LDS General Conference Activities for your family

 

We love the weekend of LDS General Conference.  I love to plan things for my family to do while watching and listening to our church leaders. We created an ACTIVITY CENTER and I like to add new activities each year. 

ACTIVITY CENTER: Last years idea

NEW IDEAS for Spring Conference Session!

1. Sewing Project

 

My girls have started to learn how to cross stitch.  This is a great thing to have in our Activity Center because it helps to keep their hand busy and their mouths a little quieter. I got them at the dollar store. If you or your child knows how to knit, crochet or sew check this post from Nancy with 50 Cute, Fun and Chic Hats or try these No Slip Headbands from Laura. 

2. Jewelry

Another thing my girls like to do is to make jewelry.  If you have little ones you can also make jewelry with fruit loops on yarn.

 

3. Conference Car Ride 

Here is a fun ticket to give your children to enter the car for the Conference Car Ride.

 

I love to go for a car ride and listen to General Conference on the radio.  We have some great canyons around are home which is perfect to drive through during the spring and see the beautiful flowers blooming.  It's also perfect in the fall to see the leaves changing colors.  We also like to either pack a picnic and stop in between the sessions or stop at our favorite Ice Cream shop for a shake. 

4. Conference Blocks or Cups

 

My daughter absolutely loves the stacking cup game from Minute It to Win It. It can keep her busy for hours so I decided to create cups with the First Presidency and 12 Apostles pictures on it so she could learn to put them in order.

5. Conference Buckets

We like to make Conference Buckets that has a conference coloring book, crayons and treats for our family. You could also make these fun Crayon Tote Bags from Nancy. Here is a great site for Conference Packets.

6. Matching Game or Go Fish
from Little LDS Ideas blog.

Go Fish

OTHER IDEAS for General Conference

 

1. Service

As my girls are getting older, I have been looking for service projects they could do while they are watching conference like making quilts or putting together hygiene kits. Hopefully with more preparation on my part you will see this in our Activity Center next conference. Check out these sites for other service ideas.

 

LDS Humanitarian Website

United Ways

 

  

2. Conference Spring Cleaning

 

Photo Credit

I loved this idea from my sister-in-law, Tiffany.  Spring General Conference also meant Spring Cleaning at their house.  During the Saturday sessions of General Conference her mom would have the family clean while they listened to conference on the radio.   The fun part was her mom would hide money throughout the house so when they did the job they got the money. 

3. Lounge Pants or Socks

Another fun idea is to give your children a new pair of lounge pants or slipper socks (you can socks at the dollar store) the night before conference so they can have something fun to wear while watching conference.  I think teenagers would love this ideas. 


Jan

 

Chicken Parmigiana

If you are looking for a great, healthy Italian dish look no further! Nothing beats the combo of fresh tomatoes and basil.

This recipe I adapted from a BHG magazine and have included a few tips on making it even lighter.

Ingredients:
- 1 small onion chopped            
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 1 Tbsp. of butter (or, I like to use coconut oil too)
- 2 cups of diced tomatoes (or 1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes) undrained
- 1 tsp. of sugar
- 1 tsp. of Kosher salt (I prefer to cook with Kosher salt, but regular salt will work too)
- 1/2 cup snipped fresh basil
- 1-2 pounds of skinless, boneless chicken breast (roughly 4 breasts)
- 1/3 cup bread crumbs
- 3 Tbsp. of grated Parmesan cheese
-1/2 tsp. dried oregano
- 1 egg beaten
- 2 Tbsp. milk
- 3 Tbsp. olive oil for cooking
-Shredded Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese for garnishing

1. In a saucepan, saute the onion and garlic in butter over medium heat until the onion is tender (about 4-6 minutes. Carefully stir in tomatoes, sugar, salt and a dash of pepper. Bring to boil, reduce heat and then simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in basil (you want to do this last the basil will loose it's sweetness if it gets overly cooked). Keep Warm. Taste the sauce to see if it is to your liking.

