What a Beautiful Name

I am not sure there is a better name ever thought, spoken, or sung.

Seeing this father-daughter duo singing this song just makes my heart so joyful.

You were the Word at the beginning
One With God the Lord Most High
Your hidden glory in creation
Now revealed in You our Christ

What a beautiful Name it is
What a beautiful Name it is
The Name of Jesus Christ my King

What a beautiful Name it is
Nothing compares to this
What a beautiful Name it is
The Name of Jesus

You didn't want heaven without us
So Jesus, You brought heaven down
My sin was great, Your love was greater
What could separate us now

What a wonderful Name it is
What a wonderful Name it is
The Name of Jesus Christ my King

What a wonderful Name it is
Nothing compares to this
What a wonderful Name it is
The Name of Jesus
What a wonderful Name it is
The Name of Jesus

Death could not hold You, the veil tore before You
You silenced the boast, of sin and grave
The heavens are roaring, the praise of Your glory
For You are raised to life again

You have no rival, You have no equal
Now and forever, God You reign
Yours is the Kingdom, Yours is the glory
Yours is the Name, above all names

What a powerful Name it is
What a powerful Name it is
The Name of Jesus Christ my King

What a powerful Name it is
Nothing can stand against
What a powerful Name it is
The Name of Jesus

You have no rival, You have no equal
Now and forever, God You reign
Yours is the Kingdom, Yours is the glory
Yours is the Name, above all names

What a powerful Name it is
What a powerful Name it is
The Name of Jesus Christ my King

What a powerful Name it is
Nothing can stand against
What a powerful Name it is
The Name of Jesus

What a powerful Name it is
The Name of Jesus
What a powerful Name it is
The Name of Jesus

Summer Book Haul: Part 2

Earlier in the summer, I mentioned on Instagram that I wanted to do a book haul blog post.  I pulled out all of the books that I purchased in June & July to share with you, but that was when I started to get embarrassed.  When I stacked up all of the books, there were a lot more there than I initially thought.....and it was ONLY mid-July....AND it was before I discovered Thrifty Books.  I still had the rest of the summer for books to get as I was prepping for the school year.  Oh goodness Darby!  Today, I’m really just sharing the second part of our summer book haul (Part 1 & Part 3).  I feel like if I break it up into parts, I won't feel so bad about myself hehehehe

Summer Book Haul Part 1 Here
Summer Book Haul Part 3 Here

See I told you this was a bit embarrassing for only about a month and a half of summer.  Don’t judge me.

As a rule, I never pay whole price for books; almost all of the books I buy are used.  So where do I shop for books? Amazon, Usborne Books, Costco, consignment shops, Thrifty Books, & resale book shops. So let's dive into part 2 of this big 'ole summer book haul:

Poke-A-Dot Old MacDonald’s Farm ~ The Borrowers ~ My Football Book ~ First Book About the Orchestra ~ Peek Inside the Sea ~ Complete Book of Farmyard Tales ~ Indescribable ~ Fire! Fire! ~ Play Me Some Music ~ The Book With No Pictures ~ The Ark ~ Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel ~ Paint Me a Picture ~ Lola Dutch is a Little Bit Much ~ Library Lion ~ Waiting for Winter

Grimm’s Fairytales ~ Huckleberry Finn and Other Stories ~ Merry Christmas, Amelia Bedelia ~ Amelia Bedelia Goes Camping ~ My Father’s Dragon ~ A Little Princess ~ From Seed to Plant ~ An Egg is Quiet ~ World Religions ~ A Year Full of Stories ~ Lemur Dreamer ~ Olivia ~ King Hugo’s Huge Ego ~ 3 in 1 A Picture of God ~ Building Character with True Stories from Nature ~ Here and There

Summer Book Haul Part 1
Summer Book Haul Part 3

Okay, so that is what we added to our home library and read this summer.  What books do you have that your kiddos are loving?  Please share your favorites with me!

Apple Season + FREE Download

With everyone going back to school, apples are ev-er-ywhere!!!  Sounds like the perfect opportunity to use apples for learning. Right? I’ve always dreamed of going apple picking, but that is never going to happen while we’re living in Texas, so instead, we are getting creative with bringing the theme of apples into our schooling at home.  I wanted to share some of our activities with you, and give you a FREE download.

