Primary Teacher Appreciation Handouts: Free Printable (We Treasure All You Do)

We attached a "Treasures" Chocolate candy to the back of each of these cards.  I think it is so important to let those primary teachers know that all off their time and hard work is noticed and appreciated!

Thanksgiving Printables: Color Page & Card

Since, Thanksgiving is tomorrow I thought that I would share some of my color pages and printables to keep the little kiddos busy.

Turkey Day Color Page

Turkey Card

Hope You Have A Very Happy THANKSGIVING Day!!!

Sharing Time December 2013 Week 1: The Prophets foretold that Jesus Christ would come to the Earth.

Begin the Sharing Time by showing a picture of the nativity or Christ's birth.  Explain that before Jesus was born their were prophets the prophesied that Jesus was to be born.

Inviting six children up to the front of the room.  Put a prophet sign on each child. If you would like you could dress them up to look like that prophet.

Have the children read the scripture about what they prophesied.  Have the rest of the primary children stand up when they hear the prophet prophesy of Christ's birth. Continue with each prophet, ending with Samuel the Lamanite.  After him, sing the song "Samuel Tells of the Baby Jesus" with the children.  You may want to do actions or show pictures to go along with the song.

Explain to the children that all of these prophets lived years before Jesus was born.  That they prophesied of his birth and Jesus was indeed born.

Bear your testimony.

Family Home Evening: Family History Week 3 (Family Guess Who Game)

Last Family Home evening post was on: One of the requirements in the Faith In God book under the Learning And Living The Gospel Category is to "Prepare a pedigree chart with your name and your parents' and grandparents' names. Prepare a family group record for your family and share a family story. Discuss how performing temple work blesses families."  I decided to do this one more week since there is so much that goes a long with Family History Work.  Here  is a link to week one  and Week Two if you would like to see what we did and get any of the printables.

This can easily be completed as part of a Family Home Evening.  Here is how ours is planned to go:

Family Home Evening on Learning about your heritage and doing family history work.  There is so much to do with this that I am planning on doing it for a couple weeks.  This is week three.

Welcome everyone to Family Night

Sing: "The Heart of The Children" pg 92  Children's Songbook

Have a member of the family member say the prayer

Discuss any family business

Scripture: D&C 2:2 

Lesson:

***Before hand you may want to view the information on Lds.org Family History Stories and decide what you feel you would like to share with your family***

This Week we are going to focus on Step one and two on "Connect With Your Family"

Start with a fun game of "Family History Guess Who":

Free PDF Download

This is a super fun game to help each family member learn about their ancestors.

Step two, of the "Connect With Your Family" is to get online on FamilySearch.Org and view your information/family tree.  I did this today and it is so neat!  You just need to sign in and enter you information online.  A lot of my family history information was already in there, even pictures of my ancestors it was neat to see. 

Bear testimonies on the importance of keeping a family history and learning about your heritage.

Close with a Family Prayer.

This FHE Idea is being featured as part of #MyForeverFamily Challenge. For more ideas and to see what the challenge is all about click the following link:

Being Prepared: Physically- Continuing to acquire items for a "GO BAG"

Last week, we were focusing on gathering backpacks for each member of the family.  This week we are going to start acquiring the items to put in the bags.  Remember the purpose of these bags are to have the things that each individual needs, so if their is an emergency they can quickly grab their bag and go.

Items to focus on this week:
Gather personal identification information.
-Make copies of Birth Certificate.
-Make copies of Social Security Card
-Make copies of Adult ID's such as Driver's License
-Make copies of Immunization Records
-Make copies of Marriage License
-Make copies of Current Medication Labels and directions
-Copy of Family picture (this would be beneficial to have if separated or even just as a comfort item)
-Child ID/Safety kit (There are many sites out their that offer these kits for free.  Also, a lot of times in children's picture packets from the school they will include one.  Some kits even include a swab for DNA.  It is important to have one where you can provide a picture, a description of your child, and fingerprints.) ***Once you get one, do it***
-Make a copy of Important Contacts and info.  This should include your in town contact and out of town contact. Your address and phone number.  Doctor and Pharmacy info. Police department, fire department, CDC, Poison Control, etc. Phone numbers of family and friends, including work numbers.  Phone number of the schools or day cares your children attend.

