Our House in the Middle of Our Street

August was a month that -on paper-should have been a decent reading month. Of the days we were camping or away, I had a bit of time to myself, and although we had lots of kid-goings-ons (looking at you, birthday parties, sleepovers, special activities like Theater Under the Stars) and we wrapped up the month with spending as much time as possible over the last few weeks with our backyard neighbors who just last Sunday moved out of province. It felt more busy than it probably was, but with my free time being occupied with prepping for our next thing, or just trying to stay on top of basic tasks, and some preliminary planning for a few things down the pipeline that are homeschool related, I just had little brain space left to absorb anything. I was happy to finish our first month's pick for book club, and now am working my way through another (An American Marriage) for the next week. Waving the white flag on a short reading month:

*The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - This …

Although this stack was technically (mostly) read in June, it was a pretty picture that I wanted to post. The peonies were in full bloom and I had the whole summer ahead of me. Now, at the end of July I'm pooped! A lot of camping, trips, play dates, swimming, and just general outdoor mayhem of summer here leaves me feeling unbalanced and depleted. You feel like you waste it if you don't use it (the summer that is) because it rains so much of the rest of the year. Right now I'm desperate for 1-2 days of rain, but although that's not in the forecast, I'm just going to have to black-mark with an X a few days on the horizon to recover from so much going! That's where I'm thankful I'm a reader.

*Parenting Chaos by Shawna Wingert - This is a short and independently published book about explosive children. I'm going to be honest, I just needed to read this for comparison's sake. I have one child who, to me, feels equal to about three children, and I j…

my rendition of Bookhou's punch-needle project from The Crafter's Box
May was a very short reading month. The finishing of various kid-related activities, finishing 'formal' school stuff along with our portfolio, and traveling for three weeks in my (and the kids') home state of Nebraska. We had a fantastic trip: so many activities with both sides of the family, field trips all over, and tons of friend time and 'vacation' activities. You can see more HEREon my Instagram feed.  The kids and I did happen to finish a massive tome in May, but thank goodness, June has turned out better! Here's the books:
MAY

*Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix by J.K. Rowling -  It's funny, this used to be one of my least favorite HP books of the 7 book series. I distinctly remember calling it "filler" to a friend who wanted to know how I liked it. Although there is a LOT of backstory in #5, it is certainly one of my favorites thus far going through it a s…

What is your favorite color? turquoise

Who are some of your friends? Brody, Cole, Ani (sometimes)



What do you want to do when you grow up? be someone who plays with puppies, an Apple tester, maybe an engineer

What is your favorite animal? dog, turtle, tiger




What is your favorite thing to do with Anikka? play cats

What is your favorite thing to do with your friends? jump on the trampoline, swimming, bike riding, skiing



What do you like to do outside? skiing, biking, taking Copper for walks, playing Chuck-it with Copper, frisbee with dad

What do you like to do inside? play on my kindle, cook, read


What is your favorite food? mac n cheese, alfredo pasta, bagels, hamburgers, cheese curds from Culvers

What is your favorite drink? Dr Pepper, Sprite, or Root Beer or OJ



What is your favorite restaurant? Chipotle and Red Robin

What is your favorite subject in school? Reading, Wildwood (various, usually Socials), piano




What is your favorite thing to watch? Moana, Sing, Flubber, School of Rock, Lost in Spac…

Whelp, March was a  sad reading month!  We were working hard to do a lot of school before Spring Break, Ani competed in the Science Games, had family out of town, and then a girls' trip after that. I chose to listen to about 139 podcasts on my flights rather than read, so there went 8 hours of 'free' reading time. April was a bit better, with some quick titles I'd heard a lot about or books I'd wanted to read for awhile, along with a book club book.

March
*Prayer by Timothy Keller - This was a book I read with my small group of women that I meet with weekly. It's an academic read with excellent points and information I had no past history with. On the whole, however, it just wasn't a book I was ready to read at the time. I highlighted quite a bit of gold nuggets, but I found it quite dry. I've read Keller's books before and know he is an excellent teacher and communicator, this was just wasn't for me at this time.

April
*Reading People by Anne Bo…

a walk from December in Tsawwassen
Not every month can be a great reading month (like last month!) but I'm in the middle of three good books not listed here, so watch out for March being title-heavy agian. Here's what I got to in the shortest month.
*The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld - It's been a long time since I read a fiction book in 2 days, but this was a total page-turner. It's our March book club pick, and everyone I've chatted with has said the same thing-they read it quickly and really liked it even though the topic is very heavy (yes, child abduction). The premise is that the Child Finder is a lady who has a successful time finding missing children because she herself was a 'lost child'. I'm not giving any more away but it's a shorter book-under 300 pages-and completely worth the read at 4 stars. 
*Full by Asheritah Ciuciu - This was a book I'd seen awhile back and just plopped it onto my amazon wish list so I'd remember it later. W…