Watercolor Valentine Printables

Valentine's Day is rapidly approaching.  I can't believe how fast time can fly!  I'll be honest, Valentine's Day has never been one of my favorite holidays.  In fact, I think I loathed it in my teenage years. Back then I focused on the romantic part of Valentine's Day, and as I was scared to death of boys at that time, I didn't get much out of it.  But now I know better. Valentine's Day to me now is a celebration of love.  I often shy away from this word too, but we all know that everything good comes down to love.

Love is a complex and diverse word because there are so many types of love.  We love our partner, children, siblings, parents, friends, neighbors, God, we are even told to love our enemies.  But the love given to each of these individuals is different.   I love my husband differently than my kids and my friends differently than my siblings.  I love them all and each type of love is important.  And yet love is so simple.  We are all born with the ability and need to love and be loved.  To love is to serve, teach, respect, share, protect, listen, have compassion, be kind, forgive....etc.  It is the "great commandment"... it all comes down to love.  This Valentine's Day I want to focus on how I can better show my love to those around me.

Use these Valentine printable for your fabric projects, Valentine's card, wall hangings, or whatever your creative mind can imagine.  I am trying to make my own pillow out of one...I'll post it if it turns out.
HAPPY LOVE DAY!

 download free 8x10 alphabet printable here

download free 8x10 Be Mine printable here

download free 8x10 LOVE printable here

download free 8x10 xoxo printable here

The Family Proclamation

The Family: A Proclamation to the World was given to the LDS members in 1995 as a guide to the family unit.  This is the official position of the Mormon church on the family, marriage, and gender roles.  These teachings have been given to the Saints throughout the church's history, but here it can all be found in one place.  

I believe the family is one of the most important responsibilities we have in this life.  God placed us in family units to learn, grow, and love.  Unfortunately, the sacredness of the family is being neglected by many people these days.  This is a tool of the adversary.  I really believe that the breakdown of the family is one the biggest problems in our society today.  If we all had strong families, I believe there would be much less violence, poverty, disease, poor education, maybe even global warming (haha, ok, maybe not that).  But what I'm trying to say is that the breakdown of the family lies at the core of a lot of the issues our society faces.

If you read this proclamation you will see that it refers mainly to the traditional family of a mom and a dad with children.  I understand that because of death and other reasons beyond our control, this "traditional" family may not be possible.  The proclamation states "Disability, death or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation." A single parent may be raising the children, or even a grandparent; but the message still applies that a family should consist of love and righteousness.  

If you are not familiar with this statement, READ IT!  If you are familiar with it READ IT AGAIN!  It really is beautiful.  

You can find a coordinating printable of The Living Christ here.

*these files have been updated March 23, 2014 to correct a spelling error.  Thanks for your patience :)

download free 11x14 Proclamation - grey here

download free 11x14 Proclamation - navy here

download free 11x14 Proclamation - turquoise here

The Living Christ

This season we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.  While in this mortal realm, Christ taught of forgiveness, faith, His Father, and love.  He continues teach us through His Spirit and through His prophets.  Because He suffered in Gethsemane and was crucified on the cross for us, we are able to return to live with Him and our Heavenly Father in Their eternal glory.  His birth was of divine design to save us all.  He is our Savior and Redeemer.  What better reason is there to celebrate!

The Living Christ is a testimony from leaders of the Mormon church and apostles of Christ.  It is what Latter-Day Saints believe about Christ. Stayed tuned for a coordinating printable of The Family: A Proclamation to the World.

I made this printable a little bigger (11x14) so as to be able to read it when hung on the wall.  There are also a few colors to choose from...hopefully one will look good on your wall.  MERRY CHRISTMAS!

   download free 11x14 printable of The Living Christ - grey here

 download free 11x14 printable of The Living Christ - navy here

download free 11x14 printable of The Living Christ - turquoise here

*edited 1/17/17

Happy New Year

As a New Year tradition my family spends a little time writing down our best parts of the year and make some goals for the upcoming one.  We put what we wrote in a time capsule and bring it out the next New Year to compare our years.  It's fun to see what my kids will write down and see how they've grown over the past year.  This is a great way for kids to start becoming goal oriented, and as we all know...the best way to start a goal, is to write it down!

Have a wonderful New Year!  I hope 2014 is your best year yet!

download your free .pdf here

*found a spelling error in the document...doh!  It should be fixed now.

Christmas is Christ Challenge: Christmas Song Printables

It's the most wonderful time of the year!  Christmas really is my favorite time of the year.  I know it sounds cliche, but everything is just a little merrier.  People are a little nicer, unimportant things seem to nag at us a little less, and the air is thick with graciousness and gratitude.  It is the Christmas Spirit that makes this holiday so wonderful...and the Christmas Spirit is the Spirit of Christ.

I would like to propose a challenge to you this holiday: make the Savior your focus of the season.  You can decide exactly what that means for you.  Maybe it will entail worrying a little less about parties and activities, spending beneath your means for gifts and food, and/or loving our fellow men through service and gratitude. Whatever you may do to make Christ the center of your holiday, remember that feeling of love and peace and share it with those around you.

For the printables this week, I chose lines from Christmas songs I love to sing that remind me that this season is about the Savior.   

I hope your holiday season is filled with love and the Spirit of Christ!  

free 8x10 for Joy to the World here

free 8x10 for The First Noel here

free 8x10 for Far, Far Away on Judea's Plains here

Remember the Little Things

A goal of mine this year was to slow down a little and enjoy everyday life.  I think if we can enjoy our everyday life we can be so much happier.  Even things that seem mundane that need to be done like cleaning can bring us joy.  Or maybe we need to stress less about keeping it so tidy so we can play LEGO's with our kids. (Can you tell my house is a mess at the moment!)

photo from Stephanie's blog: nieniedialogues.blogspot.com

Someone who is an example to me about how to enjoy everyday is Stephanie Nielson, a well known mommy blogger.  Her book, "Heaven Is Here," is about her life and focuses a lot on how her family is the most important thing to her.  She cherishes things like Friday night pizza, laying beside her babies at night and just being alive.  In 2008 Stephanie and her husband were in a horrible plane crash that Stephanie barely survived.  She was burned so badly she was put into a sleep induced coma for three months. When she awoke her children didn't recognize her; her baby didn't even remember her.  She had to go through months of surgery and years of rehabilitation and will never fully recover from her physical scars.  Her soul however, is stronger than ever.  Before the accident she was already a happy person, but after being stripped of many physical abilities, she learned to appreciate the little things even more.  Some of her temporary setbacks were the ability to speak, see, and walk;  she and her family celebrated the day she was able to hike her favorite trail. She is a monumental example of how to enjoy the little things!  She blogs about her every day life in nieniedialogues.blogspot.com.

download free 8x10 printable here

Gratitude is like a present

My grandfather once told me that a good intention is just that...unless you follow through.  He had found a letter of mine that was expressing gratitude to someone that hadn't been sent yet.  Unless I actually sent that letter it wouldn't have benefited anyone...not even myself. 

When we feel grateful, one of the best things we can do is express that gratitude.  I know that will make us experience even more happiness than we had just from feeling grateful.  That's why feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.  Wise word from Willam Arthur Ward.

I also changed a few of the printables I had made for earlier this month.  I wanted them to coordinate so you could have a nice Thanksgiving display of quotes about being thankful.  Enjoy!

for free 8x10 printable click here

click here for "it is thankful people who are happy" printable

click here for "enjoy the little things" (blog entry to come soon)

click here for "gratitude is a present" printable

click here for "gratitude turns what we have into enough" printable