Unwrapping The Names of Jesus Advent Devotional & Giveaway

One of my fondest Christmas memories as a kid was Christmas Eve. We always had a nice dinner, opened presents and played games on Christmas Eve and always before we opened presents the tradition was to have the youngest reading child read Luke 2:1-14. To be honest I think the youngest child was because they were the ones that were more antsy and difficult about anything except opening presents.

Advent was never part of our church traditions. I grew up in a church that mostly just did the Candlelight Service on Christmas Eve and I can only think of one time I ever went to that. When I moved to Omaha I started hearing about Advent and until I read this book I never really knew what it was. When I was offered a chance to review this book I snapped it up. =D

Unwrapping the Names of Jesus

by Asheritah Ciuciu

ISBN: 978-1519165749

$8.99 (paperback)

$4.99 (ebook)

The Advent Family Devotional :Unwrapping the Names of Jesus" is a very interesting, easy to read, family friendly Advent Study of several of the Names of Jesus. Asheritah will teach you HOW to Prepare to Celebrate Jesus throughout the Christmas Season and open your hearts for worshiping Him by building up and encouraging you in your study of the Names of Jesus. Really this study could be done any time of the year but I think working on it throughout the Advent Season makes it more personal due to our love for anything Christmas.

This particular study is 4 weeks long beginning the 4^th Sunday before Christmas and ending on Christmas Eve. You'll start each week with a Family Advent Celebration on Sunday, Monday through Friday you will learn about the names of Jesus which include scriptural challenges as well as prayer and additional verses to study that weeks name further. You'll end the week by learning to apply the week's lesson with a family activity.

My thoughts: This book is not meant for younger kids in my opinion BUT it can easily be tweaked to include them. You could add a craft for the Family Celebration on Sunday & cut out the Activities in the "In Action" section at the end of each weeks lesson. Let them take turns drawing out an activity each week or if it's short - one kid could draw it on Sunday and one kid could on Thursday. You could also plan a simple craft for the littlest kids in the family to help them learn about Jesus. Focus on the manger and learn a song or fingerplay together. You can find many little songs & poems at Kididdles for all kinds of themes & categories including Christmas (just don't bother registering for the site as that feature doesn't work). This of course is totally optional and depends on how much you want to include those little guys and how much you want to get into it – I'm totally into having an “I'm bored” project to avoid whiny kids!**

One of the things I really like about this devotional is that the author emphasizes that there is No Right or Wrong way to do this devotional. God isn't keeping score and He isn't going to skip your house if you don't work on it every day. The focus is to help you prepare your hearts, gain a greater awe and wonder at who Jesus is and help you adore him in a more meaningful way. As I read through the book it was obvious that this book was written with a strong foundation of prayer and steeped in the Word of God.

Week 1's theme is HOPE (Jesus, His Resurrection & Life, King, Light of the World & Christ & Messiah) The week ends with Hope in Action – where your family picks an activity (fun filled or service oriented) to be done as a family or alone.

Week 2's theme is  Preparation (Word of God, Truth, Lion of Judah, Holy One of God, Lord of Lords) & Preparation in Action

Week 3's theme is Joy (Great High Priest, Alpha & Omega, True Vine, Prince of Peace, Bread of Life) & a Joy in Action

Week 4's theme is Love (Good Shepherd, Immanuel, Son of Man, Man of Sorrows, Lamb of God) & Love in Action

Christmas Eve: Your family will join together in Adoration of WHO Jesus is to complete your preparation for the Day of Our Saviors Birth.

The author's website includes a number of resources for you. There are printables, a list of books, studies, short video devotionals, Scriptural art & online community groups to help you continue to build a closer walk with Jesus after the Holiday season is over. You can upload family pictures of the activities & Advent gatherings that you participate in as a family @ #UnwrappingJesus or you can join her on her facebook page http://facebook.com/onthingalone.

Website: OneThingAlone.com

Facebook.com/onthingalone
#UnwrappingJesus

Would you like to WIN a copy for yourself?

