Luv'N Lambert Life

A blog about living with Epilepsy, IBHS, Homeschooling and so much more

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The BeLOVED Life Plush Travel Pillow {FrontGate Review}

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This image belongs to The BeLOVED Life website.

$34.99
FrontGate Blogger Network blessed us with yet another amazing product.  They hooked us up with The BeLOVED Life for a free Plush Cushion Travel Pillow of our choice.  It was just in time for our Georgia trip too!
When reviewing I often receive products for the older kids but rarely find things for Jackson, my 4 year old.  I was pretty torn between a few designs when choosing this one.  There are just so many great products available at The BeLOVED Life. 
There was this awesome Cupcake Travel Pillow which Emma or Laycie would have LOVED!  The back is bright pink and says, “Taste and See ~ Psalm 34:8”. It’s adorable!
Then there was this beautiful purple plush pillow featuring a Crown.  This Princess cushion would have been awesome for Laycie!  The back says, “I Am Wonderfully Made ~ Psalm 139:14”.
The Wings of Eagles pillow would have been awesome for Winston.  It’s very manly in style.  The color is a nice tan featuring a Camo print Eagle.  The back says, “On The Wings of Eagles ~ Isaiah 40:31”.
Any one of these designs would have worked wonderfully for our home but there was one that truly stood out and I immediately thought of my Jackson when I saw it.  The very orange Strength Plush Cushion which features and adorable grey Robot with the word Strong across his chest.  My Jackson LOVES Robots and the color orange!
The back says, “I Can Do All Things Through Christ ~ Philippians 4:13”.
Jackson LOVES this pillow.  I gave it to him right after he woke up the morning it arrived. He was so excited that he immediately snuggled up to it.
He loves how soft the cover is.  I love that the brightly colored pillow IS actually a cover.  It unzips to allow you to wash it and the pillow inside can easily be replaced by an average size throw cushion.  (Did I mention it zips off so you can wash it??  How AWESOME is that?!!)
Our travel pillow came with a matching grey strap to make carrying easy.  Since this pillow was really designed for older kids of the preteen age, the strap is a great design to traveling with the pillow easy.  It also includes a great cell phone pouch for kids.  This is great to make keeping up with their often expensive phones easier and keeping it closer to them while they sleep or travel.
My personal opinion on the strap:
I felt the strap was stiff and hard like a backpack strap can be.  I tried to remove the cell phone pouch as my little one does need it but was unable to get it off without cutting it which I didn’t want to do.  The hooks are hard which aren’t really cuddly when you use the actual pillow and would personally bother me.  I think this aspect could be better designed though I like the idea of it.
The Strength Pillow itself:
This thing is ultra soft.  Jackson (age 4) loves to rub his hands over the soft cover when going to sleep.  Sometimes he stuffs his hand into the pocket on the back.  He likes to stick toys in the pocket too but it’s kind of flat and tight which makes it challenging for his toys.  It would be great for a journal or a notebook or book your reading.  Pokemon cards fit great too.  A small blanket may fit in there but it would have to be really lightweight.  
The embroidered pattern of the Robot and the writing on the back of the pillow are equally soft and do not distract from the comfy feel of the pillow.  I cannot even explain how soft this pillow is.  It completely amazed me.  Jack absolutely loves that.  He’s a texture lover.
As a little bonus, the company sent us a little Light Bulb key chain which I gave Laycie.  We stuck it onto her new purse so she can rub it for sensory.  She loves it as much as Jack.  It’s a great comfort tool for her ADHD.
Honestly, I could just go on and on about this super awesome pillow but I know you probably would like to know how to get your own.  There are several more versions available other than the ones I mentioned here.  The BeLOVED Life STRENGTH Plush Cushion Travel Pillow for Kids is available for $34.99.  For me, it’s totally worth the price for the joy it’s brought my kids.

As a bonus The BeLOVED Life is holding a giveaway where you could WIN your own Plush Travel Pillow for your loved one!  Click the Link below to enter.

The Beloved Life Blog Hop Giveaway

The Beginner’s Bible from Zonderkidz {Crew Review}

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The Beginner's Bible {Zonderkidz}
The Beginner's Bible {Zonderkidz}

For those who may have missed my announcement on Facebook last month, I’m happy to announce that I’ve rejoined the Homeschool Review Crew, a division of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.   I’ve greatly missed the crew, the amazing products, wonderful vendors and I’ve especially missed being able to share such wonderful products with you.  So without further interruption, let’s get started with the first of many awesome products I’ll be reviewing this year and sharing here on the blog:

The Beginner’s Bible from Zonderkidz!