All of these could be stored in an envelope to be put in the bag. It might be a good idea to laminate the items.

Free Important Info. Cards

Becoming Prepared: Pursuit of Excellence: Learn to Be Grateful and Express Appreciation

Today, I will be focusing on becoming spiritually prepared.  In the "Pursuit of Excellence" booklet one of the goals is to, "Learn to Be Grateful and Express Appreciation". That is the topic on which I have chosen to focus on this week.

I chose this topic, because it  is something I have been trying to focus on this past month.  One idea that I have been doing and many other people have been doing is everyday, post something on Facebook that I am thankful for.  I have loved to do this, it has made me truly reflect on the blessings I have received in this life.  At times it seems we start to focus on the things we don't have or the things we lack.  We might see someone who just seems to have it all.  We then start to get down on our lives. When we focus on the bad or the things we want we can not be happy.  Nothing will seem to be good enough, because we will always see someone who has more or who is better at something.  But if we look at our lives and focus on all of the blessings and gifts that our Heavenly Father has given us we can become more content and be happier people.  Heavenly Father has given all of us specific gifts and talents. He has given all of us blessings.  Our part is to recognize those gifts, talents and blessings. We then need to acknowledge them and give thanks our our Father in Heaven and then use them to bless others.  That is was HAPPINESS is.

Some Ideas to Learn to Be Grateful and Express Appreciation:

- Gratitude Journal 

- Post the things you are thankful for on Social Media

- Grateful Links:

- Gratitude Bean Bag Toss

***Express appreciation to Heavenly Father in Prayer.  Remember to acknowledge everything that others do for you in life and say, text, or write, "THANK YOU"***

Thanksgiving Turkey Wood Crafts

I made these turkeys years ago and love putting them up every Thanksgiving.  I am frequently asked how I come up with some of my ideas.  On this one in particular I had a black and white clip art of a turkey, I blew it up to the size I would want to make the wood turkey.  I then decided how I wanted to layer it.  I also, before hand made some modifications, such as adding a hat to the pilgrim turkey and having the Indian turkey without a hat. My husband cut out these pieces for me (With most of my first crafts he always cut out my wood, he has this fear that I am going to injure myself.  I don't know why he fears that.  I was one of they few girls in high school who took wood shop class, so I feel I am capable).  My husband added the little platforms so the turkey would be able to stand. I loved painting it and giving each of them some character.  I do not have a pattern right now since I did these so long ago.  So, here is a tip: Look through your coloring books and clip art to find some ideas of what you would like to create into a craft.

November Sharing Time 2013 Week 4: We should thank Heavenly Father for all of our blessings.

Begin the sharing time by showing the children a gift that you have been given. I would probably show a porcelain doll that my grandma had given me.  Explain to the children that when you received the gift that you showed appreciation by saying, "thank you".  Discuss with the children other ways we can show that we are grateful for things.  Some ideas might be: Give hugs to the person, write a thank you note, etc.  Discuss who gives us all of the blessing we have?  Explain that our Heavenly Father has given us all things, he does this because he loves us.

Ask the children what is something they have received from their Heavenly Father?  Write what each child says on the feathers of the turkey.  Continue until all of the feathers say a blessing on them them. Some answers might be: Our bodies, our homes, our families, our food, the earth, water, clothes, the Gospel, the scriptures, the Holy Ghost, our grandparents, being members of the church, etc. Point out to the children that there are more blessings than we can count that we receive from our Heavenly Father.

Now that we have identified the blessings we have, how should we show our appreciation from those blessings?  Ask they children how we can show Heavenly Father we are thankful for the things he gives us?  Some answers might include: Say our prayers and thank him, be kind to others, be respectful, serve and love those around us, follow his commandments, etc.

Challenge the children to each day think about the many blessings their Heavenly Father has given them. To even pick out a few and express appreciation to Heavenly Father in prayer.  Have them to also express gratitude to Heavenly Father in other ways throughout the week.  When we recognize the many things we have in our lives and express appreciation we are happier people.  Follow-up with this challenge next week, to see how the kids did.

