Hermie, a common caterpillar by Max Lucado

I review for Booksneeze - have you heard of them? They offer books to bloggers for free and in return they ask that you review the book for them. Today I'm sharing the story of Hermie, a common caterpillar.

I must say that after reading my very first (and absolutely wonderful) Max Lucado book last year, I was really thrilled to hear that he is also the author of many children's books. So I jumped at the chance to read this one and also to share it with my boys.

The story is about Hermie, and Wormie his best friend,  who meet a number of other insect friends during the course of their day. All of these friends however, have some very special and attractive qualities and as a result these two rather ordinary caterpillars feel quite inadequate in comparison. Hermie and Wormie decide to take their feelings to God, who constantly assures them that he is not done with them yet and that patience is required. Now I don't know about you, but I think that comparing ourselves to others certainly robs us of our joy and this story shares this idea very nicely. There is a lovely (albeit predictable) and inspiring ending and the overriding message that we are all unique and that God has a special plan for each of us is delivered beautifully. I also love the fact that the caterpillars talk to God about their concerns - I think that's a great message for children to hear too.

This book was unfortunately only available as an e-book and I would certainly not recommend this version. Big One (aged 9 at the time) and I read it together and were very puzzled by the lay-out. The images do not always match the text on the page and as a result the book doesn't flow easily and we both found the story to be confusing. I was lucky enough to recently find a soft copy of the book at the library, so I did a little comparison. This copy was far easier to read, in that the illustrations are complimentary to the text, and the illustrations were nicer.  All in all a huge improvement from the e-book version. 

I would definitely keep this one on my bookshelf as a regular read to my children, as I think the message it delivers is fantastic.

Thank you Booksneeze for the opportunity to review Hermie!

PS. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed here are my own.

Easy to make Hot Plate

If your little one doesn't have a play stove, this is the easiest and quickest little hot plate to make and it's a great substitute. All you need is a small fruit box like the one in the pic. This box was home to some naartjies. Turn it upside down (it's nice and sturdy) and add two CD discs with some glue or prestick.

Till next time, happy cooking :)

Dear Email Subscribers

To my very valued email subscribers,

Making the decision to change my blog address means in practice that you will no longer receive updates from Love and Lollipops, unless you re-subscribe to my new feed. 

You will see the "SUBSCRIBE VIA EMAIL" box to the right of your screen. I hope that you will rejoin me and subscribe again. I would be sad to lose you!! 

Remember that after filling in your email address in the box, Feedburner will send you a confirmation email. When you receive that mail, be sure to activate the link by clicking on it. It will then immediately confirm that you are subscribed. If you do not activate the link via that email, you will not be subscribed.

Thank you kindly in advance!

Georgia:)

PS. Don't you love the bottle tops? I have lots of great teaching ideas with bottle tops coming up soon.

Change of {Blog} Address

When I started blogging, just short of two years ago, I really didn't know much about website addresses, custom domains, search engine optimization and the like. So at the time, I simply chose a blog name (Love and Lollipops), added an address (allthingschildren.blogspot.com) and then proceeded to "watermark" my pictures with "Georgie Girl Photography". Confusing, right?

I won't go into the reasons behind those decisions, but today I would like to share the changes I've made. That is, I have changed my blog address to love-and-lollipops.blogspot.com and my photographs will also reflect my blog name from now on.

I hope that this doesn't inconvenience you all too much - if you happen to type in my old address, you will still find me, I promise. To those of you who have kindly linked to my blog or to a specific project at Love and Lollipops, I must apologise, as the link will no longer work. If there is a specific post you are looking for and you cannot find it, please contact me at gsetzer(at)telkomsa(dot)net and I will send it to you.

While I was at it, I changed my name at Pinterest too. You can find me here.

Thank you as always for reading, commenting and for your kind emails. I hope I will keep you reading and inspired!

Georgia :)

Mommy Made Gogo's/Marble Run Game

I've seen a variety of marble runs around the net - today I'm sharing our version.  

Instead of marbles, Big One suggested that we use Gogo's Crazy Bones - do you know them? - we have a small collection of these.

The game works like this. Each player picks five Gogo's (or marbles).   If a Gogo makes it through all the tubes and lands in the box, it scores full marks (6 points). If it doesn't land in the box, it is disqualified. If it lands in the box, but it misses a few tubes along the way (it happens), simply minus the number of tubes it missed off the total score of 6. Keep tally and the winner is the one with the most points at the end.

The little yellow Gogo (can you spot him?) was unfortunately disqualified for missing the box :(.

To make this, all you need are some different size cardboard tubes and sticky tape. Easy Peasy. 

Have fun!

PS. For a super alternative version, check out this one from Deborah at Teach Preschool. 

PPS. Sharing this at Show and Tell @ ABC and 123. 

You are the Apple of my eye {Cards}

Keep me as the apple of your eye, hide me in the shadow of your wings

Psalm 17:8

Bottle top apple of my eye cards - our Valentine's cards this year.

