Tots and Me... Growing Up Together

Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Littles Learning Link Up: June 11, 2019

Each month you will find:

A seasonal round-up (usually toward the beginning of the month)
Posts where I share what I have been up to with my elementary-age children and the preschoolers I work with at our homeschool co-op (including occasional highlight posts where I share how we used ideas that have been linked up here on Littles Learning Link Up).

Each week, I will host a link up, where you can share either what you have been up to recently, or old posts that may go with the theme. Feel free to link up more than one post.

Each week I will continue to feature a couple of posts from those that have been linked up.

I hope you will continue to share your wonderful posts, and I hope you will find something new to try with your child(ren).

It would be great for everyone to stop by and visit the other linked-up posts as well. Check them out, leave some comments, pin those that interest you. Let's make this a real party and socialize with each other.

Here's a peek at what we have been up to in our homeschool.

This is our last week of school for the 2018-2019 school year. We have continued our studies of ancient history with My Father's World, and will finish it up during our summer session in July/August. I don't really have anything new to share at the moment. Harold and Hannah have continued using Simply Classical Writing from Memoria Press and Harold has continued using Lightning Lit Grade 2 from Hewitt Homeschooling Resources. Here's a peek at how Harold likes to snuggle next to me on the loveseat, even to work on his worksheets.

Memoria Press:

Then we moved on to Lightning Lit

I'll be sharing more in the reviews this week.

Let's take a look at that review schedule real quick:

Last week I shared my review of the movie "Life With Dog," from Mill Creek Entertainment.

This week you will find reviews for Simply Classical Writing from Memoria Press and Lightning Lit Grade 2 from Hewitt Homeschooling Resources. Later in the month you will be able to read my review for Matific Galaxy which Harold absolutely loves!

And in July I will share reviews for the Music & Creativity Foundation Course from Simply Music plus the USA Activity Bundle Pack from Crafty Classroom.

Yep, we still have those review products we are working on, but as you can see it has calmed down a bit. I hope to not have too many to work on through the summer, as the children don't really get a break when we have all those review products.

Here are some things I would like to share with you:

Beach Fun Round Up

Butterfly Round Up

Father's Day Gift and Card Round Up

Now onto:

Littles Learning Link Up Features

On my last Littles Learning Link Up post, there were 11 wonderful posts linked up. I will be sharing a randomly selected post, plus the most clicked on posts.

Please, don't forget to stop by other posts that are linked up. See what catches your eye, stop by, pin the post to a relevant board, and perhaps leave a comment to let the author of the blog know you have been by for a visit. I know I appreciate others commenting and letting me know they have read my posts, so I am sure others do too.

This randomly selected post is:

Hilbert's Mazes shared Hand Drawn Fishing Lures Maze - Free Printable PDF

This week's most clicked on posts are:

Tara from Homeschool Preschool shared I Spy Zoo Animals Counting Fun

Brandy from The Barefoot Mom shared Tips for Homeschooling in Small Spaces.

Join the Party!

I would love to have you join in this week! What sort of activities do you do with your young children? Do you have some favorite activities you would like to share? I invite you to link up below. I will be pinning posts on one of my relevant boards, and I would love to feature some of the activities each week from what is linked up.

Please know I may share a picture from your post and link back to it, along with sharing how we used your idea in our school time. By linking up you are giving me permission to use a picture from your post. I will ALWAYS give credit and link back. Additionally, if you choose to try out any of the ideas with your child, please make sure you give credit where credit is due.

Linky will be open through Monday night, to give me time to check out all the posts and get the Features organized. Please take the time to visit some of the other wonderful posts linked up.

No button currently, and there won't be one until I can figure it out seeing as Photobucket has changed things. Feel free to still share the picture in place of the button. Just link it to my Littles Learning Link Up permalink please.

