Women of Faith Conference

Women of Faith Conference 2011

I recently recieved free tickets courtesy of Booksneeze for the women of faith conference.  I attended the conference in Charlotte, NC this past weekend and had a wonderful time.  The speakers were great and the music was wonderful.  If you are looking for something to do with some close women friends this is it.  Some of the speakers that spoke at this conference were Sheila Walsh, Luci Swindoll, Karen Kingsbury, and Lisa Harper.  The musical guests were Mary, Mary and Natalie Grant. There was also a drama performance by Nicole Johnson.

I highly recommend this conference.  If you would like to find out if there is a conference near you please check out this site.  They have already scheduled next years conferences so if you missed out this year there is always next year. 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received tickets from BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. For more information about this program please go here.

Review of the book " My First Hands on Bible"

I recently received the book My First Hands on Bible  in the mail courtesy of Tydale House Publishers.  This Bible was written for children age’s three to six and uses hands on activities to engage young readers and to help them better understand the text.  The Bible uses actual scripture from the New Living Translation to tell Bible stories.  Throughout the story there are hands on activities that the child can engage in to make the story more relevant and understandable.  At the end of the story there are additional activities that the child can do with the parent.  There is also a prayer and special Jesus connection feature.

My daughter is three years old and loves her new Bible.  She is excited to read the story and do the activities with mommy and daddy.  This is a great way to teach young children about scripture.  The activities are engaging and make the story more understandable and relevant for the young child. I highly recommend this Bible to anyone who has a child that is preschool age.

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I recieved this book free from Tydale House Publishers book review bloggers program.  I was not required to write a positive review.  The opinions I have expressed are my own.  For more information about this program go here.

Review of the book "God's Promises for Girls"

I recently received the book God's Promises for girls by Jack Countryman and Amy Parker in the mail courtesy of booksneeze.com.  This is a very cute book for little girls.  The book is divided into topics that would be relevant to little girls and provides scripture to support each topic, example topics include; God's Love Never Changes, God's Promises When You Are Worried, Promises about God's Grace, etc...  The verses in the book are taken from The Children's International Bible.  I was not overly excited about the translation. I think some of the verses require further explanation for children to grasp full  understanding of the verse.  I did enjoy the book and plan on using it with my daughter.  It is a great teaching tool and can easily be used as a scriptural reference book.  I recommend this book to girls between the ages of 4-10. 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. For more information about this program please go here.

Review of Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge

I received the book Captivating revised and expanded by John and Stasi Eldredge courtesy of BookSneeze.com last week. I was very excited to have the opportunity to review this book. I read the book Wild at Heart when I was in college and loved it. It was all the rave with the men in our church so of course I had to see what they were so excited about. After reading the book I thought that someone should write a book like this for women so I was really excited to have the opportunity to read and review Captivating. I think my expectations were too high because I was very disappointed with the book.



The book proposes that the heart of a woman desires three things: to be romanced, to play an irreplaceable role in a great adventure, and to have beauty to unveil. After proposing that these three things are the desires a woman’s heart the authors go on to describe reasons why women abandon these desires as they grow up. The authors encourage women to rekindle the heart desires they had as a little girl and to allow God to be the hero of their story and to rescue their heart.


Overall, I was not satisfied with this book. The authors used a lot of personal narrative and experiences to support their theory. They also used a lot of extreme circumstances as supporting examples which would not apply to many women reading the book. I was also disappointed with the fact that they did not use a lot of scripture as support. While I like some of the ideas found in the book I think that there are better books out there that describe the heart of a woman that have much better Biblical support.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. For more information about this program please go here.

Free Event in Columbia - "Milk the Moment Tour"

MILK MUSTACHE TOUR HOSTS FREE EVENTS TO ENCOURAGE COLUMBIA MOMS TO ‘MILK THE MOMENT

’The 2010 Milk Mustache Mobile Tour Urges Columbia Area Residents to Build Strong Families

WHAT:

The National "got milk?®" Milk Mustache Mobile Tour is crossing the country from March to September to help celebrate those special moments that families share around the dinner table and show moms that serving milk at dinnertime is an easy, and affordable, way to help make sure their families get the nutrition they need.

From Friday, April 23 to Saturday, April 24, the 2010 Milk Mustache Mobile “Milk the Moment” Tour will be cruising through Columbia hosting free local events that feature a variety of fun and educational activities for the entire family. The tour also offers moms a chance to share how they “milk the moment” at dinnertime for a chance to win an unforgettable family dinner with Milk Mustache celebrity and chef Tyler Florence.

COLUMBIA EVENT SCHEDULE & DETAILS:

DATE: Saturday, April 24, 2010

EDVenture Children’s Museum

211 Gervais StreetColumbia, SC 29201

Time: 11:00-3:30pm

DATE: Friday, April 23

Location: Frankie’s Fun Park

140 Parkridge Drive

Columbia, SC 29212Time: 11:00-2:00pm

ON-SITE ACTIVITES:

At the “Milk the Moment” Tour events in Columbia residents can:

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  Enter the “Milk the Moment” contest for a chance to win a trip for a family dinner in San Francisco with Milk Mustache celebrity and chef Tyler Florence


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  Pose for celebrity-inspired souvenir Milk Mustache photos·


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  “Aim” toward good health by participating in a football toss activity that focuses on the importance of eating healthy and physical activity


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  Explore an interactive display that puts milk head-to-head with other dinnertime beverage choices·


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  Interact with local registered dietitian about the benefits of milk and how it can help build strong familiesSample ice-cold lowfat and fat free milk from local dairies: PET Dairy and Coburg Dairy“Pass the Gallon” through Facebook to benefit Feeding America and ensure all moms can help build strong families with milk·


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  Receive an exclusive, behind-the-scenes peek at the latest news from the campaign, including welcome messages from Milk Mustache celebrities

Gigi’s Hugest Announcement DVD Review

Sheila Walsh’s Gigi God’s Little Princess: Gigi’s Hugest Announcement DVD Review

I recently received the DVD Gigi’ Hugest Announcement in the mail courtesy of BookSneeze.com.

