12/5/25 Frugal Friday: Thrifting for Christmas/November 2025 Thrift Hauls

Posted on December 5, 2025 by treeoflifemama


I didn’t do much thrifting in October. Just on my trip to Maine which I shared last month. I made up for it in November though!

Above is my first haul for the month. I got to go with my married daughter to the Provo DI, which we haven’t been to in awhile together. We were also with my mom who offered to pay for my haul since it was my birthday. A birthday thrifting spree! I was thrilled to find a brand-new candle still in the wrapper, with a Pyrex dish to hold it. The teal blue frame now holds a photo of my missionary son. I was super excited to find the Venn board game, I had actually checked it out from the library. It’s a great logic game that teaches how Venn diagrams work. It involves word association. I love these types of games! Then the Metagame, which is 4 games in one. I might give that one away as a Christmas gift to a family member.


Here’s more of what I found, above and below. Ok if you are any of my children please stop reading. Some of these photos show Christmas gifts for you. I don’t want you to have your surprises ruined!

I love the lime green trench coat. It’s XXL so it will fit on me when I have on a bulky sweater underneath. Plus a Mickey Mouse T-shirt to put in my 16 yo’s stocking, and navy top with stars to wear next Independence Day! The yellow cardigan looks so pretty but I took it back for an exchange. It was 100% polyester and felt yucky on my bare arms when I finally tried it on at home. I just love the tablecloth with the harvest theme. I went looking with the intention of finding a Thanksgiving tablecloth and I found one!

Then I went back a week later and found the following, below. I had just dropped my son off for his percussion sectional class and felt this inkling of a magnetic pull to go to the Provo DI, even though that wasn’t my original plan for the morning.

A Hanna Andersson sweater for my oldest grandchild! Only $4! I texted my daughter (his mom) right away about it. I’ve been wanting to find something Hanna Andersson at DI ever since she said she found Hanna Andersson PJs there last year, which created downright thrift envy in me. So now I can say I’ve had a Magical Hanna Andersson Thrifting Moment (MAHTM), lol. She said she wanted it for his December 1st box, and that she had been wanting to find a sweater for him. So this was a major score, and the reason, I suppose, why I was pulled towards the store on that particular morning. (A December 1st box must be a Millennial Mom thing. We had no such things when I was a young mom. So much for her being a minimalist!) Then a sparkly Christmas sweater for me to wear with my poinsettia shirt I got in Maine when thrifting in October, an adorable chunky ivory sweater that looks handmade (there was no tag inside), which looks so hygge, a fun floral top, a new candle to give to my mom for her birthday to go in a gift basket with NWT gray sweater I found in Maine last October when I went thrifting with my sister, a NWT Disney shirt for me to be a pajama top, and two books! The American patriot book is also for my mom, for either her birthday or Christmas, and the DK New England book is for me! I just love DK books and I love New England so I’m super excited about reading that book. It’s something to look forward to reading in January since I don’t have time for it in December!

Then on Black Friday I got the stuff above, at the Orem Savers, and the stuff below, at the American Fork DI. The two books for boys and the Duplo people and the little house front will go in a Christmas gift basket for my two oldest grandsons, along with the Marvel book below. I’m making them a boy’s adventure-themed basket. A Pioneer Woman toaster for only $5 to add to my Pioneer Woman kitchen! I got the Disney songbook for my guitar-playing son. I had that same book in my family home growing up, and I’m not sure where it went. I’ve looked for it here at my home and can’t find it, but it may be buried in my voluminous piano sheet music collection. Maybe it’s at a sister’s home? In any case, for $2 I definitely got it, whether it’s for me or for my son! It’s out of print and has songs from shows that he grew up with like Disney’s Johnny Appleseed and Disney’s Robin Hood. I now have a Disney piano songbook similar to it that my parents gave to me for Christmas when I was a young mom as a nod to the book we had in our family home, but the newer one doesn’t have those oldies songs. So this was a major find! I got the Mayflower book for my mom for her birthday since she and my dad each have at least one Mayflower ancestor. Also the mug. The fertility book will go to my married daughter since she has asked me about natural family planning. I read that book when I was a young mom and found it to be an invaluable resource. I’m giving the poetry book to my dad for Christmas since he has really gotten into poetry in his old age. The quote game will be for my dad as well, and the the Orson Scott Card books are for two of my children’s stockings. The Anne of Green Gables graphic novel is for my married daughter’s stocking. My sister Emily has been raving about this version of the story for years. Then the two C.S. Lewis books are for my son-in-law’s stocking. (We have huge stockings.) The Mom Trivia card deck will go in my stocking. It matches the Dad Trivia card deck for my husband’s stocking that I found at a DI a few months ago! The Wizard Always Wins will go to my married daughter and son-in-law with two other games, since last year at Christmas time she said she wanted to play more board games more often. The white book on the left is a Terryl and Fiona Givens book that I got for a friend, along with the John Grisham book. I put those in a gift basket I blogged about here.