Bear your testimony on expressing thanks to Heavenly Father in all things.

Family Home Evening: Faith in God (Prepare a Pedigree Chart...) Week 2

Last Family Home evening post was on: One of the requirements in the Faith In God book under the Learning And Living The Gospel Category is to "Prepare a pedigree chart with your name and your parents' and grandparents' names. Prepare a family group record for your family and share a family story. Discuss how performing temple work blesses families."  I decided to do this another week since there is so much that goes a long with Family History Work.  In our family we did not finish our Family Group Record.  I am going to go on with the next step anyways. Here  is a link to week one if you would like to see what we did and get any of the printables.

This can easily be completed as part of a Family Home Evening.  Here is how ours is planned to go:

Family Home Evening on Learning about your heritage and doing family history work.  There is so much to do with this that I am planning on doing it for a couple weeks.  This is week two.

Welcome everyone to Family Night

Sing: "I Have a Family Tree" pg 199  Children's Songbook

Have a member of the family member say the prayer

Discuss any family business

Scripture: Moses 6:5-8 

Lesson:

***Before hand you may want to view the information on Lds.org Family History Stories and decide what you feel you would like to share with your family***

This Week we are going to continue with Step one on "Connect With Your Family"

Show this video: "He Was a Blacksmith"

Ask how each family member feels after watching the video?  Do you think that the children had fun acting out a story about their ancestor?

Before hand gather a story about an ancestor.  Tell your family the story, if you would like to act it out, go ahead and do so. 

Free Journal Cover Label:

Give each family member a journal (You can purchase one, or you could make one.  A couple ideas are to make them out of Composition books, you could even let each family member decorate their own cover.  Or you can make one out of cereal box and paper, see tutorial)  Explain that part of Family History work is to record your own history in a journal so future generations can read about your life and form a connection to you. 

Another idea for this week might be to get out the family photo album or family video's and have a movie night.

Wow... isn't Family History Fun!!

Bear testimonies on the importance of keeping a family history and learning about your heritage.

Close with a Family Prayer.

Things from Last week you might want to finish up this week:

If you haven't already, give each member a copy of,  "My Family Booklet".  You can download a copy here. (It is found on the right hand side where it says, "download a copy here."  Have pictures printed out a head of time of each family member.  Have each family member paste their picture of themselves on the page labeled "About Me".  Then help each family member answer the questions in this section.  Continue pasting the appropriate pictures and answering the questions on each page.  You can go as far as your family would like. You could also complete some on another day.  It might be fun on the grandparent part for the kids to interview their grandparents and find out more about them.

Also, if you haven't already fill out a Family Group Record for each family member. You can use this form found here.

 Family Pedigree Chart Free Printable:

This FHE Idea is being featured as part of #MyForeverFamily Challenge. For more ideas and to see what the challenge is all about click the following link:

Tips on Printing Images from this Site

*** The best option for printing us usually to click the Free Download if available, this will give you the best resolution. If this is unavailable or if the image will not download (sometimes Google drive is down or having issues), then simply follow the steps of clicking on the actual image that is in the post. ***

Okay, there are a few options... First off I want to apologize if there are any problems with printing or print quality.  When I upload the images I upload them at full resolution, for best quality.  This used to work okay, but recently I have discovered that when you click on some of them and pull them up to print they are not at a high resolution. Somewhere in the uploading process it is putting them at a lower resolution.  So frustrating :)  So, I have been adding a free download link. This link is either for a pdf download or in some cases a jpeg download.  If it is available on the image, the free download is definitely the best bet to get the best resolution.

So here are the different options for printing...

