Thank you Magic Sketch for sending us a review sample!

My kids love to draw and go through a lot of construction paper and scurry off with all the pens in our house.  Of course they like video games too and primarily use their tablets to play them.   The problem with tablets is that they don’t last too long before needing to be recharged again.  The Magic Sketch is a durable tablet like device that allows kids to draw, trace, and play games in beautiful rainbow colors.  There’s only one button on it and it’s used to clear the screen.  The battery life is estimated to last seven years and is easily accessible and replaceable.

There’s plenty to do with the basic bundle that includes sixty stencils, four styluses, three stamps, and one roller.   The website says it’s $29.95, but after you factor in the $7.95 processing and handling fees, the final total is $37.90.  For all that you get it’s a pretty good deal.

The stencils have three different focus areas including learning, drawing, and games.  The learning stencils include math problems and letters of the alphabet to practice on.  The drawing stencils have step by step drawing, complete the picture, and tracing templates.  The favorite among my kids are the game stencils.  The game cards include mazes, word finds, connect the dots, tic tac toe and hang-man templates.  The stencils are easy to use and slide in and out of the top layer of the Magic Sketch.

Thank you Cinedigm for sending us a DVD to review! In-Lawfully Yours is a Christian themed romantic comedy that stars and is produced by Corbin Bernsen.  Not only does it have a unique love story, there’s a positive message about God’s love and redemption.  This is another Christian movie that pleasantly surprised us with some funny ...

Thank you Air Bud Entertainment for sending us a screener link!

Reality singing shows like American Idol and The Voice are enjoyed by many humans.  With the help of Evolution treats, dogs have gained the ability to talk, sing, and enjoy competing in their own singing show titled Pup Star.  The contestants must sing original songs and are judged by canine judges with similar names and personalities of their human counterparts.  The judges’ names are Blake Sheltie, Dog Gnarly, Lady Paw Paw, and Simon Growl.  There’s plenty of silliness in this tale of love, revenge, and perseverance.

Tiny is a Yorkie who loves her owner, Lou.  Sadly, Lou lost her mother recently.  Lou and Tiny sing together and encourage each other to follow their dreams.  Tiny competes in Chicago’s audition’s for Pup Star and gets the golden bone and a chance to compete in the finals that take place in New York City.  Lou has to get her father’s permission to take her there though.  Sadly, the trip planning gets postponed due to Lou running into a truck and breaking her arm and Tiny getting dognapped by Roland, the greedy owner of Happy Ranch kennel.  

In the kennel Tiny learns that Roland only releases dogs that have a reward on them and that if they’re not claimed within a year they’ll be put down.  A dog named Charlie is nearing his execution date but has an escape plan and begrudgingly takes Tiny along with him.  As Tiny and Charlie travel to New Orleans, New Jersey, and New York they learn about love, friendship, and infusing their experiences into the songs that they sing.

Charlie has a bone to pick with the current Pup Star champion, Bark, and wants to pay him back for stealing his music without giving him proper credit for it.  Along the way Tiny gets to meet Charlie’s love interest and her personal idol, Emily Rose.  With all of the help and support of friends Tiny has what it takes to dethrone Bark, but needs to get past Kano the bounty hunter that’s after her.  I’ll leave the rest of the movie a surprise as it’s worth checking out.

Thank you Cinedigm for sending us this DVD to review!

Many of us have lied or made mistakes before.  Fortunately for us, our misdeeds are not recorded in the Bible.  Luke 22:54-62 recounts Peter denying that he knew Jesus three times, just as Jesus predicted.  After Jesus’ resurrection He restores Peter by having Him affirm him three times in John 21:15-19.  The movie Peter: The Redemption depicts Peter living his final months in a Roman jail and refusing to confess to burning down the city under Nero’s rule.  Despite being given several opportunities to recant his faith, Peter holds firm and refuses to deny Jesus any more in his lifetime.  Unfortunately, several other Christians are persecuted and tortured as a result.

There are many bloody and uncomfortable scenes as Christians are seen getting beaten and bloodied.  For this reason, younger children should probably refrain from seeing this film.  Fortunately, the scenes with them being set on fire are not shown, but the screams of torture still hit home.  Many popular actors are in this ninety-minute film including John Rhys-Davies as Peter and Stephen Baldwin as Nero.  

