The Tiny Truths (book review and giveaway)

  Once upon a time there was a story.  A story that is not easy to read as a child but, just as important and holds great stories and words of wisdom that a child too should read and hear about.  The Tiny Truths by Joanna Rivard and Tim Penner is that such book. 

 This book is an easy to read condensed bible for kids.  It offers great and fun illustrations as well as stories we grew up listening to as a child.  This book is over 200 pages in length but includes the Old and New Testament.

What was your favorite story as a child?  

The snake and the apple?

The ark?

How big was that fish?

The story of Jesus?

All these stories and more are included in this illustrated bible.  The pictures are so fun and inviting for children.  This bible was an easy read for my child.  She appreciates being able to grab a book, find a corner and read to herself.  She also loves when she hears a familiar story at church; one that's shes already read or is familiar with.

Now is your chance for this book to become part of your home collection.  Enter the giveaway here!

I was provided this book complimentary for review purposes and all opinions are my own. 

God I Know You're There (book review and giveaway)

   I have another great childrens book to share with you!  God I Know You're There by Bonnie Rickner Jensen.  This book was such a cute book!  I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish.  The pictures were adorable and the words simple and touching.

  With the turn of each page the picture was brought to life by the words describing the presence of God. 

  Gods presence can be seen and felt throughout all the aspects of nature.  A rainbow, the wind and even the rain.  This story allows the imagination to see that God is by your side regardless of the day, weather or season. 

  Learning about God and following him is hard when you can't see him nor understand the concept but this book is a nice stepping stone.

  Now is your chance to try your luck at winning a copy for yourself! Enter the giveaway here!

  I enjoyed the words on each page as much as the pictures.  This book overall was one of my favorites.  Its such a fun and relaxed read.  Younger kids can understand the points on each page and its easy to translate for kids if they have questions.  This is an easy read board book. Beginner readers can read this book

  I received this book complimentary for review purposes.  All comments and opinions are my own. 

Love Does for Kids (book review)

  I forgot all about sharing this great book my daughter and I read together with you!  We recently finished reading Love Does for kids by Bob Goff and Lindsey Goff Viducich.

  This book was the perfect spring board into conversations about everything and anything.  We talked about how people would have felt based on the authors experience as well as discussed the lesson learned.

  The questions at the end and scenes from the bible all tied the chapters together.  Each chapter though however still led to another discussion which made this book a great read.

  My daughter is in elementary school and could easily read the chapters.  She really enjoyed the different chapters and it made her think. She liked the challenges of figuring out how she could relate the chapters read into her present life.

  "If you've been cut or bruised or if your feelings have been hurt, Jesus is like a doctor who lives on your block. He's nearby if you need Him. Just call His name and He'll come to you, sit at your table, and heal you in ways only He can."

  This was an excellent book and my daughter and I recommend you add this to your bookshelf.  I could see even visiting this book years later because she will have had different experiences and have a different perspective.  I received this book complimentary for review purposes and all opinions provided are solely mine.

A Good Read with a Sequin Sparkle and Change Bible (review)

  Sometimes when you find a good thing, it's hard to improve.  Take for example the bible.  The story never changes and it doesn't need to but,  now the cover is fair game.

  

This cover is the perfect invitation.  You want to flip the sequins but, you want to dig into the various stories too.  

Check out this link because there are two different covers to choose from! https://youtu.be/kC4VFPhZqvU

This bible is easy to read and follow as the font is large!  Easy fun pages to engage the child as they read.

This bible is great quality.  The hard cover will keep those pages safe. My daughter enjoys it because she is spending more time with her bible and likes the modern trend of sequins on it.

Its definitely a show stopper.  No one in her class at church has this bible which makes it extra fun. However you can try your luck with the giveaway and bring a little sparkle and change to your child's bible study time.

https://www.blessedfreebies.com/sparkleandchangebible.html

I received this product complimentary for review purposes and all opinions are my own.

