I’ve always enjoyed historical fiction, but I haven’t read much YA historical fiction. My YA reading tends towards fantasy and futuristic/dystopian literature.
Recently, my YA book club at the library had a planning session to lay out the next twelve month’s worth of reading. It was a super satisfying evening that resulted in a list of books we’d be reading for the coming year, but of course, we couldn’t read all of the books that were suggested as possibilities.
I took home one of the books that didn’t make the list, a historical fiction title, and I enjoyed it so much. So I found another YA historical fiction title and read that one, too. Well, I listened to it.
It’s that time of year again. If you’ve been with me for a while, you’ll remember my previous posts on what to read for Black History Month. You can find my 2018 post here, and here’s 2019. This year, I have four picture books with fantastic illustrations, all with their own distinct flavor.
It has been over five months since we gave up Amazon Prime and Netflix.
The rapidly escalating content on Netflix was leaving the adults in our family feeling gross after watching our shows, and we squirmed at the content the kids kept finding.
There were some great shows, but our tweens kept finding stuff that was rated for their age, but was full of bigger kid content that we weren’t ready to expose them to, at least not on the screen. I’d much rather have my kids read about something than watch it and have everything spelled out for them.
Amazon Prime? I was sick of paying to shop at a specific store, especially one that was invading my privacy and was my first choice when I was shopping or just looking for something. With the ease of ordering, sometimes, I clicked purchase before I even realized what had happened.
I made this jacket using what I’ve learned so far about historical patterns and techniques and I think I did a pretty good job of imitating my inspiration pic. I also know there’s a lot I don’t know, so I probably messed up in ways I’m not even aware of, and for that, I pray those who know better will forgive me.
My little guy, who is four, needed a warm jacket, 1860’s style, for the Victorian Strolls we’d be attending as a family in our area.
There are a few traditions we have at Christmastime that everyone in our family really loves. Our family nativity photo shoot was such a hit the first year that we did it twice.
The second year, the kids were less enthusiastic, but willing.
This year, I put it off for weeks.
I was afraid One would refuse. Or something else would go wrong. The idea of gathering and coordinating costumes for everyone is a little intimidating. Getting costumes together and helping each person choose who will depict who is a delicate dance between filling all the spots and making sure everyone is satisfied.
We didn’t decorate our tree, and I wrapped the gifts in pillowcases. After the Christmas baking and traveling were done, there weren’t really any other excuses, but I still put it off.
