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Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Bible Belle's Abigail: The Belle of Bravery {A Review and Giveaway}


Several months ago I was given the opportunity to review the second book in the Bible Belles series, titled Esther: The Belle of Patience. This was a book we really enjoyed as it is very important to me to be able to share the truths of the Bible with my children. Earlier this month, I was approached to review the newest release in the Bible Belles series, Abigail: The Belle of Bravery.


Synopsis

"The adventure continues in Book Three of the Bible Belles series, as Rooney faces her biggest challenge yet. 

With the help of her angel Mari, Rooney has learned that she has two real superpowers: prayer and patience. After a tough afternoon with her brother and some neighborhood kids, Rooney is faced with a difficult choice: can she be brave enough to do the right thing? 

Through the story of Abigail, Rooney learns that she can call upon the courage of God to boldly face any problem with the confidence that He will see her through it.

Join Rooney and Mari on another exciting adventure to becoming the best kind of superhero - a Bible Belle!"

I love that the reason the Bible Belles series was created was to help girls "connect to the female heroes of the Bible, to celebrate women whose inner beauty God used for a mighty purpose." The stories of these Biblical women are not near as well-known as the stories of the men in the Bible. It think it is wonderful that girls learn that God also used important women throughout history. All in all, there will be five books in this series, and we will be able to explore the qualities of: prayer, patience, bravery, loyalty, and leadership. 

In this series Rooney Cruz is learning more and more about God and his will for her life. Rooney is a modern girl with modern problems. With the help of her angel Mari, Rooney travels to Bible times to see first hand the stories of five superhero women of the Bible. These lives are specifically shown to her to help her through her current problem. In this newest story, Rooney needs to deal with the new next door neighbors after her brother was mean to the one boy, who used to be his friend. 

In Abigail: The Belle of Bravery, Rooney learns to overcome her fears by remembering how strong and powerful God is. She uses the example of Abigail who took food to the angry David and his troops, even though her husband wasn't going to help them. 

And yes, Rooney took the knowledge she gained, added it to her powers of prayer and patience, and earned another "bell" to her charm bracelet. She used what she learned to have the courage to approach the neighbor boys, and even brought them a treat, reminiscent of the food that Abigail sent to David and his men.

The story ends with this Bible verse: "Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done with love." 1 Corinthians 16:13-14

What did we think of the book?

Tabitha says "I think it was really cool how Rooney could stand up to someone who was being mean."
Amelia says "I liked it because Abigail went to David, even though her husband wouldn't help him and was being mean" 
Hannah says "I liked it because she like went back in time and stuff happened that we don't know a lot about"

I also enjoyed reading  Abigail: The Belle of Bravery. My girls all seem to be at the right age to enjoy this story and learn from it. I read it to all the children while they gathered around the computer, as I was sent a digital PDF copy.  Being only 50 pages long, with only partial text on most pages, and with some pages with only pictures, this story was easy to read in one sitting. 

I did mention this in my last review, but I wanted to make sure to mention it here as not everyone reading this review has read the previous Bible Belles review. The one aspect about this series that concerned me, was the way they chose to portray the angel. Amelia didn't see a problem with her. However, when I asked Tabitha what the angel looked like if you were glancing through the book without knowing what she was or what the book was about, she said Mari reminded her of a fairy. Which was exactly what I was thinking. I would have preferred a human sized angel who was worthy of the name "angel" as opposed to a little magical creature. Obviously this isn't going to change, as Mari is a part of the series now, but I do like to make my readers aware of it.

All in all, I do recommend this book. It is a great way to instill Biblical values to young girls. Now, if there was just a similar series for boys. 

In addition to the three books in the series, which can all be purchased for $14.99 each, you can purchase the set of three for a bit of a discount: only  $39.95. They also have downloadable devotionals for each of the three books, only $4.99 each, $9.99 for the bundle of three. 

You can find out more about Bible Belles on the website. While there, you may want to look into joining the Bible Belles Club. There are also some free resources available, coloring pages and activity cards. You just need to provide a name and email address for access.



Great news! I have been given the opportunity to offer a giveaway for one person to win their own copy of Bible Belle's Abigail: The Belle of Bravery

All you need to do is enter in the Rafflecopter form below. 
There are only 2 simple mandatory entries, with the remainder of the entries being optional. 
Remember, you do not have to do the extra entries, but they will increase your odds of winning. 

This giveaway is open to US residents 18 and over. 
The giveaway runs November 30th through December 11th.

Thanks for stopping by, and good luck!


 By entering the giveaway, you understand and agree that your contact information will be shared with the sponsor.



Disclosure: I received a downloadable PDF copy of Bible Belle's Abigail: The Belle of Bravery in exchange for my honest review. I will also be receiving a hardcover copy. No further compensation was given. This did not in any way influence my review. I only recommend products I use personally and feel will be a good products for my readers.

