Yet another delightful Download-N-Go from Amanda Bennett and The Old Schoolhouse!  This unit study on Davy Crockett is chock full of terrific historical information, United States geography studies, a character study, a government study, patriotism, and even how food preservation works.

I absolutely love the log cabin craft, so simple, yet fun for all of the kids!  They can make their own little town! There is also a craft for making your own compass. The videos are completely enjoyable, especially the full length documentary on Davy.  The whole family crowded around to watch it!  Another of my favorite features is the quotes and excerpts between each day.  This DNG has delightful ones to go with the theme, focusing on patriotic and colonial poems and songs.  They are just right for easy memorization that even the 3yo and 5yo take pleasure in learning.  Each one has a beautiful picture for the background, so I print them out as a 5x7 and laminate them to allow the children to carry them around and memorize them! 

I love these DNG’s.  In the words of Davy Crockett, “Be always sure you are right—then go ahead.”  With these unit studies, I am sure I am right!  The kids love them, and so do I.  Davy Crockett was no exception!

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The Download N Go unit studies are a great tool for any homeschooler, whether novice or veteran.  So much work has gone into developing each of the typical school subjects as well as encouraging multi-sensory learning.  The enjoyable recipes that are included are always simple yet delicious to make, and promise to become some of your family’s favorites.  My children love the indoor and outdoor activities and crafts, and the links for further research, book list, vocabulary words, will save you SO much time and effort.

The entertaining video links provided are a welcome change from typical schooling.  We have especially enjoyed learning about how things are made.  Homeschoolers tend to not have a lot of opportunities for field trips, and these links are just the ticket.  From an apple orchard and cider mill to a manufacturing plant, these unit studies provide exciting and educational tours.

Download N Go unit studies can be used to cover one, several, or all of a student’s subjects.  They are also very helpful for studying subjects across grade levels. The unit studies are geared to elementary age students, however the little ones will enjoy them as well as the highschoolers, who will regularly get distracted from their studies to come and participate, as mine have done.

In short, you will be amazed at how easy and gratifying school will become in your household!  What a joy for all of us to LOVE doing our school!  And yes, I said “OUR school” as I have probably learned as much as they have!  I plan on buying one of the packages for use over the rest of the school year!  Enjoy!

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Molly has come through again with another great digest!  The January Molly’s Money Saving Digest lives up to its name.  After all of the holiday craziness is over, it’s time to plunge head long into evaluating, prioritizing, and organizing our “time, money, and “stuff!”  To start us off, Molly has supplied a week of menus with yummy sounding recipes like Tomato Basil Chicken and Poppy Seed Fruit Salad, and a premade shopping list (in In the Kitchen with Molly), as well as five different forms to help us get organized and keep track of our “stuff.”  I am especially looking forward to using the Family Clothing Inventory Form.  With seven children, we have WAY too many clothes!  Mt. Washmore needs to be summited!

New this month is the Kid’s Corner featuring a homemade piggy bank, tips on opening a first checking account, keeping the check register, and writing checks.  Next month the theme will continue with more money tips!  Feather Your Nest Frugally teaches frugal décor ideas that are sure to be a God-pleaser, decorating with Scripture, something I love to do.  Now I have some great new ideas!

I found the monthly feature, Evaluate, Prioritize, Organize to be incredibly useful.  Realizing that I am in one “life season” in which not everything is going to be accomplished, but that writing down my priorities for each day will help me get the important ones done.  I have found myself trying to keep track of too many plans and ideas in my head, and then when I get to town, I can’t remember half of what I had planned to do or buy!  Now, armed with Molly’s forms and encouragement, I am ready to tackle this time and money waster!

I also enjoyed getting to know Amy Howard, a new writer for the Digest.  I am looking forward to reading her tips and tricks for saving money and stockpiling, to get the most out of my husband’s hard earned money!  Welcome to the Digest, Amy!

