Amy Scott's Thoughts

What I’ve Been Reading – July 2026 July 31, 2026

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf — Amy Scott @ 3:25 pm

Bookish Thoughts for July

What a July I’ve had! True to my promise, I am still working through the Harry Potter series. I’m currently over halfway through book five. Two more to go! Because we’ve been on the road a lot in July, our family has been listening to the audiobooks as we travel. However, we have gone from listening to parts of six to most of seven then back to six and then back to one and a bit of two! We’ve been jumping all over the timeline depending on what listener wants their current book to be played. We’ve also introduced the boys to movies four-six (with a few skipped scenes). While the boys were with Nana and Papa at the beach, Jeremy and I re-watched movies four-seven as a refresher before we decided to let the kids move forward. We are now paused in our movie viewing for the time being. When you add all the time spent reading the books, listening to the books, and watching the movies… July has been dedicated to Harry Potter. I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite series ever, but it’s been fun to experience this all as a family. Jeremy even joined in and started listening to the audiobooks in his free time. We’ve all been camped out in the wizarding world together. It’s been a bonding experience this summer.

When I haven’t been reading Harry Potter, I’ve been doing my best to keep up on library books. I own the Harry Potters books and I have access to them on Kindle Unlimited, so there is no rush or deadline with them. Library books take top priority since I only have them for three weeks. I enjoyed Robin Jones Gunn’s new release, Shortbread in the Highlands. It took place in autumn (my favorite season) and definitely had me pining for the fall. I mentioned Seeking Persephone last month. I was able to complete the series about her siblings this month. I very much enjoyed my time with the Lancasters. Every time a new library hold became available, I would abandon Harry (sorry, Harry). I’ve had a ping-pong feeling with my reading vibes this month. Also, you’ll see my book list is shorter than usual. Summer travels and summer hosting have claimed a majority of my time, but I’ve found pockets of time to read here and there. My favorite place to read in the summer is poolside. I’ve gotten quite a bit of my reading done with kids happily splashing in the background this month. Good times!

July was spent with Harry Potter and the Lancaster siblings!

The Book List for July
1 Star = I did not like it. 2 stars = It was okay. 3 stars = I liked it. 4 stars = I really liked it. 5 stars = It was amazing.

Fiction:

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling – 3 stars
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling – 3 stars
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling – 3 stars
Only in Your Dreams by Madison Wright – 3 stars
Shortbread in the Highlands by Robin Jones Gunn – 4 stars
Romancing Daphne by Sarah M. Eden – 4 stars
Loving Lieutenant Lancaster by Sarah M. Eden- 4 stars
Charming Artemis by Sarah M. Eden- 4 stars

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Sunriver Surprise! July 28, 2026

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf,Family Time,Homeschool Adventures,Travels — Amy Scott @ 2:22 pm

Our traveling summer continues! The boys got a surprise extra weekend at the beach with Nana and Papa. What a treat! They have been gone a total of 14 days this month. Crazy! 11 days away for Jeremy and I. Our suitcases are getting good use! We had a week at home between our anniversary trip and what was supposed to be a family camping trip. During that time, we hosted many pool swims and hang outs with friends. It seems we are either traveling or hosting in our backyard. It’s been a very fun, but very busy summer. You gotta enjoy the nice days in the PNW while they are here!

Back to the “supposed” family camping trip… Burn bans meant camping without a fire this summer. Boo! We talked with Jeremy’s family and we decided that camping without a fire just wasn’t the same. Not only is it way less enjoyable, it also makes it harder to cook. Most of our camping meals are best cooked over the fire. We tossed out some ideas of how to pivot and, surprisingly, Sunriver was suggested. If you’ve followed my blog for a while you know that Sunriver is a very happy place for our family. We love it! We were last there in October for Owen’s birthday and our boys were disappointed that we didn’t have 2026 plans to return. This surprise opportunity to go to one of our favorite places was just too good to pass up! It was certainly an upgrade from camping!

We stayed in a new part of Sunriver Resort called Caldera Springs. The house was lovely and this new neighborhood came with new amenities. The boys loved exploring two new pools and running amok with their cousins. We took a family bike ride and went on many walks. I love all the paved trails throughout Sunriver. They are always a highlight for me! It’s such a beautiful area to be outside. We played lot of family games – board games, card games, dice games, pool, ping pong… So many games! We also tried duck pin bowling for the first time. It was neat to learn a new style of bowling. Bonus, there was plenty of time to read – either poolside or at the house. Overall, it was a delightful trip! It was completely unexpected and that made it an even bigger blessing.

