Rest unto Your Souls..........

This is the name of the talk i read this morning by Elder Per G. Malm from Octobers conference. Its been on my mind all day and there are a couple of quotes that I want to remember as a wife and a mom. I think sometimes as moms we get lost and worn down. Its a sacrifice, a really BIG sacrifice at times to give all your time and energy to everyone around you. Somedays are easy to be home with kids i feel at peace and love everything about it, others are hard and wearing and you may even feel the urge to get in the car and drive far really far away from the chaos!!! The past couple of years I have dwelt on it a lot and tried to find the right balance of everything. It seems i have had guilty mom syndrome over everything in the past. Maybe feeling i didn't measure up or feeling guilty for taking an hour for me to just go to the gym when i could be doing mom stuff instead. Its hard to find the right mix and just be fine with yourself, your messy closet, your kids messy face at church, being late, piles of laundry on your treadmill, your messy office that you can never get to........ok i'll stop!!! I am coming to realize that is life and you can be happy or not with it! I am a major quote person. I have them posted on my wall, mirror in the bathroom, written in journals and i keep a collection of them in a notebook. I love this one by Liza R. Snow "Women should be women not babies that need petting and correction all the time. I know we like to be appreciated but if we do not get all the appreciation which we think is our due, what matters?" I love that so basically NO whining ladies!! I feel like the lord knows what we have done and that is good enough we don't always have to be thanked by those around us....even though it is nice:)

I think the most important thing of all is kindness towards others which can be hardest with our own family. Elder Malm said in his talk "In our day-to-day actions, it is often the small and simple things that will have a long-lasting impact (Alma 37:6-7). What we say, how we act, and how we choose to react will influence not only ourselves but also those around us. We can build up, or we can tear down." Its hard sometimes but lets face it the mom has the influence to set the tone in the house. I am grateful and happy to be a mom and always trying harder to be better. I love these people! Even Will made it in the picture in the mirror!

Davis and his disappointment...............

Last night Davis would not stop begging for a ho ho. Thats right a hostess ho ho. I have some strange attraction to hostess products ho ho's, zingers, twinkies, donuts, and chocolate cupcakes. I just like them. Most people don't but i do! I always buy treats for the kids lunches. I'm sorry but you have to have a treat after lunch and dinner, just my opinion and the school can just live with it. I don't let my kids hoard sugar but i think that a treat is great. So now that I am sidetracked from the story i will continue! So I wouldn't let him have one because those were the "treats" for their lunch. He cried whined and the night was not fun. Anyone that knows Davis knows his diet consists of about 5 things and ho ho's are one of them. I told him I would put one in his lunch in the morning. So I did. He got home from school came up to me and screamed you didn't put a ho ho in my lunch along with a horrible sad cry. I mean he was really devestated that I would make him wait and then it wasn't there. I told him I did and that he must have thrown it in the garbage with the rest of the stuff! The wrapper on ho ho's is white and it blends in with the inside of his lunch bag so I think he didn't see it and ended up just throwing it away. He was absolutely devastated as if he had just done something horrible. He literally cried for an hour because he was so sad he had made that mistake and now the ho ho was gone and we had no more at home. This sounds dumb but it made me think about how life has a lot of disappointments along with the good but we have to learn to deal with the sad things too. It starts when were little and then gets a whole lot more complicated when we are older! I guess I better go buy some more ho ho's!

For my family far away................

This is the CRECHE! My family far away has heard about it for the past 2 years but not so sure what it is. This is a project that my good friend Erin and I have worked on together and believe me it took miracles to make it happen but it did happen! It is fun, stressful, exhausting, rewarding, and peaceful all mixed together. Will did the silhouettes and his sister Kathryn made all the scripture boards. The cool starry night back drops were put together by everybody. It is a four day event for the community and i am amazed how much people in the community love it and count on it yearly. We really wanted the focus to be on Christ and what Christmas truly is!

So there you go family. Miss you guys TONS!