Giant Beads at a Tiny Price

I made these giant beads for our church nursery out of foam swim noodles, smooth rope, and flexible plastic lids. (I used cottage cheese lids, the thick, pliable kind.) You cut the 'noodles' into about 1-inch slices to make the beads. Cut the rope into 2-foot long pieces. We used a nylon coated rope, so my 21-year-old firebug (former Boy Scout) melted and shaped the ends for me to make a nice smooth end for stringing the beads.

Anthony drilled a hole in each lid, a little smaller than the rope. After I pushed the rope into the hole, my son melted the ends and splayed them so the lid stays on at the bottom of the rope.

The kids absolutely love this toy. My thanks to my friend Deniece, a former preschool teacher, for the idea. Thanks, also, to the parents for giving me permission to use the pictures on my blog.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I found the idea on the left at Be Different, Act Normal, who got it from Martha Stewart via Chronicles of a Mommy. I really liked it, so I adapted it for Nursery.  Our lessons are flexible, so I decided to teach the one on love. I will give each child a white bag to color (scribble on), then stuff in a little treat and clip on the pre-made heart decoration. I had some magnets handy, so I glued a magnet on the back of the clothespin.

I will give the original to my assistant. She deserves a treat; she is awesome!

Dragonfly

I got this dragonfly pin a couple of years ago, but the pin part broke off. I would not trust glue to hold it, so I got a fine black cord and strung it through the wires on the back that hold in the top stone. I bought spring clasps and attached them to the ends of the cord.  I have a dress this will be perfect for.

Unfortunately, while working with it for the photo, the eyes popped off. I'm trying to decide whether to glue it or just leave them off! Meanwhile, I don't plan to buy from this company again.

Understanding of a Child

I started cleaning out the garage, a little bit. Missy L's Hannah Montana Beanbag Chair was out there. I don't really have a space for it in the house, so I was going to give it to her to take home. Unfortunately, I discovered a mouse had made itself comfy in her chair. It does not fit in the washing machine either (Yes, I really tried that!) so I ended up throwing it in the garbage.

When her daddy brought her over on Friday, there was her chair sticking out of the top of the very full trash can. Uh-oh! He explained to her what happened, and when I apologized, she said, "It's Okay, Grammy. I understand."

Now we are faced with needing to sell our house, and we can't quite come to terms with it. We've only lived here 20 months. I need to go to the Lord and say, "It's Okay, Lord. I understand." And let go.

History Project

I am a "Ward History Consultant" in my church. Every year I to write up a 20-40 page history of my local congregation. This means taking pictures year-round, attending many events, and contacting a lot of people at the end of the year to get the information.  This year, I only managed 21 pages, but it's a good-sized project to write up, print and put together, and distribute.

I printed 4 copies; 2 for the Ward, 1 for the Stake, and one for Church Archives. One of the Ward copies goes into sheet protectors in a binder; one is punched for 3-ring. The other two copies I put in a folder and give to the Stake History Consultant." 

Thankfully, my good photographer husband is able to take a lot of the pictures for me, because I have trouble getting other people to turn theirs in sometimes. This year my new friend Amanda turned in quite a few of them from youth activities.

*A Ward is a local congregation. The next level up, a Stake, consists of about 6-10 Wards.  It then goes up to Region, then Area.

I have left off identifying info, but here is the cover page:

5^TH WARD

SOUTH STAKE

 

2009

HISTORY


LYNN

WARD HISTORY CONSULTANT

 

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANTHONY

UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED