11/30/11

We Do Listen Foundation

We Do Listen Foundation

We Do Listen Foundation
Details:  This foundation helps children gain a sense of inner peace, and learn to communicate to adults what they are feeling, what they are needing and want, and learning to protect themselves from bullies, violence, and give themselves confidence.  We Do Listen Foundation is made up of a group of volunteers of teachers, parents, therapists, writers, artists, and designers.  There are links to the animated books and songs and games right on the website.  Each song can be played from the website, and you can down load it too.  Each book is played directly on your computer.  The website does have music that plays when you pull it up, but there is a button that can turn off the music.

Information: The website is completely animated, and fun for children to look at as well as super easy to use for children and adults.  I love the bright simple colors of the website, the site is super user friendly.  The animated books teach really good lessons to children, great for preschool aged children up through elementary school.  I love the Christmas book!  The songs also teach good lessons, I love the Telling the Truth song!                                                                
                                                                                         My Rating

Link: http://wedolisten.org/

11/29/11

Paranormalcy

Kiersten White Paranormalcy

Paranormalcy
By Kiersten White

Details: Evie is a human girl, but also a Special International Police Force team member who deals with paranormal incidents/ people. She is able to see through the "glamour" paranormal things use to keep humans from seeing them. Weird things start happening every time she sees paranormal beings, and soon she's caught in a life and death matter, protecting her friends, and her job. A love for her job, and a strong desire to be a normal human begin to tug at her heart throughout the book. As the story unfolds, find out how she deals with her internal conflicts, love interests, secrets, and new untold power and special abilities as a special cop. 

My Review: It has been a long time since I've read anything along these lines in the fantasy world. In fact, the last two books I read dealing with Vampires and Werewolves were Twilight (only the first 2 books of that series, and Harry Potter: finishing the whole series). Those two books were super dark, full of evil and magic, and actually gave me nightmares for 2 whole weeks. It was bad news for me. When my book club nominated this book as our next read, I will admit that I was pretty worried. I didn't want to stick out, like a bad thumb, on a fun girl's night because I couldn't or rather wouldn't read the book.  So I decided to try it out.  Guess what?  I honestly, truly loved this book! Its 334 pages long, and I read it in 3 hours. This is the first of a trilogy, and its so amazing! The plot is great, and really fun for both young adults, teenagers, and adults who love fantasies. Comparing this topic to Twilight and Harry Potter, the first book in this series is so much more lighthearted, free, open, bright, and the characters aren't as scary and dark. There is still a fun, but also dangerous romantic connection which is done very well.  This was a Sci/Fi book that I really enjoyed reading.  It was clean, and fun, suspenseful without any terror or horror, which can come from this genre of books.  The author's writing style is very clean and classic. 

Book Club Qs: Questions we asked at our book club
1. What is the most dangerous career you personally would do?
2. What is your dream job?
3. Would the people who work with you influence how much to love your job or not?
4. Would a work uniform or dress code defer or appeal to you?
5. What would be the worst uniform you would consider wearing?
6. What is your top uniform/dress code for work?
7. If you could have a special ability/ super power that would be helpful to society what would it be?
8. Would you be scared if you saw someone not normal/ paranormal?
9. How did you like how Evie works? Can you relate to her?

Pros: great plot, lighthearted, fun

Cons: I need to read the other 2 books in the series, but that's not really a con at all.


                                                                                        My Rating:

11/20/11

Soul Surfer

move review soul surfer

My movie review on Soul Surfer

2011 movie, teenage surfer learns to grasp courage and get back on a board after a shark attack.  She learns to love through seeing her situation through a different perspective.  She fights for confidence during major competition.  Her family is brought closer together through trial and triumph.

I loved this movie even before I saw it. I heard KLOVE radio talk about this movie for a whole month as it was coming to theaters, and all the cool inspirational stories listeners were calling in with.  I love that this movie talks about Christ, and religion and that those who made the movie stayed true to who the Hamilton's really are in their faith.
My favorite parts of true story movies are the actual pictures or video clips of those the movie was made in honor of.

What sets this movie apart from other similar movies like "We Are Marshall", "The Blind Side", "Invictus", "Invincible" etc, is that those other movies are all about men in sports or whole communities.  This is the first movie about a young girl who gets inspired to keep going because other's were afraid.  This touches home to me, because one of my greatest fears is a shark attack, but I love the beach anyways.

I highly recommend this movie to anyone and everyone who needs a pick me up, inspirational, action packed, family movie!

11/16/11

Trio Blocks


Fisher Price Trio Blocks

My kids LOVE Trio Blocks!


