God Gave Us the World {Review}

God Gave Us the World is part of the God Gave Us series by Lisa Tawn Bergren.  It is about a little polar bear who is curious about all the other bears when he discovers that not all bears are polar bears just like him.  His mother takes him on a trip to a special museum exhibit, "Bears Around the World," to show him that other bears look different, eat different foods, and live in different places. She explains to the little bear that God created the world and each bear has a special place in it.  The book also finishes up with talking about how we need to take good care of God's world. It is beautifully illustrated by Laura J. Bryant.

My kids loved this book and wanted to read it several times!  I think the book does a nice job of explaining that our God is creative and wanted to create a variety of bears.  This was easy to turn into a discussion with the kids about how He created people different also.  We haven't read any of the other books in the series, but after reading this one we will definitely be checking them out soon!

If you wish to purchase God Gave Us the World for $10.99, you may do so here.

This is a MamaBuzz review. The product was provided by: Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group for free for this review.

The Dragon and the Turtle Go on Safari {Review & Giveaway!} CLOSED

The Dragon and the Turtle Go on Safari by Donita K. Paul and Evangeline Denmark is a cute book about Roger the turtle and Padraig the Dragon as they go on a camp out at Mount Sillymanborrow.  They are excited about camping out all night, but as night comes, it brings some strange and scary noises.  They are determined to spend the whole night outside and discover that they can help each other get past their fears to accomplish this.

I thought this was a really cute book about friendship and helping each other be strong and courageous.  Buddy really enjoyed it too, but I think it was a little bit hard for the younger kids to understand.  There were a few unfamiliar words and phrases.  Even though there is nothing in the story about prayer or God helping them be strong and courageous, there is a short study guide in the back that includes verses and how we can encourage each other.  I also found The Dragon and the Turtle and Donita K. Paul websites that have more fun to expand on the story.

If you wish to purchase The Dragon and the Turtle Go on Safari for $11.99, you may do so here.

Waterbrook Multnomah sent me two copies of this book, so I have one to giveaway to one of you guys!

To enter, simply leave me a comment telling me what your favorite adventure (real or pretend play) was when you were young.  Please leave your email address also so I will have a way to contact you if you win. 

For an extra entry, follow or subscribe to my blog (see the left column) and leave me a seperate comment letting me know.

This giveaway will end Feb 9, 2011 at noon (or whenever I get around to it!), when I will randomly pick a winner.  The winner will have 48 hours to reply to my email or a new winner will be drawn. Open to US resident only.

This is a MamaBuzz review. The product was provided by Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group for free for this review.

Tasty Tuesday - Oatmeal Molasses Bread

Even though most of my family prefers store bought bread to homemade, I still like trying different varieties to see how they turn out.  This week I tried this oatmeal-molasses one and it was really simple to make, more like a quick bread.  And almost everyone said they liked it!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup boiling water
1/2 cup old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats
3 tablespoons soft butter
1/2 cup molasses
2 teaspoons salt
1 package yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
1/4 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)
1 egg
2 3/4 cups flour

Directions:
Grease the bottom and sides of a loaf pan.  Mix boiling water, oats, butter, molasses, and salt in a large bowl and then cool to lukewarm.  Dissolve yeast in warm water and add to oat mixture along with egg and 1 1/2 cups of the flour.  Beat 2 minutes on medium speed, scraping the bowl frequently.  Stir in the remaining flour.  Spread the batter evenly in the pan and cover loosely with plastic wrap.  Let rise in warm place for 1 1/2 hour.  Bake 50-55 minutes at 375 degrees or until loaf is brown and sounds hollow when tapped.  Remove from pan to wire rack.

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Sunshine Award!

Recently Melanie at Out of the Miry Clay honored me with a Sunshine Award!  Thank you so much, Melanie!

There are 2 rules for accepting this award:

1) Thank the person who gave it to you
2) Pass it on to 8 other blogs that bring a beautiful ray of Sunshine into your day!

So I am going to pass this on to 8 bloggers who make my days a little brighter and I hope you will go visit them too!

• Jodi at Granola Mom 4 God
• Beth at Happily Domestic
• Kim at Home is Where Your Story Begins
• Jamie~Lynn
• Theresa at Loving Life on the Farm
• Conny at The Life of an Ordinary HausFrau
• The McJason's
• Jaime Lynn at Training Up Kaitlyn

Tasty Tuesday - Slow Cooker Cowboy Stew

A while back I came across a recipe for Cowboy Stew that sounded really good and looked easy to make.  I changed it a little to fit our family and it turned out delicious!  It is really easy to just throw into the crock pot in the morning and have it ready at dinner time.  It made the whole house smell so good while it was cooking too!

Ingredients:
1-2lbs of stew meat cut into 1" pieces
2 potatoes cut into bite size pieces
2 carrots cut into 1" pieces
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2 big cans of baked beans in BBQ sauce

Directions:
Dump all into your crock pot, stir, cover, and let cook 8-10 hours.

Hubby says it would be really good with corn in too, so I might try dumping in some frozen corn next time.  This would go really well with homemade crescent rolls!

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