Mom Loves Reading - Steampotville by Steve Ouch

SteamPotVille is a brand new book by Steve Ouch, that sparks the imagination and leaves you viewing its pages for hours, only to see something new each time! From the moment I heard the premise of the book I was intrigued!

'Everything seemed normal in SteamPotVille - a town where animals live in teapots and birdhouses until one day when you wake up everything gets out of hand and the adventure begins.'

Just the cover image alone lures you in, tempting you to view it's pages. The photography and art is amazing! The story is fun and whimsical. Obviously I cannot say enough great things about this book!

The first time Elijah and I sat down to read this his little eyes lit up! He was smiling and laughing and pointing at the colorful pages. I can't tell you how long we sat there looking at each page. I couldn't believe how much detail Steve put into the images. You never know what you will see!

This is a perfect book for children and adults! For toddlers the pages are full of wonderful images, perfect for a game of I-spy. For older children the words are not too complex for beginning readers and for the oldest children (and adults) the book is just plain fun!

I give this book 5 stars for originality and creativity and highly recommend it!

Visit http://steampotville.com for more information!

Connect with Steve Ouch and Steampotville on the web:

Steampotville on Amazon.com

Steve Ouch On Twitter
Steve Ouch's Blog
Steve Ouch on Facebook
Steve Ouch Facebook Fan Page

I want to say a BIG THANK YOU to Steve Ouch for providing Elijah and I our own copy of Steampotville. We absolutely LOVE it! It is one of the first books Elijah pulls off the shelf for story time!

Note: This review was the honest opinion of the the mom, Erin. The review copy of Steampotville was provided by Steve Ouch. No compensation was provided.

Mom Loves Story Time Felts

It's fun to look back to our childhoods. Look at the toys we played with, the games, the activities, the adventures. We didn't sit on our parents lap at the computer. We didn't watch TV more than MAYBE an hour a day. We read, we ran around outside. We MADE toys out of bits of things we found around the house and a imagination. We didn't need everything fancy, talking, lights flashing, music, LOUD, like today's children do. 

I have been striving to find all the simple, enjoyable, educational, imaginative, fun toys I can for Elijah. He is a very smart baby, whose favorite activity is to sit with you and read. He will sit on your lap and stare at the pages for hours. Laughing at the pictures, rubbing his hand across the pages as if he can touch the objects. He loves the bright colors. He loves the expressive words. He loves the rhymes. He loves the poems. Elijah loves just listening to the words.

I was very fortunate to have met the most wonderful woman, who knows A LOT about story time and how to make it enjoyable for your children. Lois told me all about her company, Story Time Felts, and was sweet enough to even send us a Nursery Rhyme Felt Board Toggle Book. Elijah loves it!

"Story Time Felts  offers the very finest in felt board stories and visual aids for learning and open-ended play.  Strict attention is paid to the quality as well as the educational value of each product. We carry an extensive line of educational felt board story sets and non-denominational religious felts as well as dress-up dolls,including custom photo dress-up dolls, felt activity books, finger plays, puppets, and audio story and song Cd's and more for preschool through school aged children."

They are all made in the U.S.A.,  beautifully and brightly colored, and come with unlimited possibilities! The felt is even washable -- which is a big plus! Not even drool filled, sticky fingers, Elijah could harm the colorfast felt images! He loves the feel of the felts on his fingers. He loves to help mommy move them around the story boards. I have no doubt in my mind by 9 months he will be moving them around without my help. He already tries now. Lois also recommending putting Velcro on the back of the pieces for finger puppet play. Elijah laughs and laughs when he sees the little characters pop up and hears me do the different voices while moving my fingers around. 

"Children are natural storytellers but often their stories remain locked in their heads because they lack the ability to express themselves. Story Time Felts help parents and teachers bring back creativity and imagination to the children in their lives through beautiful felt products such as felt board story figures, activity books, dress up dolls and other educational felt items!

Experts agree that kids these days are too "plugged in," so we offer something that is High Touch, not High Tech! Imagination is rediscovered and fostered with Story Time Felts!"

How true is that? How many times a day are you telling your children -"turn off that TV... get off that computer... put down that video game" - These felts not only help the children turn of the technology and use their imaginations, they help to remind YOU how important it is to turn off and to play with your children. I am loving laying on the bed with Elijah and coming up with story after story using the characters. Even with the nursery rhyme set... Did you ever hear of the time that Humpty Dumpty DIDN'T FALL. He in fact SAVED the kingdom by having such a spectacular view from up there! -- I am having so much fun coming up with these stories myself!

These would be a great present for any children in your life, teachers, your church's Sunday school class or playgroup. They would be a great present for birthdays! You don't have to stand in an Toy isle at Target and wonder which toy the other guests bought, which toys does the kid already have, which toys are appropriate, how much do you want to spend. Story Time Felt is inexpensive, one of a kind, and guaranteed to be a hit.

If you would like to place an order with Story Time Felt , please do so using her name, Lois Graham, when prompted for your Consultant's name.

For more information please visit Lois' Story Time Felt page. She would love to help you with orders, educational home and catalog parties - to earn free felt,  joining her sales team, teacher workshops, vendor events and more. Her contact information is availible there or you can follow Lois on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/LoisGraham

More posts to come on Elijah & playing with Story Time Felt as he grows and can plays along.

WomenHeart’s All Heart Family Cookbook {Giveaway}

Many women know that Heart disease is the number one cause of death for women in the U.S. Sadly though many women don't know how to help prevent it or the risk factors. Which of these applies to you?

• Family history of coronary artery disease or stroke
• Age 55 or older
• Post-menopausal
• Family history of premature cardiac disease (under age 60), especially in a sibling or parent
• Obesity
• Sedentary lifestyle
  
• Smoking
• Hypertension
• High over all cholesterol
• Low HDL cholesterol
• Diabetes
• Metabolic syndrome
• Increased CRP
• Use of birth control pills, especially if you smoke
• Complicated pregnancy

Wow. I can check a bunch off myself even only being 24 years old! So now that you know the risk factors what types of things do you want to change in your life? I am proud to say I have been making a change to live healthier and help my family to live healthier. I am VERY proud to say I quit smoking over 8 months ago. We also have been working hard to get more exercise. Having a 5 month old definitely helps with the exercise! But the biggest thing we have been doing is cooking healthier.

Do you want to start cooking healthier too? Then why not start with the WomenHeart’s All Heart Family Cookbook?

WomenHeart is the national coalition for women with heart disease. Their cookbook, written by Kathy Kastan, Suzanne Banfield, along with Wendy Leonard and the members of WomenHeart, features information and recipes using the 40 foods that have been proven to promote heart health the best!

The cook book covers everything from Heart Health and what you need to know to keep your heart in shape, to learning about these 40 heart healthy foods such as Dark Chocolate, Salmon and Red Wine, and then how to make wonderful recipes using those 40 ingredients for heart healthy meals!

Sara Lee Fresh Bakery offered some of their delicious heart healthy sandwich recipes in the WomenHeart's ALL HEART Family Cookbook. They have partnered with The Heart Truth Campaign to help raise awareness of heart disease among women and encourage them to make healthy choices every day. To further help the cause Sara Lee will contribute one dollar for every cookbook ordered up to $35,000 to the National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease.

To Purchase your own copy of the cookbook please click here.
Or
Thanks to Momfluence, Sara Lee and Women Heart, you can enter to win your copy!

To Enter: Please fill out this form here, and then leave me a comment saying you did!

This contest is open to all U.S. Residents & ends Wednesday, April 15th. One entry per household.

Thanks for reading!