America: The Last Best Hope Vol. III

America: The Last Best Hope (Volume III) From the Collapse of Communism to the Rise of Radical Islam
By William Bennett

Twenty years is a long time. However, Bennett believed that more time needed to pass to digest the history of 1989 – 2009 before writing this third volume. Many, especially in the education community, though persisted in asking for this history book to be written to bring us as up to date as possible. I love history, but have seen my share of boring history books. This is not one of those! “America” Vol. III is warm, relational and thought-provoking. Bennett writes with first-hand knowledge having served as Secretary of Education under President Reagan and as Drug Czar under President George H.W. Bush.

I, like many, lived during the events in the book so I have my own memories of what happened and where I was when I heard about the events. I appreciated the insight to what was going on on a deeper level and seeing how the events fit together to form a bigger picture. Even though the book is political and world event (including great changes in media and technology) in nature, Bennett included mention of country music. It fit though and was reflective of culture.
Most interesting to me was the epilogue. The book was written in 2009 and in the epilogue Bennett reflects on the hopes and fears of Americans. He is very hopeful in America rising to its challenges. Unfortunately, it seems that in the two years since, we have spiraled downward instead of rising. I wonder what will be written as history eighteen years from now.

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 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Cooper & Me and the Winter Adventure

When I returned from traveling for Thanksgiving, a new book was waiting in my stack of mail. I laid it on my desk and thought that I’d get around to reviewing it in the next week “sometime”. I read it while waiting on the phone and had to write the review right away because it was so good! I wanted you to have time for some good opportunities before Christmas too! First the book – from a Mom standpoint, I loved that the book had fun, lovable characters and taught a valuable lesson (what to do when you are lost). From an educator’s standpoint, I loved that the book had wonderful rhyme and flow, used rich language and included higher level thinking questions. I am both Mom and educator and Cooper & Me and the Winter Adventure is worthy of your home and/or school library.

This book is perfect for PreK – 2nd grade and will offer a wonderful springboard for discussion. “Life Lesson” and “Connections” are included to help you with that too. Often young children have trouble talking about “what to do in a difficult situation”, but adventuresome dogs, Cooper and Bella will give children a story where children can relate and easily discuss what they would do if they were in a situation like the dogs (lost).

Here are some specifics on the book:
Website: http://www.cooperandme.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cooper-and-Me-Inc/214695101924101
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/cooper_and_me

Now for the OPPORTUNITIES:

First, $1 of every Winter Adventure book sold will go to advance research & treatment of pancreatic cancer, via the Lustgarten Foundation (http://www.lustgarten.org/)

Next, our friends at Cooper & Me are offering an EXCLUSIVE DEAL FOR YOU

Make any purchase of $25 or more at CooperandMe.com and get FREE SHIPPING now through December 15.

MUST USE THIS CODE @ Check Out: COOPERBLOG

Finally, you can enter to win a copy of Cooper & Me and the Winter Adventure. Simply visit the Cooper & Me website and make a comment here specifically about it. I will close the contest at 11:59 pm on Dec. 2 (so you don’t have much time!) and use random.org to select a winner.

I hope you take advantage of these opportunities. Enjoy Cooper & Me!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a copy of Cooper & Me and the Winter Adventure for free in hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guidelines Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Multitutudes on Monday - November 28

Even though I have sick kids and need to be leaving for a dr's appt. soon, my uncle is in the hospital and the stress of being in charge of Christmas parties is setting in (click here for the Crazy Mom Challenge - a great reminder from iMOM), I want to pause and reflect. I want to share that we are richly blessed with a multitude of grace...

915 Day in Kindergarten
916 The Lord is faithful to all His promises
917 Friend here
918 Lunch with friends
919 Hearing family stories
920 A new sweater
921 Chasing the sun
922 Cousins
923 Movie
924 Attending a wedding together
925 200 year old adobe home
926 Seeing children I love dearly – 2 of whom I have wonderful memories of them playing with my children
927 Clearing skies
928 A song on a guitar
929 God’s amazing grace
930 Entertaining dinner (Japanese Steakhouse)
931 Hearing memories
932 Redeeming time
933 Gifts
934 Getting to go to Trader Joe’s
935 Talking to family member on phone/timing – while driving by our old house
936 Going home
937 Dion’s & Blake’s
938 Late night conversations
939 Appointment made
940 Flannel sheets
941 Hospitality for a stranger
942 A special snow globe
943 Spontaneous drive through a light display
944 Fun dinner out and watching part of the game
945 Safety for many miles traveled
946 Pine trees and mountains

Nourishing our bodies and spirits.
Thankful for grandparents and thankful for them helping the kids fill their plates on Thanksgiving.

