Monday, September 29, 2014

FHE: I Am a Child of God


Opening Song: Family Night

Opening Prayer

Scripture: Psalms 82:6

Lesson:
The parable of Rapunzel
with excerpts from the Primary 1: I Am a Child of God Manual
We lived in heaven with our Heavenly Father before we came to earth.
We don't remember living with Him,
but we know we are His spirit children because we read about it in the scriptures.
{see Psalms 82:6}
Heavenly Father is the king of both heaven & earth.
Because we are His spirit children,
we are all princes & princesses.

Rapunzel lived with her parents in the castle when she was a baby,
but she was taken away from them when she was still little
so she doesn't remember that she is their daughter
& that she is actually a princess.

Rapunzel's parents, the king & queen, never gave up their search for her.
They sent out floating lanterns every year in hopes that she would follow them back home.
Our Heavenly Father wants us to choose the right so that we can return to live with Him someday
so He sent us the scriptures & a prophet to guide us back to Him.

Mother Gothel constantly lied to Rapunzel & tried to keep her locked up in the tower
because she wanted all of the hair's magical powers for herself.
She tells Rapunzel that "mother knows best" just to get her to stay.
She didn't want her to discover who she really was & find her way back home.
Satan is the same way.
He lies to us & tries to keep us locked up in his grasp
because he wants all the power & glory for himself.
He wants to take our agency away.
 He tries to trick us into thinking that his way is best.
Satan doesn't want us to find our way back to Heavenly Father.

Rapunzel wanted to see the floating lanterns
just like we should want to read the scriptures & listen to the prophet.
She discovered that she is a princess & she found her way back to her home,
just like we know that we are all children of God
& that we can live with our Heavenly Father again someday too.

photo credit: disneyscreencaps.com

Rapunzel stood in front of the mirror & put her tiara on.
She was the daughter of a King.

Story:
Seeing a Child of God
We can stand in front of a mirror & remember that we are children of God too.
Hold a mirror up in front of each person & tell them that they are a child of God.

Closing Song: I Am a Child of God

Closing Prayer

Activity: Color/decorate crowns while watching Tangled
Here's a link to Rapunzel's tiara

Treat: Paint brush rice krispie treats

xoxo
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Sunday, September 28, 2014

MOPS - Be you, Bravely


The theme for MOPS this year is...
Be you, Bravely

We're going to be talking a lot about courage.

I couldn't make it to the first meeting,
but I was able to go last week when we talked about
Courage to Be a Mom

I can't wait to share my highlights with you (:


xoxo
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Friday, September 26, 2014

Saturday Dishes - Pies & Cobblers


This week's theme is:
Pies & Cobblers

Pies & cobblers are definitely autumn foods to me.
{ya know, with Thanksgiving & all}
Is there a better way to celebrate this first week of fall than with a whole lotta pie?
Pie pie pie pie pie pie pie.
PIE.
For reals tho...
Pie is good.

If you're new to the party
welcome to Saturday Dishes
where every week is a new theme...
Your job is to post your recipes that coincide with that theme!
Easy peasy, right?

Don't have a recipe that goes with the theme?
No worries!
Just sit back, relax, enjoy the other posts,
& be sure to check out the index & upcoming themes
to see what you can post in future weeks!

Saturday Dishes is hosted by:
- Marissa @ Life is Fantasmic -
FacebookTwitterGoogle+Pinterest ♥ Bloglovin' ♥ SoundCloud

- Lisa @ Pebbles and Piggytails -
Facebook ♥ Twitter ♥ Google+ ♥ Pinterest ♥ Bloglovin' ♥ Instagram

Check out our blogs & show us some love!
We love seeing new faces & new followers on our social media,
& comments make us smile (:

Last week's theme was Breads!
Here were a few of my faves...

Joy must have noticed that I was craving sourdough (;

Mmmm... This sounds PERFECT for fall!

I LOVE cinnamon sugar toast, but I have never tried it quite like this!

Lisa's faves might be different than mine,
so don't forget to swing by her blog too! (;
Oh yeah...
& if you were featured
feel free to grab a button!

Life Is Fantasmic

Next week's theme is:
Noodles
so use your noodle
to remember your favorites
& come back next week to share your recipes!

Now on to the linky...
Link up those Pies & Cobblers,
visit other posts,
& make new friends!

