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I like to do stuff. Caeden (our 2 year old) likes to do stuff. We are both happier when we are doing SOMETHING! I've been looking into "homeschool preschool" and discovered two things: you can be one of those moms who has a curriculum or you can be one of those moms who says "life is learning!" 

I'm a little bit of both because I'm inherently lazy. I know if I say something like, "Letters from 10:00-10:15" it won't happen...but I still want to have some sort of activity schedule for this Spring and Summer. Enter: the homeschool preschool bucket list! (You can download a weekly activity planner at the end of this post!)

Munchie Monday: Where we make a yummy food! Probably a breakfast food or other food (like rolls! or freezer meals--which I might do since I'm expecting in May) that can be used throughout the week. Specifically these: 

• Blueberry Oatmeal Bread
• Baked Oatmeal Casserole
• Lemon Raspberry Muffins
• Vegan Banana Pancakes
• Utah Scones
• Honey-nut Granola
• Rainbow Bread
• Homemade Poptarts 
• Biscuits
• Whole Wheat Honey Oatmeal Bread
• Homemade Flour Tortillas (I slightly changed this recipe to my own liking, but once you make these you'll never be able to eat store bought tortillas again. Seriously. I just...I can't.)
• Easy White Bread. Let me just reiterate that this is EASY.

Tactile Tuesday: Where we do or make some sort of touch-sensory thing.

• Paint with Watercolors and glue
• Button Sorting
• Finger Painting
• Homemade bubbles
• Ball pit
• Felt activities
• Homemade moon dough
• Dye eggs with shaving cream and food coloring

Work-out Wednesday: Exercise day! Go for walk, do some pilates or yoga, ride a bike, run, whatever! This can obviously be done on other days of the week too, but just in case it doesn't we have a specific day for it. 

• Swimming/run in sprinklers
• Go for a walk
• Go to the park
• Run outside
• Ride bikes
• Fly a kite
• Do Yoga stretches together
• Kick a ball around

Thinking Thursday: Choose a learning activity; numbers, letters, reading, puzzles. Something that makes him think. 

• Alphabet Matching
• Homemade Volcano
• Pom-pom activities
• Just read
• Learn sight words. I've been using DVDs, flashcards, and books from the Preschool Prep Co. They are awesome! Caeden knew all of the words after a month. He's still learning that the words he learned on the DVD/flashcards are in his books.
• Alphabet flashcards. Preschool Prep Co also has these, but I haven't used them yet.
• Learn numbers. You can download a DIY numbers quiet book here. 
• Puzzles

Free-for-all Friday: The day where you do whatever you want! Things we want to do this spring and summer as a family:

• Stargazing
• Fishing
• Backyard camping
• Have a bon fuego (bonfire)
• Get a chicken or two
• Go to the zoo
• Go on a mini weekend get-away

I've made a weekly activity planner that you can fill out weekly. Download it here, or click on the image below and save as. What would you add to the list?

Bah! It's already February! I totally spaced that we had a new month coming up...don't ask me how. It's not like it doesn't happen every single month. Somehow I forgot anyway. Here are some last minute handouts for your lessons tomorrow if you need them! Black and white versions are for printing on Young Women Value-colored card stock. Just print the colored versions on white card stock! We will have more handouts for your February lessons this month so make sure to check back or enter your email to get posts sent directly to you! 

Handouts for "What is the purpose of Life?" Download both versions here.

Handouts for "Why do the choices I make matter?" Download both versions here.

So sorry if we don't have the lesson you were teaching this week! 

More Tabletop Toasting.

Here's a nestible, Ring Thing for you.

Parties are everywhere right now. This might be something that works for you. Tabletop toasting.

Add Toppings. 
Mini Chocolate Chips. Caramel Sundae Sauce. Chocolate Covered Toffee Bits. Chocolate Sundae Sauce. Chopped Nuts.

Here's a nestible, Ring Thing for you.

Hello lovely people! We've been kind of quiet...and that's because we are on vacay!! (aka vacation). We are meeting up with some of my aunties (mom's sisters--a few of them are over at Creative Mommas) this week in San Diego. We're currently in Oceanside to see our little Marine (can I even call him that? he'd be so embarrassed), and missing Leila. By the way, have you ever been to Camp Pendleton?? The place is HUGE. 

