"One Hand, Two Hands" by Max Lucado (Children's Book review)

"One Hand, Two Hands" by Max Lucado (Children's Book review)


From Amazon.com: "Written in rhyming text and illustrated with the charming art of Gaby Hansen, this simple message of God's blessing of hands not only entertains . . . as it teaches what wonderful things our hands can do from scratching, latching, and petting a pup to washing dishes with mommy and putting toys in a box . . . but it also conveys the important message: We can use God's gift of hands to show our love for Him by helping others. The book ends tenderly with a prayer of thanks to God for hands and asks Him to use them again:

One hand, two hands,
Five fingers, ten.
God, thanks, for my hands.
Please, use them again."

My Review:
A very simple cute book for the little ones. Pros are that it has adorable illustrations that my kids loved, and enforces the idea that our hands are for doing good things. Cons are that the book really only mentions God at the end there as quoted in the Amazon writeup and the book is a bit long for the attention spans of the intellectual level that would get the most out of the simple rhyming text. I think that my almost 4 year old will after a few readings begin to grasp that the book is saying we should use our hands to do good and kind things, without further explanation. She might need help connecting the one mention of God using our hands to the reason why we do good things with them, simply because God is so obscure in the book. But then again maybe not... kids pick up on things sometimes that we wouldn't think they would. My 2 year old however will probably not grasp this concept right away even with further explanation. I will have to own this book longer, I think, to be able to see what their little minds do with it. :) And every child is different so perhaps what is not immediately obvious to my tots will be to yours, or vice versa.
Over all a good sweet simple book. I enjoy reading it with my littles. I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars - not 5 simply because I'd like God to be a little more obvious in the text but other than that it's great!

My water broke!

So my water broke this morning! Yay finally something's going on! :D I hope. I've only had 4 contractions since it broke at 7:30am which was 2 1/2 hours ago so not really going anywhere yet.

Keeping them innocent just a little longer...

