Book Review: Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent

I had heard of this book and was curious about it.  As soon as I saw it available for review I requested a copy.  Heaven is for Real is a "little boy's astounding story of his trip to heaven and back."  It is easy and entertaining to read.

This story is about Colton's emergency room visit, hospital stay and his trip to heaven during his operation.  Once he recovered, he knew details about what his parents were doing during his surgery; along with details about family members who died before he was born.  He's very adamant that "Jesus loves children."  And, for a child his age he remembers lots of details about heaven.

Now that I've given you the quick summary, here's my reflections:  First of all, I had to finish reading the part where they were in the ER and his surgery all in one sitting.  As a mother of a three year old, I can only imagine what I would be going through during something so serious!  However, I'm skeptical of this book.  Todd put scripture references along with the details about heaven.  All of this is great, but I will seek out those things for myself from the Bible to make sure it lines up theologically.  I also had a hard time with how much detail Colton remembered.  This is due to my 3 year old in the house; wondering what details she would say in a similar situation.  I'm not doubting that he had a spiritual experience, but I'm a true believer in the Bible being the true authority about heaven.  Truly, what this book did for me was bring up more questions about heaven and accepting the idea that I won't have all my answers until I see heaven myself. The true authenticity of this story is one thing I will ask God about when I get to heaven.  I'd also be interested to see what Colton does with his life to see if this experience as a toddler affects how he lives his adult life when that time comes.

Overall, I thought this was an entertaining book that brought about good table discussion.

Disclosure of Material Connection: 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. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 25

Ok, so have any of you ever wanted to avoid working out, but you chose to anyway?  That's how it was for me this evening!  This afternoon I did level 1 of 30 day shred, but didn't have time to get on my bike since my daughter wasn't napping.  As soon as she went to bed for the night, I got on my bike.  And, although I didn't want to workout I chose to.  I put on this free workout music(thanks to Jillian giving us the link) : Killer workout mix The beat in this mix carried me through this workout, I mean I moved my legs and I got a good workout in even though my heart wasn't in it... 

Now, I'm vegging and enjoying some non fat greek yogurt with berries and almonds on top. 

Stay posted for a book review and giveaway soon.

Tomato soup recipe

Tried a new tomato soup recipe I found online somewhere(didn't right down the link...I apologize).  It was yummy, so here it is:

2-28 oz cans crushed tomatoes

1-14.5 oz can chicken broth

18 fresh basil leaves, minced

1 tsp sugar

1 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup butter

Bring tomatoes and broth to a boil

Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes

Add basil and sugar

Reduce heat to low, stir in cream and butter

Cook until butter is melted

*When I try a new recipe, I like to follow the exact recipe so I know what it is supposed to taste like. The next time I make it, I make changes to make it healthier or just change the taste to our liking.

**What I'd do next time to reduce calories:  replace whipping cream with milk and try 1/4 cup butter.  I may even try throwing this in the crockpot and add cornstarch to thicken the soup. I will soon be making this for my mom and will let you know how it turns out...

**Although making it for my mom was much healthier, I liked it with the original way.  So, I'll splurge every now and then to have it.

Did anyone else watch the Biggest Loser last night?  And, did you notice Bob's tattoos?!!  I don't know if I noticed them because of our new tv or what, but those tats are colorful!  So, if you wanna learn more about Bob Harper, click here: 25 things you don't know about Bob. I think it's cool he workouts to his own workout videos and takes his own supplements.  A man who actively uses his product! Just a side note:  I also miss Jillian.  Bob and Jillian worked so well together, but I guess this season hasn't been on for too long so I'll give it more time!

I've been thinking a lot lately about my workouts and my eating habits.  I want to reach a certain level of fitness and know I need to step it up in order to reach my goals. When I worked full time outside the home, I had a hard time fitting in my workouts.  And, as soon as I became a stay at home mom, my life was turned upside down and fitting in workouts became more of a struggle(sleep was higher priority at that point).  It has taken me 3 years and I finally feel like I'm getting into a rhythm of working out.  Monday, I was able to get 2 workouts in, but honestly that was for my sanity!  I do, however, want to get a couple workouts in a day and I think that may be my ticket to reaching some fitness goals. 

And, I need to work on my eating habits too.  I have food allergies and need to take those foods out of my diet.  With a husband and daughter who don't have food allergies, it does make things a little more complicated.   That's what I'm focusing on right now, eating foods that don't make me sick...that's always good right?!!!

Next on my agenda: try Bob's workout dvds. 

Always something to learn about exercise and nutrition.  What do you do to stay fit?

And, here's another site to keep calories within reason.  It shows how easy it is to add calories without thinking about it, which could mess with your weight loss goals: How easy it is to gain one pound in a week

This song has been on in the car everywhere we go, I've even caught my hubby singing this song...

Also had a dance party to this song too!  My hubby will get in the car and our daughter will say, "I'm listening to the Good Morning Song!"

Her 2nd favorite is the following song, Free:

So, as soon as my daughter is dropped off at preschool, I jump to the rest of the cd  so maybe, just maybe I can listen to the rest of the music!

 

Since I'm not a morning person, I think I need to put this on my bathroom mirror! Actually, I think I need a rug made!

Beware of little fingers...

Ok, so my daughter has a cold.  To streamline this afternoon and make it more relaxing, I thought it would be best to skip swim lessons.