Wordless Wednesday: November 30, 2016 (w/linky) : Look Who Can't Put the Book Down

Amelia has tried reading Harry Potter before, but has never really been interested. Suddenly today she said she wanted to read them. We have been watching the movies, so perhaps that got her more interested. The thing was, she didn't want to put the book down. That was definitely different.

Starting to read:


Helping to clean up the floor after breakfast:


 Still helping with the sweeping:


Getting her hair done:


Waiting for school time to start:


Reading instead of watching the show:



Looking forward to seeing your Wordless (or not so wordless) Wednesday posts this week.


Tots and Me


Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Littles Learning Link Up: November 29, 2016 - Gingerbread House Craft


 Each month you will find:
  • A seasonal round-up (toward the beginning of the month)
  • A guest post featuring crafts, activities, tips, snack ideas or other early childhood topics. (toward the end of the month)
  • Posts where I share what I have been up to with my preschoolers and/or early elementary children (including occasional highlight posts where I share how we used ideas that have been linked up here on Littles Learning Link Up).
Each week, I will host a link up, where you can share either what you have been up to recently, or old posts that may go with the theme.  Feel free to link up more than one post.

Each week I will continue to feature a couple of posts from those that have been linked up. 

I hope you will continue to share your wonderful posts, and I hope you will find something new to try with your child(ren).

It would be great for everyone to stop by and visit the other linked-up posts as well. Check them out, leave some comments, pin those that interest you. Let's make this a real party and socialize with each other.

What have we been up to?

We magically made it home from Mexico for the Thanksgiving holiday (yes, I forgot to have us fly home, and the children reminded me of that yesterday). We took a week off of school, preparing for Thanksgiving. We made a Turkey pinata to combine our study on Mexico and Thanksgiving. I hope to share our Mexico lessons soon, and that will include the turkey pinata. We are now off to Canada for the next two weeks.

Today I would like to share a craft we did several weeks ago when we were doing our Christmas Comes to America unit study. When we learned about traditions in Germany, we learned about the origin of the Gingerbread House. Because our study took place in October, there were no Gingerbread House kits in the stores yet, so I decided we would make a paper gingerbread house that we would hang up once December arrived.

Gingerbread House Craft


You will need:

Brown construction paper
Large piece of white construction paper, or two papers taped together
White construction paper for: triangle snow, circles, candy canes
Green construction paper for 3 sizes of triangles
Various colors of construction paper for gum drops
Glue
Glue stick
Pencil
Scissors
Red and White crayons

I used a ruler to draw a house shape onto the brown construction paper. The sides of the house are 1 inch from the edge.



The children started by cutting out their houses.


Then they glued the houses on to the white paper:



The white triangles were made by tracing the roof. This was used to make snow for the roof. I had the children use a pencil to make the snow in the shape they wanted it.


They used the different items to decorate their houses. They drew red lines onto the candy canes.


And I showed them how to make peppermints.



Tabitha decided she wanted some icicles.


And Amelia and Hannah decided they wanted to add some gingerbread people. They just drew them on.




We added snow to the windowsills with the white crayon.




I love how they are all unique.



Something I would like to share with you:

Speaking of Christmas, here is my Keeping Christ in Christmas Round Up


I am still lining up guest posts. If you would be interested writing a guest post for Littles Learning Link Up one of these months, please leave a comment or contact me via my contact info on my About Me page. I will need to have your email address so I can contact you. I am looking for posts that have to do with young children: crafts, activities, foods/snacks, tips, or other ideas. I am open to suggestions.

Now onto:
Littles Learning Link Up Features

On my last Littles Learning Link Up post, there were 24 wonderful posts linked up. I will be picking one randomly selected post to share, plus the top clicked-on posts.  

Please don't forget to stop by other posts that are linked up. See what catches your eye, stop by, pin the post to a relevant board, and perhaps leave a comment to let the author of the blog know you have been by for a visit. I know I appreciate others commenting and letting me know they have read my posts, so I am sure others do too.

This week's randomly selected post is:


Cristina from Ava's Alphabet shared 7 Ways to Teach Young Children About the Joy of Giving.

And here are this week's top clicked on posts.
There are 4 of them this week!



1- Tara from Embark on the Journey shared Nativity Printable Math Pack for Preschool and Kindergarten.

2- Tara from Homeschool Preschool shared Christmas Printable Tracing Pages for Preschoolers.

3- Tara from Homeschool Preschool shared 25 of the Best Educational Board Games for Preschoolers.

4- Brittney from Mom's Heart shared Before Five in a Row: Corduroy.

Join the Party!

