LIGHTtheWORLD — New Christmas Countdown!

Okay so I know it's been FOREVER since I've written on this blog. Life has been a bit insane this last year. I have aspirations to improve and do more in 2017...but no promises! However, I HAD to take a few minutes to share with you all an awesome new website with more ideas to make your Christmas more CHRIST-mas yet again! 

 First, check out this video:  

And then head over HERE for 25 days of countdown videos, scriptures, and activities to help you "Light the World" in your neck of the woods just as Christ would do if He were here! Share and enjoy! Merry CHRIST-mas!!! 

For more ideas, check out my other posts on Christ-centered Christmas under the Holidays & Traditions tab above! 
Or click HERE

Countdown to CHRIST-MAS Nativity

Tis the season to be Jolly...and busy!

Forgive my short post, but I wanted to share this project with you all, with little time to make it fancy! So bare with me, but here it goes!

I have spent the last couple of years putting together a Nativity-centered Christmas countdown with scripture, song, and video links for each character in the Nativity.  The idea is that you look at your December schedule and traditions that you are already doing with your family.  Then use this document to put a Christ-centered focus on your tradition.  Or if you are looking for some new ways to celebrate, there are some of those as well!

Choose whatever order you want to study the characters in, and you can study one each day, or study each one for a few days to have something to study every day until Christmas.  Tailor it to fit your family's schedule and traditions!

The document has hyperlinks to all scriptures, songs, and videos so you can used your phone, tablet, or computer to access everything you need.  That way you can even use it when you are on vacation! 

Click the picture below to download the document!

This was inspired by Emily Freeman's A Christ-Centered Christmas 
See my post from last year for more details and a link to buy her awesome book:

CHRIST-mas Countdown Begins! Five ways to put Christ back in Christmas!

Have a very merry CHRIST-mas!!!

Because of Him

If there is only one blog video you ever watch, that I post, this should be the one!  There are not words to describe the feeling it will give to you!

Easter Week Countdown

Happy Easter Everyone!

A few years ago I was talking with a group of people about what they were doing for Easter weekend.  Then one of them said, "Why do we have Easter anyways?  I know it's not about bunnies, but I can't remember.  Isn't it something about Jesus?"  I was SHOCKED!  So, I explained that Easter is really about the Atonement and Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  It just made me so sad that so many are clueless as to the true meaning of such an important holiday!

So two years ago I made a goal to make Easter more meaningful at our house.  We began doing a countdown to Easter, much like we do for Christmas, by watching a short video clip every day of the events that happened in the last week of the Savior's life.  We culminate the week with a visit to the Mesa, Arizona Easter Pagent where they perform a free pagent about the life and final week's events of Jesus Christ.  It's awesome!  If you live in Arizona, I HIGHLY recommend it!  You can find the information on it here.

Additionally, this year there is a website you can go to for a series of special messages/videos emailed directly to you to help you celebrate the season and the Living Christ!  Check it out HERE!

Anyways, I wanted to share the video that I made with all of you!  I did have it divided into chapters by day, but for some reason Youtube didn't upload it that way, so you'll have to skip forward to each day as you go.  Hope you enjoy and are better able to remember the reason for this season!

Palm Sunday 0:00

Monday-Cleansing the Temple 5:45

Tuesday&Wednesday-Jesus Teaches in Parables 7:13

Thursday-The Last Supper/Intercessory Prayer 8:14

Good Friday-Christ is Condemned 27:27

Saturday-The Burial:Christ Visits the Spirit World 39:44

Easter Sunday-He is Risen! 43:16

© 2014 Leaflet Radiance All Rights Reserved

4 Small and Simple Ways to Make a Big Difference With Your Children

Morning Messages
Are your mornings as chaotic as mine?  Everyone running around trying to get ready in time to go here or there?  Seems like that is much of today's society in general.  However, there is one time that can be an eye of the storm to your mornings...breakfast!  It's more than just the most important meal of the day.  It can be one of the most important moments as well!  Add a little Morning Message and it's become a chance to set a positive tone for everyone's day before they enter the chaos of the world!

I used to read while I ate my breakfast.  As a kid it was the comics from the newspaper or of course the riveting text on the back of the cereal boxes.  When I grew older I used the time to study the scriptures since it was one of the few solitary, peaceful times of my day where I could really concentrate and contemplate.  Then, I had children...At first it was easy to keep that routine since I only had one baby and she was usually nursing or sleeping while I ate breakfast.  Then, she grew older and I felt kind of guilty for ignoring her while I read and ate.  She wasn't old enough to converse with either, so I was no longer sure what to fill the breakfast conversation/study void with.

