What I read: This week I finished Scarlet and started Into the Wilderness. I have read both before (numerous times) but wanted to return to two of my favorite books once again.
Scarlet takes off almost exactly from where Gone with the Wind ends. Rhett has just left Scarlet and she is reeling from the realization now that he has finally given up on her, she has loved him all along. I have always enjoyed this book because by the end of it, Scarlet finally grows up and starts to make better decisions (at last!) The author also does a wonderful job of writing Scarlet in the same tone as Margaret Mitchell and you have to remind yourself again and again that this is a different author.
Into the Wilderness is another perennial favorite of mine. I am particularly fond of sweeping historical sagas with strong female leads and this one delivers everything so perfectly. It follows the story of Elizabeth who moves to colonial America from England to open a school. However when she gets here, she realizes that her father has tricked her with empty promises and really wants her to marry a man so that he can leave his property to them upon their marriage. You quickly come to love Elizabeth due to her feisty response, she basically packs her bags and threatens to leave immediately (in the dead of winter) After her father backs off, she happens to fall in love with the last man her father would have chosen for her and the story just takes off from there. It is filled with adventure, mystery, and romance with a ton of history included. *Also, by the end of the novel you feel like you personally know every character personally (to me that is a sign of a great novel!)
Emma (15 years old) is reading The Little House on the Prairie series. **Both she and my son got cast in Little House on the Prairie: The Musical this past week
Ben (8 years old) finished Sarah, Plain, and Tall (he loved it) and we just started reading The Hobbit aloud together (I forgot how funny it was!)
What I watched: My husband and I finished up Waco on Netflix. We really enjoyed it. I never knew all of the details about what happened. Both sides made such bad decisions. Very sad.
Struggles this week:
-My kids had their first cast meeting for Little House on the Prairie last night via Facebook messenger. While it was nice for them to get together virtually, it is just not the same. They miss seeing everyone face to face and sharing their excitement together. Hopefully they will be able to eventually work out in-person meetings and rehearsals, but these times are just so uncertain:(
Blessings this week:
-Ben got to Facetime with two of his friends from our homeschool co-op this week and it was hilarious to hear them giggle over silly things
-A local used book store was doing curbside pick ups so we got a few books that we had been missing from our collection for just $10. We have missed the thrift store and library a lot over the last month and a half. And yes, I just had to get Gone with the Wind after reading Scarlet🙂
-We got takeout from our favorite Mexican place last week and it was a definite morale booster for our family. Thank you Las Vias!
Something I was happy to accomplish this week:
-I worked on this Lady and the Tramp puzzle. It is really hard, but will be beautiful when its done.
-I picked up some frozen P.F. Chang honey chicken and dumplings to make a fun dinner at home. We also had eggrolls and fortune cookies to round out the meal. *Ben’s fortune cookie said that he will “step on many different lands” so he was excited about that
-We finished up Ben’s history and science curriculums for the year last week, so now we only have math left to complete. **Amazingly he still complains the same amount about having to do school if it is one subject or multiple ones…..lucky me…
Two of my favorite memes from the week:
Stay safe and try to keep on laughing!
The Thrifty Educator 