Hello everyone! I have already had at least two cups of coffee, and taken a journey to the hospital with Wyatt and am back home again. We had an early morning appointment today for his surgery follow up. We had to get up at 6 am, but it was worth it because it was a good appointment!
Traffic was awful so we got there right at his appointment time – not ideal. I called from valet parking to say that we were there and on our way up – I was so afraid they would cancel our appointment! We made it up only a few minutes after his appointment time and they sent us right to X-Ray. From there, we went to the appointment with his surgeon. I really like his surgeon, he is very soft spoken. I also think he is very amused by my jokester son, and slightly amused by my hovering, worried momness. He looked at the x-rays, he looked at Wyatt’s legs and incisions, and gave us great news. Wyatt can stop wearing the braces and wedge pillow during the day! He now only has to wear it at night, and he can also use his regular wheelchair. He no longer needs to keep his legs straight out all day long. What a relief! Billy and I walked out of there feeling so much better about things! Wyatt’s braces were causing superficial sores on the backs of his legs, so I am so happy that we can take those things off for a while. Wyatt is currently sitting happily in his chair, watching tv. His job is still to spend the next month healing, and then we go back to see the doctor again. Then hopefully we get the clearance for PT.
That is my most important and best news, obviously. We also stopped at the gift store so Wyatt could get a sticker to add to his water bottle, which he was very excited about.
In other news, we are getting closer to Wyatt’s little free library getting done. All we have left is to put shingles on it, and plant it! I am thinking about having a little Grand Opening, and leave gift bags inside as Book Worm Starter Kits for kids. The only thing is, what should I put in there? Bookmarks for sure, gummy worms, what else? I am not at top form over here, and I am having a hard time coming up with ideas! I need a little help. Lol.
We are still reading a lot over here. I have been reading my books, and of course, going through stacks of books with Wyatt as well. I can’t just have him watch tv all day, even if he wanted to. And some days I think he would be happy with that. Lol. The first week I definitely let him, but as he started to feel better, we broke it up with activities and reading. Wyatt has been so blessed with people who have sent him gifts to keep him occupied, as well as videos to cheer him up, and all sorts of well wishes! Billy and I were also overwhelmed with gratitude about all the help we have received as well. Everyone has been so kind to our family, and we are so thankful.
I don’t really have too much to add, so I am going to just share some photos I have taken, and say goodbye for now. Thanks again everyone for all of your kind words and well wishes and gifts and videos! I hope that whatever you do today, that you do something that makes you smile!
Hello everyone! We need all the coffee over here these days. It’s been a learning experience and a challenge for a bit, but we might be sort of settling down. Hopefully. Fingers crossed and all the prayers at least.
It’s been one week since Wyatt’s surgery, and the first couple of days, as expected, were the most difficult. He is doing better; things are still tough but he is more himself the past few days. Coloring, drawing, smiling and laughing. I can’t tell you how much I missed seeing his smile and hearing his laugh! Right now he is drawing and laughing and singing loud and I love it. His energy level, again as expected, is much lower than normal but it is good to see him regaining bits of himself.
We have been so blessed for such supportive friends and family, who have really been amazing, sending things to help Wyatt, to keep him busy, to make him smile. They have also sent food and well wishes, and Billy and I feel so overwhelmed and grateful by the kindness we have been shown. These gestures have made a hard time easier. We have also gotten so many messages of support and prayer for which I am also grateful. I am so appreciative of the love people are showing my kiddo. He still has a long way to go, and it is helpful to know that so many people love him, care about him, and are pulling for him. Thank you everyone for all of your gestures and messages of support. They mean a lot.
In the down times, I have been working on a new embroidery project, listening to audiobooks, and reading. I have learned I can only read books that are pretty fluffy, not too complex, are entertaining, and quick – and I am making my way through the Campers and Criminals series by Tonya Kappes. I think I have read three since the surgery now? I am heading to the library to return the ones I have and to pick up my new holds today. I also have been reading Nightmare of a Trip.
My new embroidery project is cute too! I am working on it super slowly, but I have two more from the same creator so if I do finish it before the month is up, I have some waiting in the wings.
