Making Nursery Matter

Nursery has been sort of hectic lately.

We have a very large nursery, about 40 kids.

It is separated into 4 classes, 2 classes for the older, 2 for the younger.

One of the older classes didn't have a teacher for 7 months.

We had substitutes or combined the classes.

Finally the calling was filled.  Hooray!

Sir Spoil-Her-Highness has been given another calling, so he is currently doing double duty.

He really loves the nursery! So he is fine with it.

A couple was found to take our class, yet another couple teaching nursery moved.

We have taken their class.

The most important thing is to love the children.

Second most important is consistency.

A routine is very important to children.

Be there.  If you can't, then try to get the same substitute each time.

This past Sunday I was asked to do a training for our Nursery Leaders.

I discussed the importance of having a lesson.

Even 18 month olds can sit through a lesson.

Here is our routine:

We sit on carpet square samples.

Every child who wants gets to say a prayer.  

Sometimes this takes the most time.

We give the lesson straight out of the manual. It takes 2 minutes, max.

Only church approved coloring pages are used.

 

I also talked about singing time.

We have had a singing leader for quite some time.

Yet she is ready for a break (pregnancy, you know)

Since we need teachers quite a bit, the Nursery Leaders will do their own singing.

When I was Primary Chorister, I would go into the nursery for singing time each week.

But with 4 nurseries, there is no way that would work.

I spoke to them about what we will be doing.

We will have something for them to pick songs from.

http://pinterest.com/ksilvan/lds-primary-singing-time/ has great ideas.

(Our current singing leader has a gift bag with different props that go with songs the children choose.

A spider toy - Itsy Bitsy Spider, star - Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, bus - Wheels on the Bus, etc)

I printed out some song books for the leaders.

I know that I forget songs I had in mind sometimes.  

I thought this would help.

The other thing I spoke about is remembering to use the child's name.

We will have twins in our class, so I'm going to bring labels to write their names on, and stick it to their backs.

I have been trying to learn who is who for a year and a half now, and have failed miserably.

I'm hoping that being with them each week for a while will help.

Their mom dresses them the same all the time.

Which is so fun to do (I do that myself, and/or fix their hair the same).

But it doesn't help me at all.

During free play, we play with them on the floor.

I will admit that Sir Spoil-Her-Highness is much better at this than I am.

I do the bubbles, coloring page, and lesson, and he plays with them.

He does a wonderful thing, which he did with our children.

He gets some toys (Little People, dinosaurs, Buzz Lightyear) and acts out scripture stories.

He will act out a story from the lesson, if there is one.

Or he will just tell a story that comes to mind.

I do enjoy the fact that Buzz Lightyear is always the hero.

Ammon, Samuel the Lamenite, Alma.

Well, until he went missing.

Now he uses a firefighter.

Very fitting!

Pin It

Save the Apricots!

We have had a couple of nights of freezing temperates.
It shouldn't bother me.
Ya know, living in the Northwest.
But our Apricot tree had already started blooming!!

So after talking to my Grandpa, here is what we did.

We put sheets on the branches as best we could.










Then we turned on a heat lamp and aimed it up at the tree.

So far I only see a few blossoms that haven't made it.
Fingers crossed!!

Pin It

Real Beauty

Today in Sacrament Meeting our Bishop shared
a description of this commercial.

It really is eye-opening. 
Boy, don't we all need to look for the good in ourselves!

Pin It

Down in the Dumps

Today's sacrament meeting was JUST FOR ME!  I know you have all felt that way.  But I know that today really was.  Everyone who bore their testimony was sharing something that would help me.  I really know that I am not "The Only One".

I have been dealing with depression for the past 12+ years.  It is something that is quite a trial for me.  I really started off thinking that if only I was a better person, or had enough faith, or kept my house cleaner, then I wouldn't be feeling this way.  While I was trying to figure out what I needed to do to improve my mood, I came across an article in the Ensign magazine that helped me so much.  I was able to realize that this wasn't because of anything I had, or had not, done.  It was a chemical imbalance that needed to be fix, and I wasn't alone.

