Bloom Where You’re Planted: A BookLook Blogger Review

Grace-Filled Writer
Sometimes the Lord blesses us with deep Christian friends whom we can talk to regularly and help us along the way. During other seasons it feels like no one around us is like-minded. Bloom Where You’re Planted is like sitting down with a mentor and friend as you read. 
We all have moments of frustration with whatever our current life-path is. Sometimes it is hard to forget God has placed us where we are for a very definite purpose. Although each devotion focuses on a different area, the theme is the same: You aren’t where you are by accident. Seek God fully and see what He has in store for you there.
The style is conversational and easy to digest, although the content is not surface material alone. I felt everything had a solid biblical undertone and appreciated the way theological truths were taught in a simple, yet full way. Although themed together, many different areas of the Christian walk were also addressed. 

The only negative I saw was that the reader is not encouraged to open the Bible for themselves. It is nice for the Scripture to be printed in the book and that can be beneficial in some circumstances, but I like my devotionals to encourage me to get into the Word on my own.

I do recommend this title as the content is biblical and encouraging as well as being more than just surface faith. I would, however, not read this as my only daily time with the Lord because it does not spend much time in Scripture or encourage the reader to look in their own Bibles. 
Disclaimer: I received this title through BookLook Bloggers. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own. 

Thin Stix 6pk of Classic Colors from The Pencil Grip, Inc.: A TOS Review Crew Review

Grace-Filled Writer

The Pencil Grip, Inc  My girls love anything art-related. It doesn’t take any convincing on my when I offer an opportunity to create. When I told them we were going to get to review Thin Stix 6pk of Classic Colors from The Pencil Grip, Inc. they couldn’t wait until they arrived. Thin Stix by KwikStix  This is a unique product in that it is tempera paint in a stick form. When using them they almost feel like oil pastels in how they glide across the page. There are also package with an even wider range of colors. They are ideal for little hands and work well on thicker paper like card stock or poster board. We opted to take a little trip to the craft store and the girls picked out some wood projects to complete. We also did some rock painting. These were ideal uses!  

The girls had fun painting these little wooden characters from the craft store. The paint glided on easily and dried extremely fast. These dried in less than 90 seconds. Their only issue with these was that they are very thick and fine detail was a little tricky. This is only an issue because of the age of my girls. Grace did not mind not having a finer point for details, but Beth and Rose prefer a finer tip for art. These would be ideal for young crafters if you are a mom like me who is not a fan of big messes when making things. I saw no need to have the girls wear any protective clothing because the paint is in solid rather than liquid form. If the girls were younger I probably still would have had them cover with something. 

 Our second project using Thin Stix was a favorite for all of us!  

 We have a little potted flower garden in the front of our house and raised beds in the back. We decided to take smooth rocks and paint them for the flower garden. The girls painted rocks for a full hour! They did use some other paints for fine details this time, but most of the work was done with the Thin Stix. I loved how easily they glided onto the rocks surface and especially how fast they dried. One of the frustrations with art projects like this for my girls is waiting for things to dry. When they have inspiration, they don’t want to wait! They made rocks to look like favorite story characters, gems, animals, and all sorts of fun things. (I did find out from a test run that the paint may wash off in the rain, so if you do an outside project make sure to use a sealant on your project!)  We did not use this product on paper for a full project, but I did try them out as a test. You will definitely want to use thicker paper for best results. Again, the speed of drying time is a huge factor in how much these impressed me. Impatient little artists won’t have time to become engaged with something else because of the waiting. There have been so many times when the girls were very young that projects we tried simply flopped because of the extensive drying time.  Take a look at what my Crewmates have to say about Thin Stix 6pk of Classic Colors!  No Mess Art with Thin Stix Classic Colors {The Pencil Grip, Inc. Reviews}Crew Disclaimer

Week in Review: May 15-19

Grace-Filled Writer

This was an EVENTFUL week! I planned to have school for the first three days of the week. I had great intentions and we did get a good amount of work accomplished on Monday. Really, it started off rather calm, but in the middle of the night on Monday I was awakened from a nightmare to a horrible crashing sound. I started screaming, my husband tackled me trying to calm me down (it didn’t work), and it took us a little while to actually wake up.

