Archives for December 2011

Light of the World

In December, as Christmas day draws nearer, there is an anticipation.

anticipation

 

Each December, we enjoy our activity countdown to Christmas- sometimes on a countdown chain, sometimes tucked inside our advent nativity calendar.adventcloseup 

We look forward to crafts…footangelnativity

an annual family game…preparingtheway

singing carols…

carols

completing our nightly star chart…
starchart

and making yummy Christmas treats!Christmas peppermint

Is our family simply looking forward to the gifts, the special holiday treats, sights of Christmas lights strung from the housetops and on trees, a time off from regular school work, enjoyable activities and crafts as a family, a chance to be with family and friends? 

Those are all good things.  And so, from the outside one might say, ‘Yes. They are just making memories!’  We do pray that these young minds and hearts are developing precious memories to carry with them as they age, but also SO MUCH MORE.  We desire for there to be depth to our childrens’ memories – looking past the actual crafts with the shimmering glitter and splattered paint, through the yummy Christmas treat experiments, around the daily countdown, over the gifts that begin to appear beneath the tree ….. and straight to the cross.

For, in the midst of all the activity, we try to focus on the ‘why’ of the season. 
Why do we celebrate Christmas? 
Why is there so much fuss over the coming of one certain day each year? 

Because in the midst of a dark world, God chose to send His Son to bring us Light
– to BE the Light.
While we were darkened and trapped by our rebellion and sins,
God sent His One and Only Son into the world to redeem us
– to save us from our sins.

No, the Bible doesn’t tell us that Jesus was born on December 25.  But, we take this time to reflect on the humble birth of our heavenly King, the LIGHT of the world.  He is the GIFT, the PROMISE that everyone in the Jewish world was anticipating, and the HOPE that our hearts and souls desperately need. 

The Light for a dark world…

lightoftheworldcandles

1 John 1:9
The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

Bowing 
May we set our hearts on Him.

Isaiah 60:1-3

Arise, shine, for your light has come,
   and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth
   and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the LORD rises upon you
   and his glory appears over you.
Nations will come to your light,
   and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

It’s Your Turn – Winners!

Wow!  Thanks for all the positive comments about Your Turn – Kid Timer

I know there are some random generators out there for blog giveaways, but seeing as this is our first ever giveaway, we simply had our darling children draw names the old fashioned way.  5 kids and 5 winners!

 

name1name2name3name4name5

So, without further ado, here are our winners….

Andi Hogan
Alicia
Joshua H.
Nina Jones
Stephen Schiller

Congratulations!!!

We will be emailing the winners their codes so you can have access to your free app – Your Turn – Kid Timer!  After you try it out, my hubby would love additional feedback over at the Apple App Store =)  And, for those of you whose names were not drawn, Your Turn – Kid Timer is still available in the Apple App Store – on sale for $1.99 through January 31, 2012.   Thanks to all who participated!!

It’s Your Turn!

As a busy mom with five little ones, four of whom enjoy playing games on our iPad, I was tired of hearing, “Whose turn is it?  How long can I play for?  She had it longer than me!   It’s MY turn now!”   With all the arguing and bickering created over using the iPad, I wasn’t certain all those cool games, whether educational or not, were really worth the hassle and stress. (And you somehow thought our family might be different?  LOL!)   

Then, my knight in shining armor (aka my software loving husband) said, “I could make an app for that.”   So, after teaming up with a great designer (William Larsen), devoting countless hours, and using our all too willing kids as testers, there IS now an app for that!

I’m excited to share with you an app that makes sharing any iOS device less stressful for parents…
Your Turn – Kid Timer!

YourTurn

So, how does it work?

It is pretty simple, actually!

As your child plays, Your Turn counts down the minutes until the next child’s turn. When time is up, Your Turn signals to both kids that it’s time to switch. With the tap of a button, the new child’s turn begins. It’s super easy and kid friendly.

FEATURES
* Add any number of players
* Set playing time per player
* Disable a player who isn’t playing without having to delete
        (The animal will look as though it is asleep!  Super cute!)
* Choose one of six different fun farm animals (pig, horse, donkey, dog, cow, or chicken)
* Plays a warning sound (the sound of the animal that is next) one minute before the timer expires
* Plays an alarm sound (and shows an alert when timer expires
      (This is longer than the warning sound and plays background music with the next player’s animal sound – very fitting for the theme!)
* Plays sound of next player so that they can listen for their sound
* Sounds match player’s farm animal
* Start next player from the alert
* Can be used without an internet connection
* Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.1 or later.

SCENARIOS
Scenario 1: "I want my older child to have a bit more time to play than my younger one."   No problem—Your Turn allows parents to set individual time allotments for each child. These time settings are saved and do not have to be set each time.

Scenario 2: "I have assigned each of my kids to a farm animal sound but one of them isn’t going to be playing right now."  Simple, click a button and Your Turn will remove that child from being timed until their animal is turned back on by you.

Scenario 3: "I only have one child but I want to keep track of the time he is using my iPhone."  Of course, just assign yourself one of the farm animals and when you hear your animal sound it’s time for junior to hand the phone back.

Free yourself up from officiating whose turn it is and help your kids learn to share with the help of Your Turn.

 

When Your Turn – Kid Timer was released in the Apple App Store, we had a family ‘release party’ of sorts!  The cupcakes are based on two of the fun barn animal characters kids can choose from.

appreleasepartyprep appreleaseparty2

appreleaseparty

 

Do you want to WIN IT?
Come celebrate with us!  No, I can’t offer you one of the tasty cupcakes, but I can offer you a free app!  As a special promotion, my hubby has given me promotion codes to give away to 5 lucky readers

The first and mandatory entry is to leave a comment on this blog post letting us know what you are most looking forward to in using the Your Turn – Kid Timer app with your kids, making sure to leave your email so I can contact you. 

You can have a second (optional) entry by ‘liking’ Your Turn iPhone App on Facebook and then leaving a comment here letting me know that you did.

The giveaway ends at midnight on Friday, December 16th!   Winners will be randomly selected.  I will share the winner’s names online and notify through email as well.  So, please be sure to leave a way for me to contact you in case you win!

Update:  This giveaway is officially closed.  Please see the winners, above.

You can also BUY IT!
If you don’t think your family can wait to start using Your Turn – Kid Timer, please know that it IS available for purchase in the Apple App Store!  Between now and January 31, 2012, Your Turn – Kid Timer is on sale for $1.99!  (Shameless plug, I know.) 

 

Now, instead of hearing bickering, I hear, “It’s your turn!”

Ahhh….some peace and quiet….just in time for Christmas =)

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