leprachauns.
The leprachauns visited our house for St. Patty's Day.  They turned our milk green and left a treasure hunt for the boys.  The treasure was a ton of green cookies.  I made the boys some straws with orange mustaches on them so they would look like leprachauns when they drank their milk! The boys were very reluctant to try our green milk.  We had green bread that night for dinner and green pancakes the next morning from the green milk.  After awhile Matt refused to use the green milk on his cereal because it was too weird!  I guess there is only so much green milk a man can take.

easters.
The Easter Bunny brought lots of prizes!  I put cute Elle in my little bunny pajamas from when I was a little girl.  She loved her easter egg.  E.B. even found the colored eggs on the counter and hid them around the house for the boys to find.  I bought the boys their first suits.  They looked so handsome in their three piece suits and new shoes.  And Elle was scrumptous in her peach Easter dress from Grams.  I wore my new dress I got back in December and saved just for Easter.  And E.B. brought Matt a new tie that was plaid and pink. We spent the day with my family and Carrie, Kaylee and Madison at my parents'.  The kids did a fun easter egg hunt and had a great time with all of their cousins.  Bentley asked me, "Mom do you know who my favorite cousin is?  When I asked "Who?" he told me, "ALL of them!"  The boys didn't last too long after church with their suits on but Uncle Marvin worked his magic with the camera and took some pictures of Elle for her first birthday.  Janni told me she didn't do anything to the color of her eyes when she edited the  pictures.  She asked if they are always that blue.  They really are that blue.

B's birthday.
Bentley turned 6 on April 2nd.  The first thing he wanted to open on his birthday was his card from Aunt Faith.  He knew it would be a singing card!  We decided to get the kids passes to Disneyland for their birthdays so I got him a Jake to hold his card.  After school I took him, Gaige and his friend Cash to McDonalds.  Then they played outside with friends and his new super soaker till it was time for their baseball game.  He did a great job in his game hitting the ball.  He still isn't much into running or paying attention.  This kid has no fast button.  But he has a ton of potential.  I brought baseball cupcakes for their game treat and then we went to Ruby's with Daddy for dinner.  It was the girl's birthday in the booth behind us so the staff came out and sang to her and brought her a sundae.  He said he did not want to do that to him.  We had them do it anyway and the look on his face was classic!  He was embarassed and excited at the same time.

elle's first birthday.

Elle turned one on April 6th.  This year has gone by so incredibly fast.  I cannot even believe she has been part of our family for an entire year.  This year with her has been so much fun.  She is an amazing little lady.  I asked Bentley what our lives would be like without her.  He told me it would be sad.  We all love her to pieces!  We had tons of family and friends come celebrate her birthday.  She loved her cake and ate it daintily, but with excitement! SHE IS SO PRETTY!

Needless to say we have been busy around here. I will not know what to do with myself when April is over! It is the craziest month of the year for us!

elle loves...
puppies, birdies, other kids, cuties (clementines), pizza, ice cream, and bottles.  Her newest tricks are blowing bubbles with her spit, clicking her tongue and crawling up the stairs.  She got her two front teeth around March 15th.  She loves to be tickled!

11 months.

Elle is now 11 months!  This past year has gone by in a blink of an eye.  I seriously cannot believe Elle is almost 1 year old.  She is still pretty happy, but we are beginning to see a stubborn streak in her, especially when it comes to food.  She loves to empty things out...baskets, purses, back packs.  She empties them out and then re-organizes everything into different piles over and over again.  She adores dogs.  When we were at the boys' soccer game we put her down to play on the grass and the next thing I know she started crawling over to some huge dogs.  She gets so excited everytime she spots a canine.  She is starting to stand up on her own once she pulls herself up. And she just started crawling up the stairs.  She'll be crawling around the kitchen and all of a sudden she has quietly climbed up the stairs without me knowing.  She loves to hug her dollies and even gave her cousin Aiva a hug the other day!  She loves watching other babies.  She likes to point to where we are going and claps everytime other people clap or we sing Patty Cake to her.  And she is a great snuggler.

reading award.

Once a quarter Ambuehl awards some of the kids on Formal Friday.  This quarter Bentley received an award for Reading and Sight Word Recognition.  His teacher said that he is the best reader in the class.  He reads to Gaige often and I even came downstairs the other morning to see them under a blanket reading a book!  He is a smarty pants.

pillow time.