2. Meanwhile, with a meat mallet, pound the chicken so that is is about 1/4 inch thick.

3. In a dish, combine the bread crumbs with 3 Tbsp. of Parmesan cheese, and oregano. In a separate bowl, stir together egg and milk. Dip the chicken in the egg mixture, then in the crumb mixture.

4. In a large skillet, cook the chicken in the hot oil over medium heat until golden brown and no longer pink (about 5 to 6 minutes), turning once.

Or

If you are looking to cut calories, I have grilled the chicken instead of dipping it in bread crumbs and cooking in it in the oil. Honestly, it is the sauce that is truly divine. So, if you want to omit the chicken all together I understand. 

5. Place chicken on serving plate and spoon sauce on top. Sprinkle with Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese and let it stand until the cheese is melted.

Serve with some whole grain pasta and your favorite greens and you have a healthy meal that will leave you satisfied!


Enjoy,
Lauralee

Linking to:
Craft-O-Maniac
Mad in Crafts
This Gal Cooks

5 Cleaning tips you won't find on Pinterest!

Hey Potluck Pals!
So I know if you are anything like me, you can use all the help you can get when it comes to keeping your castle spick and span. These are some tips I have found that have really helped ease me load!

1. Dirty Windows: Hate the ugly smudges that are left on your windows after you've had littlies over? Give this crazy spray a try! I was worried initially since it looks blue in the bottle, but have no fear once you've sprayed and wiped it off the window it leaves NO BLUE RESIDUE. So don't be afraid, give it a try! The MAGIC!!!

smudges come off like

2. Laundry: I don't know about you but I HATE the pain in my back and arms after doing a full load of laundry. It's like after a full day I barely have energy to pick the kids up from soccer! If you feel the same way, you are going to sing my praises forever more once you hear what I'm about to tell you. Stick your clothes in this round box and they come out clean, EVERY TIME! Sayonara washboard mama's got a new pair of high tops!

3. Sweat Stains on Shirts: I hate when a new shirt is ruined because of those nasty yellow armpit marks. It's like, what's the point of a cute shirt if you lift your arms and its not cute anymore? So do what I do. It's very simple. Find a sharp pair of sewing shears. Make sure you are in a well-lit area and lift the shirt to the light, making sure you see the stain. Next using the stain as a guide, cut out the shirt around the circumference of the yellowed area, making sure not to clip the unmarked fabric and you're done! The stain is gone and the problem fixed.

4. Yucky Sheets After Guests Have Stayed Over: I love to have house guests. It's such a treat to entertain. Sometimes however, house guests though initially welcomed, leave unwelcome surprises once they're gone. How to treat that? Yuck right? Follow these three simple steps and you'll never have to deal with it again. 1.Take a polaroid of the sheet (make sure you include the offending mark in the frame). 2. With gloves and a hazmat suit if you got one, pick up the sheet and promptly throw it in the OUTSIDE  garbage can. 3. Find a card with a cheerful looking bird flying away with a suitcase in his beak that says "Thanks for stayin'! " Make sure to include the polaroid and the receipt for the new 900 count sheet set you bought for your guest bed. After getting your bill, there's no way they're coming back!

5. Bathrooms: This one is my favorite tip and one that I use on a regular basis. Sometimes my hubbers gets tired of wallowing through dirty clothes and soap slime to get to the shower in the morning and complains that it's dirty. WHAT? Once he starts threatening my AmEx access, I find the best way to get

things clean in a jiffer is to call any one of the people at Daisy Maids and they can come over and get it all done waaay before that sweet man comes home. Easy and painless!

So there you go my friends! My favorite tips that I tell everyone about when they first get married. Have so much fun cleaning that beautiful home of yours.
Love times a million,
Maren

P.S. I can't believe it's already April that went by so fast.

Friday Forum: #1 Teacher

If you are new to our Friday Forum's we like to ask a question, 

and love for our readers to share their answer with us...

Who was your favorite teacher?????????