After Sunriver, we came back home to more backyard hosting. The boys had a friend from church over to swim on Friday and we hosted a Scott family BBQ on Saturday. The pool is always a highlight (no matter the weather), but we also had plenty of yard games. We had croquet, bocce ball, soccer, trackball, and badminton all ready to go! We enjoyed a very tasty BBQ dinner and smores for dessert. We just had friends over again yesterday for more swimming, playing, and my go-to hangout treat this summer – popsicles! I love summertime hosting!

We took a break from our cooking class due to travels. We were able to sneak a lesson in on Sunday and I’m hoping we can get another one in this coming weekend before things pick up again. Our cooking lesson this week was hummus. Our family isn’t a big fan of hummus, but it was interesting to make it from scratch. The boys loved using the blender and Owen discovered he loves pita bread. So funny that Owen fell in love with the side, not the dish. That’s life! Next up in cooking class is a baked snack mix and stovetop popcorn. Owen loves microwave popcorn. He is looking forward to doing a taste test.

There is the update on the latest round of travels! Many more adventures yet to be had as August inches closer!

We are in our final unit of summer school – math! Owen is enjoying his new curriculum so much he pulls it out and does extra problems in his free time. I’m completely shocked!

Welcome to Sunriver! Definitely an upgrade from camping!

Exploring a new pool at the Forest House

My favorite summer vibes – a book by the pool!

Using my time at home this week to plan for September. It will be here in a blink!

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Summer Travel Begins! July 13, 2026

Filed under: Family Time,Travels,Tasty Treats — Amy Scott @ 11:16 am

We usually don’t travel much during the summer. Being a homeschool family, we often save our travels for the school year. While others are at school and work, we adventure during the quieter seasons. This works very well for me. I’m not a huge fan of crowds and off-season prices are much more reasonable. However, this year we have quite a few summer travel plans. It’s not our usual summer flow, but we love to adventure together as a family, so we’re embracing the summer travel season! Here’s a look at our first summer travel adventure…

We met up with my family at the beach to celebrate America’s 250th birthday and my dad’s 70th birthday. The vibe of the weekend was chill and relaxing. We had lots of downtime. The boys enjoyed early morning beach walks with Jeremy and video game discussions with Auntie. Graham took to playing darts and Owen discovered Smash Bros. on Grandpa’s arcade console. I enjoyed afternoon walks in the sunshine, plenty of time to read, and a few family games. The highlight of the beach is always the massive amount of fireworks. The deck of the beach house has the perfect view of all the action. We get the show for free and without the crowds. It’s a set-up that works well for us! After celebrating America’s birthday, we celebrated my dad’s birthday with waffles and dinner out at one of our favorite places, Mo’s. I’m glad we were able to celebrate these milestone birthdays together!

After the beach, we had less than twenty-four hours at home before we packed up and hit the road again. This time we went away from the coast and into the mountains. To celebrate Jeremy and I’s 20th wedding anniversary, we planned a trip to explore Wenatchee, North Cascades National Park, and Leavenworth. There was a lot of drive time on this trip, but we were all sucked into listening to audiobooks while taking in new and interesting scenery. It made the time in the car fly by. Wenatchee was a bit hot, but we still had lots of fun birding, swimming in the hotel pool, and finding local favorites to eat. Our day at North Cascades was beautiful. We went many years ago, but it was too smoky to see the mountains. This time the mountains were out in all their glory! We enjoyed the views as we drove around as well a few hikes along the way. Our final day was spent in Leavenworth. The boys had never been so we were excited to introduce them to the Bavarian experience. We ate cookies at The Gingerbread Factory before 10am. We explored the shops and purchased ornaments at Kris Kringl. The scavenger hunt at The Nutcracker Museum was a huge hit, so was the giant pretzel we had at lunch. Our final adventure was min-golf before hitting the road for home. We packed a lot of fun into three days!

The kick-off to our summer travel plans was a good one. I’m looking forward to even more adventures right around the corner. Summer travels can be pretty great – especially when we’re together!

Enjoying the beach before the big celebration

Watching the beach explode with fireworks!