About the Review:
Zondervan is a company that has blessed our home for many years now.  Zonderkidz is the kid’s department for Zondervan which provides quality educational and Biblical materials to use with your family at home.  We have used and loved many of their products in our home for at least 16 years now, since the birth of my oldest son.  So when the opportunity came to review The Beginner’s Bible from Zonderkidz, I immediately knew this was a review that I wanted to do.

About the Book:
The Beginner’s Bible is a story Bible that is filled with wonderful imagery.  It includes 90 different Bible stories written for children to comprehend.

This is a Bible meant for small children, ages 6 and under who are just learning to read or who need help reading.  It’s a wonderful read-aloud book or book to read with your child.  It is definitely one of our family favorites.

The Beginner’s Bible was first released in 1989 and has sold over 25 million products.  To me, that’s an amazing number.  27 years later, this wonderful Bible is still a wonderful addition to any family’s library.

Recently, Zonderkidz updated The Beginner’s Bible to include new 3D full color illustrations in bright vibrant colors.  This really makes the stories come to life.  The images really pop off the pages with this new artwork style.

The Beginner’s Bible also features large, easy to read font.  This is perfect for younger children who often become anxious with smaller print.  It wasn’t too bad for this Momma either, as sometimes reading stories in small print can be hard to keep up with when you’re holding a small child.


The Beginner’s Bible is 512 pages in length.  These pages are now glossy whereas the older versions of The Beginner’s Bible had matte paper pages, which is sometimes difficult to keep clean with small hands.  The pages are still paper but the glossy finish does allow for light wiping that could not be managed before.  This was a change that I was happy to see!

 Included in the front of The Beginner’s Bible is a Dedication page where you can write in your child’s name so they know this Bible is just for them.  There is also a Table of Contents included behind the Dedication page to help you locate favorite Bible stories.

 The first part of the book begins in the Old Testament just like an adult Bible would, starting with Genesis’ The Beginning and ending with Jonah and the Big Fish.  The New Testament is also included, beginning with An Angel Visits Mary and ending with Jesus Is Coming!  At the very back of the book there is also included a brief dictionary to help explain some of the important Biblical words your child may not know.  


How We Used The Product In Our Home:
The Beginner’s Bible was easily adapted into our family’s day to day routine.  I’m lucky to have two little readers who enjoy looking at pictures and discussing what they see.  They enjoy reading Bible stories so they were very excited to have a new copy of The Beginner’s Bible to share and read together.

We read our copy of The Beginner’s Bible as a bed-time story to start out but that didn’t last long, as both my younger children begged to hear more throughout the day.  They also requested on several times to have their siblings read to them, which is great practice for the older two in reading aloud.  We found this book quickly became an important part of our day to day.

Jack really loved this BIG FISH!

With Jackson, who is four and just learning that letters make words and words have meaning, we sat together and looked over many of the pictures inside The Beginner’s Bible one on one.  We also read some of the stories, varied throughout the book as he choose which ones interested him the most.  We discussed who Jesus was and is after finding his picture on the last story page of the book.  But overall, Jack’s favorite story was Jonah and the Big Fish because Jack’s world is all about fish and dinosaurs right now.  He loves all fish stories so I was thrilled to share this one with him.

With Laycie, who is 8 but mildly delayed in her learning due to her health, we read our copy of The Beginner’s Bible together.  She chose to read more of the book in order, as she prefers things to follow from beginning to end.  She read the words she knew and I helped her decipher many of the words she didn’t know.  We discussed the images that went along with the stories, taking note of the importance in each image that went along with each story we read.  She really loved all the stories and didn’t have an absolute favorite.

I often found her with our copy of The Beginner’s Bible, reading it to her dolls and sharing God’s word with her siblings when we weren’t reading it together.  This warmed my heart to know how special The Beginner’s Bible became to her so quickly.  I know it will continue to do so in the future.


How You Can Obtain This Item:
The Beginner’s Bible is available from Zonderkidz.  It is currently priced at $16.99.  
You can purchase The Beginner’s Bible online at the Zonderkidz/Zondervan website.


Places To Find The Vendor Online:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Zonderkidz/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/zonderkidz

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/zondervan

Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/zondervanp/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zondervan/

You Can Read More Reviews Of This Product/Vendor At:


The Beginner's Bible {Zonderkidz}

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Happy Kids Songs {Crew Review}

