Archive for Family Stuff

The Beginner’s Bible: Book of Prayers Review

Posted by Professor on December 2, 2011
in Books, Education, Family Stuff, Fun Stuff, Girl Stuff

Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While we consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

Click to see a larger image of The Beginner's Bible Book of Prayers

Arriving in stores just in time for Christmas, preschoolers and parents are certain to love this new addition to the beloved The Beginner’s Bible collection, The Beginner’s Bible Book of Prayers.

This new book presents 20 short prayers as well as Scripture passages that are brought to life with bright and enchanting illustrations. On every page, children will feel the power of God’s will and love. They’ll learn the meaning behind important concepts they encounter every day, like gratitude, forgiveness, patience, and wisdom.

Whether though a lesson in hard work and faith taught through the story of Noah’s ark, an example of courage portrayed by the story of David and the giant, or the Good Samaritan’s shining example of kindness, the simple and colorful nature of this edition will encourage children to make connections between familiar Bible stories and their own lives.

The padded board book fits comfortably in the hands of youngsters, and parents will treasure time spent in prayer with their child.

OUR REVIEW:

I was very excited to receive this prayer book to review! I love the Beginner’s Bible series! This book of prayers is a wonderful edition to any bookshelf! Flipping through the pages was a delight…the stories are wonderful and the illustrations are beautiful.

All of my children were excited to peruse this book of prayers! My 7 year old was delighted to read the stories to the younger ones…the wording was not difficult and she was able to relay the stories with ease! My 5 year old and 3 year old loved the illustrations and listening to the stories! Ultimately it was my 3 year old who claimed this book as her own… she now takes it along with her wherever her day may take her… it is always at her side while she plays! It has even made more than a few car trips with us…and she has enjoyed flipping through the pages and looking at pictures while riding in the car (makes for a peaceful car ride for mom!)

All in all I must say that this is a delightful book! It teaches the stories we all know and love at a level that children can understand and connect with… read the stories over and over and the children will find something different each time! I have also found that while I read the prayers I can open up a conversation afterward about the stories and have a discussion with the children…since the stories are so relatable!

Thank you Zonderkidz for another wonderful book!

To find out more about the Beginner’s Bible Collection or other Zonderkids products please visit:

www.zonderkids.com

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The Weekend is Here & A Rip Off!

Posted by html404 on December 2, 2011
in Blog Stuff, Business, Family Stuff

Yes, the weekend is here but it won’t be our normal relax and do whatever kind of weekend. This weekend is a working weekend. From Thursday to Sunday we have events for one of our home businesses and some long days. Thursday will be fun as it will be with people we know and only a few hours. However, 11am-9pm on Friday! Oy! 9am-6pm Saturday and we are working all day on the Sabbath 10am-5pm. (Insert squeaky “Please don’t judge us!” voice) Can you say I think I am getting too old for this? Not really, I mean every mother works 24/7, right? I am truly thankful for the opportunity to work this event with my older daughters. I am grateful to a supportive husband who stays home to watch our younger crew. I am indebted to my husband’s boss who allows him to maintain a flexible schedule for family’s needs. We are blessed.

We only have a few events left for this year and then my girls and I are planning a sewing fest, which is always fun!

All that to say that I may not have much time to post or if I do it may be short and sweet for the next few days.

A Rip Off

Oh and back to weekend events, last weekend we had an awful experience. We had signed up and paid for a holiday craft fair only to arrive to ZERO cars in the parking lot! We did discover two employee cars after we drove around the buildings and neared the front of the grounds. What a rip off! It was so disappointing and we have yet to hear from the state’s attorney about whether they’ll help us recoup our vendor costs….because of course the promotion company isn’t returning our calls!

On the bright side we commiserated over Subway sandwiches and enjoyed the weekend at home.

Hacked!

Another thing that happened to me in November is my email was hacked! Lost everything. Couldn’t believe it. I am surviving though.

How about you any rip offs, scams or happy weekend memories to share?

This was written Wednesday night, just so you know! 😉

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What Does a 3 Year Old Plus 2 Keys Equal?

Posted by html404 on November 29, 2011
in Family Stuff, Parenting, Safety

You know you are a blogger when you grab your flip cam in a serious situation……

Never a dull moment in my house. So what does a 3 year old plus 2 keys equal? A burnt electrical outlet (I called it a light socket in the video below! Brain freeze!) and one melted key tip. Yep he put two keys into an electrical outlet in the boys room and one of them melted to the little screw that holds the outlet frame into the wall. Amazing. I was told that I could take the keys out with rubber handled pliers……don’t try it! Sparks still flew even though I didn’t get shocked! I had to shut down the electric in the house to take them out to prevent anymore sparks. I am just grateful we are all still here and the house is still standing! Could have been a lot worse to say the least.