This DVD includes two fully animated Gigi stories, The Royal Tea Party and The Pink Ballerina. Both stories are adorable and have great messages.

In the Royal Tea Party Gigi is trying to think of an elaborate way to share a special message with her best friend, Frances. She thinks of many different ways to share the message with her friend. She finally decides to throw a tea party for Frances. During this story Gigi learns not to give up, even when things don’t turn out like we want them too. The story also teaches the message that all children are important to God.

In The Pink Ballerina Gigi and her friend Frances decide to take ballet classes so that they can dance for God. Gigi thinks that she will be an amazing dancer and will not have to stay in the beginners’ class for long. Gigi soon finds out that being a ballerina is not as easy as she thought it would be and she becomes very upset that she can not dance perfectly for God. During this story Gigi learns that she does not have to dance perfectly for God to love her. She also learns that God is proud of us when we show love to others.

This was such an adorable DVD. My daughter and I loved watching it. I especially loved the messages behind each story. I think this is a great DVD for young girls. I really think that girls will be able to relate to Gigi’s character, as most girls want to be princesses. I also really liked the fact the author used Bible verses in her story.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. For more information about this program please go here.

Danny the Dragon DVD Review and Interview with Tina Turbin

Danny the Dragon DVD Review

A Great Story Supporting a Great Cause

Did you know that eighty-five percent of deaf high school graduates read at only a third or fourth grade level? Here is another startling fact: ninety-three percent of deaf children are born to normal hearing families and of those families only ten percent ever learn to effectively communicate with their child. These were two facts that Tina Turbin shared at the beginning of her DVD Danny the Dragon “Meets Jimmy.” Tina Turbin, the author of Danny the Dragon “Meets Jimmy,” is passionate about literacy and providing a good, quality education for the deaf.
This is why she was inspired to make the DVD Danny the Dragon “Meets Jimmy.” On this DVD the book Danny the Dragon “Meets Jimmy” is told with full color images and interpreted in sign language by Carol Downings, the associate director of Blossom Monetessori School for the Deaf. Tina is donating half the profits of this DVD to increase awareness and support of literacy and education for Blossom Montessori School for the Deaf, and half the profits to other causes which support literacy and education for the welfare of all children. The Blossom Montessori School for the Deaf is only one of two Montessori Schools for the deaf in the country.

I thought this DVD was fun and entertaining, especially for young children. Little Sweets really enjoyed watching the DVD. The story was creative and the illustrations were bright and colorful. I was especially impressed with the sign language interpretation on the DVD. I love Tina’s idea to include sign language interpretation on a DVD. I hope that more authors will explore this concept and develop more DVD’s with sign language interpretation for the deaf.

Little Sweets and I have enjoyed the Danny the Dragon book, CD, and DVD. We can't wait to read more books in this series. Tina Turbin is an excellent author and her story of Danny the Dragon truly captures the imaginations of young children.



Interview with Tina Turbin- Author of Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy

I not only got the opportunity to review the Danny the Dragon “Meets Jimmy” book, CD and DVD, but I also got the opportunity to talk with Tina Turbin. Tina is a charming woman to talk with. Upon talking with her I learned that she is passionate about many things including family, children, education, literacy, raising awareness about celiac disease, and raising awareness about providing a good quality education for the deaf.

Tina is a writer, artist, and mother of three. She recently wrote the book Danny the Dragon “Meets Jimmy” and audio book Dreams which I had the opportunity to review. Tina wrote her first book at age sixteen and has always considered herself a writer. She draws her ideas for her children’s books from her life experiences. Tina is currently working on three books: a children's cookbook, an autobiography, and another Danny the Dragon story.

Besides writing, Tina also enjoys painting, drawing, and exercising. She also loves being a mother. She has three adult children that are in the entertainment industry.

Tina is also very involved with raising awareness about Celiac Disease and the profits from the audio book Dreams go to benefit the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University. Tina hopes to help raise awareness about the disease with the general public as well as with doctors. Tina is also involved with raising support for the Blossom Montessori School for the Deaf. She enjoys visiting schools and hospitals. She became more involved with this school after visiting the school and reading to the students. Half of the proceeds from her DVD go to support the Blossom Montessori School for the Deaf.


Tina is a humanitarian, radio spokes-woman as well as an award winning children’s author. She helps people in the allergy, celiac, autistic, and gluten-free “world” and works hard to make these topics more known. To learn more about Tina Turbin please visit her sites.

http://www.dannythedragon.com/

http://www.tinaturbin.com/

http://glutenfreehelp.info/


I am grateful that Tina Turbin gave me the opportunity to interview her and provided me copies of her book, CD, and DVD to review.