Then, one day I realized that just because she wasn't old enough to converse, didn't mean she wasn't old enough to listen.  So, I ordered my first copy of the inspirational children's magazine, The Friend, and began reading an article a day with her.  Little did I realize that she was ACTUALLY listening and learning from these articles at a very young age!  It was amazing to me, and continues to be as we've added more children to my home.

Thus the birth of our Morning Messages.  Each morning we read a message from The Friend Magazine, sing a song to align with it (which I usually choose on the spot--no prep here! and the songs can be listened to and downloaded for free HERE!), and have a mini-discussion about the topic of the day (which is based on whatever the next article is--again no prep!).  It's become our morning ritual and daily devotional.  Something I plan to continue as my children get older, just with messages then from The New Era youth magazine.  Even my little toddler who can't fully utter the words, begs for Morning Messages, pointing to the magazine when I forget!

Scripture Stories
 
Anyone with toddlers and pre-schoolers at home understands the struggle to get a few moments of peace while you take a shower and get ready for the day.  At the same time, I'm always looking for ways to instill values while my children are still young and largely influenced by home life and teachings.  At our house we kill two birds with one stone because of the awesome radio program I found called Scripture Stories!  It is basically an audio-recording of a book-club done by children where they read and discuss scripture stories from the New Testament, Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants, and Old Testament (yet to come).

You can find them on the Mormon Channel links HERE!
The pictures on this page that do not say Mormon Channel are the links for the picture stories that they are studying in their "book club."

As a mother, I love this program for the spiritual development it helps to produce in my children.  As a former elementary school & college teacher I love it because of the comprehension skills it develops as well!  It's exactly the kind of discussion I used to do with my students and has innumerable lessons in communication skills and reading comprehension development!  

Most of the programs are anywhere from 20-30 minutes long, and afterwards my children watch the video of the scripture story that goes along with the discussion they just listened to.  If your children struggle with the auditory, you can have them follow along in their own copy of the scripture stories books (for visual learners), or play something like blocks while they listen (for your kinesthetic learners).

Family History Friday

Since there are only so many articles in the Friend Magazine, and we didn't have enough for every weekday of the month, I decided to supplement with stories from our ancestors on Fridays, or show my kids some things from familysearch.org.  It has already become a favorite as they love looking at pictures and hearing stories from their ancestors!  When it is the week of a grandparent or great-grandparent’s birthday then I make sure we study them that week and incorporate their favorite foods and activities throughout that Friday!  It’s a work in progress but I love it already!  This last week we studied my grandma since it was her birthday and we played dolls, board games, and sewed just like she loved to do.  I forgot to get her favorite foods, but it was a fun day for all of us and brought back some great memories for me!

Family Home Evenings

If you don't already, set aside one night a week (we do Mondays) to have a little spiritual thought or lesson followed by a family activity and of course a tasty treat (my children's favorite part...okay maybe mine too! :)) This Website has some incredible resources for teaching your children just about any topic you can imagine.  You can search by topic to find lessons, activities (both on and off the computer), videos, images, you name it!

These four things are so simple and basic, but they can make a world of difference in the spirit and feeling that permeates your home!  Try them out and let me know how it goes for you!

© 2015 Leaflet Radiance All Rights Reserved

5 Tips to keep your New Year's Resolutions going past January! :)

Tis the Season for Goal Setting! 
Okay, so I have to be honest today!  I'm a TOTAL slacker this year when it comes to setting goals.  I'm six months pregnant with my third and have hit survival mode with life in general, so although I've written my goals for this year (generally), I have yet to even hit the print button on my computer and make them official yet!  And it's almost February!!!  

Well, now that my confession is out of the way...fellow slackers UNITE!  If you are like me and haven't taken a moment or two to set your new year's resolutions this year, then this post is for you!  If you have, and have already fallen off the bandwagon, this post is for you too!  If you've set your goals and are already working like a mad-man/woman on them then good for you, and maybe these ideas will help you keep those goals past January! :)


Here are 5 Tips to Keep Your New Year's Resolutions Going Past January!

