Homeschool W19: Winter Hikes can be Refreshing

What We Studied

We ended up having a few outings this week, but also

Literature and Poetry

This week’s theme was trickster tales of Africa. It went along nicely with our history unit covering Mali. We also did a mini lesson on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to honor his legacy.

• Martin Luther King Jr.: Preacher, Freedom Fighter, Peacemaker by Pamela Hill Nettleton

• Be a King: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Dream and You by Carole Boston Weatherford

• Poetry: The New Kid on the Block by Jack Prelutsky

• Trickster Tales of Africa

• A Ring of Tricksters by Virginia Hamilton

• Stegothesaurus by Bridget He’s

Math

We continued with our Logic Liftoff book and the various logic puzzles that I’ve found. Arthur finished Unit 6 from 3B and is ready to move on.

Social Studies

We covered the middle times chapter on the Mali Empire. We learned about Mansa Muse the famous city of Timbuktu.

• DK Timelines of Everyone

• When on Earth

• DK History

• DK Timelines of Everything

• The Magic Guard by Baba Wague Diakite

• The Fire Children: A West African Creation Tale by Eric Maddern

• The Hatseller and the Monkeys by Baba Wague Diakite

Arthur Independent Time

To allow for one-on-one time with Quentin, I have added an hour of independent work time for Arthur. Each week, he will have a mix of packet work (mostly grammar and math review), independent reading time, and special projects. Many of his projects will be aligned with our literature selections (some taken from B&R Language Arts curriculum) and history.

Science and STEAM Coop

For science, we are covering emotions and socio-emotional traits. Quentin has really taken to discussing the various books.

• DK My Mixed Emotions: Anger

• Millie Fierce by Jane Manning

• Be Positive! by Cheri J. Meiners

• The Way I Act by Steve Metzger

• Do Unto Otters by Laurie Keller

• Wiggles, Stomps, and Squeezes Calm My Jitters Down by Lindsey Rowe Parker

• Don't Be Afraid to Drop by Julia Cook

• I Can Handle It! by Laurie Wright

In coop, we had our second week about Famous Nebraskans and Iowans open house. The boys had fun and we met some new friends.

Art/Music

Nothing this week

Quentin

I have scheduled at least four 1-hour time blocks for one-on-one time with Quentin. I bought Blossom and Root’s Early Years Volume 2 curriculum to use as our base. I love the variety of activities and some of the bigger projects included. We covered some simple phonics lessons featuring the digraph Th. We did more alphabet review. We also covered the months of the year, opposites, and shapes.

ELA

• The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf

• My Papi has a Motorcycle by Isabel Quintero

Math

• Lollipop Logic Book 1

• Fish, Swish! Splash, Dash! by Sure MacDonald

Other

• A Little Book About Opposites

Field Trip

We met our coop friends at the SAC Museum to learn about air travel. The boys had extra fun the play areas. And I had got to chat with some of my friends.

Documentary Selection

I have carved out a one hour time block each week to watch a documentary related to our studies. We watched more PBS Eons videos. Eventually we will finish watching all of the published videos.

Misc. Picture Books Read -

• 365 Penguins by Jean-Luc Fromental

• Unicorn is Maybe Not So Great After All by Bob Shea

• Unplugged by Steve Antony

• That's My Carrot! by Il Sung Na

• I Feel Teal by Lauren Rille

• When Sadness is at Your Door by Eva Eland

• Girl Versus Squirrel by Hayley Barrett

High

• We went on a winter hike at Schramm State Recreational Area. The temps were hovering around 35 degrees and the skies were clear. We were careful to walk on the edges of the path avoiding the ice. We also stopped at the fish hatchery ponds and the geologic formation. It was a good couple of hours outside enjoying nature.

Low

• Night time reading didn’t really happen this week due to bad attitudes (and books falling on my head). Here’s hoping next week goes better.

Next Week

• Starting a new read aloud

• Learning about Indian Empires

• Covering Unit 7: Capacity

• Exploring weather and climate change for coop

• Continuing emotions for science

• Hoping to cover Renoir for art

Next up on the TBR pile:

Life Right Now #2

As I look outside my window: It’s clear and bright, but probably very cold. I haven’t decided if I’m leaving the house today.

Right now I am: Getting ready to dive into my reading hour. I’ve got a graphic novel and a nonfiction business book sitting here ready for me to pick up.

On my bedside table: Enjoy the View by Sarah Morgenthaler; Far Sector by NK Jemisin

On my tv this week: Wr continued with The Witcher S2 and The Great S1. And we finally started watching The Righteous Gemstones.

Listening to: Lots of hard rock playlists. I’ve been mixing it up. Somehow the hard rock has been calming me done while I’ve been making dinner and doing house chores.

