Outstanding Gifts for First Communions and Confirmations

April and May are the typical months for many "spiritual" exercises in the Roman Catholic Church, so let's review some appropriate and outstanding gifts for these special occasions!

Spring is that time of renewal and rebirth!  Everything seems to be coming to life again and so with Easter behind us, it's time to help our youngsters grow in their faith too!

Along with the profession of their First Communions and/or Confirmations, many families opt to host a small party for the child who is taking this big step.  Often times if you are invited to this kind of celebration, it is difficult to know what an appropriate gift would be for the child. As the parent and grandparent of a few children that have made this testament to their faith,  I can help you out!

Holy Communions and Confirmations are religious events,  unlike birthdays or other celebrations.  Gifts should be in keeping with the tone of the event.  For parents and grandparents, they may choose to give the child a Prayer Book and/or Rosary.  A nice cross on a chain for them to wear would also be appropriate.  Other invited guests may choose monetary gifts because they have no idea what an appropriate gift would be.

I like to give books and believe firmly that a child will enjoy a book given for a special occasion and maybe even treasure that book well into their adult life.  To that end, I'm going to suggest a  book that I really like and would be lovely for either First Communion or Confirmation. 


Brother Sun and Sister Moon is an adaptation from St. Francis of Assisi's song to God, by Katherine Paterson!  The original version was written in 1227!  This particular book has beautiful illustrations that are actually hand cut outs of paper by Pamela Dalton.  Each picture is a marvel in and of itself. This book is wonderful in both content and design.  The gorgeous pictures and beautiful words,  will be a nice reminder for any child of that special day in their lives. The illustrations are just so well done and an art form that we don't see too much of.  I had seen this book at the library, and I was taken by surprise at the beauty of the illustrations.  Mind you, I also happen to love St. Francis of Assisi!  He is the patron saint of gardeners (my other passion) and naturalists. 

The Bible Made Easy - for Kids,  is a great starting point for dialogue about faith.  When the children read what is happening in the Bible stories,  in language that they understand, discussion about faith topics is so much easier!  The Bible (while wonderful in its original form) is not a book that is easily understood.  Giving children the opportunity to read the stories and understand their meanings is a great way to start some interesting discussions about the life and faith lessons that we need to learn.

Encouraging children to read and ask questions makes their faith life come alive.  It's not just something they do on Sundays anymore. 

So let me see if I can make it even easier for you to decide on the appropriate gift!  Here's a list that works for me:

Holy Communion or Confirmation Gifts:

1.  Faith based books! (Geared to the age of the child)
2.  Cross for Child's room
3.  Bookmarks with spiritual sayings
4.  Picture frame for the "Special Day Photo"
5.  Rosary (if they are Catholics, you can never have just one!)
6.  Necklace or charm with a religious tone (angels, wings, crosses etc.)
7.  Small statue of their favorite saint or namesake.
8.  Donation to a favorite charity in the name of the child.
9.  Child friendly Bible
10.Gratitude Journal

These are just my suggestions, I'm sure that you can come up with more! Teaching and passing on the faith we believe in is part of our duty as parents.  Milestones in that faith formation should be celebrated with loved ones.  Truly, it is home where our sense of faith begins and it is home where milestones should be celebrated too.

You can read more about these sacraments and appropriate gifts in another review I did a few years ago.  Click Right Here and read some more if you feel so inclined!  Bless you all!

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Probable Paws Mystic Notch Series Reviewed

Revisiting A Favored Cozy Mystery Series

A guardian of magic, perhaps?

A few years ago, I reviewed the Mystic Notch series of cozy mysteries here on Review This. At the time of that article there were only four books in this delightful series. While looking for something new to read, I discovered that more books have been written since then. 

I had forgotten just how delightful the humans and cats were in this entertaining series of mysteries! Willa and her cat Pandora are still as fun to read about as in the other books of this Cozy Mystery Series. 

If you recall, Willa has inherited a bookstore from her Grandmother in the quaint and magical little town of Mystic Notch. Along with the shop, she also inherited her grandmother's Victorian house and of course the very intelligent cat, Pandora. In the 5th book, Willa is beginning to realize that there just might be something very special about her cat. Of course, Pandora is trying to be patient with this human of hers while trying to teach her the ways of communication. 

Mystic Notch Series Book 5

Willa still sees ghosts which is an ability that she acquired after a terrible accident a few years ago. The ghosts aren't anything to fear, they are actually pretty friendly. Willa would say they are more annoying than frightening. In Probable Paws, the visiting spirit is Adelaide Hamilton who doesn't ask Willa to find the person who took her life as most of the ghosts do. Adelaide is more concerned that Willa find a certain recipe book and make sure that it gets to Elspeth. Willa remembers that her Grandmother had mentioned this same book in her will and also wanted to make sure that Elspeth got it. What could be so special about a cookbook? Well, perhaps the recipes contained it might be a clue but I won't spoil it for you.

