Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Amanda's New Bike with Linky

Welcome to my Picture Perfect
Party Linky #228!


Amanda's grandparents and great-grandma in the States sent her money for Christmas. She used a big chunk of it to buy a new bike. Her old one had become too small. She is still getting used to the bigger bike. This one even has 18 gears and her dad has been showing her how to use them.

The light was fading when I took these shots. We were in a quiet cul-de-sac. Our rescue dogs, Benny and Koda, were also out with us getting their exercise.

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My latest post
on 1camera1mom:



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Now on to my blog hop...

Amanda’s Books and More

Come link up your Wordless Wednesday
(with or without words) or any picture post
at this Picture Perfect Party Linky.
Join me on this fun and easy blog hop!


If you host your own blog hop(s), then feel free
to link them on my Blog Hops page!


I would love for you to follow me on
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Here are the easy rules:
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Friday, January 27, 2017

Multicultural Children's Book Day with Linky

Welcome to my weekend blog hop -
Make My Saturday Sweet #206!


Today is Multicultural Children's Book Day! To celebrate, I'm sharing photos from last year that I never posted of UK Day at Amanda's school. Her primary school in South Africa has a sister school in the UK. To celebrate their relationship, Amanda's school hosts a UK Day and teachers from the UK primary school are invited for a week or so as an exchange (like exchange student, but exchange teacher instead).

Each year on UK Day, the younger grades are asked to dress up as a character from a British story like Peter Pan or Alice in Wonderland. Last year Amanda dressed up as Tinkerbell. In the photo she's holding a pan. They had a pancake run and each child needed a pan to run with. They had a coloring competition and I included Amanda's picture below. The parents also get involved by putting on a high tea for their child's class. One of the mom's in Amanda's class even brought a cardboard red phone booth with a real phone for decoration!

Amanda is growing up with lots of different cultures around her at school. She has friends who are originally from Taiwan who are Buddhist and others who are originally from India who are Hindu and both are vegetarians. She has Muslim friends who eat Halal and one Jewish friend who eats Kosher. When we have a birthday party, we try to cater for all. It's the same with Amanda's brother and sisters and their friends. We are Christian and we like trying dishes from other countries and cultures.

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My Multicultural Children's
Book Day Review:

Mountain Chef
A True Story
About a Chinese American
who helped "cook up" the
National Park Service





Grab a FREE Kindle version of the
Read Your World Guide
on Amazon until January 30th!


Links of Interest:

Multicultural Children's Book Day

Free Multicultural Books for Teachers
(limited supply - open until February 2017)

Free Kindness Classroom Kit for
Homeschoolers, Organizations, Librarians
and Educators

Diversity Book Lists and Activities
for Teachers and Parents


*********************

Make My Saturday Sweet is a weekend blog hop for all family friendly blogs. You are welcome to link your favorite post from the past week(s) and to visit the last link before yours and leave a sweet comment. It's a really easy and fun way to make new friends and to catch up on old acquaintances.

Now on to my blog hop...

Amanda’s Books and More

It's time for another Make My Saturday Sweet blog hop!

Join me (your host) for this fun and easy hop.
All family friendly blogs are welcome!

If you host your own blog hop(s), then feel free to
link them on my Blog Hops page!

I would love for you to follow me on

Here are the easy rules:
  • Follow Tina (your host) on one or more links listed above.
  • Link up a post from your family friendly blog.
  • Please try to add my hop button on your post or side-bar.
  • Share about this hop on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook.
  • Visit the last link before yours and leave a sweet comment.
Blog Button Code:

Amanda’s Books and More

Weekend Linky

This is a blog hop!



Visit my Blog Hops page to see
what link-ups I take part in.

Read More

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Amanda's New Lego Friends with Linky

Welcome to my Picture Perfect
Party Linky #227!


For Christmas, Amanda got a new Lego set from her grandparents: the Amusement Park Roller Coaster. In the photo above, she is building part of it on Christmas Day at her grandparents' house. What's neat about this set is that it has lights. We still have Lego that goes back to my childhood.

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Click on my photos to see them at their best!








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In case you missed it,
my weekend post was about
our love of books and I
mentioned Lego too:



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My latest post
on 1camera1mom:



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My Latest Book Review
Part of Multicultural Children's Book Day:

Mountain Chef
Based on a True Story



Multicultural Children's Book Day



*********************

Now on to my blog hop...

Amanda’s Books and More

Come link up your Wordless Wednesday
(with or without words) or any picture post
at this Picture Perfect Party Linky.
Join me on this fun and easy blog hop!


If you host your own blog hop(s), then feel free
to link them on my Blog Hops page!