The CM scrapbook pages were only $1 a set for two sets. I do need more of those to finish the scrapbooks I started decades ago. (Gulp, is anyone else severely in a scrapbook delayed condition like I am? I’ve gone digital for some but also feel a pull to finish the old school versions.) Then a little photo album (for my old school hard copy photos that need preserving some way), a pretty silver frame that says “Sisters” to frame a photo of my sisters and me, and more books for family members. Plus some black pants! It was a very good day at two thrift stores! So many great treasures to give to many loved ones, and a few things for myself, for around $60 total!

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12/04/25 Thrifting Thursday: Thrifting for Gifting #1, Themed Book Baskets!

Posted on December 4, 2025 by treeoflifemama

‘Tis the season for gift planning and shopping! Christmas is three weeks from today! Have you ever thought of giving Christmas gifts from things you find at a thrift store? If not, I’m here to tell you to do it! Contrary to some people’s opinion, not all thrift store merchandise is junk. You can find beautiful, useful and valued items perfect for gift giving at thrift stores.

These items can be new with tag or like new without tag, still looking never used or gently used. They are perfectly suitable to give as gifts. For example, you can often find books that look brand new. It’s fun to get a basket from the thrift store (they abound) in like new condition and fill it with like new items that you know your recipient is interested in, to make themed book baskets. Of course you can add new stuff too. To make it easy on the budget add not-cheap looking stuff from the dollar store. Recently I decided I wanted to assemble a gift basket for a friend. I knew she loves books by John Grisham as well as Harry Potter books. She’s also a member of my church so we share the same faith. She also lives in a cold climate so I figured she would enjoy a new cheery Christmas mug with some herbal tea. So for this basket, the theme was my friend and her interests and the fact that’s she’s headed into winter.

This is what I came up with.

First some books for her to enjoy reading this winter with a candle from the Dollar Store. I also threw in a Christmas DVD still in the shrink wrap that I somehow acquired through the years. I found all the books at thrift stores.

One of my sons had Terryl Givens as an instructor for a religion class last year and he said he was fabulous. So I was super excited to find a book that Brother Givens had authored with his wife, Fiona Givens, at Savers last week. I figured she’d enjoyed reading about “rethinking sin, salvation, and everything in between.” Sounds fascinating right?! I want to read it! I will be definitely finding a copy for myself.

Then I added an assortment of herbal tea packets that I already had on hand. I’m hoping she’s not a tea snob like the mom of the main character in the book Under the Egg, who has a penchant for gourment, expensive tea. These are just run-of-the mill herbal teas you can find at a regular grocery store. Plus a mug and some potholders I got at the Dollar Store. I also threw in some brand new gloves from amazon that came in a collection I bought that aren’t in any of these photos. The fingertips of the gloves are designed to work with touch-screen phones so I hope she finds that super useful.

Here’s what the finished basket gift looks like. I used a basket that I had found thrifting and tied it up with one of my many Christmas ribbons that I like to recycle.

I gave it to her early, last week, before she left on a long road trip. I won’t be seeing her until the spring. She was thrilled! So go thrifting for baskets and goodies to fill them up. You don’t even have to do any baking!

To encourage you more, here are some photos of ideas from YouTube thrifters, as well as the related videos.

Above, we see an example basket from the video below by Katie Scott of Salvaged by Katie YouTube channel. It’s for someone who loves to cook. Ms. Scott found a cookbook and paired it with some beautiful wooden bowls and salad servers, along with some decorative nutcrackers and a pretty plaid dish towel. She got them all at thrift stores! So festive!

Here’s a gift basket for a bird lover. This thrifter found a bird watcher book and added a decorative birdhouse, some birdseed and other bird stuff. When I find the video I got this screenshot from I’ll include it below.

Then Monica Bazemore over in YouTube shows her thrifting trips to make three book-themed baskets, shown above: Polar Express, Narnia, and a cookbook for Christmas. So, so fun! She added some pretty scarves to some of the baskets and non-thrifted edible items like spices, candy, and tea.

I love that she found a toy stuffed lion and a Narnia picture book, then bought some Turkish Delight to add to the Narnia basket! My married daughter was enamored by Turkish Delight when she was about 12. She found a recipe and made some. I know she would love this basket!



I’ve always wondered what real Turkish Delight looks like ever since my daughter attempted making it.

Watch her two videos below where she finds the items and then assembles the baskets.

