Candy Cane Stories
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Stories Just for Fun
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Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Favorite Christmas Books
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Live Free this New Year
Whoa! Did you see it? Did you hear it? Can you believe it? Did 2011 even happen? Where did this year go? Did it go by as fast for you as it did for me?
With the year quickly coming to an end, many of us will start to look back. Did we reach the goals we had set? Did we use the precious time that God gave us wisely? Many of us might be starting to think about those “dreaded resolutions” that are encroaching upon us.
Or is it just me?
My year has been crazy and my time management wasn’t what I wanted it to be. Oh, I started off with good intentions, but as the year flew by and my crazy life took over my time management seemed to go by the wayside. So, I want to get a jump on it for next year. I want to start off 2012 WITH the bang.
To help get me back on track I will be re-visiting one of my favorite e-books, Tell Your Time by Amy Lynn Andrews.
I’m going to be re-evaluating, setting new goals and adjusting my time budget. I hope to have it done by New Year’s eve. Like I said I want to start of 2012 with the bang.
If you don’t have this book yet. Go grab it! It’s a quick read and worth every penny. Read my original review if you’d like to know more.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
The Doctor’s Lady {Review}
The Doctor’s Lady by Jody Hedlund is a fictional story based on the true story of missionaries Marcus and Narcissa Whitman. The Whitmans and their traveling partners Henry and Eliza Spalding traveled to Oregon Country to evangelize to the Nez Perce natives. Narcissa and Eliza were the first white women to travel what would one day be known as the Oregon Trial.
Storyline
Priscilla White and Dr. Eli Ernest both have a heart for missions, but on different sides of the world. Priscilla hopes to travel to India and Eli wants to return to Oregon Country to minister to the natives there. They soon discover that the mission board will no longer send unmarried men and women into the field. Left with no other options the two decide to enter into an agreement, a marriage of convenience only. But will it survive the long difficult journey west?
Overall Thoughts
I really enjoyed reading The Doctor’s Lady. It was actually a quick read for a book just shy of 400 pages. Hedlund did a great job of showing the hardships and trials people faced traveling west. It was just enough to keep me turning the pages. To top it off she sprinkled those trials with romantic tension.
One of my favorite things about this book, wasn’t actually in the story. It was a little section in the back of the book. As I mentioned at the beginning of this review, this story is historical fiction. I loved how Hedlund takes a little time to tell about the sections of the book that are actually true. Maybe I’m naïve and other authors of historical fiction do this, but this is the first time that I’ve ever noticed it.
If you’re a fan of historical fiction and romantic dramas, then don’t miss out on Jody Hedlund’s The Doctor’s Lady.
| A Mommy Talks Reviews: The featured product for this review was provided to me, at no cost, by Bethany House. All opinions expressed are my own. If you’d are interested in signing up to receive review copies from Bethany House, head to www.bethanyhouse.com/bookreviewers! |
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Raising a Boy
Raising Real Men: Surviving, Teaching and Appreciating Boys is a very practical guide for parents of boys written by a pair of “experts.” Authors Hal and Melanie Young boast a family of six boys and two girls. They admit that experience is their single greatest qualification and they draw on many personal stories throughout this book to illustrate their points.
Head over to 2 Teaching Mommies to see my honest opinion of Raising Real Men.
Monday, September 5, 2011
God Gave Us You {Review}
God Gave Us You, 
Storyline
This storyline is a familiar one. Mom's everywhere can relate to each point in the story. Follow the polar bear parents to be as they visit the doctor and listen to their baby bear's heartbeat. Watch mama bear as she adjusts to her ever growing belly. Then reminisce as mama bear recalls the first time she held her new baby. The plot points are the same for nearly every new mother.
Illustrations
As always the watercolor illustrations in this book vary from full-page to inset. They are colorful and detailed. Amazingly Bryant is able to make the bears faces so expressive while keeping them realistic.
Engaging, Interactive, Inspiring?
What child hasn't asked where they came from? In that regard this book is very engaging. I think it will also provide another opportunity to tell your child about their birth story (not that you need one). Your child may have not realized how much love they received before they were even born until you share this story with them.
