I'm a full-time mummy

Oh wow! I was pretty excited when I received an email (also posted on their blog) from Montessori Print Shop saying they are looking for bloggers to review their Montessori products. As I read on further, I was telling myself "I have to review this, I HAVE TO!!!!!" and then I read through their requirements and realised they are looking for someone who  love and  uses Montessori materials, but they also asked whether you love to blog and include pictures in your blog posts. 

FYI, we have been looking around (not actively yet...) for some sort of preschool or learning system for Ben to participate in and I've always been intrigued and very much curious with Montessori methods. So I decided to send them an email to try my luck. Never try, never know right?

Fortunately for me, Jennifer De Sousa from Montessori Print Shop replied my email saying "Thank you for contacting us regarding reviewing our products. I have taken a look at your website (very well done!), and even though it is not specifically a Montessori or Preschool Blog, you definitely have a preschooler in the family! I think you'd be a great Reviewer. I hope you and your son find our Montessori-based products educational and fun." 

Oh yeah!! Coolness! I immediately replied with my 3 choices of their Montessori materials which are: Alphabet Cards, Color Books (11 books) and Vehicle Match-Up and Memory Game. Although Montessori Print Shop gave me the 3 materials I requested, I only have to review 1 of them as the other 2 are a bonus for my effort. Woohoo!

Excerpts from the Montessori Print Shop website:

"Montessori Print Shop was founded in January 2004 and is located in Ontario, Canada. Montessori schools, private and public schools, as well as homeschooling families from 6 continents have benefited greatly from the wide range of Montessori materials that we have developed.

Our Montessori materials product line started with the phonetic language materials and branched in to all other areas (math, science, culture, art, classified cards, geography, French) as the demand grew. In 2008 we were approached by several schools who had Montessori Toddler programs but didn't have the materials to support them. We worked with the schools to ensure we were following the needs of the Toddlers and within a few months the basic design outline for our Toddler Montessori materials was complete. We now have over 950 Montessori Materials available (including Teacher Training Manuals).

All our Montessori materials have been designed by an AMI Certified Primary Montessori Teacher who was trained by Renilde Montessori (the granddaughter of Maria Montessori). Our designer has over 17 years of experience; in the Primary Montessori classroom, as a Homeschooling parent, a Montessori Consultant, and as Head Administrator of a Montessori school.

It is our goal to provide top quality Montessori materials for Toddlers, Primary (Casa) and lower Elementary children at affordable prices."

I decided to try the Vehicle Match-Up and Memory Game with Ben since he loves vehicles! I started out by printing out the PDF document using hubby's color printer and decided to glue the match-up sheets onto this hard board I have (recycled) and I cut out the matching vehicles images and kept them into this tiny container. Picture below before I started cutting up the printed lesson...

You can also view the following video which was recorded the moment we started the Montessori lesson. Noticed he takes a longer time to search and understand my instructions hehehe... but don't you think it's pretty awesome for my 2 year old boy to accomplish this in his first attempt? I'm so awfully proud of him!

You can browse through the many selections of Montessori materials right at the Montessori Print Shop website itself! They have a great selection, great customer support, and affordable prices for their materials as well! 

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with some free Montessori materials (selected by myself) in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine.

Max Lucado. Need I say more...? I'm always on the look out for good Christian books. I  immediately jump at the chance to request this book the moment I saw it on the list of books available for review. Here is my review of the latest book from Max Lucado entitled: "LIVE LOVED: Experiencing God's Presence in Everyday Life". This book will be published on May 3rd and I'm so glad I get to review this book firsthand!

Author: Max Lucado
Publisher:  Thomas Nelson (** To be published on May 3, 2011)
ISBN-13: 9781404190061
Hardcover: 320 pages

Description from the Thomas Nelson product page:

"Imagine how your life would change if you were sure God loves you!
Using the same popular format as Grace for the Moment, Live Loved brings fresh, new devotionals based on the writings of Max Lucado. Included is a broad range of topics such as facing your fears, accepting His grace, and truly knowing God’s omnipresent love. Each devotional is accompanied by an ending prayer to nurture a stronger prayer life for new believers, as well as long-standing Christ followers. It’s a new devotional from one of America's leading Christian writers that will help men and women experience life from a whole new perspective."

This book is an assurance and gentle reminder to each of us on how we are loved by the One and Only awesome God. Now back to the book, it is broken down into 5 chapters, which I will note down my feedback in red for your easier reading:

# 1 - LOVE WITH A STEADFAST LOVE
My feedback: In the "Problems Have a Purpose" subchapter, I like the points where God will use whatever he wants to display his glory and  Rather than begrudge our problem, explore it and use it to the glory of God. I also like the verse given which is Psalm 34:19.

