Organizing Divia

Sorry I've been MIA for almost two weeks! Time goes fast in the blogosphere. I've been organizing my craft room. It REALLLLLLY needed it. I haven't done crafts FOREVER because I couldn't stand to walk into the craft room! I'm serious, you've seen the show Hoarders? Okay, I'm not THAT bad, I actually am too much of a purger to be a hoarder. But I always have to purge a LOT! I don't know where it keeps coming from. And when I was a single mom, I got behind. And then I just never got to it until now.

Let me show you what I mean...





But I'm making progress. I put all my stickers away in a neat and organized-ish fashion. I'm not so sure I like how it's working, but we'll see what changes once I actually start crafting again because I can use my craft room!



I've also been working more on my household binder. It's coming along. The problem is, I could either pay tons of money for the one I really like, Cleanmama, Or I can make it myself, which takes time. I picked the taking time. But if you don't have time, and have money instead, I HIGHLY recommend CleanMama's (Check  out her Etsy shop).

Oh yeah, and I have a life and a leadership role in the Young Women's organization at church. And I've helped at my girl's school class. And did I mention my sister's engaged? And it just so happens that her wedding-planning big sis (me) is helping her with that too? Not to mention my other clients. So, needless to say, I've been busy. But I will be posting tons of updates on all of my various life things some time this week, as soon as this darn craft room ever gets put back together...

My Ugly Little Secret Past

Most people don't know much about what my life was like a few years ago. I rarely talk about it. Even among friends. In fact, I bet my mother doesn't even know all of it. Even now I feel like I'm airing my dirty laundry, and I hope you'll forgive me. I hope you'll understand, I needed to write this. I needed to let this go. Maybe somewhere, this post will help someone else, but even if it doesn't, it helped me. Now it's all here, and not inside me. Now I have room to be who I want to be. I have room to carry my life because I don't have to carry my burdens. You don't have to read it. It's kind of long. I just had to write it. I just had to put a bit of my soul into this blog so that I could let it go. I'm grateful for a way to do that.


Keira


Below you will find a really long and tedious post... with no pictures.

FHE: I can Pray to Heavenly Father

Purpose: To teach that prayer is one of the greatest blessings we have and that through prayer we can talk with our Heavenly Father and seek His guidance often.

Possible scriptures:Psalm 55:17; Matthew 6:9–13; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; James 1:5; 2 Nephi 32:8–9; Alma 34:17-27; Alma 37:37; 3 Nephi 18:19–21; Moroni 10:3–5;  .

Possible Songs: I Pray in Faith - Children's Songbook #14; A Prayer - Children's Songbook #22b; A Prayer Song - Children's Songbook #22a;; Children All Over the World - Children's Songbook #16; Did You Think to Pray? - Hymns #140; Heavenly Father, Now I Pray - Children's Songbook #19; I Love to Pray - Children's Songbook #25b; Love Is Spoken Here - Children's Songbook #190; We Bow Our Heads - Children's Songbook #25a; Sweet Hour of Prayer - Hymns #142

Possible Materials: A paper bag/box that says “I am Thankful For” and a paper bag/box that says “Please Bless That...” along with papers that say “Heavenly Father,” and “In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.” A picture of Enos, praying figurine (or this one), Parts of a prayer craft or Ponder Pray Listen craft. 







FHE Lesson 4

Fear

I am not using my blog like I said I would, already. It's active now, but not really full. I'm able to do the task-oriented part - the Family Home Evening Lessons, But, then again, they have a structure and a deadline. So I asked myself what is keeping me from exploring the rest of my blog. And the answer is fear. I'm afraid of so many things lately. Sadly, the thing I'm most afraid of is myself. I'm afraid I'll get it going and chicken out again. I'm afraid I wont be able to handle it. I'm afraid it'll take too much time. And I'm still afraid of how much it'll put me out there. How much of "Me" will really shine through. So I've decided to embark on a project post that is totally scary to me. It may cause some judgement. It means a whole lot of confession. But I'm not ready to share it yet. I have just felt like I need to do this first, get this out there, and then I'll be so much easier for me to accomplish everything else. It'll be deeply personal, though, and that's the scary thing.

I think I'm ready for this challenge.

FHE: God the Eternal Father

Purpose: To teach that we can come to know God, that he has a body, and is a perfected being who loves us.

Reminder: Do not use all of the material presented in this lesson. Pick which stories and activities work best for your family and your ages.

