Wednesday Wisdom

This is definitely not your "conventional" wisdom, but I thought it was funny...and pretty much how I come up with any of my ideas!

Calvin : You can't just turn on creativity like a faucet. You have to be in the right mood.
Hobbes : What mood is that?
Calvin : Last-minute panic.

Does anybody else relate?

Monday Mom-blings

Life seems to get busier and busier everyday. Either that or I'm getting less and less organized. I'm inclined to think that it's a little bit of both.
Take yesterday for instance. I thought we were prepared to have a nice relaxing Sunday. The first in a while. But we seemed to run from meeting to meeting from about 9 am until 9 pm. Not bad necessarily. In fact, the meetings were all very good. (One of them probably inspired my thoughts for today.) I just had other ideas of how I would have liked the day to play out...church, lunch, snoozes, dinner, maybe play a game with the kids. Didn't happen. *sigh* Maybe next week.
I think I used to be organized. I remember a time when I had a specified cleaning day, errand day, etc. Our family ran like a well oiled machine, but as the kids have gotten older, we've gotten more things to do. I guess it's time for me to get more organized again. Not in the sense that everything is scheduled on a calendar (I'm not that way, and believe me, that could take up an entire wall in my house!) but just in the sense that there is a time for everything.
My point in this is not to complain about everything that we have to do, but simply to point out that life is busy, and getting seemingly busier everyday, and that if we're not careful the most important things may be replaced with things that SEEM important. I think that's where I'm at right now. It's time to declutter...not only the house, but my schedule. Make time for the important things. I'm not very good at that. I tend to take a really practical view of things: Work first...play later (if there's time...which of course there never is!) So my goal for the next little while is to get organized and get to work, so that I can also have fun doing the things that are most important in life...being with my family.
What about you? How do you keep your hectic life organized? Are you a work first, play later gal or have you found a way to mix in the fun? Do tell! I'm up for ideas!

Wednesday Wisdom

"The tendency to focus on the insignificant at the expense of the profound happens...to everyone. We know what is important in life...Our weakness is in failing to align our actions with our conscience.
Pause for a moment and check where your own heart and thoughts are. Are you focused on the things that matter most? How you spend your quiet time may provide a valuable clue. Where do your thoughts go when the pressure of deadlines is gone? Are your thoughts and heart focused on those short-lived fleeting things that matter only in the moment, or on things that matter most?"

-Pres. Dieter F. Uchtdorf
We Are Doing a Great Work and Cannot Come Down, Apr. 2009 General Conference

Tuesday Tip

Here's my tip of the day
(somewhat tongue in cheek...but a tip nonetheless!)

I got out of the shower this morning, wrapped up in a towel, and went over to the mirror to comb my hair. I picked up the brush, started pulling it through my freshly washed hair, and stopped abruptly when I realized that all of a sudden there was white stuff in my black hair...and NO, it was not "gray" coming through. Upon further inspection of the brush, I found that one of my lovely little monsters (who shall remain nameless) thought that it would be wonderful to leave a little toothpaste in mommy's brush. Obviously it would help make my hair smell minty fresh. Mmmmm! So, here's my tip for the day:

*ALWAYS LOOK BEFORE YOU BRUSH*
(Note: This may not only apply to your hairbrush!)

Monday Mom-blings

As you can see, I took a little vacation from just about everything last week...didn't go anywhere, but didn't do much of anything either, so it was a vacation of my own making! The kids had fun spending spring break being spoiled by grandma and grandpa. I enjoyed catching up on reading and doing a few other little fun things. Now it's back to the grind...and I'm ALMOST regretting (but not quite), ever taking the break in the first place because there's so much to catch up on. Do you ever feel like that?? You need the break, but getting back into the groove of things is soooooo not fun!
I've got the lists of everything that needs to be done going through my head right now and I'm half-heartedly willing myself to get up off this chair and get started. *sigh* The mind is willing, but the flesh is weak! (Maybe I'll move all the fun things to the top of the list, and leave the cleaning for the kids...on second thought, that's probably why I'm in this mess in the first place!)

Tuesday Tutorial/Tip

Good news: I finished Ashlynn's skirt before Easter Sunday, so she was able to wear it to church.
Bad news: I forgot to take pictures.
So....I'll do the skirt post next week!

One of the things that I didn't quite finish before Easter was the little quiet book about Christ that I was making for Rylen and my sister's kids' Easter baskets. Oops! Better late than never though...right?? I figure this book will still be good to use during sacrament meeting while the sacrament is being passed, to help the kids think of the Savior.

