Fa La La La Films 2024

The Christmas Challenge continues! It's been a decade for this blog and I am thrilled to do this fun holiday season challenge again!

I'll share my Christmas watchlist below. The movies I watched before November 25th are added in gray. Let me know your favorite holiday movie in the comments. Happy viewing, friends!

Live-Action Holiday Movies

Christmas with the Kranks (2004)
Love Actually (2003)

Christmas in Scotland (2023)

Last Holiday (2006)

Animated Holiday Movies

Rankin/Bass Productions

Are These Really Christmas Movies? 😉

On Moonlight Bay (1951)
By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953)
Susan Slept Here (1954) 

In the Good Old Summertime (1949)

My Favorite Wife (1940)

Bundle of Joy (1939)

Blog Tour: What's the Story Morning Glory?

Welcome to the Blog Tour for What's the Story, Morning Glory? by Julie Lessman, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

I am so thrilled to be a part of this tour! I have been a huge fan of Julie Lessman for years. I was totally surprised when she announced her nonfiction/fiction memoir devotional. Being a fan, I knew I needed to have it as a part of my collection. Her writing style wraps me up and transports me to the world she created. I am invested in her books and I am invested in her. She writes and shares stories that hit the heart in a beautiful way. It's more than just fluffy love stories, it's stories of change because they come from a heart of love - God's love.

Julie's memior devotional might be the first of it's kind and I love it! It's truly a storyline I can follow along with because I've read her books ... and I greedily want more.  The depth of the five steps in each section is appreciated. As much as I want to devour this book in one sitting, it's a book that should be savoured. Listen to her stories and most importantly sink into the Scriptures she shares. Having so many scripture references is something I deeply appreciate in a devotional. Our strength comes from the Lord and we can't just pull out one verse when all a Scripture is tied together for our benefit.

Thank you, dear Julie, for sharing your stories! Hugs to you!

About the Book

Title: What's the Story, Morning Glory?
Author: Julie Lessman
Publisher: Julie Lessman LLC
Release Date: October 1, 2024
Genre: Memoir Devotional (half fiction/half nonfiction)

“DEAR LORD, JULIE ... OUR WHOLE LIFE IS IN THIS BOOK!" 

My heart went out to my sweet husband as he walked into our kitchen one day with a noticeable gulp, ashen-faced after reading my latest novel.“Yes, I know, babe,” I said with a repentant smile and a conciliatory hug, “but nobody really knows that.” 
Ahem. Until now ... 

Trust me, "What’s the Story, Morning Glory? A Memoir Devotional with a 'Novel' Approach to Practical Christianity" is not a book I wanted to write. As a novelist, I have never been partial to nonfiction, either reading it or writing it, but I had little choice when God convinced me otherwise through a number of point-blank arm-twistings I couldn’t deny and not-so-gentle proddings from family and friends. 

Despite all the encouragement, I wasn’t really sure where to begin. “It will be fiction and nonfiction combined,” the Holy Spirit whispered within, and just like that, the idea for this book took flight. First, I would tell my “real” and very personal story behind the life-lesson stories in my novels, then I would follow it up with the excerpt from my books where I teach that same life lesson to my characters, finally culminating in corresponding Scriptures, a bulleted “Takeaway” list, and a related prayer. 

Thus, What’s the Story, Morning Glory: A Memoir Devotional with a “Novel” Approach to Practical Christianity was born. A memoir devotional that when combined with scenes from my novels, becomes a “novotional” where I relate the life lessons God personally taught me through His Word. I am simply a child of God who applied these lessons and Biblical precepts to every situation in my life and consequently, saw nonstop answers to prayer and blessings galore. It is my profound hope and prayer that through my own very simple and personal stories and examples, I can do the same for others. Therefore, the format for each chapter of this book will be as

1. The Real Story (How I learned and applied the spiritual lesson in my own life)
2. The Novel Story (The scene where I teach the spiritual lesson to my characters)
3. The Scripture Story (Scriptures applicable to the spiritual lesson)
4. The Takeaway Story (Bulletized points for spiritual lesson in easy-to-read/apply format)
5. The Prayer Story (Specific prayer related to the spiritual lesson)

I pray this bottom-line, albeit somewhat quirky, 1-2-3 devotional blesses you as much as God's spiritual life lessons have blessed me! 

