The Leprechaun's SECRET to GOOD LUCK- Service Project

It's St. Patrick's Day TOMORROW. Wow, it kinda snuck up on me. I promised a friend I'd hurry and do this post before then, so here I go.

Ok, so let me start by saying- WE LOVE HOLIDAYS. Give us ANY reason to celebrate and throw a party and WE WILL. St. Patrick's Day is no exception. It seems to be one of those overlooked holidays, doesn't it? I think it's fun to learn the history of how the holiday came to be, so my family and I started a tradition a couple years ago that I'm going to share with you.

First, we listen to Irish/Celtic music all day long. Here's a playlist of our favorite Irish/Celtic Irish/Celtic music from Grooveshark.We're really into music of all different kinds, so it works for us. As we get into the spirit of the day, we teach the history behind the holiday to the kids. I've included the links we use: The history behind St. Patrick's Day and fun facts about the holiday, clovers, the Irish, and St. Patrick himself. I like these versions (from Kaboose) because they're fun and easy for kids to understand.
As we eat our breakfast, (see my recipe for Green Pina Colada Waffles here), we make a game plan as we think of different acts of service we can do for people in our area. For one of our projects last year, we weeded a small garden for a neighbor (we did it while they weren't home) and left a treat and a note:

To use this image, right click and save as picture to desktop.
In a word document, insert this pic (from file-- desktop), resize, and print.

 Actually, we left a little different version, but I changed it up a bit for this year.

(I sure hope they don't see this, or our cover's blown!)

Sorry about the blurry pic.

My kids- finding joy in service.

 Not sure he's likin' it yet. Notice the jacket... WITH shorts and flip-flops. Yeah, I know.

He's got a big one...and a dirt smudge on his head.

No, he's not a contortionist. He's just holding his handful of weeds awkwardly.

Rainbow marshmallow pictures was another activity we did.

FOOD-
Some times, we go authentic and eat traditional Irish food, which I love! Tons of recipes found here.

But most of the time, we just eat green food (my kids eat it better). Click here for my BLT Club Wrap w/ Avacado on a Spinach & Herb Tortilla recipe. Click here for my Fruit rainbow-topped jello. Click here for my Creamy Asparagus Soup recipe.

After a long day of service, we enjoyed a nice, candle-lit green meal-

For this particular meal, we had those wraps mentioned above, Guacamole chips, brocco-flower, celery, green grapes, kiwi, and green-colored Sprite. We also had a green salad (not pictured).

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone.

The Articles of Faith Helpsheet Chant/Ditty/Song

It's so important that our kids know the Articles of Faith. They are essentially our beliefs in a nutshell. If you get a chance, read this SHARING TIME from lds.org on the Articles of Faith. It's so awesome. It tells how they came to be and why they are important. In this particular article, President Monson tells a powerful and inspiring story about a young girl who taught our beliefs to an inquiring adult by reciting the A of F's, resulting in his and his entire family's conversion and baptism! All because a little girl knew her Articles of Faith well enough to be able to share them. Pretty awesome, right?

So anyway, I have been asked by some friends if I'd share my little Articles of Faith Chant/Ditty/Song (whatever you want to call it). My family and I came up with this a few years ago during Family Home Evening to help us remember what each Article of Faith is about. It's worked like a charm (even for me). I love to quiz my kids on it. They can tell me on the spot what each is about now. We also used it for a couple years in my previous ward's primary. And let me tell ya, those kids know their A of F's!

To use image: Right-click on it and "save picture as..." name it and save it somewhere you'll remember.
Open a word document and insert image. Re-size to fit your page. Print.
*If you'd like a better quality copy, leave a comment with your email and I'd be happy to send the pdf.

 
I'm thinking about making a YouTube video so you can hear how it goes. Not sure if it's really needed or not. Let me know what you think.

The best I can tell you without a video, is to add a small pause when you see the . . . 's.
Most of these ditty's are said in 4 counts. In fact, #'s 1,2,3,4,7,8,9, and 13 are said in 4 counts and are pretty simple. Numbers 5,6, 10, 11, and 12 are said in 8 counts. On number 6 (it's kind of tricky), you say "Six, Six" in 2 counts, "is no surprise" in 2 counts, and then you have to jump the gun on "tells" (like a grace note), and say "how our church" in 1 count ("how" being on the downbeat), "was and is" in 1 count ("was" on the downbeat), and "or-ga-nized" in 2 counts (evenly spacing the 3 segments of the word in 2 counts...kind of like a triplet, only said in two counts instead of 1). If you snap your finger as you say it, it's much easier.

