

by Dana


by Dana

by Dana
This review is hard for me. I’ve followed Zach Sobiech and his family for some time now. I discovered him through the internet as most people have and through the video that Soul Pancake made of him and his family. His story spoke to my heart as it did most people who have heard of Zach.
Several weeks ago, I logged onto my BookLook Bloggers account to choose another book to read for review. I wasn’t expecting to see Zach’s story yet but when I did, I knew it was one that I wanted to read. Fly a Little Higher: How God Answered a Mom’s Prayer in a BIG Way by Laura Sobiech, Zach’s beautiful Mom was not something I could pass up.
I received this book about a month ago but I couldn’t simply pick it up to read it. You see, I know Zach’s story and have been touched by Zach’s story so deeply that I knew this wasn’t something I would take lightly. It would speak deeply into my heart, reach down into my soul and relate to things that only Mom’s of children who suffer from some dreadful disease and disorder can understand. The book sat unread on my nightstand for weeks before I finally decided it was time to read it.
On Wednesday, May 28th, my Mother had surgery to remove her gallbladder. I knew I wanted something to keep me busy and keep my mind occupied while I waited. I felt the need to bring Fly a Little Higher along, though I wasn’t sure I could read it while I waited and since I wasn’t sure how much I would cry while reading it, it wasn’t a book I wanted to read while sitting in a waiting room full of people. Still I threw it into my bag, just in case.
It was there, while I was waiting for the nurse to tell me my Mom was out of surgery, that I began to read Zach’s story from his Mother’s view point. I was actually thankful that I was in that waiting room, surrounded by so many unknown people, instead of in the safety of my home. It kept me from breaking into tears and gave me the strength to read through the beginning of Zach’s story. I was immediately touched by Zach again and by the strength of his Mother as she shared the memory of her son before his Cancer took over his life. He was only 14 and full of life when they began his journey.
All in all, it took me 3 nights to read through Zach’s story. I could have done it in less than a full day, had I had that time available but it was broken down into hours, as I could fit it in. This book will live on my shelf for my lifetime because it has touched me so deeply.
I found Zach and his family around the time that Jackson was beginning to suffer with his seizures, long before we discovered his Breath Holding Spells, in the early I-don’t-know-what’s-going-on-with-my-baby days. I like to think that God knew I needed Zach’s story and his strength to get through that time in our life. I needed to see his choice to Live even though his life was coming to an end. I knew that if Zach could embrace his life, knowing his outcome, that we could embrace and live our life, regardless of Jack’s disorder.
Zach was the shining light for me in a deep tunnel of darkness.
I admit, it was very hard for me to even read Fly a Little Higher. I cried when Zach passed away. Cried for the pain his family felt, for the deep loss of this beautiful young man who had given Love as his last gift to the world. I cried for the loss of the light he brought for our life and the hope that I was afraid would end for me when he was gone.
I cried again this past May as Zach’s birthday and the one year anniversary of his death passed but not for the same reasons. As I watched the one year follow-up video of Zach’s family from Soul Pancake, I realized just how much Zach still gives hope to others, even today. And now through his Mother’s sharing of his story in Fly a Little Higher, the world will know Zach again. The Zach before Cancer struck and the Zach who grew in strength even as his body was overtaken by the disease, destruction and weakness that Cancer causes.
I felt relief in reading Zach’s story, especially in the moment of his passing. I often wondered how he had passed and how his family had said goodbye. I know that had to be the hardest of all for them.
God answered Laura Sobiech’s prayer that the loss of her son’s life be meaningful and full, giving hope to others. Zach’s song Clouds is both mine and Jackson’s favorite. Jack calls it “Up, Up, Up” and simply loves to hear the soothing edge of Zach’s voice singing to him. I recently created a Youtube channel for Jackson containing all the videos I could find of Zach singing and Jackson has me play it non-stop.
I don’t know what Zach’s meaning and connection is for Jackson but I know it’s been there from the first minute he heard Zach’s voice in song. Even as a small infant, Jack would stop and listen, finding peace in the harmony even for a moment. Even today that peace is still found by him and it amazes me to watch my boy stop, with a calm that I can’t very well explain.
If you’ve ever heard of Zach, then you’ll definitely want to read Fly a Little Higher and even if you haven’t still read the book. I can promise you that it will change you – you will find beauty, peace, love and so much more through Laura’s view of their many years of living life with Cancer and her beautiful gift: Zach.
Thank you Laura Sobiech for sharing Zach with the world and for allowing your wonderful son to reach out and touch so many lives, changing them for the better. Jack and I will never forget what he has given us through the life he lived.
Fly a Little Higher by Laura Sobiech is available for purchase in bookstores or through Thomas Nelson Publishing for $24.99.
You can see Zach’s videos and learn more about his life at Zach Sobiech: Finding Peace Through Music.
by Dana