Besides the story of Peter’s strong faith, there is a budding romance between a dedicated Roman soldier named Martinian and a palace servant, Suzanna, who is tending to Peter’s many wounds.  Suzanna is a Christian and is treading on thin ice as Nero detests Christians and enjoys using them as torches to illuminate his garden.  To make matters worse Nero takes a liking to her and his wife is extremely jealous.

I won’t spoil this movie, but unlike many Christian films out there, Peter The Redemption tells a good story about faith, love, forgiveness, and perseverance.   Not all of the believers keep their faith as some of the prisoners recant to regain their freedom.  However, others die for their faith and those strong Christians inspire unlikely individuals to become saved and get baptized in Jesus’ name.   

Thank you Broadgreen for sending us this DVD to review!

The fourth chapter in the book of Matthew mentions Jesus going into the wilderness to be tempted and fasting for forty days and nights.  The Bible tells about three of the temptations, but the movie Last Days In The Desert uses some artistic license to add many more.    The beginning of this hour and thirty-eight minute movie is a bit slow starting as it shows the “Holy man” as He’s referred to wandering aimlessly in the desert.  You’ll see Him sleeping and hear Him praying for guidance to His Heavenly Father and even laughing at the wind blowing sticks around.  Later on in the film He laughs at a fart too.

While He’s never called Jesus, Satan who is also played by Ewan McGregor (He's Jesus too) refers to Him as Yeshua.   Satan takes on many forms, but is most often identical in appearance to Jesus.  One of the forms Satan takes on is that of a topless woman whose hair covers the otherwise  would be seen nipples.  

During Jesus’ fasting in the desert He happens upon a nomad family that is struggling emotionally.  Their mother is deathly ill while the adolescent son and father barely communicate and cannot relate to one another.  The father is a skilled carpenter and wishes for his son to live in the desert with him, but the son longs to set his own destiny in Jerusalem.  The mother wishes for him to fulfill his dreams as well, but the family cannot afford an apprenticeship for him.  

Satan offers a wager to Jesus to fix this family and even tells Him of their future had Jesus not crossed paths with them.  I found it odd that Satan could see the future, but Jesus couldn’t in this film.  Jesus was able to foresee many events including His own death (Matt 26:2), betrayal (Matt 26:21), resurrection (Matt 16:21), coming of the Holy Spirit (John 14:26), and even the destruction of Jerusalem (Luke 19:43-44).  Even though Jesus is perceived as weak (despite eating) and doubting of His abilities, there is a decent story about humanity, family, and relationships in this film.  Just don’t expect much Biblical content because much of it goes against God’s word.   

Thank you Allied Integrated Marketing for providing us with two tickets to the show! C.S. Lewis is a well-known author who has penned many great Christian themed works including The Chronicles of Narnia, Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, and plenty more that I have yet to read!  Though he grew up in a Christian household, he did renoun...

Thank you BH Impact for sending us this DVD to review!

Most Christians are familiar with Mary’s role in submitting to God’s will and bringing our savior into this world.  She agreed to carry the Lord’s child knowing that her future marriage and life would be endangered as a result.   Because of a dream Joseph received from the Lord, he knew that her pregnancy was indeed a miracle and continued the engagement knowing that his reputation would suffer as a result.  The movie Joseph and Mary doesn’t focus on the angelic visit and begins with Joseph (Kevin Sorbo) crafting a wooden cradle for their future baby.  

While the Bible doesn’t specify the ages of Mary and Joseph, I’m willing to bet that they were much younger than the actors used to play their roles in this film.  I’m also willing to wager that they were not Caucasian either.   The miscasting continues in the temple scene with Simeon and Anna. Their actors are much too young for their roles.  Both of them were promised to see the Messiah before they died and Anna was in her eighties when she saw baby Jesus.

The acting is still decent regardless of their ages and the main story of the revenge seeking rabbi, Elijah, is pretty good.  King Herod’s taxes are causing an uproar and people who resist paying taxes are made examples of.  Rebekah’s husband, Aaron, is killed in front of her despite Elijah’s attempts of appeasing the tax collector.  The husband’s dying wish is that Elijah takes care of his wife and he does so.  Her oldest son grows fond of Elijah and they become a family.  That is until Herod demands the deaths of young male children.  Rebekah vows vengeance on the soldier that carried out Herod’s orders on her family and she pressures Elijah into killing him on her behalf.

