Praying for Girls – Review

I received this book free for purposes of my review, all opinions are my own.

Praying for Girls by Teri Lynne Underwood – Asking God for the Things they Need Most.

If you have daughters and don’t really know how to pray for them, this book is perfect for you. The author has suggestions for praying for your daughters both young and older across 5 different areas of her life.

Each section has several chapters that break down the topic, and each chapter has suggested verses, prayers, and activities for you and your daughter so that you can pray and press into these topics with your daughter and pray some more.

The ideas for engaging with your daughter are simple, practical, and great conversation starters for pressing into some of the more difficult areas of growing up.

For my girls, they’re young, so I think just now beginning to think about their purposes – which is one of the areas covered. There are some great prayers and conversation starters for me to use to begin digging into this a little bit now and then I can add on as they get older.

Praying for Girls was easy to read and is a great book for me to continue to refer to as my girls get older.

June 21, 2017

Threads of Suspicion Review

I received this book free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

Threads of Suspicion (An Evie Blackwell Cold Case) by Dee Henderson

This book is about Evie Blackwell, an investigator who is great at cracking cold cases.

She’s such a great investigator she gets appointed to the Illinois Governor’s Missing Persons Task Force.

Evie gets to pick her own case and gets one that is truly puzzling and proves to be harder to solve than she expected.

With lots of twists and turns along the way. New friendships, old friendships challenged, and unexpected events. This book was a great mystery.

The author, Dee Henderson did a great job of keeping me guessing all the way to the end. Who did it? Where is the missing person? And how will Evie keep up with it all and her personal life at the same time?

A great mystery!

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April 25, 2017March 30, 2017

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Craft

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The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle is a well loved favorite in my house. Even my 8yr old still loves it!

So, naturally, when I told the kids we were going to do a fun caterpillar craft, we had to read the book, about a doze time, before we could get started crafting.

We had so much fun making these cute little caterpillars. My girls even made some to take and share with friends, because, honestly, they’re so cute!

These little caterpillars are also fast, and easy to make. For your littles, just have them line up their little pompoms in the order they want them and you do the gluing. My 8yr old was thrilled with the prospect of using the hot glue gun so she insisted on making her own.

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Supplies:

PomPoms
Googly Eyes
Hot Glue Gun

Sounds easy so far! Now, just line up however many pomPoms you want, in whatever color order you want and hot glue them together. After the glue has dried (which is super fast in case your toddler is wondering) you can hot glue gun or stick on the eyes. I prefer the glue because they stick better.

Just look at this cute little caterpillar!

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March 25, 2017March 25, 2017

Dinosaurs and Cookies

How do Dinosaurs Eat Cookies by Jane Yolen & Mark Teague.

Our book topic for this month’s book craft was “How Do Dinosaurs…” I’d never read this series before but it sounded like fun.

I went a little overboard and check out maybe a dozen from the library – and there’s still more! The kids didn’t mind because these books are super cute, and fun to read. They all have a fun rhyme and my 3yr old loves dinosaurs so he was very excited to have all sorts of dinosaur books to read.

With the cold snap last week, baking cookies together was a great project. We made chocolate cookies with multi-colored dinosaur eggs (mini m&m’s). So much fun, and so tasty!

Along we way we got to talk about how dinosaurs help in the kitchen – they don’t throw the m&m’s btw. And how dinosaurs are very polite when they eat their cookies.

How do Dinosaurs Eat Cookies is a super cute board book with “scratch & sniff” cookies throughout. Lots of fun to read together over and over.

Dinosaur Egg Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 package mini m&ms – or other chocolate chips of your choice

Heat oven to 350
With an electric mixer, blend together butter, sugars, and vanilla until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well.
In a separate bowl, mix together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to sugar mixture, until well blended.
Stir in mini m&ms
Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Cool about 5 minutes then remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Makes 5 to 6 dozen cookies

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Monthly Crafting Book Club

March 2, 2017March 1, 2017

Murder on the Moor – Book Review

I received a copy of this book free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

I just love Juliana Deering’s Drew Farthering Murdery Mysteries! Murder on the Moor is the fourth in her Drew Farthering Murder Mystery series. I have already read the previous three and Murder on the Moor is a terrific addition to this collection. In fact, it may very well be my favorite.