We had a few really good days too, before surgery that I wasn’t able to share. The best being working on Wyatt’s little free library! We decided we are going to name it Wyatt’s Sunshine Little Free Library, and it is going to be painted blue and yellow. We did start painting it – well, Wyatt and my dad started primering it the day before surgery. My dad was a house painter when I was little and he was going to college, and he takes it super seriously. I loved him passing on his skills to Wyatt, who did a great job. He even got the thumbs up from my dad, which is tough! Then when Billy got home from work, Wyatt and Billy painted the door. We are hoping to finish it up in the next week or two as Wyatt begins to feel better.
I am really excited to set it up. It is huge, Billy being Billy made an enormous version, and it will have space for kids books on the bottom, where Wyatt can reach, adult books on the top, and in the middle, space for whatever else I feel like making it that week. Rocks, seeds, mugs – I am getting excited and Wyatt is too.
Something else we have been doing – ordering odd and strange things. So far we have ordered Oxy-Clean washing machine cleaner, an At-At walker fish tank decoration, and a floating betta hide. Our little menagerie has been so soothing for all of us and I guess I wanted to decorate something.
Billy also bought a water filtration system and installed it yesterday, but that wasn’t an odd purchase but unfortunately a necessary one, as it is has come out that our city’s water is crap, and “poses an immediate health risk.” Our city has its own water and electricity, and while I still love that we produce our own power the water situation is scary. The city is telling us that it is fine, but I am opting for safety instead of blind faith here. So Billy put the filtration system in, and now we feel a little better. If the city is right and it is fine, its still no harm done in having one.
And I feel like I am rambling sort of assorted and random things, so I am cutting this off here. I probably need more coffee. Have a good one everyone!
Hi everyone. First, thank you guys for all of your well wishes pre-surgery. They meant a lot to me! I just wanted to post a quick update this morning, and I will probably post a video update from me later on. It’s been rough and sometimes I need to talk through things to process them better. It has definitely been rougher on my kiddo, although he is handling things like a champ.
The first few days were very rough on Wyatt. The first 24 hours he was inconsolable from pain and muscle spasms. Literally screaming in pain for 12 hours. However, things have gotten better. His pain seems to be managed and he is able to sleep when he needs to now. He is pretty unhappy about everything and I don’t blame him. They said the worst days are the first few so we are praying he is feeling better in a day or two. He will still have to wear knee immobilizers and a wedge pillow between his legs 24/7 which will take some getting used to, but Wyatt is a trooper. The staff at the hospital was incredible though and did whatever they needed to take care of him.
We were able to bring him home yesterday afternoon, which was both awesome and scary for us as parents. However, we have all made it through the first night and we all were able to sleep. It sort of reminded me of bringing home a newborn, with lots of middle of the night tasks – instead of feedings we gave meds, but it felt the same, waking up, stumbling around, doing what we needed then collapsing back into bed for a few more hours sleep until the next alarm. He is up and watching cartoons and eating some toast this morning. We are praying and hoping for another good day today, and hope that as time goes on things just keep getting better.
We thank you all for your thoughts and prayers and messages about Wyatt.
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date
Hello everyone! I hope you all had a good week. Our week was very quietly busy, if that makes sense. Lots of appointments, lots of being at home. We did have a scare on Friday night. My dad was struck on the head by a baseball at a game and knocked unconscious! They transported him to the hospital by ambulance, where thankfully all his tests came back good!
What I have been reading:
Home Before Dark by Riley Sager. I was late to the party on this author, which I am thankful for on some level because now there are a ton of books I still haven’t read. Every time I pick up one of his books, I end up reading it compulsively until I finish. I can’t put them down! This one is maybe my favorite of the books I have read by him so far.
Death by Beach Read was also a very good read, but not as riveting as Home Before Dark. However, I don’t read them for that same thrill; I read them because they are just more relaxing and chill.
What I am reading this week:
Beaches, Bungalows, and Burglaries is a book I started on audiobook and decided I wanted to finish reading with my actual eyeballs. And Anywhere You Go sounds pretty cute so I am giving it a whirl.
Billy and I have been watching a mix of things lately. Brokenwood, Beyond Paradise, Wheel of Time, and last night we started The Essex Serpent, which was excellent!
