by Kimberly | May 21, 2018 | Books
Do your kids love books? Dogs? and Food?
Then this would be a great fun book to add to your summer reading list!
The Spill by Jaqueline Leigh is a fun story about being patient, listening to your mama, using manners, and sitting and enjoying the fun of a glass of milk!
I read it to my boys and they loved sneezing and looking at the milk and the dog. And I loved it as a mother because there were such good manners: like please and thank you!
This would be good for an early reader with lovely illustrations, but also for a read-aloud – and you know how big I am about reading aloud to your kids! Even in the summer.
This book comes out in June! Be sure to get it!
by Kimberly | Apr 10, 2018 | Books
So, I know I’m a little late with March’s list, but we had good reason.
We didn’t read as much together as family because a lot of our month was spent preparing for our renters to come enjoy their stay at our house for The Masters. Spring cleaning is definitely a new Olympic sport in Augusta. And we were also getting ready to go on vacation to Florida (more on that in later posts).
I didn’t want you to miss these reads, so here they are. April’s will be more on time, I hope!
How to Dress a Dragon. Oh my goodness, my younger loved this. Yes, I think primarily because he heard mommy say the word underwear several times. But, I’m raising boys, can any mama relate?
Be Brave Little Penguin was a fun little book, perfect for our boys who were getting ready to go get in some water on vacation. We are putting them in swim lessons this summer and we will spend so much time at the pool!
I Want My Hat Back. I read this so much to my younger that he loved flipping through it and “reading” it to himself. Loved hearing this!
Dragons Love Tacos. My boys could live on tacos like I do. Ok, really just chips and guacamole and queso. But they will be the first to tell you they don’t love salsa because it is tomatoes and its spicy. So, this was a fun book for them to read.
These were just their favorites. What did you read to your kids recently?
You can see my previous months books for January and February.
by Kimberly | Mar 27, 2018 | Bible, Books
Raise your hand if you have more than 10 Bibles in your house? We do…and we’ve even purged so many! What do you do with Bibles you don’t need/want anymore?
(This post is sponsored by Tommy Nelson. All thoughts are my own.)
Well, I have a new Bible to give to yall today. Its called The Prayer Bible and Tommy Nelson put it out this Spring. I think it is a good one for you to share with your school age son or daughter. The cover is neutral so it can be for either a boy or a girl. I know that is a secondary topic, but Bible covers are important! 🙂
It is a thicker Bible, but its hardback, so it would be durable. I think it would be more for one your child could use as they learn to do their quiet time. Maybe you could teach your child to have their quiet time in their room, and then discuss their thoughts and readings with them. This Bible offers many devotionals and Q/A about prayer. I’ve not read every single article, but they ones I read were really good and great for a school-age mind. Especially as they are starting out in their faith (hopefully) and learning how to pray.
A good tool in this Bible is the Prayer Article Index in the front. If your child is struggling with something in particular, they can read one of these articles. I wish the articles were listed by topic and not by title, but they would always be good to read. There is a verse topic index in the back. That’d be great if you are trying to teach your child what the Bible says about a variety of topics: like happiness, wisdom, and obedience. You really want to get to a point with teaching your child to understand the Scriptures that you aren’t just pulling out a verse, but i know you don’t always have time for an expositional sermon when talking with your kids.
Come along side your kids when they are learning to read the Bible and to pray. Its going to be a great adventure for your faith, their faith, and y’all’s relationship.
If you want this Bible, Tommy Nelson has one for you, just leave a comment on the blog to be entered.
by Kimberly | Mar 21, 2018 | Books, parenting
Ad. Book from Litfuse Publicity Group for honest review.
Most people right now are thrilled with personality tests. It started out with simple ones, and has moved to complex ones. My favorite is the Enneagram. I’m a three with a 4 wing. What are you?
Hettie Brittz, in her book Growing Kids with Character, delves into parenting and shepherding your children based on their personality types. This is a simple way of talking about her book.
I didn’t think it would be that. But, it is what it is. I checked out her personality types and didn’t really see my boys on the grid, so honestly, I didn’t read the rest. But, I read the first two chapters and loved her thoughts about God being a present gardener who attends to his children. And how we can attend to our children, especially in their formative years.
Maybe you know someone who would benefit from reading this book. I think every parenting book is a good place to start, to read, to be encouraged from. Even if it is just one sentence!
by Kimberly | Mar 21, 2018 | Books, lavish hospitality
We have a picnic table. When we moved into our home here in East Georgia, my in-laws purchased it for us, my husband stained it while our boys were running around him. Its not painted turquoise. And its in the backyard.
Now, before you hate, hear me out.
Hospitality is part of my heart. Not just having people over to eat good food, but more to get to know their hearts, shower them with grace, and help them to feel welcome and loved.
I’ve always had a heart for hospitality because that is what I was shown from others while growing up and in college. Whether we had a feast or just nuts and water sitting on a barstool in the kitchen…hospitality was a sense of belonging.
So, when I went through a period of my adult life when I felt like I didn’t belong at all, I craved to be able to show hospitality to others, to give to others what I was missing. And it has stuck with. And I’m glad.
Kristin Schell, who wrote the Turquoise Table, is a blogger and a cook, and a wife and a mom, and a Texan. This book reads like her blog posts, with cute pictures, good recipes, and winsome conversation style writing. She tells the story of how the Turquoise Table phenomenon came to be and the relationships that have been formed over the table in her own yard.
If you are looking for a pretty book with a good message, and an easy read, then pick this up. The hospitality conversation has so many facets to it. This is just one. And don’t feel bad if you don’t have a Turquoise Table. Don’t feel bad if you don’t have a front yard (she tells of some stories in the book of how people have taken the idea and made it to fit their lifestyle). Don’t feel bad if you never sit out in your front yard.
One of my greatest desires is to sit down to meaningful conversation with good food. And I can do this on our back deck, at a coffee shop, or at our newly chalk-painted table.
Kristin’s heart is hospitality. Show welcomeness to everyone – no matter where you do it. And if you need a cute Turquoise Table, go get one!
by Kimberly | Mar 11, 2018 | Books
(I received this book from Blogging For Books. All thoughts are my own.).
Books for moms can be such helpful reads. Believe me, go look at any bookstore and there are plenty to choose from. For me, books on motherhood can be a source of mentoring or it can just be fluff that I don’t glean much from.
I would put Gospel-Centered Mom right in the middle. I was hoping that it would be more, that I would find it to be one of the best mom books out there, but it fell short of that.
I did think that Brooke, who is a mother of boys like I am, gave plenty of real life and she didn’t sugar coat motherhood for anyone.
She gave good ideas to help when times get “hard to handle”.
I think for me it was more personal story, almost like a memoir. I want more Gospel truth, less personal story. Or some kind of balance there. And for me it wasn’t balanced enough. Though, what she said in the way of Gospel was spot on. She wasn’t saying that we should always seek a break in parenting and she wasn’t saying that we can do it all. She was saying that we need Jesus. And so do our kids!