I will tell you that Willa is not the only person in town who is searching for that book. If you remember there has been a struggle in the little town for generations between the people who know good magic and the dark ones who want to exert their evil magic into the town. So, obviously some bad people are also looking for the book known as Betty's Recipes. There is another searcher for the book that Willa is unaware of. Are they one of the good ones or a bad one? Well, you will have to read the book to find out. Will the cats of Mystic Notch be able to help the humans?

If you read the other books in this series, I think you will want to read the fifth book. I enjoyed it immensely. If you have not read any of these books, I highly recommend that you get started. You will not be disappointed if you are a cozy mystery fan, a lover of cats and don't mind a friendly ghost or two.

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Reviewing Poo-Pourri for the Bathroom

Writing publicly about bathroom habits is a strange thing

Poo-Pourri - Deja Poo scent.

for me - I'm not sure whether to be very concise with only scientific lingo or whether to start cracking off with potty humor. I think I'll try to keep the potty humor dialed back while I review an awesome product called Poo-Pourri. If you have ever been concerned about the unpleasant and embarrassing smells that are created while using the bathroom you might be interested in this bathroom smell eliminator.

Poo-Pourri Toilet Spray

Poo-Pourri is advertised as the "before you go" bathroom smell barrier. Spray a bit of this fragrance on the water in the bowl before having a seat to do your business. The advertising goes on to promise that the spray traps the smell under the water and all you (and more importantly OTHERS) smell is "a refreshing bouquet of natural essential oils" with no harsh chemicals - 

• No synthetic fragrance
• No alcohol
• No aerosol
• No parabens
• No Phthalates
• No formaldehyde

The makers of Poo-Pourri advertise it as "safe to breathe and safe to flush".  

When I had the opportunity to use it over several days, it did work every time. It eliminated or covered any smells that I didn't want to share with others.

My Skepticism

I was introduced to this product during a recent trip to visit my son and family. When they mentioned the spray, I was very skeptical. After all... doesn't the smell happen on the way to the toilet water? Isn't spraying the toilet water a little like closing the barn door when the horse has been running around the field?

And... the Poo-Pourri was so STRONG! I took a sniff and thought about my migraines. I thought the spray would certainly trigger a migraine.

Despite my negative thoughts, I tried it. And it did work. After flushing, all I smelled was the Poo-Pourri. The scent did not trigger a migraine - despite being very strong.

I am purchasing some Poo-Pourri of my own. I really like the "in a pinch" sized bottles. I can carry them with me into public restrooms.  I have to admit that when I travel (and when I've been fighting migraines) my schedule is off and I end up using public bathrooms. I don't like feeling like I have to wait until the sink area of a public bathroom has to clear before I dart out of a stall... pretending as though "that wasn't me!"

Now I can exit a public bathroom stall smelling as fresh as a flower garden.

Poo-Pourri "in a pinch pack"

There is a variety of Poo-Pourri scents to choose from.  Deja Poo, Original Citrus, Secret Santa Claus Christmas, Royal Flush, Tropical Hibiscus, and more. You can shop the Poo-Pourri store on Amazon or you can check out the Poo-Pourri website for more information. 

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Supermarket Flowers by Ed Sheeran - A Review of An Incredibily Moving Song that Will Bring You to Tears

More Songs for Mom Here - Photo via Pixabay

Have You Heard Supermarket Flowers by Ed Sheeran?

If you haven't heard this song, and you've lost your mom or a mother figure, you're going to cry.

During my research for a unique list of songs to honor moms, I tripped on 'Supermarket Flowers' by Ed Sheeran, and was shocked by it's incredibly touching mood music and personal story telling lyrics that most of us can relate to.

At least thirty times; that's how much I've listened to this song since yesterday. Being one of the fortunate ones who still has her mother living, it caused me to pick up the phone to call her again today!

The song gets right to the story with painful lyrics that describe clearing out the room of someone loved and recently passed:

• I took the supermarket flowers from the windowsill
  I threw the day old tea from the cup
  Packed up the photo album Matthew had made
  Memories of a life that's been loved
  Took the get well soon cards and stuffed animals
  Poured the old ginger beer down the sink
  Dad always told me, "don't you cry when you're down"
  But mum, there's a tear every time that I blink

By the second line, "I threw the day old tea from the cup", you know exactly what the song is about, and it hurts in a beautiful way.

