Released.

I'm sorry for the lack of posting since September. Last Fall turned out to be a very busy time for me and so I didn't take the time to post my Sharing Time lessons. Then, at the end of December, I was released from the Primary Presidency and called to be a Gospel Doctrine instructor for the adults. People often say, oh wow, I could never do that calling, but I love it. And being the Primary Music Leader, you are already a Gospel Doctrine teacher, only your students are fresh and learning things for the first time, so your teaching topics and discussions are usually much more simple. Teaching the adults, you get to dive into the meat a little more often. Teaching is truly one of my favorite callings and I'm happy to be able to continue doing it.

I may post some of my lessons from September through December just so I have a record on here. So I'll back-date them when I do.

Good luck to everyone in your callings! May you always remember that the Spirit is the true teacher.

You can find me on my personal blog more often.

Pre-occupied.

Sorry for the lack in posting my sharing time ideas lately. I have been rather pre-occupied, to say the least, over the last month, with my mission companion and close friend in a coma in the hospital. You can read about her here and on my personal blog.

Things are looking up. Heavenly Father answers prayers and is truly a God of miracles. We've been studying this last month in Primary all about how Jesus Christ is a God of miracles. This has been ever so poignant in my personal life lately. I've learned many new things about faith and miracles. Heavenly Father gives incredible insight and we truly come to know Him through our trials. I'll be writing more about that soon on my blog because I want to share and I'll be posting new Sharing Time ideas soon.

Thanks for checking back.

Sharing Time. August 2010: Week One.

Monthly Theme: Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and He is a God of miracles.
Scripture: "For behold, I am God; and I am a God of miracles; . . . and I work not among the children of men save it be according to their faith." 2 Nephi 27:23
Weekly Theme: Jesus Christ is a God of miracles.

I'm sorry I'm posting this after the fact, but I couldn't get it up on here in time. Hopefully, this will still be of use to someone at some point! Leave a comment; I'd love to know if this worked for you.

Following pretty closely along with the 2010 Outline for Sharing Time, here is my plan.

Preparation:
1. Print the letters of the word miracles on separate pieces of paper (which you can't see through if you turn them over)

2. Print the following words: miracles, show, that, Jesus Christ, has, power, over, the earth, cut into individual wordstrips.

3. Obtain several pictures illustrating miraculous events performed by Jesus Christ. I'm selecting pictures from the Gospel Art Kit (GAK), many of which can also be found in the newer Gospel Art Book (GAB) or printed from lds.org here.

4. Optional: Obtain small tickers of Jesus Christ.

Lesson:
To start, we'll play a quick game of hangman, by putting the letters of the word miracle on the board face down, with magnets, until the word is revealed.

Then, I will divide the group into three groups, and give each group a set of the following wordstrips: miracles, show, that, Jesus Christ, has, power, over, the earth. I made an extra set of wordstrips and put them up face down on the board with magnets. When all the groups unscramble the words and create the sentence, I'll turn over each word on the board so the sentence is on the board for us to look at during the whole lesson.

"Christ Walking on the Water" by Robert T. Barrett (picture found here)

To encourage understanding of miracles, both past and present, we had a discussion including pictures from the GAK, of miracles performed by Jesus Christ while he was on the earth.

Questions and discussion points:
1. What is a miracle?
- an extraordinary event caused by the power of God (from the Outline)
- the power of God on earth today is the Priesthood

2. Why did Jesus perform miracles? Why do miracles occur today?
- "Miracles should not be regarded as deviations from the ordinary course of nature so much as manifestations of divine or spiritual power." (Bible Dictionary)
- "They were intended to be a proof to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ." (Bible Dictionary)
- "Miracles were and are a response to faith, and its best encouragement. They were never wrought without prayer, felt need, and faith." (Bible Dictionary)
- "If miracles cease, it is because faith has ceased." (Bible Dictionary)

Pictures/Stories of Miracles:
Then we discussed briefly the miracles listed below, first identifying the story and then discussing why each one of these events was a miracle, as opposed to just an everyday occurrence.