Depression: A disorder in which an individual experiences feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and lethargy for an extended period of time.

 That first summer after my husband left, I lay on the couch, not doing anything.  The kids had to fend for themselves.  Luckily they were 8, 6, and 3.  So they could get each other the things they needed.  I first realized I needed to do something when I lost over 10 pounds in a week.  I was already super thin, so this made a major difference.
One of the members of our Bishopric was a doctor, so I made an appointment with him, and he helped me decide what to do.  I knew I needed to do something, before school started and I had to get my classroom ready.  (I was teaching at a charter school at that time)
This made me feel like a total failure.  I had prayed and read scriptures, and I knew that what I was doing was the best for my family, but those feelings of inadequacy wouldn't go away.
Once I read the article, I felt so much better!  I knew that I had done all I could, and it was okay for me to be on medication.

This past winter has been really hard for me.  I'm not sure why.  A few thoughts I've had:  The sky has been cloudy, it's been super cold, I haven't been able to go running, I haven't had much adult interaction, my grandma passed away.  But all of this negativeness started in December.  It's just been a down hill slide.  I have felt that I can't do anything right, no matter how hard I try.  Everyone is against me.  Everyone thinks I'm dumb, or incapable, or they need to help me with everything, or my ideas are lame. I don't have any energy.  I either can't sleep, or can't get enough sleep.  I don't even want to sew, though I want to sew!!

There are things I can do!

Let the Sun Shine In

 Open the curtains first thing.  If the sun isn't shining, then turn on all the lights for the areas you are in.
Thursday afternoon the sun was shining.  I went out and started raking and cleaning up the flower beds.  When the kids got home from school, Miss K wanted to help, but I had finished what I was planning.  She started raking some more, then went in and brought out a blanket.  She decided to set up a picnic for us.  I took out my book, and she grabbed hers, and we all sat on the blankets eating snacks and reading.

Get Active

 Friday I decided that I didn't care how late I was, I was going running with my friends.  Luckily Miss K left for school only 15 minutes late, so I was able to get there not much time after that. (I can't even get ready while she is still home, or she will not go to school) We ran 4 miles.  The sun was shining.  I HAD ADULT CONVERSATION!  I also was able to ask them for ideas that will help me.  And there were many!

Find Hope

One friend suggested that I study the word "hope".  Find all the scriptures and conference talks about hope.  So I after I showered I got the girls busy with a game, and pulled out my scriptures and laptop and kindle and started a new scripture journal.  I labeled the first page HOPE and went to work. I also followed all the footnotes. (I only got through the first 2 references in the TOPICAL GUIDE)  I went to lds.org and, under prepare a talk, I searched for HOPE.  I printed out the talks, lessons, scriptures to look up, everything. I am so excited to have a new focus after the "Book of Mormon in 100 Days Challenge"!


I will leave you with a quote by President Ezra Taft Benson:

If I immediately start tormenting myself for my weakness when I find myself dwelling on an unworthy thought, I don’t have enough strength or determination to resist the next temptation. If, instead, I thank the Lord for showing me that the thought is unwholesome and helping shift my mind away, I leave the situation closer to the Lord, grateful for the strength I have, and praying for greater strength in the future.

Pin It

Pierced Ears?

As I have mentioned earlier, Miss E hasn't pierced her ears.
I don't want her to feel like she has to.
I told her that her Grandma never pierced her ears.
I decided I wanted her to know the reason behind this decision.
I asked Grandpa for the inside story.
Here is what I found out:

The reason Grandma did not pierce her ears is:  When we grew up no one in polite society pierced their ears or anything else!  Piercing was not done.   Grandma never did change her attitude toward piercing.

Earrings had little screw findings on the back that would be tightened enough to hold the earrings in place and then later there were spring clips that held them in place.

Common piercing of ears did not start until the 1970's and then it was mostly the younger women that had their ears pierced and never men.

Pin It