October Sharing Time 2011

Just thought I'd post the sharing time I've been working on all week.  I finally got it done and thank all those whose ideas I pulled from.  I think it turned out pretty well.

OCTOBER 2011- WEEK ONE SHARING TIME

I CAN PRAY TO HEAVENLY FATHER

Do I exist?

How do you know I exist? 

Do you see me standing here?

Can you see me holding this book?

Now what if walked out of the room and shut the door?  How could we talk to someone who was not in this room?  (Show: cell phone (phone call, text)/ IPad(email)/Envelope(letter)

Even though we could not see that person we want to communicate with, we still know they are there.

What about Heavenly Father?

Can we see Him standing there?

Can we see what he is wearing?

Can we call him on the phone?

How do we know H.F. exists? (Faith, We can feel him.)

Where do we feel Him? (In our hearts & minds)

We know our Heavenly Father is there and we can feel Him.   God is our father and we are His children; because we are not in his presence, He was given us a way to talk to him. 

How can we communicate with H.F.? (Prayer)

Praying to H.F. is kind of the same as communicating with someone who we cannot see but we know they are there, just like we know H.F. is there. 

In the scriptures, D&C,  Heavenly Father give revelations to Joseph Smith about prayer, it reads;

38 ^aPray always, and I will ^bpour out my Spirit upon you, and great shall be your blessing—yea, even more than if you should obtain ^ctreasures of earth.

Heavenly Father  wants us to pray to him and this scripture teaches us that we can have his Spirit with us if we pray.  This is great blessing for us to have in our lives.   

(Go to pictures on the board)

In the Book of Mormon, Enos prayed to H.F. all day for guidance & forgiveness.  Our Savior, Jesus Christ prayed throughout his life on earth to H.F.  H.F. wants us to pray with our families, over our food, pray both morning & night, AND we can pray to Him ANYTIME & ANYPLACE.

How do we pray?  There are 4 simple steps we can follow.  The song in the C.Songbook called Pray in Faith can help us learn & remember these steps.

Say or play the words of this song.  (Put up wordstrips and go over them briefly).

It’s important to begin our prayers with Dear H.F because this shows love and respect.  We next thank him for blessings because it is through Him that we are able to have all that we do.  Next, we can humbly ask him for things we need.  This means asking H.F. nicely & respectfully for our needs.  Finally, we close our prayer with In The Name of Jesus Christ, Amen to also show love and respect to our brother Jesus Christ. 

PLAY GAME:  We are now going to go over some blessings we can thank H.F. for and things we can humbly ask him for.  I will pick items from the bag & if I pick your name out of the jar and you’re being reverent I will let you tell everyone what the picture is.

Closing:  I know that prayer is one of the greatest blessings we can have while here on earth.  It’s such a great blessing to speak to our Heavenly Father and knowing he will hear us and help and bless us.  Heavenly Father has blessed me and my family through prayer and I hope we can always remember to pray to Him.  I Say These Things In The Name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

Spring Update

I'm surprised it's April already. I just seems like we celebrated Christmas and New years! I love seeing the snow melt and being able to finally see grass on the lawn. It does get frustrating though to go from a warm spring day to 4 inches of snow the next day!!! The kids are getting spring fever and love to be outside playing. They are doing really well with school and we all are really enjoying homeschooling. Madison and Carter are each moving up a grade now in Math and English-which is great and we can work on these subjects off and on during the summer too. Macady is doing well too. She loves learning and doing her "homeschool work", as she calls it. I think she could really start kindergarten in August and do really well even though she doesn't turn 5 until next January.

Maddie and Carter are playing soccer again this year. They aren't on the same teams this year though because of what grade they're in, which is a HUGE pain in the butt!! But they enjoy playing and so needless to say we're even busier now. Plus, they start baseball right after soccer so the next 3 months or so will be crazy but fun. The kids enjoy playing and as long as they do we'll continue to support them and go to each game. Macady wants to play this year so bad, maybe we can squeeze her a little early for next years sports. She practices right along with the other 2 in the front yard with dad (when there's not snow on the lawn!)

