The Time Chamber -- New Year Resolution Review #4

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.

On Monday I started a new series for this week: New Year Resolutions Review. My first goal for 2016 is to work with Hazel more regularly on her Spanish. My second goal was to find joy in my every day life. My third goal is to grow closer to Jesus. My fourth goal (and these are in no particular order) is to find time to relax. The product I am choosing to review today to help with my relaxation is an adult coloring book called The Time Chamber by Daria Song. Now this book is the second book and the first is The Time Garden, the first adult coloring book I reviewed. 

The Imitation of Christ -- New Year Resolution Review

Disclosure: I was sent this book to review free of charge from Worthy Inspired. 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.

On Monday I started a new series for this week: New Year Resolutions Review. My first goal for 2016 is to work with Hazel more regularly on her Spanish. My second goal was to find joy in my every day life. Today I share my third goal (which these are in no particular order for my goals). Today's goal is to grow closer to Jesus. The book to help me do this is The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis and compiled and edited by James N. Watkins. 

Joy In Every Moment: Mindful Exercises -- New Year Resolution Review #2

Disclosure: I was sent this book to review free of charge from Storey Publishing. 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.

On Monday, I introduced my New Year Resolution/Goal Review Series. Today I am sharing my second resolution which is to find joy in my everyday life and happiness with what I have. Storey Publishing sent me the perfect book to help me succeed with this goal for 2016: Joy in Every Moment by Tzvia Gover. 

DIY Wild Kratts Themed Birthday Party -- Product Review

Disclosure: I was sent these items to review free of charge from Oriental Trading. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to the products for your convenience but do not receive anything if you buy from them.

I have been promising a post about our Wild Kratts themed birthday party and here it is. The rest of the week I will be doing posts on New Year Resolutions and products that are helping with mine. But with New Year's come Hazel's birthday party. It is always over Christmas vacation, but this year we decided to have her party with her school friends after the vacation and we discovered many more people come when it is not on vacation!! But first our invitation.

Foreign Language for Kids by Kids -- New Year Resolution Review

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links where I will receive a small commission if you purchase through them at no cost to you. I was given access to Foreign Language for Kids by Kids programs for six months free of charge in exchange of writing honest reviews. All opinions in this post are my own. 

Do you make new year resolutions? I often do not or should I say I pretend to but never keep them. Now that it is over a week past New Year's Day, I have time to think about what I want 2016 to really look like. This week I am going to share with you some of the products that are helping me with some of my resolutions or let's say desires for the new year. 

Resolution #1

The first resolution is to work more consistently with Hazel on her Spanish. Back in September we shared a new program that we are trying. I had big hopes but first grade brought things like homework and exhaustion. But now that it is January my goal for us is to do the lessons at least four times a week. 

Creative Kids Complete Photo Guide to Knitting -- Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party

Disclosure: I was sent these books 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.

This week flew by and somehow I ended up very behind this weekend. So Crafty Weekends is starting later than usual. Though I am thinking it might be a better time since I have noticed people getting confused by Sharing Saturday and Crafty Weekends. What do you think? I would love to hear. This week we have been very busy crafting and decorating for Hazel's Wild Kratts themed birthday party which was today (and thus why I didn't pull it together to write the post before now). With many things to share about the party I thought I would give you a preview with this picture.

I am rather proud of my paper pom pom monkey head. As Hazel's party grew closer Hazel ended up staying home sick for two days. I took her to the doctor's office the first day to ensure she would be better for the party (after all we had ten of her friends coming this year). Luckily the antibiotics helped get rid of the fever and worst of the symptoms so she was able to have the party. On the second day she started getting her energy back and wanted to be entertained. We pulled out Creative Kids Complete Photo Guide to Knitting by Mary Scott Huff. 

Sharing Saturday 16-2

Last week we had our first party of 2016!! Many shared their best of 2015 round-ups and such!! Our features are just a sampling of the wonderful things shared, so if you haven't checked out the rest you should!! The features for this week include January/Winter Features, Parenting/Family Features and Educational Features. I have also host a craft link party (the crafts just have to be family appropriate and not necessarily kid related) and it is a place to share crafts, reviews of patterns, craft books, etc. and patterns. I hope you will come check it out tomorrow.  This month's Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop is still open for a couple more days for all your posts that are culture (multicultural) related!

