Author: Nurture Mama

Teaching our children to love the prophets (and getting ready for conference)

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“It is when children are young that parents must be innovative in helping them develop good habits regarding conference participation. As our children are given opportunities to observe and learn the role of these special witnesses, they will receive a spiritual confirmation of the sacred calling of their Church leaders, and they will feel a deeper love for and interest in these leaders and their message” (Elder Neil L. Anderson, source).

General Conference is just a few days away, so that means it is time to get the packets ready for the children! Having a packet of coloring pages and activities for the children to work on during General Conference has become an important tradition in our home, and it helps our children to really look forward to the special weekend. It helps them to be reverent and listen more to the speakers, even at a very young age. I am very thankful for so many people who do the work of assembling the packets and freely share their talents with the rest of us!

Be sure to visit the Sugardoodle.net General Conference page for links to the most current packets available. I really like the design of this season’s packets by Angela and Melanie, and it is helpful to have them age appropriate for nursery, junior primary, senior, etc. I am printing some pages from a few different packets to get the right match for the abilities and interests of my two girls. It is exciting to have a fluently reading 6 year old, since that ability opens up a lot more activities for her to work on.

We love a good toilet paper roll craft at our house, so my girls should enjoy the First Presidency Toilet Paper Roll puppets in the nursery packet.

Our Family Home Evening lesson this week was centered on getting to know the First Presidency and Twelve Apostles. We did a little match-up game and shared a few facts about each apostle, using these apostle cards. Unfortunately, the lesson didn’t go over as well as I had hoped, probably due to a lack of planning on my part (plus I should have remembered that talking about 15 men in one sitting is way beyond the attention span of my 3 year old). They did think the apostle song was funny.

But I really like the idea shared at the Crane Corner. Jeanine used three different Family Home Evening nights to learn about the apostles, and then did a memorable activity that tied in with the interests of one of the apostles discussed. For example, making banana bread because President Eyring likes to bake, or painting because Elder Scott enjoys painting.

So here is my new idea: In the coming months we will spend one FHE night a month (or more!) focused on one of the apostles. We will use this resource to learn about their life and background, we will review their most recent conference address, and then we will do an activity that connects with that apostles life or his conference address. I am excited about this plan, and I think it will help us to bring the messages of conference home a little bit more, while helping us all to learn more about our leaders.

“Our challenge as parents is to prepare our homes so that our children might be “armed with righteousness.” In the future, a discernable distinction of the true followers of Christ will be the heed and attention they give to the living prophets and Apostles. As our children listen to these men, they will find their way.”

“Some might say it is not the leaders who are important, but the message they bring. Yet, if our children do not know the names of the members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, they most likely will not know their messages either.”

Neil L. Anderson, “Teaching our Children to Love the Prophets”, Ensign, April 1996, 44.

What do you think? Are you ready for General Conference this weekend?

Noble and great

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“Can you imagine that God, who knew us perfectly, reserved us to come now, when the stakes would be higher and the opposition more intense than ever? When He would need women who would help raise and lead a chosen generation in the most lethal spiritual environment? Can you imagine that He chose us because He knew we would be fearless in building Zion?

“I can, because of what the Spirit has repeatedly whispered about you as I have sought the Lord in your behalf during this calling. Though we are sometimes far too casual about our spiritual lives; though we sometimes get distracted by the world and live beneath ourselves-the fact remains that we have always been women of God. We have repeatedly made righteous choices, on both sides of the veil, that demonstrate our faithfulness. We have bound ourselves to the Lord with the most binding covenants of mortality. We have been and are so much more valiant than we think. We have so much more divine potential than we yet comprehend.

“Noble and great. Courageous and determined. Faithful and fearless. That is who you are, and that is who you have always been. Understanding that truth can change your life, because this knowledge carries a confidence that cannot be duplicated any other way.”

Sheri Dew,  “Knowing Who You Are–and Who You Have Always Been”, BYU Women’s Conference, 2001.

About menu planning-again (with help from The Food Nanny)

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Have you heard of The Food Nanny? You can watch the episodes online at BYUtv, and I am hooked! (Thanks for the introduction, Janene!) Each episode features Liz Edmunds (real-life mother of 7) entering the home of a family who needs their dinnertime to be rescued. Some of the real-life issues the show has covered include picky eaters, dinners on a budget,  and crazy schedules. Not to sound like too much of an advertisement here, but I really connect with the Food Nanny and I agree with her when she says “Family dinnertime is the most important time of the day.”

So I’ve watched her shows and I checked out her cookbook from the library, and I’ve been making some changes to our dinnertime. Mostly in the area of menu planning. Nearly two years ago I shared my method for menu planning. As was evidenced in that post, my method for menu planning usually evolves every year or two, and so….it’s been evolving again the last few months.

This is my new personal cookbook. Isn’t it cute? It’s a photo album that has been sitting in a box for about 5 years, waiting to be used.

After my last major round of menu method organizing, I have my recipes printed and laminated on these cute recipe cards.

However, I got tired of flipping through the ring to find the recipe I needed, so I thought the album would be a good way to view my recipes. I decided to organize my cookbook by themes. I was inspired by the Food Nanny who suggests planning Monday as Comfort Foods, Tuesday as Italian, Wednesday as Meatless/Fish, etc.

After some thought, these are the menu themes that work well for our family right now:

Pasta

Mexican

Rice

Meat & Potatoes

Soup/Slow cooker

Quick & Easy/Fun Foods

Leftovers

I haven’t completely designated a specific day to correspond to each theme. Generally Tuesday is Pasta, Wednesday is slow cooker, Thursday is Mexican, and Friday is always leftovers or something fun because it’s the weekend and I don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen! But having the themes laid out like this helps me tremendously when it’s time to plan my menu for the week, so I can get the variety in our menu that our family appreciates.

Then I organized my recipes into each theme night, and placed them in my cookbook in the appropriate section. Some recipes overlap (Italian chicken bowties could be pasta or slow cooker), but the system generally works well for me.

I then spent a few hours printing the new recipes I have discovered lately (those gals at Our Best Bites have given me a lot of good food lately!) Actually, I’m still working on this–I’ve got two more to add after this week.

Now all of my menu planning tools can be found at the front of my cookbook, with the recipes to follow.

I also have a section in my cookbook for Breads and Baking (like muffins), and of course Sweet Things (I still need to add the BYU Mint Brownies recipe to that section).

So far the cookbook is working out great. It’s much easier to plan out our weekly menu, conquering the first stage of a successful family dinnertime. If you haven’t seen The Food Nanny, be sure to check her out.

Next mealtime goal: improving table manners and etiquette!

Trust the Good Shepherd

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In the General Conference of April 2004, Elder Robert D. Hales shared a message entitled “With All the Feeling of a Tender Parent: A Message of Hope to Families”. In that talk he shared five important elements of parenting that he believed will assist us in strengthening our families. Today I am sharing the fifth element.

“Then, let us trust the Good Shepherd.

“Moses’ mother, Jochebed, guided her son down the river with faith in the “Shepherd … of [our] souls.” 16 As parents, we too can trust the Good Shepherd to guide and direct us. Isaiah promised He “shall gently lead” 17 all those who bear responsibility for the young.

“He will help us trust and honor the principles of agency, opposition, and the Atonement even when our children make unwise decisions. Through His Spirit, He will help us teach our children to meet every challenge, trial, and tribulation in life by remembering who they are—children of God. We will be inspired with ways to help them “put on the whole armour of God,” 18 so that they can withstand the “fiery darts of the adversary” 19 with the “shield of faith” 20 and “the sword of the Spirit.” 21 As our children are spiritually armed and strengthened, He will bless them to endure faithfully to the end and return home, worthy to stand and live in their Heavenly Father’s presence forever.

“Through it all, we will sorrow to see our family members suffer the slings and arrows of mortality. But we will stand all amazed at the love our Savior offers them. Because of Him, the buffetings need not defeat and destroy them but can soften, strengthen, and sanctify them.”

