For one day of our daily calendar this week we were asked to share a short inspirational quote with the Healthy Living Challenge group.  We all need some inspiration, right?  Here’s a list of our quotes.

• We are what we repeatedly do. – Jenn
• Don’t compare your Chapter 1 to someone else’s Chapter 20. – Pam
• I am awesome because I’m humble. (Woody Paige) – Brooke
• Hope on.  Journey on. (Jeffrey R. Holland) – Becky
• Strength and struggle go together.  The supreme reward of struggle is strength.  LIfe is a battle and the greatest joy is to overcome.  The pursuit of easy things makes men weak.  Do not equip yourselves with superior power, then hope to escape the responsibility and work.  It cannot be done.  It is following the path of least resistance that makes rivers and men crooked. (Ralph Parlette) – Sandi
• Anything can become a habit – it’s up to YOU what they are. – Bonnie
• Embrace the suck! – Joy
• Nothing tastes better than thin feels! – Susan B.
• If you want to improve your life, start by being kind to yourself. – Amber H.
• Give up something good for something better! – Katie
• A successful woman is one who can build a foundation with the bricks others have thrown at her. – Pam
• Everything you are learning now is preparing you for something else. (Marjorie Pay Hinckley )- Lori
• You try, you fail.  You try, you fail.  The only true failure is when you stop trying.  Try again! (Haunted Mansion movie) – Tera
• We can do hard things! – Susan B. (this is her motto for the year – she has lost over 60 pounds since January!)
• If one dreams lofty dreams, so shall he become. There is magic in the way one thinks. If we expect the worst, we will get the worst. If we expect the best, we will receive the best. If we train our minds to have faith in God and ourselves, we are using one of the great laws of life. If we think and live righteously, happiness will find its place in our lives. It is amazing when we expect the best how forces are set in motion which cause the best to materialize. Our thoughts more than circumstances determine the course of our lives. These thoughts carve their impression on our faces, in our hearts, and on the tablet if our eternal souls. (Howard W. Hunter) - LynDee
• Nothing is impossible.  The word itself says, “I’m Possible!” – Kelly
• Start every day by giving everyone a clean slate. – Cassidy
• Never give up on anyone.  And that includes not giving up on yourself.  (Dieter F. Uchtdorf) – Becky
• Don’t you give up.  Don’t you quit.  You keep walking.  You keep trying.  There is help and happiness ahead….it will be all right in the end.  Trust God and believe in good things to come. (Jeffrey R. Holland) – Katie
• Anger is like holding on to a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone – you are the one who gets burned. – Susan H.
• It isn’t as bad as you sometimes think it is.  It all works out.  I say that to myself every morning.  It will all work out.  If you do your best, it will all work out.  Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future.  The Lord will not forsake us.  He will not forsake us…if we will put our trust in Him, if we will pray to Him, if we will live worthy of His blessings.  He will hear our prayers. (Gordon B. Hinckley) – LeeAnne
• Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start.(Nido Qubein) – Diane
• I have a problem with low self-esteem, which is really ridiculous when you consider how amazing I am. – Pam

And my personal favorite contribution of the week from Brooke:

No matter how slow you go, you are still lapping the people on the couch.

Oh yeah.

I’ve also added more vinyl quotes to my Silhouette store.  Some are inspirational.  Some are for fun.  Some are because they seem to say just the right thing.

Enjoy them all!

As the year comes to an end, here is a vinyl quote from my Silhouette store that will work perfectly as an end-of-the-year gift for any teacher in your life.

ANNOUNCEMENT:  

I have partnered with Lori Whitlock and will soon be offering my files in her SVG shop along with on the Silhouette store!  Woot!  Woot!  We are working on getting them organized and uploaded and hope to start having them within just a couple of weeks.  They’re coming, they’re coming!  They will also be available for commercial use through her site.  So those of you looking to use my shapes for your shops – the time is coming so watch for that.  You can expect to see my alphabets and vinyl quotes as some of the first shapes offered in her shop.  But you Silhouette users….don’t worry everything will still be available in my Silhouette store as well.  Hooray!