I will not claim credit for the idea, because as I've said before...Someone else has to be the creative genius...I'll just piggy back off them. You can find the directions and picture ideas for this book under Picture Book of Christ at www.theideadoor.com. Most of the pictures that I used were the ones that were suggested, but I had to get creative with a couple to avoid infringing on copyright laws. (I think that small prints of all the suggested pictures can be found at Deseret Book and on-line...but I didn't use some of them because of copyright laws. However, if YOU would like to switch the pics, you're welcome to do it!) The pictures were found in the LDS Gospel Art Kit, Gospel Art Book, and the Friend. (I'm not sure if the one of Christ coming out of the tomb is in the gak or gab, but hopefully it's not copyright...yikes! Let me know if you know something I don't know) All of the text comes directly from the gospel art kit or the primary song book.

The idea is to print the pages off, mount them on cardstock, and put them into a small 4X6 photo album book that the kids can look at during church. As always, let me know if you find any mistakes or if you have trouble downloading or printing. Enjoy!

Tell Me the Stories of Jesus Binder

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Fiction Religion & Spiritual quiet book primary children

Monday Mom-blings

I'm sure there are plenty of things that I should be doing today, but I'm taking a mom day. It's spring break. The kids get a break from school, so I'm gonna take a break from "mom work" for a little bit today.
I've decided that I'm only going to do the things that I want to today. So, laundry's probably going to wait for another day. It's a nice day outside, so maybe I'll go and do a little bit of weeding in the yard. I think I'll catch up on my little TOFW webinars that I've missed for the last couple of weeks and who knows...I might even make it to the park with Bright and Rylen today (if I happen to decide to change out of my pj's.)
Some might call it being lazy. That's ok. I prefer to call it a little rejuvination and I'm rather enjoying it. I'd recommend it to anyone. Pres. Monson said (in Oct. 08 conference) that we need to learn to distinguish between what's important and what's not important. In my little TOFW webinar, Sis. Dew said that we need to know when to give things our best effort and when to just get things done. I'm not sure that they were necessarily talking about taking a day off from being a mom/housewife/cook/taxi driver/teacher/etc., but I'd right now I'd say a little R & R is just what's needed! You know the saying, "When mama's happy, everyone's happy!"

Friday Favorites

Is it a problem when I can't think of anything to write...especially on a day that I can write about anything??? I think I'm in a slump.

So what am I going to do?

I think I'll ask you what your favorite things are,

then I'll go sit down on the couch,

eat some double chocolate fudge brownie ice cream,

and veg...(incidentally, two of my favorite things!)

Here's to the ocassional slump!

Thursday - Things to Do

Hopefully good weather will prevail this year so that the kiddies can enjoy all the fun of Easter. Here are some of the things going on over the next few days:

Border's Kid's Fling - Saturday, April 11th @ 2pm (click the link for participating stores and more info) Easter Parade, Storytime, Sing-alongs, Activities...Fun for the whole family.

EMC Easter Egg Hunt - Saturday, April 11th @ 10:30 am. Nolan Park. For kids ages 3-11

Lehi Easter Celebration - Friday, April 10th from 4pm-8pm. Legacy Center, Hutchings Museum, LDS Stake Center. Local Entertainment, Games, Prizes, Activities, Crafts, Photos with the Easter Bunny.

Easter Eggstreme - Saturday, April 11th - Thanksgiving Point Electric Park - $6/child (in advance), $8/child (week of event), $3/adult. Egg Hunt and activities for the kids.

Cabela's Family Geo-Cache Goody Search - Saturday, April 11th - Families will use their own GPS units to find 6 hidden Cabela's cache points. - (2502 West Grand Terrace Parkway, Lehi, UT) Call 801-766-2500 for more info

Kid Time at the Covey Center - Princess Party -Saturday, April 11th from 1pm-2:30. Click the link for more info or call 801 - 852-7007 to get tickets and reserve your spot.

Wednesday Wisdom

Rather than sharing a thought today, I decided to share a couple of pictures to remind us of what Easter truly means....

"It is Finished"

"Why Weepest Thou?"

"Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the moring, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.
And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.
And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.
And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabou, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:
And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?
He is not here, but is risen..."
(Luke 24: 1-6)

Artwork by Liz Lemon Swindle

Tuesday Tip

With the dollar not stretching quite as far as it used to and also in trying to stay in the spirit of Elder Hales comments regarding wants and needs and staying out of debt, I've decided it's time to get creative with my wants. Easter (and spring) are around the corner...I hope! When I was a kid, we always used to get a new Easter Sunday dress. When I was little, my grandma would make them. As I got older, we usually just bought them. I really WANT a new dress but I probably don't need one and I really don't want to spend a whole lot of money on one. This year I've decided to try and save a little $$ and do it grandma's way.