See also- General Conference Activities. In my post, find the "Saturday night Priesthood Session Activities" segment, idea #11. It talks about how we've turned our learning the Articles of Faith into a game show.

Teaching/learning the gospel can be so much fun! Teach/learn with a vengeance!


Enjoy!

I'm linking up @ Blue Cricket Design, Lil' Luna, Mo momma, Crafty Confessions, Southern Lovely, I'm Topsy Turvy, and Gluesticks.

Valentine's MINUTE TO WIN IT game printable

So, I was searching for a fun Valentine's activity for my son's class and found this cute Minute to win it idea from Pinterest! Yay! That will be perfect for my "center's" activity. Here's the blog with the original idea. She has a printable, too. But I changed mine a bit because I didn't totally understand what to do on the math part. Hehe. Anyway, I thought I'd share incase someone else wants to use it.

To use image: Right-click on it and "save picture as..." name it and save it somewhere you'll remember. Open a word document and insert image. Re-size to fit your page. If you'd like a better quality copy, leave a comment with your email and I'd be happy to send the pdf (since I'm not really very technically savvy and don't know how to upload a printable pdf on my blog yet). ;)

TO SET UP- Place one piece of licorice, one Pixie Stick, and a Hershey's kiss each in their designated spot on the page. Pour 25 M&Ms into a small container and set in front of contestant.
TO PLAY THE GAME- Set a timer for a minute aaaaaaaaand, GO!
1. Fill each circle with an M&M.
2. How may of each color are there?
3. Open a Hershey's kiss with one hand, eat it, and put the garbage in it's spot.
4. Empty pixie stick onto heart.
5. Bite ends off of licorice and blow pixie powder outside of the heart.
DONE! How'd you do?

IF YOU'RE NOT KEEN ON MESSES AND ARE PLAYING WITH YOUNG CHILDREN-
1. Use two hands instead of one on #3 above.
2. Skip #5 all together and have the child blow a "do-do-DO" in their licorice to signal the timer's stop.
Much less messy and helps out on the time.

We did this in my son's class and let me tell ya, they LOVED it!!!

Thanks so much, Stacy Julian, for your super fun idea!
Happy Valentine's Day!

Okay, so after actually playing the game, I realized the spot for the licorice was too small and it actually took 2 minutes to accomplish all that. Either that, or I'm just really slow. Haha! Anyway, I decided to fix my page. So here's the new 2 MINUTE TO WIN IT page! Also, I added a spot for the contestant's name, and their time. I gave a special prize to the kid with the fastest time... which was 1:22!

Enjoy.

General Conference Games & Activity IDEAS- Something for every session!

We LOVE General Conference weekend. It's kind of like the "Mormon Superbowl" (as my friend says). Haha! Not really, but it's THAT BIG... actually, it really is MUCH BIGGER. These inspired messages are intended not only for our church members, but for the entire world...

Here are some things we like to do as a family as we participate:

(If you don't have cable, you can watch GENERAL CONFERENCE live online)

WHY CONFERENCE MATTERS VIDEO -is a great little message you can share with your family to add to your FHE as you prepare for General Conference.

Saturday Morning Session-

Conference Packets- Sugardoodle.net always has free, (Oct 2012) printable activity packets for youth of all ages. We usually put these together the Monday night before General Conference as part of our FHE. I like to make our packets big so they can last through at least two sessions.

Secret Word- Choose one or two words that will most likely be heard frequently during the session. You could choose: scriptures, Book of Mormon, family, love, hearts, choice, service, baptism, faith, mission, commandments, joy, obedience, obey, prayer, service, promise, tithing, children, mission, eternal, parents, sheep/lamb, holy ghost, sin, heaven, earth, gospel, life, patience, challenges. Sometimes, I'll randomly pick the words, and other times I'll write a whole bunch down and let one of the kids pick from a hat. When the word(s) is (are) chosen, I'll teach what each word means (before the session). That way, as they listen for and hear these words, they'll have a better understanding of what is being taught.
Saturday Afternoon Session-

Stat Guess- *** Before the session starts, have each person in your family fill out this "What's Your Guess" sheet below. Have them make a guess of how many temples there are, how many members of the church there are, how many converts and baptisms, how many missionaries, etc. You can even give a little prize for whoever made the closest guess. This works best if you can DVR the session and pause as each answer is revealed.