The Cow Said Neigh! A Farm Story (book review)

  I know your looking for a fun new book to share with your kids!  I have just read and shared with a few of my little friends The Cow Said Neigh!  A Farm Story by Rory Feek!  This is the book you have been looking for to add to your childrens collection.

  The animals on the farm all seem to envy other animals and to take on the appreciation and admiration they speak the appropriate voice of said animal!

  This book became a quick favorite here!  The storyline is so fun and easy to follow it's a great book for younger kids to enjoy as well as early elementary.

  After a few animals have said the wrong noise you will have the attention of everyone.  The illustration was bold and fun.  The colored pages keep the story engaging.

My kids enjoyed this book and are so excited to share the giveaway link with you here!

Of course everyone can't be a winner so after you purchase your own copy print some of these color pages!

As always thank you for reading my review.  This copy was provided to me complimentary but all opinions and comments are solely my own.

Devotions book with a Flip (review)

  I read a variety of books and love to add some motivating books into the mix to keep me going.  God plus motivation makes for a good read.

  I just recently finished my complimentary copy of Always Enough Never Too Much by Jess Connolly and Hayley Morgan.  This book is full of devotions to encourage you to quit comparing and be comfortable with where you are and even who you are.

  This book offers a fun spin in reading it's contents by offering 50 devotions then requiring you to flip the book and reading the other 50.

 The Always Enough side will help you when your feeling insecure. It provides a reminder from Jesus and everything starts with even if or even when.  For example even when you feel behind or even when you feel stuck.

 The Never Too Much devotions work on soothing you if your too emotional. Take this inspiration to use how you were created by God.  Even when you're busy or even if you have a ton of kids.

 Each author takes turns providing a peek into their life and then justify the path that was followed, accepting what was done and accepting the faults or the individual experience.  I like that it's pointed out that God has made us unique and each of our lives is not a carbon copy.  It's comforting to know God uses us to change us.

  This was a great book.  I don't highlight my books because I hate to write in them but, if I did there would be a lot of highlights in this book.

Enter here for your chance to win a copy of this book!


  This review is my personal opinion. All comments are my own and honest.

Marlena book review

  My second finished book of the year was a random book selected from the shelf.  I state this because my yearly books will be made up of random books, books suggested to me and book club selections.

  I read 40 books last year based on challenging myself to read more.  This year I have challenged myself to read 50! 

  Marlena by Julie Buntin is a fiction novel.  The story revolves around 2 families of 2 teenage girls.  Both girls live on the same property and are friends based on proximity and income.  One is only slightly better off then the other.  Both girls missing a parent in their life but the similarities end there.

  One girl Catherine whom is enchanted with the older and more rugged Marlena form a unbreakable bond that gets them  feeding danger together.  School becomes unimportant.  Trips to vacant hotels, church tunnels and doghouses are just part of the day.  Eventually too much school skipping is found out all because of a spontaneous pizza lunch. 

  The teens indulge in drugs and alcohol.  Catherine is concerned with her friend but, still follows the bad behavior of her friend.  The setting in a rural  town with minimal entertainment other then finding trouble makes the drug abuse seem almost expected. 

  This book gives you a glimpse of teens and drugs.  Misguided teens, unsupervised teens.  It's kind of a sad story when you read about the drug abuse and how it's obtained, made and sold to other teens. 

  There is tragedy and more tragedy and as much as I would like to state comedy I can't think of one spot.  You don't know where the book is going to take you from start to finish; so you have to read it to the end.


  It was a good book.  The plot was easy to follow.  There was a point to the whole book.  All in want from my books is to not get me lost.  It ends not the way you expect.  The two girls do part ways and you don't expect that from bestfriends either. 

  Now I will end with that I have not spoiled the book if you choose to pick it up!  I'm off to read book number 3!
 

Weekly Goals for Oct 16, 2017

  My goal this week I'm going to keep them short and sweet.  I feel like I'm getting sick and my kids are finishing up being sick so this week is going to be relaxed.

  1. This week in school we will be doing the letter G.

  2.  I dumped a lot of my pictures yesterday and with a little more blog organizing I can clear out somemore. Fingers crossed for another 100! I'm down to 1400 which is huge progress for me.

