Children & Youth Goal: Know Your Worth

Autumn completed a very big goal this week: She created handmade signs of hope, positivity, and encouragement for each one of her classmates in the 6th grade (325 in all) and with the help of a small group of friends hung them on the lockers of each of her classmates to find the next day when they came to school.  It was a covert operation and no one except these few friends know that she is the one behind the whole thing, but just look at these faces!

Here are pictures of just some of the signs that she made--each one unique!  I loved hearing the girls squeal when reading each sign and then hearing them get even more excited discussing some special kid who might appreciate that particular message the most.

Autumn is a special and hardworking girl, and I'm really impressed she was able to get this done with very little help from us!  Her project is closely tied with the old value of "individual worth".  She hopes that her signs help others understand that they are loved and valued in her school and in this world!

 

 

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Autumn's First Talk in Church

 

Isn't it amazing that our Church it taught by the membership?  And that by invitation, regular members are asked to deliver messages called "talks" to the entire congregation on Sunday  mornings??

I mean, it really does amaze me.  We can be taught by the young and the old, the new members and the long-timers, the learned and wise, and everything in between.

This past Sunday, my daughter Autumn (age 12) was given the chance to speak in Sacrament meeting for the first time.

I was really impressed by how composed she was, and she wrote her own thoughts, her entire talk by herself.  Now, she's kind of a quieter girl.  Because of this her composure while delivering her talk impressed me even more.

I am so grateful I was able to watch my girl shine brightly as she testified of her faith in Jesus Christ and the blessings of making righteous choices.  I hope she will always have the glow that I saw on her today:

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Young Women Theme Wall

I love how creative my daughters are.  I walked into one of their rooms recently. It was a hot mess in there, let me tell you, but then I looked up and saw this neat wall that Scarlett had created with the YW theme as the center-piece, and I was really impressed.

All she did was taped a bunch of scrapbook paper to the wall with the YW Theme and it just made everything look "tre chic"!  

I thought I'd pass this along as an idea if any of your girls are looking for a room refresh!

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Neighborhood Field Day

It's been a long pandemic!  But here's an idea that might bring a few smiles the faces of kids you know!

At the end of last school year, we decided to hold our own Field Day for our kids and the children of our neighborhood, since our school's field day had been canceled.

It turned out to be one of the best events of 2020 and it was so fun to be involved and see the kids laughing and doing "normal things" for a change.

Here's what we did, if you'd like to host one this year:

First we gathered, and one of the neighborhood dads lead all of the kids in a series of stretches. (I think we had about 40 kids?)

We split the children up into three age groups and we had them rotate through three physical challenges three times (for a total of 9). There were two parents who served at "coaches" for each group.  They ran the events and kept tallies for each exercise for each child.

For example, the first rotation was things like:

1. How many times can you hop on one foot in 1 minute?

2. How long can you stand on one foot.

3. How many sit-ups can you do in 1 minute?

For the second round we did other events, like the standing jump, and playing parachute games, etc.

Then we did three-legged races, which was hilarious.  Even the parents joined in.  We did a sprint and a "long" run around our park.

Then we took a break for lunch.  Each family sat together on a blanket and ate lunches they had brought.  Then we did an "awards ceremony".  Beforehand, I had given each set of parents a paper certificate for each of their children.  They filled it out with something they were proud of their children for doing in the last year of distance-learning.

After lunch, we all sat on the grass and cheered as each parent stood up and sang the praises of each of their children.  It was a super amazing and special moment.  And each kid just beamed to be awarded and recognized for their special efforts during a difficult year.

Then we did a round of water games: sponge/water relay races, water balloons, and gigantic bubbles!

The giant bubbles might have stolen the show.  I will share that recipe in the next post.

 

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The Ingredients of a Testimony

 

We went to church today, and we actually got to sing the hymns together as a congregation for the first time in a year!  It was a sweet surprise, but today I want to talk about a different sweet thing that happened during our season of at-home church.

The sweet thing was that we got to hear my girls' testimonies quite often and it filled our home with the Holy Ghost.

I recently stumbled on the testimony that my daughter Autumn gave one Sunday as she had written notes to help her say it the way she wanted to.  Here it is:

"Testimonies are like baking cookies.  We practice baking them for our whole lives until they are perfect.

We start our testimonies by gathering all of the ingredients, like going to church and getting baptized.  Then we start mixing the ingredients together, which is like reading scriptures daily and learning in church every Sunday.  And then we put it in the oven and your testimony rises and gets stronger, because you are obeying the commandments and getting personal revelation.  When you are ready, you will have a spiritual and a strong testimony.

And when they are done cooling, you can share them with your friends, so they can have the same experience that you had.  But if you put the wrong ingredients in your cookies, they won't turn out as the cookies you wanted to make...

I know that as we do the right things and be like our Heavenly Father, we will have a strong testimony of Jesus Christ, and we can live with God again.  I say these things, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

I was really touched by the testimony of our resident baker.  I know that the Lord sent us to earth to learn spiritual lessons in a physical world. Autumn's testimony is just one example of that!