1. Miracle: Birth of Jesus Christ
Explanation: Babies are born every day, but Jesus Christ's birth was a miracle because he is the child of Mary and Heavenly Father. He is the literal Son of God.
Picture: "The Nativity" (GAK 201)

2. Miracle: Joseph, Mary, and Jesus' Flight Into Egypt
Explanation: When Jesus was young, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him to take Jesus and Mary to Egypt. Joseph was warned to stay in Egypt until the angel declared it was safe to return, because King Herod would seek to kill Jesus. Joseph did as the angel instructed, and Jesus was protected from harm.
Picture: "Flight Into Egypt" (GAK 204)

3. Miracle: Jesus Healing the Blind Man
Explanation:Jesus saw a man who had been born blind. Jesus spat in the dirt and made clay, then put the clay on the blind man's eyes and sent him to wash in the pool of Siloam. After doing as Jesus said, the man came away from the pool able to see.
Picture: "Christ Healing a Blind Man" (GAK 213)

4. Miracle: Jesus Calmed the Stormy Sea
Explanation: Jesus fell asleep as He and His disciples were sailing across the Sea of Galilee. A great storm arose. The wind blew and waves covered the ship. The disciples, afraid for their lives, woke Jesus. He stood and told the winds and the sea to be still. The storm stopped, and the sea was calm. The disciples were amazed that even the wind and the sea obeyed Jesus.
Picture: "Stilling the Storm" (GAK 214)

5. Miracle: Jesus Blessing Jairus's Daughter
Explanation: A ruler named Jairus asked Jesus to come to his house and heal his dying daughter. On the way they learned it was too late: the little girl had died. However, Jesus told Jairus not to fear but to believe in Him. When Jesus entered the house He told the mourners not to cry. He told them the girl was not dead but asleep. They laughed because they knew she was dead. Jesus took the girl by the hand and told her to arise. She returned to life and rose from her bed.
Picture: "Jesus Blessing Jairus's Daughter" (GAK 215)

6. Miracle: Jesus Walking on Water
Explanation: One night Jesus' disciples put out to sea in a boat while Jesus stayed behind to pray to Heavenly Father. A storm came up and tossed the boat in the waves. When Jesus saw His disciples struggling with their ship in the storm, He started walking on the water toward the ship. The disciples were frightened when they saw a man walking toward them on the water. Then they heard Jesus call to them and tell them not to fear. Peter asked Jesus if he could come to Him, and Jesus told Peter to come. But as Peter did so he became afraid and started to sink. Jesus took hold of Peter's hand and helped him back to the boat. The sea became calm again, and the disciples testified that Jesus was the Son of God.
Picture: Christ Walking on the Water (GAK 243)

Testimony:
Then, I bore my testimony of miracles. I believe that these miracles really did happen and that they occurred through the power of God. I challenged the kids to pray this week to know for themselves that these things we discussed are true, reminding them that they should not just take my word for it.

Adjustment for Junior Primary:
I left the sentence and the word miracles on the board and did not have the kids play hangman to guess the word nor unscramble the sentence. We devoted the time to the pictures and discussion. Each child came up and held a picture before putting it on the board. They each received a sticker of Jesus Christ, as they returned to their seat on the floor in front of the board.

With each story, we repeated our sentence from the board, "Miracles show that Jesus Christ has power over the earth."
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Sugardoodle Link Love.

I recently noticed the increased traffic to this blog and I couldn't figure out where everyone was coming from. After a little investigative work, I found that someone submitted my "Sharing Time. July 2010: Week Three" idea to Sugardoodle.

In case you have not yet heard of Sugardoodle, it's a great site that compiles all sorts of ideas for lessons and activities for the families and the auxiliaries in the LDS Church, such as Primary, Young Women, and Relief Society. Check it out!

I'm not sure who was the source of this Sugardoodle link love, but I thank you. Thanks for being interested and thanks for helping us share ideas!
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Sharing Time. July 2010: Week Three.

Monthly Theme: I Can Follow Jesus Christ's Example
Scripture: "Come, follow me." Luke 18:22
Weekly Theme: Jesus Christ's example teaches me how to live.

In an effort to stay close to the suggested lesson ideas found in the 2010 Outline for Sharing Time, I selected the first suggested activity listed. The activity is to have kids match pictures of events in Christ's life found in the scriptures, with scripture references and Primary songs related to the topic. Each picture depicts Christ giving an example for us to follow.

In the Outline, there are four suggestions for match-ups, and with a little help from Jen Higgins, I came up with a few more and also included a picture of how we can follow that example. All the pictures I used can be found in the Gospel Art Kit (GAK) and the songs are from the Children's Songbook (CS) and the standard Hymn book (Hymns). If your primary does not have access to the GAK, many of the same images can be found in the new Gospel Art Book (GAB) or similar images can likely be found in your ward library.