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I was really excited to see this vendor come up this year.  Music is a huge part of our day and lately I have been looking for some new songs to keep things interesting.  Lets face it, you can only listen to the same repetitive songs before you become bored as a parent and having four children home 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, I’ve heard them all.
Happy Kids Songs gave us new, fresh music to listen to and learn with.  These songs are a lot of fun both in sound and with the activities that accompany them.  The activities are very easy to do with even young children.  Specifically, Happy Kids Songs is designed to be used with children who are ages 3-8 but even my 11 and 13 year old enjoyed listening and helping me with the younger kids.  
As some of you know, we are eclectic and unschoolish in Homeschooling style so Happy Kids Songs really went along with our idea of school.  I was easily able to put these songs on my phone or iPad and plug it into our radio so that we could listen, learn and dance.  The kids, of course, LOVED dancing to the songs and really learned great things just by listening.
We listened to these songs repeatedly and talked about the things they heard and learned through listening to them.  The kids never got bored of listening and every time they did they learned something new.  They truly enjoy these songs.
The workbook is a great addition as well.  It contains over 122 pages of fun.  The lyrics for each song and an activity sheet are included in the workbook.  In the back of the workbook, parents and teachers can find great activities to do to help build the skills and lessons being taught through the songs.  We did not do all of these but we did enjoy quite a few and even built upon the ideas on our own.
The workbook is reproducible for Homeschool use so copies can easily be printed for use with multiple children.  I was thankful that this was an option.  You can also download these same worksheets for free and print from the computer through the company when you purchase the CD’s.  
The song set titles are pretty self explanatory.  There are 8 titles in the series, all adding up to a huge amount of fun.  For our review, as I mentioned above, we received the following:
Friends and Sharing – this song set focuses on building friendships and learning to share with others.
Happiness and Attitude – this song set focuses on being happy, making others happy and having a great attitude as well.
Manners and Character – this song set focuses on learning good manners and having a great personal character with others.  
Each of these song sets are available for purchase through Happy Kids Songs website either on Amazon or iTunes for $4.95 per album of all five songs or songs can be purchased separate for $0.99.  The pages within the workbook are available for free through the website but you can purchase the pre-printed Happy Kids Songs Workbook from Amazon for $12.56 at the time of this review.
You can find Happy Kids Songs in the following places online:

Twitter: @howsyourfam

Please click the banner below to read more reviews of Happy Kids Songs!

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Update from us for May {Thoughts From Me}

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This week has been a long one for us, not leaving me with a lot of time online.  Mom had gall bladder surgery last Wednesday and that means my usual help is not available.  Having her out of commission has been hard on us all.

I’m truly thankful for all my Momma does for me – she helps me every day with the kids, especially with Jackson.  She’s always there to run to the store or to simply keep an extra eye out so I can keep up with the household stuff and have one on one time with each child. It’s great.

This week, she’s not been able to help out as much.  Her surgery went great and she’s feeling better every day.  I’m hoping in a few days she will be back to her normal self and we will be back on track again.

So until then, my posts will be short and my time limited.  Just wanted to give this quick update about where we are at!  Blessings to all!

Another Seizure Update {Epilepsy Awareness}

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These days I feel like I am just floating through.  My mornings are filled with watching Laycie, making sure she sleeps long enough to keep the seizures away.  My afternoons are spent waiting and watching for Jackson next seizure.

We are stuck in limbo… waiting.  There is nothing to do to prevent them at this time.  There is no way to know what will happen next.

Because Jackson was on so many medications last month, he needs a brief detox before starting the next one: Phenobarbital.  He will start the new medicine this coming Friday but until then he will be on Klonopin while we give his body time to adjust from the last medicine.

This makes 6 medicines in less than a month that have been absorbed into my sweet boys bloodline.  I don’t even want to think about how this has effected him and pray that it really hasn’t.  I also pray that the Phenobarbital is the last drug for at least the next year for him.

I’m thankful that my sweet Laycie has remained controlled during this time though things are far from perfect with her.  She’s lethargic in comparison to her normal self.  She’s picky when eating.  She melts down mid afternoon.  But there are no seizures, save a few mild twitches through the night.

So this is where we are at.  God is surely holding me up, because I don’t know how I manage to make it through the seizure every few nights right now.  I’m afraid to leave the house for him seizing.  I’ll be so thrilled when we have control again.

