Tide pool discoveries and humble pie

This week we are talking about humility

I want to start out by a quote from LaNae Valentine, Ph.D .This article is taken from a BYU devotional address, “Discerning the Will of the Lord for Me,” given on June 29, 2004.

"As you go through life, sometimes painful or disappointing experiences will tempt you to build barricades around your heart. Feelings of inadequacy or unworthiness can become barriers if they cause you to turn your heart away from Heavenly Father. Through disobedience, you can roadblock revelation by hardening your heart.

When there are blockades between your heart and the will of your Heavenly Father, you will have difficulty choosing in accordance with God’s will.

But you can, like Nephi, pray that your heart will be softened (see 1 Nephi 2:16). That removes a roadblock. You can ask Heavenly Father to heal your broken heart (see Psalm 147:3). That moves another obstacle out of the way. Keep listening to your heart, keep trusting in the Lord (see Proverbs 3:5–7), and He will help you to know what your barriers are and how to remove them. Then you’ll be without roadblocks on the road to righteous decisions."This part of talk or all if it found here

Scripture:3 Nephi 9:20
 "And ye shall offer for a a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost, even as the Lamanites, because of their faith in me at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not"

We read The King who wanted to touch the moon

Since we talked about the moon in our story,U thought it went well with tides.We talked about what causes tides and learned more about tide pools.

We went to a beach at low tide and found a tide pool and made soooo many discoveries!

 How long is seaweed? Is it a plant?

 We saw so many jellyfish!Ouch watch out!

 The water at high tide can cover this area wow!

 You may not be able to see him but there is a crab.He was really fast!

 My oldest rescued and caught this fish.We are still trying to find out what it is.

 Where did my daughter go?Fun in the sand.We had a great time!

5 or more ways to survive a road trip!

There is still a lot of time to travel for the Summer!What do you pack? What do you bring to entertain the kids?

First I suggest writing a list.You can also have the older kids write their own.

2.Stop at interesting places.

3.Bring toys including rattles,books,mirrors and a flashlight to entertain the babies.

4.Have a lot of creative activities and games to keep them busy.Dry erase markers can work on windows.Post it notes are also fun.They can write on them and stick them places.We wrote characters from movies on them and then placed them on our foreheads and asked yes or no questions until we guessed who they were.

Make cereal necklaces or paper clip ones.You can also make things with pipe cleaners or write stories with stickers.

5.Make frequent stops and have lots of snacks!

How to teach kids to make an effort

Scripture:
D&C 98:3
“Therefore, he giveth this promise unto you, with an immutable covenant that they shall be fulfilled; and all things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good, and to my name’s glory, saith the Lord.”

It takes a lot of effort for us to learn a new task or to take responsibility for our messes.It takes even more effort ,I think, to admit fault.I feel like it is a constant battle to get the kids to do things or tell the truth.I found this lesson making an effort.It has videos to go along with each lesson.It also has an activity.In this lesson they talk about life as a game.We have the opponent or our inner voice.This lesson also defines both effort and taking the easy way out.

 Effort: Working hard to achieve a goal; leads to long lasting fulfillment.
Easy Way Out: Not making an effort; leads to temporary fulfillment
 They have 12 lessons which are really great!I will definitely be coming back to this!

Writing prompt:Think of a time when something was hard but you did it anyway.How did it feel? Was it easier the next time?

For 2 and up
Letter:E for effort
Number:6
Shape:circle

When we make a bad choice we can try to make it right or we can lie hoping it will go away.In the movie Emperor's New Groove Kronk is given the task of disposing of the Emperor.He throws him in the river but his conscience gets to him and these comical characters appear on his shoulder in Kronk's conscience 

We don't always hear voices but we do feel bad or sad.It may be a feeling that something is wrong or we feel happy when we do what is right.This is God's spirit to help us as we make an effort to make good choices.

Here is how our brochures are coming along:

We can be Pioneers too!

Last week we talked about courage.We talked about those in the scriptures who showed courage.David fighting Goliath was among those stories.In a talk President Thomas S. Monson, First Counselor in the First Presidency, said: “David went to the brook and carefully selected five smooth stones with which he might meet his enemy. … Just as David went to the brook, well might we go to our source of supply—the Lord. What polished stones will you select to defeat [your] Goliath?” President Monson suggests choosing the stones of courage, effort, humility, prayer, and love of duty (see “Meeting Your Goliath,” Ensign, Jan. 1987, 2–5).

