Everything Romance - Book Review

 

Just in time for Valentines Day, a must read:  Everything Romance, A Celebration of Love for Couples...by David Bordon and Tom Winters.  A nice, hardbound gift-book FULL of scriptures, quotes, trivia, advice, romantic gift-giving ideas, top 10 lists, how-to's, recipes (oysters?  blech!), prayers, classic romantic stories (Romeo & Juliet, The Gift of the Magi, etc), song, poems & sonnets, and the history of famous (and mostly tragic) romantic couples through history.  Discover the story behind Valentines day, learn the history of Cupid and take a sneak peek into some famous love-letters.  Want to woo your woman?  Trying to romance your man?  Each little story/quote is written so that you can thumb through this book and start anywhere.  The topical index in the back can help you find exactly what you are looking for!  This book is full of ideas to help you celebrate the joy of romance and beauty of love! 

Disclaimer:  I received this book for free from Waterbrook Multnomah Blogging For Books program in exchange for an honest review.  

All opinions expressed herein are my own.

101 Bible Adventures - Book Review

New from Tyndale Kids:  101 Bible Adventures!  With a cover that is reminiscent of Indian Jones you too can embark on 101 Bible Adventures, The Ultimate Quest for Truth!  Featuring the New Living Translation, 101 Bible Adventures takes you through God's Word to experience shipwrecks, plagues, miracles and battles to discover the action and adventure that is presented throughout the Bible.  In this book you find 101 Bible Stories written in a high-energy format that is especially appealing to children.  Learning life-lessons from the scriptures has never been easier or more exciting!  Each lesson highlights Biblical concepts like love, forgiveness, character building, strong role-models, and learning about God's plan for His children.  Each sections gives you an overview, the "action-adventure" from the story, a key verse from the Bible, a cartoon funny picture and a "what to do now" section that encourages the children to make changes based on what they read.  A perfect devotional for busy kids!  Recommended for ages 7 and up...but my 5 year old adventurous girl really enjoys it!

  So grab your hat and go on an adventure!

Disclaimer:  I received this book free of charge from Tyndale in exchange for an honest review

Where O' Where?

I know!  Where O' Where have we been?  January has been such a crazy month.  The biggest, worstest problem of all:  Our Internet.  We thought we were being so clever.  Switching to At&T Uverse would save us money AND give us FaStEr Internet...but...  nothing is every easy here in our house.  We went nearly 3 weeks with only sporadic internet access.  When we did have internet I was blasting through TOS reviews & book reviews and other essentials as quickly as a I could before my internet had a chance to crash again!  We went several days with temporary phone lines strung through our front yard but now we are finally -fingers crossed- back online!  I think.

So, what have we been up to?  I'm excited to share a whole lot of "not much" with you...

First, Kayley drove her remote control car through her hair.  It got a little tangles, so smart girl that she is...she threw it in reverse and tried to drive it back out of her hair...  Well...  

After much patient detangling... daddy finally saved the day and got the wheels free of Kayley's hair.

It has been so warm that we have had several days of playing outside....in the mud.

We have also had fun dressing up the kitty.  

Doesn't Banjo look like he is having fun??

  

 We started our countdown to our DisneyWorld Vacation!!  

(Of course...we only have 5 days left now...)

Maggie has found it very intriguing to run around with something over her head.  She is CRAZY.  But, amazingly she hasn't beaned herself on anything yet...

 It's been so dry...Kayley's hair is incredibly static-y, especially in her micro-fiber car seat!

We put safety locks on the drawers...  Maggie was NOT impressed.

Maggie has fun cooking.  

She is always stirring something in a pot or pan 

and bringing us samples to try....

Anyway.  We've done a LOT of staying home, schoolwork, housework and just trying to stay healthy.  The flu has been running rampant through the public schools and through the church.  We've been laying low (don't want to take that flu-bug with us to Orlando!).  I hope to be blogging more regularly again now that we have our internet back! 


I have some great things coming up this week!
Book Reviews:  101 Bible Adventures, Jillian Hart's Hometown Hero's, and Edenbrook from Deseret Book. 

TOS Reviews we are working on: Apologia "Who Am I?", BeeYoutiful Natural Products, Reading Eggs and K5 online learning.

I also can't wait to share with you that I made my own laundry soap and my own dishwasher detergent!  Pics and recipe to follow!

I plan to follow up on my 2012 goals as well...

If things go according to plan we will also be taking Maggie's 2 year old pics this week.

And then - Disneyworld!  Here WE COME!!!

Kinderbach - TOS Review

As a child, I played violin in elementary school.  It was a lot of fun and I really believe that learning how to read music at a young age has helped me in many different areas of my life as an adult.  I have always wanted to learn how to play piano (but never got the chance)...and it was really exciting when we were given the opportunity to review Kinderbach, online piano lessons, through the TOS crew!

What is Kinderbach?
Kinderbach is an online piano teacher!  Recommended for children ages 3-7, Kinderbach uses colorful characters and catchy songs with fun lyrics to introduce your child to rhythm, reading music, keyboard geography, singing and simple tunes!

With Kinderbach, you log into the program, and pick the lessons for that day.   Lessons are set up by weeks, with 4 lessons per week.  They are pretty short 3-5 minutes each. You see what materials you will need (crayons, scissors, rhythm instrument, etc.) and what worksheet page (if any).  Each lesson is short and simple, yet totally effective!  The online teacher, Karri, is funny and animated.   Kayley is always singing the songs about Dodi and Frisco, her favorite characters!   I'm impressed at how well she has learned to clap along to a tune with great rhythm!  When the lesson is over, she is anxious to move on to the next - and often will until I tell her it is time to get off the computer.  To learn more about Kinderbach at Home, click HERE for an informative video.

To go along with the lessons you will receive a downloadable book with corresponding worksheets.    See a sample worksheet page below.  You will print out the pages that you need to go with your lessons.  Kinderbach is so simple that I can walk away and my 5 year old can handle it without me.  To view more sample pages, download for free a look HERE! 

Each key on the keyboard has a "piano pal"  The first one that you meet is Dodi the donkey and his pal Frisco!  Kayley was excited to point out Dodi's house on our piano at church.

To see the video about Dodi's House, watch this short YouTube video!

Kayley has had such a good time using Kinderbach.  We have had NO complaints. 

What we like about Kinderbach:
-My daughter really wanted to learn more about music, she has responded well to this program!
-She can work it independently (she does require some help logging in and getting set up)
-She has learned a lot about rhythm and keyboard geography
-You can move as fast or slow, or repeat levels, as many times as you need
-It is inexpensive (cheaper than a piano teacher!)
-2 words.  Head Phones.  Loving the keyboard with headphones!

  
How much is it?
Kinderbach piano lessons online start as low as $7.99 per month.  Kinderbach DVD & CD packages start at $40.45 (plus S&H).
You can purchase Kinderbach HERE.

Kinderbach's material comes with a 30 day Money Back Guarantee!

There is a coupon code right now for 40% off, only good through the end of January.  Check it out HERE.

Not sure what you want to do?  You can download a free online trial HERE.

For a full list of curriculum by levels, check out this link HERE!

Visit Kinderbach's FAQ pages HERE.

Kinderbach has been fun for us!  If you are looking for a music program, I hope you will give it a try!

To find out what my fellow crew mates thought of Kinderbach, click HERE.

Disclaimer:  I received Kinderbach at Home in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions expressed herein are my own.

A Mile In His Shoes DVD winner!!

Congrats to Amanda, commenter number 31!  

I have already emailed you!