**This post is for ADULTS ONLY**
We explain to Chicklet when we encounter something immoral or inappropriate that this is not something we do, but in this day and age there are unfortunately too many things that cross the line and while we as a society are becoming numb to the perversion that is so prevalent, our little ones are becoming innocent victims. Think about it, how many times do you notice what's happening in the commercials when you're watching tv that's supposed to be "family friendly" in the evenings? Honestly it's hard to pay attention isn't it? Your show goes to commercial and you turn to the hubby to discuss what you think is going to happen next, and meanwhile the kids are playing on the floor nearby and look up just in time to catch a crude remark, nude shot, or a dirty teaser for that show you swore you'd never ever let cross the airwaves into your home. I will admit that I've heard and looked up just a little too late one too many times. Well one time IS too many IMO. My kids don't need to see an ad complete with a shot of Shakira's crotch spread in wide view in a bikini during American Idol. Hmph even *I* do not want to be subjected to that! Eww! Very eww. I'd personally rather just not have the TV at all. Okay maybe just set up for DVD's so I can watch Christy and Anne of Green Gables when the mood strikes. ;) But I could do without the Shakira crotch aD or Lady Gaga's sex dance in the middle of a show that's not supposed to be risque'!
And so can my kids! They can do without the constant barrage of filth streaming in from every venue outside our doors, coming in through the tv, radio, books, magazines, etc.
Mamas, we're the GATEKEEPERS. When we're admonished in the Bible to be keepers of the home, the original word was a cross between a word meaning to work in the home and a word that was used to refer to a guard or gatekeeper who would prevent the enemy from entering the city. We are to keep our homes in more than one way- we are to work at taking care of the home and those in it, and we are to GUARD our homes from the enemy. Oh mamas, we have SUCH an important job! Our children's minds are the future and our job is to guard what enters them. This is something that should be near and dear to every mother's heart: to protect their child from the advances of the enemy. For now they are our babies but someday, if we keep them from being broken down before they grow up strong in The Lord, they will grown into strong straight arrows for God!
Now, I don't think I can totally sheild my kids from all the mess that is the culture we live in, but you can bet I'll do my best to protect them from things that will weaken them as much as I, in God's strength, can do so. So if we're in the checkout line and Chicklet, whom I've begin to teach to read, sees "57 s** positions that'll blow his mind" on the cover of a magazine, she's not going to know the meaning of that word and she's going to ask about it and 3-4 years old is too young for that much discloseure. It will not strengthen her to know about s** at age 4. Or 5. or 6... It will just serve to open a mental door of curiousity that is like a magnet. Ever notice that as soon as you buy a certain kind of car you start seeing them everywhere and think to yourself, "Huh! I never noticed that many of these around before!"? This is because the brain has a magnet in it for things you are interested. Once that door of the knowlege of the existence of something is opened in a mind, especially a child's mind, their brain finds little tidbits about that subject everywhere. In everything. Things that would be overlooked before are taken in like a flashing neon sign. Once your child notices magazine covers have things on them that they don't know about, their brains are on high alert for new magazine covers or any other media that will fill in the blanks. Especially if they know that these things are not for little eyes and ears. Just like your toddler wants to eat off YOUR plate the same food that is on his plate because it's just better when it belongs to a grown-up, for a child hearing that ___ is a grown-up topic and they will learn more when they are older, their brains are in seek-mode trying to figure out the missing bits. And a little curiousity can lead to finding out things that are too heavy for their little minds and hearts to fight against. Why do so many 12 year olds get pregnant and have abortions? Why do so many 10 and 11 year olds sleep with their boyfriends or become addicted to pornography? Why do so many 8 year olds think they need to wear a tube top to the mall and a string bikini to the pool? They see; they are smart enough to decypher the message that pop culture is sending out: 'less modesty/purity makes you more desireable and being desireable is EVERYTHING in life.' Everywhere they go your kids are seeing skanky women in their undies on magazine covers and tv screens and billboards. I want my daughter to be who she is, who God made her to be, without being innundated with constant pop culture, KWIM? Even if that pop culture is "no that bad" it still entices my chid to pay attention to pop culture - that open door magnet thing. Just look around and who do 6 year olds want to be? Hannah Montanna? They want to be someone from pop culture. They don't want to be Florence Nightingale or Gladys Aylward, the door is opened to pop culture and next thing you know they want to grow up to be Lady Gaga. And the brainwashing starts from the cradle as they are seeing the advertisements on TV and in the checkout line and everywhere we go.
So how are we supposed to combat that? What is the next step? I think that daily taking our mission as gatekeeper seriously by being in prayer about everything we allow into our homes is a great start. We can't prevent them from being exposed to anything impure, but we can innoculate them with a firm foundation in the Bible and pray over them constantly. And we can take little and big steps whenever the opportunity to do so arises to preserve their innocence.

HERE's a post by a concerned mom of mostly boys with a terrific idea! I hope you will take a moment to check it out and consider taking a stand in this manner also. I plan to next time I'm in WalMart. Just remember that you catch more flies with honey... ;)
Making a family friendly checkout line will not prevent my daughter (or subsequent children) from growing up in "the real world" as much as I WISH it could, but it would help to protect a little bit of her sweet little girl innocence for just a little longer and I'd stand in line an extra hour for that. ;)

Flashback "Fry-day" recipe!

Recently for supper we had this:

All shiny with cheese and delicious lentil stew! Yumyumyumyum!!! It was delicious of course. :) The kids, even my non-eater, gobbled it right up. I posted the recepe last year so if you'd like to check it out, click HERE and enjoy! ;)

September Giveaways!

http://everypreciousjoy.blogspot.com/2010/09/september-giveaways.html 
First, here are some awesome giveaways I have found! Check back frequently as I will be removing the ones that are over and adding new giveaway links as I can! Please click on a date to see a few select giveaways ending on that date.
Giveaways By End Date:
August 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
September 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 
October 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

