Amazing! I definitely don’t have the time to do this, but oh man, I am tempted.
You know I will watch this!
Oh goodness, I need this in my life right now!
This looks very interesting. I can’t wait to see where this goes.
Listen to Ryan Reynolds. Don’t Aviation and Mint!
One of our favorite YouTubers out there…
Title: Still Life (Inspector Gamache #1)
Author: Louise Penny
Publisher: Minotaur Books 2008
Genre: Mysteries
Pages: 314
Rating: 3/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Modern Mrs. Darcy; Seasonal TBR
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec and his team of investigators are called in to the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal. Jane Neal, a local fixture in the tiny hamlet of Three Pines, just north of the U.S. border, has been found dead in the woods. The locals are certain it's a tragic hunting accident and nothing more, but Gamache smells something foul in these remote woods, and is soon certain that Jane Neal died at the hands of someone much more sinister than a careless bowhunter.
Still Life introduces not only an engaging series hero in Inspector Gamache, who commands his forces---and this series---with integrity and quiet courage, but also a winning and talented new writer of traditional mysteries in the person of Louise Penny.
Okay, don’t throw anything at me, but my overwhelming feeling about this book was boredom. I was thoroughly bored. Police procedurals/murder mysteries are really not my genre. I rarely find one that I love, but do find a whole lot more that I hate. This one I didn’t hate, but I certainly didn’t love. The actual murder itself was fairly pedestrian. The characters in Three Pines weren’t that interesting to me. I definitely did not get the urge to up and move there. Inspector Gamache was okay, but he’s not Poirot. My biggest complaint is the writing. The beginning chapters are a muddled mess narration wise. We begin hearing the inner workings of one character and suddenly Penny switches to another character with little to no warning. I seriously had to back up and reread paragraphs to caught the practically non-existent transitions. Also, the writing can be overly flowery and descriptive. So many unnecessary sections thrown in. I just got really really bored with it all. At this point, I’m not sure if I will be continuing the series…
Inspector Gamache
#1 Still Life
#2 A Fatal Grace
#3 The Cruelest Month
#4 A Rule Against Murder
#5 The Brutal Telling
#6 Bury Your Dead
#7 A Trick of the Light
#8 The Beautiful Mystery
#9 How the Light Gets In
#10 The Long Way Home
#11 The Nature of the Beast
#12 A Great Reckoning
#13 Glass Houses
#14 Kingdom of the Blind
#15 A Better Man
#16 All the Devils are Here
#17 The Madness of Crowds
Next up on the TBR pile:
Title: Ring Shot
Author: P. Djèlí Clark
Publisher: Tor.com 2020
Genre: Horror
Pages: 192
Rating: 5/5 stars
Reading Challenges:
IN AMERICA, DEMONS WEAR WHITE HOODS.
In 1915, The Birth of a Nation cast a spell across America, swelling the Klan's ranks and drinking deep from the darkest thoughts of white folk. All across the nation they ride, spreading fear and violence among the vulnerable. They plan to bring Hell to Earth. But even Ku Kluxes can die.
Standing in their way is Maryse Boudreaux and her fellow resistance fighters, a foul-mouthed sharpshooter and a Harlem Hellfighter. Armed with blade, bullet, and bomb, they hunt their hunters and send the Klan's demons straight to Hell. But something awful's brewing in Macon, and the war on Hell is about to heat up.
Can Maryse stop the Klan before it ends the world?
Simply horrifying! And I loved every page of it! I read Clark’s novella The Haunting of Tram Car 015 and was intrigued by his writing enough to seek out his other works. This one is very different than Tram Car; heavy on the horror and racial commentary, while the previous novella was very steampunk fantasy with a bit of social commentary in a very different part of the world. This story reminded me a lot of Lovecraft Country in it’s mixing of racial commentary, history, and Lovecraftian style horror. There is some serious body horror going on in these pages; not for the feint of heart. I also loved that it was told by Maryse in her own language. We get a lot of dialect on the pages including some dialogue in Gullah. Makes me want to know more about the Gullah culture. I was sad when the story ended as I really wanted to spend more time with all the characters (okay maybe not the Ku Kluxes, but the rest).
Next up on the TBR pile:
Literature and Poetry
We finished reading Nim’s Island and then had a movie night on Friday. The book was pretty good; a slim adventure story. And the movie actually held up. Decent! For a related art project, Arthur had to make his own island map. It’s a little hard to read in places, but he made sure to label everything.
Nim’s Island by Wendy Orr
Rainbow Soup by Brian P. Cleary (poems)
Sea Sheep by Eric Seltzer (Arthur read)
Math
We are officially done with Singapore Math 2! We’re not going to move into 3 until August. Until then, we will be doing some review, catching up on Khan Academy, studying coding again, playing math games, and probably doing a unit on nature math (golden ratio; Fibonacci).
Social Studies
We are back into the American Revolution covering female patriots (Rebecca Stillwell Willets was Arthur’s favroite), spies (love the Culper Ring!), and life during the war.
Fight for Freedom: The American Revolutionary War by Benson Bobrick
Great Women of the American Revolution by Brianna Hall
Founding Mothers: Remembering the Ladies by Cokie Roberts
Patriots and Petticoats: Heroines of the American Revolution by Shirley Raye Redmond
If You were a Kid During the American Revoluion by Wil Mara
Life During the Revolutionary War by Bonnie Hinman
Revolutionary Rogues: John André and Benedict Arnold by Selene Castrovilla
A Spy Called James by Anne Rockwell
Anna Strong by Sarah Glenn Marsh
The Scarlet Stockings Spy by Trinka Hakes Noble
Science
See Unit Theme
Art
Nothing formal
Music
We started our big unit on American Folk Music! I’m super excited about this one. We started with a short random documentary I found from the 1970s. It’s dated, but does an amazing job of tracing a few folk songs from England to today. From there, we did a few days with Woody Guthrie (not Arthur’s favorite). On the way back from the Treetops, we listened to a Smithsonian compilation album of Children’s Folk Music. They actually really enjoyed it! There is hope!
Passing the Music Down by Sarah Sullivan
This Land is Your Land by Woody Guthrie
Unit Theme
Continuing with oceans! We will be in this unit for the entire month of May. This week we studied coral reefs, the open ocean, and the deep. We watched a great episode of Blue Planet about coral seas and an episode of NOVA about Reef Rescue.
One Night in the Coral Sea by Sneed B. Collard III
Nat Geo Kids: Coral Reefs
Coral Reefs by Precious McKenzie
Coral Reefs by Gail Gibbons
Nat Geo Kids: Ocean Animals
Ocean Anatomy by Julia Rothman (I really need to just buy this one!)
DK Ocean
Water Sings Blue: Ocean Poems by Karen Coombs
W is for Waves by Marie and Roland Smith
Seashells: More Than a Home by Melissa Stewart
Deep in the ocean by Lucie Brunelliere
The Deep, Deep Ocean by John Woodward
Into the Deep by Annika Siems
Deep Oceans by Ellen Labrecqu
Exploring the Deep Dark Sea by Gail Gibbons
Otis and Will Discover the Deep: The Record-setting Dive of the Bathysphere by Barb Rosenstock
Down Down Down by Steve Jenkins
Journey into the Deep by Rebecca L. Johnson
Misc. - Random picture books read Lots of ocean themed reading for nighttime.
The Mermaid by Jan Brett
Sandy Feet! Whose Feet? Footprints at the Shore by Susan Wood
A Fish Out of Water by Helen Palmer
Field Trip to the Ocean Deep by John Hare
Ocean Animals from Head to Tail by Stacey Roderick
Little Turtle and the Changing Sea by Becky Davies
The Specific Ocean by Kyo Maclear
Gone Fishing: Ocean Life by the Numbers by David McLimans
Dive In: Swim with Sea Creatures at Their Actual Size by Roxie Munro
The Nice Dream Truck by Beth Ferry
Love is by Diane Adams
Over int he Ocean in a Coral Reef by Marianne Berkes
Red by Michael Hall
Hello Ocean by Pam Muñoz Ryan
The Little Fish that Got Away by Bernadine Cook
Our trip to Arbor Day Farm and the Treetops Village on Friday was delightful! It wasn’t too busy even with a few school groups. The weather was cooler but sunny. And the forest was in bloom! We did all the things and wore ourselves out. I even jumped on the trampoline (and fell over a few times). Lots of fun was had!
No one showed up to our park playdate on Tuesday. The boys had fun playing at the playground by themselves, but it would have been nice to have some friends. We cut our park trip a little short and I took them to Build-a-Bear to make a new stuffie. (I was planning on going there something this month, but hadn’t told the boys beforehand.) Arthur built a Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon and Quentin made a Chase from Paw Patrol. The day was salvaged but still a bit sad.
Next Week
We are starting a new read aloud (The One and Only Bob!), playing some math games, and doing some review. We will be continuing with the Revolution, the ocean, and folk music. Plus we have a park playdate schedule and a field trip day to find all the Bees of the Heartland down in the Auburn area.
Next up on the TBR pile:
Arthur’s current favorite song. He really loves AJR.
As I look outside my window: It’s cloudy, but the rain has cleared up mostly. It’s supposed to be under 70 degrees all week.
Right now I am: Finishing up dinner cleanup and getting ready to put the kids to bed.
On my bedside table: I have two novellas by P. Djèlí Clark sitting on my nightstand (Ring Shout and The Black God’s Drums). I also started reading Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo.
On my tv this week: We watched a few movies (Mortal Kombat was actually not bad!) and continued with Star Trek: Voyager.
Listening to: I’ve been really enjoying my Apple Favorites playlist. So many good songs!
On the menu for this week:
Monday - Chicken with Black Beans
Tuesday - Baked Potato Soup
Wednesday - Chicken Pad Thai Nachos
Thursday - Leftovers/Take out
Friday - Pulled Pork
Saturday - Sweet Potato Nachos
Sunday - Lemon Shrimp and Asparagus
On my to do list: I hope to get the laundry room put together plus do some homeschool planning and take a look at our calendar.
Happening this week:
Monday - Normal home day
Tuesday - Park playdate
Wednesday - Grocery, library visit
Thursday - Bees of the Heartland scavenger hunt field trip to Auburn, NE
Friday - Normal home day
Saturday - The usual
Sunday - The usual
What I am creating: Lots of recipes today! Beyond brunch, I made a blueberry breakfast cake, lemony lemon bars, pesto twists, gazpacho, and dinner. It was a productive day in the kitchen!
My simple pleasures: Good adventure/horror novellas, a walk in the woods, the sound of rain at night.
Looking around the house: Our laundry room is looking so nice! The washer and dryer are officially in their place (need to adjust a bit this week), the walls are looking good, the door is off, and I’m ready to finish this thing! I have an order coming with a nice bar for hanging clothes, a shelving system, a curtain for the closet, and some new laundry baskets! I’m hoping it have to all organized next weekend.
From the camera: Pretty scraps from my gazpacho making.
Title: The Toll (Arc of a Scythe #3)
Author: Neal Shusterman
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Pages: 640
Rating: 5/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Seasonal TBR; Currently Reading - So Good I Didn’t Want It to End
Citra and Rowan have disappeared. Endura is gone. It seems like nothing stands between Scythe Goddard and absolute dominion over the world scythedom. With the silence of the Thunderhead and the reverberations of the Great Resonance still shaking the earth to its core, the question remains: Is there anyone left who can stop him?
The answer lies in the Tone, the Toll, and the Thunder.
What a ride! I was a little scared going into this book after the shocking conclusion to the second book. I should not have been scared. Right away, we’re pulled right back into the storyline following all of our favorite (or hated) characters. I was excited that we get even more Greyson in this book and the introduction to another amazing character, Jeri. I couldn’t wait to see how our beloved characters would take down Goddard’s new order and restore some type of harmony to the world. And then there was the question of the Thunderhead and it’s intentions. I loved that we got to see more inner workings from the Thunderhead. I did not guess it’s ultimate goal until after Anastasia’s first message. From then, I was so excited to see how it all ended. I loved every page of this series. A must read!
Arc of a Scythe:
#3 The Toll
Next up on the TBR pile:
Title: Something is Killing the Children Vol. 2
Author: James Tynion IV, Werther Dell’Edera
Publisher: BOOM 2020
Genre: Comics
Pages: 144
Rating: 5/5 stars
Reading Challenges:
Erica Slaughter may have slain the monster terrorizing the small Wisconsin town of Archer’s Peak, but now she sets off deeper into the woods -- because the monster she killed was a mother… and now she needs to kill its children.
EVIL NEVER DIES...UNLESS ERICA SLAUGHTER KILLS IT.
Erica Slaughter may have slain the monster terrorizing the small Wisconsin town of Archer’s Peak, but the horror is far from over. As her mysterious handler arrives in town to clean up her mess and quarantine the townsfolk, Erica sets off deeper into the woods -- because the monster she killed was a mother… and now she needs to kill its children.
Oh goodness, this was horrifying and I loved every page of it. This is not for the squeamish. The pages are filled with horrifying deaths and so much blood. Erica solves one problem, but there are so many other problems out there now. I can’t wait to see where the storyline goes from here.
Next up on the TBR pile:
Here's my randomness for the week:
I need to put a visit to a local farmer’s market on my calendar. Hoping we can get some good local produce to supplement the meager grocery store offerings.
Very excited about the free resources available for teacher appreciation week. Homeschool resourcing has become more challenging as we are recalibrating for next year.
So excited to get my permanent bridge put in today. I might be able to eat correctly tomorrow or Saturday.
I’m not sure what I’ll be eating tonight for dinner…
I think my mint plant died… possibly from shock (the temps have been all over the place this past week). The flowers look okay, and the tomatoes seem to have started growing, but I’m concerned still.
Next up on the TBR pile:
Title: Buy Yourself the Fucking Lilies: And Other Rituals to Fix Your Life, from Someone Who's Been There
Author: Tara Schuster
Publisher: Dial Press Trade 2020
Genre: Nonfiction - Self-help, Memoir
Pages: 352
Rating: 3/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Seasonal TBR
By the time she was in her late twenties, Tara Schuster was a rising TV executive who had worked for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and helped launch Key & Peele to viral superstardom. By all appearances, she had mastered being a grown-up. But beneath that veneer of success, she was a chronically anxious, self-medicating mess. No one knew that her road to adulthood had been paved with depression, anxiety, and shame, owing in large part to her minimally parented upbringing. She realized she’d hit rock bottom when she drunk-dialed her therapist pleading for help.
Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies is the story of Tara’s path to re-parenting herself and becoming a “ninja of self-love.” Through simple, daily rituals, Tara transformed her mind, body, and relationships, and shows how to
• fake gratitude until you actually feel gratitude
• excavate your emotional wounds and heal them with kindness
• identify your self-limiting beliefs, kick them to the curb, and start living a life you choose
• silence your inner frenemy and shield yourself from self-criticism
• carve out time each morning to start your day empowered, inspired, and ready to rule
• create a life you truly, totally f*cking LOVE
This is the book Tara wished someone had given her and it is the book many of us desperately need: a candid, hysterical, addictively readable, practical guide to growing up (no matter where you are in life) and learning to love yourself in a non-throw-up-in-your-mouth-it’s-so-cheesy way.
Hmmmm… this book is not for me, but I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad book. I just didn’t get a lot out of the life lessons included in the chapters.
Next up on the TBR pile:
Title: Something is Killing the Children Vol. 1
Author: James Tynion IV, Werther Dell’Edera
Publisher: BOOM 2020
Genre: Comics
Pages: 128
Rating: 5/5 stars
Reading Challenges:
When children begin to go missing in the town of Archer’s Peak, all hope seems lost until a mysterious woman arrives to reveal that terrifying creatures are behind the chaos - and that she alone will destroy them, no matter the cost.
IT’S THE MONSTERS WHO SHOULD BE AFRAID.
When the children of Archer's Peak—a sleepy town in the heart of America—begin to go missing, everything seems hopeless. Most children never return, but the ones that do have terrible stories—impossible details of terrifying creatures that live in the shadows. Their only hope of finding and eliminating the threat is the arrival of a mysterious stranger, one who believes the children and claims to be the only one who sees what they can see.
Her name is Erica Slaughter. She kills monsters. That is all she does, and she bears the cost because it must be done.
I love the horror comics and this one was definitely a winner. Right from the first page, we’re dumped into a very scary situation and it proceeds to get even stranger as the pages go on. The pages are graphics and not for the feint of heart. I can’t wait to see where the story goes.
Next up on the TBR pile:
We had three days of outings this week. On Monday, we went to the garden center. On Tuesday, we visited Gifford Farm and got to see the new baby animals. The new baby cows were my favorite. And the slide barn was open so we got to play a bit more. The boys even helped feed the bunnies. On Wednesday, we wen to the park for a playdate.
Literature and Poetry
We started reading Nim’s Island to go along with our Ocean theme! So far, so far. Arthur’s excited to finish so we can watch the movie version.
Nim’s Island by Wendy Orr
A First Book of the Sea by Nicola Davies
Math
We finished Unit 11 in Singapore Math. That leaves one more unit to finish the book.
Social Studies
We covered our last chapter in History Quest Ancient Times focusing on Arabia and the rise of Islam. We read some of the tales from the Arabian Nights. We wrapped up the week with a documentary about the ancient city of Petra.
A is for Arabia by Julia Johnson
The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan
Science
Our unit theme of oceans takes care of our science, but we did spend most of Monday at the garden center and then planting our purchases. The plants are in a bit of a shock, but they’re slowly acclimating.
Art
Nothing formal
Music
Nothing formal
Unit Theme
We started our month long study of ocean. We began with a review of the ocean basics before moving on currents, tides, ocean layers, the food chain, and the shoreline. Along with our regular books and videos, we started watching Blue Planet. We’ll continue through the first and the second series over the course of the month. We also found a great YouTube channel featuring a man who explores the water.
The Earth is Mostly Ocean by Allan Fowler
Ocean by Stacy McAnulty
Oceans by Cathryn Sill
Ocean Seasons by Ron Hirschi
Oceans by Peter Benoit
Ocean Anatomy by Julia Rothman
DK Ocean
Discover the Oceans by Emily Rose Oachs (Southern, Pacific, Indian, Atlantic)
Oceans by Precious McKenzie
Bill Nye’s Big Blue Ocean
How Deep is the Ocean by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld
Gone Fishing by David McLimans
Ocean Sunlight: How Tiny Plant Feed the Seas by Molly Bang
Shells by Cassie Meyer
A Nature Walk at the Beach by Louise and Richard Spilsbury
Along the Shore by John Woodward
Tide Pool by Louise Spilsbury
DK Shell
Misc. - Random picture books read
Violet and Victor Write the Most Fabulous Fairy Tale by Alice Kuipers
Grandpa’s Garden by Stella Fry
Ocean by Britta Teckentrup
The Water Dragon by Li Jian
These Seas Count by Alison Formento
The Big Beach Cleanup by Charlotte Offsay
The Three Little Pigs Count to 100 by Grace Maccarone
Boats on the Bay by Jeanne Walker Harvey
Blue Floats Away by Travis Jonker
Where is Spring by Yang-Huan
Fish Eyes by Lois Ehlert
Octopus Stew by Eric Velasquez
What’s Inside a Flower by Rachel Ignotofsky
Sea Bones by Bob Barner
Crab Cake by Andrea Tsurumi
Someday, Narwhal by Lisa Mantchev
Seagrass Dreams by Kathleen M. Hanes
We had such a fun time playing with our new friends. After a year in quarantine, it’s been nice to get out even a little bit. We are still masking up and keeping our distance, but park playdates and other outside activities are on our schedule.
I hadn’t planned on spending all Monday doing gardening activities. Arthur enjoyed the gardening, but it pushed back all of our schooling.
Next Week
We’re continuing oceans and Nim’s Island. We’ll be starting an American folk music unit for music and finishing Singapore Math 2B. As for outings, we’ll b doing a park playdate and visiting the treehouses at Arbor Day Farm.
Next up on the TBR pile:
A random find from Sirius XM’s The Emo Project. I’m really enjoying this one…
Week 7: Breakfast Milk Tea and Honey Pound Cake
This was decent, although a bit too dense. I am going to have to try it again sometime.
Recipe used from Lady & Pups
Week 8: Apple Butter Crumble Cake
Nice recipe, but a bit too dry and crumbly. Maybe another recipe.
Recipe used from Inside the Bru Crew Life
Week 9: Marble Pound Cake
Delicious! I really really loved the taste of this one, even if it didn’t look very pretty.
Recipe used from Munaty Cooking
Week 10: Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
Oh so incredibly good! Definitely making this one again.
Recipe used from Shutterbean
Week 11: Orange and Cardamom Muffins
Definitely landing on our Top 10 for the year! We loved these not super sweet muffins.
Recipe used from The View from Great Island
Week 12: Ina Garten’s Brownie Pudding
As long as you add some ice cream, this is delicious. Definitely cannot eat this plain.
Recipe used from The View from Great Island
Week 13: Maamoul (Arabian Date Filled Cookies)
Did not turn out correctly at all, but the taste was good. If we get a new oven, I’ll try this one again.
Recipe used from Curious Cuisinière
As I look outside my window: It’s a bit overcast today. The forecast calls for high temps until this evening when the rain comes.
Right now I am: Finishing a Sicilian Orange Breakfast Cake in the oven before cleaning up the laundry room from yesterday’s painting.
Thinking and pondering: What should we put on our Summer Bucket List? I completely spaced on a spring list and really want to make sure to get a summer list. I think I need to enlist the help of the kids.
On my bedside table: The Toll by Neal Shusterman; Still Life by Louise Penny; In the Hurricane’s Eye by Nathaniel Philbrick
On my tv this week: We watched some Star Trek and then switched over to finally watching The Queen’s Gambit. I’m very intrigued…
Listening to: Nothing much except a few podcasts and my Apple Music favorites playlist. I love how it updates every week so I get a slightly different mix.
On the menu for this week:
Monday - Teriyaki Chicken and Rice
Tuesday - Grilled Cheese (not sure what kind yet)
Wednesday - Blackened Salmon
Thursday - Leftovers
Friday - Coffee Rubbed Pork Loin
Saturday - Pizza Night?
Sunday - Chorba Frik
On my to do list: I need to do a brain dump in Roam today to catch all the little things. I do know that I want to wallpaper the built-ins and make a plan for shelving in the laundry room. The Container Store is having a closet sale and I want to take advantage of the sale prices.
Happening this week:
Monday - Library and grocery runs while it rains
Tuesday - Park Playdate
Wednesday - Normal day
Thursday - Dentist appointment for me for my permanent bridge!
Friday - Trip to Arbor Day Farm!
Saturday - Normal day
Sunday - Normal day
What I am creating: Mostly lesson plans right now. I haven’t crafted for me in forever. Hoping to do that soon.
My simple pleasures: Finished curriculum folders, nice white walls, a cool breeze
Looking around the house: We are installing the new washer and dryer in the freshly painted laundry room today. Hopefully that means that I can do laundry tomorrow. The room went from a terrible beige to a nice warm white. It even looks good in the dark. Now if I can paint the rest of my interior walls that same color, I would be so much happier.
From the camera: I picked up Ocean by Stacy McAnulty to go along with the rest of the series (Earth, Moon, Sun, and Mars). I loved the illustrations so much!
Let’s check in on May goals and my progress:
Read 15 books, including 5 unread shelf reads ✓ - I ended up reading 17 books with 6 of those being from my unread shelf!
Walk at least 15 miles on the treadmill - Fail. Health issues.
Work on my December Daily project - Fail
Make 4 52 dessert recipes ✓ - I managed to just get over the line the last week of the month.
Weekly field trips ✓ - We’re been at the park every week. Carrying this into May.
Plan out the rest of spring homeschool weeks ✓ - I’ve got a plan in place!
May’s Goals: Mostly I’m just going to be repeating some goals.
Read 15 books, including 5 Unread Shelf reads
Make Four 52 Dessert Recipes
Weekly Field Trips - We have a bee scavenger hunt, Platte River State Park, Dreamland Playground, and Arbor Day Farm all on the calendar. I’m attempting to transition us to a four day homeschooling week with one field trip day.
Create a summer bucket list - I missed creating a spring bucket list. Hoping to resurrect this one for summer.
Finish the Laundry Room - We had to get a new washer dryer set and we took the opportunity to make some basic renovations. We need to paint, install the set, and put some new shelving in.
Try two new dinner recipes
Next up on the TBR pile:
