Chocolate Rice Krispy Treats

If you need a last minute, totally delicious and decadent chocolate treat for Family Home Evening, you’ve come to the right place. Warning: These treats are highly addictive. There is zero chance you’ll be able to stop at one. Eat at your own risk. My advice, eat one and immediately give the rest to the neighbors kids.

1 stick of butter

6 cups of Rice Krispy cereal

1 10 oz bag of mini marshmallows

2 cups milk chocolate chips

1 cup mini M&M’s

9×13 glass casserole dish

Cooking spray

Measure out 6 cups of Rice Krispy cereal into a large bowl and set aside. Spray 9×13 pan with cooking spray and set aside. Melt 1 stick of butter on medium low heat in a saucepan. Add one bag of mini marshmallows. Stir until marshmallows are completely melted. Add two cups of milk chocolate chips, stir until chips are melted and combined with marshmallows. Remove from heat. Add rice krispy cereal and stir with a spatula. Pour rice krispy mixture in 9×13 pan. Sprinkle mini M&M’s all over the rice krispy mixture. Use wax paper to flatten the mixture in the pan. Allow to cool and cut into squares. Enjoy!

Now Always and Forever

These magnificent human beings belong to me. The best thing that ever happened to me is becoming a mother. There have been many hard lessons and tears shed over the last 14 years, but I’ve grown so much. If you want to understand more about our Savior’s love for all of us, become a parent. Unconditional love is truly learned in the daily grind of raising children. I love this trio; now, always and forever. 

Sending you all our warmest Christmas wishes. 

Freely Give

My church is doing a campaign called Light the World. Every day we perform an act of service as a family. We do this to remind ourselves that Christmas isn’t about getting. It’s about sharing the love of Christ with everyone we come into contact with.  To find out how you can participate please go to Mormon.org.

Today I’m giving away a free graphic I made in Photoshop. I hope it helps you remember to share your time and your talents with others, especially during this Christmas season. Upload them to your social media account or print them out and stick them to your fridge. Today is always the right day to serve your fellow man. 

 

Our Hands can become His Hands

I’m the Personal Progress leader for my ward. I’m learning a lot and I love helping the Young Women learn more about the Savior. There’s a wonderful talk by Dieter F. Uchtdorf called You are my Hands.

I made a tag with Photoshop with a free snowflake brush that I found online. Just google free snowflake brushes. There are a lot of great free ones. 

 

I stuffed the gloves with Hershey Kisses and Bob’s soft peppermint candy. Those peppermints are hands down my favorite! I added a festive wire ribbon that I bought at Hobby Lobby. Which is a dangerous store for me. I always spend way too much money there. 

 

 

I gave all the Young Women two sets of gloves. I told them to keep one pair and give the second pair away. I told them they could give them to anyone, a teacher, a friend, their mom, their sister, they see someone who is having a hard day, give them the gloves. 

These gloves are pretty much the cheapest I could find. Two pairs for a $1.50 at Walmart. The point I’m trying to illustrate is that small gestures of love make the world go round. And a cheap pair of knit gloves can warm the coldest heart during this busy Christmas season. 

The tag is free. Please feel free to download and use. I will follow up with my Young Women on Sunday to see if they shared their gloves and what their experience was. To be continued….

 

 

 

Speed Friendship Activity with the YW

Our ward boundaries have changed and they even changed the name of our of ward. Since there are so many new Young Women I thought it would be great to play a Speed Friendship game so the leaders and the girls could get to know one another better. 

It was so much fun! I’ve seen this game on Pinterest but I haven’t found a website that really breaks down all the rules and explains all the details. 

Rules for the Speed Friendship Game

 

1.If you are sitting on the RIGHT SIDE of the table you DON’T MOVE.

 

2. If you are sitting on the LEFT SIDE of the table you get to ask the questions. Both people have to answer the question.

 

3. You have two minutes for each question.

 

4. The person on the left side of the table moves to the left after each round is complete.

 

5. The roll of the dice will tell us which question we get to ask during each round. We’ll have least one round until everyone on the left side of the table has talked to everyone on the right side of the table.

 

6. Mark each question that you have asked on your paper. Otherwise it might get confusing!

 

7. If you ask or answer a brown question, eat as many brown M&M’s as you like. If you ask or answer an orange question, eat as many orange M&M’s. Etc.

 

1- Brown

2- Orange

3- Yellow

4- Green

5- Blue

6- Red

And the questions I used are below. I gave a sheet of questions to everyone that was sitting on the left side of the table. 