_____________________
Linky Time!
••For more places to list your giveaways click HERE
_____________________
_____________________
Your turn! :) MckLinky up!
In the space that says Link Title, remember to include 3 things: YourBlogName - Giveaway Title [End date]. Does not have to be in that exact order but I do need all three in some order or another please. Link to the giveaway post specifically, not just to your blog in general.
PLEASE make sure you follow these easy instructions so it is easy for me to maintain and easy for people to view and use. Alot of people have not been doing this and it makes maintaining the list much harder and more time consuming for me. This is not an unreasonable request in the least: most giveaway linkups require this same format. You can use proper format and copy and paste it the same (proper) way to all the linkys you use. If this gets too hard for me to maintain due to people not doing this as I have asked, I will stop fixing them and have to instead delete any that I don't have the time to fix. So you see why it's not only courtesy but is also important to use the BlogName-GiveawayName[EndDate] format. (In any order. You can do End Date - Blog name - Giveaway or Giveaway - End date - Blog name or whatever as long as they are all in there.)
ALSO please note: I will immediately delete any entries that are innapropriate and further links from that blog may be deleted if I don't have time to screen them. A good way to look at it is if you wouldn't want your 13 year old daughter to have one or read the review in your words then DON'T LINK IT HERE. This is supposed to be a family friendly blog and when I've got people posting giveaways for ...um... 'romantic props' or something it is extremely embarrassing and upsetting to find that on my blog where my friends' innocent children could see it.
Your link WILL BE DELETED IF it links to a post that:
**Contains profanity, nudity, or inappropriate inuendo.
**Does not contain a blog giveaway.
**Endorses abortion, divorce, adultery, or things that are anti-God, anti-moral absolutes, anti-ten commandments, etc.
**Endorses a product/company that endorses abortion, divorce, adultery, or things that are anti-God, anti-moral absolutes, anti-Biblical commandments, etc.
**Is not appropriate for an innocent child to view.
This is what I believe in, and to allow links on my blog that go against that is something that I cannot do in good concience.


Entries will stay on the list until they expire (until the giveaway ends).
I will try to delete expired giveaways often to keep this list fresh and easy to view.
I will create a new list each month. This MckLinky list will run September 1st-30th. Check back October 1st for a new list.

My newest crochet project- Can I do it?

I confess, I have taken on yet another crochet project! It's a good one though I promise! ;) Those of you who have known me very long know I tend to take on too many projects at once. Right now I'm due in 12 days, having regular contractions for at least a couple hours a day daily since the full moon, and working on TWO baby blankets. Yes two. You see, I never finished Buggie's baby blankie before he was born. I got a little carried away and made it a wee bit big when I started and it was only about 1/3 of the way finished when he was born. Now, he DID get to use it in a way. You see, I'd wrap him in the finished end while I crocheted on the other end when he was a little bitty fellow! Lol! So he did get snuggled it alot as a newborn, but when he got too told to hold still while I crocheted the blanket got shelved. And by the time he was old enough to not need me hovering over him trying to counteract his deadly sense of adventure every blessed moment, well by then I was good and pregnant with this little bun in the oven. So now, not only do I have to finish THIS baby's blankie, which is currently about halfway or almost, BUT I also have to finish Buggie's baby blanket. I am very thankful now after the fact that I got carried away with my starting chain because now it will come out toddler sized so when I DO finish it, it can move to the toddler bed with him and he'll get lots of use out of it. Provided I DO actually ever finish it... Been working on it for over 2 years now, since we saw the hotdog on the ultrasound! So those are my two current and pressing projects and I REALLY need to get the new baby's blankie done before she's born because this time I did NOT get carried away on the size and it would fit her best as a baby and not a toddler! LOL!
So I've been trying to be so good and concentrate only on those two blankies and not add any other projects. But then I saw this:

Okay I bit. :) I clicked (and you should too if you want more info!) I signed up! You have to admit it's a great cause and I really want to help! I'm probably yet again biting off more than I can chew but I just couldn't NOT give it a try.
So here's the million dollar question; Can I finish 2 baby blankies before I give birth (remember I'm due in 12 days) and then how many hats can I make by October 15th with a newborn in my lap? ;)
If you want more info, click the button in this post. If you decide to join in I wouldn't mind if you mentioned that you found it through me. ;) And if you're not into the yarn arts or crafting for charities, perhaps you could just cheer me on, and/or pray for the project and the orphans? :)

