Nurture Mama

Receiving Children

Nurture Mama — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:00:16 +0000

“It is a crowning privilege of a husband and wife who are able to bear children to provide mortal bodies for these spirit children of God. We believe in families, and we believe in children.”

“We express deep gratitude for the enormous faith shown by husbands and wives (especially our wives) in their willingness to have children. When to have a child and how many children to have are private decisions to be made between a husband and wife and the Lord. These are sacred decisions—decisions that should be made with sincere prayer and acted on with great faith.”

“Many voices in the world today marginalize the importance of having children or suggest delaying or limiting children in a family. My daughters recently referred me to a blog written by a Christian mother (not of our faith) with five children. She commented: “[Growing] up in this culture, it is very hard to get a biblical perspective on motherhood. … Children rank way below college. Below world travel for sure. Below the ability to go out at night at your leisure. Below honing your body at the gym. Below any job you may have or hope to get.” She then adds: “Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for.”

“In “the best of times [and] … the worst of times,”the true Saints of God, acting in faith, have never forgotten, dismissed, or neglected “God’s commandment … to multiply and replenish the earth.” We go forward in faith—realizing the decision of how many children to have and when to have them is between a husband and wife and the Lord. We should not judge one another on this matter.”

“And [Jesus] took a child … in his arms [and] said …“Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth … him that sent me.” What a wonderful blessing we have to receive sons and daughters of God into our home.”

Neil L. Anderson, “Children”. October 2011 General Conference.

Have a Positive Attitude

Nurture Mama — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:00:34 +0000

“William James, a pioneering American psychologist and philosopher, wrote, “The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.”

“So much in life depends on our attitude. The way we choose to see things and respond to others makes all the difference. To do the best we can and then to choose to be happy about our circumstances, whatever they may be, can bring peace and contentment.

“Charles Swindoll—author, educator, and Christian pastor—said: “Attitude, to me, is more important than … the past, … than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.”

“We can’t direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails. For maximum happiness, peace, and contentment, may we choose a positive attitude.”

Thomas S. Monson, “Living the Abundant Life”, Ensign, January 2012.

Preschool Lesson Plan: Life Cycle of a Butterfly

Nurture Mama — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 01:19:37 +0000

The Sweet Bee is a budding entomologist. She loves to catch bugs (usually roly polies) and keep them in containers (the poor bugs don’t last very long). She has been begging to talk about butterflies at school, so that’s we did today.

Play Time/Free Time Downstairs

Circle Time
Welcome Song—Here We Are Together
Pledge of Allegiance
Calendar—Talk about the day, the month, and the date.
Weather –look out the window and discuss the weather

Metamorphosis and Life Cycle

Introduce metamorphosis: changing from one thing to another

Read: Are you a butterfly?

Follow the lesson plan from Not Just Cute to teach the butterfly life cycle: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly, egg, caterpillar, etc. I used flashcards found here.

Make bead caterpillars (from Make and Takes)

Make clothespin butterflies (inspired by Teach Mama and Make and Takes)Free Play Time

Snack Time: Froot Loop Butterflies (inspired by Teach Mama)

Nature Explorations

We took a walk to discover butterflies in nature. Along the way we found a ladybug.

We were thrilled to find an orange butterfly. It didn’t stay around too long, with 4 eager preschoolers chasing after it. I was only able to snag one quick picture.After our little nature walk we returned home and each child colored their own butterfly life cycle book.

The Butterfly Reading List

Ten Little Caterpillars by Bill Martin

Are you a Butterfly? by Judy Allen

Monarch Butterflies by Helen Frost

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

More Butterfly Explorations

Looking for more explorations? I haven’t tried it, but this Insect Lore Live Butterfly Garden looks pretty awesome!

Bow Tie Pasta= Butterflies. Try making a sensory tub, or paint them and make a pretty picture.

The first calling for husbands and wives

Nurture Mama — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:00:59 +0000

“The creation of life is a great responsibility for a married couple. It is the challenge of mortality to be a worthy and responsible parent. Neither man nor woman can bear children alone. It was meant that children have two parents—both a father and a mother. No other pattern or process can replace this one.”

“The ultimate end of all activity in the Church is to see a husband and his wife and their children happy at home, protected by the principles and laws of the gospel, sealed safely in the covenants of the everlasting priesthood. Husbands and wives should understand that their first calling—from which they will never be released—is to one another and then to their children.

