April Wrap Up

I read a total of 9 books in April. I knew that my count was going to go down around the end of the school year, but I am anticipating that it will go back up in the summer months. I read some decent books this month. Some were expected 5 stars and some were straight spoilers. I completed my challenges of read 1 classic and 1 nonfiction per month. I read 4 classics this month. 

1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

2. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
3. Sirens by Joseph Knox

4. The Walking Dead Book 10 by Robert Kirkman
5. The Walking Dead Book 11 by Robert Kirkman
6. The Kremlin Conspiracy by Joel C. Rosenberg

7. Happy, Happy, Happy by Phil Robertson

8. The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

9. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

Past Owl Crate Unboxing: May 2017: Comic Explosion

The reason that I bought this box is that the theme called to me. Also, the book is highly loved and has some amazing reviews. The items in the box are spectacular and might be my favorite box I have purchased. I can't wait to read this book. 

The kafe coffee candies were disgusting

Exclusive Owl Crate cover.

The wonder woman candle is my second favorite thing in this box.

My number one favorite item that I got in this box. 

The Captain America funko pop.

I am not a huge fan of Captain America but Cayce is and he took it straight away and placed it beside his Effie Trinket funko pop.

I had to get the Owl Crate planner. I want to start tracking my reading on paper. I did plan to start in April, but life got in the way and so I am thinking about starting in June or July. 

School Week 33 Photo Diary

It's the end of April and I have failed with these weekly blog posts. I am thinking of not doing these posts next year, but I will continue to take pictures. I planned on having this up right when this school week was done, but it was our week back from Spring Break and I was exhausted.

Monday 4/2: We started our day at 9:15AM. Wasn't as early as I wanted but it was a decent start back. Sammy worked on Reading Eggs spelling worksheets while Ariana did Easy Peasy lessons. Addy watched the Leapfrog videos on Netflix as a sort of review after her week off.

Once Addy was done watching Leapfrog, she worked on her Easy Peasy lessons for an hour and a half. Then we started reading Peter Pan. We read the first two chapters. before i started reading it out loud, I told them that it would be very different from the Disney version.

To end our day, we watched episode 6 of John Adams on Amazon. Then we watched a Youtube video on organic gardens because we are wanting to do our own garden again this year.

Tuesday: No Pictures. We started our morning at 10AM. We spent a good 45 minutes doing our morning work and other things. We were moving kind of slow because yesterday we were busy all damn day. We watched a new documentary on Netflix about Wild Australia. On the last week of the school year, I am going to write down each continent and what animals live on that continent and they are going to chose their favorite one and during the summer, they are going to be doing their own little projects. When we got done watching Wild Australia, we read two more chapters of Peter Pan and finished the day with watching episode 7 of John Adams.

Wednesday: We had a late start to the day. We started at 11:15. We did our morning work and then we finished watching the last two episodes of Wild Australia. After, we worked some more on history, specifically about the government and the three branches and democracy. I had Addy watch Little Einsteins because she wouldn't understand the government part. When we spent a good amount of time on that, I had Sammy and Ariana do reading time. Addy finished her day with Easy Peasy. She is almost done with her 1st part of Easy Peasy.

Thursday: Morning work and then another Netflix documentary. This one was called Food: Delicious Science and if was really fascinating and I actually learned a couple things from it. After we watched two episodes of that, Addy did her leapfrog tablet while Ariana did reading time with Samantha. Addy worked on her tablet for 30 minutes before she did more Easy Peasy lessons.

When Addy was done with her Easy Peasy and the girls were done reading, we went and read another chapter of Peter Pan. Sammy and Ariana finished their day with a free write after.

Friday: We watched the last episode of the food science documentary this morning and I want more of that show. It was really good and I highly recommend it. Addy did three more Easy Peasy lessons and made a zebra. While she was doing that, Ariana and Samantha worked on Reading Eggs spelling worksheets.

We finished our day with reading chapters 6 and 7 of Peter Pan.

Review: The Kremlin Conspiracy by Joel C. Rosenberg

This is a hunker of a book and it is told in parts. So I am going to read one part at a time and then I am going to give a little summary or my thoughts of that part, maybe like a line or two and then move on to the next part. It is also told in dual perspectives which is sometimes a hit or miss for me.

PART ONE

We learn that a series of bombings is taking place around Russia and we are introduced to a slew of characters but the main character is named Oleg. He is a lawyer who has just been hired by the Prime Minister acting President.

PART TWO

We are introduced to another main character who lives in Colorado. He has an abusive step father and he enlists in the Marines after watching the World Trade Center towers collapse on September 11, 2001.

PART THREE

Mainly about Marcus Ryker's last mission while in Afghanistan and his thoughts on his buddies and commander. There is also one chapter for Oleg's wedding in Russia and how is was very similar to the Romanov wedding and the Winter Palace. So far, these parts are super short and they seem irrelevant to the story. I liked how at the beginning, the first part was all about Oleg and the second part was all for Marcus.

