Family Home Evening: Attitude

I started out our lesson with a paper.  I tore a piece off as I listed a problem people can have. I repeated this until the paper was a pile of scraps.  I talked about how we can focus on how our lives are a pile of problem, or we can see confetti - and I threw the scraps in the air. 


I used part of President Uchtdorf's talk called "On the Wings of Eagles".  In this talk, he told a little history on Wilbur and Orville Wright.  (I know it's surprising to hear President Uchtdorf talk about a couple of pilots!)  We skipped to the middle of his talk where he talked about "your attitude will determine your lift and altitude".  Then he gave us a few items that will lift us to a Christlike attitude if we implement them daily.

1. Sincere prayer.  I like that he used the word sincere.  No going through the motions here!
2. Obedience.  Do you want your prayers answered?  Then obedience is the way to go! "And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight." 1 John 3:22
3. Opposition and agency.  We can't be lifted if the isn't a downward force.  We need to have good and bad options to make a choice.  Without our agency, we can't choose to be like Christ.  It is during the times of hard choices and their consequences that we can learn, grow, and become more like Christ.
4. Feasting on the word.  With Thanksgiving just a few weeks away, it's easy to get into the feasting mode.  What's the difference between a normal Tuesday night dinner and Thanksgiving?  Tuesday nights can be crazy around here.  Dinner is usually prepared quickly and eaten even quicker.  I start making our Thanksgiving feast at least the day before and the preparations go on until it's time to eat.  The meal is relaxed, as we eat and savor.  I would even say our feast is a celebration where memories are made and family bonds are strengthened.  What if that described our daily scripture study?

We followed the feast idea for our activity as we decorated Halloween sugar cookies.  Not surprisingly, we ate said sugar cookies for our treat!

Saturday Sentament: Autumn

Ginger and Cinnamon fill the air

A patchwork of leaves lay everywhere

Cold, clean mornings and an indigo dawn

Crystal frost on the emerald lawn

Golden apple cider and delicious pumpkin pie

Those are the things I love at Autumn time.

- Sabrina Bytheway

Favorite Feeds Friday

I am recuperating nicely.  My bumps and bruises are tender, but I haven't felt the all over body aches everyone has said will come.  The blessings continue!  I'm moving slow, but I'm hoping to get out of the house for a couple of hours and check out a school Halloween party or two.  

Here's some great blog feeds I'm enjoying on my down time.  There are so many cool things I was hoping to try; maybe next year.  Maybe you'll have time (and energy) to use some of these last Halloween ideas.  (What will we do next week?)

• OK, this could be a last minute thing if you are a sewer.  I still have a candy corn bunting that I haven't sewed, but these treat bags are so cute from Fishsticks and Fries!
• Not only does Travelin Oma have a great costume, she has reasons behind the costume, and the details are fabulous!
• Now these candy corn cupcakes by Simple Creative Insanity are totally doable this weekend.
• Just to keep you from Halloween overload, I included Crazy Domestic's spotlight on an interesting new company.
• If you are like me, you've already started thinking about the rest of the upcoming holidays.  The Mother Huddle shared her tips to prepare.

Please share your favorite blog posts, it will help the down time go by easier!

Lessons Learned from a Car Accident

Yesterday I was in my first serious car accident.  It was the scariest few seconds followed by many scary minutes.  My front, left tire went off the pavement as I was exiting the freeway.  I over-corrected and somehow managed to roll the car.  It ended up on the roof.  I remember unbuckling my seat belt and trying to crawl to safety out through the back window that had busted out.  I didn't get very far because my foot was trapped by the steering wheel.  I was hysterical and alone.  My purse landed right behind where the seat was before the crash, but my cell phone ended up at the back of the vehicle.  I called for help the only other way I know how, I prayed - loudly.

Within a minute two men showed up, then another, then a woman.  The first two men worked to free me; one of them climbed in by me, over the shatter glass and worked for what felt like several minutes to free my trapped foot.  Shortly after I was out of the car, an off-duty paramedic showed up and started checking my vital signs, bracing my neck, and taking care of me while the ambulance was on its way.  The woman who stopped brought me water and talked to my mom on my cell phone while I talked to the emergency workers.  