We finished up our Springtime in Paris, and I miss it! It is fun to have a “Movie of the Week”. Lisa and I love doing our movie themed watches, but with our families dealing with some different things, we probably won’t do another one together here on the blog until fall.
Tonight, I think Billy and I might watch the movie Holland starring Nicole Kidman. It takes place in Western Michigan, and while her accent sounds all off in previews, I am curious about it. I love that area of Michigan. It is one of our favorite areas to visit! And now I need to know if that is how I sound to people?
And that is it from around here today! I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!
This week’s prompt: Authors (or books by authors) Who Live In My State/Country
I chose to go with authors from my home state of Michigan, or who lived in Michigan for a part of their lives. I apologize in advance for the length of this post!
Angeline Boulley: “Angeline Boulley, an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, is a storyteller who writes about her Ojibwe community in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. She is a former Director of the Office of Indian Education at the U.S. Department of Education. Her debut novel Firekeeper’s Daughter was an instant #1New York Times bestseller and recipient of many internatioanl accolades including the ALA Printz and Morris Awards; the YA Goodreads Choice Award; the Walter Award for Outstanding Children’s Literature; and is Carnegie Mellon nominated. Angeline lives in southwest Michigan, but her home will always be on Sugar Island.” (from Macmillan Publishers)
I have loved both Fire Keepers Daughter and Warrior Girl Unearthed. I can’t wait to read her new one, Sisters in the Wind, that comes out in September. So far both books have been set in Michigan, in the area that Boulley is originally from.
Beth Nguyen: “Beth Nguyen is the author of four books, most recently the memoir Owner of a Lonely Heart, published by Scribner. Owner of a Lonely Heart was a New York Times Editors’ Choice pick and was named a best book of 2023 by NPR, Time, Oprah Daily, and BookPage. Nguyen’s three previous books, the memoir Stealing Buddha’s Dinner and the novels Short Girls and Pioneer Girl, were published by Viking Penguin. Her awards and honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, an American Book Award, a PEN/Jerard Award, a Bread Loaf fellowship, and best book of the year honors from the Chicago Tribune and Library Journal. Her books have been included in community and university read programs around the country. Nguyen’s work has also appeared in numerous anthologies and publications including The New Yorker,The Paris Review, The New York Times, Literary Hub, Time Magazine, and The Best American Essays.
Nguyen was born in Saigon. When she was a baby, she and her family came to the United States as refugees and were resettled in Michigan, where Nguyen grew up.
She received an MFA in creative writing from the University of Michigan and is currently a professor in the creative writing program at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.” (From https://www.bethminhnguyen.com/bio)
I read Stealing Buddha’s Dinner for book club years and years ago it feels like, and I found it a very interesting read! It is a memoir and takes place in Grand Rapids, MI.
Jeffrey Eugenides: “Jeffrey Eugenides was born in Detroit and attended Brown and Stanford Universities. His first novel, The Virgin Suicides, was published by FSG to great acclaim in 1993, and he has received numerous awards for his work. In 2003, he received the Pulitzer Prize for his novel Middlesex (FSG, 2002), which was also a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and France’s Prix Médicis. The Marriage Plot (FSG, 2011) was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and won both the Prix Fitzgerald and the Madame Figaro Literary Prize. His collection of short stories, Fresh Complaint, is from FSG (2017). Eugenides is a professor of creative writing in the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton.” (From Macmillan Publishers)
I have read this book and watched this movie so many times, and it never fails to make me cry. What an absolutely heartbreaking story. I have not read any of his other work, although I feel like I should.
Christopher Paul Curtis: “Christopher Paul Curtis won the Newbery Medal and the Coretta Scott King Award for his bestselling second novel, Bud, Not Buddy. His first novel, The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963, was also singled out for many awards, and has been a bestseller in hardcover and paperback. His most recent novels for Random House include The Mighty Miss Malone, Mr. Chickee’s Messy Mission, Mr. Chickee’s Funny Money, and Bucking the Sarge. Christopher Paul Curtis grew up in Flint, Michigan. After high school he began working on the assembly line at the Fisher Body Plant No. 1 while attending the Flint branch of the University of Michigan. He is now a full-time writer, and lives with his family in Windsor, Ontario.” (From Random House)
I have this book on Wyatt’s list for next year!
