As a parent I want my kids to have the world, but I never want them to expect to have it. I want them to understand the importance of hard work, of showing appreciation and especially of giving back and contributing to the world.
One of the best ways I have found to do this is by finding opportunities for our family to serve. When we work together to help others, not only are we spending time together as a family but we are leading by example for giving back and showing kindness.
It starts in the home with small simple things like helping your sibling with a chore, or taking the time to truly compliment or say something nice about someone. For me, it all comes down to trying to live as the Savior Jesus Christ did.
Before Thanksgiving, my family put together a Thanksgiving Basket to donate to a local shelter. We used the opportunity to talk with our kids about being grateful and that many would not be able to have a nice dinner without help. I put together a video documenting our experience.
We loved the experience and are so excited to look for more ways to serve.
This December there is an amazing opportunity to get into the true spirit of Christmas by remembering how the Savior Jesus Christ lived and trying to live as He did as part of the Light The World initiative.
This December join me, in 25 Ways over 25 Days. This is a month of ideas with ways to serve each day, helping you get in the true Christmas spirit. By trying to live as Jesus Christ did, by serving, by giving, by living as He did, we will not only help others but can transform our own lives.
If you head to Mormon.org, not only will you see this calendar, but every day there will be a new video and ideas of how you can serve that day. Even if you just choose one or two things to do, I truly believe it will help your holiday season be a little less stressful, a little more peaceful and will definitely help you remember the real meaning for this time of year.
As a gift to you, I would love to give you something that means everything to me, something that has brought me peace, hope, and a true understanding of who I am and what this life is all about. It is the Book of Mormon. If you would like one, I would be happy to send you a free copy, just leave a comment saying you would like one and with an e-mail address that I can reach you at.
I truly hope you join me in this wonderful way to help bring some peace and joy at this time of year and really make the world a better place.
Halloween is quickly approaching and my kids finally picked their Halloween Costumes. They were unsure what they wanted to be but finally decided. We don't tend to do really elaborate or extreme costumes, but usually something more simple you can pick up from the store. Today I am sharing our easy Halloween costume ideas from over the years.
I will be starting with the newest and working my way back.
2016
A Rithmatist (Brandon Sanderson Book character), A Police Man, an Empress Sadly, this was probably the last year my oldest dressed up, as he doesn't want to this year
A Cowboy, a Ninja (which Ryder is actually being this exact thing this year(, a Ghost
2012
Knight, Dragon, Princess
This is the one year I got all of my kids to coordinate their costumes. We had a little fun with it a made this video
2011
Mystery Super Girl, Train Conductor, Superman
2010
Fireman, Pumpkin, Cowgirl
2009
Superman
A witch
2008
A Bumble Bee and a Fairy
2007
Pumpkin
Black Cat
2006
Superman-- yes the same costume his brother later wore
2005
A leopard
Wow! What a trip down memory lane! My kids have definitely recycled ideas amongst themselves, even sharing costumes over the years.
Since my oldest isn't dressing up this year, it is a big reality of how fast time goes and of the different phase in motherhood I am entering. Life goes fast.
What are your kids (or you) going to be for Halloween this year?
Have you ever had someone wrong you? Someone hurt you either intentionally or not? What about those times so extreme it seems impossible to forgive?
This weekend I had the privilege of going to Time Out For Women. One of the speakers was Alissa Parker, mother of Emilie Parker one of the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting. Let's just say there were a lot of tears listening to Alissa speak.
Me and Alissa Parker after her presentation
Alissa told how she went over to the school, waiting to hear, then learning Emilie would not be going home with them that day. I remember the Sandy Hook shooting so vividly, I remember watching the news feed live, unable to stop watching. I remember texting my husband while bawling, telling him what had happened. To think of all of those little children. It broke my heart.
Alissa told how empty she felt almost unable to function.
Then she began talking about the angels; the angels in her life in the forms of her friends and family and those around her. How they cared for her, how they reached out for her, how they did what they could to somehow try and help.
She talked with a counselor asking how can I help my kids through this and the counselor wisely told her, first you need to work on you.
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As mothers I think our instinct often is to take care of those around us, make sure their needs are met; but as a mother you are a person too! If you are broken and empty, it will be impossible to truly take care of others.