1. Either left click on the top right corner of the image to open it up. Then, you will need to right click on image, scroll down to where it says "Save Image As..."  Save the image to your computer.  Every image I put on here is a jpeg file. Then you should be able to just print it like you would print any other picture from your computer.  Doing this method you might not get the best resolution.  Let me know if you have any problems.
2. If available click the Free Image Download link or the Free PDF Download link. From here you can either print or save it to your computer
3. If you are having any problems at all, or if the image is not printing out at high quality. Please email me and I can email you the image. My email address is lifesjourneytoperfection@gmail.com

Being Prepared- Physically: Start to acquire items for a "GO BAG"

Last week, I think I was a bit ambitious.  I know it was a lot of info for one week.  I actually already have my 72 hour kits, but I did use the time to go through them and had to purchase more food items.  I think the key is to rotate every six months, so you are not throwing away items.  I have heard of a few ways to remember to do this and they can be used in conjunction with each other.  One way is to rotate the items every General Conference weekend.  The next is to use the 72 hour kit once a year to go camping.  I have not done this, but I think it would be very beneficial.  By doing this you will know that you have the things in your kit that you actually will need and use in an emergency situation, where you might need to be away from home.

For this week, I have chose to keep things a little bit simpler.  I would like to start gathering items for "Go Bags" for every family member.  The purpose of these bags, is they would have the personal needs for each family member, they would be able to grab in an emergency.  They will be kept in their bedrooms where they will have access to them to Grab and Go.  They will need to be the right size for the family member.  You would not want to get a huge backpacking back pack for a 5 year old.

So, to begin our "Go Bags" we are going to obtain the backpack.  Some ideas are:  If you have school age children you could use their old backpacks.  There are drawstring backpacks that are very inexpensive to purchase and at times you can get these for free.  I recently went to a college football game and they were giving them away at the gate.  There are also patterns online if you would like to whip one up your self.  Or another option is purchasing zip up backpacks from the store.  The most inexpensive one I have seen is $5.  You decide what will work best for your family. Next week, we will begin getting things to put into these bags.  I am actually doing these for my kids for Christmas.  They might not be the funnest gift, but I consider them a bonus gift.

GOAL FOR THIS WEEK:  GATHER BACKPACKS FOR EACH FAMILY MEMBER

Becoming Prepared: Pursuit of Excellence: Establishing a habit of daily prayer to become spiritually prepared.

Last week, was my first post on becoming prepared spiritually and physically.  I have now decide to split the posts into two days.  There is just too much to have them together.

Today, I will be focusing on becoming spiritually prepared.  In the "Pursuit of Excellence" booklet one of the goals is to, "Establish a habit of daily personal prayer". That is the topic on which I have choosen to focus on this week.  We are so blessed in this life that our Heavenly Father hasn't left us alone without communication.  He loves us so much and desires to hear from us, so he has given us prayer as a way to communicate with him.  I love that no matter where I am I can pray to my Heavenly Father.  I know that he hears me and I know that he will answer my prayers.  It may not be in the way I think it should be answered or in my time frame, but it will be answered the way Heavenly Father knows it should be answered.

So, how can we establish a habit of daily personal prayer??

There is an amazing conference talk given by Elder David A. Bednar titled, "Pray Always".  In this talk he speaks of counseling with our Heavenly Father in the morning.  One idea that I have found that works good to form a morning prayer habit, is to set the alarm clock 5 minutes earlier than I actually need to wake up.  Then I use that time to pray and counsel with my Heavenly Father.  The days that I do this I begin the day with feeling the spirit and it helps me to keep things in focus throughout the day.

Elder Bednar then goes on to say to keep a prayer in our hearts throughout the day for continued help and guidance.  I once had a seminary teacher when I was in high school challenge us that when ever we heard the bell at school ring to think about having a prayer in our hearts.  To think about our Heavenly Father and the things we are in need of his help with or even the things we are grateful for.  We can establish this habit by thinking of our Heavenly Father throughout the day.  If we are having difficulty with something than we should pray unto our father for help and guidance.

And lastly, at the end of the day we pray to report to our Heavenly Father.  I once had this likening said to me, when we were little kids weren't we so excited to come home from playing with a friend or from school and tell our parents all about what we did that day.  Our parents were always eager to hear.  Well, same with our Heavenly Father.  He desires to hear about our day.  He wants to hear the things we are thankful for, the acknowledgement of the blessings he has given us. He wants to hear about our struggles and the things we are in need of.  How can we remember to say our prayers before bed?  When I was little I had a prayer rock.  Just an ordinary rock that said "prayer rock" on it, but when put on the pillow it would surely help you remember to say your prayer.  It could become a habit along with reading scriptures, to read and then pray.  It just is consistency and making the conscious effort to remember that Heavenly Father wants to hear from us and that we need his help.  I know that I need my Heavenly Father's help in this life and I am grateful that I can pray to him personally.