1. Christ's Example: praying, praying with family
pictures: "Jesus Praying in Gethsemane" (GAK 227) and "Young Boy Praying" (GAK 605)
song: "A Child's Prayer" (CS 12-13)
scripture: Matthew 14:23

2. Christ's Example: studying the gospel
pictures: "Boy Jesus in the Temple" (GAK 205) and "Young Girl Reading Scriptures" (GAK 617)
song: "Seek the Lord Early" (CS 108)
scripture: Luke 2:42-49

3. Christ's Example: being baptized
pictures: "John the Baptist Baptizing Jesus" (GAK 208) and "Baptism" (GAK 601)
song: "Baptism" (CS 100-101)
scripture: Matthew 3:13-17

4. Christ's Example: calling apostles (their example of willing service, etc)
pictures: "Calling of the Fishermen" (GAK 209) and "Serving One Another" (GAK 615)
song: "Come Follow Me" (Hymns 116)
scripture: Matthew 4:18-20

5. Christ's Example: sharing/teaching the gospel
pictures: "Go Ye Therefore" (GAK 235) and "Missionaries Teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ" (GAK 612)
song: "Called to Serve" (Hymns 249)
scripture: Matthew 28:19-20

6. Christ's Example: healing, serving the sick and afflicted, loving regardless of physical condition
pictures: "Jesus Healing the Nephites"(GAB 317) and "Administering to the Sick" (GAK 613)
song: "I'll Walk with You" (CS 140-141)
scripture: 3 Nephi 17:7-9


For Senior Primary: I started out by greeting them with a whisper. I proceeded to ask them about their week and what they did. All in a whisper. They began to answer me in a whisper. Then, finally, one child asked, "Why are you whispering?" I replied, "Two reasons. One, because it causes you to pay attention. Two, because do you see what's happened? You began to whisper back, following my example. Christ gave us examples during his life that we, too, can follow.

I printed off strips of paper with the scripture references and put them in a column on the board. In another column I put the strips with the song references. I split the group into three smaller groups and gave them each two pictures. They were asked to work together to find out what was happening in the picture and find the scripture and song to match. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to sing the songs, but we discussed how Jesus can always serve as our greatest example and how our lives will be blessed when we follow Him.

For Junior Primary: I put each of the pictures on the board, with the song strip just underneath it. As a group we went through each picture and found Jesus in the picture and talked about what he was doing in the picture. After we went through all six of them, we started again by talking about what we could do to follow the specific example of Jesus in each particular picture. I called on six children, one by one, to pick a picture (from the remaining six that were of modern day examples) that best illustrated how we could follow the example that Jesus had set. Using the magnets, they placed the correct picture underneath the picture of Jesus.

New, Broader Direction.

I know I haven't posted singing ideas in awhile. I was sustained as first counselor in the Primary about seven months ago, so I lost steam with posting Singing Time ideas, although I was doing double duty for about a month.

I have changed the name of the blog to include my new duties of teaching Sharing Time every three weeks or so. You'll probably see a lot more Sharing Time ideas rather than Singing Time ideas for now, since that's what I'm focused on. Hopefully, they will still be of benefit to someone.

December: Week Two.

Monthly Theme: My family is blessed when we remember Jesus Christ.
Scripture: "I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth." (Job 19:25)
Weekly Theme: Jesus was born into a family. I remember Jesus when I partake of the sacrament.

Songs:
Silent Night

Oh gosh. I'm doing this way after the fact, and I can't even really remember what we did that day except... oh yeah. I'm remembering.

With Senior Primary, we started Silent Night on the pipe chimes with harmony! That meant that two kids would chime at the same time (ideally). I was a little nervous that they wouldn't get the timing down right, even though we've had numerous talks about rhythm and tempo over the last six months, but they did it! They got it down, nearly flawless, by the third run-thru! I was so proud.

I shared the history of Silent Night explaining that it was written in 1818 by a clergyman, Father Joseph Mohr, and the music by Franz Xaver Gruber. I told them that Silent Night is probably the most universally recognized Christmas hymn since it's been translated into over 100 languages. Then I shared the story of Silent Night's influence in the Christmas Truce in the trenches of WWI, and how the spirit of Christmas and ultimately, the spirit of Christ, can cause people to cease contention and express their love.

