Sunday, November 15, 2009
Nativity PopUp Activity and Jesus Doll to win!
Posted in CONTESTS!
The lady at craftyclassroom.com has a cute little draw for the upcoming Christmas. She is giving away a Nativity popup set and a Talking Jesus doll. If you want to participate - go here at craftyclassroom.com!
You will also see some pictures of the prize. Look wonderful if you ask me! *grin*
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Big Truth for Young Hearts
Posted in Reviews of books
Big Truths for Young Hearts: Teaching and Learning the Greatness of God Written by Bruce A. Ware
Published at Crossway
About the book Equips parents to guide their young children through all major doctrines in an understandable, chapter-a-day format.
Sure, it’s easy to teach your children the essentials of Christian theology when you’re a theology professor. But what about the rest of us?
With Big Truths for Little Hearts, Bruce Ware, (you guessed it!) a theology professor, encourages and enables parents of children 6–14 years of age to teach through the whole of systematic theology at a level their children can understand. Parents can teach their children the great truths of the faith and shape their worldviews early, based on these truths.
The book covers ten topics of systematic theology, devoting several brief chapters to each subject, making it possible for parents to read one chapter per day with their children. With this non-intimidating format, parents will be emboldened to be their children’s primary faith trainers—and perhaps learn a few things themselves along the way.
Who is Bruce A. Ware? Bruce A. Ware is the president of the Evangelical theological Society in 2009 and professor of Christian Theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has written numerous journal entries, book chapters and book reviews, and has authored God’s Lesser Glory, God’s Greater Glory, and Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
My Thoughts Last month, I have won the prize for bloggers at Crossway which was 25$ on the online store. After much thinking, I choose a book and funny enough I had picked the next book that will be sent to bloggers. I was told about this and was able to select another book since I was going to receive Big Truth for Young Hearts shortly after.
When I first became a Christian – some 12 years ago – I started thinking about how I would teach my kids about God and Jesus Christ. I worried a bit about it simply because I wasn’t coming from a Christian family. I would have to learn from scratch almost. My husband on the other hand had been raised with some Christian values.
I didn’t have to worry because to explain the basis of Christianity it is quite simple. However, when you come to more theological aspects of things, anyone might wonder where to start. Well, I am happy to tell you that someone already thought about it and wrote a book for you. New on the market is Big Truths for Young Hearts written by Bruce A. Ware. The book is supposed to encourage and enable parents of children 6-14 years old to teach through the theology in an understandable, chapter-a-day format. However, I find that 6 years old might be a little too young… especially for children for which the attention span might be short. I can see myself doing a chapter-a-day with my 8th year old son who is able to concentrate on things that is read to him. However, my soon-to-be 6 year old son would have difficulties.
Nevertheless, I decided to dig into this interesting book to discover more about it. The chapters are divided in 9 sections; God’s Word and God’s Own Life as God, God as Three in One, Creator and Ruler of All, Our Human Nature and Our Sin, Who Jesus Is, The Work That Jesus Has Done, The Holy Spirit, Our Great Salvation and The Church of Jesus Christ. As you can see, it is not easy subjects to talk about with children. But questions might arise about some specific one like - What is the trinity? What is sin? What is baptism? And so on.
I find that the author explains in simple terms as well as with illustrations the concepts approached in this book. I see our family using this book as part of our homeschool year and I am planning to sit down with my oldest son during the nap time and go through this book slowly. I want to make sure that he will understand the theology presented in the book. Not only will he learn more about God but I suspect that I will too.
To top it off, at the end of each chapter, you will find some questions to help you discuss the chapter with your child. There is also a memory verse which you can decide to learn as a family together. What a great way to instill a good habit in our children and in ourselves. The Bible does mention about keeping God’s word in our heart.
On this Remembrance Day, I was doing my chapter of the book Power of a Praying Woman and wrote on facebook about Psalm 103 and the reasons to praise God. Funny enough while digging in Big Truths for Young Hearts that day, I come across the chapter God Provides All good Things in the World which also mentions Psalm 103. Is it a coincidence? I think not because in the struggles we are experiencing with our business we need to be reminded to praise Him in all circumstances – no matter what is going on. I definitively got a confirmation of my previous lesson when I read that chapter.
