3 Apr 2019

Cutie Fruities and the Fruit of the Spirit

by | posted in: Books | 8

 

I remember being in middle school and loving scratch and sniff things.  From books to stickers to all things school supplies, scratch and sniff everything made any task more fun.

And as a parent I want to have fun ways to teach my kids about how to live for God’s glory!

This book does just that.  It incorporates scratch and sniff fruit to help little ones learn about the fruit of the Spirit. This is an adorable board book, perfect for little girls in your life.  My boys have enjoyed it to (especially sticking their nose in the book to smell the fruit), but the Cutie Fruities are girls!

What a fun way to teach them about the fruit of the Spirit.  If you would like a copy of this book for your own library, just leave me a message here about what fruit of the Spirit you are working on – especially in your own life.  Mine is love (not being irritable especially with my kids who have been sick lately).

Thanks Tommy Nelson Mommies for my book and the giveaway book.  All thoughts are my own!

3 Apr 2019

We are the Gardeners

by | posted in: Books | 8

Spring is here in Augusta!  I’m hoping it has arrived where you are just so you can soak up all the scents of the flowers, hear the birds (we have a nest of 6 on our front porch), and enjoy the longer days with plenty of sunshine.

And just in time for spring growing season, Joanna Gaines (and her kids) have released their new book We Are The Gardeners.  Let me tell you – the illustrations and the prose of this book are so endearing!  I have the perfect family to gift this to!

My boys love to get out and play in the dirt, and we love to work mostly with daddy in the yard, but I know another family who do more gardening then we do so I can’t wait to gift it to them.

The life lessons that are pointed to in here (from Chip) are great for young kids – to learn that gardening is not just about plants and flowers.  I love how they talk about protecting it too – especially for raising little men!

I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t love this book!

If you would like to win a copy of it – just tell me your favorite thing you like to grow in your yard (or maybe you are just an indoor plant – let me know that too).  Thanks Tommy Nelson for my book and the giveaway copy!

17 Jan 2019

God Made Me and You

by | posted in: Uncategorized | 0

You know those books that you can’t find because your child likes to read it all over the house – and so it is constantly migrating with said child.

So, today, when the child walked in from the bus, I had to ask him where the book with the school bus on the cover that talks about all the children God made.  He went right to it.

This is definitely one of our favorite books of 2018.  So thankful for New Growth press in putting it together.  It shows the truths of God’s creative world in creating human being who look so different from each other but who each have value and significance just because they are made in God’s image.

When so many of our churches are still segregated its hard to see this principle and truth played out at church.  But, I’m so thankful for our boys going to schools where sometimes they are in the minority.  And they don’t notice.  They just play.

I would hope that as our children grow, if we can bury the truth of God’s creative generosity in their hearts, they might have a chance to see the beauty of the gospel displayed in peace for ethnic diversity.

Thank you to New Growth press for the book. All thoughts are my own.  Click on this affiliate link to order directly from New Growth.  Its a perfect addition to your school, home, or church library!

14 Jan 2019

Good News for Little Hearts

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We love reading time in our family, and I love finding books for my littles that will encourage them in truth and also that they will love.

The Good News for Little Hearts series was given to me to review, all thoughts are my own. I was excited about these because of the editors Powlison and Welch. The three I’m talking about in this review are: Zoe’s Hiding Place (about Anxiety), Buster’s Ears Trip Him Up (about failure), and Jax’s Tail Twitches (about Anger).  I love what they stand for, what they’ve written, etc.  So, I figured it was a no brainer.

And for the most part, these books are great.  What they teach are spot-on. I love the extra teaching material in the back of the book.

I just think they are a little much for 5-6 year olds.  Maybe they would be fine for 8-10 year olds, but then the illustrations might be a little childish.

So, here’s what I would say: they would probably make good books for families with a variety of ages.  Because the truths would keep the attention and make more sense to the olders while the illustrations and some of the story lines would keep the attention of the youngers.  Definitely use the helps at the end of each book to strengthen your teaching with your children.

This blog contains affiliate links, so go support New Growth Press!

2 Oct 2018

Big Trucks

by | posted in: Books | 4

Ever since my boys were little, they have loved mighty machines.  There was a show called Might Machines on Netflix for years that we watched constantly.  Always singing the songs.

My older boys favorite word before he could really talk was “boowah” – for bulldozer.

Tommy Nelson sent me a great book called Big Trucks, about these mighty machine friends.  It is a touch and feel book so it is helpful when teaching toddlers about tactile and touch and feel things.

I love the touch and feel aspect of this book, but also the encouragement between the main characters and the fact that they work together..

As soon as the box came to our porch, we opened it up, and have read it several times already. And now the younger is showing the older all about the touch and feel parts.

Great book for toddler (boys, especially)

Do you want to read this with your toddler – You can win one.  What was the first fun thing your child would say?

Thanks Tommy Nelson.  All opinions are my own.

8 Aug 2018

Favorite Summer Read-Alouds

by | posted in: Books, Kids r Readers 2 | 0

Now that school has begun for both of my boys, I have more time to blog.

I thought I’d start by telling you some of our favorite read aloud books this summer. I started with longer books (like Farmer Boy and Trumpet of the Swan, but my younger one wasn’t into it).  So, we will try again later.

But, picture books still rule in our home.

Little Wolf’s First Howling This is a good reason to have friends who love to read.  I was recommended this book by two of my friends who have girls.  My boys died laughing at this.  We had so much fun reading it together!

The Circus Ship I heard about this book on a podcast that Sarah MacKenzie was being interviewed on. We totally enjoyed it – and we adults love the tale too.

When the Cows Got Loose This was a fun story with bright colors.

Dino-Racing What a perfect story combination for my boys: dinosaurs and race cars

Motor Goose My boys still love mighty machines, so this was a great one to read one afternoon.

Muncha Muncha Muncha – You gotta have ways to make your kids eat more vegetables, right?

At bedtime, we took turns reading a little bit of Farmer Boy, Where the Sidewalk Ends, and Frog and Toad

What did you read this summer with your kids?

This time last year: I gave you a review of my favorite book I read in 2017.

Two years ago I gave you some tips on how to survive Mondays – but really this applies to every day of the week!

Three Years Ago: I talk about farmers markets and cookbooks

25 Jun 2018

Night Night Jungle

by | posted in: Books | 1

One of the aspects about God that we love to teach our kids is that He is Creator.  Really, that’s like the first thing they need to learn and know and trust through faith – God created them and all they see.  He is the Creator and therefore in charge.

This little board book, Night Night Jungle, is a great book to remind them of so many of the animals and trees that God created.  It is a snuggly book to read while you are tucking in your kids.

One of my boys love animals.  So, as we were reading this he wanted to tell me all the facts about these animals that he saw in the book, they took turns pointing out and naming the different animals, and tip-toeing around the “jungle” in their pajamas.

If you would like a copy of this through Tommy Nelson (who also gave me this book in exchange for a review), then just ask you kids what their favorite animal is and leave it in the comments.  My boys’ favorites are cheetahs and jaguars.

10 Apr 2018

March Read Alouds

by | posted in: Books | 1

So, I know I’m a little late with March’s list, but we had good reason.

We didn’t read as much together as family because a lot of our month was spent preparing for our renters to come enjoy their stay at our house for The Masters.  Spring cleaning is definitely a new Olympic sport in Augusta.  And we were also getting ready to go on vacation to Florida (more on that in later posts).

I didn’t want you to miss these reads, so here they are.  April’s will be more on time, I hope!

How to Dress a Dragon.  Oh my goodness, my younger loved this.  Yes, I think primarily because he heard mommy say the word underwear several times.  But, I’m raising boys, can any mama relate?

Be Brave Little Penguin was a fun little book, perfect for our boys who were getting ready to go get in some water on vacation.  We are putting them in swim lessons this summer and we will spend so much time at the pool!

I Want My Hat Back.  I read this so much to my younger that he loved flipping through it and “reading” it to himself.  Loved hearing this!

