It’s been a CRAZY few weeks here for us! From an emergency gallbladder removal to ultrasounds on lymph nodes, we’ve been making lots of trips to the doctor’s office. I’m really hoping it will calm down now that everyone is alright and on the mend. So now that I’ve had a chance to breath I’ve put together what I’ve actually enjoyed from the month of October (and doctor visits definitely wasn’t one of them—although I’m well aware of my thankfulness for them!).
Watching:
In one of Over at Alicia’s podcast episodes she mentioned that as a family they were watching I Love Lucy episodes on Amazon prime. Well, I decided to give it a try with my clan. At first there was some complaining—as I expected. As soon as they saw it was black and white—THE HORROR—they started saying how they didn’t want to watch it.
“Look, just try one episode. That’s all I ask,” I told them. “It’s really funny. If you watch one episode and hate it, I won’t try to get you to watch anymore.”
We were about ten minutes in and everyone was roaring with laughter! And the main complainer was begging for “just one more” by the time it was over. 😉
It’s really fun to be sharing a show that’s funny but clean enough for the whole family to watch down to Ava. And the episodes are really short too, which is also nice.
Listening:
I am listening to The Daily Poem podcast by Circe, which is just lovely. It’s a wonderfully simple way to get a little poetry into your life. David Kern’s voice is soothing and I love how he give a little background and context with a few observations without going overboard. He mostly lets the poems speak for themselves. Which also lends itself to being easy to listen to because they are only a few minutes long.
When we’re driving around in the car we are listening to the third Penderwick book The Penderwicks at Point Mouette, which I don’t like quite as much as the last one. And at lunch we just started Caddie Woodlawn, a favorite from my childhood. I’ve not read it since my mom read it to me, so I hope it stands the test of time.
Actually, it was Caddie who gave me faith that there were more great books in the world than I thought. You see, when we finished reading the entire Little House series as a kid, I cried my eyes out. I was sure there would be no more good books. None wonderful and captivating as Little House. I was sure of it. But then, thankfully, I met Caddie. And I realized there WERE more great books out there!
Reading:
I’m reading The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton. I was so excited to get my hands on it, but I’ve really struggled getting into it. It’s been the hardest of all her novels for me to be captured by. It seems a bit wordy and there are so many characters! I will suspend my final thoughts for when I’ve completed it, however.
I also just started Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren. So far it’s a unique book, with chapters like “Brushing Teeth” and “Eating Leftovers” that have some surprising spiritual insights. I’m reading a few pages every morning and am finding it an encouragement to remember everyday matter.
Eating:
Now that soccer is over dinner time is a little easier to manage. These Sloppy Joes were a huge hit with all the kids. Which when you have four kids and a few are picky eaters, that’s saying something. We also loved these Roasted Veggie & Sausage Penne Bowls and I’m looking forward to making this Pasta with Smoked Sausage, Cherry Tomatoes + Kale.
I just love posts like these! Thanks so much for sharing. I need to catch up on Over At Alicia’s – LOVE the idea to watch I Love Lucy! We watched it growing up because my mom loves it. It’s so good! I just finished a quick read called A Mother’s Heart by Jean Fleming. It was so good and encouraging but challenging at the same time. It has me really looking at how I spend my time and being careful about using my phone around my kids. Convicting for sure!
Isn’t it so funny how predictably kids will complain about something we pick and then end up loving it? This happens at our house EVERY TIME Steve or I choose a movie to watch or a book to read. There’s weeping and gnashing of teeth about how boring and dumb it’s going to be and how disinterested they are…and then they’re riveted and begging for one more chapter/episode. You’d think they’d learn!
We’re still super into Poldark. Just finished season 3 last night and sadly season 4 is not free on Prime yet! I told Steve that means we have to get the 7-day free trial of PBS Masterpiece and just binge watch the entire season LOL. He wasn’t convinced!
I’m LOVING the Out of the Ordinary podcast. So so good. And also enjoying Jessica Honegger’s Going Scared podcast. That’s about all I’m listening to these days.
I discovered <i>Caddie Woodlawn</i> for the first time as an adult and loved it! I feel kind of "meh" about the Penderwicks. Sort of in a reading slump at the moment. We abandoned our last read-aloud as kind of a dud, though we just started <i>The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street</i> and it seems promising. I read and LOVED Tara Westover’s memoir <i>Educated</i>, but haven’t picked up anything since. Trying to plod through <i>The Brothers Karamazov</i> but it’s SO long and I keep taking breaks so it’s hard to remember what’s happening.
And for food, it’s soup season! Yay! Made a huge batch of sausage + white bean soup last week and a big batch of white chicken chili this week.
Glad you’re still liking Poldark!
The kids definitely like The Penderwicks more than I do, but since ALL of them like it we are listening to the whole series. I can’t wait to hear what you think about The Vanderbeekers, it’s on our list. I sometimes feel like there’s just TOO many read alouds I want to do with the kids! With all the classics and great new titles, there’s so much! I really think there’s some great children’s literature being written right now!