Just Because They're Cute

Boys and Cousins at the Playground

The other day, Xav told me the he knew the reason Daddy and I named the boys Mal and Xav was so we didn't name them Ryan and Nathan. Ryan and Nathan weren't even in the running. They were already taken. :)


Uncle Aaron and Aunt Kimmy invited us to the playground while we were visiting. It was HUGE!

Goin' to a Hitchin'

I wanted to shop for a new dress for a wedding we were attending. I took Xav along with me. I think I tired him out.

I ended up not getting a dress, though I did like the first one I tried on. I stuck with one of my enwrapture skirts and a light sweater. My boys were all incredibly handsome.

Mother's Day Week in Review

It has been THREE weeks since I've posted an entry here. Oops! I have plenty to share, but I want to tell you about this Mother's Day Download N Go before I get the other posts put together.

M-O-T-H-E-R
M is for the million things she gave me,
O means only that she's growing old,
T is for the tears she shed to save me,
H is for her heart of purest gold;
E is for her eyes, with love-light shining,
R means right, and right she'll always be,
Put them all together, they spell "MOTHER,"
A word that means the world to me.

Howard Johnson (c. 1915)

Mother's Day is Sunday, May 8 this year.

This week we learned about Mother's Day; how it began, how Mom's get loved on in other countries, LOADS of great ideas for Mother's Day gifts that the littles could do, and some of the wonderful mothers of the Bible.


I really enjoyed learning about the details of this holiday and Xav, especially, loved watching the craft videos, but I have to say I felt awkward teaching them about Mother's Day in such an in depth way. To me, Mother's Day is the day that (hopefully) Daddy or perhaps a grandparent tells the littles about and helps them celebrate their love for their Mommy. Mother's Day is about doing something for Mom in secret as a surprise. I guess when we decided to homeschool, I never thought about the kiddos making gifts in school to surprise their parents. :)

That being said, I think for older children who can do more of the study independently, it would be especially great! There seemed to be no end of ideas for surprises for Moms (and Grandmas!) and, as always, Download N Go has done a wonderfully thorough job on this unit study.


The daily objectives for Mother's Day are:
Day 1: What is Mother's Day?
Day 2: The History of Mother's Day
Day 3: Celebrating Mother's Day
Day 4: Preparing for Mother's Day
Day 5: Goodies for Mother's Day

Download N Go is a lapbooking/notebooking unit study series created by Amanda Bennett. Intended for grades K-4, my four year old loves them as well! DNGs are formatted for a five day study, but with suggested reading and your family's favorite rabbit trails, it could easily expand well beyond that. They are bright and colorful and chock full of information. One thing I really like is the special DNG video page that youtube videos open up in so you don't see any of the other stuff on youtube pages. DNG units each have five daily objectives with components for a smart little lapbook, clickable links to videos and websites, vocabulary, history, geography and more.

I just spend an hour or so reading the introduction and searching our library's online catalog for some books. I print some lapbook sheets, depending on our needs for the week and do some cutting. The rest is done for me!

You can purchase your copy of Mother's Day for $7.95

To see what others think of Download N Go's Mother's Day, check out the blog hop .


I was provided with a copy for my honest review.

Our Trip to the Holy Land: DNG Review

Can I just say, I was super excited to hear we would be reviewing Expedition Israel for Download N Go this spring? I was so excited, that when sweet Marcy announced sign ups for Expedition IRELAND in February, I rushed to the library to look for books for our Israel study. Poor Marcy. She teases me about taking the blog name a bit too seriously. :) Oops!

I am not going to pussy foot around. This is without a doubt, my absolute favorite DNG we have ever done. Ever. Xavier really enjoyed the Moody Bible videos each day. Mal liked learning about the animals. His favorite was the dugong. He always sings the Barbara Manatee song from Veggie Tales to me.

{Photo removed.  Ezekiel 20:5-6.}

I loved this study so much, I spent a few hours just searching out more information for myself. I always picture rocks and sand and dry, boring desert when I think of Israel. I imagined it was all just like the rest of the middle east. Sort of like this:

{Photo removed.  Picture rocky desert.}

Was I ever wrong! It's beautiful there, farms, vineyards, gardens. Just incredible. No wonder it's called the Land of Milk and Honey. I don't pretend to know anything about geography and history. I never was very good at it. I figure I'll learn with my boys as we go. Well, my ever so clever husband told me about the incredible national water carrier system built in Israel. So I had to spend an evening reading up on that. And now I know why some of Israel looks like this:

{Photo removed.  Picture green fields.}

Beautiful!

The daily objectives for Expedition Israel are:
Day 1: Where on Earth Is Israel?
Day 2: Some of the Special Places in Israel
Day 3: A Bit of History
Day 4: Cool Things to Know About Israel
Day 5: Fun and Games in IsraelYou'll learn a little Hebrew, see the animals and foods of Israel, and get in a bit of Bible and history. I hope to see Israel someday to walk the streets my Savior walked. Someday.

Download N Go is a lapbooking/notebooking unit study series created by Amanda Bennett. Intended for grades K-4, my four year old loves them as well! DNGs are formatted for a five day study, but with suggested reading and your family's favorite rabbit trails, it could easily expand well beyond that. They are bright and colorful and chock full of information. One thing I really like is the special DNG video page that youtube videos open up in so you don't see any of the other stuff on youtube pages. DNG units each have five daily objectives with components for a smart little lapbook, clickable links to videos and websites, vocabulary, history, geography and more.

I just spend an hour or so reading the introduction and searching our library's online catalog for some books. I print some lapbook sheets, depending on our needs for the week and do some cutting. The rest is done for me!

You can purchase your copy of Expedition Israel for $7.95

To see what others think of Expedition Israel, check out the blog hop here.



Also, a brand new Download N Go for Easter is now available. Easter Promise.



I was provided with a copy to use in exchange for my honest review.

Happy Birthdays Monkey and Monkey's Daddy

Dave and Cass came over to celebrate Mal's 6th birthday. Actually, I think it was for the cake, which Xav helped make.


He's been asking for this for months.


He was so funny. He even rubbed it on his cheek. :)


Don't worry. Micah got a birthday present too. Happy birthday to two of my favorite guys!