easter and a recipe....

I hope you're having a blessed Easter today - did anyone find Peeps in their Easter basket this morning?  I found a recipe to make a Peeps cake which is from the official Peeps website.  Click here to get the recipe.  Enjoy!

Etsy Finds - Easter Bunnies

Bunnies - so cute!

Amigurumi Crochet Bunny. Hand made from Lilac pastel yarn by Kinder Kraft

Easter Bunny crib shoes by Ms Ellas Boutique

6 Foot - Easter Bunny Rabbits Garland by GFetti

100 bunny rabbits paper confetti by Les Cartes de Belleville

Peter Rabbit watercolor print by Valorie Zentil Paint

Easter, Set 3, Bunnies, Easter Bunny, Nursery, Home Decor, Rabbit, Figurine by Hodi Home Decor

Original Song Shine Your Way from The Croods Soundtrack

 

 

Relativity Music Group has released the music from the original motion picture soundtrack to DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc's (Nasdaq: DWA) upcoming comedy adventure The Croods on March 19th, three days before the film officially opens in theatres. The soundtrack includes the original song "Shine Your Way" featuring Republic Records' multi-platinum recording artist Owl City and Verve Records' artist Yuna.

Click here to listen to Shine Your Way.

it's officially spring (and a giveaway)

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It's the first day of spring! Do you have any special plans for today?  I'm headed over to my son's school - we're planning a spring party for Friday before they go on break for two weeks.
Have a great day!

P.S. There's still time to enter the giveaway I'm sponsoring on the Drawing Dreaming blog.  Click here to enter.

Review - Chase by Jennie Allen

Thanks to Shelton Interactive, I was able to review a new DVD based bible study called Chase by Jennie Allen.  I was impressed with the box that the study was packaged in and the box itself contained the study dvd, a set of discussion cards and 2 books for leaders to guide a small group.

 The DVD has 8 segments (an introduction and 7 lessons), approximately 10 minutes long which covers the life of (King) David.  I've always had a special interest in David because he has written so many beautiful psalms (Psalm 23 etc) so this DVD had my attention from the start.  From the study book: "A man after God’s own heart… As David’s life weaves throughout the pages of Scripture, we see he was a man who spent his life chasing after God. Chase explores the events that defined David’s life and the Psalms that flowed out of those experiences. Through David’s example we’ll discover what God really wants from us."   While studying David's life, you will be reflecting on your own.  As I watched the segments, I could relate to David although his sins (adultery, murder, etc) were different than mine.  

The discussion cards are very thought provoking and perfect to start conversations in a small group.  Some of the questions are: What has God asked you to do but you feel afraid to do so? What things remind you that all of this - God, heaven, eternity - is real? In what ways do you try to control your life? How is it working? 

I enjoyed the DVD and especially the discussion cards.  I watched the DVD with my husband and we asked each other the questions on the cards and it was interesting and revealing for us to hear the other's responses to the questions.   I think Chase is perfect for a small study group and would highly recommend it to others.   Read below for a Q&A with the author Jennie Allen.

Q&A with Jennie Allen

Why is the story of David in Chase one that you feel women today need to hear?

Jennie: David is the wild, passionate, warrior king, but something about the way he related to God has wrecked me. His view of God was so big. David actually believed God and he lived like it. I think as a generation of women, we are longing for the same lives. We want to believe God is real and to live like it.
This is not a study for people wanting to play it safe. This study messes with you because we all are chasing things other than God, and when you look into the life of someone chasing God himself..God alone, you start craving that. I want a life like David's, brave and dependent and full of worship. He had a relationship with God unlike any other in Scripture; honestly, unlike any other I've even seen. I want to know God like he did and trust God like he did.


How can small group leaders, groups of friends and others use your studies, like Chase, to dig deeper into God's Word?

Jennie: Every study begins with Scripture, and the entire time you are going back to God's Word together, but this is a lot more than an intellectual examination of Scripture. My prayer is that this would be a place where truth and experience come together. I designed these studies to take women from the point of understanding the truth all the way to the point of living that truth. From the personal questions to the projects that make you face your doubts about God...it feels a little scary but I love that these studies push us to places of faith. There aren't easy answers, and it makes us wrestle with God - not just check boxes and fill in blanks.

What do you hope that women discover most about themselves and about God after experiencing Chase?

Jennie: I think a lot of us are tired and we would like to please God, but it feels like it would take a lot of effort to do that. Chase seems to be an experiement in what it is God wants from us. The more I understand what God has done, the more I quit striving and rest in Him. David rested in the work of God - God's favor - in the plans God had written for him. Whether you are running from God or working your tail off to please Him, this man's journey will challenge your view of God.

