Amy Scott's Thoughts

What I’ve Been Reading – January 2024 January 31, 2024

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

Bookish Thoughts for January

The biggest highlight of January was adding to my home library thanks to many thoughtful birthday gifts. Through a combination of birthday money, gift cards, and gifting, I added 14 books to my collection this month. I also pre-ordered a March new release. Woo hoo! When I realized that my birthday was going to be very quiet, I went to the internet started my online book shopping. I had hoped to visit a couple of bookstores in-person, but the weather didn’t accommodate. Oh well! I got my books, one way or another!

When adding to my home library this month, I went back through my Goodreads ratings for the last few years. If a book rated 4 or 5 stars, I added to my wish list. I also went through my Kindle and selected books that I’ve re-read digitally more than once. Since you can’t let friends borrow Kindle books, I wanted to add physical copies to my shelves so can share my favorites with others. Adding to my home library isn’t just about me. I love sharing books amongst family and friends.

Also this month, I did a little research reading for Owen. I remember reading Hatchet and The Twenty-One Balloons in elementary school and I wanted to refresh my memory on the stories. I believe Owen will enjoy these stories in the next few years, so I’ll look to add them to our home library in the near future. I’m also currently reading the Skyward series by Brandon Sanderson. I was gifted the first book and there is a good chance I will pick up the complete series at some point. It’s been a solid 3 star series for me, but I could see my boys enjoying this YA Sci-Fi series in the future as well. Because a friend gave me the first book and is now letting me borrow the rest of the series, it’s been fun to connect with her and her daughter over this shared reading experience. I love when books bring people closer together!

I’m still enjoying my discounted subscription to Kindle Unlimited thanks to a Black Friday deal in November. The price will increase later in February, so I’m doing my best to get as my KU books read as possible in the next few weeks. I’m “on again, off again” with KU. I can’t justify the price monthly, but I enjoy the strategy of waiting for a decent about of new books to become available and then I re-subscribe for a short period of time. For the times when I don’t have KU, I’m thankful for the library, the Libby app, reading from my home library, and borrowing from friends. I’m never without access to a good book! What a wonderful thing!

A few new-to-me books! Yay birthday month!

Top Picks for January

*Practicing the Way* – John Mark Comer is one of my favorite authors and his new release didn’t disappoint! *Tuesdays Like That* -This one has scheming grandmas and a fake marriage that turns out to be real! So much fun!

The Book List for January
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:

Modern Miss Mason: Discover How Charlotte Mason’s Revolutionary Ideas on Home Education Can Change How You and Your Children Learn and Grow Together by Leah Boden – 4 stars
Practicing the Way: Be with Jesus. Become like him. Do as he did. by John Mark Comer – 5 stars

Fiction:

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen – 3 stars
The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène du Bois – 3 stars
Starsight by Brandon Sanderson – 3 stars
Cytonic by Brandon Sanderson – 3 stars
The Good Part by Sophie Cousens – 3 stars
Landin’ in Trouble by Brittany Larson – 3 stars
Just One Look (novella) by Brittany Larson – 3 stars
That Fine Line by Cindy Steel – 3 stars
Double or Nothing by Cindy Steel – 3 stars
Stranded Ranch (novella) by Cindy Steel – 3 stars
Falling in Line by Kasey Stockton – 3 stars
Sadie and the Bad Boy Billionaire by Emma St. Clair and Jenny Proctor – 3 stars
Play Me Once by Carina Taylor – 4 stars
Tuesdays Like That by Carina Taylor – 4 stars
A Fish Out of Water by Savannah Scott – 3 stars
He is So Not My Valentine (novella) by Savannah Scott – 3 stars
But He’s My Grumpy Neighbor by Annah Conwell – 4 stars
Selling Out by Martha Keyes – 4 stars

Leave a Comment

A Chill(y) Birthday January 18, 2024

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf,Family Time,Homeschool Adventures,Tasty Treats — Amy Scott @ 2:07 pm

Well, we didn’t get as much snow as I had hoped for this last weekend, but we did experience quite the deep freeze. Our snow from last week stuck around thanks to the cold temps, but we only had a few inches. Those inches just camped out for the weekend since it was too cold for them to melt off. It was a wild weather week, but thankfully, yesterday was the end of our wintery conditions.

This last weekend was my birthday weekend. My actual birthday was Sunday, but I’m all about making birthdays bigger than a single day. We had a family outing planned on Friday and a family meal planned on Saturday. Both were cancelled due to the weather. It’s good thing I’m an introverted homebody. While I was sad to see those plans go, I was also very okay with a quiet weekend at home.