Here is our character wall I forgot to show before with our bee not afraid and believe in yourself.Last week we added the courage bear.I am still thinking on what visual I want for this weeks!

Over the next few months I want to talk about these stones.First was courage to stand up when times are hard.This week is effort.We show effort with hard work.It is more challenging these days to teach children hard work.We have so much in the ways of technology and convenience.Back in the 1800's they did not and they had to work hard.I think the pioneers are examples of these five stones and very good examples to follow.

Scripture:
D&C 98:3
“Therefore, he giveth this promise unto you, with an immutable covenant that they shall be fulfilled; and all things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good, and to my name’s glory, saith the Lord.”

As pioneer day approaches I think of how many hardships they suffered all for the benefit of those to follow, including us.We started with a video Faith of our Fathers which led to our talk of What's a pioneer?

Writing prompt: Imagine you are a pioneer what hardships would face?

Nursery Rhyme:Over the river(modified slightly by yours truly:))
Over the river and through the woods,(move babies legs like a bicycle)
the pioneer's trek did go
The ox knows the road,
to carry its load,
Through the white and drifted snow, O!
Over the river and through the woods
Oh, how the wind does blow.
It stings the nose(touch babies nose)
And bites the toes(touch babies toes)
As over the ground we go.

For my Tot:
Letter:P for Pioneers
Number:6 We counted 6 wagon wheels
Shape: circle

8 years old:write in journal.Check uppercase and proper punctuation.We also did some math problems.

6 years and up:write in journal.Practice lowercase a,h and d.Use 100's chart to practice counting.

This week we are also researching and making a brochure for our vacation.Today we just talked about San Jose and the kids had to work together to design the front of it.

5 ways to play with dino's in play-doh

We finished up with courage.We talked about how you can find comfort and courage in the scriptures.There are 3 promises in specific we talked about.

 John 14:26 (the Holy Ghost), D&C 108:8 (the Lord will bless us and deliver us), and 1 John 2:25 (eternal life). 

It is the last day of camp for my older kids so my preschooler wanted to play with play-doh.

1.Make foot prints and talk about dinosaurs.More specifically that some walk on all fours and some on two feet.

2.Make fossils

3.Use an excavator to find the fossils.

4.Break the dinosaurs out of dirt(play-doh).

5.Make your own dinosaur with just a circle and play-doh.Be warned these creatures are scary.

Writing prompt:Write about a character that you can relate to and why.My 8 year old picked Jared from Spiderwick Chronicles because they both are curious.My daughter picked Pinkalicious because........drum roll please.....yep you guessed it she likes pink!

We also counted by fives and for my 8 year old we went over the 5's time tables.

Lego challenge-dinosaur

We are continuing to talk about courage.We talked about different scriptures to find examples of someone being courageous. 1.David and Goliath 2.Joseph SmithDavid went up against a giant as a boy. Joseph Smith although he was persecuted did not deny that he saw a vision.

We are continuing to have dinosaur fun with legos.I love all the challenges you can find online with legos.They are good for fine motor development and being creative! 

I just had to throw in what my kids call chocolate muffins but all they are is Gf cornbread mix and chopped up hot dogs.Follow the package directions.Slice and add hot dogs.Cook in muffin tin

Oh say can you say di-no-saur?

Scripture:Deuteronomy31:6"Be strong and of good courage" What does it mean to be courageous? When faced with a challenge how can we show courage? We talked about and sang Nephi's courage.

Nursery Rhyme: Teddy bear Teddy bear

Number:5

We are continuing this week talking about Dinosaur. My older 2 kids are at Patriot Camp this week so it is just my Preschooler and my baby.We read Oh say can you say di-no-saur by Bonnie Worth.In this book the Cat in the Hat takes you to a dinosaur museum.The kids learn how to say the different names of dinosaurs.

For my Preschooler we talked about what letters they start.I cut a D from construction paper with a head, feet,spikes, and a tail.The original idea is found here

Next we put the dinosaurs in groups.

