Upcoming Quarterly Relief Society Meeting: Service Activity Assembling Newborn Kits

Please join us for our upcoming Quarterly Relief Society Meeting! 

This meeting will be a community service project, and we will be assembling Newborn Kits and sewing blankets that will be donated to Einstein Hospital in Montgomery County. 

Here is more information about the meeting and donations that are needed for the kits. Please feel free to bring your donations to church on Sunday or the night of the meeting.

We thank you for your service and donations! Remember: "that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God" (Mosiah 2:17). 

Check out these Mormon Messages on how service provides blessings to all involved!

Opportunities to Do Good:

Unselfish Service: 

And check out LDS.org: Humanitarian Service: What You Can Do

Make-Everything-OK Button

http://make-everything-ok.com/

Try it! It really does make you feel better.

e

General Conference Activity Pages for Children and MORE!

From Mormon Times: General Conference Activity Pages for Children

Got kids? Then you've also got a true test ahead.

When it comes to LDS general conference, children add a joyful yet challenging dynamic to the experience. The chance to share the messages and traditions of conference with kids is a privilege of parenthood, but keeping them attentive and reverent is difficult.

Conference activity packets can be an effective means of focusing restless children on the speakers, or simply providing them with a quiet game. They have become popular among parents and now circulate throughout the blogosphere.

Here is Mormon Times' version of general conference activity pages, courtesy of Deseret News artist Josh Ferrin.

See also Preparing for General Conference. Go here...tons of ideas!!!

And finally...remember the Blessings of General Conference.

e

The Legendary Wheat Grind-off: A Photo Essay

The much anticipated Wheat Grind-off and CarbFest has come and gone.

Many thanks to Jenny Boyer and our participants for pulling together a fun informative evening! Kudos to all who brought such yummy carb-laden treats for our consumption. Special thanks to the flag-maker...fine start and finish flags!

The wheat, of course

In this corner we have Contestant #1: The cheaper-if-you-buy-five...K-Tec

In this corner Contestant #2: The large, the sleek, the favored...Nutrimill

Contestant #3 The I-may-be-small-but-I-still-get-the-job-done Hand Grinder

And in this corner Contestant #4: The Wonder Mill a.k.a. Whisper Mill

And finally Contestant #5: The "oldie-but-goodie" stone grinder, a.k.a The Church Grinder

The fearless organizer and the uninitiated operator

The dynamic duo

The father and son team

The confident old-hat

The willing conscript

 

A few of the judging audience and participants fortifying themselves

And they're off...to be compared, judged, handled, listened to, discussed and then to finally race to finish the whole can of wheat!

Here's how the scoring worked. Each grinder was judged and scored by each observer on eight qualities of fine grinding: Cost, speed, ease of use, ease of cleaning, batch capacity, noise, quality of coarse grind (cracked wheat) and quality of fine grind (flour). Then the scores were totaled.

The winner is...Nutrimill...[and the crowd goes wild with cheering]...[the applause is deafening!] (Good thing we had those fluorescent orange ear plugs.) We loved that the wheat could be pre-loaded, no fussing over carefully feeding it a few kernels at a time, and that the batch capacity was great. We loved how easy it was to clean, though we're not sure if the cleaning-man is included in the price or not.

The very close 2nd place goes to the Wonder Mill. Great speed, good capacity, nice fine flour. We know why the name was changed from the misleading Whisper Mill, though. Extra points that one piece was missing but it still worked fine.

The Church Grinder did the best for price...free!...of course. You can borrow it any time; just bring it back in good order and clean.

Surprisingly the Hand Grinder did very well in several categories...price, noise and cracked wheat. And if the power goes out we'll be lining up for the privilege of its use.

Good sports, one and all

And the lucky winner of the ground flour...drumroll...Ellen King (me!).

Related Posts:
Wheat! Find out all you need to know and get the recipes.
Breadmaking by Apryl 
Check out a few more pics at Jennie's blog.

e

"Why I can't stop reading Mormon housewife blogs"

Emily Flinders found  a great article about non-members who love reading blogs written by Mormon housewifes.  It may be interesting to all you bloggers!  Check it out here.

