Safeguarding Teens and Children from Pornography

Safeguarding Teens and Children from Pornography from SA Lifeline Foundation on Vimeo.

Quote - Cease and Desist

“There is something in us, at least in too many of us, that particularly fails to forgive and forget earlier mistakes in life—either mistakes we ourselves have made or the mistakes of others. That is not good. It is not Christian. It stands in terrible opposition to the grandeur and majesty of the Atonement of Christ. To be tied to earlier mistakes—our own or other people’s—is the worst kind of wallowing in the past from which we are called to cease and desist.”

- Jeffrey R. Holland, BYU Devotional, January 13, 2009

 

Remember—“Do not judge past behavior with present knowledge.”

Minute to Win It Games

We had a bunch of fun games at our son's birthday party.  We got the ideas from the official Minute to Win It website.  This first game involved hanging a yo yo from your waist and then trying to knock down empty soda cans within a minute.  Harder than it looks!

The next game involved putting unsharpened pencils on the back of your hand.  Then you have to try to toss the pencils and catch them.  Do this adding one at a time, up to a dozen pencils.

In this game, kids took turns sorting a bunch of m-n-m's into different containers.  All the candies were mixed in one cup and the kids had to separate them by color using only one hand.  I think we used about 60 candies for each person.

Another games we did was putting an Oreo type cookie on each person's forehead.  Then they had to wiggle their face to move the cookie from their forehead to their mouth without moving their head.

We played a game where kids had to stack dice at the end of a popsicle stick stuck between their teeth.  The winner was the one who stacked and balanced 6 dice within the minute.

The puzzle game was fun as well.  I took two cereal boxes and cut them into puzzles.  Each participant had to race to put their puzzle together first.  I threw in a few extra pieces to confuse them.

Last game involved sucking up m-n-m's with a straw and placing them on several straws that were sticking up from wood.  We drilled holes in the wood for the straws to fit into so that they would be firm.

Overall, a HUGE success.  We had prizes for people too and trophy for the overall winner.  The trophy was just a tacky plastic one from the party store.

Helpful Household Tips

 Socks always drive me nuts!  I have to wash them, match them, sort them by each child, put them into the kids' rooms... all to have them grab socks and bring them back downstairs every morning.  So my husband had a brilliant idea.  He said, "Why don't you just put a big basket of socks on top of the dryer and just store them all there?" BRILLIANT!  This saves me so much time and since the laundry room is downstairs, the kids can just grab their socks out in the morning instead of running back upstairs after breakfast.  We've been using this system for a few years and still love it!

 Another thing that drives me nuts is toothbrushes.  After my son told me he accidentally used my toothbrush because it was the same color as mine, I freaked.  I came up with this fun idea.  I just repurposed jars that I had washed in the dishwasher.  I glued them together with E6000 glue and then put binder clips to hold the names.  I took this picture before I put the names on there.  So far, so good!  And I can rest easy knowing that my son isn't contaminating my toothbrush.

 Another area that needed to be controlled was jackets.  We don't have a mud room in our house (I wish!).  We have a laundry room that leads from the garage to the house with limited space.  So my handy dandy hubby made us a storage area for jackets and such.  There are two levels (one for the taller people to use and one for the younger kids).  In the summer, we put away the jackets away and hang out bathing suits, towels and goggles on the hooks.  We REALLY use this area a lot.

Homemade Stacked Platters

 I got this general idea from Pinterest and decided I wanted to do something to match my home and also for holidays.  I went to Savers (like Good Will) and found these darling plates and also some cute little dessert dishes all for less than $10.00.  I glued them together with E6000 glue and let them dry for a day or two.  I was pleased to find out that the pottery is actually quite valuable (about $25-30 for each platter).  You never know what great deals you may find at thrift stores!

 Along this same idea, I made this fun one in a Valentine's Day theme.  I bought the plastic plates and bowl at Hobby Lobby and then repurposed jars that I had around the house.  I filled the jars with seasonal candy which I threw out after the holiday was over.  I like that the jars unscrew because it makes it easier to store when not in use.

Stair Picture Collage

We have a large wall space that is by our stairs.  It always drove me nuts to have that much empty wall space, so I decided to do a picture collage like I saw in a Pottery Barn magazine.  Everything is monochromatic.  Most of the frames came from IKEA though because I like IKEA prices better than PB pricing!

I arranged the pictures on the ground to get a good idea how I'd like them to be arranged.  Then my sweet hubby hung them all for me while I watched and told him to slightly adjust things.  It looks great and was inexpensive.

Arizona Art

My husband often says, "I need a wood project."  I think it is his outlet or hobby.  But I won't complain!

He made this out of "repurposed" wood (and the star came from Hobby Lobby).  The wood was mainly from a crate that our movers had packed our large mirror and artwork in when we moved from CA to AZ.  We let it sit on the side of our house for a few years and it was all weathered looking.

