7 Quick Takes

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Last week you all gave me such great feedback for my upcoming articles, I’m going to ask for your help again. It may seem ridiculously early, but I’m starting to think about book promotion for Joy to the World: Advent Activities For Your Family. Something that makes a huge difference to people considering a book purchase is having thoughtful reviews readily available. If you have used JttW and Bring Lent to Life with your families (or classrooms), would you consider writing a paragraph or two and posting it on the major book sites? Please don’t feel obligated to heap glowing effusions of praise; measured, thoughtful reviews are more helpful to potential buyers, anyway, even (and perhaps especially) if they include critique as well as praise. To make it easy, here are links to the books:

Joy to the World on Goodreads here, on Amazon here, and Barnes & Noble here.

Bring Lent to Life on Goodreads here, on Amazon here, and Barnes & Noble here.

Shameless self-promotion done. And now you need cute pictures.

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We take our kids’ portraits in the fall. Alex is such a stinker, so self-conscious. But I adore his expressions. Here’s a series that will never make the wall, but I just love them.

     

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Julianna loves to sing. Loves it. I can’t tell you how much she loves it. She has two volumes: deafening and earthquake-causing. And she’s coming to church with us every week now, even when we’re leading the choir. So……

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Speaking of choir practice…this week, on the way to church Wednesday night, we got started talking about why we don’t have a DVD player in the van. I thought I’d use it as a teachable moment. “You know, guys,” I said, “Daddy and I have chosen to have only one TV, so that we…”

“And the computer,” Alex piped up. “And the iPad.”

“Well…”

“And Daddy’s phone.”

Aaaaaaand….another ideal bites the dust. 🙂 Curse you, technology! You are insidious! 😉

___5___

Guess what? I’ve recently been sent the cover art for my new book, This Little Light of Mine, due out in March 2013. It is the first book I’ve written with this much emphasis on the adults doing faith activities for their own sake as well as the kids’, and there’s a reason for that: this is the “ordinary time” book, using the Beatitudes to break open a life in which faith is an integrated part. I truly believe if we who call ourselves Christians would live our faith instead of talking so much about it, there would be a lot fewer ex-Christians. Anyway, how do you like this cover art? I love it!

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Well, I’ve been around the web a lot lately…here’s a Liguorian column on passing the faith to the next generation, and a guest post in which I identify (or not) with two saints who were mothers, and who chose martyrdom: Perpetua and Felicity. If you, like me, have heard those names and never looked at their story, you should. It’s a real reality check.

___7___

It’s raining this morning! I slept on the couch from 12:30 on because Julianna got scared by lightning and thunder, and always has to sleep with Daddy on those occasions. I’m just so grateful it’s raining! The heat may be over but the drought is not. September was still dry, just not bone dry. Anyway, I’m just so thankful!

Have a great weekend, all!