President Thomas S. Monson - Charity Never Faileth

Fun stories

A couple of weeks ago I killed the car, yes, it seriously was my fault. Right behind the mechanic is a Wendy's and since it was lunch time we took the kid over for a happy meal. There we discovered Benjamin's true love, ketchup. He would dunk everything in ketchup (Even fruit :P) and if it didn't have enough ketchup he would go in for more. He had three cups of ketchup and the rest of us shared one. After his food was gone he just picked up the ketchup cup and drank what was left, you can't wast the good stuff, right? I'm thinking ketchup for his birthday present...

Here is one of my favorite baking buddies, he sure loves working with me in the kitchen. Here we were making a cake for our friend. I was making chocolate curls to put on the top and Glen was helping me. He helped take care of the curls that didn't turn out so well, he also took cake of the chocolate in the bowl, on the spatula, and some of the curls that did turn out well. :) I eventually had to banish him from the kitchen so there would be enough chocolate to finish the cake. :) I love his love of baking, cooking, cleaning, and all things that mommy does. If he keeps this up he is going to make his wife very happy some day.

One morning I came into the kitchen to find Glen and Benjamin on the table. Normally this is against the rules, but they were having so much fun. They had figured out that if they were very careful they could stack grapes on top of the water bottle and they wouldn't roll off. They even managed to get two on there more then once. Then Glen started flicking the grapes off the water bottle to see how far he could get them to fly across the kitchen. he got some pretty good distance before I put an end to it. Benjamin was so funny, every time a grape fell of the water bottle and rolled onto the floor he would lay down on his belly to see if he could find it and reach it.

Find joy in the journey and fun in the adventure.

At the end of the day

Some days I feel so rushed and so frazzled. It's not easy being a mom. I get to spend my days cleaning, taking care of kids, changing diapers, running errands, making meals and snacks, and then clean some more. Kids get grumpy, mommy gets grumpy, and some days are tough. But at the end of each day I am grateful for my choice to me a mother. I have never regretted it, and I wouldn't change a thing. I love my children and I am so grateful for them.

This past week has been a tough one. The kids have had a cold and so they aren't sleeping well, which means I am not sleeping well. (Though better then I normally would since my husband has been home on Spring break and helps out so much.) And yesterday I just lost it. I was impatient with everyone, I was mean and grumpy, and try as I might I couldn't change it. Then we went to the store to do the grocery shopping and Glen hit Benjamin and I was mad. Instead of my usual "Now sweety, you need to be nice with your hands," I flicked him in the mouth. Not to bad, but shocking enough that I took a step back reeling. I had just said some really mean things to my husband and now I was being mean to my kids, I had to stop. So I knelt down right there in the store and we prayed. Glen and I both took a turn asking Heavenly Father to help Mommy be nice.

I have always felt that my kids should see my mistakes and I should apologize for them. I am not perfect, and I don't want them thinking I am. So I explained to them both that I was having a hard day, I was letting Satan tell me what to do and I was being mean. I am learning just like they are and I am sorry that I was mean, could they please forgive me?

I worked hard to get the Spirit back and went to the temple that night. The peace that filled me there is what I needed, it had been too long. I am so grateful for the atonement and the opportunity it gives me to repent and be forgiven. I feel a great responsibility. I have been given children to teach, and learn from. I want to be a better person so that I can help them be better and learn to walk uprightly before the Lord. In this adventure and journey of motherhood and life, I and the children are learning together. We are teaching each other, learning form each other, and growing together. And I think that is how Heavenly Father wanted it to be.

A Remarkable Woman

Emma Smith, what a remarkable woman. She has become my hero. I used to bemoan my fate, John works late house and has a lot of homework so I don't get to see him often...well, mostly just that. But Emma Smith, here is a woman who's husband was Prophet of the restored church, that calling right there took him away a lot. Then there were the months he spent in jail. And early on he was martyred. Much of her life as a mother was spent without her husband. She had to take care of everything.

As I have tried to emulate this wonderful woman I have found more joy in my life. I always say life is all in your attitude. I had a pretty good attitude about life. I have always felt so blessed by the Lord. But now in addition to feeling blessed I feel less stress. I feel less depressed when John is gone. I am able to keep up on house work, spend time with the kids, go to church activities alone when I need to, and then enjoy John's company when he is here. I guess the biggest difference is not that John is home more, if anything he has been gone more lately, but I feel better able to hold down the fort here at home. I have it easy, I get to see my husband every night, I have two sweet angles that are well behaved and loving, a warm home, an a testimony. I suppose I can finally say I have reached my goal to "Find joy in being diligent and create a home where faith can find a firm footing."

I think in the end it all boils down to selfish, or selfless. Before I didn't do something because I was tired or didn't feel well, or maybe I wanted to read or play a game. Now I do it because it needs to be done, and it makes my family happier. Being a wife and mother is all about service. every part of my day, everything I do is a service to my family, and to others. I am grateful for this change in my life, so very grateful. It is times like this when I think, "this is what motherhood should be like."