The other night Elle kept snuggling Gaige's pillow.  She would grab it, throw it on the ground and then fall on top of it.  The boys had so much fun playing with her and the pillow.  She had a pretty good time too!

 
baseball.

I have now entered the world of baseball.  Bentley and his friend Cash are on the Lugnuts with another friend from school, Jackson.  Opening day was March 2nd.  Little did I know that it would consume my life for the next couple of months.  2 games and a practice every week and the games start at 4:30 leaving me to wrangle Elle the whole 2 hours!  Bentley does seem to like it better than soccer and he is doing really well.  He likes to be the catcher and though he doesn't take instruction well (just like his mom) he can hit the ball.  He still doesn't like to run and goofs off half of the time.   Cash's mom, Becky, and I have become great friends spending many hours at games and practice together!

 

 

We also took Bentley's training wheels off of his bike yesterday, March 15th.  He hopped on and took off riding right away.  He never stops amazing me with his coordination...probably because I lack that!

 

 

 

personal progress madness.

For the past year I have been the Personal Progress leader in Young Womens.  I love my calling and really feel that I have been guided by the Spirit to know what my girls need.  So I'll let you know what I do...

I believe it is important to incorporate Personal Progress in every aspect of YW.  If the girls are constantly thinking about it, and incorporating it into their lives their testimonies will grow and they will have a deeper personal knowledge of the gospel.

Welcome Meeting: The Second Counselor accompanies me in meeting with each new Beehive and her mother at their home.  At that time I bring a folder with all of the things she needs:

·      Personal Progress Book

·      Personal Progress Journal

·      Pen

·      Notebook  with the mutual theme on it (because the journals are so small)

·      Flower mirror hanger (to hang value experience and goal cards on their mirror to remind them
     daily of what they are working on)
·      Small file keeper (to file cards in when they are completed or before they are being worked on)
Folder (from Staples)

Contents of Folder

Flower Mirror Hanger:  Each experience or goal card I give the girls has a hole punched in it so they can hang it on their mirror and be reminded daily of what they are working on.  I bought the suction cup hooks in the home improvement section of Walmart and the flowers with wire on the back from Michaels.  Then you just wrap the wire around the suction cup hook and viola!





Monthly Value:  The first Sunday of the month I give each girl a card to set a goal of how many and which experiences she would like to complete for the value that month.  I found the artwork HERE and added this at the bottom: I will complete Value Experience #____   Date Completed:_____

You can download all of these in PDF HERE.

 

 New Goal Cards:  I have come to the end - Virtue.  So HERE are the new goal cards for the next round with a different look.  I found this beautiful value artwork HERE.

 

Monthly Lesson Theme:  With the new lesson program I pick a value experience that goes with the lesson theme for the month.  This way each girl can complete a value experience that will help her strengthen her understanding of the lesson theme.  I send a card with the value experience on it home with them the second Sunday of each month. I email these to the leaders before the month begins so they can help incorporate the experience(s) into their lessons. The lessons on www.lds.org/youth/learn give value experiences that go with the lesson theme. I choose the one I feel the girls should work on and then list the rest at the bottom so they can work on those as well.  You can download the PDFs  for the entire year HERE!

Last Sunday: On the last day of the month she will get a reminder handout/treat to encourage her to complete a value experience for the value of the month. Some of my handouts I come up with on my own, find on Pinterest and on this site HERE.  Here are some of the most recent ones I have done, tags included!

Divine Nature - I gave the girls a personal bag of microwave popcorn, unpopped with this cute tag on it from this site.  You could also make some popcorn, caramel corn or what not and attach the tag.

Individual Worth - I cannot for the life of me remember or find what I did for Individual Worth.  Let me know your ideas!

Knowledge - I gave each of the girls some Nerds with a handout that said - "BE A NERD! And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come." D&C 130:19.  Here is the handout, just hot glue a mini box of nerds onto it.

Choice and Accountability Prize- D&C 87:8 (The Mutual Theme) "Stand ye in holy places and be not moved until the day the Lord come, for behold it cometh quickly saith the Lord."  I made homemade donuts and attached this tag.  You could also use lifesavers, donut holes, or anything else "holy."

