When my husband and I first got married we decided to not watch television for the first year–unless it was a movie we already owned. Strangely, the only movies we owned were Veggie Tales. Yup, college students who stocked up on Veggie Tales!

When we finally switched to DVDs, we continued to hoard Veggie Tales knowing one day we’d want our kids to watch them. I’ve recounted how sometimes the vegetables-dressed-as-famous-literary-characters-telling-Bible-stories can be confusing. But there is no denying the humor, the attraction AND the truth from God’s Word. And that is really what I want my kids to know.

When I went to the Dominican Republic with World Vision, some of the other people on the trip were from Veggie Tales and they told us a secret—that a new Veggie Tales show was coming out! A PRINCESS VEGGIE! We made them tell us all about it (include letting us hear the new music by Nichole Nordeman) and made them promise we could promote it on our blogs. Veggie Tales has the same mission as this blog–to give parents resources to show their kids God’s Word. How could I not love them?

Now, onto Sweetpea Beauty! (First of all, isn’t that title great?) This DVD is actually two stories: Snoodlerella’s Tale and Sweetpea Beauty.

Snoodlerella is a Cinderella-like story of an unattractive veggie that realizes her true beauty comes from her value to the King. The King values everything about her and that’s what makes her truly beautiful. Oh, that puts tears in my eyes! I want Lydia to understand her value is not wrapped up in her outer skin. I want her to see she is beautiful because God loves her!

Sweetpea Beauty is a Snow White, Sleeping Beauty kind of adventure. With a little Dorian Gray thrown in! Sweetpea Beauty is a pretty scallion (?) that sees God’s beauty everywhere–in everyone and everything. She teaches the Queen that true beauty is within. And she saves the kingdom, too of course!

My daughter Lydia is 4 years old and a princess movie is right up her alley. She watched it unblinking and then when it was done she listened to the CD three times in a row…while doing her own ballet princess worship dance to every song. I loved how quickly she responded to this true-beauty-princess.

Every truth in this video is exactly the message we want our girls (and boys) to hear. As kids are constantly being compared to peers and siblings, they can begin to focus on their outward beauty or their accomplishments. This movie reminds  them God loves them and values them–and that’s what makes them beautiful and lovely! Here’s the gorgeous theme song from Nichole Nordeman. You must listen! Wait! First go grab your kids and watch together!

*wiping tears* Isn’t that what you want the little princess in your life to hear? Would you like to win a Sweetpea Beauty DVD and CD for your little princess? Well, Veggie Tales is giving a set away to one of you today! To enter leave me a comment with your favorite Veggie Tales moment OR if you’ve been living under a rock and don’t watch Veggie Tales, you can tell me your favorite Princess. Or both. I’m not picky!

If you’d like an additional entry use twitter, facebook or your blog to post about this contest: http://bit.ly/VeggiePrincess and leave me a comment for each update.

And while you’re waiting to see if you won, here’s some printable freebies for you and your little princess: Sweet Pea’s True Beauty Guide and Sweet Pea’s Puzzles for Princesses!

I’ve been somewhat chronicling my 8 month journey to GET UP EARLY AND READ MY BIBLE on my personal blog. Yeah, it’s the same New Year’s Resolution I’ve had since I was 15. And finally, this year, I’ve figured it out. Well, I’m in the middle of figuring it out anyway.

The last few weeks, I’ve been reading my Bible daily. In my closet. Hey, what can I say? It’s the most quiet place in the house! I’m not doing a big Bible study. Just reading.  A few days into this new habit, Zondervan contacted me and asked if I’d be interested in reviewing a new Bible. Not a “new” Bible, really, just one with some new devotions and a new package. And oh, the packaging! It’s purple!!

This purple Bible is called the New Mom’s Prayer Bible. I’ve been a mom for 4 years but I consider myself a “new mom”…I mean, every single day is something new! I’ve never been the mom of a 4 and 1 year old. I don’t have any idea what I’m doing! I figured this Bible was perfect for me…and hoped it would be something great to share with you.