PS. Click here for more bottle top crafts.

PPS. Linking this to:
Show and Tell @ ABC and 123 

Silly Valentines

Oh I can be silly - it's one of those things I like about myself - I think my children like it too. 

So I had great fun and giggles thinking up silly Valentines. The kiddos joined me. Big One with his own ideas (as always) and Little One enjoyed punching out little hearts... everywhere... he loves my punches.

Big One's... 

My Inspiration:  

My Heart Is Like a Zoo

A delightful book by Michael Hall - twenty animals all made from heart shapes. And the best part, twenty different emotions and behaviours for you to chat about with your child. It's a super book that can easily be used in play therapy too. Do click on the link above and grab the kids for a super little trailer of the book. Really cute.

Heart Zoo (from Katherine Marie's Happy Hearts Theme of the Week)

My dear friend Katherine inspires me so and makes me look at every piece of pretty or interesting paper in a new fun visually creative light. If you do go visit over there, I know I've probably lost you for now, but that's okay - I won't blame you. :)

Happy Valentine's day!

The Heart Project

(Due to some unforeseen internet trouble, this post is a day late - my apologies.)

I'm very excited to be sharing some super news today!

Behind the scenes and in an effort to raise funds for the American Heart Association, I have had the privilege of being part of a wonderful collaborative project hosted by Jamie from hands on: as we grow. More than 70 fellow bloggers have contributed over 100 gorgeous heart-shaped crafts to a book called The Heart Project. This book is filled with beautiful photographs of the crafts and all the bloggers links are available, so that you can read the "how-to" if you would like to recreate the project.

The inspiration behind this great effort is a little girl called Ellie, and you can read more about her here. 

The e-book is a gift to you, for a very small donation of $5 to the American Heart Association (that's less than R40 for my South African readers) . A printed copy (which I'm really excited about) will also be available for $20 and $5 of that will go to the Association. Both versions of the book will only be available during the month of February, so hurry if you want a copy :)!

And if you need some more encouragement,  Craftprojectideas.com is contributing $1 for every e-book sold this month. That means in addition to your $5 donation Craftprojectideas will donate another $1 on your behalf (up to $500).

To add to the fun, many of the participating bloggers are also having giveaways linked to the book and there will even be an opportunity to win a printed copy of it. To see all the giveaway action, head on over to hands on: as we grow. Jamie has set out all the details for you very nicely. 

And just to wet your appetite, I have included a few preview pages here.

My projects shared in the book are speckled origami hearts, made last year, and some heart finger puppets, which I shared in my last post.

So don't hesitate - it's a great cause. To purchase the e-book, click on the first button and to purchase the printed version, click on the second. 

US $20.00

Order the Printed Version

Till next time.

Heart Pencil Toppers and Finger Puppets

Valentine's day is no biggie in our home. But,  I do love hearts and I do love red and I also love I-love-you ideas, so this day always get's my attention.

I was thinking of a simple craft for kids to do...a little gift to give a teacher, or friend...something sweet. Isn't Valentine's day just a perfect reason to tell someone you like them, or love them. I think so. Pencil toppers came to mind, inspired by some heart finger puppets I saw many years ago (in the nineties!) in an American Parent's magazine. 

  

To make pencil toppers, cut out two identical felt hearts. I drew the heart onto a piece of felt and then folded it double, so that I could cut out two hearts simultaneously. Draw a line to indicate where you need to put your glue (see top photo), leaving a gap for the pencil. Glue the two pieces together and wait for it to dry. If you want the heart to stick to the pencil (and not slip off), put some glue on end of the pencil, before you pop the heart on.

Or you could make a heart finger puppet family...

Easy craft and a sweet gift.

Till next time.

PS. Shared this at Show and Tell @ ABC and 123

Georgie's Picks {Cakes II}

Georgie's Picks is a post where I share some of my favourite moments and pictures.

In 2010 I wrote about some cakes...cakes that I was lucky enough to photograph and eat!

Today I'm sharing some more.

When my own little monkey turned one, it seemed perfect to have a Curious George Party. It was a great theme - balloons, bright colours, bubbles and of course lots of little monkeys running around. This cake was baked by Marleen, a lady who has baked many wonderful cakes for me over the years.

Jake and the Never Land Pirates - this amazing cake was baked by 

The Chocolate Moose.

I did a whole post about this Spider Party. This terrific tarantula was also baked by The Chocolate Moose and just in case you are assuming that this was a hard-core boy party - it wasn't!

I love the simplicity and colours of this Beach/Pool Party cake.

The perfect cake for a Soccer Party.

And this one took me way back to my childhood. Did you have a Kewpie Doll? I did - a BIG one - well, she seemed rather big at the time. This is another cake by Marleen, baked for my sister-in-law's baby shower. If you would like Marleen's details, please send me an email.

To view my previous "Cakes" post, click here.

So basically, if you want your cake to be famous (Love and Lollipops type fame)...just invite me to your party and I'll come and eat...I mean photograph it for you and share it here :).

Till next time...