Stake Conference.

I won't have a lesson plan for this week since we have Stake Conference. Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Elder Rodolfo C. Franco of the Seventy will be with us. I'm looking forward to it.

I'll be back next week with more Christmas music and chimes. And maybe even another snowball throw!

November: Week Five.

Monthly Theme: My family and I can serve others.
Scripture: “By love serve one another.” (Galatians 5:13)

Tomorrow, the Senior Primary kids are going to perform their pipe chime rendition of Love One Another for the Junior Primary kids. I'm hoping they need only one practice round, so it doesn't take too long.

Then, I am taking an idea from the Primary in Doha, Qatar:

"Half the time they learned Christmas songs and the other half, they passed out plain white paper (full 8 1/2x 11 sheets) and pencils and had the children write their favorite primary song on the piece of paper. They then crumpled up the pieces of paper all together. (Make sure you tell everyone what you're doing beforehand so you get the crumpling noise effect all together.) Then they had drawn a snowman on the white board and said, "This is the only time in Primary you will be able to throw snowballs." Then they all got to throw their "snowballs" at the snowman, trying to hit him. The music director then put all the snowballs in a little cooler (so they wouldn't melt, of course). Then the music director had a primary kid come and pull a snowball out of the cooler to sing. The person whose song it was got to conduct with the baton. It was handy because when the lesson was short, they just chose a couple extra snowballs to sing. They will do a few each week until Christmas, but it could be done anytime during the winter."

Thanks Lindsay, for the suggestion! I think this is a great idea. Its function is similar to what I've done in the past with choosing favorite songs and have the child conduct, but the snowman idea is new.

For tomorrow, since we have both Senior and Junior Primary together, and we miss out on next Sunday due to Stake Conference, I want to get started on Christmas songs. I think I'll just have each child write their name on the snowball and then have a list of songs on the board to choose from. When the snowball with their name gets picked, they can select a song from the board. We'll erase as we go. That way we can get some Christmas songs in that they know, but might not top their favorite list, since they haven't sung them for a year.

I'll let you know how it goes!

November: Week Four.

Monthly Theme: My family and I can serve others.
Scripture: “By love serve one another.” (Galatians 5:13)
Weekly Theme: I will prepare now to become a mother or father.

Songs:
Love One Another (ASL for Love One Another)
For Thy Bounteous Blessings

Remember how last week, I showed the Senior Primary kids the pipe chimes? Well, as promised, we started learning a song on the pipe chimes. Since we have been singing Love One Another so much, and learning the ASL, I decided this would be the perfect song to break them into the pipe chimes.

I wrote out the words to the song on the chalk board, and then above each word I wrote the number to the corresponding pipe chime. The chimes have both numbers as well as their musical letter note, so maybe next time I will try using the actual note, so they get a little more accustomed to the chords, etc.

The chimes were a hit. I handed out the eight chimes needed for Love One Another and explained how to strike the chime for the best sound and how to hold the chime to make the sound stop. I let them have 20 seconds to practice striking their chimes, then another 20 seconds to locate the number on their chime and then had them find their number on the board, so they knew how many times they needed to strike their chime during the song and with what words their chime corresponded.

As with the conducting batons, we talked about tempo and rhythm. I pointed to the chalkboard in rhythm, so they knew when it was their turn. Those who didn't have chimes, were instructed to sing as well as sign the words. We practiced over and over again. At one point, one of the kids whined a little, "This is really hard." We talked about how playing an instrument takes time and effort and lots of practice, but with diligence, they will see results. We continued to practice, phrase by phrase. They were finally starting to get it. About halfway through, we traded chimes, so a few more kids who wanted a chance, were able to have the opportunity. We practiced some more. The last couple of times we did it all the way through, we had only the chimes, and the ASL, no singing. It was SO cool and the kids with the chimes had really gotten it down and it sounded perfect!

I was so proud!

I praised the kids and we all cheered. They knew they'd gotten it. Diligence pays off... even in twenty minutes.

They did so well and were very well behaved the whole time, so I told them that they had earned the privilege of learning some more songs. Next week, we'll be all together with the Junior Primary, so they are going to "perform" for the younger kids, but then we'll put them away and sing other songs since the chimes are strictly a privilege for Senior Primary. The week after that is Stake Conference. So I promised them that we'd learn a couple of Christmas songs on the chimes beginning again the second week in December.