Final Thoughts
If you're a fan of Bergren and Bryant's work you won't be disappointed with this book. They have stayed true to their style and delivered another pleasing story. This story lends itself to the board book format and I appreciated that fact. I think you'll like God Gave Us You.
| A Mommy Talks Review Disclosure: The featured product for this review was provided to me, at no cost, by WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for the sole purpose of product testing. I do not accept monetary compensation for reviewing or writing about products. All opinions expressed are my own. |
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
When God Created My Toes (Review)
Storyline
The little girl asks questions about what God knew when he made her different body parts. She wants to know "When God created my knees, Did he put bones in 'em? Did he know I'd skin 'em? Did we sing our ABCs when God created my knees?" With each page we find her getting into some trouble, goofing off with her parents, or just being a kid.
Illustrations
Hohn's illustrations, as always, are superb with realistic perspectives and engaging expressions. On one page he shows the little girl doing a flip off her father's chest. The next page you're put in place of the living room wall where she is diligently finger painting a masterpiece. Big bathtub bubbles and blow dried hair are some of the examples of Hohn's mastery of the realistic.
Engaging, Interactive, Inspiring?
Most any child will relate with the mischief and play the main character engages in. Once again Mackall uses questions to drive the book forward. It's not a story book, but it does follow a consistent theme that I think most kids will find engaging. Our son hasn't gravitated to this book as much as others, but he did seem to enjoy it.
Final Thoughts
When God Created My Toes
My Rating 
| A Mommy Talks Review Disclosure: The featured product for this review was provided to me, at no cost, by WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group. for the sole purpose of product testing. I do not accept monetary compensation for reviewing or writing about products. All opinions expressed are my own. |
Friday, March 18, 2011
Say What?
This last week we learned all about the Tower of Babel. The focus of the lesson is about how God is the greatest, not people.
Lesson 5: The Tall Tower
Our memory verse was:
Every Wednesday evening we review our bible studying as a family by doing a craft or playing a game. (Check out our weekly bible study schedule.) Last week we built our own tower. As we built our tower we talked about the story and our memory verse. Of course when you build a tower you have to knock it down.
During the week we did another mini-book turned into a sequencing events activity from Christian Preschool Printables. We got our coloring page from Calvary Chapel.
Additional Resources & Activities:
Here are a few more links to some of things I found.
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Friday, March 11, 2011
Death by Drowning
I don’t know why the death by drowning of the human race except for 8 individuals is one of my favorite old testament stories, but it is. I’m pretty sure my love of the story originated from the song, Rise and Shine. I mean we all know that adding a –y to the end of words changes the negative to a positive. Right?
All kidding aside, Noah was some man. He knew God. He had faith in God. He obeyed God. What a man!
We actually studied this last week, while learning all about the zoo. It was perfect timing.
Lesson 4: Noah’s Ark
Our memory verse was:
Here were some of the finish activities that we did:
For the above activity, I decided to cut apart the mini-book from Bible Story Printables, so that the boy could sequence the events from the story. I liked this activity and Bible Story Printables has lots of mini-books, so I will probably be doing this again. It was a great review.
Additional Resources & Activities:
There are so many fabulous resources for this story that it was really hard for me to pick and choose what we would use. So, below are a few links to some of my favorites. Please note, we didn’t do all of these activities.
What old testament story is your favorite?
Thursday, March 3, 2011
The Fall
What a perfect title for this week because I completely fell flat on my face. First, life has been crazy and I forgot to post about week 3 of our bible study. Then we blew it. We got so caught up in life that we didn’t make time for God and ending up missing a whole week. Not a great beginning, but hopefully with a little bit of tweaking we’ll get into a solid rhythm.
So, since our basic outline didn’t work for us we adjusted it. Here’s what our week looks like now:
/Memory Review We will still be using “a snack for the journey” while we are out and about, but I wanted to have something more consistent set up. I wanted to teach the boy the importance of getting in the word everyday. Plus, when I was more flexible I found myself not making the time to do it. I want this to be a priority.
Now on to...
Lesson 3: Sneaky Snake
In this lesson Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit after being tempted by the snake.
Our memory verse was:
Additional Resources & Activities:
Books
How do you help your little one understand the concept of sin?