Fun Fall Festival

Check out their website.

We went a couple of years ago and it was a really fun festival!

Sarah Kinghorn

CNN Picks up BYU Video Parody

 BYU media department did a parody video on the new Old Spice commercials.

CNN picked it up.

See it on YouTube. It has about 2,000,000 views so far.

More behind-the-scenes footage here.

e

Upcoming Activity: A Light in the Darkness

A Light in the Darkness
We can Light the Path for One Another

August 11, 2010, Wednesday
At the Wolf's home
221 Hopwood Road
Collegeville, PA

7:00 Food, Swimming, and Fun!
8:30 Short Devotional (at dusk)

Bring
•  A salad, snack, or dessert

•  A beach or camping chair
• Your visiting teaching sisters
• Your swimsuit (or wear it!)

Summer is not just for kids!

Supporting the purposes of Relief Society:
Increase faith and righteousness  •  Strengthen families and homes  •  Seek
out and help those in need

Photo credit

Mentoring Moms Google Group

Our Mentoring Moms Relief Society group meets once monthly to set goals and encourage one another. They have recently set a Google group so communication is easier. It is valley-forge-mentoring-moms [at] googlegroups [dot] com. Contact Aubrey Behunin to ask to be added to this e-mail list.

Find out more about the activities and what they are working on this month.

e

Civil War Reunion This Weekend

Pennypacker Mills is having their annual Civil War Reunion on June 5th & 6th, starting @ 10:00 am.

If your kids like exploding cannons and ladies dressed in pretty dresses, they will love it!

It's FREE!!! It's fun!

For more info, go to civilwarreunion.org

Margie Clark

More Free Music at LDS.org

Have you seen the music section of LDS.org. It’s full of great music and great resources.

You can get the hymns and children’s songs. You can get camp music, music published in the church magazines, and the seminary music.

Download MP3s or the sheet music of your favorite hymns and children’s songs. See the hymns in sign language, learn how to lead music, or how to teach songs to children.


Have you tried the interactive music player yet? (Shown above.) You choose a song and it loads ready to play. Now choose music with parts, words and music, or music only. Choose which parts to play, the tempo, and the key. Push play! You’ll see the colored notes move along with the music. You may also print the song, learn more about it and interact with it.

Take a minute to explore this website and invite good music into your home, use for your family home evenings or add music to your lessons.

e

Free Inspirational Music

From Mormon Times:

Sally DeFord is a popular, brilliant LDS composer and arranger. You’ve no doubt heard her compositions performed by your ward choir, especially if you have a budget-savvy choir director.

DeFord offers her sheet music for free on her Web site. Those who have discovered DeFord's talents are eager to spread the word.

“I hope people understand that though I give away the sheet music for my compositions, I don't necessarily feel that others should be doing the same. Everyone who is employed is selling a divinely given talent or gift in exchange for their bread, and that's a good thing. This is just the way I felt inspired to do it.” 

FULL ARTICLE

Listen to her playlists, get the lyrics, download the sheet music, download her recordings at Defordmusic.com

Take a minute to explore. (Navigate through the Quick links dropdown. A little clunky but worth the effort to explore.)

e

Website: Scriptures 4 Kids

Check out this new website designed for LDS families.

It is Scriptures 4 Kids.

The site will read the scriptures to you and has pictures to go along with the stories.

There are 4 different reading levels so children of all ages can understand the scriptures.

It is in beta, which means an early testing phase, so take a look and leave feedback.

Seems pretty great!

Nancy

In future look for the link in the right nav. e

Talent Show a Success

 

The Primary Talent show has come and gone again (March 2). It was all a blur to us, but you moms must be so proud. Your children are very talented in many ways.

And here’s a little proof:

Would You Like to Dance With Me 

Martin kids perform

And Alex Cabot kept it moving!

Mentoring Moms

 

Hi Everyone

We have almost made it through a year of Mentoring Moms already!  We will be starting afresh in April. We’d love for even more sisters come. You are invited!

Mentoring Moms is a goal-setting program for women. It provides support and recognition for women who desire to grow and improve. This is a morning out with a purpose!