My goal is to be better at saying my morning personal prayers and keeping a prayer in my heart throughout the day.  Also, kneeling in prayer each night.

Thanksgiving Craft: 2X4 Pumpkin Craft

This craft could be used in September, October and November as a decorations.  It is inexpensive an pretty easy to do.  Just cut your 2x4 to the desired length.  I made a few of them and they were all different lengths.  Lightly sand the wood.  Find a stick and cut it to the desired length.  Using a drill and a drill bit the same circumference as the stick drill a shallow hole into the top middle part of the block. With a foam brush lightly paint the whole block orange.  Just paint a thin layer it is also okay if the paint is not even.  I did not put a lot of pain on my brush.  Let paint dry then sand it.  There will be parts that are painted and parts that will be bare wood.  Now, get some red paint on the brush and lightly pain it on. I did not paint it every where and it was a thin layer.  After this layer dries, sand again.  Last layer is going to be wood stain.  Apply the stain to the whole block and wipe off.  Allow to dry.  Put some hot glue or wood glue into the hole at the top of the block and insert your stick.  Allow to dry.  Tie some raffia around the stick/stem.  Then tie a bow out of either fabric or ribbon and hot glue it on.  Embellish your block.  I used a some meshy wirey ribbon and a silk flower that I had distressed with ink.  Add a button in the middle of the flower.  Spray the whole thing with clear coat and your done!

***Remember to always wear protective eye wear and follow safety rules when using power tools***

November Sharing Time 2013 Week 3: I am Thankful for Spiritual Blessings

I decided that I would start doing my sharing time posts on Tuesdays, to allow more time for prepping.

This next Sunday's topic is: I am thankful for Spiritual Blessings.

Begin the sharing time by having a gift. (Inside of the gift will be a picture of the Savior and the scripture reference strips and the phrase, "I am thankful for Spiritual Blessings" inside.)

Tell the children that they are going to sing the song, "The Seventh Article of Faith" found on page 126 in the Children's Song Book.

After the song have one of the children come up and unwrap the present.  Have them pull out what is inside. Place the phrase on the board and have the children read it with you.  Explain that there are a lot of spiritual blessings or gifts that the Lord gives us through the spirit.  Give each class 1- 2 of the scripture reference strips.  Give them a couple minutes to look up the scriptures and read them.

Ahead of time cut out and place the gifts around the room.  Have a child come up and pick a gift.  Have them read what it says on the back.  Then ask the classes which one has the scripture reference that goes with that gift. Place them next to each other on the board with tape or magnets.  Explain the blessing.  Continue until you have discussed each.

Explain to the children that we should use the blessings given to us to help and bless other people's lives.

Bear your Testimony.

Free Printouts:

Print page 2 on the back of 1, pg 4 on the back of 3, and pg 6 on the back of 5.

Family Home Evening: Faith in God (Prepare a Pedigree Chart...) Week 1

One of the requirements in the Faith In God book under the Learning And Living The Gospel Category is to "Prepare a pedigree chart with your name and your parents' and grandparents' names. Prepare a family group record for your family and share a family story. Discuss how performing temple work blesses families." 

This can easily be completed as part of a Family Home Evening.  Here is how ours is planned to go:

Family Home Evening on Learning about your heritage and doing family history work.  There is so much to do with this that I am planning on doing it for a couple weeks.  This is week one.

Welcome everyone to Family Night

Sing: "Family History-I Am Doing It" pg 94  Children's Songbook

Have a member of the family member say the prayer

Discuss any family business

Scripture: Abraham 1:31 

Lesson:

***Before hand you may want to view the information on Lds.org Family History Stories and decide what you feel you would like to share with your family***

Show this video: Discover Your Story

Start out small, give each family member the a copy of "My Family Booklet".  You can download a copy here. (It is found on the right hand side where it says, "download a copy here."  Have pictures printed out a head of time of each family member.  Have each family member paste their picture of themselves on the page labeled "About Me".  Then help each family member answer the questions in this section.  Continue pasting the appropriate pictures and answering the questions on each page.  You can go as far as your family would like. You could also complete some on another day.  It might be fun on the grandparent part for the kids to interview their grandparents and find out more about them.

