put myself into a situation where I am being abused.
My list goes on. We all have them, our "nevers". It is not a problem to have nevers, it IS a problem when we let those hurts and disappointments from our past control our present. The truth is, we all do it to some extent. As we begin to recognize our "nevers" and confront them, the pains can ease up. I'm not saying the memories will be gone, but we can learn to better deal with our own past. We can free ourselves from the burdens that hold us back, the things that keep us from living in full abundance.
Did you know that God wants you to be free from those pains? It's so true.
Teri Johnson shares a unique approach to dealing with past hurts and disappointments. She shares her personal experience as she helps her readers begin to address their own problems. Teri uses a 12 step approach to healing. She also addresses these trials biblically.
This book is refreshing, easy to read, and challenging. It encourages, inspires, and aids the reader in living a healthy life, while healing the past. I loved that I was able to read this as I was completing my Restoring the Foundations Bible class, they work hand in hand.
You can order an autographed, soft cover copy of this book for $14.99 on her website, Keeping it Personal. You can also get an ebook version for $7.99!
Teri Johnson has offered to send a copy of this book to one of my readers. Winner may chose whether they prefer soft cover or ebook. Enter below using Rafflecopter.
I really wish this book had been written (and I had known about it) 3.5 years ago, when Monkey was an infant. I wanted to cloth diaper so badly, but had no idea what my options were. I didn't know how to get the best use out of the diapers I had, and I did not know how to care for cloth!
The result? Frustration. My diapers leaked and I did not like them very well. I ended up ditching cloth very quickly and settling for disposable diapers.
Changing Diapers is a fantastic resource for families who are interested in using cloth. Kelly Wels takes the reader by the hand and walks step by step through a wide world of information! She helps with understanding types of diapers, caring for cloth, figuring out what you prefer, where to find more information, how to use cloth diapers effectively, and so much more in her nicely illustrated book.
Baby #3 in his first cloth diaper
Who is this book for? Well, I loved it. I think the people who will benefit from it the most are those who are struggling with using cloth diapers, are just getting started, or are really just starting to consider diapering options. This book would be an excellent gift for congratulating a family who has just discovered they are pregnant, or a baby shower... or a new baby gift.
Seriously.. it's that good. I read my copy and have enjoyed some refreshers and some new information. I plan to pass it on to my sister in law who is considering cloth. (I hope she reads it and feels encouraged... I also hope she uses cloth.)
Kelly Wels wants to give one of my readers a cloth diaper! Yep, for real! (She would also love it if you took some time to check out her book). The book is $17.95 - less than a package of disposable diapers! Any book that saves me money and frustration is definitely worth it! Don't forget to visit the Changing Diapers webpage.
Do you remember visiting Show Biz or Chuck E Cheese as a kid? I have great memories from visiting those places with my Nonnie (grandma). I remember large, singing, robotic puppets on multiple stages, lots of kids running everywhere, tokens, video games, tickets, cheap-o prizes, pizza, and pitchers of soda.
I loved visiting these "fine dining" establishments as a kid. As I think back on those memories now, however - I cringe - I can't imagine WANTING to take my kids to a noisy, greasy, environment to play games and win trashy prizes. Monkey is 3, Crackers is 20 months now - they're kind of young for this type of fun anyhow, right?
WELL - Tonight we had the opportunity to visit our local Chuck E Cheese in Fort Wayne, IN. We were treated with a family pass, that includes a large pizza, 4 drinks, and 30 tokens. As much as I hate to admit it, I was actually pretty excited about visiting and checking this out again. It was nice to remember those many visits with my grandma. It was also nice to have so many of my pre-conceptions about what I would find, changed.
SAFETY - was the first thing we noticed as we entered. We learned that every family gets "stamped" as they come in. The greeter puts an ultra-violet stamp on each party member's arm, each party gets their own number. This "secret" number is checked by the greeter when the family leaves, to make sure that no one is leaving with children that they did not come with (I'm not sure how they were certain we didn't leave any children behind though).
CLEANLINESS - was also obviously a high value at the Chuck E Cheese in Fort Wayne. While we were there, we saw a number of employees roaming the floor and keeping things cleaned. They cleaned tables, floors, bathrooms, etc. I did make sure we stopped in to the bathroom to check it out (a review is a good excuse for a pregnant mama with a pre-schooler, right). The bathroom was moderately clean, there had just been a large group of young elementary aged children racing through it, so I would not expect perfection.
