PRIMARY

I have a new calling again. I'm now the 1st counselor in the Primary presidency. I was somewhat bummed when I was called to this calling (even though I've done it several times before) because I loved being a primary teacher SO MUCH! I had decided it was the best calling I'd ever had and was content serving there. Yet, our Father in Heaven knows us best and I have had the privilege of being called to serve all the children instead of just a handful. This week is my second time teaching sharing time. It is the 4th sunday in the 2013 outline for sharing time manual. The theme this month is "I will Follow Heavenly Father's Plan by Being Baptized and Confirmed". This week is concentrating on, "When I repent, I can be forgiven." I believe in staying true to these outlines since they are so well done.

I will also be using this picture from the Gospel Art Picture Kit.

                             I




The one thing I really wanted to encourage was the use of the figures for the flannel board story on the prodigal son. I found a great place to print these off HERE. If you aren't familiar with Sugardoodle.net, you need to check it out. It is seriously the best resource for any primary calling. I refer to it while serving in any calling.
                                                            Enjoy your Sabbath!

Date Night Calendar

When my husband and I were first married, we decided that it was important to keep dating each other. We designated Fridays as our regularly scheduled date nights and committed to always set that time aside for each other. Through the years of marriage, as children came along, it became even more crucial that we keep this promise to each other. While taking a Marriage and Family Relations Course at church a few years ago, and then having an opportunity to team teach, we came across a very inspiring quote from an Ensign article by Elder Joe J. Christensen of the Seventy  it said:

“Keep your courtship alive. Make time to do things together—just the two of you. As important as it is to be with the children as a family, you need regular weekly time alone together. Scheduling it will let your children know that you feel that your marriage is so important that you need to nurture it. That takes commitment, planning, and scheduling” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1995, 86; or Ensign, May 1995, 65).


Although we have been faithful in this commitment over the years, we have found oursleves in somewhat of a date night rut.

 Conversation is never really a problem, we always have plenty to talk about, but we find ourselves doing the same things all the time. Dinner, and/or movie, or theater...which is wonderful, but we need some fresh, planned ideas that we aren't put on the spot to come up with (kinda like dinner preparations the hour before it needs to be on the table). So when I saw this  wonderful idea on Pinterest, I was inspired to calendar out date nights for the year. The idea on Pinterest was different, you can view it HERE, I just modified it to adapt to our needs. You'll notice that most of our dates include food since I like the luxury of somebody making something for me instead of me making it. Each month has a double date included because there are a few friends we love to do things with and because it's such a fun way to get to know friends better. A year or so ago our Stake President asked us to have a Temple trip on our calendar at all times, as a result, each month has a scheduled temple date as well. Sooo,  *Drum roll please!*
Here is our Date  Night Calendar!

Year of Date nights-

January- 1) Chili’s and movie at home

2) Chuck-E-Cheese for games and Burrito Girl

3) Temple and Chevy’s

4) Home improvement shopping at Jerry’s

February-  1) Barnes & Noble  then Marie Calendars for pie and hot cocoa

2) Double date- Culinary Class 

3) Temple and Sweet Tomatoe

4) Bed tent and games at home

March – 1) Dinner at Outback (husband’s birthday celebration) and a movie

2) Temple and Famous Daves

3) Antique shopping in Coburg and Chiefs

4) double date- Kites at the park and polish dogs

April – 1) Raquette ball at YMCA and Shakes

2) Temple and Claim Jumpers

3) Double date-  Movie and shooters at Applebee’s

4) Mini golf

May- Bowling and Sodas

Double date- Temple and Farm Cafe

Coastal overnighter and walk on beach

3 mile run and breakfast at Shari’s

June- 1) Double date- Picnic by the river and first Friday art walk

2) Cuthburt summer theatre

3) Bach Festival

4) Temple and Senor Taco

July-1) Hike Mt. Pisgha and phase 10

2) Saturday Market and cinnamon rolls

3) Temple and St Honore Boulangerie

4) Double Date- Bike ride on path and Mazzi’s Italian food

August- 1)  Double date- Feed the ducks and hoagie sandwich picnic

2) Cold Stone Creamery and poetry reading

3) Temple- Lake Oswego’s Ice creamery

4) Lane County Fair and funnel  cakes

 Sept. – 1) Roller blading

2) Salem Carousel and dessert

3) Double Date- Dollar Movie (7:00 showing) and popcorn

4) Temple and  Chevy’s

Oct. – 1) Double date laser tag and ice cream

2) Dinner at Davis grill

3) Temple and Kurata Japanese sushi

4) Japanese Sushi night at Mashiko’s

Nov. – 1) Manheim Steamroller and desert at Sweet Life

2) ice skating and dinner at Ox and Fin (Oakway Center)

3) Temple and Anniversary dinner at Olive Garden

4) Bijou Art Cinemas

Dec. - 1)Christmas shopping and Panda Express

2) Take a break movie and popcorn

3) Temple and Lavang Vietnamese

 

Of course we are keeping things flexible seeing that changes often arise with a family. (e.g.- This week we are going to a court of honor and taking one of our sons on our date to Red Robin -his choice- in celebration for his Birthday and his desire for a date with just Mom and Dad.-We will still be including Chuck-E-Cheese for games!) but this is a great springboard for now and has so far suited us just fine. You can find more Date Night ideas HERE.