Fill out the Family Pedigree Chart.  There is one in the booklet or you are welcome to use this one.

Prepare a Family Group Record. You can use this form found here.

Discuss the blessings that come from performing temple work.

Bear testimonies on the importance of keeping a family history and learning about your heritage.

Close with a Family Prayer.

This FHE Idea is being featured as part of #MyForeverFamily Challenge. For more ideas and to see what the challenge is all about click the following link:

Let HEALTH Be Your Motivation

The past month I took a little "break" from exercise and eating right.  Why did I do this?  I attribute it to not having the right motivation and goals.  I became discouraged because my goal was to have the perfect body.  But, day after day of working out hard and eating right and not having that perfect body I became frustrated and tired.  The thing that I came to realize is, I will never have the body of the women in the videos. I am going to be brutally honest here and get a little personal, so bear with me.  I have carried and given birth to three beautiful children.  My body has changed.  I do not now and have never been well endowed, nor do I ever plan to go through the pain or the expense to be so.  My tummy skin has been stretched from pregnancy and may never completely be the same (which I consider a small expense to have children), though this may be the part of my body that genetics has been good to me.  It isn't my hardest part to loose.  My bun and thigh area is where the fat likes to camp out.  It seems to not matter how long or intense I exercise or how healthy I eat I will not have the firm, tight, lifted buttocks that you seem to see in the magazines and workout videos.  After this past month's hiatus I came to a realization.  I realized that my goals and motivation were all wrong.  I realized that what really matters, why I should exercise and eat right is to be HEALTHY.  I realized that every time I exercise I am making my heart, my lungs, and my body stronger.  I am not saying that all is lost with looking good, on the contrary.  As  I exercise and eat right for my health I will get the BONUS of my body shape improving.  It will not look like some other person's body, because it is my body.  But, it can through consistancy and having the right goals, improve and be the best it can be.  What matters is that I am going to take care of my body.  To exercise to be healthy.  To try to eat right because that is what my body needs to fuel it. (I must say that this is the hardest part for me, curse the person that invented candy and sweets.) So, now that I have the right Motivation of being Healthy, I need to keep that motivation in sight and not get blinded by comparison. When we compare ourselves to others we are not being fair to ourselves.  No single body is the same.  We all carry weight in different areas of our bodies.  We all have different metabolisms.  We have different emotions.  We have different body shapes, different genetics and different lifestyles.  As with everything about ourselves in this life, we should not strive to look or be just like somebody else.  We can not compare the way we look or anything about ourselves with others.  What we should do is: Try to be the BEST YOU, YOU CAN BE!  So with exercise, try your best, help your body be healthy and be the best it can be.  That is what my new outlook is going to be.  Good luck, BEING HEALTHY AND BEING THE BEST YOU!

November Week 2 Sharing Time 2013: I am Thankful for Temporal Things

Here is the Outline for this weeks sharing time:

Have a table sitting in the front of the room.  On the table place: A piece of Fruit (Food), A Flashlight (Light), A Bottle of Water (Water), A Flower (Nature), A Toy (Toys), A Picture of a House (House/Shelter), A small toy person or paper cut out (for Bodies), Toy Car (Cars), Stuffed Animal (Animals/Pets), Piece of Clothing (Clothes).  Have a blanket or table cloth covering all items.

Give each class or if you have a small primary you could give a paper to each child. Use the printout above or have papers numbered 1-10.  Tell them that you are going to lift the blanket or tablecloth for 10 seconds.  They need to look at and try to remember the items on the table.  Do not write anything down yet.  When the 10 minutes is up the tablecloth or blanket will be placed back over the items and they will be able to write down as many items as they can remember.  Give them about 1 minute to write down the items they remember.

Then have the teachers total up how many items they wrote down.  See how many each class remembered. 

Explain to the children that everything on that table is a blessing, something that our Heavenly Father has given us.  Write on the board "I am Thankful for Temporal Things". 