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Temple Blessings During a Pandemic

 

One way that the power of the temple has impacted me over the last year is through the example of my 11, now 12-year old daughter. She became eligible to attend the temple for the first time in January 2020. I have never seen one so young prepare so diligently to answer the soul-searching questions she would be asked in her temple recommend interview--questions such as "Do have faith in God and in his son Jesus Christ," and "Do you strive to be honest in all that you do?" Shortly after she attained a temple recommend, temples around the world closed to help stop the spread of COVID-19. A year has passed now, and she is still patiently waiting to enter the temple for the first time. Although this blessing has been slightly delayed for her, I know that choosing each day to live a Godly life and to follow Christ in anticipation of entering the temple has been an even greater blessing for her at this time. I am so grateful for her example, and I am grateful for the power of purity and peace that comes as we grow closer to Christ through temple attendance. "Although our access to the temple right now is limited, it doesn’t change the impact that the temple can have on us in our lives. Through our covenants and ordinances, we have access to the power of godliness in our lives—no matter our circumstances." - Dale G. Renlund

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Strive to Be a Chocolatier

 

Autumn continues to work on her baking skills...this weekend, she turned her attention to making molded chocolates -- just in time for Valentine's Day!

It's so simple and fun...it's just like painting, because you melt the chocolate and use a paintbrush to apply the various colors.  Right up her artistic alley.

It's fun to watch our kids as they explore their interests and broaden their talents.  It's tasty too and was a fun way to pass the chilly weekend.  What are your kids working on for their Children and Youth goals? I'd love to hear...

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Some Personal Progress in the Children and Youth Program

 My girls, how I love my girls!

Two years ago, I worked really hard to help my oldest daughter accomplish her Young Women Recognition Award, while she was still just 12 years old (and before the program was replaced with a different one.)  I found this process to be very helpful in her spiritual progress and maturing.

Although the Children and Youth Program has put that old goals program aside, I am still trying to replicate that with my second daughter Autumn.  Autumn helped a lot with Scarlett's projects and I know she was looking forward to doing something similar, so we're moving forward using the old book as guidance/inspiration.  I want to give her lots of opportunities to seek revelation on her own for what she will do, but there is at least one project that she's doing in a similar way to what Scarlett did.  And we just got approval from her principal to work on this project today.  Here's a little sampling of what Autumn will be making (individualized, handmade locker signs and LOTS more of them) for her classmates:

Just 324 more handmade locker signs to go...

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For the Strength of My Youth

You might remember that last year we spent a number of weeks in family home evening studying the different topics addressed in For the Strength of Youth (which is a guide for standards that youth and all of us should follow to remain spiritually strong & happy!)

One of the things that came out of our discussions is the idea that my children need to let their friends know what their standards are, and that they need to start gathering friends around them NOW who want to live good standards as well, because in the coming years a lot of kids will start to decide how they want to live.  So now is a good time to start building friendships with those who want to support them in righteous living and vice versa.

We realized that as parents we need to actively help them form those friendships and practice keeping the standards in our home with their friends before they have to do it on their own out in the world. (We also need to do this because we just recently moved here and they need opportunities to keep solidifying friendships outside of school!)

To that end we started having "game nights" where they invite their friends over to socialize in our home.  As parents we give them something fun to do and something to eat and then give them space from us and the responsibility to be good hosts and hostesses and uphold our family's standards.

The first time few times we did it, the kids mostly played games.  Another game night we had was so silly and fun and ended with kids doing back flips in my living room!  I really thought, this was so delightful...and a new experience for me, as a parent of tweens.

So, last week, I wanted to have another fun evening for my kids and their friends, but wanted to do something other than a game night...so we decided to have an art night, and it was a huge success.

My kids weren't too excited to paint on canvases because we had just recently done that, so I got the idea from my Art Camp Teacher sister to make "wearable art".  We used the art of Tiff Manuell as our inspiration to make clutches.  Using some canvas material that I already had on hand, the girls painted directly on the canvas material.  When it dried, we sewed them into little clutches or pencil cases.

It's really neat to connect with friends who are so kind and good and to see these girls (and boys) building each other up in friendship and making good choices together.  I could see that these friends had just as much by way of kindness, thoughtfulness, and tenderness to share with my children as I thought we had to share with them.  That is a blessing!

I will be looking for more fun ideas to do on "game night" in the future, so if you have any suggestions, leave me a comment, please!  Thanks!

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Let Them Teach

One of my favorite principles that helps me teach my family is "Let them Teach".

My children get so excited when I asked them to teach a lesson.

Scarlett taught our #ComeFollowMe lesson today. She chose to use a storybook we have called "Oskar and the Eight Blessings" to help us think of ways we can make our scripture study more meaningful. The child in the book, a recent immigrant, has a goal to get to his family before the first candle is lit on Hanukkah. Along the way he experiences 8 blessings that help him meet that goal. Scarlett drew the parallel that if we have a goal to make our scripture study more meaningful, and we work diligently towards that, the Lord will bless us in unexpected ways like the boy in the story.

Scarlett had us each draw a picture of a menorah in our journals and write things we each will do to help our scripture study be more meaningful.

It was a really unique idea and opened up a discussion about Christ being Jewish, about ancient Israel, about the Law of Moses pointing people to the Messiah, about covenants and the way Christ has dealt with man through each dispensation, about how Jesus Christ is "Jehovah" of the Old Testament, and how one of the main purposes of the Book of Mormon is to convince both Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the whole world.

Autumn especially enjoyed and seemed to want to know more about this, which helped me to know that I need to give my kids a reference point and some more historical and religious background as we move forward so that the scriptures we read can be better understood and put in context for them.

But for now, we'll focus on doing the things we listed to help our study be more meaningful moving forward. And those things will take dedication and practice.

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