Besides the fact that it’s purple, what I really like about it is that the devotions are divided into time increments. So, if you have 1 minute, you read one scripture {that is printed, you don’t have to look it up} and one little paragraph of application. If you have 5 minutes, they suggest reading the scripture in context and praying. And if you have more time, there is a link (no, that’s not the right word…it’s just a page number that you can flip to…hmmm, these old-fashioned things called ‘books’!) for more scriptures that are appropriate to the topic.

The coolest part is that there is a one word idea to take with you for the rest of the day. There’s no pressure to remember history, or memorize a scripture. Just take one word with you. The first day was LIFE. Then FATHER. The third day is the one that has stuck with me the most: SANCTUARY.

As a stay-at-home mom, I’m used to having NO sanctuary. I don’t even get to take a shower without someone pressing their nose against the glass or sitting on the bathmat asking me to read a book. So, a sanctuary? A place to be alone? Quiet? Refreshed? Satisfied? That is attractive…and something I need.

The devotion began with Ezekiel 11:16, then pointed to 3 other scriptures (feel free to look them up if you have a sec): Psalm 22:9-11, Psalm 139:7-10 and Acts 17:26-28.

As I read all these verses I was deeply impressed with how intimate God desires to be with me and my life. I wrote this in my journal:

As a mother

Isolated

Alone.

Satisfy me with Your Presence.

Always Near.

Always Enough.

I really wasn’t trying to poetic. (Believe me, I know that’s not poetic!) It was just my shorthand for the themes that stood out in those passages. But it stood out to me like a big promise AND prayer. That even though my days may be isolated, my decisions misunderstood, my attitudes unreadable, my thoughts imperceptible—God is always near. Not just in a magisterial overlord position. But in a way that is Always Enough.

And for this new mom? It’s what I needed. A sanctuary with the One who is enough. A sanctuary in my closet with a purple Bible.

:: :: ::

Would you like to win a copy of this purple New Mom’s Bible from Zondervan? All you have to do is leave a comment with your favorite scripture {say John 3:16 if you can’t think of anything else} and I’ll pick one winner via random.org on Saturday.

If you’d like an additional entry update your twitter, facebook or blog with a link to this post: http://bit.ly/purpleBible then leave me a comment for each.

Thank you, Zondervan!

see my disclosure policy

I have been more than strict when it comes to movies and television with my kids. My 4 year old has seen about 3 Disney movies. Her favorite show is still Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Signing Time. My 1 year old could watch Boz every day and not get tired of it.

Last week my son spent the night with my parents by himself for the first time. It was a big deal and he had an absolute blast. My daughter was also excited about this. She kept saying, “I’m the only kid! I’m the only kid!” So, after we dropped my son off, we decided to go to a movie–complete with popcorn and m&m’s.

We chose Despicable Me. I was not planning on seeing it. I do not trust anyone other than {possibly} Disney to do a decent family movie. But I looked it up online and read a review that said Despicable Me had some really redeeming qualities and was actually worth the money. So. We went. And we all loved it.

Now, remember, I’m with a 4 year old girl. An innocent 4 year old girl. Not an 8 year old boy who imitates every noise and laughs at every silly face. There was definitely some bathroom humor–but no inappropriate innuendo. There was only one scene that made me feel “eeeh” and I know Lydia had NO idea what it was. {Those crazy yellow guys were sitting on top of a copy machine and copying themselves…}

The whole message of the movie is that parenting changes you. Or maybe that’s what I got out of it. It was just a sweet sweet story about family love and commitment. And it was really funny.

This is actually not a movie review post. What I want to tell you about is a few sites I visit when deciding if we are going to spend money on a movie. Get ready to bookmark!

Plugged In

This is my favorite because it comes from a Christian world-view. The reviews highlight Positive Elements, Spiritual Content, Violent Content, Rude/Profane Language, Drug & Alcohol Content and Other Negative Elements and a Conclusion. I like this because although they are not being specific with how many curse words show up, they explain and give their opinion on how this movie will affect you–your heart and your mind. I’m always encouraged and challenged after reading their reviews!

Kids In Mind

This is the one I use when I’m going out with a big group of people. You never know who’s going to be offended by what, or if you’ll feel embarrassed watching something with certain people. The reviews are rated on three 1-10 scales: Sex & Nudity, Violence & Gore and Profanity. Then you can read specifics about why they rated them this way—they give specifics without giving away the story or making you read something offensive.

