FHE Reviews- September

9/08/08 Kindness in our Home Lesson: We told the "Warm Fuzzy, Cold Prickly" Story. In a small town the people loved to get warm fuzzies. They were soft to touch and you could put a warm fuzzy in your pocket to hold whenever you felt sad or lonely. Everyone wanted a warm fuzzy. You received a warm fuzzy whenever you said something nice to someone else. It was a happy town full of love. One day a witch came into the town. She was mean and nasty. She did not like the warm fuzzies. The witch would say mean things to others and give them cold pricklies. The cold pricklies killed the warm fuzzies so the warm fuzzy soon left the town. The people were not happy. They did not like to have cold pricklies. They missed the warm fuzzies. Only the witch was happy with cold pricklies. The townsmen learned that saying mean cold pricklies only creates sadness and sorrow. They worked very hard to get the warm fuzzies to come back by saying nice things to one another. We need to use warm fuzzies in our home. Temper tantrums and screaming create cold pricklies. Mommy and Daddy give cold pricklies when they raise their voice in anger or frustration. Cold pricklies chase off the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is the greatest warm fuzzy we can feel. We want the Holy Ghost to always be a part of our home by using warm fuzzies with one another. Edwin shared a mission experience where he had a conflict with another missionary in his apartment. They first used cold pricklies to resolve the conflict. However, neither person felt good about the situation and they both struggled to be happy during the day. When Edwin met up with his roommate they apologized for their poor attitudes and became good friends after that situation was resolved with love and kindness. 9/15/08 Learning Lesson: Doctrine and Covenants 88:119 "Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;" We have been on vacation mode since we moved from Texas in April. It is time to start focusing on a house of learning. Many of Grace's friends are old enough to start school. Grace is still too young for formal preschool, but mom and dad can work together to teach Anne and Grace many things. We want to have a house of learning. It is good to learn about all the wonderful things in the world. We also need to devote a part of our studies to learning about Heavenly Father and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Reading good books helps us learn about many things. Reading the scriptures helps us learn the gospel. 9/22/08 Following a Good Example Guest: George Albert H* Opening Song: I'm Trying to Be like Jesus Opening Prayer: Edwin Lesson: Edwin followed a track of paper footprints across the floor. Each of the children followed in their Daddy's footsteps. At the end of the paper trail they found a picture of Jesus Christ. We discussed how Jesus is the perfect example for us to follow. However, there are good people on this earth today and we can follow their examples. Brother H* said he really admired his father and has tried to follow his father's good example. Edwin followed his father's example for many things in his life. He looks to his mission president as a good role model for his professional career. Grace can be a good example for Anne by teaching her and showing her how to live a happy life in our home. Anne is a good example for Grace during bedtime scriptures and prayers. Scripture: 1 Peter 2: 21 "... because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:" Closing Song: I'm Trying to Be like Jesus Closing Prayer: Brother H* 9/29/08 Powerful Testimonies Guest: NormaDee W* Opening Song: Hymn# 301 I am a Child of God Opening Prayer: Grace Lesson: We matched up a few pictures from ancient and modern day prophets with their testimonies. Grace shared her simple testimony during fast and testimony meeting the day before. We discussed that when we share our testimony with others we share our feelings about our Savior Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. Testimonies invite the spirit to touch our hearts so others can feel Heavenly Father's love. Grandma Dee testified that since she is losing her eyesight rapidly she prays every day to be kept safe from harm. Each night she thanks the Lord for protecting her and allowing her to feel his love through guidance and protection. Closing Song: Hymn #301 I am a Child of God Closing Prayer: Anne Activity: Painted nails with Grandma Dee and ate ice cream and brownies.

It's October!!!

Introducing Sass and Zuzz!!

When the girls woke up this morning I told Grace today was the first day of October. She immediately started grinning and jumping up and down. "Can we wear our costumes?"

Why not?!

The Great Green Jello

The GREAT GREEN JELLO Carnival.