On the Home Front - November 26

No fancy graphic - I'm not at my computer. Only a few starters (the ones I remember)
A daybook written on location in Albuquerque.

Outside my window... a wonderful deck with views of the mountains and lots of glorious sunshine!

On my mind... being present in our Christmas celebrations. I probably have a bit more responsibility than I care too, but we are looking forward to our part in Toys for Tots and to Hubby being home (not working) between Christmas and New Year.

Reading.. I read "Lead for God's Sake" on the way here and started skimming Billy Graham's new book "Nearing Home" (belongs to family). I have a history book for the ride home (not light reading at all).

What the boys are doing...they worked filing at their grandparents' store yesterday. Basketball practice starts this next week.

Plans for the week...I'm not working Monday and Tuesday - going to chapel (at Christian school) where Hubby is preaching Monday and trying to catch up from being gone and work on Christmas plans.

Menu planning ... delicious traditional meal on Thanksgiving. Enjoyed ham, twice baked potatoes, green beans, rolls, and fresh veggies on Tuesday night with my uncle, the boys, Hubby, Aunt and friend C. Will make chicken morsels Monday night, but now it's time plan for the month...again (sometimes this task feels like laundry, it never ends).

I am richly blessed... have so enjoyed having family around my table this month - and joining in with family for Thanksgiving. It was a joy to read my youngest nephew bedtime stories and to catch a movie with him and my sis in law. Hubby and I were immensely blessed to attend the wedding of a dear friend yesterday. God's grace is amazing!!!

One Month to Live

When we first moved back to Oklahoma, several churches in the area were going through the book One Month to Live. I hadn’t had the chance to read it yet, so when I was given the opportunity to read it for review, I quickly took it.

Besides the authentic, clear way the book is written with doable and real life examples, I love the methodical lay-out of this book! It is designed for a chapter to be read daily with each week having a different theme: live passionately, love completely, learn humbly and leave boldly. After a little bit of writing there is a “Make It Count Moment” that is designed for you to reflect on what you’ve read and think about your own life. At the end of the chapter is “Make It Last for Life” where three action steps are outlined. It doesn’t have to be overwhelming either. If we just took one of the three or one or two steps from each week and made some lasting changes – it could really improve our life!

At the beginning of each chapter are also two quotes. My favorite one in the book is “A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are for” By William Shedd. The quotes, call for reflection, action steps, and style of writing are great for several different learning styles and provide “hooks” to make the message of the book stick.

I’m sure if we found out that we only had one month to live, our perspective would change and we’d strive to live each day to the fullest. We would focus on what truly mattered. One Month to Live has encouraged me to live that way now. When it is my time to leave this fleshy self, I want to have lived life on purpose.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Integer Race

My oldest, M - just doesn't feel very well right now. The nurse at school called today and when she didn't get me called my Hubby. After a second call - M got picked up at school. He was supposed to finish up some science project trials tonight, but I think that's going to have to wait.

Last week he turned in his math project. The assignment was to create a grade level appropriate math board game. M. did this racing theme where the object was adding and subtracting integers. (I must say that besides a few standardized tests, after college I never used negative numbers!).

The classes played/graded the games last Thursday and Friday. Here's M's creation:

Game of Your Life

Family Movie Night's 'Game of Your Life' is set to air on NBC Friday, December 2nd at 8/7c,
Synopsis: Zach Taylor gets a scholarship to Digital Institute of Game Design (DIGD). For his freshman project, he, his two roommates and strong leader, Sara Ramirez spend hours developing an interactive game. Will Zach get to stay at DIGD or will his project fail? Will he be enticed to take a prohibited side job? What can he do to help his father facing troubles at home? Zach has several tough choices. This movie is all about making decisions and how those decisions affect others.

Website: http://www.familymovienight.com/game-of-your-life/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/familymovienight
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/fmnib
Trailer: http://vimeo.com/31917601

This movie was not enjoyable for me to watch. However, I think that may have been because of my age or because I’m not a gamer. My ten year old spent a lot of time trying to figure out how the movie flowed together and kept asking me what was going on. Don’t let that stop you from watching though. Your kids might love it!

Overall, I really appreciate Walmart and Proctor and Gamble for sponsoring movies that you can feel comfortable sitting down and watching with your family. ‘Game of Your Life’ was clean with no questionable words or content and taught a character building lesson. It would be a great springboard to talk about loyalty, fairness, honesty, tough decisions, and commitment.

I received special access to a screening of this movie and all opinions are certainly my own.