read 50 Winter Picture Books

11. Make a Blanket and Pillow Fort

12. Use Food Coloring to Make Pictures in the Snow

13. Bake Cookies

14. Make a Snowglobe

15. Have a Board Game Night

16. Have a Craft Day

17. Make a Bird Feeder

Next up on the TBR pile:

Christmas Bucket List Finish

Instead of a separate bucket list, I’m just going to highlight our advent activities for December. I bought the cute countdown kit from Stampin’ Up and using that as my calendar.

Decorate mini tree ✓

Write a letter to Santa ✓

Go See Santa at Cabela’s ✓

Lego Build ✓

Xmas PJs ✓

Go See Werner Park Lights ✓

Coloring Books ✓

Bath bombs ✓

Window Clings ✓

Zorinsky Park Lights - canceled due to bad weather

Decorate Gingerbread Houses ✓

Hot Chocolate Bar ✓

Stamp and Ink to Make Cards ✓

Make Gingerbread Cookies ✓

Watch The Nutcracker ✓

Paper wreaths and snowflakes ✓

Puzzle Day ✓

Watch 5 Christmas Movies ✓

1. Babes in Toyland ✓

2. Elf ✓

3. White Christmas ✓

4. Muppet Christmas Carol ✓

5. Christmas Vacation ✓

6. The Grinch ✓

Cookie Decorating ✓

Christmas Music Dance Party ✓

Drive around and see the lights ✓

Next up on the TBR pile: