Author: Nurture Mama

Our mothers knew it

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“Challenging times cry out for strong parents and examples who teach the truth that Helaman’s warriors knew: “If they did not doubt, God would deliver them” (Alma 56:47). Teaching and exemplifying this truth today requires vigilance. However, we need not fear. When we know who we are and who God is and we have made covenants with Him, we—like these mothers of warriors—will have great influence for good.”

“When we honor our covenants, Heavenly Father can prepare the way for us. We are to live our covenants with precision. We can, for example, be precise in praying, in studying the scriptures, in holding a current temple recommend, in dressing modestly, in honoring the Sabbath. As we do so, our children will know and be able to say, “We do not doubt our mothers knew it” (Alma 56:48).”

Julie B. Beck, “If we do not doubt”, October 2011 Visiting Teaching Message

The Family Cookbook is now a blog!

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When my husband and I were married, one of the most helpful gifts we received was a copy of The Family Cookbook. My husband comes from a family with 5 sisters and a brother and they all enjoy cooking (well, I know the sisters do but I have a feeling his younger brother might be more interested in physics than cooking!). Over the years the family has compiled all their favorite recipes into a book format, and that book is well-used in our kitchen. We’ve made waffles and German pancakes and bean dip and lemon bars and muffins and granola and sloppy joes and taco beef soup and orange chicken and macaroni and cheese and texas sheet cake and pumpkin cookies….You get the idea; it’s quite a comprehensive cookbook!

After the latest revision of the cookbook, my sister-in-law Tiffany had the great idea to turn the book into a blog. The same great recipes, now with appetizing photos and helpful “hands on” comments: it’s enough to make me say “Yummmmm…..”

The blog is a team effort by the Tanner family and multiple recipes are being added each week. Feel free to visit and hopefully add some new recipes to your filebox!

Family Heritage Recipes: A living heritage of good food

Our most important assignments are in the family

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“So we help God’s children best by providing ways to build faith in Jesus Christ and His restored gospel when they are young. And then we must help rekindle that faith quickly before it dims as they wander off the path.”

“Heavenly Father has assigned us to a great variety of stations to strengthen and, when needed, to lead travelers to safety. Our most important and powerful assignments are in the family. They are important because the family has the opportunity at the start of a child’s life to put feet firmly on the path home. Parents, brothers and sisters, grandparents, aunts and uncles are made more powerful guides and rescuers by the bonds of love that are the very nature of a family.”

Henry B. Eyring, “Help Them on Their Way Home,” Ensign, May 2010, 22–25

A simple Tangled birthday party

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This week the Sweet Bee turned four years old. She is a sweet funny girl, and I love the funny things that she says.Tangled is her favorite movie, so that was the theme of her party. Parties are very small and simple affairs at our house, more along the lines of a “play date with a theme”. There are so many ideas available online, so the party was pretty easy to plan. The best resources I found came from 3 sites:

Plucky Momo

Supermom Moments

Disneyfamily.com

Invitations

Our invitations were simple: Flynn Ryder Wanted Posters. I forgot to take a picture, but I copied the template here on Plucky Momo.

Decorations

I was hoping for some inexpensive lanterns to hang from the ceiling, but I struck out at the dollar store. My next plan was to hang balloons from the ceiling with glow sticks inside (inspired by this post I saw on pinterest), but when it came down to it, the result just looked like a glow stick inside a balloon. Not as cool as I had hoped. We ended up just hanging the balloons and the glow sticks separately from the ceiling, and it looked okay. Kids are always happy with balloons anyway!

Activities

As the guests arrived (dressed in their favorite princess attire), the girls spent some time coloring in their homemade Tangled coloring book. I just googled Tangled images online, then compiled and formatted the images to make a book. Hole punch in the corner, tied with yellow ribbon to keep it together.While the kids were coloring I took one child at a time to put together a Pascal party blower (complete directions found here). I helped them stick the foam together and I used hot glue to secure a googly eye, and then the children drew their own faces.The obvious party game we had to play was “pin the frying pan on Flynn Ryder”.  Wanted poster are easy to find online, and then you can get the frying pan templates here.Food

Snacks were simple: grapes and pretzels, served in a frying pan.The cake needed to be a tower of course. I saw a bunch of complicated ideas online that involved things like pecan rolls, cupcakes, ice cream cones, wooden dowels and frosting. I opted for something much simpler: donuts!

The base is a green floral craft foam. I just wrapped it up in pretty wrapping paper. I made the tower support with wooden skewers (the kind you use for shishkabobs on the grill); I stuck one skewer in, then taped another skewer on at the top to reach the desired length. Slide on the donuts. I topped it with a purple cone and added some ribbons. Definitely the easiest “cake” I have ever made.Favors

What does Rapunzel do in all those long hours in the tower? She paints! So party favors were simple: paints and a brush (and the coloring book and a balloon and glow stick).

This party was easy to put together, and lots of fun for my little girl. The Ant Bug has already decided that she wants the same Tangled party for her birthday in a few months.

Protect your children by teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ

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“Elder Joseph Fielding Smith taught: “It is the duty of parents to teach their children these saving principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ, so that they will know why they are to be baptized and that they may be impressed in their hearts with a desire to continue to keep the commandments of God after they are baptized, that they may come back into his presence. Do you, my good brethren and sisters, want your families, your children; do you want to be sealed to your fathers and your mothers before you … ? If so, then you must begin by teaching at the cradle-side. You are to teach by example as well as precept” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1948, 153).

“According to “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” the principles I have taught about teaching in the home apply to both parents, but they are especially crucial to the role of a mother. Fathers most often spend much of their day away from home in their employment. That is one of the many reasons so much of the responsibility for teaching the child in the home falls on mothers. While circumstances do vary and the ideal isn’t always possible, I believe it is by divine design that the role of motherhood emphasizes the nurturing and teaching of the next generation. We see so many challenges today from distracting and destructive influences intended to mislead God’s children. We are seeing many young people who lack the deep spiritual roots necessary to remain standing in faith as storms of unbelief and despair swirl around them. Too many of our Father in Heaven’s children are being overcome by worldly desires. The onslaught of wickedness against our children is at once more subtle and more brazen than it has ever been. Teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ in the home adds another layer of insulation to protect our children from worldly influences.”

L. Tom Perry, “Mothers Teaching Children in the Home,” Ensign, May 2010, 29–31

Books and Fun for October

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October is a great month, full of fall time fun: leaves and pumpkins and Halloween (as well as a birthday for our family!). At our house we enjoy reading books to celebrate the season. Here is a sampling of what we are reading this month:

Dem Bones by Bob Barner: great book that shares interesting “bone facts”, paired with a familiar folk tune.

Skeleton Hiccups by Margery Cuyler: silly and fun

Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman

Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White: hmmm, this book makes me want to eat pumpkin pie!

10 Trick-or-Treaters by Janet Schulman: a great counting book on a Halloween theme

Where is Baby’s Pumpkin? by Karen Katz: a fun lift-the-flap book for the little ones.

So…what’s on our activity line-up for the month? Our traditional trip to the pumpkin patch, a ward Trunk-or-Treat party, Boo at the Zoo, carving pumpkins,  and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. But I’m sure we’ll have time for a few fun projects:

This year these adorable thumbprint spiders have caught my eye.

Thanks to Teach Mama, our lunchboxes will contain a laugh in the form of Halloween lunchbox notes.

Teach Mama also shared a lot great ideas for classroom parties, which can also be used at home. I like the Ghost Bingo Game.

Not Just Cute has a great index of preschool activities for fall (and pumpkins!).

I love these footprint ghosts. I saw this image on pinterest, but I unfortunately can’t find the original source to give credit.

Thanks to the Ant Bug, we’ve got a great start on our Halloween decorations. She spent most of last Saturday working on this poster, and I think she included everything pertinent to Halloween: a haunted mansion, spiders and webs, a witch on her broom, bats, a ghost, and a full moon. I love her creativity!

Be sure to check out my past Halloween posts for lots of great activity ideas to celebrate Halloween.

A Pumpkin Party Weekend (2010)

Halloween Recipes (2010)

Glowing Faces in a Jar (and other Halloween Fun) (2010)

Halloween Craft Fun (2009)

Ghosts in the House (2008)

“strong and immovable and true to the faith…”

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“Our women are not incredible because they have managed to avoid the difficulties of life—quite the opposite. They are incredible because of the way they face the trials of life. Despite the challenges and tests life has to offer—from marriage or lack of marriage, children’s choices, poor health, lack of opportunities, and many other problems—they remain remarkably strong and immovable and true to the faith. Our sisters throughout the Church consistently “succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees.”

Quentin L. Cook, “LDS Women Are Incredible!”, April 2011 General Conference

Teach with words and through example

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“Understanding the eternal nature of the family is a critical element in understanding Heavenly Father’s plan for His children. The adversary, on the other hand, wants to do everything in his power to destroy Heavenly Father’s plan. In his attempt to defeat God’s plan, he is leading an unprecedented attack on the institution of the family. Some of the more powerful weapons he uses in his attack are selfishness, greed, and pornography.”

“…We learned that our children might not remember everything about the family home evening lesson later in the week, but they would remember that we held it. We learned that later in the day at school they would probably not remember the exact words of the scriptures or the prayer, but they would remember that we did read scriptures and we did have prayer. Brothers and sisters, there is great power and protection for us and our youth in establishing celestial traditions in the home.”

“The responsibility for establishing a Christ-centered home lies with both parents and children. Parents are responsible to teach their children in love and righteousness. Parents will be held accountable before the Lord in how they perform their sacred responsibilities. Parents teach their children with words and through example.”

Richard J. Maynes, “Establishing a Christ-Centered Home”, April 2011 General Conference.