Brown Questions (Brown is #1)

1. If you had to become an animal, which one would you pick? Why?
2. What’s your favorite fast food?
3. Name the last book you read? Did you like it?
4. What’s your dream job?

Orange Questions (Orange is #2)

1. Where were you born? Where else have you lived besides here?
2. Name two things you can’t live without. Why?
3. Do you think dipping french fries in chocolate shakes or frosties is gross or great?
4. Do you have any pets?

Yellow Questions (Yellow is #3)

1. Would you rather have x-ray vision, bionic hearing, invisibility, or some other super power? Why?
2. What do you most look forward to everyday?
3. What is your favorite subject in school? What is your least favorite subject? Why?
4. What is your favorite tv show or movie?

Green Questions (Green is #4)

1. If you had a whole day to spend however you would like (money is no object), what would you choose to do?
2. What is your favorite Primary song?
3. Do you play any musical instruments? How long have you been playing?
4. How many brothers and sisters do you have? Are you the oldest? Youngest? Middlest?

Blue Questions (Blue is #5)

1. If you could travel back in time and witness an event in history, what would you like to see? Why?
2. What do you like to do in your free time?
3. Name something you are good at. Or what’s something you don’t do well, but you’d like to do better?
4. What’s your favorite book in the book of Mormon?

Red Questions (Red is #6)

1. If you could ask the Savior one question (and get an answer) what would it be?
2. What’s your favorite talk given by an apostle or a general authority?
3. What’s your favorite home cooked meal? Can you cook it by yourself?
4. If you could go anywhere in the world, (money is no object) where would you go? Why?

We played for about 30 minutes and then we worked on Personal Progress for the rest of the time. The Young Women loved it and we definitely have to play again at some point!

In the four white bowls on the table, I had plain M&M’s and peanut M&M’s. The Young Women and the leaders really loved them. I also love serving in Young Women’s! It’s so much fun. Feel free to use my questions and my rules. Contact me with any questions you may have. Let me know how you played Speed Friendshipping in your ward. 

Personal Progress Leader

I’ve been making a lot of handouts for my calling in Young Women with Photoshop. I have Elements 12; I have to say anything you can do on Photoshop CC, you can with Elements. It might not be the exact same steps but it’s a pretty neat program that I picked up for $50 about a thousand years ago.

 I love my calling and I love using my creativity to magnify my calling. I wanted to share my creations and I hope they can inspire other leaders in Young Women. 

Every month I focus on two virtues. I encourage my Young Women to focus on those particular virtues and look for goals they can accomplish. 

Choice and Accountability

This was my first handout I made. I attached a 3×5 card to a mini bag of Cheetos. It was definitely a success.

Integrity

I printed this as a 3×5 and attached it to a bag of chocolate chip cookies. My Young Women loved the cookies.

Divine Nature

Printed this on 3×5 and attached it to a packet of Forget Me Not seeds. I got this idea from Elder Utchdorf’s talk about the 5 Forget Me Nots.

Good Works

I attached this to a bag of marshmallows, grahm crackers and a full size Hershey’s chocolate bar. Again this was a big hit with my Young Women. I passed this one out at the beginning of summer. One of my Young Women said, “It’s like you read my mind!”

Knowledge

I attached this to a bag five pieces of Dove mint dark chocolate. {Are you sensing a food theme here?} I had extra so I gave one to my Bishop. He loved the quote and I don’t think the treat hurt either.

 

 

Individual Worth

I attached a mini mounds to this. Because we all have MOUNDS of worth in the sight of the Lord. And because Mounds are red. It was meant to be!

 

Feel free to use my handouts. I love sharing! Share your ideas for Personal Progress prompts in the comments! Thank you for your service to our sweet Young Women!

 

Update On My Mom

March 1st my Mom had an Ischemic Stroke. Her stoke affected her right side. She lost her ability to talk, to reason, to drive, her job and her independence all at once. Two weeks later my sister and I decided that it would be best if my Mom moved in with me.

We had a lot of difficulty finding a speech therapist for my Mom. It’s challenging to find a speech therapist who will work do outpatient work or who will work with adults. But we did manage to find Aspen Speech Therapy in Fort Collins. Kristi Kelly is amazing and I love the work she’s doing to make speech therapy available for all ages.

My Mom’s speech has improved rapidly since her stroke. However some things don’t seem to be coming back. She struggles with short term memory loss and she definitely has lost her personality. My Mom was a sharp witted woman and she cackled like a witch when she would laugh. I know that I need to mourn and adjust to the new normal. But taking care of my young family and my Mom doesn’t leave me much time for anything.

