Ended Quarter 2 with 27 books, so starting Quarter 3 (summer reading) with number 28.
Our family has 6 members: Teacher Daddy, Dr. Mama, Big B, Little L, Super J & Sister CC.
Saturday, September 26, 2020
Monday, August 24, 2020
2020 August DITL: Two-Thirds of an August Sunday
A Sunday where I forget the camera in the middle of the afternoon
Monday, July 13, 2020
2020 July DITL: Fishing Derby and Birthday Party Fun!
We spend a Saturday in July with friends and family!
Monday, June 29, 2020
2020 Reading Log, Quarter 2 (April-June)
I ended 2020 Quarter 1 with 13 books, then the pandemic struck and we were quarantined at home with the children. This was both better for reading (more time at home) and worse (less commuting listening to audiobooks and constantly helping children with schoolwork, cleaning, or other household tasks!)
Saturday, June 27, 2020
2020 June DITL: Welcome Summer Party at our new Lake House!
We hosted a welcome summer/birthday party at the "Carriage House" for friends and family we hadn't seen since the beginning of the COVID quarantine.
Monday, May 18, 2020
2020 May DITL: Month Two of Corona Quarantine
A "Typical" Saturday in May 2020 during COVID-19 Quarantine
Friday, April 17, 2020
2020 April DITL: A Month of Corona Quarantine
We have just finished our first month of self-isolation/quarantine. Here's a "typical" day doing work/school/teach/parent at home!
Saturday, March 28, 2020
2020 Reading Log, Quarter 1 (Jan - Mar)
2020 Reading List to Date (includes books read by myself, books read to the boys before bed, and audiobooks listened to during my commute).
Wednesday, March 18, 2020
2020 March DITL: A Trip to Virginia and the National Zoo!
[check out the tiger swimming!]
We traveled to Fairfax, VA to celebrate Uncle David's 30th birthday. Friday, we were able to visit the National Zoo before parks and museums shut down for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Saturday, February 22, 2020
2020 February DITL: A Mama-and-CC Wednesday
While the boys are away on vacation, the girls had a quiet (but busy) day at home!
Thursday, January 23, 2020
2020 January DITL: Weekend Trip to MA
We made a weekend trip to Massachusetts to visit friends and celebrate a first birthday.
Saturday, January 11, 2020
2019 Reading List (Quarter 4, Oct-Dec)
I completely forgot to tally my final quarter reading list for 2019!
Thursday, December 19, 2019
Monday, November 11, 2019
2019 November DITL: Under Construction
We are in the middle of some home renovations this November! Can't wait to see how they all turn out.
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
2019 Reading List, Quarter 3 (July-Sept)
At the end of Quarter 2 in June, I had finished 28 books, between actual books, audiobooks, and books read to the boys.
Here's Quarter 3 which includes all the books read over the summer of 2019:
Actual books:
29. The Fiery Cross, Outlander #5, Diana Gabaldon-- I thought I would get back into reading this series and didn't remember I had previously read this one. Yeah... I'm taking another break.
30. Daughter of Empire: My Life as a Mountbatten, Pamela Hicks-- About growing up in the British Royal Family during India's move toward independence.
31. Small Favor, Dresden Files #10, Jim Butcher-- Got this from the library for Jake, but ended up reading it myself
32. Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones-- Got this from the library for Ben after we watched the movie and liked the storyline of the movie better (a first!)
33. The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock, Imogene Hermes Gowar-- saw this on a recommended summer reading list in a magazine I picked up in the orthodontist waiting room. It was ok.
34. The Home Edit: A Guide to Organizing and Realizing your Home Goals, Clea Shearer-- I guess this woman and her partner have a successful organizing business and blog but I found the entire book very basic and without substance other than to shout "Look at us! we organized XX celebrity's closet and we took pictures!" After reading several home organization/cleaning/de-cluttering books over the past year or so on my de-cluttering mission, I learned nothing from this one.
35. The Valedictorian of Being Dead: The True Story of Dying Ten Times to Live, Heather B. Armstrong-- this is a mommy blogger who has been open with her struggles with anxiety and depression who went through an experimental clinical trial which decreased all brain activity in order to "reset" her treatment-resistant depression. I've read the actual clinical trial article and wanted to follow up with her personal narrative of the experience.