I have to shake my head at the trouble children can find. My daughter and son were even in the same room hanging pictures on the wall while he did this!?

July-Nov Videos 2011 053

I didn’t have to scold him, his siblings pretty much did that because they freaked out and to tease him (yes!), I was a little surprised that Noah did it as it is Junior (our 15 month old baby) whose been the most fascinated with electrical outlets. In the video Noah looks like he’s about to cry but I think the whole experience scared him. Life is rough sometimes, even for little ones.

And no this was not staged and yes I was calm….I don’t know why I remained calm. Ya win some and ya lose some….ya know what I mean? Today I won in this instance.

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Mantis Tiller

Posted by html404 on November 29, 2011
in Family Stuff, Farm Stuff, Gardening

Still haven’t got our garlic planted. We started, but my husband was using a shovel to over turn the soil, which is currently a grassy field. I told him it would take forever to get it done that way….should have let him go at it because my idea of getting our Mantis tiller fixed and working has delayed us even more. I bought the tiller with the knowledge that it had a leak in the gas line but my husband was unable to seal the leak with silicone gel. I think we are beyond his small engine repair knowledge and will have to take it to be serviced. Guess hand tilling will have to do before we get another freeze.

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Christmas Movies – Movie Review Monday

Posted by html404 on November 28, 2011
in Family Stuff, Holidays, Movie Review Monday, Movie Reviews

This really isn’t a review per se, more like a generic post about Christmas movies.

We started watching some Christmas movies over the Thanksgiving weekend. Some old and some new. Miracle on 34th Street starring Maureen O’Hara was one of the ones we watched on Thanksgiving. It was one of my Dad’s favorites when my sisters and I were growing up. I still remember him calling to us as he always did when he wanted us to watch something with him (like 6pm Disney World on Sunday nights). Even though we do not celebrate Santa Claus, I love this movie’s story line and the warm memories it brings back.

One of the Christmas movies my husband grew up watching was A Christmas Story with “Ralphie”. This is a movie that my husband and children like, but I could live without. I detest the language in it and think it’s crude, but they all sat there laughing through it. My oldest could not understand how I could not watch it. I was in the room but ended up working on some project rather than paying attention to the movie.

We also watched The Nativity Story about the birth of Jesus on Sunday. It is one of our favorites now too.

Of course the classics like It’s a Wonderful Life, Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and Charlie Brown’s Christmas are usually on our must-see list.

We also watched a couple of “ABC Family Night” Christmas movies. Well, my daughters and I watched them and I am glad it was my older children because they contained a lot of adult content that I would not consider family-friendly. Even my oldest said that she thought Walmart was doing a better job with family movie night…yay Walmart and P&G!

So do you have your Christmas movie favorites? Feel free to warn us against the duds too so we can avoid them!

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Fatal Attraction?

Posted by html404 on November 25, 2011
in Animals, Family Stuff, Farm Stuff

Talk about living in critterville….my daughter went outside this morning only to discover another dead mouse had joined the first dead mouse in the stainless steel bowl. Fatal attraction? Ha! 😉 Is it the itty bitty amount of food that is the attraction, the stainless steel bowl or a dead mouse spouse? My daughter just said that was awful but I am a little giddy this morning after my super hero candies! Seriously. We were given some candy this week and when my husband brought it home I started, “I wish you’d tell your mother not to send that stuff home.” Only to find out it was gifted by another. Ooops. Should have thrown it out but we have been eating it. Or should I say I have been eating it. The children had a treasure hunt yesterday with some of it.

Anyhoo….candy has nothing to do with the fatal attraction of the dead mice, only to do with my sugar high!

So what do you think is attracting the mice to the bowl?

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Unwanted Critters

Posted by html404 on November 24, 2011
in Family Stuff, Farm Stuff

Happy Thanksgiving! (Still working on those two posts….)

Living in the country has presented a variety of critters around our place. Back in the summer we were all sitting around the dining room table and got a whiff of skunk through our patio doors. Yep, let’s just say that was unpleasant to say the least. From that time on our boys swore (not literally) that a skunk lived in one of the pine trees on our rented property! In reality we have no evidence of a skunk living on our property.

Then we have had some mice visit us. The first made its appearance in the garage, which was quickly vacated by a mouse trap. More recently one was found in our basement. We think the basement mouse was just a visitor because there was no evidence of him being there long…if you know what I mean? (I mean there was no mouse poop/droppings.)

This past week the boys informed me that there was a dead mouse in one of my stainless steel bowls they had used to take out veggie scraps to the compost pile but left the bowl outside….to catch a mouse. Uggh. Just what I need to lose a bowl over. Really. That bowl won’t be found in my kitchen again!