1.  Put it on Paper
So here's another confession since I seem to be in the mode for that today.  I used to never write down my goals.  To be honest, I figured if I didn't write them down or tell anyone about them, then if I failed, no big deal; only I would know and no one would be the wiser for it!  Now you're probably wondering how those goals went for me...yep, you guess it!  I failed miserably at most of them!  It's a true fact that most goals that are not written down and shared, are also not accomplished and achieved!  You sew what you reap...and reap what you sew when it comes to goals.  A difficult to accept, yet true fact of life!

And don't just write them down and tuck them away somewhere!  You need to display them so that you will see and read them frequently.  My solution was to put them up on the wall of my bathroom.  After all, as a mother there are few places I actually sit and think these days, and sadly that's the most peaceful of them! :) (Even if little fingers are often found creeping under the door).  You mothers know what I mean!  It's one place you will visit frequently and always need good reading material, so why not have it be your goals?! :)

2.  Keep it Minimal
One of the biggest mistakes we make in setting goals is that we have too many.  As I've looked at many goal sheets over the years, I've discovered they often have at least ten or sometimes more places for goals!  In my opinion, that's way too many to keep track of!  And you know what that means...they just don't happen!  Choose four or five categories and narrow your goals down to those.  In my house we put our goals into four categories:

Intellectual

Physical

Spiritual

Social

These are based off of the scripture found in Luke 2:52

"And Jesus increased in wisdom (intellectual), and stature (physical), and in favor with God (spiritual) and man (social)."

I figure if the most perfect person that ever lived could categorize his improvements in four areas of life then certainly I don't need to go searching for more!  It's enough just to try to do that!

3.  Make Them Measurable and Specific
Far too often we set our goals so generally that even we don't know if we've really achieved them!  I used to always set goals like: eat more healthy, read more books, exercise more, lose weight, be more patient with my kids, etc.  This not only sabotages your goals, but can lead to discouragement, thinking you haven't succeeded when perhaps you've made more progress than you even realize!  

Instead set goals like: eat a full serving of vegetables at every lunch and dinner, only have one or two desserts a week (one portion size), read five books this year, exercise five days a week, lose ten pounds, play with my kids individually for 15-30 minutes a day, etc.  These goals can be measured and are more likely to be achieved.

4.  Break it Down
My husband helped me with this because he is quite the organized goal setter!  One year we worked together to develop a goal sheet to help us track our progress throughout the year on our new year's resolutions.  After we've written our four main focus goals for the year, then each month we sit down and write a monthly goal that will help us grow closer to achieving our goal for the year in that category.  Then we break it down even further into what we are going to do each week to reach that monthly goal.  Don't fill in all the weeks at once!!!  Do one week and then at the end of that week, assess how well you did and what you need to do to improve the next week.  Some goals will carry over for several weeks as well.

Here is our goal sheet if you'd like to print some for yourself!  Just click on the picture and it should take you to the free download!

If you have a weight loss goal, my husband also developed this sheet which you can click on and print to help you along your way.  The lines on the left are to record weight goals in five to ten pound increments (each square up is another pound).  The numbers at the bottom represent days of the month.  You put a dot at your weight each day and then connect the dots to make a line of progress throughout the month.

The lines and boxes at the bottom are to write and record progress on small goals such as: exercise, drink 8 glasses of water, no desserts, no eating out, full serving of fruit and vegetables, etc.

5.  Don't Give Up!
So you messed up one day, or one week, or one month...that's okay!  Too often we see small failures as reasons to throw in the towel!  I do this all the time, saying things like, "Well, I already ate brownies and ice cream on Monday so I guess my whole week is shot, might as well have dessert every day!"  This is SO not true!  Just because I messed up today, or was too busy, or forgot, does not mean it's over!  Just as is quoted in the beloved Gone With the Wind, "Tomorrow is another day!"  

New years are not the only new beginnings!  God has given us the gift of sleep...(praise him for that!)...and thus renewal each morning of a NEW day!  Don't let yesterdays failures determine tomorrow's destinies!  With the help of those we love, and especially the help of the Lord, we CAN do anything that is worth doing!!!

May the force be with you! :)

© 2015 Leaflet Radiance All Rights Reserved

He is the Gift

CHRIST-mas Countdown Begins! Five ways to put Christ back in Christmas!

