I am thisclose to finishing Puddn’head Wilson, which I have been reading forever (and consequently holding dd13 back from finishing it). I thought that’s worth noting on today’s tackle thread since it’s a biggie for me. It’s anazing what I can accomplish when I have a few child free hours!

I have had so much on my plate for so long with all the extra teaching I do that housework is just catch-as-catch-can. Today I’m pretty happy that I have actually cleaned my Ninja coffee maker. Its clean light has been blinking for much longer than I care to admit!

Are we related? 😂

The last book that I wanted to throw against the wall was a Newbery winner a few years back—Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos. The father is such a jerk throughout the book, and then he does something that even makes him even more despicable at the very end. It didn’t help that my pick for the Newbery (and one with similar themes but a wee bit of redemption and so wonderfully written) was bested by this one. I’m still not over it.

Isn’t it the worst feeling to HATE a book’s ending? I always feel cheated.

Count me intrigued, too. I wonder if my teen girls would like this?

I’m slightly jealous of your coffee date (though I’d want mine with my own dh 😜)

I should add “breaking up arguments between dd14 and dd13 about the ONE PAIR of usable earbuds THEY BOTH need for their online classes” {this despite the fact that they both got earbuds for Christmas} 🤪

Good morning! Upload pictures from co op actvivites to Skipple ✅ coffee and devotion ✅ CC class prep (partially done—more this afternoon) shower and dressed for day✅ little boy wrangling ✅ school with boys✅ (still a bit of work to do after lunch, but we’ve done the 3 Rs) lunch ✅ figure out how to get children where they need to go so everyone can make their activities tonight while I work ✅ finish school ✅ Check in with girls ✅ dd13 to play practice and other kids to Nana’s ✅ (turns out dd13 doesn’t have practice today) work home to do stuff I didn’t do during the day bed

Off to look it up. Thanks!

I have no solutions, only commiseration. My dh travels a lot for his work, and sometimes I just want to institute a vow of silence for my little boys after about 5 pm.

My dh’s birthday is coming up, and I want to get him a cell phone kit for his car that will enable him to utilize his gps safely. He has had one before but it wouldn’t stay in place. If you have a mounted cell phone cradle in your car that works well for you, please share here.

The only other Morton book I've read is The Distant Hours way back in 2013 (my review here). My review tells me I didn't love it, but I think my taste in books has shifted enough over the past five years to now tolerate and even appreciate Morton's style a bit more. I've never been one for creepiness, but something about The Clockmaker's Daughter is very appealing to me, even though it's similar in atmosphere to the The Distant Hours.

So I'm down to prepping for tomorrow night's CC class and tomorrow's homeschool day while my family scurries around doing the nightly tasks. We were all up too late last night, so I'm hoping for an early (for us) bedtime. Good night, all! See you in the morning!

I'd best skip them. I don't even go barefoot at home! I wear shoes pretty much all day long, every day, and supportive shoes, at that. Thanks for sharing your experience!

That’s what my gut tells me. I’m always so perplexed when I read that about people walking for miles with no pain in shoes like this. My feet have to be babied.

I [have been known to] spend too much money on craft supplies. I broke my femur when I was a kid. I went to Prince Edward Island on my honeymoon.

We were in Philadelphia for one day in Dec. 16. We enjoyed the Benjamin Franklin Museum. We also had some hot choccolate at Shane Confectionery, which is quite a sweet experience!

We went to NYC with the whole family (4 kids ages 4-13 at the time) Dec. 2016. We did ride the ferry over to the island and tour the Statue of Liberty. We also did the Ellis Island tour. We LOVED it. For us, nothing beat seeing the statue up close. Ellis Island was interesting and enjoyable to us, too. We have no regrets about taking the day to do this. I’d say it’s one of our top favorite memories from NYC. So I guess I’m the dissenting voice. 😝

I have a request. I hope it's okay. If you have a book blog, will you link it here so I can put a "name with a face"? LOL I've looked at the 52 Books in 52 Weeks site and have perused some of the linked reviews, but I'm not sure which of the blogs are by actual WTMers, etc. I think I linked above (somewhere?), but I have a much-neglected book blog, Hope Is the Word. I've been blogging for over a decade, mostly about children's literature. For several years I blogged virtually every chapter book I read (which did include adult books, too), and I also blogged stand-out picture books. I have quite an archive of book reviews but it's pretty disorganized. Anyone else?

I was just looking at these last week! Super cute! I'm wondering about how they'd do for someone (like me!) who wears semi-orthopedic shoes. (Not actually orthopedic, but I tend towards high structure, high support. My go-tos are Birkenstocks, Merrells, Dansko, and the like.) I'm intrigued by the whole recycled thing and I love the look with leggings and tunics, etc. I'm just afraid my poor old feet wouldn't like them.

Up too early (though not early enough!) for co-op prep. laundry switch Devotion/quiet time + coffee Co-op prep for three classes (done!—with dd14’s help) Put supper in crock pot (no time—guess it’ll be plan b tonight—soup!) shower children up and wrangled (dressed, lunches and materials loaded, make sure dd13 has her science fair project) FREE breakfast at Chick Fil A with friends co-op (including overseeing standardized test registration AND science fair at lunchtime) drop dd13 at play practice or figure out carpool (dd didn't have practice today after all!) take dd14 to hang out with friends during dd13's practice (we all went to the park and hung out with friends for about an hour and a half--such a relief to be outside after all the rain!) Stop at Hobby Lobby for dd13 to pick up some supplies home, unload, supper prep, try not to collapse from exhaustion supper read Pudd'nhead Wilson and prep that for dd13's school CC prep for tomorrow night's class Sleep Everyone have a lovely day!

Just checking if they’re still hyuuuge.

Thanks for all the input. Keep it coming! I'm about to power my own screen down so I can actually oversee school for the day (ha!), but I'll come back tonight and respond. You all have given me much food for thought.

This is sort of where I am waffling a bit. Obviously dd DID use her cell phone while at school, and apparently (?) her homeschooled BFFs have some access during the day, judging from the group messages she gets during the school day. They're all slightly older than her, which might be worth noting, but might not be. It hasn't been an issue with my younger dd as she is more likely to want her phone to read a book than socialize. I should probably poll the moms of my dd14's friends.