perpetual positive propulsion packet

a few years ago, our family made a care package for the missionaries in our area at Christmas/thanksgiving time.   we did that every year for around 200 young people for (i think four) years.   it was such a great project!   we so enjoyed it.   we got help from others and were able to even get some donations from stores.    then, i moved. . . i no longer had the resources  the help or the sponsors i had worked so hard to get.   i do not give up so easy.   last year, living in a travel trailer, my daughter and i made a care package for the two missionaries in our ward.   this year, we have just continued as we could to make this book for as many as possible throughout the year.   i decided that i should share this book for anyone who wants to make one, twenty or two hundred for a college student, spouse, serviceperson, missionary, etc. . . or just for yourself.
i used a little 16 page book, literally, 8 pieces of paper folded in half with a cover.   

the first page was this poem and the paragraphs under it.   

GRATITUDE ATTITUDE

When an attitude of gratitude

is the thing that you've begun

you'll find that more than gratitude

is the thing that you have won

gratitude begets a thinking

that is higher than the trees

it points your thoughts to heaven

and tends to bend the knees

you'll find your spirits lifted

and your feet some off the ground

when you look for every blessing

the One who blessed you will be found

-KaRee Ogden

our family has used gratitude to carry us though the hardest of times. We name something everyday that we are grateful for. It has to be something new or a new reason to be grateful for something every day. We have written some of the things we are grateful for in the book but hope you will find lots of wonderful things and reasons to be grateful every day.

We've included some positive thoughts for you as well. We all have some days that are better than others. On those not so grand days, remember how much you are loved, find your gratitude, look for some positive thoughts. Add your own positive thoughts so you perpetually have positive propulsion.   

on every page, we wrote the things we are thankful for on the edges of the pages.   we used the list on thankful everyday for our list because, well, it is our list.

then, on every page, we wrote a positive quote from some of these sites.  i love the last one especially, last site and quote actually.

http://www.ldsfacts.net/mission6.htm

Think enthusiastically! Talk enthusiastically! Act enthusiastically! If you are not really enthused, act as if you are, think as if you are, and you will be! --Glen L. Rudd

That which we persist in doing becomes easier to do, not that the nature of the thing has changed, but that our power to do has increased. -- a favorite saying of Heber J. Grant

Self-discipline is doing what you know you should do when you do not want to do it. -- President N. Eldon Tanner

Keep trying, be believing, be happy, don’t get discouraged, things will work out. -- Gordon B. Hinckley

Your attitude will determine your altitude. -- Anonymous

http://www.themissionofmoms.com/p/favorite-missionary-quotes.html

Don’t count your days—make your days count.
Elder Jay Jensen

God is very serious about joy in the lives of His children. - Neal A. Maxwell

All crosses are easier to carry when we keep moving. - Neal A. Maxwell

Meekness is knowing who you are and
not having to prove it. - Anonymous

The greater part of happiness depends on our disposition and not on our circumstances. -
Martha Washington

http://thinkpositive30.com/blog/tag/daily-positive-thought/

One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself. – -Leonardo da Vinci

You can never do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Every thought we think is creating our future.
– Louise L. Hay

Start by doing what’s necessary, then what’s possible and suddenly you are doing the impossible.~ St. Francis of Assisi

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/inspirational

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
― MahatmaGandhi

I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”
― ThomasA. Edison

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...”
― Dr. Seuss, Oh,the Places You'll Go!

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”
― NeilGaiman, Coraline

It is never too late to be what you might have been.”
― GeorgeEliot

“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”
― Mother Teresa

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
― TheodoreRoosevelt

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
― WinstonChurchill

“If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain.”
― MayaAngelou

“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says 'I'm possible'!”
― AudreyHepburn

“Peace begins with a smile..”
― MotherTeresa

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
― RalphWaldo Emerson

“First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
― MargaretMead

“Whatever you are, be a good one.”
― Abraham Lincoln

“I can't go back to yesterday because I was a different person then.”
― Lewis Carroll, Alicein Wonderland

“If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”
― MartinLuther King Jr.

“Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.”
― RobertLouis Stevenson

“All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.”
― St. Francis of Assisi

“Try a little harder to be a little better.”
― Gordon B. Hinckley

“If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.”
― Dalai Lama XIV

If you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to the people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person." 
— Fred Rogers

of course, we added stickers and decorated it.   in some of the packets, we added some kind of fun thing.  the packages have changed over the years. 

after my original posting of this, my friends asked where the pictures were.   so i added pics and thought i'd give a bit of background on how to organize a project like this.

the first year, was just my sister, mom, grandmother and i.   i contacted the president of the mission and asked permission and about any guidelines etc.
we gathered what we could on a limited budget and put them in brown paper sacks.   we had little toys, candy, cookies.   just small stuff.   we used a room in the church and spread out all the bags and went down each row of bags dropping one of whatever we had in the bag.   the next person went behind with another item dropping one of each in the bags and so on.

the next year, i asked my ward for help and was able to put some bigger snack items in the bag.   i had gathered things the whole year so i was able to get some bigger things, school supplies at walmart were great.  i used the lds.org website to ask for help at a stake level as well.   i had my sister ask for help in her ward.   we tried to spread the word a bit more.   with each year, we gained more experience and more support.   we had volunteers sewing Christmas socks for our project and the local food bank.  it was nice being able to work in conjunction with another group.   it really helped us gain support and volunteers.

then i put my pta years to work and asked the local lds businesses for help.   one of the deseret book stores let us put up collection jars.   the missionary store donated socks for 200 missionaries!   there was, of course, a tag that said where the socks came from and we sent a picture of the finished product to associated stores so they could use it for advertising.   we had people giving money and products to the project.   the stake primary pres wanted the kids of the stake to get involved in the service project so she had each primary assemble a small package that we put into it.   it had a toothbrush, a small toothpaste and a cute poem that said it was from the primary.   the young women put together positive thought book one year.   the elders quorum asked what they could do for the next year.   the relief society gathered packs of gum, so i didn't have to.   it was great, a lot of work, but great.   

here are a few more ideas for things that we put in our packages over the years.   some can be homemade, others require investment.   for instance, we purchased the fabric for scarves from the money raised by the deseret book jars.   they required work on our part to cut and fringe but they were a fun thing to do.

small toys like balls
gum
cookies
candy
jerky
snack packs of anything
tictacs
granola bars or mix
hot chocolate mix
travel sized toiletries-
toothbrush and paste
tissues
lotion
scarves
hats
bracelets
keychains
zipper pulls
magnets
small flashlights
sewing kits
first aid kits
positive thought books
bookmarks
homemade postcards or greeting cards
stamped envelopes
pen, pencils
notebooks
stickers
highlighters
post it notes
pencil toppers
pencil sharpeners
erasers

a few last tips for any project.

start early if you can but it doesn't take much to do something small.

get help.  recruit as many people as you can.   understand that if you get help, they may not do things exactly the way you want.   so with help, you give up total control.   but when you give up total control and get other people helping, you get more ideas, more time, more hands.   give people choices of how to help.  some have money, some have time.   accept both if you can.   delegating what needs done frees you up to do more.   usually, people want you to tell them what to do.   have a list of things people can do and just say, here are your options -
   

assembly lines are definitely your friend.   even with the books, i write one part, my daughter writes something, my son writes part.   you can see in the pictures that we laid out the socks or bags and just went down the line adding one of what we were carrying to every place.   it makes it go so much faster.   we reserved the gym for an entire day in order to get them put together.   if you don't have that kind of space, like we didn't for some years, do the best you can with what you have.   

   

 don't worry about things being perfect.  something will go wrong.    don't tell anyone and they probably won't even notice.

i built this project like i built my husband's business.   a little at a time.   looking for new resources    asking for help again and again.   start with what you have and work from there.   just work your way up.   i once had a salesman ask me how i expected to build a business without putting something out first.  i explained that i had already built a business without investors.   i have never had that kind of backing.  i just started with what i had and put some of what came out of it into the next thing.  be patient.   work your way up and out.   be happy with what you do have, with what you can do, make the most of it.

go take on the world, change your corner of it, extend your reach a little at a time and make a difference there.    

