Book Winner!
T-Rex drew the name for the winner of the book Picking Dandelions by Sarah Cunningham, and the winner is Heather! I’ll be sending you an email! Thanks to all of you for participating. Pick up the book if you’re able – here it is on Amazon
Picking Dandelions – Book give away!
Last week at the Festival of Faith & Writing, I had the pleasure of meeting Sarah Cunningham whose spiritual memoir Picking Dandelions:The search for Eden among life’s weeds was recently published by Zondervan. I had stumbled across Sarah’s blog a month ago and left a comment. We exchanged a couple e-mails, and I have her to thank for making we aware of the Festival. Zondervan was handing out copies of her book at the Festival, and since I already have a copy of my own, it’s my pleasure to share it with one of you today! Just leave a comment on this post by Monday 5 p.m. EST, and I will announce the winner that evening. This drawing is open to U.S. and Canadian residents only.
I had to chuckle at the title Picking Dandelions because there were many, many spring days in my childhood when my parents sent my younger brother and I out into the yard and the open lot across the street to pick dandelions until our hands were thoroughly stained yellow. My great-grandfather made dandelion wine. Yes, dandelion wine. Now, this culinary delight was not for the purpose of inebriation. Oh no. This wine was a cure-all. No matter what your ailment, dandelion wine would cure it. I confess, I have never been brave enough to try dandelion wine, but my brother has. And he, like the rest of my family, swears by it. Ahem. Back to the book….
Sarah’s narratives of her early life growing up in Pennsylvania and Michigan as the daughter of a Baptist minister made me chuckle and brought up fond memories of my own childhood in the Midwest. She shares poignant stories of her internships in Chicago working with the homeless, and of the time she led a team from her church helping with relief efforts at Ground Zero days after 9/11. Through all of the stories there is an undercurrent of the necessity for spiritual change in our lives, how our salvation isn’t just about a prayer and a moment in time, but a lifetime of growing and walking with Christ.
In the last section of her book, I felt like God did a sneak attack on me. As Sarah reviewed a period on her own life where God revealed areas that she needed to be more like Christ, I felt sucker punched as I realized, I too had been avoiding some of those areas of change. In the days after finishing the book, I began to take my thoughts captive, so much more aware of my own areas of weakness that I needed to turn back over to God’s loving hands.
Picking Dandelions is a delightful read, spotted with humor and poignancy. I believe you will enjoy it as much as I have. Leave a comment below for your chance to win my extra copy!!
Filed under reviews | Tags: book review, change, festival of faith & writing, memoir, picking dandelions, sarah cunningham, spiritual, zondervan | Comments (13)Kumon workbooks re-worked
We’ve had a string of cold, rainy days – I know boo-hoo. The kids were going a bit crazy, so we pulled out our scissors and Kumon workbooks and started having fun. Suddenly, I had a stroke of motherhood genius and realized the pages that Little Miss was cutting apart from the Let’s Cut Paper workbook would make very nice paper bag puppets. She loved the idea, so I grabbed the glue sticks and a stack of paper bags (part of every crafter’s stash, right?) and the kids had a blast making and playing with these puppets. Then we pulled out the puppet stage I made them for Christmas and hung it in the doorway and they presented their hilarious shows. “Hi, I’m a puppet! I’m a goat puppet. How are you today? It’s raining outside!!” Good rainy times had by all.
Review – Patons Classic Wool About the Home
The Narrator knows me so well. He ought to after all these years together! For my birthday, he picked up a JoAnns gift card so I could buy my own yarn, some small scissors to put in my knitting basket, and this great book. He knows me well enough to know that my hobbies are two-fold. The actual hobby itself, and collecting things regarding to the hobby (books, accessories, supplies, etc.) Lately, pattern and idea books have been my newest obsession, and since I have a whole new hobby – KNITTING!! I get to start collecting a whole new category of books.
This little booklet is filled with 13 felted projects (where you take a wool yarn, make the project and then felt it – basically shrink it tight in the washer with hot water). The projects are all for home decor and include both crocheting and knitting. There’s a wall organizer, various smaller organizers, chair pad, rugs, tea cozy, leaf table runner, accent pillows – and my FAVORITE – this cherry blossom wall art. For some reason, it had never crossed my mind to use knitting as wall art, but this piece is gorgeous! It will probably be the first piece I attempt out of this book. It will look perfect in our family room, which is currently art-less.
can't wait to make this one!
In addition to the patterns, the booklet also contains basic knitting and crocheting instructions, as well as felting instructions. Felted pieces are amazing. I can’t wait to try this method. Once a piece has been felted, the stitches are so tight together, that it looks like a thick piece of fabric.
Good job on the birthday present shopping, Narrator 
love these pillows!
Our favorite ipod touch games for toddlers and pre-schoolers
I’m not very technologically literate, and I depend on The Narrator to keep me in the loop. He recently acquired an iphone for work, and I inherited his ipod touch. The Narrator has done an excellent job loading his phone with (mostly educational) games for the kids. I cannot tell you handy this has come while waiting in airports, at the doctor’s office, and for a table at restaurants. Some of these games have become family evening entertainment. Here are our favorite games, all of which are found in the App Store in itunes, and most of which are free.
(These links need to be opened with itunes)
1.ABC Animals (Critical Matter) – $1.99
This one is probably my favorite game for pre-schoolers. It’s a flash card letter learning application. As you scroll through the cards a lady will say the letter name and the animal name on each card. Double tap the card to turn it over and she will say the letter and the sound it says. The letter is also shown again but with arrows to show the child how to draw the letter. Your child can trace the letter on the screen and a purple line shows their tracing of the letter. The flashcards feature both upper and lower case letters.
