The Key

So Happy To Be Mommy

"The greatest job that any mother will ever do will be in the nurturing, teaching, lifting, encouraging, and rearing her children in righteousness and truth. None other can adequately take her place." ("Women of the Church," President Gordon B. Hinckley, General Conference, October 1996)

Family Reunion

Thanksgiving

Cleaning

Having a clean house is overrated. I actually told Stella to hide things under her bed because we have company coming tonight and I needed to vacuum. I'm such a good Mom.

Parenting

Bless my instructor for giving us Thanksgiving week off of homework . . . there's no way I'm getting anything done with these cute little distractions around.

Sisters

Yep, that about sums up my relationship with my sisters. I'm glad I get to hang out with all three of them this week!

Homemaker

My Mother

My sisters and I find it hilarious that we can talk exactly like my Mother . . . Elliot, on the other hand, is a little afraid. But I can't tell you how many times I find myself thinking of my Mom in awe of what she accomplished as a mother of 7 children. And that wasn't all, she was a working full-time, mother of 7, wife of a farmer/bishop AND she was also the most faithful Visiting Teacher of all time AND she cooked ALL of our meals on top of all other things including, I'm sure, a never-ending pile of laundry for 9 people. I always think of picking up the phone to call her and thank her for the kind of mother she was . . . now if I could only find that phone. I love my Mommy.

Home & Temple

"We go to the temple to make covenants, but we go home to keep the covenants that we have made.  The home is the testing ground. The home is the place where we learn to be more Christ-like.  The home is the place where we learn to overcome selfishness and to give ourselves in service to others. I say again that we go to the temple to make the covenants, but we go home to keep those covenants." (Elder J. Ballard Washburn)

Next to Eternal Life . . .

Dinner vs. Mothering

I'm feeding my kids love . . . actual food is optional.

"Motherhood is the greatest potential influence either for good or ill in human life. The mother's image is the first that stamps itself on the unwritten page of the young child's mind. It is her caress that first awakens a sense of security; her kiss, the first realization of affection; her sympathy and tenderness, the first assurance that there is love in the world." (David O. McKay)

A New Goal

So the way that the Young Men in our Ward pass the sacrament is pure chaos. They all get the trays and every one of them heads to the back of the chapel overflow and randomly pass the sacrament as they move forward to the front of the chapel. There is absolutely no order and it's distracting . . . really distracting. They don't work together and it's a train wreck that I can't look away from. For instance, say my family is sitting in one row. One deacon will pass it to the first person in my family and then instead of another deacon catching it on the other side as we pass it down through our family, that same deacon will run around the pews to retrieve his own tray until there is just a mess of deacons crashing into each other as they race around the pews. Chaos. I keep meaning to say something to the Young Men's president, but then I always forget about it by the time the meeting is over.

But I don't want to forget about the sacrament. I want it to be meaningful. I don't want to go through the motions of taking the sacrament. There are sacred covenants associated with the sacrament that I want to remember (as I've promised to do). So I'm committing right now to stop watching the deacons and just focus more on the covenants I've made so that I can show the Lord that it means something to me. It means everything to me.

"In renewing our baptismal covenants by partaking of the emblems of the sacrament, we do not witness that we take upon us the name of Jesus Christ. [Rather], we witness that we are willing to do so." (Dallin H. Oaks)

Celia's Blessing

Elliot gave Celia the most beautiful blessing this afternoon at church. I'm so grateful for a husband who listens so closely to the Spirit and the beautiful blessings that the Lord has in store for our sweet baby girl.

Attention Deficit Mom

. . . sorry Sweetie, this house will never be clean again.