little update here - i have decided to print some instead of handwriting them.   there is just too much to do this time.   i found instructions on how to print a book when you don't have a handy program to do it, (like i don't have)   thought i would share - https://help.gnome.org/users/evince/unstable/print-booklet.html.en

b+

this is my attempt to bring something positive into the world.   it started with me just trying to overcome the negativity in my home.   then i decided to create an event on fb for it.   you can find that here- https://www.facebook.com/events/580145282006358/

as soon as i created it, i had a huge response, so i decided to keep it updated with some positive practices.   if response is big enough, or i get the bug to do it, these will start showing up as pictures and a group will be created.   i'll keep you updated.  

positive practice #1
say something positive to everyone in your house, your work place, and your family. a positive word can really change the day. don't forget to say something positive to yourself!

positive practice #2
think about times that you argue with someone you love. do you move farther and farther from each other as the argument continues and the "discussion" grows louder? 
holding a spouse or loved one's hand when discussing something can keep it from becoming a full blown fight.
this is sage advice given to me by a very wise man. i often use it on my kids as well. i enjoy hugging my teenager when he's mad at me. he usually ends up laughing.

this is a video i found on youtube that really illustrates the positive person, how we want to be, how we in our imperfect state really are, and how we can be better.
the civility experiment

positive practice #3 
please, thank you and you're welcome.
sounds simple but those little words have a big impact. use them often and with everyone.

positive practice #4
gratitude attitude! can't say it enough. when you are looking for things to be grateful for instead of things that are going wrong, you are bound to have a better attitude.  actually, i first saw this practice on oprah many, many, many years ago.   i didn't catch her show very often, but this was a good one.   they said to think of 3 - 5 things every day that you are grateful for and write it in your journal.   i did that and it really made a difference.   later in life, i renewed the practice again and again. 
   
recently, i started asking my kids every morning what they were grateful for.   we got to be kind of silly sometimes, (like "i'm grateful for that molecule of air right there"), but it was fun and really made a difference.   i don't drive them to school anymore and the practice has thus waned.   i can really tell the difference and i am making efforts to reinstate it.  

one thing i try to do is keep thursdays set aside for "thankful thursday".   i try to name something new, not the usual stuff and think of all kinds of weird reasons to be thankful for something.   it amuses me and reminds me of how many things there are to be grateful for.   it is really more than a positive practice and more like a positive work out.   

so, what are you grateful for today?

the next few are all related.   they are about permission and forgiveness.
positive practice #5
stuff happens, be aware of it, expect it, and then get over it.
there is a theory that we get upset because things happen that we were not expecting. the surprise angers us more than the thing itself. so, prepare for the worst - hope for the best and you'll usually end up somewhere in between.   

positive practice #6
give others permission to make mistakes.  nobody is perfect.   we all have bad days, make bad decisions and just generally foul things up.   when you let yourself accept that, you can get over the surprise, the initial irritation and just go forward.

positive practice #7
give yourself permission to make mistakes.   strangely, this might be the hardest.   we are harder on ourselves than on others.   you are going to make mistakes.  it's ok.   learn from it, apologize, move on.

quick break in the positive practices.   today, a friends asked me, "why are you so self confident?".   without pause, i told him, "my mother.  she was always telling me how wonderful i was."   he commented about growing up in a positive environment.   this got me to thinking, what environment am i creating?.   
what environment am i creating for my family, for my friends, for the people i come in contact with?   what environment am i creating for myself?   i know there are things i can do better.  
now, what environment are you creating?

positive practice #8
forgive others.   you don't know what kind of day they are having.   you don't know what kind of life they are having.   we are all motivated by the same things it is our perception that is different.     no matter what other do, is it worth it to carry the pain, sadness, the negative?   you do that to you, not them.   let it go, dump it.   it's not hurting them, it's hurting you.   it's not changing them, it's changing you.   do you want to give out that kind of power?

positive practice #9
forgive yourself.   ever have one of those days where your mouth runneth over, your a major social klutz or just totally screw things up and you have no idea why?   we are human.   the longer you hang onto it, the more it causes.   quick story: 
taking my driving test to become a school bus driver.   the very first thing i do is my best event.  i do it perfect every time in practice.   i totally foul it up.  i mean completely fail it!   big fat 0 points!   i am freaked out!   my trainer/tester sees my horror and tells me something that i have used many times.   she said (approximately), "let it go.   it's done.   if you keep thinking about what you did wrong, it will affect what you need to do in the future.   put it behind you.   just move forward and don't look back."   i went on to do the best i had ever done on the next parts of the test and passed.   from then on, i have always thought of that when things go wrong.   let it go.   it's done.   don't let it mess up what you can do from here on out.  