If you've ever had to pack up the belongings of someone recently passed on, you know just how incredibly emotional it is. Everything holds a memory, there's a time marker on each of item, and as your hand touches each piece, you remember, and you cry.

Hidden amongst the pain is a hopeful message, "Oh I'm in pieces, it's tearing me up, but I know, a heart that's broke, is a heart that's been loved".

About Supermarket Flowers:

You'll find Supermarket Flowers on Ed Sheeran's 2017 Album, 'Divide'.

In an interview with MTV, Sheeran revealed that the song is about his grandmother.

He said she was in hospital close to the studio and had passed away during it's production. He wrote the song as a personal tribute from the point of view of his mother, and it wasn't initially intended to be included on the album.

However, when he sang the song at this grandmother's funeral, his grandfather encouraged him to include the song; and so it was, as the final track.

Get the Tissues Ready, As Ed Sheeran himself Said, "It Was Written to Make You Cry"

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Dolphin Review for National Dolphin Day

Dolphin Photo - Pixabay

National Dolphin Day is celebrated each year on April 14th, an unofficial holiday that mainly focuses on bringing awareness to the ban on the hunting of dolphins. 

Dolphins are mammals and are related to whales and porpoises.  They range in size from 4 feet up to 30 feet and are found all over the world in the shallow seas around the continental shelves.  I have even seen them in the inland waterway between Savannah, Georgia and Beaufort, South Carolina and in the Savannah River, both of which have access to the ocean. 

Dolphins are very social animals and live in groups called 'Pods'.  

No one knows who originally started National Dolphin Day, but many organizations promote it, including conservation groups, zoos and aquariums.

Things to do on National Dolphin Day

• Visit a zoo or an aquarium near you.
• Go on a Dolphin Tour if you live near the ocean. My son & grandson took such a tour on the Savannah River in Savannah, Georgia last summer. 

• Watch this amazing video about dolphins

• Read a storybook about dolphins to a child.
• Watch a movie about dolphins.  Remember Flipper?

Pink Dolphin in Plush

• Read about the rare Pink Albino Bottlenose Dolphin in this article by Sylvestermouse.

Toy Dolphins

An Etsy Dolphin Pod in Plush Handmade Crochet

I am a crochet crafter who has lived near the sea for many years and toy dolphins in plush crochet are my favorite animals to create.  I have them in many colors in my Etsy Shop Coastal Crochet Crafts. 

Dolphins are usually gray or bluish gray with a lighter gray or white underbelly.  But cute crochet dolphins are toy stuffed animals, so they can be any color you can imagine! 

For more crochet dolphins, visit Crocheted Handmade Toy Dolphins by Wednesday Elf on Crochet, Crafts and Cute Critters. 

National Dolphin Day

So enjoy this magical of creatures, the wonderful sea animal known as the dolphin.

Plush Dolphins on Etsy at Coastal Crochet Crafts

National Dolphin Day

Every April 14th

The Month of March is 

Dolphin Awareness Month

(c) Wednesday Elf. Article written on 4/4/2018. Updated 3/29/2019.

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Navigating The Heart Movie Review

The movie Navigating The Heart starring Jaclyn Smith and Tim Matheson was actually released in 2000.  However, I only discovered it this week.   I love it when I find two of my favorite actors in a old movie that I have never seen before.  I know I am guaranteed a wonderful movie experience.  I was certainly not disappointed with this one. 

Navigating The Heart is a great romantic movie where two people from completely different backgrounds fall in love.  What makes this movie even better is that it is based on a true story.   The book entitled "Fishing with John" was written by Edith Iglauer, the main female character in the story.  She tells the story of their love and sadly brief life together in this bestselling memoir.   The movie only captures the story of how they met and fell in love.  For the details of their subsequent life on the boat, you would need to read the book.

To be completely honest, if it were not based on a true story I would have a hard time believing a beautiful, sophisticated city woman would fall in love with a small town fisherman.  Normally, we would have to suspend reality to embrace this story, but not with Edith Iglauer (Jaclyn Smith) and John Daly (Tim Matheson).

Navigating The Heart Synopsis

Edith Iglauer  is a somewhat arrogant, although justifiably so, writer for Manhattan magazine, which has just been taken over by a new owner with very different ideas about how a magazine should run.  Previously the "literary journalists" were allowed to choose their own article subjects.  Now, they will be assigned.  

This decision to assign subjects and articles burns right to the core of Edith's literary heart.  She is not happy about the idea and doesn't hesitate to express her opinion.  She feels her 15 years of dedication, as well as her contribution to the popularity of Manhattan magazine, should be rewarded and praised.  It is beneath her to be treated like an upstart that needs to be spoon-fed or assigned specific boring subjects to cover.  

