A Cute Little Gift…

Okay, so our Relief Society group didn’t make this, but my mother-in-law’s Relief Society group did, so that counts.  Lynda was kind enough to bring a dish soap bottle to me and one to my daughter at Thanksgiving:

I originally thought that the saying was printed on a clear label that was adhered to the outside of the bottle.  Not so!  Lynda said that the saying was actually printed on a sheet of clear plastic (several sayings to a sheet).  Lynda cut the individual sayings out of the sheet and then rolled them up and stuffed them into the neck of the bottle.  She then used a pencil to stick down into the bottle to unroll/straighten the plastic sheet out until it was flat and to push it toward the front of the bottle.  She then filled the bottle with dish soap, added the lid and the bow, and voila!  Instant cute little gift!

Here is the saying that is printed on the insert:

Dirty Dishes

Thank Heaven for dirty dishes;

They have a tale to tell.

While others may go hungry,

We’re eating very well.

With home, health, and

happiness,

I shouldn’t want to fuss;

By the stack of evidence,

God’s been very good to us.

Handouts for the May Quilting Class

For last month's quilting activity, Nancy had been thoughtful enough to make some handouts/instruction sheets for us.  I was so busy trying to be the "hostess with the mostest" that I lost mine in the shuffle, but Nancy was kind enough to bring me a copy today.  I have scanned them and they should be print-worthy if you double click on each image.  Enjoy!

Stitched Together in Love

For our May meeting, we asked Nancy to teach us the basics of quilting.  This was one of the main things that the sisters had said that they wanted to learn how to do when we passed out our “interest” surveys last year.  Initially, Nancy was going to have us learn how to quilt by having us work on baby quilts which would then be donated to a local hospital.  Then, she got an idea for a project that was a little closer to home.

Last year, one of the sisters in our ward lost her teenaged (still in high school) brother.  His death was totally unexpected and had a profound effect on many people in the area.  This sister had several of his t-shirts and was going to hire someone to make a quilt from them.  Although our quilt might not be as perfect as a professionally made quilt, Nancy thought it might be more meaningful if the sisters in the ward worked together to make a quilt to honor the life of this young man.

Nancy collected the t-shirts and then before the night of the activity she cut out the actual panels from the t-shirts herself (she has been quilting for several years now, and she is VERY proficient).  Nancy then used some iron-on interfacing to back each of the t-shirt panels, making them a little sturdier and a little less stretchy for quilting.  The young man’s sister found some fabric that she liked for the side panels and the backing.

On the night of our activity, participants were divided into “teams”, led by the more experienced quilters/seamstresses.  We got to take turns cutting fabric for the borders (for me, this is one of the scariest parts – I cut about as well as I take pictures – so I just watched).  Here is Nancy teaching a couple of the sisters how to use the rotary cutter and mat:

Once the border strips were cut, everyone got to take a turn at the sewing machine and each sister did a little sewing:

Nancy put the pieces on the board to give everyone an idea of what it will look like when it is finished (too bad the photographer can't take a clear photo to save her life):

Of course, even a big group can’t do a quilt in one night, so there are more quilting activities planned for the near future.  Everyone seemed to have a good time, and it was so wonderful to have an activity where we were not only introduced to a new skill, but we had the chance to work on something that would have great meaning to someone we care about!  Many thanks to Nancy and all of the team leaders for sharing their talents with us!

Special Easter Eggs

I wanted to share an idea for special Easter eggs that were given to our family many years ago (when my kids were very young).  They were given to us by my mother-in-law, Lynda.  She had made them at a Relief Society "home making meeting" at her ward.  They were not filled with the decadence of chocolate or the yumminess of sugary jelly beans, but they were even more wonderful, for these eggs helped us to remind our family about the true meaning behind Easter.  I was so impressed with them that I have made them for families at church all through the years, and I am now delighted to have the chance to pass the "gift" of these neat eggs along to you.

This project requires one dozen plastic eggs, plus a few extra items which are posted at the end of the list of scriptures.  Most of the items are fairly easy to get – many of them can be found at a Wal-Mart, Dollar General, etc.  The only item that requires a little searching are the communion/sacrament cups that are used for egg #1.  I actually found a place that sells these cups online; it is a company called Cokesbury.  A package of 100 plastic, disposable cups sells for $6.00 (although with tax and shipping my total cost was a $10 plus some change).  If you want to check them out, click here.  I also noticed some cups while I was at Party City, but I’m not sure if they are small enough to fit into the eggs – I didn’t have one with me.  However, it was basically a disposable individual condiment cup, and I’m sure those are available other places.

The idea is that you use little stickers (garage sale type) to number your eggs #1 - #12. 

Then, you print out the scriptures.  I have tested each of these images and although they aren’t EXACTLY the size of my original, they are pretty decent.  All you have to do is click on each page (below) and print it out.