positive practice #10
smile.   i don't mean that fake smile mask.  i mean really smile.   especially when you don't feel like it.   when you smile, do it with the thought that maybe you can brighten someone's day.  smile at strangers to be friendly, smile at family because you love them, smile at friends because you appreciate them, smile in the face of those you're not so fond of and think of something evil to do to them . . .i mean, think back to permission and forgiveness

positive practice #11
service.   

Serve. More. Self. Less.
serve more selflessly
serve others more and yourself less
more service and less self 
more selfless service

another quick break in practices. i heard this description of all things light and good today and wanted to share it. think of yourself as a house. the world and negativity is the dark night. when you turn on your lights, your positive light, it shines and lights up the house. when you open the door, the dark does not come in, instead, the light shines out into the dark.

positive practice #12
it's not just what you say but how you say it.   the most popular one in the world is, "i love you but you make me crazy!".   now listen to it this way, "you drive me crazy, but i love you!"   nicer, isn't it?

positive practice #13
it's not just how you say it, sometimes it's just really what you say.   this isn't just, "if you can't say something nice, don't say nuttin' at all".   that's #14.   this is focusing on the good in your statements.   for instance.   we have started tell my little one to "touch nice" instead of "don't hit".   sounds silly, but focus words really make a difference.   another one that a friend told me about is, "slim down", "get healthier", or "tone up" instead of "lose weight".   focus words.  they require some creative thinking sometimes, but really worth it.

positive practice #14
if you can't say nutin' nice, don't say nutin' at all.   thumper's mom is really smart!  the truth doesn't always need to be said.   my mouth goes into over drive on occasion, (you would have never thought that of me, i know).    i try to control it, but i have noticed that as i try to think more positive things, more positive things come out of my mouth even when i'm not in control of it.   might not make sense, might be weird, might be totally insane and make people worry a bit, but it's usually positive.

positive practice #15
tip of the iceberg.   everyone needs somewhere to vent, somewhere to release, that doesn't mean it needs to be vented everywhere.   when talking to people, give them the tip of the iceberg, most people don't need to hear it and you don't need to keep telling it.   say you're working on something, maybe a couple of brief clarifications.   think about how much of the drama you want to put out there.   how much negative to you want to release into the space around you?   so often, we engulf ourselves in our troubles and forget all of the things that we can do, all of the good things we have and all of the options we have.   we spend more time looking for a good story to tell than a good solution.   often, we find solutions in looking to tell someone that it will be ok and playing up the positive in our conversations.   engulf yourself and your conversations in positive options.


positive practice #16
meditate.   seems so hippie, mystical whatever you may want to call it, but give yourself a some time to just listen to your own breath, the birds, the popcorn popping in the microwave, whatever calms and centers you.    ok, so quiet time doesn't happen much at my house, probably a common phenomenon.   sometimes the best meditation i can do is that 2 seconds of not opening my mouth when angry.   just a couple seconds of, "breath in, breath out," a little silent screaming, and i can actually do something constructive instead of just venting and making things bigger.    so, take a little chill time, even if it's only a few seconds.

positive practice #17
you are what you eat.   a good diet is definitely part of a good attitude, but not really what i'm talking about.   think about all the things you take into your attitude all day long.   music, tv, movies, conversation, news, books, magazines . . .yadda etc.   even though you may not be consciously listening or paying attention to it, your brain is taking it all in.   you can change channels, turn it off, leave a conversation, put down what you're reading, and limit the negative bombardment.   remember that all of that stuff has to go somewhere, it has an effect.   so, choose your soul food wisely.

