Review/Giveaway of “My Princess Bible Purse”

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Yesterday morning it was only 8:55 a.m. but I had reached the end of my patience with my 2-year-old! And it only got worse as the day progressed. FINALLY, he was asleep (on my floor) by 10:30 p.m. and I could relax.

I used to think I was doing pretty well with the fruit of the Spirit–you know: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. And then I had kids! I am now continually challenged in even the “easiest” of these virtues. I pray continually for God’s strength to be who He wants me to be!

So, I absolutely love the book I’m reviewing today because it teaches about the fruit of the Spirit!  Be sure enter the giveaway at the end.

 

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It’s called My Princess Bible Purse and is definitely a book for girls–pink and sparkly!  It has board-book strength for the covers, which velcros together at the top and has a handle, so it looks like a purse. The inside has regular pages and very cute illustrations.

 

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Each of the 9 fruits of the Spirit has its own page and gives the young girls a description of what that fruit could look like in her life. For example, kindness means sharing toys and goodness means cleaning up your room.

I’m grateful for this book because reading it to the kids will keep the fruit of the Spirit constantly in my mind as well as I try to grow to be more like Christ.

 

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Check out this link for a flip book of My Princess Bible Purse.

 

Now, enter to win a copy! (Click through to http://ichoosejoy.org if you don’t see a place to enter here.) The winner (18+, U.S. only) will be chosen next Tuesday 5/28/13 and will has 24 hours to respond to my email.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

(Disclosure: Thomas Nelson provided a complimentary copy of this book so I could write this honest review.  Post contains affiliate links.)

Thank You, God, for Puppies/Kittens: Review and Giveaway

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If you have toddlers or preschoolers, you’ll love today’s review and giveaway.  The books are about one of their favorite subjects: pets!  There are 2 books to look at today:  Thank You, God, for Puppies and Thank You, God, for Kittens.  

 

My 2-year-old son got the puppy book and my 4-year-old daughter the kitten book.  These board books are full of precious photographs of adorable puppies and kittens in various activities such as playing, eating, and sleeping.  The rhyming text reminds us that God made these animals and we thank Him for it.  We enjoyed curling up on the couch reading these cute books together!

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Here are links to preview the Kitten book and the Puppy book.

Thank you to Tommy Nelson Publishers for providing one of each book to give away!  All you have to do is leave a comment below telling me whether you’d prefer the Puppy book, the Kitten book, or either.  The winners will be chosen by random.org on Tuesday 5/21/13.  The winner must respond to my email within 24 hours.

Update:  The winners were #8 Irene for the Puppy book and #2 Liz for the Kitten book!

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(Thomas Nelson Publishers provided a complimentary copy of each book for me so that I could write this honest review.  Post contains affiliate links.)

Linked to.  Giveaway Day

Our Week in Review: Piano Recital, Project Fair, etc.!

I’m supposed to get “Our Week in Review” up on Fridays. Only 4 days late! :)

First up–the kids had their final Chapter presentation from their speech class.

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These 3 below had a piano recital on Sunday. The older boy played “The Pink Panther”, older girl played “Fur Elise”, and the younger daughter played in her very first recital! I was quite proud of these three.  Now, I have to get busy learning 4 piano accompaniments to play with my kids for their violin recital in June!

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Later on Sunday we went back to our church where our homeschool hosted a Project Fair.  It was kind of a combination of a talent show, project displays, and end-of-year party.  End of year?  Wow!  That sounds weird.  We still have so much to finish!  :)

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Last week I had shared how we went to the Botanic Gardens.  If you look at this picture closely, you’ll see that someone is missing.

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Where was that sweet 2-year-old?  He was at the hospital having this done.  If you can’t tell what it is–well, we call him “Penny Boy” now!  (And he’s fine.)

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Here is my youngest and I in the van getting ready for a long week of driving for dress rehearsals for my oldest son’s show “Godspell.”  The show opens on Thursday!