Winter's Child -- Book Review

Disclosure: Candlewick Press gave me a copy of this book free of charge to 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.

December was unusually warm here. In fact my nephew slept outside Christmas night in his new hammock with a couple of quilts. My nephew does not use the air conditioner up here in the summer since he is use to North Carolina weather. However winter began to show itself the week after Christmas and hasn't really stopped. Today's book is perfect for this time of year (and really was perfect for last year with our snow). Winter's Child by Angela McAllister and illustrated by Grahame Baker-Smith is about a young boy named Tom. 

I Am Martin Luther King, Jr. -- Book Review and Martin Luther King Day for Kids Series

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.

Today I am writing about a new book in the Ordinary People Who Changed the World Series by Brad Meltzer. It goes on sale today!! And in perfect timing it is also my post for the Multicultural Kid Blogs Martin Luther King Day for Kids Series. I am Martin Luther King, Jr. by Brad Meltzer and illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos brings the life, teachings, and beliefs of Martin Luther King, Jr. to kids in a fun way. 

Shi-shi-etko -- Book Review and Native Residential Schools

Disclosure: Groundwood 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.

Imagine being a young girl and being forced to go away from your home and family to go to a boarding school. You have never left your neighborhood, but if you do not go your parents will be arrested. At the school they will not let you keep your name, religion or language. They will try to take away everything about your culture in your life. This is how life was for many Native Americans from around 1876 until the 1990's. Shi-shi-etko by Nicola I. Campbell and illustrated by Kim LaFave tells such a story about a young Native American girl named Shi-shi-etko. 

Exploring Tonga -- Global Learning for Kids

In December Global Learning for Kids explored Tonga. I have to admit I had not heard of Tonga (and didn't vote for it). I turned to the library to find some information to share with Hazel. However the only children's books that showed up with Tonga in them had to do with Africa and not Oceania, which I knew was our focus. I then looked at the adult books (because I was desperate to find something, anything on this little country). The adult books were slim pickings as well, but here is what I found. (Recently I searched for Queen Salote since one of the books was about her and found one children's book with her in it so I'm going to get it tomorrow so I can at least share about the country's most famous queen.)

Origami Zoo Kit -- Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party

So Hazel's birthday was last week. We had a fun ducky themed party for family and a few friends. And we will be having a Wild Kratts themed party for her school friends. You will be seeing some posts about that party this week and next! However Ann at Tuttle Publishing sent Hazel a gift this year. It was one of the first gifts she got this year!

Sharing Saturday 16-1

Wishing you and your family a happy and healthy 2016!!

We have had a fun two week party with many great ideas shared!! Last week I featured a few of the Christmas themed posts and the party continued.  This week will be more general posts from both weeks. Our features are just a sampling of the wonderful things shared, so if you haven't checked out the rest you should!! The features for this week include Christmas Math & Science, Christmas Crafts, Holiday Lessons, and a few favorites. I have also started a new craft link party (the crafts just have to be family appropriate and not necessarily kid related) and it is a place to share crafts, reviews of patterns, craft books, etc. and patterns. I hope you will come check it out tomorrow.  Sunday will be the beginning of this month's Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop for all your posts that are culture (multicultural) related!

Ducky Themed Birthday Party

This week we are getting ready for Hazel's birthday. Our tradition is to do a family/mostly adult party for Hazel on her birthday and then have a bigger kid oriented one later with her school friends since her birthday is always over Christmas break. This year she wanted her family party to have a ducky theme. I thought this would be easy. I had bought some duck printable paper ages ago so I used it for the invitations. I found a few cute ideas for wording on-line and combined the parts I liked.

Learning about the Inuit with Books: Alego and Arctic Adventures -- Book Reviews

Disclosure: Groundwood Books gave me copies of these books 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.

Today I am going to share with you two beautiful books that teach about the Inuit culture. This winter we have had a very warm December, however today the chill was back in the air and snow and sleet are in the forecast for overnight into the morning, so it seems the right time to share about the Arctic.  The first is a book of tales from the lives of Inuit artists. After each story is information about the artist and a picture of his or her work.

