Last month the kids found some interesting bugs hanging out in the cracked kapok pods on the ground. After two days of playing with the bugs, we bought Isaiah (as part of his birthday countdown calendar) and the girls containers (couldn’t leave them out) to create habitats for their creatures.

Each child created his/her own home for the bugs. It was rewarding to watch our kids have such joy in catching, watching, and playing with bugs. They even observed them mating.

This seems to be bug season, so we’re getting lots of interesting things to observe!

A few weeks ago, we caught a spider holding her egg sack. We put her into a habitat and she held on to her egg sack for about two weeks. Then the spidlerings hatched. We let the babies and mom go the next day.

On June 18, 2020 we finished reading aloud through the Little House on the Prairie series (by Laura Ingalls Wilder). We started in January with the goal of finishing in one year. My plan was to read them to the younger girls as part of their school day, Becca and Isaiah decided to join. I wasn’t expecting the series to be such a hit or to finish in half a year.

Little House in the Big Woods – Jan. 22, 2020 (283 pages)
Little House on the Prairie – Feb. 8, 2020 (335 pages)
On the Banks of Plum Creek – Feb. 25, 2020 (339 pages)
Farmer Boy – March 17, 2020 (372 pages)
By the Shores of Silver Lake – April 17, 2020 (290 pages)
The Long Winter – May 6, 2020 (335 pages)
Little Town on the Prairie – May 23, 2020 (306 pages)
These Happy Golden Years – June 10, 2020 (289 pages)
The First Four Years – June 18, 2020 (134 pages)

My biggest surprise was how much Clara (4) loved the books. She decided she was Laura and was absolutely smitten with Almanzo. She was devastated when Jack died and when Mary lost her sight. She couldn’t wait until Laura married Almanzo. She loved when Nellie Oleson was angry. It was a delight to read these to Clara. The other kids got involved too. During our reading of Plum Creek they spent lots of time outside building houses in the mud.

The series ends on a downer. They should have stopped with These Happy Golden Years, as The First Four Years is rather depressing (crops fail for four years straight, house burns, baby boy dies) and doesn’t have the same tone as the other books. I think we’re going to try to find a copy of On the Way Home to see if that leaves us in a happier state.

What did Ezra do while we read? We usually read after breakfast, Bible study, and clean up were finished. Ezra usually napped, watched worship songs, or wandered around.

Other chapter books we’ve read this year:

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White – April 8, 2020 (184 pages)
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary – April 22, 2020 (158 pages)
Babe the Gallant Pig by Dick King-Smith – April 30, 2020 (112 pages)
The Hundred Dresses by E. Estes – May 4, 2020 (80 pages)
TumTum and Nutmeg – Adventures Beyond Nutmeg Hall (a three book collection) by Emily Bearn – April 2020 (read by Josh) (503 pages
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl – June 2020 (read by Josh)

The kids have also listened to many Audible books this year. We’ve especially enjoyed all the free books made available by Audible during the pandemic including: Five Children and It, White Fang, The Enchanted Castle, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Happy Little Family, The Lost Prince, The Princess Test, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, & Homesick – My Own Story.

A big thank you to the Gottwals for giving us many of the books in the Little House on the Prairie series!

In July 2016 the kids and I started reading through the Old Testament. We read one chapter every morning (minus Sundays). Or course, there were days we missed due to sickness or traveling, etc. We also took about a half a year break when were were traveling in the States. On May 28, 2020 we read the last chapter together. Now on to the New Testament!

This week Isaiah celebrated his 8th birthday! We started the celebrations two weeks ago with a Hardy Boys countdown calendar, which included gifts, snacks, making his cake, swimming, movie (March of the Wooden Soldiers), etc. It was nice to be able to go swimming. Ezra loved it and went down the slide multiple times.

Isaiah chose a soccer ball cake with a birthday dinner of hotdogs, baked beans, and mac & cheese. He also requested baked potatoes with sour cream for lunch.

After eating, we watched a slideshow of pictures of Isaiah’s past 9 years. Some siblings were surprised at how cute Isaiah was as a baby. Gifts were the last part of the night. It’s always fun to watch our kids give their sibling gifts. So much fun!

Isaiah’s main birthday gift was a new bike. His previous bike was form his 3rd birthday, we it was time for an upgrade!

We’re thankful for our newest 8 year old! Isaiah is finishing up the 2nd grade and enjoys math most of all. He’s almost done with 3rd grade math! He’s working on reading 100 books this year and has read 61 books already. He enjoys reading the Hardy Boys. He likes to creating things, climbing trees, riding bikes, and listening to books. This year Isaiah started taking piano lessons and is progressing nicely. We’re thankful for our firstborn son and the man he is becoming!