Super Simple Baby Toy Tutorial

I saw this Baby Toy on a Martha Stewart program a while back and thought it would be just the right kind of craft for me to try.  Babies love pictures so that's a huge bonus.  My baby girl was so excited about the photos of herself and she loved kissing "babe", "dade" and "mama".

So, here are the step-by-step instructions.

1. Assemble your supplies.  You will need: a hole punch (the handheld kind would be easiest but I couldn't find mine), a pair of scissors, a package of inexpensive shower curtain rings and a package of hard baseball card protectors. 

2. Punch a whole in the center of each of the baseball card holders.  

3. Figure out how many card holders fit nicely on your shower curtain ring. 4-5 holders were perfect on mine. 

4. Cut a template and use this as a guide to cut your pictures. Cut two pictures for each baseball card holder. Slip the photos in the baseball card sleeve and the use your hole punch again to put a hole through the pictures. If you try to punch the card holder and the pictures all at once it's too much for the hole punch to manage.

5. Assemble the finished product. Use some of those baby links to attach this to a stroller, car seat or bouncer.

Enjoy!

Paws and Tales: Being Kind and Caring

Paws and Tales is a video and radio series released by Insight for Living. The Paws and Tales videos use fun, kid related stories to teach Biblical theology.  Paws and Tales: Being Kind and Caring is the eight DVD in the series.  This DVD contains two episodes "The Hullabaloo at Hunker Hill" based on Ephesians 4:32 and "The Great Go-Kart Race" based on Philippians 2:3-4. The series is geared toward preschool and early-elementary aged children, though I think it is better suited for the older group due to some of the concepts presented.  Each animated episode is about 30 minutes long.

It was fun to receive this DVD to review.  We attended Stonebriar Community Church and Dallas Theological Seminary so we're rather familiar with Papa Chuck.  It was fun to see him in this new context. I liked how he was a character in the stories and the kids consulted with him for insight into their situations and wisdom as to how they should respond.  I thought this was a great way to illustrate the importance of having older people in your life who you can go to as you are thinking through issues.  That's a super important lesson to learn while you're young.

I thought the introduction to the animated portion of the story was a little long.  It was about a minute but there were no words, just pictures and instrumental music.  It would probably be ok for older kids but my young toddler would lose interest unless she was able to sing along with the song.

I liked that a lot of the fighting/arguing was shown off scene.  You knew the kids were arguing with each other but you didn't see it.  There was quite a bit of bickering though, so I think this particular DVD would be best suited for slightly older children who already understand that arguing is wrong and that the kids on the DVD are really misbehaving. That proves to be true by the end of the episode but I'd probably hold off on this one until around age 5 or so.

Overall, I recommend this DVD and will look forward to watching the other episodes in the series as our kids get older.

For more information, check out the Tyndale House product page here or the Paws and Tales website here.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Tyndale as part of the Tyndale Blog Network. I was not required to write a positive review. 

Hope for Parents of Troubled Teens by Connie Rae

Hope for Parents of Troubled Teens by Connie Rae is truly a practical guide for parents.  It speaks specifically to the teenage years.  But provides good insights into talking with children of any age. I think I jumped the gun a bit by reading this particular book as our baby isn't yet two.  But, I found her insights and approach instructive.  It was a little scary to think ahead to the potential challenges of teenage years.  But, it is also good to be aware of what some parents are dealing with and how to help in ways that are appreciated rather than adding to the frustration of an already challenging situation.

In Hope for Parents of Troubled Teens, Mrs. Rae walks through some of the common areas of trouble and speaks to parents about ways they should and shouldn't help in those scenarios.  I liked that she drew from her own life experience and was able to speak with empathy and not just as a practitioner.  I think that the practical tips throughout the book are the most valuable part of this resource.  They could really be a life-line to parents in the midst of a trial.

I would recommend this book to parents going through a hard time with their teens. I think it might offer some clarity or direction in how to approach a challenging child.  The book will also offer support which I think is especially valuable when parents are facing difficulties.

For more information, check out the Bethany House product page here.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Bethany House in exchange for this review. I was not required to write a positive review. 

Giveaway Winner

The winner of a free copy of The Resignation of Eve is JHP.

Please e-mail your address to philipkristamiller at yahoo.com and I will mail you the certificate.  Please respond by Monday April 2nd.

Thanks!

Simple Secrets to a Happy Life by Luci Swindoll

Luci Swindoll’s new book Simple Secrets to a Happy Life can be summed up in one word: winsome. I received the book one afternoon as I was cleaning up from having a fun filled morning hosting a playgroup and was preparing to host a sweet couple for dinner.  Since the baby was napping, I took a brief break and skimmed through the book. It was such a treat to land on chapter 43, “Set the Table for Company.” I loved the admonition to make even a simple dinner special.  So, we served sparkling apple cider with our hamburgers that evening and had a precious time of conversation and mutual encouragement.