These creative building blocks are amazing

These are plastic blocks very different than Lego's, but a similar design as you build and construct designs.  A fun for kids, can be annoying to parents when heard constantly at 6 or 7 am is that when they connect together the blocks snap!  Brightly colored, themed by sets pick and choose similar again to Lego sets, Trio Blocks are perfect for cute chubby little fingers of toddlers on up to older children who enjoy thinking, building, engineering.  The company gives a wonderful focus on both boy colors and girl colors which may or may not be appreciated by all.  But in my household purple and pink are reserved by me, because of how my kids have claimed colors for themselves.  Daddy gets black, brown and gray...when he can't convince our kids to also allow him to use orange and yellow on occasion.  They are so much fun for both kids and parents a like!  I have spent many hours playing with these toys with my children.  Helping them put together the barn and tracker in the Farm set, or building the cars.  Each themed set comes with instruction booklets, or design booklets, as guides to help your child learn how to build different objects.  However, my kids rarely ever use those booklets, and just create on their own.  There is Trio Block Jr, and regular Trio Blocks for ease of use depending on the age of the child.  There are basic sets, beginner sets, medium sets, themed sets, and advanced sets.  My kids would die for the advanced Castle and Dragon set!

Fisher Price, Trio BlocksLearning is fun... with these are block sets.  They, Fisher Price, claims that sets grow in difficulty as your child grows up.  Children get to use their imagination with these.  These blocks have helped my PreK child understand addition and subtraction, sizes, and sequencing for school.  We use these with my 3rd grader for science, Cub Scouts, problem thinking activities, educational play time, and so much more.  Sometimes we'll ask the kids to create an object to show us when they are done.  Now, much like any other building block company, these can get pricey, and you'll have to buy a bunch of sets just to get enough different pieces to really give your child a great experience with these.  Even my husband and I both enjoy making things with these blocks, as do all my kid's friends.  Sometimes we have to take the trio blocks away when we have play dates because the kids all fight over the same pieces.  Another reason it's a good idea to buy a good amount of pieces.  These make great gifts for any occasion!  Holidays, birthdays, school rewards (say for learning to read, or finishing a work book without complaining) etc.  The best place to get the most options for Trio blocks is Amazon or Ebay.  They both have great pricing, and there's no guarantee that all the pieces will be there especially from Ebay.


 My Rating? A HUGE Thumbs Up!

If you enjoyed this product review, come check out Leap Frog Baby Learn Around Playground.

Embraced by the Light

Embraced by the Light
Embraced by the Light by Betty Eadie

Summary: a woman has surgery that is very standard, but during her recovery while still in the hospital something goes wrong and she dies.  When she died she tells of other experiences she's had out of her body.  She has a total out of body experience, a spiritual enlightening experience.  She is taught by our Savior and other Spirits about God, about His love, about life, and everything.  She is told she must return to her body because her life's mission isn't completed. When she returns to the land of mortals, she fights devils, forgets some of the things she learned, but not all.

Info: for one who did not believe in God, or believe in a loving God, when she has this experience she learns other wise, and never forsakes her knowledge of truth.  This took me 1 week to read.  Its very short, but filled to the brim with loads of teachings, principles, and doctrines.  Its a lot to take in from a very short book.  I highly suggest you either buy a copy so you can read and underline and mark things.  Or check out a copy from your local library and get a note book to write down thoughts and questions and ideas that come while you read.

Questions: Do you believe in God?  What type of God or supreme being?  What is your opinion on the teachings Betty learned while dead?  Did your mind set change concerning judging others, thinking positively, thinking negative thoughts, and what you say?


                                                                                          My Rating

11/15/11

The Help

The Help book
The Help by Katheryn Stockett

Summary: Skeeter a college graduate returns to her home town of Jackson Missouri, trying to use her degree as a writer to help her people.  But when she finds that a working woman is hard work and close to impossible to find something respectable.  Skeeter is told to find something to write about that she cares about, that no one else cares about.


Questions: This hits heart cords in many people, because there are many issues in today's society that need our attention, but don't always get it.  If you could write about something, or if you could support something really important with nothing temporal standing in your way, would you be do it?  Would you take the chance?  Would you take a chance knowing you could get in some serious trouble with friends, and family?

Information: This was a 2 week read for me.  I loved every minute of the book, especially the emotional charged sections that fill your head and heart with new enlightened thoughts about judging others.  It was very stimulating.  I highly recommend reading the Acknowledgement section of the book, it tells more about Stockett, and why she wrote this wonderful book.  I learned more about why the details were so intense.

Amazon.com $6
Ebay.com $10
Target $17
Walmart $12

My Rating