When we finally did come into full wakefulness my husband began searching the house for what could have caused the crashing we heard. He soon discovered our closet system (think hanging bar, shelves, etc.), which had held up fine for the previous 9 years, had snapped off the wall. In our barely awake state we panic thinking the cat may have gone inside and was buried under the mound of clothing, games, school supplies, and tax papers. While I searched the house looking for the cat to no avail, my husband frantically began digging through the disaster and pretty much throwing things out of the closet to try and find our poor kitty. She wasn’t there. We found her hiding under one of the girls’ beds.

So the next 2 days were spent cleaning, organizing, and purging, something that was absolutely necessary and I was planning to do this summer anyway. It just happened sooner than I expected! This then led to more rooms being organized and purged.We also had the great seasonal clothing swap of 2017 Part 1. Part 2 will occur in October.

All of this had to be accomplished before Thursday morning because we already had a little mini vacation planned for the weekend! We traveled up to Hershey, PA and had an absolutely wonderful time. Grace’s favorite candy in the entire world is Hershey’s Chocolate. She will specifically ask for this brand when requesting candy, so she was over the moon. We had a great time and the girls even went on some decent sized roller coasters…and liked them! Beth and Grace stayed with the smaller ones which did not go upside down, but Rose ventured onto the Super Dooper Looper and braved the upside down coasted and loved it!

That was our much-too-eventful week! How was yours?

Captain Absolutely from Focus on the Family: A TOS Crew Review

Grace-Filled Writer

Focus On The Family We are Adventures in Odyssey super-fans! I began listening to this wonderful series when I was a kid with my dad in the afternoons. When we got married I introduced my husband to the series and we began to collect the CD sets. Now our kids are huge fans and we listen to 2 or 3 episodes every day and often at night at bedtime. One of our absolute favorite characters is Wooton Bassett. He is both a mailman and comic book author. One of his main series is Captain Absolutely who defends truth, justice, and lots more truth! When I told the girls we were going to be reviewing an actual Captain Absolutely comic from Focus On The Family there were cheers and dancing all around!  Captain Absolutely  When this amazing comic arrived in the mail we had to make a plan as to who would read it first. Beth ended up with the privilege, but her sisters were looking over her shoulder! The comic itself is incredibly high quality. The sturdy cover and pages will enable your kids to read this over and over, which I think they will be doing because mine have! The combination of humor, adventure, and just plain fun make this already a well-read book in our house!  

We have a few comics, but the girls pretty much stay to very mild ones, not action and adventure and definitely not super heroes. We are extremely cautious with what they view and read. So many modern comics have scantily clad characters and messages we don’t want our kids to absorb yet. This is a spectacular alternative to those! The illustrations are stunning and completely appropriate in every way. The bad guys do attack and have evil powers, but it is done in a very mild and as non-violently as possible in a super hero story. The story of how Captain Absolutely came to be is also included and I like the science-type way he gained his super abilities, but I won’t tell you how because I don’t want to spoil it! 

 All that being said, there is one thing which stands above the rest in this comic and that is the biblical world-view. It is not presented in a cheesy way, but just as part of who Captain Absolutely is. He is not perfect, but he always looks back to the Word of God for answers. What a wonderful lesson to teach my girls! Superhero stories are unrealistic, but the example of seeking the Scripture for answers and most importantly truth is exactly what I want my girls to learn. Anytime I can give them fictional heroes who emulate these values I’m totally on board. Here is what my girls had to say:
Rose (11): I loved that at the very end Wooton Bassett is in it. I also like that there are Bible verses in it. Beth (9): I liked that it had Bible verses and that it points things out to you. It explains things in the story so you understand. Grace (7): I like that it is from Adventures in Odyssey and I like all the characters!Whether you are already an Adventures in Odyssey fan as we are or if this is the first you’ve heard of it, you will want to take a look at this new title. You won’t be disappointed! Take a look at what my Crewmates had to say!Captain Absolutely {Focus On The Family Review}Crew Disclaimer

Week in Review: May 8-12

Grace-Filled Writer

This is one of those not normal weeks. We did not do any of our regular schooling because we were completing our required standardized testing for the year. We take the whole week off of regular school because those are so much more intense than what we normally do. Having to sit at a table and color in bubbles is not what my girls are used to doing!

