- Nathan leaves house at 8:00 am to head to Brookville, PA (about 1.5 hours away from where we live) for a High Council speaking assignment.
- Hannah thankfully slept in and woke up at 8:20 am. She gets up and is in a happy mood. She plays with toys, I do my make up, and then we both eat breakfast.
- After getting dressed, we went next door for an Easter egg hunt. Hannah really caught on this year with the hunt. She enjoyed opening the eggs and eating the Reeses Pieces candy.
- We head back home and finish getting ready for church.
- Attended church (our ward starts at 12:30 pm...ugh) and it starts to rain. I taught my lesson on the Resurrection to the YW -- which went great!
- After church ended, I noticed Nathan was in the hallways. When he was done in Brookville he headed straight to our unit to see Hannah and I. That was really sweet surprise. We hurriedly piled into our respective cars (in the rain), and raced home so that we could put the potatoes in the oven.
- Arrived home at 3:55 pm, put the food in the oven, and changed clothes.
- Leave the house at 4:30 pm to head up to a friends house for Easter dinner (same place we went to for Thanksgiving). Still raining.
- Hannah falls asleep in the car about 10 minutes before we arrive at our destination. Grr!
- I go into the house and helped Shawn set her table and finish dinner preparations while Nathan stays out in the car and let's Hannah sleep.
- Nathan and Hannah come in around 5:30 pm, and she SLOWLY warms up to everyone. She was not happy that we woke her up.
- Eat dinner, socialize, and try to keep Hannah from damaging any of the Markel's home. She actually behaved very well.
- It's nearing 7:30 pm so we pack up our belongings as we need to head back home. As we are loading in the car Hannah noticed two horses out in the fields. We called them over and they came right up to the fence. Hannah was in heaven. I didn't snap any shots because it was still raining, so I took a picture from my phone once I got in the car (not a very good one, I know).
- We arrived home around 8:00 pm, put Hannah to bed.
- We change into comfy clothes and thought about calling our families. We didn't though because we figured that their Easter dinner festivities were just starting. Being 2 or 3 hours away from everyone makes that very tricky.
- So, we said prayers, read scriptures, and then it was lights out for us. We were exhausted.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Easter 2013
Our Easter Sunday was very hectic. Here is how it went down.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
New Beginnings, Daddy Daughter, and Fear Factor
As promised from my last post, here are the 3 big activities I had to help head up in the month of March for Young Women (YW). I also posted a picture at the end of the post of my Valentine's Day gifts that I gave to the girls last month.
Now normally the group in charge for the YW activity that month doesn't always coincide with being in charge of the joint activity that month with the Young Men (YM). Unfortunately, that is how the calendar rotation fell in March so it made things a little crazy for me.
Also, the reason why I am posting this is because I know of at least 3 other friends from Iowa that are now serving in the YWs program in their respective wards. After all, we could all use some ideas since we have to put on activities weekly.
Well, enough of that. Here we go.
New Beginnings
Each year the YW put on an event called New Beginnings. This event helps the girls, their parents, and their leaders learn more about the YW program, especially Personal Progress. Girls who will be turning the age of 12 in that coming year also attend to help introduce them and their parents into the YW program.
Unfortunately, our YW's president was out of town that week which meant that I had to try and fill in for her during the evening. I was a little stressed out with filling in for another person, and also with my assignments that I didn't take any pictures of the evening. Ugh.
The group I'm in charge of for our YW are the Mia Maids, and our assignments were food and refreshments. Since we have a limited budget, we decided to make the food part of the decorations (see photo below). I can't take credit for the idea. I found it on Pinterest.
Daddy Daughter activity
The week following New Beginnings was an activity that the the Mia Maids were in charge of. We had our annual Daddy Daughter night, and we decided to do a Daddy Daughter Feud (Family Feud). Here is a picture I took of our invitations.
It was a lot of fun, but again, I took no pictures because I completely spaced! GRR. I got to the church and barely had enough time to set up for the activity when everyone started arriving. By the time we started taking down decorations and packing up, I realized that I didn't take any pictures. I was really bummed too because I thought the decorations were awesome! I went to a local store, bought some Dad's Root Beer, and used that for some of the decor. Then, we used the root beer for the dessert as we made root beer floats.
I guess these two pictures below will have to suffice. I fanned out my letters I made and took a picture of these at home. The second photo is the idea I got from Pinterest to help us with our "Dad" theme.
These were the prizes that the Mia Maids made for the winners. Simple, easy, and convenient as I had many leftover party favor bags from our invitations.
Fear Factor
The week following our Daddy Daughter night, the Mia Maids were then in charge of the joint activity with the Young Men. We decided to do a Fear Factor night. Again, the idea came from Pinterest (are you noticing a pattern? Pinterest is a life saver when serving in the YW).
I didn't do everything that was posted on that blog (i.e., the "what is this" section due to budget and the yuck factor). I changed a few of the challenges to fit our youth group better, so here are the challenges we did at our activity:
Challenge #1 Food
Instead of a purred happy meal from McDonalds (gross), we did jarred baby food. I love the face on the girl closest to my camera -- classic!
