Our House in the Middle of Our Street

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…

What is your favorite color? Sparkly purple and Sparkly pink
Who are some of your friends? Isla, Kathryn, Rachel, Nyah, Arnica, Ashlyn, Charlotte, Charlee, Ana, Anna
What do you want to be when you grow up? arist; painter, room designer?  
What makes you happy? Grammy, Oma, you (me, mom)
What makes you sad? being away from Copper


What is your favorite animal?an Alicorn 
What is your favorite book?  a sketchbook
What is your favorite thing to do with Mom? color, draw, hang out
What is your favorite thing to do with Dad? go on the motorbike
What is your favorite thing to do with Lukka? play cats
What do you like to do with your friends?  hang out, talk, color, play Barbies


What do you like to do outside? play with friends
Where do you like to go?  Lincoln
What is your favorite food? rice crackers 



What is your favorite drink? Root Beer What is your favorite restaurant?  Boston Pizza or Big Al's
What is your favorite subject in school?art

What is your favorite thing to watch? School of Rock 
What is …

looking into Vancouver from Jericho Beach
I first saw this type of list from Sarah VonBargen's blog Yes and Yes, and I immediately understood the practice. I'm pretty sure I've been doing lists in this vein for at least 6 years on the blog, and I love it. Every year I leave a few blank to fill in at later dates, but here's my tentative "18 Things in 2018". What are you really hoping to do in 2018? 
1) Be in More Photos (and all the moms said "preach!")
2) Getaway on the Sunshine Coast
3) Visit the Night Market in Richmond
4) Visit Britannia Mine (completed!)
5) Go to Shop Suite during the Christmas Season (I have yet to find a worthy handmade market up here but I've heard good things about this one!)
6) Buy a better swimsuit (for the love).
7) Visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead in De Smet with Grammy + kids. (Booked our airbnbs for #7,8!)
8) Take the kids to Ashfall Fossil Beds. Same trip as above, in Western Nebraska; one of my favorite me…