I am sharing over at

Monday, June 10, 2019

Tuesday's Giveaway Link Up- June 11, 2019

Welcome to Tuesday's Giveaway Link Up with your hosts Karen @ Tots and Me, Emily @ Emily Reviews, Shelly @ The Attic Girl, and Rena @ An Ordinary Housewife.

So glad you could join us as we share our giveaways on Tuesday's Giveaway Link Ups.

This link up will be posted Monday at 7 PM est. and run all week long! Make sure you stop in as often as you can to list your latest giveaways.

Here is how to use the Giveaway Link Up

1. Post your reviews and/or giveaways, as many as you have, be sure to add the end date (family friendly please)

2. Help spread the word about the giveaway link up by grabbing our button, Tweeting or posting on Facebook. (Not mandatory- but it helps get more exposure to your giveaways as well!)

3. Take a moment to enter any giveaway that strikes an interest to you!

Featured Giveaway

Cinderella Blu-ray 3 winners US only Ends 6/25

$50 Amazon GC Giveaway W/W Ends 6/30

Featured Reviews

Hands-On Science Fun with Supercharged Science {A Homeschool Review Crew Review}

Improving Typing and Math Skills with EdAlive {A TOS Review}

If you would like to follow the hostesses, we will gladly follow you back! Simply leave us a message to do so.

Thank you for linking up with Karen @ Tots and Me, Emily @ Emily Reviews, Shelly @ The Attic Girl, and Rena @ An Ordinary Housewife .

Thursday, June 6, 2019

Throwback Thursday Blog-Style #259: June 6, 2019

Welcome back to...

I know, I know, Throwback Thursday seems to be all about sharing pictures from the past, great memories that mean something to you, that you would like to share with others. At least that is how it appears to me. Throwback Thursday wasn't something I was participating in, and then I came up with an idea.

I thought it would be great fun and a help to my blog to share old content, but not just any old content. Each week I will share an old blog post from a previous year, any year, BUT it has to be from the current week (for example, something I've posted around June 6th, from any previous year) I will go in, edit the post if needed, add a pinnable image if I don't already have one, and share it on Facebook.

Would you like to join in? You do not need to edit your past post in any way, you don't need to create a pinnable image, though it couldn't hurt, in fact it will help your blog traffic to add quality pinnable images to your posts.

Just go into your archives, choose a favorite post from this current week from any previous year, and link it up below. (If you don't have anything from this current week, it is still okay to link up with a post from a previous year around this time. And if you haven't been blogging for a full year, feel free to share any earlier post.)

Please make sure to share from the past as instructed above. The spirit of Throwback Thursday Blog-Style is to share posts from the past. Please follow the guidelines. I would hate to have to delete your link.
Thank you

I will be pinning posts to my appropriate Pinterest boards and will be randomly selecting a Featured Throwback Thursday post to share next week. Just a note, I will be sharing a picture from your post if you are selected as the featured post, but I will link back to your post. I will ALWAYS give credit and link back. By linking up you are giving me permission to use your picture in the post.

Here are my Throwback Thursday posts:

Originally posted June 9th, 2015
Littles Learning Link Up: Father's Day Gift and Card Round Up

Here is this week's randomly selected

Featured Throwback Thursday:

Exploring Biblical Places and Times shared:

Marketplace: Brick Making Suggestions

To participate, link up below. It would be great if you could visit several of the other posts that have linked up. Stop by, comment, and pin images so we can help each other.

Happy Throwback Thursday!

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Wordless Wednesday: June 5, 2019 (w/linky) - Baby Spiders

The children noticed these baby spiders in our yard the other day.

Looking forward to seeing your Wordless (or not so wordless) Wednesday posts this week.

No button currently, and there won't be one until I can figure it out seeing as Photobucket has changed things. Feel free to still share the picture in place of the button on your Wordless Wednesday post or in a list of Wordless Wednesday linkies. Just link it to my Wordless Wednesday permalink please.