PART FOUR

Marcus and Elena have a new baby boy and Marcus leaves the marines. He eventually applies to be a secret service agent and Elena doesn't like the idea of him doing that job. Oleg and Marina finally have their own kid after two miscarriages and his father in law, the president of Russia takes over everything and he has the church name their baby. Oleg is resenting the President over his actions, but he can't voice them because he will die. Of course there is more to this part, but this is what I am putting so I don't spoil it.

PART FIVE

I am not going to summarize this part, but I am going to share my thoughts and my reactions. I was crying at the end of this part. It also contained a question that I have asked multiple times in my life and you will never get a good enough answer for it. I was not expecting this certain event to happen and I can't wait to see how the main character changes as a person due to this horrific moment.

PART SIX

Shit hits the fan and it is intense. Our two main characters meet and "team" up in a way. It also reminds me of all the talk of the Russians hacking our election and the President in this story sounds very Trump like. North Korea is also a part of this story and talks of nuclear war and missiles.

PART SEVEN

The beginning of this part is very thrilling. This part was my favorite section of all and I could not put the book down for very long without picking it up again. The shoot outs and assassinations and plot twists were definitely a favorite. The ending was very disappointing and I could see a sequel to this, but I feel that if there were to be a sequel, it would be drawn out or too short. Overall, I give this book a 4 out of 5 stars.

Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book!

Review: Sirens by Joseph Knox

About the Book: The breathtakingly propulsive and stunningly assured debut thriller, perfect for readers of Tana French, Don Winslow and Dennis Lehane

The mission is suicide.
 
Infiltrating the inner circle of enigmatic criminal Zain Carver is dangerous enough. Pulling it off while also rescuing Isabelle Rossiter, a runaway politician’s daughter, from Zain’s influence? Impossible. That’s why Aidan Waits is the perfect man for the job. Disgraced, emotionally damaged, and despised by his superiors. In other words, completely expendable. 

My Thoughts: The first thing I noticed right when I started reading is that you have to focus completely and read between the lines because it will get confusing. The characters are just thrown at you and attitudes towards the main character is expected to be known and you get his background thrown in here and there and the whole time, it references his background and that it is coming back to haunt him, but we didn't really get to the point until halfway through the book. 

It is really intense in some parts but I had trouble staying focused. The writing style is not for me. I like short chapters, but he had some chapters that were a single page. In the second part, chapter 17 is one page and then turn the page and chapter 18 is picking up right where the author stopped in chapter 17, like he didn't want to start an extra paragraph

About the Author:  JOSEPH KNOX was born and raised in and around Stoke and Manchester, where he worked in bars and bookshops before moving to London. He runs, writes, and reads compulsively. The Smiling Man is the follow-up to his acclaimed and bestselling debut, Sirens.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

**ATTENTION**

Blogging For Books is now closed!!

School Week 32 Photo Diary

I know this is a month behind, but I will be catching up soon. The week after this school week was our Spring Break, and if you want to see what we did during our break, you can go to my youtube channel. The first two days of the week I didn't take any pictures. We were sick as dogs from the pollen and our allergies were just not co-operating. One thing I hate about living in the woods, is all the damn pollen.

Monday 3/19: No Pictures. We started the day at 9:30am. They did their morning work and then we watched a tiger documentary. After, Addy worked on Easy Peasy lessons. Sammy did phonics worksheets and then ended her day with reading time. Ariana did reading time and then she ended her day with reading Eggs spelling worksheets.

Tuesday: No Pictures. This day was our worst sick day. We couldn't breath without trying to hack up a lung and our noses were running wild. I had them start the day with coloring and free write. During this time, I was trying to stop coughing and taking medicine. After they got done with coloring and writing, I had them snuggle in my bed with some books and we all read together or attempted to focus on words. Then we started reading a new book, The Little Prince. We had seen a preview for the movie on Netflix and the girls wanted to watch it and I had been wanting to read the book, so I figured it would be a good read aloud. They love it. We read chapters 1-10. We finished the day with watching a Netflix documentary on Earth's Natural Wonders. We discussed in great length afterwards about everything and the girls now have the travel bug where they want to explore the world like me.

Wednesday: Today was a late start day. I was still feeling bad, but the girls started feeling a little better. After morning work, I let them watch some YouTube videos on the seasons, continents and spring facts since it was the first day of Spring. After, I printed some spring coloring pages for Addy and Sammy did Easy Peasy while Ariana read to herself. When Addy got done coloring, she watched some Little Einsteins while Sammy read to herself and Ariana did Easy Peasy.

Thursday: Today was our latest start for the week. I was getting some much needed sleep and I actually feel better. After morning work, we watched some more of Earth's Natural Wonders and after we discussed and they drew their favorite parts from the episodes we watched.

We read more of The Little Prince. Then we finished our day with watching episode 5 of John Adams on Amazon.

Friday:We finished reading The Little Prince today and then we watched the movie on Netflix and it was the cutest thing. It doesn't follow the book I think it was beautifully made and it made me cry. i won't spoil it, but have some tissues handy. After the movie, I had Ariana and Sammy read on their own and Addy worked on Easy Peasy lessons and then she ended her day with number flashcards.

This was a busy and hectic week and we were definitely looking for Spring Break.

Freebie Friday Video 4/2- 4/7

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