Well there have been quite a few changes lately haven't there? Which means my routine has changed quite a bit and I haven't listened to my usual things. That's not a bad thing though because it means I have lots of things for you to check out and they'll keep you busy reading, listening, and watching.
Reading
I finally finished Amplitude by Dean. M. Cole and to be honest I was quite pleased I'd finished it so that I could move on to something new. It's not a bad story, just not my kind of thing. I think I've mentioned before I really enjoyed reading the first of the series, Solitude, and while the story takes an unexpected turn that turned it into a series I wouldn't ordinarily read the first book is very good.
A week or so ago I started reading The Talented Mr Ripley, it's a book I've wanted to read for a long time but never got around to it. After reading a few classics recently I thought I'd try another one. I'm about 60% through at the moment and I've enjoyed it so far. There's a movie, if you haven't seen it, that's also really good. I like to read books before I watch movies but with this one I saw the movie years ago. Luckily I haven't watched it in a while so I didn't know the storyline very well.
If you're looking for more book recommendations there's a great blog with plenty of book reviews. Chantelle over at Mama Mummy Mum is an avid reader and also hosts a linky (a place for bloggers to share their posts) called Read With Me where people share book reviews. It's a brilliant place to find your next read.
Listening
Like I said, my routine has been quite different and that means I've been listening to lots of different things to normal. I've taken a break from listening to They Walk Among Us because it's not really appropriate when there's a 10 year old listening too. Instead we've been listening to a few educational podcasts.
You're Dead To Me is a history podcast and one of the people involved was involved with Horrible Histories, one of my youngest's favourite shows. We've listened to things about The Aztecs, and The Ancient Olympics. Be aware though, it isn't actually meant for children. There's bad language and sometimes references to sex and alcohol.
A podcast that is meant for children is Everything Under the Sun and it's a great listen. The host, Molly Oldfield, is asked questions like How can bumblebees support their weight and she tries to answer the question. My youngest has really enjoyed listening because he learns all sorts of different things. You can also find Molly over on Instagram where she shares photos of her listeners.
Watching
As you know the Hubby and I watch our favourite shows in an evening when we're chilling out. Lately we've been working our way through Grey's Anatomy and last week we started Black Mirror again too. Black Mirror is the kind of show that makes you think. It takes an idea like 'wouldn't it be great if we could remember, or record everything we saw?' and shows you all the reasons it would be an absolutely terrible idea. It turns ideas on their head and points out all the bad things. The way I describe it sounds awful but it's actually very entertaining and makes you think. Definitely one to watch if you're looking for something a bit different. Black Mirror is unlike anything else.
With the boys at home I've also been doing other things too like watching my youngest do PE every day with Joe. I'd never heard of Joe Wicks before this but my youngest really enjoys using up his energy at 9am every week day and I don't mind him doing exercise. Joe has a great way of entertaining the kids and keeping them going. One to check out if your kids need something to use up their excess energy.
Youtube has been great during the school closure. It's full of fantastically educational videos and my youngest has loved it. We've watched the NASA ISS live stream - where NASA stream live images from the cameras aboard the International Space Station that orbits the earth. My youngest and I have spent hours watching the stream and discussing various space topics as well as covering things like Aurora Borealis and what it takes to be an astronaut. We've watched videos featuring Tim Peake, a British astronaut, and been able to track where the ISS is at the time we're watching. It's a little different to learning about space in school but my youngest can ask questions and I can do my best to answer. A few days ago we even covered the Challenger and Columbia space shuttle disasters.
If your kids aren't into space but really enjoy going to the zoo then get online. Plenty of zoos around the world have live cams where you can watch the animals. There are Lions, Tigers, Elephants, Pandas, and even Polar Bears! A great website that hosts lots of different live cams is explore.org, there are all sorts of different cameras and we've enjoyed some time watching all the animals. It's a great way to engage your kids in conversation as you watch the animals. They can ask questions, you can talk about the people who take care of the animals, and the kind of things the animals do. Me and my youngest spent about 30 minutes watching Ants the other day, ANTS! A live cam at The Houston Zoo shows the ants moving around and cutting leaves and moving around. We spent a long time watching them and were convinced we'd seen the Queen!
Well that ought to keep you all going for a while. Until next time.
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