Things are going well for Joe and work. He's passed his (hard) tests to get his own contractor's license and is about ready to (with jobs waiting for him) start his own business completely! I'm so excited and proud of him. He is such a great provider, dad, and husband. I love him so much and happy to celebrate 11 years of marriage this year.

I love being a mom and so grateful I can be home with my babies. I am enjoying having them home and teaching them from home too. It's fun to see them learn, help them with things when they struggle and/or need extra help, and just be around them more. I feel closer to them and feel like I know them better and for sure have learned how to be more patient.

We are looking forward to "real" spring and summer. We love to be outside, go camping, 4wheeling, and fishing, etc. We have some fun plans for our backyard this year and plan to go camping as much as we can. Hopefully, the weather warms up soon cuz this family wants to be outside for lots of family fun!

Welcome 2011 !

Wow, 2010 flew by in a flash. Looking back I am amazed how fast a year has gone by. One of the greatest things that happened was that Madison turned 8 in October and was baptized in December. She is such an amazing young lady and was excited and prepared for this great moment in her life. It was a great day and Joe did a great job baptizing and confirming her. Maddie is joy in our lives and such a calming sweet spirit in our home. She really balances the "crazy Woolstenhulme personalities" in our family. She is so smart and loves reading and anything crafty, she is so creative. Maddie is the "light" in our home.

Carter is growing into such an awesome little man. He'll turn 7 this year and desperately wants his own dirt bike. He has an electric one but assures us he's ready "to ride a dirt bike (gas powered) like the big boys"! I don't know if this mom is ready for him to grow up and ride but it's what he loves to do. Hopefully this year isn't full of injuries! Carter is learning more each day and doing great in math. His reading is coming along too. We can butt heads at times (I think we kinda have the same stubbornness) but generally he's great.

Macady, aka Bella, is quite the little mini-mom. Lots of my relatives tell me she looks/acts just like I did at that age. I can for sure attest to the bossiness and stubborn nature she has. Bella tends to rule the household and thinks she pretty much knows everything. I really think she thinks she the boss! She just turned 4 and I can't believe my baby's not a baby anymore. She loves playing computer games and logins herself. She loves having "her kids" read to her and play school with her.

Last year we had a blast camping and off roading with my family. We love being outdoors and love going to Yellowstone, hiking, camping, fishing, etc. In August, we made a BIG decision to try and homeschool the kids this year through the Utah K12 program (which is structured, provides all the materials & is free!) We talked to the kids and really tried to make the best decision for our family. Madison was/ is advanced for her age/grade level and Carter needed/needs more one on one instruction. We felt/feel working on school at home could/would/does address these issues. It's definately been a challenge and at times by the end of the day/week I'm wondering what I'm thinking and doing but overall it's been and is a good experience. The kids seems to be learning and I'm finding that I enjoy being with them each and every day.

This year we are hoping to camp, fish, & ride more and definately spend more time together as a family. I'm also going to try and blog more but seeing it's been a year since I last blogged, we'll wait and see. Happy 2011! Wishing you all a great year.

New Year Thoughts

Thought I'd take the opportunity to blog for a bit while sitting here chillin' in St. George on a New Year vacation with the family. We've been having fun hiking, swimming, went to a movie, and just chillin' together. It's been great spending time together.

I hope this new year to be more patient and kinder with/to my family. I hope to get into better shape and get healthy. I want to definately get rid of my headaches/migraines. Looking forward to a great year with my hubby and awesome babies.

Christmas was great again this year. The kids got spoiled as usual and Joe got me a new laptop since I'm heading back to school to get my teaching/library degree. We got Joe a flat screen t.v. and Maddie got a motorized ride on scooter, Carter got a electric dirt bike, and Macady got a ride on 4wheeler. Not to mention the floor of the front room was scattered with other fun gifts. It's so fun watching them and seeing their happiness. I love being a mom so much. I wish I didn't have to send them back to school next week.

