Books the Luke (8) and Sam (3) Like

It's again the end of a quarter (dates of which will forever be burned into my brain thanks to all the quarterly payroll taxes I prepped in my accounting days) which means it's time to share some books that the boys have been loving lately.  Reading them picture books has been a struggle since the weather has gotten nicer.  Let's rephrase that.  Reading LUKE books has been a struggle.  Most days Sam and I are home right from drop-off or for at least part of the morning and we sit to read a stack of books.  So far all of our outside play has been saved for after school since the mornings are still pretty chilly.  However, often by the time Luke is home from school it is GORGEOUS outside or at least tolerable and thus getting him to sit still long enough to do homework is a challenge, much less sitting AGAIN for books.  I honestly don't mind a rainy afternoon once or twice a week because it makes our homework process SO MUCH EASIER.  Like infinitely easier.  Really, if I could just get some rain from about 3:30 - 4:30 twice a week that would really help.

Luke is doing more independent reading too and I've been shifting which picture books I still read to him.  I believe STRONGLY in still reading picture books to him but a lot of the more simple ones I read to just Sam and then read a lot of picture book biographies and seasonal ones to both boys.   Or any that Luke picks up and is interested in I'll read to him but there are many that go through the house without being read to Luke which is fine.  I generally have a chapter book going with him too and then he reads on his own as well.  And reads to us for school.  There is still A LOT of reading in his life!

Luke
Dog Man by Dav Pilkey
Hands down, Luke's current favorite.  I've never read a single word of any of them but they are what usually picks from the school and public libraries (although we also have some volcano books he picked out too).  I like the sound of them better than Captain Underpants (by the same author) and I'm ok with almost anything that gets him excited to read on his own.  The picture books I read at least keep him getting some quality!  He's even copied me, staying up too late reading a few nights.  It's not great but I still am a little proud.

Hello, Hello by Brendan Wenzel
This is a simpler picture book that I'm not sure why I read to Luke, probably one of the boys picked it from the library pile.  Luke liked it for one major reason.  It had lemurs in it and Luke is ALL IN on any book with lemurs.  Are there any graphic novels with lemurs???  I need to investigate that.  I was asked to read this many times solely for the lemurs.

If Elephants Disappeared by Lily Williams
This is a neat picture book series that looks at endangered animals and what could happen to the Earth and ecosystems if they disappeared.  We've read all 3 that are released and they've all been fantastic.  Luke is interested in science and animals so these really appealed to him too.

I am Anne Frank by Brad Meltzer
We've read nearly all the books in this series and every one we've read has been fantastic.  This one especially stuck with Luke and gave me a reason to talk a bit more about the Holocaust with him.  He asked for it a few times and then brought it up again weeks later when we were rereading I am Albert Einstein so I guess it really stuck!  I think this one really stood out to him because Anne was always a kid, there is no adult story for her.  She lived to be older than Luke is but the fact that she died as a kid really stood out to him.

Energy: Physical Science for Kids by Andi Diehn
Like I said, Luke is interested in science and this has been a great series for introducing some concepts to him.  I don't expect them to really stick but at least he's getting an introduction so if we read another book or they come up at school then he will be familiar.  These are easy and kid friendly.

Sam
The Three Little Aliens and the Big Bad Robot by Margaret McNamara, illustrated by Mark Fearing
This is not the first time this book has appeared on this list but it is the first time it has appeared for Sam.  Sam LOVES this book.  We read it before every nap time for what felt like a month before I finally started to refuse.  Then Sam got Luke to read it to him before some weekend naps.  It's the Three Little Pigs story but in space with aliens.  I still don't know why this appeals to my boys so much but they LOVE it. 

Daniel Gets Scared by Maggie Testa, illustrated by Jason Fruchter
Sam has been on a big Daniel Tiger kick lately and when he gets screen time outside of family movie night or family Dude Perfect time, then it's almost always Daniel Tiger.  When Sam gets to pick a few books at the library they are almost always Daniel Tiger.  This episode "Big Storm!" is free on Prime right now and Sam has watched it many times while I've been working from my office so of course he loved the book version.  He keeps talking about how he wants us to get a big storm even though the one in Daniel's world was a bit destructive. 