With the moods that were showing up, a nap seemed like the best option.  Once she got in bed, the typical stalling techniques were used:  needing to go potty(i don't say no to this because I like to avoid accidents), playing with toys and she got her hermie book stuck between the wall and her bed(this is a new one).  Since these were somewhat typical I thought she'd settle down and fall asleep.  She is sick after all.

At this very moment she's still playing in her room as I'm frantically writing this.  I attempted to snuggle with her in bed because some days that's just what she needs.  I got in her bed and snuggled, but as soon as I closed my eyes I felt a little finger touching my eyelashes.  Trying not to giggle and be the parent, I told her to close her eyes and go to sleep.  Once again I closed my eyes.  Next thing I know I feel little fingers on my chin moving down my neck.  Now, it's really getting hard to hold my laughter and be serious.  However, I held it together and told her, again, to close her eyes and go so sleep.  Well, as I was pretending to fall asleep I felt a little finger touching my eyelashes.  At this point I'm quite proud of myself for not laughing whatsoever.  I told her as I was getting out of her bed, to just go to sleep!

Then, as I was folding laundry in the living room, I called my mom so we could laugh together about this attempted nap! And, yes, I sent a text to Catrina..I mean, who doesn't like a good laugh toward the end of their workday!

Off to get my 3 year old out of bed, but now her room seems awfully quiet!  I'm thinking we'll have a dance party since her new favorite music is Mandisa's Good Morning song.."it's a good morning, wake up to a brand new day..."

Thank you God for Loving Me by Max Lucado

Thank you God, for loving me is yet another cute Hermie book in which Hermie the caterpillar explores the ways God loves him.  This rhyming book is short and cute illustrating God's love.  It also makes it possible to communicate to your child that they are loved deeply by our creator.

My daughter loves this Hermie book along with the other one that I reviewed.  She likes to keep them together and just about had a heart attack this evening when we couldn't find the other book! This book also tagged along in her backpack at a recent doctor visit where she proudly said to the doctor, "Look at my Hermie book!"

The illustrations are a bit older, but for my 3 year old that doesn't matter whatsoever!

Disclosure of Material Connection: 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. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 25

Adventures of "Rubber Doggie"

Rubber Doggie attended preschool last week.  He spit on her.  Then, she said something about him pooping?!!!These are two issues we've been working on: no spitting and no accidents.  Maybe she's trying to work all this out through rubber doggie?!!

Thankfully, rubber doggie hasn't started fake burping yet.  My 3 year old decided this was fun after hearing it from a friend.  Someone recommended to ignore this behavior.  Well, with my strong willed child that escalated her behavior to such a level that I COULDN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!  When my child looks me straight in the eye and fake burps, that is something I can't ignore. We started discussing yesterday what big girls do and don't do, which included no fake burping.  She was in a time out last night for 1 fake burp.   
**Result: no fake burping at breakfast this morning. I'd say we have a victory at the moment! I realize we will still have to work on this behavior, but any progress is reason to celebrate for this optimist :)

Speaker Spotlight: Patsy Clairmont

I know, it’s been a while since I attended the Women of Faith conference, but I feel like there was so much goodness wrapped into 2 days that I need to focus on as many speakers as I can in individual posts.  And, with all that goodness, I needed time to soak it all in!

Patsy

Ok, so back to Patsy.  I LOVED this feisty woman.  I totally wanted to have lunch and coffee with her...to spend one on one time with her and gain more wisdom from her life experiences.  I never had a Christian grandmother, so if I had the opportunity to choose one, yup, she'd be the winner!   God speaking through her touched my soul in a way that words cannot express.  She was a breath of fresh air in the land of mommy hood, where life can sometimes be taken too seriously.  The tools she presented I will continue to use for sanity in daily life.

Quotable quotes:

I’m not weird, I’m a limited edition

Pop your pills in Jesus name.

(for those who haven't heard her speak, I'll explain this later)

Life is messy

People are textured

God is mysterious

People come in and out of your life for a purpose.  Rejoice in what you learn from them.
Change can be good

Tools I took away from a weekend of hearing from Patsy:

*Since fear loves to show up when we least expect it: refuse, replace, repeat.  Refuse impure thoughts (aka anxiety, negative self talk, etc). Replace with a better thought and look to God.  Memorize scripture and internalize.

1.     
*  Say yes every morning

Patsy said she isn’t a morning person and doesn’t wake up with a cheery disposition like those who wake up ready for the day.  Learning to say yes to God even in those early mornings when you just wanna stay a grump can be difficult.  However, it will start the day off right. And, believe me, I’m no morning person! Definitely something I need to work on...

*   Learn to say no.  No is a complete sentence.

Setting boundaries is good for us, which in many cases, means saying no.  Many of us feel we need to say no with an explanation.  Sometimes less is more.  No one needs to know your life story when you are just saying no and setting boundaries for yourself.

Now, to explain: Pop your pills in Jesus name.  She is referring to getting help if you are dealing with depression, anxiety or any type of mental illness.  We should be thankful we live in a day and age in which we have medicine to help with chemical imbalances.  Basically get help if you are stuck!

Thanks Patsy, many of the things you shared confirmed what God has been teaching me since becoming a mom!  I'm forever grateful!