1. Manga Classics! Manga is a Japanese cartoon type story telling that you turn the pages left to right. There are a lot variations and genres out there ( including po*n graphic -so beware!), but our family has really enjoyed many English translated stories . Our favorite BY FAR is Manga Classic retellings of our beloved favorites. Above our just a few of the ones we own. They are a bit spendy, but we collect them for birthdays or Christmas.
2. The Anno Math Game books were so fun for my youngest to do with my husband. Definitely for younger kids but such delightful illustrations and unique ways of looking at mathematics.
3. I’m privileged to write and collage for this Christian homemaker women’s letter. It has grown from a few friends who met years ago via Instagram and blogs. A new website has launched for subscribers and it would make a wonderful gift for any mother!
4. Last but not least, I highly recommend these GORGEOUS sticker packs from Peter Pauper Press. You can get them on Amazon. My favorites are definitely the Cottagecore and Enchanted Forest books!
THE languor of Youth – how unique and quintessential it is! How quickly, how irrecoverably, lost! The zest, the generous affections, the illusions, the despair, all the traditional attributes of Youth – all save this – come and go with us through life; again and again in riper years we experience, under a new stimulus, what we thought had been finally left behind, the authentic impulse to action, the renewal of power and its concentration on a new object; again and again a new truth is revealed to us in whose light all our previous knowledge must be rearranged. These things are a part of life itself; but languor – the relaxation of yet unwearied sinews, the mind sequestered and self-regarding, the sun standing still in the heavens and the earth throbbing to our own pulse – that belongs to Youth alone and dies with it.
Brideshead Revisited, p. 79
Thinking on this quote as I navigate young adult relationships. I’m prayerfully trying to put myself back into “their age shoes” to respond with love, compassion, and a listening spirit.
Looked at dinner pool list to decide what I have in cupboard for dinner. Nothing needs thawing.
Made my yogurt bowl for breakfast. Got kids finishing breakfast (fend for themselves) and starting math and piano practice.
Unpacked a few things from car that we left after arriving home late last night.
Texted with daughter at college. She got my card. ♥️Sent her video she wanted.
Collected cold coffee and yogurt bowl, grocery list, random journals, and pens and took upstairs.
Ran downstairs, washed out and filled water bottle.
Forwarded email someone wanted me to pass on to mom’s group.
Sent recommendations to my daughter’s soon to be MIL.
Ran back upstairs.
Listened to Marco Polo group messages while eating and settling up my journals.
Caught up on some journaling.
Ran downstairs. Printed off book covers for reading journal.
Sat down with four kiddos for our morning time.
Listened to narrations and popped popcorn for snack.
Did reading lessons with little boys. Read them a couple chapters of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Buzzed boy’s hair, helped them with showers, and finger nails.
6 yo and I spread the hair clippings to birds outside .
Texted my best friend, my sister!
Listened to 17 yo narrate again.
Helped 21 yo son with his college paper for 10 minutes.
Got out leftovers for lunch, heated up ham veggie soup for my husband and I! Washed spoons.
Cleaned up while kids outside.
Got out big block of cheese, gallon bags to split and freeze. Can’t find serrated knife?
Went back upstairs and journaled a bit more, started grocery list/menu plan.
Tried to go on walk, super windy and cold. Listened to audiobook. Grabbed my son’s laundry that was on clothesline because it looked like rain. Admired the violets!
17 yo left for extended music lessons.
Call three younger in, work on each child’s history, science, and copy work. Work on some reading with my current dyslexic.
Make more popcorn and cheese and cracker snack.
Send them out to play.
Set up nature outing with friends via Voxer.
My 6 yo and I thoroughly enjoyed this together. ♥️
I found missing serrated knife. 🤪 Finished cheese project and I froze some of the cheese.
Sat down and started listening to The Raphael Affair, almost finished.
Watched one Booktube video.
Got kids ready for going with dad and picking up cousins for church. Found socks, shoes, sweatshirts.
Now blogging 😅 and thinking of dinner prep (egg sausage casserole), and which book to read.
Need to finish grocery list/menu plan.
Need to finish unpacking car.
Maybe start packaging up books for an east coast friend or write a pen pal letter?
I could sweep kitchen floor and scrub table too. 🤔
Fun 🤩 favorites reads from April!
I love these sort of post as I don’t often realize all that I’m doing while in the midst of it! Also it’s a record and a memory of a wonderful life! I’m so blessed to be a home keeper and home schooling mama. A favorite quote I heard again this past weekend was about “a long obedience in the same direction”. May that be so of my faith journey and my relationships. 🙏🏻♥️
What did you do today? I bet you’d be surprised if you jotted down the minute details as closely as possible. Happy Wednesday! ♥️
Happy Thursday! I ‘tried’ to group these by main genre topic. ♥️ I’m hoping to add more for reference! A few of these don’t regularly update, but there is a TREASURE TROVE of back posts!