Our stake held a carnival over the weekend. It was FANTASTIC! Definitely the best church party I've been to in a long time. It was well organized and had something for everyone of all ages. Of course there were BBQ sandwiches, corn on the cob and chips for lunch.

A huge air trampoline with a built in slide for the children. They had adults regulate which age group was allowed to play. Under 5 Years old. 5-9 years, 9 and older (occasionally an adult would join it but not for long!) This was another air toy. It was a jungle gym and had a climbing wall in it. The older kids preferred this to the jumping one, but the little kids still wanted a turn to run through the obstacle course.

There were carnival games to play. Bean bag toss. Dart throws. Ball tosses. Horse shoes, and this cute little horse racing course. Anne was a bit short...she just ran right under the course rope and ran through the field with her horse. Grace obviously won the race simply because she stayed in the boundaries! Oh well, candy for everyone!

My barefoot babes running through the grass. Grace made sure Anne was safe from people by holding hands everywhere they went.

Of course a carnival wouldn't be complete without cotton candy and popcorn! The committee did a great job organizing the event. There was plenty of seating for everyone and most of the seating was covered. There was a stage for a talent show and a magic show. I really enjoyed the art table for kids to use paints and make little spin art cards.

It felt like a carnival.

It looked like a carnival.

It WAS a carnival!!!

Oh, and there was a jello contest with hundreds of jello recipes entered. You can't be LDS and not have a little Jello from time to time!

Rafting

We spent the afternoon rafting. It was a great day.

The raft and life jackets were on loan from some of Edwin's co-workers. Thanks everyone! We had a great time. One of the benefits to our little apartment is that we rafted down the river right to our front door! It was perfect! The girls liked the slight rapids and dips we traveled on. No one was injured and our only causality was Grace's shoe. This is the second pair of shoes Anne has sabotaged. Poor Grace misses her shoe and is convinced the fish have eaten all gone.

Oh so sad!

The Birthday Brownies were FABULOUS!

Thanks Edwin for a great day.

Food Storage Ideas

This year we are trying to build our pantry inventory. There are three big problems I have to consider about increasing the amount of food we store in the house.... 1. We will be moving across the country in nine months and need to be able to pack things conveniently. 2. I have had pantry pests and other bugs in every apartment so I need to make sure that all food is protected from bugs, mice, and rats. 3. We are moving to an area where it floods (regularly). This year the city was under 27 ft of water so I need to be prepared for in case we too are flooded! YIKES!!! Oh, and they have tornadoes regularly too.....I'm getting more and more anxious about this move as I think about it.

MY SOLUTIONS?!?!?

PLASTIC STORAGE CONTAINERS!!! Juice Bottles- We drink a significant amount of juice at our house and we prefer to purchase it ready made. I have started cleaning our juice bottles and storing our noodles, dry beans, soup mixes, and some baking items in the bottles. It is a way to recycle the things I use, and they are clear so I can see what I have on hand and how much. I have labeled them and included the cooking times so I don't have to pull out my cookbooks. Edwin likes that they are two deep in the cupboard and they organized the piles of things I had stacked in a box before. Icing Buckets- My sister-in-law Susan suggested I go to the local bakery (I use the bakery at the grocery store) collect their empty icing buckets. I get mine for free, but Susan said some stores charge a little for them, you will have to do your research for your area. The buckets come with a gasket seal on them so they will keep food fresher longer, and they are food grade plastic. They do come sticky (usually rinsed out, but certainly not clean) so it is a bit more work to clean them and dry them so I can use them. They come in 3 gallon and 5 gallon sizes and I have currently stored my flour, rice, and oatmeal in them. Although we are focusing on short-term food storage the buckets can be used for long-term storage too. At http://www.providentliving.org/ under the heading Family Home Storage follow the links to long-term storage to find directions on how to use gasket sealed buckets and dry ice to pack items up to 30 years. Good luck on your food storage endeavors.