Friday, December 31, 2010

Catching Up Before the New Year!

So today, I hope to get all caught up on family news and then add some book reviews that have been waiting for a while for me to write. News first!

1. Aidan turned 18 months
Aidan has grown up so much in the last few months. He is definitely more little boy and less baby. He LOVES trains and cars and actually probably likes Thomas the tank engine even more than Eóin now.  He is a total snuggle bug and loves to cuddle with his nookie and blankie (this is getting limited to bed soon which I am not looking forward to!). He hates wearing pants and would run around naked all day if I let him. It seems like every time I turn around he has his pants off! At his check-up he was 35% height and weight and 90% head :-)

2. Christmas Celebrations
We had a great time celebrating Christmas with the Harrisons. We had 15 people at our house for Christmas dinner and we managed to get everyone around the table! It was yummy and lots of fun. Eóin especially loved having everyone around. He also loved opening all his presents! The boys are quite worn out from all the fun - it might take them a few days to recover and get used to our quieter schedule again! I lost my camera charger so I don't have many pics from this year - I'll try to post what I have soon though.

3. New Baby
We are expecting our third (and final!) baby on July 31, 2011. When I told Eóin there was a baby in my tummy, he told me that it was only chicken and crackers (what we had for dinner that day). Obviously, he doesn't quite get it yet :-) We are very excited and a little nervous about being outnumbered  - lol

That's about it from around here. I'll try to get pics up soon! Happy New Year :-)

Thursday, December 09, 2010

Great Kid's Book!

One Hand, Two Hands, Five Fingers, Ten
God, Thanks for my hands, please use them again!


This is an adorable children's book by Max Lucado that shows the you are never to small to be a help and serve others. First it shows all the ordinary ways we use our hands every day and scores big points by using words like "stinky" and "oo-ey goo-ey." Then it shows all the ways that even little kids can use their hands to care for others and be a help from giving hugs to picking up your stinky socks :-)

My son is three years old and enjoys this book. The first day we got it, we probably read it five times in a row. The only thing I wish was different was if they used pictures of boy too, instead of just a girl. He doesn't care too much right now, but my son is starting to enter the stage of "that's for girls" and I wouldn't want him to miss out on such a good lesson because there are only pictures of girls. (Even though they are very cute pictures :-)

I would highly recommend this book though. It's a great and simple way to teach our children about serving others!

Thank you to Thomas Nelson for a free copy of this book to review.

Saturday, December 04, 2010

Love's First Bloom by Delia Parr

Under the cover of darkness, Ruth Livingstone is ferried to a new home, under a new name, with a new charge under her care. Scandalous accusations have been raised against her father - a minister! She leaves town with a small baby in her care under the name Widow Malloy until her father's name is cleared and she can be free to be herself again and find a real home for sweet Baby Lily.

When things don't go well with the trial, Ruth finds herself feeling lost and alone. She finds comfort tending a old forsaken garden until Jake Spencer arrives. Can she trust this stranger? Finally, a friendship forms between them which starts to blossom into more. But when the secrets they each hold finally come to the surface, their love is in danger of being lost forever.

I found this book a little slow, but I still enjoyed it. Although it had a little mystery behind it, it didn't grab me til near the end. The concept was good though and the love story was sweet. I'll probably read it again some time in the future.

Thanks to Bethany House Publishers for a free copy of this book to Review.