Uncover the table again.  Ask the first class to tell you something they remembered.  Ask the children how this item is a blessing and how they can show Heavenly Father they are thankful for that thing.  Continue with each class until all items have been discussed.

Encourage each child to think of a temporal blessing in their lives each day and to show thanks to Heavenly Father for that item.

Bear your testimony about the many temporal blessing our Heavenly Father has given us and that we need to be thankful to Heavenly Father for those things.

Thanksgiving craft: Gratitude Bean Bag

For the next couple weeks I will be posting some Thanksgiving craft ideas.  After that I will be focusing on some Christmas Crafts, since there are so many!

The Craft I chose today is the Gratitude Bean Bag.  It actually has a couple purposes.  The first, is it is a cute decoration.  The second, is that is can be used for a little game or "Name What You Are Thankful For".

Here's What You Need to Make One:

Muslin about 4x6 inches (size may vary, just make sure front and back fabric are the same size)

Fabric for back 4x6 inches (size may vary)

dry beans

sewing maching

scissors

embroidery floss and needle

pencil

crayons or colored pencil

Here's How You Will Go About Making One:

One a piece of muslin either free hand a design or find a patter you would like.  The one I did I just free handed it on.  Next, using an embroidery needle and embroidery floss, do a primitive stitch on you design.  Now, fill in any areas you would like colored with a colored pencil or crayon.  Put wrong sides of fabric together stitch around the edge with a forth of an inch to half inch seam.  Leave a small opening so you can fill it with beans.  Fill it with beans about 3/4 full.  Now stitch opening shut.  Use scissors and cut fabric into almost the seam every 1/2 inch, giving it a little fringes look. Now, you have this cute Thanksgiving decoration.

To Play the  "Name What You Are Thankful For" game:

You will need to sit around the room as a family.  Gently toss the bean bag to a family member.  That family member then needs to name something they are grateful for.  Then they gently toss the bean bag to another family member, who then names something they are grateful for.  Continue until everyone in the family names at least one thing they are grateful for.

Preparing for Spiritual and Physical Needs: Putting together a 72 hour kit and Seek, Receive, and Act on Personal Revelation

We never know when we are going to be tested physically or spiritually. That is why it is so important to prepare NOW!

This Weeks Physical Needs focus is:  Putting together a 72 hour kit.

This is what I have found to work for me and my family of five.  I have my kit in two different containers.  The first container is a 5 gal bucket that has a screw on lid with a toilet seat that fits onto the 5 gal bucket.  In this bucket I have:

o A Tarp

o A-frame tent

o Shovel

o Ax

o Bungee Chords

o Screw Driver

o Anti-bacterial Gel

o Toilet Paper

o Masks (one for each member of family)

o Rope
o Poncho (one for each member of family)
o 13 gal plastic garbage bags
o Whistle
o Plastic or Latex gloves
o Matches
o Glow Sticks
o Saw

Then, right now I use a 18 gal tote for the rest.  I have a couple bags that I keep the Hygiene items in. I have also thought about using something with wheels, like a cooler.  (The stuff in this container is intended to be used when camping also, replenishing as needed):

Kitchen Needs:

o Mess Kit

o Stove & fuel

o Aluminum Foil

o Ziploc bags various sizes

o Plastic or latex gloves

o Paper Towels

o Dishcloth, washcloth and dish towels

o Rope

o Matches

o Sponge with scouring side

o Dish Soap

o Hydrogen Peroxide

o Drinking Water Capsules

o Utensils (I have a set for each member of the family)

o Hand operated can opener

o Paring knifes

o Potato peeler

o Bowls (1 for each member of family)

o Cups (1 for each member of family)

o Food Strainer

o Cheese Grater

o Measuring spoons and cups

o Small mixing bowl with lids

o Spices (garlic, beef and chicken bouillon cubes, salt, pepper, cinnamon, onion seasoning, Italian seasoning)

o Baking Soda

Hygiene Needs:

o First Aid Kit

o Emergency Sleeping bags (one for each member of family)

o Emergency blankets (one for each member of family)