Things really started to freeze on Friday, so Jeremy pulled the boys on sleds up and down the driveway behind our minivan (until the sleds cracked due to too much gravel poking through – oops!). Saturday, we took a freezing walk to our local beaver dam only to come home to no power! With the high that day being 21F, we were a little nervous about being without power. Jeremy fired up our generator and we were able to make a hot dinner using our Instant Pot and electric kettle. After we got dinner cleaned up as best we could, the power came back on! Thankfully, it was only out for a couple hours so the house didn’t have time to get too cold.

I’m not a confident winter weather driver. The little bit of snow that came in on Saturday evening was enough for me to stay put come Sunday morning. I didn’t want a white-knuckle drive to church on my birthday. Instead, I had a lovely day around the house. I made snowflake waffles in our mini-waffle maker. I enjoyed plenty of time to read and walk. We played multiple board games together as a family. Our newest board game is The Quest for Eldorado and it’s the current family favorite. Jeremy picked up a Costco mac and cheese and chocolate cake before the weather moved in on Thursday. I was able to have my favorite foods for dinner on my birthday! Food is always a big highlight of my celebrating process! It was a pretty chill way to kick off being 38, but that’s okay. It was cozy and wonderful!

On Monday, we were able to get out of the house for a little bit. We had dinner with Jeremy’s parents and introduced them The Quest for Eldorado. We improvised to make the game work for 5 players. It was a little silly with Jeremy’s token being a giant hiker from our national park board game, but it worked! The big conversation on Monday was the freezing rain coming in on Tuesday. With most of our homeschool co-op being concerned about freezing temps and road conditions, we ended up cancelling co-op this week. The freezing rain did come in Tuesday evening, so Jeremy had a late start to work yesterday while we waited for the ice on the roads to melt.

What wild, winter weather we’ve had this last week! Even now, we still have snow on the ground. The rain is doing it’s best to make it disappear and I’m feeling torn. I’m always sad to see the snow go. I’m also ready for things to warm up. It’s been so cold!!! We even reached a new record low for our house on the hill – 12F! It was a very chill(y) birthday weekend, but it was perfect for me! Now I look forward to rejoining the world this coming weekend!

Always following these guys down trails! Friday’s adventure was looking for animal tracks and identifying birds.

Warming up after a walk with our new game.

While we didn’t get a lot of snow, I am thankful it lasted so long!

No power! As you can see, Graham was in shorts, so we didn’t freeze!

Such pretty birthday waffles! They fit the theme of the weekend so well!

It’s not truly a birthday celebration without chocolate cake!

I introduced Jeremy to *The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes* after the boys went to bed on my birthday. Now we’re re-watching the whole *Hunger Games* saga.

One of these things is not like the other! Haha! We had to improvise to make *The Quest for Eldorado* a 5 player game!

Even though we didn’t have book club with our co-op yesterday, we still read the chapter and sampled Turkish Delight!

Graham is studying the solar system in his science right now. Love being alongside him for these hands-on activities.

Leave a Comment

Hello 2024! January 10, 2024

Filed under: Family Time,Homeschool Adventures,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 4:28 pm

Hello! Welcome to the first post of 2024! It’s been a pretty quiet start to the new year, but I still have plenty to updates to share. We rang in the new year asleep in our beds. It’s been years since we’ve attempted to stay up to midnight. Our neighbors set off loud fireworks that sometimes wake us up at midnight, but this year we slept through them (or they set them off early this year because we definitely heard them earlier in the evening).

We spent the first day of 2024 taking down our Christmas decoration. It’s always a bit sad. The house feels bare after all the festive décor is packed away. After taking down Christmas, I did a quick tidy of all the drawers and cabinets in the house. Unseen spaces need to be maintained so they don’t get out of hand. I am good at keeping tabs on my spaces, but it felt good to make sure everything was neatly in place. I was also able to purge a few unnecessary items. Jeremy spent quite a few hours over Christmas break organizing the garage and sorting through his closet. Our combined efforts gave our whole house a fresh feeling for the new year.

Soon it was back to school and everyday life commitments. We fell back into our routine fairly well. We had a great first week back at school. Our weekend was spent running errands and enjoying down time around the house as a family. We got quite a few new games in December and we played them all together. We also pulled out a family favorite, Wingspan, and played it a couple times over the weekend.