This is awesome because you can just glance at the movie and know if you want to see it or not–if a movie comes up 8-5-7, I’m not going to see it! AND! They have an iPhone app!

Screen It

This is the first review site I ever found about 10 years ago. It is probably the most comprehensive site. It gives a brief summary like so:

Then you can click through to all these sections to see specifics on each one. Specifics. And spoilers. So beware.

Parent Previews

I just found this one while researching for this post. I like it already! It’s easy to read, has a good rundown of the movies and it’s problem areas. Then it gives suggestions for movie alternatives! What a great idea! So your kids want to see Despicable Me but you think it’s inappropriate? Parent Previews suggests Monster’s Inc., A Little Princess or Annie instead! Great idea, right?

Before you see your next movie and then kick yourself all the way home (or back to your mailbox Netflix in hand) check out one of these sites and save your kids’ hearts and minds!

linked to We are THAT Family’s Works for Me Wednesday

I am bored of moral tales. When I let my kids watch TV, I rarely choose shows about “being kind” or “telling the truth”. If the world is going to teach my kids something, I’d rather it be ABCs and 123s. The same goes for books. Modern books that teach a moral remind me of a formula sitcom. Is it just me?

This week at the library I followed my own advice and searched the card catalog by Christian publisher’s names. And I stumbled upon a set of books that I had forgotten about–Janette Oke’s Animal Friends. If you’ve been around Christian publishing for any amount of time you know Janette Oke. She was one of the first Christian fiction romance authors and I read most of her books throughout middle school and beyond!

The Animal Friends books are short chapter books (about 80 pages) that focus on a different young animal and a problem it’s having in it’s family. The first one I read was Prairie Dog Town by Janette Oke. Flick, a little prairie dog learns a lesson in obeying his parents and the dangers that come when he refuses. Today, we read 4 chapters from Pordy’s Prickly Problem by Janette Oke over lunch. Pordy is a fearful little porcupine that learns to be brave with her mother’s help.

I like these books for several reasons:

1. Chapter book. I think kids should always be listening to books “too old” for them. So, if your child is a pre-reader like mine, this is still a good book for them to listen to. And I think books that take a few days to read are more apt to settle in your thoughts and heart.

2. Animals. Kids love animals. And little “kid” animals are even more fun. I actually learned something from the porcupine book today. Did you know porcupines are born in a nest on the ground but live in trees as adults? Maybe that’s common knowledge but I sure didn’t know it!

3. Christian Perspective. It’s a moral tale–but from a decidedly Christian perspective. I am sometimes slightly turned off by secular books that teach moral tales with a “embrace the universe/energy” or “look in yourself” mentality. Although there was no scripture or even the word “God”, the 2 books we’ve read from this series had a big nod to practical Christain thoughts–obeying your parents, recognizing authority, putting others before your desires, and more.

I’ve recently decided to read to the kids during lunch and I think we might just try to make it through all the Animal Friends books!

Which moral-tale books do you read to our children?

It’s a fairly simple craft. All you need is a stick of some sort (we used old paint sticks) and some leftover ribbons (I save them from everything!). I glued, stapled and tied them to the end of the stick. The other end was held tightly by my kids. And suddenly they were not so simple anymore. They were beautiful birds of paradise dancing and twirling before the Lord.

I know it sounds dramatic. But we were in fact imitating Birds of Paradise! I just got a spectacular book for review called, Creation Inspirations by Cheryl Pickett. It’s basically a devotional book with each chapter focusing on a different animal. The chapter begins with some basic animal info–what they eat, where they live and what they look like.

But the next section is the cool part. It’s called “A New View” and is a devotional related to the animal. I read through several (no, not all, but several!) and was impressed by the creativity of the connections to God. (I read the panda and hippo chapter first and thought, “Wow. I should do this devotional for myself!”)

Each chapter ends with an activity, snack or craft that relates to the animal, the scripture or the devotional. After a quick read through of the book, I was excited to share it with Lydia and Asa!

We chose the Bird of Paradise chapter and loved it! Birds of Paradise are GORGEOUS birds found mainly in Papua New Guinea. These birds are amazing creations–they have long feathers and a myriad of colors. But the most fun part is that the males DANCE to show off to the female birds. Really. Dance.