I would love for you to follow me on
and
Follow on Bloglovin



Here are the easy rules:
  • Follow me on one or more links above or via email.
  • Link-up your post with a picture and follow as many new blogs as you like.
  • If possible, copy the button code below and add it on your linked post or blog's side-bar.
  • Tell others about this hop on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook.

The Button Code:

Amanda’s Books and More

This is a Wordless Wednesday blog hop.



Visit my Blog Hops page to see the hops that I often link up to.

Read More

Friday, January 20, 2017

Our Love of Books with Linky

Welcome to my weekend blog hop -
Make My Saturday Sweet #205!


Everyone in our family loves books. I believe that our four kids being strong readers has helped them tremendously with their schooling. My husband and I have never demanded that they be A students, but all four have done well. In 2014, Jeremiah graduated high school with two distinctions, one for English and one for IT. His sister, Jessica, graduated at the end of 2016 and she earned an A average with five distinctions, English being one of them. Samantha has just begun grade 11 and Amanda grade 3 and both are doing very well at school.

I introduced each of them to books from when they were babies. They went from soft fabric books to hard board books and eventually to books with paper pages inside of them. I read to all of my kids and I still read to Amanda. About ten years ago I went through the Narnia series with Jeremiah, Jessica, and Samantha. Jeremiah usually sat on the floor (because he wanted his own space) and the girls on my bed while I read to them. They still remember back to that time fondly, especially the older two who found it easier to follow along.

Books were a catalyst in bringing Robbie and I together. We started our relationship through our work at the book exhibition on the M.V. Doulos, a floating book shop with Operation Mobilization (O.M.). When we got married, our main possessions were books. We are not hoarders of books, though. We have learned, with all the moving that we've done over the years, to give away what we aren't using. However, we still have more books than we need.

This blog is best viewed in Google Chrome.
Click on the images to see them at their best.


Last week I organized all of Amanda's books and put some aside to give away (with her permission). Her books used to be in the office, but we changed things around and now her books are in her room. I was surprised to discover how many books are activity books, which are pictured in the photo above and take up half of the top shelf. The plastic containers that are on the bottom shelf have Lego in them. That Lego is from my childhood (including my brother's) and Jeremiah's childhood, so two generations. Amanda has her own collection of newer Lego too. She owns Ninjago Lego and Friends Lego (not featured here). 


Amanda sleeps on the top bunk in her room, close to the ceiling fan. We live in South Africa, so ceiling fans are necessary. When we moved her books out of the office, I wanted to put her smaller books on the shelf above her bunk. I had just one problem, I didn't have any bookends and the books kept slipping down even when we put things up against them. My solution... a wooden box! Now she reads books to herself at night before going to sleep. Perfect!


The photo above is of the bookcase that Amanda used when she was little. It stood in the passage so that it didn't take up floor space in her room. It's now in Jeremiah's room with his books. When Amanda was little, she loved looking at her books, but she didn't care about putting them away properly. The only reason why the big books on the bottom shelf were stacked neatly was because they were too heavy for her.

Little Amanda with two Disney Fairy Tales books.
The pink one on the right was mine when I was a kid.

Amanda's picture book version of
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Robbie built this bookcase for the
Britannica Books that were given to us.


***************************



My Multicultural Children's
Book Day Review:

Mountain Chef
A True Story
About a Chinese American
who helped "cook up" the
National Park Service




Links of Interest:

Multicultural Children's Book Day

Free Multicultural Books for Teachers
(limited supply - open until February 2017)

Free Kindness Classroom Kit for
Homeschoolers, Organizations, Librarians
and Educators

Diversity Book Lists and Activities
for Teachers and Parents



*********************

Make My Saturday Sweet is a weekend blog hop for all family friendly blogs. You are welcome to link your favorite post from the past week(s) and to visit the last link before yours and leave a sweet comment. It's a really easy and fun way to make new friends and to catch up on old acquaintances.

Now on to my blog hop...

Amanda’s Books and More

It's time for another Make My Saturday Sweet blog hop!

Join me (your host) for this fun and easy hop.
All family friendly blogs are welcome!

If you host your own blog hop(s), then feel free to
link them on my Blog Hops page!

I would love for you to follow me on

Here are the easy rules:
  • Follow Tina (your host) on one or more links listed above.
  • Link up a post from your family friendly blog.
  • Please try to add my hop button on your post or side-bar.
  • Share about this hop on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook.
  • Visit the last link before yours and leave a sweet comment.
Blog Button Code:

Amanda’s Books and More

Weekend Linky

This is a blog hop!



Visit my Blog Hops page to see
what link-ups I take part in.

Read More

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