Sustaining our Leaders- Make sure everyone participates in these church sustainings. Talk about the importance of doing so. THIS talk from lds.org may help you.

To use this sheet- 1) Right-click on it, 2) Save picture as... 3) Open a
Word document, 4) Insert Picture or just copy & paste into document
5) Print.

Feast Upon the Words- Make a list of 3-5 words that will most likely be heard less frequently during the session. You could choose the words: opposition, potential, salvation, mortality, obedience, protection, angels, perspective, fulfill, glory, testament, covenant, heed, potential, abundance, establish, priesthood, treasure, celestial, accountable, example, influence, principles, believe, inspire, testimony, atonement, modesty, revelation, administer, fundamental, worship, privilege, standards, mistakes, mortal, desire, pride. We make sure everyone understands what similar words are acceptable, such as: mortal- (immortal, mortality, immortality). When the words have been chosen, we have 3-5 bowls of treats. Each word is assigned to a certain type of snack.

For instance:

OBEDIENCE (obedient, obey) = PRETZELS

ATONEMENT (atoning, atone) = APPLE SLICES

TESTIMONY (testimonies, testify, testament) = M&M'S

Here's another example:

When the word is spoken, everyone grabs a piece of the corresponding treat. My family LOVES this one!

Clean up- I use the upcoming activities as incentive for my kids to help me straighten and clean up the house. We want to be able to enjoy our lady's/kid's night (while the guys are at the Priesthood Session) and Sunday sessions in a nice, tidy home!

Saturday Night Priesthood Session-

While the men are gone, a serious lady's/kid's night is in order!
Here are 11 fun ideas: (THESE ARE ALSO FUN TO USE FOR FHE ACTIVITIES)

1) Have a "modesty" fashion show- Create a runway (down the hall) for your kids to strut down. Give them a few quick words on modesty. Review the Article of Faith #13. I love THIS talk and THIS sharing time idea (specifically #2) from lds.org. THIS Modesty Checklist from the Friend May 2010 is also quite helpful. You can bring out the Halloween dress-up and let them come out in anything from Batman to Tinkerbell (you can show them how to make an immodest outfit modest by putting a shirt or leggings underneath). You could also let them wear your husband's suit, old prom dresses, maybe even your wedding gown if you dare! Get out the scarves, ties, hats, jewelry, etc. It's so fun to see the combinations they come up with-- so silly. Don't forget the music. MAKE SURE TO TAKE PICTURES.

2) Primary Song Karaoke- WE LOVE KARAOKE at our house. This is something we do anyway at least once a week. If you don't have a karaoke machine, you can simply go HERE (at lds.org) to find any song in the Children's Songbook or Hymn Book. It has lyrics and music to every single song. This is probably the best way to go. If you don't have a mic, use a toy microphone or just pretend with a flashlight or something. It's such a fun way to teach your kids new primary songs. Just follow the words and sing your hearts out!

You could also go do a you-tube karaoke. Go to you-tube and type in "Children's Songbook", the song name, then the word "lyrics" on the end. Some have lyrics, some don't. This way is kinda iffy. There's a lot of anti-mormon stuff out there (and other stuff) and you sort of have to sift through it to find what you're looking for. Here are some I've already found and have used for previous FHE's:
I am a Child of God,
My Heavenly Father Loves Me,
Teach Me to Walk in the Light,
Love is Spoken Here,
I Love to See the Temple,
He Sent His Son,
I Know That My Savior Loves Me,
If the Savior Stood Beside Me,
Follow the Prophet,
I Will Follow God's Plan,
If I Listen with My Heart,
Nephi's Courage,
If the Savior Stood Beside Me,
When I am Baptized,
Choose the Right,
Choose the Right WAY,
As a Child of God,
The Wise Man and the Foolish Man,
Praise to the Man,
Scripture Power,
The Lord Gave me a Temple,
Tell Me the Stories of Jesus,
Beautiful Savior,
I Lived in Heaven,
Jesus Once Was a Little Child,
Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam,
The Books in the Old Testament,
Latter-day Prophets,
Stand For the Right,

3) Family Video Flashbacks- Nobody appreciates these like your own family. Once in a while, we'll find our funniest videos and do a mock America's Funniest Videos. My kids LOVE to watch their cute little younger-selves. We love to add our own silly commentary as we watch & giggle the whole way through.
4) Spiritual Scavenger Hunt- Make a list of topics we've just learned about from conference. Give out your lists and start searching! When each person has found their items, have them explain how each one relates to their topic. For instance, one could grab a tie for the word mission, a kitchen sponge for the word service, a baby doll for the word family, jeans for the word modesty, etc.