Happy 20th Wedding Anniversary!
North Cascades National Park

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Fridays are Fun! July 2, 2026

Filed under: Cooking Experiments,Family Time,Homeschool Adventures,Tasty Treats — Amy Scott @ 4:02 pm

Fridays are my favorite day of the week! Jeremy has the day off and it’s a family day. Our field trip adventures often happen on Fridays so we can explore the world together as a family. We will run errands on Fridays (yes, going to Costco is my definition of fun). Occasionally, we’ll be home all day on a Friday. We’ll take care of projects around the house, but at at slow pace. Fridays at home have a very chill vibe. I really enjoy how we spend our Fridays. On my kitchen white board I have our school schedule written out and Friday is listed as a Family Adventure Day. Our homeschool lifestyle allows Fridays to be whatever we need them to be. They are often the highlight of my week!

This last Friday was a great mix of all my favorite things! We got up to the Olympia mid-morning. I’ve been holding on to some Chick-fil-A gift cards that Jeremy and I won at a conference. We love Chick-fil-A breakfast so we decided brunch at Chick-fil-A would be a great way to start our day out. After we ate, we went over to the mall to watch Toy Story 5 at the theater. This specific movie theater has “luxury loungers” that let you put our feet up and lean back. Another special treat! We enjoyed the movie and then splurged on Crumbl Cookies because the churro cookie was on the menu. It’s Jeremy and Graham’s favorite. The kids were hungry so we slid through McDonald’s for FIFA Squishmallow Happy Meals (we have a weakness for Squishmallows). Someone ahead of us paid for our meals and added extra joy and kindness into our day. Next was a stop at Costco to fill up on essentials and samples and then home! A fun day out as a family would have been enough and I would have been happy with a quiet evening at home, but this last Friday was book club! Bonus fun! Book club Fridays are always my favorite! It was wonderful to connect with my mom friends and fellow book lovers. Our conversations are so life-giving and I always come home with more books to add to my TBR. All around, Friday was a fantastically fun day! Hooray!

Okay, what else have we been up to? The weather around Father’s Day and a little after was hot. We were able to host a couple of pool swim hang outs with friends. It’s not often that swimming in our pool feels good in June, so this was a bonus that we took full advantage of. We love sharing our pool with others! We’ve had some quiet moments, especially when the weather changed back to misty and cool. The boys completed our library’s summer reading program and turned in their paperwork for free zoo tickets and coupons. We hosted a dinner and introduced yet another family to The Bible is Funny card game. I made strawberry shortcake for dessert which felt like the perfect treat to wrap up June with. Our next cooking class lesson was guacamole. This lesson was appreciated more than the eggs and salsa. Owen loves guacamole so it was nice to see him devouring what he made instead of just lightly tasting it.

Now we are looking forward to celebrating some special milestones over the next week! First, America’s 250th birthday. Then, my dad’s 70th birthday. Followed by, Jeremy and I’s 20th wedding anniversary. The next week will be one giant celebration! So much fun to look forward to (even though none of those milestones fall on a Friday this year, too bad).

Some family outings call for selfies in the minivan!

Already missing this strawberry shortcake. So good!

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What I’ve Been Reading – June 2026 June 30, 2026

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf — Amy Scott @ 2:02 pm

Bookish Thoughts for June

I didn’t intend to focus so much on regency and historical fiction in June. It just happened… I go through seasons where I like one genre of reading and campout there. June had those moments. I will say that I’ve currently had my fill of historical fiction and I’m dabbling in contemporary waters again. June was also a good month for non-fiction. I usually try to read one non-fiction a month and I tackled three in June. I love being above average (even if it’s my own average). Wildflowers of the West is a combination of field guild meets artist guide. I thoroughly enjoyed reading a book with pictures! Digital Minimalism was a great reaffirmation of choices I feel like I’m already making in my life. Not new information, but a good reminder. Because Digital Minimalism was published in 2019, I found the stats a bit dated, but it was still worth reading. Joyful, Anyway by Kate Bowler was a long awaited hold from the library. I’ve appreciated Bowler’s others works and this one had me pondering what it means to be joyful (anyway) long after I finished it!