WIN a Paperback copy of this wonderful book that will become a yearly tradition in your family! Ashiratah Ciuciu will personally autograph it and send a copy your way if you are our winner. As always I do require everyone who participates in the giveaway to leave their full address, phone # & email on giveaway entry #1 – this information is only seen by me if your name is drawn and then I will forward it on to the author for shipping. Neither of us will spam you or sell your personal information. If this information is not left another winner will be drawn. Thanks for understanding!

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Disclaimer: I received a copy of Unwrapping the Names of Jesus in exchange for a review with my honest opinion of the book. Regardless, I only share products or books that I have personally used or read and think my readers will enjoy. Thanks for reading GivingNSharing

Fall Yarn Wrapped Wreath Tutorial

I don't know if you can call this a tutorial - really it's just an explanation of how I did this. I thought it turned out much prettier than I expected and then thought someone else might like to try their hand at this super, simple wreath:

Fall Yarn Wrapped Wreath:

Friday night I couldn't sleep. That's not been unusual for me lately. For some reason I just lie there awake. Anyway I ended up staying up till 3:30 am working on this little project. Why? Because I cant find my usual Fall wreath that I made a few years ago. 

I've been using this wreath that I had made up years ago. I'm afraid I didn't take a before picture. As tired as I was that would of been to easy to think of. Here is what I did:

Materials:

• An old ball of  yarn that you had attempted to make into something neat.
• An old wreath that uses a styrofoam circle (Or a new one if you prefer)
• Decorations: I used an old flower clip that I would pin on my cordoroy jacket that was broken and 2 pinecones I found at Dollar Tree the week before. I was going to use them for photographing items for my etsy store and they were just lying around because they didn't work.
• Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks

Instructions:

1) (If you already have your materials and don't need to dismantle an old wreath, skip this step.) I began by having 4 almost 5 year old Maddie help take the garland of posies that I had wrapped around a styrofoam circle (which you can see in the collage above) for my spring wreath off as carefully as she could. While she was doing this the 22 month old stood there and kept telling us it was a CIRCLE!

2) Take ball of yarn (this is a yarn I picked up from Joann Fabrics and I THINK it's from the line of yarn based on paintings??? I drooled over it until it finally went on sale and grabbed a ball of it.) Wrap it around and around and around the styrofoam circle. I worked on this when I had NO kids to keep distracting me - I ended up working on it while watching Hobbit 3 I think finally finishing about 3:30 am. 

3) Figure out what decorations you want to use. I knew I wanted to use one of my clip flowers early on in the wrapping stage although I was originally going to use a White/Cream Wool Flower I had picked up at a craft show. When I was all finished I realized that the burgundy flower was a perfect match for it & adding the pinecones was a fun way to finish it off. Really it doesn't need the pinecones and I'll probably remove them and stick them back on the Christmas Tree that is already up with the ornaments I had purchased for the photography session that didn't use them.

Well, that's all folks. It's a very easy project. The important thing is to stick with it and make sure you wrap tight and keep the yarn from overlapping as you wrap the CIRCLE. I just kept gently pushing them against the strand wrapped just before the current one. 

I'm going to try a cream wreath for the holidays next. I saw a really neat one on Pinterest that uses those cute snowflakes that have glitter all over them. Maybe I'll have the 4 almost 5 year old make one - she'll think it's a FROZEN wreath!

Before you go, be sure to check out my giveaway (just click the image to go there):

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Homeschool Resource.....

I just learned about a great new homeschool resource that is available for Pre-Order as of TODAY. 

Christmas Around the World - PreOrder Here

by Katie Horner

180 pages

$15.99 (until 10/12/15) and $17.99 (starting 10/13/15)

Features of this Unit Study are:

1) Suitable for kids K-Grade 6, possibly late preschool ages if you tweak it a bit.

2) Geography Based - a great opportunity to discuss your kids' heritage and learn about how their ancestors once celebrated the Christmas Holidays in their country.

3) Countries included are Australia, the Bahamas, Belgium, Belize, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, England, Germany, Greece, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Middle East, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Tailand & the US. 