Juliana Deering seems to be a fan of the classics. In each of her books she highlights a well known mystery writer. This book, was all about Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. She does make references to other Sherlock Holmes stories but isn’t shy about having her characters call attention to similarities between their story and the Hound of the Baskervilles. I’m quite a Sherlock Holmes fan and thoroughly enjoyed the references.

There’s been a murder out on the Moors. Can Drew and Madeline find the murderer before someone else is murdered? The moors are a great place for mystery, getting lost, looking for a murderer, and lots of other great drama. I really enjoyed this book, it’s exciting and mysterious from beginning to end with fun plot twists and plenty of mystery.

The little town of Bunting’s Nest hasn’t seen a murder in ages so the police are only too happy to have Drew Farthering in on the case. As the mystery and suspense grow, it’s up to Drew to find the killer before it’s too late.

If you’re looking for a fun, entertaining, and well written murder mystery. You’ll love this book!

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February 25, 2017February 25, 2017

How To Draw a Giraffe

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Our Book for our monthly Book Craft Challenge was “Giraffes Can’t Dance” by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees. I’d never read this book so I checked it out from the library – along with the half of the library that my kids selected – and read it with the kids.

I was trying to come up with a giraffe craft to do and my kids didn’t want to do anything with constructions paper. Finally, my 8yr old suggested that we draw a giraffe. So I drew, and she drew. Her giraffe dances way better than mine! And then my 6 yr old and 3 yr old colored all my giraffe pictures.

This book is super cute and so much fun. The rhyme is great and it’s pretty short so you can read it multiple times without getting tired. My kids loved drawing and coloring Gerald!

Use a pencil, write lightly, so you can erase as needed.

Step 1. Draw an outline for the body, neck, and head. Write lightly, because a lot of these lines will be erased later.

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Step 2. Add some legs. Gerald (the Giraffe) had long, gangly legs so no need to be perfect.

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Step 3. Add some details. Tail, mane, horns, ear, fill out the eye and mouth a bit.

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Step 4. Erase your extra lines. Aren’t you glad you drew lightly? Color in the tail, hooves and any other dark areas.

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Step 5. Draw your spots, color in your giraffe.

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Or, draw your spots and let your kids color in the giraffe. Be creative, My 8 yr old made her giraffe dancing.

giraffe

Check out these other fun Giraffe Crafts!

Giraffe's Can't Dance Craft - Monthly Crafting Book Club is celebrating Giraffe's Can't Dance Crafts this month with a group of bloggers and crafts to show that Giraffes CAN dance.

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January 25, 2017January 26, 2017

Ladybug Girl Craft

Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy is one of my children’s favorite books. We received this book years ago as part of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program. Which is a program she started here in Tennessee that mails each child under 5 one free book a month. We’ve discovered some truly awesome children’s books this way!

Since I have boys and girls, Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy is a great book to read to all of them together, because there’s a fun character for each of them to follow along with.

And since all my kids love dressing up, this book is just so much fun!

I was excited when I saw that my monthly crafting book club was doing Ladybug Girl this month. My kids love this book, and they had so much fun making their own ladybug.

Supplies

Black Construction Paper
Red Construction Paper
White Paper
Scissors
Craft Glue
Pipe Cleaner

Directions

Cut 2 red circles – I folded my paper in half and cut them together so they’re exactly the same size.
Cut one of these red circles in half.
Cut 1 black circle – about 1/3 the size of the red circles
Cut many tiny black circles of varying sizes
Cut your pipe cleaner into six equal pieces
Cut two eyes – I folded my paper in half and cut them together so they’re the same size.

Glue the black circle to the top of the red circle.
Glue the two red half circles on top of the head, open them up as little or as much as you want for wings.
Place some glue on the ends of each pipe cleaner piece and insert them between the red circle and the red half circles.
Glue the eyes on the head
Glue black dots on your red ladybug
Let it dry before play with it

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Did you get a chance to see the other amazing crafts shared below by the other fabulous bloggers???

January 16, 2017January 14, 2017

Rhythms of Rest – Review

I received this book free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

Rhythms of Rest by Shelly Miller – Finding the Spirit of Sabbath in a Busy World.

Are you tired? I know as a mom with young children, I am. And not just physically tired. I’m mentally exhausted from all the constant decision making I have to make, from having to be constantly “on” to keep up with the kids, and from the constant churn to keep up with life.

With 3 kids, homeschooling, and being small business owners, I and my husband are constantly busy.

I feel bad taking a break because there’s always more work to be done. This book, Rhythms of Rest, helps put all of that into perspective for me. Shelly Miller does a great job of explaining why we need rest or sabbath and how we can achieve that. From just being present at dinner with the family to actually taking that Sabbath or day of rest once a week and not feeling guilty about it.

It’s not just about taking a physical break from work, but also a mental break, and an emotional break. To just rest. The author encourages you to plan for your sabbath. It’s so hard to actually take a break if you don’t plan for it. Whether that’s doing more laundry on Saturday so there isn’t any on Sunday or just prioritizing my to-do list and knowing what can wait till Monday.

This book has been super helpful in just encouraging me to prepare for a day of rest and just realizing that I desperately need that day of rest and not feeling guilty about taking it. Because, trust me, that Mommy guilt thing is real, and it seriously keeps me from taking a break when I need it!

So, if you feel like you’re just slogging through parenting, don’t have time for yourself, and you’re just tired. Get this book and learn how to better utilize rest and don’t feel guilty about taking time for Sabbath.

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January 5, 2017January 4, 2017

Conspiracy of Silence – Book Reivew

Conspiracy of Silence (The Tox Files) by Ronie Kendig

I love trying out new Action Book authors. Because I love books that are full of action. So I was pretty excited to give this book a try. It sounded interesting and entertaining.

Conspiracy of Silence definitely did not disappoint. It started with some great action and kept going all the way to the end.

From the back cover, “Four years after a tragic mission decimated his team, Cole “Tox” Russell has been disavowed by the United States. And that’s fine – he just wants to be left alone. But when a dormant, centuries-old disease is unleashed, Tox is lured back into action.”

Tox rounds up a special forces team and they head out to save the world. Running into secret societies, deception, a global pandemic, and of course redemption along the way.

Of course, there’s always his past coming back to haunt him. And more bad guys than you can count. Throw in a love interest and complicated family matters, this book is packed with action, adventure, and intrigue!

All in all, an interesting and exciting read.

Want to get your own copy? It’s only $9 on Amazon!

I received this book free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

This post does contain sponsored links.

December 26, 2016December 19, 2016

The Beginner’s Bible – Review and Giveaway

I received this book free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

The Beginner’s Bible® has been a favorite with young children and their parents since its release in 1989 with over 25 million products sold. Now it’s redesigned with fresh new art that will excite children for many more years to come. Full of faith and fun, The Beginner’s Bible is a wonderful gift for any child. The easy-to-read text and bright, full-color illustrations on every page make it a perfect way to introduce young children to the stories and characters of the Bible. With new vibrant three-dimensional art and compelling text, more than 90 Bible stories come to life. Kids ages 6 and under will enjoy the fun illustrations of Noah helping the elephant onto the ark, Jonah praying inside the fish, and more, as they discover The Beginner’s Bible just like millions of children before.

The Beginner’s Bible was named the 2006 Retailers Choice Award winner in Children’s Nonfiction.

My 5yr old was super excited to help me review this Beginner’s Bible. She’s been begging me for a new Bible and she just loves this one. The pictures are bright and fun and the stories are short and easy to read to her.

She even enjoys trying to read the stories on her own. They’re a bit above her reading level so she doesn’t get very far, but it’s still fun to try.

Since it’s Christmas time, she’s been picking stories about Jesus birth and other Christmas related stories for me to read to her each night. Super sweet.

This is an awesome Bible for young children!

Check out the Beginner’s Bible Website for fun activities like coloring sheets and games.

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Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post. Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win. Or if you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. U.S. Winners only. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.