Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Your ancestors live on - Activity Days

For Activity Days this month we are focusing on family history.


You see...
Your ancestors live on through you,
much like sourdough starter
Boudin Bakery still uses the same sourdough starter that was mixed over 150 years ago.
They save a little bit of the starter dough to mix with flour & water each day to keep the fermentation process going.

We are all descendants of Adam & Eve.
A little piece of them was passed on to their children
& so on and so forth
just like the mother dough at Boudin Bakery...
Our ancestors pass on their genes
as well as their stories
from generation to generation.

It's our job to trace our family lines as far back as possible.
To get to know each of them as individuals.
To learn of their joys & hardships.
To do their temple work.

Something special happens as you trace your lineage back to Adam & Eve.
You'll see familiar names along the way.
Names you've learned about in history class,
names you've read about in the scriptures,
& many names that you probably have never heard of.
As you begin to realize that they are your actual ancestors,
those names become actual people.
They become family.
You'll desire to learn more about them.

You'd be surprised what you can learn from your ancestors.
Chances are that you have more in common than just eye & hair color.
You may be named after one of them.
You may have similar personalities or interests.
You may have experienced similar trials.
Perhaps they have answers to questions you have.

Start small.
Get to know your closest ancestors first.
Then branch further & further out on each line.
See how far you can get & see how much you learn about your family (:

We discussed all of this during Activity Days yesterday.
We shared stories about our ancestors,
ate some sourdough bread,
& helped the girls fill out
My Family: Stories That Bring Us Together booklets
with information that they brought from home.
They are going to finish filling them out with the help of their families.

We also sent them home with this
7 generation family tree
to encourage them to go back a little further with their family history research.
Since the spots are so small we told them it would be okay to just color in the spots after they were entered in FamilySearch.

xoxo
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Sunday, October 5, 2014

MOPS: Courage to Be a Mom


As I mentioned before,
The theme this year for MOPS is 'Be you, Bravely'.
During our last meeting we talked about having the courage to be a mom.

We started by watching this video about the world's toughest job...



Being a mom.
It's definitely the toughest job in the world.
It's also one of the most rewarding.
I would know...

Being a stay-at-home parent means everything is expected of you,
& nothing is expected of you all at the same time.
It just depends on who you ask.

My children expect everything of me.
My husband only expects me to take care of myself & the kids.
(If I manage to get other things done that's great, but we are his priority.)
Some people may expect that my house would always be spotless since I'm home all day.
Others know that even though I'm a stay-at-home mom my house is rarely spotless
because my children expect everything of me.

We talked about how sometimes society thinks that because we aren't earning a paycheck we aren't contributing to society & that we are simply too lazy to work.
It's quite the opposite really.
Stay-at-homes are very busy people.
Cooking,
cleaning,
paying bills,
running errands,
changing diapers,
taking care of sick children,
helping watch other peoples' kids,
scheduling appointments,
going to appointments,
& thousands of other things that come our way.
It's definitely more work than your typical high school babysitting job (;

We talked about how easy it is to get discouraged
when we are doing 'all the things'
& somehow we still can't manage to get everything done.

Then we realize that our children are growing up before our eyes
so we slow down for a bit & embrace those little moments
only to notice exactly how much we are contributing to society.
We are raising these children to be wonderful adults.
We are teaching them important values.
We teach them:
to listen.
to be kind.
to have faith.
to love.
We are teaching them the importance of family,
responsibility,
& so many other things.
We are teaching them all the things they will need to know in order to get through life.

A couple things really stood out to me during the meeting:
"Today is the day that really matters"
"Motherhood is your worthy calling for today, and you ARE enough."

Although they didn't share it at MOPS,
this video also came to my mind...



"You never know how much good you do."
- President Gordon B. Hinckley -

We broke into our discussion groups
where we talked about how difficult yet rewarding being a mother can be.
We also each received paychecks for a gazillion dollars for all the hard work we do!
For some strange reason by bank won't honor it...
Shucks.

We met back up as a large group then finished off the meeting
by watching this inspirational video about the power of a mother's love...


