Read the Book of Mormon story of Easter and see lovely accompanying pictures, to the harmony of beautiful Easter music. I’ve reviewed the book for that here.
Follow the prophet with his Easter challenge. Go here to watch.
Check out LaDawn Jacob’s Easter ideas from her Fun Family Traditions. I have it in ebook form on this page. Scroll down and click on the Fun Family Traditions link.
Get my list of Easter songs, poems, and stories here.
This is the perfect book to start reading during winter, when home life sometimes drags because of the letdown after Christmas and the dreariness of winter. I read it this past winter and just finished it, listening to it in Audible. It was amazing! I loved it!
I listened to it every Saturday as my kids and I did housework. The book felt like diving into a world where The Food Nanny meets the Bobbsey Twins meets the Duggars meets the March family. The Food Nanny because of the doctrine of the family dinner vibe. The Bobbsey Twins because of all the adventure and outdoor activities, the Duggars because of the strong Christian homeschooling overtones, and Louisa May Alcott’s March family, because of their emphasis on old-fashioned seasonal activities. So if you are into all those things, you will love this book!
The co-author, Sally Clarkson, is a homeschooling mom vet. I remember getting her magazine for her organization, Whole Hearted Ministries, when my oldest child, who is 27, was 4. So she’s been around for a long time. She wrote the book with her daughter Sarah.
I’ll be doing a full review sometimes in the next few weeks, but I just wanted to share a little bit about what the book shares about Easter, since Easter is coming up.
Here’s what the Clarkson family does for Easter:
-Attends church on Good Friday ( my church doesn’t hold services on Good Friday. May I suggest watching the concert pictured below…)
-enjoys an Easter breakfast with chocolate Easter eggs. (I have a recipe for DIY chocolate, sugar-free, here.)
-holds a Christian Seder Dinner, in honor of the Jewish Passover dinner.
-attends church on Easter Sunday
-holds an Easter Feast after church services, complete with deviled eggs (or angel eggs, as the Duggars call them), baked ham, vegetable casserole, drinks, and desserts. They invite lots of people over.
-has an Easter egg hunt after the lunch with a different color of egg for each person. The eggs are plastic and filled with candy, small prizes, or gift cards, with one big egg that is the grand prize, up for grabs by anybody.
I love all these ideas! We’ve done most of these through the years. Something I like to do as we gather to eat the goodies found in the plastic Easter eggs is to open up a set of Resurrection Eggs and tell the gospel story, wrapped around the Easter story. You can go here to Jennifer Flanders’ site to get instructions and printables to make your own set.
Would you like to read this book for free? If your public library doesn’t have it, you can read it for free by trying out scribd.com, a treasure trove for bibliophiles. Go here to learn more and sign up for a free 60 day trial.
Want more Easter ideas?
Follow the prophet with his Easter challenge. Go here to watch.
Watch this concert below…
Read the Book of Mormon story of Easter and see lovely accompanying pictures, to the harmony of beautiful Easter music. I’ve reviewed the book for that here.
Check out LaDawn Jacob’s Easter ideas from her Fun Family Traditions. I have it in ebook form on this page. Scroll down and click on the Fun Family Traditions link.
Get my list of Easter songs, poems, and stories here.
Here’s a lovely Holy Week timeline with visuals and scriptures for each day this week created by a neighbor, Alexis Belliston. Use as a banner, with some pastel yarn, or as coloring pages. Go here to get it and check out all of the other beautiful offerings from Alexis. Thank you Alexis!
Want some other Easter resources? Go here to get my list of Easter poetry, songs, and stories.
This book isn’t new but I just discovered it. If you want to have a book that portrays the Book of Mormon Easter story, with sacred text, beautiful pictures and glorious songs, this is it!
This book starts with the Book of Mormon scripture, from 2 Nephi 25:26, “And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.”
Then it tells the Easter story from the Book of Mormon perspective, starting with the great earthquake and the darkness that happened when Christ was crucified. It then tells of his visit as a resurrected being at the temple in Bountiful, citing his healing and teachings. The teaching includes his instruction of the sacrament ritual.
All of this is interspersed with beautiful paintings and excerpts from hymns about the Savior’s love. It also comes with a CD of beautiful Easter music. I highly recommend it! 5 out of 5 stars!