I strongly recommend Big Truths for Young Hearts for any families who want to give a solid base of theology to their children.
This book was provided for review by Crossway.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Win the complete collection of Veggie Tales!
Posted in CONTESTS!
Unbelievable... I was sort surfing a bit and came upon this wonderful giveaway. The draw is the complete collection of Veggie Tales DVD. The best part is that the contest is open to Canadians as well! Horray!
You never know - you might win it!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
FREE Fonts for Everyone!
Posted in Would you like a little surprise?
Want some fun free fonts for your scrapbooking, print or website projects?
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Think about this... when you feel discouraged.
Posted in Thoughts to think about...
"You are as much serving God in looking after your own children, and training them up in God's fear, and minding the house, and making your household a church for God, as you would be if you had been called to lead an army to battle for the Lord of hosts." - Charles Spurgeon
What else can be said...? nothing. Thanks Mr. Spurgeon for the encouragement.
I'm planning to enjoy every minute of it while I can.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Awana Rocks!
Posted in Homeschooling my kids
This year, as part of our homeschool, we registered the kids for Awana. First time ever and they love it...
It is quite amazing how much they learn and how much I am learning too! So we practice verses all week and on Thursday nights the kids have to tell them to their leader.
We have one T&T, one Sparky and one Cubbie who are having fun going to their meetings.
My T&T is so eager that sometimes he does too much - so he has been told to slow down... Slow down we did. He has an advantage on the other kids because he is homeschool which means we incorporate the Awana lessons in our days. Obviously the kids who goes to school during the day do not have as much time to spend on their book/projects to do. So to make it harder I asked him to also do the silver and gold sections. In a recent project, he has to do a poster on creation.
My Sparky has a blast. I find that it is more difficult for him to do memorization. He was having trouble with the New Testament books the last two week. Fortunately, his Sparks book came with a CD (which Jasmine had broken and we got a new one!) and I had bought the extra CD with songs as well. So we popped these in the CD player and listened to them. He was able to say them no problem after that.
My Cubbie is having fun. I'm glad he was able to adjust himself easily for this. I had a bit of fear but he is so happy of his vest and getting new patches for it. It is so cute.
While the kids are going to AWANA, hubby, Jasmine and I are having a date night. Mostly we do groceries... LOL but it has to be done. The funny part is that Jasmine doesn't want mommy to push the cart is has to be daddy - ALL the time. *grin* Daddy's girl through and through.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
My Bible Cards
Posted in Reviews of other products
Bible Trading Cards By Creation By Design Website: http://www.mybiblecards.com/
About the cards Creation By Design's mission is to create Biblical products that enable children to connect with God's word in an exciting and fun way. In a time where Creationism is debated in the United States as an option to be taught in public schools and the secular culture in inundating our children with the latest in video games, television and trading card fashions, we must find new ways for the next generation to bond with Scripture. Taking the latest in computer digital graphics and a fresh narrative voice, My Bible Cards stands as an alternative to Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh. Creation By Design has devised a Bible Card trading series that can be used as a teaching tool to help children understand the Biblical narratives without forgoing their sense of the latest gaming trends.
- 100% original 3D digital computer-designed Art
- 100% original textual story content
- Fun facts and Timeline sections to tie the information all together
- Kids will want to collect them all!
My thoughts I had the opportunity to evaluate this product through PTPA Media, Parent Tested Parent Approved and since they have just release their Holiday Campaign Winners, I can now present you this wonderful card games.
I think this is the best solution for parents who don’t want their kids to be exposed to other card games on the market like Pokemon for example. My oldest was introduced somehow to Pokemon cards when he was going to senior kindergarten. I thought it was a bit too young for this show (not the cards) and since we are not hockey fans per say (we love Olympics hockey though) – I just couldn’t figure out what kind of cards he could “collect”.