On the menu for this week:

• Monday - Sausage, Potato, Spinach Soup

• Tuesday - Chicken Shawarma Fries

• Wednesday - Leftovers

• Thursday - Jalapeño Popper and Bean Soup

• Friday - Peanut Sauce Chicken and Broccoli Bowls

• Saturday - Maafe

• Sunday - Italian Noodle Soup

On my to do list: Laundry, put away laundry, vacuum, make a cake, make dinner, prep dinner for tomorrow (chicken needs to marinate), print some photos, organize some photos, maybe do a library run

Happening this week:

• Monday - Winter walk at Heron Haven

• Tuesday - Playdate at Friend’s House; Book Club

• Wednesday - Regular Home Day

• Thursday - Coop

• Friday - Regular Home Day

• Saturday - Regular Home Day

• Sunday - Currently Reading Zoom

What I am creating: I’m still working through my 2021 Memory Planner. I’ve completed up through July and I just started at the new year. I’m hoping to be done by mid-February. I did hit an obstacle in that I didn’t clean out all the photos from our road trip in September. That’s going to take a minute.

My simple pleasures: Time with friends (even all masked up and cautious), continuing to be healthy, less headaches this week, reliving our road trip by cleaning out the pictures.

Looking around the house: J has been tackling some random projects including getting a bookcase for his books, removing some random old things (like the radio in the bathroom), and buying garage door insulating kits. Here’s hoping he can finish something today.

From the camera: We visited SAC Museum this week during a very cold day. We haven’t been in almost two years and it was nice to visit again.

Questland by Carrie Vaughn

Title: Questland

Author: Carrie Vaughn

Publisher: Mariner Books 2021

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 304

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Literature professor Dr. Addie Cox is living a happy, if sheltered, life in her ivory tower when Harris Lang, the famously eccentric billionaire tech genius, offers her an unusual job. He wants her to guide a mercenary strike team sent to infiltrate his island retreat off the northwest coast of the United States. Addie is puzzled by her role on the mission until she understands what Lang has built: Insula Mirabilis, an isolated resort where tourists will one day pay big bucks for a convincing, high-tech-powered fantasy-world experience, complete with dragons, unicorns, and, yes, magic.

Unfortunately, one of the island's employees has gone rogue and activated an invisible force shield that has cut off all outside communication. A Coast Guard cutter attempting to pass through the shield has been destroyed. Suspicion rests on Dominic Brand, the project’s head designer— and Addie Cox's ex-boyfriend. Lang has tasked Addie and the mercenary team with taking back control of the island at any cost.

But Addie is wrestling demons of her own—and not the fantastical kind. Now, she must navigate the deadly traps of Insula Mirabilis as well as her own past trauma. And no d20, however lucky, can help Addie make this saving throw.

I grabbed this book on the recommendation of the local library. They post a round-up of their favorite books from the year and this one intrigued me. I am always up for a fantasy adventure story and this one was enjoyable. Instead of Jurassic Park crossed with Westward vibes, I got big Ready Player One vibes. I loved all the references to various stories and little references here and there. Once we got to the island, I loved the exploration of the land and the overall mystery. I wanted to spend more time in the exploration phase. But we had to hurdle forward toward the big boss battle at the end. I was slightly annoyed that the final showdown was quick and frantic. I almost felt that someone should have died earlier in the story to really up the ante. But it just didn’t happen that way. And ultimately, I wanted more from the ending.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

Title: Black Sun

Author: Rebecca Roanhorse

Publisher: Gallery 2020

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 464

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Winter Seasonal TBR

A god will return
When the earth and sky converge
Under the black sun

In the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial event proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world.

Meanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man’s mind. Her ship carries one passenger. Described as harmless, the passenger, Serapio, is a young man, blind, scarred, and cloaked in destiny. As Xiala well knows, when a man is described as harmless, he usually ends up being a villain.

I borrowed this from a friend as multiple head recommended it for me. And boy, were they right! This was a beautiful complicated story of struggle and identity set in not our world, but one related by so many cultures and stories. We meet a wonderful cast of characters all with their own agendas, secrets, and ambitions. I loved following each one as they came closer and closer together in the city of Tova. Xiala was my favorite character of the lot. She was a fascinating person with such an interesting background. The writing keeps pushing us forward to what we know is not going to be happy ending (at least in this first book), but we are kept wanting to turn the pages until the end. I was right there along for the ride and couldn’t wait to see how the characters all come together. As to the creation of the story, I loved reading Roanhorse’s author note at the end discussing the inclusion of a variety of cultures and myths and legends. I can’t wait to see what she does in the second book.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Once & Future Vol. 3

Title: Once & Future Vol. 3

Author: Kieron Gillen, Dan Mora, Tamra Bonvillain

Publisher: Boom Studios 2020

Genre: Comics

Pages: 160

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

When an ancient helmet at the British Museum is taken, Bridgette and Duncan are confronted by another hero of yore, one who will lead them to facing off against their most formidable challenge yet...a beast and his mother.

Although Bridgette and Duncan stopped Arthur from retrieving the Grail and separated him from the legendary scabbard of Excalibur, the undead King of the Britons still has his sights on returning to our world and returning to power. By inadvertently changing the story of the famous King, Duncan and Gran have thrown the Otherworld into shambles, allowing for new legends and characters to make their appearance - and bring a world of trouble along with them.

But when an ancient helmet at the British Museum is taken, Bridgette and Duncan are confronted by another hero of yore, one who will lead them to facing off against their most formidable challenge yet...a beast and his mother.

New York Times bestselling writer Kieron Gillen (The Wicked + The Divine, Star Wars) and Russ Manning Award-winning artist Dan Mora (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Klaus) deliver the next chapter of the critically-acclaimed series that took the world of comics by storm!

Collects Once & Future #7-12.