Hugs,
Julie Lessman  

PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon

Also Available

     

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About the Author

Julie Lessman is an award-winning author whose tagline of “Passion With a Purpose” underscores her intense passion for both God and romance. A lover of all things Irish, she enjoys writing close-knit Irish family sagas that evolve into 3-D love stories: the hero, the heroine, and the God that brings them together.

Author of The Daughters of Boston, Winds of Change, Heart of San Francisco, Isle of Hope, Silver Lining Ranch, and The Cousins O’Connor series, Julie was American Christian Fiction Writers 2009 Debut Author of the Year and has garnered over 21 Romance Writers of America and other awards. Voted #1 Romance Author in Family Fiction magazine’s 2012 and 2011 Readers Choice Awards, Julie’s novels also made Family Fiction magazine’s Best of 2014, Best of 2015, and “Essential Christian Romance Authors” 2017-20, as well as Booklist’s 2010 Top 10 Inspirational Fiction and Borders Best Fiction. Her independent novel A Light in the Window was an International Digital Awards winner, a 2013 Readers' Crown Award winner, and a 2013 Book Buyers Best Award winner. 

Julie has also written a self-help workbook for writers entitled Romance-ology 101: Writing Romantic Tension for the Sweet and Inspirational Markets.

Connect with Julie by visiting julielessman.com to follow her on social media, read both romantic and spiritual excerpts from her books, or subscribe to email newsletter updates.

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Tour Giveaway

(1) winner will receive a $25 Amazon gift card, a character named after you in Julie's next book & a signed paperback copy of that book, plus a signed paperback copy of What's the Story, Morning Glory!

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight September 24, 2024 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on October 1, 2024. Winners will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only for print copies. Gift card open to all locales. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.

Enter Giveaway

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Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

Winter: Hockey Storytime

Today is Hockey is for Everyone Day, so our storytime theme was hockey!

Family storytime returned after a couple weeks of break. Time to get back into the storytime routine. A little technology failures towards the end of the program, but a fun morning!

Here's what we did:

Welcome
SONG: Hello Song
Storytime Reminders
 
Snowbie, our storytime puppet pal, returns to say, "Hello, everybody!"
FLANNEL:      Snowball, snowball, cold and round, behind which mitten can you be found?Behind the 5 mittens: snowball, hockey helmet, hockey stick, hockey puck, and hockey skate.

The images were clipart (or graphics) from Canva. I tried to laminate them this morning, but the laminator ate my page! I printed a second copy and used nonlaminated paper.

When we turn over the mittens, we sign the colors (like we do for the bookworm flannel). I forgot to look up pink and gray. For pink we signed red and for gray we did nothing. A kind caregiver after storytime looked up the signs and shared them with me after storytime. So sweet! Now I will be better prepared for next time! Thank you!!

BOOK: Hockey by Cynthia Klingel and Robert B. Noyed (The Child’s World, 2003)
A short nonfiction book about the sport of hockey.

 
SONG:  Dance, Freeze, Melt by The Learning Groove

A freeze song since hockey is played on ice. Ice freezes and melts!
 
BOOK: Sports Illustrated Kids Hockey Shapes by Mark Weakland (Capstone Press, 2014)
Another nonfiction picture book that focused on shapes you can find at a hockey game. I didn't use all the pages. I paperclipped page 11-16 together. The shapes we identified included circle, triangle, square, rectangle, pentagon, diamond, oval, star, cylinder, and cube. 

SONG: One from the Left by Jim Gill 

Since we talked about shapes and counting in our last book, here's a favorite counting song.

We ended up singing acapella! When I switched from my iPod to MP3 player, this song didn't move over. I replaced it on the go this morning with Hands are for Clapping by Jim Gill (knowing my posted slide wouldn't match). I didn't change my note on the agenda page ... Well. Here we are and here we go singing it. I know the song and I have wonderful leader caregivers who jumped right in and sang it with me. 
 
