"Cultivate your gifts and interests."

Elder Ballard asks (and answers) "What can you do, as a young mother, to reduce the pressure and enjoy your family more?"

Third, even as you try to cut out the extra commitments, sisters, find some time for yourself to cultivate your gifts and interests. Pick one or two things that you would like to learn or do that will enrich your life, and make time for them. Water cannot be drawn from an empty well, and if you are not setting aside a little time for what replenishes you, you will have less and less to give to others, even to your children. Avoid any kind of substance abuse, mistakenly thinking that it will help you accomplish more. And don’t allow yourself to be caught up in the time-wasting, mind-numbing things like television soap operas or surfing the Internet. Turn to the Lord in faith, and you will know what to do and how to do it.

M. Russell Ballard, “Daughters of God,” Ensign, May 2008, 108–10

All Things Frozen Day 3: Frozen Snacks on a Stick

Want to hear my secret weapon for dealing with summer heat? Add ICE!

Today's Activity: Frozen Snacks on a Stick, or in other words--Popsicles

My girls really like to eat frozen things. The Sweet Bee is really hit and miss when it comes to eating (or even trying) most foods, but if it's frozen I can almost guarantee that she will eat it. So we've been experimenting with a few different snacks on a stick.

Our standard favorite is Orange Yogurt Creamsicles.

Here is what you'll need:
Plain vanilla yogurt
Orange juice
Popsicle mold

That's it. I don't use exact measurements. I just start mixing yogurt and juice (I use a glass Pyrex 1 cup measuring cup) until I get the flavor I like. Use a whisk to mix it up. Pour into molds, freeze and enjoy.
We regularly eat this for a bedtime snack (hence the wet hair and lack of clothes--the Sweet Bee just had a bath).
I wrote about last year's Popsicle concoctions here.

Make and Takes recently had this great post: Treats to Keep the Kids Cool for Summer. We made our own watermelon popsicles and they were a winner at our house!

As you can tell, we had fun with a few different shapes.

Next we loaded grapes on a skewer. Amazing! My kids have been picky about grapes lately, but they'll eat them frozen! I think the skewer adds to the excitement.
All this talk of popsicles makes me want to start singing that Popsicle song from the 60's (no, I'm not that old--my parents just made sure I was thoroughly exposed to the music of that decade).

Popsicle ba-ma-ma-ma-ma ba-ma-ma-ma-ma
Popsicle ba-ma-ma-ma-ma
If you want to keep cool it does the trick
And it comes on a stick
Uh-huh-huh uh-huh-huh
Jan and Dean, Popsicle, 1966

All Things Frozen Day 2: Ice Treasures

Want to hear my secret weapon for dealing with summer heat? Add ICE!

Today's Activity: Ice Treasures

Let's Explore shared a great activity for occupying children in the hot summer months--let them dig for buried ice treasures! Here is our take on this activity.

First, you'll need to bury the treasure. I used small plastic animals, but you could use anything you have around your home--buttons, sea shells, marbles, beads, etc.

Select your container (plastic food storage containers for us) and start freezing. Do it in layers, so your treasure gets dispersed throughout. Once it's ready to go, gather your excavating tools.

You can see from the picture above that we had a variety of tools. The most useful tool was the bowl of warm water, from which we filled medicine droppers and a water bottle. So in the end I guess we did a lot more "melting" than "digging" but it was still a fun activity.
My girls loved freeing the animals. The Ant Bug has been begging to do this activity again, so I think we have a winner here!

All Things Frozen Day 1: Ice Cream (in a bag or not)

Want to hear my secret weapon for dealing with summer heat? Add ICE!

Today's Activity: Ice Cream in a Bag

I originally saw this idea in a Parents magazine. We love ice cream so we had to try it out.


Here's what you'll need:

Ice cubes
Ziploc bags-quart and gallon size
6 Tb. rock salt (more or less)
1 cup milk
2 Tb. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
handful of chocolate chips

Fill a gallon-size plastic baggie halfway with ice. Add the rock salt. In a separate quart-size plastic bag combine the remaining ingredients. Seal the smaller baggie and put it inside the larger bag (seal that one too). Shake the bag for 10 minutes. Your hands will get cold and you might not last 10 minutes. But it is yummy even if it is a little slushy!

We combined this activity with a Family Home Evening lesson on Perseverance.

Just a few days after we did the activity I discovered this post on Make and Takes doing this same activity. Her recipe is slightly different, and she suggested wearing oven mitts while you're doing the shaking--helpful tip!

We also like to make homemade ice cream, not in a bag.Here is our favorite recipe, from the family cookbook.

Lemon Ice Cream
3/4 cup lemon juice
4 cups sugar
2 cups cream (1 pt.)
Milk to fill
1/2 tsp. lemon extract
Freeze. This takes a lot of salt to freeze. Makes 4 quarts.