Then here is another video to inspire you. Not all the baskets below involve books. You can do themed baskets of anything! The sky’s the limit! It’s so much fun to assemble these.

Merry Thriftmas!

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Thriving on Thursday: Detoxing From Artificial Light

Posted on December 4, 2025 by treeoflifemama

Photo Credit: pixabay.com

I’m finally joining the crunchy mom bandwagon/party and learning about natural light. As well as all about toxic light that stresses the body and disrupts circadian rhythms. I know I could really benefit from implementing everything in the video down below.

The video shows Thaddeus Owens, a presenter from the 2025 Weston A Price Foundation Conference that was in Utah back in October. While I did go to the conference I didn’t go to this presentation so I’m super happy that the good folks at the WAPF shared this one for free in YouTube. So thank you Weston Price people! This is super important information for everyone to act on and be more hale and hearty.

My favorite part of it is when Mr. Owens shares the success story of one of his clients. This client struggled and struggled to lose his last 45 lbs. Finally he focused on changing his light diet. He didn’t change his food diet. The only two things he did differently was go outside at sunrise and wear blue blocking glasses at night. In 6 weeks he lost 45 lbs.

Mr. Owens also shares the study of two groups of mice. They had the same diet and exercise. One group had light 24/7. The other group had 12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark. The darkness deprived mice became obese and the group that got darkness stayed at a normal weight.

Screenshot

With all the extra stimulation going on during the Christmas season, following this light/dark protocol is a great way to protect ourselves from holiday stresses and emerge feeling nourished and not depleted. I’m excited to test it all out! Wintertime is the best time to honor darkness and see just how nourishing it can be!

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My Merry Christmas Mother’s Curriculum 2025

Posted on December 3, 2025 by treeoflifemama

It’s December! For me that means taking a break from my regularly scheduled everyday fare of books, audiobooks and podcasts (I’m currently listening to Travels With George and The Mayflower, both by Nathaniel Philbrick and Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss) to binge on all the good, beautiful and true things Christmas! I’ve been doing this for years. I didn’t really have a name for it, but I just found a name for what I do. Today I discovered this video below to describe what I’ve been doing every year: a Merry Mother’s Christmas curriculum. I love it! If you homeschool, you probably have heard about Christmas school. This is Christmas-themed homeschooling curriculum. What about having a personalized Christmas-themed curriculum for the homeschooling mom? That’s what this is! You don’t even have to be a homeschooler to do this. This is what veteran homeschooling mother Karen Andreola calls Mother Culture. (Her book about it is below.) It’s what Ramona Zabriskie in Wife for Life calls drops, delights, and dazzles of the heart. But for December it’s Christmas-themed! These are little and big things to fill your heart so you easily feel willing, happy, and able to serve others. With so many demands on you, mom, as chief merry maker of the family, it’s more important than ever to have an especially joyful December Mother Culture/Merry Christmas Mom Curriculum, to nourish your soul!

(As an Amazon associate, any purchases of books made through the links on this post earn me a small commission. The cost is the same to you.)


Watch below to see homeschooling mom America describe her Merry Christmas Mother Curriculum.

OK, so here’s my Merry Christmas Mother’s Curriculum. Some of it overlaps with family reading/Immanuel Wreath discussion at dinner time and December Morning Basket time for homeschooling, as well as family movie time.

First, I’ll be reading from these two advent books above and below. We do the Our Family Christmas as a family at dinnertime, after we do the name of Christ for the day/lighting the Immanuel Advent Wreath. (Go here to read about the Immanuel Wreath.)

Photo Credit: desertbook.com

Our Family Christmas is basically an Advent book from an LDS Christian perspective. I found this thrifting for only $3! One of my favorite ever thrift store finds! Definitely a Magical Thrifting Moment. Each day has a question that can be used as a journal prompt or discussion starter. Like for Dec. 1, the question is “What are you looking forward to the most this Christmas season?” and for Dec. 2 the question is “What is your favorite Christmas tree ornament?” There’s always a story, an activity, and a song for each day in this Advent book. We always do the question, never the activity, and sometimes we look up the history of the song in YouTube and watch that video. What I do on my own is sometimes read the whole story. Then I often retell it because the story is often long and people are done eating before I’m done with the story if I don’t condense it.

Then this Advent book above is from a different Christian perspective. I’ve seen it mentioned it by a lot of homeschool Christian moms vloggers. I found it in the children’s book section at Savers and joyfully snatched it up for $5 a few years ago. I just love, love the pretty cover. I’ll pick it up and read from it occasionally with no systematic study plan which is totally OK. Even though I don’t agree with all of it doctrinally I do enjoy it.