BOOK: I’m Cool! By Kate & Jim McMullan (Balzer & Bray [HarperCollins], 2015)
It's the big machine of hockey!

SONG: Digger, Excavator with Tom Pease

Here is where technology and I had a failure to communicate! Tom Pease did this rhyme/song live at a concert a couple years ago and I saved it to our camera. I was able to upload it and add it to a slide so it would auto play ... The iPad fell alseep because the battery was dying and then the slides disappeared and the iPad thought I wanted to take a picture. Found the albums! Found the slide! The volume was gone! Found the remote and unmuted the TV. Still no sound. (Trying not to panic, but calmly talk it through for the audience.) Caregivers sharing that I also need the unmute it on the iPad. FINALLY got it to play! Yay!! It's such a great little rhyme! 
 
BOOK: Sports Illustrated Kids Goodnight Hockey by Michael Dahl, illustrated by Christina Forshay (Picture Window Books [Capstone], 2015)
This was on my agenda to read, but it was the end of storytime by the time we finished our last rhyme (with the technology excitement). 

Announcements
Craft Instructions: Make your own hockey ice rink out of paper, tape, pipe cleaners, and wooden sticks.
SONG: Goodbye Song

Book Boogie Storytime 2024

Book Boogie is typically a 3-4 week series that highlights musical books, songs, and rhymes. This year it just worked out to have one Book Boogie storytime with room bookings and trying out a new storytime program. I do love this mini series and it was a fun morning!

This year I dug into my storytime archives to see what books I did in the past and how long had it been since I last shared them. I was surprised and excited to see the results. The theme ended up to be cows!

Welcome
SONG: Hello Song
Storytime Reminders: Be Ready, Be Seated, Be Involved, Be Respectful
Flannel: Bookworm, Bookworm where should we look? Are you behind the COLOR book?

Underneath the five books: 2 bookworms and 3 snowballs. After all was revealed, we "rolled" the snowballs and built a snowman. It was so cute.
 
BOOK: Barnyard Boogie! By Tim McCanna, illustrated by Allison Black (Abrams Appleseed, 2017)
 Transition: Our animals were in a barnyard band, let's see what happens when we take animals to school!

SONG: There’s a Dog in School by Stuart Stotts and Tom Pease
 
BOOK: Is Everyone Ready for Fun? By Jan Thomas (Beach Lane Books, 2011)
 Transition: Chicken wanted our cows to stop, so let's do a movement and freeze song. Freeze can mean stop.

SONG: Dance, Freeze, Melt by Mr. Eric & Mr. Michael
 
BOOK: Let’s Sing a Lullaby with the Brave Cowboy by Jan Thomas (Beach Lane Books, 2012)
Transition: Let's do one of our favorite storytime songs about sleep. We get to be goldfish! 

SONG: The Goldfish
 

Transition: We have three things left to do today:
Announcements
Craft Instructions My friends brought little printable books to color and keep. (Old Macdonald, etc)
SONG: Goodbye Song

It was a great morning! The books and the songs were a lot of fun and they easily tied together.

Blog Tour: A Dare and A Prayer

 It's my day to celebrate Julie Lessman's newest book - A Dare and A Prayer!   

 A Dare and A Prayer is the third title in Julie's The Cousins O'Connor series. The main character is Henry Dennehy - the incorrigible twin brother of Hope Dennehy (Charity and Mitch's son). 💙

 

The rich (deep love and connection, not monies) family Julie brought to life is my favorite. This is one of the top reasons I adore her stories. Yes, you hear Henry's story (Yay, yay, yay!), but you also hear more about his family. I love the O'Connors and the world building in the amazing saga. Feel free to read this as a standalone, but I would highly encourage you to start at the beginning. 😉😁 Full series listing on her website.

 

Back to more on Henry!

 

He’s a hotshot who takes up a dare.

She’s an aspiring missionary who wants to beware.

But will love become a gamble with a dare and a prayer?

Lieutenant Henry Dennehy is a cocky and carefree fighter pilot in the Pacific Theatre of WW2, known for scoring big, both in the sky and on land. But when his buddies offer a bet he can’t refuse to turn the head of the “untouchable” nurse at 369th Station Hospital—a woman who’s shot down more flyboys than the enemy—he’s bound and determined to win. Problem is, if he wins the dare, will he lose at love?