Robert D. Hales, “With All the Feeling of a Tender Parent: A Message of Hope to Families”, Ensign, May 2004, 88–91

Meet Mr. Leprechaun

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Isn’t he adorable? I saw this handprint leprechaun this morning at Meet the Dubiens, and I knew we just had to make a few of these fellas today. The Sweet Bee loved having her hand painted, saying “It tickles me!”.

Thanks to Teach Mama for the referring link! We’ll be doing her St. Patty’s Day Scavenger hunt this afternoon.

An index of preschool number activities

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Last fall I wrote about my ambitious plans to have regular “school time” lessons with the Sweet Bee. Our day-to-day lessons haven’t always gone as planned, and they haven’t been every day. Out of necessity, I don’t spend a lot of time preparing for our lessons. But I have realized that the Sweet Bee really loves our school time. With the Ant Bug at school and Baby Boy Z napping, this is her chance for some one-on-one time with mom. Some days we just snuggle up together and read books, or we play a game of Memory or Zingo, or just find a coloring page online to print off and work on. What is important is that we have a few minutes of positive interaction.

That being said, I regularly try to include a good number of counting activities in our school time. I haven’t been able to post all of my lesson plans here as I had hoped to do, but today I am sharing some of our best number activities and games.

Foam Numbers

We use these foam numbers all the time because they give her a chance to “touch and feel” the numbers. I use them to introduce the number of the week, and then we quite often play a simple matching game. Easy to set up, I just wrote the numbers 1-10 on two sheets of paper, then stick them in a sheet protector for durability.

I also use the foam letters and numbers to play a game we call Whack It. The items (in this case letters and numbers) are scattered on the floor, and the child is given some kind of whacking tool (we use a feather duster). I call out one of the names, like “A” or “1″, and the child gets to “whack” the correct item. You can reverse positions and have the child call out the items while the teacher uses the whacker (sometimes I whack the wrong item just to get a reaction). I use this game all the time with my piano students and flashcards, and it could be used in a lot of ways. The kids always enjoy having a legitimate excuse to hit something.

Clothespins

Clothespins are a wonderful tool for a homeschool library. Opening and closing them is great fine motor practice. A large bag was very inexpensive, and the possibilities with them are pretty endless. I numbered 1-10 on a set as shown above, and we use them for the Clothes Pin Number Match from Confessions of a Homeschooler.

One wintery day we matched the clothespins to these snowman counting cards.These number cards from The Activity Mom were easy to create. I used index cards and foam shape stickers, writing three numbers on the side. The Sweet Bee counts the stickers then places the clothespin on the appropriate number for the card.

The Activity Mom has some great ideas for using clothespins. We played this dice rolling game using a cooling rack, and we’ll be trying this activity soon.

Bottle Cap Numbers

Bottle caps are another great tool.  I first got the idea of using them as a manipulative from The Activity Mom.  You can use them in a similar way as the counting and clipping clothespins. Tot School has number templates you can print and then mod podge to you caps to make them a little nicer, but I haven’t ever gotten around to doing that. She also has a number of worksheets available for animal counting.

This is a one page sticker counting sheet. Count the stickers, then cover with the appropriate cap.

As you can tell by all of the links, much of my inspiration comes from The Activity Mom. I also get a lot of ideas from Confessions of a Homeschooler. Her PreK review post has a lot of great ideas and resources for everyday: Clothespin numbers, number sticker sheets, number word cards, number magnet pages, etc. She also has a lot of worksheets and activities posted with each letter theme, many of them that develop pre-math skills, like all of these frog activities we used one week.
We’ve also been discovering a number of great counting books, but I’ll leave that for another post!

Everyday teaching moments

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In the General Conference of April 2004, Elder Robert D. Hales shared a message entitled “With All the Feeling of a Tender Parent: A Message of Hope to Families”. In that talk he shared five important elements of parenting that he believed will assist us in strengthening our families. Today I am sharing the fourth element.

“There is not enough time in formal meetings to teach our children everything they need to know. Therefore, we must take advantage of everyday teaching moments.

“These moments are priceless. They come when we are working, playing, and struggling together. When they come, the Spirit of the Lord can help us know what to say and help our children accept our teaching.

