Book Review: "Read and Share Stories about Jesus"

Read and Share written by Gwen Ellis and illustrated by Steve Smallman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Complete with 13 short and sweet stories about Jesus’s life and some lively illustrations, this sturdy little board book is a great way to get kids reading and learning about Jesus. With every turn of the page, parents and young readers alike will find a new story, taken from the International Children’s Bible®, a large and colorful illustration, and (my personal favorite) a little take-away question on every page.

I really enjoyed this book, and of course, loved reading it to Micah. The pages are very strong so I could allow him to turn the pages and not worry about him tearing them. When he gets older, I look forward to having some good discussions with him based on the extra questions that follow each story. For example, following the story about Jesus walking on water, the discussion box asks “If you had been in that boat, what would you have done?” So, while the physical quality of the book (the illustrations and the build) make it perfect for my 5 month old; the spiritual quality of the book’s content is enough to please even this 27-year old momma! :-)

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”


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Happy 5th Birthday, Denver! (Or 35th in dog years!)

Micah's been getting all the attention lately, but since Denver just turned 5 I think he needs a little love on the blog...

We got Denver on May 7, 2006.  Our 4 month anniversary....

... I use the term "we" loosely.

I had been begging Eli for a dog for exactly 3 months and 29 days (or something like that), but we lived in an apartment that didn't allow pets.  Still, we were planning on moving soon, so I had been looking online at petfinder.com about 200 times a day.  One Saturday, we were at Petsmart to get crickets for our frog, Gizmo, (he will have to get his own blog post soon!), and it just happened to be an adoption weekend.  Well, as we looked at all the animals, we really felt sorry for this extremely skittish German Shepherd mix (and I mean really mixed).  We walked around with him for a while and attempted to play with him, but he never really warmed up to us.  Still, we thought that maybe we could rehabilitate him, but we decided to go home and think about it.  And after thinking about it, we thought we'd give him a chance...

The next day (Sunday), Eli had to work, but he did give me permission to go back to Petsmart to get that one dog.  Well, I got there and couldn't find him, so I asked for him, and they told me he had gotten so anxious that he jumped off the truck and broke his leg, and was therefore no longer available for adoption.  I was sad, but probably also a little relieved that we didn't have him when he did something like that!

And then I saw this droopy-eared little pup with a runny nose and big paws... and I fell in love.  I picked him up, and didn't put him back down.  I wrote the adoption fee check with one hand.  He had no idea what to do on a leash, so I put him in the cart to take him around Petsmart to buy food, a crate, and a bed.  I forgot to call or text Eli.  

Later that evening, Eli walked in.  And saw a dog crate box.  And then saw a dog crate.  And then saw me.  With a guilty face.  And I said, "run to Daddy."  And he did.  Eli was only upset for 1.5 milliseconds.



Oh, and I forgot to tell you about how the adoption people told me he was a lab/beagle mix and would be 50 lbs. max...  and how now he is 85 lbs... and we affectionately call him our "average dane."

Or Marmadenver.  LOL.

Baby Bites

Monday night, I enjoyed a fancy dinner with Mom, Steve, and Nick at the delicious Bone Fish Grill that featured wines from the Somerset Ridge Winery. Eli was at work, so of course, Micah came along too. And was for the most part, a very patient little boy, considering the 5-course dinner took over 2 hours! He didn't get to enjoy the bang-bang shrimp, crab cakes, filet, or sea bass; but he did enjoy a carrot stick off my plate! I think he must be teething because he acted like it felt very good on his gums...

... so Eli and I bought some carrots, peeled and cut them in long sticks, for him to gum...


... which he seemed to really enjoy.

So yesterday, we decided to try a little rice cereal!

I got this awesome book called "The Best Homemade Baby Food on the Planet" which features tons of awesome cereal & puree recipes... that are so easy!  It also tells you which foods are important to buy organic (ones where you eat the skin like apples, grapes, pears, etc.) and which ones it doesn't really matter.  Plus, it tells you how to freeze and store food so I can make a week's worth ahead of time!  And store it in these cute containers I got on Amazon.

Anyway, yesterday, I used my Magic Bullet to ground up some brown rice until it was powdery, then cooked with water, and put it back in the Bullet and added some milk.  Then, Micah tried his first bites of semi-solid food!  Of course, we video-taped it:


It was messy and fun! Oh, the adventures to come...