Anissa Gray: “Anissa Gray was born and raised in western Michigan. She is the author of the critically acclaimed 2019 novel The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls. Gray is also a journalist whose work has been featured in The Washington Post, CNN, The Cut and Shondaland. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her wife.” (From https://anissagray.com/about)
I have had this book on my TBR for a while now. I didn’t know she was a Michigan native!
Joyce Carol Oates: Oates moved to Detroit in 1962 with her husband, Raymond Smith. The two were English Professors at two universities in Detroit. Oates worked for U-D Mercy, while Smith worked for Wayne State. At this point in her life, she had not yet published a novel. Her time in Detroit is said to be very influential on her work, as she took in the city as it was then. She was here during the riots in 1967, a time that has not been forgotten for anyone who was around then. My mom remembers the curfews, Billy’s dad was living in the city as well and remembers the violence of that time. She eventually moved across the river to Windsor, where she wrote the book, Them. The Detroit Free Press says about this book, ‘In her first months in Canada, Oates finished her novel “them,” in which Detroit is a character, just like human characters, scuffling, hurting, prone to violence. “All of Detroit is melodrama, and most lives in Detroit fated to be melodramatic,” the narrator says.” (Detroit Free Press)
I have not yet read this book. I went through a time where I binged Joyce Carol Oates and I am pretty sure it plunged me into almost a depression of sorts. It was all just so heavy and violent and tragic and sad, and I have not gone back to that well. She is an amazing writer – I just don’t recommend binging her work all at once!
Chris Van Allsburg: From his bio on Penguin: “As long as I can remember, I’ve always loved to draw. But my interest in drawing wasn’t encouraged very much. Growing up in the 1950s, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, boys were supposed to be athletic. Certain peer pressures encouraged little fingers to learn how to hold footballs rather than crayons.
My early love for drawing developed into a love for telling stories through pictures. Stories begin as fragments of pictures in my mind. I create a story by posing questions to myself. I call it the “what if” and “what then” approach. For example, for my book Jumanji, I started out by thinking “What if two bored children discovered a board game? What if the board game came to life? What then?” The Polar Express began with the idea of a train standing alone in the woods. I asked myself, “What if a boy gets on that train? Where does he go?” After the boy got on, I tried different destinations out in my mind. “What about north? Who lives in the north?” Then ideas of Christmas, Santa Claus, and faith began to take shape.”
He has many books, but Jumanji is my favorite.
Elmore Leonard: “Author Elmore Leonard was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1925. His family moved frequently until 1934 when they settled in Detroit, Michigan, when his father got a job with General Motors. Leonard joined the navy after graduating high school in 1943, and served during World War II. After three years, he left the navy and enrolled at the University of Detroit, majoring in English and Philosophy. Leonard worked at the Campbell-Ewald advertising agency while still in college.
Around 1950, Leonard began writing and publishing short stories and western novels for magazines, with the first being The Bounty Hunters in 1953. Some of the other most notable works were Three-Ten to Yuma also published in 1953, as well as Hombre, in 1961. Leonard then moved into educational films and crime novels. His first big crime novel was The Big Bounce in 1969; He followed that novel with titles such as Fifty-Two Pickup in 1974, and Swag in 1976. His breakout novel however, was his crime thriller Glitz, in 1985, which followed a Miami detective being stalked by a criminal he had sent to prison. Leonard based most of his novels in Detroit and Florida, and was known for his working-class protagonists, damsels in distress, and particularly colorful and sleazy villains.
Leonard and his novels have been nominated for numerous awards, such the PEN Lifetime Achievement Award. One of his short stories, Fire in the Hole, became the basis for the television series Justified. Some of his other short stories and novels such as Rum Punch and Three-Ten to Yuma have been made into films. Rum Punch was adapted into the Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown.
Other well-known works by Elmore Leonard include: City Primeval, Stick, Freaky Deaky, and Get Shorty. Elmore Leonard passed away on August 20, 2013, following a stroke.” (From the Detroit Historical Society website)
Leonard is an author I have never read, but my dad enjoys reading him so I wanted to include him for sure!