September Giveaways!

http://everypreciousjoy.blogspot.com/2010/09/september-giveaways.html 
First, here are some awesome giveaways I have found! Check back frequently as I will be removing the ones that are over and adding new giveaway links as I can! Please click on a date to see a few select giveaways ending on that date.
Giveaways By End Date:
August 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
September 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 
October 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

_____________________
Linky Time!
••For more places to list your giveaways click HERE
_____________________
_____________________
Your turn! :) MckLinky up!
In the space that says Link Title, remember to include 3 things: YourBlogName - Giveaway Title [End date]. Does not have to be in that exact order but I do need all three in some order or another please. Link to the giveaway post specifically, not just to your blog in general.
PLEASE make sure you follow these easy instructions so it is easy for me to maintain and easy for people to view and use. Alot of people have not been doing this and it makes maintaining the list much harder and more time consuming for me. This is not an unreasonable request in the least: most giveaway linkups require this same format. You can use proper format and copy and paste it the same (proper) way to all the linkys you use. If this gets too hard for me to maintain due to people not doing this as I have asked, I will stop fixing them and have to instead delete any that I don't have the time to fix. So you see why it's not only courtesy but is also important to use the BlogName-GiveawayName[EndDate] format. (In any order. You can do End Date - Blog name - Giveaway or Giveaway - End date - Blog name or whatever as long as they are all in there.)
ALSO please note: I will immediately delete any entries that are innapropriate and further links from that blog may be deleted if I don't have time to screen them. A good way to look at it is if you wouldn't want your 13 year old daughter to have one or read the review in your words then DON'T LINK IT HERE. This is supposed to be a family friendly blog and when I've got people posting giveaways for ...um... 'romantic props' or something it is extremely embarrassing and upsetting to find that on my blog where my friends' innocent children could see it.
Your link WILL BE DELETED IF it links to a post that:
**Contains profanity, nudity, or inappropriate inuendo.
**Does not contain a blog giveaway.
**Endorses abortion, divorce, adultery, or things that are anti-God, anti-moral absolutes, anti-ten commandments, etc.
**Endorses a product/company that endorses abortion, divorce, adultery, or things that are anti-God, anti-moral absolutes, anti-Biblical commandments, etc.
**Is not appropriate for an innocent child to view.
This is what I believe in, and to allow links on my blog that go against that is something that I cannot do in good concience.


Entries will stay on the list until they expire (until the giveaway ends).
I will try to delete expired giveaways often to keep this list fresh and easy to view.
I will create a new list each month. This MckLinky list will run September 1st-30th. Check back October 1st for a new list.

"My Sweet Sunday Moment" Pillsbury Sweet Roll (Review & Giveaway & Contest)

I've been given the opportunity to try out Pillsbury Sweet Rolls with my family and share the experience with my readers! MyBlogSpark and Pillsbury generously sent me a coupon for the rolls and a "Sweet Sunday Moment" prize pack. In addition, one lucky reader will win a Pillsbury "Sweet Sunday Moment" prize pack just like the one I got! Keep reading to find out how you can enter to win the prize pack, or a family vacation, or both!

{Pillsbury "My Sweet Sunday Moment" prize pack which includes a Pillsbury Doughboy Giggle Doll, blue silicon spatula, blue silicon pot holder and dishcloths.}

When the box arrived with my "My Sweet Sunday Moment" prize pack it was standing on it's side on my front porch. I went to pick it up and it made a sound- the trademark pillsbury Doughboy giggle. It took me a minute to figure out why my box was making that sound but then I smiled big when I realized what it was! Chicklet was so excited that when I went to snap the following picture:

a certain little girl reached in and started to run off with that doughboy... ;) I had to snap fast and let her have it because she was pretty much bouncing off the walls with excitement. I was excited about the rest of the goodies and checked them all out while she hugged that doughboy 50 times. We decided we'd be having us some yummy cinnamon rolls sometime in the next week! Seemed like a great family activity to help pass the last dragging days of this pregnancy.