Our homeschool co-op met for the first time this week. I’m teaching a class this session, so Monday afternoon was a prep day for my Tuesday afternoon class. I’m leading a book club for the elementary school students. We’re reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis as a class. For our first class, we read chapter one together. We watched a short movie clip of Lucy finding Narnia and discussed the start of the story together. Our hands-on activity was decorating snowflake sugar cookies together. So much fun! Now the students will read a couple chapters at home and come back next week ready to dive into chapter four with me.

The exciting news of the day is we have snow on the ground this very moment! Our first snow of the season! We live on a hill so our snow totals are a bit more than the rest of the area. I was surprised our local school district didn’t even have a late start today. Our yard totally looks like a snow day; complete with a small snowman that the boys created before daylight! It’s been fun to watch the kids go in and out throughout the day. We’re optimistic that the forecast will bring more snow our way over the next couple of days. I’m 100% on board with being snowed in! Here’s hoping!!!

Back to school and back to science projects!

Jeremy created this clock in stages over Christmas break. It’s now complete and operational. He’s so crafty!

Owen got a new camera for Christmas. He wanted his first picture to be of him and his brother in matching Pokémon shirts.

This photo is now proudly hanging on Owen’s wall.

Leave a Comment

What I’ve Been Reading – December 2023 December 31, 2023

Filed under: Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 10:00 am

Bookish Thoughts for December

It’s the end of 2023 and time to analyze this year’s reading. The stats I’ll share came from my Goodreads “My Year in Books” review. According to Goodreads (and my own note-taking), I’m wrapping up 2023 with 228 books read. That is less than 2022 (265), but more than 2021 (179). The goal I loosely held for 2023 was 200 books and I made it. According to Goodreads, I read 67,535 pages which averages about 296 pages a book. I find stats like this super fun… and kind of nerdy (I’m good with that).

Do you ever unintentionally fall into habits that become routines which become strict “must-do” items on your to-do list? Okay, maybe just me. I unintentionally started the habit of sharing what book I’m reading on my Instagram stories every Wednesday for 2023. It was fun to share 52 books in 2023, but I’m pondering if I will continue this into 2024. I never intended to make it a goal for year and somehow it become one. Since I’m a creature of habit, I have a feeling I’ll be posting my current read this Wednesday.

Another book goal of the year was to get my kids one book month to deliberately pace my book shopping. While they started the year super enthusiastic to pick a book each month, the energy has diminished some. If I bought them exclusively Pokémon books, they would probably be more excited, but I tend to push for diversity. Also, there are new Christmas books to be read, so I might pause on book purchases (for them) until new material is needed. We’ll see how long I last…

I added seven new books to my home library this month and I added quite a few titles to my Amazon Book Wish List. I went through my Goodreads and selected many 4 stars books that I’ve enjoyed and added them to my wish list. I also took note of books I’ve read on my Kindle multiple times and I now wish to give shelf space to these titles. I love reading on my Kindle and it gives me access to so many books, but I’m still in love with the printed page. I hope to add more to my home library after my January birthday. I try to pace myself when it comes to book shopping.

December Home Library Additions – These were all lovely gifts this month!

I don’t quite know what 2024 holds when it comes to reading goals. I counted pages for the first time in 2023 and that was interesting. I’ll probably continue to do so in 2024. I’ll most likely keep posting my current read on Wednesday in Instagram. I will set my Goodreads book goal at 100 again and see where the reading takes me. I have hopes to increase my read-aloud time with my boys. I’m also leading a book club with the elementary class at our homeschool co-op this winter. I’ll spend six weeks going through The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. Owen is thrilled for my class and Graham is skeptical I can make a book club fun. I’m hopeful that my mix of reading, visuals (aka short movie clips), and hand-on activities will engage a wide range of readers (and non-readers). Finger crossed and prayers appreciated!

As you can see, I’m going into 2024 with books being top priority, no surprise. A reading life is a good life. May good books and great stories find you (and me) in 2024!

Top Picks for December

Due to space, I’ll keep my **Top Picks** brief. *The Home Edit Stay Organized* because of the pictures! If I had endless dollars, I would use all their products and labels! *The One with Kiss Cam* was the most un-put-downable book I read this month. I don’t usually give half points, but this was a 4.5 book. Almost perfect!