Reading Simple Secrets to a Happy Life is like having a nice long conversation with your grandmother.  At least it reminded me of the conversations I’ve had with my grandma. The book is full of good old fashioned wisdom, seasoned with spiritual insight.  It covers a broad range of topics applicable to many stages of life.  This book isn’t just for married people or single people. It’s a book for life. I walked away from reading this book encouraged, refreshed and challenged.

I would highly recomending reading Simple Secrets to a Happy Life.  It will bring a smile to your face and will challenge you to evaluate the choices and decisions you make each day.

For more information, check out the Thomas Nelson product page here.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Reminder: The Resignation of Eve Giveaway

Just a friendly reminder.  You have until Monday evening, March 26th, to sign up for The Resignation of Eve Giveaway.  Simply make a comment on The Resignation of Eve book review post (CLICK HERE) to be entered to win a free copy of the book.

The Resignation of Eve by Jim Henderson

The Resignation of Eve by Jim Henderson raises the important issue of the manner in which women are treated in churches.  There is obviously a lot of confusion and frustration surrounding this topic.  I appreciated the way that Mr. Henderson addressed many of the key issue head on and raised them without apology.  His book would be very helpful, especially to someone who had never been exposed to the complexity of these issues.

I liked that the book told the stories of women.  It shared a bit of their life story and then talked about how their experiences have shaped the way they view the role of women in the church.  This was an interesting technique, and one I had not seen before.  The book also included information from surveys and open blog forums so there were a lot of data points and tidbits of information throughout the book. 

There were a couple of things that rubbed me wrong about this book.  First, the book felt a bit like a piece of propaganda.  While the book was full of stories, which I appreciated, the stories were all highly emotive and rather sensational.  I know one of the points of this particular book was to help you feel the challenges of women rather than just intellectually understand them.  And to that end I feel like the book was successful, but the style also made we wary.  I felt like someone was trying to coax me into seeing things a specific way, but that they weren’t being upfront about what they wanted. 

Second, I felt the author and many of the women whose stories were presented didn’t have a broad theological understanding of the issues they were discussing.  This evidenced itself in several comments and explanations of viewpoints.  Also, in chapter 10 Mr. Henderson writes in a footnote that he googled egalitarian and complementarian and then shared the resources that came up.  Most of the resources cited in this footnote are very good and should be consulted as one learns about this topic.  I would also suggest:

Burer, Michael H. and Daniel B. Wallace. "Was Junia Really an Apostle? A Re-examination of Rom 16.7." NTS 47 (2001): 76-91.

Ellis, E. Earle. “The Silenced Wives of Corinth (I Cor. 14:34-5). In New Testament Textual Criticism: Its Significance for Exegesis. Ed. E. J. Epp and G. D. Fee. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981: 213-20.

James, Carolyn Custis. When Life and Beliefs Collide: How Knowing God Makes a Difference. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001.

McKnight, Scot. The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 2008.

Pierce, Ronald W, Rebecca Merrill Groothuis, Gordon Fee, Eds. Discovering Biblical Equality: Complementarity without Hierarchy. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2004.


Piper, John, and Wayne Grudem, eds. Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism. Wheaton: Crossway Books, 1991.

Saucy, Robert L. and Judith K. TenElshof, Eds. Women and Men in Ministry: A Complementary Perspective. Chicago: Moody Press, 2001.

Sayers, Dorothy L. Are Women Human? Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2005.

Winston, George and Dora. Recovering Biblical Ministry by Women: An Exegetical Response to Traditionalism and Feminism. Longwood, FL: Xulon Press, 2003.

In summary, I would recommend this book with reservation.  By itself, it leaves one with more questions that answers.  It raises concerns but doesn’t provide much direction or any ideas for next steps.  In conjunction with other reading and study, this book would be very helpful.  It helps to draw some of the potentially lofty theological musings around the topic of women’s roles down to a practical and experiential level.

For more information, please check our the Tyndale product page here or Jim Henderson's website here. You can also download the first chapter of the book here.

If you are interested in reading this book yourself, today is your lucky day! I have a certificate for a free copy of The Resignation of Eve that can be redeemed at any Christian Bookstore. So, here are the details:

Giveaway Details:

Certificate for a copy of The Resignation of Eve.

ONE winner chosen at random.

One entry per person.

Giveaway ends Monday, March 26th at 9pm (CST).

To enter...Leave a comment.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Tyndale as part of the Tyndale Blog Network. I was not required to write a positive review.