When I look at these pictures, I am amazed that I left the hospital with only bumps and bruises!  I wasn't bleeding and the doctor said I didn't even have a concussion.  Here's what I learned from being in an accident:

• I am very blessed!  Some call it lucky, but I know it's more than that.
• Seat belts save lives.  The emergency personnel said I would have likely been thrown from the vehicle if I wasn't wearing mine.
• I am very blessed!
• The stuff in my car scatters farther than I would have ever imagined.
• Police officers do more than give people tickets.  Sometimes they walk all around off ramps gathering up all the stuff that flew out of my car.  One of the officers brought me a sandwich bag with a $20 bill and a bunch of change that came from my car.
• I am very blessed!
• I have a lot of family and friends who love me and want to help out.  I was touched by the phone calls and visits.
• I am very blessed!
• Even after 24 hours, new bumps and bruises are still popping up.
• The longer I think about the accident and the more stories I hear about other accidents, the more I'm amazed to walk away with such minor injuries.  All that stuff that flew out of my car and the stuff that stayed inside could have hit me and done some serious damage.
• I am very blessed!

Trick or Treating

When I was a kid, we only went to homes of people we knew.  I’ve always kept the same practice for my family.  One Halloween, there were a couple of gentlemen I didn’t know, visiting in one of the driveways.   The man, who apparently lived at the house, seemed offended that we didn’t go knock on his door.  I tried to explain my reasoning, but it didn’t seem to make sense to him.  So I introduced myself to him and asked his name.  Since I “knew” him, we went Trick or Treating at his house.

I have changed my attitude about Trick or Treating.  I look at it as an opportunity to get to know my neighbors better and build stronger relationships with them.  We check our candy very carefully and through away anything questionable.  While my kiddos enjoy the extra candy, they also understand the deeper meaning.  Not only does it help us connect with our community, it also teaches my children to reach out and be friendly people. 

When we were at California Adventure, the kids wanted to go on Grizzly River Run multiple times.  Since I was wet enough, the kiddos went together.  I was so pleased to hear that they started up a conversation with their fellow raft mates and made the ride even more enjoyable.  Isn't that what life is about, making the ride more enjoyable?

Family Home Evening: Faith

One of my kiddos gave a great lesson on Faith.  I had their notes and scripture references to share with you...that were swallowed up by my desk.  Despite the time I spent cleaning my desk, they are still missing; but my desk is much more manageable.  Instead. I'll share a few of my favorite scriptures about faith:

• Alma 32:21
• Matthew 9:22
• Doctrine and Covenants 4:5

Our activity was a round of Harry Potter Uno.  (I like how the different versions have differences in the game, not just different pictures on the cards.)



Our treat was Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip bars.  That's the kind of cookies my mom liked to make when I was a kid.  I love those sweet trips down memory lane!


What are you doing for Family Home Evening?

Saturday Sentament: Autumn

There is harmony in autumn, and a luster in its sky. 
- Percy Bysshe Shelly

Favorite Feeds Friday

Fall has finally arrived here in Arizona!  It's supposed to stay in the 70's for the next two days - yeah!


Here's my favorite feeds I found this morning:

• Crazy Domestic featured this stylish soap dispenser.  It looks so much better than the little plastic one I have by my sink!
• I'm not a big zucchini fan unless it's in zucchini bread, but I'd actually try The Enlightened Homemaker's Zucchini Parmesan. I also love her discussion on Italian food.
• Room Mom 101 shared Somewhat Simple's cute way to decorate lollipops from last week.  It was nice to be reminded of the ghost lollipops and get a couple of new ideas too.
• Your Homebased Mom shares her weekend of parties and some great treat ideas!

Which blogs have caught your attention today?

Christmas Came Early!

A few weeks ago Kim over at Think Fast had a contest for World Card Making Day.  She asked her readers to choose their favorite card and she would pick one random comment to win a prize.  It sounded like fun, so I played along.  I must admit I didn't pay too much attention to the prize.  


When I came back from Disneyland I found an email that I had one.  My first thought was "Cool, I'll win that cute card".  Imagine my surprise when I pulled a box out of the mail with all these goodies!  I'm kind of glad I didn't pay attention to the prize, so I could enjoy Christmas a little early.  