Part of my June reading was inspired by others. My boys are in a major Harry Potter phase right now. Graham is reading through the series for the first time and Owen has been re-reading them as well. They keep asking to discuss the details with me and I can’t seem to remember the smaller moments. I read the series 4 years ago and, apparently, only the major plot points stuck (okay, some of those are fuzzy, too). I told the boys I would re-read the series so I could add to the conversation. Unfortunately, I’m reading much too slow for their taste. I’m reading Harry AND my usual TBR at the same time. I’ll get through the series this summer, but I have a feeling it will not be fast enough.

I had a friend mention watching the Seeking Persephone mini-series on Angel and she commented on how it was based on a book. The plot is Beauty and the Beast meets Pride and Prejudice. I did enjoy the book more, but I like doing book to movie comparisons every now and again. It’s a fun way to connect with books. Seeking Persephone is a part of a five sibling series. I’ve read the first two and now I’m waiting on holds at the library for the rest. It’s probably good that I don’t have access to all of them now. I would never make my way through Harry Potter!

Notable New Releases… Brighter than Before by Courtney Walsh was a top pick this month. To Dance with a Duke by Gabrielle Meyer was a play on Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Part of Your World was Karen Witemeyer’s Texas take on The Little Mermaid. I love to see how authors can reimagine well-known stories. New releases in Kindle Unlimited keep calling to me and pulling me away from Harry Potter. Hopefully, you’ll see more of Harry on book list next month!

The Book List for June
1 Star = I did not like it. 2 stars = It was okay. 3 stars = I liked it. 4 stars = I really liked it. 5 stars = It was amazing.

Non-Fiction:

Joyful, Anyway by Kate Bowler – 4 stars
Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport – 4 stars
Wildflowers of the West: An Artist’s Guide by Molly Hashimoto – 4 stars

Fiction:

A Most Enticing Enigma by Rebecca Connolly – 3 stars
A Most Deceptive Courtship by Ashtyn Newbold – 3 stars
A Most Unfortunate Happenstance by Esther Hatch – 3 stars
The Ladies Rewrite the Rules by Suzanne Allain – 4 stars
Seeking Persephone by Sarah M. Eden – 4 stars
Courting Miss Lancaster by Sarah M. Eden – 4 stars
To Dance with a Duke by Gabrielle Meyer – 3 stars
Love Finds You in Annapolis, Maryland by Roseanna M. White – 5 stars
Part of Your World by Karen Witemeyer – 3 stars
The Friendsgiving Fake-Out by Savannah Scott – 3 stars
Never Say Maybe by Savannah Scott – 3 stars
No Match Found by Martha Keyes – 3 stars
Brighter than Before by Courtney Walsh – 4 stars
On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder – 4 stars
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling – 3 stars

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The June Highlight Reel June 21, 2026

Filed under: Cooking Experiments,Family Time,Homeschool Adventures,Tasty Treats,Travels — Amy Scott @ 1:21 pm

This will be a highlight reel of the many, many celebrations and activities we’ve been a part of recently. Remember that highlight reels are the “highs” of life. They are not the full picture. Not pictured in this post are the headaches, light sunburns, bug bites, seasonal allergy attacks, broken AC, or canceled plans. Nothing too major; just the normal stuff of life. I often focus on the positive moments in this blog. I love sharing our adventures and I would like this blog to be an encouraging place. The internet has enough negativity; I don’t want to add to it. (I also value being authentic in my writing, so it’s definitely a balance!) God is good! We have a very good life. But, in case you ever wonder, we have bad days and hard moments, just like the rest of humanity. If we don’t have the lows, the highs wouldn’t be as amazing. Okay, now that I have the fine print out of the way, I hope you enjoy our highlight reel!

Also Not Pictured: our yummy Chinese food from a favorite restaurant, the many variations of pizza we ate over last weekend, the multiple house tours we gave to collogues and out-of-state family members, the two full carts we checked out with at Costco, the number of greeting cards we signed, chatting at the dining table with a good friend, various games played, making smores in the backyard, and all the changes of clothes I packed for our adventures (just in case we needed them)! It’s been a full couple of weeks. June was definitely a month about people. We’ve had so many meals, celebrations, and adventures with oodles of friends and family. We are super thankful to do life alongside such a wonderful community!

Celebrating Grandma birthday (and Father’s Day) with Chinese food and apple pie!

The Scott brothers did a fantastic job throwing their parents a 50th wedding anniversary party! The room was filled with hundreds of photos from over the decades. Everywhere you looked was a testimony to the legacy of love Bill & Debbie have built for this family.

