The Sunday Post - 2020 Week 31 - Hello August

The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer

and is a chance to share news, both new and old!

Hey there, bloggers!
It's been a couple of weeks since I last posted so here's an extended look at what I've read and reviewed since then!

Currently Reading:



Recently Finished:



Recent Reviews:

We had a 'Water Week' recently and read these picture books. Water Can Be... by Laura Purdie Salas is a beautiful look at water in all its forms. River by Elisha Cooper is a fantastic illustrated account of a woman who canoes down the River Hudson to NYC Harbor. The Blue Giant by Katie Cottle is an eco-tale about the ocean asking for help with pollution. 



The Mulberry Tree by Allison Rushby is a middle-grade horror-mystery that is a great not-too-spooky read for the upcoming autumn season!

Other Posts:
July 2020 Wrap Up
ArcAugust 2020 TBR & Goals

Off the Blog:

I'm hoping to continue my self-appointed 30 minutes a day or more of reading time this month and knock out some arcs for #ARCAugust while I'm at it. I haven't had the best reading streak this year so I definitely have a stack of books to catch up on!

We are starting our 'first day of homeschool' tomorrow so we can dig into the curriculum I purchased and find our new groove. I'm hoping we can keep it laid back and low-stress and I'm excited to have an outdoor classroom to get us out of the house when the weather is tolerable. It's still in the works but will be a nice little hangout space. 

It's been raining nearly every day so my garden looks great, but maybe a little too overgrown. The crepe myrtles are in full bloom and I discovered a mature and flowering one hiding under the wisteria so now I'm up to 6 in all! We're getting ready for the Fall/Winter vegetable season now as well so be prepared for more garden talk in the future! 

As for blogging, I'm still working on reviews and other media as well but Blogger updated their site and it's as slow as a snail for me now unless it's the wee morning hours when I should be asleep. I'll be making the rounds today though! 

Also, I finally started a proper Pinterest for LazyDayLit and would love and appreciate a follow! 

Have a great week, readers!
Stay safe!

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The Sunday Post - 2020 Week 29 - Tired

The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer

and is a chance to share news, both new and old!

Hey there, bloggers!
Here's my week at a glance!

Currently Reading:

Recently Finished:

Recent Reviews:

Yoga Animals by Paige Towler (from NatGeo)
The Tiger Like Me by Kelsey Lee (from Goodreads)
The Secret Life of Trees by Moira Butterfield (from Netgalley)
Bathing in the Forest by Nivola Uya
The Falcon's Feather by Trudi Trueit (from NatGeo)

Off the Blog:

I'm getting this up a bit late today. Oops. I think I'm low on spoons right now. I've been posting reviews here almost daily and it's starting to get harder to keep up with everything else going on right now. I've been super focused on finding a simple curriculum that fits our needs and easing my kiddo into our home education program. We're also staying hyper-vigilant about the virus again because we live with an essential worker.

On that note, as a Floridian, I find it kind of impossible to ignore virus news right now. We surpassed 15,000 new cases in one day last week. Walt Disney World opened. CEOs of retailer stores all over the country, but especially right here in Florida, are begging for masks to be mandated because of the high number of employees being affected in every store and are taking a harder stance on mask-wearing. And they're pretty set on opening schools.

As for happier things, I got a good amount of reading done this week and also started a new creative writing project that I've had great progress with. It's a bit of a thriller, which is not my usual genre but I've had a bit of inspiration with my current reads, I suppose.

My garden is chugging along, though it's too hot to get outside unless it is really early or we're taking a dip in the pool, but we still have plenty of peppers going, and the sweet potatoes and pumpkin are surviving. I think I also have a gourd! I haven't bothered otherwise and am waiting for August to start my Fall seedlings.

Happy reading and have a safe week!

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The Sunday Post - 2020 Week 28 - Little Vacay

The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer

and is a chance to share news, both new and old!

Hey there, bloggers!
Here's my week at a glance!

Currently Reading:

Recently Finished:

Recent Posts & Reviews:

Top Ten Tuesday - Most Read Authors

I'm behind on reviews this week but we read and reviewed Swan Lake, a picture book by the New York City Ballet & Valerie Docampo, Wild Fairies #2: Lily's Water Woes by Brandi Dougherty, and a MG nonfiction graphic novel, Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier by Jim Ottaviani & Maris Wicks.

What I'm Watching:
I started Hamilton this week but didn't get a chance to finish. I love the music and the cast is amazing but I feel like I need to read the book to get the whole picture. I've been stuck on world history for too long and really need to brush up on US history again soon, I think. 

