GratitudeTurkeys (older post)

 I didn't think I had photos of their Gratitude Turkeys....BUT I DID!

That is why we are out of chronological order here.

 The girls were not too sure about putting their bare feet in a dish of brown paint.

 I saw these cute little turkeys out of oreos on Our Best Bites

It looked easy enough.....oh my gosh! These little suckers were a pain,

they wouldn't stay together. I moved one and it completely fell apart....my little girl

in pink, it was her turkey and her face was priceless, "I AM MAKING ANOTHER ONE!"

I am grateful for the opportunity to know these sweet little girls and have

them come to my home twice a month and enjoy their

precious spirits.

"The Lighthouse of the Lord"

 One of my little girls got away before taking the picture....darn it!
I was so excited to find these cute key chains at our Annual Community Exchange last
September. I want them to have something with them that would remind them of
Christ and to keep their sites on His teachings.

The Lighthouse of the Lord: A Message to the Youth of the Church

President Thomas S. Monson

"The lighthouse of the Lord sends forth signals readily recognized and never failing." 

Pres. Monson suggest 3 signals that can guide us through the storms of life.

1. Choose your friends with caution.

 "Associate with those who, like you, are planning not for temporary convenience, shallow goals, or narrow ambition, but rather for those things that matter most—even eternal objectives."

2. Plan your future with purpose.

 "I plead with you, my young ...sisters, to remember who you are. You are... daughters of Almighty God. You have a destiny to fulfill, a life to live, a contribution to make, a goal to achieve. The future of the kingdom of God upon the earth will, in part, be aided by your devotion."

3. Frame your life with Faith.

  "When you have an abiding faith in the living God, when your outward actions reflect your inner convictions, you have the composite strength of exposed and hidden virtues. They combine to give safe passage through whatever rough seas might arise."

" When you, my dear young friends, choose your friends with caution, plan your future with purpose, and frame your life with faith, you will merit the companionship of the Holy Spirit. You will have “a perfect brightness of hope.” You will testify through your own experience to the truth of the Lord’s promise: “I, the Lord, am merciful and gracious unto those who fear me, and delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and in truth unto the end. Great shall be their reward and eternal shall be their glory."

These girls are amazing....they know they have a Father in heaven and
their goal is eternal life. They have been taught by loving parents. They don't
have to be like Alice in Wonderland, when she asked, "Which way do I go?"
They know!

^{It's very hard for these girls to sit and listen for very long when they have just gotten out} 

^{of school and so I really couldn't finish sharing my thoughts with the girls.} 

^{I have provided a link if you would like to reinforce it in a FHE lesson.} 

^{Here are a few photos of my lighthouse as a child, Battery Point Lighthouse in Crescent City, CA}

 I loved going to the lighthouse and playing around the rocks,
my favorite thing was to standon the edge of a wall
on the other sided where the waves would come crashing up.
We had to make sure we weren't out there before the tide started to come in and
surrounded the island.

 The lighthouse was very important to our community of fishermen.

 

Christmas

 For our Christmas Party we read our favorite Christmas story,

each girl brought a treat to exchange and

a "White Elephant" gift for our game.

There were a few things I learned from this party....

one, having each girl read a book out loud was too long for some

two, these girls were too young to understand how the "White Elephant"

 gift game worked.

 The books read were....

Little Miss Spider A Christmas Wish

Snowmen At Night

A Christmas Dress For Ella

 I don't think the girls enjoyed the White Elephant game as I thought they would.

I had contributed a gift as well, but I didn't match it to the level of their gifts.

I explained that they can take a gift from someone else when it was their turn,

but no one did.

They each picked a gift.

We took turns opening them and the first comment was...

"This looks old"

I tried explaining that no one brought new things.

When the last girl opened her gift, which was my gift, she looked into the box,

then looked up and slowly brought out a black purse with pink pok-a-dots

and holds it up.

Her face said she loved it!

All of the others girls faces were green with envy.

It was funny and sad.

I won't do that again.