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Science Time:  We made a salt crystal “brittle star” and grew beans in a jar (which have now been transplanted out in the garden).

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These ducks visit our yard every spring!

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My 9-year-old daughter learned her times tables in 2 weeks using Times Tales!

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I made this Minecraft ipod cover and hat, as requested by my middle sons. :)

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My niece is an art student at a school in Chicago and created this wonderful piece of digital illustration.

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Reviews and Giveaways coming up later this week for “Alpha-phonics” and these great books:

 

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And that’s it for now!

See the wonderful places I’ve linked up to here.

(Post contains affiliate links.)

Review/Giveaway of “Hunt for the Devil’s Dragon”, Imagination Station Book #11

 

Wow- we’re up to eleven Imagination Station books now!  Today’s review is of Hunt for the Devil’s Dragon by Marianne Hering and Wayne Thomas Batson, published by Focus on the Family.

The basic storyline is that a dragon is supposedly attacking the people of a town in Libya during the Middle Ages.  Cousins Patrick and Beth travel back in time in Odyssey’s Imagination Station and meet 2 kids from the town.  They go with them and work with others to kill the threat while fighting to keep themselves alive.  It is based on a story of Sir George and the Dragon, where Sir George (Georgius in this story) is a Roman soldier, not the more commonly thought-of English knight.

My 9-year-old daughter read it to herself and enjoyed it.  She doesn’t like scary stories, and this wasn’t too much for her.  It’s a chapter book, but on a easier reading level than most books. I then read it aloud to the next 3 kids (ages 8, 6, and 4).  They enjoyed hearing it as well!

I will say that I preferred some of the earlier Imagination Station books more–the ones that retold Bible stories or events from famous Christian missionaries or heroes of the faith.  I suppose you could think of Georgius as a hero of the faith, but he’s a legend, possibly not even a real historical person, so it’s not the same.  However, Hunt for the Devil’s Dragon is another great book to add to your Imagination Station collection!

See here for my other Imagination Station reviews:

Books 8 and 9 

Blog Tour Day 1Day 2Day 3Day 4Day 5

 

The publishers have a copy of  Hunt for the Devil’s Dragon to give away to one of our readers! Please enter to win through the Rafflecopter app. (Click through to the website if you don’t see it here.)  The winner will be chosen next Saturday, May 4, 2013 and will have 24 hours to respond to my email.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

(Disclosure:  I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.  This post contains affiliate links.)

From House to Home {Link Party}: Review/Giveaway Prayers for Boys and Girls

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Update:  The winner of the boy’s book is Jalynn.  The winner of the girl’s book is Suzie.  Congratulations!

I’d love to share today a review of the books Prayers for Girls and Prayers for Boys.  Each book has identical words and almost identical pictures, except that the girl book is “girly” and the boy book has boy things in it!  My 2-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter loved them!  They’re board books with padded covers–and have handles!  What more could a toddler love?

I love that the story teaches kids how to pray.  The author tells them things that they can pray for, where they can pray, and how to pray.  I love hearing my little ones pray.  I hope you have prayer a part of your daily life.  If you don’t, these little books can help!

By the way, one of my favorite scriptures on prayer is from James 1:5– “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”  I pray for wisdom daily!

You can check out several of the pages on the Flip Book of Prayers for Girls or Prayers for Boys.

I am happy to offer a giveaway today of BOTH books!  Please leave a comment below telling which you would rather win (or if either is fine, let me know that, too!).  If you would like a second entry, leave a second comment telling me that you have signed up to receive I Choose Joy! in your email inbox.  See the sidebar for an easy entry sign-up box.

(The giveaway will end next Thursday 4/11/13.  The winner will be chosen from the order of comments left by random.org and will have 24 hours to respond to my email.)

It’s time for our Link Up Party: From House to Home!

Only 2 rules:

1. Link up family-friendly posts (exact post, not website) about making your house into a home: homemaking, parenting, homeschooling, marriage, loving God!