Elijah refers to the Deuteronomy 19 verse 21 which states a life for a life and an eye for an eye for agreeing to kill this legionnaire.  Joseph is trying to convince Elijah to forgive the man and have compassion on him instead.  As Jesus grows up and speaks in the temple, Elijah is convinced that there’s something different about this child and starts to believe that He’s the Messiah.  Can he accept Christ’s teachings and learn to forgive?  I’ll leave the rest for you see for yourself in this hour and twenty-two-minute film.

Thank you Public Media Distribution for sending us this DVD to review! The BFG (Big Friendly Giant) book written by Roald Dahl came out in 1982 and the ninety-minute film adaptation was released in 1989.  This 2016 version has been digitally restored and comes with a before and after special feature so you can see the difference in real t...

Thank you Walkers Shortbread for sending us these delicious cookies to try!

Walkers Shortbread was founded in 1898 and is still family run and operated.  They are located in Aberlour in the Scottish Highlands and export their cookies, cakes, crackers, and puddings to over eighty countries worldwide.  We’ve been blessed to try their Pure Butter Mini Shortbread Fingers, Gluten Free Pure Butter Chocolate Chip and regular shortbread cookies.

Since I don’t practice gluten free living, I tried the Pure Butter Mini Shortbread Fingers first.  I was definitely able to taste the butter and the flakey texture was pleasing as well.  To my surprise there are only four ingredients (wheat flour, butter, sugar, salt) to these cookies and they are all natural!  A serving of four fingers/cookies will set your diet back by 170 calories and 9 grams of fat though.  Four out of five of my family members enjoyed them.  My son is spoiled by my homemade cookies I guess.

To fairly review the gluten free cookies, I took the Gluten Free Pure Butter Chocolate Chip and regular shortbread cookies to my mother-in-law who regularly eats gluten free products.  It’s no secret that a good majority of gluten free food tastes inferior to their gluten counterparts.  These Walker shortbread cookies are quite the exception though!  In fact, my mother-in-law said that you couldn’t tell that they’re gluten free.

Like the Pure Butter Mini Shortbread Fingers, the gluten free shortbread cookies are light, airy, and delicious.  Instead of wheat flour, a blend of rice, potato starch, maize, and xanthan gum (as a stabilizer) is used.  The other ingredients (butter, sugar, salt) remain the same.  The chocolate chip variety has chocolate chips as well which include sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, and natural vanilla flavoring.  

Thank you MarVista for sending us a screener of this movie to review!

This one hour and nineteen-minute movie is based off of the popular book series by Megan McCafferty.  The main character is Jessica Darling who is about to enter seventh grade and wants to start off on the right foot.  Her older sister with a passion for fashion gave Jessica a list of four things to do to be popular in junior high.  Here’s the contents of her sister’s “It List”:

1. Wear something different every day

2. Make the cheer team

3. Pick your first boyfriend wisely

Thank you VicTsing for sending us this product to review!

There are many uses for a garden hose nozzle and we put this eight-mode gadget to the test by using it on three children and washing two cars.  While hosing down my kids on a hot summer day, they seemed to enjoy the mist mode the best. Not only was it gentle and refreshing, it also produced rainbows as an added bonus.  The Cone mode is a little stronger than the mist and the kids liked that one as well.  If you’re looking for some more power that’s not too forceful, the flat mode is another good option to use.

The soaker mode was a disappointment and seemed to dribble more than soak anything.  It could be an issue on my end since there was water leaking out of both ends of my garden hose.  All of the other modes worked flawlessly despite the leaks.  There wasn’t any text or instructions included in the packaging.  Just the nozzle and an extra washer.  The nozzle did have a washer in place as I checked to make sure that wasn’t the source of the water leak.  The hose used is old so I blame that for the leaks and not the nozzle.

If you need a bunch of streams, the center mode is a good one to use and the aptly named shower mode has several streams as well.  The shower mode is great for watering plants.    The jet mode has a powerful beam and the rinse mode is similar but stronger and great for taking off soap from a freshly washed car.

Thank you Click Communications for sending us this DVD to review!

The original Kindergarten Cop starring Arnold Schwarzenegger came out in 1990 and was an instant classic.  Unfortunately, things have changed a lot since then and this sequel reflects many of those differences with the modern day kindergarten students.  One of the students is gluten free while another has peanut allergies.  The upscale private school that this movie takes place in caters to all religions and sexual orientations.  Not surprisingly, one of the students has two moms and a distrust for men.  Gone are time-outs and sitting “Indian style”; it’s now called “criss cross applesauce “ as the undercover FBI agent, Mr. Reed, soon learns. 