I’ve also done some phrases that are perfect for kids and babies.  Click on the image to find them in my store.

But now that I am a mother I love Mother’s Day.  I love hearing my 4-year-old sing to the mothers with the other children at church.  I love homemade cards and pint jars covered with tissue paper and glue.  I love feeling that little body pressed up against my leg or my arm or my side…depending on where I am.  I love his hand reaching for mine as we simply walk down the hall together.  I love being called, “Mom.”

Happy Mother’s Day to you all – whether you have children or not.  We are all nurturers and caregivers and friends and mothers to someone.

I have created a new line of vinyl quotes in my Silhouette store here.  I love them.  Yes, it’s true.  I love them.  I hope you love them, too.

Happy Day.

SECRET SERVICE MISSION

We pin-lifted this idea from theficklepickle.  as our starting point.  The girls became “Secret Service Agents” who received a top secret mission delivered to their homes in a large manila envelope.  Click on the links below to see what was included in the “Top Secret Mission” package:

• Mission Possible – Intro Letter
• Mission Possible Report Sheet
• List of Secret Service Ideas – Page 1
• List of Secret Service Ideas – Page 2
• Mission Possible Invite
• Magnifying Glass (because girls love things like that!)

Susan (our leader who was in charge of the packets) pretty much just reworked the downloads from theficklepickle.  Why reinvent something that was already done so well?  Susan also included a different list of service ideas from this blog post by katharinemaries.com.

To personalize their Mission Packets we asked each girl to choose a “Secret Agent Name” which was used as the label on their envelope.  Names could be a number or nickname or something they liked.  We had “Agent Triple S Squid,” and “Agent Nerdy Bird,” and “Agent Flexken 2″ but my personal favorite: “Agent M&M Mad Dog.”  Oh, she’s fierce.  All 42 pounds of her.

GOAL: Practice doing acts of service in a variety of situations and locations.  Learn to see where they can help and act on those observations. Recognize the joy that comes from serving.

Two weeks before the night of the activity the girls received their Secret Service Mission Packets.   During the next two weeks, they were to plan and execute a week’s worth of secret service.  Seven days.  Seven acts of service.  Ideas were listed in their packets.  Everything from taking shopping carts back, holding a public door open for others for 10 minutes straight and smiling at people to inviting someone to play, reading to a younger sibling, or baking cookies for a neighbor.

Each girl wrote down their service experiences each day.  What they did, how they felt, and what the reaction was.  They used this written report to share their experiences at our Recognition Night.

RECOGNITION NIGHT

INVITE

An invitation was included in the Top Secret Mission packet described above – delivered two weeks before the event.  All parents were invited to attend with their daughters and everyone was encouraged to dress in their best spy gear if they chose.   When they arrived to the activity we gave each of the girls a sticker nametag with their Secret Agent Name on it so they could stay in character.

DECORATIONS

During the weeks before the activity we asked the girls to wear their hair in a ponytail if possible and took profile pictures of each girl.  We then cut out a silhouette from that picture, mounted it to a circle of cardstock (created by cutting it with an Xacto knife and a dinner plate as a template) and then mounted it again to a 12×12 sheet of cardstock.  Tip: an easy way to cut the silhouettes was to print each photo in draft quality on a full-size 8.5″x11″ sheet of paper.  Hold a white sheet of paper under the photo and cut around the silhouette shape in the photo to create your clean white silhouette cut-out.  The photo becomes the pattern for cutting.  Try to get as detailed as possible.  There is no need to trace each picture to get a good silhouette so skip that step and simply use the photo as the pattern.  Wearing their hair up somehow, made a much better silhouette than having it down.

The “secret silhouettes” became the backdrop for our activity as well as an ice breaker as each person tried to figure out who was who on the wall!