She said as time went on, she felt like she needed to choose. To choose to let the light in, to choose to see the tender mercies, the help from the angels in her life.
Then she said something I will never forget--
"There is a correlation between healing and forgiveness."
She said at first she almost felt guilty, like taking away the pain felt like a disservice to what happened to her daughter. She wanted to think of the shooter as a monster, it was easier, it felt right. Ultimately, this is not how she could live her life.
She said that after meeting with the shooter's father, it began to humanize the shooter, and almost gave her a closure. She realized that it was not her burden to judge and know how the shooter would be held accountable with God, she didn't need to carry that burden with her, she could turn that over to God.
She testified that God can take the hardest and most broken hearts and can heal them, but we have to choose to let Him do that, we have to choose the light above the darkness.
I have read many survivors stories, and one commonality is their hope of something more; something more than just this life, also their ability to forgive. Once they forgive, that person or those people who harmed them- the people and the crimes lose power over them. They no longer need to be victimized by the horrendous crimes that were committed against them; they are able to find peace and purpose in life. That is true power. That is how you forgive when forgiving seems impossible.
**Please note-forgiving is not the same as forgetting. In some situations, actions need to be taken to protect yourself and others. At times, seeking professional help is necessary**
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Now just this week, there was another shooting in a school, a domestic dispute- played out in the classroom, taking the lives of the teacher and a student, another student hanging on for their life. As I saw the news of this, my heart broke once again. Men's hearts are failing them. This world needs peace, this world needs the ability to find light, hope and peace.
This true peace, this true light, comes from one source, our Savior Jesus Christ; he truly is the Prince of Peace.
Right now much of the country is covered in snow, and here in SoCal we are actually getting a lot of rain, so what is something fun you can do on those cold and rainy (or snowy) days, something that everyone will like? How about making a stop-motion video?
Until recently, We had never made a stop motion video, but after seeing the tutorials on the GoldFish Website, we knew we wanted to try.
Tips for Making a Stop Motion Video Stop Motion Video is actually a group of pictures, taken one after the next that are then put together to seem like a moving picture. There are a lot of Apps out there for making stop motion videos. (See more tips and Apps here)
1. Plan Your Scene
Do you want something short and funny? Something dramatic? Something sweet? Unless you have a lot of time and really want to do a big production, you will want to pick a little short scene, think one thing happening. Definitely seek your kids input as they have all kinds of creative ideas.
2. Get Your Supplies
First, you will need something to record your video; you could technically take a bunch of pictures with your phones camera and put them together, but the Apps make it so much easier (and don't fill your camera roll with a ton of pictures)
Just about anything can work in your video, some useful supplies you may want:
Construction Paper
Glue/Scissors
Molding Clay (they have packs of this at the Dollar Store)
Stickers
Yarn, pompoms, pipe cleaners
For our videos we used Goldfish Crackers for the characters of our videos.
**Before you begin constructing your scene, get out the App and see how big you need it to be. You want your scene to fill the entire screen, so definitely size things out first.**
-Make the background and props you will need in your scene. Make sure you have everything ready and all of the props set to the side. We recommend taping the background in place, we taped it to the back of an old chalk board, as otherwise if it slides, it will throw things off.
--Prop Action: If you are wanting props to open or grow, you will need multiple version of that prop.
Example: In our Picnic video, the fish carries in a "folded" picnic blanket then it unfolds as he lays it out. My daughter actually made three different blankets, all of various sizes, so the blanket gets bigger as it unfolds. We also made multiple umbrellas, a folded one, partially open and fully open, to make it seem like it was actually opening up.
TIP- 3-demensional scene looks really cool, but are definitely more tricky to set up and move the figures just right, if your basic scene and background is flat, it is a bit easier to do. For your first video I recommend a flat scene.
A 3-D Stop Motion set up we did- though someone kept eating our Goldfish!
Here is our Picnic Video-the third video we actually made.
4. Camera Steady -Start Recording
You definitely need to have your camera mounted or somehow stationary, movement of the camera will make the whole video off and shaky. You can use a stand for your phone or tablet, or a third party one. For our picnic, I mounted my phone using a phone tri-pod which I attached to the handle of my camera tri-pod, a bit crazy but it worked. Once your camera and props are in place, then start shooting.
