Happy St. Patrick's day next week. Don't let the Polynesian looks fool you - I'm Irish. And the part of me that's the most Irish is the kissing part. Yeah I like to kiss. Probably has a lot to do with the Boyfriend I kiss. But I digress. 

Since we're talking about kissing, some of my kids (they're 8 of them) have come to me in their teens and asked, "How old do you have to be to kiss?", "When is kissing alright?", or "Is kissing wrong?" That's such a loaded question for a parent!

On the one hand you don't want to encourage it, like it's all good, go ahead, kiss whoever you want. Then on the other hand you don't want to discourage it, make them all freaked out and repressed as if it's wrong. And sometimes kids just want to find out what their parent's are going to say just so they can do the opposite. But you're not sure when they're going to use that tactic. See the problem? So I've always handled it this way - with the truth.

I tell them kissing is fun. Very fun. That I really haven't met too many people who are just starting out on the relationship road say that kissing is boring. I tell them it's exciting. I tell them it drives a mix of emotions. I tell them it's meant to lead us to greater intimacy.  I tell them once you start you really don't want to stop. I tell them that it's very hard to go in reverse once you start. Lastly, I don't tell them when it's okay to kiss. I just say, "Put it off as long as possible." That's it. I put it back on them to decide. Risky I know. But to my surprise most of them have put it off much longer than... well never mind. My kids read my blog sometimes.

Okay, so we were talking about St. Patrick's day. See how sidetracked I get with the kissing stuff? Go get my gift Kiss O' The Irish print here. Then kiss someone. And then tell me how you've handled the kissing question in your family.

Today I put my first editable PDF online for you Nesties. Happy dance. I know it's not a big deal to some of you but it feels like a big deal to me. Other Nesties have been asking me about editable (means you can write your own text in certain places) PDFs. I just didn't know exactly how to do them but now I've figured it out. I've been working on several (Hundred?) projects and many will include the editable feature from here on out. This one just has a few check boxes and one place for writing but that's all this needed. Now on to what 'this' is.

The Nested Family - Collected Bits to Build Unity. This series will include 40ish tips on how to build family unity. Today is only the first tip, COMMITMENT, but it's pretty necessary. Maybe you might want to discuss the level of commitment needed for an eternal family for FHE tonight. Read it below or you can get our gift download for later reading here. 

Here's the third page that gives you space to write your Personal Commitment Pledge. Then you can put it on your Ring Thing for handy referencing. (Download our Nestie gift to you here.) 

This is part of my RESET One Word Resolution which leads to taking my family COMMITMENT to the next level. 

Does family unity come easy to you? 
Happy FHE tonight.

Reading an article this month in BYU Magazine made me think of this little kit I did for some of my fam. It's the Compliment Kit and it's been downloaded over 4000 times between the 2 files. It seems we all want to write random compliments. They call them "praise notes" in this article. Call them whatever you like just write them. That's the important thing. Read this if you need more convincing. 

It's been camp, camp, camp on my brain. And I have a few things to share with you about that. But, for today, I've got a print in our Esty shop that I did before the camp rush.

The Boyfriend and my anniversary is next month (we're celebrating 32 years) so marriage has been on my mind. I kept seeing "all you need is love" or "love is all you need" everywhere on Pinterest when I was doing a little research. Anyone who's been married any length of time (or even for shorter periods) knows it takes more than love. Sure it's the basis, but if it were all up to love we wouldn't have any broken relationships. Married or otherwise.

"Love is all you need" is such an over simplification. Love is the start and the driver but it better get some other passengers on board (forgiveness, patience, fidelity, kindness, etc.) if it wants the fuel to go anywhere for any length of time. Can you tell I have strong opinions about this? Do you?

Well I didn't want anyone in this house thinking that all they had to do was have a little love for a strong relationship so I put my thoughts to paper. And tried to make it handsome. You can find it here.

What are 3 qualities besides love that you think a relationship, any relationship, needs?

PS • You might want to give it as a wedding gift. Just a thought.

How many of you teach the youth in your ward? (raises hand). Have you checked out the new youth activities website? If not, you so totally should! It's pretty great. I've created a little infographic with the basics of planning an activity. 

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.

Update 4/2019:
There's been so much trouble with the free download site that I've put this on my 
 ShannonsStudio.com Etsy business site for $3. Hope this helps

Contention. I hate it. Ironic huh? 

Contention is a part of what happens in families but something we all try to stop in our homes. I was thinking about it and what I could do to help our family lessen it when I came across Gordon B. Hinckley's quote - 

Compliments. How easy. I thought this would be a super first step for me to take. And then I had this idea (the Boyfriend calls me "the idea woman"). I could make little Compliment kits. I love kits. (You can see a collection of kits on my Pinterest board.) 