The Book List for December
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:

Counting the Cost by Jill Duggar – 3 stars
The Home Edit: Stay Organized: The Ultimate Guide to Making Systems Stick by Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin – 5 stars
Jim Trelease’s Read-Aloud Handbook: Eighth Edition by by Jim Trelease and Cyndi Giorgis – 4 stars

Fiction:

Christmas in Paradise by Brittany Larsen – 4 stars
The Grumpy Side of Paradise by Brittany Larsen – 3 stars
(Not So) Famous in Paradise by Brittany Larsen – 3 stars
Second Chance Springs (novella) in Paradise by Brittany Larsen – 3 stars
Dizzy in Love (novella) by Brittany Larsen – 3 stars
The Royal’s Enemy (novella) by Brittany Larsen – 3 stars
One Small Secret (novella) by Esther Hatch – 3 stars
Jingle Bell Jilt (novella) by Mindy Burbidge Strunk – 3 stars
Merry Kismet (novella) by Anneka Walker – 3 stars
A Sugar Creek Christmas (novella) by Jenny B. Jones – 4 stars
His Mistletoe Miracle (novella) by Jenny B. Jones – 4 stars
The Holiday Husband by Jenny B. Jones – 4 stars
The One with the Kiss Cam by Cindy Steel – 4 stars (really 4.5 if I divert from Goodreads ratings)
Just Friends Forever by Martha Keyes – 3 stars
Season’s Schemings by Katie Bailey – 3 stars
Love on Deck by Kasey Stockton – 3 stars
Falling for Your Brother’s Best Friend (novella) by Emma St. Clair – 3 stars
Rent Yourself an Elf (novella) by Savannah Scott – 3 stars
Single All the Way (novella) by Kate Watson – 3 stars
New York, New Year, New You (novella) by Rachael Bloome – 3 stars
Skyward by Brandon Sanderson – 3 stars

Side Note: While the authors may not have advertised the books as such, I have labeled any book under 250 pages as a novella this month. It seems this title can be fluid, especially with independently published books. Even I vacillate on what I view as a novella. My opinion tends to be under 200-250 pages, a book should be called a novella.

Leave a Comment

Wrapping Up Christmas December 29, 2023

Filed under: Family Time — Amy Scott @ 3:40 pm

Christmas has come and gone! Time moves oddly during the holiday season. In many ways, it moves quickly and slowly, all at the same time. It seems that we are racing toward Christmas and staring down a nice, long vacation. What day it is and what time it is seem less relevant. And then suddenly, Christmas has passed and real life is right around the corner. Eek! Our family has a way of making Christmas into a multi-day event. Our Christmas vacation has been filled with friends, family, fun, and food (so many favorites). Thankfully, our holiday break isn’t quite over yet!

The Friday before Christmas, our family took off for the coast. My forever friend, Maggie, was staying at the beach and we scheduled one more get-together to say good-bye. Maggie and I met for lunch at Pig’N Pancake (an Oregon Coast favorite). While Maggie and I ate lunch, ran errands, and grabbed one last Starbucks red cup together, Jeremy took the boys on their own adventures which included climbing the Astoria Column and flying gliders off the top. When our families met up, we took a walk to the beach and then watched the kiddos swim in the condo pool. It was a lovely day, even thought it meant good-bye for awhile. We love this family and we are excited for their new season in a new state.

Christmas was spread out over three days! Christmas Eve Eve (or Christmas Adam, if you prefer), was spent with the Scott family. We enjoyed good food, gifts, and games together. A family Bunco tournament and Christmas Plinko were just some of the shenanigans. The Scott family excels at games. Christmas Eve was a meal and gifts with my parents and sister. Christmas Eve evening, the boys opened their gifts from us and each other. Christmas morning, the boys opened stockings and then we took off for GG’s house where we had another gift exchange and meal. We sure do pack a lot into three days! We are so blessed by our families and the memories we’re able to make together at Christmastime.

We have a Day-After-Christmas tradition of shopping in Portland, OR. We often receive gift cards/cash at Christmas and we’re obviously eager to spend it. I enjoy the family outing and the time together as much as I enjoy the actual shopping. While there was plenty of frivolous shopping (mostly done by the kids), we also snagged sales on jeans, water bottles, and hand soap. I know, I know! We know how to have a good time in the big city. Ha!

Now that Christmas has wrapped up, the rest of our break is continued time with family and friends. Yesterday, my forever friend, Christa, and I got together for lunch while she’s on her holiday school break. After lunch, Jeremy and I took the boys to see Migration in theaters. We don’t go to the movies very often, so this was quite the treat for the boys. Owen got an ICEE since chewy candy is a no-go with him metal mouth and Graham ate through a whole bag of Sour Patch Kids. A movie about birds seemed perfect for our young ornithologists. Based on all the giggles I heard, the move was a hit.

Today, Jeremy spent the day with his family on a golf outing and the boys and I have enjoyed a much needed, restful day around the house. As an introvert, I needed some recharge time after going here and there and everywhere! Now, I’ll be ready and rested fore more good times this weekend. There are a few more festivities before we return to routine. Happy Almost New Year to you all!