Plant the Tiny Seed by Christie Matheson
A spring pick that Sam has really liked.  He likes all the books that have kids turning and clapping and tapping and interacting with it.  We haven't planted any seeds yet this year but maybe he'll be a bit more prepared once he do?  Always one of his picks when I sit down to read with him.

Sammy Skunk's Super Sniffer by Barbara deRubertis, illustrated by R.W. Alley
My good friend told me about these and now Sam and I have been reading the series (some of those books we read without Luke).  There are 26 animals in Alpha Betty's class and each one's name starts with a different letter of the alphabet.  OF COURSE, this one was Sam's favorite.  They are simple stories with a lot of words in the book that start with the letter of the featured animal kid.  They aren't amazing must reads but Sam and I have enjoyed them.

Won't You Be My Neighbor?: A Mister Rogers Poetry Book by Mr. Rogers, illustrated by Luke Flowers
I didn't know this one had stuck with Sam until he started quoting it to me weeks after we read it.  It's Mr. Roger's "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" song written out with pictures.  That's it.  He's probably heard it too on Daniel Tiger but this was a sweet book.  Maybe why he often prays for "our whole neighborhood!".

Those are some books the boys have been loving lately, I'm always up for any more book recommendations! 

My FabFitFun Experience

Subscription boxes aren't really my thing.  Or I didn't think they were my thing even though I had never tried one until recently.  I am always aiming to buy intentionally and have less in my house.  I am somewhat resistant to spending money.  The idea of paying a set amount of money for things I might not need or want seemed a little ridiculous.

But I also like getting mail.  I get excited to get packages even when I picked out and paid for them (it is incredibly rare that we get any other kind of package).  Most packages I open excitedly and then remember "oh...this is what I ordered for myself."  I remember a lot of things but what is arriving in packages seems to completely slip my mind once I hit "place order".

FabFitFun (this is not sponsored, they are welcome to send me free boxes!) is one company I've heard of for awhile.  I think they have been a sponsor on the Popcast (back before I started skipping all ads in podcasts, sorry, not sorry as the kids say).  People seemed to like the stuff they got from them.  So when I saw a deal to get a $50 box for $20 I was tempted enough that I placed an order.  Another podcast had also been talking a few days earlier about a magical blanket someone had gotten through their box.  Do we need another blanket?  Absolutely not.  But I was intrigued (spoiler alert: I didn't pick the blanket). 

I knew very little about what came in these boxes before I did this, other than general beauty things.  I made an account and went through all the steps.  Then I got to do some customizing.  I was able to pick among 5-6 items two different times.  So they showed me 5-6 items and I got to pick one (this is when I picked something else over the blanket).  Then showed me 5-6 completely different items and I got to pick one.

This may have happened a third time?  I'm not entirely sure.  I wasn't thinking about blogging about the experience when I was doing it.  

Then they asked me some questions about products I like and what I might use.  Like somewhere I said yes to being interested in jewelry but not earrings since I don't have pierced ears.  I said I wasn't interested in many beauty products since I have been battling so many skin problems on my face for 2 years.  I had finally found a mascara I really like and then had to stop using it because of my skin allergies.  That was a real loss.

I think it was mid-January when I placed my order.

Mid-February my box arrived.  I had checked the tracking more times than I care to admit.  I was very excited.  But not too excited because then I didn't open it for over a week.  There were a few nagging tasks I had been putting off for too long that I told myself I had to get done first.  Then I wanted to open it when I had some time to myself but Sam's precious naps are getting shorter and there is a lot I try to pack into that time (including too much time on my phone but that's a post for another day).

I finally opened it in late February while finishing The Notebook.  

It was really exciting to open a box where I had no idea what was inside but I also didn't have to fake reactions for a gift giver.  There were 8 items.  The booklet that came with it valued my total at $265.00.  I had paid $19.50.  That seems like a great deal!  But would I have ever paid $265 for these 8 items?

No, I wouldn't have.

Here's what I got for my $20:

1) The Lilly Pulitzer mugs are very pretty although more purple in person than showed in the picture.  That is one of the items I picked.  Do we need more mugs?  No, we do not.  But they are pretty even though I don't think I can microwave them (to warm up my water for tea) because of the gold on the handle which adds a step to my tea making.