After a few snags (so to speak) in my plans, I finally finished "my" new skirt.

It was actually very simple and easy to make (once I actually read the directions.) The best part is that I made it for under $10 (pattern and all.) The bad part is...(drumroll please)...it doesn't fit. This problem probably would have been eliminated had I actually read the pattern, but I figured that I would just make the size I thought I was. No go! (I'm a little miffed cause I made it to go with my awesome red shoes...oh well, better luck next time.) Luckily I have a skinny sister, and it just happened to be her birthday so, she ended up being the beneficiary of my new Easter Sunday skirt. I plan on making another one that will actually fit me soon...who knows? Maybe I'll get comfortable with sewing again and set up shop. Any orders? jk....(kind of)

The next items on the to-do list are for Ashlynn. An Easter Sunday twirl skirt and a dress. I found some really good deals on fabric at Walmart and I've inherited several pieces of fabric from my grandma, so these skirts are going to be extremely inexpensive. Skirts...probably somewhere in the neighborhood of $5. The dress...$10. Not to bad! I have a pattern for the dress (and will post pics when it is done), but I'm just flying by the seat of my pants with the skirt. OK...not really. I don't have a pattern, but I have found a couple of blogs with some good tutorials on how to make them AND they really are easy (more math is required than actual sewing) so even you non-sewers out there could do it. Click here to visit the link at 30days. She has plenty of fun dresses and skirt tutorial links for girls and mom's alike. Be sure to scroll down the right sidebar because I haven't linked you up to all the patterns. Have fun!

Monday Mom-blings

I love conference weekend.

I think I said that on my last post...but it's the truth.

I love everything about conference weekend...family activities, church in my pj's, Sunday morning breakfast, conference talks...everything!

This past weekend was no different. In fact, in some ways I think it was better. We had our same traditions, but this year we also did a couple of different things. I tried a couple of the ideas I posted about a few weeks ago (from the Ensign) to help the kiddies listen through conference, and they worked pretty well. Rylen has a hard time just sitting still and listening at church, so I didn't expect a lot from him, but even he tried to pay attention for one of the games. (It involved candy of course...but I'm not above bribery!) One of our key candy words for the second session just happened to be "temple." The kids definitely hit the jackpot on that word through Elder Bednar's talk and then the next speaker too. They were poppin' gummy bears left and right. My sister was keeping track of the number of times the key words were said, and according to her, Elder Bednar mentioned the word "temple" 61 times...that's a lot of gummy bears for one talk! (Thankfully, I don't think the kids caught all 61 times!)

The workbooks also worked well for the older kids. Ashlynn and Breven enjoyed doing the word search, and I think the space for them to write in 3 things that they learned and make up a question helped them pay better attention. It will be fun to have our little Conference Trivia FHE tonight and see what questions everyone comes up with. I know Jackson is trying to come up with the most obscure questions that he possibly can. He mentioned one yesterday..."What color was the choir director's (Mack Wilberg) tie?" Huh? Who pays attention to something like that? Guess I'll have to pay better attention next time! FHE should be fun!

What did I enjoy the most? I think there were too many good talks to rank them...or even remember them all. I'm looking forward to the next Ensign so that I can read them again. I did really love Elder Hales talk though. (First one out of the box in the Saturday morning session.) I had just been on a little spending spree for Easter and then I heard his talk about debt and distinguishing wants from needs...needless to say, I might be returning a few things. I loved what he said his wife taught him about wants and needs. The 4 little words (just behind, I love you) that mean the most..."We can't afford it" and looking at the things that you want to buy and asking yourself why you want to buy them...to make the person you're buying them for happy, to make yourself happy, to prove you can buy it, to have a status symbol, etc. Loved the talk! For me, I think the pervading message was that there will be tough times ahead, do what you can to prepare and get out of debt, help others, have faith, trust in the Lord, and the most important things in life are not material...they are your family and your faith/testimony.

How was your conference weekend? What did you learn? Enlighten me!

Friday Favorites

I must say, this weekend, conference weekend, has to be one of my most favorite weekends of the year. Not only do we get to listen to the words and counsel of prophets and apostles but we get to do it in our pajamas!! WooHoo!