not a practice, just an observation.
l.i.f.e. - L.I.F.E. - l.I.f.E - L.i.F.e - no matter how you write it, it's all in the same basic size.   each letter is in proportion to the others.   you can go through some steps to make one bigger than the others or in a different font, but that is our own doing and not the actual nature of the thing.   life is all small ups and down in the big picture.  yes, somethings seem life ending at the time.  yes, i have had times that i wondered why the world was still turning, why life continued as though no one else knew the great tragedies happening.   it's all part of the big word we call life and really, is just capitals and lowercase letters in our story.  what i'm trying to say is that we make more of things than they are sometimes, sometimes things just hit us harder than others.   given time, it evens out.   we adjust, adapt, and hopefully advance.   when we realize this during those times that seem we can not go on, we can see past the huge things and to the part, where life resumes.   that is how we get past the hard times and learn how to resume.

positive practice #18
charity.   most people think of giving physical things as charity and that's a great part of charity.   i think the part we forget is the charitable attitude.   when that guy cuts you off in traffic, flies by you like mad, or just says something rude to you; you can get upset and yell or whatever your negative response might be or you can take the positive, charitable route; "you must not have seen me", "hope you get where you're going safely", "you must be having a bad day, hope it gets better".     think about how many times you've had a bad day or done something stupid.  did the guy behind you honking help?   did the negative response help?  now, have you ever had someone give you a charitable response?   how did that help your day?   which do you want to pass on?

positive practice #19
this was actually given to me by a friend for the b+ event on fb.   she recommended sitting down and writing to yourself.   not just any letter, but instead, imagine you are able to speak to an older and wiser you.     don't think about it too much, just let it flow.   let your older self give your now self some advice.   what would you tell yourself?   would your future self want you to change some things?
i think this is an awesome practice.   it gives us a chance to get out of the now that tends to swallow us up and think about what is important in the long run.
  
positive practice #20
this goes with #19.   remove yourself from yourself for a moment.   if your friend, family, child, anyone that you love, was going through what you are going through, what would you tell them?   we are often so much more protective of others than we are ourselves.   we will stand up for someone else when in the same situation we simply accept the situation.   i have begun asking myself what i would do for my child if the same thing happened to them, then i do it for myself.   if i don't stand up for me, how can i expect them to learn to stand up for themselves?   now, don't turn bullies on me, but do stand up for what you believe in.    obviously, use tact,  politeness, and kindness.   of course, pick your battles, (that's another practice).   basically, just be the hero for yourself, that you would be for others.

positive practice # 21 
pick your battles.  my grandmother always says this.   pick your battles.   its a common discussion at our house.   some days there is a skirmish over everything and every action.   it gets a bit much sometimes.   there are going to be days like that in everyone's life unless you just don't have to see or hear or deal with other people at all.   it's just what happens in any and all relationships.   the disagreements are great and small, petty and important but the reminder is always the same, "is this important?   is it worth your time and energy?   is it going to change anything?   is it causing more contention than it is solving problems?   is there a better way to go about this?"   sometimes it helps, and sometimes, not so much.   we are still practicing here as well.
when up against anything, pick your battles.  here's another situation, i like the example of thomas jefferson.   he wanted to do a lot of things for the country.   one was public schools, another was to abolish slavery.   if he tried to abolish slavery, all other causes would be sacrificed because no one would listen to him any more.   so, he chose to let slavery go and work on the things that he had a chance of actually accomplishing, free public education.   do what you can, it will come

positive practice #22
a dear friend of mine was always quoting his father, "you can't call yourselves friends, unless you've really had a good fight and come out friends on the other side."  it reminds me that we are going to disagree, just gonna happen, it really is ok.   refer back to #'s 5 - 9.

positive practice #23
let go - there is a story about monkey traps.   the story goes that hunters put something the monkeys like to eat in a box/coconut with a small hole in it.   the box is then attached to the ground.   when the monkeys put their hand inside to grab the food, it goes in ok.   but when they try to pull out their hand with the food grasped in their fist, it will no longer fit through the hole.  if the monkey would let go of the food, the hand would slip back out, but they won't.   so the hunters can simply pick them up in sacks without a problem.   common positive thinking example because it does a good job illustrating the power of letting go.
so . . . let go . . .let go of control, sadness, anger, baggage, grudges, hurt feelings, negative thinking, hatred, unhealthy attitudes, addictions, revenge  . . . all things that do not help you, that hold you down, that make you feel less that you are. . . let go.