2) There was a Vera Bradley "compact organizer" which is the other item I picked.  I felt a slight obligation since Very Bradley is from here and I certainly have a few (more than a few) of their items.  I'm not sure what I will use this for and it's in about my least favorite color.  I wish it was more pink because I can't get myself too excited about this purple.

3) There was an eye shadow palette which I hear a lot of people talking about on the internet (not this specific one, just in general) that I will at least try.

4) The one item I have actually used is the hair mask.  I've been using that once or twice a week in the shower and it does make my hair feel very smooth in the shower although I can't say I've noticed a difference once I am out.

5) I was excited about the "daily facial dry brush" because I love some good exfoliating but then my dermatologist told me I shouldn't exfoliate because of my psoriasis soooo...I used that once or twice before she told me that and now it's just sitting by my make-up.

6) There is a dry shampoo powder I should try because I do like NOT washing my hair but I haven't yet.  I have a homemade version I used more when I straightened my hair but I rarely do that now so I haven't used dry shampoo in a few years.

7) I have NO IDEA what the "croc card case is".  I guess to fit in credit or ID cards?  But I have a little (Vera Bradley) change purse I use for that when I am using a smaller purse so I don't need another, although I do like the color.

8) And then liquid eyeliner which I will try but haven't yet.

So there you go, 8 products worth $265 that I spent $20 on and so far, almost a month in, have used one.  

Was it worth $20?

Yes, I don't regret it for $20 and getting to try something new.  Maybe another one of the items will be a hit and then it will be doubly worth it but even if I just keep using the hair mask it was worth $20.  I immediately canceled my subscription (before my box even arrived) because I didn't want to pay $50 for a next one.  I don't need a box of surprise items sent to my house quarterly.  Some of these will probably end up in a donate box within a few months. 

But it was a fun experiment.  I'll try a few new things and maybe something will stick!

Quick Lit - March 2021

This is one of those months where things just didn't go to plan.  I meant to have this up yesterday.  Then I didn't really start writing it until last night so a day late it is! Side note: we have a new 3 year old who seems determined to give up his naps.  Those two things might be related.

I'm linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy here, spend too much time on Instagram here, and ditto with Goodreads here.  

Two other book posts in the past month:

Book Love: The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton

Finding a Home for Seasonal Books

Now everything else I've been reading!

 

The Engagements by J. Courtney Sullivan
I had picked this one to read over Valentine's Day, I like having a romance-ish book to read then.  Multiple storylines with multiple characters over many decades.  I found them all pretty interesting and engaging.  Also dives into the diamond industry nearly 100 years ago when diamonds were really becoming a big thing (thanks to the marketing).  I didn't see how the many story lines could possibly all fit together.  3.5 Stars

This is a Book for People Who Love the Royals by Rebecca Stoeker
This was a super quick but fun read about the British Royals.  I knew a lot of what was in here but it was fun to see it presented this way and with cute little drawings (I can't draw).  It took maybe an hour to read all together and it was just fun.  Recommend if you are also interested in the British Royals!  3.75 Stars

Share Your Stuff: I'll Go First: 10 Questions to Take Your Friendships to the Next Level by Laura Tremaine
Laura Tremaine has a podcast I listen to pretty regularly and I appreciated her book that elaborated on the topic of opening up and going deeper with family, friends, yourself.  Like the title says, she gives her own life examples on each which I found fascinating and interesting, she is a good storyteller.  I have since forgotten all of the questions but I did enjoy this read. 4 Stars

Maisie Dobbs, Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear
These are the first two Maisie Dobbs books and I just cannot get into these.  I'm going to keep trying for at least a few more books but I felt like Molly Murphy had me more hooked by 2 books in (I might be remembering wrong).  The mystery aspect feels very similar to Molly, just maybe 45 years later or something and set in London and the surrounding countryside instead of NYC.  I liked the flashback part of the first book, that told of Maisie's time serving during WWI.  Then the second half of the second of the book that I mostly read within 24 hours did seem to move faster, I probably need to dive in more than a chapter or two before bed each night for a week.  3 Stars