Who doesn't love the magic of the Christmas season?  Twinkling lights, delicious treats, beautiful decorations, carefully wrapped packages, peaceful music, time with family and friends, and the wonder-filled eyes of children.  However, it saddens me that so many dread the season these days because of the hectic craziness that shopping, parties, and unfulfilled expectations have brought upon it.  So many have forgotten, as it's said, "The Reason for the Season!"  It's not about presents, Santa, or black Friday deals at the local shopping center.  Christmas began in a humble stable and should be remembered and celebrated with the same quiet, humble, and peaceful love that it began.

I, like most of you, am guilty of getting caught up in the busyness of the holiday season, and forgetting its true purpose and meaning.  That is why I set a goal a few years ago to make something different of the season, beginning with my decor, and continuing on to the way I count down each moment leading up to the big day.  This has not only impacted my own perspective, but my hope is that it will shape the way my children and their children celebrate the season that is Christmas!  As much as we love Santa, he's not the man in red I want them to focus on! :)

So, with no further adieu, I share with you some of my favorite ways to count down to CHRIST-mas!  After all, the word "mas" means more in Spanish, so shouldn't we have a little more Christ in our homes this time of year?

I hope that you find these ideas helpful as you strive to bring the spirit of Christ back into the Christmas season in your homes and your thoughts.

A Video A Day

I put together this video compilation of some of my favorite short Christmas videos a few years ago for my family and friends.  I have now uploaded it to Youtube so that hopefully others can benefit!  Please share it with anyone you know!!!  Watch one a day with your family starting December 13th all the way to Christmas!

Day 1: Dec. 13th The Christmas Spirit     0:00
Day 2: Dec. 14th The Coat    4:01
Day 3: Dec. 15th An Angel Foretells Christ's Birth to Mary        6:16
Day 4: Dec. 16th Mary & Elisabeth Rejoice Together         10:26
Day 5: Dec. 17th Look To The Light         15:35
Day 6: Dec. 18th The Christ Child Is Presented At The Temple     20:12
Day 7: Dec. 19th Mary & Joseph Travel To Bethlehem     22:07
Day 8: Dec. 20th Shepherds Learn Of Christ's Birth         24:18
Day 9: Dec. 21st The Wise Men Seek Jesus     27:12
Day 10: Dec. 22nd Wise Men Still Seek Him     32:55
Day 11: Dec. 23rd The Old Shoemaker     36:33
Day 12: Dec. 24th A Gift To The World     40:05
Day 13: Dec. 25th Good Tidings Of Great Joy     49:21

He Is The Gift Website
Check out this website for awesome videos, stories, and information about the Savior for you and your family to learn, watch, and study together.  It's AMAZING and answers so many questions you or your children may have about Jesus Christ and Christmas!

Countdown to Christ Calendar

I can take no credit at all for this idea...I found it on Pinterest of course!  However, I couldn't find exact dimensions I needed so I had to work through trial and error to make mine.  Here is the link for the beautiful calendar I found on Pinterest (I wish they could have just sent me one because I honestly like theirs better than mine!), and here are the dimensions and details of how I made mine, in case that's helpful for any of you out there!

*Board 20" X 25" MDF Wood painted a brick red with a glossy spray on laquer coat on top.
*The word Christ is on a separate board of wood 3" X 15" hung 3.5 inches from the top of the large board painted a sage green.
*The white swirly stuff behind the Christ sign is some lacy-type scrapbook paper I had lying around that I mod podged on before nailing on the Christ sign, to add some dimension since mine was lacking!
*Nails are started 3/4in. down from the Christ sign and 3in. from the sides.  They are spaced 3.5 inches apart from the middle of each nail to the next one and end 3 3/4 in. from the bottom of the board.
*Each square is 3in square and cut from a thin MDF then drilled holes in the tops.  I also painted them white before I put on pictures and paper so if there was any border it would be a pretty one.
*The fronts are just scrapbook paper cut down to 3 in squares mod podged on with a vinyl number in the corner.
*The pictures on the backs I bought from Deseret Book.  This is the most expensive part of the project as some were about 50 cents to a dollar each.  I did 2-3 layers of mod podge to get these to stay after cutting them down to 3 in. squares.
*Just make sure to give plenty of dry time to all layers!  You don't want to go to all of that work to have it stick together and ruin your beautiful pictures!

