Books
Since our new baby arrived, I've been on the couch a lot! That has afforded me the opportunity to read!Dad is Fat: Written by the hilarious Jim Gaffigan, this book is all about his experiences as a parent. Seems like most of it is basically universal. His observations are laugh-out-loud funny and spot-on as usual. If you like his stand up comedy, you'll probably enjoy his book, too.
The Bean Trees (Barbara Kingsolver): I'm not much of a fiction reader. I have a really hard time picking stuff out that I think will be appropriate but also entertaining and meaningful. I had heard about another of Kingsolver's books from a podcast, and decided to look up her other books. Naturally, I was compelled to start with her first book. Well, it did not disappoint! The main character is a young, single woman moving west from her small town. She manages to unintentionally adopt a young child along the way, and starts a new life after she winds up in Tucson, Arizona. I especially liked that it takes place in the Sonoran Desert (where I just happen to live).
Want to Read
More of Kingsolver's books, for sure. Also on hold through my e-library service, A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson, What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty and Wild by Cheryl Strayed (see? I'm trying to squeeze in more fiction!) Also, I may give To Kill a Mockingbird a re-read so I can join in a book discussion on The Hollywood Housewife's Facebook page. We'll see. The baby does eat a lot, so it could happen. ;-)Television
I haven't watched a bunch of television, as my kiddos have kind of staked their claim on the TV right now, but a couple of notable things I've watched have been a documentary called On the Way to School and an Adam Sandler flick called The Cobbler.On the Way to School is a film that follows children from around the world on their voyage (yes, voyage) to school. This is not a metaphorical voyage- but a literal one. Most of them coming from remote villages and traveling (most of them by foot) unattended for hours through rugged and wild terrain. To get to school. It really had me thinking about how people in our society are apt to call CPS when children are walking down the street alone to get to school, or just playing in their own yard. (Those are thoughts for another post though!)
The Cobbler was about, well...a cobbler who discovers that he has the ability to walk in other people's shoes- literally. It was interesting to see how he made use of that ability- but also a little silly. And weird. It has some really good parts, as Sandler's character really tries to do good with his new found power, and the ending actually made me say, "what?!", but overall, it was just okay. (I rated it three stars). I admit, I'm not a big watcher of independent movies, but thought I'd give it a chance because of Adam Sandler.
In My Kitchen
Since having a new baby, this month I'm just starting to get back into my kitchen. It's a huge blessing to have meals provided by other people, and take-out is great (but expensive!), but it is so nice to get back to normal! I did try my hand at making a sourdough starter, which I failed at! I didn't feed it frequently enough, so ended up with a sloppy mix of flour and water that smelled like nail polish remover. Ha. (How you know you're doing it wrong!)Family Learning (AKA Homeschooling)
Goodness, it's been a whole lot of informal learning around here lately! But I was able to turn my kids on to Bindi's Bootcamp on Netflix, and we watched Charlotte's Web since we've been reading the book- hopefully I can finish this book with them very soon!My children have also been noticing cursive writing in various places and my five year old daughter asked me to read something to her that was written in cursive. I asked her if she wanted to learn how to write that way, and she said yes! I brought out some worksheets with cursive letters, and let her trace them.
Internet Favorites
I have been learning more about Myers-Briggs personality types. I finally discovered my own type- INTP. It has been eye-opening to finally figure out my actual type. (I kept getting different results when taking the test- and they didn't seem to fit me at all!) It's amazing how it has made some things about my struggles and strengths make so much sense. Do you know your type?Something that piqued my interest in that has been the Sorta Awesome Podcast. It has been more than sorta awesome in my opinion!
Last but not least...my wonderful husband has launched out and started a radio show! I'm super excited for him. I listen to the podcast version of Raging Sanity Radio though, because his show airs at 7:00 am. I ain't gonna lie...I don't remember the last time I voluntarily woke up that early (except for church)! Give it a listen if you're into politics and current events.
What I'm Looking Forward to Next Month
Hopefully getting back into the swing of homeschooling. We don't usually break for summer since it's so hot where we live.So tell me, what are YOU into this month?
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