Road Kill Critters

Our road is really, really busy for being a country road and cars go really, really fast. So one weekend morning we woke up and one of the children had gone out to play (yes, they go out all times of the day and night now since there are no neighbors to bother!) and came running back in to say there was a possum dead out front (where the road runs by). Sure enough there was a dead possum almost off the road. Of course, everyone, but me and baby, had to go take a look at the road kill.

I can only imagine what that possum or skunk would have done if we had chickens!

Possum photo to come, but I have to change computers to upload it!

Unwanted Human Critters

The title “Unwanted Human Critters” is more in tongue in cheek than it is to sound mean. Living just 20 minutes from our old town puts us in a whole new culture. Seriously. In our townhouse community, as close as the houses are/were, we could go days without talking to anyone. That is townhouse/suburban culture. Here in the country we have had strangers knock on our door to see if we were selling our chicken equipment. Yes, all because it was in plain view.

Just this week we had a man stop and ask my husband if we wanted to buy his ten chickens because he was moving and needed to sell them. If it had not been fall and we had had our fencing, we might have considered it.

We did not know these people at all.

Then there is the fact that one of our sons decided to roll under our neighbors fence to say hi to their dog making him and unwanted human critter! Yes. Our neighbors on the same side of the road as us are probably an acre or two away and our boys after the conventional soybean farmer had harvested have played out in the acres behind our property (acres we are hoping to rent in the future). Our neighbor came a-knocking to let us know of our son’s escapade. Then they inform us their dog is a guard dog and has a history of biting the UPS man or anyone that comes on the property. Thankfully the dog was in its kennel at the time, but the neighbors have a surveillance camera since they have been robbed before and caught our son in action! We are grateful for the understanding of our kind neighbors, but our son(s) both got a talking to about respecting other people’s property.

Never a dull moment in the country! 😉 We are lovin’ it, in spite of unwanted critters!

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Confessions on XFactor Night

Posted by html404 on November 23, 2011
in Family Stuff, Parenting

Ok, I admit we are XFactor junkies at our house. My husband is a huge music buff (it was at a Christian music concert that he found a relationship with God!) and I…well…get pulled in by the contestants’ stories. When my husband was laid off a few years ago we discovered Britain’s Got Talent through Susan Boyle’s sensational audition that went viral, that in turn lead to us finding out about the UK’s XFactor. I am actually almost ashamed to admit this but we watch the UK, Australian and now the US version of the show. My husband and I usually watch it first, as with tonight’s US show and then watch it with our children. That way any scantily clad dancers, inappropriate lyrics etc. can be screened out of their view. Most of the time the show is pretty much ok, but it’s the music/entertainment industry’s standards that mess things up – at least for our family.

The girls categories on both the US and UK versions are strong this year. It was the boys category that was strong on the Aussie version.

So are their any other XFactor fans out there? Any thoughts? We think Simon Cowell makes the show and the chemistry between him and the other US judges is pretty fun to watch. After all the show is for our entertainment, right?

Now off to my cheap date night with my husband! (I did not get this posted because as I nursed my son to sleep he lulled me to sleep! I know all you nursing moms understand! 😉 )

The results of last night’s show are on tonight on Fox.

I have started three posts this week and have not got back to them, so I am trying to get them posted now.

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Picture Collage Maker Review & Giveaway!

Posted by Brande on November 18, 2011
in Blog Stuff, Downloads, Family Stuff, Fun Stuff, Gift Ideas, Giveaways, Holidays, Home, News Worthy, Products for Dad, Products for Mom, Seasonal Stuff, Techie Stuff, Technology/Electronics, Uncategorized

CLOSED! Karen won!

What if you could make your own photo collages, cards, calendars, and scrapbook at home, without fighting with your computer. Here’s your answer the “Picture Collage Maker” by Pearl Mountain Software.

I’m not the most savvy person when it comes to editing photos and making cards. But, this software is very user friendly. With this software you are able to print, create desktop wallpaper, and email.

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, why not bring a collage or calendar for your host/hostess. With this program they have 16 different Thanksgiving templates to choose from. Here are a few.

After choosing a template, you click on photos. It brings up your computer files and you can choose which photos to use. Easily by dragging them into the photo and they “pop” in. No more extra step by having to download pictures first on the Internet. Then drag them. Then having to wait for them in the mail.

Picture Collage Maker also have many other holiday and non holiday templates in addition to Thanksgiving.

I was experimenting with the program. Here’s my Thanksgiving photo of my dog and cats! (If you notice the template is the first one in the above group of pictures)

This is a wonderful and easy program to use. The hardest part was deciding which template to use! I will be spreading the word to all my friends about this product. Here’s their website to download your own Picture Collage Maker! http://www.picturecollagesoftware.com . I had lots of fun, I think you will too!

GIVEAWAY:

Photo Collage Maker wants to give 20 readers a gift code to make your own Photo Collage! We are trying something new and using Raffle Copter to host our giveaways, so let me know what you all think ok?

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