I have a weird memory. I can’t tell you what I wore a couple days ago but I can tell you about that one time my sister called me “pig nose” when I was five. I can’t tell you much about my college graduation other than I did indeed graduate, but I can tell you about the time my sister flung food across the table and it got stuck in my dad’s chest hair (TMI? #sorrynotsorry). I can't tell you much about my wedding day, but I can tell you about the time when I crimped my hair in fourth grade and a girl named Ashley told me it looked like I got electrocuted. I can’t tell you very many things about the big, important days in my life but I can tell you about the silly, small and/or unimportant things like the time my sister threw up blueberry pancakes or when I jumped off the high-dive during swimming lessons and did a belly flop.

When it comes to Halloween, this same, weird memory kicks in. I can’t tell you about memories I made trick-or-treating or even what costumes I wore (I remember the ones I have pictures of) but I can tell you how I would pick out my costume each year.

A month or so before Halloween, my mom would take us to Jo-Anns and we would sit at the tables with the catalogs, sift through the pictures and pick out whatever we wanted to be. Any time I go to Jo-Anns now I am reminded of this memory. It was something I didn’t fully appreciate then but now I realize how spoiled we were. Any costume that had a pattern, my mom would make for us – and they always turned out amazing. Now that I have my own kids I have a hard time buying costumes. I have this urge to make them, but then I realize, “Oh yeah, I can’t sew.”

That is why my mom is awesome (and my dad, too, but we will get to him later).  I called her up, explained that I wanted to do an “Up” family costume and that I wanted her to make a Kevin costume for Emery. Of course she was happy to help. The poor woman didn’t have much direction from me but after a few phone calls she got her vision for what Emmy’s costume should look like and it turned out AWESOME.

Now, let me pause and tell you about another memory from my childhood: during the month of October my dad was always MIA. If you needed him, your best luck was to search in the garage. Each year my dad’s company holds a costume contest and each year my dad wins. He spends the entire month crafting/sculpting/sewing/gluing/etc. his costume and his creativity always blows everyone out of the water. He has dressed up as so many crazy unique things, I can’t begin to explain them now - that will have to be a post for later on. The bottom line is my dad loves Halloween. Also, he’s a kind of a genius.

My dad basically invented a machine that cuts Styrofoam. In his words, “it’s a CNC hot wire cutter that ‘prints’ out an image created from the computer.” When he tries to explain to me how he made it and how it works, my brain overloads and I feel kind of dumb. And by kind of I mean really. Anyways, a girl doesn’t have to know how the machine works to know she wants it to make something for her – in this case, Kevin’s head.

Long story short: my dad made Kevin’s head, long neck included, but it wouldn’t stay on Emmy’s head (too top-heavy) so it got chopped (RIP Kevin’s neck) and became an adorable, feathery head piece. The combination of the Kevin head and the poofy, feathery costume was just too perfect. My mom and dad make quite the pair.

Emery HATED her costume when we first tried to put it on. And then she hated it the next ten times too. I actually said a prayer that she would wear her costume for at least a little bit for our church’s Trunk-or-Treat; I didn’t want my mom and dad’s hard work to go to waste! My prayer was answered because that cute little nugget wore her costume for almost the whole night. I took the headpiece off occasionally just so she would stay in a good mood, but she really was such a trooper.

As for Tate’s costume, I may not be a great seamstress, but I do know how to use a glue gun! For his Russell costume, I found and followed this tutorial online. However, I didn’t use transfer paper like she did. I just printed the little merit badges to cardstock, cut them out and stuck them to the furniture pad things that she recommends (to the sticky side). Then I found brown fabric in the remnants section at Jo-Anns, hot glued the fabric so it appeared to be sewn and hot glued the badges to it.

For the rest of it, I bought a cheap white hat at Jo-Anns (thank you coupons!) and dyed it yellow along with one of Tate’s old white shirts. I used felt to make the Wilderness Explorer logo for his hat and flag. Then I got a little bit of orange fabric from Walmart, cut it into a square and hot glued it so the edges looked sewn and used this as his neckerchief. His costume wasn’t nearly as fancy as Emery’s, but in the end I was proud of my glue gun.

 

We found an old suit coat at Goodwill for $5 and that was pretty much all Jordan needed for him to be Mr. Fredrickson. I searched my closet for some clothes that could work for Ellie's character and threw on a pair of fake glasses from Claire’s. We bought temporary white hair spray and followed some makeup tutorials to make us look older.  I will say we definitely looked older. It was kind of creepy.

I am totally into family costumes and this is our third year doing them. I hope to continue the tradition as long as our kids will let us. We have decided that even when they start having their own opinions and want to choose their own costumes that Jordan and I will still do a couple’s costume. I am excited to see what all y’alls are going to be this year so I can ooh and aah and maybe steal your idea for the future. ;) If you need any Styrofoam creations for your Halloween, my dad is your guy!