Good Works Prize - Matthew 5:16 - Tag HERE with a Ferrero Rocher hot glued, wrapper opened to look like a sun. "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your GOOD WORKS and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

           

Integrity Prize - Candy in a purple easter egg with THIS note inside. "Hatch your Integrity!  Have the moral courage to make your actions consistent with your knowledge of right and wrong."

 

Virtue Prize - This was my sister's idea...super cute! Red Ring Pops with THIS tag tied to it with a gold ribbon. "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. Proverbs 31:10 I will prepare to enter the temple & remain pure and worthy."

 

 

Faith Prize - I shared my favorite parts from Elder Holland's General Conference talk this past April Lord, I Believe.  At the end of his talk he said - "... first and forever fan the flame of your faith, because all things are possible to them that believe.  I printed out this handout (print in draft mode to save ink), put it in a cellophane bag with some cinnamon bears, cinnamon candies and hot tamales.  The girls' mouth were on fire!  I also gave each of them a copy of Elder Holland's talk to use to complete Faith #1 they should be working on to go with the lesson theme.

 

Personal Progress Nights:  Nights where we meet together as a class and complete/start a value experience together.   I try to meet with each girl so I can update my records of what she has done, help her set goals, and discuss project ideas, etc.  Sometimes these are done as an activity for all classes, and sometimes I do them with just one class. We do an All Girl Night at least twice a year and the separate class activities as needed.

For this Personal Progress Night I had each of the girls bring a shoe that best represented them and they shared why.  We did Individual Worth #1 and after they wrote in their journals we decorated slider tins with stickers and filled them with Kool Aid lip gloss - directions HERE.

And HERE is the Experience Card.

Mutual Activities/Temple Trips: Occasionally (let's be honest - most of the time), we will have a mutual activity that correlates with a value experience.  When this happens I send a value experience card home with the girls so they can complete the one started at the activity.  I attend most mutual activities and try to alternate between which class activities I go to.  
        Family History Night - The Bishop wanted each of the youth to learn more about family history so we set up a date with the family history buffs of our ward for each of the classes to go and learn more about it.  The girls set up their own profiles, linked their names to family members and learned how to upload documents.  They also received a printout of the year they were born which included popular songs, movies, actors, toys, and how much gas cost.  Here is the value experience card for this activity.

 

         Mother's Day Body Scrub - I mixed up the body scrub base for the girls and spooned it into 8 oz mason jars.  They personalized their scrub for their mom by adding more olive oil, some almond or vanilla extract, and or cinnamon.  We put cute labels on the lid from this site.  And they tied a fabric strip as a bow around it.  Then they wrote a card to their mom and included the divine qualities she has and how she has blessed their life.  This could be done for someone you admire - a sister, aunt, mother, friend, or teacher anytime instead of waiting till next Mother's Day.  The base recipe for the scrub includes brown sugar, olive oil and honey.  We counted this activity as Divine Nature #8 or #9 or Individual Worth #8 or #9.  You can get the Scrub Sweet Scrub labels and value experience cards HERE.

      Fruit Pizza - For a Beehive activity we made YW Value Fruit Pizza.  The crusts of the pizzas was made out of baked sugar cookie, and the sauce was made of Cool Whip and cream cheese mixed together.  Each girl picked a bowl of fruit to put on the pizzas.  Once they chose their fruit we told them that as they put their topping on they were going to bear their testimony of or share an experience they have had with the value that coordinated with the fruit they chose.  The girls did a great job and even volunteered to do more than one.  The toppings we used for each value was: Faith - sauce (Cool Whip and cream cheese), Divine Nature - blueberries, Individual Worth - strawberries, Knowledge - kiwi, Choice and Acc. - peaches, Good Works - pineapple, Integrity - purple grapes, Virtue - pears.  I also shared the Armor of God scripture in Ephesians with them and we talked about how the YW values help protect and help us.  As they get up each morning and put on their clothes and accessories they can think about the color of the item and the value that goes with it.  We decided that we would call it their "Bling of God!"  We counted this as value experience 8 or 9 for the value they shared their testimony about or Integrity 8 or 9.

      Integrity FHE Lesson - We made origami boxes out of 12 x 12 inch paper and they came up with questions from the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet and cut them into strips for their family members to pick out of the box.  They also came up with opening and closing songs, and scripture stories that demonstate Integrity to complete their lesson.  We counted this as value experience Integrity 8 or 9.  You can get the value experience card here and the lesson outline here.  Learn how to make an origami box with cover here.