Then we have magazines from my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I absolutely love reading the Christmas stories in these. I have this month’s print copies that I’ll share with my son for our homeschool Morning Basket, and then I also love reading stories from previous years in the LDS Gospel Library App. (You can find a collection of stories I curated from Gospel Library in my Family Devotionals Ebook in the December section. Go here to get it.)

Usually I listen to one General Conference talk a day after I listen to the Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ. For December, I’ll be listening to at least one talk a day from the First Presidency Christmas Devotionals.

I started listening to this book above last year after seeing it in the BYU Store. I never finished it and now I’m starting over. It’s in Everand and I just unlocked the title yesterday. So far I’m loving it. It has a familiar ring to it since it’s historical fiction based on Charles Dickens and his writing of A Christmas Carol. So it sounds like The Man Who Invented Christmas. Deja vu! I’m curious to see if it turns out the same way as TMWIC. Which one came first and which is better? We shall see!

I heard about this Christmas romance from a homeschool vlogger and it sounded fun and clean so I also got it in Everand. So far I’m enjoying it.

Then there are Christmas podcasts. I love listening to Focus on the Family Christmas Stories podcast. Also the BYU Radio Constant Wonder Advent. I learned about the Constant Wonder Advent last year, when I providentially met the producer, Tennery Norton, at a women’s party for my church. I listen to one episode a day. I am getting so educated as to different people, cultures and places around the world and how they celebrate Christmas. I just love it! Go here to read more about the podcast and how to listen.

I’m also enjoying The Christmas Jars podcast. The Christmas Jars book is fiction, but it has inspired many real, true stories of people receiving Christmas Jars anonymously. These stories are so heartwarming! Just what I love to hear! Read the book (and the picture book), watch the movie here, and only then listen to the podcast here. It’s hosted by the author of the book, Jason F. Wright. I just love these stories!

Then there’s the Christmas Chronicles story, which isn’t really a true podcast but is published on podcast platforms by BYU Radio. This is a story written by Tim Slover. I just love the story because it is my favorite telling of the backstory of Santa. Not only that, but it tells the history of Mrs. Claus. We hardly ever hear about her. What’s with that in this post-feminist world? She definitely deserves equal time! The fantasy elements of this story kind of remind me of the Chronicles of Narnia. Go here to listen. I listened to this with all of my children when they lived at home, so it just breathes nostalgia for me as I fondly remember those Christmas years and I hope it does for them. The charming magical fantasy of the story with the epic battle of good vs. evil takes your Christmas to a whole new level of delight and wonder! Mr. Slover definitely has a way with words to weave a marvelous Christmas tale.

Next, movies! I have some of my favorite, little-known Christmas movies/videos over here and some of my fave Christmas rom coms here for date night. We usually always watch It’s a Wonderful Life (except the past few years I’ve needed a break after watching it annually for 30+ years) and Muppet Christmas Carol. I’ve been meaning to watch I Heard the Bells and haven’t yet so will definitely prioritize it this year. I also want to watch The Most Wonderful Time of Year (stars Henry Winkler) for the laughs it gives me as well as Christmas With the Karountzoses. Both are so, so funny! They also give you that happy holiday family energy as well.

It’s been awhile since I watched The Nativity Story movie so I want to watch that this year.

Then there are a few new-to-me Christmas movies I noticed in this video below that maybe I’ll watch for date night with my husband.

I’m also going to dabble in watching/listening to as many Christmas Concerts with the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square. Many are on YouTube here, and often tell the backstories of well-known Christmas carols and/or stories. I got to see in person the one with the Muppets back in 2013 or so which was so fun, as well as the one about Dickens narrated by John-Rhys Davies. Some of these concerts have been made into picture books as well, like the one above.

Speaking of the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra, that leads into music. I’ll be piano-playing as many of the LDS-themed Christmas songs I’ve curated in the December section of my Family Devotionals ebook, here, as I can. I will also be playing classics from The Reader’s Digest Merry Christmas Songbook. I play on the piano every morning and evening as a call for family prayer, and scripture study in the evening. I got this for my birthday when I turned 16, and have treasured it ever since.

It has almost every Christmas song you can think of in it, that you would want. (Not the obnoxious ones like “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer,” “Feliz Navidad” etc.) Sadly, it is missing “Silver Bells” and “Mary’s Lullaby.” Mine’s an old edition, maybe the newer ones have rectified these oversights. So I’m rejoicing in the bounties of Providence in that the Our Family Christmas book which I showed above and show again below, has those two songs and the Hallelujah Chorus from the Messiah. I just love, love playing and singing all these songs! (Hint: you can buy the songbooks above for cheaper

And guess what?! One of the libraries I patronize has this book of piano and vocal sheet music below waiting for me to pick up! This is so, so exciting! Soon we can be singing the song above while I accompany on the piano, maybe for my Jolabokkaflod party or Christmas Eve! This is the one movie I love to watch every year with the family and haven’t gotten tired of.