PROGRAM

WELCOME + LESSON: Since we love to have the program focus on the girls themselves, we had a short lesson by a leader “Agent Hadley” who taught for about 7 minutes about the power of working together in our service efforts.  She used this talk as a reference and emphasized the impact they all can make if everyone chooses to work together in their efforts to do a little service.  Plus, she was funny.  That was a bonus.

AGENT REPORTS: Each girl shared their Secret Agent Name and then reported on their service experiences over the last week.  They shared their feelings about service and their favorite secret service ideas.  If you’re thinking that this would take a long time, think again.  8-11 year-old girls like to talk for about 45 seconds each.  Bam.  Done.  Move on to the next person.

SERVICE PROJECTS  TO GO: Since the girls had spent the last two weeks focusing on serving within their sphere of influence, much of their effort happened in their own homes.  We wanted to extend their service even more to the community.  We moved to another room where we offered two other service projects that they completed with their parents.  We wrote the instructions to each project on the board.

Service Project #1: “Thanks for Serving Me” Treats - 5 bubblegum packets each.  They tied a tag to each little treat bag and were instructed to give them to people in the community who helped them.  The bank teller, the crossing guard, the cashier…just keep them in the car or in their mom’s purse and hand them out when they receive help from someone else.  What a better way to watch for service in their lives – not only were we encouraging them to give service but to be grateful for the service that was done for them as well.  This idea was found here in the super comprehensive and creative list of ways for kids (and grown-ups!) to serve.  We pulled it out to add to our experience of service that night.

Place all of the supplies on a table and let the girls choose which tags and treat combos they want to use.  Another small table held the scissors and hole punches.  A length of masking tape was a great way to help the girls measure the twine lengths themselves.  We wanted them to be independent and paying attention to the set up of the activity helped them make that happen.

Here’s the download for the tags I created for this project.  These can also be included in Project Life books or used as other paper crafting projects, tags, labels and cards.  Click on the title below to download the tags.  Print them out on basic cardstock (my go-to for church activities is a ream of white cardstock found at Wal-mart for about $5).  Cut the tags apart and they are ready for your event.

Thank You for Serving – Tags

Service Project #2: Fleece Dog Toys - donated to a local animal shelter.  The toys were then sent home with adopted dogs.  Let me tell you – girls LOVE doing things for little doggies!  Click here for instructions.  Be sure to check with your animal shelter to make sure that these can be donated there – the dogs couldn’t use them at the shelter itself because of threads and fabric getting in the air circulation system but they were willing to send one home with each adopted dog as a keepsake.

We were done in about an hour.  With everything.  And look at what happened in that hour – it was an activity packed with meaningful contributions from each girl, parental involvement, and a way to extend their experiences beyond the activity itself.  And we have loved hearing about their opportunities to hand out their thank you treats.  It took some bravery on their part and the excitement they felt when they recognized service being done to them and then expressed thanks for it was thrilling.

We are so proud of them for taking on their “Secret Service Missions” so completely and energetically.  And a shout out to the parents for supporting and encouraging them in their tasks.  Plan ahead and do this activity with your youth or children’s group – it’s a keeper.

Check out this link for this project featured on the Silhouette blog using my “Love You Mom” shape:

Here are some more new shapes for you to use for Mother’s Day, including vinyl subway art, a layered phrase, and a flourished phrase.  Give these a try for your Mother’s Day projects.

Here is a card for every mom in your life  from last year’s collection of letter-size cards.

Life Cards for Project Life or to use as an embellishment on all of your projects:

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you women out there – you are mothering someone. Enjoy the day celebrating the mothers in your life.

