Month: August 2019

Sartorial Saturday–Inspired by Animal Crossing

It’s not often that I do a Sartorial Saturday post that focuses on one single brooch and nothing else (actually, I don’t think I ever have!), but today’s brooch has a special story.

I think I may have mentioned what a huge fan I am of the Animal Crossing series of video games. In the most recent game, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, one of the big features of the game is designing and expanding a camper that is your home and means of transportation in the game:

Erstwilder, my favorite purveyor of brooches, recently launched a “Fan Favorites” collection. And I was excited to see the “Happy Glamper” in the collection, because I’ve always liked that particular brooch in its various colorways, but never added it to my wardrobe. Even though it’s cute, I wasn’t even going to buy it this time, until Ryan looked at it and called it an “Animal Crossing Brooch.”

Well, that was the end of that. How could I pass by a brooch that represents my very favorite video game? Lucky for me, I had been saving my reward points with Erstwilder, so I didn’t even have to pay full price. And it’s just as adorable as I expected!

I even temporarily re-designed my camper in the game, both in retro shape and colors, to match the brooch as closely as possible!

I can honestly say a video game has never motivated a fashion purchase for me before (although I did come pretty close to buying an Eevee brooch this summer!), and I’m not planning on making a habit of it, but I am glad that I was able to pick this one up!

2019-2020 School Year–Week Two

One thing I’ll say about this school year so far…I hardly have time to catch my breath!

Turkey and Bunny worked with a chart of trigonometric ratios in pre-calculus. They’re both really enjoying their study of The Divine Comedy…they’re over halfway through with “The Inferno.” They finished their first chapter in physics, and are looking forward to their first test next week. In history they read about the great failure that was the Second Crusade. They also learned about some of the first European explorers who visited the Americas in US history.

Ladybug reviewed prime factorization in pre-algebra…she really enjoys making factor trees. In history, she learned about King James, as well as Samuel Champlain and the search for the Northwest Passage. She continued her study of The Hobbit, and finished her additional reading of The Fellowship of the Ring, and started The Two Towers. She also finished her first chapter in science, which focused on the history of scientific discovery.

Chickadee continued to review in math. She worked on several narrations about the story of Pinocchio in writing. She also finished her first chapter of science…at least she doesn’t have to worry about taking a test yet! She’s reading one chapter every day in The Beginner’s Bible for her phonics practice. We got to read one of my favorite chapters in Little House in the Big Woods today!

We also (finally) got back to the tennis courts this week, and had an absolutely beautiful morning to play…I’m looking forward to more beautiful fall weather in the days ahead!

I’ve also been trying to add some extra fun activities into our school days. For example, during lunch, we’ve been watching re-runs of Good Eats, which is a fun way to learn a little extra science (and find some new recipes we want to try!). We’ve also been playing more board games when we have time…our new favorite is Sagrada, which is, as the name suggests, based on the stained glass in the perpetually-under-construction cathedral (a place Ryan has actually had the opportunity to visit!). It’s a fun game, and very different from anything we’ve played before, which means we’re learning to think a bit differently to play…always a good thing!

I have to confess, I also did finally do some rearranging of the school room this week…I guess I just wasn’t satisfied leaving well enough alone! I’m not sure if I’m done yet, so photos will have to wait until I know for sure!

The Arrival of Blathers!

This has been a very exciting week in Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, because Blathers has finally arrived as a character who can visit your campsite or cabin!

I had actually given up on the hope of Blathers coming to the game in this way, ever since they added the “Blathers’ Treasure Trek” mini-game. And I had no idea this was in the works, so I was pleasantly shocked on Monday morning, and very glad I had been hoarding my Leaf Tickets so I could craft his desk right away!

Not only does he talk like he always has in the Animal Crossing Games, you can even occasionally catch him examining fossils at his desk, which I think is a nice detail.

Blathers is my favorite, um, civic worker? animal in the Animal Crossing series…now if they would just add my favorite special holiday animal (the Harvest Festival’s Franklin the turkey), I would have all of my favorites!

Roald and Aurora–A Penguin Love Story

Ever since I first started playing Animal Crossing games what seems like a very long time ago (seriously, getting close to two decades!), my very favorite villager has been Roald the penguin. I mean, how could you not love this guy?

Somebody as nice as Roald is clearly not destined to be a bachelor, so I was very excited when, at the end of last year, Aurora was added to Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. There are several penguin gals in the series, but she is by far the nicest, and the perfect match for Roald.

Ever since she was added, I’ve been looking for photo opportunities that provide evidence of their sweet relationship.