It is quite large (probably 4 feet by 3 feet).  It is a twist on the Arizona state flag, but he used more neutral colors.  I helped him paint the wood, but other than that, he just came up with this on his own.  I absolutely love the finished product and I love that my husband likes to make fun things.

Simple Paintings on Canvas

 I was inspired by some pictures online, so I asked my mom-in-law to paint some for my kitchen.  She just used simple craft paints and canvases that I bought on sale from Michael's/Hobby Lobby.  These are hanging in my kitchen, above my pantry.

 I loved the playfulness of these flowers.  I also liked how my mom-in-law made the canvas looked a little worn.

She made this chicken picture for us since we had recently started raising chickens.  It just makes me happy!

Game Night (and Storage)

 We are a bunch of game fanatics.  I made the Scrabble layout above which incorporates many of our favorite things and sayings.  I am enlarging the picture, framing it and placing it on my game cubbies.

 We were storing our games in some cabinets in the kitchen but they weren't being played with as much as I'd like.  Ya know, OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND.  So I bought this simple cubby shelf at IKEA and put our favorite games out.  Now the kids are playing more games and we are having more family game nights.  Did I mention I love games?  And this is less than half our collection.

Beanie Heaven

One of my sons learned how to make beanies over the Christmas Break.  They are quite cute and he's planning to sell them on Etsy.  If you're interested in ordering one, you can email me at pamthemom@gmail.com.

Christmas Dinner for Church

 

 We had the teenagers serve dinner to all the families.  We served the food "family style" at the tables. This was fun because the families could stay seated and not wait in a buffet line and also because the teenagers could all hang out together.  Let's face it, teens would rather eat with their friends than their families at this age anyway!

I was in charge of coordinated all the teenagers and getting the food to the tables.  I had this sign hanging in the wall by the kitchen so that the kids would know what to serve and in what order.  We had an "In" door and an "Out" door for kids to come in and grab the food to bring into the cultural hall/gym area. 

Our menu was salad, rolls, pork chops, green beans, and baked potatoes.  The teenagers ate dinner in another room after they served all the families.  It was a big, fun mess in their room.

After dinner, and before dessert, we gave each table a sugar cookie kit so that they could decorate their own cookies for fun.  We had homemade sugar cookies, sprinkles, icing, etc.  Dessert was served last.  It was some sort of rich mousse type thing.  I didn't really have time to eat but I heard everything was yummy.

Here's the chart I made so that we'd know which teenager was in charge of which table.  Each person had one table to be responsible for.  They also had name tags on that listed their table number.  Tables were also numbered.  For centerpieces we had gingerbread cookie bouquets and each vase had a cute paper with a number on it. (if you enlarge the pictures of the tables you can see in more detail)  We also had a movie presentation showing lots of pictures of people doing service throughout the year.  We didn't have a screen that was big enough so we just showed it on the wall at the back of the stage.  Also, the pom pom snowflakes that were hanging from the ceiling were from Martha Stewart's website and made from tissue paper.

After the ward dinner, all the teenagers came over to my house for an "after party."  They had a blast playing basketball, ping pong, watching Elf, having snacks, and just hanging out.  It was an exhausting and fun night for all.

Family Name Sign

My husband and I made this fun family sign for my mom for her birthday.  I used the pressed board letters from Hobby Lobby and decoupaged scrapbook paper onto them.  My hubby made the shelf and placed the letters on it.  My mom LOVED it!

Cub Scouts - Blue & Gold Dinner Cake Bake Awards

We have a Cub Scout "Cake Bake" as part of our Blue & Gold Dinner event.  Each Cub Scouts bakes and decorates a cake (or cupcakes) with a parent.  We give awards to each Cub Scout and then eat the cakes for dessert.

Here are some generic certificates you can use for your Cake Bake if you'd like.

A Little Pool Humor

Cub Scouts - Cupcake Picks for Blue & Gold Dinner

Our theme for Blue and Gold this year is "Building Compassion."  Our pack is decorating the tables with building blocks that have pictures of the Cub Scouts on them.

For the cake contest, my son and I decided to make cupcakes.  We will put picks on the cupcakes that have letters that spell BUILDING COMPASSION.  Here are the letters that my son and I designed.  Feel free to use them too if you'd like an easy (but cute) decorating idea.

You can save my jpg file into your program of choice (I used PowerPoint) and print it out on cardstock.  Then just cut squares out, attach to toothpicks or small popsicle sticks, and place on top of your frosted cupcakes.  Put the letters in order so people can read "building compassion."  Easy breezy!

(I used Stampin' Up's My Digital Studio program to make the letter squares.)

Paper Plate Baskets

Click HERE to learn how to make these DARLING baskets out of paper plates.

