Sharing Saturday 17-6

It is time for Sharing Saturday!! This is a link party to share all of your child-oriented crafts, crafts made for kids, activities and lessons as well as your parenting and/or teaching posts.

On Sunday night we also host Crafty Weekends for all your crafts (done by any age), patterns, and craft product reviews! It is the perfect place to share your creative side!! And for all of your cultural posts come share them at the monthly Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop.

Thank you to everyone who shared with us at our last party! It was another great party and there were some amazing ideas shared. Our features are just a sampling of them so if you haven't checked them all out, you should! This week we have three groups of features: Current Events, Parenting, and Lessons & More Features.

Sharing Saturday 16-46

Wow, it is already November!! This fall is flying by. It is time for Sharing Saturday!! This is a link party to share all of your child-oriented crafts, crafts made for kids, activities and lessons as well as your parenting and/or teaching posts. On Sunday night we also host Crafty Weekends for all your crafts (done by any age), patterns, and craft product reviews! It is the perfect place to share your creative side!! And for all of your cultural posts come share them at the monthly Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop. 

Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week! I always love seeing what everyone has been up to and your creative ideas!! Our features are just a sampling of them so if you haven't checked them all out, you should! This week we have two groups of features: Parenting & Lessons and Fall Features.

Sharing Saturday 16-42

It is time for Sharing Saturday!! This is a link party to share all of your child-oriented crafts, crafts made for kids, activities and lessons as well as your parenting and/or teaching posts. On Sunday night we also host Crafty Weekends for all your crafts (done by any age), patterns, and craft product reviews! It is the perfect place to share your creative side!! And for all of your cultural posts come share them at the monthly Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop (a new one starts Sunday morning). 

Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week! It was a small party, but I always love seeing what everyone has been up to and your creative ideas!! Our features are just a sampling of them so if you haven't checked them all out, you should! This week we have two groups of features: Fall and Parenting!

Color With Me, Mom! -- A Relaxing Friday Review

Disclosure: I was sent this book to review free of charge from Quarto Books USA. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

Now I have mentioned how Hazel loves to color in my "adult" coloring books previously, so when I saw Color With Me, Mom! by Jasmine Narayan and illustrated by Hannah Davies I was intrigued. After all a book for both of us to color together sounds great!! Then we both can get the benefit of time together and the meditative quality of coloring. This book however is so much more!!

Books with Life Lessons

Disclosure: I was sent these products free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As always I am providing links to the book for your convenience.

Don't you love when a picture book has an underlying message? I do. Today I am going to share with you four new books that have different lessons in them. The first is Pablo and His Chair by Delphine Perret.  

Sharing Saturday 16-29

Reminder: This link party is for child-oriented crafts and activities and parenting/teaching posts!! 

It is time for Sharing Saturday!! This is a link party to share all of your child-oriented crafts,crafts made for kids, activities and lessons as well as your parenting and/or teaching posts. On Sunday night we also host Crafty Weekends for all your crafts (done by any age), patterns, and craft product reviews! It is the perfect place to share your creative side!! And for all of your cultural posts come share them at the monthly Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop. 

Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week! I always love seeing what everyone has been up to and your creative ideas!! Our features are just a sampling of them so if you haven't checked them all out, you should! This week the features include Parenting, Summer, and Crafts.

Sharing Saturday 16-27

Reminder: This link party is for child-oriented crafts and activities and parenting/teaching posts!! 

It is time for Sharing Saturday!! This is a link party to share all of your child-oriented crafts,crafts made for kids, activities and lessons as well as your parenting and/or teaching posts. On Sunday night we also host Crafty Weekends for all your crafts (done by any age), patterns, and craft product reviews! It is the perfect place to share your creative side!! And for all of your cultural posts come share them at the monthly Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop. 

Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week! I always love seeing what everyone has been up to and your creative ideas!! Our features are just a sampling of them so if you haven't checked them all out, you should! This week we have butterfly and bird features and activities, books and snack features.  Enjoy!! Now I will admit I have been a bit on vacation from here. I spent the long weekend with my parents and have had a bit of a crazy week. However here are some fun pictures from the fireworks we saw last weekend!!

What the Fun?! -- A Book Review

Have you entered my current giveaway for a custom canvas print?

Disclosure: Penguin Random House Books gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

What do you really want for your children? One of the most important things to me is for Hazel to be happy and healthy. Well the best way to help that to happen is to create more fun in your family's life and Donna Bozzo has over 400 simple ideas to help you do this in What the Fun?! 