A friend asked me why I decided to teach this class, called Teach Me Health and Homeopathy.
Here’s my story behind that.
I have had several magical experiences with homeopathy (HP). You can read about my time using HP to heal my flu here, then using HP with bed bug bites here, and then using it after my attack by the seemingly killer AZ cactus here. Ever since experiencing all those wondrously timely and powerful healings of acute cases, I’ve been wanting to teach my children homeopathy. So when I saw Paola’s course available, I was intrigued. Here are two reasons why I fell in love with her curriculum.
When I saw this video above (click on the link to watch in Vimeo) by the curriculum creator, Paola, it so resonated with me. Especially the part where she gives an analogy. She says that HP gives the body instructions to get to the root of the problem and uproot it. It does this by showing the body something that generates “like” symptoms. Her analogy is about teaching her little boys to be quiet so they wouldn’t wake up their sleeping baby sister. They didn’t understand that instruction until she gave them an analogy by telling them to “be quiet, like a mouse.” Ahh, then they understood. So Paola says our bodies are the same way, they need an example to follow to understand the instruction. So HP gives the example with something that generates like symptoms. It’s just so fascinating to me! I sensed Paola’s gift for teaching and making complicated things simple, which is what I need. She definitely has a gift and passion for teaching. I just love her gifts!
Here’s a video interview with Paola from the Weston A. Price Wise Traditions podcast below, so you can hear her story. It’s so amazing that HP healed her from a few chronic autoimmune conditions. If she had opted for one of the drugs that her medical doctor had prescribed, she could be involved in a class action lawsuit today against the drugmaker for the drug’s side effect of blindness!
2. I read the introduction to Paola’s Teacher’s Guide to the course. In it she shares her dismay that some children of amazing, rock star homeopaths she knows have not gone on to follow their parents’ choices. She asked these rock star healers if their children don’t just kiss the ground they walk on for preserving their health with HP. Amazingly, these homeopaths said no. They said that their children don’t. One said that his/her adult child just did a round of antibiotics instead of HP. That made me realize, “Oh, I may have a passion for HP, but if my children don’t understand why it works, or learn critical thinking skills as related to questioning the tactics of Big Pharma, they may not catch my passion and vision of HP, even if it works on them. They may not choose HP for themselves once out of the nest unless they get educated now.” Now is the time for me to teach them and not assume they will learn by osmosis.
Do you want to sample Paola’s curriculum for free? You can do so here.
Come take the class on Zoom starting April 6 or April 8! Go here to learn more!
It’s spring! It’s a time for new beginnings and that includes healing! We’ve had the blossoms pop out on our neighbor’s apricot tree. That’s something I missed when we lived in AZ, seeing the “popcorn” on trees. I love the new growth of spring! This new growth is such a promise for hope in all areas of life.
I also love the growth that comes from healing. I’ve been healed from my insomnia recently, thanks to homeopathy. Here’s my story. I am just loving healing and learning about homeopathy! I love the video below with homeschooling mom Paola Brown. Paola is the creator of the family-based homeopathy curriculum, Teach Me Health and Homeopathy. I’m so excited about teaching it! You can watch the video below with Paola telling her story behind the curriculum.
If her story inspires you to think about taking the class, go here to read more and get the link to register. Classes start online next week, April 6 or 8, depending on if you want Tuesday or Thursday, in my Zoom room! This is for ages 6-96, for moms and children to take together. But you don’t have to have kids to take it. If you are holistically-minded, this is the health and wellness curriculum you’ve always wanted!
If you want more healing information from Paola you can go to her site here. You can get the following classes for FREE. Just click on each one to put in your cart:
Flu Season: Let’s Get Ready!
Colostrum & Cavities: Paola’s Story
Colostrum for Gut Health
Then check out by creating your own account, and “purchase” the classes for free. To watch and learn from each one, just go to the top of the website (if you are logged in with your account) and click on “My Classes” and start learning!
*Full Disclosure Note: In these classes, Paola promotes a product called Anovite Colostrum 6. I have no financial affiliation with that company. I do receive compensation if you register for the Teach Me Health and Homeopathy Class.