Jan:  I have had some great teachers throughout my life.  My favorite teacher would have to be my 1st Grade teacher, Mr. Averett.  He never made you feel dumb for not knowing the answer and always tried to take the time to teach you new ways to learn.  He took the time to play as well as teach.  During recess, he would come out and play kick ball or push us on the swings.  While teaching, Mr. Averett continued his education and got his law degree.  He now teaches at Brigham Young University in the Law Department.  Another fun fact about Mr. Averett is that he walks and rides his bike everywhere.  One day while playing outside with my girls he walked by our house and I got to introduce my girls to my favorite 1st Grade teacher!!!!!


Nancy:  I had a teacher who really changed my life. His name is David Grimsman, and he taught several of my high school seminary classes. (That's a class where high school students learn about the Scriptures).  I just remember that in his class I always felt like I was of great value. Worth is such a thing that teens struggle with, and his presence always made me feel that I was truly "enough". That meant so much to me because I didn't always feel that way in the eyes of my peers-- I had a complex about where I lived, and I just didn't think I was as smart or pretty as my friends. In Brother Grimsman's class however, I felt loved, respected and deeply valued. He saw people beyond their exterior. His belief in me gave me the confidence I needed. When I was in his class, I decided that I wanted to give other teens the gift Brother Grimsman gave me. When I graduated from College, I too became a seminary teacher because of his example.

Lauralee: There are those teacher's who really pushed me and were challenging. Then, there was those teachers who just "connected" with students and you looked forward to class each week. Well, I have to say that one of my favorite teachers did both. He was one of my professors at WSU, Professor Litchford. He greeted us everyday by strumming his guitar to lyrics he made up of that day's lesson. He was a retired businessman who had a passion for teaching and life.

Maren: Definitely Mrs. Bayless. She was so awesome. I used to write crazy long (read boring) stories and she always said how creative I was. She truly loved her students and I felt that. Sadly, she died of cancer soon after our class was done but I will always remember her and her passion for teaching.

Tell us about your favorite teacher..........

All Star Teacher 3D Basketball Door

My assignment for teacher appreciation week was to decorate my daughter's teacher's door.  Actually my husband is the brains and the designer behind this one...

When I told my husband about my assignment to decorate a door for our daughter's teacher's classroom, he became quite excited :). That wasn't the reaction that I was expecting, but I was definitely pleased! The "All Star" teacher/ sports theme was 'right up his alley!!

This was one of those projects that I didn't have to think a much about, and it brought out one of my favorite sides of my husband <3... which is always great.

 This is what he did... just in case you ever want to know :).

He spray painted a hula hoop and 2 dowels red. Then he attached it to the door with lots of tape, and added the dowels for support.

Then he found a shirt of mine, and traced it for the jersey.

My touch to this project was using book pages, since this is for a teacher....
My husband however, tore the pages out of the book and water colored them orange for basketballs!

 A Few more details we added:

 1. Traced circles on to the orange water colored book pages. Then we made basketball markings on them, and wrote the names of all the kids in the class.

2. Cut pages out of the same old book.

3. Cut out letters from the school dye cut machine and glued them on the right places.

My daughter and Mrs. Stapel were both pleased :).

 I would love to know what kinds of things have you done to show the teachers in your life some appreciation! Please share!

~ Nancy

Teacher Appreciation Treats

We decided to make two little treats for each of the teachers and staff to say THANK YOU!!!

Here is what we came up with.........

3 Cheers for our Teachers and Staff

 

 

 

 

Our Teachers and Stuff deserve Gold Medals!

 

 

I mentioned in Monday's Post that my friend Wendy and I had to do a couple of doors at the last minute. These ideas are great but we didn't have the time to add extra touches to it!

Sorry about the pictures.  The light in the school is not great for pictures.

.

 

Lunch Ladies: No one serves like you.

You are a Champ

You deserve gold

We scored a "Home Run" with you!

 

Thank a teacher today!!!!

 

Jan

Teacher Appreciation Door

This year's theme, as mentioned by Jan, was All-Star Teachers. I was really excited that my assigned door was one of my son's teachers. On a side note, I had the same teacher when I was in elementary school, and she just so happens to be related to us (so this was extra cool)!

Anyhow, this is what we came up with:

Thank you to all those hardworking teachers out there!

-Lauralee