Journal Jars...And A Couple Of Blogs

OK, so as you all may know, I use Google Reader. One of the blogs I have subscribed to is The Plaid Post. I really like it. One of the posts she shared the other day was about Christmas being just around the corner. She also shared a website (which I am now also subscribed to) called Organized Christmas. It is great!!! Full of great ideas to help you with the busy holidays. I really suggest you check it out.

I just want to share one great idea I found there. It is an idea about Journal Jars. The idea behind a journal jar is to fill it with strips of paper with prompts, such as "What is your favorite game to play and why?" or "If I could have any super power it would be..." or "Five things I am most thankful for today are..." If you go to the website, you can download a bunch of great journaling prompts. (click here) Once you have a jar all full, it helps the child with daily (or weekly) journaling. It will become something you child and you can treasure for years to come.

When D gets older, I hope to start a family tradition of journaling. I would like to start a family journal. Also, I think journaling a great Sunday activity. Even when your kids are small, and too young to write, use PIE Night as a time to journal. As your child meets with Dad for one on one time, have Dad help them record their thoughts and feelings.

Let me know what your family does to record your own histories.

***Note: The prompt link was for a child's journal jar. Click here for some adult journal jar prompts. We need to be journaling too. :)

Word Walk

Fall is coming, and that is one of my favorite times of year to take walks. And I can't think of a better time to take a word walk with your kiddos. This is how a word walk works. You make word strips with a bunch of descriptive words.

Example words:
soft
rough
smooth
small
large
blue
green
(These are just a few ideas to get your brain working. You can think of a lot more.)

You place these words in a bag. As you take your walk, hike, or go to the park, you have your kids take turns pulling out a word. Once they have picked a word, have them find objects around them that are described by the word. It's fun for the kids, but it is also a teaching opportunity. And let's not forget the exercise you get from the walk. :)

As your kids start to have a better understanding of many descriptive words, you move on to comparisons. Your strips start to say things like:
"What is smaller than a cat?"
"What is larger than a car?"
"What is taller than your Dad?"
"What is shorter than you?"

FHE Exchange Group

Just a quick post. I know when I was growing up, my mom always had lots of FHE lessons all ready. I asked her once how she got so many. Her answer: She belonged to a Family Home Evening Lesson Exchange Group (FHELEG for short. Ok, so that's really not so short.) The idea of and FHE exchange group is that everyone in the group chooses a topic, created a whole lesson (handouts, visual aid, everything) for each member in the group. Then you all exchange. That's the quick version. Click here to read all the details. LDSabout.com has more details. I would love to start a group, but I will admit I'm too shy to approach people and ask them if they are interested. (My husband doesn't believe me when I tell him I'm shy at heart.) So if anyone who lives in the Ogden area is interested let me know. If not I will just keep on keeping on with with I was doing before. If anyone is part of a group now or in the past, please let us know any suggestion a "pro- exchanger" might have for the rest of us.

ZELMGID

This one one of my favorite FHE lessons growing up. I loved it so much that I made laminated copies for myself and my sister. It's the story of ZELMGID. It's really a story about living the Golden Rule. Here is a picture of my ZELMGID. (Note: I don't have a flannel board or magnet board, so we use tape and a cookie sheet.)
The story came from the Friend in 1987. Click here to go to the link on LDS.org.

Since Baby D is still very young, for FHE my husband, D, and I just tell different stories from the Gospel Art Kit. But I am trying to plan ahead for when D, and future kids, are able to better understand the lessons. I have been trying to pick topics that I want to teach my children. I then search the archives at LDS.org or other sites for stories and clip art. I then write the lesson using the stories, scriptures, and other gospel resources. I include song suggestions and game ideas. I try and keep it under one page , front and back. Everything is copied on card stock, colored if needed, and laminated. I place them all in folders labeled with the topic. So when we are running late on Monday nights, FHE is all ready!
I would love to hear about FHE ideas from all of you. I know there are a lot of creative people out there.

Crayon Holder Made Easy

Well, I finished my crayon holder for my niece B. This one was harder for me. I think because the sparkle fabric was stiffer and not as easy to work with. Live and Learn. Also, next time I think I will make the crayon slots a little bigger. Some of them are kind of tight. My sister may have to help them put the crayons away, but at least it will be an easy way to take crayons to church.

If you were intimidated by this project, Skip To My Lou has come out with an easier felt tutorial. Give it a try. And while you are there, check out the rest of her site. She's got some great projects.

Hopefully I will get these crayon holders in the mail this week. I was going to wait till next time I see them. but I'm impatient. Plus, all kids like to receive mail, right?

School Time!

School is just around the corner. Everyone has plans of making the school year more organized than the last and helping your kids keep on top of their school work and hoping your kids really enjoy the year and hoping they will talk with you about any problems they do have. (Obviously I didn't learn a thing about run on sentences when I was in school) The question is how to start off this next school year right. I found a great post at SimpleMom.net. She has some great ideas on how to start the school year off right. Click here to read it. She also has some good links at the end of the post. Anyone else have any traditions or habits that they have created for the beginning of a new school year?

What Is FHE?

I think that most of our regular readers know what FHE (Family Home Evening) is, but for those of you who don't, this post is for you.

LDS.org defines FHE as this, "[LDS] Church leaders have instructed members to set aside Monday night as "family home evening." This is a time for families to study the gospel together and to do other activities that strengthen the family spiritually, create family memories, and increase unity and love....A suggested outline for family home evening follows: opening song, opening prayer, scripture reading, lesson, activity, closing song, closing prayer, refreshments."

Monday night is the designated night, but any set night can work for your family. And FHE doesn't need to be gospel related if you are not religious. It is an opportunity to teach your children your family values and other important things (money, fire evacuation plan, stranger danger, etc.) It is an opportunity to grow closer as a family. As your have FHE regularly in your home, your family will become more united. It can be hard, but well worth the effort.

We are always looking for good FHE ideas here. Please email us with any ideas you may have.

Crayon Holder

So, I made this cute crayon holder yesterday. I found a tutorial at a neat blog called Skip To My Lou. I made this one for my nephew S. It's not perfect, but I don't think it's so bad for my fist try, especially considering I'm not really a sewer. I doubt S will care anyway. I'm going to be making one for my niece B. Hopefully I'll get a chance to fly out to see them soon.

Another Plug For Stephen

A while back I told you I had listened to The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families. I have to share another audio book of Mr. Stephen R Covey that I love. It's called How To Develop A Family Mission Statement. I loved it! It teaches how to write a mission statement with your family, even young children. And how to use this mission statement to help keep your family focused on the family goal of becoming a happy and loving family. If you get a chance to listen to this I would highly recommend it. I was able to check it out at my local library. It only took me about and 1 1/2 hours to listen to it. I learned a lot and it got me really excited about writing a mission statement. Since baby D is only 9 months old, my husband and I have decided to write a marriage mission statement. This will help us be focused on the same goals for raising our children and strengthening our marriage.

If anyone else has any good book that can help in day to day life as a mother, please email us and let us know. I always a love good book recommendation.