There are a number of great books on apples.  Here are the ones that we will be using and focusing on this year:

A Picture of God 3 in 1 ~ Apples for Everyone ~ Farm Anatomy

These Colors are Bananas ~ Apples

Not pictured: Johnny Appleseed ~ Apples and Pumpkins ~

I am a big fan of having one activity that can be used to teach multiple objectives. It’s a big perk, if that activity will grow with my child & I can use it at multiple stages of cognitive development. And if it is seasonally exciting, well then I. Am. Sold. This is one of those activities, and I have it for you today FREE!  Let me share with you all of the ways we use this in our home.

First get the FREE download, print, and laminate (or put into a page protector). We like to use sunflower seeds, mini chocolate chips, buttons, small pom poms with this activity & mini apple erasers.

Roll. Use foam dice to roll a number in the top 2 boxes. If your child is not counting above 6 yet, you can use a single dice.

Add. Ask your child to count up the dots, or to add them together for a sum. If you’re past addition, try subtraction. Comparisons also work great here (write greater than or less than on the sheet, or “write the number of the dice with more dots”).

Write. Your child could write the sum as a digit or a word, both numbers presented on each dice, or trace the digit or word. We use dry erase markers since they erase well on the laminated material.

Count. Using manipulatives, get your child to count out the number that was presented on the dice.

Fun. Enjoy!!!!

If you think your child would enjoy learning with this activity, click here for the FREE download!

Indian Chicken Pot Pie

I love chicken pot pie, but sometimes you just need a change.  Right? Like just put a new twist on an old classic.  Lately the Mr. & I have been craving flavor in our meals.  We just want really bold flavors.  So I took our classic, go-to chicken pot pie, and I added some spice, and took away calories ;-)
Ingredients:
1 13.5 oz can coconut milk
1 large shallot, diced
1-2 tsp (heaping) curry
2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
1 cup frozen peas
sea salt & ground pepper
1 refrigerated pie crust
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
2 tbs EVOO
1 tsp curry
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro
Juice of 1 lemon

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees & cover a baking sheet with foil. Heat 2 tbs of the coconut milk in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shallot and curry and cook until tender (just a few minutes). Stir in the chicken and all but 2 tsp of the remaining coconut milk and cook until saucy, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the peas; season with salt and pepper.
2. Roll the pie dough out onto the foil baking sheet.  Put the chicken mixture in the center and spread it out, leaving about a 1-inch edge.  Then fold the edge up to make a crust (it will look kind of like pizza).  Use the remaining coconut milk on the edges of the crust.  Bake for 25 minutes, or until the crust has browned.
3.  To the same large skillet, add & heat the EVOO.  Then add the cauliflower, and stir in salt, pepper, curry, & cayenne spices.  Allow the cauliflower to cook undisturbed so that is can char a little on the edges (4-5 minutes).  Continue cooking until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro. Add the lemon juice to taste; season with salt and pepper.  Serve a slice of the Indian chicken pot pie with a side of spicy cauliflower.
4. Enjoy!