The baby socks have a story or scripture for each day (along with a small treat of course! :)) and are just numbered with vinyl numbers.  I looked for cheap socks for FOREVER and finally found them here.  They are out of stock now, but who knows if they will come back.  Some of the socks also have a small nativity character in them for special days when we do a character study of a different person in the nativity.  After we study each character, we add them to a small nativity that will be completed by Christmas.  This is an idea I got from an AMAZING book called A Christ Centered Christmas.  I highly recommend it!  It's a quick read with awesome stories and activities to do with your family to help them to draw closer to Christ.

Names of Christ Star Ornaments

This was also an idea inspired by A Christ Centered Christmas, but the ones you can purchase were silver and I wanted mine to stand out on my tree a bit more.  Mine are very simple, but I love how they make me think of the Savior just a little bit more whenever I look at my tree!  Remember, He was born in a very simple, humble place!  My humble stars remind me just a little bit more of that place, and that perfect child!

I bought the wooden stars (20 of them) for about 30 cents each, had my husband drill holes in them and then painted them yellow with a silver sparkle glaze (I made the mistake of doing the glaze after the letters though and messed up a bunch of them because it smeared the paint!  Sadness!!!  So, IF you glaze, do it before you write!).  

To put the words on them I just printed the names of Christ on a sheet of paper in a font I liked and traced it onto the wood (the wood was soft enough that tracing indented the words on the wood).  After the wood was indented with the name, I just used a permanent black marker to trace it.  Thread them with ribbons and you're done! 

Kid-friendly Nativities

 Some of my favorite memories of Christmas time are of an old Nativity that my mom gave to me to play with.  I would spend hours playing with the figures and recreating the Christmas story.  Far too often a Nativity is a touch-me-not decoration in our homes.  And yes, I have one of those too.  However, I think it's so important to teach our children that the Savior is not this distant being that we cannot get near.  He is our loving brother and friend!  He is accessible and as close to us as we allow and want Him to be.  What better way to teach that to them than giving them access at a young age to those figures that tell the story of His birth.  A small thing that can really create a fond memory and feeling.  

Yet again, I got this idea from Pinterest at this site, with a little variation according to what I could find at the craft store and then  just used scraps of material to make the clothes for the little wooden nativity.  I am NOT very creative and crafty on my own to be honest.  I mean, the glue gun and I have a love/hate relationship, leaning more towards the latter!  My sister-in-law did the sheep for me which were pretty awesome I thought!  I would have just glued on a bunch of cotton balls and called it good!  I can't tell you how to recreate the wise men hats (sorry!)...they just kind of happened as I attempted to take needle and thread to a small scrap of fabric (this was huge for me since I don't even own a sewing machine!).  I could never do it again, but I'm glad they turned out okay!  My husband used his engineering skills and made the stable and manger out of popsicle sticks and a glue gun after my daughter insisted Jesus have a stable.  He has a similar relationship (and scar) with the glue gun after that experience but it turned out pretty awesome I think! Oh the sacrifices we make for our children! :)

Fisher Price also has the cutest Nativity that we just bought last year on sale and my kids love it just as much!  I probably would have never made the first one to be honest, had I been able to find it at a reasonable price when I was looking, but now you can even find them in Wal-Mart and Target for around $30!!!  So worth it!

Merry CHRIST-mas to you all! 
© 2014 Leaflet Radiance All Rights Reserved

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

Challenges are blessings...that's what I learned this last week.

Actually if we are going to be perfectly honest, it's not the first time I've learned that lesson...except that apparently I am a VERY slow learner and have to learn it over...and over...and over again!  I'd like to say I'm done learning this lesson of life and ready to move on to the next one (an easier one ideally) but, truth be told, I'm pretty sure I'm in this one for the long haul.  That's right, LIFE!

I can be, what I like to call, an internal complainer.  Okay, so maybe it's not ALL internal, but I'd like to say I complain far more in my head than I do out loud.  Sure this is great strategy when you are trying to appear positive all the time, and to avoid being extremely annoying to those around you, but internally, it has the same effect as external complaining.  It destroys your overall perspective, attitude, and happiness.  

However, I have found a tool that sweeps the nasty complaining bug right out of your system.  It's magical really, in an oh-so-simple way.  Are you ready for this "magic pill?"  It's called gratitude.  Okay, I know it's cliche and sounds way too simple to be effective, but it's SO TRUE!  Don't believe me?  Put it to the test!  