Mr. Reed (Dolph Lundgren) is a well-built ladies man that has no experience with children.  Reed’s partner (Bill Bellamy), has five kids and offers to help Reed, but he’s too proud to accept it.  To complicate matters, agent Reed has a tendency to fall for women while undercover, and this mission is no exception.  The other kindergarten teacher is attractive and nice and may have some information on the hidden flash drive that has the FBI’s data on it.  

The FBI aren’t the only ones after the stolen witness protection database as the syndicate boss, Zogu, seeks to silence a witness that is listed in it.  Time is running out and the FBI agents have to earn the kids' trust to uncover the secret location of the flash drive hidden somewhere on the school grounds.  

One would assume that a movie about kindergarten students would be safe for the whole family to watch.  Sadly, it’s not.  This 140-minute film is rated PG-13 and has some sexual references, violence, and plenty of blaspheming along with foul language.  Pretty much every cuss word is used with exception to the F-bomb.

Thank you No Starch Press for sending us this book to review!

All three of my kids love Minecraft and they all have learned various coding concepts from several books from No Starch Press.  When my oldest daughter heard about this book being released, she was eager to try it out and she’s glad that she did!  Not only does this book teach basic Python concepts, it puts them in an environment that kids can relate to and see their results in game instead of in a monochrome command prompt screen.  

There is a little setup involved and the first chapter of this twelve-chapter book covers installing and configuring Minecraft, Java, Python, and Spigot.  There are instructions for Windows, Mac, and Raspberry Pi setups.

The first Python concept taught is variables and the reader will learn how to use variables to teleport to different areas in the Minecraft game world.  Modules, mathematical expressions, and strings will be explained throughout the book as well.  True/False Booleans and If/Then/Else statements are also taught and with those abilities, the reader will learn how to make various mini-games.  Instant forests are made possible with While Loops.  Towards the end of the book the reader will learn about lists, dictionaries, modules, saving files, and object oriented concepts.

My daughter’s favorite lessons in the book are making moving blocks and a dance floor that changed colors.   She also liked the secret door that would open when placing a diamond on a pedestal.  There are over seventy projects to be completed and each of them utilizes valuable Python concepts. These skills can transfer over to pursuing further programming with Python down the road.    This book sells for less than $25 on Amazon in hard copy form and is available for half of the $29.99 MSRP digitally.

Thank you Disney for sending us this Blu-ray to review! The Finest Hours is based on a true story and is considered to be the most heroic rescue in Coast Guard history.  The main character, Bernie Weber (Chris Pine), is a Coast Guard crewman who follows the rulebook and knows all of the regulations.  He’s very familiar with the ocean and ...

Thank you VicTsing for sending us a review sample! In all honesty, I rarely drink.  In fact, all of the alcohol in the house is used for cooking recipes only.  To test this breathalyzer out, I drank ¼ cup of soft, semi-dry white wine while preparing some braised chicken that called for it.  Setting up and using the breathalyzer is pr...

Thank you Patterns of Evidence for sending us this book to review!

In 2015 my husband and I were blown away by Timothy Mahoney’s documentary searching for archaeological evidence of the Biblical Exodus.  Many Egyptologists disregard the Biblical account of the exodus due to lack of evidence in the New Era Kingdom of Ramesses II.   In this 392-page book, Timothy describes his twelve-year long journey to figure out if the events in Exodus really happened or not.  His methodology is logical, scientific, controversial, and the results very convincing.  I highly recommend reading this book and/or at the very least watching or renting the film!

Timothy focuses on six events that took place in the Exodus.  The arrival of the Israelites, their multiplication, slavery, judgement of the Egyptians, their leaving (Exodus), and their conquest of Canaan.  While there is plenty of evidence of these events all taking place in the Middle Kingdom time period, archaeologists disregard it all because it’s not in the New Era Kingdom.

The origin of the New Era Kingdom is explained and picked apart for its many inconsistencies.   Throughout this book you’ll read several interviews between Timothy and renowned Egyptologists and archaeologists.  David Rohl, who agrees with this new timeline, isn’t even a Christian.  Many of the other interviewees are not onboard with altering the current Egyptian timeline.  It’s easier to throw the Biblical evidence under the bus than to change and re-write history books.