“One of the great discoveries of parenthood is that we learn far more about what really matters from our children than we ever did from our parents. We come to recognize the truth in Isaiah’s prophecy that “a little child shall lead them.”

“Family time is sacred time and should be protected and respected. We urge our members to show devotion to their families.”

Boyd K. Packer, “And a Little Child Shall Lead Them”. April 2012 General Conference.

Plastic Egg Creative Creatures

Nurture Mama — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 01:34:32 +0000

“Can we do an Easter craft?” asked the Ant Bug.

“Uhhh…sure. Let’s see…” And I hopped onto makeandtakes.com, hoping for some quick inspiration.

I was thrilled when I found Marie’s Plastic Easter Egg Bunny Craft post. We had plenty of plastic eggs lying around (literally, they were all over the living room floor after the weekend egg hunts!), and so here are the creatures my children came up with. The activity took zero preparation, and kept my children entertained for about 25 minutes. That’s my kind of activity!I love how the first egg they decorated resembled a more typical Easter bunny, but each creature got more creative with multiple googly eyes and colorful pom pom noses and wacky antlers/antennae.

What are you doing with your leftover plastic eggs?

Here are a few books on our Easter reading list (so I can remember them next year!)

Minerva Louise and the Colorful Eggs by Janet Morgan Stoeke

We discovered this chicken at Christmas time (think Amelia Bedelia, but a chicken) and we have been delighted with her adventures.

Happy Easter, Mouse! by Laura Numeroff

We will always be fans of the “If you give a …” series, and this cute little board book was perfect for my toddler.

Preschool Lesson Plan: R is for Rainbows

Nurture Mama — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 01:37:59 +0000

I had a lot of fun hosting the Sweet Bee’s preschool class today. March is the perfect time to talk about rainbows, and we spent a few hours this morning full of color!

Play Time/Free Time Downstairs

Circle Time
Welcome Song—Here We Are Together
Pledge of Allegiance
Calendar—Talk about the day, the month, and the date.
Weather –look out the window and discuss the weather

All About Rainbows

Group activity: Build a rainbow out of feltI made this simple rainbow out of colored felt, to introduce our rainbow theme. Each child picked a color, and then we stacked the pieces on top of each other to form a rainbow arc.

Read: A Rainbow of My Own by Don Freeman

I just discovered this book and it is delightful, and the 4 year olds in our group were all pretty interested in it.

Science experiment: Food color mixing in water cupsThanks to Make and Takes for the inspiration!

Creative Crafts: R is for Rainbow–use pom pom, beads, feathers, and more to decorate a rainbow.

Free Play

Snack: Rainbow fruit kabobs

I wasn’t able to get all the colors of the rainbow, but our kabobs were pretty colorful with red strawberries, orange cantaloupe, yellow pineapple and green kiwi. A delicious healthy snack I need to remember to make on a regular day, too!

Alphabet Time: Letter R

ABC song-Sing while doing something silly like jumping up and down, clapping hands, swimming our arms, etc.

Introduce letter R. Use letter block, foam letter, magnet letter, puzzle letter, stamper—pull out of a bag.

Read: Duckie’s Rainbow

I read the book out loud once, and then I read it again and we all acted it. (“She hopped under the orange bridge…” so we all hopped around the room).

Play: Roll and color a rainbow

Thanks to Criss-Cross Applesauce for the game template

Play: Musical Chairs (in color)

Instead of using chairs, we used colored pieces of felt for the children to step on.

Bubbles!

End the day by blowing bubbles outside and looking for rainbows.

Be sure to check out my Shamrocks and Rainbows post for a few more ideas!

Notes from Oct. 2011 General Conference: President Monson

Nurture Mama — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 13:00:55 +0000

I recently reviewed President Monson’s talk from the October 2011 General Conference. Then we reviewed the talk for a Family Home Evening Lesson. I retold the story of the $5 bill in his pants pocket, and I shared some of my highlighted notes below. Then we played a few rounds of one of our favorite games
“Where’s the prophet?! (go here to get the skinny on this awesome game for the young ones).

The Ten Commandments

“The Ten Commandments are still just as valid today as they were when they were first given to the children of Israel.

“Our code of conduct is definitive; it is not negotiable. It is found not only in the Ten Commandments but also in the Sermon on the Mount, given to us by the Savior when He walked upon the earth. It is found throughout His teachings. It is found in the words of modern revelation.