Monday, Jan. 4th, my baby Macady turns 3. Time sure flies. I remember the day she was born and even all the little details. Madison and Carter are super excited for her birthday too and can't wait to help decorate and wrap the gifts they've helped pick out. Macady's birthday is the 3 year mark of me having horrendous headaches every single day which turn into migraines about every 10 days. Hopefully now that I'm seeing a neurologist and trying some new things, we can get rid of these nasty things. I would so love to have my head function like normal again.

I'll have to blog more often, especially about my adorable kiddos and hubby who I love so much. Guess we're gonna head out now for some more fun in the south. Have to head back home tomorrow to the snow and the cold.

Fall is here!

I love fall. The cool weather, the leaves, the chill in the air, and the holidays around the corner. I've made a pact this year with myself though... I'm going to enjoy this holiday season and not put too much pressure on myself or my family. I think sometimes we can get too caught up in the hustle and bustle and forget to enjoy what we are doing, why we are doing it, and most important enjoying the time with our family. I've especially taken notice this year how much my kids are growing up. I want to fill their days with love, hugs, kisses, laughter, and fun. I hope each day that I get up that I can be a better mom/wife than I was the day before. My kids are enjoying school and I have to say I sure still miss them while they are gone. These past 2 days they've had off have been nice. We've enjoyed spending time together. I love just listening to them as they play and color and as we make cookies. They are so funny and cute. I love being their mom and am so grateful for a husband who works so hard for us. I love him very much too.

Summer's here and getting close to gone

It's been a busy but fun summer so far. My kids are growing so fast and I can't believe Maddie will be going into the 1st grade and Carter going into kindergarten. - Sometimes I just feel so sad they're growing up and I don't want to let go. Macady is getting so big too and getting so smart. I asked her the other day what she was going to do when the older kids go to school and she said "love my mom"! I think we'll become pretty tight this school year.
We've had 2 fun camping trips since my last post. Memorial was a little cold and rainy but we still had fun. We went camping last weekend up Soapstone Basin and rode 4wheelers & ate most of the time. It was dusty, hot, but lots of fun. The 4th of July holiday was fun this year for the kids, the older they get the better it seems. (i had 2 surgeries within 5 days of each other the last one being june 30th so i felt pretty crappy the whole holiday week - feeling better now though).
We're looking forward to a fun time this weekend. The 24th we're having a breakfast with Joe's family up MillCreek canyon and then on the 25th we're headed to Bear Lake for the day. The kids love the warmer water and sandy beach. They have so much fun and it's a pretty fun relaxing day. I can't believe July is almost over and the kids will be headed back to school before I know it. I've done a little school shopping and Joe doesn't understand why I've already been. I think men just don't understand the whole getting different sales and discounts at different times while shopping. Oh well, he hasn't complained too much. We're going to take the 2 oldest on a "date" night for dinner and to go school shopping for clothes and supplies. This year we have to send even more things for school due to budget cuts, or something like that. This economy seems to effect everyone in someway. Well, that's an update for now. More later, maybe.

Summer's coming

We love summer and being outdoors here at our house. We always kick of the season by going camping on Memorial Day weekend, rain or shine. In fact, last year when we were setting up camp it was snowing on us. We still have a good time and it's so fun to spend time together up in the mountains away from tv/cell phones/ etc. The kids get more excited every year and as they get older are becoming really great helpers in preparing to go. We always have things ready to go when Joe gets home from work the day we leave for camping. The kids are very good when we are camping and we seem to have few problems. They are really good at entertaining themselves and finding things to do and explore. We try to camp as much as we can throughout the summer. During July we stay busy with the celebration here in Oakley. I'm in the Civic Club and the president this year and over the float so July will be busier this time around. We try and do a long (4 or 5 day) camping trip over the 24th of July. August is our month for Bear Lake. We go at least once but try for more. It seems we just never have enough weekends to do all the fun things when the weather is good. September ends our summer off with camping on Labor day weekend and our trip to Yellowstone the next week or so. In between all the fun stuff we try and fit in yard work and all the need-2-do stuff like that. We always seem to have great summers but they come to an end way too quickly.