This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens
This is a New Years Eve set book that I didn't get until February so that's when I read it.  British rom-com, heavy on the rom.  It was fine and I liked how the potential couple's timeline kept overlapping before they realized it but I also have little patience for people who won't just talk about their obvious feelings so I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped I would.  3 Stars

Alone Time: Four Seasons, Four Cities, and the Pleasures of Solitude by Stephanie Rosenbloom
This was a travel book that also focused heavily on time alone while traveling.  I've never traveled solo and found it a bit interesting but also her reflections were more than just being alone.  It made me miss the trips my husband and I took before we had kids even though that wasn't what she was writing about.  And Paris, I hadn't been to many of the same places as her but I could tell she really enjoyed it there and spent the most time of the 3 cities she visited (the 4th city was NYC where she lived).  3.5 Stars

Love & Olives by Jenna Evans Welch
This is the third in a series and I had mostly completely forgotten the previous two (other than the second was set in Ireland and very closely followed the same path we took in Ireland almost 9 years ago).  However, if this had any ties to the previous two I didn't find them at all and this one turned out to be a very fun family/romance/adventure set in Greece.  Almost everything I know about Greece comes from Mamma Mia and this book, like those movies, make me really want to go there.  It was fun YA with a huge bit of travel included. 3.75 Stars

That Sounds Fun: The Joys of Being an Amateur, the Power of Falling in Love, and Why You Need a Hobby by Annie F. Downs
The That Sounds Fun podcast is one I listen to from time to time, when the guest or topic intrigues me.  I certainly am familiar enough with it and Annie F. Downs to make this an enjoyable read.  It doesn't really have anything to do with the podcast other than mentioning it from time to time but I really enjoyed her essays on being an amateur and having a hobby and how maybe we all just need to be a little more laid back with things (that's what I got out of it at least).  Annie is a great story teller and has a writing style that made me feel like her friend.  It was a really enjoyable read. 4 Stars

Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers by Sara Ackerman
This is her second book I've read this year and have really enjoyed them both!  This one, like the first, was set on the Big Island of Hawaii during World War II, post Pearl Harbor.  I count that movie among my top 10 favorite ever but hadn't given much thought to what those war years were like for the people who lived on the islands until I read the other book of hers.  They lived a very different war from most people in the continental US, especially with the number of Japanese people who lived on the islands with a strong allegience to the US (before the US kinda turned on them).  I immediately added her other two books to my list.  They are a bit of a slower burn (like life in Hawaii, from what I know about it) and are also pretty chaste, if that interests you.  4 Stars

Love at First by Kate Clayborn
Another romance book that I remember reading and debating if it was a 3 or 4 star book but now it's been over a week and I remember very few plot details (I had settled on 3 stars on Goodreads, that seems appropriate now).  There was an condo building in Chicago and people who initially hate each other but then don't.  But still don't talk about their feelings.  I liked picking it up but obviously wasn't highly memorable. 3.25 Stars

Leave Only Footprints: My Acadia-to-Zion Journey Through Every National Park by Conor Knighton
I really enjoyed this memoir-esque book of the author's journey of visiting all the National Parks (not national monuments or lakeshores or any of those, strictly the parks) in one calendar year.  I hold a huge affinity for the National Parks, my childhood vacations were largely based around them and I've been to quite a few of the big ones (Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Rocky Mountains, Smoky Mountains, another 5 at least) and it still took until chapter NINE before he wrote about one I had been to.  This book made me want to visit/revisit a whole bunch of them and also realize there are many I will very likely never get to (almost all of them that you can only reach by boat or plane, besides Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, I really do hope to make it to that one!). Some of them are really hard to get to!  He's a good writer and made the journeys and the people and the parks all so interesting, I learned new facts about every single one!  Highly recommend to Americans who appreciate the National Park system.  4.75 Stars

Read with Luke
Betsy's Winterhouse by Carolyn Haywood
This was a read aloud with Luke that we both really enjoyed but had trouble making time for so it took us nearly a month to finish...and there were only 9 chapters.  I thought I had only read two of the Betsy books as a kid, the two that I owned, but so much of this seemed SO FAMILIAR that I must have read this one too.  This one spanned much of a year (winter through spring) and hardly mentions school which is nice so they feel more broadly appealing that way.  I think we have 4 left in the series that we started a year ago.  I am looking forward to reading more, maybe I'll find another I had forgotten that I read?  Very old, this was written in the late 1950s, so a bit dated but nothing really problematic.  I change a few words when reading aloud and have to clarify a few things to Luke.  I enjoy the simpler time.  4 Stars

What have YOU been reading?