My favorite part of this Digest is Begin With the Basics.  Mrs. Martha Greene of Marmee Dear and The Homemaker’s Mentor teaches how to make an In~a~Pinch Pie Crust recipe that is awesome, with step by step pictures, for a large batch of crusts that can be put in the freezer for future needs, including use ideas for turnovers, mini-pies, a chocolate cake pie and a great tip on keeping your berry pie from being too runny!  I’m so excited about these pie crusts that I plan to make some with my daughter tomorrow!

In conclusion, I would highly recommend picking up this Digest.  As always, the money you save will far outweigh all of the information gleaned from it!

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The November Molly’s Money Saving Digest’s theme is Photography.  One of the articles, Take Great Pictures of Your Family by Becky Emerick, has excellent advice for beginners wanting to save money by taking their child’s pictures at home.  As a homeschooling mom without access to “school pictures,” I started doing this myself several years back, and I still gleaned very useful information from her article.  I particularly needed her advice on taking off my “mommy hat” for the photography session.  No school or studio photographer would get visibly frustrated with their subject!  I laughed as she suggested having an extra cup of coffee, eating that stashed away Halloween candy, or wearing a silly hat to get you into the photographer mode!

All of the links that are provided, for paper and digital photography, for photo editing, for online photo storage, for digital photography lessons, and for ideas on how to display photos, are phenomenal.  I have been doing home photography for several years and many of these links were new to me!  Don’t spend your precious time researching all of this on your own when you can get them all in one place for only $4.95!

There are also many slow-cooker recipes that sound SO delicious and I can’t wait to try them as the days grow chillier and our home school days get busier.  How good does Slow-Cooker Cherry Cobbler sound after a day outside taking pictures?!

Speaking as a home photographer, you won’t want to miss this Digest. Just the money and time saved not going to a studio will more than cover the cost of this Digest.

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Autumn Treasures E-Book is a delightful little science toolkit!  My younger four children, ages 3-9, enjoyed going outside and collecting leaves, twigs, berries and undergrowth for the many projects, including making a fall wreath and doing crayon rubbings.  As a mom with many children, I really appreciated all of the work that went into finding all of the links for videos and activities on the internet.  All I had to do was click on the link, and institute the activity.

There are activities, book suggestions, on-line videos, discussion questions, recipes and crafts for each day. Honestly though, with all of the content included in this e-book, you have several weeks worth of science you could do!  We spent several hours on it the first day alone, learning about the seasons, equinoxes and solstices! Even my older boys got side-tracked from their work and enjoyed watching the videos.

Comments from my 7yo and 9yo included: “This is fun, Mom!” and “Look at my folder, Mom!”  They beg me to do science each day.  I just have to get myself organized so we can jump right into it in the morning!  Thanks for making science easy and fun for all!

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Molly’s Money Saving Digest is a great monthly tool for learning new tricks and ideas for saving not only money, but your sanity, in a broad spectrum of areas of life.  Her topic this month is Organization for Busy Families. Whether you have one child or several, like I do, you will be sure to find some ideas that will help in organizing twelve areas of your home, from the bathroom to files on your computer.

One of my favorite features is the recipes for making your own make-ahead mixes to help you save money by not buying pre-made boxed mixes.  These mixes are also healthier for you, as they don’t have all of the additives and preservatives that go into the boxed type, but you still have the convenience of having so much of it ready-made.

You will also read craft ideas, a list of special dates for the month, photos, and links for further research on the internet.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading through the Digest, and am looking forward to trying many of the recipes and ideas included.

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I bought myself a new laptop, and thought that would help me keep more current with my blog, but it hasn't happened.

I am still very pregnant.  I have less than 2 weeks left.   The ultrasound indicated that the placenta is already calcifying, so she thought he would come a little early.  I have been feeling that way for a while anyway.  He is on track to be as big as his older brothers, not little like my last two.  Ben was 8lb 2oz, Aaron was 8lb 10oz, and Ivan was 8lb 11oz..  Then they got smaller from there.  Joseph was already 4.6lbs at 34 weeks!

