Bible Basiscs for Mormon Mommies: Adam and Eve AND Cain and Abel

Better a week late then not at all, right?  It's been a busy couple of weeks here in Homeschooling Mamma Land--first we FINALLY got a new car!  Isn't she beautiful??  She's a Hybrid and Lilly (the Great Dane) can fit in her comfortably! 

Second we have been shopping for  a tablet for our kids and I got a membership to Raz-kids.com in an effort to help with reading.  So far, so good, my big reader is loving it and goes back all the time to use it. 

Third, my phantom stomach ailment that is not gall bladder disease, not celiac disease, not ulcers, not diabetes and not thyroid disease, has been making itself known to me again...  Even whilst I take my medicine...  Yay.

Forth, my soldier hubby got orders that were for 5 months earlier then we had expected to be moving--chaos broke out in my house.

So, now that the excuses portion of this blog entry is over, I would like to say that not only did I have some fabulous excuses, but I am also inherently LAZY!  I have however been thinking about this entry and doing the morning devotionals...  Mostly.

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Bible Basics for Mormon Mommies:  Adam and Eve

Day 1--Show this pic and tell in your own words the story of Adam and Eve. 
Day 2--Made in God's image.  Explain that they look like Mommy and Daddy and that is what being "made in someone's image" means--we were created to look like Heavenly Father. 
Day 3--We were all sick so we skipped this day.  It was supposed to be The Fall--it was combined with Day 4.
Day 4--The Fall and  leaving the Garden of Eden.  The Fall, why we call it The Fall.  Read 2 Nephi 2:25  Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.  Explain that Adam and Eve couldn't have children before The Fall and that they didn't know right from wrong.  Tell kids that Satan did not flat lie as much as he told a half-truth.  Be sure they understand that Eve chose to eat the fruit to gain knowledge and that there was no other way. 
Talk about the Garden of Eden and how plants just grew without farming, animals were all friendly and gentle.  Explain that when they left the garden, the world changed, thorns grew and predictors became predictors.  They had to learn to work the land and to hunt and farm. 
Day 5--Blessings of the Fall.  Remind children that work is good--Heavenly Father wants us to work to provide for ourselves.  In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve didn't need to work.  Explain Heavenly Father commanded Adam and Eve to have children and they couldn't do that in the Garden of Eden.  Tell kids that in the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve were like little children and when they left, they had to become grown ups. 

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Bible Basics for Mormon Mommies: Cain and Abel

We didn't really do daily devotionals this week, but we did go over the story and make sure certain points were understood.  I would also like to say how disappointed I was while researching this story for my kids--it seems to be left out of most kids bibles and lessons.  I think it's an excellent story to teach about brotherly love and following the Lord instead of Satan. 

First we talked about the story--I showed this this picture and reminded them that after The Fall, Adam and Eve had children.  Two of those children were named Cain and Abel, Cain was a farmer and Abel was a shepherd.  We talked about the commandment to sacrifice lambs and that they had to be the best, most perfect lambs to be a good sacrifice.  We talked about how Cain and Abel both brought their best to sacrifice for the Lord, but that Cain was a farmer so he wasn't bringing what the Lord asked for for his sacrifice and the Lord didn't accept it.  Satan came and convinced Cain to kill his brother--it was the first murder on Earth (my son really liked that point).   Heavenly Father knew that Cain had killed Abel and did not accept his sacrifice and gave him a dark skin so everyone else would know it was him. 

When we reviewed the story, we talked about how Heavenly Father wants us to treat our brothers, and whether it made him happy that Cain had killed Abel.  We talked about how it would make Mommy and Daddy feel and we finished up with how we can help each other to be good and follow the commandments. 

