Mommy & Me Preschool Update...

We did it!  Yes that last post was a crazy 3 yrs ago, and we had a fabulous time joining with a couple friends and doing a Mommy & Me type preschool in our home.  Then we did it again this past year with my now 5 yr old and a few friends.  I love getting to teach our children and their friends preschool in our home!  And I love spending time with their moms too!  It has really been my Favorite way to preschool our children, and prepare them for school while not having to let them go out into the big world by themselves yet.  If you are interested in learning more about how we did our Mommy & Me preschool, just let me know!  Hope all is well!

Mother's Preschool

We'll I'm finally doing it! We are finally doing a Mommy and Me type preschool, we have invited 2-3 friends and their little ones to join us, so it is making me stick to a schedule!! Which is great! We just finished up week 2, our A week. We are using Moncure books, The Friend magazine, free printable worksheets from Confessions of a slacker mom and letter art ideas from Totally Tots Blog.  You can find all the other little pieces and fun things I'm finding on my pinterest boards just find the letter of the week that you are doing and enjoy!

Have fun and love the time with your little ones!

Links to basic recipes:

Hi there: I've been doing a lot of research and study on foods and how they affect our bodies, I have really enjoyed all that I'm learning and our normal foods continue to change and move towards the more natural whole foods. There are a lot of basic foods that our culture has lost the art of making, so as I search for recipes I will come back and and them to the post here. Enjoy!

 Butter: http://www.allotment.org.uk/recipes/making-butter-at-home

Teeth reflect what we eat, imagine that!

The more you learn, you realize how little you know.  I'm on a true healthy food quest.  We've all heard the phrase "you are what you eat", well unfortunately the Standard American Diet (SAD) has been playing tag with me, sometimes it catches up with me and leaves me worse off than it found me.  The latest form is in my teeth, I've always heard that pregnancy and nursing can "cause" tooth decay/cavities, but it never caught up to me until the last one.  Crazy as it sounds I would rather go through childbirth again then have multiple holes drilled into my teeth.  So I have been researching like crazy for more natural ways to take care of my cavities.  AND I think I found one!!  Wahoo!  It is a book called "Cure Tooth Decay: Heal and Prevent Cavities with Nutrition" a good deal of it is based off the findings presented in Dr. Weston A Price's book "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration."  Both books have a wealth of information in them regarding our modern health and dental systems and what we can do to heal and remineralize our teeth (and heal many other aspects of our health) through what we eat.  I also am reading a book that is complimentary to these called: "Nourishing Traditions Cookbook " that has recipes for many of the foods that are in Cure tooth decay, and simply a lot of recipes that are just plain good healthy foods!    I am hoping that if I do this plan and if it works, the cost of the books and the foods, will be far less expensive than the multiple fillings would have been!


The challenge:  6 weeks trial period of the nutrition outlined in these books, and back to a dentist for a second opinion on how my teeth are looking.

Here's hoping that it works!  If anyone wants to join me and give traditional real foods a try for better health I'd love to chat about it!  Drop me an email and we can be cheerleaders for each other!

Hands Full of "LOVE"

Adorable little hands and feet... many say I have my "hands full", 

I agree, full of LOVE!

The Best Things in Life Aren't Things

"The Best Things in Life Aren't Things"

I saw this saying on Pintrest, we made it up on an 8.5 x 11 page, printed it on cardstock and my little ones put their handprints (and a footprint) on it... I LOVE it!  We made up a bunch of them for Grandma's and Grandpa's, daddy's office and one for home.

Here is a downloadable jpg for you if your interested!  Enjoy!

Becoming A Better Teacher

As I search, study, ponder, and pray upon the topic of teaching my children I come across so many wonderful resources of information.  Each explains and enlightens the subjects of; the calling to be a parent, children's development, and many other wonderful topics to guide the quest to Teach the Children.  Take the time to study, pray, and ponder on these things the Lord then can guide and inspire you.  Elder Holland has said, "To teach effectively and to feel you are succeeding is demanding work indeed.  But it is worth it.  We can receive 'no greater call' ".  ("A Teacher Come from God," Apr. 1998 general conference).

LDS.org has more wonderful resources and inspirational guidance on your path to becoming all you can be as a mother, a father, a teacher, than you will find anywhere else.  Take time to study the doctrine of teaching and of the scriptures, of the Prophets, of our Savior Jesus Christ.  Then you will become all that you can be and all that your children need you to be.  "The Lord can do remarkable miracles with a person of ordinary ability who is humble, faithful, and diligent in serving the Lord and seeks to improve himself.  This is because God is the ultimate source of power." ~ Elder James E. Faust, "Acting for Ourselves and Not Being Acted Upon," Oct. 1995 general conference.

In particular there is a whole section of LDS.org that is dedicated to Teaching the Gospel, and "What teaching can compare in priceless value and in far-reaching effect with that which deals with man as he was in the eternity of yesterday, as he is in the mortality of today, and as he will be in the forever of tomorrow." J. Reuben Clark Jr., "Excerpts from The Charted Course of the Church in Education," Ensign, Sept. 2002, 60.  Teaching the Gospel is full of guidance and direction as you learn of the importance of Your Call to Teach; the Principles and Methods of Teaching; Teaching Children, Youth and Adults; and Teaching in the Home.  Each section will inspire and educate as you seek to become a better teacher, mother or father to your children.

Teaching, No Greater Call: A Resource Guide for Gospel Teaching: Lesson 1: Teaching Children  

Truly I am amazed, I have heard of this book, and we have it in our personal library collection, but I never knew what a treasure trove of parental guidance lay within it's pages.  A favorite quote from it's pages is;

"Elder M. Russell Ballard said, “Clearly, those of us who have been entrusted with precious children have been given a sacred, noble stewardship, for we are the ones God has appointed to encircle today’s children with love and the fire of faith and an understanding of who they are” (“Great Shall Be the Peace of Thy Children,” Ensign, Apr. 1994, 60). The Savior’s example sets a pattern for us as we teach, care for, and influence children.

It is a sacred responsibility to teach children the gospel of Jesus Christ and help them learn to live it. ...... With the Spirit to guide you, you can love and teach children in a Christlike way. You can help each child find the peace promised to those who follow the Savior: “All thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children” (3 Nephi 22:13)."

Teaching, No Greater Call: A Resource Guide for Gospel Teaching: Lesson 2: Age Characteristics of Children - This is a Wonderful resource for learning child development and growth, it starts at 18 months and goes on to 12 years old.   A very good thing to have as a guide as you plan lessons and activities for your children and to help you understand the way they see and understand things at the stage they are in.  

Pres. David O. McKay stated that "No greater responsibility can rest upon any man [or woman] than to be a teacher of God's children." (Conference Report, Oct. 1916, 57.)   As mothers and fathers we have been given the greatest gift of trust and responsibility.  Let us honor that trust and that love, by becoming the best we can be through earnest study and faith, and by teaching His and our dearest little ones every day in every way.