The devotional section about Birds of Paradise gave a great description of the real and ultimate paradise–heaven. It ended with an encouragement to remember that whoever believes in God will be in paradise with Him forever…based on Luke 23:42-43, “Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ Jesus answered him, ‘I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.’” Lydia and I got to have a great conversation about Heaven and the thief on the cross (to whom Jesus said this verse.).

Then it was time to make our ribbon sticks. And you can see from the pictures that the kids loved it. After reading the chapter, looking up Birds of Paradise on National Geographic and even listening to their calls online, making their own ribbon sticks to mimic the Birds of Paradise beautiful plumes, my kids were ready to spread their proverbial wings! Per the instructions in the book, I turned on a CD (Seeds of Praise) and the kids danced and raised their hands and ribbons to God for the entire length of the CD.

I am absolutely impressed with this book. I love the whole idea–taking an animal and making a God-connection out of it. That’s really what I try to do with my kids all the time—take a normal every day item or event and teach them about God. Please check out Cheryl Pickett’s Creation Inspiration blog/website and take a minute to order Creation Inspirations.

This book would work for kids of all ages–your older kids will enjoy some of the activities that involve writing, cooking and more. But everyone will enjoy the teaching, the activities and the encouragement from God’s Word! They will in fact, be INSPIRED by God’s great CREATION!

me, my sponsored child and her mother

Ever since I saw this Sponsored Child Lapbook, I have wanted to do some activities that relate to the locale of our sponsored children. We sponsor 2 children in Burkina Faso, Africa through Compassion International and one girl in the Dominican Republic through World Vision. (<—link to my trip with World Vision)

I’ve found a few books at the library about the Dominican. And just one that mentioned Burkina Faso. Burkina Faso is not the popular African country that Rwanda and Kenya are. (If you are looking for books about Kenya, Vanessa has some great suggestions!) Now I’m basically trying to pick up any book that shows the WHOLE WORLD. I want my kids to see they are not the only ones on the planet.

This week I found a seek-and-find, where’s-waldo type book called, Gigi and Zachary’s Around-the-World Adventure. There are fun illustrations of Gigi the Giraffe and Zachary the Zebra traveling all over the world. On the bottom of each page are words to search for. Obviously my kids are too young too read, but I can read them and then we can search for them together. The best part is they don’t know what all the words mean so we’re learning lots of new vocab and culture! The Indonesian page had us looking for “a hornbill, house on pilings and a sarong”  while the Istanbul picture showed us “mosque, quay and macaw”.

Asa and I looked at this book for a good 20 minutes when we first got it home. When Lydia and I sat down to look at it, it was perfect because the first page is Africa so we got to talk about our kids, Alizeta and David–and imagine them in the same scene!

I’m praying books like these will remind my kids that not only did God create the world but that He loves everyone on the planet and sent His son to die for them (John 3:16)!

Now, I’m on a mission to find more books like this–maybe even a fun atlas or two. What all-around-the-world books do you and your children like?

linked to Feed Me Books Friday at Little Sprout Books

I love the idea of a birthday box—a special box full of birthday books that you only pull out once a year. I first heard of this idea from Vanessa (my irl friend and awesome contributor here on IYK) and she has some awesome birthday book suggestions on her blog.

My son’s birthday is coming up and I’ve started collecting some birthday books for him. (OK, mainly just the ones we already own.) One of my favorite birthday books is a little I Can Read Book called, Happy Birthday Barnabas by Royden Lepp.

It’s the story of a little bear who sees his forest friends walk by with cupcakes, crayons and other “suspicious” items. Finally, he follows them to see they’ve set up a party just for him! Barnabas is so happy he stops and leads his friends in a prayer, “Thank you God for birthdays, cupcakes and tea time with friends.” (<—sorry about that big spoiler!)

It’s a simple little book but I love the sweetness of it! I had pictured the author/illustrator, Royden Lepp to be a grandfatherly man who sipped tea while sketching in front of his fireplace. Instead, (after I googled him today) I discovered he is a man with eclectic interests–including photographing reptiles and drawing realistic warrior images from the Bible. Very cool. I just love the extremes of this fuzzy little Barnabas and a drawing of a scary looking Goliath. (Really, check out his blog to see his portfolio!)