One Year Since We Started to Quarantine

It was impossible to enter March this year and not think about March 2020.  The month our country (and much of the world) changed.  It was early March when I specifically remember asking Matt how concerned I should be about this "corona thing".  On March 10th I did what turned out to be my last Aldi trip for 2+ months (Matt did all our shopping in that time).  I also picked up a Target order of ginger ale, chicken & rice soup, and tissues "in case we were home sick for 2 weeks".  Also, toilet paper because we were running low.  This was days before it started to become really scarce.

This week last year was filled with some stress about how fast everything was changing.  It felt weird but also grateful for the normal of Luke still going to school every day this week.  We were anticipating school shutting down at any moment.  This week last year was filled with unknowns and too many checks of the news.

Luke went to his last in-person day of 1st grade on March 13th.  

That evening we went to a fish fry at my sister's where it was so nice to do something normal but also the adults pretty much only talked about this corona virus (I believe the school my BIL teaches at had yet to close at that time but all the rest of the 5 school our family attends/teaches/drives bus for were closed for 2 weeks).

The next day, March 14th, we had a birthday party for the boys with ~25 people in our house.  We kinda talked about canceling it but also corona had barely hit our county, there were maybe a handful of confirmed cases.  I never talked about this on the blog or Instagram because I knew people would have strong feelings about that but looking back...it was the safest time in the many following months to do that!  There were so few cases!  (And, to this date, to the best of my knowledge, nobody who was at our party has still gotten COVID in the past year.)  If it was the following weekend we definitely would have canceled it.

That evening we went to in-person Mass for what would be the last time in over 2 months.   We had no idea church was days away from closing.  That there would be any circumstances where church would close.

On Monday, March 16th, we started e-learning.  It was confusing and frustrating and I had 3 doctor appointments that week.  We were still being told not to wear masks but some of the health workers were.  Before and after those appointments, since I didn't have the boys with me, I was doing semi-frantic grocery shopping, hoping to get some milk and meat.  Matt & I made 3-4 stops at our neighborhood meat market that week because they kept selling out immediately.  I bought overpriced milk from the gas station and oatmeal that is still in our cupboard in case we couldn't get milk and needed breakfast options besides cereal.

The first two weeks of e-learning, the final two weeks of March last year, were very stressful.  Luke had 5 days of e-learning each week as we tried to adapt to what all that entails and also a complete upending of our current schedule.  Matt was still going into the hospital 4 days a week which was very stressful (he quickly started showering as soon as he got home and kept all his work stuff in the basement).  All the mixed messages they were getting at work from their hospital employer added to the confusion and stress.  He had job security but it was also working at a hospital in a pandemic.  We had discussions about what we would have to do if he needed to quarantine from us (nearly impossible in a small house with only one bathroom).  I cried many days of those two weeks.  

Then Luke had a week off e-learning for spring break and after that his e-learning schedule was much less intense (only 3 days a week) which actually gave us some time to enjoy having him home instead of just the stress of getting all his work done.  And the weather really turned to mostly spring and things got easier, even if we were still not seeing people off screens.

 
The past 52 weeks have held a lot of moments that I never expected to experience in my life.  It was, at times, weird, confusing, stressful, and hard.

But there was also a lot of joy.  Personally, 2020 was a much better year for our family than 2019 was.  2019 was a hard year for many reasons.   While there were many times this year where it felt like time was standing still, I still have one kid who has at least triple the vocabulary he did a year ago and another who can read and rattle off his math facts a lot better.  I've finished 176 books and run nearly 340 miles.  We put in raised beds, Matt made a new kitchen table, and he's working on separating our basement into actual rooms (our basement is currently the messiest it's ever been and that's saying something).  I painted this cupboard!  I started sewing again!  We never did make any sourdough.

We've done countless bike rides and the boys have spent countless hours on bikes or scooters or powerwheels in our alley.  Sam has lived a whole 1/3 of his life in these COVID days!  