2.Digidrummer lite – free
This one is absolutely T-Rex’s favorite, drums, of course! He especially loves it when The Narrator will hook up his iphone to our speaker system and we can hear the drums LIVE! This program has 8 different circles to tap out rhythms with 2 toms, crash and ride cymbals, kick drum, snare, open hh and closed hh. You can even play more than one at a time. It’s not quite real time, and there is a slight delay to the sound, but the kids love it. My recommendation? Give them headphones!! For learning rhythms, see if they can tap along to a song on the radio or with your clapping or talking.
3.Mini Piano (JY product) – free
With one octave – middle c to the next c, you can teach your child a few simple little songs like “Joy to the World” or “Mary had a Little Lamb” or just let them use their fingers to tap out their own unique melodies. True to a regular piano, you can even play more than one key at a time, and the keys sustain their sound after you’ve tapped them as if you were holding down the pedal on a real piano.
4.Bubbles (Hog Bay Software) – free
Drag your finger across the screen to create bubbles and tap them to pop them, complete with a “pop” sound. The bubbles float across the screen and pop when they reach the edges if you haven’t popped them first. Create a game and see how many they can pop before they reach the edges.
5.Bubble Wrap (by Orsome)– free
Ok, who doesn’t love bubble wrap? Especially kids? Now they (and you) can pop til you drop. This one is actually a game. You have 45 seconds to pop as many of the bubbles on the wrap as possible. The bubbles re-inflate and a few of the bubbles will count for 5 bubbles. The goal is keep your name on the score board – are you a professional bubble wrap popper or just very good?
6.Koi Pond (the Blimp Pilots) – $.99
Let the kids created their own fish pond. They can drag around the lily pads, change how many fish are on the screen, scare them away by rustling the water, or hold their finger very still and wait for a fish to “bite” their finger (the iphone/ipod will vibrate). The background sound is ambient noise and you can choose from birds, wind, frogs and birds. This one is a quieter, calmer game. T-Rex will sit very, very still waiting for the fish to “bite” him.
7. Animals Memory Match (Lima sky) – $.99
This game is like a typical memory match game but with sound effects. Tap the cards to turn it over and it also plays the sound effect of the animal on the card. The cards flip back over if you don’t get a match. When you do get a match the card turns a different color and shakes and then remains flipped over. The animals on the cards also change with each game giving you a good variety of animals to learn. This is great not only for memory, but for learning the animals and their sounds. Little Miss giggled over this game for a long time.
8.Tap Tap Revenge – free
This game is one of the most popular for the touch technologies. It’s like Guitar Hero for the ipod. You tap the dots as they cross the line at the bottom of the screen following the the rhythm of the song. You have the choice of easy, medium, hard and extreme tracks. Our pre-schooler LOVES this game, but it’s a little too much for our toddler yet. And it’s of course a favorite with adults everywhere.
On my worktable – Seams to Me
While snooping through my Christmas stocking from my Mom on December 22nd, I discovered a Borders gift card. I get really, really excited about buying books. The Narrator just happened to bring home a 40% off coupon for Borders the same day, so I spent my Christmas money, before Christmas. It was sooo worth it!! Housemate and I headed out that night so The Narrator could help the kids make my Christmas gift (very fun t-shirts they painted for me!). I have a habit of spending a lot of time in the hobbies aisle at Borders. I pretty much know every sewing book on the shelf, so when I saw a new book that I’d never seen before I squealed!
I purchased Anna Maria Horner‘s new book Seams to Me. Anna Maria is a talented artist and designer and mother to 5! With one on the way! She has a line of fabric that I’d love to get my hands on too. This book is half instruction and half projects. Even though I’m an experienced seamstress, I found the instruction section to be very helpful and informative. There were a few hand stitching techniques that excited me. The projects have a wonderful variety to them from an adult skirt, to a couple of adorable girls clothing items. Every book these days has an apron pattern in it, and this one does not disappoint with 2 very cute ones. From home décor, kitchen items, baby items – oooh I just can’t wait to gobble up a stash of fabric and make some items to keep and give away. You must take a peak at this book! Whether you are a beginner seamstress, or a skilled one, you’ll be inspired by Anna Maria’s designs and the vibrant colors she uses.
Review – Kumon Workbooks
My kids LOVE these!
I was familiar with the Kumon name because we have a very busy Kumon learning center not far from our home. But it wasn’t until I read this review on Mommy Life about the Kumon workbooks, that I decided to hunt some down. While doing a little Christmas shopping, I came across some notebook sized Kumon workbooks at Learning Express. I picked up “Let’s Cut Paper!” and “Let’s Sticker and Paste!” I have been thoroughly impressed with the books, as well as the skill my kids are developing as they work through them. The books are designed to master a certain skill and each one starts from easy working to difficult. They provide tips for parents in the beginning to get the most out of the workbook as well as little notes and pictures for parents throughout the pages. I was so impressed when, on the first try, Little Miss was able to cut to a certain point and stop and then cut from another point and stop in the same place. It was the same with T-Rex in his book – I was so surprised when on the second try he placed a sticker in its exact place lined up just perfectly. The workbooks are marked with the appropriate age ranges My kids can’t get enough of their workbooks and after a few pages I have to tell them we’ll do more tomorrow, otherwise they’d do the whole book in one setting!
The books can be a bit pricey, but I’ve seen them at Borders, and if you sign up on their website they will send you coupons, including an occasional 40% off! I will definitely be getting more of these workbooks!
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