5. Shooting Tips
--Small Movements-- the more fluid you want your movie, then you need very small movements between pictures. You want to set your things in place, take a picture then move your character just a tiny bit, then snap the next picture, etc. If you want something to move faster, then move it a bigger space.
-Keep things moving-- unless something is supposed to be stationary, like a house or tree- you will want to move each movable thing a little bit in almost every shot to help it look more realistic. We did not do this as much with our first video, as we were still learning, but learned this trick in the end.
(Example- in the picnic, even when the clouds rolling in is the focus, we still moved the Goldfish just the slightest bit to make sure he looked like he wasn't a frozen statue all of the sudden).
-Take lots of pictures! Our Christmas Tree video is 145 frames and lasts about 30 seconds, so yes we moved everything 145 times for 30 seconds worth of film. It does take some time to do it well, but it is so fun! My daughter would move the things, then I would click, say okay, and she would move them a little bit more, it was fun working together.
Have fun!
It really can be a lot of fun making these videos, in fact we are kind of hooked and have made several now.
If you want to take a try and making Stop-Action movies- definitely check out more tips and tricks at the Goldfish Website.
--While there--Don't miss out on your chance to enter to win $5000 when you make a video of you own.
My husband is colorblind, always has been. The world has always looked a little differently to him than most of the world. I recently entered him into a campaign to raise awareness of Colorblindness hosted by EnChroma, who creates special glasses for the colorblind, for Father's Day. He was selected as one of the volunteers to receive a free pair of glasses! He received a pair of special glasses designed for the colorblind, allowing them to see the world as the rest of us do.
"What color is in this?" "Are there flowers over there?" These are questions I regularly hear Eric ask. Before he went to college, his older sister created a dot system that she put on the tags of his clothes so he would know what things matched.
When we heard that he won the glasses we were both so excited. The day that it was finally time to try on the glasses, as we drove to the park he admitted he was almost kind of scared and nervous, as truly his whole world was about to change.
We arrived at the park and were greeted by the reporter from a local paper and waited for the other local winner to arrive.
They put on their glasses and both stood there almost in shock. I honestly thought my husband might react a little more, but it was so overwhelming he hardly knew how to react. He suddenly was able to see flowers in bushes in the distance, the sky was more blue, the greens all popped in color.
He was able to see all of the different shades of red in Alex's hair, he could tell that Lucas shirt had more stripes of different colors than he thought before.
When we were done at the park I drove so he could just sit and enjoy the views. I wish I would have been recording him then as, every other phrase was "wow, look at that!" Even the brightness of the green lights shocked him. As it began to get darker he took the glasses off and said "everything looks so dull now".
Here is a video I put together showing his experience.
EnChroma is offering a discount until Father's Day, so if you have someone in your life who is colorblind this is truly a life changing gift.
EnChroma glasses do not cure or claim to cure colorblindness and are not intended to be used for passing tests that are occupation-related. Rather, it's a medical device that helps to enhance color vision for daily enjoyment. I truly am so grateful that he received these glasses and that now he can see the world like the rest of us do.
This post was sponsored on behalf of Legoland California. All thoughts and opinions are my own
A couple of years ago after school got out, we surprised our kids with a trip to Legoland. We had so much fun that we wanted to do it again. The hardest part was trying to keep it a surprise again. Alex definitely suspected and kept asking questions, but when she got home on the last day of school and Eric wasn't home, like he had been the first time, she began to think maybe she was wrong.
The day after school got out, the kids were watching a show and I asked them if they could come take a quick video for me saying 'first day of summer', as I do the 1-second a day app. Little did they know what was really going to happen.
We got to the park before it opened and were surprised when we were let right in, we were even more surprised when we were able to go on one of the rides early too! Most of the park was closed until opening time, but you definitely want to get their early.
The day was perfect, the weather was great, the lines were short, and the kids all had a great time.
I think we rode almost every single ride in the park that day.
The Dragon roller coaster was a favorite of all three kids. We rode it six times that day! It is a fun small roller coaster that first takes you through this awesome castle with everything built from Legos, I noticed something different each time we rode.
