S Club Mama

My last post was about children's books-turned-movies. I shared a couple of them with you and several of you shared yours with me. However, I had forgotten that I had a LifeWay gift card to give to one of you! So I'm asking for a do-over! GIVEWAY! I have one (1) LifeWay gift card to giveaway to one of you (value $25). TO ENTER: - Leave a valid email address in your comment. No email address, no winning. Just makes my life easier. - In your comment, also tell me your favorite children's book-turned-movie. And is the movie better than the book? Rare, but it happens. That's it. Easy peasy. This gift card would be very helpful to purchase Easter gifts or to give as an Easter gift or to gift to yourself! I'll close the giveaway on Wednesday, March 28, 2018 at 11:59pm CST and announce/contact the winner on Thursday, March 29, 2018. The winner will have 24 hours to contact me back so we can have a quick exchange of goods - haha. This giveaway is void where pr...

I've been a bookworm as long as I can remember. I've also loved movies as long as I can remember. I have passed down an enjoyment of both mediums to my children. I particularly like children's books that have been turned into movies, but only if they are well-made! I'm not sure which would be my number one choice, so I'll give you some insight into movies I have enjoyed with my children (particularly my older boys - 8 & 10 because they just have seen more movies and read more books than my 2yo daughter). There are many stories turned into movies that are beloved by myself and my children - Beauty and the Beast (animated and not), Cinderella (animated), um... really, most Disney movies (at least older ones). But one book/animated movie that I just hold dear is Charlotte's Web by E.B. White . This is a wonderful tale of friendship, bravery, and the difference words can make. As a self-proclaimed word nerd, that last part is truly important to me. I remembe...

Congratulations to Teresa ! She is the winner of her very own copy of "Chasing God" by Angie Smith. She will be receiving an email from me shortly and will have 48 hours to send me her mailing address. Thanks for entering! Come back for more giveaways!

I'm making up posts again as I did this Emotion theme for storytime at the start of February, but I wanted to share these with you. Books : If You're Angry and You Know It - Kaiser & Pillo   - doubled as a song Bear Feels Scared - Wilson The Way I Feel - Cain The Pigeon Has Feelings, Too - Willems   - love these books! Feelings - Alkili Mrs. Biddlebox - Smith & Frazee   - I can't remember if I read this at storytime; it's kind of long but really cute! Glad Monster, Sad Monster - Emberly & Miranda   - didn't read this because I read it with the monster theme but would fit here too. image via Google Songs : If You're Angry & You Know It (along with the book) Craft : I had blank faces for the kids to decorate with emotions. I was going to do masks that they could decorate until I found these and thought they were really cute. image via u-create blog Results : I only got to read these stories once. We had 3 sn...

Oh goodness! I am not doing a very good job keeping up with this idea of storytime posts (I've only done the Monsters theme). I have missed THREE of them! Oops. I'll write next Saturday about the Emotions theme from early February. For now, on to pizza! Storytime Saturday: Pizza! Who doesn't love pizza?! Apparently at least one child in almost every preschool that I read to these past few weeks. Strange kids.  Anyway, I loved the books that I read to the kids. Books : Curious George & the Pizza - Rey (I can't find this on Amazon) Curious George & the Pizza Party - Rey (my version of this book is just called ...George & the Pizza, too) Secret Pizza Party - Rubin & Salmteri (which tended to be a better one-on-one book)    - When I read this one, I used a raccoon puppet which we've had for years "Hi, Pizza Man!" - Walter (this got the best laughs!) Pizza Pokey - Stoodt Pizza at Sally's - Wellington (the kids got a kick o...

It's about that time of year again, college students, where you start to study for finals (right??? yes, you should be doing that!). It's also that time of the year where your parents are buying you Christmas gifts, leaving their pocketbooks a little less full to buy your books for next semester. What to do... Well, one way to help lower the costs of buying book is to NOT buy them. No, I'm not saying that you shouldn't get the books, but why BUY when you can RENT from campusbooktentals.com ? You save 40%-90% off of bookstore prices (which, I remember, are expensive!). They offer FREE shipping BOTH ways (there isn't much of a better perk than that). You don't have to return the books in pristine conditions - you can highlight in the books even! There's flexible rental periods. And campusbookrentals.com donates to Operation Smile with each rented textbook (a business with a heart!). Also, if you're looking to MAKE cash, check out RentBack , ...

I had the privilege of hearing Angie Smith speak at the Women of Faith conference I volunteered at in November. She is an author of several books (including this one, Mended , of course) and speaker and mother and wife of Todd Smith (lead singer of Selah ). And I tell you, she seems like she could be my next BFF. She's very sincere and just seems like someone you could chat with forever over a cup of coffee. Although the closest I got was getting her autograph. picture from Angie's website But Angie write how she speaks, very level, very real. Mended is set up like a devotional, but I don't necessarily think you must read it like that. Although there is some deep stuff in there, so I like to take it bits at a time. I'm taking my phrase for 2013 from one of the entries in this book: one better . God spoke to Angie one day to tell her that she didn't need to be superwoman but just could go one better. Are you folding laundry? Do one better and put it away. Ar...

I miss Christmas. I do. The lights, the holiness, the traditions, the family. I realize that with Easter not terribly far away, I will get most of those things back (for a day). However, there is something special about Christmas - so much of it is rooted in history. I was delighted to receive a copy of "Everything Christmas" by David Bordon and Thomas J. Winters! Christmas was back! I have been eating up this book, reading up on other countries' holiday customs and meals, stories of Christmases past, history of carols and other Christmas traditions. It is so fun (at least for me) to learn about where our traditions come from. My family doesn't have a lot of holiday traditions (or family traditions) so maybe this isn't as exciting for everyone like it is for me. That's ok, I still think you would enjoy this book. The only thing I dislike about this book is that it is set up like a daily devotional so you read section A on December 1st, etc. I would have pr...

Sometimes, I just honestly don't have the time (or patience) to read a book to my kids. The baby likes to flip through pages but is not patient enough himself to listen to more than 5 words. Moose likes the same story over and over again - and my brain can only take "Are You My Mother?" twice a day. This makes Story Time for Me is perfect for my family. Story Time for Me s a unique literary website designed specifically for toddlers and children in early elementary school, allowing them to read and listen to enjoyable, online interactive picture books.  We also offer a one-of-a-kind animated personalized book (from their website). Check out this promotional video on YouTube: Story Time for Me has a really great offer for the S Club Readers! Two free books for your little ones. That's right, all of you are winners today! Most of the books claim to be for ages 4-8 years old, but Moose was automatically drawn to the story on the screen. If you children love ...