Individual Meeting:  Occasionally I will contact the girls to meet with me so I can record their progress, help set goals, and help them in any other way.  Usually I try to meet with her before or after mutual, or church, whichever is most convenient for her.  She is also welcome to hand me her personal progress book during Young Women classes so I can update my records, “sticker” her book, or sign off experiences and projects for her. 

I know what my girls are doing in school, at home, etc. so it has become easy for me to help them figure out what value projects to do.  I also record which value experiences the girls have started at mutual activities and follow up with them to make sure they have completed them, even writing them down in their books so they remember to do it!

Parent Letter/Email:  I send an email quarterly to each of the parents.  This email explains how I help their daughter with their personal progress (just like this handout), how she can help her daughter, and includes an updated record of what her daughter has completed according to my record.  The purpose of this letter is to motivate the parents to help or thank them for encouraging their daughters.

Value Projects: 

·      General Conference Notebook: Before General Conference I printed out instructions for a 10 hour value project that they could complete during conference and tied a colored pen to it.  I also emailed the girls a binder cover and pages they could print out to make their journals – found HERE. I made one for myself and love it!  You can get the PDF for the handout HERE.

·      Have girls be in charge of the Youth Ward Bulletin Board, New Beginnings, Camp Fundraisers, helping with Primary Activities or other activities/needs in the ward so they can complete Value Projects.

Help from Advisors and Leaders:

·      One of my Beehive Advisors has the girls over on a Sunday at least once a month to work on Personal Progress or read the Book of Mormon and make a treat.

·      They allow me time at the individual class activities to talk about the value experience that correlates with the activity so the girls can complete an experience at the activity.

·      I email them what experiences I will be highlighting that month so they can encourage the girls to work on it and allow them time to work on them in class if they feel prompted to do so and give them ideas of how to incorporate them into their lessons. 

-      I email them an updated personal progress record sheet of what the girls in their class have completed. 

****Time In Opening Exercises Every Sunday: My YW President gives me time every Sunday during opening exercises to present and explain the cards, and/or award ribbons and certificates, and most importantly bear my testimony about the subject. This way the girls get to know me, see what others accomplish, and are thinking about Personal Progress at least every Sunday. ****

new beginnings gift.

Our ward always gives the girls something with the mutual theme on it so they can have something in their rooms that remind them daily of what it is.  Since chalkboards are so in right now, I came up with this cute chalkboard.  It only cost about $3.15 a piece to  make.

I found the print HERE and had it printed as a 5 by 7 photo, not glossy. We had a long plank of wood cut and then I painted each board black with black acrylic paint and then sprayed the front side with 2 layers of chalkboard spray paint.  Then we mod podged on the picture and added some twine with a staple gun, tied a twine bow and hot glued a paper flower on it.  And then tied the polka dot ribbon around it.  They turned out super cute!

new beginnings 2013.

We held our New Beginnings event last Tuesday.  One of our mia maids, Elise, helped organize, plan and conduct the event.  She did a great job and is able to count it towards one of her value projects.  We welcomed two new young women that will be turning twelve this year.  It was a lot of fun and a beautiful evening.  Here are some pictures and downloads to use if you'd like them!

 Tissue paper flowers, paper sack flowers, burlap, our mutual theme chalk boards, temple pictures and some quick mutual theme Word Art I designed made great decorations.

I used a shoe in each value color for my talk and they ended up as the perfect decoration for the mutual theme that I tied into personal progress. 

And for refreshments some yummy treats including mini cupcakes with THESE cupcake toppers.

I also gave the new girls a small jewelry box to put their young women motto necklace in so they don't lose it between now and the time they enter young womens.  I forgot to take a picture but will try to get one for you.  They turned out really adorable...a bright blue heart shaped box and I enlarged the cupcake topper with the high heel on it and printed it on bright pink paper, cut it out in a heart shape and mod podged it on the lid. 

Thanks to Elise and Kayoko the evening was amazing!

mutual theme notebook.

I also made these notebooks for each of the girls to write notes, their testimonies, etc. during their Sunday lessons.  Their advisors will pass them out in the beginning of class and collect them at the end each Sunday. Thanks to Walmart I found these notebooks for 10 cents.  Then printed THIS on shiny cardstock, stapled them on the front and added their name with a ribbon.