The sound of water trickling (we call the above stream the Withywindle), birds, wind, and I’m getting more audiobook time from walking and driving an hour away for a monthly book club. I have Mistress Pat by L. M. Montgomery and The Raphael Affair by Iain Pears going. The Pears book is an art mystery thriller, it’s a bit info-dumpy, but I love the art fraud case and Rome setting. Two police are helping an art historian unravel the mystery. It’s a series so if I end up liking this one enough, I can go on!
•watching• ♥️🌲 ~ I’m so enjoying checking my daffodils and the tree buds etc for any growth and changes. I did really enjoy this LOVELY journaling YouTube video recently. I was inspired to create my May reading pages. They look 👀 nothing like 😆 some of these gals I watch, but I had fun all the same. I used some kitty washi I had and a Pusheen stamp set we had laying around. I also found some more fun cute reading bingo boards on Pinterest. I find it so satisfying to fill them in here and there.
•reading• ♥️🌲~
I mentioned the two audiobooks I’m enjoying 👆, but currently, I have SO many books on the stack. I think I’m most enjoying spy/thriller/mystery archaeology type adventure stories 😆😂 with a healthy dose of classic, comfort reads. Very strange combo, I know, but I’m definitely eclectic! Below are a few ones I’m throughly enjoying.
Waiting on this next installment of Alex Rider teen spy for MI6! 😅First one was intriguing!New series I found that I’m trying!The first was very violent, BUT I really liked Elias, one of the the main characters and so I’m continuing this series!
•noticing• ♥️🌲~ We have a lot of Bloodroot blooming along the field and road edges. The Robins, Killdeers, and Red-winged Blackbirds have been vocal! I’ve had two Eastern Bluebird sightings which of course fills me with happiness. 😆💙🧡🤍 We saw the male American Goldfinches donning their yellow jackets! 💛🥰 We are testing our observations on the Barn Swallows. They usually are back around my daughter’s birthday and it’s this weekend (17!) so it will be fascinating if we see them! I’ll let you know! I loved seeing my youngest get to ride a horse this past week for the first time. He wasn’t sure but then really enjoyed it. 🐴
Bloodroot Holding on for dear life 😂😅
What have you been listening to, reading, watching, noticing? I’d really love to hear! ♥️🌲🥰
Wowsers. 😜😮💨 Nothing like packing up parts of your home for a much needed renovation project to see how terrible of a cleaner/organizer I am! 😧🫨😆
We are, Lord-willing, finally getting our walls properly insulated and a new floor! 😍 Among other things, hopefully! BUT that means taking down my shelves that my FIL built 10 (!) years ago. So LOTS of books have to be packed up!
It’s a great opportunity for me to purge and organize. So many memories with all my children and these wonderful books we thrifted, hunted down, and treasured over the years. 🥲😍🥰
Thank God for motherhood and the opportunity to home educate. 😍🥲♥️
Any projects on your horizon? I hope to update about this and my gardening soon! 🤞🏻♥️
I’m slowly getting into my buddy read of Idyll’s of the King and I was struck remembering this lovely picture book version of this part of the poem. The Kitchen Knight retold by Margaret Hodges is lovely, largely due to the illustrations by Trina Schart Hyman!
Happy Monday, friends! Our weekly quest has begun! Go forth boldly and without fear! 🙏🏻♥️😍
If you could chuck your to-do list out the window today, what would you do? 😅😂 I’d find a lovely spot by water, under a tree, or in my cute local coffee shop, grab a latte , and read. I know, surprise, surprise. ☺️😉
Here’s what’s on my stack that I’m currently interested in or really enjoying!
Cheesy, bordering on super silly continuing cozy mystery series that pokes fun of the Regency literature era tropes 😂I ♥️ my Kindle! Amish in April selection (Booktube Readathon), a couple of fantasy novels, a mystery, writing nonfiction, and continuing 14 yo spy thriller series! Middle Grade Historical Fiction! Can’t wait to try this! I adore anything with lighthouses!Oh my word. I’m absolutely adoring this book. Montgomery’s writing and characters make my heart sing. 😍🥹♥️
I love keeping house…it’s really a lovely phrase, isn’t it? Keeping it…holding it fast against the world…against all the forces trying to tear it open.
Fun, adventurous story set near the Amazon River!Favorite history/geography/architecture picture book series by Elizabeth Mann!
•listening toand reading •♥️🌿~ we are really enjoying our read aloud of Journey to the River Sea. We’ve kind of poked our head into South America, this year while studying Early American history, explorers, etc. We have some Ancient reading going on and early European too. It’s seems to be opening up ideas and interesting discussions and narrations. 😍
A few individual things with different children we are enjoying! Oldies, but goodies. Trying to ‘use my shelves’! Two Favorites here!