Of course, none of this should come at the expense of all the lives that have been lost and countless hours we've lost in-person with families or loved ones.  We've been pretty lucky that so few people in our families have even gotten COVID.  It's been a year of finding the right balance between being cautious but safely seeing people so as to keep mental health in tact.  

There is something so optimistic about heading into spring this year and warmer weather.  To finally have outdoors as a real option.  The potential to see people outside and also send the boys (and us) outside to wear out some energy.  To know many people (my husband and parents included) who have gotten vaccinated.  To think about school being much closer to normal in the fall.  

Last March at this time there were a lot of unknowns.  This year there still a lot of unknowns but they are more optimistic unknowns.  Thinking of how things will be opening back up instead of shutting down.  The potential for outdoor dates again!  Having people over in the backyard!  Getting the string lights up again (this has nothing to do with COVID but I'm still excited about it).

It'll be awhile before life is back to what it was in 2019 and I doubt I'll be able to stop wearing a mask to Aldi and Target for months but I have a lot of hope for what this spring and summer will bring.  It feels like a complete 180° from how I felt a year ago.  There is a light at the end of the tunnel that we are inching towards when a year ago we were headed to pitch black darkness.

Sam won't remember much of this COVID year.  I expect it will be a standout memory from Luke's childhood.  Someday it will just seem like a blip in our lives but while we lived it many moments were hard and many moments were wonderful.  I'm grateful that we are on this side of it now.

Looking Back at February 2021

February contained multitudes.  On January 31st we woke up to a whole bunch of snow.  It hadn't even come close to all melting before we got another big dump (largest single day snowfall of my life!) in mid-February.  On February 28th we had a 60° sunny day.  We ended the month with very different weather conditions than we started it with!

Luke should have had 18 days in school.  5 of those turned into e-learning and after a week where he only went to school one single day...we haven't even had a delay since.  But we did get a lot of sunny days and if we're going to have cold at least we got snow and sun!  February also brought us TWO new nephews born 8 days apart.  How exciting is that?  A lot of time at home but the light is visible at the end of this long winter tunnel.

Looking back:
1 year ago: When I Make Time to Read (this has changed a bit in the last year but largely the same!)
2 years ago: Cutting My Social Media Time
3 years ago: State of the Adoption - Year 6 (3 WEEKS after this we got Sam)
4 years ago: Homemade Goo Gone (I still use this all. the. time.)
5 years ago: DIY Growth Chart (just measured Sam on his birthday this week!)
6 years ago: Adding 165 Instagrams to a Photobook without Crashing the Software (I still use this exact method on multiple collages for photobooks.)
7 years ago: "Before we had kids..."
8 years ago: Adoption FAQ: Saying the Right Thing
9 years ago: Intake (the day we started the adoption process)

1) Day 1 of February and day 1 of e-learning for the month.  They were (briefly) getting along and watching an online book reading for one of Luke's assignments.
2) Snow, icicles, and a happy Luke playing in the yard.
3) Luke requested my phone to take a picture of this "beautiful sky!" (My kids know I like sunsets, sunrises, and pretty trees.)
4) On a two hour delay day when Matt was off and I went into work...he build them a snow tunnel before school.  I am certainly never that fun on delay mornings (reading a stack of picture books together is still fun, right??)
5) Snowing again!
6) Sunny but cold, Luke still spent a good amount of time bundled up in the playhouse playing!
7) Celebrating Valentine's Day with of our date favorite ice cream sundae (not the first time we've picked this up to eat at home!).
8) Valentine's Day, plants and puzzles.  I told Matt I was going to buy the plants anyways so might as well make them a part of my gift!  Even got them from a local plant store I've been wanting to try!
9) This was our BIG snowfall.  11 inches in a single day!
10) The morning after that snowfall I was supposed to go to work when Matt was off.  It turns out nobody was going anywhere so I tried to "hide" in Matt's office to get my work done while Matt was managing e-learning and a 2 year old.  Sam came to visit me often.
11) Pretty major icicles when it all started to melt!
12) Finally about the last week of February I cut and hung some snowflakes in my office windows!  They are still up.
13) A 50° day where one side of the yard looked like winter and one side like muddy spring.  (That snow along the neighbor's fence STILL isn't completely melted.  It's always in the shadows.)
14) Nice enough weather for a bike ride!  After being buried in snow much of the month!
15) Trying to work on a puzzle, did you know 2000 is a lot of puzzle pieces???  It's much slower going than I expected.
16) Getting in some porch reading in February, always nice when that can happen!  Appreciate having a tiny bit more space to our house!