Easy Christmas Thank You Notes -- Free Printable

Did you have a nice holiday? We had such a great time with family. It is always nice to be back with my parents and sisters and to see my nephew!! We do not get to see my oldest sister and nephew all that much since they live in North Carolina. Hazel got just about everything she wanted and some things she didn't know that she wanted (or that they existed or they would have been on her wish list). Now that Christmas is over it is time to write the thank you notes. As a beginner reader and writer I wanted to make this task relatively easy on her and me. I made up some fill-in-the-blank thank you notes.

Hands-on Bible Craft Book -- Crafty Weekends Book Review & Link Party

 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.

We have been enjoying a very busy week with our Christmas celebrations. Have you? However we have found some time for crafting! Today we are sharing Hands-on Bible Craft Book by Christina Goodings.

Merry Christmas 2015!! Features from Sharing Saturday and the Party Continues for Another Week!

Thank you to everyone who has shared with us so far in our two week party!! There were so many wonderful ideas shared!! Today I am sharing a some of the Christmas ideas shared thus far and repeating the same party so you can check out everything shared and still share with us for features for next week!! I have also started a new craft link party (the crafts just have to be family appropriate and not necessarily kid related) and it is a place to share crafts, reviews of patterns, craft books, etc. and patterns. I hope you will come check it out tomorrow.  This month's Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop is open for all your posts that are culture (multicultural) related!

I am celebrating the holiday with my family and will be computer free for the day, so I am sharing these fun features for the day in case anyone is looking for a last minute Christmas idea!! 

To see how I made the card

Christmas Crafts & More

Although I have not been sharing them all, we have been doing some crafts for Christmas. So for my Christmas Eve post, I thought I would share some of what we have been up to and a few other things we love for Christmas!! By the way Sharing Saturday is 2 weeks long and still going on. For Christmas Day there will be some Christmas themed features and the continued link party!!

Let's begin at the beginning of the season. In November Hazel and I purchased four rabbit ornaments for the Multicultural Kid Blogs Ornament Swap. I also made three (well five) ornaments from fabric.  

Jingle Bells, Christmas Miracles & More! -- Book Reviews

Disclosure: Candlewick Press gave me a copies of these book free of charge to 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.

Christmas is fast approaching us. Are you ready this year? If you are looking for some last minute holiday spirit gifts check out these books. There is something for everyone!! Did you know in Iceland books are exchanged on Christmas Eve and they spend the rest of the evening reading? I saw it on Facebook and the picture is credited to Arizona Penny Dreadfuls. The books I share today with you would be perfect for children's gifts as well as some adult gifts. The first book is Jingle Bells: A Magical Cut-Paper Edition by James Lord Pierpont and illustrated by Niroot Puttapipat. 

Little Loving Hands -- Product Review

Disclosure: Little Loving Hands sent me this month's box free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. They also sent me a copy to giveaway! As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation. 

Have you noticed all the monthly box subscriptions out there? There are so many of them and they all have a slightly different theme, however here is one that teaches kids to about charity and giving. Little Loving Hands offers a monthly subscription where a box with a craft arrives each month and with the craft is also information about who the craft is for and an envelope (with postage paid) to mail it to the charity. The explanation of the charity was double sided

All About the Philippines -- Multicultural Monday Book Review

 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. They also sent me a copy to giveaway! As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation. 

Today I get to share with you the latest book int the All About Series at Tuttle Publishing. I love this series!! The books are perfect for learning about each country with stories, crafts, recipes and information and so much more!! Like the other books: Indonesia, Japan, Korea, and China, All About the Philippines by Gidget Roceles Jimenez and illustrated by Corazon Dandan-Albano  goes into so many details about the Philippines as well as the culture. 

Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop

Sharing Saturday and Crafty Weekends are still going on!!

 Welcome to the Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop! The Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop is a place where bloggers can share multicultural activities, crafts, recipes, and musings for our creative kids. We can't wait to see what you share this time! Created by Frances of Discovering the World through My Son's Eyes, the blog hop has now found a new home at Multicultural Kid Blogs.

