Arjun Sen was a busy man in the business world. On September 12, 2001, he realized that he did not know his young daughter. Due to his busy-ness their relationship was reduced to phone calls and short visits. Instead of sticking with the status quo, Sen took action. He quit the corporate world and started a home based marketing consulting company so that his relationship with his daughter would be his primary focus. In his book Raising a Father, we get to read about Arjun Sen’s journey toward becoming a better father and a better man.

Raising a Father is comprised of short, heart-felt stories about Sen and his daughter, Raka. Sen now measures his success by the time he spends with his daughter and not how far he has climbed up the corporate ladder. This book should be required reading for all parents and parent-to-be. Though it is written from a father’s perspective, the truths in this book are equally important for mothers too.  This book  makes you rethink your priorities and your relationships and helps you get them back in line.

Check out this trailer for the book-

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, this book would make a great gift for the special parents in your life. You can order the book online by clicking here.

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I am happy to tell you there is an alternative. Only Hearts Club is a line of dolls, clothes, accessories, pets and books with a modest, respectful and positive message. The theme of Only Heats Club is “Listen to your heart and do the right thing.” The line centers around 8 dolls Taylor Angelique-the animal lover,  Karina Grace-the guitar playing dancer, Briana Joy-the athlete, Lily Rose-the nature lover, Olivia Hope-the hose lover,Anna Sopia-the cook, Kayla Rae-the artist and Hannah Faith- the shy skater & gymnast. They are all friends who respect each other and their individuality.

The dolls are beautiful. They are 9″ tall with soft, pose-able bodies. You can comb their hair, change their clothes and pose them into life-like positions.

You can purchase Only Hearts Club dolls and accessories at Target, Only Hearts Club, Target.com and other fine retailers.  You can win this Olivia Hope doll from The Mom Maven!

How to Enter: **mandatory 1st entry**Visit the Only Hearts Club website and “meet” the dolls.  Come back and leave me a comments as to which doll you would choose for the girl you would give it to and why.

**Bonus Entries** please leave a seperate comment for each one you complete.

1. Subscribe to my blog (click on the orange heart button on my sidebar) Current subscribers just let me know you subscribe.

2. Follow my blog via Google Friend Connect. Current subscribers just let me know you subscribe.

3. Use or get your own gravatar so I know who I am talking to! http://en.gravatar.com/ It is free and just takes a few seconds. Current and new gravatar users please leave me a comment, I love seeing your smiling faces.

4. Tweet, Stumble, Digg, or Prop this post. Leave me a comment with the URL/user name of each one that you complete.

This giveaway ends Friday 7/17/09 at 8:00pm and is open to US residents only.

The post Only Hearts Club Review & Giveaway appeared first on The Mom Maven.

The Secret Keeper Girl Pak is made up of 3 main components: the “Secret Keeper Girl-8 Great Dates for You and Your Daughter” kit, the “Secret Keeper Girl: My Best Friend Jesus” Bible Study and “Danika’s Totally Terrible Toss-The Legend of the Purple Flurp” fiction book.

The “Secret Keeper Girl 8 Great Dates for You and Your Daughter” kit includes 3 items. It includes a book for mom, a “Secret Keeper Girl Diary” for the daughter and an audio CD that accompanies each date. The audio CD includes interviews with BarlowGirl on the topic of friendship.

Written to moms and their 8-12 year old daughters,the “Secret Keeper Girl 8 Great Dates for You and Your Daughter” is the ultimate tool to help moms connect with their daughters. The “Secret Keeper Girl 8 Great Dates for You and Your Daughter” guides mom as she has important conversations with her daughter about vital truths. Each of the 8 dates follows a similar format.

• SKG-Prep Talk: This gives mom an overview of the date. Mom should always read this at least a week before the date is to take place so that plans can be made and supplies can be gathered.
• SKG-CD: A 7-10 minute going out track on the CD to listen to in the car while you are on your way to the destination of the date.
• SKG-Diary Girl Gab: guides you and your daughter through some of the activities in her diary.
• SKG-Challenge: This is the really fun part of the date and could include a slumber party, the mall, the beach or a park depending on the date.
• SKG-CD: A 3-4 minute heading home wrap up on the CD
• SKG-Driveway Prayer: Each date ends with prayertime in your car in your driveway.

Every date is based on a friendship theme common to teens such as mean girls, BFFs, siblings and boyz. This kit is an amazing way to keep communication open with your daughter and create special memories with her.

The “Secret Keeper Girl: My Best Friend Jesus-Meditating on God’s Truth about True Friendship” Bible Study is a book of 6 age appropriate interactive lessons that do way more than just focus on what the Bible says about friendship. More importantly, it teaches the girls how to study Scripture, meditate on it and make it’s truths real in their lives.

From the Secret Keeper Girl fiction series we have “Danika’s Totally Terrible Toss-The Legend of the Purple Flurp”. This is a fun fiction book with the friendship themes of popularity, mean girls and how to be a true friend. This book is great to read with your daughter. In the back of he book there is a Mother-Daughter Girl Gab section with questions for you to talk about together.

As a mom who is always looking for ways to help my children grow in God’s likeness, I love tools like these that allow us to learn, grow and have fun all while continuing to solidify our relationship as parent and child. I wish there was a kit like this for boys! I am going to take some of the activities here and tweak them to discuss the topic of friendship with my sons. As always, Dannah Gresh’s love of young people shines through in these books. She writes in a fun and open way, like she is talking to her own daughters.

I know you want to get these books into your home. You can buy them at the Pure Freedom website or you can win this entire set-a $35 value, right here at Mom Maven. For your first entry you must check out the Secret Keeper girl website, then come back here and leave me a comment telling me what excites you most about the Secret Keeper Girl products. You must also leave a valid e-mail address or twitter name so that I can notify if you win.

If you would like extra entries you can earn 3 entries each for doing any or all of the following:

• tweet this contest and post the url of the tweet as a separate comment
• follow or subscribe to this blog and leave a comment here telling me that you have done this
• stumble this post with a review and link it here in a comment

The winner will be chosen by Random.org on Friday, January 30th at 10:00pm**time of drawing had to be pushed back due to a church reponsibility.
Good Luck!!

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