 

Her first assignment is to write a piece about the excessive price of salmon.  Needless to say, Edith is outraged at the idea.  After all, her expertise is in covering politics.  Interestingly enough, when she investigates the industry for her assignment, she does find a huge political influence.  But she doesn't know that will be the case as she reluctantly heads to British Columbia, Canada to get background for her article.

I had to laugh out loud when Edith arrived at the fishing pier dressed for the office, wearing toeless heels and pulling her luggage on wheels.  It really is the perfect illustration of how out of place she was in a fishing town.

After learning that John Daly is the best source of information for her article, Edith asks a local female fisherman to take her out to John's boat.  He is no happier to see her there than she was to have been assigned the article.  However, after some persuasion, he allows her onto his boat and proceeds with the business of catching, cleaning and icing fish.  Needless to say, Edith is sickened by what she sees and smells.  Again, I had to laugh when she quoted Mark Twain, "fishing is a jerk at one end of the line waiting for a jerk at the other end".

Determined to write a story and not be beaten by this assignment, Edith ends up back on a John Daly's boat in spite of how much she really dislikes him.  At constant odds with each other, while exchanging hateful barbs, Edith makes bad matters worse by accidentally starting a fire on the stove.  Later that night, in the midst of a storm, they hit a log and the boat starts taking on water.  Declaring "mayday" and requesting assistance, John does his best to seal of up holes, and then they wait.  Ironically, it is during that time of waiting for help, possibly facing death, that they talk and a friendship is forged. 

Edith does write her story, but her whole life is changed after visiting BC, Canada, where she finds so much more than just content for a story.

Watch Navigating the Heart or Read the Book

 Navigating The Heart
Watch on AmazonCheck Price Navigating the Heart
Purchase the DVDCheck Price Fishing with John
The Original BookCheck Price

Navigating the Heart Movie Review Written by:

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Review of Photographing and Identifying Birds in Florida Wilderness Reserve

Egrets and Ibis in Florida Wilderness Reserve

I enjoy watching and photographing birds and most of the year I do that in my own backyard in Missouri.  During  March we travel to Florida and this year we stayed in Palm Beach Gardens where there was a nature reserve just steps away from our condo.  Every day I would walk back to the reserve and was rewarded with some wonderful sights.  There were a wide variety of birds and ducks and I saw several turtles and an alligator. 

Identifying Birds

I like to know the kinds of birds I am photographing so I spend a bit of time online finding the names and species of the different birds.  I find the website for Florida Audubon at http://fl.audubon.org/  to be very helpful in identifying the birds I photograph.  Here are the varieties I have photographed in the nature reserve.

• Great Egret
• Snowy Egret
• Red-winged blackbirds
• Doves
• White Ibis
• Glossy Ibis
• Anhinga
• Blue Heron
• Little Blue Heron
• Tri-colored Heron
• Sandhill Crane
• Roseta Spoonbill
• Whistling Duck
• Wood Duck
• Cormorant
• Wood Stork

 

Ducks in the Wilderness Reserve

The first day I walked into the reserve I noticed some interesting looking ducks.  They stood tall and had rather long necks for a duck.  I found out that these were called Whistling Ducks.

Whistling Ducks Flameless Candle

by mbgphoto

During the next weeks, I observed these ducks each time I visited the reserve.  Sometimes they would sit very still, but one day I heard them making a loud racket and then a pair of them would fly up off the ground.  This scenario would be repeated by several different pairs of ducks.  I'm not sure what they were doing but it was sure interesting to watch.

I also saw some Wood Ducks at the reserve.  They are such colorful ducks.

 

Roseate Spoonbill

One bird that I had never seen before was the Roseate Spoonbill.  This bird is easily identified by it's rosy color and flat spoon-like bill.  It stood still often so it was easy for me to photograph.

 

Wood Stork

One day I noticed these rather large white birds in the distance.  When they flew the underside of their wings were lined in black.  They were quite impressive in flight, but when they settled down they looked quite unusual.  I took a photo and went back to my computer to identify them.  I easily found a photo and determined them to be a Wood Stork, they are the only stork that breeds in the USA.

Anhinga

The Anhinga is a large water bird found in the warmer waters of the southern Americas.  It is sometimes called by several other names: snakebird, darter and water turkey.  

I found these birds to be very interesting.  They are able to stay underwater for quite some time and I observed them diving for their prey and then resurfacing quite a ways down the stream.  At that time only their head and neck would appear above the water before they took another dive into the water.  After a while I would see them on the bank drying out their feathers as in the photo above.