There is plenty of evidence of Joseph residing in Egypt.  He has a canal, Bahr Yusef (waterway of Joseph), named after him!  Many assume that the seven-year famine that Joseph interpreted from Pharaoh’s dream was a drought.  Planting crops is equally difficult if areas are flooded and that could have been the source of food shortages as well.  An archaeological dig site has uncovered a city named Avaris and there is evidence that a high ranking Semitic ruler lived there.  On this property with twelve columns resides an empty tomb has a statue of a man with a Semitic hair style, skin color, and a colorful robe.  Since the bones are missing as the Bible declares, there is a good chance that this could have been Joseph’s residence. 

Thank you Click Communications for sending us this DVD to review!

Lego Star Wars: Droid Tales first aired on Disney XD in the summer of 2015.  With its recent DVD release, everyone can now enjoy the retelling of the Star Wars saga from C-3PO and R2-D2’s perspective.  The overarching story is that R2-D2 has been kidnapped and while chasing after his captor C-3PO recalls and shares his adventures with different audience groups during some downtime.  This 115-minute DVD is broken down into five episodes and here’s a quick summary of each one:

Exit from Endor – The victorious rebels are celebrating and Luke Skywalker sees the ghosts of Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Mace Windu.  At the campfire,C-3PO recalls the story of Anakin’s childhood and run in with Qui-Gon Jinn and Queen Amidala.  Extra comedy is added into the retelling of The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones including several severe injuries of Jar-Jar Binks and Darth Maul’s overuse of the word awesome.

Crisis on Coruscant – While still tracking down R2-D2’s whereabouts, C-3PO shares his version of what happened in Revenge of the Sith.  General Grievous and Count Dooku “kidnap” the emperor in order to lure Anakin to join the dark side.  Darth Vader makes his appearance in this episode.  On a lighter note, Yoda’s line, “Oh heck what the” cracked us all up.

Mission to Mos Eisley – C-3PO heads to Tatooine to track down R2-D2.  He reminisces about A New Hope where he and R2-D2 are sold to Luke Skywalker after all of the other robots scavenged by the Jawas mysteriously break during their inspection.  Luke Skywalker begins his Jedi training with Obi-Wan and Yoda and later destroys the Death Star.  At the end of this episode, C-3PO reunites with Chewbacca and continues his quest of rescuing R2-D2 from his mysterious captor.

Thank you Quartous for sending us this book to review!

Like many kids, my children enjoy building all sorts of things in Minecraft.  It’s a great outlet to encourage creativity and to interact and work with each other to create enormous structures.  If your family is new to Minecraft, the Unofficial Minecraft Lab for Kids book will go through the basics and will provide guides on building projects both inside and outside of the game.

My son learned how to make a TNT cannon and both him and my daughter also made flags and banners inside the game.  I like how the home projects correlate with the in-game ones.  To accompany these labs, my kids also learned how to make a marshmallow launcher and a Creeper face banner.   To go along with setting up a target practice inside of the game, my kids learned how to make a bow and arrow using wet popsicle sticks, dental floss, and Q-tips.  (I kept finding Q-tips throughout my house for a few days afterward.)

Minecraft is about survival and that entails foraging for food to eat.  One of the final labs gives a recipe and instructions for making mushroom stew to enjoy outside of the game.  If your kids are like mine and not a fan of mushrooms, they may prefer the cookie lab found earlier in the book instead.    Some other labs include making a simple circuit with an LED and a watch battery, or a Chinese finger trap to go alongside the in-game zombie trap.

There are lots of great ideas and fun projects to enjoy together as a family.  This book was a hit over spring break when the weather wasn’t nice enough to play outside.  The book will retail for less than $24 on Amazon when it comes out in June 2016.

Thank you BH Impact for sending us this DVD set to review! Touched by an Angel began in 1994 and was almost cancelled after its first season. However, it was brought back for eight more seasons after the fans of the show wrote enough letters to change CBS’ mind.  During season’s three through six, Touched by an Angel was one of CBS’ highest ra...

Thank you PrayerBowls for sending us one to review! PrayerBowls is a husband and wife team that offers two different styles for bowls designed to receive prayer requests.  We were sent the Angie set, which is named after a woman that prayed daily for the founder during a serious illness and her many surgeries.  Angie used a bowl to place ...