Saturday, November 23, 2024

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)
Home Alone (1990)
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
The Santa Clause
The Santa Clause 2
The Santa Clause 3
While You Were Sleeping
Ernest Saves Christmas
The Muppet Christmas Carol

Animated Holiday Movies
Dr. Seuss' The Grinch (2018)
Frosty the Snowman
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Mickey Mouse Christmas Carol
Pluto's Christmas Tree
Arthur Christmas



Rankin/Bass Productions
Santa Claus is Comin' to Town
The Little Drummer Boy


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)



Friday, September 27, 2024

Blog Tour: What's the Story Morning Glory?

What's the Story, Morning Glory? JustRead Blog Tour

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

What's the Story, Morning Glory?

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

     


About the Author

Julie Lessman

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.


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!

What's the Story, Morning Glory JustRead Tours blog giveaway

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


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

JustRead Publicity Tours

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

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


Tuesday, January 30, 2024

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.
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