Summer Learning #Giveaway from Carson-Dellosa

When my husband talks about the summers of his childhood, he talks about playing sports with his friends from morning until night. I remember reading, swimming, and chasing fireflies.

credit: Flickr user terren in Virginia

I'm sure, though, that neither of us was thinking about the schoolwork that we were forgetting during that summer break!  Now that I'm a mom, however, I see things a little differently.

Studies have shown that kids can lose up to 2.5 months of learning over the summer, with most loss appearing in math and spelling.  The loss is cumulative, and by ninth grade, it is blamed for two-thirds of the achievement gap between higher- and lower-income students.  Here are more statistics, courtesy of Carson-Dellosa:

Fortunately, as the graphic indicates, parents can encourage summer learning.  One way is to use Summer Bridge Activities from Carson-Dellosa.

Thanks to Carson-Dellosa, I have the chance to give away a Summer Learning Kit to one lucky reader.  The kit, which is available for grades K-6, will include everything pictured here:

These are the items:

• Summer Bridge Activities card set
• Summer Bridge Activities workbook
• Access to the Summer Bridge Activities Online Companion
• 2 Sun notepads (50 sheets each)
• 2 packs of Sea Life name tags (40 per pack)
• 1 pack of Sea Life mini incentive charts (30 sheets, 630 stickers)

Here's how to enter:  Leave a comment and tell me how you plan to help your child(ren) learn this summer.  Be sure to leave a way for me to contact you.  Limit 1 entry by this method.  This must be done in order to qualify for extra entries.

Here's how you can earn additional entries (please leave one comment per entry):

• Visit the Carson-Dellosa website and identify another product you like.  Comment here to tell me which product it is. (1 entry)
• Share the link to this giveaway post on Facebook.  Leave a comment here with a link to your post. (1 entry)

More details: Open to residents of USA and Canada, age 18 or older. Giveaway ends 6/7/12 at noon (Eastern time). Winner will be chosen by the random number generator at Random.org and will be notified by email.  Winner must claim prize within 48 hours, or another winner will be chosen.  Void where prohibited.  Carson-Dellosa is providing the giveaway prize.

Disclosure:  I have received no compensation in any form for hosting this giveaway.

Cheerios #Giveaway: Because Two Boxes are Better Than One

Buying club-size items can save money. It can also present storage issues: for example, how many jumbo boxes of cereal can you fit in your kitchen cabinet? We've found ourselves opening the big box, transferring a portion to another container, and repeating this process until the box is empty. Half the time the cereal is stale before we finish it.

The team at Cheerios must have heard these concerns, because they're doing something about it.  Club packages of Cheerios are now in two boxes--hence the name, 2 box Cheerios.

I like this because it solves the storage issue as well as the freshness one.  The packaging is designed to contain less air, so these two boxes are smaller than the previous box, and they contain more cereal!  And of course, you get all the goodness you've come to expect from Cheerios.  In addition, less packaging saves trees and reduces the number of trucks needed to transport the boxes.

The new club packages of Cheerios are available now at Costco, Sam's Club, and BJ's.  For more information, read about the 2 Box Package or watch the short video about the Cheerios New 2 Box Package.

Would you like to win a prize pack containing two 2-box packages of Cheerios?  Thanks to General Mills and MyBlogSpark, two lucky readers will win this prize, as pictured above.

Here's how to enter:  Leave a comment and tell me how this new Cheerios packaging might benefit you and your family.  Be sure to leave a way for me to contact you.  Limit 1 entry by this method.  This must be done in order to qualify for extra entries.

Here's how you can earn additional entries (please leave one comment per entry):

• Share the link to this giveaway post on Facebook.  Leave a comment here with a link to your post. (1 entry)
• Comment on a non-giveaway post on my blog, and mention the post in a comment on this post. (1 entry per comment; limit 3 total)

More details: Open to residents of USA, age 18 or older. Giveaway ends 6/4/12 at noon (Eastern time). Winners will be chosen by the random number generator at Random.org and will be notified by email.  Each winner must claim prize within 48 hours, or another winner will be chosen.  Void where prohibited.  General Mills and MyBlogSpark are responsible for prize fulfillment.

Disclosure: Cheerios^® cereal, information, and giveaway have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.

As One Devil to Another (Book Review & Giveaway)

I can think of no better short description of As One Devil to Another, by Richard Pratt, than the subtitle of the book:

A fiendish correspondence in the tradition of C. S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters

Even Walter Hooper, biographer and editor of C. S. Lewis, writes in the preface that "the narrative voice ... is almost indistinguishable from Lewis' own."  He concedes that "the tone is sharper than anything from Lewis' pen," but "it is surely the tone he would have used had he lived to see the abyss of moral relativism we endure today."