Challenge #2 Physical
We did an M&M relay. The contestants had to dump out the bag of M&Ms, take them to the other table, sort them into cups by color. Seems easy right? The rule was that they could only use a straw during this process. It was quite entertaining.
Challenge #3 Mental
We did a quiz on matching 10 U.S. States with their Capitals.
Challenge #4 Endurance
Instead of sit ups, we did "wall sits." These are much more entertaining that sit ups. Plus, it makes it easier to tell who is cheating. Who ever could sit on the wall the longest won the challenge.
Challenge #5 Scripture
Have the contestants find 7 scriptures where the Lord tells them not to be afraid.
Challenge # 6 Trust
I didn't like this challenge from the blog. It looked like there was the potential that someone might accidentally touch someone in an awkward place, which is the last thing that I wanted to be held responsible for. So, we put gummy worms in a jar and had the contestants guess how many gummy worms there were. Sorry, no photo on that one.
At the end of the activity, I gave the group who won the most challenges the same prizes that we made for our Daddy Daughter activity (I didn't see any reason to make new prizes when the Mia Maids had already made prizes for Daddy Daughter. So to simplify things we used the same stuff). I also gave each of the contestants who one a challenge the same prize too.
At the end of the activity, I had the youth gather and I read the quotes from President Hinckley's talk (see blog post link above). For treats, I had the Mia Maids make brownies, cookies, and Rice Krispie treats.
During the activity, we noticed that about 1/3 of the people there were wearing stripes, so we had to take a picture. I somehow ended up in the middle.
Valentine's Day gifts
Our YW's president decided that she wanted the leaders to give all the YW Valentine's Day gifts. These were the gifts that I made for the girls. I thought they were pretty clever. Again, thank you Pinterest. Where would I be without you?
So far, this has been my March Madness. Unfortunately, it is not quite over with. We have a class presidency meeting and a class activity this coming Wednesday, then I have to prepare to teach the Easter lesson as our YW's president will be out of town visiting family. My March Madness will literally not end until 3:30 pm on Sunday March 31st. I'm not going to lie, I am looking forward to it all being over.
Now normally the group in charge for the YW activity that month doesn't always coincide with being in charge of the joint activity that month with the Young Men (YM). Unfortunately, that is how the calendar rotation fell in March so it made things a little crazy for me.
Also, the reason why I am posting this is because I know of at least 3 other friends from Iowa that are now serving in the YWs program in their respective wards. After all, we could all use some ideas since we have to put on activities weekly.
Well, enough of that. Here we go.
New Beginnings
Each year the YW put on an event called New Beginnings. This event helps the girls, their parents, and their leaders learn more about the YW program, especially Personal Progress. Girls who will be turning the age of 12 in that coming year also attend to help introduce them and their parents into the YW program.
Unfortunately, our YW's president was out of town that week which meant that I had to try and fill in for her during the evening. I was a little stressed out with filling in for another person, and also with my assignments that I didn't take any pictures of the evening. Ugh.
The group I'm in charge of for our YW are the Mia Maids, and our assignments were food and refreshments. Since we have a limited budget, we decided to make the food part of the decorations (see photo below). I can't take credit for the idea. I found it on Pinterest.
Daddy Daughter activity
The week following New Beginnings was an activity that the the Mia Maids were in charge of. We had our annual Daddy Daughter night, and we decided to do a Daddy Daughter Feud (Family Feud). Here is a picture I took of our invitations.
It was a lot of fun, but again, I took no pictures because I completely spaced! GRR. I got to the church and barely had enough time to set up for the activity when everyone started arriving. By the time we started taking down decorations and packing up, I realized that I didn't take any pictures. I was really bummed too because I thought the decorations were awesome! I went to a local store, bought some Dad's Root Beer, and used that for some of the decor. Then, we used the root beer for the dessert as we made root beer floats.
I guess these two pictures below will have to suffice. I fanned out my letters I made and took a picture of these at home. The second photo is the idea I got from Pinterest to help us with our "Dad" theme.
These were the prizes that the Mia Maids made for the winners. Simple, easy, and convenient as I had many leftover party favor bags from our invitations.
Fear Factor
The week following our Daddy Daughter night, the Mia Maids were then in charge of the joint activity with the Young Men. We decided to do a Fear Factor night. Again, the idea came from Pinterest (are you noticing a pattern? Pinterest is a life saver when serving in the YW).
I didn't do everything that was posted on that blog (i.e., the "what is this" section due to budget and the yuck factor). I changed a few of the challenges to fit our youth group better, so here are the challenges we did at our activity:
Challenge #1 Food
Instead of a purred happy meal from McDonalds (gross), we did jarred baby food. I love the face on the girl closest to my camera -- classic!
Challenge #2 Physical
We did an M&M relay. The contestants had to dump out the bag of M&Ms, take them to the other table, sort them into cups by color. Seems easy right? The rule was that they could only use a straw during this process. It was quite entertaining.
Challenge #3 Mental
We did a quiz on matching 10 U.S. States with their Capitals.