Not the point. The point of this post is to tell you that we are just being slow to respond to things because we're playing. and to share some ridiculous selfies of Alisha...because, why not?

We didn't want our new nestie subscribers to be sad :( because, we really do like you. Don't worry, we'll be back!

Look what I got today. I talked about it here. Just wanted to share that I love it. Choose to be happy!

Did any of you use last week's Short and Sweet FHE idea? Here is one for this week! 

SING: Nephi's Courage
SAY: 1 Nephi 3:7
SHOW: Tools needed to build a boat (like a hammer). You can liken the boat to testimony.
SWEET: Swedish fish (or gold fish!)

Hello Nestie friends! Have you signed up for our blog updates? If you haven't, do it! (look in the sidebar) so you don't miss out on free stuff like this every week. These journal cards and handouts are for "How do I guard my virtue?" if you haven't covered that section yet. As always, click and save the images to print out on your own, or click here to download. 

{journal cards 4x6}

{handouts 3x4/4x3}

Let us know if you download these! Feel free to pin and share with your friends!

This month's doctrinal principle in Come Follow Me is "Commandments". Alisha did a handout here for her class. 

Sometimes I don't think we talk about the 10 Commandments enough. I thought that about my own family so I designed and had a printed fabric wall hanging about the 10 Commandments made. It says the commandment then what my interpretation is for following that commandment. I redesigned it here for you, our Nesties. It's an 8.5" x 11" downloadable for printing. Maybe you can use it this month.

All you have to do is say is whether you downloaded it or not. That's not a commandment, just a simple request.

Alisha did a graphic design "Kind Words" here and put it to a t-shirt. It made me think that I wanted to have Leila's words, "I Choose to be Happy" and Alisha's design on a t-shirt so I could order it. Alisha did it for me. (Thanks Alisha) When I went to look at it I saw these other things. 

But then I saw this pillow and decided that I wanted this instead. 

Not that you have to buy anything. I just thought I'd share because it made me happy.

Come, Follow Me this month focuses on "commandments". I came across this scripture while planning my talk for this Sunday: 

"...choose ye this day, to serve the Lord God who made you." {Moses 6:33}. I love it! It just really spoke to me. So I made some handout for you to use in your classes, going along with the theme of "How Can I be in the World but not of the world?" Just click on the images and "save as", or click here to download all.

{Journal Cards}

Let us know if you use them in your classes and if they were helpful for you! 

PS. You can get more products like phone cases, cards, and pillows here.

This is a post no mother (father, sister, brother, spouse...) wants to write. Writing it makes it even more real. And the realness of it hurts my heart. 

My daughter Leila died this month. 

I'd like it to all go away - the middle of the night phone call; the realization that something was very wrong; the birth of her child a month early; a devastated spouse; her father far away in the middle of the ocean; doctors, nurses and tests; understanding a blood hemorrhage on the brain stem; the week in intensive care; the baby in newborn intensive care; organ matching and donating; a grieving family; and a funeral. And that is just the beginning.

Obviously it's effected our family deeply. My emotions are raw and I'm at a loss on several levels. Leila's my daughter and my friend. The phrase 'a heart breaking to pieces' is no longer a metaphor for me. It was and is very real. 

As LDS members, we know of the Plan of Salvation, have an understanding of Eternal Life, and that our family can be together again. But for now, it hurts. 

Leila was a part of LDS NEST and her being gone effects what happens here. I've changed. Alisha's changed. We need time to figure out what that feels like and what it looks like for LDS NEST. The one decision we could make is that we will stop with our monthly Newsletter and Notes for a time. I'd like to be able to give more detail about what that means for the subscription but I don't know. I just know we need time. 

We're likely to still post on this blog. It will help us. Maybe it'll help you too. 

Lastly, know that the Lord has worked through so many good, good people with a remarkable outpouring of love for our family. We've not been left alone. There's more on my mind and heart that I want to share but for now this is all I can do. 

Our July Issue is ready today for our LDS Nesties. Fun celebrate summer ideas. Not a member yet? Join up here. Here's a peek at some of the sections of the Newsletter & Notes.

Do you still need an idea for a unique Father's Day gift? Here's an easy one: make a profile poster like the one above! All you need is a picture and some facts about the father in your life. I created this on the computer, but you can use an actual poster or paper and hand write everything. It's a great idea for kids to write down all the things they love about their dad!