FHE: Tithing

What is FHE? Click on the link and it will take you to the Church's explanation.

Tithing is always an important principle to teach to our children. In this General Conference talk, titled "The Windows of Heaven", by Elder David Bednar (October 2013), he gives wonderful examples and anecdotes to help people of ALL ages understand the importance of tithing. This is the last section from that talk. FHE lessons don't need to be long and drawn out. I am a firm believer of short and sweet. :) Make it memorable and helpful to the children and then stop! Instead of sharing stories that Elder Bednar shares, we can share personal stories of how Tithing has strengthened and blessed US in our lives.
An Invitation and a Testimony

The honest payment of tithing is much more than a duty; it is an important step in the process of personal sanctification. To those of you who pay your tithing, I commend you.

To those of you who presently are not obeying the law of tithing, I invite you to consider your ways and repent. I testify that by your obedience to this law of the Lord, the windows of heaven will be opened to you. Please do not procrastinate the day of your repentance.

I testify spiritual and temporal blessings come into our lives as we live the law of tithing. I bear witness that such blessings often are significant but subtle. I also declare that the simplicity of the Lord’s way that is so evident in the temporal affairs of His Church provides patterns that can guide us as individuals and as families. I pray each of us may learn and benefit from these important lessons, in the sacred name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

Have a fantastic Family Home Evening with your family!

Make it a great one!

Daughter, Sister, Friend, Wife - in our 17th year, Stepmother to 2 adult children, Mother - (G16, G15, B13, G10, B9, B5, G4, & B1), StepMother-In-Law to 2, StepGrandmother to 4 perfectly, precious and precocious little boys! Blessed, Happy & Satisfied!

Other Judd related blogs/articles you might be interested in:

Judd Family Recipe Blog   or    BellaOnline Cleaning

Tip Tuesday: Homemade Cleaners

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Ingredients:

1 4 lb 12 oz box Borax (2.15 kg or 76 oz) found in the detergent isle

1 4 lb box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (1.81 kg) found in the cooking isle

1  box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda 55 oz (3 lb 7 oz) found in the detergent isle

3 bars of Fels-naptha soap, found in the detergent isle (you can also use pink Zote soap instead)

2 small containers of oxyclean or store brand oxyclean (try to get about 3.5 lbs total (1.58 kg)) found in the detergent isle. (this is optional, I added it into mine because I have pretty messy kids and the cleaner the better)

You should be able to find all of these items at your grocery store.

This detergent is fairly mild smelling, it is not over powering. If you love a strong scent you may have to add a fabric softener to each load.

Directions:

Start out by grating your Fels-naptha soap just like cheese. You can use a food processor or just use your hand held grater, whatever you have.

**Don't worry the Fels-naptha will dissolve in your washer even if you only use cold water like me.**

Toss all ingredients in a 5 gallon bucket. The clean smell will fill up your entire house. I love it! Store it in the 5 gallon bucket and have a jar handy to keep next to the washer. You only need 1 tablespoon per wash load. This lasts our family of 9 (washing about 3 loads of laundry/day or 15-20 loads per week) about 8 months.



 Dishwasher Detergent:

Ingredients:

1 box Borax (4lbs 12 oz or 76 oz ) (2.15 kg) found in the detergent isle
1 box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (55 oz or 3 lbs 7 oz) found in the detergent isle
24 packages of unsweetened lemonade drink mix, like kool-aid. (**Note: lemonade will stain soap dispenser yellow, another option would be to use citric acid instead of lemonade. You can usually find citric acid in the canning isle )
3 cups Epsom Salt
Lemi Shine rinse aid (this recipe does not work very well without it) You can find Lemi Shine in the dishwasher detergent isle at just about any store. You can also use vinegar as a rinse aid - about 1 tbsp per load. If your dishes are coming out with spots on them that means you do need a rinse aid.

Directions:

Combine all of your ingredients together (minus vinegar or Lemi Shine) and store in a cool, dry place. You only need 1 tablespoon detergent per load of dishes. You WILL have spots unless you add the vinegar or Lemi Shine in each load.


Enjoy making these, I sure have!!

BellaOnline Cleaning

Make it a great one!

Daughter, Sister, Friend, Wife - in our 18th year of wedded bliss, Stepmother to 2 adult children, Mother - (G16, G15, B12, G10, B9, B5, G4, & B1), StepMother-In-Law to 2, StepGrandmother to 4 precociously precious little boys! Blessed, Happy & Satisfied!

FHE: Grand Family Council Agenda

This past General Conference there was an amazing talk regarding Family Councils. I loved it! One of the stand out thoughts shared was: 

"When parents are prepared and children listen and participate in the discussion, the family council is truly working!"

You can watch the video here. THIS is the link to the Website to read/watch/listen to the talk by Elder M. Russell Ballard. It was AWESOME! Another great point is this:

Please remember that family councils are different from family home evening held on Mondays. Home evenings focus primarily on gospel instruction and family activities. Family councils, on the other hand, can be held on any day of the week, and they are primarily a meeting at which parents listen—to each other and to their children.

I believe there are at least four types of family councils:

First, a general family council consisting of the entire family.

Second, an executive family council consisting of a mother and father.

