Homeschool: Book Review - A Child's History of the World

For the past two years, I have been including world history as a subject for my son - learning about ancient Egypt, Roman soldiers, and medieval  knights sounded exciting!
So I was really glad to discover this book as part of our curriculum!
Written by VM Hillyer, it's not a very current book, but the information is all factual and up-to-date. We have been using the book as a companion to other history books (non-fiction, and fiction-fact history books).
I love the way the book is written - the author writes as if giving a lesson to a young student in simple words and descriptions, so that when you are reading it to your child it's as if you're just talking, telling him or her these historical stories.
Although I've heard many parents choose to skip the first chapter (it mentions both big bang theory and God and some may disagree) I loved every page, and that is pretty much the only chapter of this book with anything 'controversial' (although I find most history books have statements by the author in them that many find controversial and should always be read by you before you read it to your kids).
The book covers history from the beginning of the human civilization (stone age), and goes right up to when the author was writing it. Nothing is left out, but discretion is used of course since it is geared towards younger children. The book also includes helpful maps, and some portraits of historical figures, all in black and white.
The back cover of the book simply says:

"From where we are now, let us look down at the flights below us and listen to the story of what has happened in the years gone by" -VMH

The books contents is also organized into a great 'List of Stories' with titles such as (not in order):
How things Started (the beginning of the earth)
The Tomb Builders (about ancient Egyptians)
A World At War (about the first world war)
You can buy the book  and view reviews on amazon by clicking here  or the picture at the top.

Fun: Vacation Part III - The Eats!

This next installation in my vacation log is all about places to eat (and places to not!)

The first review I have is unfortunately not a good one! We arrived at our hotel  May 11th exhausted and starving from our 10 hour car ride, checked in, and immediately searched for a place to eat. My son M LOVES Friendly's and we consider it a special treat to go every time we visit the US (we have non here!), so we decided to go to the nearest one here on route 246 east (240 was the address).
We were pleased to see that it was open until midnight since it was nine already. We were immediately seated, and looked over our menus.

Our waitress took quite a while to come get our drink orders, and when she did so, just sort of mumbled (in a not-so Friendly way). This wouldn't have bothered me so much (I know waitressing is tiring!) if she hadn't taken so long to come each time (even to pay the bill), and talked the same way every time (a smile at least when you're leaving is nice. Also, when my order was taken, I got a sassy remark about ordering the same thing as my husband (that I could've just said I'll have the same) which wasn't appreciated.
So, service was slow, and we were not the only ones dissatisfied. The family at the table next to us waited over 10 minutes for a missing spoon!
So all in all, as much as I loved the food, I wouldn't recommend or return to this particular Friendly's!

Our pizzas - yum!

The next day brought a much better experience! Having been touring New York city all day with my sister, we were starved, and so by recommendation of my sister, we headed over to John's Pizzeria, and am I ever glad we did!

First off, it seems that it used to be an old church, and it is beautiful! With a cathedral ceiling (pictured left) nicely painted walls, and a spiral staircase, you feel like you're somewhere a lot nicer than a pizza place!

We were seated very quickly despite the crowd (and there were five of us!), and our waiter came right away for drinks. We ordered two pepperoni pizzas (pictured left) and a pitcher of beer for us adults, and lemonade for my son (our daughter had fallen asleep!).

The top view of John's Pizzeria - pretty!

The pizza came nice and quickly and was absolutely delicious! The crust was perfectly made - not too thick or thin, and as you can see, it was nicely loaded with pepperoni! John's gets a big thumbs up from all of us! To learn more about John's, click here.










Those are my two restaurant reviews for today - tune in tomorrow for more places and eats!

Mom: Daily Quote

Today's quote is one that reminds me to rest sometimes! It's not an easy thing to remember to do when there's kids running around to feed and bathe, cooking and cleaning to do, and a host of other empty checkboxes on your to-do list! But taking those few moments for yourself can make all the difference in your mood and attitude towards your family and the rest of your day!
The quote comes from Ovid, a roman poet. To learn more about Ovid, click here.
Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.  ~Ovid