We arranged them from biggest to smallest.Then we arranged them by colors.

He really likes 5 little Monkeys,but instead of monkeys I substituted dinosaur. Each time one would fall off the bed I would have him count how many were left.

We had to make dino cookies.We tried to imprint dinosaurs into them but it didn't really work with sugar cookies.The older 2 got home just in time to enjoy them!

For my Kindergartner and second grader I had them count by 5's and write in their journals.

Summer of Success- week 5

July8th-12th

How was every one's 4th of July? It's been a very busy weekend with celebrations and family in town!

Here is a break down of week ahead
Theme:Dinosaurs
Scripture:Deuteronomy 31:6
"Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee."
Nursery Rhyme:Teddy Bear,Teddy Bear
Number:5
Skills to work on daily-reading,writing,math

Monday: 5 Little Dinosaurs
Tuesday:play at the park
Wednesday:Teddy bear picnic
Thursday:Dinosaur train
Friday:prepare for next weeks lesson
Saturday:

Schedule
Wake up and do family contributions .They earn points and prizes.
9-10 1 hr of schooling-lesson,worksheets, reading,activities for theme or unit
11-12 outside /do things on bucket list
12-2 lunch and quiet time
2-3 snack &outside time
4-5 dinner prep,inside activities, dinner clean up
5-7free time and bedroom clean up
7-8 quiet time
8 in bed can read do things quietly until fall asleep
This is a very flexible schedule and I know there will be late nights :)

For the one hour of schooling is broken down by age as follows:
8 and up-daily tally of minutes read.add them to next days tally for math.fix misspelled sentences,word of the week found in dictionary. There will be words from reading too.After reading a book write character, plot,setting,climax and main ideas. Reading and picking an animal or whatever the interest.Prepare a report.This report will be broken down as data is collected and be done at child's pace.Weekly grocery list written and plan one meal.Counting practice and practice telling the time may also be done.An occasional spelling test might be given.Each subject will take 15 min.

5-7 year old will work on sight words,word families.Writing ideas and punctuation. They can write words for grocery list and identity what it starts with. Basic addition and subtraction will also be done.Counting by 2's and 5's and 10's.

2-4 letter,number,shape and color of the day.It is basically repetition at this point and lots of play.For the grocery list they can associate pictures with their corresponding words. They can also work on counting 1-10.

3 months-24 months
The more reading and singing the better! We earn nursery rhymes and play,explore.The older babies/toddlers may be able to count from 1-3.

Writing prompts for the week:
What was your favorite activity for the fourth of July?
Name 3 things you learned at patriot camp
If you could be a character in a book who would you be?why?
What do you want to know about your Grandparents? ......

Hope you all have a happy and successful Summer!

Sweet land of Liberty

Before my day gets any crazier I want to get my post up! This week has been all about the fourth of July and America.
Scripture:D&C 98:5
 And that law of the land which is constitutional, supporting that principle of freedom in maintaining rights and privileges, belongs to all mankind, and is justifiable before me.
We did the pledge of Allegiance today.The baby liked watching the flag.

We read the book Sweet Land of Liberty by Callista Gingrich. I decided to do some yoga with the story.It is about an elephant who wanted to know how America came to be.So Ellis the elephant goes to the library and starts reading books about the pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving.The kids put their feathers on and ate a pretend feast.

We represented the Boston tea party with the boat pose and then we pretended to throw tea overboard.

The kids pretended to sign the Declaration of Independence. They wrote their names in the air.It was a good time to ask my Preschooler, no longer a Toddler what his name started with.We wrote an R in the air.We also did the eagle pose.

George Washington fought with many men and woman for our country. We did warrior 1 and 2.The second warrior honored in this book was Abraham Lincoln.

Next we were pioneers with wagons.We made wheelbarrows by having one kid lie on his tummy while the other kid grabs their feet.Then they walk around the room on their hands.

The book talked about living our dreams.Several inventors were mentioned including the Wright Brothers. So we all flew around the room.

Next we pretended to be the Statue of Liberty.

They made great flags!

The kids learned about the race to the moon.So they rocketed to the moon, 3 ,2 ,1 blast off from child's pose.

I found this great fireworks breath to end with.The kids had fun with this one!

Craft:Firework shirts.What you need:
paint,shirts,and pipe cleaners you can see how to make the fireworks with the pipe cleaners here

3 months and up:I wanted to make the baby something so I cut red strips from felt and used the white stars I cut from yesterday. Last I cut a blue rectangle. I pit it all on white felt.I am no Betty Ross but I like our flag and my Preschooler really loved making things from the felt.He kept calling me over to see his creations.We also recited the Nursery Rhyme. We do this all week.Repetition is key!

Color:red and blue
Shape:rectangle
Number:13.Now that my Preschooler is more comfortable with his numbers 1-10.We tried to count to 13,because of the 13 colonies.

HAPPY FOURTH EVERYONE!!!

Why the fourth of July?

Independence is something we all want and look for and want.Even a 2 year old when they declare "i do it" knows he wants things his own way.

In the scriptures we read in Doctrine and Covenants 98:5
" And that law of the land which is constitutional, supporting that principle of freedom in maintaining rights and privileges, belongs to all mankind, and is justifiable before me."

We looked up what freedom means and talked about the 13 colonies and the declaration of Independence.

We watched The first July 4th to help the kids get an idea how it all started.

We talked about who wrote it?Thomas Jefferson
My daughter when she heard me say Thomas shouted Monson! Not the prophet today silly girl.I am glad she knows who he is though,and soooo cute.When she was younger she would say "spider man" instead of amen.

After that tangent hee hee I asked who the first president was.George Washington. Would you rather have a King or a President?This question brought up a very interesting conversation.We pretended to sign the declaration. Here the kids are with a copy of the declaration of Independence.

For the baby and the Tot we did the color white and star for a shape.I cut some stars out of white felt.It is good fine motor practice. We are still doing tummy time and books.The Nursery Rhyme is Fourth day of July by Jean Warren to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle little Star.

Today is special, do you know why?

It's the 4th day of July.

See the flags passing by.

See the fireworks in the sky.

It's a special celebration.

It's the birthday of our nation.

Jean Warren

Meditation Monday -7 ways to make it through your week without your spouse

These past few weeks have been really tough with my hubby on business trips and Scout camp.First off I want to know how you single parents can do it! I haven't had a break in several months.If there is anything I have learned that is so important for a Mom to do is to make time for yourselves. It is really hard to do! I have been so stressed and tired.I have yelled and lost my cool more than I would like to admit! It has been hot and the kids have been fighting more.How can we find the time? How can we find peace?

1.Start over! Let's look at our happiness blueprint again.Stop and look at what is most important. What I mean by this is to realize whatever you did or didn't do so far is in the past.If your house is a mess decide this week what needs to be cleaned and be specific. Don't just say you want to clean the kitchen. Break it down.For example dishes,counter, floor,table.Maybe you want more than one room.Each day can be a couple of rooms .I think you get the idea right?You are on your own give yourself a break!Short sessions are better than a couple long ones.
2.Delegate to your kids.I know most of you are thinking this is more trouble than it is worth!I hate to nag and make sure they get it done.This is a tough one.You can come up with a reward system. Start with lots of praise and rewards every time ,then as they get in the habit, taper off until their reward is a job well done!
3.If all else fails ask for help.It may feel like a defeat but to catch up sometimes we have to.
4.After you have done the first 3 steps you need to figure out what is left. There is activities to keep kids occupied and dinners,time to relax etc.....Schedule it all!Schedule one day out and one day at home. I have said it before and I will say it again.Write as much down as you can until it becomes second nature to you.
5.Plan your meals, make them ahead and cook meat to use for several meals.My crackpot is simmering away as we speak.
6.After you have planned it all be prepared to be flexible. Some things will take longer. Your kids may be in bad moods that day or sick. Maybe you just don't have strength that day.
7.It is tempting to do all the chores before bed but then you run out of juice for me time.So instead set a timer for 15 min or so, do the essential things, and then have some down time! Best of both worlds right?This is when I need to do my meditation and let go of the stress for the day!There is a lot of it!

What do you like to do to relax or wind down at the end of the day?

Laundry is done!