One of the things that was the most difficult for me the first month of the challenge was that I didn’t have very many recipes that fit into the “legal” category completely.  As a family, we eat OK, but too much was included on the “bad food list” in my recipes.  I’ve been working on changing that, eating more clean, and shifting our family meals to more healthy ones.  I don’t expect Coleman and Jason to only eat off of the “good food list” but I want to get closer to that. (click here for info about the Healthy Living Challenge)

Here is a recipe that I have been making over and over again.  I love oatmeal so when my vegan-ish neighbor, Chelsie, told me about this Baked Oatmeal then I had to try it.  Now I’m hooked.  I warm it up in the microwave and add a little almond milk and breakfast tastes like dessert.  Healthy and totally legal in our Healthy Living Challenge.

Blueberry & Banana Baked Oatmeal

(Makes enough for 8×8 baking dish – double for 9×13 pan)

1 1/4 c. old fashioned rolled oats

1/3 c. chopped walnuts (divided) opt.

1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

pinch of salt

1/3 c. maple syrup

1 c. almond milk

1 flax egg (mix 1 T. flax seed + 3 T water – let set for 5 minutes) opt.

2 T Earth Balance soy butter or unsalted butter – melted

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3-4 ripe bananas, peeled and sliced

1 c. blueberries, fresh or frozen (divided)

(you can use other fruits such as fresh peaches and raspberries if you choose)

INSTRUCTIONS

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Lightly grease an 8×8 baking dish.

2.  In a medium bowl, mix the oats, half the walnuts, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.  Stir to combine.

3.  In a liquid measuring cup, combine the syrup, almond milk, flax egg, Earth Balance butter, and vanilla.

4.  Spread the sliced bananas in layers over the bottom of the baking dish.  Top with half of the berries.  Sprinkle the dry oat mixture over the fruit in an even layer.

5.  Pour the liquid ingredients evenly over the oats.  Sprinkle the remaining nuts and berries over the top.

6.  Bake 40-50 minutes until the top is browned and oats have set.  Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

7.  Favorite way to eat this: put it in a bowl with some almond milk and eat with a spoon.  Yum.

Enjoy!

Time to strap on those running shoes, fill the shopping cart with fresh food and get your mind focused on a fabulous 6 weeks!

Enjoy!

Here is Kylee on her first day of her mission in Brazil.  She’s the one with the long hair in the light blue sweater – a darling girl ready to serve.

Here’s a quote about girls and their desire to serve in this way.  For those of you working with LDS young women, enjoy this free printable that I designed for our area.  Some people don’t believe that the youth of today have much to offer but I say they do – no matter your faith or beliefs or way of life, we have strong youth in the world today and they will affect this world for good.

Here’s an example of kids making a difference in their daily life.  I cried like a baby while watching it.  My desire is strong to help mold Coleman to be the kind of young man that will SEE the needs of those around him, RECOGNIZE that he can do something to help, then ACT on those feelings even when that action is different than what might be normal in that situation.  Seeing the need – to me that is the key.  So often we pass by opportunities to help simply because we do not see the need.   We don’t observe it because we are focused on other things.  I want to teach Coleman to see the need then have the courage to act on what he observes.

What amazing young people he has to learn from!  Strong, capable, happy young men and women who are accomplishing good things – whatever faith or beliefs they might have.

I love watching it happen.

Sister Missionary Quote

Enter LynDee.  My neighbor and friend who inspired women in our neighborhood to take a Healthy Living Challenge in teams of two.  The original “Feeling Super in 6 Weeks” program has been floating around the internet and here is how we adapted it.  We earn points based on the good foods we eat, the exercise we do, the life we live.  We lose points for naughty choices.  Yikes!  We then report our weekly points to our partner and then to a group recorder who tells us who is “winning” each week.  Pounds lost plays a small part in the challenge because it is more about healthy living than about losing weight.  But we all know that we can’t live healthy without losing some weight in the process so that is definitely a goal for me.

I am now 8 weeks into this thing (the other ladies started 4 weeks before me).  I’ve lost about 15 pounds and I feel like a new person.  Literally.  The group is taking a 2 week break right this minute and then we’ll have one more 6-week session right before summer starts.  New partners. 6 new weeks.  It’s coming starting Friday, April 12.  I decided to keep going during the two week break but I’m not being quite so strict.  I don’t want to backtrack so I decided to stay focused and keep moving forward with the challenge till the rest of the group joins me again.