Oh I am so incredibly into this comic series. We get appearances from three more story characters and learn more about Merlin and Nimue and Arthur. Lots of action in this volume and lots of gore. Love it! Can’t wait for the next one.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• We’ve been out and about multiple days this week. I am thoroughly peopled out.

• Took the opportunity to replace most of my socks this week. Funny how the little things make me happy.

• Caramel lava cakes are delightful. That’s all.

• Thinking about dyeing my hair for my birthday. Maybe?

Next up on the TBR pile:

Barbarian Alien by Ruby Dixon

Title: Barbarian Alien (Ice Planet Barbarians #2)

Author: Ruby Dixon

Publisher: Ruby Dixon 2015

Genre: Explicit Scifi Romance

Pages: 248

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Twelve humans are left stranded on a wintry alien planet. I’m one of them. Yay, me.

In order to survive, we have to take on a symbiont that wants to rewire our bodies to live in this brutal place. I like to call it a cootie. And my cootie’s a jerk, because it also thinks I’m the mate to the biggest, surliest alien of the group.

Another novella of a very sexy story. This time we get a very insular story featuring Liz and Raahosh. Overall, I enjoyed the story, but felt that it was a lot more serious than I thought it was going to be. The story touches on ownership, participation in groups/clans/families, and consent. I didn’t love Liz’s brand of angry sex, but ultimately the two are made for each other.

Ice Planet Barbarians

• #1 Ice Planet Barbarians (Georgie/Vektal)

• #2 Barbarian Alien (Liz/Raahosh)

• #3 Barbarian Lover (Kira/Aehako)

• #4 Barbarian Mine (Harlow/Rukh)

• #4.5 Ice Planet Holiday (novella)

• #5 Barbarian's Prize (Tiffany/Salukh)

• #6 Barbarian's Mate (Josie/Haeden)

• #6.5 Having the Barbarian's Baby (short story)

• #6.75 Ice Ice Babies (short story)

• #7 Barbarian's Touch (Lila/Rokan)

• #7.5 Calm(short story)

• #8 Barbarian's Taming (Maddie/Hassen)

• #8.5 Aftershocks (short story)

• #9 Barbarian's Heart (Stacy/Pashov)

• #10 Barbarian's Hope (Asha/Hemalo)

• #11 Barbarian's Choice (Farli/Mardok)

• #12 Barbarian's Redemption (Elly/Bek)

• #13 Barbarian's Lady (Kate/Harrec)

• #14 Barbarian's Rescue (Summer/Warrek)

• #15 Barbarian's Tease (Brooke/Taushen)

• #15.5 The Barbarian Before Christmas (novella)

• #16 Barbarian's Beloved (Ariana/Zolaya)

• #16.5 Barbarian's Valentine (novella)

• #17 Barbarian's Seduction (Marlene/Zennek)

Next up on the TBR pile:

All the Feels by Olivia Dade

Title: All the Feels (Spoiler Alert #2)

Author: Olivia Dade

Publisher: Avon 2020

Genre: Romance

Pages: 416

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Winter TBR

Alexander Woodroe has it all. Charm. Sex appeal. Wealth. Fame. A starring role as Cupid on TV’s biggest show, Gods of the Gates. But the showrunners have wrecked his character, he's dogged by old demons, and his post-show future remains uncertain. When all that reckless emotion explodes into a bar fight, the tabloids and public agree: his star is falling.

Enter Lauren Clegg, the former ER therapist hired to keep him in line. Compared to her previous work, watching over handsome but impulsive Alex shouldn’t be especially difficult. But the more time they spend together, the harder it gets to keep her professional remove and her heart intact, especially when she discovers the reasons behind his recklessness…not to mention his Cupid fanfiction habit.

When another scandal lands Alex in major hot water and costs Lauren her job, she’ll have to choose between protecting him and offering him what he really wants—her. But he’s determined to keep his improbably short, impossibly stubborn, and extremely endearing minder in his life any way he can. And on a road trip up the California coast together, he intends to show her exactly what a falling star will do to catch the woman he loves: anything at all. 

This was a good contemporary romance, but it deals with some heavy things. I absolutely adored Alex and Lauren’s back-and-forth banter. Those scenes between the two are my favorites in this book. Their romantic relationship was a bit harder to connect with. Something about the way the romantic scenes were written just didn’t land for me. I didn‘t see enough emotional and intellectual connection between the two characters. I really wanted to see more of that and less of the sexy scenes. I think that’s the first time that I’ve ever written that sentence. The passages that really delved into body image and the treatment of people were powerful. I was thankful that Dade didn’t skim over these topics or conversations but dove into them. The book was a bit disjointed at parts that kept it from being an absolute great book.

Spoiler Alert

• #1 Spoiler Alert

• #2 All the Feels

Next up on the TBR pile:

Beautiful Bombshell by Christina Lauren

Title: Beautiful Bombshell (Beautiful #2.5)

Author: Christina Lauren

Publisher: Gallery Books 2013

Genre: Romance

Pages: 127

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

A beautiful bastard of a groom-to-be. A bachelor-party-crashing bride. And one unforgettable night on the Vegas strip.

