I'm a full-time mummy

This is my 1st Christmas music album review! I would like to share my feedback and review on this awesome album called “Bethlehem Skyline Vol. 2” which was released on September 28, 2010.

Featuring songs:

Excerpts taken from the album's bio page:

Christmas is a time of joy and wonder that is often mixed with anxiety and stress as the secular and sacred collide. Even believers are sometimes distracted from the true reason for celebration by the mundane demands of life during the hectic holiday season. For many people, music serves as an oasis in the midst of the madness, a way to focus on the miracle of our Savior’s birth and the beauty of God’s plan. Bethlehem Skyline 2 opens a doorway to worship and invites everyone to celebrate.

Like the songs on its predecessor, 2007’s inaugural Bethlehem Skyline, this new compilation is a labor of love created by the Centricity Music family of artists. Downhere and Jason Gray, who contributed memorable tracks to the first Skyline project, once again participate on this second set. The new album also features songs from Andrew Peterson, Me in Motion, Lanae’Hale, Sixteen Cities, High Valley and Matt Papa.

Bethlehem Skyline was born out of a sense of community, not a company marketing agenda. “The album actually had very humble beginnings,” Gray explains. “It was a project that we all got to work on when we were at a retreat. What is beautiful about it, is that it was a labor of love.”

I love Christmas songs! I've already been playing Christmas carols since early this month... I have been feeling pretty Christmas-sy and I'm so glad I get to review this album! These are the following songs I enjoyed from the album:

* "Do You Hear What I Hear" by Jason Gray - a warm but yet upbeat song with nice lyrics, makes you want to dance and sing along!

* "Give it Away" by Me In Motion - Awesome rock tune, and I love the line where it says "Christmas isn't really Christmas till we can take all we that we are, and give it away"

* "Carol Of The Bells" by Lanae Hale - the tune and melody is just so nice (whimsical like) and easy for the ears

* "Christmas In Our Hearts" by Downhere - catchy, make-you-wanna-dance Christmas song!

* "Long, Long Ago" by Andrew Peterson - I loved Peterson's voice and this song is just so soothing and gives you a fuzzy feeling! Btw, you can read my previous review on his album, Counting Stars.

* "Little Drummer Boy" by Matt Papa - A new rock twist to the classic Christmas song. A refreshing and upbeat tune!

The rest of the songs in the album are great too, just because I don't mention it doesn't mean it's not good. But the above few are the ones that keeps me replaying it over and over again... I know Christmas is still 2 months away, but you really, really should get this album!

You can get the Bethlehem Skyline 2 album from:

https://missinginkshop.com/bethlehemskyline/store/featured/bethlehem-skyline-2.

I would like to give a note of thanks to Penny from Centricity Music for contacting me and giving me this wonderful opportunity to review the album! I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the authorised and confidential link to listen to the album to assist my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine.

Read: 1 Corinthians 11:1 (NIV)

(Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ)

As part of the BookSneeze Blogger Reviewer program, I'm always on the look out for good children's books, particularly good Christian books for children. When I received the early invitation to review the latest books from Max Lucado, I'm immediately jump at the chance and monitored the time when the opportunity is available. I requested this book along with 1 other (still waiting for it sigh...) and here is my review of the latest book from Max Lucado entitled "ONE HAND, TWO HANDS"

Author: Max Lucado
Illustrator: Gaby Hansen
Publisher:  Thomas Nelson (September 14, 2010)
ISBN: 978-1400316496
Jacketed Hardcover: 32 pages
Dimension: 10.1 x 9.9 x 0.4 inches

Excerpts taken from Booksneeze page:

"A delightful way to show little ones how their hands are a blessing from God that they can use to do help others. 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."

Firstly, I've almost given up hope on receiving this book.It has over a month already and just when I totally forgot about this book, it arrived and got me all excited and brings back my hope and faith in the delivery & custom services in Malaysia. I can clearly see the stamp on the parcel that the book has been shipped out on 5th September and was only approved for release by the Malaysian Custom on 4th October.

Anyway, that aside, my first impression of the book: They should do away with the French flap (or the jacketed cover for the book). I've never been the fan for flaps like this and I find it a waste of paper and annoying that I have to either tape it up or totally removed it away to prevent tearing from my 19 months old toddler.

I like the way they show us how we can make use of our hands, and the fact they incorporate how our little ones can help out with the cleaning, washing and all.  I would have preferred if they show both little boys and girls in the illustrations instead of only the little girl as the main character. That way, both little boys and girls can relate themselves with the story.

I do however find it a joy to see Ben showing me things he do on daily bases when he saw the similar actions from the book, like washing and cleaning up and combing hair. I'm not a fan of soft and blurry illustrations like this though I do enjoys the pastel and light toned colors used in the illustrations. Overall, I give this book a 7 out of 10.

You can get the One Hand, Two Hands from Amazon or from Max Lucado's website store itself.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with a copy of the book by Book Sneeze in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine.

And if you'd like to read my previous book reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My Book Reviews"