Everyone brought wonderful treats to exchange

(I can't believe I didn't get a picture)

There were chocolate covered pretzels, 

chocolate chip cookies

chocolate covered strawberries

Gingerbread girl and boy

They were very excited to share their homemade treats they enjoyed making at home.

LDS.org

The church has provided a wonderful website full of so much for all ages

to study, learn and listen to the gospel.

I didn't know if all of the girls were aware of the opportunities that were there.

What a perfect Sabbath Day activity.

We explored the LDS.org website

We found all sort of fun things to do on the Friend link.

Click on any of the red links to get to the different activities.

There is music to listen to 

Videos to watch

pictures to print

Listen to stories

Color pictures online

Games and puzzles

Listen to scripture stores

(they really liked the memory game)

Go here to learn about the temples around the world 

and here to keep up with the progress of our new temple that will soon be dedicated

Brigham City Temple

We then practice reciting the 11th Article of Faith......

We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God 

according to the dictates of our own  conscious and 

allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, 

where, or what they may.

Snickerdoodles

 To be honest, I did not have anything planned for these cute little girls.

However, they love to make cookies and they are very good at it.

"What are we making?"

"Snickerdoodles!"

"Do they have Snickers in them?"

 These girls know how to work as a team and share.

I try to encourage them to work it out among themselves who is going to do what.

It's fun to listen to them take a few minutes to decide who's turn it is

to crack an egg, measure the sugar, mix the dough......

I will hear;

"I haven't had a turn"

"I only had one turn"

"You're after her"

"Can I be first, since I am the newest person?"

they always figure it out.

 We had to work fast if we were going to get them baked for them to take home.

These cookies burned up my hand mixer.

I could have used my Kitchen-Aid, but I wanted them to use the hand mixer.

Snickerdoodles

Ingredients:
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 cup of butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla
3 tbs. sugar
1 tbs. cinnamon
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl mix 3 tbs. of sugar and 1 tbs. of cinnamon. Set aside. Next, cream butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add vanilla, milk, and eggs and beat well.  Add baking soda, cream of tartar, and flour until the dough is well combined and formed.
 Make one inch balls with a cookie scoop or spoon. Roll each ball in the mixture of cinnamon sugar.
 Place cookies on a parchment paper (or greased) cookie sheet and slightly flatten each ball with the palm of your hand. Bake for 8-10 minutes until light golden. Makes approx. 66 cookies.

This recipe was taken from this website
 http://savorysweetlife.com/2009/08/tried-and-true-snickerdoodles-recipe/

While baking and waiting for parents we recited the 8th Article of Faith...

We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; 
we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.

12 Day Advent Cups

 My cousin showed me this cute idea for advent cups, however,

I didn't really want to make 24 cups x 6 so, that is how the activity

became the "12 Day Advent" Cups.

Each cup had a chocolate wrapped in Christmas theme foil that I found at WinCo and

an activity geared towards service and the birth of Christ.

 I had as much prepared as possible but still allowing plenty for the girls to do.

I pre-cut and glued wrapping paper on the dixie cups while

one girl punched holes for the handle, two girls attached the wire handles and

then two girls glued the numbers on each cup.

They were very organized, putting together their own system of putting cups into 

days 12-24 into groups for each girls.

These are the activities that we placed in each cup;

• Watch a Christmas movie with your family  
• Read a Christmas story to a sibling 
• Wash dishes for your mother and tell her you love her 
• Give your father a hug and tell him why you love him 
• Draw a picture of the Nativity
• Make a Birthday Card for Jesus and tell Him what your gift is to Him
•  Read about the birth of Jesus in Luke 2:1-20 
• Tell a Grandparent you love them and why they are special to you 
• Watch a bible video on the church website with your family at http://lds.org/bible-videos 
• Do something nice for your neighbor 
• Clean your room; make your bed, put your cloths away and dust your things 
• What are you thankful for? Tell Heavenly Father what you are thankful for in your prayers tonight. MERRY CHRISTMAS

 If you would like to put your own Advent Cups together

go HERE for instructions.