How can I leave out thrifting as part of my December curriculum? It’s not really a course of study, which is the technical definition of “curriculum” but it does bring me a lot of joy. Especially thrifting for gifting! You can see what I’ve found here and here so far, including the gorgeous Hanna Andersson sweater for one of my grandsons above. Unless you are a family member, then don’t go look. I have a little bit more to do and look forward to what else I will find. I’ve also found more earlier in the year but don’t want to bother to hunt down which posts have those pictures :-).

I gave the above thrifted books, DVD, and new Dollar Tree candle to a friend who just left for Nevada where she lives. I put it all in the basket below with some Dollar Tree potholders and new set of gloves. My mom’s birthday is tomorrow so I’ll be making a gift basket for her too.

Next, handicrafts! America in the top video of this post mentioned that having a Christmas handicraft is important to her. I’ve got a scarf I started crocheting a few years ago. I’d love to finish it so I’ll work on that during movie time. I will also be getting out my two Nativity jigsaw puzzles to do if I have the free moment when I’m not doing other multitasking while listening to the audiobooks and podcasts. I will also work on them on Sundays and hope to get the family to join. Of course I will be sipping some peppermint tea in my Christmas-y Pioneer Woman mug while puzzling. One of my sons gave me these mugs for my birthday two years ago. They make me so happy!


Photo Credit: thepioneerwoman.com

I also love watching slow, soothing crafting and decorating for Christmas videos, like this one below with Little Women vibes. The paper snowflakes are probably the only thing I’ll be making from it but if you want some old-fashioned craft ideas to do, watch below. Or just watch for fun! 🙂

I’ve also posted this handout below on my fridge to encourage/invite/remind myself and my family members to do at least one thing each day to #lighttheworld with the light of Christ. This is part of the #lighttheworld campaign from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Giving of ourselves doesn’t have to be grand projects, it can be little acts of kindness.

I always do a little reading in bed after saying my prayers, sitting up, with an amber light bulb in my lamp. For Christmas I swapped out my usual night cap reading fare for these Christmas books:

I was thrilled to find this book shown above, while shopping at thrift stores last year, twice, once right before Christmas and once right after! It’s a tiny book but packs a punch. The first copy I gave to my married daughter, in her stocking, and then on Jan. 3 I found a copy for me. Except our copies are red. This book is a companion to a picture book for children. You can read about them here.

Then I’m reading a story a night from the books above and below. Being able to be in bed, all cozy, reading with my soft amber light motivates me to go to bed!

Merry Christmas! God bless us everyone!

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My Awesome Christmas Picture Book List With Easiest Ever Picture Book Advent Idea

Posted on December 3, 2025 by treeoflifemama

It’s Christmas picture book time!!!! I’m so excited!!! Here are just some of the books I’ve collected through the decades of being a mom, picture book lover, and Christmas fan.

Most of these books I found at thrift stores. Some were borrowed from the public library. The picture below shows my latest finds. I read these books aloud for Morning Basket time and then when the grandchildren visit.

I have my original list, titled “Beyond Polar Express” here. (Does anyone else think Polar Express is way overrated, if not downright creepy to have children traveling without parents?)

Then over here on my companion website, I have a bigger list. (Ignore the ad for the calendar, it’s outdated. I’ll be publishing a new one for 2026 soon.)

Then watch these videos on this post to find even more suggestions that I haven’t added to the list on the website yet.

Some people like to read one picture book a day for Advent, where they wrap each picture book, put them under the tree, and unwrap one a day. That’s too much work for me, such that I only could manage that one year, when my children were all at home. My children didn’t care about unwrapping them and being surprised so that was great. Less work for me! Ever since then we’ve just read one or two a day that I kept in a basket. But this year I’m going to decorate with them, after discovering my seasonal/holiday books fit into grooves on the ledges above my front room windows, last Independence Day. So ever since then I’ve been decorating for different holidays with my picture books! Anyway, my married daughter does a shortcut to wrapping by popping the books in simple brown gift bags she decorated. Go here to learn about that. Then she hangs them to keep them inaccessible from the little boys until the appointed time to read aloud. She got the bags on amazon.

Merry Bookmas! Because of Christ and Christmas picture books, the world is abundant!