Jim Harrison: “Jim Harrison was born in Grayling, Michigan, to Winfield Sprague Harrison, a county agricultural agent, and Norma Olivia (Wahlgren) Harrison, both avid readers. He married Linda King in 1959 with whom he has two daughters.
His awards include National Academy of Arts grants (1967, 68, 69), a Guggenheim Fellowship (1969-70), the Spirit of the West Award from the Mountain & Plains Booksellers Association, and election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2007).
Much of Harrison’s writing depicts sparsely populated regions of North America with many stories set in places such as Nebraska’s Sand Hills, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Montana’s mountains, and along the Arizona-Mexico border.” (Goodreads Summary)
He has been on my TBR for ages. Maybe this is the year to read him.
Ok this last one… I debated on and then decided to just do it.
Ernest Hemingway: “Ernest Hemingway’s connections to Michigan began when his parents first brought their six-week-old son there for three days in September 1899. His father, a young physician, practiced medicine in his hometown of Oak Park, Illinois, and his mother was an artistically inclined woman who enjoyed the cultural aspects of their Chicago suburb. The previous summer the Hemingways visited Walloon Lake (then named Bear Lake) and were so taken with the area that they purchased two hundred feet of waterfront property. The 1899 trip was to finalize plans for the building of their cottage, Windemere. They took pictures, selected the exact site on the property where it was to be located, and arranged for construction during their brief stay. The next summer would be the first full one there for the family, and Ernest would return to Michigan each year until he was married in 1921. Even today members of the Hemingway family either summer or live year-round in the area.”
Hemingway is not a favorite of mine, but I do think it is cool that he visited Northern Michigan for so many summers, just like I have. He has a few books set there, including The Big Two-Hearted River (and just an FYI, there is also a Michigan craft beer named Two-Hearted as well). I think it is neat that I have walked in and vacationed in some of the same places Hemingway did, and found peace in.
And my friends, that is my very long post of Michigan authors! I can’t wait to hop around visiting this week – because it will take me all week probably to visit everyone!
Hello everyone! I am sitting here typing away, with my coffee on one side, and Wyatt on the other. He is flipping through a book, and watching Frog and Toad, which incidentally is the cutest little cartoon. He is also chattering away so please ignore any typos. Billy is in the kitchen preparing the sourdough so that he can make a few loaves for Easter. It’s a pretty good morning.
It was a very busy week this week – our appointment season is almost over though! There are times of the year when we have all of Wyatt’s specialist appointments in a row, like a month or so of them, and it is crazy. We had his epileptologist appointment this week, and it went really well. We had nothing but good things to report and his doctor was very pleased! His EEG in June looks like it will only be one night now instead of two, so that was welcome news.
Last Saturday we had a little guest at our house. We watched my littlest niece, who we call The Hurricane because she is a whirling dervish causing mayhem. We had such a great time with her! She kept us soooo busy but it was really cool to hang out with her. We have time with her older sister all the time so it was nice to hang with just E. She went from one thing to the next to the next and so on. She loved our fish so much, they were a big hit. I had to stop her a few times from trying to reach inside the aquariums to grab them though.
Sunday we had a birthday party for another of our nieces. It was so cute to see T. full of excitement at her party. She had all of her friends and family there, and she was happy that she had all of her aunts there at one time. It doesn’t usually happen for some reason and I loved that that made her happy. She had an axolotl themed party with very delicious cupcakes!
This week we also had some sunny warm days, finally!! We are trying to get outside as much as we can on these nice days between now and Wyatt’s surgery. Wyatt and I spent almost all afternoon Wednesday playing basketball outside. It meant lots of rounding up basketballs for me though, so I got quite a workout. I need one of these nieces to come over and fetch for us! We also had dinner out there as well. Wyatt loves picnics, so we had a picnic, then he and his dad played outside until bedtime. It was awesome. This might not sound like much, but before the ramp was built, Wyatt was not able to go outside and play. Wheelchairs are not great on grass, and just getting to the yard was very difficult for the two of us. I would have to carry him out the front door and around the house to the back, which doesn’t sound too hard, but imagine the person you are carrying is 70 pounds. I am not a big human either, so it was getting sort of rough and we just didn’t do it very often. Now though, we have our freedom back and it has been wonderful. Using the ramp all winter to leave the house whenever we wanted, now using the ramp and being able to utilize the deck space, has transformed both of our lives. We were able to get out some yesterday as well. Today is going to be really warm apparently, so we are going to go out on his bike too.