This last week my car broke down while I was on an overnight trip with some friends.  It was supposed to be this awesome getaway to rejuvenate my soul and my spirit, and it started out that way.  However, the first night, on the way back to the hotel, we were stranded in a parking garage at the mercy of my insurance company and anyone else who may stop to give us assistance.  This is the third time this car has gone in to the shop in the last few months...for the same problem which they apparently had fixed.  There, of course were few rental companies in the city I was in that actually had cars available, and the only one left charged $170 for a one day rental on an economy car if you can believe that!  

I felt ripped off and frustrated...UNTIL I heard another story from the gracious women who came to our aid.  Heaven bless them for their service in more ways than they will ever know!  In the course of conversation the mother and daughter unfolded to us a tale that made me grateful for my challenge of the day.  The daughter had just give birth a few months earlier to a beautiful baby girl...a miracle baby who came two months early.  Previous to her birth, her mother had almost died due to complications and had spent seven weeks in the hospital, while friends and family cared for her five other children at home.  My eyes couldn't help but well up in tears when she told us of how she and her husband had had to prepare their five other children for the possibility that Mommy may never come home again.  How can you cry over a car after that????  When I knelt down to pray to my Heavenly Father that night all I could muster were words of gratitude for all of my blessings.  There is not room enough for complaints in a heart full of gratitude for there is little to complain about when you tally up your blessings next to your adversity.  The car was a small trial in comparison, but the truth is that no matter how bad things are, it can ALWAYS be worse.  I KNOW that, but it's not always easy to REMEMBER that.  

GRATITUDE is the gift of REMEMBRANCE!

Read this article Give Me Gratitude or Give Me Debt and you'll see what I mean!  One time through it and you'll feel better already!

I recently also saw a movie that did wonders for my perspective and gratitude for everyday simple gifts that I've been so blessed to have in life.  It's called The Good Lie.  I think everyone should see this movie and any others like it, over and over again!  We need reminders every day for how good we really do have it in life!


One of my favorite decorations in my home that I made last year for the Thanksgiving season is a frame that says grateful on the glass.  Inside the frame is a typed list of the things I'm thankful for.  I chose an old-style font on browned paper for an antiqued look, but what I didn't know was that the font was extra tiny even in larger print!  It took me a long time to type the list, but the reflection it caused me on my blessings was priceless!  

The more we focus our attention on what we do have, the less time and energy we have to focus on what we don't!  

So, this Thanksgiving season I encourage you to take time each day (or even better, in each moment of complaint!) to reflect on the good, to thank God for the blessings, and to find purpose in the challenges of life for there is a reason for EVERYTHING...we just have to look for it!  Then when you realize all you have, you can't help but want to share it!  The week after I saw The Good Lie, I watched this talk...time to put that gratitude into action!

Happy Thanksgiving!

© 2014 Leaflet Radiance All Rights Reserved

The Hope of God's Light: How to Find Answers to Life's Questions

This is one of my favorite videos.  If you haven't seen it.  It will be a few minutes more than well spent for your happiness in life!

Sure we all have questions about life, but where do we find the answers?  If you are looking for answers about life, then I can promise you with a 100% guarantee of where to find them!

There are only a couple of requirements:

Sincerity

Prayer, Pondering, and Spiritual Preparation

Watching General Conference the first Saturday and Sunday of October and April!

Watch it Here!

 (As well as find great resources to help you 
& your children prepare for & enjoy conference!)

Reading and Pondering on the scriptures

Find Great Online Scripture Study Resources Here

Praying more!

If you are truly sincere about whatever questions you may have about life then I promise you will not only find them, but find more than you were even hoping for!

If you want to learn more about some of these amazing modern-day apostles and prophets who will speak at General Conference, as well as teach about them to your children, here is a great website to get to know them better with stories, videos, and games!  It's awesome!  We do one a day as a family for the two or three weeks leading up to conference and it is amazing what even my young children are learning!

Countdown To Conference

A great Family Home Evening Lesson idea that I love to use with younger kids is found HERE as well!

And if your kids love matching games like mine do, HERE is a great one you can print and make!

Oh and here is an awesome song that teaches about the apostles too!  It's catchy, but in a good way! :)

I treat General Conference like a holiday around our house with special breakfasts, fun activities, and a countdown weeks before!  We even do a crazy cleaning the previous week so my house is thoroughly clean and I can enjoy a weekend of pure spiritual upliftment--with NO big chores!

