Father's Day Poem - You're the peanut to my butter...

I found this saying on pinterest and decided to create my own version of it.  I'm going to buy Peanut Butter MnM's, Starbursts, Pop Tarts, Froot Loops, etc. to give to my hubby in a basket for Father's day.  We'll also give him some biking clothing he wanted but I wanted to do something cutesy with it and he loves junky food unfortunately.  Luckily the long distance biking sort of counteracts that.

I did two different versions of this Father's Day printable:

I also modified it so it could be used for a friend on any occasion.  Have fun!

Father's Day - You're the BEARY best dad!

For church on Sunday, we are making a small Father's Day gift for each of the children to give their dads.

We put around 20 gummy bears in each 3"x 4" ziplock bag and then I made some tags to staples to the bag.

I designed a graphic to be printed as 4"x 6" pictures at Costco (or wherever).  There are four tags that are 2"x 3" big that fit perfectly when stapled to the top of each bag.  I stuck a little tuft of green tulle behind the tag when I stapled it on.  I hope the dads enjoy them!

Here's the graphic in case you'd like to do this too.

Book Reviews - Suggested Reading for 4th and 5th ALP Classes

I was asked to review the curriculum for the 4th and 5th grade self-contained gifted classrooms in our school district.  Here's a list of suggested books that I have collected information on.  I have only read a handful of these books myself so I am not necessarily providing my own opinions but rather just posting info and links I have found online.  Many of the books seem to be biographical (or autobiographical), historical fiction or realistic fiction.  Many also deal with social and cultural issues.  The teachers are not required to include these books - they are suggestions.

This post is long so read on if interested...

Primary Talk - "If I Live Worthily, the Holy Ghost Will Help Me Choose the Right"

Imagine you have a special friend that you really love to be around.

A friend who helps comfort you when you are sad or scared. 

A friend who makes you have a warm, happy feeling in your heart. 

A friend who encourages you to do kind things for others.

A friend who helps teach you right from wrong. 

You’d probably want to invite a special friend like this to your home.  You’d probably clean your house and plan some things to do that would make your friend feel comfortable and welcome.  When your friend arrived, you’d listen carefully to that friend.  You may even tell your friend how glad you are to be with him or her.

The Holy Ghost is a special friend to you. The Holy Ghost can bring feelings of warmth, love, peace, joy, and can help you want to do good. When you feel the Holy Ghost with you, thank Heavenly Father for this blessing. The Holy Ghost is one of the greatest gifts Father in Heaven can give you.

Just as you’d like to nourish a good relationship with a friend, the companionship of the Holy Ghost can be encouraged in much the same way.  We need to be our best and be worthy to have the Holy Ghost with us.

Here are five ways to live worthy to have the Holy Ghost with us.

Keep our bodies and minds clean.

Have faith.

Avoid sin.

Pray.

Read and ponder the scriptures.

If you do these things, you never need to feel alone, for you will have the most important companion and friend of all—the Holy Ghost.

The above talk is based on these articles from The Friend magazine:

Courting the Holy Ghost

The Holy Ghost Can Help Me

Poem - Help From the Holy Ghost

I love this poem by Erin Renouf Mylroie that was in children's magazine called, The Friend.  This could be used in conjunction with a talk or lesson.

I’m learning how to choose the right.

I’ll do my best both day and night.

But when I’m not sure what to do,

The Holy Ghost will help me through.

In math my grade is not the best,

So when I have to take a test,

I sometimes wish that I could look

At Jenny’s work or in my book.

But then I feel the still, small voice,

And I will make the righteous choice.

There are some big boys at my school.

They fool around and act so cool.

They tell me I should say bad words

And join them to throw rocks at birds.

But then I feel the still, small voice,

And I will make the righteous choice.

My buddy Tom has some neat toys,

Like video games made just for boys.

But if the game makes me feel strange,

I’m shy to say, “Let’s make a change.”

But then I feel the still, small voice,

And I will make the righteous choice.

I’m learning how to choose the right.

I’ll do my best both day and night.

But when I’m not sure what to do,

The Holy Ghost will help me through.

Primary - Manual 5 Lesson 21 "Joseph Smith is Tarred and Feathered"

I love this object lesson taken from this Primary lesson.  This is a great life lesson for people of all ages.  Do we focus on grievances and injustices or our blessings?

Give each child two pieces of paper and a pencil. On the first piece of paper, have each child write several blessings he or she has received. On the second piece of paper, have each child write something unkind that someone has done to him or her.

Have the children place the papers on which they have written their blessings on their laps and hold the papers that describe the unkind acts right in front of their eyes, touching their noses.

Ask the children if they can see the paper on which they listed their blessings.

Explain that sometimes when someone hurts our feelings, we think about our hurt feelings so much that we can no longer see or enjoy our blessings. 

Ask the children to crumple up the papers listing the unkind acts. Collect these papers or have the children put them in the wastebasket. Explain that we can feel happier when we forgive and forget about the unkind things others do and concentrate on our blessings.

Explain that Joseph Smith suffered persecution from many people. Ministers of other religions, strangers, and even some of his friends were unkind to him. He had to decide whether to let this unfair treatment make him angry and unhappy or to be forgiving to these people.

Here are some handouts to use with this lesson.