positive practice #24
walk in another's shoes - a.k.a. - empathy.
this is not only useful for understanding someone else's problems.   i use it mostly to remind myself that although someone might really annoy me, i really annoy someone else.   as wonderful as i am, i annoy someone.   just the way it is.   do i want them to be irritable with me?   do i want them to get angry with me?  do i want them to be rude, mean, tell me off?  not especially.   i appreciate patience, kindness, and, i appreciate empathy.   so, i try to have and be what i hope for in others, no matter what i get in return, i'm doing my part, and that's all i can do.


i have been thinking about that first break in practices, when a friend asked me about my confidence.   i answered that i had an awesome mom but as i have thought about it, i realize that is only part of the story.   i have always believed that you can't blame your parents for what is wrong with you.   no matter what, you make your own choices.   example - gavin debecker (author and owner of successful protection agency) wrote about an experience he had speaking in a prison.    he told them about his childhood, mother going from one abusive boyfriend to another until she got fed up and killed one of her abusers unknowingly in front of her son.   one of the prisoners rose and said, "you just told my life story.   why are you up there and i'm in here?"   Gavin responded, "choices".     so, although i have a wonderful mother that gave me an amazing start, the rest is choice.   what has guided those choices though.   that has really been rolling around my brain for the last few weeks.   i come to another story that i will shorten.   two farmers, one with straight rows in his field, the other not so much.   one asks the other about it and is told that he should choose something in the distance and use it as a guide.   the rows are worse than ever.   they talk again and the farmer says he did what he was told but the cow kept moving.   ok, choose your "thing in the distance" wisely.    (see- plowing straight  for the whole story).   

i contemplated all of this and came to these questions for you: who are you?   where are you going?   i don't mean tomorrow  or even next week, month, or year.  i mean long term.   i mean end story.   what are you aiming for?  i f you don't know, it's hard to direct the choices of today.  or, to quote the cheshire cat - 
"would you please tell me, which way i ought to go from here?"
"that depends a good deal on where you want to go"
"i don't much care where-"
"then it doesn't matter which way you go" 

positive practice #25
scream!   wait, not yet, hear me out first.   i don't mean scream at, just scream out.   we all have those days, i'm having one of those days.   i have not actually had the time to scream yet but in my head i have really been letting it loose for several hours now.   
to review- screaming at = negative, non-productive, and just not nice.
screaming out = positive verbal release of frustration that if kept in might lead to jail time

malala day at the un was today.   she had a lot of wonderful things to say that really impressed me.   i will be sharing a few of them as i can.   "The terrorists thought that they would change my aims and stop my ambitions, but nothing changed in life, except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died."Strength, power, and courage was born."
Malala Yousafzai

when you feed the positive, you starve the negative. let the negative die and nourish the positive to take it's place. we don't have to have a major trial to trigger change. don't wait for a trial to trigger change. trigger your own change. take things into your own hands. be your own power.

event finished, we had a lot of great people come and great feedback from it!   so - here is the group site for fb.   come join us in the + fest!https://www.facebook.com/groups/588496797869263/
also, i have stopped updating this post and put everything on a page -http://plaidipusmound.blogspot.de/p/this-is-my-attempt-to-bring-something.html

choices game

this is a really simple game that i made for our family to play.   

it's just a piece of paper and a die.   that's it!

i started by making a document with 5 columns and 8 rows (i think) evenly spaced.   then i asked the kids for some help and we came up with half of the squares things we struggle with like: hitting, disobedient, whining, arguing etc.   the other half of the squares are good things we do: talking about it (instead of arguing), hugging, serving, doing it the first time . . .you get the picture.   cut all of them out.  this was easier since my hubby bought me a paper cutter last year.   yah!  

 now, just mix them up and lay them out in some pattern.   we did a path and a square tonight.   we used the extra pieces of paper from cutting out the game for our marker pieces.   you can use game pieces or have everyone go find something for their piece, whatever.

the basic rules are that you roll the die, travel that many spaces.    if what you land on is good, then you get to roll again.    if it's not, you stay put.  we laid them all face down and turned them over as we landed on them.

first, we did a path.   you had to land on the end exactly and it had to be a good thing for you to win.   if it hadn't been a good thing, we were going to start taking things from the end and adding them on until it was.   (i think my son wanted to just add things on because i was ahead)   the game changes really fast because if you keep landing on good things, you can go all the way to the end pretty fast.

the second way we played was in a square.   since there were just the four of us this time, we each took a corner to start.   the rules were established before we started to play this time.   you had to get past your own corner and land on something good to win.

 you could make start and end squares if you want.   you can make this game with good and bad food, school practices, anything that needs review in your house.    this game goes really fast so you can play it in just a few minutes.  you could complicate it or simplify it.  this is just a start.

have fun, be creative, and just play together.