My little ones love working on our Conference Board during the session that I found HERE and even my two-year-old stayed pretty focused when I made this (at least at the beginning of all four sessions! :)  She LOVED moving the cards around and surprisingly learned A LOT!

Hope you all can watch and enjoy!  Feel free to ask me any questions you may have about it, or share your thoughts!

© 2014 Leaflet Radiance All Rights Reserved

The Silly, The Sappy, and The Spiritual...A Tribute to DADS!

This post is of course dedicated to the two most amazing dads I've been blessed to know--My dad and my husband!!!  I love them both with all my heart and am so thankful for their love, examples, and sacrifice on a daily basis on my behalf and on the behalf of my children! 

Although I'm a little late for Father's Day (I was busy trying to get things ready for the dad in our house :))  I still thought it important to do a post dedicated to all those amazing dad's out there, and those yet to be!  After all, I think far too often the good men in this world are so overlooked!!!  Like Mother's Day, I know this is a day that brings a mix of emotions for many.  It can be a day of joy, celebration, and gratitude for the wonderful men in your life, but it can also be a day of great sadness for those who have experienced heartache and pain at the hands of those less than worthy to be called men.  Whatever your circumstance or feelings, please watch the first video in this post, if nothing else, and remember that EVERYONE has a FATHER above who loves them no matter what and who will be there for them through the good and the bad of life!

Enjoy this collection of some of my favorite videos about Fathers!

Happy (belated) Father's Day!

The Spiritual...

The Sappy...








The Silly...

  

Happy Father's Day!

© 2014 LeafletRadiance All Rights Reserved

The Silly, The Sappy, and The Spiritual...A tribute to MOMS!

I'd like to dedicate this post to the greatest woman alive...MY MOM!  Words cannot express the gratitude I have for her and all that she has done and continues to do for me.

However, I hope it will be an uplifting message to all mothers out there as we prepare to celebrate Mother's Day.  For some it is a day of rest and celebration, of gratitude and happiness.  To others, I know it's a day of heartbreak and sadness for what once was, what is lost, what hasn't yet been, or what is still yet to be in their lives.  Perhaps for some it is a day of regrets and remorse or of guilt and fatigue.  Whatever your circumstance in life may be, remember this...that the sacrifice of your mother brought you in to this world, and the sacrifice of another mother, even Mary of old, is what can make all that is, has been, or will be wrong, right again.  Today I want to share with you some of my favorite MOM videos of all time!  I'll start with the lighthearted and end with the most meaningful to me!  I hope you enjoy a little time watching, laughing, smiling, and crying as you remember what this day is truly about!

First check out this link for some awesome insights on Motherhood as well as another great video!

Oh, and if you haven't already, check out this post on The Perfect Mother for when you just don't feel like YOU measure up as a mother!

Happy Mother's Day!


The Silly--None Other Than Mr. T!

The Sappy--You're Doing Okay Mom!



The Spiritual--Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership With God



Because She Is A Mother (The Full Address of the previous video if you want to hear the whole thing!)



The One Who Sacrificed it all for us--Mary, The Mother of Jesus



Happy Mother's Day!

© 2014 LeafletRadiance All Rights Reserved

Parenting: Touching the Hearts of Our Youth

How many times are we in the same room as our children and yet we aren't really "there"?  Especially in this age of technology with smart phones, ipods, laptops, etc.  This video is inspiring and humbling as we listen and apply the message to become the parents our children desire and deserve us to be!

I know it's one I need to watch over and over again to remind myself what's most important!

The Tender Mercies of the Lord

Whether you are going through a hard time, or just looking to see if God is really there and if He really cares.  This video is AMAZING!  I promise and testify that He lives, He loves you, and He will carry you through the hard times and the good!  Thank be to God for His tender mercies!

The Perfect Mother

If you have ever had "one of those days" as a mother, you have to check out: 

"You Are Their Perfect Mother" 

by Whitney Permann

We all have our strengths and weaknesses.  The idea is to share them with each other and celebrate them together, not compare and tear ourselves or each other down!  We each have an important place in this world and in our families to fulfill.  As Sheri Dew put it so well, 

"No one can take your place!"

Moments that Matter Most

This video is an awesome reminder to all of us of how to focus on what's most important in life!  Life is too short, children grow too fast, and moments pass by too quickly!  

Enjoy the little moments of today!

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