An inspiring family on Extreme Makeover Home Edition

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This week I was contacted by a representative from Extreme Makeover Home Edition and I was invited to preview an upcoming episode of the tv show. I have to admit, I haven’t ever watched a complete episode of the show before, but this episode was worth watching. This week’s show (airing Sunday, October 2nd) is a moving episode featuring a family from Utah. The Gomez family is a single mom with two cute children, and one of the children suffers from a rare blood disorder. It was amazing to watch the donations and volunteers come together to build a beautiful home for the Gomez family. My children were oohing and aahing over some of the fun features included in the play area  of the house (hint: a fun whirly swirly!).

The best thing about this episode is the awareness that the show is bringing to the rare disorder that Jonah (the son) is diagnosed with. With the help of Major League Soccer, they spread the word to thousands and gave many people the opportunity to volunteer to be a donor. After watching the show you’ll want to be a donor too!

So after watching General Conference this weekend, you might want to check out Extreme Makeover Home Edition.

Jars and Boxes: Organizing my home

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We love peanut butter at our house. I’m pretty sure that my husband has eaten a peanut butter sandwich every single day of his life. The Sweet Bee prefers to eat her peanut butter on a spoon. My favorite way to consume peanut butter is on a sandwich with homemade strawberry freezer jam and sliced bananas, or in these chocolate frosted peanut butter bars.

Needless to say, we end up with a lot of empty peanut butter jars. These jars are fabulous for storage, and I use them to organize all sorts of things, like this plastic animal set.

The jars are perfect for corralling small toys. Here you can see  how we use the jars to keep our animals, Polly pocket dolls, cars, and bottle caps all in their places.

I also like to use jars for craft supplies, like our pom poms, letter stamps, buttons, and googly eyes. Hmmm, all this talk of peanut butter jars is making me hungry for a peanut butter sandwich! You may notice that none of my jars are labelled. The beauty of these jars is that they are clear, so you can easily see what is inside. If you wanted to be all cute and crafty you could make some cutesy labels. The one time I tried that, my toddler ripped off the label in about three seconds flat, so my jars are staying label free for now.

My other favorite jars in my house are found in my kitchen. I use these to store my everyday dry goods: rice, flour, oats, brown, and white sugar. My favorite thing to eat for breakfast is bowl of oatmeal sprinkled with brown sugar and cinammon (hence the large jar for oats). I think the jars on the shelf add a little character to my kitchen.

Now, to the subject of boxes.

Once upon a time, a cute family of three moved into a nice two-bedroom town home in Florida. A few years later the family had grown to five people, and children’s items and toys were threatening to take over the space. After some thought, a solution was found: cubical storage and fabric boxes!This is our living room storage unit. It is comprised of three different shelving units we purchased from Target (like this one). This system has made a huge difference in our home.  Everything has its place, and it is much easier to clean up. Kid toys and books on the lower shelves, adult books and knick knacks on the upper shelves.

 The fabric drawers do their job well to conceal the toys. I printed, laminated, and tied on simple labels to make it easy at a glance to know which items belong in each box. I like the idea of including pictures for the non-reading children, but at the time I couldn’t find any clip-art that worked for me. My kids have still been able to figure out how to put things away. I don’t have a before photo to show you, but you’ll just have to believe me that this is much better!

We also picked up a 2-shelf unit to corral things in our entryway. We really have zero space by our front door, so this small unit is used to organize kid shoes and bike helmets. The bigger girls each have a box, while Little Boy Z gets a shelf (he only has small shoes!).

Move into my kitchen/dining room and you will see this cute green box (yes, I have a thing for green, even if this box looks more yellow-ish in the picture). This box serves as my “control the paper chaos” container.  It is a constant battle to keep my counter clear of of paper clutter, but this box is my best tool. I have an inbox file for incoming mail or things that I need to deal with asap. A file for school papers. Each family member has their own file (this is where I temporarily store my children’s artwork, until we decide to toss it or save for posterity). A file for menu planning (I keep my printable grocery shopping lists here).

I am still tweaking this system, but hooray for less paper cluttering my counter!

Lastly, we spend a lot of time at our house coloring and glueing and crafting. In August I saw a cute red caddy in the dollar aisle at Target, and I knew it was just the perfect tool to organize our basic art supplies.Colored pencils in one slot, markers in another.  Two peanut butter jars (of course!) keep the crayons and scissors and glue sticks sorted. Toss in a couple of bottles of glue, and we are all set. The caddy fits in my craft cupboard, and it is so easy to just pull out and use whenever anyone gets a creative urge. This caddy was inspired by a post I saw at IHeart Organizing.

Organizing a home is one of my favorite hobbies. Life runs so much smoother when everything has its place. I still consider myself a beginner in this area, but I love to browse online and see all of the great ideas for managing a home. My current favorite blog to read is IHeart Organizing. Jen has so many fantastic ideas I could devote an entire board on Pinterest to just the ideas I have loved on her site! If organizing a home his is a topic that interests you (with everything from kitchens to bathrooms to offices to kids school papers and toys and clothes and…), be sure to check out her blog here.

Thanks for coming along on my organizing journey today!