 5) Mormon Mad Gab- I found yet another gem on Sugardoodle. This game was used for Primary Singing time, but I thought it was perfect for this fun little night. This was based on the activity, "Say What?" from the June 2009 Friend which is awesome, too.
6) Friend Magazine on-line games- CLICK HERE. My family loves this site! They especially love having the stories automatically read to them on there!
7) Secret Service/Sweet is the Work- Once in a while, we'll plan ahead to do a little service. We've done things like: weed someone's yard, bake treats and doorbell-ditch a neighbor, bring in a garbage can, give someone a "heart attack", sweep a neighbor's porch, etc. The first time we did this, I'll admit that my kids really resisted. They hadn't yet "tasted the sweetness" of the blessings that come from service. Remember to keep it anonymous!
8) Scripture Read-a-thon- Okay, I'm sure you're thinking, this won't fly with my LITTLE kids. But remember that the Ensign, The New Era, The Liahona, and The Friend are all considered to be doctrine, in addition to the scriptures (all can be found HERE). If you have little ones who can't read, set them up to the Friend website with headphones. They can choose the story they'd like to have read to them. Don't forget the treats!!! We've also recently discovered scripture stories put to video straight from lds.org. Here are the links to THE BOOK OF MORMON, THE NEW TESTAMENT, THE OLD TESTAMENT, and THE DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS videos. These are SO GREAT for supplementing actual sit-down scripture reading as a family. Especially for young children who have a hard time understanding the scriptures. Sometimes when we've finished a story segment of scripture (such as the Tree of Life), we'll watch it on here so the kids really grasp it. I can't tell you how excited I was to find this. It's made such a huge difference in our very young family's scripture studies.
9) Preparedness Party- I got this idea from my friend, Mary. You could replenish your 72-hour kits with all your favorite snacks & food items. Remember it's a good idea to do this every 6 months anyway (to keep it fresh) which is perfect for doing at each General Conference. You could eat the food from your old one for dinner, too. Mary's family actually uses the older kits as one of their meals to eat during one of the sessions of conference. Isn't that fun? Plus, that's one less meal you have to fix and clean up from. Great idea, huh??? Thanks, Mary!
10) Dessert & a Movie- Let your family help you make a Scripture Cake. Eat it as you watch your favorite family-friendly movie--preferably one that teaches a good moral. Talk about what you've learned, relating it to principles that were taught during the sessions earlier that day.
11) Articles of Faith Gameshow- Teach your family this fun little ARTICLES of FAITH Chant/Ditty/Song to help them learn what each one is about. My kids have it memorized now. I love to quiz them by setting up a game show-type table with buzzers or bells (we use buzzers from the game, Taboo). We divide the family into two teams and I'll ask questions like, "Which Article of Faith teaches us that we should obey the laws of the land?" Answer- #12. "Which one tells us how our church was organized?" Answer- #6, etc... The winning team gets to choose and make the family treat.

Sunday Morning Session-

King Benjamin Tents- I got this idea from this talk in the Friend a few years ago and have done it ever since! We let the kids build tents the whole morning (while we sleep in) up until conference starts. Before the session begins, we remind them of King Benjamin's speech from the tower and how the people listened with the doors of their tents facing him. To make the tents, my kids use sheets, blankets, chairs, and sometimes cushions. Occasionally, I'll even have my husband move the kitchen table into the family room the night before so the kids can build from there. Usually, I set out sheets and other items for them to use (and make sure they know they are limited to those) so they don't make a huge, crazy mess. We lay a blanket down on the floor, and as they listen from inside their tents, I let them eat a simple picnic-style breakfast such as: muffins, fruit, bagels, breakfast hot pockets, pop tarts, sausage corn dogs, breakfast burritos, sausage corn muffins, (or whatever you eat) prepared the night before and finish what's left from their Conference Packets.

