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4.10.2013
Mingle With Us Blog Hop!
Baked Rocks Crayon Craft
Hello everyone! How are you all doing??
Things here have been great...just busy, busy getting acclimated to 5 kids :) The little guy so far has been an absolute angel and the others are as crazy and fun as usual...but that is nothing new ;) I am feeling SO good, just grateful to have my little man here safe and sound. I am planning on getting back on a good schedule next week including a Weekly Theme for the kids and a new FHE, but in the meantime this is a really fun project we did at our house yesterday that ALL the kids loved.
Baked Rocks Crayon Craft!
This is a great craft if you just want to do something last minute with things you always have on hand. Hopefully you are like me and grow rocks in your backyard ;)
Make sure when you are choosing your rocks, you find the smoothest rocks possible. We didn't have success with half of our rocks because they were too rough.
Once you have your rocks, bake them in the oven at 300 degrees for 15 minutes. While your rocks are baking find those old, broken crayons and have your kids help you peel them.
When the rocks are done use a heating pad to place one on each paper plate and let your kids go to town coloring them with your peeled crayons. The hot rock will melt the wax and your kids will love "painting" their rocks with crayons!
Our favorite technique was to use two different colors and then swirl them together, making these cool colored rocks!!
This was a great way to enjoy time together while the little one was napping and it we had some freezing rain outside :)
I would love to know...what is your favorite go-to craft with your kids when you need something last minute?!
4.08.2013
Gift of Marriage Printable {General Conference!}
What a wonderful Conference weekend we had!! I was so inspired by the many messages shared and personally received inspiration and guidance that was a direct answer to my prayers.
One talk that I especially loved was from L. Whitney Clayton all about marriage.
I find that I am ALWAYS praying and searching for ways I can be a better mother. I'm embarrassed to say I don't always devote that same attention to being a better wife to my amazing husband. I was so inspired with the counsel given on ways we can have a better marriage, and this particular quote really stuck out to me...
I am so inspired to re-dedicate myself to doing everything in ability to strengthen our marriage...and in turn become a better mother as well :)
Did you have a chance to check out General Conference this weekend? If so, what stuck out to YOU? What are you inspired to work on in your life?
4.04.2013
General Conference Ideas {Re-cap!}
Hello friends!! I can't believe its already time for General Conference! This year I haven't been able to do my prep as early as I usually do...I blame it all on this little face ;)
SO worth it!!
However, I did want to share some of the fun things we have done in years past if you are new to Blue Skies Ahead. Conference weekend is something we look forward to all year long. I love spending the weekend with my family and listening to the words of our modern day prophets. I also love finding different ways to get my kids excited for conference....
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THIS is a fun treat to leave out for your kids a few days before conference...also great for YW"s or primary classes too!
A fun spin on Conference Baskets...Don't let one minute of Conference go to WASTE!
A fun idea for post-Conference FHE...General Conference UN-Wrap Up!
Finally, one of our favorite family traditios...Conference Socks!!
I got some great ideas from different family members for things to do this year...hopefully I will have to time to share them with you all tomorrow! Thanks so much for stopping by Blue Skies Ahead!!
3.31.2013
Smiling This Sunday!!
Hmm....let's see. What in the world would I have to smile about today? ;)
Our precious Cohen Paul made his grand entrance into the world on Wednesday, March 27th at 9:41 p.m.! He was born at 35 weeks 3 days, weighing 6 lbs 2 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. Absolutely perfect in every way. The delivery went so smoothly, once I was fully dilated I pushed through a few contractions and our little caboose was here :)
Because he was so early, he had to spend 6 hours in the NICU to make sure he could breathe on his own, take a bottle, and keep his body temps up. He was a champ, and after a few minutes struggling with that whole breathing thing he figured it all out, and came back to my room around 3:00 that morning.
Yep, that's me at 3:00 in the morning snuggling my little man. What a miracle he is to me!
We were so blessed to BOTH be able to go home 2 days later...doesn't he look so teeny in that big car seat?! I am so incredibly blessed with healthy preemie babies that beat all the odds!
We've been home for 2 days and it has been fantastic!! Everyone is absolutely smitten with out little man, and last night he even let me get 4 hours of sleep at a time ;) I feel wonderful and am so excited to have my whole family together and be able to be mommy again. Don't get me wrong...its totally crazy here, but I love it. We took ALL the kids to an Easter Egg hunt yesterday and it was crazy to be a family of 7 ;)
This Easter Sunday my heart is so full. As I look around at my not-so-little-family, I love them so much sometimes it takes my breath away. Then I think of the love my Heavenly Father feels for all of US...so much so that he gave us a Savior, His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Because of that one incredible act of love, I can be with these people that I love so much forever. So much to smile about today indeed :)
This Easter Sunday I hope you are feeling all the love and peace our Savior offers to us!
3.26.2013
Past Easter Fun! {Re-cap}
Today I wanted to share a quick re-cap of some of the fun Easter activities and crafts we have done in years past here at Blue Skies Ahead!
I hope if you're like me and looking for some last minute inspiration this may provide a teensy bit at least! ;)
If your looking for something inexpensive that your kids will love to find in their Easter baskets, check out our Homemade Bubble Bath!
Every year we have a traditional Jelly Bean hunt before the kids get their Easter baskets...one year I made these fun Mini Fabric Easter Egg Baskets perfect for all those jelly beans!
One of my kids FAVORITE activities was going on an Easter egg hunt...for their lunch!!
We made dying eggs a little more exciting using Kool-Aid and making Secret Message Easter Eggs!
Our new favorite Easter tradition, Resurrection Rolls, help kids understand the Resurrection in a fun and yummy way :)
Whip us these adorable Rice Krispie Easter Egg Treats
Finally, just a few weeks ago we made up this
simple and sweet Easter Printable reminding us of the real reason for Easter.
There you have it! Lots of Easter goodness in one place...hope you are all having a fantastic week so far!!
3.25.2013
April Fool's Day Mixed-up Menu for dinner!!
Hey everybody!! Happy Monday to you all :) Even though everyone in blog land is sharing lots of darling Easter ideas, I thought I would branch and share what we are doing for dinner at our house on April Fool's Day this year. Assuming that I'm not in the hospital having a baby...if so, it will have to wait for next year ;)
We did something similar a few years ago for an activity when I served in the Young Women's program of my ward. It was so much fun, and I realized the other day it would be perfect to change up for April Fool's Day.
First up, you need to decided on 8 different things you need for your dinner. These are the items we had for our activity. Then you attach a code word for each item...we used Book of Mormon terms for our YW activity, but I just used silly words for our April Fool's Day dinner.
Here is what each word represents!
Then I made our Mixed-Up Menu and laminated one for each of my kids.
The kids get to start off by circling two words with their dry erase markers for their appetizer. The funny part is...they may end up with a breadstick and a spoon, or a dessert and a vegetable :) Then they pick 4 more for dinner, and 2 for dessert. Make sure you only let your kids pick each word once, and you have a zany April Fool's Day Dinner!
Just right-click, save, and print away for your very own Mixed-Up Menu for April Fool's Day Dinner!
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