Moving Yard Sale

This week we held our very first yard sale since being married. After 10 years of marriage and 4 kids we had accumulated quite a bit of stuff. We said goodbye to the armoire we purchased in Vermont. I remember getting it at Kmart and feeling so excited to put it in our new home. It was so new and pretty back then, but the years had not been kind to it and we didn't think it would survive another move. We also said goodbye to a coffee table we were given a desk we purchased at a garage sale. We also sold baby clothes, toys, and random household items. Selling the baby clothes and the armoire was the hardest part for me. Two weeks prior I went through our many bins of baby clothes to sort through them. There was no point in having to haul so many pieces of clothing. I kept the clothing that was sentimental to me, but gave away the clothes that either my kids didn't wear, were outdated, or too worn. I reminisced the times my kids wore those clothes and how thankful we were to have them.

Kelsey wanted to participate in the sale by holding a lemonade stand. I had grand plans to make cinnamon rolls the night before to have them fresh and ready for the next morning....needless to say, that didn't happen. I was frustrated, but through the lulls in the day of having people come by to our sale I made two cookie sheet pans of cinnamon rolls. Kelsey was able to sell all of them (we ate some too). She prepared the lemonade herself by following the directions on the country time lemonade canister. She also cut up lemons for those customers that wanted them. Seeing her get so excited about selling lemonade warmed my heart. Mylee and Lanaea helped here and there too.

At the end of the day, we had sold all of our big ticket items, but had loads of clothes and toys leftover. We put a free sign (that was hard!!) in our yard for about 4 hours and got rid of a couple more things, but ended up taking all of our unsold items to the Salvation Army. Kelsey was sweet to remind me that she was happy other people less fortunate then us were now going to have toys to play with and clothes to wear.

At the end of the day I was beat! We had invited a family of 6 to come over for dinner the next day though so I went back to work and went shopping for food to have an Easter-type dinner we never had the week prior. Blake and the kids were helpful to help me prepare the house and the meal. We had glazed ham, cheesy potatoes, cranberry jello salad, rolls, corn, carrots, and had root beer floats for dessert. We had a wonderful visit and all the work was worth it to be able to serve someone else. She, has just gotten into town the night before serving a member of her family that had health problems. It was nice to be able to give something to her, when she had been serving someone else all week. It was also a good lesson for my kids to see the value in service.

Easter 2014!

As the years have gone by and as we have had more kids, I've become more simplistic in everything I do, holidays included. I've learned that the kids really don't know any difference about the amount of effort, time and money I put into things as long as I at least do something. Blake has been a good coach in helping me realize this which has been good because simplicity is very un-Cami like. Granted there are times, I give in and go all out...did you read my April 2014 General Conference post?...but for the most part I try to remember simplicity makes for a more enjoyable, relaxing and, dare I say, cheaper event.

To further exemplify this point, tonight for FHE, there were no elaborate preparations like getting Easter eggs and filling them with symbols of Christ's last week in his life, no week long activities that mimicked the last days of the Savior's life; nope, we watched a couple of movies online about Jesus's Resurrection on the Mormon Channel and Blake and I talked to our kids about Christ and how important He is to each of us and the implications of what it means that He is resurrected and LIVES!. It was simple, spiritual, and meaningful. This isn't to say that doing the before-mentioned things aren't great, because they are!!! Like I said there are times to make an effort to go big if I feel it's in my family's best interest.

 The Easter Bunny visited us on Saturday evening. The kids enjoyed a little easter egg hunt in the front yard then a large basket with little goodies in it from the dollar store including an inflatable sword, pail and shovel, sidewalk chalk, squirt guns, jump ropes, a hula hoop, and some candy. The kids were happy and excited.

Today we enjoyed a beautiful meeting at church. I had fun getting my girls prettied up for the occasion as did they :). For dinner we had curry and I had a dessert with yogurt, cool whip, raspberries, and a package of vanilla pudding. It was a hit. I am so thankful for my Savior! I Love Him and it's because of Him that I get my family forever.

General Conference April 2014

General Conference has always been important and special to me. In my teenage years it felt like Christmas. I yearned to hear the words of the prophets and was excited to heed their counsel. Since being a mother, it has become difficult to watch and enjoy conference like I used to, especially living outside of Utah where we have to rely on a good internet connection and a competent computer to participate. 

In past conferences, I created a King Benjamin type environment by making a large tent for the kids to sit in to mimic the tents the people of King Benjamin erected when they listened to him speak from his tower near the temple. I also made use of resources online to print off activity packets. But this method was just not working for us. The kids were irreverent, they fought over who would get to sit where in the tent, the tent would fall apart, they got disinterested in their activities, etc. So I endeavored to search the internet and pray to find out what I could do to help my children be more reverent during conference and help them realize the importance and sacredness of the conference. I wanted to help them understand how significant it is to be able to listen to living prophets counsel us in our day.

I came across an idea that proved to be successful with my kids. I found it here . I changed it a little bit to better fit my family. Each of the pockets contain pictures of all the general authorities. When someone is speaking you place them on the podium and can write with a dry erase marker what they talked about. When they are finished speaking, you place them in their chair. There is also a map to place where new temples are announced, a place to put down the statistics of the church and a music section. 

I added a Conference Cash section. The kids could earn conference cash by adhering to eight difference guidelines. They could then use cash to buy conference treats or privileges. I had complied a folder for the three girls with activity packets that matched their learning level. All of them had to take notes during each of the Apostles' talks. Kelsey wrote down what she learned. Mylee pasted and colored pictures with varying topics under the apostles pictures and Lanaea colored a train car with the apostle's name and picture on it found here. 

This method worked so perfectly with my kids!!! They sat and listened through all 4 sessions of general conference....8 hours!! Granted we were not free of arguing and sibling quarrels, but all in all it was pretty fantastic. I was even able to take notes during almost every talk. At the end of conference they kids got a prize if they had taken notes during each of the Apostle's talks. Kelsey got a giant coloring book, Lanaea got a barbie doll and Mylee got a jewelry set. 

 This conference was so great and I feel so uplifted and renewed after listening to the messages. I'm excited for the written talks to come out so I can better study them.

The Completed Board. Mylee is wearing her new clip-on earrings.