Lieutenant Amy Leigh MacArthur was on her way to the mission field when she detoured to fight for her country instead, an Army nurse whose interest lies only in healing the wounded and teaching orphans to read. Certainly not in men, and definitely not in Henry Dennehy, the boy who ridiculed her years ago as a shy and homely teen. But when Henry pursues her and won’t take no for an answer, Amy finds a way that gives him no choice.

Until, that is, love does the same for them both ...

NOTE: This book is sweet inspirational with a higher level of romantic passion. Julie's books are "Passion with a Purpose." 💗

From Julie:

"MY TAGLINE IS “PASSION WITH A PURPOSE," which means my novels are a wee bit more passionate, both spiritually and romantically, chock-full of spiritual lessons I have learned--the hard way--throughout my own life. Especially A DARE AND A PRAYER, my newest that just released yesterday because the hero--Henry Dennehy, a lovable rogue with a big heart--has some tough life lessons of his own to learn."

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the Full Tour for A Dare and A Prayer:

Visit each blog and leave a comment for a change to win a prize!

October 1 — Radiant Light Blog (tease)

October 1 — LiteraryScape Book Club

October 2 — Grace Johnson Spotlight

October 3 — Britt Reads Fiction

October 4 — Where Faith and Books Meet

October 5 — A Baker’s Perspective

October 6 — My Favorite Pastime

October 7 — Reading is My SuperPower

October 8 — Writing Between the Lines

October 9 — Locks, Hooks, and Books

October 10 — Splashes of Joy

October 10 — Saraina Whitney Blog

October 11 — Radiant Light Blog (review) 

October 12 — Miss Pippi Reads Blog YOU ARE HERE! 😁

October 13 — Christian Bookaholic

October 14 — Grace Johnson Review

October 15 — Scraps of Life Blog

 

 

 

AND 👇👇👇👇👇 

 

CHECK OUT JULIE’S CONTESTS!

In honor of A Dare and a Prayer’s book birthday, Julie has two contests going on where you can win the following:

GRAND PRIZE (2 chances to win!):

—$50 Amazon gift card or $25 Amazon gift card

—Choice of three of Julie’s e-books or one of her signed paperbacks

—A character named after you or a loved one in her next book and a signed paperback copy

—Your choice of one paperback from Julie’s list of top-selling CBA authors, including Tamera Alexander, Colleen Coble, Rachel Hauck, Denise Hunter, Robin Lee Hatcher, Nancy Naigle, Cara Putman, Deborah Raney, Katherine Reay, Becky Wade, and Beth Vogt.

RUNNERS-UP PRIZES (8 chances to win!):

—Choice of three of my e-books

—OR choice of one of my signed paperbacks (based on my private stash)

—OR choice of one paperback from a list of the above-mentioned top CBA authors (based on my private stash)

So, check all the details out at her Journal Jots Blog HERE and GOOD LUCK!

 

 

Fall: Pirate Storytime

 When storytime day falls on Talk Like a Pirate Day, you have to share pirate stories! I tried to use new books instead of my usual standards and according to my GoodReads shelves, it was a success.

Here's how we celebrated Talk Like a Pirate Day at family storytime this year ...

Welcome

Good morning! Let's count down from 7 and do that again ... 7-6-5-4-3-2-1-GoodMorning!!
SONG: Hello Song
Storytime Reminders: Be Ready, Be Seated, Be Involved, Be Respectful
 
Flannel: Bookworm, bookworm where should we look? Are you behind the COLOR book?

Behind the books: one bookworm and four clipart pirates in different colors ... that happened to match the book they were underneath 
 
BOOK: Sea Sheep by Eric Seltzer, illustrated by Tom Disbury (Ready-to-Read Simon Spotlight, 2020)
 
SONG: The Ocean Song
Oh the ocean is great and the ocean is grand.
There are lots of tall ships and very little land.
And we sleep down deep in a hammock near the floor
And this is what we do when we go out the door:
We ride the waves going up, we ride the waves going down
We ride the waves going up, we ride the waves going down
We ride the waves going up, we ride the waves going down
And we turn around.