I believe the bird in the photo above to be a male anhinga and the one in the photo below to be a female.  Males have a black neck and white at the tip of the tail and the female has a beige colored neck and breast.

Sandhill Crane

I saw several sandhill cranes during my visits to the reserve and I even saw one walking down the center of the roadway near our condo.  They are tall birds and quite tame.  They were easy to take photos of since they did not frighten easily.

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Book Review: That's Weird! Awesome Science Mysteries

Science Mysteries Motivate Kids to Learn!

I will confess that when I was in school, I didn't like science. I hated memorizing science voabulary, scientific facts, names of scientists, and dates of inventions. I hated experiments, dissecting dead creatures, and watching test tubes. I was more interested in plants and how they grew, but not so much in listing and memorizing the names of their parts. I wish my teachers in middle school or high school had been using That's Weird! Awesome Science Mysteries as a teaching resource instead of tiresome textbooks. I've always liked trying to solve mysteries!

Photo Courtesy of Pixabay. Text added on PicMonkey

Science Doesn't Have All the Answers Yet

Author Kendall Haven states in his introduction to this book that "science is the process of turning mystery into knowledge." This is done through observations in the field and in laboratory experiments. Scientists form hypotheses from these observations and then test them as theories until time finally gives these tested theories the status of facts.

But not all theories have been proven yet. There are still some mysteries science hasn't been able to explain and the theories surrounding them haven't been verified. Instead these mysteries feed our imaginations and inspire fiction and movies. That's Weird! motivates and helps students in middle school and above use science research to explore sixteen of these mysteries:

• The Sunken City of Atlantis
• The Bermuda Triangle
• Black Holes
• What Really Killed the Dinosaurs
• Easter Island and its Stone Giants
• Surviving Firewalks and Beds of Nails
• Ghosts: Real or Not
• Lightening: Killer or Resource
• Lock Ness Nessie: Real or Myth
• Life on Mars or Not
• The Birth of the Universe
• Sea Serpents
• The Origin and Mystery of Stonehenge
• Will We Ever Travel Through Time?
• What Exactly Are UFO's?
• Will Humans Ever Be Able to Travel Faster than Light?

That's Weird!: Awesome Science MysteriesCheck Price

How That's Weird! Is Organized

Each mystery in this book is presented in seven different parts

1. At a Glance: This creates a historical context for the mystery by introducing major players and historical events that play an important part in the story. Information in this section is as factually reliable as it can be, as far as it goes. 
2. The Mystery: This is an actual story that engages the reader by drawing him into a scenario related to the mystery. I'm much older than the target age and I still very much enjoyed the stories. The subjects were all ones I've often wondered about. Some of the events in the stories actually happened, but many have not been verified. The author has given many his own interpretations based on known facts and tells you that up front. 
3. About this Story: The author deals with the likelihood of whether the story may be true or not.
4. The Science: Since this book was designed to help science teachers hook their students on science through mysteries, he explains any known evidence, hypothesis, or theory scientists use to evaluate the truth of the mystery. He explores some of the controversies that surround the subject of the story. 
5. Fact or Fiction: A presentation of the evidence for and against the truth of the mystery. Students will see the conclusions scientists have drawn from their current knowledge. 
6. Follow-up Questions to Explore: These interesting questions help students explore the science concepts that relate to the mystery and encourage them to see how the opinions they've formed stack up against the known evidence. They are much more fun than the questions at the end of science textbook chapters I had to write out answers for when I was a student.
7. Follow on Activities: These activities help bring the themes of the stories to life with discussions and demonstrations. They serve as starting points for teachers to run with. There is also a list of references for further reading related to the mystery. 

Who Would Find this Book Useful?

It is recommended for for students in grades four and up. I would say that it's more appropriate for teaching classes of gifted students at that age. For regular classes I'd not introduce this until grade six or seven. Homeschooling parents should also find this a wonderful resource they can use in a number of ways. Once they read it, they can determine when and how to use it with their own children. I'm guessing if it's left around where children can see it, older children will pick it up on their own. 

That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed the book even though science has never been my favorite subject. The stories really grabbed my attention and made me want to read the evidence for and against their being true. I considered it recreational reading. I think anyone who enjoys mysteries might enjoy reading this book. 

That's Weird!: Awesome Science Mysteries

You might also enjoy some of Kendall Haven's other books. He loves science, but also stories.

Wonders of the Sea (Wonders of Nature: Natural Phenomena in Science and Myth)Wonders of the Land (Wonders of Nature: Natural Phenomena in Science and Myth)Super Simple Storytelling: A Can-Do Guide for Every Classroom, Every Day

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