One last lunch date while Maggie was a Washingtonian!

So fun to swim with friends in December! I’m so glad these kiddos will have childhood memories together!

Christmas break building – lots of Pokémon sets and LEGOS to put together!

Leave a Comment

Merry & Bright Moments December 21, 2023

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf,Family Time,Tasty Treats — Amy Scott @ 2:55 pm

We officially made it to Christmas vacation! Woo hoo! We wrapped up school on Thursday and celebrated with treats from Starbucks. On Friday, I hosted book club at my house. I made gingerbread cookies and had all the fixings for hot cider and hot cocoa. We do a Christmas book exchange each year at book club. This year, I walked away with Skyward by Brandon Sanderson. He’s been super popular with my friends, so I’m excited to read a new author and see what the hype is about.

Over the weekend, I was able to wrap most of our Christmas presents and I officially finished the project yesterday! It feels good to have all the gifts ready to go and under the tree. To kick-off Jeremy’s Christmas vacation, we went out for Chinese food and then drove around locally to look at Christmas lights on Sunday evening.

Monday, I had a Starbucks peppermint hot chocolate and a catch-up with a friend. Jeremy’s parents invited us over for dinner and a game that evening. Tuesday, we visited the Oregon Zoo for Zoolights. It’s been years since we’ve been so it was neat to see the changes they’ve made. Wednesday, we wrapped up our Christmas shopping and I did some Christmas cookie baking. Today was the big cookie decorating day! It’s just not Christmas without cookies!

We’ve watched some Christmas movies (A Muppet’s Christmas Carol and Journey to Bethlehem) and we’ve been listening to A Drummer Boy Christmas by For King + Country on repeat. These merry and bright moments have been the perfect lead up to a festive and fun weekend ahead. Christmas is always a marathon of celebrating for our family. Why celebrate only one day when you can celebrate over three? Ha! We’ve been having a Christmas-y good time this week and the main event(s) are still yet to come. Happy first day of winter and merry Christmas to all! May many merry and bright moments find you this Christmas season!

Gingerbread cookies, cider with whip cream and caramel sauce, hot cocoa with peppermint and marshmallows. Yum!

Driving through Borst Park Lights in Centralia

Christmas cookies are always so fun to decorate. The trees are my favorite. I think next year I should just make a forest of festive firs as my Christmas cookie contribution.

Leave a Comment

A Musical Weekend December 13, 2023

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf,Children's Ministry — Amy Scott @ 2:55 pm

I could have entitled this blog a musical week, but the main musical highlights happened over the weekend. Our children’s ministry started practicing in September for our annual Christmas musical. This year the musical was Jingle Bell Beach which featured three singing groups competing for top spot in a singing competition. Owen and Graham were both a part of the “Electrons” – the pop/techno group. Performances were this weekend and they went so well! Owen did a great job with his two solos. Both boys were fabulous at memorizing the words and motions. It was so fun to watch the whole production come together.

Jeremy spent quite a bit of time preparing for the musical this last week. From picking up additional microphones and choir risers to shopping for t-shirts and snacks, he was a busy guy! On Wednesday, Owen attended an extra drama/solo practice and I joined Jeremy and Graham to help with our Wednesday evening children’s program. It was an all-hands-on-deck kind of a week. On Sunday morning, I was backstage for the first performance and then I switched places with another mom. I got to watch the second gathering while she took my spot backstage. It’s always a wild morning and it’s never perfect, but it was great nonetheless. I love watching the boys (and all the kids, really) get up on stage and share the Christmas message with our church. Jeremy also has extra platform time on this special Sunday, so he leaned into the beach theme. It’s not often he can be on stage in a Hawaiian print shirt and shorts on a Sunday morning.

The musical was obviously the main event this last week, but the main event around our house was Jeremy building the new bookcases we picked up at Ikea when we were in Portland for the For King + Country concert. Jeremy built them Thursday after work and I dove into book rearranging right away. I started with the new bookcase we added to the playroom. Our playroom books along with some books from the boys’ room went onto the new bookcase. I moved the board games out of the playroom closet and into the open space made my the moved books. I’m hoping with the games being visible, they will be played more often. Moving some books from the boys’ rooms created space to add to their room collections this coming year.

