Holiday Card Offer

Hey Ladies -

Shutterfly.com is offering a promotion right now where if you write a blog post about your favorite holiday card design from their site, you get a code for 50 free cards! You can find out the details and how to sign up HERE.

We haven't sent out holiday cards in the past, but there's just lots to celebrate this year, and I actually have some decent photos of our soon-to-be ONE YEAR OLD, and since it's a really good promotion that should only cost me about $6 shipping, why not!? So without further ado, here is one of my favorite cards and the one we will most likely be using this year for our family Christmas card.

"every good gift"

"every good gift is from above. merry christmas"

Of course we'll add our own pictures and probably an extra message on the inside underneath "merry christmas". I think we might try to take some pictures this weekend, although I need to find a nice Christmas outfit for Caleb first. We'll see. BUT, the plan is for us to actually have some Christmas cards this year! Hooray! Thanks to Shutterfly for offering this promotion, because I probably wouldn't have given Christmas cards much thought otherwise.

If you want to see some of their holiday card designs, check out these links. Once you get to the Christmas card page, you can also narrow down to Religious Christmas Cards.

Christmas Photo Cards http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery

Christmas cards http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards

Thanksgiving Cards http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/thanksgiving-cards

Caleb and His Car

Here's a couple videos from the weekend. Caleb figured out how to push his car. He was so proud of himself! And of course Stephen and I were too. The first video is him pushing it across the room. The second video is pretty funny - his first car wreck! Don't worry, it didn't phase him at all.

Book Review: Charlie & Trike in the Grand Canyon Adventure

Charlie and Trike in the Grand Canyon Adventure

By Ken Ham and Karen Hansel

This book is AWESOME!!! It might be one of the coolest children's books I've ever read. It is a great combination of an adventure story, natural history facts, and biblical truth. And best of all, each page has some kind of interactive part - pop-out pages, treasure maps, little interesting fact books, etc. I love, love, love how this book combines all those elements to make learning fun, and also takes a very direct approach to teaching children creation truths. In The Grand Canyon Adventure, Charlie and Trike tour the Grand Canyon and learn how God flooded the earth during Noah's time - that's why there are sea creature fossils at the top of the Grand Canyon. This is a very educational, yet fun and interactive book. I will definitely be looking for more Charlie and Trike books!

I received this book for free from New Leaf Publishers in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: The Baby Bible Christmas Storybook

The Baby Bible Christmas Storybook

By Robin Currie

This cute board book tells the story of Jesus' birth in short, simple stories. The book says that it's for ages Birth to 3 yrs old, and I must say I was a little skeptical at first how my almost 1 yr old would like it. What I wasn't expecting (and liked) about this book was after each line, they give you an action or sound to do. It's a fun, interactive little baby book, and apparently there's a whole line of Baby Bible books.  This would make a cute Christmas present or shower gift.

I received this book for free from The B&B Media Group in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Adventures in Odyssey - Cause & Effect

Adventures in Odyssey

Vol 52: Cause & Effect

Produced By: Focus on the Family

I was thrilled to have the opportunity to review a volume of the Adventures in Odyssey stories. These  children's audio stories have been around since I was a kid and combine great stories of adventure and mystery with a biblical lesson to be learned from each. I loved listening to Adventures in Odyssey as a kid, and still enjoyed listening to their newest volume - Cause & Effect. This was a set of 4 CD's with 12 different stories. I didn't even know you could purchase Adventures in Odyssey, as I'd only ever heard it on the radio, but it's great to know that they're available to own. They make great road trip listening for children!

I received a free copy of this CD set from Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for my honest review.

An Update From Haiti

A few weeks ago I mentioned the Hendricks blog. Today I want to share their latest post. It speaks for itself (and leaves me a somewhat speechless). Please take a few moments to sit still and read it.

A Video For GiGi

This is probably just for my mom...nothing super exciting, but some daily Caleb footage. Here's his latest accomplishment, Mom! He's starting to balance without holding onto things - standing hands free! He hasn't quite figured out to take a step yet, but I have a feeling he will before too long.