Today, Monday, March 19th 2012 we have a spankin’ brand new 7 year old in the house! Can you believe it! Kaden is 7! I have no idea how this happened. He went to bed a 6 year old and it seems that overnight he turned a year older! lol!
Kaden is our funny boy! He is the comedian of our family! His interests are playing outside as much as possible, catching bugs, butterflies and any other form of nature he comes upon. He loves to cook and help around the house. He is at times seemingly connected to his Nintendo DS and loves Tom and Jerry and Scooby Doo! He loves any type of sweet he can get his hands on and still loves to cuddle and hold hands. He is also very ornery and keeps us on our toes!
He asked for a metal detector for his birthday and of course some Wii games! We are going swimming this afternoon and will be celebrating with friends and family on Saturday.
We love you Kaden! You fill our days with laughter and we love your funny sense of humor!
With her own offbeat brand of wit and near-wisdom, inspirational humorist Debora Coty addresses heart needs of women struggling to tame that out-of-control inner beast that unexpectedly pounces, roaring and shredding, as it threatens to destroy the divinely beautiful princess hidden within. In More Beauty, Less Beast, women will find simple, practical techniques for embracing the true beauty rightfully theirs as cherished daughters of the King. Whether jaded by emotional wounds, unrealistic standards, or lack of confidence, this laugh-out-loud, girlfriend-to-girlfriend encouragement will help women transform their destructive inner beast into the exquisite beauty they were always meant to be.
My Thoughts:
More Beauty Less Beast is a delightful and humorous book about changing ourselves not just on the outside but on the inside too. Realizing that God sees more than superficial beauty. God sees into our hearts to our true beauty.
Deborah shares her personal stories and has you laughing out loud as you journey through each chapter to discover your true beauty. There are 34 chapters broken down into four sections making this a quick easy read. I found the book very inspiring and uplifting! Being able to laugh and find joy in the serious and the mundane. More Beauty Less Beast will have you laughing out loud while seriously thinking about your life and those around you. This book is a wonderful read for women of all ages!
Debora Coty is an occupational therapist, a piano teacher, and a freelance writer. She's also involved in the children's ministry at her church and is an avid tennis player. Debora began writing to fill the void when her last child left for college, and it has since become a passion. Debora has a real knack for getting across sound biblical concepts with a refreshing lightheartedness as attested in her monthly newspaper column entitled "Grace Notes: God's Grace for Everyday Living."
Transform Your Inner Ogre with a $150 Visa Cash Card from @DeboraCoty!
Using Biblical advice and her trademark humor, Debora Coty urges women to conquer guilt and re-institute hope in More Beauty, Less Beast. Celebrate with Debora by entering to win a $150 Visa Cash Card!
One "beautiful" winner will receive:
A $150 Visa Cash Card (Treat yourself to a spa day or weekend get-away!)
A Debora Coty Library (More Beauty, Less Beast, Too Blessed Too Be Stressed and Everyday Hope)
Chocolate(Every good things begins with chocolate!)
Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends 3/22/12. Winner will be announced at Debora's "Divine Beauty" Facebook Party on 3/22. Debora will be hosting an evening of chat, fun beauty trivia, laughter, and encouragement - bring your friends! She'll also be giving away some GREAT prizes: gift certificates, books, and a book club prize pack! (Ten copies of the book for your small group or book club and a live chat with Debora via Skype.)
So grab your copy of More Beauty, Less Beast and join Debora and friends on the evening of March 22nd for an evening of fun.
Don't miss a moment of the fun. RSVP TODAY and tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 22nd!
disclosure: I received a copy of this book from Litfuse for review purposes. No other compensation was received. All opinions in this post and on this blog are my own.
Recently I had the opportunity to review The Beautiful Wife by Sandy Ralya. Along with the book, I received the Mentor’s Guide and the Prayer Journal.
About the Book
The Beautiful Wife uses these inspiring stories along with biblical principles to guide and encourage any wife looking for God's best in her marriage. The Beautiful Wife answers serious questions women have about their roles as wives. Discussing everything from romance and money to beauty, communication, and sex, Sandy challenges women to open up and share their journeys so that together they can see God's plan for their marriages. "It is my passion to help women discover God's heart for their marriage, just as the other women helped me," writes Sandy. "When women share with each other the details of their journeys with God as wives, it's a beautiful thing indeed." The Beautiful Wife has two companion resources - Prayer Journal and Mentor's Guide.
My Thoughts
The Beautiful Wife is more than just another Christian book about marriage. Sandy uses examples and struggles in her own marriage to help other women work through the difficulties and struggles many of us face in our relationships with our husbands. How to pray for our spouses.
Sandy covers such topics as self-care, living a genuine life, romance, sex, money and more. Each chapter starts off with scripture (NLT translation) along with lots of encouragement and very helpful and practical advice on being the best wife God wants you to be. There are helpful topics on how to pray for our spouses, how to change our attitudes and how become accountable for our actions within our marriage. The importance of showing respect to our spouses. This book would be an asset to any wife (or future wife) wanting to have a richer relationship with God and their husbands.