Off the Blog:

This week has been a bit more eventful than usual.

We went for a long hike along a river (which meant tons of mosquitos, horse flies, and humongous banana spiders) at a nature preserve and we had the place all to ourselves. It was hot and humid and we were able to fit in our picnic lunch under a shady grandfather oak before the afternoon storms started.

We also went canoeing up our favorite spring-fed river, but we went super early to avoid any crowds of kayakers or boaters. It was easy to avoid others and we saw a family of river otters up close as well as tons of turtles and birds. I missed being out on the water. It's so peaceful. Still, I think that was risky enough for me. It was filling up by the time we left and no one was wearing masks at the gathering spots, the parking lots, or the trails.

I spent every other waking moment this week researching home education options. Homeschooling is something I've wanted to do since my daughter was born but she is pretty extroverted and wants all the friends so I was set to send her to school this year. Then COVID happened and I knew I was going to need to homeschool. We've been easing into it a bit more and more since March but I'm really crunching now trying to plan plan plan and find the right curriculum for us. I'm just bummed we can't homeschool exactly how I wanted, with lots of educational trips to museums, zoos, aquariums, etc, since those are things we love to do quite often but with COVID cases being out of hand in Florida, I don't want to take that chance.
Anyway, wish me luck!

Have a great week, readers! Stay safe!

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The Sunday Post - 2020 Week 27 - 4th of July

The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer

and is a chance to share news, both new and old!

Hey there, bloggers!
Here's my week at a glance!


Currently Reading:

Recent Posts & Reviews:

Top Ten Tuesday: New Releases
June Reading WrapUp
July TBR & Goals
Stacking the Shelves

We read and reviewed the nonfiction picture book, Even More Lesser Spotted Animals by Martin Brown, and StarWars: The Galaxy Needs You by Caitlin Kennedy as well as our latest chapter book read, Daisy's Decorating Dilemma (Wild Fairies #1) by Brandi Dougherty.


What I'm Watching:

I watched the 2006 version of Sense & Sensibility on Hulu recently and Hunderby started playing on its own right after but was so oddly funny that I ended up hooked on.
We've also rewatched Charlotte's Web a couple of times already since my daughter loved the story so much!

Off the Blog:

This week was a little better in real life and in blog posts but I didn't get much writing done for this upcoming week and I'm still catching up on replies from the past week.

We got out for another early morning hike this week. We didn't see as much wildlife this time around but we did see the tiniest little fawn. So cute.

As for the weekend holiday, we planned a nice lowkey day at home, to swim in the pool, grill, and hang out in the yard. It rained on and off but we were still able to make a nice day out of it and lit off fireworks before bed, which my daughter ended up loving! She hasn't stopped talking about them!

How has your week treated you?
Feel free to share your Sunday Post links in the comments!

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The Sunday Post - 2020 Wk 26 - 1st Week of Summer

The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer

and is a chance to share news, both new and old!

Hey there, bloggers!Here's my week at a glance!

Currently Reading:

Recently Finished:

Recent Reviews:

We shared our review for the fun look-and-find board book, All Around Bustletown: Summer by Rotraut Susanne Berner, for the publisher, and When Emily Was Small by Lauren Soloy, for Netgalley. We also dug into some great children's nonfiction with Summer Green to Autumn Gold: Uncovering Leaves' Hidden Colors by Mia Posada, which is great for both nature and seasonal study and focus on how leaves change colors!

I also reviewed the graphic novel, Glass Town: The Imaginary World of the Brontes by Isabel Greenberg, which was uniquely illustrated with interesting parallels to the classic novels I've read by the sisters. 

Other Posts:
Top Ten Tuesday - Revisiting Past TTT's


What I'm Watching: 

We watched the old 1973 cartoon adaptation of Charlotte's Web after finishing the story and then watched the 2006 version later on.

Off the blog:

This week has been physically and mentally exhausting.
I've been feeling stretched thin and have fallen behind on some things. I try to stay organized but it doesn't seem to make a big difference when there's too much for one person to do on a daily basis and not enough time for it all. Sigh.

COVID cases are spiking like crazy now, with over 9000 new cases in one day in Florida this week. I'm not going to say I'm surprised.  I'm planning on whipping up some more masks soon because it looks like this is not going away.

 It has been sooo hot this week.
My grass was just starting to look nice from the daily rain and now it's dying off again. I can water twice a day but all of my plants are still droopy by noon. We tried an early morning hike this week but it was miserable so I guess I need a ton of new indoor activities to keep us busy this summer!

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