The Beginning of Better Days {Deseret Book Blog Tour}

How important are women in the restored church of Jesus Christ? We learn something about the answer to the question from a simple historic fact: In 1842, the Prophet Joseph Smith took time to attend several meetings of the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo and give personal instruction to the women there. He did this at a time of great personal turmoil, when persecutions were raging and his responsibilities were heavy. He did it at a time when society barely acknowledged women as having any kind of status at all. On six separate occasions, he taught the women personally about their privileges, their opportunities, their obligations, and the blessings the Lord had in store for them in His kingdom.
The Beginning of Better Days includes Joseph Smith's six timeless sermons to the women of Nauvoo, along with personal essays from Sheri Dew and Virginia H. Pearce that help us better understand the sermons and their relevance for Latter-day Saint women today. "We have attempted to share a little about our own processes of discovery regarding the sermons," writes the authors. "This is what worked for us. What works for you may be similar — or it may be completely different. The important thing is to dig in."

Are you looking for the perfect mothers day gift?  I know!  Mothers Day is right around the corner on May 12th!

This new book, The Beginning of Better Days is a compilation of six of Joseph Smith's instructions and talks directed to the women of the church at Relief Society Meetings with personal narratives and insights written by Sheri Dew and Virginia H. Pearce.


At DeseretBook.com  this book currently retails in hardcover for $17.09 or as a Bookshelf eBook for $10.99. 

Don't forget you can download Deseret Bookshelf on your eReader completely free and when you do you get 8 free eBook downloads plus the Scriptures!

I received The Beginning of Better Days free of charge in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you Deseret Book!!

Ooka Island {Mosaic Review}

I can't believe that it is about time for Maggie to begin reading!  At our house we try really hard to make learning fun and Maggie has been anxious for an opportunity to play on the computer so we were thrilled with an opportunity to review Ooka Island! 

Ooka Island is an early reading adventure for kids age Pre-K to Second Grade.   Ooka Island is a 3D, downloadable, adventure that sets your child on the path to reading.   Using an Eye/Ear & Read Direct Method for early literacy, for homeschool families, this can be a full Language Arts curriculum...for parents this program is a fun and interactive way to boost phonics and learn reading skills while having fun playing computer games like the "big kids!"

 You follow Auntie Kay and her pal Zobot in the blimp as you work your way around the island building on phonics skills!  During your adventure you become a hero as you rescue Ooka Elves from the Flying Pigs!  (Also known as "Fligs") 

Logging in on Ooka Island is so easy!  The main login screen shows your avatar, and the login password is a picture recognition password.  Perfect for prereaders to be able to log into this program independently!

 

Zobot guides you to your next destination.  You click on his screen to go to your adventure. 

The Cave of Sounds...  You are riding through the mine car at the bottom of the cave of sounds...click when you hear the appropriate sound to move ahead!

This is Maggies favorite!  The Clumsy Wacky Moving Company spilled the contents of their truck into the water!  Save the items by identifying the sound...before it all goes over the waterfall!

Rescue the books from underwater to add them to the Popcorn Library in the Submarine listening activity...

Then read them together with your pal Zobot....

and answer interactive comprehension questions!

Next, visit the Cake Factory to help the Ooka Elves decorate the cakes using your listening skills to hear the appropriate word blend...

Then, play at the Bubble Troubly fountain!  Retrieve sounds from the bubbly fountain and put them in Auntie Kays basket!

Practice the alphabet as you climb to the top of Alphabet Mountain.  Enjoy a fast moving skateboard ride, complete with tricks, all the way back down!

While learning you follow Zobot around the island but you earn free play time as well!  During your free play time Zobot will follow YOU around the island where you can choose your own adventure!  Visit the pencil playground and go down the slide!  Listen to the Ooka Juke Box and change your clothes and a whole lot more!

 As you travel the island you were earning mist and  unlocking items that you could buy in the mist mart!

 In the Parent Menu visit the Ooka Lighthouse where you can print report cards, reports, assessments and so forth.

We really enjoyed Ooka Island.   It was fun and really interactive.   It is the the only computer game I have seen where it involves sound recognition in addition to other basic phonics skills.   The independent log-in for prereaders is really helpful.  Using this type of log in allows Maggie to click on the icon in my toolbar and log in completely independently.   The graphics were great and the program, while big, didn't slow down my computer. 

