I’ve Been Painting

I painted another purple cat again…

If you didn’t know this about me, I absolutely LOVE red trucks. Old red trucks, but I drove a new red truck (2014) for 2 years (hubby drove it for about 2 before that or so). I used to hate red vehicles, but gosh, not anymore. Especially after driving one. On that note, I still hate black vehicles and I’ve owned 2 of those (plus hubby’s 3 black trucks). Anyway… moving on.

A few years ago it seemed like we saw the old red truck with a Christmas tree in the bed everywhere. I wasn’t sure what the infatuation was, but then I figured it out. First off, it became a thing because it brings back that nostalgic Christmas. That Christmas everyone wants to have in a snowy cabin, hiking out to pick out the perfect tree.. yada yada yada. (more…)

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

I started reading this book. I never made it all the way through. It’s interesting. I didn’t remember a lot of what I read… nor do I remember watching the movie. What the heck? I remember Professor Umbridge and I hate Professor Umbridge, but… oy! I couldn’t even remember watching this movie. Hubby would say, oh yeah, or this and that… but not me.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

(more…)

Homeschooling 101: Planting Seeds… Coronavirus Day 38

Once upon a time, we were in a science class in grade school. We planted beans and corn from seed and watch the germination process. Jump forward 20+ some odd years (I don’t know how many) and I decided to do that with the little. It was a time of the Coronavirus Pandemic when schools were closed for the rest of the year and we had to homeschool. And when I say homeschool, our school district wasn’t prepared for that. Eventually, they sent out daily work, that wouldn’t harm the kiddos grade, but would help it should they do it. But after we did that work, we did our own education as well. This time… science.

Since this spring we got into gardening, why not do the germinating thing, right? I had seeds waiting to be planted in the ground. Mainly corn and green beans as I attempted to start other plants in the greenhouse.

Corn prefers to be started directly in the ground. Beans on the other hand don’t mind being started indoors, but in my luck, they still do better directly in the ground. (more…)

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

It was interesting going back and reading this book. While it was a lot like the movie, there were a lot of differences too. I’m pretty sure years ago when I started reading the series, this was the last book I read through its entirety. But I have to say, it’s been years so I forgot quite a bit too.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling

(more…)

WTH is Happening? – St. Patrick’s Day – Coronavirus Day 4

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! In a matter of a few days, life has dramatically changed… It’s weird. What are we in for? I’m a little scared, but being scared doesn’t help things. 

Earlier today the little and I decided to make cookies before we headed off to my parent’s house to ride horses. We’re being advised to steer clear of all people over the age of 65 who are at high risk. Well, my mom and dad kind of fall into the age category. I’m not steering clear of them though. I mean, I don’t want to be the cause of something, but going without seeing them would suck too.

I made the choice to let my little grow up with her grandparents and taking that away from her or them… that’s not an option. We’re around them almost every day anyway. So anyway… Maybe I’m a jerk… (more…)

Book Review: Bridget Jones’s Diary

 

I know this is a movie that came out, oh gosh, way back when. But here’s the thing with this book… prior to starting Grad School, I bought this book, at a book sale at work for a quarter. It sat there waiting for me to read it for years. I’m talking years! Jump forward to grad school. I took a British Comedy class. I really had no choice. And this was actually on the book list that we had to read. Shhhh… I still never read it. I glossed over it enough to be able to talk in class about it, but I didn’t read it. I had this class the same semester that I had comps and this was the furthest thing from my mind. Oh, and watching the movie DOESN’T help unless you’re comparing how the book and the movie are DIFFERENT!

Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding

a 30-something Singleton who is certain she would have all the answers if she could:
a. lose 7 pounds
b. stop smoking
c. develop Inner Poise (more…)

Book Review: The Paris Wife

Earlier this year a friend of mine took some “test” on Facebook. You know, those weird tests. It was about 1,000 books that you should have read. It was interesting. I figured with grad school that I would have read more than 52 of them. 52/1000… not good odds… One of the books was The Paris Wife. I actually hadn’t read it yet, but I owned it. It was a book I came across a while back… we’re talking over a year ago. It was a physical book even. Sadly, it just sat there waiting for me to read it. Once I saw it on the list and realized I had it but hadn’t read it yet, I jumped on reading it.

Gosh, for as many books I’ve read about Paris, I need to visit Paris. Truthfully, I want to visit 1920 Paris and 1940 Paris, not current Paris. Although don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see current Paris too. I think it is just all the reading of I’d about a Paris I’ll never truly get to experience. (more…)

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

We’re moving right along. At the school Valentine’s Day party yesterday one of the gals asked how I got my little to read. Obviously, in Kindergarten they accept parents reading to the kids as the kids reading. The kids are sitting and listening to reading. I said, does it count if I am bribing a little. She wants to watch the movies, so she has to read the book first. They kind of laughed at me. But it works. We’re ahead of the reading curve. Have been even before we started the reading of the Harry Potter series, but still, we’re ahead and I like it!

The goal for the students is if they read X-number of books (I can’t remember the number) that they get to duct tape the vice principal to the wall. It’ll be exciting and I want to see if it can happen. (more…)

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

When it comes to reading the Harry Potter series, I know I am way past the prime reading time. But here’s the thing… I read this book long, long ago. I’m bringing the next round of “fan” into the reading world. 

Last fall when the little started school, we learned we had to read 30 minutes per night. No big deal. Then one weekend we watched the Harry Potter movies. Since then all she’s done is beg to watch them again. So I made her a deal. We had to read the books (as well as other books because come on she needs to learn to read)… and as a reward, she’d get to watch the movies.

It seemed like a fair enough deal, right?

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

(more…)

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

For school, the little has to read at home for at least 30 minutes per day. Every 15 minutes, we get to count a “step.” They are supposed to have 4 steps per day as a minimum. She gets 2 at school and 2 at home to equal the 4. But sometimes she and I go over the top. 

Things that count, parents/siblings/grandparents reading to them, them reading to the family member, reading books, magazines, etc. A Kindergartener’s book if you’ve looked lately is very thin. That means that you can read 1-6 books in 15 minutes. Sometimes though she and I go for chapter books. And I’m not really sure how, but late last fall we got into watching all the Harry Potter movies. She loved them. I was a bit leery at first, afraid we’d deal with nightmares. Not that they are that scary, but she’s 5. They could be scary to a 5-year-old… She is team Gryffindor. Her favorite character is Hermione. Pretty sure because she’s the lead female character. At that age, it matters.

So I figured if she liked the movies so well, we should read the books. I have Kindle Unlimited and they are on there so no big deal. We can only read 1-2 chapters a night depending on the length. Toward the end, she starts getting restless but that happens when we read 16 children’s books too. We started it on December 11, 2019, and ended on January 6, 2020. (more…)