Happy 10th Birthday C!

10 Today!

My oldest son turns 10 today, double digits!  It has been amazing to watch this boy grow and mature.  In honor of his 10th birthday I have decided to share with you 10 things that C enjoys.

In no particular order:

1.  Baseball!  C loves to watch baseball, he loves to play baseball - if you mention the word baseball you immediately get his attention.

 C and David - Go Giants!

 C's team being silly after the last game of the season.

2.  Pez.  C has over 48 Pez dispensers; he loves collecting them.  He even made a list so I would know which ones he has as he has a few duplicates.

3.  Star Wars.  Anything Star Wars and C is a fan.  He has seen all the movies and of course has a Jedi robe complete with light saber.

 C in his Halloween costume last year.

4.  Legos.  I think most 10 year old boys enjoy Legos and C is no exception.

5.  Rockets.  C enjoys it when he and David go to an open field and set off his rockets.  It is not uncommon for him to get a few rocket motors in his Christmas sock.

6.  Math.  I'm not sure if he would say it is his favorite subject but Math comes easily to him and he really enjoys it.  Actually, I do think he would say it's his favorite.

7.  Gum.  I don't think he can blow bubbles with it yet but he likes chewing gum, especially while playing baseball.  I think Hubba Bubba, Big League Chew and Juicy Fruit are his favorite flavors.

8.  Nerf Guns and Battles.  C loves having Nerf gun fights and battles around the house.  A Nerf Gun facility just opened up around the corner from us and I will probably take him sometime because I think he will really like it.

9.  Games.  C enjoys cards, crossword puzzles, Monopoly - most games actually.

10.  His brothers!  I remember when F was born and David told C that he had a brother.  He didn't really believe it until he came to the hospital and saw the blue ribbon on the door.  He was in heaven.  And now he has G too.  Despite the age difference, C loves them so.

 The boys right after G was born.

The boys at the park.

Happy Birthday C.  I look forward to celebrating with you tonight and at your party this weekend.

The NKJV Woman's Study Bible

The NKJV Woman's Study Bible

Have you seen The NKJV Woman's Study Bible?  My copy is stunning; I love the vivid colors and floral design on the front.  The pages have pink leaf edges which is also super fun.

My front cover

The NKJV Woman's Bible includes special family history and memory pages in the front.  I really appreciate having all the background information with each book of the Bible:  title, author, date, setting, purpose, audience, literary characteristics, themes, etc.  It really helps one dig deeper into the word of God.  Sometimes I can get confused on relationships and families and it is awesome to have a Bible that includes family trees for easy reference as well as hundreds of full-color-in-text maps, charts, and timelines.  The topical index, concordance and quotes from Godly women throughout history really complete this Bible with everything needed.

An example of a book introduction for the Book of Psalms

Themes and Outline of Psalms

I love having this Bible to have devotional times as well as deeper study times.  It is super convenient to have so much information all in one place and easily accessible right with the Word of God.  For me, this makes a deeper study of the Bible practical and possible.

Read more about this study Bible and publisher below.  Learn more and purchase your own copy of The NKJV Woman's Study Bible here.

About the book:
The Woman's Study Bible reveals the Word of God to women, inviting them to receive God's truth for balance, hope, and transformation.

Special features designed to speak to a woman's heart appear throughout the Bible text, revealing Scripture-based insights about how godly womanhood grows from a woman's identity as a Christ-follower and a child on the Kingdom.

Now with a beautiful full-color redesign, The Woman's Study Bible reflects the contributions of over 80 women from a wide variety of ethnic, denominational, educational, and occupational backgrounds.  Since the publication of the first edition of The Woman's Study Bible under the editorial guidance of Dorothy Kelley Patterson and Rhonda Harrington Kelley, this landmark study Bible has sold over 1.5 million copies.

Features Include:

- Beautiful full-color design throughout
- Detailed biographical portraits of over 100 biblical women
- Thousands of extensive verse-by-verse study notes
- Over 300 in-text topical articles on relevant issues
- Insightful essays by women who are recognized experts in the fields of theology, biblical studies, archeology, and philosophy
- Book introductions and outlines
- Hundreds of full-color-in-text maps, charts, timelines, and family trees
- Quotes from godly women throughout history
Set of full-page maps of the biblical world
- Topical index
- Concordance

About the publisher:
In business since 1798, Thomas Nelson is one of the oldest Bible publishers in the world and the largest publisher of the King James Version.  Their mission is to inspire the world by using our talents, assets, opportunities, and influence to engage and equip people with Scripture and draw people to a deeper study and understanding of God's Word.

Originally I was suppose to be a part of a Litfuse blog tour but somehow my post did not go live as planned.  You can still check out the blog tour here.

Disclosure:  Thanks so much to Litfuse Publicity Group for allowing me to be a part of this tour and providing me with The NKJV Woman's Study Bible to facilitate my review.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Happy Mother's Day

The Kids and Stevie Dog on Mother's Day

I just wanted to send a quick Happy Mother's Day to all!  My family had a great weekend celebrating with extended family, eating out, having a water balloon fight and just generally enjoying life and everyones company.  I am truly blessed to be the mother of this crazy clan.

I ❤ this photo so much as I feel it sums up my life.