Books finished: 13, I could have gotten another in with 3 more days!
Miles ran: 1.75!  I RAN!  It was so painful but I just kept reminding myself how much I liked my ~4 months off running.
Currently watching: I'm still trying to catch up to The Office Ladies podcast, I think I'm just 6 episodes behind??  Matt & I are also rewatching Community which is a lot of fun.  And usually means we stay up later than we should on the weekends.
Most read post this month: Stripping: Laundry Style continues to reign although it's monthly totals are in the hundreds instead of the thousands now.  MAYBE I should restrip some laundry now that's been 4 years and apparently I've instructed a lot of people on how to do it??
Luke's current favorite song: You've Got a Friend in Me is still very often requested.  Do I regret buying that yet?? (Maybe.)

March brings birthdays for both boys, the one year COVID quarantine anniversary (What is the traditional gift for 1st year since a global pandemic started?  Face masks?  More face masks? Vaccines?), hopefully plenty of sunny days and very little mud in my house!  I will appreciate every sunny and warm day we get!

The Spring Switch

This past Monday was March 1st.  I have decided (when did I decide this??  I don't know.) that that is the start of spring for our household.  (It could also be remembered as the day I had my first foot surgery which was then followed by the most beautiful March I've ever remembered, where it was 70° most of the month and I recall that at least once on the blog every March since.)  

I have been leaning HARD into marking and separating out the seasons lately.  Part of this was brought on by our COVID life that started almost exactly a year ago.  So much of life was feeling the same that having obvious markers to the seasons changing was very helpful and therapeutic.  The weather outside doesn't (rarely) cooperates with what season I think it should be (that's what we get living in Indiana!) but at least inside our 4 walls I can control what the seasons feel like.

Last year I did a 3 part series on marking the seasons (Living Seasonally, Changing with the Seasons, Opening/Closing Ceremonies) and a few years ago I did a seasonal series on Senses of the Seasons (Christmas, Spring, Summer, Fall).  So maybe this isn't just a COVID thing.  I also love a good themed item (how I shocked Matt & Luke by buying a large bag of red, white, and blue Sour Patch Kids last summer, just in time for the 4th.  I think I ate about 3 of them) but also don't love storing a lot of things or spending a lot of money.  But I also like to really feel the change in the seasons.

Since I was just talking about seasonal book storage last week and then this past Monday I did a HARD dive into all things spring, I thought I would take you along to many of the things that I am switching out around the house as I mark this beginning of spring (I still have snow in my backyard too, but not much).

I didn't realize until I started this process how much of it was based on our enclosed front porch.  We use our porch a lot in the warmer months but hardly at all in the winter, just to get mail and packages.  So it makes sense to me that welcoming spring into our home is also opening the porch back up to use.  It's a wonderful place to enjoy warmer weather but avoiding the mud that is rampant right now.  

On the porch I took down the lights that have been surrounding all the front facing windows since Thanksgiving weekend.  These were still on a timing to turn on twice a day through the morning of March 1st and really did help to make those dark winter mornings a little lighter.  So those lights came down, the paper snowflakes in the windows came down.

I switched out some of the art, decorations, and pillows (I have a little more tweaking to do with those.) The table decor will change up a bit too, I constantly tweak those!

Next, coming inside I switched out the seasonal book basket with what we have so far, all just general spring books since we won't do Easter until actual Easter.  And I'm waiting on some St. Patrick's Day books at the library.

 

Switched out the pillow cover on the chair next to the book basket too.

The couch also got new pillow covers but the blanket stays for now because it is still chilly some days! 

 

In the kitchen I switched out my Instagram gallery wall by the back door.

And switched out the snowman salt & pepper shakers for general ones.

Over the weekend, on laundry day, I had pulled out the last of the snowman towels to wash and store away until December.  

I even switched out my lip balms from winter-y feeling vanilla and cinnamon to more spring-y strawberry (and plain, it's what I had).