2. Link back to my site with the button below or a text link. Thanks! The code can be found at the top of the Link Party page. (If you don’t link back, your link might be deleted.)

I Choose Joy!



(Post contains affiliate links.  Thank you to Thomas Nelson for providing complimentary copies of these two books so that I could write an honest review.)

 

Linked to Giveaway Day  Pinteresting Friday

Review and Giveaway of “An Easter Prayer” by Amy Parker

Update:  Random.org chose our winner: Jessica!

Today I have a cute board book called An Easter Prayer (by Amy Parker) to share with you.  It’s for ages 1-5, but I gave it to my 6-year-old son since I promised the next book we got to review could be his!  He read it to me this morning!  Even though the title makes it sound like it’s just an Easter book, it’s really a “spring” book and would be great to read for the next few months.  The 12-page poem/story talks about the sunshine and rain bringing the pretty, colorful flowers in the spring and also about the new life in Jesus!  The book teaches children to be thankful to God and is the third book in the “Time to Pray” series (other books are A Pumpkin Prayer and An “I Love You” Prayer.)
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Now for a giveaway!  Please leave a comment below if you’d like to win.  For a second entry sign up to receive I Choose Joy! in you email inbox.  Just leave a second comment below to let me know that you signed up (and verified) or that you already receive it.
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(The giveaway will end on Sunday (Easter).  U.S. entries only.  You must respond to my email with your mailing address within 24 hours. Post contains affiliate links.  Thanks to Tommy Nelson for providing a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for this honest review.)

Linked to:

Giveaway Day   

 

Review of “Unglued Devotional” by Lysa TerKeurst

Today’s review is of  Unglued Devotional: 60 Days of Imperfect Progress  by Lysa TerKeurst.  I’m not usually the “devotional” type.  I prefer to just read through the Scripture.  But, when I read the description of this book on Booksneeze, I decided I’d give it a try.  It was a topic that interested me, and I really got a lot out of the devotional!

Here is how Lysa describes the book: “As we venture through these pages and apply what we learn, we are going to gain more peace, honesty, and connection in our closest relationships.  You are not trapped by the emotional cycles of your past.  Hope for change is rising!”

I really need that hope, as I often do feel trapped by my emotional cycles.  At first I thought that “unglued” was referring to just losing your cool or your patience in anger.  But Lysa shows that coming unglued is losing self-control because of all kinds of different situations:  insecurity, fear, hurt, feeling compared, weakness, depression, worry, parenting or marriage problems, or even getting a nasty email from someone!  I truly desire to have a more self-controlled life and to come “unglued” much less often.  I know this book will help me.

I read it through quickly to do this review.  But starting tomorrow, I’m just going to read one devotion a day and meditate on God’s word and Lysa’s thoughts throughout the day.  Each day has the following:  A Scripture verse, thought of the day, 2-3 pages of the devotion, and a closing prayer.  Most days share a story and give very practical tips on what to do to improve.

Here are some of my favorite parts:  She gives a plan for dealing with the crazy situations BEFORE they happen so you can react to them calmly.  She gives a great outline for how to respond to a mean email (if indeed you need to respond).  She lists some wonderful verses for including in notes to people.  She helps us realize that the true aim of our anger should be at Satan, not the people in our life who anger us.  1 Peter 5:8-9 says “Be self-controlled and alert.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith.”  Don’t let Satan win in those stressful moments.  Resist him!

So, in conclusion I recommend this book to moms who would like to get rid of “unglued” moments in their lives. As you read through it and apply it to your life, you’ll make imperfect progresss!  And I pray I will, too!


(I received a complimentary copy of this book through BookSneeze® in exchange for this honest review. Post contains affiliate links.)
I review for BookSneeze®

Review/Giveaway of “The Story of Easter” by Fiona Boon

Today’s review is of a great Easter book for the littlest ones (ages 1-4), called The Story of Easter by Fiona Boon, illustrated by Lara Ede.  It’s a small sturdy padded board book with a handle.