Enter My Bible Cards from Creation By Design. When I learned about them, I had just signed up for PTPA Media which allows parents to test and approve products. You receive the product, you test it (use it) and then you answer a questionnaire about it. So I received and e-mail from PTPA Media asking for families who have children aged 7-12 and who ideally are Christians and homeschooling. Which is exactly our situation… So I communicated with them and I received a box of the Old Testament.
Geared for boys and girls whose age is within 5 and 12 years old, these cards will permit them to visualize the stories of hte Old Testament. Each cards has a 3D artwork on the front and 3 sections on the back. The Narrative section which describe the card itself. The Fun Facts which gives more information about the subject of the card in art, literature, history, science and animals. The Timeline which places the event of the card in relation to other trading cards and world history.
I used the cards as a reward when my 5 and 8 year old would behave properly during the school time. I went to the dollar store close to my house and bought them sleeves so that can store the cards and refer to them. We then got a binder to store the sleeves in it. My oldest got in his mind to place the cards by numerical order. So now the cards are in order in the binder and it's easier to refer to them when we look into the Old Testament events. For example, the kids are going through the days of creation at AWANA and we can take the binder and look at the cards related to the Creation days. Pretty neat!
Right now only Series A is available on the market. A packet contains 5 randomly selected cards out of a series of 100. Price of a packet is 3.99$. In a box of 24 packets you would have a total of 120 cards. There is a full set of 100 series A guaranteed in every box. Price of a box is 85$.
Also, you will find in the fun section of their website free wallpapers as well as coloring pages.
I strongly recommended the Bible Trading Cards for whoever who wants to make it more realistic for their kids.
Friday, November 6, 2009
working...working... working..
Posted in Just life...
Oh I wish I could give good news about contracting but the kind of work we are doing has nothing with computers and programming unfortunately.
For those who don't know, we collect comics. Mind you it has been years since we bought new ones and recently I've discovered that HULK was red at one point.
A few years ago, we bought about 186 boxes of comics for a really good price and sold some during a garage sale. Out of these we have about 35-40 boxes we kept to create two separate collections to sell eventually. The work we have right now is to bag the comics and price them (we are still waiting for the price guide to come in) and open our basement for potential buyers.
And let me tell you it is a BIG job. Alexandre is very helpful and the three of us can do a lot in one afternoon but we are still only three. We are almost done going through collection #2. Now my job is to try to place in alphabetical order the 10-15 boxes at one corner of the basement.
So we are having fun. The funniest thing is that right now it makes me want to read some comics. It has been a long time since I did that.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Triviathon Game
Posted in Reviews of other products
Triviathon
By the creators of the #1 SuperBowl Commercial of 2009 “Free Doritos!” Website: http://www.triviathon.com/
About the Game The trivia game where you can compete and win without ever knowing the answer to a question! Triviathon will have players singing, dancing, arm wrestling, cheering, cheating, and more as they compete in a game that puts each player's unique cognitive, physical, and social skills to the test, all while trying to win a race moving at speeds of 0, 1, 2, or 3 spaces based on trivia questions they don't even have to know the answers to - Just answer A,B,C, or D!
Who are the creators of the #1 SuperBowl Commercial of 2009 “Free Doritos!”? Joe and Dave Herbert - The Herbert Brothers made headlines in 2009 when their Super Bowl commercial for Doritos took the #1 spot on the USA Today Ad Meter - just two weeks before the public launch of Triviathon at the Toy Fair in New York City. It was the first time Budweiser did not take the top spot in 10 years, and the feat earned the Herbert Brothers $1,000,0000. Watch the FREE DORITOS! Super Bowl Ad
Our Thoughts Usually, this section is called My Thoughts but since I’ve played the game with my husband I decided to renamed this Our Thoughts for my Triviathon review. First, let me tell you that I have never heard of Triviathon until I joined the group about Cranium on Facebook. Someone has posted that even though they loved Cranium they thought that Triviathon was the best game ever. My curiosity was picked.