Sharing Saturday 16-14

Reminder: This link party is for child-oriented crafts and activities and parenting/teaching posts!! 

It is time for Sharing Saturday!! This is a link party to share all of your child-oriented crafts,crafts made for kids, activities and lessons as well as your parenting and/or teaching posts. On Sunday night we also host Crafty Weekends for all your crafts (done by any age), patterns, and craft product reviews! It is the perfect place to share your creative side!! And the Creative Kids Cultural Blog Hop lasts all month for anything cultural or diversity posts and a new one just started last Sunday morning!! Be sure to join us at it!!

Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week! I always love seeing what everyone has been up to and your creative ideas!! Our features are just a sampling of them so if you haven't checked them all out, you should! This week our features are Parenting Features, Educational Activity Features, Book Features and Arts & Crafts Features.

Animals Help Deliver Important Messages: Would a Worm Go on a Walk? & Busy, Busy First Look Reviews

Disclosure: I was sent these books to review free of charge from Worthy Ideals. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

Today I get to share with you two new books that use animals to deliver important messages to children. The first book is a religious book that delivers the message that God created animals to do what they do and His masterpiece is you. The second book's message is that no matter how busy a mother is she always has time for a snuggle with her child. 

Would a Worm Go on a Walk? by Hannah C. Hall and illustrated by Bill Bolton is a picture book that has animals doing funny things like the worm on the cover walking with sneakers.

Beyond the Tiger Mom -- Book Review with Math Lessons & Free Printables

 Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation. 

As a parent I want to make the best choices for Hazel and I am sure you feel the same way about your own children. With all the mixed messages out there it can be hard. There are the studies that say our children need more free play time and then there are the messages that our kids need to be doing academics more. I had a conversation with a fellow parent of one of the boys in Hazel's class that expressed concern about the school not stressing the academics enough. I was a little shocked because in my opinion it was stressing them too much at such a young age. But this mom has five children with the boy in Hazel's class being the youngest and she told me her older children (who started at a different Christian school that has since closed) had a better foundation in math than our kids are getting. She even talked about the Asian families in Singapore and having to compete with them. It does make one wonder what is being done differently in Singapore, Asia and in Asian American families that often put their kids in the top positions in math and science classes. 

Sharing Saturday 15-45

Thank you to everyone who shared last week!! We had a good number of amazing ideas shared!  Remember the features are just a sampling of the things shared so if you did not get a chance to check them all out, go back and be inspired! This week's features' themes are Autumn, Holidays, and Parenting. Also a side note  I host another link party on Saturday night for crafts for any age person called Crafty Weekends. If you are sharing a craft (especially a non-child craft) this is the best place to do it with some fun features from the previous week!! A new one will be tomorrow night. Stop by to share your crafts, patterns, reviews of craft books, etc.

Sharing Saturday 14-43

Thank you to everyone who shared last week!! There were so many great ideas shared once again!  Remember the features are just a sampling of the things shared so if you did not get a chance to check them all out, go back and be inspired! This week's features' themes are Halloween (to make sure you are ready), Autumn, and Parenting/Educational. Also a side note that last week I started another link party on Saturday night for crafts for any age person called Crafty Weekends. If you are sharing a craft (especially a non-child craft) this is the best place to do it with some fun features from the previous week!! Our third party will be tomorrow night. Stop by to share your crafts, patterns, reviews of craft books, etc. And don't forget to share all things pumpkins (crafts, recipes, lessons, etc.) at my Pumpkin Link Party!

How The Very Worried Sparrow by Meryl Doney Is Helping Me Raise My Sensitive Child

I have 2 current giveaways!! One for an Origami Toy Monsters Book & Kit (ends tonight!!) and the other for 2 DVDs.

 Disclosure: Kregel Publications sent me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

As I have mentioned previously Hazel is very sensitive and easily frightened. She is always anxious and wants to please everyone around her but she worries about doing it. With Halloween fast approaching her anxiety shows up much more. Around the end of August we went into a store that sells many holiday decorations including the owns for lawns. Hazel had nightmares for a few days after that visit, because of the Halloween decorations they were selling. She is even talking about not going to our next door neighbor's house when trick-or-treating even though she loves their fourteen-year-old daughter and always wants to see her, but they have put out their Halloween decorations and she is scared of them. She had a bad dream about some of the things like the giant spider and the witch being at her school playground during recess and the teachers not seeing them right away. At some point Halloween seems to have become almost an adult holiday and the adults are trying their best to scare each other and in return scare the younger children. 