We'll be making this on Friday to celebrate Pioneer Day (24th of July). I think this should become an annual tradition!

"Don't overschedule yourselves."

Elder Ballard asks (and answers) "What can you do, as a young mother, to reduce the pressure and enjoy your family more?"

Second, don’t overschedule yourselves or your children. We live in a world that is filled with options. If we are not careful, we will find every minute jammed with social events, classes, exercise time, book clubs, scrapbooking, Church callings, music, sports, the Internet, and our favorite TV shows. One mother told me of a time that her children had 29 scheduled commitments every week: music lessons, Scouts, dance, Little League, day camps, soccer, art, and so forth. She felt like a taxi driver. Finally, she called a family meeting and announced, “Something has to go; we have no time to ourselves and no time for each other.” Families need unstructured time when relationships can deepen and real parenting can take place. Take time to listen, to laugh, and to play together.

M. Russell Ballard, “Daughters of God,” Ensign, May 2008, 108–10

Prepared Mama: Personal Supplies for a 72-hr Kit

Next up on my Preparedness Project List was to make sure all of our personal supplies were up to date. Luckily most of these supplies were already gathered from my last push for preparedness a few years ago so I didn't have to do too much this round.
This is what I included in my kit:

A list of items in kit

Personal Hygiene Items
• Bar of soap, wash cloth, hand towel
• Travel size deodorant
• Hair elastics
• Travel size toothpaste and toothbrush
• Kleenex
• Insect repellent
• Cotton balls, Q-tips
• Toilet paper, wet wipes, hand sanitizer
• Feminine supplies
• Complete change of clothing (not shoes)

Tools, First Aid, Etc.
• Flashlight w/ batteries, matches, lighter, candle
• Emergency blanket
• Paper and pen
• 1 Garbage bag
• Mini First aid kit
• Rain poncho
• Whistle
• Family phone numbers
• Book of Mormon, small ball, deck of cards
• $41 cash

My husband's kit includes the same items, customized for a man. To keep things organized I packed like items in smaller Ziploc bags.

I realize this list of supplies is a little on the lean side. But I'm starting with the basics! Prepared LDS Family has a great list of supplies to include that is a little more thorough. Definitely go read her list.

Here are the loaded backpacks for myself and my husband. (Guess which is which!)
I picked up the backpacks on clearance a few years ago after the back to school rush, so now might be a good time to be working on this project. These backpacks also include our 3-day supply of food I described in detail here.

My next Preparedness Project will be to finish packing kits for my two children. I've been surveying experienced family members on tips for packing kits for young children, but I'll leave that for another post.

I'm beginning to feel like I've only just skimmed the surface when it comes to preparing my family for an emergency. 72-hr kits, emergency supplies, disaster plans, copies of important documents, car kits, food storage...the list goes on and on. But I'll keep working away at it--baby steps are better then no steps!

"...if ye are prepared ye shall not fear"
D&C 38:30

Helpful Resources
Prepared LDS Family: This site is amazing and very helpful! Read it, and you'll be inspired to do something to prepare your family!
If ye are prepared ye shall not fear: This thought-provoking site explores issues of preparedness for the coming hard times.
Team Freeman: Project Prepared Part 3: A real-life example of a 72-hr kit.
Ready.gov: Prepare. Plan. Stay Informed.

The words we say

"We must be so careful in speaking to a child. What we say or don’t say, how we say it and when is so very, very important in shaping a child’s view of himself or herself. But it is even more important in shaping that child’s faith in us and their faith in God. Be constructive in your comments to a child—always. Never tell them, even in whimsy, that they are fat or dumb or lazy or homely. You would never do that maliciously, but they remember and may struggle for years trying to forget—and to forgive. And try not to compare your children, even if you think you are skillful at it. You may say most positively that “Susan is pretty and Sandra is bright,” but all Susan will remember is that she isn’t bright and Sandra that she isn’t pretty. Praise each child individually for what that child is, and help him or her escape our culture’s obsession with comparing, competing, and never feeling we are “enough.”"

"I have often thought that Nephi’s being bound with cords and beaten by rods must have been more tolerable to him than listening to Laman and Lemuel’s constant murmuring. Surely he must have said at least once, “Hit me one more time. I can still hear you.” Yes, life has its problems, and yes, there are negative things to face, but please accept one of Elder Holland’s maxims for living—no misfortune is so bad that whining about it won’t make it worse.

"Paul put it candidly, but very hopefully. He said to all of us: “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but [only] that which is good … [and] edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God. …Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you. …And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:29-32).

"Our words, like our deeds, should be filled with faith and hope and charity, the three great Christian imperatives so desperately needed in the world today. With such words, spoken under the influence of the Spirit, tears can be dried, hearts can be healed, lives can be elevated, hope can return, confidence can prevail."

Jeffrey R. Holland, “The Tongue of Angels,” Ensign, May 2007, 16–18