REVIEW: My Bedtime Story Bible by Jean E. Syswerda, illustrated by Daniel Howarth

One of the books that Zonderkidz sent me to review is My Bedtime Story Bible, written by Jean E. Syswerda and illustrated by Daniel Howarth.  

It's a collection of Bible stories adapted for bedtime reading and each one is followed by a prayer starter.  The stories are a little long for Ellie's attention span, but the pictures are vibrant and beautiful and she loves looking at each one.  The pages are heavier than a standard book and have a lovely, glossy finish.  But I don't always finish reading the text before she's ready to turn the page and I don't trust the pages to stand up to a one-year-old's roughness, so I'd say this book is best suited for 2-4  year olds.

My first impression of this book is that it's adorable.  There are 28 different Bible stories told and each one has a beautiful, full-page illustration, followed by a full two-page illustration!  

The stories are adapted for bedtime - meaning that, while the general gist of the story is there, some creative license is taken to talk about what it might have been like for these Bible characters to get tucked into bed.  I have mixed feelings about this.  For now, it's totally cute and not a problem at all.  When Ellie starts getting a little older, I don't know how easy it will be to explain that the Bible doesn't actually talk about how Abraham and Sarah put baby Isaac to bed, but they were real people and they did have a real baby, so it could have been like this.  I don't know, maybe I'm over thinking it, but I'm just picturing her taking it too seriously and going to church and telling her Sunday School teacher all about how Daniel cuddled with the lions when they went to sleep like little kittens.  None of it is out of the realm of possibility and nothing goes against what scripture says.  It's just important to note that these are adaptations of Bible stories, not word-for-word Biblical account.

Overall, I really do like this book.  I always love thinking about the people in the Bible as real people who did things and said things and felt things that weren't documented in the Bible itself.  The illustrations are gorgeous and the prayer starters are helpful.  I didn't grow up saying prayers before bedtime, but it's a routine that we're already trying to start with Ellie.  Having a starter right there in the story book is not only a great reminder, but a great transition between story and sleep.  We will definitely be keeping this one around for later this year, as it becomes more age appropriate for Ellie, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone with a little one.

Disclaimer: Zondervan provided me with a free copy of this book for reviewing purposes.

Something New!

So, a little while ago, my friend Heidi from over at Heidi's Head (who I actually know in real life, too) sent me a message and told me about a cool new thing that I might be interested in.  There's this company called Zondervan.  You may have heard of them before because they publish LOTS of Bibles, Christian fiction and non-fiction, Devotionals, etc.  Basically, if you've ever been in a Christian Bookstore, you've probably seen their logo somewhere.  Anyway, their team of reviewers is called the Z Blog Squad and they were looking for parents of young kids to sign up to review children's books.  No offense to Heidi, but how is there any way that I could NOT be interested in doing that?!

Let's see: I'm a parent of a young child.  I love books.  I'm crazy opinionated.  And I'm kind of obnoxious about making sure everyone knows how I feel about pretty much everything.  Yep, sounds like a good fit to me!

So, I emailed the guy, thinking that it probably wouldn't pan out or something.  But apparently that Heidi has some really good connections because I got in!  So, I picked out my first couple books to review and then waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

And then, finally, last week, this arrived at my door....

... my books!  I read them both right away, but then Holy Week hit and between being an active participant in all of our church activities and actually working for said church, I was swamped.  But now Holy Week is over (Hallelujah for more than one reason!) and I can proceed with my regularly scheduled programming.  So, be looking for some fun book reviews, as well as more pinterest reviews, coming soon!  Oh, and an update about Ellie's super fun second Easter!

A New Hobby

Well, with the beautiful change in weather, Ellie and I have adopted a new hobby.  SWINGING!

Here's a little back story before we get to the ridiculously cute pictures...

We have a park conveniently located right across the street from our house, so there's really no excuse for us to not get out and get some exercise on a regular basis.  No really, there's no excuse.  I've looked for one.  Can't find it.  Doesn't exist.  I have to go.  Andy and I started going together in the evenings back in the fall.  We decided to make it a regular thing - kind of like a date.  That lasted about 2 weeks and then it got cold and we couldn't go any more.  Darn.  I mean, it was nice to have the time to talk - don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed that part - but I'm far too lazy for this whole exercising thing.  But when the weather got nice, I felt bad for keeping my child indoors just because I'm too lazy to put on real pants and shoes.  She would gaze out the window and point at the park and smile at the people walking by and I would just click play on the next episode of Dr. Quinn.  Wednesday afternoon, I decided that I was getting a *little* too close to winning the Worst-Mom-Ever Award and dragged myself outside for a walk.

Best. Decision. Ever.  (Well, at the very least, it was the best one all week.)

So we put on our pants and shoes (I promise I really do wear pants in my house, they're just more suitable for sleeping than public viewing) and headed out the door.  I got her all buckled into the strolled and we made it out of the driveway (and then turned back to shut the garage door because I have trust issues) and down into the park.  The skateboarders were skating and the birds were chirping and the sun was shining and it was just an all around lovely day.  And then, I saw it.  The swing set.  When we moved in, the park was just a walking path around a large field, a parking lot, a pavilion, and a skate park.  Then, about a week later, they broke ground for the swing set.  Now it has 4 fully functional swings, 2 of which are toddler-style.  And it is very popular.  But at this time of the afternoon, it was completely unoccupied.  Ellie's never ridden swings before (other than the infant swing that only *sometimes* put her to sleep), but she's a very active kid that *must* be in motion at all times, so I figured she would like it.  Boy is that an understatement.  I'm pretty sure she could live on the swings.  She didn't want to leave.  And she got mad if I didn't push her high enough.  I swear this kid is going to grow up to be a circus performer.  Anyway, after I finally pried her away from the swings, we did 2 laps around the park, checking out some wildlife and saying 'hi!' to every. single. person.

And you know what?  I actually enjoyed myself.  I *might* be persuaded to make it a daily thing.  I was in such a good mood for the rest of the evening.  And all I did was take a simple little walk.  Crazy how getting some fresh air can impact you so much!  Anyway, here are the long-awaited pictures of our walk and Ellie's newfound passion: swings.  Enjoy...

Hey mom, this is pretty fun!

Higher!  No, HIGHER!  Ok, that's good!

Sweet, some shades!  Now my eyes don't hurt!  Thanks, mom!

And now for a nature quiz! Tell me...

... Groundhog or Beaver??  We didn't get a glimpse of its tail, but it appeared to be coming up out of the creek.  Andy says it's a groundhog, but I think it's beaver.  What do you think??

And here's a pretty little birdie that we saw perched on one of the bird boxes along the trail...

... so pretty, right?!  Anybody know what kind of bird it is??

And we saw these when we got home...

... are they Tulips or Daffodils?  We have both, but I can't remember what is where.

And here's a bonus picture for those of you who have made it this far in the post!  While I was teaching lessons on Tuesday night, Andy needed to go out and pick up sticks, so he took Ellie out with him.  She settled in on the pavers by the pool and played with the rocks.  It turned out to be stinkin' adorable...

... right?!  I can't even handle the cuteness in this picture.  And look how green our grass is getting!  Promise, I didn't edit that picture at all, other than cropping it.

Ok, that's all the pictures I have for you today.  Stay tuned for some more pinterest reviews - if I can fit it in between all of our walks and swinging!