4) 60 pages of printables, internet links & a suggested reading list included.

5) Ideas, materials, and other resources for math, reading, writing, science, history, geography, language, music & art for all ages are included. Coloring sheets for PreK so they don't feel left out. 

6) Families & Personal Classrooms have permission to reproduce the activity sheets.

7) Based on Facts: Information was gathered from online & offline sources & presented from a biblical worldview. The author is a trained teacher, curriculum author & current homeschool mom.

Per the website:

With 180 pages, this ultimate guide to Chritmas is your one-stop 

curriculum for the holidays. Pre-order by 10/12 and get our "Kids

Travel 2015" Printable Calendar ($7.99) as a FREE Bonus!

Launch is October 13th & your items will be shipped!!

Linked @

   

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I'll receive a small commission and loads of hugs and kudos from the powers that be as well as a copy of the book to review and use with my littles this Christmas. Regardless of this, I only share information and products that I think my readers will enjoy and use. Thanks for reading GivingNSharing.

Barbie Dreamhouse Walkthru

Did any of you grow up playing with Barbie? I inherited a LOT of Barbie stuff when I was about 8 from my cousin (I think I had 1 Barbie before that). I ended up getting the Barbie Townhouse, airplane, boat & camping set (tent, pool, etc) growing up and between my cousin who had the camper, horse, a huge wooden house her mom built her one year and the 30 dolls between the two of us we had a LOT of Barbie. I really wish I still had all my stuff for my kids now!

Please note: this is a sponsored post by Mattel. (I cannot get this to show up at the top or in the title field - if anyone has any ideas why please give me some tips - Thanks!)

Last Wednesday I received a giant box containing the Barbie Dreamhouse during naptime and was treated to 3 very excited girls (20 mo, 4 1/2 and a 5 1/2 playdate friend) when they woke up.

Barbie has REALLY come up in the world folks! Wow!

The Barbie Dreamhouse is a HUGE dollhouse for our friend Barbie. It's very sturdy around toddlers, doesn't tip easily unless they are pulling on it. I think this is probably for kiddos 3 to 3 1/2 and up. Gianna though loves playing with barbies, loves helping Barbie go potty and wash her hands & watch the fish tank so I probably won't be able to keep her from it. =D

Barbie consented to my doing a Video Walkthru - I thought it came out pretty good:



Pro's:
1) Very easy to put together. It likely will only take about 2 hours tops to put together if you don't have any little helpers.
2) No screwdrivers, hammers, etc required. Actually the only time you need a screwdriver is to put the batteries in one of the pieces to make all the noises for the fish tank, fan, grill, sink & toilet.
3) The noises aren't going to drive me nuts! I seriously considered NOT putting the batteries in - but well, everyone needs to listen to Barbie flush the toilet, wash her hands & brush her teeth! Right? I think a parent designed this aspect of the dollhouse - it's really not annoying at all. So far.
4) The dollhouse is sturdy enough for 20 month old Gianna to reach up, pull the fridge open, use the elevator lever once she figured out that you need to press the button to get it to move. I was VERY pleased with this. After a day of playing with it though I ended up removing the elevator & front door and we'll put them back on when she is not around for the older girls. They informed me they don't want to play "invisible stairs".

It will make a GREAT bribe for the 4 year old - she's kind of whiny and argumentative and not so nice to the toddler - I've informed her if she wants to play with it she needs to be kind to her friends, not whine so much & be kind to Gianna (no more hitting her).

Con's:
1) Lot's of little pieces:
2) Very big - At about 4' by 3' it's a little larger than the bookshelf my kid's toys are on in the living room. For now, we are going to keep it in the hallway and I'll get a light so they can see to play. We'll need to move it by my desk so 2 girls can play with it at a time. I'm just not sure where it's going permanently at this time.
3) As I put it together I made notes in my mind on what I needed to make sure the kids were careful about when using it: Don't pull on the chandeliers (I've already taken one away from the 20 month old), Don't lean on the edges & balconies and Don't pull on the Elevator & front door.