Today’s Countdown to Easter story is about being rescued. This picture comes from a day when my kids and I ventured up the canyon just 10 minutes from my former home on a rare snowy day in southern AZ. (We used to live three hours southeast of Phoenix, and it did snow there once or twice a winter every year.) We went to see the snow in the mountains close to our home, hoping to go sledding, like we used to in Utah. We couldn’t find any good spots because of all the trees. Our minivan got stuck in the snow but some kind souls stopped to help pull us out so we could go home. How grateful we were! Each of us at some time in our life, no matter how smart, famous, beautiful, rich, fashionable or cute we are, will get stuck and depend on someone else to rescue us. Ultimately, each of us are stuck in death and sin and depend on our Savior Jesus Christ, who is sinless, to rescue us. At Easter time we celebrate our Savior’s rescuing grace. Oh how I rejoice in this grace!
I love this story from the New Era, the former youth magazine for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, about some youth who got stuck in a snowy canyon and then were rescued. Rescue situations are very real and scary. I rejoice whenever I hear of someone being rescued. It just serves to remind me of how precarious our mortal situation is and that we are dependent on Jesus Christ for everything we have and can be. This is great news because Jesus wants us to have everything He and the Father have, and we can, if we follow Jesus and do what He asks us to do. See Romans 8:16-17.
I am so grateful! This song below captures my feelings perfectly about how Jesus’ love is “the miracle that rescues you and me.” It’s a miracle we can all bask in!
Want more Easter stories, songs, and poetry? I have compiled a list here. Happy Easter!
I love President Nelson’s teaching in the video above that Palm Sunday can remind us of the Savior’s palms which were wounded for us. I hope you will watch this video above and accept his invitation to do something special in this Holy Week, beginning today, to follow the Savior as we approach Easter.
I also love this video below by John L. Hilton III, Hank Smith, and John Bytheway, about the Savior’s atonement. Brother Hilton also wrote an article for the April 2021 Liahona with some of the same truths that appears here.
Happy Eastertime everyone! Today’s Tree of Life Mama’s Countdown to Easter feature is in honor of the General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is happening next weekend. You can go here to watch, at 10 AM and 2 PM Utah time on Saturday April 3 and Sunday April 4. This is an exciting time when we get to listen to prophets who live on the earth today, who are just as connected to God as the prophets in the Bible. I promise that if you listen to this conference, having prayed before you watch, and listen thoughtfully, taking notes (as much as you can with children–I know it’s hard if you have super little ones) you will get some ideas about what to do next in your life.
The above video depicts a poem that Elder Boyd K. Packer wrote. He included it at the end of a true story he told in General Conference. This story is from his life when he served in WWII. It illustrates our need for Jesus Christ our Redeemer. Here’s the poem again in song form below.
He told this story in the April 1997 General Conference. A simplified version of the story for children appears in the April 1999 Friend here. You can watch the whole talk below. The text of the poem is here at the end of the talk.
(This story and the stories from previous days of my Countdown to Easter are all compiled in my ebook, The Celestial Guide to Family Devotionals. Watch for it to be released for free here on my website soon!)
We played this game this past week in our gameschooling to count for some math, since it’s about logic.
It isn’t a fast moving game like some of the other Gamewright games, like Slamwich. My two youngest absolutely love that game! This game is slower. Since it’s cooperative and not competitive, some kids might not like it. Basically you are all a team, competing against the fox, as represented by a plastic fox figurine. Every bad move gets the fox closer to its foxhole to escape capture. If the fox gets to the foxhole, you all lose! If you figure out which fox is the thief before he gets there, you all win!
I love it because it teaches deductive reasoning. Kids take turns deciding if they want to have a shot at seeing new clues, or revealing a possible suspect. So you have elements of luck, with the roll of the dice, and skill in using logic. The special decoder will especially appeal to kids who like gadgets that reveal secrets. You put the little clue card in the center of the decoder, then pull the tab on the side to see if a green dot appears or not. Then you use that information to narrow down who the suspect is as the foxy pot pie thief.
It’s a great game for kids ages 5-12 to learn logic and deductive reasoning. Older ages might find it too slow. I also love that it teaches teamwork. So if you are in the mood for something cooperative and mysterious, to build reasoning skills, with bright and cheery but not flashy graphics, this game fits the bill. I give it 5 out of 5 stars!
Want to learn more about gameschooling? Check out my page here for:
a PDF of my slides on the how, why, and when of gameschooling, AND my PDF of how to build a gameschooling collection on a budget.
Tree of Life Mothering 