Our meeting is held once a month, usually the first Wednesday, at 10 am at my house. Each month we focus on a different area of a woman’s life. Our monthly meetings include ideas and motivation to get you excited, along with an opportunity to select your own goal in the area we are focusing on.

The next month you can report to the group on your progress toward your goal. It is such a delight to share success stories with other women. The accountability and structure of the program are highly motivating, as moms mentor each other toward personal growth.   

Here are the topics: 

• The Inside Out Woman: Caring for Yourself So You Can Care for Others
• Enjoy Your Children!
• Time, Your Most Valuable Asset
• A Treasure Trove of Memories: Traditions and Keepsakes
• Love of Learning
• Feeding Your Family
• Beauty Treatments: Creating and Appreciating Beauty in Your Life
• A Basket of Blessings: What Can You Share with Others
• Keeping House
• Loving Your Husband
• Reach for the Stars: Beauty

Last thing...although the name of the group is “Mentoring Moms”, there is only one month where we focus on children. Even then there are many goal suggestions that are appropriate for all women. 

It has been such a fun group. We are all encouraging each other. I leave each meeting with renewed energy.

Best,
Aubrey 

Need to smile today?

Okay I just couldn't resist...doesn't this make you smile!



Ellen

LDS Authors We Know!

Becca Fitzpatrick is Mary Louise Fitzpatrick's daughter-in-law!

She is a YA author who has just recently published the book Hush, Hush, a love story with ancient battles and immortals. (Ages 14 and up). It debuted at #10 on the New York Bestseller list. Currently it's at #7. Read the first 2 chapters, or buy it online or see a trailer at Amazon.

You can learn more about Becca at her website beccafitzpatrick.com. Or her blog.

And you remember Lindsey Leavitt, of course,

who, with Curry and her two girls, just recently moved from the ward.

Her children's book Princess for Hire comes out March of 2010 and then two more books in the future.

"In this hilarious, winning debut, one girl’s dream of glamour transforms into something bigger: the desire to make a positive impact. And an impact Desi makes, one royal fiasco at a time."

You can read more about her on her website lindseyleavitt.com. Or her blog.

And, don't miss the cute video she posted just before Halloween. Or this one from last June—hilarious! The Lindsey we know and love. 

Follow her on Twitter too!

Ellen

See Temple Square in 3D!

If you've never been there, or even if you have, you've got to see this.

Temple Square in 3D

Just click with the mouse and scroll up, down, side to side to get a 360 degree look at this and other places around Utah. Included are the tabernacle, assembly hall, Christus rotunda and the Christmas lights on Temple Square.

There are more links on the left to Zion National Park, St. George Tabernacle and the red-rock country.

My favorite is the Summer Night Sky. You just don't see stars like that here in the east.

Ellen

Play Dough Recipe

Hi, my friends!  Emily Flinders asked me for my play dough recipe and I thought some of you might like it, as well.  It cleans up really well - all you have to do is leave it alone and let it dry, then vacuum it up.

Play Dough
2 c. flour
1/2 c. salt
2 T. alum (sometimes I substitute cream of tartar)
3 T. vegetable oil
1 c. boiling water
optional - a few drops of food coloring
Mix all the ingredients and knead until thoroughly mixed.  I do the kneading at first, until it cools a bit, and then let the kids take a turn. Store in a Ziploc bag.

Have fun!

XX OO Margie

Photo by eyeliam  

Enrichment Night Mixer

And did we ever mix it up!
It was so fun to get to know you all better.

We relaxed and chatted, ate some good food
and pretended we were at the beach.

We created a circle of sisterhood
and gladly opened it up to invite every sister in.

We discovered things about each other we never knew before.
And all minute by minute!
"What was a favorite childhood memory?"

What is your dream job?
When you were little what did you want to be when you grew up?
What is your favorite food?
What is your favorite scripture?


Time!!! Change seats!


When did you first know the church was true?
How do feel about the Savior?


Ahh, cold smoothies with coconut or berries
to soothe throats parched from so much talking.
The perfect ending to a lovely evening.

THANK YOU TO THE ENRICHMENT NIGHT COMMITTEE!

Hope you enjoyed it too. Please share something you learned about your sisters in the comments.

Ellen King