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God Asked Joseph Smith to See the World Differently, and He in Turn Taught Us To Do So

Posted on November 30, 2025 by treeoflifemama
Image Credit: Scripture Central YouTube Channel

This past week, in addition to celebrating and thinking about Thanksgiving, I’ve been celebrating inwardly and thinking about Joseph Smith. That’s because the topic for the Come Follow Christ study was the testimony and martydrom of Joseph Smith. Because of his outspoken testimony, he was killed. He sealed his testimony with his blood. The video below shows the Carthage Jail, where the murder took place. It also features one of my favorite Come Follow Christ YouTubers, Barbara Morgan Gardiner. She visits with Sydney Smith Reynolds, a descendant of Hyrum Smith, who was with his brother Joseph at Carthage Jail, and was murdered at the same time that Joseph was.

I’m so grateful for Joseph Smith! I remember hearing my dear Aunt Chris (whose funeral I blogged about here) bear testimony of him at a Sunday church service after her son came home from a mission. He had spent two years bearing testimony of Jesus Christ and his restorational prophet, Joseph Smith. I felt the Holy Spirit then and I feel it now bear witness to me that Joseph Smith was chosen by God to restore the ancient gospel and church of Jesus Christ in the latter-days.

I’ve prayed about the witness that Joseph Smith gave in his Joseph Smith History, that he saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. The account is over here. I have felt the Holy Ghost witness to me that his account is true. I’m so grateful that he willingly shared this testimony of that appearance. I’m also grateful for all he testified after the First Vision, and all he did, including following God’s call to translate the Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ and establish the true church of Jesus Christ in the latter-days.

What happened because he followed those calls involved a heavenly education. In addition to being tutored by God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, Joseph was visited and tutored by other heavenly beings: Moses, Elijah, Moroni, John the Baptist, and Peter, James, and John. Maybe more, but those are the ones I remember from my study. His revelations from these messengers as well as from the Holy Ghost endow us with knowledge that can enlarge all of our minds. The image at the very top of this post shows some of the topics that God expanded Joseph’s mind about so that Joseph could think like God. Because of Joseph writing down his revelations, we can each have our mind expanded as well.

The video above is the one from which I got that screenshot, done by my husband’s cousin Lynne Hilton Wilson. I invite you to watch it as well as these amazing videos below featuring Truman Madsen, scholar and philosopher, telling us all about the amazing truths that Joseph revealed because they were revealed to him.

As Brigham Young once said, “I feel like shouting Hallelujah, all the time, when I think that I ever knew Joseph Smith, the Prophet whom the Lord raised up and ordained, and to whom he gave keys and power to build up the Kingdom of God on earth and sustain it” (Discourses of Brigham Young, 456).

Not that I personally knew Joseph, but I feel like I did know him because of what I’m able to learn about him. I also feel like I know him because of all the gifts he gave us. These gifts include treasures of knowledge of eternal truths, as well as priesthood ordinances to allow living with God again. These gifts are here to bless the whole human race. You can tell much about the giver by the kind of gifts he or she gives right? Joseph feels like the most ideal big brother anyone could ever ask for.

These ordinances he restored allow me to be with generations of my family for eternity. Despite all the drama in my family, I love them! I do want to be with them forever. I do want to be with my friends too. As Joseph revealed, “the same sociality [social relationships] which exists among us here [as mortals on earth] will exist among us there,” or when we are in the Lord’s presence, but “it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy” (D&C 130:2).

As Brother Truman says in Lecture 2, “There is a feeling that constantly recurs as one studies Joseph Smith. You never quite get to the bottom. There is always more. You can be so impressed and overcome with glimpses that you could say, ‘There is nothing good that I could learn of him that would surprise me’ and then you become surprised. There is always more. It takes deep to comprehend deep and I wonder if any of us have the depth to fully comprehend the man.”

Then there’s the movie, down below, that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints produced to tell his story. My favorite part is when Joseph silences the evil speakers making fun of the mob violence against the Saints in Missouri.

This is what he said:

“SILENCE, ye fiends of the infernal pit. In the name of Jesus Christ I rebuke you, and command you to be still; I will not live another minute and hear such language. Cease such talk, or you or I die THIS INSTANT!’

After this command, Parley P. Pratt said about Joseph: “He ceased to speak. He stood erect in terrible majesty. Chained, and without a weapon; calm, unruffled and dignified as an angel, he looked upon the quailing guards, whose weapons were lowered or dropped to the ground; whose knees smote together, and who, shrinking into a corner, or crouching at his feet, begged his pardon, and remained quiet till a change of guards.” (Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt, ed. Parley P. Pratt Jr. (1938), 210–11.)

Truly he was a man who spoke for and communed with Jehovah. I’m forever grateful for his valiant testimony and actions that bore witness of Jesus Christ.

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2025 Black Friday Deals for Crunchy Moms

Posted on November 29, 2025 by treeoflifemama

First, check out these items from Bosch, including the mixer above that now comes with a stainless steel bowl instead of plastic! Get $120 off the mixer with the code KOP, from Kelly the Kitchen Kop.