There are several Barnabas books in the series—in each one, it looks like Barnabas is always looking for a way (and finds it) to praise God. The name Barnabas means “encourager”. So, maybe that’s the reason for these books? To encourage kids? To show how easy it is to encourage yourself by thanking God for his blessings? Regardless, they are fun books your kids will love!

Do you have any good birthday books to share?

Our Shoes2Share linky goes live on MONDAY. Don’t forget to collect some shoes (even from your own closets). Let’s see how many shoes the Impress Your Kids community can collect!

linked to Feed Me Book Friday

I’m a big fan of kids’ music. I know, some of you think it’s akin to fingernails on a chalkboard. But I like it. It keeps my kids actual KIDS longer. And most of the Christian kids music is filled with scripture. So, to have my kids running around singing scripture? Well, I can’t think of any music I like better than that!

One of my favorite artists is actually a good friend of mine, Yancy. She’s released several mainstream adult contemporary radio kinda music. But recently she’s jumped head first into kids’ music. Rock-N-Happy Heart is for the tweens in your life. Praise Party: My Best Friend is her preschool album. And we listen (and dance) to both of them regularly!

Lydia loves loves loves the preschool album. But I have to admit she feels kinda cool when we listen to “Aunt Yancy’s big kid cd!”. Here’s the thing about Yancy, she’s not just a performer. She’s not just a girl who likes to sing. She’s really  not just someone who wants to sing about Jesus. Yancy wants KIDS to know and follow Jesus from their earliest years. She is a Children’s Pastor’s kid and has grown up in the church–loving and being a part of singing songs to Jesus.

Yancy just released a devotional to go along with her Rock N Happy Heart CD. It is a very cool (very detailed!) book that gives a full week of devotions for each song on the album! There’s tons of scripture, personal stories and some pencil/pen activities. I got it out this week to do one of the devotionals with Lydia. It was definitely too old for her but I think we made it work nicely.

Lydia’s favorite song is “Paid In Full“. Here are some of the lyrics:

C’mon, c’mon I need to testify
How Jesus has come, He changed my life
Healed my broken heart from being lost
Took my hurts and scars at the cross
These things take zero cash
Like a fairytale this love will last

Sickness don’t bother me
Jesus was bruised for me
and now it’s I have a friend who really believes in me
Lonely days are gone Jesus is there for me
If life starts to crumble, push or pull
I have no fear cause Jesus paid in full

Every little thing’s been paid in full
Jesus paid it all, it’s paid in full
I’m forgiven and free I’ve been made whole
Jesus paid it all, it’s paid in full

What a powerful message for a little girl to sing! Whew, it brings tears to my eyes! But it’s a big idea. Yancy gives some great teaching and breaks it down nicely for kids. She starts off  the “Paid in Full” week of devotions with 2 questions:

1. What if you were at a shoe store and someone told you you had to pay for every single shoe in the store and not one of them was for you?

2. What if you picked out several outfits and someone secretly paid for all of them?

How would you feel? I asked Lydia these questions and she thought it was SO funny to pay for all the shoes in a store! We tried to follow the directions in the devotional and draw her favorite shoe. It didn’t quite turn out right…but Asa even got in on it and they had fun.

As they drew I told them that the first question is what happened to Jesus. He had to pay for ALL of our sin, even thought it wasn’t his. The second question is what happened to us–Jesus paid for all of our sin and we didn’t even ask or deserve it.

To help us remember these shoe stories and the verse Yancy put with it, we made some little footprints. I traced Lydia’s (bare) feet and she said, “Mommy. This story is about shoes. I need to have shoes on.” Oh well! Then I wrote the verse on several other pieces of paper.

We put them in order and began to memorize Romans 6:23:

The important words I wanted her to learn were SIN, DEATH, GIFT and ETERNAL LIFE. So, I wrote those on the foot cutouts and the rest of the words on rectangles. We put them in a long line, then rearranged them into little square and then finally we made a poster of them.