Third, a limited family council consisting of parents and one child.

Fourth, a one-on-one family council consisting of one parent and one child.

In all of these family council settings, electronic devices need to be turned off so everyone can look at and listen to each other. 

Here is the agenda I made for our Grand Family Council.

Make it a great one!

Daughter, Sister, Friend, Wife - in our 17th year, Stepmother to 2 adult children, Mother - (G16, G15, B13, G10, B9, B5, G4, & B1), StepMother-In-Law to 2, StepGrandmother to 4 perfectly, precious and precocious little boys! Blessed, Happy & Satisfied!

Other Judd related blogs/articles you might be interested in:

Judd Family Recipe Blog   or    BellaOnline Cleaning

Tip Tuesday: Summer Time Cleaning

During the Summer months a family's cleaning schedule might be more different that during other seasons. Some family's might keep theirs the same. It depends on your family and the summer needs you have.

Here are some things to keep in mind:

1) Have a set routine (for you and the children) for cleaning. This will be easier to keep on tops of things.

2) Make sure your wet towels and suits have a specific place to dry so that they do not mold and mildew. Hanging over your shower door or rod is a great place. If each child has their own towel hook, even better. (Color code - one color per child: towel, hook, cup, plates, etc. You always know WHO has the cleaning problem then) ;) 

3) Encourage cleaning (for the children) by having a reward system. Use what works for you. One example: if your chores are done completely all week without complaint, then we will be able to go to see the Movie on Thursday of next week. This will give the children a clear expectation of what you need them to do and an end in sight. You could do it for a month or plan something big for the end of summer with the family if they do really well.

4) Jobs for everyone. Even the little ones can be trained to clean. If everyone gets an area that they are responsible for and accountable for then so much the better.

5) Determine the specified time frame for cleaning: mornings or evenings, before or after play time, etc.

6) You can also be specific in what chores are done on what day - especially if you are busy with plans. Give yourself room to be flexible and have fun!

7) Clean around your plans!! Don't plan around your clean. :)

8) Only do surfaces during the Summer and have a clean up time at the end of summer before school starts (only if you are gone a lot. Otherwise the jobs will pile up.

9) If you are going to be going, going, going all summer then a good plan of attack would be to keep up on the bathrooms and Company areas. This way you can always have people over and not be embarrassed.

10) I like to make schedules (via Excel) and know who does what on any given day. This makes it easy - even if we have to be flexible and miss a day because we are gone - we can pick right up and stay on top of things.

Whatever your Summer Cleaning Style is - make it a great one!



BellaOnline Cleaning

Make it a great one!

Daughter, Sister, Friend, Wife - in our 18th year of wedded bliss, Stepmother to 2 adult children, Mother - (G16, G15, B12, G10, B9, B5, G4, & B1), StepMother-In-Law to 2, StepGrandmother to 4 precociously precious little boys! Blessed, Happy & Satisfied!

June Odd Holidays

JUNE

Candy Month, National Adopt a Cat Month

3rd Sunday - Fathers Day (not odd) haha

4th - Hug Your Cat Day

7th - National Chocolate Ice Cream Day

8th - Best Friends Day

10th - Iced Tea Day

13th - Sewing Machine Day

16th - Fresh Veggies Day

17th - Eat Your Vegetables Day

23rd - National Pink Day

27th - Sunglasses Day

1st Friday - National Doughnut Day

Make it a great one!

Daughter, Sister, Friend, Wife - in our 18th year of wedded bliss, Stepmother to 2 adult children, Mother - (G16, G15, B12, G10, B9, B5, G4, & B1), StepMother-In-Law to 2, StepGrandmother to 4 precociously precious little boys! Blessed, Happy & Satisfied!

FHE: Agenda's

Greetings! Happy Monday! Here is the Agenda that we have been using for our FHE lessons.

I generally use it as a PDF and then print it from that format. It works well for us. I hope you can use it too!


Make it a great one!

Daughter, Sister, Friend, Wife - in our 17th year, Stepmother to 2 adult children, Mother - (G16, G15, B13, G10, B9, B5, G4, & B1), StepMother-In-Law to 2, StepGrandmother to 4 perfectly, precious and precocious little boys! Blessed, Happy & Satisfied!

Other Judd related blogs/articles you might be interested in:

Judd Family Recipe Blog   or    BellaOnline Cleaning

FHE: 2016 Lesson Schedule

This year I put together a FHE Lesson schedule that incorporates the most recent General Conference talks. I want my children (& myself) to realize and understand just how important the General Conference addresses really are. They are scriptural messages that are timely and pertinent to us TODAY. That is pretty awesome.

If you think your family could use one - leave a comment and I will send you a blank pdf that you can personalize for your family. They are pretty quick and easy to put together. 

Make it a great one!

Daughter, Sister, Friend, Wife - in our 17th year, Stepmother to 2 adult children, Mother - (G16, G15, B13, G10, B9, B5, G4, & B1), StepMother-In-Law to 2, StepGrandmother to 4 perfectly, precious and precocious little boys! Blessed, Happy & Satisfied!

Other Judd related blogs/articles you might be interested in:

Judd Family Recipe Blog   or    BellaOnline Cleaning