 Grace went first because I have quite a bit I am supposed to read aloud to her still. She doesn’t really need me to read most of it, but we follow the directions anyway!

 Rose and Beth worked for two days. Next year I’ll be able to complete all three tests with them together which will be nice. I’ll probably break it into more days so it isn’t so overwhelming.

 

  While the girls worked super hard to finish their testing I kept time and worked on my scrapbook! I also used the time to finish up my grades for the English class I teach. Everything wraps up this week!
So that was it for schooling, but we had some other fun stuff happen this week too!

 For the last several years I’ve lead a moms group at our church. It’s been a wonderful ministry, but this year I’m stepping down from leading. I planned a fun painting night for us for our last meeting. We had a great time and made some wonderful memories as well as art!
 Monday night was my piano recital. Pictured here are 29 of my 35 students. 30 of them played in the recital, but one had to slip out early to be inducted into the National Honor Society. I also teach 2 adults and my 3 nieces and nephews via Skype on the weekends. The theme for the music this year was “Around the World in 30 Songs.” It was an amazing night!

 
My three girls! I love them so very much. Here are their songs:
Grace – He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands
Beth – A Whole New World
Rose – The Can Can
They all three played beautifully and I’m so proud of their determination to do their best! 
That was our week! As a dear friend of mine said to me the other day, “Ok, now you can sleep for days to recover!”

Happy National Scrapbooking Day!

Grace-Filled Writer
Yes, there is indeed a holiday for this! It is usually the 1st Saturday of May. I don’t always celebrate, but I have been this week leading up to the big day! Here are some of the layouts I’ve made! 
Template: Freebie
Kit: Almost Midnight
Kit: Ocean World from Magical Scraps Galore
Kit: Must Love Books from Gingerbread Ladies Collab 
Kit: On the Boardwalk 
Kit: Adventure Land from Britt-ish Designs
Kit: Pirates from Britt-ish Designs
It’s Good to be Bad from Magical Scraps Galore

Week in Review: May 1-5

Grace-Filled Writer
Back to “full school” for a week! Next week we will be testing as required by the state and then I think we will take a few weeks off from regular school. I have finished up my English class and just need to complete their grade reports. Piano lessons wrap up for the semester with our recital this coming Monday night. I will be taking a much needed break before we dive back into the traditional learning we have. We will still be doing school because my kids can’t handle too much time off before the bickering starts, but it will be the “fun school” that includes materials I’m reviewing and all of the wonderful things I don’t get to do during the school year because we don’t have time! 
Rose (6th grade): Resurrection to Reformation Unit 31
 Rose requested that even if her sisters took a break from Heart of Dakota that she keep on working through the summer at least on her history. I’m more than happy to allow her this! She is very close to finishing this guide, so I assumed that she wanted to complete it, but no, she is excited to move to the next period of history! Her effort has been off the charts this year. I’m so pleased with her self-motivation and willingness to really do her absolute best. It isn’t that she’s ever been difficult to teach, but I see a different level of desire to excel this year which is very good. She is also pursuing some of her own interests more through the electives at Schoolhouse Teachers (affiliate link) and I am excited to give her those opportunities!
Grace (1st grade): Bigger Little Hearts for His Glory Unit 5
 
 Grace loves her new timeline! This is one of my favorite aspects of the Heart of Dakota guides. The girls create their own timelines, adding their own artistic flair. It feels more meaningful and lasting because of this. The girls genuinely enjoy the process. This will be the last folder-style timeline we do. As with many things so much of this guide with Grace is bitter-sweet. But as she grows and learns I’m excited to see her blossom!
 Beth (4th grade): Creation to Christ Unit 11
Rose is reading her history on the iPad. I often save money by getting e-books they girls can read on the Kindle app. I still love books, but the space and money I save make e-books fine for me. I’m not an all or nothing kind of girl anyway so we will always use a mish-mash of reading mediums for our schooling. Beth is settling into her new guide a little more. It takes her a little longer to finish than Rose, but I know this is because she is still getting used to the bigger work-load. She sometimes gets frustrated by this, but I think she will soon see the time she spends lessen once she realizes complaining about her assignments only lengthens the time they take! 
That was our week! How was yours?