Okay so it wasn't a Sunday when my little helpers and I decided to make our Pillsbury cinnamon rolls, but it sure was sweet! :) We all had to wear our aprons because of course, it's more fun to cook when you're wearing an apron, right? ;) And over our pajamas to boot. Because baking cinnamon rolls in your jammies is more fun. Hey and it was getting close to bedtime so we were just chilling around in our jammies anyway.

Yeah my daughter's cornrows look slept in. Because they are. So there. And my kitchen has baby-related boxes all over it. And my kitchen table is sewing central. Now that you've seen my junk, let's pretend it away and concentrate on the yummy cinnamon rolls and cute kids!

Getting ready to start! Can't make cinnamon rolls without our doughboy, right? I never use canned biscuit type things so I had no idea how to open the can and hubby kindly informed me how. Lol!

Cute little hams aren't they? :D

Chop chop! He's got a butter knife and is prepared to use it.

Thinking super sugary sweet daydream thoughts?

Arranging the sweetness.

The kids were excited. Neither had ever had a cinnamon roll before!

Helping Mommy put the cinnamon rolls in the oven! Careful, it's hot! :)

Our assistant, Mr. Doughboy, with some of the prize pack goodies.

Chicklet trying out one of the dishcloths from the prize pack. She's a little zoned out- it's actually bedtime when I took this so staying up late and baking cinnamon rolls was a double special treat.

Buggie's examining the picture of the finished product and carrying on a monologue about it, which I understood about 10% of. Sometimes when he gets to going on excitedly it's a bit hard to translate... Hehe...

Taking the tasty treat out of the oven! That funky potholder thing from the prize pack actually worked. I was surprised, wondering how something like that would work to protect me from getting burned, but surprisingly it did.

Frosting?! They have FROSTING?! Can I PLEEEEEEEASE taste some FROSTING?! PLEASE!!!!

Yep, it's edible. Can I lick the frosting container out too?

Dishing out the deliciousness...

Hmmm let's see if this is as tasty as it looks...

Thinking...

I asked but they just kept chewing. Hello? Guys? Is it yummy?

Does the rapidly vanishing bites of sweet roll in these pics answer whether or not they were delicious?

Hubby and I had some too and we decided that they were really yummy! We contemplated eating the leftovers after the kids went to bed but decided to behave ourselves and save them to share after lunch the following day instead. ;)

The cinnamon rolls and prize pack for this review, and it's accompanying "My Sweet Sunday Moment" prize pack giveaway, were provided by





through



**Now it's your turn to join in the fun!! There are 2 things to enter so read on to find out the what, where, and how:

-Go HERE to enter Pillsbury's "My Sweet Sunday Moment" contest for a chance to win a family vacation package! In addition, when you enter the "My Sweety Sunday Moment" contest, you will have a chance to print out a coupon for Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls!
{In an effort to recapture Sunday mornings as the ideal occasion to reconnect with family and loved ones, Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls is teaming up with Melissa Joan Hart, star of the new ABC Family sitcom "Melissa & Joey," for the My Sweet Sunday Moment contest, where you and your family have a chance to win a seven-day "week of Sundays" vacation to California, including a visit to area theme parks and Melissa Joan Hart´s sweet shop, SweetHarts! Enter today by visiting Pillsbury.com/SweetSunday and telling Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls why your family loves Sunday and why you want more of them for a chance to win.} HURRY and enter before September 2nd!!

-Go HERE and scroll to the bottom of the post for the rules to enter the "My Sweet Sunday Moment" prize pack giveaway! (This review is posted on both this blog and my review blog but the giveaway is only attached to the one on my giveaway blog. This link will take you to the same review on my giveaway blog. Please scroll to the bottom to see how to enter.) COMMENTS ON THIS POST HERE DON'T COUNT. Please click over to my review blog to enter.