Super proud of both boys for performing a few piano pieces they’ve learned with Nana to honor her.

Spent the “work” day with Jeremy and the Bethel staff at the Mariner’s game on Thursday! It had been over a decade since I’d been to a game. It was a lot of fun and the Mariners won. Good times!

Going to the ballpark is all about the food… oh wait… I mean baseball… Nope… I mean the food!

Father’s Day Adventure to Mt. Rainier: Can you spot the marmot?

Playing the new game we got Jeremy for Father’s Day!

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Food and Stuff June 10, 2026

Filed under: Cooking Experiments,Family Time,Homeschool Adventures,Travels — Amy Scott @ 1:45 pm

Yes, I named my blog post after Ron Swanson’s favorite discount food outlet (from Parks and Recreation). It seemed to summarize the contents of this blog post quite nicely. We’ve made a whole lot of food and done some stuff. Haha!

As you’ll gather from my photos, we’ve been full steam ahead with our cooking course. We just wrapped up our 4th egg lesson last night. We’ve learned that our boys aren’t a fan of eggs. Having them taste 8 different egg dishes might have created some child trauma. We all remember having to eat “that” food growing up. For me, it was peas. For my boys, it will be eggs. So much self-discovery happening in the Scott family kitchen! This course has taken much more time and energy than I expected. (Go figure, isn’t that life?) With the boys doubling recipes so they can make their own individual offerings, it has also made a lot more dishes than I imagined. I have to remind myself in the moment that kitchens are meant to be used and messes can be cleaned up. It looks a bit like an explosion after each lesson. Cleaning up after cooking is also a life skill to pass on to the next generation. Am I right? We move on to fresh salsa in the next lesson. It’s a little scary how excited the boys are to use knives again. Pray for all our fingers!

On to the stuff… We took a sunny Sunday afternoon drive out toward Mt. St. Helens. The “mountains are calling” to us this summer (thanks, John Muir). We have a to-do of mountains to visit and Mt. St. Helens was the first on the agenda! We explored two visitor centers that we’d never been to before. The Forest Learning Center was sponsored by Weyerhaeuser and focused on reclaiming the wood that fell during the eruption as well as reforesting the area after reclamation. We also visited the Science and Learning Center at Coldwater Ridge. We’ve visited the Johnson Ridge Observatory and the Mt. St. Helens Visitor Center at Silver Lake in the past. I’m pretty sure we’ve made it to all the Mt. St. Helens related visitor centers now! The drive was beautiful and the up-close view of the mountain is always captivating. It’s crazy to think not too long ago that mountain had a pointy top!

Other newsy news, we met our friends sweet puppies last week! They are so cute and little, but they will grow up to be big dogs like their parents. Unfornately due to allergies, these puppies are a no-go for our family. It didn’t stop the boys from bonding with the two fluffiest ones. We wrapped up spring soccer last week as well. It was a good season, but very short. We were just finding our groove and the season was over. Bummer! We’ve been enjoying family game nights, hanging out with friends, and celebrating with family. June is a month long party with four birthdays, Father’s Day weekend, and my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary. We are literally partying every weekend, sometimes multiple times a weekend. It’s definitely an enthusiastic way to roll into summer!

Bo Berry Biscuit Attempt #4: A haphazard combination of muffin mix and pancake mix. Very messy results, but also very tasty!

Wrapping up our Mt. St. Helens outing with Papa Pete’s Pizza! Yum!

Wrapping up spring soccer! So thankful for our faithful grandparent cheering squad!

Cooking 1: Soft-boiled eggs, hard-boiled eggs, and egg salad sandwiches

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What I’ve Been Reading – May 2026 May 31, 2026

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf — Amy Scott @ 1:00 pm

Bookish Thoughts for May

My mission for May was to read Beth Brower’s complete works. After falling in love with The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, I wanted to see if I would enjoy her other books just as much. It turns out that Emma is still my favorite, but I did enjoy reading the whole collection. Brower’s fantasy trilogy, The Books of Imirillia, was my favorite of the bunch (yes, I realize by choosing a series, I picked three favorites). I thought about the characters often after completing the series, which to me is a mark of good writing. The Beast of Ten was a new take on Beauty and the Beast. I did like it, but the feel of the novel was a touch darker than I prefer. The Q was set in a similar time period as Emma M. Lion, but in a fictional European country. I liked the familiar societal structure and the plot, but I kept comparing Quincy to Emma. No surprise; Emma wins. It’s not a competition, I know… But alas, here I am… in my third month of talking about Emma M. Lion on my book blog. The obsession is real. Thanks to Teacher Appreciation Day and Mother’s Day, I now own the entire Emma series! I also had multiple friends complete reading the series. Now I have people to talk with about all my hopes and dreams for Emma.