So imagine The Screwtape Letters updated for current times, and you'll have an idea of As One Devil to Another.  In a series of letters, a senior demon is mentoring a new cadet (a recent graduate of Temptation University, a.k.a. Tempt U).

While I don't think the basic weaknesses of humans have changed, the tools that the enemy uses to exploit those weaknesses have.  For example,

Excess, with modern media advertising, has become almost too easy.  All excesses are to be encouraged, except, naturally, excessive devotion to the Adversary [God].  We have managed to sell the humans on the idea that the only excess that is unhealthy is alcohol, leaving us free to do as we please with food, sex, and material acquisition. ...

The author also addresses other tools and attitudes that the devil tries to use in his favor.  He also has Slashreap write about the world we would live in if everyone followed God; of course, Slashreap's perspective is that they must never allow that to happen.

I couldn't put this book down.  I've already described it to a friend, who immediately asked to borrow it.  So yes, yes, yes--I recommend As One Devil to Another!

Links for more information:

• Tyndale House Publishers page for As One Devil to Another (with links--on the left--to read the first chapter, watch a video clip, and download a discussion guide)
• Purchase As One Devil to Another on Amazon.com (not an affiliate link)
• Purchase As One Devil to Another on Amazon.com (my affiliate link)

Thanks to Tyndale House Publishers, I have the chance to give away a copy of this book!  The prize will be awarded in the form of a certificate, which can be redeemed at a local Christian book store or by mail.

Here's how to enter:  Leave a comment and tell me why you want to win this book.  Be sure to leave a way for me to contact you.  Limit 1 entry by this method.  This must be done in order to qualify for extra entries.

Here's how you can earn additional entries (please leave one comment per entry):

• Share the link to this giveaway post on Facebook.  Leave a comment here with a link to your post. (1 entry)
• Comment on a non-giveaway post on my blog, and mention the post in a comment on this post. (1 entry per comment; limit 3 total)

More details: Open to residents of USA, age 18 or older. Giveaway ends 5/26/12 at noon (Eastern time). Winner will be chosen by the random number generator at Random.org and will be notified by email.  Winner must claim prize within 48 hours, or another winner will be chosen.  Void where prohibited.  Tyndale House Publishers is providing the giveaway prize.

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book, at no cost to me, for review purposes.  I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions in this post are my own.  This post contains an affiliate link.  If you click through my link and complete a purchase, I will receive a small commission.  Thank you!

Organic Gardening with Whitney Farms

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Whitney Farms. All opinions are 100% mine.

From the time my husband and I decided to create a raised bed garden for vegetables, we have been very picky.  In particular, I didn't want any chemicals in the garden.  (I mean, we're eating these vegetables!)

I think I drove my husband a little bit crazy when I said that we should use something other than pressure-treated wood for the frame.  But he used his super-human resourcefulness to find this plastic wood, which was very new at the time.

Since then we've used only organic soil amendments, organic plant food, and so on.  It's been a little inconvenient, since we had to mail-order everything, but it was worth the effort.

Now, however, we have another option, and it looks pretty exciting to me.  Whitney Farms® has a brand new line of all-natural plant foods and soils for both flowers and vegetables.

I like that the Whitney Farms® products are formulated to have low or no dust, to have no manure odor, and to contain beneficial microbes that help with the breakdown of organic matter into nutrients.

I don't know if we're going to be able to plant a garden this year, because of all the health issues we have right now.  But when we do, I definitely want to try some of these new products.  If you are interested, too, don't miss out on the printable $3 coupon from Whitney Farms®.

Out of Reach

When my son was little, his Grandma would bring him balloons for his birthday--one balloon for each year.  Invariably, the ribbons would be just a bit too short.  He would try and try to pull one of those shiny, colorful balloons down from the ceiling, but he couldn't quite reach the ribbon.  Eventually he would ask an adult for help.

image: Flickr user jekemp

I thought of that last night when I was thinking about something that Paul wrote:

... I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹ But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." ... [2 Cor 12:7-9, NIV]

I made the association because, when I'm in a valley, God seems far away.  Grace can seem out of reach.  I can stand on tiptoe, stretch as far as I can, even jump--and still not be able to grasp the ribbon.

But God, in His grace, has sent help:  sisters and brothers in Christ.  They show God's love through their words, their hugs, their smiles.  They remind me, when I'm stuck in a rut, that praise music helps me keep my focus on the Lord.  They point me back to the promises of God.

They pull down the ribbon so I can reach the balloon.

What helps you when God seems far away?