A Movie Review of Life With Dog from Mill Creek Entertainment {A Homeschool Review Crew Review}

We had the opportunity to review a new movie titled Life With Dog from Mill Creek Entertainment. I had read the description of the movie, and was intrigued, so I was pleased when I was chosen for this review. And it stated it was family approved by The Dove Foundation, so I thought it would be a nice movie to watch with the children during our movie time.

"Life With Dog" is a 106 minute movie about a man named Joe Bigler (played by Corbin Bernsen) who has lost his wife, under what he considers mysterious, and even sinister circumstances. The opening scene of the movie comes down from above, descending to the scene of the bike accident that killed Alice. You see the emergency vehicles encircling the intersection, and as you draw closer you see a bicycle in the middle. As you get closer you notice it is mangled and someone is being placed into an ambulance. The camera then focuses on a mangy looking dog sitting on the curb.

We then cut to Joe who is alone in his home. Except suddenly he is talking to his wife Alice (played by Marilu Henner). At first it is a bit confusing. Is this a flashback of a time when she is alive, or something else? It is soon made clear that he is imagining his wife is still with him, though he knows she is dead. Throughout the movie he will see her and she will say something, or they may even have conversations. It is clear he is having a hard time letting her go and has not been able to grieve, even though it has been months since the accident. He is depressed, and hangs out in his chair, which we find out when his daughter Zoe (played by Chelsey Crisp) questions him. Adding to the struggle and the conflict with his daughter is the fact that she is a Christian (as was his wife) and he has no faith, especially after what happened to Alice, and as we discover, to his son prior to the loss of his wife. Zoe is worried about her father, and isn't sure what to do to help him.

He has become paranoid, and feels that the company that is building a complex next door is after his house. In fact, it is his belief that they killed his wife to get him to give up and move so they can have his property. And I have to admit, it is hard to know for sure during a good part of the movie whether this is true or not. Is he just paranoid, or is there some truth to these accusations?

However, he gets increasingly delusional and even violent. I admit, I wasn't ready for this, and had wished I hadn't let the children watch it with me the first time. This is because there were some scenes that stressed me out because I didn't know what the children were going to see. A good reminder that I really do need to watch movies first before letting them see them, even if they are "family approved." I'm not saying it isn't appropriate for the children. However, if I had known what was going to happen at times, I would have been more comfortable watching them see it, so I could reassure them that nothing major was going to happen. Especially with the scenes where Joe is holding a gun on people and threatening to shoot them, when he gets violent with a bank worker and assaults him, holding him against the wall and threatening to punch him. There are also creepy scenes where there is someone in a hood outside the house at night sneaking around. That sure added to the suspense, which I am not a huge fan of honestly.

There is a lot of deceitfulness on his part, and there were times when he mentions what he calls "the f bomb." No, the word is not used, but I didn't really appreciate the reference to it either. I also didn't appreciate the fact that he included the phrase "pain in the a**" on the posters he made to hang up to announce he found the dog. Though he did cross the a-word out, it was still clear that it was there, and this isn't a word I allow the children to use.

Early in the movie this dog suddenly shows up and stares at him. He never really tries to get friendly, he is just there. The dog continues to come back, even though Joe tells him to go away. However, at some point Joe allows the dog to stay and they become sort of friends. There is never any real affection being shown, by either party, but you can tell the dog is a comfort to Joe. He gets so he doesn't want to get rid of "Dog" as he calls him, even though he knows the dog isn't really his to keep. We see this conflict through the "conversations" he has with Alice. It's like "Alice" is there as some sort of conscience at times, talking him out of things he shouldn't do, or making sure he does what he should do.

I mentioned to the children when the movie was over, that I was disappointed that we don't really see any change in his faith. We see a man who is violent throughout the movie, who at the end finally seems to be willing to offer forgiveness as the mystery of her death is solved and he accepts that she is gone. However, I was hoping there would be a growth in his spiritual life, somehow being led to Christ, and that Christ would be helping him through these struggles, not a dog. Yes, Dog is there to give him comfort, and he does end up being more important in the mystery of his wife's death than we realize at first, but I really wanted to see this poor grieving man be able to turn to the Lord, as was the hope of his daughter and his wife.