When Bennett’s friends steal him away from Chloe for a weekend of shenanigans and strippers in Vegas, their first stop doesn’t exactly go as planned. Their scheme for a guys’ weekend completely derailed, Bennett and Max take every chance they get to rendezvous secretly with the women they love. But when the persistently single Will Sumner catches on, the pair realizes they need to team up with him instead of butting heads if they’re to escape for more sexy Vegas hookups.

Beautiful Bastard’s Chloe Mills and Bennett Ryan are back for one last blazing prewedding hurrah- but if what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, they might not ever want to leave!

Short story featuring Chloe and Bennett and Max and Sara (plus Henry and Will). I am still not the biggest fan of Chloe and Bennett. Something about their relationship and banter turns me off. But this story redeemed itself with the chapters focusing on Max and Sara. I love them so much. Be forewarned, this is very open door.

Beautiful Bastard

• #1 Beautiful Bastard

• #1.5 Beautiful Bitch

• #2 Beautiful Stranger

• #2.5 Beautiful Bombshell

• #3 Beautiful Player

• #3.5 Beautiful Beginning

• #3.6 Beautiful Beloved

• #4 Beautiful Secret

• #4.5 Beautiful Boss

• #5 Beautiful

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #1

Reading: Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse - I don’t know why I put this off for so long. I finally started it and it’s very intriguing.

Watching: We’ve been slowly working through The Great S1. It is at times hilarious and heartbreaking.

Listening: We haven’t been going out that often, so no music stretches for us. But I have been catching up on my podcasts.

Making: I started my 2021 Memory Planner pages and am now up to May’s spreads. I’m hoping to get all of these months finished by the end of February. Then I can move onto 2022’s pages.

Feeling: Temperatures have been all over the place. It is fairly warm outside, but I am very chilly right now.

Planning: I wasn’t planning on it, but I am going to be teaching our next coop theme for the older kids. I need to get moving on our lessons.

Loving: Even with weird random days, I am getting stuff done around here and it’s great.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Monstress Vol. 6

Title: Monstress Vol. 6: The Vow

Author: Marjorie Liu, Sana Takeda

Publisher: Image 2021

Genre: Comics

Pages: 185

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

War has engulfed the Known World, and Maika Halfwolf is at its epicenter. As she and her friends grapple with the consequences of their actions, long-buried secrets and long-awaited reunions threaten to change everything. Join MARJORIE LIU and SANA TAKEDA in the newest volume of this Eisner, Hugo, Harvey, and British Fantasy Award-winning series.

Plus, learn about the happier childhood days of Kippa and Maika in MONSTRESS: TALK-STORIES 1 and 2!

Collects MONSTRESS: TALK-STORIES #1-2 and MONSTRESS #31-35

After six trades of this comic and me trying to keep everything straight, I think that I am giving up. I am just so lost in the story at this point, and I don’t think I care enough to try to find my way. The art is amazing. The storyline is doing me in. I give up.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W18: A Rough Transition, But We Made It!

What We Studied

Getting back into a homeschool routine was very difficult this week, but we did it! We managed to finish a majority of my planned curriculum and worked in a impromptu field trip;

Literature and Poetry

This week’s main literature selection was Trickster Tales from Asia and Polynesia. The collection coincided nicely with our history chapter. The boys made a ton of connections to the movie Moana and really loved some of the stories. We also read a ton of picture books and some poetry. The boys are digging the silliness of our current poetry collection from Jack Prelutsky.

• Voices on the Wind: Poems for All Seasons selected by David Booth

• Trickster Tales

• Hooray for Hat by Brian Won

• The Cow Loves Cookies by Karma Wilson

• The New Kid on the Block by Jack Prelutsky

• Kit Flying by Grace Lin

Math

We fell into a routine of taking Monday to focus on logic puzzles and I’m really love the change. We will keep this in our regular routine. Beyond those, Arthur started Singapore Math 3B with a unit on mass and weight. We’ll be finishing that particularly chapter next week.

• Logic Liftoff

Social Studies

Still plugging along with our History Quest Middle Times. Chapter 16 was all about Polynesia. We learned about how and when various island groups were settled. The text focused then on three different cultures: New Zealand, Hawaii, and Rapa Nui. Arthur really got into the few travel videos I found detailing the Maori culture.

• DK Timelines of Everyone

• When on Earth

• DK History

• DK Timelines of Everything

• Oceania by Martha London

• Myths, Legends, and Sacred Stories

• DK Explorers

Arthur Independent Time

To allow for one-on-one time with Quentin, I have added an hour of independent work time for Arthur. Each week, he will have a mix of packet work (mostly grammar and math review), independent reading time, and special projects. Many of his projects will be aligned with our literature selections (some taken from B&R Language Arts curriculum) and history.

Science and STEAM Coop

For science, I decided to start our health unit this week. We are starting with a week long study of emotions and then moving onto other aspects of social emotional learning. I’m sure we will also through in some basic anatomy and probably hygiene afterwards. And I we started to do some simple yoga to tide us over during these super cold months.

• DK How Do I Feel? A Little Guide to My Emotions

• The Crayons' Book of Feelings by Drew Daywalt

• Big Feelings by Alexandra Penfold

• Visiting Feelings by Lauren Rubenstein

• Exploring Emotions: A Mindfulness Guide to Understanding Feelings by Paul Christelis

• This Makes Me Happy by Courtney Carbone

• This Makes Me Sad by Courtney Carbone

• This Makes Me Angry by Courtney Carbone

• This Makes Jealous by Courtney Carbone

• This Makes Me Scared by Courtney Carbone

• This Makes Me Silly by Courtney Carbone

We kicked off the spring semester of coop with the theme of Famous Nebraskans and Iowans. As the first two weeks will act as our open house meetings, I made stations instead of our usual structure. Each station featured a person with biography and a related activity. Everyone who came seemed to really enjoy the activities. Next week we are continuing the theme with six new people. For this week, we covered:

• Shawn Johnson East - gymnast, learned to do a summersault

• Malcolm X - Civil rights activist, made protest signs

• J. Sterling Morton - founder of Arbor Day, planted herb plants to take home

• Norman Borlaug - agronomist, learned about what kids eat around the world

• Evelyn Sharp - WWII pilot, made paper airplanes

• Hartley Burr Alexander - iconographer, drew our own versions of the Nebraska State Capitol building.

• Basic geography and maps of Nebraska and Iowa

Art/Music

I am determined to bring back art and music this semester. Our science will be slightly lighter in the spring and I think we can find some time. This week we studied the woodcuts of Hokusai. (Arthur covered him last year, but this year Quentin is joining in.) We did a big overview of his life and them focused on three pieces to study and appreciate. I chose one piece for each day that we did art. We studied the piece for a few minutes and then made our own drawings. They could be copies or something inspired by the piece. While drawing (I set a 20 minute timer to help my routine and schedule focused kids), we listened to nature sounds (ocean and forest) to keep us in the mood. I really enjoyed this technique and will be carrying it through to the next weeks.

• The Story of Paintings: A History of Art for Children by Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom

• Hokusai: Genius of the Japanese Ukiyo-e by Seiki Nagata

Quentin

I have scheduled at least four 1-hour time blocks for one-on-one time with Quentin. I bought Blossom and Root’s Early Years Volume 2 curriculum to use as our base. I love the variety of activities and some of the bigger projects included. I gave Quentin the same pre-test from August to see progress. He has made a ton of progress, but it doesn’t necessarily show on the test. I did notate the progress I have seen and changed a few of the tests to make them more challenging for him. His biggest stumbling block is fine motor control. Writing is still a mountain that we are working to climb. Now that we have covered all the letters, we are focusing on sounds and moving into beginning reading. Q already knows so many words, so we are going to focus a bit more on phonics so he can figure out ones he doesn’t know. For math, we did a lot of puzzles, games, and practice sheets. We also covered a mini unit on diversity and the hijab and the months of the year.

ELA

• The Magic of Letters by Tony Johnston and Wendell Minor

• The Alphabet Tree by Leo Lionni

Math

• Lollipop Logic Book 1

Other

• The Proudest Blue by Ibtihaj Muhammad with S.K. Ali

• What Color is My Hijab? by Hudda Ibrahim

• Under My Hijab by Hena Khan

• Please Try to Remember the First of Octember! by Theo LeSieg

• The Months: by Sara Coleridge

• A Year with Friends by John Seven

• Jump into January: A Journey Around the Year by Stella Blackstone

Field Trip

We didn’t have a field trip on the schedule, but a friend suggested a trip to the zoo on Wednesday. The temperature high was going to be 50 degrees, so perfect for walking around. We ended up visiting the desert dome, aquarium, gorilla house, and butterfly house (plus a pit stop at the okapis who were outside). It was a fun day reconnecting with a friend and her son. The boys had a ton of fun. I want to incorporate more mini impromptu activities with them this semester.

Documentary Selection

I have carved out a one hour time block each week to watch a documentary related to our studies. We didn’t watch one big documentary, but we did watch some more PBS Eons videos while I was doing a workout. Eventually we will finish them all. Arthur requested them instead of a NOVA episode. My work here is done!

Misc. Picture Books Read

• The Artists by Canles Porta

• There’s an Alien in Your Book by Tom Fletcher

• The Dinosaur that Pooped the Past by Tom Fletcher

• If I Had a Little Dream by Nina Laden

• Max and Marla are Flying Together by Alexander Boiger

• Just in Case You Want to Fly by Julie Fogliano

• Memoirs of a Goldfish by Devin Scillian

• Let's Go to the Hardware Store by Anne Rockwell

• Letter for Leo by Sergio Ruzzier

• The Tickle Test by Kathryn White

• Hungry Bunny by Claudia Rueda

• Ellie in Concert by Mike Wu

• I'm My Own Dog by David Ezra Stein

• First Snow by Bomi Park

• Pinduli by Janeell Cannon

• Ducks Overboard! A True Story of Plastic in Our Oceans by Markus Motum

• The Love Letter by Anika Aldamuy Denise

High

• Restarting coop was a treat. We missed our friends and it was nice to get some social interaction again. Can’t wait for next week!

Low

• I had a big dentist appointment on Tuesday morning (2 1/2 hours!) and ended up punting on school after that. My entire mouth was sore and I was grumpy. We ended up making up the time, but I still feel like we wasted an entire afternoon.