E-Books:
36. The Highlander Series, Karen Marie Moning-- downloaded this series to read during our trip to Idaho because I wanted to bring the lighter Nook rather than an actual book. Previously read, smutty smut with paranormal, time-traveling romance.
37. The Intuitionist, Colson Whitehead-- this book by Whitehead was on PBS's 100 Great American Books a few summers back. I had previously read The Underground Railroad by him and loved it. This one took me a bit longer to get into, but ended really well and stuck with me.
Books Read to Boys:
38. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, J.K. Rowling-- my least favorite HP book! Not only did Rowling's editor fail her by not insisting she cut down on some of the extraneous fluff that extended the length of this volume to 800+ pages, but this book includes emo, adolescent Harry who whines and moans and complains that the adults are treating him like a whiny emo teenager. Ugh.
Audiobooks:
39. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith-- finally was able to download this classic book and listened to it during my commutes to work in September. I really enjoyed it.
At the end of Quarter 3
In 2016, I had read 28 books at this point
In 2017, I had read 35 books at this point
In 2018, I had read 59 books at this point (WOW, but then again I was in a forced confinement with infant CC who was nursing non-stop)
Here's Quarter 3 which includes all the books read over the summer of 2019:
Actual books:
29. The Fiery Cross, Outlander #5, Diana Gabaldon-- I thought I would get back into reading this series and didn't remember I had previously read this one. Yeah... I'm taking another break.
30. Daughter of Empire: My Life as a Mountbatten, Pamela Hicks-- About growing up in the British Royal Family during India's move toward independence.
31. Small Favor, Dresden Files #10, Jim Butcher-- Got this from the library for Jake, but ended up reading it myself
32. Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones-- Got this from the library for Ben after we watched the movie and liked the storyline of the movie better (a first!)
33. The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock, Imogene Hermes Gowar-- saw this on a recommended summer reading list in a magazine I picked up in the orthodontist waiting room. It was ok.
34. The Home Edit: A Guide to Organizing and Realizing your Home Goals, Clea Shearer-- I guess this woman and her partner have a successful organizing business and blog but I found the entire book very basic and without substance other than to shout "Look at us! we organized XX celebrity's closet and we took pictures!" After reading several home organization/cleaning/de-cluttering books over the past year or so on my de-cluttering mission, I learned nothing from this one.
35. The Valedictorian of Being Dead: The True Story of Dying Ten Times to Live, Heather B. Armstrong-- this is a mommy blogger who has been open with her struggles with anxiety and depression who went through an experimental clinical trial which decreased all brain activity in order to "reset" her treatment-resistant depression. I've read the actual clinical trial article and wanted to follow up with her personal narrative of the experience.
E-Books:
36. The Highlander Series, Karen Marie Moning-- downloaded this series to read during our trip to Idaho because I wanted to bring the lighter Nook rather than an actual book. Previously read, smutty smut with paranormal, time-traveling romance.
37. The Intuitionist, Colson Whitehead-- this book by Whitehead was on PBS's 100 Great American Books a few summers back. I had previously read The Underground Railroad by him and loved it. This one took me a bit longer to get into, but ended really well and stuck with me.
Books Read to Boys:
38. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, J.K. Rowling-- my least favorite HP book! Not only did Rowling's editor fail her by not insisting she cut down on some of the extraneous fluff that extended the length of this volume to 800+ pages, but this book includes emo, adolescent Harry who whines and moans and complains that the adults are treating him like a whiny emo teenager. Ugh.
Audiobooks:
39. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith-- finally was able to download this classic book and listened to it during my commutes to work in September. I really enjoyed it.
At the end of Quarter 3
In 2016, I had read 28 books at this point
In 2017, I had read 35 books at this point
In 2018, I had read 59 books at this point (WOW, but then again I was in a forced confinement with infant CC who was nursing non-stop)
Thursday, September 26, 2019
2019 September DITL: Another year at the ADK Balloon Festival!
We have been traveling to Glens Falls for the Adirondack Balloon Festival for seven years now! 2019 did not disappoint!