Speaking of his surgery, we are working on preparing for it the best we can. We have pivoted from walking as much in therapy to more strength training, both there and at home. We have added a few extra home exercises to build up his muscle strength, which will help him recover easier, and are just trying to get him to move any body part as much as possible between now and then. We scaled back on school for the moment, focusing just on the essentials (I mean, I think it is all essential but we are sticking a pin in a few things for now – like the Revolutionary War and artist studies).
I also started thinking about what we will need during recovery. What will we do to entertain this kid while he is in bed, or stuck in traction for weeks? What special clothes might we need? Bathing, how does that happen? So we are looking for these solutions right now. I have a whole list of books I made the other day for us to try during that time. I think we will reread some old favorites like Frog and Toad and Mr. Putter and Tabby, introduce some gentle reads for that first week home, like Paddington, and then as he feels a bit better, add in books like The Hardy Boys. Then we will see what else he would like to read.
We had had reservations for Providence in August, which are obviously now cancelled. So, I put together a list of some books for myself as well, that focus on the seaside and the coast. They are not all New England based, but some are. That is the great thing about books, we can travel anywhere with them. And Providence will still be there in the future. The whales will have to wait!
Wyatt and I also convinced Billy to use some of the leftover lumber from the ramp to build little free libraries for us! We want one that two houses – one that is the typical height, and one that is lower for children and wheelchair users. We are also going to have Billy install a camera so we can see into the backyard while we are in his room if we want – we have three cats that like to hang around and I know Wyatt will want to keep updated on them. We have the neighbor’s cat, Knox, who is super sweet and we can actually pet. Then there are two cats that we don’t if they are stray or not. One is a big tabby, and I have named him Angus-Fergus, and there is one that just showed up, a big rough looking guy who has been around. He is white with black splotches, and we named him Brando. I don’t know why they like our porches so much but they do. And that is ok.
And jeez, I feel like I am just rambling away today!! I should wrap this up! Lol.
I hope that whatever you all do today, whatever you do this weekend, that you feel safe and loved and do something that makes you smile.
Hello everyone!! It’s been a wild week around here! It is always crazy to me how we can go from doing absolutely nothing and then have a week that is nonstop. But that is what happened to us this past week. It’s all been good but lots of things were happening!
After our super slow weekend last week, with the big snow and being stuck inside, we hit the ground running on Monday. Wyatt and I had a jam packed day of school, followed by our Cub Scouts meeting at the library, which was awesome. The kids were learning 3-D printing, and Curtis, the librarian in charge of this event, did a fantastic job setting things up for our scouts. He put a lot of thought and work into it! He even had some premade ideas in the program that the kids could customize, like key chains and bookmarks and Cub scout related items. It was very cool. He also surprised Wyatt with a Cub Scout statue with a snail on it, because he remembered Wyatt loves snails. The kids (and the parents) all had a great time!
Then the rest of the week we had therapy and equipment deliveries for Wyatt, a basketball for his cousin – the first he has ever been to, bowling in his new special needs kids league, and I had our blogger Zoom crafternoon event! We are having so much fun with our crafternoons and hanging out that we are going to continue them instead of ending this month as we had originally planned.
Friday we had so much fun in art too. I love when I find an artist that just resonates with us, and Maud Lewis seems to be one of them. I love her whimsical style and bright colors and Wyatt likes them as well. I didn’t know much about her myself before this study, but I am loving her story. She was a Canadian artist, living in Nova Scotia. She lived her life with a disability, one that caused her a lot of pain, as well as affecting her hands and legs and stature. But that didn’t stop her from seeing the joy around her and spreading that to everyone else. One of the videos we watched described her life as “the power of creativity and resilience” and I loved that. We read the book A Tulip in Winter together, and then Wyatt’s art project for the day was to recreate the Maud’s windows! She had brightly colored tulips painted in the windows of her small house, so Wyatt and I used window markers and did the same to our front window. We are both so happy with how it turned out, and every time I see them, it makes me smile. They are hard to see in this photo with how the sun was shining (yes the sun was shining!!) but they are so joyful, and reminds us that spring is on the way.