Keep spreading the word so we can see new faces at the party!
If you'd like to be a guest host send us an email so that we can get you on the calendar,
& let us know what themes you would like to see in the future.
We'd love to use your ideas!

By linking up at Saturday Dishes, you are giving permission for Life is Fantasmic & Pebbles and Piggytails to feature your posts with one image on social media with links back to you.


xoxo
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Friday, September 19, 2014

Saturday Dishes - Breads


This week's theme is:
Breads

Freshly baked breads smell heavenly (:
I could go for some fresh sourdough right about now.
From the Boudin Bakery Tour at Disney California Adventure perhaps.
Yeah...
That would make my day.

If you're new to the party
welcome to Saturday Dishes
where every week is a new theme...
Your job is to post your recipes that coincide with that theme!
Easy peasy, right?

Don't have a recipe that goes with the theme?
No worries!
Just sit back, relax, enjoy the other posts,
& be sure to check out the index & upcoming themes
to see what you can post in future weeks!

Saturday Dishes is hosted by:
- Marissa @ Life is Fantasmic -
FacebookTwitterGoogle+Pinterest ♥ Bloglovin' ♥ SoundCloud

- Lisa @ Pebbles and Piggytails -
Facebook ♥ Twitter ♥ Google+ ♥ Pinterest ♥ Bloglovin' ♥ Instagram

Check out our blogs & show us some love!
We love seeing new faces & new followers on our social media,
& comments make us smile (:

I may have missed hosting this fun link party for a month,
but that doesn't mean that I didn't check out all of your yummy recipes!
Here's one of my faves from each of those weeks...

Brunch
Vanilla Caramel Syrup from Fabulous Farm Girl
I can't wait to try this scrumptious syrup!

Crockpot / Slow Cooker
Slow Cooker Balsamic Chicken from Strength and Sunshine
I can imagine that this chicken would have awesome flavor
& leftovers could be used in plenty of other recipes!

After School Snacks
Peanut Butter Cup Mini Tarts from So Much To Make
My tummy aches for everyone with peanut allergies everywhere
because chocolate & peanut butter are even more AMAZING when combined!

Garden & Harvest
How To Pick A Perfect Watermelon from Fabulous Farm Girl
For my collegiate watermelon loving sister (:

Mexican & Hispanic
Two Ingredient Southwestern Chicken from Yesterfood
2 ingredients + crockpot?
Can't get much simpler than that!

Lisa's faves might be different than mine,
so don't forget to swing by her blog too! (;
Oh yeah...
& if you were featured
feel free to grab a button!

Life Is Fantasmic

Next week's theme is:
Pies & Cobblers
so come back next week to share some yumminess!
{when come back bring pie.}

Now on to the linky...
Link up your best Bread recipes,
visit other posts,
& make new friends!

Keep spreading the word so we can see new faces at the party!
If you'd like to be a guest host send us an email so that we can get you on the calendar,
& let us know what themes you would like to see in the future.
We'd love to use your ideas!

By linking up at Saturday Dishes, you are giving permission for Life is Fantasmic & Pebbles and Piggytails to feature your posts with one image on social media with links back to you.


xoxo
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Little Sunshine - a birth story

In case you haven't noticed...
Things have been pretty quiet around the blog lately.
I've been enjoying the snuggles & cuddles of our new baby girl!
Meet Little Sunshine (:


I can't believe that she's already a month old!
She is absolutely adorable
& we love that she is part of our eternal family!


Little Dudeman & Little Princess are really great with her!
They love being my helpers (:


Today I'm going to read share with you her birth story...
Once upon a time
in a land known as central Indiana
lived a small,
but growing family.
It was the beginning of August
& the mama was having a tough third trimester.
She still had a couple weeks to go
but she felt larger & much more drained than her previous two pregnancies.
Maybe it was because of the stairs
or simply because she had two other children
that required so much of her energy.
Nobody truly knows.
She was torn between wanting the baby to come ASAP
so that she could be more comfortable & see the sweet little girl,
& enjoying the last couple weeks of baby kicks & only two kidlets while she still could.
Sleepless nights were inevitable either way.