Primary - Theme and Purposes

Here's the theme and four purposes of Primary in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I think it is important for all of us who work with the children to keep our focus on these important points.  Everything we do should be fulfilling one of these purposes.

They say if the Savior came to visit church, the first place He'd would be to see the children.  I feel blessed to be able to serve in Primary with the children who have such pure and kind hearts (even if they are wiggly and chatty too!).

Tips for Effective Scripture Study

We had a great Stake Conference this weekend and I took a ton of notes because I wanted to remember everything.  One of our Stake Presidency members, who is also a seminary teacher, taught us how to more effectively study the scriptures.  I made this handout based on his talk (not his exact words, but it is what I learned from it).  We are trying to use these tips as we study the scriptures personally and as a family.

Book of Mormon Reading Challenge Schedule

Here's a great chart that shows you how much to read each day in order to read the entire Book of Mormon  starting on June 9th and finishing by August 7th.  If you'd like to change the dates on the schedule, you can email me at pamthemom@gmail.com and I can send you the PowerPoint file so that you can edit it.

My friend at church designed this challenge (and cute schedule) for her Primary class.  I'm not sure if my Primary kids will do it, but I sure am. I think this would be great for teenagers to do on their own as well.

I made another version where instead of reading that much per day, it is on a weekly basis.  It would take 59 weeks to read the Book of Mormon on this schedule (a little less than 14 months).

After several email requests, I also made a generic daily reading chart.  Here ya go.

The Wacky World of English Pronunciation

This shows the craziness of our English language.  Click HERE to read this awesome poem.  (I know this one is super small but you can copy and enlarge it if you want to see it or just click on the link)

Visiting Teaching - June 2013

The Visiting Teaching message for June is about "Joy in Family History."  Click HERE to read the whole lesson.

Here are some handouts to go with the lesson.

A few parts of the lesson that really left on an impression on me were these:

Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has taught that the Spirit of Elijah is "a manifestation of the Holy Ghost bearing witness of the divine nature of the family."

I do feel that Spirit of Elijah and know that families are indeed divine and eternal. I think our hearts can be turned to our family members who are living and who have died.  I want to unite my relatives here on earth by reaching out to them and sharing experiences and love.  I want to do temple ordinances for my loved ones who have passed on so that we can be sealed and connected for all eternity.

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught, "The greatest responsibility in this world that God has laid upon us is to seek after our dead." 

Holy Smokes!  I'd never heard that quote before but I'll sure be scheduling more trips to the temple in June.

Bright Child or Gifted Learner?

Parents often have a hard time knowing if their child is a bright child or truly a gifted learner.  I received this list from our school district.  I am on the "Supporters of the Gifted" district group and we discuss the challenges that come with being gifted and how we can help meet these children's needs.

So if you're a parent who wonders about your child, here are some characteristics to check out.

Primary Lesson 19, Manual 5 - "The Saints Are Taught to Recognize Good and Evil"

Here's my handout for church this Sunday to go with Lesson 19 .  I'm posting it on Friday instead of waiting until Saturday night or Sunday morning LOL.

This is an object lesson that I will be using.  The basic idea of it is from the manual but I added the questions/examples in the beginning and also changed some of the wording so that my younger kids could better understand.

Which would you rather have— an imitation item or the real thing?

Would you rather have a cheap fake flower or a beautiful fresh rose? Would you rather have a valuable diamond ring or a fake ring that will fall apart soon? Would you rather snack on a real apple or a plastic one? Would you rather have a true friend or a person who pretends to be your friend?

Imitations are often of poorer quality or less value than the real things they imitate.  Satan is a counterfeiter. He tries to deceive us with bad imitations of good things Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have given us. He does this because he wants us to follow him instead of Heavenly Father and Jesus.

Refinance with No Added Fees

I had to share my recent great experience with my blog readers.  Keep in mind that I don't get any kickback for putting this blurb on here - my motives are pure and I just want to pass a good deal along.  I blog to spread ideas and happiness, not to make money.

We just refinanced our mortgage and had a great experience (low rate, awesome service, efficient).  I usually dread having to do all the paperwork associated with things like this, but this was relatively painless which was a delight to me.

I HIGHLY recommend Shane Denny with First National Bank if you want to refinance or get a new home mortgage.  He can do business in any U.S. state.  We've known Shane for over 20 years and he is honest, smart, and gets the job done quickly and correctly.  Plus he has a great sense of humor and wonderful personality (a definite bonus).  I did a lot of research and met with various lenders when we decided to refinance, and Shane had the best rates and best pricing so we were thrilled to get a great deal and do business with someone so trustworthy.

If you mention you were referred by me (Pam), he will waive his fees, like he did for us, which saved us a TON of money.  Sure, you still have to pay for your title, escrow and that normal stuff, but there are no added fees like most lenders throw in.  Again, I make no money off of this, I am just trying to share the joy, save you some time, and get you a good deal.

Here's his contact info:
E. Shane Denny
Loan Officer
First National Bank
NMLSR# 315211 
Office: (801) 890-1786
Cell: (801) 592-0369 (call or text)
sdenny@fnbmtg.com

Understanding Your Patriarchal Blessing - Worksheet

Here's a chart to use that goes with THIS LESSON about Patriarchal Blessings.