"You and I" -- a Cover of Stevie Wonder's Song, Sung by George Michael (RIP 12-25-2016)

As I was searching for other videos of George Michael, I heard him talking about this song with Piers Morgan.  (see this link below for that conversation)

George Michael talking with Piers Morgan

So I went searching for the song, and found it!  I like it.  It's a song that he arranged and recorded for the Royal couple -- Prince William and Kate before they got married.

Enjoy!

You and I -- sung by George Michael

Celine Dion -- "Hymn"

When someone you love dies..........

Sing a Hymn.   : )

Celine Dion -- Hymn

Being Mormon and Gay

I am NOT a spokes-person for this subject!

However -- I liked this video.  I liked this lady's story.

She talks about her feelings, her struggles, and about doing what she felt was right.

Enjoy!

Laurie's Story

Oh...... YES!!!!!!!!!!

Please.  Watch the video below.   : )

It's about saying "no" to people, when you really do NOT have the time or energy, or when even if you just don't want to do something.

Teach your children that although it's important to respect your parents, teachers and other people with authority, and it's nice to serve and help others...... it's totally O.K. to say "no" if someone asks you to help with something, and you would really rather not.

Know your limits and know that people will survive without your help.  You do not need to always "save the day".

RELAX!  Take time for yourself.  Be as kind to yourself as you are to others.

You're welcome!   : )

Enjoy!

"I said NO."

Transgender People

Hi!   Sometimes, people find out that their son or daughter is "transgender".

That has not been my experience, however I am learning that there are many people who are transgender, and that they have strong, deep feelings about it, since it affects every aspect of their life.

There is a book that was written by Hillary Whittington called, "Raising Ryland", where she talks about her daughter who insisted she was a boy.  I read her book and thought it had very good insight into the struggles she and her family faced as they came to accept that Ryland was a boy.

Here is the link to Amazon, if you want to buy the book:

Raising Ryland


Here is a video on CNN, which shows you their family, and a little bit about their story:

CNN -- Ryland Whittington's Story


Here is a video I found on YouTube, where a father tells his daughter's story about feeling like a boy inside:

Skip Pardee talks about his Transgender Son



My hope is that people love and accept their children for who they are.

I've heard people say that we shouldn't say that boys and girls typically like to play with a certain kind of toy and wear certain kinds of clothes.  I disagree with that.  Boys DO typically like "boy" things and girls typically like "girl" things.

It doesn't mean that they HAVE to or that they SHOULD play with or wear those things -- it just means that they generally gravitate to them.

This is especially true if your boy feels like he's a girl!  He will probably want to play with "girl" things and wear "girl" clothes!  That might not always be the case, but I would venture to say that it is quite often the case.

Therefore -- if your boy wants to play with girl toys, he should be able to play with them -- especially if he has TOLD you, "I'm a GIRL!".  Then, you know WHY he wants to play with girl toys and wear girl clothes.

I do NOT know why people are sent here to earth to live in that way.  I do not know why other people are born into a body with Down Syndrome or with no legs or arms.  I do not know why infants die at birth.  I do not have answers to a LOT of big questions.

I do believe that one day, God will let us know the answers to all of those types of questions.  For now, we just do what we can to live with what we have been given.

We pray and ask Heavenly Father to help us know what to do.

There are SO many aspects of life that are challenging.

May you find peace in your journey.

Raising a Relative's Child

I thought this was a good article.   : )

Click on link below:

"Kinship Care"

Light of Heaven (Fernando Ortega -- Live)

I really like this song.   : )

This morning I wanted to listen to some really nice music, so I came here to look through some of the music I've posted here, and found one of his other songs, which lead me to find this one on YouTube.

Enjoy!

Light of Heaven

"He Hears and Answers" (by Clayton S. Huber -- BYU Speech -- 2002)

I liked a story he told (almost half-way into his talk) where a little 9 year-old girl prayed that Heavenly Father would heal her Dad, but she said that if God needed her Dad, that He could take him, but then asked, "...if you need to take him,... please help us not to be mad at you.".

He Hears and Answers

Celebration Time!

Things are still getting better between my husband and I.

He proposed to me many moons ago on St. Patrick's Day.   : )

I've got a few videos to share!

Jib Jab:

Jib Jab that I "made" for my husband this year

Happy Anniversary Song:

(Click on the link below and then scroll down to see the video.)

Anniversary Song by Derek Clark

Wedding Song:

Wedding Song by McFly band singer at his wedding

The Lord is My Shepherd (sheet music by Sally DeFord)

I love this version of the song.  (Violin is optional.)

Below a paragraph about the song, there's a link to get a PDF of the sheet music.

The Lord is My Shepherd

"Happy Families"  (Mormon Channel video)

I liked this video.

Enjoy!

Click on link below and then click on the video to start it:

Raising a Family (Learning the Ropes Together)

Howdy!

Here's an update for ya'.

I mentioned in my last post that my husband and I were struggling.

We're doing better.