Happy Halloween!

I linked up at http://www.iheartnaptime.net/

Toddler-Friendly Scripture Study: Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Crossing the Sea

If you haven't read my initial post, read it here. It explains the scripture study plan in a little more detail and gives more information for how to teach it. 

Song: Keep the Commandments, p. 146

Idea for teaching the song found here.

Activity Verse: (I know the last two lines don’t actually rhyme, but it was the best I could come up with! Haha. If you have any suggestions, let me know!)

Lehi’s family sailed on a ship to the promised land. (swerve hand up and down, mimicking waves)

Laman and Lemuel began to be wicked so Nephi took a stand. (stand tall with hands on hips)

Lamar and Lemuel got angry; they tied Nephi up with rope. (fold arms and make an angry face)

The Liahona stopped working and they got lost; repentance was their only hope. (fold arms and bow head)

Nephi’s family cried and begged Laman and Lemuel to let him go. (clasp hands together and make a sad face)

Lehi and Sariah were so sad they got sick, but Laman and Lemuel still said, “No.” (fold arms, make a grumpy face and shake head, “no”)

Four days passed and the storm was so strong, the ship was about to sink. (swerve hand like ocean waves and then go straight down)

Laman and Lemuel were afraid they would drown; they needed to stop and think. (place finger on temple)

They chose to repent and pray to God and then they set Nephi free. (fold arms and bow head)

Nepali was sore but he didn't complain; he was as thankful as could be. (happy face)

The Liahona began to work and Nephi prayed that the storm would end. (fold arms and bow head)

The sea became calm and Nephi guided the ship again towards the promised land. (swerve hand up and down, mimicking waves)

Art/Craft:

1. Coloring pages: There are free activity books here that go along with a variety of scripture stories. You just need to create a free account. For this chapter, I downloaded the “Journey to the Promised Land” book.

2. I didn’t include this in the lesson plan, but I think it would be fun. Make a paper boat. I found a couple resources here and here.

3. I didn’t include this game either but think it would be fun to play for FHE or something.

Scripture Study Outline

Again, if you haven't read my initial post, read it here. My outline is very brief, so this explains the scripture study plan in a little more detail and gives more information for how to teach it. 

1. Preview the chapter with a picture walk. (Explanation found here.) Since this song was already taught during this lesson, review by listening to it and see what your child can remember.

2. Read the story from the manual. Ask questions and take time to look at the pictures as you read. Take as many days as needed to read the whole chapter.  End by singing the song.

3.  Have your child color one of the coloring pages while you read sections of the story from the actual scriptures. Take as many days as needed to read through the passages. End each day by singing the song.

           

4. Do the activity verse a couple times with your child. End by singing the song.

5. Watch the scripture story video for this chapter. End by reading your favorite verse from the story.

6. Do the activity verse with your child. See if they can remember the actions by themselves. Read your favorite verse and then have your child read part or all of it by repeating after you. Share your testimony. End by singing the song.

Watercolor background found here

Fall Scavenger Hunt

For our second "tot school" lesson of the week, we went on a scavenger hunt with the boys. We met up at the park and let the boys wander around for a few minutes. Then Karli read a fall-themed book before setting the boys loose. She gave them an empty raspberry tin with word strips/pictures on it so they knew what to look for. Given their ages, this is what really happened: we held the containers and told them what to look for (and sometimes where to look, too). Tate didn't know what an acorn was so after he found one and learned the word he was really into talking about it for the rest of the day. On the way home all I heard about was how he found an acorn and when he saw an acorn and, "Hey Mom, an acorn!" 

The scavenger hunt was really fun and the boys loved it. Tate was so excited about his tin and loved putting things inside. Also, the park we went to was GORGEOUS. Such a beautiful view of the fall colors and it just so happened that the weather was amazing too. So thank you, Mother Nature, for making it a great day all around.

Random side note - given that it's October, I had to bust out my Halloween wreath. I really really wanted to make this wreath that I've had pinned for a couple years now, but yeah... let's be honest with each other. It's just not gonna happen. Maybe one day years from now I will have an amazing amount of patience and a deep, deep love for my glue gun. Only then will I attempt that wreath. For now, I'm cool with fake spiders and webs from the dollar store.

P.S. Tate calls spider webs "spider wings" and it's pretty darn cute.

I linked up at iheartnaptime.net

It's Pumpkin Day, Mouse!

Last Halloween, Tate became OBSESSED with this book. I remember him asking me over and over to read it until the point where I had it memorized (not that hard to do with a board book, but you get the point). After a while I could no longer muster the energy to use any expression. I was sure he would eventually get bored but I swear we could have read this book all day if I was able. 

We have had it up on his bookshelf for a while and now that Halloween is right around the corner I couldn’t resist using it as a lesson. It really is such a cute book. Maybe it’s not cute enough to read it twenty times in a row, but it is definitely lesson-worthy! 