Bible Basics for Mormon Mommies: The Creation

First off, I'd like to explain the title:
As a home-schooling parent we were having some difficulty with my #1 son's reading.  On a trip to visit my sister and her family, I whined about the trouble and my sister took me to see her classroom and the curriculum they use in her private Christian school.  I loved the curriculum, but was a little hesitant to order the Bible Pack that goes along with it as we are practicing Mormons and I didn't want to have to weed out the places where the theology is not exactly the same.  That said, I started looking for a good Bible book or FHE book to help add in that bit of Gospel learning that I feel we've been missing out on.  My husband is what I'd like to call a "home-study-generic-christian" meaning he has a strong Bible foundation and beliefs, but doesn't go to church and is VERY guarded about his religion.  His contribution is that he wants the kids to know at least as much or more about the Bible as they do about the Book of Mormon.  I'm inclined to agree with him--there seems to be a deficit in basic Bible concepts for Mormon kids.  I know I only vaguely remember learning bible stories as a kids, granted we didn't always go to church and I frequently hid in the mothers lounge, but still--I feel it's my duty to help them understand their religion as much as possible and gain a testimony of their own.
Having not found exactly what I was looking for--I decided to write my own.  We'll be doing morning devotionals and studying basic basics so when my kids meet other christian kids who know the bible stories--so will they. 

Here we go, week 1 of Bible Basics for Mormon Mommies:

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THE CREATION

Day 1:  This lesson was based on the nursery lesson about the creation (one of the ONLY lessons I could find on the subject.)   We looked at pictures pictures of the creation, Earth shots from space and paintings that had lots of animals and plants.  Read Genesis 1:1  "In the beginning God created heaven and earth." and we basically introduced the idea that the world being made is called the creation and that we'd be talking about it this week.

Day 2:  Who created the world?  Jesus Christ Created the world for me.  (Read Moses 2:1- "... By mine only Begotten I created the heaven, and the earth upon with thou standest.") Again, we looked at pictures of the creation and talked about Jesus creating the earth and Heavenly Father telling him how to do it. 

Day 3:  What was created on what day?  This time we read Genesis 1:1-27 and Genesis 2:1-3.  We stopped at every place where it says "and the evening and the morning were the _____ day" and talked bout what happened that day.

1. Created light.  Divided the day from the night.
2. Created the sky (firmament) and the sea--my boys understand science little bit so we went into water in the air and the atmosphere and water on the earth.
3. Divided the sea from the land and created plants.
4. Created the sun, moon and stars.
5. Created birds and whales.
6. Created cattle and land animals--AND Adam and Eve. 
7. Rest!  We also talked about how this was special and the reason we now have the Sabbath.

Day 4:  The Creation shows God's love for us.  We talked about the things on the earth that my kids like the most--like God created dogs so that we could have pets, plants so we could have fruits and vegetables to eat, and animals so we could have meat. 

Day 5:  We made a picture of the creation and talked about it a little more. 

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Thanks for stopping in, I hope this helps out a little in your morning devotionals with your kiddos!  Next week we'll be talking about Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden!  See you then :-)

Almost FREE Pencil Holder

My son has trouble keeping track of his pencils, I and super cheap, so I made him a pencil holder instead of buying him one.  Check it out:

This is what you need: 
1 tin can
spray paint in your color of choice

ribbon or binding

buttons or beads

hot glue gun

Start by painting the can and let it dry completely--I forgot to get a pic of this.

 

 

Glue binding or ribbon over the rim and be sure to cover all sharp edges.

 Glue on beads, buttons, puff balls, ect to your preference.

 The front.

The back.

My son LOVES his!

It's his favorite color and has his name on it--what would be better?

The End of Week 1 of 1st Grade

THANK GOD! 
It's been one thing after another this week... And it's been hard.  I/we love home-school, don't get me wrong, but after summer break it's been really hard to get back into the swing of things.  The week has been full of push-ups, sit-ups, and laps around the neighborhood. 
Daddy has offered to get me a Drill SGT hat! 

First Grade Pirates

The new school year starts... Monday!  For us anyway--I spent all this week getting ready for the first day of 1st grade.  The living-room/schoolroom has been cleaned at least twice, the school desk has been emptied and stocked with all new supplies, and his 1st grade curriculum now takes up the shelves that once housed his Kindergarten stuff.  My baby is getting so big!  The little brother was accepted to Headstart at the center and wants to go so it will just me Mommy and Izzy doing homeschool this year. 

