Spring Craft - Fingerpaint Flowers

When I looked up at the art wall and saw snowmen, turkeys, and Christmas trees, I knew it was time to do a spring time craft.
For this simple craft, I just drew some stems with green markers and then let the boys go at it with the finger paints. This was Little K's first time really finger painting on his own. He ate the paints at first (don't worry, they are non-toxic of course!) but realized they did not taste too great and continued painting. T-Rex must cover the paper with paint. You almost can't tell that his are flowers any more, but that's ok! I love how they turned out and it was so quick and easy!

T-Rex's painting:

Little K's painting:

I would love to see crafts that you've done with your little ones! Feel free to share them in the comments!

Lessons I've Learned From My Mother

It's been a while since I've done a "Lessons I've Learned..." post. My mother just turned 60 on Friday, and we had a big surprise party for her. Though her silly family tried to make it a joke, my sister had put out slips of paper and they were to write something they loved about my mom. It was "60 reasons to love her". I thought this was a nice idea, and it got me thinking about lessons I've learned from my mother.
So, the next installment in my series..."Lessons I've Learned From My Mother". Love you, Mom!

- Always have faith. It may sound cliche, but if God brought you to it, He'll bring you through it.

- Know how to have fun and laugh. It's important to be able to let loose sometimes!

- Every once in a while, some retail therapy is nice. Just don't overdo it.

- You are never too old for hugs from Mom!

- You may not be the best of friends with your children when they are young (especially when they are teenagers!), but you are still their mom. They still love you!

- It's very important to take some time for yourself once in a while. Whether that means that retail therapy or taking an hour at church every week to be alone with God, it's vital.

- Always be there for your kids. They may be grown up, but they will always be your babies.

Thanks for being there for me, Mom!

Book Review: What Am I Supposed to Do with My Life?: God's Will Demystified

It's a question that we have probably all asked ourselves at some point in our lives. "What am I supposed to do with my life?" If we are Christians, we will also often ask "What is God's will for my life?" Author Johnnie Moore approaches these questions in his book What Am I Supposed to Do with My Live?: God's Will Demystified. Johnnie explains that God's will should not be difficult for us to find. In fact, we should not have to search for God's will at all. God's will is more about becoming who we are supposed to be. God fashioned us to do something, to have a purpose. God's will is this purpose. In his book, Johnnie addresses how our own will is at war with God's will, why "waiting on God" is not helpful in finding God's will for us, how to make decisions when presented with different paths, making a commitment and pursuing our dreams. Johnnie's book explores what the Bible says about God's will for us and confirms very much so what the pastor at my church has been teaching for years, as Johnnie Moore says, "The will of God is more about who you are than where you are or what you do. You don't find it, you become it."

I received this book for free from the Book Look Bloggers program (Thomas Nelson Publishers) in exchange for my honest review.

Little Bunny's Bible - A Review

I had an opportunity to review Little Bunny's Bible by PJ Lyons and Melanie Mitchell through the BookLook Bloggers program. They provide free books to bloggers in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.
This books was published by Zondervan.

I was waiting to get an opportunity to review a Bible type book for toddlers, as the one we have is all paper so it's not really appropriate for my two-year-old as of yet. This book has many Bible stories and it is made of a board book material so it's great for my two-year-old and his little brother! My two-year-old was immediately impressed with this book. He said, "Bunny!" right away and now he won't even let me get my hands on it to look at it for a review! It has a soft cover with a cute bunny on the front. Inside are colorful painted illustration and rhyming text that provides a great summary of Bible stories in a way that will be interesting to toddlers. The stories included are the creation story, Noah and the ark, Daniel and the lion's den, the story of Jonah, the story of Jesus' birth, the parable of the shepherd counting his sheep, the miracle of Jesus feeding thousands, and the story of Jesus' death and Resurrection. I feel that these are appropriate stories to share with a toddler to introduce them to the Bible. My son enjoyed sitting on my lap and listening to the stories. He liked the pictures and pointed out things that he saw. This is a great book for toddlers! I highly recommend it!

A Great Bible for Young Girls - Review of the Plush Bible Collection (NIrV) by Published by Zondervan

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We had a great Christmas with the family. First, we opened presents at home. Then, we went to my parents' house where we opened presents with my parents and my two younger brothers. Then, we went to my mother-in-law's house and there were still more presents at her house! The kids definitely had no shortage of presents this year!

Our tree...can you tell I have toddlers in the house?
This holiday season, I was presented with the opportunity to review the Plush Bible Collection (New International Reader's Version) published by Zondervan Publishers. I was given a free copy as part of the Book Look Blogger's program in exchange for my honest review.

My 8-year old daughter's Bible was kind of small and it was falling into disrepair, so I figured what better time to give her a new one than now? She would love this Bible! I just knew it.

A sparkly pink Bible? What's not to love?
The Bible is packaged in a nice box, which keeps it safe until you give it to its intended recipient.

This Bible is the New International Reader's Version, which is great for children who have not been reading long or just need the Bible made more simple. My daughter is a great reader, but she said she likes it because there aren't "all those thees and thous" in this version. It also has a great dictionary with some key terms at the end, so if she comes across a term she doesn't know, it could be in the dictionary. My daughter said that she loves this Bible because, "It is sparkly, fuzzy, and pink!" What more could an 8-year-old girl want? I am looking forward to reading the Bible with her and she can't wait to show off her new Bible at Sunday School!

Fun Snowman Craft Activity

It snowed a little bit yesterday. It wasn't enough to play in, make snowballs, or make snowmen. My two year old got excited when his sister got home from school. He put on his shoes and said "Doh snow balls!" (Throw snow balls!) (He even put on his shoes by himself, though they were on the wrong feet. I was very impressed!) Well, I had to let him down and tell him that there wasn't enough snow to throw snow balls. He was still asking about it today. So, after nap and lunch time, I asked him if he wanted to make snow men. Of course, his answer was YES!!

I gathered up some crafting supplies I had around. These are the ingredients for the snowman craft!
- "Woodsies" - little wood shapes (triangles, ovals, teardrops, circles, and squares)
- Pipecleaners
- Construction Paper
- Glue
- Paint

Get creative and do whatever you want with the supplies you have! T-Rex got to pretty much do what he wanted, though I placed the mouth and arms for him. Little K needed more direction, so I pretty much did his for him and let him paint and mess with the paper.

T-Rex's snowman looks like maybe he fell down. Or maybe he is dancing. I'm not sure.

And this is Little K's snowman, mostly designed by Mom.

Merry Christmas!

The First Christmas Ever - Book Review

I got the chance to review a Christmas children's book for Book Look Bloggers.
It was nice to have this opportunity at this time of year.

The First Christmas Ever is Illustrated by Dennis Jones. It is a retelling of the Christmas story (the birth of Christ) in a way that children can understand. The illustrations are fun and colorful. I think it does a great job of telling the story of Jesus' birth in an entertaining way as well. There's extra detail added like the KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK on the innkeeper's door. One of my favorite parts of the book is when Jesus is born. It says, "All babies are special, but Mary's baby was extra special!" That's for sure! This book also has a couple of pages at the end that tell about what Jesus did as he grew up. It keeps it pretty simple, saying that Jesus started doing God's work and preaching about God's love, but that the birth of baby Jesus was "just the beginning of something wonderful for the world." Reading this book got me interested in checking out some of Dennis Jones' other illustrated Bible stories. This is a good book to read to your children for Christmas. If you have a young child and you want to teach them about the true meaning of Christmas, I suggest picking up this book. At the low price of $1.99, it's a great stocking stuffer!

I receive these books free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookLook Bloggers book review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”