I gave it to my 2-year-old son, and he immediately loved it!  He slept with it and asked me to read it at every nap-time and bed-time for days!

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The book tells the story of Jesus’ last week on earth.  It includes, in a four-line rhyming style, Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, the last supper, praying in the garden of Gethsemene, His arrest, His trial, on the cross, in the tomb, alive outside the tomb, and the last page has kids worshipping Jesus!

In addition to the story, I love the illustrations in this book.  They are like collages, with different textures–so cute!

If you’d like to win a copy of this book, enter through the Rafflecopter app below (click through to I Choose Joy! if you don’t see it).

I’m doing a shortened giveaway this time and will pick a winner on Friday, 3/22/13.  The winner has 24 hours to respond to my email with a mailing address (U.S. only).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

(Thank you to Tommy Nelson for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for this honest review.  Post contains affiliate links.)

Linked to Giveaway Day 

Tadeo Turtle book review

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I’m happy to share with you today a review of the book Tadeo Turtle by Janis Cox!  It’s a very sweet story about a turtle who sees his limitations when he watches a squirrel doing things he can’t do.  God uses a dream to show him that He created Tadeo the way he wanted to, with very special abilities and skills.  It’s a great story for teaching our children the same lessons!

The book is 28 pages long and is for ages 2-8.  It is filled with Janis’ beautiful watercolor illustrations.  Additionally, there are various turtle art projects in the back of the book: paper plate turtle, dough turtle, rock turtle, and felt board and a page of “research” (websites and other information about turtles).

We used the book as a springboard for an art lesson in watercolors.

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Janis has also written a FREE unit study curriculum (for grades 1-2, but can easily be adjusted for more ages) that she can send you that gives 20 pages of  different activities for learning about turtles, etc.  There are activities for math, language arts, music, finger plays, Scripture, science, art, and physical education!  I love the shape activity, the cute turtle poems, and great links about turtles!

This would be wonderful for a month-long (or summer-long!) study about turtles.  You can get Tadeo Turtle from Janis’ website and be sure to ask her for the curriculum!

I gave Tadeo Turtle to my daughter whose birthday is next week.  Janis wrote a sweet dedication to her!

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Website: www.janiscox.com
Blog: http://underthecoverofprayer.wordpress.com/
Facebook Page:  https://www.facebook.com/authorjaniscox
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TadeoTurtle
Twitter: https://twitter.com/authorjaniscox

(Thanks you to Janis Cox who provided a copy of the book and curriculum in exchange for this honest review.)

Review/Giveaway of “Heaven is for Real for Kids”

I read Heaven is for Real for Kids by Todd and Sonja Burpo to my kids this week.  The book is a large hard back book with beautiful (really gorgeous!) illustrations.  Each page has something that Colton experienced in heaven, as well as Scripture from the Bible about the same thing.  I’ve really enjoyed getting to know this little boy and his story.  It seems as though the Lord has granted him this special opportunity.  And He’s using it to bring more people to Himself!
My kids were enthalled with the book, and I believe that it gives them a greater idea of what to expect about heaven.  And it helps them to know how much Jesus loves them!  I especially love that we read what the Bible itself says about heaven.  I would definitely recommend this book!
Check out these fun links.  My kids had fun with the coloring sheets.  :)
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Tommy Nelson is providing a copy of this beautiful book for one blessed winner!  Enter through the Rafflecopter app below.  The contest ends next Tuesday, 2/20/13.  The winner will be contacted by email and have 48 hours to reply with their mailing address.  (Click through to I Choose Joy! if you don’t see where to enter.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

(This post contains affiliate links.  I received a complimentary copy from Tommy Nelson in exchange for this honest review.  All opinions are my own.  I’m disclosing this in accordance with FTC guidelines.)