On Friday, with the playroom complete, I moved on to rearranging the books in our bedroom now that we added an additional bookcase there. Our count is up to four bookcases in our room. Jeremy has mentioned I’m turning our room into a library. My real dream is to turn the playroom into a library, but that’s probably a decade out, so it’s our room until then! I was able to move some décor items from the top of the bookcases on to the top shelves. The Billy bookcases from Ikea are so tall. I like having décor on the top shelf so that the top row of books isn’t too hard to reach (I’m short). I was able to move the Bibles and commentaries to their own section (yay) and now we have space on the non-fiction bookcase. We now have two fiction bookcases with plenty of room to add to our home library as well.

Before adding two more bookcases, things were getting tight and adding new books was becoming like a Tetris puzzle. Now there is breathing room again on our shelves. I can add books without messing up the categories and order in place. It feels good. Seeing the blank space on the shelves is a bit of a siren song. Growing a home library is a slow and deliberate process (for me, anyway). I might want to fill in all the gaps right now, but I realize this project set us up for growth in the future. I can live with the open space and dream about the new books that will someday fill those gaps.

Here we are less than two weeks until Christmas!!! The Christmas musical is behind us and we have only two more days until we are on Christmas vacation. I am very much ready to wrap up the school year for 2023 and enjoy the change of pace that comes with the holidays. Wishing you all well as you celebrate this season!

The new playroom book nook! The picture books are still color coded, but the chapter books are not because that would mess up the series’ we have. The top shelf of the Billy bookcase is book-free. I didn’t want kiddos scaling the bookcase to reach the top. Plus, it leaves room to fill in more books later.

It might create more messes, but I want the board games to be visible. The farthest right open cube is books that were too tall or wide for the narrow Billy shelves.

The new bookcase (on the left) in our room. Love that there is space to grow again! The top shelf on each bookcase is a basket with our DVD collection and décor. I don’t love displaying movies/shows, so these baskets have been a favorite of mine!

Leave a Comment

Hello Holidays! December 5, 2023

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf,Family Time,Homeschool Adventures,Travels — Amy Scott @ 2:19 pm

We are in full swing with the holiday season! So much goodness to share! My last update was right before Thanksgiving, so I’ll pick up there… even though Thanksgiving feels like forever ago now. Can anyone else relate? Our Thanksgiving was quieter than years past. Between illness and multiple family members recovering from surgery, our gatherings were small. We got together with Jeremy’s parents and aunt and uncle on Thanksgiving day. The day after Thanksgiving, we had another meal with my parents and sister. Since my dad wasn’t cleared for turkey lifting this year, Jeremy had the honor of making the turkey. He did a fantastic job! Jeremy was super domestic this Thanksgiving. He made multiple pies, side dishes, and a turkey. Jeremy is a great cook and he was the MVP (or MVC – most valuable cook) this Thanksgiving!

Last week, we had our first Christmas party – even though it wasn’t December yet! We wrapped up our homeschool co-op for 2023 and we see our group again in 2024. For our Christmas party, we did a potluck and had various Christmas activities for the kids. There were activity pages, coloring sheets, and a paper snowflake station. We had classic Christmas music in the background while we played, munched, and chatted. The kids brought small gifts for a group gift exchange. I read a version of T’was the Night Before Christmas that was formatted for a left-right game. Each kid started with their own gift and then had to pass accordingly when they heard the words left and right in the story. Our co-op is such a blessing to our family. It was fun to kick off the Christmas season with them.

To kick off December, we joined my forever friend, Maggie, and her family for Snowflake Lane in Bellevue, WA. Snowflake Lane is a parade they put on nightly from the day after Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve. My favorite part is they make it snow as a part of the experience. The snow is really bubbles, but it’s still magical! This was probably our wettest experience at Snowflake Lane, but the rain didn’t spoil the affect. We met up early for Starbuck treats and hung out inside before claiming our spot on the parade route. With Maggie’s family moving across the country soon, it was fun to do one more Snowflake Lane with them before they go.

December has certainly been a merry and bright month and we’re not even a full week into it. On Saturday, we decorated our annual gingerbread house! It’s always a mess, but so much fun. We are no way professional with our decorating skills, but the quirkiness adds to the charm. We also started our Advent season on Saturday, instead of Sunday. Lighting a candle and taking a few minutes to focus on Jesus as the center of the Christmas season is always a special moment each week. Owen read the devotional for us as we talked about hope and Emmanuel – God with us!

Sunday evening, Jeremy and I saw For King + Country in concert at Moda Center in Portland, OR. A Drummer Boy Christmas is by far my most listened Christmas album. I’m a huge fan of all their music, but I loved that it was a Christmas concert. For King + Country sang a mix of their Christmas music, but also popular hits and songs from their new album. Our seats were in the nose bleed section, but that didn’t diminish the experience. It was a super fun date night. We were also able to leave a bit early for the city and do some Christmas shopping before the show. A major highlight of the day was picking up two more Billy bookcases from IKEA. Book reorganization is right around the corner. I’m excited to see if my vision can come together like I hope!

