10.22.2024
Book Post #7 of 2024
It's always so much fun to take a quick look back at what we've been reading!
Read-Alouds
Willodeen by Katherine Applegate: We really enjoy this author, but I felt like this one was the most different of her books & it took us a bit to get into it. We still liked it but definitely not one of our top favorites from Katherine Applegate.
Bob by Wendy Mass & Rebecca Stead: I read this aloud to Brady as part of our homeschool curriculum. We both liked it, but didn't love it.
The Wild Robot by Peter Brown: This was a repeat read-aloud for us, and we loved it just as much as this time or maybe even a little more than we did the first time we read it! We wanted to re-read it before seeing the movie that just came out recently. We loved the movie, but I definitely think the book is better! We read this book aloud for the first time about 5ish years ago when we were living in Helotes. It's so fun to circle back to our favorites as the kids get older. Two thumbs way up for both the book & movie!!
Bunnicula by Deborah & James Howe: Love, love, love! I picked this one to read aloud this month to get us in the Halloween spirit, and it kept all of us entertained! I wasn't expecting us to enjoy this one as much as we did. It is super quick read--highly recommend!
Ra the Mighty: The Great Tomb Robbery by A.B. Greenfield: This book is the second installment to the three-part Ra the Mighty series. I read this aloud to Brady as part of our homeschool curriculum. This series is set in Ancient Egypt, and all of the books are mysteries. We read the first one aloud last year, and Brady was so excited for us to continue with Ra's adventures!
My Reads
I feel like I wouldn't necessarily recommend any of these books, but here we go!
The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean: Okay, I think this is the best of my reads in this round-up. It's a little on the dark side. This book was selected by the GMA book club. Usually when books make it on these lists, I feel like they get built up and never live up to the hype for me. That was definitely the case for me with this book. I liked it, but didn't love it.
Swan Song by Elin Hilderbrand: This was the finale for Elin Hilderbrand's books, so even though I haven't picked up one of her books in a bit I was eager to read this one! I actually read two-thirds of this book at the beach this summer when I was able to get my hands on my sister's copy. But I didn't get a chance to finish it before we parted ways, so I put it on hold at our library. This wasn't my favorite of Elin Hilderbrand's but I'm so glad I read it as lots of characters from her previous books set in Nantucket made appearances, which was super fun. I always love it when authors have cross-over characters or when I get to read a book about place that I've been--makes the reading experience all the more special!
All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker: I don't like saying negative things about books, but every book isn't for everyone, right?! This was another book that got a lot of buzz on Jenna Bush Hager's book list, and I just did not care for it. It was super long, dark, and sad in my opinion. I wouldn't recommend this one, but I know there are lots of people who love it...so maybe you will?!
The 10 Habits of Happy Mothers by Meg Meeker: I saw this book recommended by Sarah Mackenzie with Read Aloud Revival. Her recommendations are almost always slam-dunks for me, but this book was super blah for me. I hate to say it, but I was glad when I finally finished it.
The next three books I'm reading are already looking very promising, so I have high hopes for my next reading round-up!
10.17.2024
Boys' Camping Trip to Eagle River Nature Center
Earlier this month, the boys took another quick overnight camping trip to the Eagle River Nature Center. The weather was great & they had so much fun together! I hope Brady always remembers these trips.
10.10.2024
September 2024
It's hard to believe September has already come & gone! Highlights of the month were settling into the rhythms of the new school year, Shelby's 14th birthday, the girls' cross country season {I'll do a season recap soon!}, and Brady's new basketball season kicking off.
We celebrated Labor Day Weekend with blueberry picking on the side of a mountain at Arctic Valley & paddle boating on Otter Lake. It felt like a quintessential fall Alaskan weekend!
We celebrated Labor Day Weekend with blueberry picking on the side of a mountain at Arctic Valley & paddle boating on Otter Lake. It felt like a quintessential fall Alaskan weekend!
{our first try at making jam!}
{Spent the morning at the Alaska Museum of Science & Nature with my homeschooling sidekick. He is posing with his completed scavenger hunt of the museum.}
{Brady telling Shelby about his U.S. map that he is working on in geography}
{Brady lost a tooth at Olive Garden during Shelby's birthday dinner. He was wiggling it, and then it suddenly popped out of his mouth & shot across the table. He looked & looked under the table but couldn't find it. When I put my leftovers in a to-go box at the end of our meal, we suddenly spotted his tooth on my plate!}
{homeschooling field trip to the zoo!}
{we took a walk through the neighborhood throwing the football on a gorgeous fall evening}
{throwing the football at the river}
{I was walking into our bedroom the other day and had to do a double-take as I passed the window}
This last picture below was actually taken on October 1st. In honor of the first day of October, we donned our beds with electric blankets for the rapidly approaching winter {the kids were so excited for warm beds!} and I surprised the kids with little Halloween craft kits. Brady had a blast painting his haunted house and listening to Halloween stories on the Echo Dot. He had so much fun!
We have had the best fall weather since we've moved here! It's been much milder & drier, which has been so nice. As I am typing this, it is October 10th & we woke up to our first dusting of snow this morning. But the sun came out by lunchtime & the temperature is up to 40 degrees, so the only snow remaining is at the tops of the mountains. As I drove Shelby to jazz band this morning, we just kept marveling at the view--it looked like the inside of a snow globe or a picture on a postcard!
10.06.2024
Shelby's 14th Birthday!
On September 17th, we celebrated our fourteen year old!! We started the day curling her hair per her request. Her birthday fell on a Tuesday, so she started her day at Jazz Band rehearsal followed by school & cross country practice.
After I picked the girls up from practice, we came home for Shelby's birthday dinner--she requested buffalo chicken sandwiches, green beans, and tater tots--followed by red velvet cupcakes & presents galore! We had so much fun celebrating our Shelby-girl!
Other fun birthday-ish things not pictured included: a birthday dinner to Oliver Garden & shopping at Bath and Body Works the weekend before her birthday as well as the Alaska State Fair/Need2Breathe concert in August with her friend Ella.
And a couple days after her birthday, we headed to the DMV! In Alaska, you can learn to drive and learn to fly a plane at the age of fourteen! ;)
And a couple days after her birthday, we headed to the DMV! In Alaska, you can learn to drive and learn to fly a plane at the age of fourteen! ;)

{Shelby with her temporary permit right after we got it}
{first driving lesson with Dada in his truck!}
{all smiles when her official new permit came in the mail}
Shelby is so easy to celebrate! We are so proud of who she is & who she's becoming. We love you so much, Shelby!
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