Go here to see all the Bosch deals, including the sourdough starter jar below and the silicone popsicle molds.

Washington Homeopathics kits are also on sale. Go here for those.

If you want a smaller kit I recommend the Evie kit curated by Paola Brown of paolabrown.com. This is a basic first kid every holistic household should own, for all your basic acute care needs. The kit features all the homeopathic medicines highlighted in Paola’s storybook, Evie and the Secret of Small Things. It’s $127.49 instead of $160! Everything on Paola’s site is on sale 20% off, or more, for Black Friday, except for the Momeopath club and the Anovite products.

Go here to see what’s in the Evie kit, and here to see all of Paola’s fabulous products for learning about homeopathy. I absolutely love her products! They have been soooo instrumental in me becoming confident in using homeopathy, which has saved a ton of time and $ going to the doctor for my family! I especially love the Homeopathy Heroes Card Game! It’s fun and educational at the same time.

Just Thrive is having a sale on supplements. See what’s available here and use code KOP if needed.

Rebel Regenerative pastured raised meat is here. Use code KOP, thanks to Kelly the Kitchen Kop.

Freeze dryers from Harvest Right are on sale! Go here to get one!

OraWellness has products for the holistically healthy mouth. See over here.

Anti-radiation sleeves for EMF emitting devices, including headphones are here.

Nontoxic crunchy mom skincare & makeup are on sale too!

Then here are a ton of crunchy mom treasures from Katie of wellnessmama.com. I love the sauna blanket and the nontoxic kitchenware shown above at carawayhome.com.

Heather Dessinger of mommypotamus.com has her roundup here. I’ve also copied and pasted her bulleted list below if you want to just skip to certain categories.

That’s just the beginning! I don’t have time to show any more, but if you know of any more Black Friday deals for crunchy moms, please share in the comments below!

I receive no compensation for any purchases done through these links, I’m just sharing fun deals!

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2025 Tuttle Twins Black Friday Sale

Posted on November 27, 2025 by treeoflifemama

The Tuttle Twins books are on sale for Black Friday! These are the best books to teach yourself and your family principles of liberty, in the most digestible form! Created by Connor Boyack, these stories help you build character in your children and knowledge of liberty principles and America’s heritage. If you’ve ever thought about getting these books, act now! Black Friday is the best time to get them! You’ll never see a bigger discount.

Over 6 million copies of Tuttle Twins books have sold, with over 4500 5 star reviews.

You can get everything in the bundle above, which is over a $1000 value, for $275. It’s the super mega bundle. That’s 75% off! It includes physical copies of all the Tuttle Twins books, companion audiobooks, and PDF teaching guides. What’s included is listed below:

  • 14 paperback children’s books
  • 14 activity workbooks (PDF)
  • 14 audiobooks (MP3)
  • 14 parent guides (PDF)
  • Tuttle Rebuttals E-book
  • Americas History Vol. 1 and 2
  • History curriculum, videos and audiobook
  • 7 teen guidebooks
  • 5 teen choose your own adventure novels
  • 5 E-books

You can get either the Mega Bundle or the Starter Pack Bundle.

Go here to get all the deals!

I have read all the paperback books and the two volumes of America’s History. These books teach what I didn’t learn in public school but wish I had. I love that each paperback book is based on a classic work about liberty like “I, Pencil” by Leonard Reed, The Road to Serfdom by F. A. Hayek, and The Creature of Jekyll Island. The two volumes of Tuttle Twins American History teach it from a perspective of classical liberalism. If you appreciate libertarianism, you will love these books!

Go here to get either bundle for 75% off, or buy the books a la carte for 25% off.

Then watch the Tuttle Twins videos below. You and your family may as well learn principles of liberty while watching a cartoon right? Who knew that you could teach such things with cartoons?

This first one is about socialism, and the bottom one is about needs vs. rights. You can see the rest here.

FTC Disclosure: As a Tuttle Twins affiliate, I receive a small commission if you purchase anything through the links in this post.

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Some Fun Thanksgiving-themed Games for Your Family Time!

Posted on November 26, 2025 by treeoflifemama
Image Credit: teachbesideme.com

Here are some last-minute ideas for Thanksgiving games and activities to enjoy this weekend, whether you have a big crowd or a small gathering.

Here’s half the family gathered for Thanksgiving back in 2019, with the three oldest children out of the nest, celebrating with other family and friends. This is when we lived in southeastern rural AZ, far from extended family.

-Thanksgiving Family Feud. Karyn of teachbesideme.com has this fun Thanksgiving Family Feud printable over here. Just put your email in on that page and you can get it sent to your email inbox!