Next Week

• Covering Mali Empire for History

• Reading Trickster Tales from Africa and the Near East

• Finishing 3B Unit 6 for math

• Focusing on reading for Quentin

• Choosing a new artist to study for art time

• Completing W2 of Famous Nebraskans and Iowans for coop

• Visiting the SAC Museum for coop field trip

• Maybe taking a hike at Platter River State Park?

Next up on the TBR pile:

Lumberjanes Vol. 20

Title: Lumberjanes Vol. 20

Author: Shannon Watters, Kat Leyh, Brooklyn Allen, Alexa Bosy, Kanesha C. Bryant

Publisher: BOOM! Box 2021

Genre: Comics

Pages: 144

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

THE END OF SUMMER IS HERE. Jo, Mal, Molly, April, Ripley and the scouts of Miss Qiunzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet's Camp for Hardcore Lady Types are running out of time to fight back against the mysterious force known as the Grey! And even if they succeed, they will have to deal with their biggest challenge yet - saying goodbye as summer finally comes to an end. The team of Kat Leyh, Shannon Watters, Alexa Bosy, Kanesha C. Bryant and returning series co-creator Brooklyn Allen conclude one of the most important and acclaimed comics of the century by taking Friendship To The Max one last time. Collects Lumberjanes #75 and Lumberjanes: End of Summer #1.

And so we come to the end of the summer at camp and one last big adventure. At the end of the last trade, all the inhabitants of Roanoke cabin had set out one last activity before summer ends. We get to see those various activities, but also everyone both in camp and in the forest must come together to save the area from a malevolent gray mass. We get to see all our favorites. This was such a lovely way to end the series. I’m going to miss all characters, but especially Ripley!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Life Right Now #1

As I look outside my window: Clear and bright. After the snowstorm on Friday afternoon/evening, the sun has come out. Yesterday was still very cold, but it’s going to warm up today. I’ll miss the snow, it has been very pretty.

Right now I am: Getting ready to dive back into curriculum planning for the week. I finished 80% of it yesterday but still need to tackle Quentin’s preschool and our health unit.

Thinking and pondering: Should I go to the library today? I’m comfy in the house, but I should at least drop off books and grab our holds. But then I would have to finish cleaning off the van. And if I’m out, I should probably stop at the grocery which means that I need to make a list. So many things!

On my bedside table: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (it’s been years since I reread her novels); Far Sector by NK Jemisin

On my tv this week: We finished watching Around the World in 80 Days (with David Tennant!) and continued with The Great S1, It’s Always Sunny S15, and The Witcher S2.

Listening to: I caught up with a ton of politics podcasts. I also spent some time listening to Octane and Alt Nation.

On the menu for this week:

• Monday - Chicken Pad Thai Nachos

• Tuesday - Lemon Butter Fish

• Wednesday - Leftovers

• Thursday - Fettuccini Alfredo with Chicken, Broccoli, and Bacon

• Friday - Blackened Salmon

• Saturday - Sausage, Potato, Spinach Soup

• Sunday - Chicken Shawarma Fries

On my to do list: Randomly the student loan was locked again. I swear they just do it every few months. I need to call and get it unlocked so we can pull tax information for this year. I really really hate dealing with them. Beyond that, I have all the usual house stuff on my list.

Happening this week:

• Monday - Normal school day

• Tuesday - Possible hike at Platte River State Park

• Wednesday - Normal school day

• Thursday - Coop

• Friday - SAC Museum Field Trip

• Saturday - Home day

• Sunday - Home day

What I am creating: I dove back into my 2021 Memory Planner (hadn’t started at all), and have managed to complete January through March’s spreads. I’ve got some momentum going and really want to keep it up. I have April’s photos printed (except one annoyingly), but I need to get May’s around.

My simple pleasures: A good book, a decent night’s sleep, watching the falling snow and not having to be anywhere.

Looking around the house: Nothing has really changed from last week. I did finish taking down all the Christmas decorations, but I need to put those tubs away in the garage later.

From the camera: Current state of my desk. Messy, but I’m actually doing a project!

How Zoologists Organize Things by David Bainbridge

Title: How Zoologists Organize Things: The Art of Classification

Author: David Bainbridge

Publisher: Frances Lincoln 2020

Genre: Nonfiction - Science

Pages: 256

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Seasonal TBR - Winter

Humankind’s fascination with the animal kingdom began as a matter of survival – differentiating the edible from the toxic, the ferocious from the tractable. Since then, our compulsion to catalogue wildlife has played a key role in growing our understanding of the planet and ourselves, inspiring religious beliefs and evolving scientific theories. The book unveils wild truths and even wilder myths about animals, as perpetuated by zoologists – revealing how much more there is to learn, and unlearn.

Long before Darwin, our ancestors were obsessed with the visual similarities and differences between the animals. Early scientists could sense there was an order that unified all life and formulated a variety of schemes to help illustrate this. This human quest to classify living beings has left us with a rich artistic legacy, from the folklore and religiosity of the ancient and Medieval world through the naturalistic cataloging of the Enlightenment to the modern, computer-generated classificatory labyrinth.

Now this is a book I can get behind. We are treated to a journey through time focusing on the classification of living (and sometimes nonliving) things. We get to learn about the major players in the various time periods. But what really made the book a winner for me was all the illustrations. Most of the book is taken up with illustrations from various scientists and time periods. We get to visually see the evolution of classification throughout the centuries. I spent very long periods of time just looking at all the little details within the illustrations. Lovely!