# 2 - LOVE WITH A PERFECT LOVE
My feedback: I love the 8 worry stoppers which were made up of the word PEACEFUL, taken from the "P-E-A-C-E-F-U-L" subchapter. You really have to read it to know it more!

# 3 - LOVE WITH A WISE LOVE
My feedback: In the "Slay the Desire to Be Noticed" subchapter, I like the following phrases mentioned: Hypocrisy turns people against God,  Don't fake spirituality. When you talk, don't doctor your vocabulary with trendy religious terms and Slay the desire to be noticed, stir the desire to serve God.

# 4 - LOVE WITH A MERCIFUL LOVE
My feedback: Negative thoughts never strengthen you. Wow! What a strong and inspiring phrase taken from the "Positive Thoughts Purvey Hope" subchapter. I learned to think positively and not let negative thoughts drain me down.  

# 5 - LOVED TO LOVE OTHERS
My feedback: I am particulary attracted to these 2 subchapters: "Cherish Your Children" and "Our Kids Are God's Kids". In "Cherish Your Children", I learned that Children spell love with 4 letters: T-I-M-E. Not just quality time, but hang time, downtime, anytime, all the time. I totally agree with it as it is one of the factors I thought of when I decided to quit my IT job to be a SAHM to take care of Benjamin full-time. In the "Our Kids Are God's Kids" subchapter, I am greatly reminded and humbled when I read these 2 phrases: Before they were ours, they were his. Even as they are ours, they are still his and  Wise are the parents who regularly give their children back to God. As parents, too often we forget that we are just the guardian of our children and we think we have the rights and final say in matters related to our children when in fact, we don't! We forget that God has the power of all things including us!

Apart from the above feedbacks for each of the chapters and subchapters, the one thing I don't like about this book is the cursive title on each subchapter. Maybe it's just me, but I find some of the title a bit difficult to read as I actually have to read the title at least 3-4 times just to be sure that I'm reading and understanding the correct title! Other than that, this book is just perfect!

We do need assurance that we are loved by God again and again despite of our shortcomings and all the mistakes and sins we made.

In any case, I beg you, consider getting a copy of this book when it is out for sale. You will not regret it!

You can purchase the Live Loved: Experiencing God's Presence in Everyday Life book from Amazon, Thomas Nelson and many more. 

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with a galley proof of the book via my association with netGalley as a reviewer in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous book reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My Book Reviews"

I can't believe my luck when Nicole from Tribute Books replied so swiftly to my email requesting for a book review opportunity with her company and within a few email exchange, she gave me the link to download the softcopy to a children's book by Christy Baldwin (illustrated by Sarah Barnes) called "Nine Things Nathan Noticed at Night".

Author: Christy Baldwin
Illustrator: Sarah Barnes
Publisher: Tribute Books
ISBN-13: 9780976507215
Product Dimensions: 5.5" x 8.5"
Paperback: 24 pages

Excerpt from the book description:
"Nine great things happen when the sun sets for the evening. Each page includes a statement about what is happening and then some fun facts and information about that event. Written from a Christian perspective, the story describes how God made things when He created the Earth. While the story was written specifically for ages 3-8, children of all ages will enjoy this book. Even adults can admire the beautiful watercolor artwork done by illustrator, Sarah Barnes."

Christy Baldwin Bio:
"Writing has been a passion of Christy's since she was very young. As a child, she loved to write stories for her grandfather and poems just for fun. She lives in Mason, Ohio with her family and is active in church, Boy Scouts, Girls Scouts and volunteering with various organizations. Christy has a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from Cedarville University and a master's degree in Special Education from the University of Scranton. She is a stay at home mom who enjoys spending time with her kids and being involved in their schools. Her other children's titles include Care for Creation and Remembering Wilma".

Firstly, I think the book cover doesn't do it justice. I would have preferred if one of the more breathtaking content pages was used as the cover as seriously, the pictures on each page in the book are a delight to see. I just fell in love with the beautiful illustrations and the accompanying bible verses in the book! And I was feeling a tad sad as I came to the end of the book as I was hoping to see more beautiful pictures and scriptures...

I particularly enjoyed this page:

Beautiful and breathtaking right? You can view the book's video trailer below:

Overall, I give this book an 8 out of 10.

You can get Nine Things Nathan Noticed at Night from Amazon website.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with a softcopy of the book by the publisher in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous book reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My Book Reviews"