Be the Good bench

When I saw this on Pinterest, I knew I wanted it somewhere in my life everyday.

The original was painted on pallet wood as a wall hanging. She used her Cricut to make the stencil. It's lovely. Her sign inspired me to make my own. Hers is more professional, but mine is good enough for me.  

I don't have a Cricut or a stencil, but I didn't want to wait for one. So I hand-painted mine on the bench I built that had been sitting in the woods next to my house for a year or so. It isn't perfect. But good isn't perfect, it's just good enough.

Funny little story: The neighbor boys (who are all good boys, but are jumping to conclusions) think a bad guy stole the bench. I wonder what they will think of the "bad guy" when they see "he" returned it with this uplifting phrase on it. 

BElieve THEre is GOOD in the world by BEing the GOOD.

CUT, STUFF, DRILL and TIE: Quick and Simple 5-Gallon Bucket Seat Cushion For the Youth Pioneer Trek

Trek Buckets. They hold all your personal gear for 3 days while you hike 20+ miles with youth reenacting the Mormon Pioneer Trek during the middle of the 18th century. They also serve as a seat. The seat cushions I had seen on the internet were inspirational, but not exactly what I wanted. So I modified many of the posts I've seen and came up with this. Keep in mind, this project is FUNCTION over FORM at its FINEST!This project took about 15 minutes, start to finish.

I wanted it to be removable so it could be a pillow as well as a cushion. I wanted it waterproof so I could wash it off. I wanted it thick enough to actually keep my backside comfy. 

• No glue. 
• No staples. 
• No wood. 
• No velcro. 
• No sewing. 
• NO FRILLS!
• No hassle
• Removable. 
• Waterproof (depending on the fabric of your backpack.) 
• Can be pillow and a seat cushion. 

It's as simple as

CUT - STUFF - DRILL - TIE!

 Let's Do This!

I started with these materials:

• 1 drawstring back pack, about 13"x16"(you know, the free ones handed out for marketing purposes)
• 1 5-gallon bucket with lid from Home Depot (that already had "Let's Do This" printed on it)
• 1 22x22x2 piece of camping foam (also at HD in the packing/moving section)
• 1 drill with the 3/8" drill bit
• 1 kitchen knife
• 1 sharpie marker (not pictured)

CUT: 
I found a Corelle dinner plate that fit snugly inside the lip of the lid. I traced the plate on the foam with the sharpie.  I was able to get 4 circles out of mine. (I made two bucket cushions). I cut out the circles with the knife. 

STUFF: I stacked 2 circles, one on top of the other and slid them into the backpack, just like a pillow case.

Then tightened the bag.

DRILL: Just drill a hole in the center of the bucket lid large enough to pull the strings through.

TIE: Pull strings through the hole, and tie a knot.

It should be tight enough that the cushion will have very little movement on top of the lid.

 All done! Let's hope it actually works on the trek. I'm a trek rookie, so this ought to be interesting!

"Who, What, How" Song Review and AP "Do as I'm Doing"

For singing time today, I reviewed the songs from last year.  We also sang "Do as I'm doing" in between each review song.

For the "Who, What, How," I had 3 jars labeled that way. I put songs to review on slips of paper in the "What" jar.  But for very reverent songs, like "If the Savior Stood Beside Me," I wrote on the slip of paper next to the song title, "REVERENTLY, NO-HOW," because the song was too sacred to sing it flippantly or in a silly way.  Before we sang "If the Savior Stood Beside Me," I told the children my reasoning for not singing it with a "How," and then asked them to sing the song with all of the heart they had, because the Savior means too much for us to take Him lightly. The Spirit came very thickly when I shared my testimony of the Savior just before the song, and the reason to sing it with the most reverence you can muster.  The room went so quiet. I was blessed.

I wrote different categories of "who" (i.e. people with socks, people with sisters, people with blue eyes, etc...) on slips of paper and put those in the "Who" jar.  I wrote silly ways of singing (like "Mormon Tabernacle Choir," "spooky," "whisper," "country," and put those in the "How" jar. The songs that weren't too sacred, we sang in the silly ways. So fun.

In between each review song, I had two different envelopes with craft foam pieces that had actions written on them. I would ask a reverent child to come and pick out an action and we would do that action for the song "Do as I'm Doing."

For Juniors, the actions were simple: clap, snap or flick, hop...

For Seniors, that's not going to fly. I had reverent helpers pull out an Advanced Placement Action. These were not your standard "hop, clap, or blink," actions. Oh no. Not for super grown-up Senior Primary!  This picture shows some of the AP Actions we did.

The granny dance was hilarious. I let them interpret it however they liked. We had some kids with imaginary canes, some with walkers, some with back aches. It was priceless! We got down and boogied! And still kept the Spirit, even while having fun. We had a ball!

I love my calling.