There were two months where it was a challenge, but we did talk every day during that time.

Then, a week ago today, I told him I thought I'd be ready to kiss him again -- mainly just a kiss hello or our normal "kiss before going through any door" routine, which we had started before we got married.

He wasn't ready yet, but said he wanted to, and the next night, he kissed me when he came home from work.

We'll just continue taking it one day at a time, and we'll continue to "try again tomorrow", and to pray for help and keep a sense of humor.  : )

Ale -- "I'm A Mormon" Video (dance instructor)

This is about Alejandra Vidal.   : )

I liked her video.

It gives me hope, especially since my husband and I are struggling right now, even after almost 18 years.  It's so sad, and not easy.

I like Ale's attitude.

Click below to watch the video (click on the "cc" at the bottom of the video for a translation of what she's saying):

Ale -- Dance Instructor



Here's me and my husband from last year.

Here's from a ten years ago...

We were just playing around back then....  Now, that picture from 10 years ago kind of looks more like how we're both feeling right now.

Teaching your kids about writing a research paper...........

My instructor gave me this link.

It is a slide-show (a Powerpoint presentation) with 19 slides on what Plagiarism is and isn't.  (Notice and practice how to spell "plagiarism"! -- pla-giar-ism.  One way to remember it is that the middle part is kind of like the word, "liar", but with a "g".  Another is to remember that the middle part is spelled "giar".)

In my opinion, there should have been at least two more examples of how to correctly paraphrase or summarize a sentence.  They give five "wrong" ways of writing and only three "correct" ways of writing.

I think Slide 16 explains "non-plagiarism" the best.

Click on link below:

Plagiarism

Do you have a dog??  (Cesar Millan can help!)

I do not have a dog.  I don't ever want to get one!

There are fleas, etc.......  You have to love them as you would a family member.

Here is the link to Cesar Millan's website.

He is known as "The Dog Whisperer".

Cesar Millan


"You are the reward."

Training a dog.

He gives some really good basic information:

You are the reward.

Apps for Kids.............

This website talks about one app that I found tonight.

Here's the link to the website:

topbestappsforkids .com

"Faith is Not by Chance, but by Choice" -- Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

In his talk, he gives two main examples of faith.

The first is about a guy who chose to go on a mission despite many reasons why he might want to choose not to.

The second is a story about what happened to a family in Utah.

There are some "technical difficulties" in a few places in his talk, but if you just let the video continue to play on, it will get back on track.

Click on link below:

Elder Andersen


Obituary of Mark Openshaw

I liked what they said about him:

Obituary

"Hold to the Rod" (picture by James Christiansen)

Today in Sacrament Meeting, a lady gave a talk about doing things that Heavenly Father wants us to do.

She mentioned this picture.  She described it as a guy who was holding so many things that he couldn't hold onto the iron rod.  If he were to try to hold onto the iron rod, he would need to get rid of some of his things.

I had seen this picture before, but never understood the hoopla
about it.  I didn't get it.  I didn't know the name of the picture.  To me, it just looked like a colorful picture of a guy looking up!   : )

Now I understand what the story is.

Here is a link to a puzzle of the picture, sold by Deseret Book:

Hold to the Rod (Puzzle)

I Need Thee Every Hour -- Fernando Ortego

I like this version of the song and I like his voice.

The video is over 8 minutes.  Only the first 3 min. 48 seconds of the song are filled with the song, "I Need Thee Every Hour", then there are some other words and music:

Fernando Ortego

A song by Audrey Assad, called "Lead Kindly Light" (not the normal one from the Hymnal)

I like this version of her song the best.  You can hear it better and concentrate on the music:

Click on link below:

Song by Audrey Assad

"Through God's Eyes" -- Elder Renlund -- October 2015

I like his talk.

He testifies that he knows that Jesus lives and that the keys to the Gospel of Jesus Christ were restored to Joseph Smith.

Click on link below:

Through God's Eyes

What to Title This?..... I don't know.........

This is a story of a lady named Judy, and what happened in her life.

Click on link below:

Judy

Face to Face with Elder Rasband, Sister Oscarson and Brother Owen

I want to watch this later.

It's bound to be good.  Elder Rasband is a newly-called member of the 12 Apostles.

Click on link below:

Face to Face with Elder Rasband...

Glowing Waves

I think this is very cool.

Click on link below:

Glowing Waves

Disciplining and Rewarding Your Child

Here's a video I like.  I think she has some good suggestions:

Disciplining Suggestions

You Know Enough (Elder Neil L. Andersen -- October 2008 General Conference)

I like this talk.  He says, "You don't know everything, but you know enough.".   : )

Click on link below:

You Know Enough

Meet Me Halfway (Kenny Loggins)

Sometimes, we need to meet each other "half-way".

We need to compromise or make something work differently than we would consider optimum, but we need to do this without giving-up what is most important to us.

I like this song by Kenny Loggins.