SERVICE - while we sat at our table waiting on pizza, then eating our meal, several employees stopped to make sure that we had been served and see if we needed anything. They brought out spare plates and a flyer about birthday parties "with pleasure". We received the type of pleasant greetings that we expect to find at one of the local fast food joints. The response whenever we thanked someone was, "my pleasure". (I love that response - it reminds me of when I lived in Costa Rica.... that's another story).
Most of the salad bar
He doesn't LOOK excited, but he could hardly wait to dig in.
FOOD - the food is moderately priced. It is more expensive than a "regular" fast food restaurant, but not incredibly over priced. It took 12 minutes from ordering to receiving our food, that's not too bad! The salad bar (at our local Chuck E Cheese) is only $6.49 for unlimited use. It looks like a fantastic salad bar, I think I would have preferred it over pizza - but I'm a salad lover. The pizza was decent, they have a new recipe with more cheese and a different sauce. I can't say that I really remember the old pizza and have little to compare it with. It was pretty well covered with toppings, however for some reason there only appeared to be peppers and onions on half of the pizza. There is a great variety of options for drinks, and free refills.
- another note - Monkey is not always fond of pizza, he's REALLY picky about what he'll eat on it, temperatures, and textures... he ate 2.5 pieces by himself and only quit because he wanted to play.
Monkey on "TV"
STAGE - remember that stage I talked about, the one with the giant robotic puppets. I loved the shows and music. There are 3 stages at the local Chuck E Cheese. Left to right they look like this: The Studio - a blue wall with a video camera, where children can stand, dance, etc and be "on television" while their adults watch in amusement. The video screen/control area - they played a couple of videos, veggie tales and something else I didn't recognize, the control area let you see different video clips and even "spy" on people in the main seating area. Finally on the right hand side, was Chuck E Cheese - the large robotic mouse puppet. He seemed to be more of a DJ than anything, but the kids were still enamored with him.
The show
BALL PIT - got you there, do you remember when they used to have those? I loved the ball pit... unfortunately, I don't think you can find them at any Chuck E Cheese anymore.
GAMES/ENTERTAINMENT - I was SO wrong about Chuck E Cheese not being "little kid" friendly. There was a whole area of rides and a big climber that my kids loved. There is still plenty of activity for "big kids" too. Mr. Crum and I even played some games to earn "tickets" for prizes. The boys loved trying to help us play games like ski ball and operation. There was plenty to do and we all had a fun time exploring our options. All the games (as far as I could tell) were only one token - approx. 25c each (cheaper if you buy them in higher quantities).
PRICES - As I've stated, the food prices at Chuck E Cheese are moderate - higher than McDonalds, but not incredibly expensive. We got their Super Combo Pizza (which has 7 toppings), I believe a large was about $20. Drinks were $1.50-$2 a piece. To get our meal as a package (with 60 tokens) would run about $36. Sandwiches are around $6.50, and salad bar is the same. Chuck E Cheese also regularly offers coupons for the family!
Selecting Souveneirs
SOUVENEIRS - Remember those cheapo little prizes? They're still kind of cheap, but my 3 year old thinks that his crazy straw, spinning top, and plastic bug are the best things in the world. My favorite souveneirs are the ones that we found in the "games" for a token each - photos of the boys on a ride, pictures of us "sketched", and "licenses" with my boy's pictures. If you spend a lot of money or are REALLY good at games (3 year olds are not helpful at ticket winning games), you can get some other pretty neat stuff too.
PARTIES - Chuck E Cheese offers party packages for your little star - These birthday packages vary in what they contain and flyers can be picked up at your local Chuck E Cheese. Packages appear to range between $12 and 16 per child, depending on your preferences. Additional services can be added for an additional cost. "New packages include a longer reservation time, as well as several new items for the birthday star. Plus, the special boy or girl has the opportunity to step into the Ticket Blaster and grab as many ticket vouchers as they can to redeem for awesome prizes!" says Chuck E Cheese.
OVERALL IMPRESSION
My Nonnie was crazy. She loved her grandkids though and knew that we had a great time when we went to Show Biz and Chuck E Cheese, we had a great time. I was impressed at the quality of service and the selection of entertainment, as well as the safety measures and cleanliness of our local Chuck E Cheese. In our current situation, prices would be prohibitive for us to make this a "regular" event, but I do think it's something we may set aside for special occasions with our family as the boys grow.
