Mini Clipboards

I found the tutorial for these cute mini clipboards over at.......can't find the link anymore. Sorry! We did these for Christmas gifts but they would make great end of the year teacher gifts, fridge notepads, bathroom clipboards (why do all my to-do lists come to me when I'm in the shower or getting ready in the morning, no where near a notepad?)etc...many great possibilities! We thought they were perfect for the girls teachers as Montessori teachers are notorious note takers! They were well received and fun and easy to put together. The mini clipboards were $1.69 at Office Max. I cut scrapbook paper to size put a layer of mod podge on the clip board and carefully laid the paper in place, making sure to smooth out any bubbles. When it dried I sprayed a layer of matte finish clear acrylic Krylon over the top to give it a waterproof finish, you could modpodge over the top too, but, I liked the look of the Krylon better.

2010 Family Home Evening

Yes, I know I have been absent from blogging for some time. I have had lots of ideas for posts but never seemed to get to them. So at the urging of the hubby, I'm back, with a disclaimer about the frequency, I'll try my best. I thought there may be a few of you who might benefit from this, so I'm sharing our FHE idea for 2010. Years ago when I was putting FHE lessons together I wanted to put together FHE outlines of the Gospel Principles manual. I did one or two but never got around to finishing them as it was a long arduous process figuring out how to put the info into an outline that would be suitable for our young family. Boy am I glad I didn't finish, the new updated manual makes it a lot easier to do this. The info in the manual is condensed and easy to understand. I have long felt the lessons in this manual would be great for FHE lessons to give our children a solid basic understanding of the gospel, so in keeping with the council of the brethren to get back to the basics, our family is going to have a Gospel Principles focused FHE in 2010. Our schedule of study will follow the church schedule; the monday after the lesson is taught in Relief Society and Priesthood, we will have that same lesson in FHE, leaving plenty of mondays for us to pick and choose other topics or just have some family fun. My outlines are basic, but I have incorporated lots of pictures as I have found they are essential to a successful Family Home Evening in our home. All the pictures I pulled from various locations of lds.org. In case you want to start this tradition with your family too, I'm going to add the lesson outlines (hopefully I can figure out how) as I come up with them for you to print and use too. Enjoy!

Edited: Okay so I can't figure out how to add a button on the side to be able to click on and download the pdf files, anyone know how to do this? I've seen it done on other sites, but mostly on typepad, am I going to have to switch?

Edited again: Okay I think I got it working, click on the button on the right hand side of the page that says Family Home Evening and you should be able to get to it. The files are .pdf, I figured that would be the most universal. Let me know what you think!

Identity and Teeth

Strange title I know, but some are bound to notice that I've changed the names of my girls. I have always been careful about not mentioning identifying details in my posts, but I read an article about how easy it is for an identity thief to get your info, by piecing together info from blogs, Facebook, email, etc.. and hack into your email and bank accounts. It was  surprisingly simple, birthday from one site, hometown, and maiden name from another, kids names, etc... so I maybe paranoid, but I'd rather be safe than sorry, because getting your identity back and undoing all the damage is really difficult.  So now you know.

Now on to teeth.  Saw this and love it. An official tooth fairy kit complete with letterpress documentation, ummm, can you say beautiful. I know I'm crazy, but I love letterpress. I think I just may need to order this before the teeth start coming out. FUN! Here's the link in case you think it's as fun as I do. The Official Tooth Fairy Kit

EFY High

• 
  
• Just returned from a whirlwind three days at EFY for the FNS youth. It's been 12 years since I was at this same EFY as a youth and it was just as amazing, actually more so!! I feel so blessed to have been asked to return as an adult, and serve with my husband. We partook of the overwhelming spirit that was there, enjoyed interacting with the youth and being uplifted by them.  It was a joy to hear Kenneth Cope speak and sing every day we were there. I am exhausted, but renewed in my dedication to my family, the church and my testimony of the gospel and my Savior Jesus Christ.  My parents were wonderful and watched the girls, serving us as we served elsewhere.  I am filled with gratitude for them and all they do for our family. I feel overwhelmingly blessed, and I am so thankful for the many blessings my Heavenly Father has given me.  Happiness abounds!!!!!

This is a clip of the theme song from EFY.  

"Scratch at the Veil" explained:
Scratch at the veil, It sounds so odd, I know. I thought I would explain since Janelle asked and I'm sure it will appear like an odd phrase to anyone else who reads it and was not at EFY. It was a phrase Kenneth Cope used. He told a story about when he had kidney stones and was crawling across the floor in severe pain, not knowing what it was at the time and he had this image come to him of the savior in the garden of gethsemane crawling, scratching at the ground, and crying out "Abba" or Papa in agony. He spoke of the veil covering our minds but that it didn't have to be permanent, others like the Brother of Jared and Joseph Smith had broken through the veil because of their faith, their commitment to truth. He challenged us to "scratch at the veil" doing everything we can to be faithful, constantly scratching our way through trails and challenges, crawling if we have to, closer and closer to our "Papa" even through the veil. Of course the full impact of his talk is lost in my few short words, but hopefully you get the idea.

Fun P.S.: Ryan forwarded my wordle to our stake president and he liked it so much that with a few requested changes for the upcoming year,  I sent it off to be printed onto envelopes that each YM and YW in our stake will get to help them save for next year's EFY. Fun!

Lots of blog thoughts, not enough time.

So we've had lots going on and I have often though hey, I should blog about that, but do I ever get to it? Nope! Good intentions, right?  I'm all about enjoying spring right now, hope you are too!!!!

Here are a few highlights of what we've been up to.

Montessori Activities:

The shelves I set up at home in our office. Which I am painting and decorating, YAY! 

The office, not the shelves!

Beginning Letter sounds and matching pictures.

Working on the knobbed cylinders, 

"No, No, No, No, Yes" as she tries to place each cylinder from left to right, till she finds the right spot.

The moveable alphabet I made from die-cuts and fun foam, this has been a big hit!

The knobbed cylinders and letter puzzles I checked out from the Children's Services Network, an amazing lending library for parents and daycare providers! Amazing Find!!!

We welcomed two new baby girls to our family, Ryan's sister and mine each had little girls within a month of each other. Welcome, Maddi and Alli!!!

And now I'm out of time, so to be continued....

Desire, Trust, Rely, CREATE

Moved to tears,

Inspired,

Watch it, you will be too!

"Mom, This Is How Nephi Wears His Shirt"

Let's just say that this phrase was uttered quite often recently in our house, usually with a pulled down shirt collar and bare shoulder. But this outfit was by far the best one to match the statement. This was taken during Lovebug's "Nephi and the Brass Plates" animated video phase, back in December, but I just took the pic off my camera and thought you all would enjoy it as much as I have!!!