To transition into learning time, the boys started out by coloring little pumpkins with different expressions found here. We stopped and sang the songs we always sing and then I read the book. During the second read, I had the boys find the pumpkin that matched the face/expression of the pumpkin in the book. 

After we read the story I taped larger print outs of the same pumpkins throughout the room. Then I asked the boys where certain pumpkins were (“Where is the sad pumpkin?”) and they would run over to wherever that pumpkin was. When they got to the right pumpkin I asked them to make the same expression as the pumpkin. We played this enough times for them to go to each pumpkin two times. 

Then we played Memory with pumpkin printables found here. Chase wasn’t a huge fan (he’s six months younger than Tate and isn’t quite to that stage yet!) but I played with Tate later in the afternoon and he loved it. Every time he found a match he had to make the expression of whatever match he found.

We ended with a little pumpkin mosaic craft. This was a little challenging for their age levels so we had to adapt it a bit. We tore the paper into strips and then the boys tore them into smaller pieces. We also found that it was faster to put glue in large sections and have them place the pieces in those sections rather than gluing each individual piece. Does that make sense? 

I forget how much of a difference a month or two can make at this age and need to focus on choosing activities that can be adapted for both Tate and Chase, given their age difference. Luckily, the boys are too young to realize my little failures and are just excited to play together. 

It would have been fun to end the lesson with pumpkin carving but when I thought about trying to carve a pumpkin and deal with all the gooey guts without my husband there to help I decided a paper craft would be the better choice. Props to all you moms who are brave enough to do this with little kids all on your own and don’t mind slimy orange stuff getting all over your kitchen/children/floor/etc. I salute you!

Toddler-Friendly Scripture Study: Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Building the Ship

If you haven't read my initial post, read it here. It explains the scripture study plan in a little more detail and gives more information for how to teach it. 

Preparation

Song: Nephi’s Courage, p. 120, chorus

“I will go; I will do (punch air upward with fist for “go” and “do”)

the thing the Lord commands. (ASL for “commands”)

I know (point to head) the Lord provides a way; (hold both hands out, parallel with palms facing each other, then push out in front of you like you are making a path)

He wants me to obey.” (salute)

Repeat, but fold arms for last “obey”

Activity Verse:

1.    God told Nephi to build a ship. (sign “boat”)

2.  Nephi didn’t have tools, so the Lord told him where to find metal to   make some. (hand above eyes like you are looking for something)

3.  Laman and Lemuel did not believe that the Lord told Nephi to build a ship. They did not want to help. (grumpy face, arms folded)

4.  Nephi told his brothers that they should repent, obey God, and follow His commandments. (kneel down, fold arms and bow head)

5.  Laman and Lemuel did repent and helped Nephi work on the ship. (pretend to build)

6.  When the ship was finished, it was a good ship. The people thanked God for helping them. (thumbs up and a smile)

- Adapted from here

Art/Craft:

There are lots of options for this lesson, but you will only be using one or two!

1. Coloring pages: There are free activity books here that go along with a variety of scripture stories. You just need to create a free account. For this chapter, I downloaded the “Journey to the Promised Land” book. You could also use this coloring page.
UPDATE: Super cute Book of Mormon coloring book available on LDS.org - found HERE. For this lesson, I would use this page:

2. Print these figures in black and white and have your child color them. (Your child can use them for the activity verse instead of doing the actions.)

3. Using popsicle sticks, play-doh, legos, blocks or play tools (hammer, screw driver, etc.) have your child pretend to build a ship.

4. I didn’t include this in the lesson plan, but I think it would be fun. Maybe on the last day as a culminating activity? Make a paper boat. I found a couple resources here and here.

Scripture Study Outline

Again, if you haven't read my initial post, read it here. My outline is very brief, so this explains the scripture study plan in a little more detail and gives more information for how to teach it. 

1. Preview the chapter with a picture walk. (Explanation found here.) Since this song was already taught during this lesson, review by listening to it and see what your child can remember.

2. Read the story from the manual. Ask questions and take time to look at the pictures as you read. Take as many days as needed to read the whole chapter.  End by singing the song.

3.  Have your child color one of the coloring pages or the printable figures AND/OR have them quietly pretend to build a boat (see art/craft section) while you read sections of the story from the actual scriptures. Take as many days as needed to read through the passages. End each day by singing the song.

           

4. Do the activity verse with your child (if your child colored the printable figures, don’t forget to use those!). End by singing the song.

5. Watch the scripture story video for this chapter. End by reading your favorite verse from the story.

6. Do the activity verse with your child. See if they can remember the actions by themselves (if you are using printable figures, see how much of the story they can retell by themselves). Read your favorite verse and then have your child read part or all of it by repeating after you. Share your testimony. End by singing the song.