•watching and noticing•♥️🌿
One child mentioned within my hearing how The Divine Comedy 🎭and the podcast The 100 Days of Dante were coming together with other things. My heart cheered inside. 😅♥️ I’ve noticed that Marvel and the Percy Jackson Series have been being connected to Greek/Norse myths we are always enjoying in our Literature. My older kids enjoy some of the Marvel movies and ALL of my kids have appreciated Percy Jackson’s adventure stories.
Tornado 🌪️/ thunderstorm weather in our area! 😱😬
What have you been listening to, reading, watching, and noticing? I’ve been so interested and pleased with our history adventures this year! Thank You, Lord! ♥️😍📚🥰
Trying this set up! Very ambitious, but aim high, I guess. 😂Added album cover inspiration! Walked 15 miles for my second book over $5! Yay!Took me a long time as I got sick second half of March/early April! Not to mention the weather has been very hit or miss. 😭😁 April reading journal pages filling up!I messed up my Book Shelfie order, but no worries, it will work. If I get too perfectionist, I would never journal! Missed one day in my streak! It was pouring! 😂😬
“Marilla!” Anne sat down on Marilla’s gingham lap, took Marilla’s lined face between her hands, and looked gravely and tenderly into Marilla’s eyes. “I’m not a bit changed-not really. I’m only just pruned down and branched out. The real me-back here-is just the same. It won’t make a bit of difference where I go or how much I change outwardly; at heart I shall always be your little Anne, who will love you and Matthew and dear Green Gables more and better every day of her life.”
~ Anne of Green Gables
😭😭😭 thinking about my Anne getting MARRIED. 😭😭😭 My oldest son is doing a lot and making decisions, too!! Change and them growing up is in my heart. Hard, but beautiful. ♥️🙏🏻
If I can stop one Heart from breaking
I shall not live in vain
If I can ease one Life the Aching
Or cool one Pain
Or help one fainting Robin
Into his Nest again
I shall not live in Vain.
~ Emily Dickinson
We are enjoying Dickinson again in our co op currently! She is one of my most favorite poets and I think this above poem IS my favorite by her. 🥲♥️ The prayer over my life. Here is a beautiful print of it for your home.
When Marilla had eaten her lunch Anne persuaded her to go to bed. Then Anne went herself to the east gable and sat down by her window in the darkness alone with her tears and her heaviness of heart. How sadly things had changed since she sat there the night after coming home! Then she had been full of hope and joy and the future had looked rosy with promise. Anne felt as if she had lived years since then, but before she went to bed there was a smile on her lips and peace in her heart. She looked her duty courageously in the face and found it a friend-as duty ever is when we meet it frankly.”
~Anne of Green Gables, emphasis mine
I’m nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there’s a pair of us-don’t tell!
They’d banish us, you know.
How dreary to be somebody!
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!
~Emily Dickinson
A few favorite Emily resources ♥️
Anne went to the little Avonlea graveyard the next evening to put fresh flowers on Matthew’s grave and water the Scotch rosebush. She lingered there until dusk, liking the peace and calm of the little place, with its poplars whose rustle was like a low, friendly speech, and its whispering grasses growing at will among the graves. When she finally left it and walked down the long hill that sloped to the Lake of Shining Waters it was past sunset and all Avonlea lay before her in a dreamlike afterlight-“a haunt of ancient peace.” There was a freshness in the air as if a wind that had blown over honey-sweet fields of clover. Home lights twinkled out here and there among the homestead trees. Beyond lay the sea, misty and purple, with its haunting, unceasing murmur. The west was a glory of soft, mingled hues, and the pond reflected them all in still softer shadings. The beauty of it thrilled Anne’s heart, and she gratefully opened the gates of her soul to it.
I don’t remember when I first encountered the wonderful world of Booktube, but it was pre-covid and I’ve been happily watching ever since! If you aren’t sure what it is, Booktube is a corner of YouTube that focuses on reading and talking about reading! 😅 I also have found AMAZING reading journalers which is like a sandwich of my two favorite hobbies ever! There are YouTubers for EVERY hobby! Flosstubers, Gardentubers, Cookingtubers! 😍😅♥️ Overall, I’ve found a small group of people in the Booktube world who are sooo friendly, welcoming, and as passionate about books and reading as I am! As with anything, you have to weed out a few thorns and balance the time spent, but this has been an enriching part of my life. Today I thought I’d share a few of my current favs! As you know 😉I read a wide variety of random things, so I’m going to share my Eclectic Booktuber favorites! I have many MORE, I love, but these are my jam currently.
Do you have a niche YouTube corner? A hobby that you like learning about on YouTube!? I’d love to hear! Maybe I will do another of these lists later for my general favorite Booktubers!
A.M. Pine - Hearth Ridge Reflections 