Other highlights of the month… Into a Golden Era by Gabrielle Meyer. I adore the Timeless series so much! I look forward to each new release. They are always a special treat. I appreciate how Meyer adds a new layer or twist to each book. They each have their own unique flavor while staying in the confines of the time-crossing world. Runners up this month would be More Than Friends by Denise Hunter and The Island Bakeshop by Roseanna M. White. Both authors are among my favorites and both books took place in small coastal towns. They gave me summer’s-coming, beachy vibes.

For non-fiction, I really enjoyed Capable: How to Teach Your Kids the Strengths, Skills, and Strategies to Build Resilience by Sissy Goff and David Thomas. They are two of my favorite authors when it comes to parenting resources. This book met me right where I was at and gave me very practical skills and encouragement. I’d been looking forward to this new release for months and it did not disappoint! I try to read some non-fiction every month to keep myself in a growth mindset. There is always more to learn on this journey of life. I’m not sure yet what my June non-fiction read will be. I hope it finds me soon! Honestly, I’m not too worried. Books have a way of popping up just when I need them!

The Book List for May
1 Star = I did not like it. 2 stars = It was okay. 3 stars = I liked it. 4 stars = I really liked it. 5 stars = It was amazing.

Non-Fiction:

Capable: How to Teach Your Kids the Strengths, Skills, and Strategies to Build Resilience by Sissy Goff and David Thomas – 4 stars
Sacred Prayer: 90 Days of Deeper Intimacy with God by Ann Voskamp – 4 stars

Fiction:

Love You Later by Julie Christianson – 3 stars
All Booked Up by Melody Carlson – 3 stars
More Than Friends by Denise Hunter – 4 stars
The Queen’s Gambit by Beth Brower – 3 stars
The Ruby Prince by Beth Brower – 4 stars
The Wanderer’s Mark by Beth Brower – 4 stars
The Beast of Ten by Beth Brower – 3 stars
The Q by Beth Brower – 4 stars
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi – 4 stars
Into a Golden Era by Gabrielle Meyer – 4 stars
The Island Bakeshop by Roseann M. White – 4 stars
Rival Season by Leah Brunner and Katie Bailey – 2.5 stars
A Most Faithful Companion by Kasey Stockton – 3 stars
Just Frankie, Actually by Brittany Larsen – 3 stars
Short-Straw Bride by Karen Witemeyer – 3 stars
Stealing the Preacher by Karen Witemeyer – 3 stars

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So Long 4th & 6th Grade! May 27, 2026

Filed under: Cooking Experiments,Family Time,Homeschool Adventures — Amy Scott @ 1:50 pm

Since we homeschool almost year-round, we don’t have a true “last day of school.” In May, we wrapped up our 36 weeks of curriculum and our year-end assessment testing. The boys might not have a technical last of school, but they did have a true “last day” for their grade levels. 4th and 6th grade are officially finished! It’s a good feeling!

We enjoyed a short break over Memorial Day weekend and then started summer school this week. For summer school, we jumped into our 5th and 7th grade curriculum. Yay for new books! Summer school is a fun change of pace. We do “batch” subjects instead of all the subjects in one school day. The flow looks two weeks of science and then we switch to two weeks of history. After that, it’s two weeks of language arts. We end summer with two weeks of math. This allows us to get ahead and gives us flexibility for breaks during the regular school year. We take August off, so we do get a “summer break” and that allows us to have a “first day of school” when we go back to our regular schedule in September. It’s all semantics, but I try to make sure we have similar milestones to their peers in public school. Plus, I love the photo opportunities!