What was Triviathon? I had never heard of it and mind you never saw the box anywhere. Honestly, I don’t hang out in stores often and this specific game had not come in any advertisement in my city so far. Could it be because I live in Canada? Maybe. So I decided to contact VP of Sales at Jeezle Pete’s to see if I could review the game. They agreed to do so and also tell me that the game was not specific to Canada at this point. They are so popular that they have been approached by a manufacturer for distribution in my country. L
ast night, I was able to convince my husband to play a game with me. He is not into trivia much because he finds it hard to remember tons of information about specific things. He is definitively NOT a trivia game kind of person (except for the Disney ones…). So Trivia Pursuit is not played often in this household… So when I asked him to play with me so I can review Triviathon, there was a tiny bit of hesitation then he said sure . So we set up the game, made some popcorn, choose our characters and started the game. We had fun. We laughed. I even had to go outside to well “Triviathon is the best game ever!” – yes I did, laughing and all… Fortunately it’s November and not a lot of people are outside in their backyard! ROTFL I wish that one of us would have had to call a friend for help but we didn’t end up on that spot. Maybe next time.
We had a blast and my husband REALLY enjoyed it. He comments are “For once I enjoy a trivia game because I really don’t need to know the answer. The best part is that I am learning at the same time when I learned the results of my choice.” *grin* I’m so glad that he love this game. I give the two-thumbs up to Triviathon just because of that!
To play it is quite easy. Once you have set up the board and choose your special character, you have to start the game. Even the instructions coming with the game are hilarious. The creators are very creative. Your job as a player is to answer the questions (or pick the options that will permit you to advance fast on the board) so that you can win. You can either pick the number of spaces to advance or pick the color on which you want to go. Then you have a series of options A-B-C-D and there is questions on them, you pick one of the options and you will learn how many spaces to advance or which color to go to.
Here’s an example.
To what colored space do you want to move?
A. The color of the dress Peebles Flintstone usually wore.
B. The color celebrated by Protestants in Northern Ireland on July 12th.
C. The color of the lowest valued balls in a game of snooker.
D. The color of the star that appears on the Vietnam flag.
When you have picked your choice, you learn to which color you go. It’s that easy. And it is fun… To add to the pleasure of playing this game, your character has a special task to do during the game. My husband had taken the blue character which was the bully and anytime during the game he could challenge the other players to an arm wrestling match. Did you think I had a chance? None whatsoever, so I lost my turn and he add an extra space to his next move.
Oh and another bonus for you – you can create new characters definition on their website. You can even try to game yourself on the website before buying it. Try it out! You will be amazed by how easy it is to play this game. The game has already multiple awards under its belt since the release in February 2009 - Game of the Year! From Creative Child Magazine, PTPA Winner, iParenting Winner, TNPC Seal of Approval, Nappa Honors from National Parenting Publications, 100 Best Children’s Products! By Dr. Toy, Top 100 Games! by Games Magazine. And I have the feeling that it’s not over - more awards will be coming for this game.
My only concern would be the fact that there is no cover on the box of questions to protect the cards if you bring the game somewhere else. It would be something to consider. My suggestions to the creators are these:
1) Created more questions and offer them as add-on boxes
2) Develop a Canadian version of the game in a near future. *grin*
Triviathon will become a favorite in our family since it is so easy to play. We could play with teams with our children if we want to. Anyone from 8 to 128 years old can play. Preferable to play with a partner or more friends but if you are really bored you could play alone! I would assume that Triviathon is available everywhere in the US. As for Canada, I know that it should be coming soon in a store near you. In the meantime, you can always order it from the
Triviathon website!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Something sweet just for me
Posted in Little Blessings!
Check out the cool chocolate my kids got during Halloween...! Isn't it cute?
The best part is that my kids gave them to me because the REALLY know I love this little creature and that I am known to be the Canadianladybug on the net. I do have sweet kids! I love them. LOTS!
This little ladybug comes in three flavors - caramel, a green paste and a pink paste. The pink paste one is the best I think - flavor is like cherries.