All that said, I be you are wondering about the pirate ship--am I right?  Well, Izz is really into to pirates (today) and so I made him a progress chart till his first test.  In the Calvert curriculum there is a test every 20 lessons, so there are 20 little gold confetti pieces on the line.  

 

Gold confetti to symbolize lessons.

Pirate ship with his name on it!

The Treasure!

Everyday he finishes a lesson, he'll get to move his ship forward a gold piece, then when he reaches the Treasure we'll go do something fun, like go to a movie or have a mini-party with his brother.  

So there you have it--we're all ready for a new and exciting year in homeschool!

My First WHEAT Containing Meal in Over a Year

So seven years ago I got pregnant with my first wonderful son--and I got SICK!  Back pain, vomiting, nausea--you name it, I had it.  When I delivered my sweet baby, I thought everything would go back to normal.  I was cured from my pregnancy!  However I was sorely disappointed when three weeks later I was flat on my back sick again!  In the years since, I've been chronically ill: constant dull pain in my back, GI issues, nausea, headaches, fatigue and occasionally dizziness for no reason.  I've been in and out of doctors offices, had a ton of blood work done and even had my gallbladder removed!  March of 2011, my doctor called and said the blood work indicated Celiac Disease and to go gluten-free for a month to see if it helps.  Here we are over a year later and I'm STILL SICK!  So I finally got a referral to a specialist and will be having my first ever colonoscopy and endoscopy at the same time!  And I'm excited!  The gastroenterologist is going to confirm whether or not I actually have Celiac Disease while he's in there--so he told me to go back on the wheat!  This is my first wheat containing meal in over a year...

And it was GOOD!

30 Seconds to Prioritize

Sundays are my day to rethink life.  Life gets complicated during the week: we focus on homeschool, we work on the house, my husbands schedule is constantly changing (Thank you, Army.  I really didn't want to go out for that anniversary anyway!) I have to walk the dog.  By the end of the week I am hammered trash most of the time (not hung over, but I look and feel like someone hit me with a train...  and then backed up over me again.)

I spend a lot of time listening to audio books, particularly while doing dishes as there are a lot of those at my house. So a few weeks ago I started something new--I only listen to church material on Sundays.  

I know, simple, no brainer... But, I never would have guessed how much it effected my life.   I get bored with conference talks (Sorry Pres. Monson!) and I can't stand the Mormon Tabernacle Choir  most of the time, so I had to branch out and look for other media to fill in the day.  In my wanderings I found The Mormon Channel--it's fantastic!  And I find myself wanting to listen to talks and interviews with the General Presidency even on weekdays.   That's the Mormon General Presidency just incase you don't recall or can't tell by the rest of the post, I'm LDS and love it!  It is a little difficult and complicated at times as my husband is not Mormon, but he loves me and supports me so it all works out.

Two weeks ago I started something new, instead of just saying to myself "I should read my scriptures" I actually picked them up and started reading them in the morning.  A week later my sons when came in for their morning snuggles they found me reading--instead of closing the book and laying down with them, I put one on either side of me and read out loud.  Now every morning I take my shower and start to read and when they wake up they come and lay on the bed while I read to them.

It is a beautiful thing.  

 I can't describe the feeling of peace and contentment I feel when they happily come listen to the scriptures.  I want to do the best I can, but like most mothers, I often feel inadequate and like my meager imperfect influence is overshadowed by the world.  I know I can't do everything, but the Lord has blessed me with enough time to do the things at are most important.  I know these little changes have blessed my life--and the lives of my children.

Both changes were brought about by acting on a passing thought, 30 seconds to decide to act on it or let it pass by.  I can't wait to see what blessings might come from the next prompting I follow rather then let slip by. 

The next little change that is really a big change in disguise.