We selected Cooking 1 as an elective for the coming school year. I thought we’d start it in the fall. Owen got ahold of the book when it arrived and has spent hours pouring over it. He begged me to start over the summer and I agreed. We started our next family adventure together this last weekend: cooking!!! I haven’t passed on many cooking skills to the boys, because I have very few myself. I’m hoping to learn alongside my boys during this class. Jeremy is our family chef and by doing the class on the weekends, he is able to assist us and offer his expertise. Week one went really well! The boys made scrambled eggs and French toast for the first time. The end results were edible (not just edible, but also tasty)! Praise the Lord! The bonus of this class is the boys have promised to try everything they create. With picky eaters, this is a huge win for us. We’re hoping to broaden their flavor palates as well as their cooking skills through this course.

Being in summer mode means more time to hang with friends and enjoy the great outdoors. Jeremy and the boys got the backyard pool up and ready to go this weekend. It’s too cold to swim yet, but it will be ready when the time comes. We’ve enjoyed having friends over to run amok in our backyard. We’re in the middle of our spring soccer season. We have another state park hike on the calendar with friends as well as outdoorsy travel plans booked throughout the summer. I love the transition to our summer schedule. These are some of my favorite months! A little bit of school and a lot of adventure is a good combination!

Making friends at Lattin’s Country Cider Mill & Farm

Highlight of the farm: watching the male peacocks show off for the ladies!

Kicking off summer school with Cooking 1!

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Soccer, Seattle, & Swim! May 16, 2026

Filed under: Family Time,Homeschool Adventures,Tasty Treats,Travels — Amy Scott @ 2:17 pm

Apparently, I’m into alliterations this month. My last post was Flowers, Food, & Fun! and this one is Soccer, Seattle, & Swim! I’m curious if I can keep the theme going and what letter will represent the next part of our month. Okay, I’m taking mental rabbit trails early on in this post. I’ll rein myself in now!

Spring soccer started a week ago. It’s a short season. Only 4 sessions. The boys were a little nervous because their favorite coach and her kiddos weren’t participating this time. Thankfully, they recognized quite a few kids on their team and they connected well with the new coaches. Homeschool soccer is run like a sports camp. The kids do drills and skills practice for the first half of the time and then they scrimmage the second half. It’s been neat to watch them grow over the last few years. They both mentioned their legs being tired the next day. It had been a while since they ran full tilt! It’s joy to watch them from the sidelines; cheering alongside the grandparents. They are blessed with a faithful cheering squad!

For Mother’s Day weekend, I requested an adventure in Seattle. It had been over a decade since I’d been to Pike Place Market. We’d never taken the boys to this part of a Seattle. It was fun to walk them through the highlights of the market. They saw the first Starbucks, watched cheese being made at Beecher’s Handmade Cheese, gobbled a couple of cookies from Cinnamon Works, and got to watch the fishmongers tossing fish into the market. My favorite moment was the look on their faces when we went down to the iconic gum wall below the market. So gross! After taking in the sights (and smells) of the market, we wandered down to the waterfront to purchase tickets for the Great Wheel. The giant Ferris wheel sits on Pier 57 and has great views of the sound and the city. Despite some reservations about the height, a good time was had by all and memories were definitely made.

Mother’s Day weekend was spent celebrating Grandma on Saturday and Nana on Sunday. Celebrating with food is important to our family! On Saturday, we enjoyed Papa Murphy’s pizza and Nothing Bundt Cakes. On Sunday, we had my favorite mac and cheese from the Costco deli and in honor of Nana we got fried chicken from KFC. My love of chocolate cake was fulfilled with both Linda’s Fudge Cake at The Cheesecake Factory on Friday (split with Owen) and a tuxedo chocolate mousse cake from Costco on Sunday. To break up the chocolate, my bundt cake was lemon flavored on Saturday. All were delightful! I love cheese and cake! It was a blessing to share the weekend with our moms. These ladies are dearly loved by our families. They add so much joy to our lives and we are thankful for them!

We did a round of spring swim lessons this week to prepare for summer pool season! Our backyard pool should go up next weekend! Owen is a strong swimmer, but Graham needed a confidence boost. We don’t swim often enough over the winter months to keep swim skills sharp. They both improved their strokes and stamina over the course of the week. Friday was an open swim and the kids got put their swim skills to good use while playing! Jeremy has been out of town the last few days at a men’s conference. Swimming lessons, piano lessons, an afternoon with friends, and special dinner plans have keep us hopping. We’ve tired ourselves out! I’m very thankful that today is a home day and a day of rest. The Lord knew what he was doing when He created the Sabbath! Amen!