o 13 gal garbage bags

o Tissues

o Wipes

o Tooth paste, tooth brush, floss, mouth wash (for each member of family)

o Sunscreen

o Chap-stick

o Hand Soap

o Bug Repellent

o Lotion

o Deodorant

o Medication

o Contacts, solution, cases, glasses

o Comb, brush, hair clips, bobby pins, elastics

o Nail clippers and file

o Shaving Cream, razors

o Face wash & face lotion

o Optional: Makeup

o Hair Spray

o Shampoo & Conditioner

o Sewing Kit

o Body Wash

o Anti-Histamine

o Pain Reliever

Misc.Needs:

o Candles

o Wind-up and solar Radio with cell phone charger and flashlight

o Whistle

o Money

o Matches

o Lighter

o Pocket knife

o Scissors

o Notebook paper and pens

o More Masks

o Box cutter

o Flashlight with batteries

o Wind up Flashlight

Food Needs:

o Food (you will need to have enough in there for 3 meals a day for three days.)

           -Examples: Breakfasts- Oatmeal packets, canned fruit

                             Lunch: Ramon Noodles or Cup of Soups, Dried fruit

                             Dinner: Canned Soup or Chili, Canned Corn

                             Hard Candies

o Water (The goal is to have at least a gallon of water per day per person.  Visit this site for more info) 

           ****Buy stuff that your family usually eats and rotate food & water every 6 months****

           ****Another great idea is to rotate you lotions, soaps, first aid kits stuff and medicine regularly. Something I do is in my 72 hr/vacation bag for hygiene I have the same makeup, lotion, etc. that I regularly use.  When the stuff I use every day runs out I get it from the bag and then buy new to replace the bag with.  That way I am regularly rotating and not wasting. ****

Pursuit of Excellence Goal for the week:

Goals That Build Spiritual Strength
**Learn what it means to seek, receive, and act on personal revelation.**

Here is a great article on this subject: "How to Obtain Revelation and Inspiration for your Personal Life"

Once we recognize the promptings of the spirit we need to act upon those promptings!!

Family Home Evening- Faith in God Book: Developing Talents (honor and obey parents and learning how to work hard)

One of the requirements in the Faith In God book under the Developing Talents Category is to "List five things you can do to help around your home. Discuss the importance of obeying and honoring your parents and learning how to work." 

This can easily be completed as part of a Family Home Evening.  Here is how ours is planned to go:

Family Home Evening on Obeying and Honoring Parents and learning how to Work Hard.

November 2013 Sharing Time: I am thankful for my body

We are busy practicing and preparing for our Primary Sacrament Meetinprogram, so I haven't got a chance to put together a sharing time.  But I have a fun idea that came to mind that I wanted to share.

At the to of the board have written: We Are To Thank God In All Things
Start by showing a picture of a child and the temple. Could be in the same picture or side by side.  Read 1 Corinthians 3:16. Ask the children what this scripture says.  Emphasis how important our spirits are.  That each of them is a spirit son or daughter of God.  He gave us our bodies to house our spirits. write on the board: I am thankful for my body and I know it is a temple.

Tell the children that we need to show Heavenly Father that we are thankful for our bodies.  We do this by how we treat our bodies and what we do with our bodies.  Draw a stick figure on the board. It needs to have a head, body, legs and arms. Next to the head write D&C 88:124, next to the neck write D&C 89:7, next to the body write D&C 89:8, next to one arm write: D&C 89:9, next to the other arm write D&C 89:10-11, next to the leg write D&C 89:12, Next to the other leg write D&C 89:16-17.  Assign each class one of the scriptures.  Have them read and discuss as a class.  Then ask a class at a time to tell everyone how their scripture says we can show thanks to Heavenly Father for our bodies. Write a word or two of how next to each scripture. Examples: D&C 88:124-get enough sleep, D&C 89:7- do not drink alcohol, D&C 89:9-do not use tobacco, D&C 89:10-11- eat fruits and vegetables, D&C 89:12- Eat meat sparingly, D&C 89:16-17- eating whole grains.  Explain that by treating our bodies just as special and sacred as our Heavenly Father's temples we are showing him thanks.  Bear testimony of these things.