“What a joy and blessing to have the Spirit in our homes! And what a blessing it is to invite it through prayer, studying the scriptures, speaking kindly, and showing appreciation to one another! Let us prepare our teaching moments by praying as Alma prayed for his son, “with much faith” 15 and all the energy of our souls; by fasting, searching the scriptures, repenting of our sins, and allowing the Holy Ghost to fill our hearts with love, forgiveness, and compassion. And then it will fill our homes.”

Robert D. Hales, “With All the Feeling of a Tender Parent: A Message of Hope to Families”, Ensign, May 2004, 88–91

Note to self: Don’t forget the baking powder!

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I was very excited to make rainbow colored pancakes for our Saturday morning breakfast.

However, I was reminded this morning that baking powder is a very essential ingredient!

Unless you happen to like eating dense, hockey puck pancakes.

Shamrocks and Rainbows

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Our theme for the month of March is mostly shamrocks and rainbows.

We’ve been reading Duckie’s Rainbow by Frances Barry. That book gave the Sweet Bee a template for the colors of the rainbow. Does anybody else sing the little song to remember the colors in order? Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. We made a simple rainbow out of colored chenille stems, although our rainbow was a little nontraditional since we had to substitute pink for purple.We experimented with shamrocks and symmetry, from this idea at Teach Mama. We folded green paper in half and drew half of a shamrock and cut it out, then opened it up to discover a perfectly symmetrical shamrock. Next we painted one side of the fold, then folded it back together and smashed it and smushed it. The Sweet Bee’s favorite part was opening it up to see the design on the inside.

We tried making this clover bouquet from No Time for Flashcards. Unfortunately, ours didn’t turn out so cute, but we did have a good time slathering the paper rolls in green paint.

For Family Home Evening this week I plan to count our blessings, using this Lucky Us idea I saw on Sugardoodle.

Making marshmallow rainbows has been on my project list for awhile (my girls loooooove marshmallows), and now we can make marshmallow shamrocks as well. I just have to find some multi-colored marshmallows at the store (I struck out at Publix this week).

Printables

A friend recently introduced me to the very handy site I Share Printables. Go check it out, it’s very fun. Browsing there I found the following fun links:

St. Patricks Day coloring page

St. Patrick’s theme lunchbox notes from Crafts & Sutch: I’ll be putting one of these in the Ant Bug’s lunch tomorrow!

Fun room art, like this subway art from eighteen25.

Fun Shamrock and Rainbow ideas I like but haven’t had time for yet

Shamrock Stamp craft at Silly Eagle Books: use foam heart stickers on a bottle cap to create a stamp

Rainbow connection and rainbow pudding at Make and Takes: food coloring with milk or pudding, take your pick! Great color mixing lessons.

Rainbow pancakes at The Idea Room: what a fun idea for our traditional Saturday morning pancakes or waffles.

Stained glass shamrocks at Teach Mama: pretty decorations for the window

Looking for other March ideas? I love this hand print lion and lamb craft at Meet the Dubiens. I think we’ll use this for our Letter of the Week “L” project coming up soon!

Will you be wearing green on March 17th? I’m all set in this sweet apron my dear husband got me for Christmas!

Satan’s tactics against women

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“If I were Satan and wanted to destroy a society, I think I would stage a full-blown blitz on women. I would keep them so distraught and distracted that they would never find the calming strength and serenity for which their sex has always been known.”

Patricia T. Holland, ““One Thing Needful”: Becoming Women of Greater Faith in Christ”, Ensign, Oct. 1987, 26

This is an excellent talk for any woman who has every struggled with the “perfect Mormon woman” mindset, or in other words, trying to do everything on your to-do list plus more. Just one more excerpt that made me smile because it is exactly how I feel. In speaking of young mothers Sister Holland states:

They described to me the struggles of trying to raise children in an increasingly difficult world, of never having enough time or means or freedom to feel like a person of value because they were always stretched to the ragged edge of survival. And there were so few tangible evidences that what they were doing was really going to be successful. There was no one to give them a raise in pay; and beyond their husbands (who may or may not remember to do it), no one to compliment them on a job well done. And they were always tired! The one thing I remember so vividly with these young mothers was that they were always so tired.

Go read the entire talk here.