It’s back-to-school season, so now I’ll be busy at home and not running about so much (besides fall hiking). Here’s what we got up to in August.

Read

• Library book club: As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner (I enjoyed listening to a podcast about it more than reading it).
• Online book club: abandoned the book due to graphic content
• Books of Centuries challenge: Chaucer for Children (14th century)
• Readaloud: Return to Gone Away (will always have a place in my heart)
• Picture book: Ferryboat Ride!

I also devoured the advance reader copy of The Redeemed Reader: Cultivating a Child’s Discernment and Imagination Through Truth and Story by Janie Cheaney, Betsy Farquhar, Hayley Morell, and Megan Saben and was even asked to post my review on their website! Here’s a snippet: “I was hoping for lists of books approved by wise Christian women, but The Redeemed Reader is so much more. It starts by laying a foundation: what we are looking for in literature is God’s Truth wrapped in a quality Story. A solid biblical worldview informs every chapter of the book, yet the constant refrain is that we need to understand and engage our culture. Rather than censoring books, we teach our kids discernment. Rather than substituting titles, we expand our reading repertoire.” 

The book came out on September 2nd and there’s an excellent sale at Westminster Bookstore. [Update: Check out the sale at Christian Book!] I also urge you to take a look at their online reviews; I check them every week to see what books I should order from the library.

Eat

For a seasonal pizza we tried topping one with corn, tomatoes, basil, and bacon.

When my brother and his family stopped by we all had brunch with some SK standbys (plum poppy seed muffins and chocolate brioche pretzels) as well as eggs, sausages, coffee yogurt, and fruit salad.

I canned peach salsa and corn relish, resisting the urge to add more projects to my summer to do list (though canning plums or making jam was tempting). Actually, I did add lacto-fermented pickles and am happy with how they turned out. I would like to keep experimenting — thankfully it is a lot less stress and mess than canning.

Do

• We attended two little boy birthday parties.
• My mother-in-law organized a field trip to Upper Canada Village (with incredible discounts); I thought the horse drawn canal barge was neat and it was fun to see my kids try their hand at milking a cow.
• We squeezed in a few pool and beach afternoons.
• We spent a very hot day in the air conditioned Canadian Museum of History… so much to take in! An unexpected bonus was a very cool big-screen documentary about beavers living in the Rockies.
• The Youth Garden Club wrapped up with a cooking party (but we continue to pick the tomatoes when we walk by on the way to the library or the park).
• We helped with the church float for the Lisbon Homecoming parade (see below — the theme was hometown superheroes).
• We renewed our membership at the North Country Children’s Museum.
• We shopped at a thrift store in Postdam and stopped for ice cream on the way home.
• Our church held a well-attended evening Psalm sing.
• We hiked out to look at a beaver dam and lodge.

Grow

We are finally harvesting tomatoes! The jalapeno count is up to 75. The bell peppers are slowly beginning to turn red. We ate our potatoes and a few carrots. I planted more lettuce, spinach, beets, carrots, and kale. Unfortunately our summer squash and cucumbers gave up the ghost prematurely.

Play

I picked up the board game Probe for free at a thrift store (attracted by the facial expressions on the vintage box). It’s a simple concept (try to guess the other players’ hidden words) and the kids enjoyed it.

Listen

I started listening to the Close Reads podcast, which was recommended to me when I asked for thoughts about As I Lay Dying. I ended up listening to the whole series about that novel and then I listened to their take on Piranesi. I love listening in on three well-read, articulate Christians discussing literature in great depth.

Meditate

“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.”
– Hebrews 11:8-10

What were some of your August favourites?