New Book review posted

I would like to point you in the direction of Pebble Crossing, who just posted a review of  "The Children's Ketubbah Project." (Psst, there's a giveaway for a copy of my ebook.) Please check out their new website, too.

Check it out here.

Mark your calendars! This Sunday you will be able to get a copy for yourself. We will be having a drawing for one of my husband's handmade gemsbok shofars, and you can download free printable ketubbahs. Hope to see you there at the torah family living website.

Shalom!

And the winner is....

Doug drew a name for our book giveaway today. I am thrilled to see the excitement building. Only 9 days until the big launch! I am doing the behind the scenes work of setting up shopping carts, etc. It will go live on September 4th, and if you didn't win today, you can purchase a copy for $8.99.  Again, thanks for all your support.

Okay, the winner is....Lusi!

I will email you a PDF copy. How exciting with a baby about to arrive! Congratulations!

A sample

It occurred to me that I didn't give very much info about what is actually in The Children's Ketubbah Project. You can't read my mind, so let me attempt to do that here. Below is one of the ketubbahs found in the book, written for daughters. There is also one for sons. There are other things in the book, too, but this will give you a sample.

We love you.
YHVH formed you in the womb. He made you beautiful and smart.
We want the very best for you and we are so happy you are part of our family.
We are not perfect parents, but we promise to do our very best.
We will pray for you.
We will listen to you.
We will be a living example of how to walk in Torah, teach it to you, and show you how to study it on your own.
We will lovingly discipline you when you do wrong, to keep you on the right track. We will restore you after the discipline.
We will enjoy you and learn about you as a unique special girl, and help you develop the talents your Heavenly Father gave you.
We will be available to help you with decisions, including the choice of your future husband, life work, and ministry.

From Mom:
I will show you how to be a good future wife by being one now.
I will patiently show you how to be a capable young lady.

From Dad:
I will meet your needs, spiritually, emotionally, and physically.
I will provide a safe haven for you to grow up in.

We hope you will return our love with your own, demonstrated by honor and obedience. But we will love you no matter what.
When we fail in any of the things listed above, we will apologize and make it right.

I have turned each of these phrases into a mini chapter where I discuss how to implement them. I pray that this book is a blessing to your family. Just writing it has been so helpful to our family. Parenting is now something we do on purpose. We are thinking through how we interact with our children. We want our children's hearts, but now, we are letting them have our heart, too.

Read a book review here.

Get your copy on Sept. 4 by going here. There will also be some giveaways on that day.

Enter to get a free advanced copy here.

Thanks so much for all your excitement! It means a lot to me. :)

Pen Benefits

So I wrote a book about parenting. I hope you all enjoy it. I'm sure you won't agree about everything in it. And that's okay, because I wrote it mostly for myself. Suddenly, I have changed my perspective as a mother. (Perhaps I want to make sure I'm doing my best so I don't become a hypocrite. :) I suddenly find myself closing the lid to my laptop and looking at my children in the eye when they want me. I'm sitting on the front porch with the kids while Whiskey (our new dog) catches tennis balls. I'm helping the kids with their chores rather than barking when they don't do them by themselves. There's something about writing things down that motivates me beyond good intentions and happy thoughts. I'm very glad for it.

Is there something in your life that has never gone beyond good intentions.
1. Pray about it real hard.
2. Then write it down.
3. Look at it often.

Perhaps the simple act of putting pen to paper will be helpful to you, too.

Book Giveaway

Who would like to read an advance copy of my new ebook? This is your chance!

My launch date is September 4th. I already have some blog reviews set up, and I will give you dates and locations on those soon. On September 4th, we will be having a drawing for one of my husband's handmade shofars, along with other fun stuff!

In the meantime, I will be giving away an advanced copy of "The Children's Ketubbah Project."

To get entries, do the following:
1. Follow my blog, and leave a comment saying so. If you already follow, say so in the comments.

2. Follow me on facebook, and say so in a comment.

3. Check out my new website, and leave a comment. There is a link right at the top of the left sidebar. You can also find it at www.torahfamilyliving.com.

4. Share about the book in a blog post, facebook, or twitter, and leave a comment.

Yes, you can leave one comment about all of them at once.

Feel free to use this graphic. Giveaway is open until 8-26-2011. You may now return to your regularly scheduled programming. :)

A published author

I finally did it! I wrote an ebook and published it! This has been a dream of mine for about 12 years. There weren't ebooks back then lol. I will be telling you all about it and telling you about the giveaways we will be having to celebrate. In the meantime, I will let you see the result of our photo shoot. Remember the picture of the girls and I with rags in our hair? It was for the cover photo of my book.

It is officially on its way to Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, etc. All I have left to do is prepare the PDF version. Well, it has been a long and exciting day. Good night, everyone!