3.  I am still nursing one book but will have that and another book done by the end of the week!

4.  I wish I could set a fitness goal but since I'm under the weather I don't even want to bother.

5.  However since I am sick no time like the present to work on getting that ever so important water down. Let's shoot for 8 glasses!

6.  I am finishing up one collaboration and would like to seek out my next.

  Do you have any deadlines or goals for the week?  How many lists do you have?  I have my to do list, grocery list, meal plan, birthday list for upcoming birthdays and of course holiday lists coming at me.  It's never a dull day!

Weekly Goals

  August is here!  What does that mean?  4 months until Christmas, fall is almost here, colder weather is in the future and life goes on.

  Listing my goals for the month are too broad I want to focus on the here and now.  Small attainable goals for the week.

1. Finish 1 book. I have 2.5 I'm chugging through.

2.  I need to download my pictures which is such a process but the more I put it off the slower my phone goes.

3.  Plan out next weeks meal plan.

4.  Declutter some clothes!

  Ok that's all I have without overwhelming myself or putting items on that I know are as good as done (which would be cheating).

  What are your goals this week?  Or do you have some big monthly ones?

Big Little Lies (book review)

  I just finished my 5th book of the year.  It was Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty.  This was the second book of hers that I have read.  She has a knack for storytelling.  She has a special way of giving you a little bit and pulls you through the majority of a book with just little bits until you get to the peak of the story.

  I find this tactic very challenging.  It makes reading a book very hard for me.  I desperately hold on trying to get to who, what, where and when.  In both books it was worth the wait but it was a challenge to get past nonetheless.

  The story circles around 3 women with different lifestyles, backgrounds and relationships.  There's Jane the single mom new to the posh area looking for new beginnings and future lazy beach days. Madeline someone can appreciate hard work and education.  A mom remarried and finding balance with your ex husband and his new family at your child's school.  Lastly Celeste whom is the lady everyone wants to be.  Wakes up perfect everyday, has the best house husband and a set of twins.

  The story is filled with a swarm of kindergarten moms who actually behave worse then their kids.  Who said their weren't clicks as an adult?  These ladies support each other, encourage each other and backstab and murder for each other.

  Overall I liked the book and would say it was a nice read but I hated the drawn out process.  I just wanted to get to the point.  The author has a fun dialogue with other characters in the book and once I caught on I could see how the book was going to continue so expectations were controlled but I would have like more information prior to the climax of the story.

  Have you read this book?  Did you enjoy it?

Why Not Me? (Book review)

  Ever you heard of Mindy Kaling?  Have you heard of a show called The Office?  It played on NBC for 8 years based on a town in Pennsylvania.  Now you know what I'm talking about, right?  Mindy was an actress/writer for that show!

  This is not Mindy's first book so that makes her a seasoned author even though she writes for her show.   This book is easy to feel in her company.  She talks to you like your her friend, a good old loyal gal pal hanging out together.  This book is a comfortable read.

  Mindy walks you through various aspects of her life.  Her life before she became rich and famous or lack there of and her current condition as a celebrity.  She doesn't paint everything to have been an easy journey.  She doesn't even make you envious at some points.  I think that's what makes it a good read.  It's a book you can read and get almost the staight facts.

  This book would be a great gift to an aspiring actress or even a struggling one because where there's good times there are also bad.  Sometimes to see someone else struggle helps motivate or encourage us more.  The flip side is you could just sit around havin a pity party for yourself and not accomplish anything.

  Mindy only gives you a small glimpse of how she got to wear she is today and she tells your in detail that she worked for it.  She was nervous and scared she knows she doesn't fit the typical actress requisite but she plows through anyways.

  This was an entertaining book and I was both entertained and relieved when I read it.  She had a lot of funny scenarios in the book and I was relieved that it's possible to work hard and get somewhere.

  It's all in what you make it so make it what you want.

Find out more about the book here.

I was provided this book from Blogging for Books for this review.