Once the three pages are printed out, you will cut the scriptures into individual strips.  Then you put scripture #1 and item #1 (the cup) into egg #1.  Do this for all twelve eggs.

On Easter, have your family open each egg and read each scripture in numerical order.  It is a really fun way to bring the Easter story to life.  Hope you enjoy it!

Healthy Lifestyles…Our January Activity

For our “Thursday” night meeting in January our topic was (surprise!):  Healthy Lifestyles.  We are lucky to have people living in our ward who have a variety of backgrounds and training, so finding instructors to help us was easy.

Karen B. taught us a lesson on the “word of wisdom”.  It had a lot of thought-provoking ideas and the main thing that I took from it is that so many members of the church think that just because they don’t smoke or drink alcohol, etc. (all of the “shalt nots” from the word of wisdom) they are living this principle.  But really, to truly be living the principle you need to be eating right and taking care of your health in general.  There was a quote read which talked about food being best when it is in its most natural state.  This makes a lot of sense.  I have tried to find an article similar to what she was saying, (including the quote), and this may not be it, but this is pretty close: 

“President Benson has also counseled us about the importance of maintaining a good diet. “In general, the more food we eat in its natural state and the less it is refined without additives, the healthier it will be for us” (Ensign, Nov. 1974, p. 66).”

That was from an article, “Not for the Body,”  by  Elder Harold G.  Hillam of the Seventy,  New Era, July 1992, 4 (To read the whole article, click here)

In general, I learned that I have a lot of work to do on this principle, but Karen stressed that since it is not just a temporal principle, but a spiritual one as well, I can receive divine assistance as I strive to keep it.

Jennifer R. (who did NOT want her picture taken, even though I thought she looked cute that night) is a dietician, and she did a great job teaching the nutrition portion of the class.  Unfortunately, I could not write fast enough to record all of the wonderful information she shared with us, but here are the things that stuck out to me:

• Fiber is very important!  We should have 25-30 grams of fiber per day. 
• Make sure your bread is made from whole wheat flour, and eat whole grain pasta.
• Brown or wild rice is better for you than white rice.
• Fruits are better than fruit juice because of the fiber factor.
• We need 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day.  A serving of vegetables is 1 cup of leafy green vegetables or ½ cup of cooked vegetables.
• Drink milk!  We need our dairy.  However, we should have skim milk (preferred) or 1% (acceptable).
• A serving size of meat is 3 ounces, or about the size of your palm (that’s YOUR palm, not your husband’s big palm).
• We should have fish twice a week; be aware that canned fish has a lot of salt.
• When talking about the benefits of an Omega 3 supplement, she mentioned that Omega 3 has blood thinning effects, so people with health conditions should consult a doctor.  (I didn’t know that!)
• Olive oil and canola oil are the preferred cooking oils.  Don’t let the oil get so hot that it starts smoking, for this will change its properties (I didn’t know that, either!).
• And of course, DRINK MORE WATER!

A website that Jennifer really likes is RD411.com (click here)

In fact, here are the links, by title, for the handouts that we were given:

Herbs:  A Guide for Cooking With Herbs

Cooking for One or Two

Meal  Plan:  1800 Calories

Meal Plan:  1500 Calories

Fiber Basics

Dining Out Successfully

Fruits and Vegetables:  Easy Ways to Add More to Your Diet

Dinner Suggestions That Are Fast and Healthy

The final part of the evening was our exercise portion.  Tiina C. is not only a ward member, but is also an instructor at an area gym.  She was kind enough to lead us through some exercises.

Here’s Tiina striking a pose for me:

Unfortunately, you really just had to be there to really catch it.  I can tell you that she stressed strength training for women and told us that you can still be soft and feminine while muscular.  She also talked a lot about doing exercise for “core strength”.  Having strong abdominal and back muscles just helps your overall stature and movement.  Also, form is everything while doing exercise.  It is about safety and not doing more harm than good.  We had a really good time, and I was able to do some squats without having my kneecaps shoot across the room.  Hooray!

Afterwards, we had refreshments.  We had a make-your-own fruit and yogurt parfait bar with several flavors of yogurt, as well as some fresh fruit:

Topped with granola made by Rachel H:

Granola

4 cups of oats

1 cup of Wheat germ

¼ cup of oil

¾ cup of honey

- Mix altogether and put on a cookie sheet pan

- Cook at 300 for 16-18 minutes

We had some muffins, also made by Rachel, on the side:

Whole Wheat Brown Sugar Muffins

½ c butter
1 c brown sugar
1 egg
¼ t vanilla

---cream together

1 t baking powder
1 c milk
2 c whole wheat flour
Chopped nuts*

Mix baking powder & flour
Slowly add milk & flour mix (a little milk then a little flour)

Bake 425 degrees
12-15 minutes

If giggling and chatting and enthusiasm are any measure, the activity was a big success.  We had so much fun we couldn’t even get out of the building on time!