Dragons Love Tacos.  My boys could live on tacos like I do.  Ok, really just chips and guacamole and queso. But they will be the first to tell you they don’t love salsa because it is tomatoes and its spicy.  So, this was a fun book for them to read.

These were just their favorites.  What did you read to your kids recently?

You can see my previous months books for January and February.

27 Feb 2018

Our Favorite February Read Alouds

by | posted in: Books, Kids r Readers 2 | 0

The time has come to share our favorite February read alouds.  The more time our boys spend reading books, the more they enjoy them.  Don’t think we never let our kids watch TV because we spend a lot of time watching their favorite Netflix shows.

But we also read, play outside, run errands, do chores, dance, ride scooters, etc.  But, we do enjoy boys.

So, here we go!

Are You Ready to Play Outside . A friend of mine suggested this book as she quoted it in her instagram caption.  I’d not heard of it.  It is 10 years old.  And I think it is really cute.  It can also teach our kids about not complaining and enjoying things even when the circumstances might not be perfect.  And to enjoy doing things together!

100 Things I Love to Do with You . I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and especially the rhyming part of it.  I think this would be a good book to do a “bucket list” for your kids for the summer.

The Monkey and the Crocodile . We read this twice in one donut outing.  It was super fun and the illustrations were unique

Baby Wren and the Great Gift What a sweet spring book written by our favorite author.  Read the whole thing, my boys enjoyed it as we went further along in the story.

Pete the Cat and the Missing Cupcakes Yes, it is another Pete the Cat book.  I even took this book to read to my younger’s school and they enjoyed it as well!

For more books for February you can check these out:

Read Aloud Revival February Books

Barnes and Nobles List

Raising Lifelong Learners February List

22 Feb 2018

Curious Kids and Faith

by | posted in: Bible, Books | 1

(This post is brought to you by Tommy Nelson Mommies and all thoughts are my own.)

Sometimes, we, as a family of 4 with two littles under the age of 6, have some interesting conversations at the dining table.  We use the table as a place to get to know our children, let them talk about their days, what they learned that day, and to teach them manners (ha, they are both boys).

Especially on Sunday afternoons, we like to ask what they learned in Sunday School.  They are using the Gospel Project in their classes, so I know the teaching they receive is spot on, but sometimes what comes out of their mouths is humorous.

Moses is the Father of lies.

All snakes lie.

Paul and Barnabas went on a walk.

Those are just a few of the things I have heard in the past few weeks.

I want to have open conversations about faith and Jesus and the Gospel and let it be a normal part of our every day conversations (not just relegated to Sundays or in their beds as they say their nightly prayers).  Deuteronomy 6 teaches us this.  As parents, we are to talk about Jesus all the time.  This will come from a heart that loves Him!

As my boys little minds grow, they will get more curious about faith and Jesus and the stories they hear in the Bible.  Even though I went to seminary, wrote Bible curriculum, and read a ton, I may not always know the best way to communicate God’s truth to my littles.

This post is about Kathryn Slattery’s 365 Bible Answers for Curious Kids.  This is a resource to help young grade school kids know more about the questions they have.  It is an easy to use q/a book with Scripture and a prayer.  If you have a curious little one, this will be good to use at the dinner table, during family worship, or as you are putting them to bed (though, doing this may prolong bed time).  Keep reading…

Here’s where my caution comes in: some of these questions aren’t answered how I would answer them.  Can we pray for our pets?  (Yes, I think it is ok to thank God for our pets because they bring us joy, but no, I don’t think pets can be saved and I don’t think all dogs go to heaven.  If you have a pet you will need to deal with this question by your kids.) . On the question of Adam and Eve’s sin, she doesn’t say that all men have sinned because of that, but instead just says that God still loved them even after they sinned.

So, as with every book review I give, take every thought you read in this book and line it up with the whole counsel of the Word of God.  If something doesn’t line up, you must go with the Word of God because that is your perfect standard of Truth.

If you want to win a copy from Tommy Nelson, just leave me a comment telling me one fun question about God your kids have asked you!