I was recently sent Kathryn the Grape to review with Hunter.  The first thing I noticed about this book is how colorful the illustrations are.


I think the bright colors helped to keep Hunter's interest.  He loved looking at all the great pictures.



Kathryn the Grape is about a young girl who has an imaginary butterfly friend named Maggie and a special magic wand.  These help Kathryn to deal with scary situations like monsters under her bed, going to a new school, and also teach her how great it is to help others.


You can like Kathryn the Grape on Facebook here.
You can follow Kathryn the Grape on Twitter here.

$1.00 from the sale of every book sold on KathryntheGrape.com is directed to the Kathryn the Grape Foundation. 

Would you like to win a copy of Kathyrn the Grape?  To enter:

• Leave a comment on this post saying who you would give this book for your 1st entry
• Follow my blog for 1 extra entry 
• Like Southern Blessings on Facebook for 2 extra entries

Please leave a separate comment for each entry.  Giveaway is open to US residents only.  Giveaway will close Wednesday night February 9th at midnight.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.Sponsored by Tomoson.com

I found this song not long ago.  I thought it is very fitting!

God Hath Not Promised

God hath not promised skies always blue
Flower strewn pathways, all our lives through;
God hath not promised sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.

But God hath promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labour, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing sympathy, undying love.

God hath not promised we shall not know
Toil and temptations, trouble and woe;
He hath not told us we shall not bear
Many a burden, many a care.

But God hath promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labour, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing sympathy, undying love.

God hath not promised smooth roads and wide,
Swift, easy travel, needing no guide;
Never a mountain, rocky and steep,
Never a river turbid and deep.

But God hath promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labour, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing sympathy, undying love.

I was recently given the opportunity to try Valentine Smiley Cookies from SmileyCookie.com.  They are freshly made, hand-iced,  customized, sugar cookies.   A dozen cookies arrived safe and secure in the cute box pictured below.  Just the box made me smile!


I knew my kids would love these Heart Shaped Cookies because they always ask for something similar from the store.  Since I don't normally like sugar cookies, I wasn't expecting much from these.  Boy, was I wrong!  These cookies are amazing!  They taste so fresh - just like they came from a local bakery.  I am ashamed to admit I may have sneaked and ate some of these while the kids were asleep.  Shh, don't tell them!


Mitchell loved these just as much as I did, he constantly asked for more.  Hunter thought they were pretty cool too!  We all agreed they are much better than normal sugar cookies.


We felt like we were eating Gourmet Cookies!   These won't be the last cookies we get from Smiley Cookie.


You get to design your own cookie there.  First you choose a cookie shape, then pick a base icing color, and then choose a face icing color.  They have cookies for birthdays, baby showers, they even have special Superbowl cookies.  Cookies for every occasion and need!  Whatever you get, I'm sure you'll love them!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.
 

I finally got the sickness that everyone else had early Sunday morning. I felt SO bad! It's been such a long time since I've been that sick! I am so glad that I feel 100% better now. It was only a few days, but it was rough, and then every thing in the house got behind because both me and Barb were sick at the same time.  So I am still catching up on things.  Mitchell still hasn't got it, he must have a good immune system or something!

In other bad news, my hubby's work told him they would call him if they need him and they didn't call at all this week.  Who knows when he'll work again?  So, if you don't mind, say a prayer that either they'll call or he will find something else.

How clean is your computer screen, or how about your TV?  If you're like me, the answer is not very.  I have a 3 year old who loves to point at things by touching the screen.  So, there are little fingerprints everywhere.  That's why I was glad to try Black Diamond's Brilliant Screen Cleaning Wipes.

My before and after pictures aren't that great.  It's hard to get a good shot of how much better the screen looks, without the flash messing up the picture.   But, I think it does make the flash look brighter on the clean screen, lol!


These wipes are different from other wipes I've tried.  They are unique because they contain not one, but two wipes.  The first one is a wet wipe to clean the screen, then a dry wipe to dry your screen.  The wipes have SR-8 which provides a scratch resistant coating that makes surfaces 50x more scratch resistance.  I so need that!  I think I'll use these on our DVDs which my little one loves to take in and out of the DVD player.


They work really well.  I tried them on my TV and my laptop.  My screens look so much better now!  It's been a week or so since used this screen cleaner on them and they still look just as good!  Another great thing I noticed, or didn't notice, was a lack of an alcohol or ammonia smell. 

You can buy a pack of 5 Screen Cleaning Wipes for $3.99 here.

Would you like to win a set of Brilliant Screen Cleaning Wipes?  Two of my readers will win a pack, here's how to enter:

• Leave a comment telling me what you will clean with Brilliant Screen Cleaning Wipes for 1 entry
• Like Black Diamond on Facebook and tell them I sent you for 2 extra entries.
• Follow Black Diamond on Twitter for 2 extra entries
• Like Southern Blessings on Facebook for 2 extra entries

Please leave a separate comment for each entry.  Giveaway is open to US residents only.  Giveaway will close Wednesday night February 2nd at midnight.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.  Sponsored by Tomoson.com

It started Monday night with Barb's youngest son.  At first we thought maybe he ate something bad and it made him sick.  Then her oldest got it, and so on until all the kids had it except for Mitchell.  Knock on wood, lol!  So far he's still healthy!