The family went to church on Sunday, August 3rd
& the mommy noticed she was having some contractions on the drive home.
They got home & changed into comfy clothes
then she started timing them just in case.
They were 10-15 minutes apart
so nothing to get too excited about,
but they weren't stopping.
That evening they got as close as 8-10 minutes apart
with the occasional contraction only 5 minutes from the last one.
They continued all through the night
although they weren't so strong that they kept her up.
She had an appt the next day,
& was excited to see what the OB had to say about the progress.
Her contractions were roughly 5-8 minutes apart
& they seemed to be getting stronger.
The mom was slightly disappointed to find out that she was only dilated between a 1 & 2
& that the contractions were most likely just braxton hicks.
Weren't braxton hicks supposed to be painless & sporadic?
They kept up at that same pace the entire day
& all throughout that night,
but when she woke up on Tuesday
they were gone.
They would come back to tease her
from time to time every day
for the next two weeks
but they were definitely more sporadic at that point.

Her father,
whom her children refer to as Grampa,
came out to visit the weekend of her due date, the 16th,
just in case the baby decided to make her debut on or before then.
Alas, the child had other plans.
Grampa had to leave early that Monday morning to go to work
since he was also on a business trip a couple hours away.
He assured the family he would return on Thursday
with hopes to meet his newest granddaughter.

The expectant mother went into her appt that same Monday
to discover that she was dilated to a solid 3.
Her OBGYN stripped the membranes
& scheduled an induction for the next morning at 6 AM
just in case the baby didn't come on her own before then.
The mom took her kids to the park & they went on a couple walks throughout the day.
She even ate half of a fresh pineapple that evening to speed things up.


Really though.
It was quite delicious!

She & her husband stayed up late that night
instead of getting extra rest like they probably should have
because they were so excited to see their newest addition the next morning.
Also because they had started a Harry Potter marathon the week before
& simply HAD TO watch 'Deathly Hallows: Part 2' before the baby came.

No regrets.
Okay, maybe a little bit.
I was pretty drained the next day...

They woke up bright & early at 5 AM the next morning.
Let me rephrase that.
It was early, but definitely not bright outside.
She noticed that she was having regular contractions around 5:30
& they seemed to be getting closer together.
Was it the pineapple perhaps?
The contractions were roughly 5 minutes apart,
but they were fairly tolerable.


They dropped off their sleepy kidlets
Thanks so much for watching them Chelsea!
then headed to the hospital.
The nurse hooked up the contraction monitors
& sure enough the wife was in labor!
Things were progressing.
However, they were progressing very  s l o w l y...
So they broke her water around 7:30
to see if that would help speed things up a bit.
People didn't come in to check on her very often
since there were so many C-sections & deliveries going on that morning.
The next time she saw her OB was around 10 AM.
The doctor checked her & said she was dilated to a 5... 80% effaced.
Things were happening.
Just not very fast.
A pitocin drip was started around 10:10
& the woman was still doing alright with the pain.
The nurse kept upping the pitocin every so often
then came in a little before 12 to let her know that they would be helping with a C-section.
If she would like an epidural it would have to be right then or in an hour.
Even though she could still tolerate the pain just fine in that moment,
the contractions & pain were getting stronger so she decided to go ahead with it
rather than miss her window of opportunity if she ended up needing it while they were unavailable.
They gave her the epidural,
but then her blood pressure dropped so low that they had to give her epinephrine to bring it back up.
Her lack of sleep & super small way-too-early-in-the-morning breakfast weren't helping.
I was feeling queasy when I woke up... 
 Her blood pressure went back to normal,
but she was still tired, hungry, & slightly lightheaded.
The couple had watched 'Thor: The Dark World' earlier that morning while waiting
& decided to turn on 'White House Down' to kill some more time.
She couldn't feel her contractions at that point,
so she was able to actually enjoy the movie.
After a while, the woman started to notice more pressure
but of course her OB was in the middle of a C-section.
She continued to feel more & more pressure
& was extremely relieved when they finally came in to check her around 2 PM.
Sure enough, she was fully dilated & ready to push.
After 40 minutes of pushing
the couple finally got to meet their sweet little summer baby.
Little Sunshine (:


She was born at 2:42 PM, weighed 8 lbs 14 oz, & was 21 3/4" long!!!
Their other two kidlets were much smaller...
7 lbs 10 oz - 20"
& 7 lbs 3 oz - 19 1/2"

What's even more surprising is that I didn't tear.
At all.
Because I did with the other two.
Weird.

Anywho...
Everything was all fine & dandy until approx 46-47 hours later.

Stay tuned for the second chapter titled:
Postpartum Preeclampsia

xoxo
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