As you continue to grow as a Bible study teacher and author, what are you learning?

Jennie: The theme seems to be clear in my life...this is not about me. My job will always be simply to push everyone up to the face of Jesus, because I believe He is actual, tangible hope. Not one other thing gives hope that lasts longer than a few minutes...Jesus offers hope for the biggest problems and He resolves them forever. Where else do we go but Him? That is my job and I pray I keep my head down and just play my small role in His plan.

Happy Pi Day and a recipe

Happy Pi (3.14) Day!  There's a lot of news articles out that give suggestions on how to celebrate this day.  I think my favorite idea is to eat some pie and here's an easy recipe from SnackPicks.   It's no bake and takes about 10 minutes to prepare.   Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
2 squares (1 oz. each) semi-sweet chocolate, melted
1 Keebler® Ready Crust® Chocolate Pie Crust
3/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted*
2 cups cold milk
2 packages (4-serving size) chocolate flavor instant pudding & pie filling
1 tub (8 oz.) frozen non-dairy whipped topping, thawed, divided

DIRECTIONS

1. In medium bowl whisk together sweetened condensed milk and chocolate until smooth. Carefully spread in crust. Lightly press pecans into chocolate mixture. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.

2. In large bowl beat milk and pudding mix with wire whisk about 1 minute. (Mixture will be thick.) 3. Spread 1 1/4 cups of pudding over nuts. Whisk half of whipped topping into remaining pudding. Spread over pudding in crust. Top with remaining whipped topping.

4. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or until set. Garnish as desired. Store in refrigerator. *NOTE: To toast pecans, spread evenly on baking sheet. Bake at 350°F for 5 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown, stirring once or twice.

Book Review - A Plain Scandal: An Appleseed Creek Mystery

A Plain Scandal: An Appleseed Creek Mystery is the second book in the series, written by Amanda Flower.  (I love her name - so pretty!).   From the back cover: In A Plain Scandal, the quiet Appleseed Creek community is under attack.  Chloe Humphrey, a local computer specialist, is alarmed over the crimes against the Amish and worries how the events will impact her close friends. When she discovers an Amish man dead from stab wounds, Chloe decides to take matters into her own hands and find the culprit behind the hair cutting before someone else pays the ultimate price.

My thoughts: I enjoyed reading this book.  It started off a little slow for me but then picked up as I got further along.  I feel this can be a stand alone book, but there were a couple of things mentioned that made me feel that I should have read the first book in the series to have more understanding of a couple of situations/characters.  The identity of the person(s) behind the attacks was a mystery until the end and somewhat of a surprise.  I feel that anyone that likes mysteries and a nice easy read will enjoy this.  I would recommend this book to others.

Disclosure:  I received this book from Shelton Interactive in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions expressed are my own.

NEW MUSIC RELEASE - NIGHT

Pianist Simone Dinnerstein and singer-songwriter Tift Merritt join forces for the first time on NIGHT, a unique collaboration uniting folk, rock and classical worlds, exploring common terrain and uncovering new musical landscapes. Available on March 19^th 2013 from Sony Classical, NIGHT was recorded at the Academy of Arts and Letters in New York by Grammy-winning producers Adam Abeshouse and Ryan Freeland. Dinnerstein and Merritt will launch the new recording by performing NIGHT live in cities including Munich, New York, Durham, Tampa, and Saratoga in Spring 2013.

Click here to see an excerpt of NIGHT from WNYC, New York Public Radio.


NIGHT Track Listing

1. Only in Songs (Tift Merritt)

2. Night and Dreams (Franz Schubert)

3. Don’t Explain (Billie Holiday from an arr. by Nina Simone)

4. Dido’s Lament (Henry Purcell)

5. I Shall Weep at Night (Brad Mehldau)

6. Wayfaring Stranger (traditional)

7. Prelude in B minor (arr. by A. Siloti from J.S. Bach’s Clavier-Büchlein vor W.F. Bach)

8. Still Not Home (Tift Merritt)

9. I will give my love an apple (traditional)

10. Colors (Tift Merritt)

11. The Cohen Variations (Daniel Felsenfeld)

12. Night (Patty Griffin arr. by Jenny Scheinman)

13. Feel of the World (Tift Merritt)

14. I Can See Clearly Now (Johnny Nash) 

 

