Great Gear for Pretend Play

Education.com just posted a cool article titled Great Gear for Pretend Play.  It's full of ideas for household objects that promote pretend play.  They are divided into three areas:  cooking time, mail call, and dress to impress.  My kiddos will love these ideas!

It reminded me of our family trip to the Customs House Museum a few weeks ago.  They have so many great interactive exhibits for kids, but my children's favorite was the grocery store.  A brightly painted room with grocery carts, cash registers, shelves/bins/baskets with food, and a kitchen area.  My kids played in there for 45 minutes, and have been asking to go back!

Book Review: “Couples Who Pray” by Squire Rushnell and Louise DuArt

I just finished reading “Couples Who Pray” by Squire Rushnell and Louise DuArt.  I was excited to read the book, but I’m not a big fan.  It does have many helpful suggestions for building a strong marriage, including many exhortations to pray together.  I particularly enjoyed reading the statistics regarding marriages that are grounded in prayer, and how much prayer impacts marriages.  Overall, however, the book felt a bit contrived.  If you want an inside look at strong celebrity marriages you’ll enjoy this book, but to me, it just felt like name-dropping.  I also struggled with the emphasis of praying for my benefit vs. praying for God’s glory – the motivation just felt twisted.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.  

Memorizing Scripture - Fighter Verses from John Piper's Desiring God

If your family wants to practice memorizing scripture, check out these new Fighter Verses

from Desiring God.

 

They have a list of great power-packed scriptures to memorize, and you can also buy pre-made products to save prep time! 

Chicken Tortilla Soup for Dinner

We totally enjoyed dinner & leftovers from a new crockpot soup that I tried this weekend.  The recipe is slightly modified from the fix it & forget it cookbook

4 chicken breast halves (frozen or thawed)

2 cans black beans, undrained

2 cans Mexican tomatoes

1c salsa (mild, medium or hot, depending on your preference)

4oz can chopped green chilies

14oz can tomato sauce

1 pack ranch dressing mix

Toppings:  Tortilla chips, Grated cheddar cheese,  sour cream

Combine all ingredients except chips & cheese in large slow cooker.  Cover.  Cook on low 8 hours.  Just before serving, take out chicken breasts & slice/shred them into bite-sized pieces.  Stir into soup.  Serve with chips & cheese.

Serves 6-8 people.

Homemade Blizzards

Our family likes to make smoothies and frosties, but we've never made Homemade Blizzards.  I know my kids will totally love making them, so I thought I would share FunMom's recipe with you too.  What a great addition to family night, or a yummy celebration!  Enjoy!!

Jesus Storybook Bible - WOW!

A sweet family friend gave my son the Jesus Storybook Bible Deluxe Edition for his 6th birthday.  We have been LOVING it this week.  The pictures are engaging and the storytelling on the CD is fabulous.  Every story leads back to the point of God's great love for his children, and how Jesus came to rescue us from evil and deliver us back to forever friendship with him.  We can't wait to get back into the car to listen to it!