Lydia didn’t memorize the whole thing that day (I didn’t really push her, either) but she definitly got the four key words down pat. Those simple ideas coupled with the devotional and her favorite song is a huge seed planted in my daughter’s heart. I honestly look forward to the day in her future when this song and scripture pop into her head. Rather, when the Holy Spirit brings it back to her remembrance!

And hey–it gets even better! Yancy has offered to give away TWO copies of both the CD and the new devotional book! For a chance to win one set, leave me a comment with your favorite kids’ CD (Christian or not) and I’ll announce the winners on our Saturday fyi@iyk post!

If you’d like an additional entry, leave a separate comment if you do any of the following:

1. Tweet the following: I want some rockin’ kids’ music from @yancynotnancy and @impressyourkids! http://bit.ly/rockinheart

2. Follow and/or like Yancy on facebook and twitter.

3. Post some other place (tumblr, your blog, facebook status, etc.) about this post with a link: http://bit.ly/rockinheart

But even if you don’t win, will you poke around Yancy’s website? Get to know her? Buy her CDs & books? I promise you WILL have a rockin’ happy heart!

You’ve heard people say it and you’ve probably said it yourself, “When I’m a parent, my kids will never do so-and-so.” And if you said it, you really believed it. I was a Children’s Pastor for several years and I said that sentence so many times it’s embarrassing! I have always been able to clearly see why and how parents were missing the mark with their kids. The problem is, I don’t think you can always see those same mistakes in yourself. Or maybe it’s just harder to discipline the little darlings that are your own flesh and blood.

These past few weeks and months I have felt like I am the worst parent in the world. And I do not say that as hyperbole. All the roads I thought were leading to obedience and responsiveness in my children were doing the exact opposite.

I finally picked up a recording of a radio interview with Dr. Kevin Leman based on his book, Have a New Kid by Friday. The second I was finished with the CD,  I gave it to my husband and made him listen to it. Then I borrowed the book from the library and read it in one day.

Cover via Amazon

I started to put these ideas into practice in our home and I have already seen a huge difference. My kids are more responsive, I feel more in control and the underlying struggle, drama and emotion has been diminished. Dr. Leman’s main idea is “reality discipline”. It’s letting your actions speak louder than your warnings, spankings and lectures.

I was just going to share one or two of my favorite tips from Dr. Leman’s book but as I was writing the post got to be so long, I thought it might be fun to do a play-by-play of the book. Then we could unpack one chapter each day…just like the book suggests. What do you think? Wanna play?

Next Monday, July 19th we’ll start a week long series tackling some of the issues in Dr. Leman’s book. I’ll give you some of my favorite parts. Then we can discuss in our forum how this practically works for our families.

If you’d like to get the book before we start discussing it, I found it at the Family Christian Store this weekend for only $5. (On their website, too!) The audio is only $7.98 on ChristianAudio.com. Or you can always try the library, that’s where I read it to begin with!

I’m looking forward to talking to you about this. Parenting is not for the weak. And it’s certainly not for the solitary. I need people to help me and I’d love to talk with you about this book and these principles!

photo by mdany

Vanessa is a regular contributor to Impress Your Kids. She is a stay-at-home mom to an energetic three-year-old, Juliet. They spend their days together reading books, attempting crafts, and occasionally beating tree trunks with large sticks. You can read more about their adventures at Silly Eagle Books

Amanda asked me if I had any good camp books to share with you this week, and the only ones I could think of were these songbooks that we found a few months ago. I love using songbooks instead of story books from time to time and was thrilled to discover these Camp Song books at our library.

I spent many a summer at camp learning all those classic songs like Found a Peanut, Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee, and Make New Friends. Juliet had a blast learning these song and I had fun reliving my camp days. There’s something about songs that really bring back memories, isn’t there?

While I’m not interested in getting a real campfire going, we had some imaginary play by making our own pretend campfire in our living room. You can read more about how we made it using scraps of paper, river rocks, and twigs on Silly Eagle Books. It was fun and easy and the kitty cat LOVED it. It was the perfect place to sit next to and sing our camp songs together.

We also made some pretend paper marshmallows, but next time I think we’ll use the real ones. They’re more fun to eat!

What camps songs do you remember from your childhood?