Have you ever seen an entire city built out of Lego bricks? In Legoland they have several cities- New York, SanFrancisco, New Orleans, and Las Vegas.
Now they have a new Star Wars collection. They have a scene from every movie, it was awesome!
I love that Legoland is really family friendly and designed for younger kids, Ryder is able to ride almost every ride at the park. This time he was even old enough for the driving school; they all passed their tests, even if Alex was on the wrong side of the road for a minute.
They have good food choices, and we were happy with the all you can eat pizza place we ate for lunch.
Don't worry- the real pizza isn't made of Lego Bricks.
We ended the day at the Legoland Sea Life Aquarium, which is attached right to the park. The Aquarium is something you could spend a good part of your day, or hurry through and see it at the end of your day like we did.
Jelly fish- and me and Lucas
It was an awesome day and the kids are already asking when we can go back again. When you are planning your Legoland trip, definitely check your local Lego Store, or even restaurants, as Wendy's currently has a buy an adult get a child free coupon. Legoland has great deals, so it can be a trip that anyone can enjoy.
You have your boy and your girl, you're done right?
I can't tell you how many times I heard this shortly after my daughter was born. I had two kids, a boy and a girl, so that had to be it right?
For a little bit I thought maybe it was; with a high strung two-year-old and a newborn everything seemed overwhelming. But with time and patience, I began to know, that no we were not done with just two.
We decided that there was another baby that was supposed to be part of our family. Seven months of trying and ups and downs, and finally the exciting news that our family of four would soon be five. My pregnancy felt pretty routine, the unfortunate Sciatic nerve pain I first experienced with Alex returned along with a major hernia. The vein in my leg near my groin bulged out over a inch at times. Thankfully my other two were a little older this time around, as I was not able to lift anything heavy.
We realized with a July due date our usual trip to Utah would have to be changed, instead opting for a trip in May. Lucas would miss a week of preschool but he would be back in time for preschool graduation.
The next month was a total roller coaster, with time split between the NICU and being with my other two kids. The day he was able to come home really came more quickly then we ever thought it would.
And now this Saturday, that little baby who came 8 weeks too soon will be six.
He is funny, he has the best curly hair- which trust me he always tells me "Don't cut my curls", he is excelling in school and makes friends easily but also likes to keep to himself. He has his sister's face but his brother's hair.
One-year shoot
We often say he is the perfect balance of his older two siblings. He is my cuddler and still comes and sits on my lap to show me his "papes" when he gets home from school.
At Preschool Graduation last year
From when he was little he has always had amazing coordination and could hit a ball with a bat at two-years-old, yet now when he plays soccer he runs almost in slow motion and understands the game but is often run right by.
He always makes us laugh, saying the most clever and funny things and he knows he is funny. He says prayers reluctantly always saying he doesn't know what to say, but does perfectly when giving a talk in Primary. He plays really good on his own and rarely asks to watch TV, instead playing some imaginative game he created.
He is and will always be my baby, which he has just barely not objected when I tell him so.
To my Ryder, I love you and am so glad you are in our family, no we were not done with two, I couldn't imagine our family without you.
I shared about Christmas Eve, but have yet to share Christmas day.
About 5:45 my eyes popped open, Eric lay next to me awake also. We knew the kids would soon be running into our room, the rule was 6:00 AM and no sooner, yet there we both lay awake, excited too.
I hear the toilet flush, then little footsteps. Lucas and Alex are now whispering quietly to each other, I am sure with their eyes glued the clock. Eric and I try to hold back our laughter.
6:00 AM hits and Lucas and Alex breeze into our room, we pretend to be asleep but they know better. A minute later Ryder comes in, the excitement obviously waking him up. We pretend like we want to sleep more then reluctantly get out of bed.
Eric and I head down first, turning the lights on, getting the cameras ready. My parents who are here with us this year, come downstairs too.
Then it is time.
The excitement, the chaos, the piles and piles of presents.
The quilts my kids made for my parents (with the help of their other Grandma)
But moments like this makes it all worth it.
And here for your enjoyment is our Christmas morning in action.
Later that afternoon we went to my sister's to open more presents and spend time with the cousins, even my brother's family who came into town.