Parenting Resource Book to Help Discuss Sexual Abuse and Have a Plan

Today I am going to share a book I found recently. Now I do not remember where I saw it and cannot find the original place I saw it in the last month, but this is a must read to your young children. The book is I Said No!: A Kid-to-Kid Guide to Keeping Private Parts Private by Zack and Kimberly King. This book came about after Zack and his sister slept over their best friends' house while their mother dealt with an emergency with the baby. The house was right next door and they had known the neighbors for years. Zack was in kindergarten. Yes, in kindergarten like Hazel. Zack's best friend tried to get Zack to show him his private parts and also tried to get Zack to touch the friend's privates. He used bribery, peer pressure, and threatened to not be his friend anymore to get what he wanted. Zack told the mother and she told them to go to bed. He told his sister and she talked to the mother and again he was sent into the room with the boy. He eventually came up with the solution of staying in the bathroom and telling them he was sick to his stomach. Kimberly is a kindergarten teacher and thought she had prepared her children for any situation they might find themselves in, but she had not expected a kindergartener to use bribery, threats and such. Writing this book together helped the family heal and be able to move past this horrible experience. It is also written as five-year-old Zack is talking to the child reading it. It is very powerful.

Sharing Saturday 15-20

Thank  you to everyone who shared last week!! There were a few less than usual, but we still have some great features! This week they are not labeled like they usually are. Enjoy!! Be sure to go back to last week's party to see even more great ideas.

Sharing Saturday 15-12

Happy Spring! Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week and a very special thank you to all who took time to be inspired by what others shared! Once again I feel there were so many amazing ideas shared. As spring begins here, there is a light snow flurry. I am so ready for spring and no more snow!!  For features this week we have Spring Holidays, Spring, and a few of my favorites.

Mother's Day: Taking Time to Reflect on Being a Mother

Lately I have been reading a couple of parenting books recommended by fellow bloggers and it has made me really evaluate what kind of mom do I want to be. It has also made me really think about my goals and dreams for Hazel. So for Mother's Day I thought I would share this with you as well as some of the things Hazel has made for me this year. First the books. The first book was recommended by Giselle from Kids Yoga Stories and it is Raising Your Spirited Child: A Guide for Parents Whose Child Is More Intense, Sensitive, Perceptive, Persistent, and Energetic by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka.

Autism Awareness--Guest Blogger

Today I am going to do something I never do! I am having a guest blogger! My good friend is going to talk to you about her own experience of discovering and coping with her son's autism. My friend's son often plays differently than other children his age.  One of the unique things he does involves lining items or toys up, something that is common in children with Autism.  The pictures below depict some of his "creations" that my friend has randomly stumbled upon throughout the house. Now my friend is an wonderful mother and person and I am always so amazed with how she deals with what life has thrown her way and she does it with grace and style. So without further ado, here is my first guest blogger post. 

Sharing Saturday 13-43

Have you entered my current giveaway yet?

Thank you to all who shared with us last week and to everyone who visited. I once again did not get to visit everyone's. As you can tell, I'm posting this late. It has been a crazy week. However the ones I did check out were amazing!! Here are a few of my favorites.

1) From Teach Beside Me: Bubble Science-Square Bubbles

2) From Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom: Free Long Sleeved Peasant Dress Pattern

3) From We Made That: Acorn Necklace

4) From Makeovers & Motherhood: Thankfulness Trees

5) From Enchanted Homeschooling Mom: Poppin Book Nook The Reasons for the Seasons

6) From Crafting Connections: Less is More & Little Ones

7) From Makeovers & Motherhood: Twelve Things Your Child's Kindergarten Teacher Will Tell You


Thank you to everyone who shared last week!! I hope you will join us and share again!! If you are featured here, please feel free to grab a featured button to display proudly on your blog. 

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From Your Hostess:
This week we shared our special events coming this November, a Cinderella tale from Thailand, a review of Christmas craft kits from Oriental Trading, information on the Little Pim Giveaway, a review and giveaway of The Snowman and the Snowdog DVD, and some information on the Greater Flamingo.

Make sure you enter my current giveaway!! 

The prize is a wonderful, heartfelt DVD!

Now for This Week's Party  
A Few Simple Guidelines:
1)  Please follow Crafty Moms Share via GFC (or one of the other ways that work for you).  

2)  Link any kid-friendly, child-centered post. Please no etsy shops or giveaways, etc.  Remember to link to your actual post. 

3) Post the newly updated button on your sidebar or somewhere on your blog to help spread the word.

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 Disclaimer: By sharing here, you are giving Crafty Moms Share permission to use your photos for features and to pin your craft at Pinterest.