Is "Life With Dog" a powerful movie? Yes, I would say it is. However, I would definitely not consider it family friendly, at least for children under age 13. I thought maybe my 12 year old was getting something out of it, but she really didn't like it at all. And my 11 year old only liked the fact that there was a cute dog in it, as did my 7 year old (because he is obsessed with dogs and puppies right now). However, I would say they thought the movie was kind of boring and any messages related to dealing with grief went over their heads.

Sadly, I have to admit we really weren't fond of this movie. There really isn't any action, except for the scenes where Joe is reacting with anger, which isn't the kind of action I want the children viewing.

You can find Mill Creek Entertainment on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

The DVD release of "Life With Dog" is available at Walmart stores now. It is also available on many websites to rent or purchase, such as Amazon.

Though this isn't a movie we really enjoyed, I'm sure there are plenty of families who do, so don't forget to click on the banner below to see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about "Life With Dog."

Life With Dog {Mill Creek Entertainment Reviews}

Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Littles Learning Link Up: June 4, 2019

Each month you will find:

A seasonal round-up (usually toward the beginning of the month)
Posts where I share what I have been up to with my elementary-age children and the preschoolers I work with at our homeschool co-op (including occasional highlight posts where I share how we used ideas that have been linked up here on Littles Learning Link Up).

Each week, I will host a link up, where you can share either what you have been up to recently, or old posts that may go with the theme. Feel free to link up more than one post.

Each week I will continue to feature a couple of posts from those that have been linked up.

Here's a peek at what we have been up to in our homeschool.

We have continued our studies of ancient history with My Father's World. Last week I promised I would share pictures of the children's completed Coat of Arms Shields they were working on. I couldn't find Harold and Hannah's for the picture, but here is a look at Tabitha's and Amelia's, though Tabitha did say she still isn't quite finished. She wants to add things to the empty spaces.

Last week we learned about ancient China, and this week we have been learning about ancient Japan. We've briefly looked at the different dynasties in China, the feudal system in Japan and how it was different and similar to the one in England, plus looked at different creation myths and how their religions came about.

Tabitha has been doing the history and Bible reading alone recently, sometimes before everyone else is around in the morning. She even gets her "routine" time done. Amelia sometimes reads by herself; other times she joins in while I read to Hannah and Harold. Even though our day isn't quite the same now, I am getting used to it, and sort of like it, because I have been able to work with Harold and Hannah every day on their Language Arts Curriculum.

With Harold I am using Grade 2 Lightning Lit from Hewitt Homeschooling. We have been reading some great picture books, discussing them, learning grammar skills, and working on composition. He has really enjoyed working on creating a Word Book.

Hannah saw him making one, and decided to make one herself. She is collecting words the way Max did in the book, Max's Words.

Additionally, we have been working on writing skills with Simply Classical Writing from Memoria Press.

Hannah has been working in Book 2.

And Harold has been working in Book 1. However, we aren't working in this book as rigorously as Hannah is working in hers, seeing as he also has the Lightning Lit he is working on.

One thing I have been concerned about with Hannah is her struggle with spelling. I decided to make this subject more hands-on for her. She has occasionally been using the magnetic letters to spell her words, to see if it will help her remember them.

I love the way she made the words do what they said. Lift is lifting, wind is blowing away like the wind, melt is melting.

Then, she found a sentence.

Even Harold wanted to try using the magnets to spell words.

Let's take a look at that review schedule real quick:

Last week I shared my review of Supercharged Science.

This week I will share review for the movie "Life With Dog," from Mill Creek Entertainment. Later in the month you will find reviews for Simply Classical Writing from Memoria Press, Lightning Lit Grade 2 from Hewitt Homeschooling Resources, and Matific Galaxy which Harold absolutely loves!

Yep, we still have those review products we are working on, but it has calmed down a bit.