Then with Junior Primary, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, we learned the very easy round For Thy Bounteous Blessings. We talked about each of the words and what they meant since there are some "big" words in the song. They had fun singing it in a round.

Benefits of being the Primary Music Leader.

Since being called as Primary Music Leader (Chorister), I have made a mental list of the many benefits that come with the calling:

1. I get to know all the Primary kids, not just one class.
2. I get to sing with all the Nursery children, and prepare them for Primary.
3. Many of the Primary and Nursery kids think I'm their new best friend, so I get hugs and waves throughout Sacrament Meeting, and in the halls.
4. I get to sing.
5. I get to "perform" every week.
6. I get to move around, dance, fall on the ground, stand up, and generally act silly, especially during Junior Primary and Nursery.
7. This calling is a pretty autonomous. Of course, the Primary Presidency is involved, but they pretty much let me do my own thing.

Now, I know that being the chorister isn't for everyone. You have to feel comfortable with music and kids, and "performing" weekly.

I have learned a few things in my six months in this calling:

-Don't underestimate the children's abilities. They are capable of doing more than the (relatively) simple arrangements in the Children's Songbook. It takes more time and work, but they can pull of more complicated songs.
-Do explain the dynamics and structure of the song. Teach them music skills along the way. It'll help in the long run.
-Do learn the songs yourself, and be enthusiastic about them.
-Don't just stick with showing pictures to help them learn the words--use props, drawings on the board, individual children to represent different lines, etc.
-Get the children up and moving, especially during wiggle songs (have them march around you, if you can).
-Don't always ask them if we should "sing the song one more time" or something like that. Instead, simply tell them what we're going to do. They'll follow in line and it doesn't give them an opportunity to whine.
-Demand excellence. It will come.


I'm excited to see what the next year will teach me--and if anyone reading this has ideas, feel free to add them!

November: Week Three.

Monthly Theme: My family and I can serve others.
Scripture: “By love serve one another.” (Galatians 5:13)
Weekly Theme: I can be a good example for my family.

Songs:
various

First off we reviewed our ASL of Love One Another. I think the kids are getting a little tired of this one, but I just don't want them to forget it.

This week, we pulled out the conducting batons that I made out of metal Slurpee straws. I'll have to take pictures, but until then, you must know they are VERY fun. The kids get really excited when they get to guest conduct. They have a choice of four decorated conducting batons (green, blue, pink, and gold). We have a little discussion on tempo vs. rhythm. I think only a handful of them really get it, but maybe after several of these discussion, something will sink in. However, they all definitely understand the importance of having a conductor. When asked, why one is needed, they are now quick to respond with things such as: knowing when to start and stop, knowing how fast or slow we sing, knowing how soft or loud, etc. Little by little, I'm going to turn this kids into little musicians and choral singers.

So we pulled out the batons. (The kids call them wands.) I started by having them guess a number between 1 and 10. Whoever got the number exactly right was allowed to come to the front, select their favorite primary song and conduct the children singing it. Sometimes I would hold their hand and help them conduct. Sometimes they wanted to do it on their own. Sometimes I would stand behind them and pat my hand on their shoulder in tempo, so they could feel it. After the first child finished conducting, they whispered a number between 1 and 10 in my ear and then we'd start all over.

The conducting batons are always a hit, but this time the number guessing was actually just as fun for them.

With the Senior Primary, at the end of our time, I pulled out my set of pipe chimes (loaned to me from my mother) and asked if they knew what they were. I explained that they were musical instruments, kind of like bells, and that we were going to learn to play a song with them next week. I gave my spiel that this was a special privilege, and they had to be on their best behavior to earn the privilege of using them. The chimes and the large nails used to strike them were not to be used as weapons. If they were disrespectful, rowdy, or used the chimes as weapons, they would immediately be put away and the kids would lose the privilege of learning songs on them this holiday season.

So there was my teaser for next week. :)

November: Week Two.

Monthly Theme: My family and I can serve others.
Scripture: “By love serve one another.” (Galatians 5:13)
Weekly Theme: My family will serve others.

Songs:
Singing a Song Is Fun To Do
Love One Another (ASL for Love One Another)
How Firm a Foundation
I Love to See the Temple

We started off our singing time today reviewing last week's thoughts about love and service. I asked them what things they did that week to serve their family and express their love. These are the times when you get to learn little tidbits about them and their family life.