Seriously though, conference weekend is such a great ReSTaRt for me. The inspiring counsel given just gives me the lift that I need to renew my efforts, put the past behind me (as Pumba would say) and keep going. Plus, this year Kenny will get to take Jackson to Priesthood session! (I guess we're getting old!)

At our house we have a little conference morning tradition...although I think it's become less and less of a conference "morning" tradition now and turned into more of a conference "lunch time" tradition. We do conference breakfast (well now it's more like brunch) and get together with any family that's around or friends that want somewhere to go. Kenny becomes the chef for the morning...and he pulls out all the stops: bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, pancakes, orange juice. (I normally make sweet rolls...so no, I'm not totally lazy!) We're so full by the time breakfast/brunch is over that we don't bother eating again until dinner (a late dinner that is!) It's a lot of fun. The kids are always up for something other than cereal for breakfast (that's what they get every other morning) and it's fun to get together with our family and friends to listen to conference.

I'll leave you with a recipe that I found on allrecipes.com (again.) Normally I just make the Rhodes cinnamon rolls for conference, but I found this recipe and really like it, so in an effort to be save money but still have something yummy I think I'll make these this year! (I've already tried it out on Kenny and the kids and they loved them, so I won't ruin conference morning by making these.) Also, this recipe was designed to use with the bread machine (hate mixing my own dough) but I'm sure it would turn out great doing it the old fashioned way too.

Soft, Moist and Gooey Cinnamon Buns
By: FionasMom

Ingredients:
1 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
4 tablespoons melted butter
4 tablespoons water
1/2 (3.5 oz) package instant vnilla pudding mix
4 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
1/2 cup butter, softned
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (opt.)
1/4 cup raisins (0pt.)
1 teaspoon milk
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
1. In a bread machine pan, place the milk, beaten egg, melted butter, water, vanilla pudding mix, bread flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Selectthe Dough cycle.
2. When cycle is finished, remove the dough, and knead for3 to 5 minutes. Roll out to a large rectangle.
3. Mix together the softened buter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Spread over dough. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts and raisins, if desired. Starting with the widest end, roll the dough into a log. Pinch to seal seams. Cut into 1/2 inch to 1 inch slices, and place in a greased 9x13 inch pan. Place in a draft-free space, and allow to rise until doubled.
4. Preheat the oven to 35 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake for 15 - 20 minutes. To make frosting, mix the milk, confectioners sugar, softened butter and vanilla in a small bowl. Spread over warm cinnamon rolls.

*Just a note by me: To speed up the rising time of the cinnamon rolls, try preheating the oven to 200 degrees F...then TURN THE OVEN OFF...and put the sweet rolls in (covered by a light dish towel). This won't be warm enough to bake the rolls...just warm enough to help them rise faster!! (and enjoy sooner!)

Thursday - Thing to Do

Well...it finally happened. I missed posting a day. An uncooperative pattern coupled with poor time management has definitely put me behind! The plan was to do my "real" Tuesday post on Wednesday, but I was tired and just didn't really feel like sewing, so I didn't. I was planning on picking it up again today but when I did I realized that I made another dumb mistake. *Note to self: Read the directions! So yet again, I'm at a stand still.
Maybe I'll try to get something else done with some of the other fun fabric that I found last week. I'll post it for next week's project. In the mean time here are so things to do this weekend:

1. Spring Spectacular - Saturday Apr. 4th from 11:30 am - 1 pm at the Gateway. Fun, games, crafts, music and the annual Radio Disney Egg-O-Pault. The Easter Bunny will be available for photos and will have value-filled eggs with discounts and savings!

2. Provo City Half Marathon - Relay - 5K - Saturday Apr. 4th at Provo Tabernacle Park. Registration ends today, Thursday Apr. 2nd. Click here for details.

3. Deseret Book Conference Events - There are book signings at several of the Deseret Book Stores along the Wasatch Front. Since it's conference Saturday (and all our guys will be a Priesthood session) it's also Ladies Night at several of the stores. Click here for times and locations.

4. Robert's Craft Ladies Night Out - Saturday, Apr. 4th from 5pm - 9 pm. (This is the AF store...check with your local store or go here for details of events at a store near you.) Demo's, drawings, prizes, games, and free Make 'n takes for you and the kids!

Everything here sound a little to structured or STRENUOUS for you? Try having your own little get together with the girls (maybe even the kiddies) while your guy goes to Priesthood session Saturday night. Go out to eat. Go to a movie. Rent a movie. Talk and eat treats! Make a craft with the girls. Color easter eggs with the kids! Have fun!