“Our Father in Heaven is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The prophet Mormon tells us that God is “unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity.” In this world where nearly everything seems to be changing, His constancy is something on which we can rely, an anchor to which we can hold fast and be safe, lest we be swept away into uncharted waters.”

Praying with Faith

Tell story of leaving $5 bill in his pants pocket. He prayed that the money would be kept safe; after two days his pants returned from the laundry with the money still intact.

“Since that time of long ago, I have had countless prayers answered. Not a day has gone by that I have not communicated with my Father in Heaven through prayer. It is a relationship I cherish—one I would literally be lost without. If you do not now have such a relationship with your Father in Heaven, I urge you to work toward that goal. As you do so, you will be entitled to His inspiration and guidance in your life—necessities for each of us if we are to survive spiritually during our sojourn here on earth. Such inspiration and guidance are gifts He freely gives if we but seek them. What treasures they are!

“My beloved brothers and sisters, communication with our Father in Heaven—including our prayers to Him and His inspiration to us—is necessary in order for us to weather the storms and trials of life. The Lord invites us, “Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me.” As we do so, we will feel His Spirit in our lives, providing us the desire and the courage to stand strong and firm in righteousness—to “stand … in holy places, and be not moved.

Thomas S. Monson “Stand in Holy Places”. October 2011 General Conference.

FHE Lesson: Healthy and Happy Hearts

Nurture Mama — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 02:44:10 +0000

Since February is the month of love and hearts, of course we had to have a Family Home Evening lesson tied into the theme. The Heart Healthy Exercise game shared by Marie at Make and Takes was the perfect activity for my kiddos: making hearts strong and healthy by exercising in a fun way.I followed her instructions and found some clipart online of the various heart healthy actions I wanted to include and I made some very simple posters.My poster included the following actions: sit ups, kick, stretch, roll over, push ups, jump, jog in place, and jumping jacks.

I also followed her suggestion and made a heart bean bag to use as a throwing item. Cut two hearts out of red felt, hot glue 3/4 of the edge of the hearts, fill with beans, then glue the rest together. A simple project that took just a few minutes, but my kids loved playing with it.

Lesson Plan

Lead a very brief discussion about hearts. Do you know the word “heart” is found 1473 times in our standard works of scripture? Obviously, hearts are important! It is important to take care of our hearts and keep them healthy and happy.

We can keep our hearts happy by…. (reading scriptures, following the prophet, praying, keeping the commandments, etc).

It is also important to keep our physical hearts healthy. We can do this through regular exercise and activity.

Play the heart healthy game: Take turns throwing the bean bag on the posters, and do the action it lands on. We also had some other hearts to choose from to let us know how many of each action we should do (5, 10, 15, or 20).

End the evening with a discussion of our favorite “heart”scriptures and eat heart shaped cookies for dessert!

Favorite Heart Scriptures

Matthew 22:37 “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind”.

2 Nephi 4:15 “For my soul delighteth in the scriptures, and my heart pondereth them”

Alma 45:7 “Yea, I will keep thy commandments with all my heart”.

Key to a great marriage

Nurture Mama — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:00:56 +0000

“A happy marriage is not so much a matter of romance as it is an anxious concern for the comfort and well-being of one’s companion.”

Gordon B. Hinckley, “What God Hath Joined Together,” Ensign, May 1991, 73.

Quoted in Douglas Brinley, “What Happily Married Couples Do,” Ensign, January 2012.

Spreading love in February

Nurture Mama — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:17:54 +0000

This little mailbox is a new addition to our family’s annual February festivities. When I found it in the dollar aisle at Target I picked it up without hesitation. The mailbox is our “love box”: anyone who would like to can leave message inside for another family member. The girls get pretty excited when they notice the raised flag and know that there is a message inside. In the picture you can see some of the messages that have been sent (and received).

Writing a note just takes a minute, but it is a nice way that we are showing love in our family. I was also inspired by the idea of a 14 Acts of Love countdown to Valentine’s Day, shared at Make and Takes. We haven’t been able to do it every day, but it has helped us to have a more service/other oriented mindset.

I have found so many great ideas online this year for Valentine’s Day. Thank you, Pinterest, for keeping it all organized for me! You can view the ideas that have sparked my interest on my Valentine’s Day Pinterest board. I also have a great set of links that I shared last year.