I can't wait to scrapbook using my fun new toys.  Thanks Kim!

Paper Plate Crafts

We've been paper plate crafting again!  We have our paper plate pumpkins, our paper plate owls and now our newest creation - paper plate mummies.  Hop over to Arizona Mama and see all our fall paper plate crafts!

Just in case you can't get enough of me, my Toscana Soup recipe is part of the October issue of the Homemaking Cottage.  They also have a special Harvest edition that includes my article on Halloween Traditions and Arizona Fall Traditions.   A subscription is required to enjoy these great articles and many more.

Pre Christmas Decorations aka Fall Decorations

Over the weekend, I got something done from my mental to-do list.  We put up the Halloween decorations.  I enjoy Halloween decorations as long as they are not scary or gory.  I like the cooler weather of fall, "boo"ing our neighbors, and of coarse the food.  But really in my mind, it's all just a primer for my favorite holiday of the year.  

While we're putting together the last minute details for Halloween costumes, I'll be thinking about the perfect gifts for my loved ones.  While we're buying candy for the trick or treaters, I'll be planning the Christmas goodies I'm making for Santa.  It's my way of adding a little something extra to the holidays!

Family Home Evening: General Conference Review

This week's lesson is a review of what stood from General Conference.  Our family noticed the themes of agency, gratitude, the Holy Ghost and sustaining the prophet.  April's Conference seemed very focused on a Mother's duties; I was grateful to not have the heat on just me!   Mostly we had a great discussion about what we learned and what we want to work on over the next few months.  


We turned to one or our favorite standbys for the activity - Apples to Apples jr.


Our intended treat was Dirt and Worms.  The kiddo in charge of treat thought there was chocolate pudding in the pantry, but there was only vanilla.  So we made vanilla pudding.  Then I pulled out the gummy worms I bought, only to find I bought gummy bears instead.  We did have a bag of forgotten gummy worms tucked away in the pantry and enjoyed our vanilla pudding and gummy worms for a treat.  (And we enjoyed munching on the gummy bears during our trip!)

Saturday Sentament: Autumn

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. - Albert Camus

Favorite Feeds Friday

I'm back with another installment of Favorite Feeds Friday. Today my legs feel like normal after a week of recuperating from three days running around Disneyland and California Adventure.  

Here's this week's list of cool posts I found in blog land:

• If you are in to throwing super cool Halloween parties, check out Sweet Tooth's food table.
• Or if you are more into the food than the cool table, these over the top caramel apples from Chef Tess Bakeresse are to die for!
• These pumpkin cookies from Make It Do might be a little healthier.
• I love Raimi's new cute Halloween decoration at If You're Happy & You Know It.
• Tired of Halloween?  Try this great color combo with card ideas at Stamp Away With Me.
• Try your hand at The One-Minute Writer's Friday Fiction.

So, what did I miss?  Share a link to your favorite post!

Home Sweet Home

Vacations are great.  Still, no matter how great the vacation it is always good to come home!  We had a blast walking our legs off at Disneyland and California Adventure.  We loved spending a few days with our Southern California family members.  


Last night I didn't even want to stop for food to take home for dinner, even though I knew our cupboards were pretty bare.  I just wanted to stop watching the world go by and to be home!  There's something to be said about relaxing in your own living room, sleeping in your own bed and enjoying your own routines.  (I'm sure our relatives are glad to get back to their normal lives too!)

Cooperation Pack Meeting with a Sports Theme

I now have two Pack Meetings under my belt.  This month I was having trouble squeezing in the time to prepare until a few days before and several things fell apart at the last minute, but it still turned out well. 


Even though we had a sports theme, the real focus of our evening was awards.  We had boys earning their Wolf, Bear and Arrow of Light.  To pull the sports theme into our meeting, we had a few sports related decorations, and four sports cheers. I couldn't believe I had such a hard time finding sports related cheers!


We started off with a human knot activity for our gathering. 


After I flag ceremony, I introduced our theme.  I had a cute poem comparing cub scouts to baseball -- that I left at home.  I stumbled a bit, but I remember the basics. Mostly it compared to Bobcat to the batter's circle, Wolf to first base, Bears to second base, Webelos to third base and the arrow of light to a home run.