If you are planning for Santa to bring the Barbie Dreamhouse to your house for Christmas this year he will be very popular for a LONG time - you might start now telling them they need to be REALLY good. If it helps, I put a Santa shaped soap dispenser in the bathroom - Santa can see at a glance if they have washed their hands and I can tell the girls that I'm going to visit with Santa if they are acting up. Works a charm when they are fighting, backtalking and you can't get them to do their chores! Yeah, I TOTALLY believe in Santa!

Disclaimer: I received this toy from Mattel in exchange for my honest review. Regardless I only recommend products or services I have personally read or used & think my readers will enjoy.

Make the Bread, Buy the Butter ~ Book Review & Giveaway

Make the Bread, Buy the Butter

by Jennifer Reese

ISBN: 9781451605877

304 pages, $15.53 Hardback

What you should and shouldn't cook from Scratch - over 120 recipes for the best homemade foods. This book is exactly that. 

About the Book:

When Jennifer Reese lost her job, she was overcome by an impulse common among the recently unemployed: to economize by doing for herself what she had previously paid for. She had never before considered making her own peanut butter and pita bread, let alone curing her own prosciutto or raising turkeys. And though it sounded logical that “doing it yourself” would cost less, she had her doubts. So Reese began a series of kitchen-related experiments, taking into account the competing demands of everyday contemporary American family life as she answers some timely questions: When is homemade better? Cheaper? Are backyard eggs a more ethical choice than store-bought? Will grinding and stuffing your own sausage ruin your week? Is it possible to make an edible maraschino cherry? Some of Reese’s discoveries will surprise you: Although you should make your hot dog buns, guacamole, and yogurt, you should probably buy your hamburger buns, potato chips, and rice pudding. Tired? Buy your mayonnaise. Inspired? Make it.

My thoughts:
I can personally say I have made pumpkin soup using an actual pumpkin - bagels too. What can I say? I was bored and young and decided to give it a try. The bagels turned out pretty good. I've actually made them twice. I've also made biscotti, coconut creme pie WITH merengue and bread. I don't remember if I liked the pumpkin soup - but I can say I've made it at least once.

I love to sit down and "read" cookbooks. Make the Bread, Buy the Butter does what I've often wondered - is it really beneficial for me to make my own bread, ice cream, granola or mozzarella? Other than the fact that it's not processed, doesn't have added chemicals, and I can control what "additives" are in it.

There are some great stories included in the book about why and what made her decide if a recipe was worth doing or passing the next time. 

There is a great section for Barbecue! I love barbecue - there's the spice rub, the vinegar sauce, and a yummy looking Dr Pepper barbecue sauce (I'm hungry can you tell?). Or you could make Duck Prosciutto - but according to Jennifer you should just buy it - it's a real hassle if sounds like (I'll definitely pass on this one).  

Along with over 120 recipes and great stories of Jennifer's experience writing this book and all her research - you'll also learn why you should make your hot dog buns & buy the hamburger buns (?).

Purchase Make the Bread, Buy the Butter on Amazon - click here

Giveaway

I have a copy of Make the Bread, Buy the Butter to giveaway! Just click here to enter the drawing for both this book and The Ice Dream cookbook. You can keep both for yourself - or give one away and keep one - or give both away. You decide!

Follow Jennifer @:
Twitter: @JenniferReese
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheTipsyBaker

Much thanks to Simon & Schuster for donating a copy of Make the Bread, Buy the Butter to review and another to giveaway! I wasn't paid for my opinion and I wasn't required to write a positive review. 

Sneak Peek - your kids will NEVER forget this!

New release from Usborne Books and More Available September 15^th 

^{Host a Book Party in September and YOU can earn the NEW Twas The Night Before Christmas audio book FREE!  In addition, if you schedule and hold your show before September 30th, you get an extra $50 in books.  Minimums apply.}


Contact: Tina "The Book Lady" contact(dot)thebooklady(at)gmail.com

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