That’s all for now! We have a big week ahead as we prepare of our Christmas musical at church this weekend. Lots of Christmas memories to make still ahead!

Jeremy and his tasty Thanksgiving turkey!

Making one last set of Snowflake Lane memories with our friends before they move.

Starting the Advent season with the hope of Emmanuel

Quite the view at Moda Center – For King + Country – A Drummer Boy Christmas Concert

For King + Country – A Drummer Boy Christmas Concert

Leave a Comment

What I’ve Been Reading – November 2023 November 30, 2023

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf — Amy Scott @ 1:14 pm

Bookish Thoughts for November

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas… in all the bookish things! This time of year, I try to get my hands on as much Christmas content as I can. I’ve re-read Christmas books that I own. I snagged a couple Christmas novellas on sale. I’ve used the Libby app and our local library. I also got a Black Friday deal and re-subscribed to Kindle Unlimited. Give me all the Christmas books! While my fiction reading list looks long, about half are novellas, so I fly through those in a blink. I plan to keep all the Christmas cheer coming in December as well! It’s the happiest reading time of the year!

When I re-read The Hunger Games this summer, I mentioned waiting to re-read The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes until November. It was my least favorite of the series and the snake content gave me the heebie-jeebies. While I found the history of Panem and Snow’s backstory interesting, I don’t love stories that don’t have a happily ever after. Snow is the villain of the series, but I couldn’t help rooting for him in Ballad, only to watch him fall. Not my favorite, but definitely informative for the series as a whole. I had a greater appreciation for the book after a second reading. I enjoyed reading it again before seeing the movie. No surprise, I liked the book better, but it was super fun to watch the movie with my forever friend and book buddy, Christa.

I’m making book lists and checking them twice. Between Christmas and my January birthday, this is the best season for adding to my home library. All I want for Christmas is books… you can substitute Christmas for my birthday, Groundhog’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, etc. You get the idea. All the books, all the time. After the holidays, I hope to pour over my 2023 book list and add some favorites from the year to my bookshelves. Because I’m an avid reader, I sometimes forget a good book I read in February by the end of the year. Thankfully, keeping track of my reading on Goodreads and on my phone gives me a great snapshot of what I’ve enjoyed most this last year.

Top Picks for November

Non Fiction: Honey for a Child’s Heart Updated and Expanded: The Imaginative Use of Books in Family Life by Gladys Hunt and Mark Hunt. I read an older copy of this book a few years ago. While I enjoyed it the first time, I really appreciated this updated edition. I found myself stuck wondering what my oldest son should read next and a book about good books for kids was the perfect place for inspiration. Not only is this book packed full of recommendations, but the message is convicting! Good books offer kids so much. As parents, we get the great honor of sharing a world beyond our homes with our children. There are so many good books that will not only spark imagination, but help children gain wisdom, understanding, courage, and many more admirable attributes. Books are one of the greatest tools for shaping the next generation.
Non-Fiction: The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer. This book was recommended by multiple sources, so I decided to give it a go. It had been a while since I’d read WWII historical fiction and I think that made the experience extra emotional for me. I was a blubbering mess by the end! I enjoyed the dual timeline between the grandmother as a teen in Poland during the WWII and her granddaughter in present times. The story is a mystery that unfolds and the title was so fitting. So many things go unsaid, for so many reasons. You see layer after layer throughout the whole story. It was well done and very moving (thus the puddle of tears I created)!

The Book List for November
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:

At Your Best: How to Get Time, Energy, and Priorities Working in Your Favor by Carey Nieuwhof – 5 Stars
Honey for a Child’s Heart Updated and Expanded: The Imaginative Use of Books in Family Life by Gladys Hunt and Mark Hunt – 4 stars

Fiction:

The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer – 4 stars
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins – 4 stars
The Other Side of Darkness by Melody Carlson – 2 stars
Christmas at Harrington’s (novella) by Melody Carlson – 3 stars
The Christmas Bus (novella) by Melody Carlson – 3 stars
The Gift of Christmas Present (novella) by Melody Carlson – 3 stars
Angels in the Snow (novella) by Melody Carlson – 3 stars
Faking Christmas by Cindy Steel – 4 stars
A Christmas Spark (novella) by Cindy Steel – 4 stars
Christmas Baggage by Deborah M. Hathaway – 4 stars
Host for the Holidays by Martha Keyes – 4 stars
Solo for the Season (novella) by Martha Keyes – 3 stars
A Newport Christmess by Jess Heileman – 4 stars
Later On We’ll Conspire by Kortney Keisel – 4 stars
The Holiday Stand-In By Kortney Keisel – 4 stars
Cotswold Holiday by Kasey Stockton – 4 stars
Cabin Crush (novella) by Kasey Stockton – 3 stars
Christmas Like This (novella) by Carina Taylor – 3 stars
Cocoa Kisses (novella) by Melanie Jacobson – 3 stars
Christmas Ella (novella) by Angela Ruth Strong – 3 stars