I usually change my phone and desktop background pictures on the first of each month to something seasonal-ish.  So on March 1st we went with St. Patrick's Day themed. 

 

And I synced my phone to iTunes for the first time in almost 2 months maybe to add songs I had downloaded (thanks, free Amazon credits) and move my Spring playlist near the top of the list.  I even updated the playlist's picture.

Over the weekend we took the flannel (snowman and snowflake) sheets off the bed for the last time until late fall but the bed heater and extra blankets stay for now.  Just like I haven't switched out my closet to spring/summer yet either.  I can make a lot of changed but ones concerned with actually keeping us warm out and INside the house still stay in winter mode for awhile longer. 

These might not seem like a lot of changes (even though it took me a couple hours to do it all!) but they all add up to making our house feel like it's waking up after a long winter.  Spring weather is going to take a bit to stick around for good but we are embracing the parts of spring that we can now!  It's such a wonderful feeling!

Finding a Home for Seasonal Books

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Last fall I wrote a short series about how I've been working on living a little more seasonally.  I like to read winter books in the winter and summer books in the summer.  I make various changes throughout our home as the seasons change and I've been making myself little capsule nail polish sets for each season, with nail polishes I already own.  I've just found great delight in embracing and living each season as they come.  (You can read those here: Living Seasonally, Changing with the Seasons, Opening/Closing Ceremonies.)

Of course, in my current state of life, that translates to reading seasonally appropriate picture books.  Picture books have, somehow, turned somewhat into a passion/obsession of mine with the boys and I reading around 1,000 new ones each year.  (I think that qualifies as a passion at best.)  I have good lists going on Goodreads for each season and plan a whole post about how we manage and read 150+ Christmas picture books, mostly in the month of December.  We rely heavily on the library but I also add to our picture/board book collection occasionally (particularly for the books that the library owns only a few copies of but are in high demand when in season.  I've been waiting months for a few winter books I still don't have.)  

Of course, with a small house and new items, there is often the dilemma of where to put them.  We floundered in this for awhile but it wasn't until I really started growing our collection last year that it became a problem.  I wanted somewhere to put our seasonal books that were separate from the rest of our kid books (currently in 3 locations around the house).  Also the seasonal library books that we hold onto for months at a time (if there is no hold line) and have read so I want them separate from our main library stash so I wouldn't have to think every day when I pick books to read "we already read those".  

There are few things I love like a new organizing challenge.  I finally came up with something super original.  I bought a basket from Target.  Then it was too small so I bought another bigger one and returned the first.  And that is where we are today.

 
As I wrote over 2 years ago, we try to give even temporary items a home because it's the only way to live in space without chaos.   Our kid library book storage hasn't moved since I wrote that post, just changed a bit (why did I ever keep them all flat???).  The boys and I are in here many times a day pulling books to read or putting ones back (that one seems to be just me).

The basket of seasonal books sits next to the tv stand, not too far from the couch where we usually read books. I took these pictures last week before I completely packed away all remnants of winter from our house.  There's some residual Valentine's books in there too.

Our seasonal books go in there as soon as I deem it is seasonal appropriate for them to be out.  Spring for me begins March 1st, whether or not the weather is agreeing with me.  We don't have a ton in the way of just spring books but this one and this one went in the basket!  Once we read seasonal books from the library and I've decided that I like them enough to read again, those will go in the basket too.  But not until we've read them.  Our library stack is more of a TBR for picture books (and sometimes "I need to take pictures of these and write captions for them for Instagram" too). 

 

In the off-seasons our seasonal books have many homes.  Most of the Christmas books are in the high shelves, behind baskets, in my office (which have largely stayed the same as the after picture in this post).  A few other seasonal books are up there too although at the moment I don't remember which (thank goodness we have a step-ladder!).  Some for seasons we don't have many books for live in the same part of our buffet as the non-seasonal, non-tall decor (as seen here).  I should have these all in one place but I'm experimenting to see what works best.  Again, a good organizing dilemma! 

I was excited about having a basket for easily setting apart our own seasonal books as well as one we read and reread and reread from the library.  It also made me appreciate how serious I've been taking this seasonality and my life in picture books.  We've continually made our small space work for us and there's room for all the important things, even a lot of picture books.