Wednesday, April 8, 2015

2015 Conference Printables

Happy Wednesday, beautiful friends!

I have a special treat for you today - I finally got around to putting together some printables from last weekend's general conference. There were so many good quotes it was hard to pick just a few, but these are some of my favorites. Please feel free to download these and use them as handouts for lessons and visiting teaching, or just to hang around your house as little reminders. Enjoy!
Download all in one pdf
Wilford W. Anderson (pdf) (jpg)
Dallin H. Oaks (pdf) (jpg)
Flowers & laurel clip art from angie makes
Quentin L. Cook (pdf) (jpg)
Rustic Graphics from We Lived Happily Ever After
David A. Bednar (pdf) (jpg)
Wreath graphics from We Lived Happily Ever After
L. Whitney Clayton (pdf) (jpg)
Boyd K. Packer (pdf) (jpg)
L. Tom Perry (pdf) (jpg)
D. Todd Christofferson (pdf) (jpg)
Michael T. Ringwood (pdf) (jpg)
Watercolor background from angie makes
Henry B. Eyring (pdf) (jpg)

Dale G. Renlund (pdf) (jpg)
Feather clip art from angie makes
Linda K. Burton (pdf) (jpg)

Monday, April 6, 2015

Coming soon...

Happy Monday, everyone!

Wow. This weekend's general conference left me feeling truly uplifted, enlightened, and inspired. There were so many amazing talks (I'm looking at you, Holland and Uchtdorf), I don't think I could claim a favorite.

If you've come to my blog looking for printables again, thank you! I am still working on them... too many good quotes to sift through. I'll try and post them all by the end of the week, so keep checking back. Until then...

Just a little sneak peek ;)

Thursday, April 2, 2015

em & me is ONE! (+ a giveaway)

Today is a special day! One year ago I started this little blog, not really knowing what I was doing. Well, I still don't know what I'm doing but I'm so grateful to everyone who reads and encourages me. It's been a fun year and I have some new ideas I'm excited to try in the coming year.
I could think of no more fitting way to celebrate the blog turning one than to host a giveaway! So much of this past year has been about how much Em loves reading and all our book adventures together, and we would love to share that adventure with you. Now through next 11:59 p.m. next Wednesday, you can enter to win a book bundle of some of our favorite books. Happy entering, and good luck!
Bundle includes: Where the Wild Things Are, Goodnight Moon, Olivia Saves the Circus, Giraffes Can't Dance, Little Blue Truck, The Pout-Pout Fish, Go Dog Go!, I Love You Stinky Face, Hug Time, Guess How Much I Love You

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Spiritual Thought: He Lives

This week we started our new calling as teachers for the CTR 4 class. Whew. I totally underestimated how hard this was going to be! Makes teaching Relief Society look like a snap.

But one of the things I can already tell that I am going to love about this calling is how teaching primary is really all about the basics. Sometimes it's so good to go back to basics. This week we taught the Easter lesson and it pretty much boiled down to a few simple things:

  • Jesus Christ is my brother
  • He loves all Children of God 
  • He atoned for my sins in the Garden of Gethsemane 
  • He died on the cross for me
  • After three days he rose again
  • Because of him, I will be resurrected and live again

What a beautiful way to review the basic principles of the Gospel, and a wonderful reminder at Easter time.

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Baby's first rodeo

So Texas. Most of us don't wear cowboy boots or hats on the regular. We don't ride horses around. There aren't tumbleweeds rolling around everywhere (just some places).

But we do eat a lot of barbecue, say y'all, watch a lot of football, and go to the rodeo. It's a whole experience! I haven't been in years but thought Em would enjoy it, so we went on Saturday and she was. in. heaven.
First off, let's talk about this outfit. I can't decide if it's more ridiculous or more adorable. I found the tutorial for this skirt from V and Co. and was pleasantly surprised how quick and easy it was to throw together. It's a bandanna cut in half, sides sewn together like a tube, and an elastic sewn into the top. Add a little contrast fabric to the bottom and viola! Western skirt. Took maybe two hours, and that's because I'm still a beginner sewer.

But then silly mama didn't take the time to figure out the rest of the outfit. I worked with what I had. The boots are a little too "winter" and not enough "western" and I think the tank just screams "white trash" but hey, it's the rodeo. It works. Oh, and the pigtails just killed me.

We headed straight to the horses. We know from some of the fall festivals we went to a few months ago that she LOVES horse rides. The last one she went on, she cried when it was time to go.
It was 5 tokens to ride. Hans went off to find tokens and this one could barely contain herself waiting. Fortunately, the nice lady working the ride saw Em like this and just pulled her over the fence and plunked her on a horse.
Look at the smile. She couldn't be happier.
And since daddy came back with tokens, we got to ride it a second time! She was smiling and giggling the whole time
There was also a great petting zoo that Em loved. I tried to go in with her but for some reason three different goats tried to eat my dress. What?!
These goats were aggressive!
I don't know what that thing is, but I think it wanted to follow Hans home.
We also hit up the livestock show to see the prize winning animals. We missed the mutton bustin' (bummer!) but I was surprised how much Em enjoyed just looking at the animals. 
Side note: This kid has turned into a climber. She scales everything. Gives me a freaking heart attack.
She wanted so badly to steal Uncle David's cowboy hat. It was a little big for her, but she kept trying.
Daddy and Em tried to win a minion at the carnival, but no luck.
We had a great time and we will be back next year!

Monday, March 30, 2015

Mama Monday: Do-A-Dot Review (and printables!)

Last week was my turn to teach Tot School again and I think it went much more smoothly than the time before. But I'll post more on that next week, when I've had a chance to pull together a better resource list.

But as a little preview I wanted to give a little review of Do-A-Dot markers. I had heard a lot about these from various mommy blogs and wanted to give them a try. They were hard to find! You can get them off Amazon (easiest) for about $15, or you can get them from Michaels and use a 40% off coupon. That's for a pack of six.
Bottom line? These were a TOTAL HIT! I think coloring can be a little hard for kiddos this age to stay in the lines. But the dot markers were easy for them to get exactly in the right spot and I could see expressions of accomplishment and satisfaction on their cute little faces. Mama liked it because it promotes great fine motor skills, wasn't super messy, and encouraged quiet, focused attention.

I think we'll be doing a lot more dot marker time in the future. And just for funsies, I made a couple dot marker coloring pages if you want to try out. Enjoy!
A, B, and C dot pages (download)

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Love List: What We're Watching

Hi, my name is Erika, and I'm a Netflix addict. I hate watching shows live. Binge is the only way to go. I like it in the background while I do dishes or work or whatever. Brainless shows are best for that. But we are kind of in a show rut right now. We've tried a few shows (Parks and Rec, The Fall) and couldn't get in to them. So here's what we're watching (re-watching) right now. Shoot me your favs and give me something to add to my list!

1, Supernatural
This is the only "new to us" thing we're watching. It took us a long time to get in to it but we stuck with it because we figured the rabid fandom couldn't be wrong. Five seasons in and we are liking it! But we only watch it together (it's our current "our" show) so it's kinda slow going.
2. Friends
Yay for Netflix getting all seasons of my favorite show of all time. I can recite this word for word in my sleep. Anyone else notice that Netflix has an edited version, though? I sometimes notice little lines missing here and there. Weird.
Bonus: Did you know our wedding cake was "Friends" themed? We are *that* kind of fans.

3. Chuck
Re-watching this one because it's been a while and it still makes me laugh. I love that it has a butt-kicking chick and a nerdy guy as the leads and it's too dang funny. And let's talk about the eye candy that is Zachary Levi...
4. Once Upon a Time
Just finished re-watching this, mostly as wishful thinking. When is Netflix getting the next season??
5. Daniel Tiger
The other night we noticed that we were still watching this after Em went to bed. As far as kid shows go, it's definitely the best. Great lessons, no annoying characters (dude, Curious George's voice bugs me!) and the kid loves it. It's a daily staple in our house.
"If you have to go potty STOP - and go right away..."