Why didn't I think of this before???

So, I found a new blog I have been visiting lately:

Being LDS

Check it out, you will really like what you find. I was reading one of her blogs about "Life Lessons Preschool" and she gives ideas for "Fun, cheap, and Slightly Messy Educational Activities to Do At Home." One was called "Wheat Play" which I thought was a brilliant idea. It reminded me of Carter's nursery class in Rexburg, where they had a big container of rice for the kids to play with.

Since I did not have wheat or enough rice (since we do like to eat rice, preferably rice that hasn't been played with) I remembered I had a box full of bags of beans I had been collecting from WIC...which I just never used! I knew that beans would be perfect!

So I set up our "play station" and the kids....well... PLAYED!!!

They LOVED it. It kept them entertained for probably an hour. Kya did great too, picking up handfuls of beans and then opening her hands up and watching them fall to the table. Then she started trying to put the beans in the dishes, and when that got old, she began kicking the beans, sending them flying EVERYWHERE!!!! Anna and Carter weren't too happy about that! So, I moved Miss Loo to the floor, where she kicked to her little heart's content!!!

Of course Carter HAD to have his tractors...which I happened to find at the dollar store! Great buy and he has loved them since day one! The kids scooped and piled, organized, spooned, poured, strained....and just had a blast! It was really easy to clean up too!

We will be doing this activity again this week...if not everyday! Another idea I got: water stations,where the kids can play and experiment with water. Once again, fun and brilliant! I am compiling a list of activities for the winter, and these will be life-saving!!

Oh...I hope you all had a great weekend and a happy Sunday! My Sunday was perfect (minus the part where Kya has come down with a nasty croupy cold and my sister has still NOT had her baby yet!)

Our lesson in Sunday School was awesome, and it went right along with a book I just finished:




It was incredible and I highly reccomend it! It only took me two nights to read it too, which was nice since I don't have a lot of time for reading right now. Here is the Preface, for your reading pleasure:

"We live in a world at war. I am referring not only to wars between countries but also between former friends, siblings, spouses, parents, and children. Conflicts between countries are perhaps more dramatic, but the hot and cold wars that fester in the hearts of family members, neighbors, and friends bring more pain and suffering to this earth in a single day than have all the world's weapons since the beginning of time. If there ever is to be peace on earth, we first must find the way to peace in our hearts and homes. 'I am the way,' the Lord declared. 'After your tribulation, I will feel after you,' he promised. 'And if you harden not your hearts, and stiffen not your necks against me, I will heal you.' Nothing is more important than understanding not just that the Lord's atonement is the answer to our daily, painful predicaments, but how it is the answer. This book is an account of how the Lord 'feels after us to heal us,' and what we must do to receive the peace of his healing. It is the story of a husband and wife whose marriage is in trouble. It could just as well be the story of a father and child who aren't speaking, or of neighbors who bristle at each encroachment over a property line. The Lord's atonement reaches deep into the trouble of daily life to the very bottom of every dispute and hurt feeling. To the predicament of a hard heart, he offers the promise of a new one. To the pain of hurt feelings, he offers the balm of his love. To the utter loneliness, he offers the companionship of the heavens. His birth was heralded by the words 'Peace, good will toward men' because his atonement is what makes peace and good will possible. Whether in a home or a bunker, the way to true, deep, lasting peace is only in and through the Prince of Peace. 'He is our peace,' Paul declared, for through his atonement he has 'broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity.' There are far too many partitions in our hearts and homes and too much enmity between us. But the carpenter of Nazareth has constructed for us peace. My desire is to explore with you how."

This book opened my eyes to a new level of understanding about Christ and His Atonement. You will LOVE it. Then our Sunday School lesson is from the New Testament, Lesson 35: "Be Ye Reconciled to God." (The scriptures studied were in 2 Corinthians) If you didn't get this lesson yet, or missed it, you should read it. One of the quotes from the manual (which is on my handy dandy iPad, where I can go from text to scripture with just a touch...so lovely)...anyhoo, there was a quote by President Gordon B. Hinckley that stuck with me all day today,

"We see the need for [forgiveness] in the homes of people, where tiny molehills of misunderstanding are fanned into mountains of argument. We see it among neighbors, where insignificant differences lead to undying bitterness. We see it in business associates who quarrel and refuse to compromise and forgive when, in most instances, if there were a willingness to sit down together and speak quietly one to another, the matter could be resolved to the blessing of all. Rather, they spend their days nurturing grudges and planning retribution...

"If there be any who nurture in their hearts the poisenous brew of emnity toward another, I plead with you to ask the Lord for strength to forgive. This expression of desire will be of the very substance of your repentance. It may not be easy, and it may not come quickly. But if you will seek it with sincerity and cultivate it, it will come...

"There is no peace in reflecting on the pain of old wounds. There is peace only in repentance and forgiveness. This is the sweet peace of the Christ, who said, 'blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.' "(Matt. 5:9) ("Of You It Is Required toForgive," Ensign, June 1991, 2, 5).


I am so thankful for good books and Sunday School teachers. Because of them, I am learning how to be a better person, and gaining a better understanding of my Savior and feeling closer to Him each day.

This week: Try to be a peacemaker and help our children learn as well.


One more thing: I think I have found just the right words to put on a canvas to hang above my bed:

Moroni 7:45 "And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."

What a nice reminder to read every morning and night. (read verses 44-48, all so good)

That's all for tonight. The baby is coughing and fussing...I really despise sickness....so I need to make sure she is okay. If I don't post before this weekend, I hope you all have a wonderful conference weekend!! I am so excited and anxious to hear the words from our beloved Prophet and Apostles. My soul needs the spiritual nourishment...