Meet Me Halfway

Child of Light (written by Tyler Castleton and sung by Mindy Gledhill)

I love this song:

Child of Light

It was from the 2004 EFY soundtrack called, "Stand in the Light".

Here is where you can download an "iTunes" copy of any of the songs from the CD:

iTunes songs from Stand in the Light 

Online, at Deseret Book, you can buy a CD called, "Ultimate EFY Collection", which has her song listed as the second song!  Yay!  I'm so glad that I finally found it!!!

Ultimate EFY Collection 

Here's where you can download an "iTunes" copy of any of the songs from the CD:

iTunes songs from Ultimate EFY Collection 

You can get a copy of the sheet music here:

Sheet Music

Here are other copies of sheet music, written by Tyler Castleton, that you can also buy:

Tyler Castleton, Sheet Music

Here's Tyler's website:

Tyler Castleton Website

Newsies Medley by BYU Vocal Point

I like good entertainment.

Enjoy the video!

Newsies Medley

What Lack I Yet? -- Larry Lawrence (October 2015 General Conference)

I like his talk about improving ourselves.

I like how he mentions that Heavenly Father cares more about what direction we are moving in, than how fast we are progressing.

I do believe that He is happy when we are improving our lives.

If we want to progress at a faster rate than we are now, we can pray for help.  He can send us specific guidance, through the Holy Ghost.

What Lack I Yet?

Siblings Singing

I love hearing brothers and sisters singing together.

Here's a guy playing the guitar with his sister singing with him.

Enjoy!

Singing on YouTube

Mormon Scientist (Henry Eyring -- Father of Henry B. Eyring)

Click on link below to see the video shown by BYU-Idaho:

Mormon Scientist

Elder Hugo Montoya -- Tested and Tempted but Helped

This is his October 2015 General Conference talk.

I like how he says to Smile.   : )

Elder Montoya

Liftware -- for people with Parkinson's

Here's a website that sells utensils that can be used by people who have various kinds of tremors.

It stabilizes the spoon or fork so that the food stays on the utensil and the person can easily eat:

Liftware 

The Gift of Grace -- Elder Uchtdorf

I like this talk:

Grace

Saran Wrap (or Shrink Wrap) Ball!

(Note:  My sister asked a friend of hers what she used when she did it, and she said "Saran Wrap", and that "It was great!".  So I vote Saran Wrap, since it seems to work just fine.)

I think this would be a very fun family game or party game!

While the first person tries to un-wrap the ball, the person to their right is trying to roll doubles with the dice.

When they roll doubles, the dice get passed to the right of them, and they get the ball, to try to un-wrap.

There's candy (or money, or something) between almost every layer.

I'm going to attempt to share this video, however, sometimes, Facebook videos or pictures aren't accessible anymore after a period of time.

We'll see if this one is viewable by anyone at anytime..........

Even if the video disappears, I'll post the instructions here.

First, here's the Facebook link to the video:

Saran or Shrink Wrap Ball!

Here are the instructions (below) that one lady posted when someone asked about how to play the game and make the ball:

However -- as I read through it though, she says that the person to the left of the person with the ball rolls the dice.

In the video, the person to the RIGHT of the person with the ball is rolling the dice.  That makes more sense.

Also, it sounds like this person is someone other than the person who made the ball in the video because she says that it took about 20 minutes to play with 24 students.  There aren't 24 people playing the game in this video, and it looks like a family, not a bunch of students.  Plus -- you can do whatever you want!  The video and instructions are just for ideas.   : )

INSTRUCTIONS:

To make the candy ball:

I used about 75 pieces/ packages of candy. I used all sizes and types.
 
To start the ball, I used a large jingle bell elf as the center. (It was fun for the kids to hear the jingle inside as they pulled off layer after layer. The closer they got to the center, the louder the bell jingled)
 
I wrapped it in bubble wrap and taped it with packing tape.
 
Then I placed a piece of candy on the ball that was forming and wrapped it up with shrink wrap (the sturdy wrap used for packing and moving) I would not recommend saran wrap as it is not sturdy enough.
 
I continued this process of placing a candy on the wrapped ball until it was a little larger than a basketball.
 
Every few layers, I would use tape to seal up the recently wrapped layer (this made it a little more challenging and I recommend doing this)

To Play the game: 
A player hold the ball and starts removing the layers.
 
The player on their left is rolling 2 dice as fast as possible in an attempt to roll doubles
 
When the player to the left rolls doubles, they pass the pan and dice to their left and the ball is passed to them.
 
They tear as many layers as possible while the player to their left is rolling the dice and so forth.
 
As the layers are removed, the candy starts to come out.
 
Players keep any candy that comes out during their turn.
This took us about 20 minutes with 24 students playing.
This was fast moving and kept their total attention.
Everyone got at least 1 piece of candy.

To make this more challenging, have players wear gloves. If you plan on using gloves, you may not want to use as much tape when assembling the ball.

Lighted Musical Seesaws in Montreal Canada!

Cool idea.   : )  It'd be a fun family activity/vacation spot.

Seesaws