SIMONE DINNERSTEIN + TIFT MERRITT NIGHT TOUR DATES

March 21 New York, NY Ecstatic Music Festival at Merkin Hall

March 23 Hudson, NY Club Helsinki

April 4 Durham, NC Duke Performances

April 5 Gainesville, FL Univ. of Florida Performing Arts

April 6 Tampa, FL Straz Center for the Performing Arts

April 19 Saratoga, CA Montalvo Arts Center

April 11 Minneapolis, MN Dakota Jazz Club

April 12 Chicago, IL Old Town School of Folk Music

April 18 Seattle, WA The Triple Door

April 19 Saratoga, CA Montalvo Arts Center

May 4 Phoenix, AZ Musical Instrument Museum

June 9 New York, NY Le Poisson Rouge

July 16 Aspen, CO Aspen Music Festival                                  

Review -Stumbling on Open Ground

Stumbling on Open Ground Love, God, Cancer, and Rock'n'Roll is a book written by Ken Mansfield.   From the back cover - Stumbling on Open Ground is a story of a private trial and faith like those found in the books of Esther and Job.  Punctuated with stories from Ken Mansfield's years in the music business - working with George Harrison and Waylon Jennings, among others - Stumbling on Open Ground is a private dialogue between a charismatic man, his loving wife, and the extraordinary God who transformed them in the middle of a heartbreaking disease.

I hadn't heard of Ken Mansfield before this, but he has a very interesting background (former US manager of the Beatles' Apple Record Company, award winning producer) and is now an ordained minister and public speaker.   In the book he shares anecdotes about his life and talks about his battle with cancer (twice).   What I took away from the book is this from page 237 - "Before, I used to stumble on open ground and fall all the way down. Now I fall short because his loving arms, tender mercies, and unconditional love always catch me before I hit the ground."   This book is inspiring and I would recommend it to others.

Disclosure: I received this book from Thomas Nelson Publishers in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions expressed are my own.

The Croods Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Have you seen any ads for the movie The Croods? It looks like a fun movie (my 7 yr old really wants to see it) and now Relativity Music Group is set to release the music from the original motion picture soundtrack on March 19th, three days before the film officially opens in theatres! 

The soundtrack includes the original song "Shine Your Way" featuring Republic Records' multi-platinum recording artist Owl City and Verve Records' artist Yuna. 
 

Here's the track listing (Score Composed and Produced by Alan Silvestri):

1. Owl City and Yuna "Shine Your Way"
2. Prologue
3. Smash and Grab (contains a sample of "Tusk") Performed by Alan Silvestri and The USC Trojan Marching Band
4. Bear Owl Escape
5. Eep and the Warthog
6. Teaching Fire to Tiger Girl
7. Exploring New Dangers
8. Piranhakeets
9. Fire and Corn
10. Turkey Fish Follies
11. Going Guys Way
12. Story Time
13. Family Maze
14. Star Canopy
15. Grug Flips His Lid
16. Planet Collapse
17. We'll Die If We Stay Here
18. Cave Painting
19. Big Idea
20. Epilogue
21. Cave Painting Theme
22. The Crood's Family Theme
23. Cantina Croods

The Croods soundtrack is available now for pre-order at iTunes® here. 

 

About the movie itself - it stars Nicolas Cage, Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone, Catherine Keener, Clark Duke and Cloris Leachman. The Croods tells the story of the world's first family road trip. When their cave is destroyed, the Crood family must embark on a comedy adventure into strange and spectacular territory in search of a new home. As if patriarch Grug (Nicolas Cage) didn't already have enough to handle, it goes from bad to worse when they encounter an imaginative nomad named Guy (Ryan Reynolds). With Guy's help the Croods conquer their fear of the outside world and discover that they have exactly what it takes to survive - each other.  What a great cast and it sounds like it's going to be a great movie too!

 

For more information on The Croods please visit www.thecroodsmovie.com.

 

get your craft on!

Happy March!  The time is flying by; it seems like my kids were just on winter break and now they're getting ready to go on spring break.  Since March is National Craft Month, I'm planning to do some craft projects with them.  Here's a couple of ideas I have in mind:

Homemade Salt Dough (recipes can be found all over the internet)
Ingredients:

1 cup of fine salt

1- 2 cup of flour (add 1 cup first then check consistency, add more as needed)

1 cup of water (lukewarm)

Instructions:

In a large bowl, combine the salt and the flour

Make a well in the salt/flour mixture and add the water

Knead until smooth and shape into a ball

 Air Dry

When not in use, wrap in plastic or store in an airtight container

Tips:  Add food coloring and/or vanilla extract

The above picture is from this site - salt dough tags that have been rubber stamped (so pretty!)Check them out to see other great things you can make with salt dough. Another project is to make Easter bunny bags and fill with some handmade treats.   I'm thinking to have the kids glue googly eyes instead of drawing them and using pom poms for noses.  The kids could also use different color papers (lt blue, yellow) for the ears instead of having them all pink.

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I'll post pictures when we've completed the projects.  Have a great weekend!