This is a fun song and we did it multiple times in a row. I did start each time with a "warm-up" - shake your arms, shake your legs, practice turn around, and a deep breath. The different speeds were learning speed, a little faster, very slow, and super fast.
After we sat down we did a "cool down", little hand shake, little foot shake, spin your hands around each other, and two deep breaths.

 
BOOK: Sheep on a Ship by Nancy Shaw, illustrated by Margot Apple (Houghton Mifflin Co., 1989)
 
SONG: Goldfish Song by Laurie Berkner
This is a storytime classic and a lot of fun. A song that you can follow the lyrics to for movement - swim, sleep, shower, brush teeth, and ride bikes. 

BOOK: What Pirates Really Do by Melanie Joyce, illustrated by Alex Paterson (Little Bee Books, 2015)
 
SONG: Pirates Zoom!
Zoom, zoom, zoom We’re hunting for doubloons
Zoom, zoom, zoom We’re hunting for doubloons
If you want to take a trip
Climb aboard my pirate ship and
Zoom, zoom, zoom We’re hunting for doubloons
In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1… AHOY!
 Since we did Zoom, Zoom, Zoom last week, this was a fun addition this week. We did it a couple times before finishing storytime and moving onto our last three "activities".
 
1 - Announcements
2 - Craft Instructions: pirate maps with watercolor then crumple it up to keep in your pocket
3 - SONG: Goodbye So Long Farewell Toodle-oo by Hap Palmer

Fall: Light Storytime

Today kicked off the Fall season of my family storytime series. We focused on light today - sun, moon, stars, lights outside and inside. 

Welcome to storytime at the library. My name is Miss Pippi and I'm so glad you're here!

SONG: Hello Song
Storytime Reminders: Be Ready, Be Seated, Be Involved, Be Respectful
 
Snowbie, our storytime puppet friends
Flannel: Bookworm, Bookworm, we'll find you soon! Are you behind the (color) Moon?
Three fireflies, one star, one bookworm - ASL for the colors (green, white, yellow, purple, blue)
 
BOOK: Living Things Need Light by Karen Aleo (Little Pebble [Capstone], 2020) 
 
FINGERPLAY: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

American Sign Language: twinkle, stars, world, diamond (shape)
 
BOOK: Night Lights by Susan Gal (Alfred A. Knopf, 2009)
 
Two Little Fireflies from https://thelionisabookworm.blogspot.com/2014/08/storytime-light.html
Two little fireflies land on my hand
One named Sally. One named Sam.
Lights ON Sally! Lights ON Sam!
Lights off Sally. Lights off Sam.

Fingerplay: Zoom, Zoom, Zoom
Zoom, zoom, zoom We're going to the moon.
Zoom, zoom, zoom We're going to the moon.
Climb aboard my rocketship, we will take a little trip.
Zoom, zoom, zoom We're going to the moon.
In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Blast off!
            Far, far, far, we're going to the stars (x 2)

            Fun, fun, fun, we’re going to the sun (x 2) 
 
BOOK: When the Sky Glows by Nell Cross Beckerman, illustrated by David Litchfield (Beach Lane Books, 2022)

"The sky glows" is a repeated phrase in the book and I invited everyone to say it with me (with a sweeping hand gesture). A beautiful book but I could feel the autdience getting antsy so this was the last readaloud today.
 
SONG: Rocketship Run by Laurie Berkner
 
BOOK: Flash and Gleam: Light in Our World by Sue Fliess, illustrated by Khoa Le (Millbrook Press, 2020) We didn't read this one today, but it's an excellent light book that covers indoor and outdoor lights with minimal text.
 
Announcements: 
Craft Instructions: Construction Paper Suns - process over product
SONG: Goodbye So-Long Farewell Toodle-oo by Hap Palmer

This was a fun session of storytime. We did sign moon, stars, and sun throughout storytime. I did share the sign for light as well. My resource for ASL is www.handspeak.com. 

Summer: Star Wars Storytime

Our final summer storytime featured Star Wars. I think this one had the strongest theme focused books. Star Wars also has the most books to choose from when finding themed shareable stories.