Challenge #4 Endurance
Instead of sit ups, we did "wall sits." These are much more entertaining that sit ups. Plus, it makes it easier to tell who is cheating. Who ever could sit on the wall the longest won the challenge.
Challenge #5 Scripture
Have the contestants find 7 scriptures where the Lord tells them not to be afraid.
Challenge # 6 Trust
I didn't like this challenge from the blog. It looked like there was the potential that someone might accidentally touch someone in an awkward place, which is the last thing that I wanted to be held responsible for. So, we put gummy worms in a jar and had the contestants guess how many gummy worms there were. Sorry, no photo on that one.
At the end of the activity, I gave the group who won the most challenges the same prizes that we made for our Daddy Daughter activity (I didn't see any reason to make new prizes when the Mia Maids had already made prizes for Daddy Daughter. So to simplify things we used the same stuff). I also gave each of the contestants who one a challenge the same prize too.
At the end of the activity, I had the youth gather and I read the quotes from President Hinckley's talk (see blog post link above). For treats, I had the Mia Maids make brownies, cookies, and Rice Krispie treats.
During the activity, we noticed that about 1/3 of the people there were wearing stripes, so we had to take a picture. I somehow ended up in the middle.
Valentine's Day gifts
Our YW's president decided that she wanted the leaders to give all the YW Valentine's Day gifts. These were the gifts that I made for the girls. I thought they were pretty clever. Again, thank you Pinterest. Where would I be without you?
So far, this has been my March Madness. Unfortunately, it is not quite over with. We have a class presidency meeting and a class activity this coming Wednesday, then I have to prepare to teach the Easter lesson as our YW's president will be out of town visiting family. My March Madness will literally not end until 3:30 pm on Sunday March 31st. I'm not going to lie, I am looking forward to it all being over.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Reasons for my blogging delay
February and March have been busy and stressful months, which made it hard to blog. Here are my two legitimate reasons for my blogging delays:
Reason #1 -- Hannah
It seems as if Hannah has been getting sick every other week. As many of you know, a sick child is typically more needy and clingy. I will say though that she has been a real trooper these last 6 weeks with her stomach flu episode, head colds, and a case of hand, foot, and mouth.
In this last month she has managed to destroy 2 books (including her favorite book...grr), and she has discovered the show My Little Pony. I've also been able to do a little more experimentation with Hannah's hair dos. It's getting long enough now for me to tie it back in fun ways.
Reason #2 -- Young Women (YW)
I am currently serving in the YW presidency for our church and it pretty much takes up all of your spare time, especially with the new youth curriculum, Come Follow Me. I have activities each Wednesday night, I teach the lesson at least once a month (sometimes twice), and for the month of March I had to head up 3 BIG activities (post coming soon), all of which were back to back to back. March Madness had a different meaning for me this month, and I will be so happy when this month is over with.
We have about 15 girls in our ward -- and they are so much fun! If I end up driving for an activity they always want to come and ride with me, which I have to admit is heart warming. Apparently I have good music, but I think the main reason is because they like to watch DVDs in my van (sometimes our activities are about an hour away so a movie helps break up the drive). One evening the girls decided to see how many YW could get into my van as they watched Finding Nemo (no worries...we were in a parking lot and the car was not running). We ended up fitting 12 people in my van, though you can only see 8 in this picture.
As exhausting as this church calling can be, it is one of the most rewarding. It's kind of like parenthood in a way. These girls are now some of my greatest friends and I learn from their examples weekly.
Reason #1 -- Hannah
It seems as if Hannah has been getting sick every other week. As many of you know, a sick child is typically more needy and clingy. I will say though that she has been a real trooper these last 6 weeks with her stomach flu episode, head colds, and a case of hand, foot, and mouth.
In this last month she has managed to destroy 2 books (including her favorite book...grr), and she has discovered the show My Little Pony. I've also been able to do a little more experimentation with Hannah's hair dos. It's getting long enough now for me to tie it back in fun ways.
Reason #2 -- Young Women (YW)
I am currently serving in the YW presidency for our church and it pretty much takes up all of your spare time, especially with the new youth curriculum, Come Follow Me. I have activities each Wednesday night, I teach the lesson at least once a month (sometimes twice), and for the month of March I had to head up 3 BIG activities (post coming soon), all of which were back to back to back. March Madness had a different meaning for me this month, and I will be so happy when this month is over with.
We have about 15 girls in our ward -- and they are so much fun! If I end up driving for an activity they always want to come and ride with me, which I have to admit is heart warming. Apparently I have good music, but I think the main reason is because they like to watch DVDs in my van (sometimes our activities are about an hour away so a movie helps break up the drive). One evening the girls decided to see how many YW could get into my van as they watched Finding Nemo (no worries...we were in a parking lot and the car was not running). We ended up fitting 12 people in my van, though you can only see 8 in this picture.
As exhausting as this church calling can be, it is one of the most rewarding. It's kind of like parenthood in a way. These girls are now some of my greatest friends and I learn from their examples weekly.
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