Notgrass Company: America The Beautiful {Crew Review}

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Last year, as I was planning for school, I added American History to our list of subjects I wanted to teach next year.  Over the past year, I’ve searched for books and curriculum to create our own study on this subject.  I was lucky in my finds but I was even luckier when this review appeared on our vendor list for the Schoolhouse Crew.  Notgrass Company’s America the Beautiful curriculum set was just the type of core program I had been looking for.
America the Beautiful is a year long course on American History.  It doesn’t only cover history though.  It is also a literature curriculum and geography course in one.  Designed for children in 5th-8th grade, this program is designed to provide your child with a full year of lessons that cover various important events throughout America’s history.
Parents can choose to complete this course in one year or expand it to two years if they prefer.  Lessons are designed to be completed one per day, five per week or they can be spread to two or three lessons a week as preferred.  Lessons take approximately 45-90 minutes.  Extra time is required for crafts and other activities.  The program is also adaptable to fit your child’s or family’s interests and daily activities can be adjusted to accommodate those interests.
America the Beautiful is a beautifully created curriculum.  There is no teacher’s guide, as the program’s directions are provided throughout each of the main texts.  This is an added bonus for children who are independent learners so they can follow the program with little parental guidance if capable.  Parents, too, can follow along easily without having to flip back and forth to a guide to keep up.
America The Beautiful curriculum package consists of the following:
  • America the Beautiful, Part 1: America from 1000 to 1877
  • America the Beautiful, Part 2: America From the Late 1800’s to the Present
  • We the People: Words from the Makers of American History
  • America the Beautiful: Student Workbook
  • America the Beautiful: Lesson Review
  • Maps of America the Beautiful
  • Timeline of America the Beautiful
  • America the Beautiful: Answer Key
Each of the books in this curriculum are beautifully crafted.  The first three texts are hardback books, with bright glossy covers that draw the users attention to them immediately.  The rich text are filled with gorgeous images of the time period.  The accessory books are all paperback with the Lesson Review and Student Workbook having spiral binding to allow them to lie flat for lesson completion.
An additional literature package is available to expand this program to it’s full capability.  We did not receive this as part of our review and I did not incorporate this part of the lesson plan at the time of completion of this review.  We will be adding it into our future lessons to make this a complete program for our home studies in the future.
The thing I absolutely love most about this curriculum is that it relates everything to God, from the creation of the land to the settling of America on through to today’s times.  The curriculum helps bring to life, God’s plan and creation within America.  This is a beauty that is often missed in secular history programs.
Something I found tremendously easy to incorporate with this program is science.  As we learned about various animals and places in America’s history, it was easy to expand upon our lessons, learning more about the animals and areas themselves.  Especially in early lessons, where many of the animals discussed are local to our own backyard, such as the American Alligator which we have seen on various boating and hunting excursions – and yes, we actually do have one living way back in the back of our own backyard.  Bottle-nosed dolphins can be seen off coast of our shoreline and Green Sea Turtles come up our coast to lay eggs each year.
Black bear make our hunting club their home and recently part of our hunting club was donated to make a wildlife preserve for the bear to live safely for generations to come.  A recent field trip provided a great expedition to see Bison up close.  I never realized they roamed our Southern Coastal lands at one time!  All these beautiful animals right here where our home is!
We learned a great deal about our American Indian heritage through this curriculum as well.  The different tribes and the differences in tribes.  This was especially interesting to us, since Winston and Emmalee both have an extensive American Indian heritage on both their biological father’s and my own side of the family.  The Susquehanna, Cherokee and Lumbee are ancestors to their bloodline.  This curriculum is rich in American Indian history and that was something we greatly appreciate.
We look forward to covering more history using American the Beautiful, particularly learning more about America’s 1st settlements, including our own Charleston, South Carolina.  The many battles of the Revolutionary War were fought right around our home of Georgetown, South Carolina so it will be interesting to see where our future lessons will take us on our journey to learn more outside the pages of the text book.
We have been excitedly marking our way through our America the Beautiful timeline, and mapping our path with our Maps of America the Beautiful historical atlas.  The kids have really enjoyed working together to complete the activities within the Student Workbook.  We have also enjoyed the extra stories and read-alouds from our We the People text.  Many of these stories we have never heard before.
The Lesson Review book is probably the least used of everything we have received, along with America the Beautiful Part 2 text but that’s because we haven’t reached that book yet!  I have used the Lesson Review to ask questions in an effort to ensure the kids are learning as we read.  We, however, are not generally strict to structured learning so we do not normally utilize lesson reviews for homeschooling materials.  I simply ask questions as we go along and the kids answer appropriately to allow me to gauge their level of learning from the curriculum itself.  Still it’s nice to have a Lesson Review to guide me and provide the necessary questions to ensure they are indeed learning.
I can honestly say this curriculum is one that everyone has loved.  Laycie has followed along with us as we have read through lessons.  At age 5, she does become bored before we get through the bulk of the lesson.  Winston and Emmalee have followed along very well and it’s captured their attention at times.  They have enjoyed learning more about the animals and about their heritage thanks to America the Beautiful.  They look forward to future lessons that lead to hands-on field trips for us soon.
America the Beautiful, the curriculum package is available for purchase from Notgrass Company for $99.95.  It is written for children ages 10-14.  This package includes student texts, maps, timeline and the answer key.  At additional cost, you can purchase the America the Beautiful Student Workbook for grades 5-6 for $11.95 or the America the Beautiful Lesson Review for grades 7-8 for $9.95.
To read more reviews of this and other curriculum from Notgrass Company, click the banner below!

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