I spotted this online during my research for this art study, which will continue into March, and I think I need it.
I also learned something new this week! I learned that Japan has stationery awards! How did I not know this before? I have always loved pens and markers and stickers and paper and notebooks. I worked in an office supply store that sold fine pens and stationery and all that good stuff and it was like a dream. I own so many really nice pens from my time spent working there. And honestly, they just aren’t available like they used to be, it seems like. There are so many cool things! I love this little pouch for all of your writing materials!
Billy and I have been watching one of my favorite shows this week, The Great British Pottery Throw Down. This group seems to be very talented, and now I am really inspired to make some cool things with my MIL this spring or fall. She is going to teach me as she is a potter with her own kiln, and I of course have all these big ideas. LOL. I’ll be happy though even if I can only make something very basic. We also started the Gabby Petito documentary as well, and we only have one part left. I find myself getting so very angry while watching it.
Later today we have a family get together to celebrate both Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day. It will be fun to hang out for a bit with everyone.
And that is it from me today! I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile.
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date
Hey everyone! Just a quick post today!
Read Last Week:
I found myself not having as much time to read last week as I anticipated, and honestly I’ve been way too distracted by the news to read, but I did finish my buddy read, Redwall, with Billy! We had a nice discussion about it on the way to my dad’s yesterday. It was a fun little read, and we both enjoyed it.
Reading This Week:
I am hoping to read more, sew more, and doomscroll less this week, and I think these two books will be perfect to help in my mission. Under Loch and Key looks adorable and I think that I could use some Korean healing fiction as well, with The Healing Season of Pottery.
Billy and I have been watching Severance. It is super duper weird and it took me a few episodes to really get hooked, but now I am all in. I hate hate the design aesthetic though for inside Lumon however; I know that there is a reason for it, and it is not meant to make us feel good or be happy, and for me, it really does feel icky. The show though, I love. My friend Kelly and I were talking about this show the other day and she said if we were characters in the show, I would be Helly and she would be Mark, in terms of personality. Lol. She’s not wrong. Then we were having fun coming up with our Wellness Center “Your outie likes…” statements.
It’s just so very uncomfortable and plain and sterile. I do love green though.
Tonight we are supposed to watch a movie. I think we might skip it and watch Severance though!
And you guys, I am probably way behind on discovering this, but the website Bookshop.org is my new place to buy books, besides used book sites and local stores. The cool thing about Bookshop.org is that you can pick your local bookstore as your store, and a portion of the money you spend on Bookshop.org is given to your local bookstore! So you can still support your local small bookstore this way! I do have an affiliate account, but I don’t think you need to do that part to order and choose a store. However, if you don’t have a store to support, feel free to order through mine and support Brooks Books! They are my favorite local bookstore and they sell a mix of used and new books in the physical store. They also support other local businesses by giving smaller sellers space in their shop to sell things, as well as providing events and classes to the community.
And that is about it from me today! I hope that whatever you do, you do at least one small thing that makes you smile. Stay safe everyone!
Hello everyone! Thank goodness for coffee this morning. I am chilled today, with the intense cold that we are having. Next week we have a deep freeze, with temps dipping down into the negative numbers. I hope to get all prepared today and tomorrow so that we barely have to step foot outside unless we have to, like for appointments and therapy. Poor Billy though will still have to leave for work in it.
This week has been another week of focusing on work – although we did throw some fun things in as well!
Wednesday Wyatt had physical therapy, but this week he had therapy, then a two hour wait before math tutoring, which was in the same building. So in between we went to the Henry Ford Museum! It was a fun way to spend a few hours. It was super weird, because it was an odd time and no one was there. Just a few other people but the museum is so big that we felt like it only Wyatt and I walking around.
We are actually going to call off tutoring next week due to the cold, and just go home after therapy.