In Junior Primary, we we put some of their weekly activities into the song Fun to Do! "Helping my mom is fun to do...", "Cleaning my room is fun to do...", "Sharing my toys is fun to do..." You get the idea. The Sunbeams had just sung this in their class, so it was extra reinforcement of the song, which I heard them singing in the halls on the way to Sacrament Meeting.

Then we discussed how giving service, like doing dishes and moving boxes into the garage (some of their examples from the week), are just two ways we can give service using our hands. When we sing with our hands, we are giving a service to those who can't hear as well, those who are deaf who speak or sing with their hands. Phrase by phrase, we learned the American Sign Language for Love One Another. We did it several times over and over so that we could learn it really well. I think they enjoyed it at first, but then a few of the older kids really started complaining. I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe it wasn't challenging enough for them? Maybe it was too challenging?

Right before we signed and sang it through the last time, I asked them to be thinking of their favorite song to sing last. We had four different suggestions, so we voted and in Senior Primary we sang How Firm a Foundation, and in Junior Primay we sang I Love to See the Temple.

November: Week One.

Monthly Theme: My family and I can serve others.
Scripture: “By love serve one another.” (Galatians 5:13)
Weekly Theme: I am thankful for my family. I will serve them.

Songs:
When We're Helping We're Happy
I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus
Rain is Falling All Around
I Am a Child of God

Last Sunday, we focused on introducing the new monthly theme, by talking about how we can love and serve our family and others. The kids came up with a lot of chores they could help with, and then I suggested other ways we express love: with our words, with physical affection, with our eyes, etc.

Surprisingly, the kids didn't seem to know When We're Helping We're Happy, so we learned that and tried out a few different set of words with it.

We reviewed and sang I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus.

Then for fun, we continued with our version of Rain is Falling All Around, which we had been learning the week prior. I designated four children as section leaders. Each section leader was in charge of leading their section in singing their particular "season" of words.

1st Section - Sun is shining all around.
2nd Section - Rain is falling all around.
3rd Section - Leaves are falling all around.
4th Section - Snow is falling all around.

We had made up our own little hand movements for each set of words, so that it was easier to remember "where" the rain was falling... all around, on the rooftops, on the ground, on my nose, or hands, or toes.

We sang each of the verses all together, then I asked them if they had ever experienced a day with ALL the seasons at once. They laughed and said no (I guess that means that haven't lived long enough), so I suggested that we could try it out in Primary first. They thought this was a great idea. Each section leader led their section, and we experienced all the seasons at once.

They were a little worked up after the hurricane containing all four seasons blew through, so we ended by singing I Am a Child of God.

My plan was virtually the same with the younger children as it was with the older children, this time.

How it all started.

In June 2009, I transitioned from a Young Single Adult ward to a traditional ("family") ward. Certain that I'd be called to teach Gospel Doctrine (my favorite calling) or work with the Single Adults, I was quite surprised when my Bishop asked me if I was ready for a challenge...

He called me to be the Ward Primary Music Leader. Wow. That's not at all what I had in mind. I knew I should be excited, but I admit I was rather hesitant. How would I ever get to know anyone in the ward? I'd be tucked away in Primary and never get to go to Relief Society or Gospel Doctrine, let alone ever teach!

Little did I know...

"The music leader is the gospel doctrine teacher for the Primary."
~President Hinckley

I was called to be Gospel Doctrine teacher!

Not only that, but how many teachers can say, "My students still know the lessons I gave them... word for word!" Nothing beats hearing "my lessons" as I walk down the hallway, or out to my car at the end of the day, or even in the middle of Sacrament Meeting.

And remember how I thought I wouldn't meet anyone in the ward? Well, you might be surprised how well I know adults in the ward, through their children. And on top of that, I have 40 new little friends! Nothing warms the heart quite like the look on a child's face when they see me in Sacrament Meeting, and they turn and poke their mom, pointing and saying, "Mom, look! That's my friend over there."

So in the spirit of preparation, organization, and of course sharing of ideas, I have started this blog to house all my lesson plans and ideas. Have you been called as the Primary Chorister in your ward? Get ready for a fun ride! Please feel free to take my ideas and use them in your own Primary. Leave a comment and tell me how it went with your kids and link all you want!

Here I go!