Here's the agenda:

Welcome
SONG: The Hello Song

Storytime Reminders
 
Flannel: Bookworm, Bookworm, where should we look? Are you behind the COLOR book?
Behind the books - shooting star, star, comet, bookworm with a moon, and bookworm with a star. I've never had two little flannels under one book so that was surprising for every one. I think they were rather taken aback! 

BOOK: Star Wars Blast Off! By DK READERS: Pre-Level 1
 
SONG: The Tempo Marches On by Jim Gill

A classic kid's marching song that gets faster and faster. After the song, we wiggled out our legs because they worked hard! Started with toes, feet, knees, leg one, leg two, both legs, a couple deep breathes. It's good to cool down after an intense song or activity.
 
BOOK: What is a Droid? DK READERS: Level 1
 

SONG: Put On My Walkin’ Shoes by Miss Carole

 Another fantastic walking/marching song for kids. This one has different movements - walk, stomp, run, tiptoe, backwards, walk. After this song, we did some arm stretches/movement because we worked our legs, so we should move our arms, too.

BOOK: A Jedi You Will Be by Preeti Chhibbler, illustrated by Mike Deas

 This book is fun! Yet language tricky because some of the turns of phrase are in the Yoda reversal style. I did highlight breathing deep, using your strength (show me your muscles), and pretending to use the force (because we lifted out the ship from the swamp with Yoda & Luke).  

SONG: Rocketship Run by Laurie Berkner

 We can't talk space without doing Rocketship Run! The refrain is fast and fun with the countdown. The verses are slower with movement as well - spinning suns, dancing moons, jumping stars, and sitting down in your own hometown. For the first time, I felt that I got the countdown correct every time with my fingers. It's fast for adults, so it's super fast for kiddos ... but they love it.

Announcements

Activity Instructions: Star Wars Vehicles Scavenger Hunt

SONG: Goodbye Song

The end of a storytime session is always so bittersweet. I love spending time reading, dancing, flanneling, signing, and singing with my families. Some families will return for Fall storytime, while others will be attending their schools. I want to stay and keep moving along, but I also know that my brain and body need a breather. I need to clean up my Summer desk and get ready for the new season. My brain needs to log all the events of the past season then create new adventures for Fall. Rest and rejuvenate are important. I'll be back next mont!

Chiefs Storytime

The library hosted a storytime special with the fire chief and the police chief. After a mini storytime, we walked over to the station and got a tour!

Welcome: Good morning! Let's do a countdown from 6 today - 6,5,4,3,2,1 - Good morning!!
SONG: Hello Song
Storytime Reminders
 
Flannel: Bookworm, Bookworm where should we look? Are you behind the COLOR book?

Behind the books: police logo, fire logo, flannel rescue vehicle, flannel ladder truck, and one bookworm
 
BOOK: Here Come the Helpers by Leslie Kimmelman, illustrated by Barbara Bakos (Little Simon, 2018)
 
Introduce Police Chief 
BOOK: How Do Dinosaurs Stay Safe? by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Mark Teague (The Blue Sky Press [Scholastic], 2015)
 
SONG: It Takes Some Friends by Jim Gill

Introduce Fire Chief 
BOOK: A Visit to the Fire Station by Rosalyn Clark (Lerner, 2018)
 
Announcements: Storytime TUES / Pool TH / Summer Reading
Activity Instructions: Paw Patrol Seek’n’Find in CS / Tour the Police & Fire Station
SONG: Goodbye
 
Exit and walk next door

Summer Storytime Series

 Ah, Summer!

The library is hopping and moving and hosting a larger group of people. We're also seeing a wider range of ages during Family Storytime. During the school year, the range is between birth and 4 years with maybe a Kindergartener. While the Summer brings older siblings who could be in various elementary grades.

With an older group in mind, I went with some pop culture themes for Summer. We're getting geeky at the library! It's a new challenge to blend classic storytime elements together with movie or videogame themes. It will be fun!

Themes this Summer include ...

Super Mario

Sonic the Hedgehog

Zelda

Jurassic Park aka Dinosaurs

Pokemon

Star Wars