Yesterday, I decided to shake things up! Instead of our normal day of school, we celebrated Appreciate a Dragon Day. Wyatt has been working so hard that I thought he deserved a fun school day. So, it was all dragons all day! We started with reading books about dragons, then moved on to studying the dragons of Wales. We will be looking at Chinese dragons on Chinese New Year, so I thought we would stick with Western style dragons this week. I bought a unit study on Etsy that was about different dragons of the world, and we combined that with the book Dragonology, and had a blast. It felt like school, but… was all fun. Wyatt had to label cities on a map of Wales for one of the activities, and one of the names of the cities made me do a double take! It is, ahem, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, on the Isle of Anglesey. According to this article written by Rick Steves, it means “St. Mary’s Church in the hollow of white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of St. Tysilio near the red cave”. It had a smaller name until a tailor added to the name to try to attract visitors. I have to admit, I am a person who would definitely make a stop there because of the name!
Then, I had two projects lined up to make – an art project and a STEM project. However, the art project took us so long that we never made it to the STEM project! I will save it for another day. The art project turned out so cool though – it took us like two hours to make it together! We also listened to a dragon book on Spotify while we worked.
After that we took a bit of a break – or rather, Wyatt did. I was getting ready for the final part of Dragon Day- we were having a dragon themed dinner, snack, and then we were watching How to Train Your Dragon. I kept it simple, and it turned out pretty cute!
We all had Dragon’s wings grilled cheese (cheese on Black Rye bread cut into dragon wings), dragon scales (Doritos), and our snack was popcorn with Swedish fish bowls, because Toothless the dragon in the movie loves fish! Unfortunately, my little dragon explorer didn’t make it to the movie! He zonked out ten minutes in. Lol. So we turned it off and we will watch it either Saturday or Sunday instead.
Tonight I will be glad to plop into bed and just chill out, after a long week. I am going to my mom’s first though, to hang out for a bit, then when I get home, I will shower, get in my pajamas, and crawl into bed to watch some television and stitch and read my book! I started Hans Brinker yesterday and it is so good so far, although I am barely into it yet. This weekend we are finishing up some things so that next week we can stay tucked into the house as much as possible.
As for Dragon Day, this is what we read and used!
(This section does contain Affiliate Links from Amazon and Etsy)
Wyatt’s favorite of the group was A Friend for Dragon. It was pretty funny honestly. Dav Pilkey is awesome. I loved The Truth About Dragons, which is about biracial identity, and it was absolutely beautifully written and illustrated.
Today’s Prompt: Covers with [Item] on the Cover (You choose the item! It can be anything at all.)
Hello everyone!! I had a hard choosing this week – foxes or rabbits? I love them both and knew I wanted to pick one of them. Rabbits won out in the end, since my favorite book is Watership Down.
And because of that, it will lead the list!
I love this edition of Watership Down! I actually am asking Billy for it for Christmas. It is a tradition that he buys me a new copy for either my birthday or Christmas and this is the one that my heart is set on this year.
I absolutely loved The White Hare by Jane Johnson. It really set me in mind of a book written by Mary Stewart or Barbara Michaels, two of my favorites.
Our Crooked Hearts and Bunny were both bizarre and weird but I loved them both. Bunny especially felt like some crazy strange trip! Why are rabbits featured so heavily in horror novels and thrillers? Are they scary?
Speaking of horror and rabbits, I had to include Winterset Hollow. I never quite made it through this book but I need to try again. Although it is scary!!
Rabbit Hill I read a while ago, but I remember thinking it was a very good read and I am planning on reading it with Wyatt this spring, along with the next one on the list, The Remarkable Rescue at Milkweed Meadow.
I could not make this list without including these three – The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, The Velveteen Rabbit, and The Penderwicks. I love all three of them! The Velveteen Rabbit though makes me sob, and it made me cry even as a little girl. I never wanted to make my toys feel bad after that. And can someone tell me what a Skin Horse is because it sounds terrifying.
And a bonus eleventh book!
I absolutely love John Lewis-Stempel and this book was no exception. Hands down, he is one of my favorite nature writers.
And there we have it! All of my favorite books with rabbits on the cover!