Hunter had the worst of it last night.  Poor thing, he'd wake up and throw up, then go right back to sleep, until he had to do it all over again.  He didn't want to sleep anywhere but on the living room floor.  So, I let him and I slept on the couch.  Getting up to help him when needed.  So, there wasn't much sleep for either of us. 

The kids seem to be feeling better today, but my husband is feeling sick.  Hopefully it won't be too bad on him and we can all get some sleep tonight! 

After all the snow and ice this week I think everyone is loving the sunshine that much more!  I hope y'all have a blessed and drier week!

Heavenly Sunshine


Walking in sunshine all of my journey
Over the mountains, through the deep vale
Jesus has said, "I'll never forsake thee,"
Promise divine that never can fail.

Chorus
Heavenly sunshine, heavenly sunshine,
Flooding my soul with glory divine -
Heavenly sunshine, heavenly sunshine,
Halleulujah! Jesus is mine.

In the bright sunshine, ever rejoicing,
Pressing my way to mansions above
Singing His praises gladly I'm walking,
Walking in sunshine, sunshine of love.

Chorus
Heavenly sunshine, heavenly sunshine,
Flooding my soul with glory divine -
Heavenly sunshine, heavenly sunshine,
Halleulujah! Jesus is mine.

My husband with Barb's dog Zoe

I told y'all about the snow we got the day after Christmas.  Well, I can't believe it's already snowed again!  We had a winter storm come through again.  When I woke up Monday morning we had several inches already.


It snowed most of the day Monday and we ended up with around 7 inches.  Then that afternoon we started having freezing rain.  I was worried we might lose power because of the ice on the power lines, but thankfully we didn't.  We ended up with around a quarter inch of ice on top of the snow.


My husband and kids played out in the snow some.  They came in very wet with freezing hands and feet.  But they had fun!


We went out this afternoon to go to the store and I took some pictures around town.  They didn't scrape the back roads.


Most of these were taken today during our drive.


The snow has an icy sheen to it where it is frozen over above.  The pic below is of the creek down the road.


It was nice for a day, but now it's looking like my husband might not work at all this week.  I'm ready for it to be gone and stay gone the rest of winter.


Did you get snow too?  If so, how much?  I hope you're staying warm and dry today!

This song is on my mind today. I hope you each have a great Sunday!

Where He Leads Me 

I can hear my Savior calling,
I can hear my Savior calling,
I can hear my Savior calling,
"Take thy cross and follow, follow me."

Refrain:
Where he leads me I will follow,
where he leads me I will follow,
where he leads me I will follow;
I'll go with him, with him all the way.

I'll go with him through the garden,
I'll go with him through the garden,
I'll go with him through the garden,
I'll go with him, with him all the way.

Refrain:
Where he leads me I will follow,
where he leads me I will follow,
where he leads me I will follow;
I'll go with him, with him all the way.

I'll go with him through the judgment,
I'll go with him through the judgment,
I'll go with him through the judgment,
I'll go with him, with him all the way.

Refrain:
Where he leads me I will follow,
where he leads me I will follow,
where he leads me I will follow;
I'll go with him, with him all the way.

He will give me grace and glory,
He will give me grace and glory,
He will give me grace and glory,
and go with me, with me all the way.

Refrain:
Where he leads me I will follow,
where he leads me I will follow,
where he leads me I will follow;
I'll go with him, with him all the way.

It's a brand new year!  What better time to start a new daily devotional.  Unto The Hills is 365 daily devotions written by evangelist Billy Graham.  Originally published in 1986, the words still ring true today.  Each passage which is about a page long and includes a Bible verse and a prayer for the day. 

Billy Graham is a very respected man who is known all over the world.  He is a great speaker and author as well.  In Unto The Hills Reverend Graham reminds us that God will let us see a view form the mountains or hills.  He does this only so we'll be refreshed enough to go back to the valleys where we can work and serve him. 

I am really enjoying reading these daily devotions.  They may be short, but they are full of wisdom and inspiration.  I think this would be great way for anyone to start their day.  Pick it up, I know you won't regret reading it!

I received Unto The Hills from Book Sneeze in exchange for this review.

Hunter going nite-nite with his favorite Christmas presents

I hope you all had a good New Year's celebration!  We shot off fireworks in our backyard.  We had bought a lot for the 4th of July, and still had plenty left.  The kids really enjoyed them.  They especially liked the parachute men that glide down.  They love to chase and see who can catch them.


A lot of the south got a white Christmas.  It was kind of funny.  I told my cousin up in West Virginia to send me 4 inches of her snow and she said she would, and the next day it snowed!  So cool!  So, we had snow too, it was just a day late.  I think it would have been much more magical to wake up to a white Christmas than a day after Christmas snow.  It was still very pretty, just not as special.


Here are a couple pics of the kids opening presents.  I think Hunter's favorite was a Tractor trailer with a loader.  He has slept with it every night and it takes up half his bed, lol.


Mitchell's favorite would probably be his DSi XL.  He has wanted a DS for years and finally got one.


We adults are thankful for some angels who made Christmas even more special for our kids!