Now, let’s get down to business.  First, there are guidelines to this challenge.  Rules need to be followed to earn your maximum number of points.  Be honest!  No cheating yourself of the changes that are possible!  These rules are focused on the entire body and spirit so you will see religious things included.  You can choose to leave those things out or simply replace them with something that feeds your spirit.  Click here (Healthy Living Program Rules) to download the rules that WE are using.  Feel free to adapt it but I encourage you to stick as closely to the plan as possible since it works.  I’m here to prove it!  All of these downloads are a reflection of our 4-week sessions.  Our next session will be 6 weeks because we are trying to be done before school is out and summer hits.  But you can do it for 4 weeks or 5 weeks or 6 weeks or whatever works for you.  I loved doing a longer commitment but in 4-week increments.  That was a really successful formula.

Next you need this Point Tracker.  This is the one we are using and you can create your own really easily – it’s just an excel document.  Our week has been starting on Wednesdays and we report our points on the following Wednesday morning.  I like doing it like that because Sunday is a free day for exercise (20 free points!) and that lands in the middle of our week to give a day to recover.  Due to other calendar items happening in April, we will be starting on a Friday and reporting each Friday.  I am including both Point Trackers (Wednesday and Friday starts) but they can be changed to whatever start day you want in excel.  See the list at the bottom of this post for all of the downloads.  Friday, April 12 will be our start date – all my online friends you can join us or start it whatever day you like!

Finally, you need this Good & Bad Food List.  At first it may seem like everything good is on the bad list!  You’re right – there are a lot of tasty things on there. But they are not doing us any favors so for THIS challenge we are committing to giving them up.  And here’s what I’ve found, it was really hard at first to let go of some of those things, but by focusing on the good food list, I am starting to crave those foods more than I ever did before.  I’m not saying I don’t want to snack on the chocolate chip cookies my friend Kristy brought me for my birthday this week (thanks a lot!), but my cravings ARE reduced the more healthy foods I eat.

Also, here is a Weekly Calendar Example to give you an idea of what kinds of things can go on yours.  A different person doing the challenge creates the Weekly Calendar each week.  It can include anything that helps us live better – spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally.  You choose these daily challenges.  Here’s the links again for each file:

Healthy Living Program Rules

Point Tracker – Wednesday Start

Point Tracker – Friday Start 

Good & Bad Food List

Weekly Calendar Example

Take a look.  Think it over.  Can you commit to this right now?  I couldn’t do the first 4 week session with my neighbors because Jason had just gone into the hospital and I couldn’t add one more thing to my list.  But I was ready to take it on a month later.  Do what’s right for you but consider jumping into it and creating a more healthy life for yourself.

Let me know what you decide!  We would love to have you!

I spray painted this phrase from my Silhouette store and Coleman quickly poured Diamond Dust glitter on it.  The paint acted like the adhesive.  Then I turned my back to spray the background of the blue tag and Cole proceeded to dig his hands into the jar of Diamond Dust and lift them out.

glitter.everywhere.

Oh well, there are worse things than a layer of glitter in your life.

I used this set of bracket labels for the tags.  I applied washi tape in strips on my white cardstock before running it through the Silhouette Cameo.  Result: custom cut washi tape background for my glittered peeps phrase.  However, this technique didn’t really work when I tried to cut out the phrase because it was more intricate of a shape.  Simpler shapes are more successful.

To create the dots on the blue tag, just place coins on top of the cut design (I used pennies) and spray paint lightly over the whole thing.  The pennies work as a mask.

I get impatient so instead of waiting for it to dry, I simply flipped the pennies off the card and let it sit for about 10 minutes to dry.  The paint dries quickly on cardstock.

We painted the phrase a different color and attached it to the background.  Done.

Here’s to you – my favorite peeps!

Happy Easter!