Sunday, July 7, 2019
2019 July DITL: Fourth of July Fun!
We spent the holiday with friends at Lake Bonaparte. It was a hot, sunny day-- perfect for swimming and water sports!
Sunday, June 30, 2019
2019 Reading List, Quarter 2 (Apr-Jun)
At the end of March, I was up to 11 books read... here goes Quarter 2!
Actual Books
12. Breaking Free: How I Escaped my Father, Warren Jeffs, Polygamy, and the FLDS Cult, Rachel Jeffs-- why do I keep reading theses awful memoirs about people (usually women) growing up in terrible cults?
13. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler, E.L. Konisberg-- B had to read this as part of his fourth grade "40 book challenge". It was an award winner, and he was giving me grief about finishing it, so I challenged him to a race to see who could finish first (he won).
14. The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland, Jim DeFede-- J's annual middle school NYC trip was going to see "Come From Away", the musical based on these events which played out in a small Canadian island during the aftermath of 9/11. He wanted to read about the islanders and stranded passengers to get an idea of the story for the musical.
15. The Shelters of Stone, Jean Auel-- Book #5 in her series on Earth's Children. I think there might be one more?
16. Channel of Peace: Stranded on Gander on 9/11, Kevin Tuerff-- One of the passengers wrote a memoir of his experiences on Gander. While his story was one of the main plot lines for the musical, I found his memoir to be a bit over-the-top and trite ("as I was walking down the street, I was reminded of a song I used to listen to incessantly during middle school-- lyric, lyric, lyric")
17. Don't Sing Songs to a Heavy Heart: How to Relate to Those who are Suffering, Kenneth C. Haugk-- copies of this book were donated to our church by a grief group I attended in the summer of 2017 and it's taken me this long to buckle down and read through it. Some good advice, mostly about making the person's grief about THEM and not about YOU.
18. Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer-- about a 20-something who thought he could survive in the wilds of Alaska with only a 20-pound bag of rice, a shotgun, and no maps. He died.
19. Dinotopia, A Land Apart from Time, James Guernsey-- read this at my parents' house during a weekend visit. The illustrations are INCREDIBLE!
20. Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids, Kim John Payne-- recommended by a mom friend. It's the equivalent of Marie Kondo for your children's scheduling. Basically, we have overextended ourselves and our children through activities, toys, and electronics. Get rid of them all and let the kids be bored and use their imaginations!
21. Crazy Rich Asians, Kevin Kwan-- I LOVED this and can't wait to get the next two in the series! I suppose I'll watch the movie too, eventually.
22. Johnny Tremain, Esther Forbes-- another historical fiction/award winner B was supposed to finish for his 40 book challenge (he did read 34 out of 40 by the end of the year). I challenged him to another reading race and won this time. In fact, he never finished this before I had to bring it back to the library!
23. Royal Sisters: Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret, Anne Edwards-- reading about the childhood of Elizabeth and Margaret and their coming of age. Basically, Season 1 of The Crown.
Audiobooks
24. The Keeper of Lost Things, Ruth Hogan-- It was nice, about the stories connected to the bits of lost items found randomly on sidewalks. There was a ghost, of course, but all ended up well in the end.
25. I, Alex Cross, James Patterson-- this was a great audiobook to listen to during work commutes! It has enough intrigue and suspense to keep me awake and engaged, versus other audiobooks which make me drowsy.
26. A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole-- recommended on a reading list I'm trying to complete. I honestly didn't think I could get through it at first. The main character, Ignatius, is a terrible human being and I hated him from the start. Then I was too far into it to stop, and just kept through until the end. I'm glad I listened to it.
27. All the Light we Cannot See, Anthony Doerr-- set in France during WWII, it follows a blind girl and her father, who is trying to hide a priceless diamond from the Nazis, and a young Nazi soldier who is interested in electronics and philosophy.
Books read to boys
28. The Lost Hero (The Heroes of Olympus #1), Rick Riordan-- We had to take a break from Harry Potter, as it was getting a bit heavy for the boys. We switched over to the next series by Rick Riordan as a nice break.