Anyway, I have been getting ready for baby, and spring cleaning.  I can't tell if it is nesting or spring cleaning, but I can't seem to stop rearranging, cleaning, and getting rid of things!  I can't find my tiny baby stuff though.  I have bought a few things from the second hand stores, but I don't want to get too much, since I know that stuff is somewhere.  I am wondering if we took it to our storage container in Talkeetna, since we were living in the apartment when Timmy was a baby.

I keep getting contractions.  They are doing a something (As of last Monday, I was 3cm dilated, but the cervix was still long and posterior) but not getting too serious or regular.  He is head down and very low, so I don't think it would take much to get things started.  Naomi was almost two weeks early, and Micah and Timmy were about a week early, so hopefully Joseph follows in their footsteps and comes soon.

Craig may be going to Seattle on Wednesday (the day after tomorrow), so I am a little nervous about that.  He will leave home around midnight, and his plane is supposed to land back in Anchorage around 9pm, so he should be back home around 10:30pm.  I have an 18yo gal from church coming to stay with me, so at least I won't have to drive myself to the midwives if he comes while Craig is gone.  In God's perfect timing....

A couple of weeks ago, Micah cut his knee.  It was actually kind of my fault.  I set a glass down, and it obviously wasn't secure, because it fell off and landed on the concrete floor, shattering.  Micah was right behind me when it happened, and he started crying really badly.  I thought he was just scared, but when I asked if he had gotten hurt, he said yes.  I pulled up his pants leg, and found a bloody cut that was gaping open.  All I can figure is that a piece shot up his pants leg, "like a bullet" as the PA who attended him said.  I had to take him to the Medical Clinic and he got two stitches.

The weather has been absolutely beautiful!  We actually had a few days around 70 degrees already!  Mostly it has been sunny and in the high 50's-mid 60's though.  The kids and I have been loving it.

I have been doing some more birdwatching, so that has been a lot of fun.  I have seen three new species already this year, as well as many of the ones I identified last year.  My zoom lens on my camera isn't functioning though, so no pictures.  I need to get it shipped in and fixed, I just keep procrasinating!

Well, I just thought I would post the latest on here.  Probably everyone has given up on my posting, but since I am using this as a journal, at least I will have something written a little more recently!

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It has been such a busy fall/winter already!  I have been so tired with this pregnancy, and not feeling well.  Nothing sounds good to eat, especially anything with meat in it.  I crave fresh fruit and salty things.

My little four are dressing up in Christmas costumes right now!  It's so funny to see my 2yo in a bathrobe that is 2ft. too big on him, with a little gold crown on.  My one daughter is Mary (of course!) and has a sheer curtain over her head and a blue church dress on.  They have made a little manger out of an empty tote and have one of her dolls in it.  (They don't seem to mind that Jesus was about 2yo when the kings actually came.)  Someone told Timmy to kneel like he was praying, so he kneeled down and started praying. I got the cutest pictures!  I will have to post them soon.

We are going out of state in January for my brother's wedding, so I don't really want a tree this year.  We leave on Jan. 8th, and I don't want one more thing to have to do before we leave.  We are going up to my in-laws for Christmas anyway, and then snowmachining out to their cabin for four days.  When we get back, we will have Micah's 4th birthday, and then leave in a week.  Thus, I am really not into decorating this year.  It's sad though....

I better get off and fix dinner for this crew.  Daddy had dinner in town with his boss, so I am being laid back tonight, but I better feed them soon, so I can get them to bed at a decent time.

Hope everyone is doing well, and enjoying this Holy-day season! 

Blessings to you and yours,  Grace

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I received my first award!  Thank you Michelle!

AWARD RULES

1. Please put the logo on your blog.
2. Place a link to the person from whom you received the award.
3. Nominate 3 or more blogs.
4. Put the links of those blogs on your blog.
5. Leave a message on their blogs telling them they've won an award!

I would like to nominate the following ladies:

Kimalita

Martha

Jenn

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