The best part about dating your spouse is that you can genuinely enjoy one another...none of the first date nervousness and discomforts, instead an increase in love and lifelong friendship with one another. 
                                                             Happy Dating!!
*Added tip- Always have a list of Baby Sitters with their phone numbers by the phone!

 

Baby Jesus Ornament

I wanted to do something special for my Primary class this Christmas. Something that would help them remember the reason for the Christmas season, so when I saw this idea over at Crafty Sisters, I knew it was what I was looking for!


I made 12 of them and gave them to my children and the Primary Presidency. It really made me wish we had more too. They were really easy and a lot of fun to make!

I wish I had one of mine to show you, they were a little different since I was going strictly by memory while purchasing items and making them. I didn't have any eyes on mine, I would have made them closed though with a sharpie...just ran out of time.  Go over to Crafty Sisters for the tutorial! They are so wonderful!

Campfire Cupcakes

For Girls' camp this year, we we wanted to make a special treat for the girls in our ward.  I remembered seeing these darling cupcakes in a family fun magazine quite a few years back. So, thanks to google, I was able to pull up some images and came across one that was most like that in my memory.

  

The first counselor and I got together and decorated them. It took us an hour, but they turned out darling! (don't you think?)

 and were, oh-so-easy, to make! You use any flavor cupcake (we used yellow) frosted with rich buttercream frosting (this was TO DIE FOR!) and sprinkled with yellow sugar sprinkles. The wood was the pretzel sticks and the fire was made with fruit roll ups. Mini marshmallows for the roasting stick and VOILA! Totally adorable. No fuss. The Young Women were surprised and LOVED them.

 Check it out for yourself:

                       They are so good about letting me take pictures of them. Aren't they fun!

 It was a fun evening.

 

 

Boy do I LOVE these girls!

 

Flowers

Hey, hey, HEY! My first post as a counselor in the Young Women's Presidency! Hello, hello. It's good to be back. The reason for my post today is to share a project we did for our Jan. and Feb. activities. Although we did this for Valentine's day, you can do this for any time really, as a service project. In January we made cards and fabric flowers, then delivered them to the single sisters in our ward. They were so surprised and loved them!

Sorry for the blurry picture, you get the idea. We were in a hurry when I realized I hadn't taken one get and quickly snagged this shot. We put them in boxes that were 12 for a dollar at the Dollar tree and included a note. The backs have pins or alligator clips on them. This was a fun activity for all the girls and they learned something new! You can go here to find some great tutorials on flower making.

 Have fun!

Pumpkin

Last Sunday Jeremy helped me pull these handouts together.

We made 2 batches of pumpkin cookies with mini-chocolate chips and packaged them up. The header says "have your pumpkin and eat it too" to encourage everyone to cook/bake for the holidays using items they would have regularly stocked in their food storage. On the back I included two websites for them to refer to to help save money and stock up as well. The idea is to build your supply as you use it in a frugal way.

     As you can see on the packaging, I actually made a mistake and noticed too late into the process. So when I made my announcement, I apologized and joked that it was a reminder that we all make mistakes an I, for one, am far from perfect! They were a big hit.

   This is also my last Provident living post as my position in our ward has changed. I'm looking forward to serving now as second counselor in the YoungWomen's organization. As my post will evolve and change in content, please refer to all my ideas as often as you wish. I know they were all inspired for our ward and situation and encourage you, as you seek to fulfill your callings, to pray for guidance. I know He will direct you as he did me. I'm grateful for my experience in this calling because it has just increased my testimony that Heavenly Father will bless and inspire us as we seek his guidance in all positions we serve in. He wants us to be successful as we are diligent in his service. This was a calling I could do nothing or little with (as I did for 1 1/2 years) or take to the highest capacity possible (which I did for the last year and a half). It has been a great blessing in my life to see His hand in all things.

I want to leave you with my pinterest account information and refer you to my Provident Living Folder. This is in hopes that you will find even more inpiration for your calling and individual situation.

We are blessed when we are prayerful!

An Increase

September was the my month to encourage increasing food supply. There were only two opportunities for me to promote this, so the first Sunday I had the chance, I sent arount the quote found on the church website by the first presidency regarding family home storage and included 3 websites where information for saving money in this endeavor could be found:

"Our Heavenly Father created this beautiful earth, with all its abundance, for our benefit and use. His purpose is to provide for our needs as we walk in faith and obedience. He has lovingly commanded us to “prepare every needful thing” (see D&C 109:8) so that, should adversity come, we can care for ourselves and our neighbors and support bishops as they care for others.

"We encourage members world-wide to prepare for adversity in life by having a basic supply of food and water and some money in savings.

"We ask that you be wise as you store food and water and build your savings. Do not go to extremes; it is not prudent, for example, to go into debt to establish your food storage all at once. With careful planning, you can, over time, establish a home storage supply and a financial reserve."

—The First Presidency, All Is Safely Gathered In: Family Home Storage, Feb. 2007, 1

http://www.thekrazycouponlady.com/

http://www.extremecouponing.com/     and

http://www.smartfoodservice.com/special.aspx

The following week my children helped me make these fun handouts:

Hope this inspires and helps you to encourage that food supply in your ward's happy homes!