I would love to have you join in this week! What sort of activities do you do with your young children? Do you have some favorite activities you would like to share? I invite you to link up below. I will be pinning posts on one of my relevant boards, and I would love to feature some of the activities each week from what is linked up.

Please know I may share a picture from your post and link back to it, along with sharing how we used your idea in our school time. By linking up you are giving me permission to use a picture from your post. I will ALWAYS give credit and link back. Additionally, if you choose to try out any of the ideas with your child, please make sure you give credit where credit is due.

Linky will be open through Monday night, to give me time to check out all the posts and get the Features organized. Please take the time to visit some of the other wonderful posts linked up.

Photobucket

Monday, November 28, 2016

Tuesday's Giveaway Link Up- November 29, 2016


Welcome to Tuesday's Giveaway Link Up with your hosts Karen @ Tots and Me, Emily @ Emily Reviews, Shelly @ The Attic Girl, and Rena @ An Ordinary Housewife.

So glad you could join us as we share our giveaways on  Tuesday's Giveaway Link Ups. 

This link up will be posted Monday at 7 PM est. and run all week long! Make sure you stop in as often as you can to list your latest giveaways.

Here is how to use the Giveaway Link Up

1. Post your reviews and/or giveaways, as many as you have, be sure to add the end date (family friendly please)

2. Help spread the word about the giveaway link up by grabbing our button, Tweeting or posting on Facebook. (Not mandatory- but it helps get more exposure to your giveaways as well!)

3. Take a moment to enter any giveaway that strikes an interest to you!

If you would  like to follow the  hostesses, we will gladly follow you back! Simply leave us a message to do so.

Featured Giveaways

Hearts for Hearts Girls Doll US only  Ends 11/30


ZONDERkidz Holiday Book US only Ends 11/30






Thank you for linking up with Karen @ Tots and Me, Emily @ Emily ReviewsShelly @ The Attic Girl, and Rena @ An Ordinary Housewife.


Thursday, November 24, 2016

Throwback Thursday Blog-Style #127: November 24, 2016

Welcome back to... 


Happy Thanksgiving!
I pray you have a blessed day!

I know, I know, Throwback Thursday seems to be all about sharing pictures from the past, great memories that mean something to you, that you would like to share with others. At least that is how it appears to me. Throwback Thursday wasn't something I was participating in, and then I came up with an idea.

I thought it would be great fun and a help to my blog to share old content, but not just any old content. Each week I will share an old blog post from a previous year, any year, BUT it has to be from the current week (for example, something I've posted around November 24th, from any previous year)  I will go in, edit the post if needed, add a pinnable image if I don't already have one, and share it on Facebook.

Last year I focused solely on review posts for the posts I wanted to share. It was fun remembering some of the review products I had forgotten about. This year I will be focusing on recipes I have shared in the past.

Would you like to join in? You do not need to edit your past post in any way, you don't need to create a pinnable image, though it couldn't hurt, in fact it will help your blog traffic to add quality pinnable images to your posts.

Just go into your archives, choose a favorite post from this current week from any previous year, and link it up below. (If you don't have anything from this current week, it is still okay to link up with a post from a previous year around this time. And if you haven't been blogging for a full year, feel free to share any earlier post.)


Please make sure to share from the past as instructed above if you would like your post to qualify for the Featured Post. Most weeks I find that there is a wonderful post, but I can't feature it because it is a current post, not from the past. I love reading the current posts, if you want to share them. However, I am not able to feature them, because the spirit of Throwback Thursday Blog-Style is to share posts from the past.
Thank you

I will be pinning posts to my appropriate Pinterest boards and will be randomly selecting a Featured Throwback Thursday post to share next week. Just a note, I will be sharing a picture from your post if you are selected as the featured post, but I will link back to your post. I will ALWAYS give credit and link back. By linking up you are giving me permission to use your picture in the post. 

Here is my Throwback Thursday post:

Originally posted November 21st, 2014
Kids and a Mom in the Kitchen #100: Surprise Kisses



Here is this week's randomly selected
Featured Throwback Thursday:

Our Unschooling Journey Through Life shared Thanksgiving Crafts and Worksheets.



To participate, link up below. It would be great if you could visit several of the other posts that have linked up. Stop by, comment, and pin images so we can help each other.

If you would like to help spread the news:

Tots and Me
Happy Throwback Thursday!


Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Wordless Wednesday: November 23, 2016 (w/linky) : Sewing Creations

Tabitha has been teaching herself to sew for a while now. Here are some of her recent creations. She actually spent some of her money to get fabric from the thrift shop.

Dress for doggy:


Sleep mask:


Teddy bear:



Now Amelia and Hannah are wanting to learn to sew.






Looking forward to seeing your Wordless (or not so wordless) Wednesday posts this week.


Tots and Me