by Dana

Little House in the Big Woods Study Guide by Rebecca Gilleland is a wonderful addition to the book. It helps to get students thinking about the information they are learning and to compare today to yesterday. This brings Little House in the Big Woods to life.
Little House in the Big Woods Study Guide was designed for use with students in Grades 4-6, those in Upper Elementary school. It is reproducible for students meaning Homeschooling families can print the guide over and over for each student within their homeschool classrooms. This makes it able to be used again and again for students who may be learning at different levels.
Little House in the Big Woods Study Guide is a Literature Guide. It is designed to be broken down over a period of 6-10 weeks depending on the speed of the readers using the guide. Preferably students should first read the novel, Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder and then work through the study guide, rereading at their own pace. Completion of at least one page of the study per day is expected to be done daily while using the study.
As with most materials we use, we did this one together. The guide was simple enough to understand. Progeny Press writes explicit informative guides for students and teachers to easily follow along. The guides begin with an introduction to the materials and a section explaining their expected use and lesson guide. This makes it easy to begin the study right away.
We read Little House in the Big Wood aloud together. We briefly reviewed the information about Laura Ingalls Wilder which we had previously learned about through another Schoolhouse Review we completed last year. This made it easy for us to move forward quickly in our study.
We also reviewed past lessons on Paul Bunyan who happens to be one of our favorite American Tales and a person of interest in our homeschooling since we have a long family history of Lumberjacks aka Loggers in our family. Paul Bunyan is a household name around here!
This also lead to us reviewing our last field trip to Josh’s work where we saw the equipment at work and discussed the many differences in past logging and logging today. Living in a town that is centered around the International Paper Mill and has survived over many decades due to the logging industry, these lessons were easily added into our study. In fact, much of our lessons with this guide were easily expanded upon because of our lifestyle at home. Many of the words covered within this guide were ones we already know from other lessons we have completed or simply from life itself.
I’d say most of this guide was a review for us but much of it allowed us to take a longer look at the things that surround us. Though we may not live where Laura lived, much of our home is like Laura’s was back then and many of the things that affected Laura’s life can be found right here daily in ours. It was odd to see how much we have in common while seeing how much different our lives are from technology today as well.
This study guide is interactive, allowing completion right on the guide. This made it easy to use the guide to talk together and answer the questions together as well. I did print out the vocabulary sheets as review for our study. We also looked up a lot of things online, learning some differences between today and yesterday within our study that were easier seen through videos and past photos.
The Little House in the Big Woods Study Guide is 56 pages in length from cover to cover. It contains questions for each chapter of the novel, crosswords, word finds and other activities to make learning fun, vocabulary to fit the lessons, and many suggestions for games and other fun things to bring learning to life. Each chapter of the guide is different from the previous one so that children do not bore with rote learning while completing the guide.
Little House in the Big Woods Study Guide is available to purchase from Progeny Press for $16.99 as an e-guide. It is designed for grades 4-6. The novel, Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder, must be purchased separately and is necessary to complete this guide.

To read more reviews of other Progeny Press products, please click on the link below!


by Dana
I totally spaced last week and missed my D is for… post but I will go back and do that one soon. We are now on letter E and for us it is and will always be
E is for Epilepsy!
If you are a follower of our blog, then you already know we have a multi-generational family who has Epilepsy. I have had it since I was an infant and now three of my four babies have it as well. It’s a huge part of our daily lives and I use every post I can to help others understand how we live with it.
You see, starting out as a parent, I never thought I would be raising three beautiful children with this disorder as well. My oldest child missed the Epilepsy boat and I am truly thankful as he is a huge help with his siblings. When my oldest daughter came along, I thought “okay, she’s got it and that’s that”. Then came my baby girl and it was truly a surprise to me that she also developed this disorder. It was something I never expected, thinking that only one child would have it.
Imagine my surprise when my last child began having seizures as well! I’m thankful that by this point, I was aware that it was a possibility though I had hoped he’d also miss the Epilepsy boat like his older brother. We just were not that lucky.
To be honest, I guess you can say our lives revolve around Epilepsy. We are constantly on the watch for seizures. We have to plan our days around my children’s triggers – the girls often have seizures in the morning right after waking and the baby usually has his episodes at night.
When we aren’t watching for seizures, we are sharing about them. I tell everyone I know about Epilepsy. I advocate the right way to help those who are having a seizure and share my knowledge as much as I can, both online and in real life. That is the only way the stigmas of this disorder will change.
I enjoy telling others our story and I enjoy blogging about Epilepsy so that others can understand what our life is like through this blog. To learn about us and about Epilepsy, all you have to do is look for our Epilepsy Awareness tab at the top of our page or simply search our blog using the side panel and the keyword: Epilepsy. You will find tons of posts about our day to day journey with Epilepsy and I can promise you there will be many more to come!
Thanks for joining us! Until next time…