I was heading down for a trip that some of our family had planned when we had Leila's funeral. We also decided to do devotionals when we got together. I wanted to do the compliment kits for them as part of mine. Here's what's inside and how we use it.

I really like how they turned out. I Mod Podge® fabric to the outside of an Altoid® tin. Inside, I added some fun things. Here's the nestibles for you. Print. Cut. Put together.

Here's a FHE lesson to help talk about with your family. 

You'll have to tell us what you think and any of your experiences in using it. 

Some of you have been asking about what and how to use the handouts we do here at LDS NEST. There really is a method to our methods. 

We women in the church like our handouts. For as long as I can remember I've been getting handouts. I've even saved several from when I was in YW. (Let's not ask how long that's been.) One problem I had was that the handouts weren't accessible when I wanted them. And frankly, some of the other handouts I threw away and felt it was such a waste of resources. 

I wanted a solution. 

To help save on resources I started designing my handouts as 1/4 sheets (4 to a printed page). That way if someone didn't like them and threw them away it wasn't so bad. Also, when in leadership positions I suggested that all of us design handouts in this way so they could all be consistently sized to save.

Second, I put them on a ring. And for a lack of creativity I called it my Ring Thing. It stuck. I've been doing this size for years and it's been very helpful.

Some people hate handouts but personally I like them, probably because I'm visually oriented. Handouts remind us of thoughts and feelings we've had while being taught or a specific doctrine or principle that is important to us. They end up at bedsides, on fridges or taped to mirrors. It's part of our learning and changing.

                        (As a bonus, I've found that it helps the YW (or kids for seminary) re-teach a principle.) 

My Ring Thing is like a mini book. A personally collected tutorial. You really can collect anything you like. 

Here's our some of our covers.

Here at LDS NEST we'll continue to do most of our handouts at this size. Maybe you'll start designing and doing the same.

If you have any Nestie thoughts about this, let us know. 

Here's a little help with Sunday scripture study. If it helps, here's a Nestible (free printable) for you to use.
Happy Sunday!

Maybe I'm sharing too much. I don't know. There's no manual for these sorts of things. But it helps me. Here are Leila's last thoughts on Pinterest.

We get an email when someone has an interaction with us on Pinterest. We get one even when it's one of us that pins from our personal accounts. Aug 4th-5th was the night/morning that Leila went into the hospital and the last time she was conscious. When I saw an email saying Leila had "liked" something from LDS NEST's Pinterest boards I took note of the date. It was the 4th. I took note of the time, it was 10:10 pm, about 5 hours before her last words.

Since her passing, there's a need to connect with Leila any last little ways I can. I wondered what she'd been thinking as some of her last thoughts so I clicked through to the pin. Here's what it was. 

This is such a bittersweet tug on my heart. It does me good to know these were some of her last thoughts. And maybe she unknowingly left a little message of choosing to be happy by daring to be bold, making it happen, and being unforgettable. This was so Leila. She may have "liked" it but she really lived it also.

Some people really get fasting. I don't think I'm one of them. I do it, just not to the depth that the principle can go. I'm working in the right direction though and I'm happy with that. 

Teaching kids about fasting is even harder than teaching yourself. We usually start to prep our kids at 7 and give them the option to fast. They start with us but have difficulty keeping at it all day but the pressure is off so they don't feel guilty when they don't make it. They're practicing. Then by 8 they've gotten a feel for fasting and know it's time to go all day. 

One of my daughters was complaining of headaches every fast Sunday until I reminded her to hydrate herself on Saturday in preparation for fasting. Some of the others I've told to go say a prayer when they get especially hungry. 

So, what do you say to kids to help them with fasting? What tips work for you? We like ideas. Please share. 

On a previous post I shared some ideas on how to put JOY in Motherhood. It was awesome to hear how you wonderful moms put joy in motherhood, so thank you for sharing! First idea on my list was "take pictures." 

If you're like most moms, you're usually the one taking the pictures and rarely in them. This past week I tried to change that and I think you should too! 

All I did to get these pictures was put my camera on the ground facing us, set the self-timer to a 10-second release, pressed the button, and played with my boy until the camera took a picture. They aren't posed or perfect, and my feet are totally dirty, but I love them. That way when your children look back on your photos and they ask, "Mom, where are you?" you can say, "Look, I'm right there."

Try it out! Make a conscious effort to be in the pictures, not just taking the pictures. Post one to our Facebook page!