This month our co-hosts are:

Creative World of Varya on Multicultural Kid Blogs  

Crafty Moms Share  

Castle View Academy 

 La Cité des Vents  

Peakle Pie  

Raising a Trilingual Child 

Our MultiAsian family life

How to Sew Little Felt Animals -- Crafty Weekends Book Review & Link Party

Disclosure: Search Press 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.

Today I am going to share with you the book How to Sew Little Felt Animals by Sue Quinn. Now I have a confession to make. I was planning on make several of these adorable animals to write this review, however first Hazel could not make up her mind which she liked most. They are all adorable and thus hard to chose. We finally decided on the female mole since she is different than most animals we have. Then I just didn't get started on it and when I finally sat down to do it I realized I needed joint sets for them which I have never used and do not have on hand. Since I was not going to attempt the crowds at the stores today it was not going to happen today, but I want to share this fun book with you still. 

Sharing Saturday 15-50 -- Two Weeks Long!!

Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week!! There were so many wonderful ideas shared!! I had a hard time picking just a few features!! This week's party is going to last for two weeks since next weekend is Christmas and I will be celebrating with my family. Be sure to check back and share again and see some new features!! Our features are just a sampling of the wonderful things shared, so if you haven't checked out the rest you should!! The features for this week include Christmas Math & Science, Christmas Crafts, Holiday Lessons, and a few favorites. I have also started a new craft link party (the crafts just have to be family appropriate and not necessarily kid related) and it is a place to share crafts, reviews of patterns, craft books, etc. and patterns. I hope you will come check it out tomorrow.  Sunday will be the beginning of this month's Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop for all your posts that are culture (multicultural) related!

Winter Fun Books: Max and Marla and The Thing About Yetis -- Book Reviews

Disclosure: Penguin Random House Books gave me copies of these books 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.

It is starting to get cold outside here in New England (it has been unbelievably warm this year) and winter is just around the corner. Although most people I know feel we had enough snow last year for a few years to come, we also know the season is coming. Today I am going to share with you two new books from Penguin Kids that bring winter into our focus!! The first book is Max and Marla by Alexandra Boiger. 

The Day the Crayons Came Home -- Book Review & Giveaway Link -- 12 Days of Picture Books

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.

 Today I am going to share with you one of our favorite picture books, The Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers. Now I know I shared this book with you this summer when it first came out along with the first book, The Day the Crayons Quit. But today you can enter to win your own copy at Penguin Kids Facebook Page!! I just had to share the chance with you since we LOVE this book. We are giving this book and The Day the Crayons Quit to two of Hazel's younger friends for the holidays!! They would also make great teacher gifts for elementary teachers!! Plus if you can enter yesterday's 12 Days of Picture Books Sweepstakes for our other favorite book, The Book With No Pictures by B. J. Novak, through midnight tonight!! This book is an extremely funny read aloud book!! Hazel wanted it so badly that I bought it for her earlier this year!!

Christmas Church Services Around the World -- Christmas in Different Lands

In many parts of the world church services or masses are an important part of Christmas. Many countries have traditional times for the service. Does yours? Growing up we always went to what was called the midnight candlelight service. It started at 11:00 p.m. and ended around midnight. The service always ended with singing Silent Night and having each person light a candle from the flame of the Christ candle in the Advent wreath. Now we usually go to the earlier Christmas Eve service so Hazel can stay awake. 

Novena

 For many the celebration of Christmas takes place in the church. In some countries the church services begins on December 16th. In Venezuela there is an early morning church service called Misa de Aguinaldo held every day from December 16 to December 24. Often there are bells and firecrackers to wake the parishioners for the early services. In the capital city, Caracas, it is tradition to roller skate to these services. As a result the streets are often closed to cars until 8 a.m. On December 24 the mass is at midnight and is called Misa de Gallo. (Source) Chile also celebrates with a Novena. There are church services throughout December in Chile, but on the 16th special prayers begin the day as well as visits to local churches. (Source) The Philippines also have early morning or pre-dawn masses for the nine days prior to Christmas. (Source) In Puerto Rico it is called Misa de Aguinaldos and is held from December 15 to December 24th. The mass is held at dawn (around 6 a.m.) and the services are usually sung with traditional Puerto Rican instruments accompaniment. On the 24th the mass is at midnight and is called the Misa de Gallo. (Source)