Leave a Comment

Happy Thanksgiving Eve November 22, 2023

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf,Family Time,Homeschool Adventures,Tasty Treats — Amy Scott @ 12:14 pm

Happy Thanksgiving Eve! We wrapped up school for the week just a few moments ago. As I sit down to update you on the last couple weeks, I can say I’m feeling the thankful vibes. There have certainly been some highs and lows over the last two weeks. Life is never perfect, but there is still space for gratitude even in the imperfect moments. God is good!

I last updated you on Owen’s ortho “install” day… He was a trooper when it came to getting a mouth full of metal. What followed installation day was a long weekend. Owen essentially went on hunger strike because eating was painful. Not only did his mouth hurt, but he was getting dizzy from lack of nutrition. It was hard to watch him feel crummy. We intentionally planned a low-key weekend and it was very necessary. After four rough days, Owen reached a turning a point and we were so thankful! At his first ortho check, they were please with his progress and he might be finished turning his palate expanders sooner than I expected. You can also see how his teeth have moved already. No wonder his mouth hurt!

After a quiet, recovery weekend, Owen felt well enough to join our co-op for an Operation Christmas Child packing party. We’ve done OCC boxes for years as a family, but this is the first time we’ve done one as a group with a packing party. Members of our co-op all brought items and we combined them to fill 10 boxes. Owen and Graham filled one box together and we paid the tracking fee so we can see where our shoebox ends up. It was a neat experience to do this with our co-op and the boys took to heart the activity. They were so intentional about the items they placed in the box. It was sweet to watch.

On Thursday, my dad had pacemaker surgery. I accompanied my parents so I could wait with my mom and be a support however necessary. A special part of the day was that one of the prep nurses attends our church and was able to pray with our family before surgery. It was such a comforting moment. Thankfully, the surgery went well. The day was mostly defined by waiting – waiting for the surgery to start, waiting for it to end, waiting for Dad to be released. We are so grateful that it was as uneventful as possible. Jeremy and the boys brought my mom and I lunch at the hospital. Jeremy also picked up my favorite mac and cheese from Costco and had dinner waiting for me when I got home. It was reusable red cup day at Starbucks, so the boys got our annual red cup and a cranberry bliss bar for me. I felt very loved!

Our weekend plans were again fairly low-key. With my dad recovering from surgery, we didn’t want to wander too far from home. On Friday, I went to my book club, which is always a highlight of my month. I missed last month, so it was top priority to make it to this one. Saturday, our dinner plans with friends were canceled due to illness in their family. We opted to decorate our house for Christmas since we had a full free day suddenly. Our family is very okay with Christmas in November. We often decorate based on what works best with our free time and not the actual calendar date. Within a week of Thanksgiving feels acceptable to me. I chuckle when I think of all the different “acceptable” timelines my friends and family have. Some have very strong feelings about when it’s appropriate to deck the halls. Sunday was church with kid’s choir practice. We only have a few weeks until our performance, so it’s crunch time! Owen is doing well with his solos, even with a mouth full of metal.

My final highlight was going to see The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes with my forever friend, Christa, last night. I don’t often go to the movies on a “school night” (or ever… I make it only once or twice a year). I felt a little wild and crazy. That’s silly, I know. Christa and I read the book together when it first came out during the early COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020. We zoomed to discuss our thoughts on the book because we couldn’t see each other in-person. Since we read the book together, it only made sense that we would see the movie together, too! Christa’s son works for the movie theater and he came with us so we could an awesome deal on tickets – free! I felt so special! It was a fun outing and worth the weekday late night.

As you prepare for Thanksgiving tomorrow, I wish you all an amazing day – no matter how great or small your celebration. There is always something to be thankful for even in the highs and lows. This month has had it’s intense moments, but through it all God has been faithful to me (and my loved ones). I’m full of gratitude for the how this month has gone, including the things that haven’t quite gone as planned. Nothing is wasted and I can see God’s goodness as I reflect this Thanksgiving Eve.