Culminating with this spring’s wedding-themed game event, where I finally saw them exchange vows (with their penguin pal, Cube, officiating)!

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp might not be a full Animal Crossing game (I sure am looking forward to Animal Crossing: New Horizons in 2020!!!), but it has let me have fun creating this little story!

Medieval Times–The VIP Experience

Over the last few years, the Fab Five and I have become big fans of Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament. We went for the first time in 2017, and really enjoyed the show. When we heard they had an all-new show for 2018, this time featuring the castle’s queen, we returned. And when we were back in Chicago in May, I decided we should go back, because we were at a point in our history curriculum that fell right in the middle of the medieval period.

Things were pretty much the same upon arrival, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying a walk around, especially when we got to stop and talk with the falconer and learn how they train their birds.

The meal was also mostly the same (although, instead of the pound cake we were looking forward to eating for dessert, we ended up with ice cream):

But the big difference in our experience was that I splurged on VIP tickets. Now, it was only the “Royalty Upgrade” which is the cheapest option, but we very much enjoyed the benefits, starting with the special lanyards and cheering banners we received (and we even got to support the Yellow Knight for the third year running!):

We also got to jump part of the line at entry, which was nice, but the biggest bonus was that we also got priority seating that landed us in the second row! We got a great view of all the of the action, and it was a whole new level of exciting!

Based on normal family rules, once we do a thing three times, it’s a tradition. Unfortunately, I had to tell the Fab Five that we can’t go back next May when we’re in Chicago, because it’s just too expensive for a large family to make it an annual event. You never know where I might find a loophole in the future, though!

Sartorial Saturday–Sausage Dogs Scarf

I’m not usually a neck scarf person. I’ve tried quite a few of them in the past, but I always feel overheated or strangled or something. But when I saw this adorable sausage dogs scarf, with its quirky print and bold colors, from Erstwilder’s new neck scarf collection, I knew it was something I wanted to add to my wardrobe!

The material is nice and lightweight, so even wearing it in the summer, it wasn’t too hot. And I didn’t feel strangled at all! I’d definitely think about buying another one of these from Erstwilder because all of the prints are so adorable, and it’s really fun to wear!

2019-2020 School Year–Week One+

We’ve already finished over a week of the 2019-20 school year! A week ago Wednesday, we kicked off 11th, seventh, and second grades with our traditional first day of school:

And spent the remaining two days of the week slowly easing into all of our subjects. By the beginning of this week, we had begun everything!

This year, Turkey and Bunny are studying the Book of Concord in religion, beginning with the Augsburg Confession. They’re doing pre-calculus for math, and started with a review of sine, cosine, and tangent before moving on to secant, cosecant, and cotangent. They began the third “season” of Analytical Grammar, and the first lesson is all about two common comma mistakes…comma splices and comma splits. (They also got to see me hop up on my Oxford comma soapbox! #TeamOxfordComma) They started their first literature study of the year, and it’s one year all excited about it: The Divine Comedy. They also got to work on the next level of Writing Strands, which is kind of a let-down after a year of creative writing. They’re taking both physics for science this year and an elective of health, which according to Turkey means they’re actually taking two science courses. They’re also taking two history courses…the third year of the history cycle as well as US history.

Ladybug is doing an overview of Bible history in religion this year. She’s also doing pre-algebra in math…I hope we both survive! She started with negative and positive numbers and absolute values. Her first literature study is The Hobbit. She’s already enjoying it so much, she decided to start reading The Fellowship of the Ring for fun…I hope she doesn’t find it too confusing! She also got started on all of her language arts topics, including writing, spelling, and vocabulary. She’s very excited about a year of general science, which promises to have lots of experiments (she’s already gotten to do two of them!). She is also on the third year of the history cycle.

Chickadee will be focusing on memorizing Luther’s Small Catechism in religion this year. She’s also reading through a beginner’s Bible in language arts, along with doing things like First Language Lessons, spelling, Explode the Code, and handwriting. She is working on second grade math, which has been all review so far. She has finally started on her own literature studies, beginning with Little House in the Big Woods. In science, she’ll be learning about astronomy, which is very exciting. She’s also listening in on the third year of the history cycle.

Here’s a look at some of our science fun from this week:

In addition to all of that, the children will continue singing in their various choirs, learning a language with DuoLingo, and playing tennis (when the weather permits). I’m very excited about this school year, because everyone is going to be learning such interesting things!

Chickadee Thursday

Yesterday in the middle of school, Chickadee lost yet another top tooth!

It’s a good thing that last month the dentist assured her that her new teeth will come in eventually, because it’s gotten to be a pretty big gap, and I think she’d be a little concerned otherwise!