We went to a Neurologist, Joseph Schmitt, last week. He explained that my Mom has surpassed the time when she would make big improvements. He said that my Mom will continue to make small improvements until probably March 2017. I was very impressed with his thorough examination and his careful explanation of my Mom’s status.

Cognitively my Mom is scoring a 22/30. She is significantly weaker on her right side. Her gait is wide to help keep her balance and she doesn’t swing her right arm when she walks. Her vision is also significantly worse in her right eye. I don’t know if that’s from the stroke or if that’s from the Diabetic Retinopathy. Could be both.

My Mom has had type two Diabetes for the last 11 years. Because her blood sugars have been uncontrolled, it’s caused a lot of damage her eyes, toes and we think it’s also what caused her stroke.

More than likely my Mom will be declared permanently disabled and she will have to be taken care of for the rest of her life. My Mom is only 60 years old, but I feel like her diabetes and her stroke have decreased her life expectancy.

The saddest part for me is knowing the vibrant and funny woman that I called Mom is gone. Her personality has been washed away by her stroke and it isn’t coming back.

Even though this has been hard I have felt Heavenly Fathers love for me and for my Mom. I have been blessed to make it through the all the “not so great” news that we keep getting from various doctors. But I am grateful that Heavenly Father has put me in a position to take care of my Mom. He has prepared me to take on this difficult new challenge.

Please pray for me, for my Mom and for my family. We will continue to need your prayers in the years to come. Thank you in advance for all of your prayers on our behalf.

One is Fun

Jace is a officially a ONE YEAR OLD. She is full of mischief and smiles.

She took her first tentative steps last night!! She first walked to Cora because she loves to pull Cora’s hair. (There’s a reason I have very short hair now people and her name rhymes with face.) Then she walked to Daddy!

Her favorite activities include emptying cupboards, toy boxes, underwear drawers and trash cans.

Putting anything not designed to go in your mouth, you guessed it, in her mouth.

Pooping in the bath tub. That warm water is just so relaxing, no?

New words are fun to say over and over and over. Her favorite word is Dada followed closely by uh-oh, hot, and hi. Although blowing raspberries and clicking the tongue are still heavy players. Especially during church.

She loves to play with her big brother and sister. They have been very big helpers to Mom so she can accomplish making dinner.

Food is wonderful except for banana’s and peaches. Anything stuck to the floor from yesterday’s meal is exceptionally delicious.

And I’m sure you’ve all heard of her loathing for her carseat.

Happy Birthday to my Darling Duchess! This year has been lovely and harrowing with you and I can’t wait for many more to come.

MY FIRST YEAR HAS FLOWN BY

Love her DIMPLE!

Posing Flipbook

The last photo shoot I did my client stated numerous times that she wanted lots of different creative poses. So I went on to her Pinterest page and printed out lots of different family portraits that she had pinned. I also printed some from my own personal page. I stapled all the pictures together and called it my ‘Posing Flipbook’.  Very big hit with my client. She loved looking through the book and choosing poses. Plus it always nice when you can show your client in a picture how you want them to stand, sit, smile etc. Because we are all visual learners right? Right.

This has the added benefit of one less thing you have to focus on. Instead you can focus on freaking out about camera settings, light, and locations. Just me? Oh goodie!

Cute poses for your viewing pleasure below!

Tell me your favorite poses and where you get your ideas.

Zany Letters

Dear Bluetooth,

I would like to kiss your creator. Or at least make you some gratitude cookies. I love listening to my “I Heart Radio” app on my car stereo. I was totally jamming to my tunes while I ran errands today.

Love,

My undying gratitude to you sirs!

Dear Washer,

You are only 7 years old. Have I been that unkind to you? You sound like dying whale singing it’s last rights during the washing portion of your cycle. Big thumbs down.

Yours,

Not happy with this new development

Dearest Husband,

I appreciate you taking the time to hand sew all the popped seams on our couches. That was very thoughtful. I can’t help but think that the real reason you did it, is because you REALLY don’t want to go furniture shopping with me. Too bad all the popped seams ripped open the next day.

Your loving wife

Dear Tiny Toot,

In just a few short weeks you will be a One. Year. Old. You have been the most challenging baby I’ve ever had, but I love you dearly. One request. Please start saying Mama. All I’m hearing so far is Dada.

Long may the Duchess reign,

Your Loving Mama