Karyn also has some other fun Thanksgiving resources, namely

-a reader’s theater script for the first Thanksgiving dinner, here

-an M&Ms activity involving gratitude over here

-a Thanksgiving charades game is here. You could also use these cards for a Hedbanz game!

-a Thanksgiving trivia quiz is over here

Here’s a fun new tradition I hope to do tomorrow. Light a candle for the center of the table, and then take turns going around the table sharing a highlight of the previous year, or how you saw the hand of God in your life in the previous year. Just as God helped the Pilgrims with different provisions, He is helping you. Here is what I noticed two years ago a few days after Thanksgiving. If you have time and a small group, I would do all that after reading the book below which shows the hand of God in John Howland’s life. He was one of the passengers on the Mayflower, who fell off, but then was rescued. I’ve put the video of it below if you don’t have the book.

Then here is another website full of fun Thanksgiving resources, all created by the talented Jennifer Flanders. Click on the links below to see her fun stuff!

Image Credit: Jennifer Flanders of flandersfamily.info

If you want some enriching holiday screen time that does more than entertain, I’ve got some offerings here.

Then here are more Thanksgiving resources.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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2025 Black Friday Homeschool Deals

Posted on November 26, 2025 by treeoflifemama
Photo Credit: adonyig at pixabay.com

Black Friday is here! Here are some great Black Friday deals for homeschoolers!

First we have stuff from Thinking Tree Press, a company founded by a homeschooling family, and Sarah Brown. I read Sarah’s book last summer and absolutely loved it. All their stuff is half off with code BLACKFRIDAY50! These are PDFs or hard copy books to use as guides for curiosity, interest-driven homeschooling.

No matter your child’s interest, you are sure to find something to make the homeschooling day more joyful! They also have tons of resources for dyslexic learners. Check it all out here!

Next we have a discount on the Tuttle Twins books. Go here to learn all about that!

Then we have homeschooling curriculum that teaches all about the basics of homeopathy, called Teach Me Health and Homeopathy. It involves the storybook, Evie and the Secret of Small Things by Paola Brown, with a companion workbook and memory songs. For Black Friday it’s all 20% off! Go here to get it! If you are a crunchy mom, this is the curriculum you want to teach your children about holistic healing.

Paola also has a Homeopathy Heroes Card game that I highly recommend, also on sale! Buy it here! Perfect for gameschooling or a crunchy moms’ party!

Speaking of homeopathy, Paola is doing a BF sale on her Evie kit. This kit has all 19 of the homeopathic medicines mentioned in the Evie and the Secret of Small Things storybook. This kit is a great first aid kit to hav eon hand for every holistic mom to treat all acute symptoms: aches, pains, shock, trauma, nausea, colds and flus. Only $127.49 instead of $160!

Katie from Life in the Mundane, in the video below, shares deals from her etsy shop, where all her items are 30% off. You can see samples above. These are fun printables for cards and games to use in your homeschooling, including products for special needs children.

She also shares deals for Discovery Pack cards from thewaldockway.com, audio stories from Focus on the Family, Windowseat (a Christian audio resource), a teen moving making course, a kids in the kitchen course, Wise Phone, and Where’d You Learn That?

Windowseat looks particularly interesting to me. It’s a platform that offers Christian-based audio programs geared for children. Watch below to learn more!

Then the videos below shore more bargains! If you don’t have time to watch the videos, click on the transcript for each one in YouTube and scan the text for the homeschool companies you know and love.

Rachel, of Where’d You Learn That? shares deals below. Her site is here, where you can get a few freebies.

Then here’s a link to amazon where you can see a boatload of educational supplies that are discounted for Black Friday.

Lastly, there’s Yoto! Yoto is a portable audio file player especially designed for kiddos. If I had little children at home (which I don’t, my baby is 16), I would looooove this!!!! Why is it that the best material things in life seem to come out after I need them, like the perfect stroller (the Doona) after I was done having babies. I don’t know the answer to that. Anyway, this gadget allows your children to listen to audiobooks with personal players that don’t use the internet. My married daughter has a few for her little boys and they love them all. These players are super rugged so perfect for little children. You can buy cards with the audio files already on them or upload your own files to blank cards. Watch the video above that shows how cool they are. Go to us.yotoplay.com where you can get big savings across the site, including up to 40% OFF bundles! Plus up to 25% off Players and 20% off all Cards and Accessories. My local public library has Yoto cards you can check out and yours might too! I’m talking about classic stories like fairy tales, Peter Rabbit, and Narnia on Yoto cards, as well as stories with a lot more modern licensed characters like the Muppets. Even if you don’t have a Yoto player, you can use Yoto cards with the Yoto app on your phone.

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