Ours turned out to be a triple-decker tent this year (My husband and I helped them with the 3rd level--adding a bungee-secured bench and attaching it to my drapes and the ceiling fan with safety pins and clothespins. ;)! My kids are soooo excited!

Our 3-story conference tent! They're so proud!

Sunday Afternoon Session-

General Conference Bingo- This is the session my family usually tends to fall asleep during, so I use this game to try to help keep their interest and attentiveness. Print off your favorite General Conference Bingo cards---a different one for each family member. Use your favorite bite-size snack as the token chips. When one of the words or topics is said by one of the speakers, place your token on the corresponding square. Award small prizes for whoever gets 5 in a row and calls out BINGO! These cards HERE (at my heart and home) are one of my very favorite versions! Pop over to her blog and check them out! She's really gone to a lot of work for these! She's made 24 different printable cards! They're beautiful!

HERE and HERE's another great bingo version.

After Conference- Make sure to keep your General Conference recordings protected on the DVR the whole year! We plan to take one talk a week to study as part of our FHE. If you're unable to record them, you can find all the general conference talks HERE.

Check HERE, HERE, and HERE for tons more fun ideas!

Looking for a fun, new chore system for your kids?

TUTORIAL

Job Pockets-

***For a fun April Fools idea, scroll to bottom of post***

This is for you moms! Okay, I have to say that my house is far from perfect, but I really do give it a good effort! Living with my awesome, yet cleanliness-challenged family of 7 in very cozy living quarters can quickly take it's toll on you. If I don't get a little help from everyone, it doesn't take long before my house completely over-runs me! This system may not be for everyone. I've found that I have to have 2 or 3 different job systems to rotate between... ya know, to keep it fresh & exciting.

This is one of them that my kids have loved:

THE JOB POCKETS

Here's how to make them:

You'll need a 12x12 piece of card stock, and a regular 8.5x11
sheet of paper to print the pocket on. So, print your page...

If you want a printable version of this, just email me @
fosteramy5@gmail.com

Trim it...

Write your kid's name... or however you want to do it. I'm
choosing, this time, to combine all 3 boys on to one pocket,
 and my 2 girls will share one, as well. I'm only giving them
one job a day--besides, the regular- make bed, clean room,
do homework... for those, they use a check list. I'm making
their one job a little more detailed, though. 

Laminate both sheets. Packing tape or transparent contact
paper works perfectly, too. After you've trimmed them,
tape the bottom of the pocket in place.

Use a small hole punch in each of the 5 corners.

Secure them in place with brads.

Cut & place sticky-back Velcro on the top of your pocket.



Print out your jobs. If you'd like to use mine, I'd be happy
to email that to you, as well. Otherwise, make your own
jobs that will work for your house. I'm only giving my kids
 one "big" job a day---besides, the regular- make bed, clean
room, do homework... for those, they use a check list. I'm
making their one job a little more detailed, though. I put
stars on the bottom so when they're done, they can put
their job inside the pocket--upside down so the star shows.



Trim to 3 3/8" x 8 1/2", laminate, and place the other side of
the sticky-back Velcro on the back. Don't mind the ugly
backs to these! I'm re-using old pages. Haha! Yeah, I guess
I'm pretty thrifty. Hey, but I'm also keepin' it green!

This is what it looks like when you're done! Once they've
completed their job, they stick it in the pocket & proudly
display their star!

This is what I like to see! You could also use a point-
system to go along with this and make each job worth a
certain amount of points. You could write the points
on the stars. Once a week, they can use those points
to exchange for a little allowance or prize or something.

 ***Wait, I have to show you what I did last year for April Fool's Day (seriously one of my FAVORITE holidays)! I gave them each silly jobs. I obviously did it as a joke, but they actually ended up doing some of them! It was hilarious!

Last year, I gave
each kid 3 EASY
jobs a day. I kept
all the pockets
together in one
column. I also
made an extra
pocket to store
the extra jobs in.

 I wrote jobs like:
Pay the bills, Drive the kids to the park, Mow the lawn using scissors, Wash your clothes by hand, Sweep the driveway with a toothbrush,  Jump on the trampoline without stopping for 20 minutes, Touch your nose with your tongue, Tickle Elmo, Count your toes, Sing an opera song--mom's choice, Bark like a dog 10 times, Smell your baby sister's diaper bum, and more. They got a kick out of them!

GOOD LUCK! I hope this works for you!
I'm linkin' up HERE.