Bargain of the year!

I am a self confirmed op shop addict. I just love to mooch around them, and i adore the thrill of finding the best bargain!
Like today!
I cannot BELIEVE what i scored today.
I've seen them floating around on those mummy craft blogs. The cleverest bloggers make them, and i have coveted from afar.

They are sometimes called quiet books, but they are just fabric books, with quiet activities inside. Whoever made my one was extremely talented. Heres a sample of the inside pages.

It goes all the way to 10

I can see it becoming a much loved book in our house, definately one to keep for the grandkids.

Moon Dough

I've been wandering around the online world of other mum bloggers recently. Its neat to see what others get up to with their kids. I found one i especially liked called Happy Hooligans.
Check her out here http://happyhooligans.wordpress.com/
Have a look at those giant bubbles. They are so on my to do list!

Whilst browsing, i came across a recipe for moondough. I remember the stuff being commercially made a few years ago, and sold for a fair bit in childrens stores. I always admired from afar, but was intrigued by the concept. Re-discovering the stuff + recipe, had me pretty excited. And i made it as soon as i could.

Here's Coby getting into the stuff. Its so tactile, All the kids and myself have really been enjoying it.

It holds its shape quite well. (as above) but it isnt like playdough where you can cut figures out. It crumbles away with pressure.

A good tip, gained from a fellow blogger, was to use the Johnson & Johnson lavender stuff, as the smell is really delicious.

Apparently it lasts for ages too, which is great.

Oh and it makes your hands so lovely and soft.

Here's the recipe.

8 cups of flour

1 cup of baby oil.

Yes, it is that simple!!!

Flight to Heaven

I just had to blog about a book i read today.
A Flight to Heaven by Capt Dale Black.



I picked it up at about 10am this morning and just couldn't put it down. I finished it at about 2pm this afternoon.

The book begins as the Captain finds himself very low on fuel and about to land his 747 with no airport (or anything)  in sight.
When you read the blurb about what the book is about you know that Dale was in a horrific plane crash, so you begin to assume that this is the beginnings of the description of that crash, but suddenly at a crucial point, the author whips you away, and begins the story again, with Dale as a nineteen year old.

It is revealed that he, and two other experienced pilots were involved in a catastrophic crash that left him the soul survivor.
Even more compelling, is his story of getting his memory back and realising that whilst his body had been in a three day coma, his soul had travelled to heaven.
The trip to heaven was the reason i was interested in this book. The concept of heaven fascinates me, and i have spent a number of hours logged into you tube, scrolling through testimonies of people who believe they have been to heaven, yet returned.
Strangely, but not unreasonably, quite often the stories have striking similarities.
In fact '90 minutes in heaven' written by Don Piper, echoes the same heaven that Dale writes about.
Whatever happened to Dale during his coma, his life was dramatically changed, his entire world view and personality recieved a terrific makeover, and he dedicated his entire life to the service of Christ.
His accident, which involved hitting a solid object at 135mph, causing the plane to disintegrate in midair, killing one person right there, and then causing him to freefall for seven stories, left him with horrific injuries, and a battle to walk again, see again and even lift his arm. Early on, Dale dedicated his recovery to God, and his own doctor was left astounded at his supernatural healilng defying medical experience.
The stand out scripture revealed in this book for me is

He who loses his life for My sake will find it. Matt 16-25

It is what happened to Dale, and it was a process that he had to walk through himself, but oh, what blessings were in store for him when he did completely lay his own desires down.

The final chapters of the book, flick back to the scene on a seemingly doomed flight, that got us hooked in the first place. All hope is lost. Everything that could go wrong with their plane, and also the ground communication had gone wrong. But as Dale shows us, God came through for him. The plane has a miraculous landing. If i revealed too much about this part it would ruin the book for you.
I highly recommend this book. Its a rollercoaster ride, with a few tears spilt on the way. I love that its a true story, the final page has contact details for the author. Everything he claims is completely verifiable.
That scripture up there though, has really gotten under my skin. You might see another canvas appearing here very soon!!!




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