Beach Day Trips with Toddlers

I’m not really a beach person.  My skin is super fair so I burn immediately no matter what I do about sunscreen.  And sand, let's be honest, is the most annoying thing ever.  The beaches in Texas are less than impressive.  So yea, I don't feel bad saying that the beach just isn’t my favorite place.  I don’t hate it, it’s just that I’m not one to suggest “hey let’s go to the beach”.  Even though we only live about 45 minutes from the beach, we rarely go there. 
However, despite the fact that I’m not a beach person, I do appreciate the greatness of the ocean and what a remarkable creation it is.  Of course I was looking forward to the first time our kids saw the vast sea (even if you could also see oil rigs from the beach).  When Dutch was one, I wanted to take him to the beach, but every day we planned to go it always ended up being a rainy day.  So when the next summer rolled around, Dutch was 1 and Ellis was a few months old, I had matching suits all ready for the babies to go see the beach for the first time.  It took us until August (2016) to actually get to the beach (because .....well, kids); it was our first vacation in 4 years so we knew it had to be a great day (a vacation can be a day long right?).  I was a bit nervous about the day: you know kids have so much gear plus all of the beach gear, and what if we packed up the car & drive there only to find out that the kids hate the beach?  It was just a bunch of unknowns.  We decided that we were just going to go for the morning.  After the kids woke up, we planned to have breakfast, hop in the car, & go.  We would play on the beach, have lunch there, & then drive home for naps.  We figured that we could manage a morning.  And y’all let me just tell you: it was a bazillion times better than I could have ever imagined!
The day was a bit overcast so the beach was completely empty; we missed all traffic and we had miles of beach all to ourselves.  We saw dolphins swimming up the shore, fed the birds our leftover tortillas from home, and took the kids to Buccees (a landmark of the gas station variety around here lol).  Around noon the thunderclouds rolled in and the rain started, so we decided that that would be the perfect time for lunch.  We had delicious lunch with lots of seafood, and then the rain stopped so we went back across the street to the beach.  I nursed Ellis on the beach and then we hopped back into the car and headed home for naps.  It was just one of those easy simple days just playing and being together.  Even though I forgot my baby wrap and diaper bag (come on mom, get it together), it was just such a pleasant day.  It was an easy day; toddlers really don't need that much for a single day trip.  Not too much to pack or preparation required. To manage the sand, if you pack nothing else (i.e. I may have forgotten my diaper bag but I packed this and we were fine lol) pack baby powder.  After playing on the beach apply baby powder to your legs to rub the sand off before getting back into the car.
We, as parents, realized after our August trip to the beach that we are getting more and more mobile and able to do quick day trips like this to the beach to build memories for our kids.  So even though I’m not a beach person, we were both really looking to go again. At the beginning of October (2016) , we loaded everyone back into the car and headed back to the beach.  We went to a different stretch of beach this time, and again were the only ones there.  It was a sunny day this time, but I think since public schools were in session, and Texans were starting to think it was getting cold, no one was at the beach.  Dutch flew his kite, and rode piggy back into the water with daddy, while Ellis took a nap on the beach in my arms, we went on a family walk and looked for sea shells.  Easy and simple. It was a great opportunity to talk about how mighty and powerful our God is to create something so peaceful yet powerful.
It was just so easy and comfortable.  We had a blast.  Beach trips with toddlers really aren't bad at all. Exhausting? For sure, but everything is exhausting with toddlers, no matter where you are.  I think my tune is starting to change about the beach.  Don’t get me wrong, our beaches are still hideous, but I adore watching my kids explore the greatness of the beach with jumbo eyes.  As my kids get more independent & more exploratory, I imagine there will be many future beach trips in store for us especially if they continue to be this fun and easy. And I'm okay with that :-)

Treasure Jar + FREE Download

If you’ve been at my house anytime in the past year or so, you may have noticed a container of rocks on my kitchen counter.  These are the treasures my children find & give to me as gifts.  I think it is so precious that they think of me as they are playing & that an acorn could remind them of me.  I love to see that container on the counter as I’m doing the dishes or cooking dinner.  Their treasures have become my treasures.  I wanted to find a way that we could use those wonderful treasures in our homeschooling, and I figured if you’ve been on vacation to the beach this summer you could use the shells you collected for learning as well.I am a big fan of having one activity that can be used to teach multiple objectives. It’s a big perk, if that activity will grow with my child & I can use it at multiple stages of cognitive development. And if it is seasonally exciting, well then I. Am. Sold. This is one of those activities, and I have it for you today FREE!  Let me share with you all of the ways we use this in our home.

And just in case you thought I might be lying, here is my treasure chest that I keep on the counter in the kitchen, right next to my trusty coffee pot.  Between the treasures & the caffeine, I am smiling :-)

First get the FREE download, print, and laminate (or put into a page protector). We like to use sea shells & treasures we find in the backyard to practice counting.
Roll. Use foam dice to roll a number in the top 2 boxes. If your child is not counting above 6 yet, you can use a single dice.

Add. Ask your child to count up the dots, or to add them together for a sum. If you’re past addition, try subtraction. Comparisons also work great here (write greater than or less than on the sheet, or “write the number of the dice with more dots”).

Write. Your child could write the sum as a digit or a word, both numbers presented on each dice, or trace the digit or word. We use dry erase markers since they erase well on the laminated material.

Count. Using manipulatives, get your child to count out the number that was presented on the dice.

Fun. Enjoy!!!!

If you think your child would enjoy learning with this activity, click here for the FREE download!

Honestly Hawley {July 2018}

I knew that this month was going to fly.  I knew we had a lot going on and I was going to blink and the month would be over. I was right.  And I think from looking at the pictures from this month, and how few there are compared to other months, this month barely happened.  Now we are already on to gearing up for the fall.  We’re hoping to enjoy the last month of summer before the fall starts.

Here are the honest, unedited, unscripted
scenes of our July life :-)
2016: June ~ July ~ August ~ September ~ October ~ November ~ December
2017: January ~ February ~ March ~ April ~ June ~ July ~ August ~ September~ October ~ November ~ December

2018: January ~ February ~ March ~ April ~ May ~ June