They would be great to use for parties, birthdays, weddings, Easter, Valentine's Day, Christmas, Halloween, picnics, Teacher Appreciation, etc.

When I read the directions for how to make the baskets, I didn't know what "washi tape" was.  So I did a little research (click HERE for info).  I'm tempted to buy some and do something crafty with it.  The frugal side of me may try using staples and ribbon before I invest in buying yet another crafting supply though!

I will post pictures when I make my own baskets.

Quote - A Testimony is Like a Kiss

This cute handout can be attached to some Hershey's Kisses for a fun gift for Visiting Teaching, etc.

(I used Stampin' Up's "My Digital Studio" to design this handout)

Unhappy Consequences of Dialing 912

In the midst of our Super Bowl party yesterday, I received a phone call from the police department.  They asked me if I had dialed 911 and if I had an emergency.  Of course I hadn't called the police, but I had a sneaking suspicion that one of the dozen neighbor kids playing in our backyard had goofed around and dialed it on our outdoor phone.

I went outside and hollered, "Who dialed 911!?"  In unison all the boys said my youngest son's name.  I brought him into the house to discuss it.  His defense?  "I dialed 912!" which made all the adults burst out laughing.  We thought he must be trying to cover his tracks and stay out of trouble.

Game Recommendation - "What's My Word?"

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Attention all word nerds and game junkies....

I bought the game "What's My Word?" for our family as a Christmas gift.  Tonight is the first time we've had a chance to play it and I LOVE IT!

One of my favorite games growing up was Mastermind.  I played it with my dad for hours and hours (and I was a fierce opponent I might add!).  Well, "What's My Word?" is like Mastermind for word junkies.  It is so fun!

Click HERE to read a full review of the game and explanations on how to play.

I purchased the game at Barnes & Noble for around $30.00 and they also sell it online.  I think there  may be an online game or app too.

Teachers could probably make their own version and make photocopies to use in the classroom too.

Primary - Captain Righteousness

The second counselor in our bishopric is a great sport.  He dresses up as CAPTAIN RIGHTEOUSNESS and pops in to surprise our Primary group during singing/sharing time about once a month.  Before he comes in, the lights are all suddenly turned off and a flashlight is turned on and focused on a small CTR sign on the chalkboard.  Then the kids get excited because they know a special visitor is coming.

He calls one class up to the front of the room and asks each child to tell something that they have done to Choose the Right recently.  Then he gives them a CTR ring to remind them to continue to choose the right.  The kids LOVE it and I must admit it makes me giggle too.

What a great tradition that kids (and teachers) will surely remember.

Primary - Book of Mormon Lessons

I came across a website called teachldschildren.com that has some wonderful lesson tips for teaching Primary lessons on the Book of Mormon.  Check it out!

Book Recommendation - Tangerine by Edward Bloor

My junior high age son was assigned to read this book at school this year.  So like the crazed, book-fanatic mom that I am, I bought a copy of it at the local used book store and decided to take a peek before I gave it to him.  It hooked me right in and I read it in just a few days. 

I would recommend this book to boys and girls who are at least in 5th grade as well as to junior high and high school students.  As an adult, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and think the topics would be suitable for a book club discussion.

Some themes that are addressed in this book are:
- family dynamics/relationships
- stereotypes and prejudices
- environmental issues
- racism
- bullying
- treatment of kids with IEP's/disabilities
- teamwork (in sports, working, school, etc.)
- rich vs. poor
- athletics
- moving to a new town
- making friends, etc.
- fear and confronting past traumatic events

Click HERE to read another blogger's thoughts about this book.

Valentine's Day Worksheet Activities for School

On this printable worksheet above, the student changes one word into another, one letter at a time. At each step along the way, change only one letter to make a new word. At the end, you have the final, related Valentine's Day word. Click HERE to see details.

Have students write as many words as they can using only the letters in Valentine's Day.  Click HERE for details.

Click HERE for some other fun Valentine's Day activities for children from "Enchanted Learning."

Heart Questions

 1.  What is a sweetheart ?      
 2.  What heart has a burning in the stomach or is on fire ? 
 3.  What heart is sincere ?
 4.  What heart has contractions ?
 5.  What heart has insects that live in a dog ?
 6.  What heart is a central land area ?
 7.  What heart is cruel ?
 8.  What heart has emotional distress and hurts ?
 9.  What heart makes sound or whispers ?
 10.  What heart suddenly stops working ?
  

Answers (I wouldn't do matching, just have them fill in the blank to the above questions. 

 1.  Candy Heart
 2.  Heartburn
 3.  Heartfelt
 4.  Heartbeat
 5.  Heartworm
 6.  Heartland
 7.  Heartless
 8.  Heartache
 9.  Heart Murmur
 10.  Heart Attack  
  

Valentine's Day - Gift Idea

I think I might make these for my son's classmates.  So cute!