Our House in the Middle of Our Street

Ani has grown at least four inches this year and is nearly my height at 12. She has grown in her artistic ability and loves to change her room up, organize, and play with anything art or craft related for hours on end. Often her creativity amazes me for someone her age. She is a better skier than I'll ever be, and has that 'can-do' Mast attitude ("I just think I can do it, so I do it") that is worth its weight in gold.  She is determined when she has a goal and has gone from zero ability to kart wheel to not only kart wheeling, but doing back-bends, leg lifts (straight up and down with her legs!), the splits,  contortionist positions (see below), and incredible dance ability  all because she steadily worked at those goals.  We are so proud of you, Anikka, and we love you! self portrait    What is your favorite color? green  Who are some of your friends?  Lilah, Audrey, Anya, Marie, Kate, Ophelia, Charlotte, Charlee, Summer, Emily, Isla, Kathryn, Anna, CJ What do y

  Very few of the books above were completed in January, but (most) were done by February. I'm already quite behind in getting my monthly book titles out but I want to be a bit more faithful with posts.  A lot of my completed reading right now is tied with my kids' home school curriculum. We're studying the Ancients this year and we have SO many good books that we're reading. You'll see them below in the Read-Aloud section.  The Curve of Time by M. Wylie Blanchet - This memoir is a story about a young widow who sailed all up and down BC's local waters with her 5 children (!) on a small, 25-foot boat each summer. The descriptions of the places they went back to each year, the unusual events and people met along the way, the wildlife run-ins, and the navigational ability of this woman was incredible. Each chapter is a mini essay and although the author puts the essays in chronological order, the book does not always feel cohesive and sometimes the kids' ages