One last thought...
Someone mentioned this poem in our group & I've always loved it:
I hope my child looks back on today
And sees a mother who had time to play.
There will be years for cleaning and cooking
But children grow up while you are not looking.
Tomorrow I'll do all the chores you can mention
But today, my baby needs time and attention.
So settle down cobwebs, dust go to sleep;
I'm cuddling my baby, and babies don't keep.
- anonymous -

xoxo
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Saturday, October 4, 2014

Saturday Dishes - Noodles

If you have posts about family friendly costumes,
feel free to link them up at my 2014 Halloween Costume Party
It will be up the entire month of October & the first week of November (:


Sorry this is up a little late!
I have sick kids...

This week's theme is:
Noodles

Use your noodle to remember your favorite noodle recipes!
Italian to Oriental
& everything in between.
There are so many different types of noodles (:

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 Pies & Cobblers!
Here are a couple of my faves...

All American Lemon Meringue Pie from Pure Grace Farms
I can already taste the lemony goodness!


Chocolate Chunk Pecan Pie from What A Girl Eats
Will I ever go back to regular pecan pie after this? Hmmm... Doubtful!

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:
Soups & Stews
so come back next week to share those stupendous recipes!

Now on to the linky...
Link up your nutritious & delicious Noodle 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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Friday, October 3, 2014

Lazy Day Lasagna aka Quasagna

If you have posts about family friendly costumes,
feel free to link them up at my 2014 Halloween Costume Party
It will be up the entire month of October & the first week of November (:


Lazy Day Lasagna.
For when you want that lasagna flavor,
but you're too lazy to layer it & clean multiple bowls.
My husband likes to call it Quasi Lasagna
aka Quasagna (:

1 pound pasta - cooked
3-4 cups pasta sauce
1 pound ground beef - cooked
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to directions & drain. Pour pasta back into the pot & add pasta sauce, ground beef, ricotta cheese, & 1 cup mozzarella. Stir until well combined & pasta is fully coated. Pour into a greased 9x13 baking dish. Top with remaining mozzarella & parmesan cheese. Cover with foil & bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, removing the foil for the last 10 minutes of baking to lightly brown the top.

Note: We've tried rotini & penne before, but next time I might try broken up lasagne instead to be more true to the name.

Adapted from Sara - Live It Well
xoxo
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Thursday, October 2, 2014

High-Five Postcard Craft


We made these fun high-five postcard crafts for Joyschool this week.
We were learning about community helpers & service
so I thought that a service craft for a community helper would be perfect!


We put these in our mailbox the next day
& I know that it brought a smile to our mail carrier's face (:

xoxo
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Wednesday, October 1, 2014

31 days - 31 posts (again)


Well, I tried to...
My mother-in-law, Gram, passed away
& I went on a blogging hiatus.

I'm going to try to write 31 days again this year
because I never achieved my goal of posting 3 times a week afterwards.
Chances are that I won't post every single day,
but I'll do my best.
Although I enjoy blogging,
I'm a busy mama
who loves baby cuddles
& playing with my children more (;
Really though.
They're only the ages they are once
& I don't want to miss out in finding joy in the journey.

You can check back here to see each of my 31 posts,
or just follow my blog to save the hassle (:

Day 1: Halloween 2014 Costume Party (link party)
Day 2: High-Five Postcard Craft
Day 3: Lazy Day Lasagna aka Quasagna
Day 4: Saturday Dishes - Noodles (link party)
Day 5: MOPS - Courage to Be a Mom
Day 6:
Day 7:
Day 8: Your Ancestors Live On - Activity Days
Day 9: Come and See - Meet the Mormons
Day 10:
Day 11: Saturday Dishes - Soups & Stews (link party)
Day 12: Postpartum Preeclampsia
Day 13:
Day 14: Mormon Enchiladas
Day 15:
Day 16:
Day 17:
Day 18: Saturday Dishes - Pumpkin & Squash (link party)
Day 19:
Day 20:
Day 21:
Day 22:
Day 23:
Day 24: 31 Days Update
Day 25: Saturday Dishes - Halloween (link party)
Day 26:
Day 27: FHE - The Holy Ghost
Day 28: Halloween Dinner - Chicken Parmesan Mummies
Day 29:
Day 30:
Day 31:

xoxo
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Halloween 2014 Costume Party


Pretty self explanatory, right?
Link up your family friendly costumes
anytime between now & November 8th (:


xoxo
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