Then we talked about sports uniforms, how they showed who was on the same team and unified them to their purpose.  I told them a story of a friend from Wood Badge.  She called with a question about Scouts, the person she spoke to didn't know the answer so he put her on hold while he got the expert.  My friend spent the next hour on the phone with the expert President Monson.  One of the things he told her was that every boy, eight and older, should have two uniforms in his closet: a church uniform (a full suit) and a complete Scout uniform.  If I had a question of the importance of having an wearing a full Scout uniform, I don't anymore!

The rest of our evening was spent with awards.  We had several belt loops and other awards, but I was most excited about the three big awards that night.  One boy earned his Wolf.  I had him put in plastic "wolf" teeth, bite into his award  and give it to his parents.  I encouraged him to keep his teeth in Scouting and never let go of that enthusiasm. 


The next big award was a Bear award.  For that award, I had the boys parents paint a black paw print on his face.  Each toe represented an area where he gained increased strength, like family and citizenship.

The grand finale was the Arrow of Light ceremony. My favorite part was the arrow I made as part of his award.  I wrapped it with sections of embroidery thread for each award he earned: his Bobcat, Wolf, Bear, Arrow points, Webelos, Religious Knot and Arrow of light. I loved that it is personalized for him!

September Numbered

I know it's a little late to be wrapping up September's wrap up, but a trip to visit Mickey Mouse interrupted my writing!  Although I've been so busy, I feel like all I have to show for my time is Biology.  Here's a peak at what else I've  been up to.


0 - Books read, hopefully I can get back to it this month.
1-Pack Meeting.  (I'm still working on the post.)
2- Den meetings.  Even though I'm not a den leader, I was able to fill in a couple of weeks!
6 - Articles written for the Homemaking Cottage and Arizona Mama!
10 - Scrapbook pages completed.  I slacked off a little this month and will have to catch up to finish my goal to finish scrapbooking last year by the end of November!
20 - Blog posts.
518 - Page visits; a new record!

Family Home Evening: The Word of Wisdom and Apostle Trivia

One of my kiddos gave a lesson on the Word of Wisdom from the Faith in God book.  Still working on an activity to use to teach more about the Word of Wisdom.  


I focused my activity on the First Presidency and the Apostles.  First, I had everyone write down as many of their names as they could remember.  We could picture their faces, but some of us struggled with their names.  Even with my preparations, I blanked on a couple of names.  The worst part is that we can all rattle of our favorite book or movie characters.


The second part of my activities was some trivia on those same men.  Here's a few of my favorites.

•  He raises pigeons. (Thomas S. Monson)
• As a teenager, he wanted to build and race hot rods for a living. (Jeffrey R. Holland)
• His home never had trees in the backyard so he could play baseball and football. (David A. Bednar)
• He played the clarinet and saxophone in a Jazz Band. (Richard G. Scott)
• He speaks four languages.  (Neil L. Andersen)
• One of his hobbies is dancing. (Deiter F. Uchtdorf)
• Developed nuclear power plants for submarines and aircraft carriers. (Richard G. Scott)

We ended our evening with a cool treat - ice cream.  We have to beat the Arizona heat somehow!

Saturday Sentament : Education

The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows. - Sydney J. Harris

Favorite Feeds Friday

The amount of cool stuff on the internet never ceases to amaze me!  And these are the things that stuck out to me today - actually this morning!  

• Check out the Bugg's *Special Life for a beautiful summer wrap up.
• For you Shannon Hale fans, pictures of her twins are up!  Congratulations Hale family!
• Did you know Saturday is World Cardmaking day?  Kim at Think Fast shares some inspiration.
• I love Travelin Oma's post about getting older.  It happens to the best of us. 
• Marta introduced me to a new online magazine  The Latter Day Woman.  I'm excited to read more!
• Your Home Based Mom gets into the canning season with a recipe for salsa!  Now I have another entry on my list of things to try!
• 24/7 Moms shared a link to Organized Christmas.  I found this website several years ago and it was pivotal to simplifying Christmas and ditching much of the stress of the season. (Christmas is coming!)

I'd love to hear your interesting stops on the Information Super Highway!