To compare, at the end of:
2016-- I had finished 17 books
2017-- I had finished 25 books
2018-- I had finished 37 books (wow, 2018 was a stellar year for reading!)
Actual Books
12. Breaking Free: How I Escaped my Father, Warren Jeffs, Polygamy, and the FLDS Cult, Rachel Jeffs-- why do I keep reading theses awful memoirs about people (usually women) growing up in terrible cults?
13. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler, E.L. Konisberg-- B had to read this as part of his fourth grade "40 book challenge". It was an award winner, and he was giving me grief about finishing it, so I challenged him to a race to see who could finish first (he won).
14. The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland, Jim DeFede-- J's annual middle school NYC trip was going to see "Come From Away", the musical based on these events which played out in a small Canadian island during the aftermath of 9/11. He wanted to read about the islanders and stranded passengers to get an idea of the story for the musical.
15. The Shelters of Stone, Jean Auel-- Book #5 in her series on Earth's Children. I think there might be one more?
16. Channel of Peace: Stranded on Gander on 9/11, Kevin Tuerff-- One of the passengers wrote a memoir of his experiences on Gander. While his story was one of the main plot lines for the musical, I found his memoir to be a bit over-the-top and trite ("as I was walking down the street, I was reminded of a song I used to listen to incessantly during middle school-- lyric, lyric, lyric")
17. Don't Sing Songs to a Heavy Heart: How to Relate to Those who are Suffering, Kenneth C. Haugk-- copies of this book were donated to our church by a grief group I attended in the summer of 2017 and it's taken me this long to buckle down and read through it. Some good advice, mostly about making the person's grief about THEM and not about YOU.
18. Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer-- about a 20-something who thought he could survive in the wilds of Alaska with only a 20-pound bag of rice, a shotgun, and no maps. He died.
19. Dinotopia, A Land Apart from Time, James Guernsey-- read this at my parents' house during a weekend visit. The illustrations are INCREDIBLE!
20. Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids, Kim John Payne-- recommended by a mom friend. It's the equivalent of Marie Kondo for your children's scheduling. Basically, we have overextended ourselves and our children through activities, toys, and electronics. Get rid of them all and let the kids be bored and use their imaginations!
21. Crazy Rich Asians, Kevin Kwan-- I LOVED this and can't wait to get the next two in the series! I suppose I'll watch the movie too, eventually.
22. Johnny Tremain, Esther Forbes-- another historical fiction/award winner B was supposed to finish for his 40 book challenge (he did read 34 out of 40 by the end of the year). I challenged him to another reading race and won this time. In fact, he never finished this before I had to bring it back to the library!
23. Royal Sisters: Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret, Anne Edwards-- reading about the childhood of Elizabeth and Margaret and their coming of age. Basically, Season 1 of The Crown.
Audiobooks
24. The Keeper of Lost Things, Ruth Hogan-- It was nice, about the stories connected to the bits of lost items found randomly on sidewalks. There was a ghost, of course, but all ended up well in the end.
25. I, Alex Cross, James Patterson-- this was a great audiobook to listen to during work commutes! It has enough intrigue and suspense to keep me awake and engaged, versus other audiobooks which make me drowsy.
26. A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole-- recommended on a reading list I'm trying to complete. I honestly didn't think I could get through it at first. The main character, Ignatius, is a terrible human being and I hated him from the start. Then I was too far into it to stop, and just kept through until the end. I'm glad I listened to it.
27. All the Light we Cannot See, Anthony Doerr-- set in France during WWII, it follows a blind girl and her father, who is trying to hide a priceless diamond from the Nazis, and a young Nazi soldier who is interested in electronics and philosophy.
Books read to boys
28. The Lost Hero (The Heroes of Olympus #1), Rick Riordan-- We had to take a break from Harry Potter, as it was getting a bit heavy for the boys. We switched over to the next series by Rick Riordan as a nice break.
To compare, at the end of:
2016-- I had finished 17 books
2017-- I had finished 25 books
2018-- I had finished 37 books (wow, 2018 was a stellar year for reading!)
2019 June DITL: A First Birthday in the Life
It was a very Happy First Birthday for this rainbow girl!
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