Possible scriptures:John 14:9; Doctrine and Covenants 130:22; Moses 2:27; and Joseph Smith—History 1:14–17.Acts 7:55–56 (Son at the right hand of the Father) D&C 88:41–44 (attributes of God) Psalm 24:1 (the earth is the Lord’s) Moses 1:30–39 (Creation) Alma 7:20 (God cannot do wrong) Joseph Smith—History 1:17 (Father and Son are separate beings) Alma 5:40 (good comes from God) John 14:6–9 (Son and Father are alike) Mormon 9:15–20 (God of miracles) Amos 3:7 (God of revelation) John 3:16; 1 Nephi 17:36 3 Nephi 27:13–22 John 3:16–17 2 Nephi 9:6 D&C 38:1–3 Acts 17:27–29 Mosiah 4:9 D&C 130:22 Romans 8:16 3 Nephi 12:48 Moses 1:39 Hebrews 12:9 3 Nephi 14:9–11 Matthew 5:48 1 John 4:7–9

Possible Songs: “A Child’s Prayer,” Children’s Songbook 12; “My Heavenly Father loves Me,” Children’s songbook 228; “I Need my Heavenly Father,” Children’s songbook 18; “A Mighty Fortress is our God,” Hymns 68; “Because God loves Me,” Children’s songbook 234; “God’s Love,” Children’s Songbook 97; “Dearest Children, God is Near You,” Hymns 96; “I am a Child of God,” Hymns 301 or Children’s Songbook 2; “Joseph Smith’s First Prayer,” Hymns 26; “Our Saviour’s Love,” Hymns 113; “The First Article of Faith,” Children’s songbook 122a;

Materials: Creation picture from Gospel Art Book; First Vision picture from Gospel Art Book, or this one; Puppets of Ammon and Aaron; word art for quotes. (If not linked, I made my own. I haven’t shared them yet, because I don't know if anyone wants them. Solution: let me know you'd be interested.)

My New Home Planner

2 little known facts about me:

1. I love to research. Just about anything. My Sister-in-law kind of likes it because she has someone to talk to about what's going on in her life. I kind of like it because I can talk about what's going on in her life, too. Plus I like researching things. And her life is interesting.
2. I love making lists. I like to tell myself I'm organizing, but truth be told, I'm really just DREAMING of organizing!
3. NO wait! There's 3 facts! I can finally tie my hair in a knot! This is good news! Now I dont have to stop what I'm doing to go get something to get my hair out of my face! ... Dang. Just came undone. Maybe next time it'll really work...

Anyway, back to the lists and researching, I have been wishing I could find a planner recently that could cover all of my disorganized-yet-dreaming-of-organization needs. And I've been looking. And looking. And looking some more. I tapped out all my resources on research, Google, more Google, and Pinterest. And I got nothin. I was highly disappointed. Never do my sources fail me so! I'm thinking it's just because no one has the exact same needs as I do. So, I made my own. I wanted something like the household notebook/binder/organizer thingy I had seen in my research, while still being flexible and customizable for my many, many lists.

This is what I came up with:

To solve the problem of "What do I even WANT for Christmas?" and "What do I get everyone for Christmas?" I put them in envelopes in hopes it takes a while before anyone notices what it is. And because the lists are removable, when it's actually time to christmas shop. 

I've got a weekly schedule with menus, blog ideas, things I need to clean, and weekly to do's. All the little squares are other goals I have for myself, that I can just check off! Like pampering myself, exercising, etc. I scanned it into my computer and printed off each page (this is the original, so it's not really complete yet.)

As part of one of my goals, I need to know how much of what we eat each month, so I can get an idea of what we would need for a 3-month supply. It'll also help me know what seeds to buy to grow what we eat. It's a trial thing. We'll see how it goes.

Am I missing anything? Do any of you have household binders? What do you think? What type of pages do you have in yours? I thought about adding a cleaning page. Thoughts? I'd love some feedback. 

FHE: I am a child of God

Purpose: To teach that each of us is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents. We lived with them before we were born. Our Heavenly Father knows us personally and loves us.

Reminder: Do not use all of the materials presented in this lesson. Pick which stories and activities work best for your family and your ages.

Possible scriptures:  Psalm 82:6 (In the nursery manual, it replaces "Most High" with "God" to aide childhood understanding); Malachi 2:10; Acts 10:34-35; Acts 17:28–29; Hebrews 12:9; Doctrine & Covenants 76:23–24; Doctrine and Covenants 138:55–56; Moses 1:1–7. 


Possible Songs: “O My Father,” Hymns 292;“I Am a Child of God,” Hymns 301, Children’s Songbook 2; "I Lived in Heaven,” Children’s Songbook 4;  “I Know My Father Lives,” Hymns 302, Children’s Songbook 5; "My Heavenly Father Loves Me," Children's Songbook 228


Possible Materials: Family portrait(s); Wordart with "Our Heavenly Father"; Picture of Heavenly Father; "Parents" puzzle; Moses Figure; poster about each child; Crown; Coloring page "God Knows..."; (If not linked, I made my own. I haven't shared them yet, because I don't know if anyone wants them. Solution: let me know you'd be interested.)