I also think it would be a fun date night with Mr. Crum - I'd love to go and have sandwiches or salads, and play games together. It's kind of silly, but different from our "usual" date night (appetizers, coffee, and a movie at home).
Safe in the Arms of Love is a beautifully written CD & Book combo that would make a perfect congratulations gift to new and expecting mothers. I have to be quite honest with you. I hesitated for about a week before popping the CD into my player. Why? Because I feared it would be terribly corny and I would feel obligated to say great things about this CD that I am likely never to use again.
I WAS WRONG. When I finally put the CD on to review it, I fell in love. The soft, calming music has beautiful loving lyrics. In fact, the night I chose to sit down and listen to it, Monkey was having a hard time sleeping. I played it for him and he relaxed on the sofa until he was ready to fall asleep.
The book is FILLED with great wisdom for mamas. I enjoyed looking over and reading it.
Here's the problem that I have with Safe in the Arms of Love: We have a lot of books and a lot of wonderful CDs that we love and I am afraid it will not get used as well as it ought to. Silly problem, maybe. So here is what I'm going to do. I'm giving it away to one of my readers.
PLEASE NOTE: You will be receiving a very gently used book and CD. This contest will end on Friday, July 1.
To Enter:
You may use any or all of the following methods to enter, please leave an email address in each entry. Write 1 comment int he form below for each task you complete.
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Want to know the whole truth? I absolutely love Best Bottoms Diapers. That's it, the whole thing. Just look at these cutie cousins in their Best Bottoms last week. Stinky is modeling his "blue giraffe" and Crackers is in the "green giraffe". (and it is oh so hard to get a picture of them together because they're ALWAYS moving).
I love Best Bottom Diapers for a number of reasons, and I am going to tell you why they're tops on his bottom! Here goes:
1) Fit: Best Bottom is a one size fits all diaper. It fits my little man snuggly around his legs and waist without being too tight or letting the "yuckies" out. I have not had a single leaking problem with Best Bottom diapers. They are slim and fit under Cracker's cloths nicely.
2) Sytem: I love the "system" that Best Bottoms sells. We got 3 sized inserts with our shell and they fit inside the diaper with no folding, no fanning, no guess work. Even better - they SNAP in. How wonderful is that? This makes me more confident about Best Bottom when I leave him with other people, because they don't have to try and figure out another insert or prefold.
3) Insert: So I already mentioned the insert, but look at the picture below. It has a snap at each end to hold it securely in place AND, (my sister pointed this out) it has a tag that reminds you which diaper it belongs to! I don't even have to try to remember which insert goes with the Best Bottom diaper, because it tells me. Each of the 3 sized inserts has a different color stitching around the edge so you can tell them apart if you're using them on multiple children!
4) Options: Best bottom offers sized inserts so they fit your baby at each stage of growing. It comes in a variety of "ice cream inspired" colors and prints. They also offer a choice between snaps and velcro.
For a list of Best Bottom Retailers check their website. Best Bottoms can be purchased online or in select stores.
WIN IT:
One reader will win their choice of Best Bottom shell and inserts! This giveaway is limited to residents of the US and Canada only. Winner will be drawn at random on 3/29 at noon EST. Make sure to leave 1 comment below for each entry. Leave your email address in each comment. If the winner cannot be reached within 48 hours, I will be forced to select another winner.
HOW TO ENTER:
Mandatory Entry:
Follow Crum's This N That via Google Friend Connect or Networked Blogs. These can both be found in the right hand column of my blog.
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I got this book at about the same time that our church was talking about God's promises. Nice timing.
I love this book. Sheila Walsh write about God's promises using both biblical reference and personal testimony. I really appreciate that this is a book written from experience of the heart. It is not easy to read because you have to stop and think about things. I tend to like quick reads, but enjoyed this one as it had a lot to say to me personally.
I think one of my favorite lines in the entire book is about the promise of provision. It says: Don't be consumed by what you don't have. Just bring what you do have to Jesus and watch what only He can do.
Thank you Sheila Walsh for challenging my biblical worldview.
This book was provided to me free for review from Thomas Nelson Publishers. All opnions are my own and are not influenced by the author or the publisher.