12 months of Christmas

we encourage the kids to read their scriptures every night.   i read to my blond curls out of the friend magazine every night.   it's a magazine put out by our church for kids.   we read and re-read the articles.   one of the articles we read was this one - my gift to Jesus .   it's about a family tradition for Christmas.   every person decides on a gift they are going o give Jesus.   their gift is being better in something.   the girl in the story choose to be nice to her sister for instance.

i've been really trying to find ways to encourage the kids to be better on a daily basis.   just trying to find better habits for everyone.   i decided that this was a good one to add to our good habits.   i started us on the 12 months of Christmas.   we totally missed january but i think you should start thing when you get there and not wait for a more significant time or a better time.

this is how i decided to do it.   the first sunday of every month, we set our goal for the month.   we write it down and put it in a paper pocket that we put up on our flat tree.   (the kids didn't want to take down our Christmas tree so i figured we might as well put it to use.)   february's pocket was shaped like a heart, march's is a clover, april's will probably be an egg, yada yada.   every sunday, we talk about how we have done on our goals that week.   we write about it in our journals.   (that's another thing i've been trying to encourage.   2 for 1 goals, be nicer and write in your journal!   i am good.)   i figure it helps keep the goal in mind if we talk about it and write about it every week.  we can help each other with our goals this way as well.

this last month, everyone made a little progress.   i think as it becomes more of a habit, it will stick better.   everything is a process.   and, you just have to keep at it.   here we are in the second way of march setting march's goals.   everyone was sick last week so we totally missed everything last week.   you just have to let those set backs go and keep moving forward.  

there ya have the "big plan" at our house.

heinzelmännchen

i think i wrote before about how i am trying to promote service in our house this year.   we are off to a slow start this far but it has been crazy these first 15 days of 2013.    i'm not discouraged and i am renewing my push for service.   i did intro our little heinzelmännchen in family home evening last week.    we started with a few rules.  
there is no arguing that something was not a service.
appreciate the thought and the effort.   (you may not have wanted your backpack taken back upstairs but no one knew that you had plans for it.   just appreciate that someone did something for you)
next we talked about some service that could be done in our family.   this was harder than i had thought it would be.   we only came up with a few.   i hope we can expand our list a little more as we turn our minds in that direction.
do your chores without being asked
put someone's things in their room for them
hang up someone's coat for them

here's a wiki about the heinzelmännchen.    they are a legend from the city of colonge.   little elves that helped out at night until a tailor's wife fouled things all up.   the basis for the cobbler elves in english some say.
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinzelm%C3%A4nnchen
the idea came from the elf on the shelf craze and a friend that gave each member of the family a little felt heart to place when they served a family member.  

it is, of course, up to mom to keep them moving.   i am such a trend starter!   that's the point, start a service fad in our house.     it will catch on, it's always mom at first.   that's just part of the job.  

i'm going to post some of the things our little heinzelmännchen are doing and some of the ways they manifest themselves    i hope the creativity of placing them will get the kids moving with service.   that's the plan anyway.  
 i ended up with 7 little heinzelmännchen.   actually the are knee huggers.   funny enough, we have a grumpy, and a sleepy, the kids can't decide which one is dopey

.

this is our grumpy that hung up my towering teen's coat.

 one of our little guys brought the towering teen's homework, wallet, and backpack up to his room where they belong.

 we have a fireplace for heat and are trying to keep the heaters turned off as much as possible to save on our power bill.   but that means that the doors have to stay open so the heat can move around.   my tomboy princess closed her door this morning and this little red bearded guy opened it back up for her so her room wouldn't be cold when she gets home.

the towering teen's huge shoes were dragged upstairs by our sleepy heinzelmännchen.  it was so much work that he just had to take a nap in this roomie shoe.