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz

Title: The Plot

Author: Jean Hanff Korelitz

Publisher: Celadon 2021

Genre: Thriller

Pages: 336

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Jacob Finch Bonner was once a promising young novelist with a respectably published first book. Today, he’s teaching in a third-rate MFA program and struggling to maintain what’s left of his self-respect; he hasn’t written―let alone published―anything decent in years. When Evan Parker, his most arrogant student, announces he doesn’t need Jake’s help because the plot of his book in progress is a sure thing, Jake is prepared to dismiss the boast as typical amateur narcissism. But then . . . he hears the plot.

Jake returns to the downward trajectory of his own career and braces himself for the supernova publication of Evan Parker’s first novel: but it never comes. When he discovers that his former student has died, presumably without ever completing his book, Jake does what any self-respecting writer would do with a story like that―a story that absolutely needs to be told.

In a few short years, all of Evan Parker’s predictions have come true, but Jake is the author enjoying the wave. He is wealthy, famous, praised and read all over the world. But at the height of his glorious new life, an e-mail arrives, the first salvo in a terrifying, anonymous campaign: You are a thief, it says.

As Jake struggles to understand his antagonist and hide the truth from his readers and his publishers, he begins to learn more about his late student, and what he discovers both amazes and terrifies him. Who was Evan Parker, and how did he get the idea for his “sure thing” of a novel? What is the real story behind the plot, and who stole it from whom?

Our book club selection for January. I wasn’t convinced that this was going to be my book from the overall impression I got from people who loved it. And it turns out, that I was right about what my review would be. This just didn’t landed with me. I rarely love thrillers and this one felt very obvious and yet very slow and ponderous throughout. Right away I did not care for the main character. I understand that he’s not to well-loved, but I struggled to find anything redeemable about him. So no good connection the characters. From there, we spend way too much time slowly moving through his life. I was thoroughly bored. We don’t even get to the thriller part of the mystery until way after the halfway mark. I just couldn’t deal with the pacing at all. And then the actual reveal is a giant multi-page monologue from the “villain.” The story becomes so convoluted that we needed the villain to monologue for that many pages to explain their actions. I just didn’t really care at that point. Thrillers… just not my thing at all.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Life's Too Short by Abby Jimenez

Title: Life’s Too Short (The Friend Zone #3)

Author: Abby Jimenez

Publisher: Forever 2021

Genre: Romance

Pages: 385

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Seasonal TBR - Winter

When Vanessa Price quit her job to pursue her dream of traveling the globe, she wasn't expecting to gain millions of YouTube followers who shared her joy of seizing every moment. For her, living each day to its fullest isn't just a motto. Her mother and sister never saw the age of 30, and Vanessa doesn't want to take anything for granted. But after her half sister suddenly leaves Vanessa in custody of her baby daughter, life goes from "daily adventure" to "next-level bad" (now with bonus baby vomit in hair). The last person Vanessa expects to show up offering help is the hot lawyer next door, Adrian Copeland. After all, she barely knows him. No one warned her that he was the Secret Baby Tamer or that she'd be spending a whole lot of time with him and his geriatric Chihuahua. Now she's feeling things she's vowed not to feel. Because the only thing worse than falling for Adrian is finding a little hope for a future she may never see.

I wasn’t sure how much I was going to love this volume as we meet Adrian for literally five minutes in the previous book. Thankfully, this was much more of a stand alone book where we get to really know our main characters and the characters from the previous book only make an appearance in one chapter. Right away, I really fell for Adrian and his entire outlook on life. And then get to meet Vanessa and everything stars to change. At times, I was a bit annoyed with Vanessa and wanted her to be more honest with Adrian, but thankfully she grew by the end of the book. And Adrian eased up on his control of life and learned to live. I did have two issues with the book: 1. Jimenez does not write steamy scenes at all. They are very perfunctory when I really wanted something more descriptive. 2. The amount of times they randomly left the baby with the Yoga Lady down the hall was unbelievable. They somehow had an amazing support system and didn’t even realize it. Such privilege. Otherwise, I really did enjoy this addition to the series.

The Friend Zone

• #1 The Friend Zone

• #2 The Happily Ever After Playlist

• #3 Life’s Too Short

Next up on the TBR pile:

2022 Reading Challenges

I’m once again going to focus on challenges that appeal to my strange mood reading tendencies. My challenges are mostly homegrown (except for Unread Shelf Reading Challenge) and reflect my want to read off my own TBR (either digital or physical). I want to focus on the books that I will enjoy rather than what everyone else is talking about.

2022 Reading Challenges

• Goodreads Challenge

• Perpetual Books

• UnRead Shelf Project

• Seasonal TBRS: Winter TBR, Spring TBR, Summer TBR, Fall TBR

• UnRead Shelf Reading Challenge

• Kid Read Alouds

GoodReads Challenge (200) - I’m sticking with my usual 200 books for this overall goal. In 2021, I ended with 223 books which is slightly down from 2020’s 230. I still like the 200 number.

Perpetual Books (25) - I’ve done a bit of a culling when it comes to my perpetual lists page. I deleted some of the lists altogether and am focusing on the ones that appeal to be personally. We’ll see how this one goes…

UnRead Shelf (50) - My fourth year participating in this particular challenge. I did not do well at all last year. As always, I have high hopes for this!