The Mentor’s Guide is a wonderful asset for leading a small group or Bible study of The Beautiful Wife. The Prayer Journal is a wonderful tool to use as you read through the book and reflect on each chapter. A place to write down your thoughts and prayers as you read through the book.
Sandy Ralya is the founder and director of Beautiful Womanhood, a marriage mentoring ministry based near Grand Rapids, Mich. Her marriage testimony was the focus of a popular three-day interview on FamilyLife Today, TV's Walking by Faith, and Time Out for Women. Sandy is a sought-after speaker, presenting Beautiful Womanhood seminars to hundreds of women each year at MOPS groups, women's retreats, and church leadership conferences across the country and in Canada. Sandy and her husband Tom have been married since 1980, and have a growing number of grandchildren. www.beautifulwomanhood.com
Celebrate with Sandy by entering her Kindle Touch Giveaway and coming to her "Beautiful Womanhood" Facebook Party {3/8}!
One beautiful winner will receive:
A Brand new Kindle Touch with Wi-Fi
The Beautiful Wife By Sandy Ralya
The Beautiful Wife Prayer Journal and Mentor's Guide
Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends 3/7/12. Winner will be announced at Sandy's "Beautiful Womanhood" Facebook Party on 3/8. Sandy will be hosting an evening of chat, laughter and encouragement - bring your friends! She'll also be giving away some GREAT prizes: gift certificates, books, prayer journals and a live chat with Sandy for your Bible study or small group!
So grab your copy of The Beautiful Wife and join Sandy and friends on the evening of March 8th for an evening of fun.
Don't miss a moment of the fun. RSVP today and tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on March 8th!
Disclosure:I received a copy of The Beautiful Wife (book, Mentor’s Guide and Prayer Journal) as a member of the Litfuse blogger team, for review purposes. No other compensation was received. All opinions in this post and on this blog are my own,
Well here it is March 1st and I have not met many of my goals I had set for myself for 2012. Between moving at the end of January and sickness going through our family, my goal reaching has seemed unattainable. I thought today would be a good day to refocus and restart reaching for those goals. I had started to list all of the non-fiction books and crafts I had planned to do for the year and decided I would just keep track of them in my notebook and post what I have accomplished here.
Right now that would be a great big nothing. I have managed to read one book on my non-fiction list but other than that not much. I still have boxes sitting in our school room, which is still not set up. I have been sick with a horrible cold for over a week now (the boys decided to share with me! lol) and I have not felt like doing much of anything other than keeping the house picked up, cooking meals and doing laundry. I am starting to feel better and hope a new month will inspire me to get going in the right direction!
We have a fun field trip planned for tomorrow and a birthday party to plan for this month as well as St. Patrick’s Day. I will be sharing our plans for that coming soon.
I hope to get our school area set up this week and next and we are also thinking gardening here!
Since we are going to be away tomorrow I am thinking we may try this Cat in the Hat craft and read some Dr. Seuss books for Dr. Seuss day tomorrow. If you are looking for some fun ideas I have a Dr.Seuss Pinterest board filled with some fun ideas! You can find a ton more on Pinterest by searching Dr. Seuss.
For Lent we are reading Vinegar Boy by Alberta Hawse. So far we are really liking this one. We would be reading Amon’s Adventure but I cannot seem to find it. *sigh* We will start it when we do. We are also reading Fair Weather by Richard Peck.
Recently I had the opportunity to read A Darkly Hidden Truth (The Monastery Murders, Book Two) by Donna Fletcher Crow.
About the Book:
Felicity Howard, a young American studying for the Anglican priesthood at the College of the Transfiguration in Yorkshire, has to learn more about church history if she and Father Antony are going to unravel their second mystery. Past and present mix as the words of Julian of Norwich and the arcane rights of the Knights of St. John of Malta lead to a present-day killer. And as the friendship grows between Antony and Felicity, will Felicity choose a life dedicated to God as a nun or one with Antony?
A Darkly Hidden Truth is a wonderful story! Filled with mystery and suspense and twists and turns that you really do not expect. I loved Felicity’s character and enjoyed getting to know her and Father Antony. In all honesty I was not sure how exciting a book about nuns and priests would be. I was surprised about how good this story is! The suspense keeps you wanting to know what happens next. I enjoyed Felicity’s spiritual journey as she made the decision whether or not she wanted to become a nun. The mystery, the search for the missing icon had me wanting to continue reading until the end. The author did a wonderful job researching this story. It is rich in the Christian history.
The setting of in this story is one of my favorites, the English countryside and I appreciated the timeline, map and glossary of words the author provided. They were really helpful in understanding and following the story.
This was the first book I have read by Ms Crow but it will not be my last! I am looking forward to reading the first book, A Very Private Grave.
You can read an excerpt of A Darkly Hidden Truth here.
disclosure: I received this book as a member of the Kregel Blogger reviewers. No other compensation was received. All opinions in this post and on this blog are my own.
I am using this post to keep track of all the books the boys and I read in 2012. The lists include, the books I have read, picture books we read together, chapter books, audiobooks and Kindle books.
