Carrie and Bandit by Vicki Watson Book 2 in Sonrise Stable Series

Christian Horse Books For Children

I have been reading and reviewing a lot of great inspiring Christian books recently but when I found that I had the chance to review a Christian book written for homeschooling families about horses I jumped at the chance to be on the review team!
I had the opportunity to review the second book in the series of Sonrise Stable: Carrie and Bandit by Vicki Watson.

"The Sonrise Stable series is the heartwarming, continuing story of an extended homeschooling family as they live, learn, and love together. Mixing adventure, life lessons, and realistic horse experiences, the series is a must for readers who enjoy family values, Christian faith, and, of course, horses!"

Carrie and Bandit continues where Rosie and Scamper left off.

Carrie can't believe it—she has a horse of her own and is only weeks away from being adopted by the most loving family she's ever known. But Bandit is harder to manage than she first imagined—and the adoption might not go as smoothly as she thought either. When a bad decision jeopardizes everything, Carrie learns what it means to be forgiven and truly loved.

Scriptural themes: Our adoption as children of God, Romans 8:14-17

Read an excerpt from Carrie and Bandit

My Thoughts:

My daughters and I really loved this book, the second in the series. I loved the fact that the girls in the story were homeschooled and my own daughters could relate to them. My daughters also love horses but we do not own a horse. The author, Vicki Watson weaves her real experiences with riding and training horses right into the stories so we found it was a lot of fun to learn more about horses as the story unfolded!

I also loved the story line in this book. Carrie is preparing to be adopted into a new family. Just as Carrie can compare adopting a new horse to her own adoption into a new family, we could compare the book and being adopted into God's family through the shed blood of Jesus Christ!

There is an important part of the story that occurs, I won't give it away here, but this really impacted my daughter. She is only five but could relate to the sin that was committed. Being able to read about a character's flaws and how the circumstances are resolved Biblically and lovingly really helped my daughter to see that everyone makes mistakes but we can be forgiven!

I was checking out the Sonrise Stable website and I saw that there were some fun contests my daughters could enter and that they also sell jewelry to go along with the books!

I am thinking of purchasing this necklace to go along with this book for my daughter. This necklace plays an important part in the book and I know it will have significant meaning to my daughter as she was really impacted by this story.

This book is a great read. Young girls ages 8-12 would have a wonderful time reading this on their own. My girls are five and three so I read the book to them but it this made our reading time all the more enjoyable. A good Christian, homeschooling tale about horses and adoption into God's Kingdom!

Here we are reading Carrie and Bandit.

I think this book would make a wonderful Christmas gift when bundled with a piece of jewelry too!

Sonrise Stable Website

Follow Sonrise Stables on Twitter.

Purchase the book here or at Amazon.

ISBN: 978-0984724215 | List Price: $9.95 | Format: Softcover | Page Count: 149

I received a free copy of this book to review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations. I am part of The CWA Review Crew.

TITL Apparel, Christian Boutique-My Review!

I recently had the pleasure of reviewing a fabulous company called TITL! TITL apparel exists to bring honor and glory to God and our savior Jesus Christ. TITL stands for Trust in The Lord and is more than a company to its founder, Stephanie Osborn, it is her ministry. She followed God's leading to recognize that there was a market for Christian apparel that had the high quality, feel and look of a designer, that also provides a platform for ministry. TITL, Christian Apparel was born!

For my review, I first had to head over to their website, TITL Apparel. I found the website to be quite easy to navigate. I found you can browse their products by scrolling over the word "Menu". Here the website has the products categorized by men's and women's clothing, jewelry, and even women's handbags! I was asked to choose either a shirt or a necklace and so I found a necklace I fell in love with, the Sterling Silver Christian Cross.

When my package arrived I could tell quite a bit of care and devotion was put into this necklace for delivery. It came wrapped in lovely purple tissue paper inside a special little bag made of shimmering tulle with drawstrings. A beautiful handwritten card from Stephanie really made me feel special and I knew instantly that this piece of jewelry was precious to her as well!

The TITL website describes this necklace as "Sterling Silver Christian Cross adorned with Amazonite and Sterling Silver Beads. Sterling Silver Long and Short Chain. Sterling Silver Toggle closure. 32”. Assembled with love in Nevada. Style 01-007." When my necklace arrived I could tell how this was "assembled with love." There are so many special details in this necklace! I love the sterling silver toggle closure with it's mini TITL tag.

Here is a picture up close.

The Amazonite stones are just gorgeous! I also love toggle closures. Once you know how to use them they are so simple and when I wore this I never had any fear that the necklace would come unclasped. Because of the size of the clasp I found it fairly easy to find when readjusting the necklace, although it never bothered me and I never felt it was there.

The sterling silver cross is beautiful. I found it to be a bit larger than I was expecting but as I wore the cross I loved to grasp it and hang onto it and let my fingers run over the intricate silver design, remembering how much it cost God to send His Son to die on the cross. I really treasure this piece! Here it is close up!

In my card, Stephanie described this necklace as having an asymmetrical line. I was a bit unsure about this design as I generally like my jewelry to be symmetrical! 

Here it is on me, asymmetrical.

Another view!

I wore the necklace to church yesterday and got some wonderful compliments! The ladies that complimented me wanted to touch the beautiful Amazonite stones and one wanted to see the clasp and how it worked. 

Another photo with the cross in view.

As you can see this is not a simple necklace! It is more of a centerpiece! My daughters LOVED it too! They wanted to know where I got it from and if it was my birthday! They took turns wanting to wear this necklace until I told them it was not a toy but "very special" and I had to put it away! I shared this with Stephanie on her Facebook page and I loved her comment:  " It is so nice to hear the special effect of that necklace. Purity of children is amazing...purity attracts purity. Have a happy day." 

That is what I really love about this company! Stephanie's blog is such a source of encouragement that goes way beyond her products. Her products are her tools to spread the message of Christ! I never would have connected "purity" with my daughters fighting over a necklace! But she is right, the necklace is special and when we keep our hearts for God we are setting ourselves apart and keeping ourselves pure before Him. Special equals pure and God is so worthy of our efforts to learn more about these qualities and teach them to our children.

So I've gone way over my review of this necklace, but I was completely moved that this was way more than just a necklace! It is a truly special work of art, from the heart of Stephanie and her company!

When I learned how much this necklace cost I was not surprised. It is well worth the $164. Knowing that a significant portion of the proceeds goes toward "seeking and saving the lost" makes this so much more worthy of my money as there is added value to the purchase! 

In her own words, Stephanie shares on her BLOG, 

"Please know that product pricing for TITL Apparel is at or below secular retailers pricing for like or exact items.  I take great care and invest much time verifying TITL Apparel is a great value."

If you are looking for a special gift for a special someone, head on over to TITL Christian Apparel! You'll be glad you did!

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding"

Proverbs 3:5


 Disclosure: I received a free product to review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations. I am part of The CWA Review Crew.