Seasonal TBRs - Instead of strict monthly goals, I’m going to focus on seasonal goals. Unlike last year, I won’t be filling my lists with 25 specific titles, but instead use a bit of a goal framework. For example, winter’s list includes 5 Kindle books, 5 fantasy/scifi pics, 5 romances, and 5 nonfiction. I can go anywhere in those categories.

UnRead Shelf Project (24) - Another one that I didn’t quite finish last year. I’m really going to commit to doing the monthly challenge and the topical challenge.

1. January: The Book You’ve Been Putting Off Reading -

2. February: A Title You Couldn’t Resist -

3. March: A Memoir or Biography -

4. April: A Book by an Indie Published or Small Press -

5. May: The Shortest Unread Book on Your Shelf -

6. June: A Book About a Journey -

7. July: Book Set un a Country or Culture Different Than Your Own -

8. August: A Book Chosen by Your Friends or Family -

9. September: A Book that Represents the Reader You Want to Be -

10. October: A Book that Makes You Nervous -

11. November: A Title That Starts with the First Letter of Your Name -

12. December: A Classic Book -

13. A Book in Translation -

14. A Book Bought for the Cover -

15. A Science/Technology Nonfiction -

16. The Most Recently Acquired -

17. A Book About/Of Poetry -

18. A Book About Nature -

19. A Book Made into a Movie or TV Series -

20. A Book About a Season or Phase of Life -

21. A Book About Food or Cooking -

22. A Book Set in Your Hometown or State -

23. A Book About Art or Artists

24. A Modern Retelling of a Classic Book

Kid Read Alouds (20) - Continuing with this challenge again this year. We haven’t some great read aloud choices for the spring semester. And I’m sure that I’ll pick some great titles for the fall semester.

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My rating system:

• 5 stars - loved it, will tell everyone (or almost everyone) to read it

• 4 stars - liked it, would recommend to certain people

• 3 stars - okay book, but maybe not something i would recommend, maybe not a book for me, but I see merit

• 2 stars - disliked it

• 1 star - finished the book, but hated it! will rant to anyone about why I hated this one

2022 Goals and Resolution

Checking in with my 2021 Goals and Resolutions -

House Goals/Resolutions

• Tackle at least one big renovation project - Fail. The cost of supplies prohibited us from doing much

• Lay out a kitchen renovation plan - Fail. We talked a lot about it, but didn’t actually do anything.

Life Goals/Resolutions

• Set a treadmill goal for every month ✓ - I made decent progress, but fell off at the end of the year.

• Complete our 52 Weeks of Desserts and Snack - Fail. We only made 26 recipes. We’re going to continue this into next year.

• Plan and Complete a fun summer road trip ✓ - So much fun! We are doing this every year right after Labor Day.

• Plan and complete a reading retreat ✓ - Finally! We went at the end of September.

Reading Goals/Resolutions

• Set up a book buying budget ✓ - I spent a bit more than I planned to, but still didn’t spend that much.

• Read 200 books / 50,000 pages ✓ - I ended up reading 223 books and 67,000 pages.

• Decrease my physical UnRead Shelves by 50 books - Fail. I really want to get on this in 2022.

• Decrease my ebook UnRead Shelves by 30 books ✓ - I did knock off some duds and some good ones.

Craft Goals/Resolutions

• Complete at least 60% of my currently in-progress projects - Fail. I just didn’t craft at all this year.

• Finish organizing my craft space ✓ - My office is really looking good!

• Organize and use my supplies! (limited buying) ✓ - Defacto success as not crafting meant that I didn’t buy much of anything.

And now on to 2022…

House Goals/Resolutions

• Finish One Home Renovation Project - So many things to do. I just want to finish one project.

• Finish Organizing My Craft Room/Library - Now that we’ve shifted some things around, I really want get everything off my floor and in it’s place.

Life Goals/Resolutions

• Get Back into My Treadmill Goals - I’m aiming for 20 miles a month.

• 1000 Hours Outside - This is a challenge for the kids and I. It’s a national movement, and we want to attempt it this year. It might be tricky during the winter and high heat of later summer, but we are going to try to do our best.

Reading Goals/Resolutions

• Read 200 Books / 60,000 Pages

• Decrease my UnRead Shelf by 50 Books - Going to try to do this again. I’m sitting at 305 physical books at the beginning of this year.

Craft Goals/Resolutions

• Get Back into Crafting!

• Finish 2021 Memory Planner

• Keep Up with 2022 Memory Planner

Next up on the TBR pile:

January 2022 Life Goals

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

• Read 15 Holiday Romances! - I didn’t read 15 holiday romances, but at least 50% of my 23 reads were those.

• Prep blog for 2022. ✓

• Lay out my reading plan for 2022 ✓

• Clean my craft room before leaving for Indiana ✓

• Get library book down to basically 0 ✓

• Have a fun Christmas holiday! ✓

January Goals:

• Read 15 Books

• Map Out My Year

• Work on a Craft Project

• Get a Jump on Our 1000 Hours Outside

• Plan a Few Trips

• Plan Out Homeschooling for January - March

• Pull Down Christmas Decorations

Next up on the TBR pile: