Archive for November 28th, 2009

Christmas is the time of the year when consumerism is at it’s peak. People rush here and there sadly trying to snag the best deal on gifts big and small at whatever cost it may take to get it. The Holiday season which should be stress free become frustrating and rather a hassle, not at all what it should be.

What if Christmas Looked Different this year? What if we all just give this Christmas away? Matthew West asks these two question in his latest book Give This Christmas Away.

If you are a Veggie Tale fan like myself, you may recall the song “Give This Christmas Away” which is a duet between Matthew West and Amy Grant from the latest movie Saint Nicholas: A Story of Joyful Giving, a movie that brought me to tears.

Little things matter, trust me they do. You don’t have to have gobs of money to be an encouragement to someone. All it may take is a helping hand, a card letting them know you thought of them, fresh baked cookies and an invitation to come over and have tea.  God blesses us in so many ways that through those, we can bless others.

If you are all out of ideas of your own on how you can can minister to those around you, Matthew West has written up 101 ways to give this Christmas away. I literally read this book in about on hour. I took a few notes of my own from the inspiration given to me from random stories through out this book. I love how each story is a word of testimony and a Bible Verse to match ends everyone. I challenge everyone to pick up this book and be a blessing to those around them not just during the Holiday season but every chance that you get!

It’s time to think outside the box and not just about what’s inside of it!

If you follow this link: http://files.tyndale.com/thpdata/FirstChapters/978-1-4143-3644-2.pdf you can read the first chapter!

I think there’s nothing like Christmas music to welcome us into Holiday season and that’s why I’d like to share one of my favorite new holiday albums with you!

Putumayo’s Family Christmas is one the most fun Holiday albums that I own! Anytime I pop this CD in our player, my daughter shrills with delight and begins dancing around our apartment. I even found my own toes tapping to the soulful yet jazzy mix which also includes a bit of swing as well as folk!

You’ll find Christmas  favorites sung by a variety of styled music artist such as Deana Carter, Martix Sexton, and The Christmas Jug band to name a few. A few of my favorite tracks on this album include “Winter Wonderland”, “Holly Jolly Christmas”, and Here We Come A-Wassailing, though I’m in love with the whole CD!

I’ll definitely be adding this CD to the mix of  music that I commonly listen to throughout the month of December! I encourage those with a love for traditional music with a twist to definitely pick up Putumayo’s Family Christmas. If you visit their website found HERE you can listen to a sample of the tracks as well as learn more about this project!

Disclaimer: I was sent a this CD for review. This review is 100% my opinion and has not been edited or reviewed by anyone. I was not compensated in any other way for this product review.

Pretty Please Press publishes various titles of children’s books that were made to be read aloud and later discussed. Each of the books available are hoped to be building blocks in helping to enlighten and teach children various values through each issue displayed with the end results of learned life long character skills.

A special thanks to Pretty Please Press for giving me the opportunity to Review and Giveaway a set of their character building books! I hope you benefit from the short write up of each book below.

My thoughts…

Kick Block Punch by Jacquie Hann

This book is the perfect story for children who may have an interest in martial arts. We find the main character, a boy named Sam, learning that to master a certain skill he must start at the bottom and work his way up. This story teaches patience, practice, and determination and is perfect for discussion. I personally love seeing the character development through the story. This book is quite special to me because I took karate classes growing up and learned these lessons in self-discipline first hand.

Basset Ballerina by Laura Aimee Garn & Illustrated by Valerie Sokolova

This book will be quite a treat to all dog lovers out there. I know a friend of mine who has a basset hound, and I’m sure she would just eat this book right up!  I love this whimsical tale of Bella the Basset hound whose dream is to become a great ballerina. The illustrations in this book are ever so delightful. Though everyone tries to deter Bella from the dream she has, she tries her very best no matter what, which is really counts the most.

Pynx by Jeffrey Greene

My husband being a fan of science fiction is a real fan of the illustrations that can be found throughout the pages of this book. The creatures have fun names Long- Tailed Lavender Cripe, White Fuzzbun, Blue Pipsqueak, and other names! In this story you’ll learn what it means to accept others despite their differences and to look within yourself in to try and make a point. Perfect story in teaching children to not be so quick to judge others who may live, look, and act a little different than themselves. It really makes me think about the song “Why can’t we be friends?”. 

The Scritchy Little Twittchell Sisters by Laura Aimee Gran and Illustrated by Erik Brooks

I literally laughed out loud when reading through this story. I grew up with four sisters, one older and three younger, so I can really relate to this book though quite a bit of the parts are exaggerated for amusement purposes, I’m sure. Siblings will fight, there’s no preventing that. In this book, despite the good, bad, and the sometimes ugly, the point put across is that through it all understanding and appreciation for each other can be learned. Anyone whom has a sibling especially girls with  sisters as well as their parents would really love this book, in my opinion.

Giveaway is now over.

Disclaimer: I was given a  set of book from Pretty Please Press to review. This review is 100% my opinion and has not been edited or reviewed by anyone. I was not compensated in any other way for this product review.