 Visit the website to take a video tour, learn about the Ooka Island method of learning, view activity pages or workbooks that complement Ooka reading lessons, or listen to music samples.

Are you interested in purchasing Ooka Island?  A great thing about Ooka Island - It is affordable!

Also, thank you so much to Ooka Island for offering my readers an additional 30% off.  Yes, that is in addition to the already discounted 37% annual savings!  In order to get the additional 30% off you will need to purchase through this link:  http://offers.ookaisland.com/inblog?purl=ieBuc

Many of my friends from Mosaic Reviews reviewed Ooka Island as well, to read their reviews visit mosaicreviews.com!

LDS Living: Best of Mothers {LDS Living Freebie!}

Have you seen this?  Right now you can download LDS Living Best of Mothers free for your Deseret Bookshelf app!  This eBook is a compilation of the best of the LDS Living articles on Motherhood.  Prepare to be uplifted!  I know I am!

Just in time for Mother's Day - give yourself a treat of inspiring and encouraging stories free!  Download your copy from Deseret Book and have great {Mothers} day!

Moving...

Did I mention that we are moving?  This weekend?  

Well, ever since we sold our house we have been in a flurry of excitement.  I've barely started packing and here it is, Thursday already...

Here is the news so far.  Our house closes on Friday the 10th but needed to move this weekend if we wanted help since this is the last weekend before we close.  In many ways I am going to miss this house.  It has caused us a lot of trials but we have definitely come to call it our "home."  We've put a lot of time, $ and work into it, Maggie has never lived anywhere else.  In many other ways I am excited to move on and start another chapter of our lives although in this chapter the main characters find themselves completely stressed over finding another place to live.

Since we haven't even decided on where to live we ended up renting from PODS.  I've never moved with a POD before but it looks to be very convenient.  We will load up our POD, they will pick it up and replace it with a 2nd POD (hopefully we can cram everything into only 2) and then they will store them both at their storage facility until we find a place to move.  

In the meantime we are at the mercy of several of our wonderful friends.  We will be "house sitting" for the next month or more while we figure out what to do. We've been looking at a LOT of houses.  In fact, I would go so far as to say that we have looked at over 15 houses now.  Home prices are great but we are stuck with settling for something we don't love.  Everything we looked at is either too small, too run-down (ugh, I do not want to buy a workhorse), too expensive, or some other problem.  We are leaning toward too small for the sake of NOT having to put sweat and $ into it right after moving in.  At this point we are looking for a "starter home" that will have good resale value and then consider moving again in 3-5 years.

So, that is where we are today.  I'm not sure where we will be next week!

Hey God, I've Got Some Guy Named Jonah in My Stomach....{Book Review & Giveaway!}

Wow.  You've heard the story of Jonah and the Whale.  You know the one.  The story goes: Jonah gets swallowed by a whale after he tries to run away from God.  You see, he didn't want to go spread the gospel in Nineveh.  After 3 days in the belly of the whale he is spewed out on the beach where he changes his mind & heart and heads to Nineveh!  Well...this is a Jonah story unlike any you have ever heard!

How funny is this? It had me laughing out loud!  

The story of Jonah, as told by the whale, in the book, Hey God, I've Got Some Guy Named Jonah in my Stomach and I Think I'm Going to Throw Up by Troy Schmidt.  Recommended for ages 4 to 8, this hilarious story tells the traditional biblical account from a very interesting and creative perspective.  Illustrated by Cory Jones the pictures are outrageously cute!  This is a short and colorful book that teaches a lesson in the importance of Biblical obedience.  

Bonus features include a Parent Connection section that recommends two memory verses, further reading, thinking questions and a "Do" section that really gets the child into the story.  Perfect companion to the Bible story, bedtime or school time!

We loved this book and can't wait to read the others in the series:  Hey God, I'm Having an Awful Vacation in Egypt Thanks to Moses! and Hey God, Can You Stop the Rain so I Can Get Off of Noah's Smelly Ark?  No really, those are the titles.  LOL!

Learn more about this series by visiting:

Website:  http://www.bhpublishinggroup.com/books/products.asp?p=9781433679643

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/troyschmidt and https://www.facebook.com/bhpublishing?fref=ts

Twitter: @troyeschmidt

Would you like to win a copy?  I have a chance to share one copy with a Swinging On Small Hinges Reader!  Drawing ends May 7th at midnight.  Good luck and thanks for stopping by!

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Disclaimer: “Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention iton my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordancewith the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”