Red Nose Day May 25th

Have you heard of Red Nose Day 2017?  Red Nose Day is an annual fundraising event, and special night of television organized by Comic Relief.  It has received tremendous support from fellow Americans, celebrities and corporate partners driven to end child poverty - one "nose" at a time.  Christian organizations that receive funding and benefit from Red Nose Day include Covenant House, charity: water, Feeding America, Save The Children, and Boys and Girls Club of America.

 My local Walgreens Red Nose Display

Where do you get a red nose?  Walgreens has been the official retailer of the iconic Red Nose since the campaign's launch in the US in 2015.  They are easy to find and are only $1.

I am ready for Red Nose Day 2017

To help raise awareness and aid in the fundraising efforts, NBC has dedicated a special night of television programming on May 25.  Actress Julia Roberts, will join adventurer and fellow Christian, Bear Grylls in Kenya for "Running Wild With Bear Grylls."  The full line-up includes "Celebrity Ninja Warrior for Red Nose Day" at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT, the 9:00 p.m. episode of "Running Wild With Bear Grylls," and "The Red Nose Day Special," at 10:00 p.m.

Check out the Ed Sheeran below and a Julia Roberts special feature here.

For anyone who would like more information, or would like to help spread the word and/or to donate please visit - https://rednoseday.org/.

Our Praying Mantises Are All Free

 Mantis Collage

The kids and I have raised caterpillars into butterflies and larvae into ladybugs but we had never watched a praying mantis egg case hatch, until now!  I ordered an Insect Lore Praying Mantis Egg Hatching Kit a few months ago and it has been so fun to watch these truly fascinating insects.

 

 Inside our box!

One egg case was suppose to contain 75-200 baby mantises.  I think our case had around 150 so this was accurate for us.  Our Kit came with a live praying mantis egg case, hatching plant egg case holder, praying mantis life cycle stages, pop up port-a-bug habitat, and a praying mantis egg case quick guide.  We set up our case on March 20th.  The mantis babies were to emerge anywhere from 3-10 weeks.  Our mantis babies started emerging from the egg case on April 20th, so exactly one month later.

Our egg case upon arrival

E checking it out

Transferring our egg case

Now on the hatching plant egg case holder

Now in the pop up port-a-bug habitat

It was so fun to see the baby mantises emerge.  We released most of them within the first few days but we kept a few and fed them live insects that I caught from our yard for a week.  It was super neat to watch them eat.

Our mantis babies emerging

 A closer view

 A with a baby mantis on a leaf

 You can see how small they are when they emerge.

A baby mantis eating

Another view

 Freeing our mantis babies

More babies

F with a mantis baby on a leaf.

F loved his baby mantis.  He would tell everyone that they won't hurt you.

I loved watching them turn their heads.

Even Stevie dog got in on the mantis fun.  Here you can see a baby on his back.

D looking up information about praying mantis.

 Our actual egg case (after hatching) next to the praying mantis life cycle stages egg case.

 Up-close

We had such a great experience with our mantis babies.  Insect Lore Praying Mantis egg cases are available now until the end of June, while supplies last if you want to get in on the fun.

May the 4th Be With You

An Oldie but a Goodie last Halloween

ATG Today App - Awakening to God Today #ATGToday

 

ATG Today App

I have a new App to tell you about, the ATG Today App which stands for Awakening to God Today.  It is a devotional journal App that helps you in your walk with God with thanksgivings from your heart and prayers.  It helps bring inspiration for 8 minutes with God at the start of your day, helps guide you to hear His voice, gives you the opportunity to memorize scripture, pray and journal.  The purpose of this App is two-fold.  First, to inspire and encourage people in their walk with Christ (hopefully leading to another 'Awakening' - see 2 Chron 7:14).  And second, to raise funds for services such as digging a well in 100 villages in India, providing 40K meals to widows and orphans, 15K mosquito nets and a medical team for immunizations, cataract operations, and other services.  A mission I can get behind!

You can easily find ATG Today in the App store for $3.99 purchase for Apple Users or find it on Google Play as well.

One feature is a daily inspiration.  This is an easy way to refresh your mind with a scripture or encouragement every day and have fresh inspiration.

 Another example

Above is an example of a daily entry, this is mine from yesterday!  I love that I can jot down notes and thoughts from the day and look back on them in my timeline.

This App is a convenient way to start of one's day and relationship with God.  I like that it has a daily inspiration, an opportuntity to add a daily photo and entries for: thankfulness, hearing God, and prayer.  I have always liked the idea of an on-line prayer journal and this is it, nicely done.

You can check out more about this App here and let me know what you think.

Disclosure:  Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for allowing me to be a part of this campaign.  I will receive a prize in exchange for this review and post.  All opinions are 100% my own.

Happy 9 Months Baby G

Baby G at 9 Months

Baby G is 9 months old today!  Oh, how we love this little guy.  I am in awe that he already has 6 teeth!  He loves to pull up on everything now.  He has an untraditional crawl.  And he has an uncanny ability to spot the tiniest thing possible to explore with his mouth - yikes.  Yep, with 7 kids, Baby G still keeps me on my toes.  Happy Monthiversary, we love you little man.

 In Mommy's room

 Trying avocado for the 1st time, yum!

Adios everyone.