Too Good Not to Share

A friend of mine recently told me about her family's bi-annual General Conference traditions and how she made the weekend special for her young children. I thought her ideas were great and I tried one of them out this morning. It was a success so I couldn't wait to share it with all my fellow mommies-to-young-children out there.

Earlier this week I took the kids to the grocery store and let each family member pick out a special treat "para la conferencia." It got them really excited and counting down how many naps they had to take before the big day came (our timeline currently operates in terms of the number of naps before such-and-such fun event takes place). This morning I pulled out the treats and placed them in different cups with common conference words on them. 

Each time the kids heard one of the chosen words, they got to choose a treat from that cup. It worked wonders for their attention during this morning's session.

Isaac really wanted Rolos as his treat, so I succumbed even though the caramel chocolates are a bit larger than I would have liked for our little game (as opposed to Skittles or Bottle Caps) . I put them in the cup labeled "temples" thinking that it was a word that would be less frequently spoken this morning. Until President Monson's talk, that is. I'm pretty sure he dropped the word "temple" 10 times in about 1.5 minutes. Isaac could hardly contain himself as he kept counting out Rolos from the plastic cup. "Oh, he said it again! Oh, and again!"

Hooray for a temple in Durban, South Africa!! Woot! Woot!

3D City

Like many IKEA-loving families, we own the ever-popular road rug. 

A couple of days ago we decided to make it more exciting by adding some 3D buildings. I found the inspiration from this blog post.

As much as I envy those of you who are, I am not a crafty mom. Our 3D city required some empty graham cracker boxes, toilet paper rolls, construction paper, tape, glue, and markers to decorate.

Maddie added Little People to her city as well.

The first box they decorated was dubbed "Grandma and Grandpa's house" and Isaac insisted that it be placed near the mountains.

This little project took less than 30 minutes to complete and the kids had a great time with it. Easy, cheap, and even a not-so-crafty mom could handle it. A great rainy day/winter activity.

From the Mouth of My Babe

Climbing the tree at Aunt Brookie's house. 

Tonight while giving Isaac and Maddie a bath I started praising them for helping me at the grocery store earlier in the day, telling them that I thought they were the best kids in the whole world. "You really shouldn't say that," Isaac advised, "all the other kids in the world are going to feel bad."

Bottle it Up

Who knew latex gloves could be so entertaining to 3 rowdy children on a Sunday afternoon?

The past few days have been days that, as a mother, I just want to bottle up and remember forever. Nothing extraordinary happened; in fact, it was more or less an ordinary week, but for some reason I was able to live in the moment and enjoy the blessings in my life more than I usually do. Ryan and I were talking about it the other night as I was rambling on, trying to figure out why it had been a great week so that I could repeat it every week. He listened to me bounce ideas around--

• Was it the kids? Were they extra-well behaved?  Maybe a little bit, but we still had the same discipline issues we always do...the same tantrums we always do...and they fought with each other from time to time just like they always do.


• Did Ryan have a super-chill work week so that we were able to spend tons of family time together? Nope, in fact it was one of his busier weeks as a resident. I think he spent less than an hour with the kids all week long, getting home most nights shortly after they went to bed. 


• So why was I able to live in the moment more than usual and just enjoy my family and the blessings that Heavenly Father has given me? I'm still trying to figure this one out but the more experience I get in this role called motherhood the more I believe that it's the hard days that make the best days that much better. I don't think I would be able to appreciate the special moments as much if they weren't interspersed with difficult ones. This job isn't supposed to be easy.

Last night's Relief Society Conference was a great end to my bottle-it-up week. All of the talks were inspiring, but President Uchtdorf's was by far my favorite. I feel like he gave the perfect discourse on perspective and it was exactly what I needed to hear. You can find it here. 

He focused on 5 forget-me-nots for our lives as women in the church. Here is what I was able to gather from his talk:

1. Be patient with yourself. Be as compassionate and forgiving with yourself as you are with others. He also reminded us that it is part of our mortal experience to have weaknesses, and that those weaknesses can one day become our strengths. Instead of worrying about having the perfect Family Home Evening every week, instead ask yourself "What simple things could we do as a family tonight that would bring us closer together and give us a spiritual experience?"


2. Remember the difference between a good sacrifice and a not-so-good sacrifice. Are you committing your time and energy to the things that matter most? I need to take a good look at my life and trim away the things that aren't most important.


3. Be happy now. He gave a great analogy of the golden ticket in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory.I loved everything about it. If we spend all of our time pining over and searching for a golden ticket, we can forget to enjoy the chocolate bar. While there is nothing wrong with righteous yearnings, we must also try to capture the beauty and joy in everyday moments. I think I was better at doing this over the past week than I usually am and it made a difference in my week.


4. Don't forget the why of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Try not to see it as a list of tasks to fit into our busy schedules. The Gospel is not an obligation, it is a pathway. Don't walk the path of discipleship with your eyes on the ground. The what and how of obedience in the Gospel of Jesus Christ keeps us on the right path, but the why is what sanctifies us. Think about why the Lord asks you to follow His commandments.


5. Don't forget that the Lord loves you. God loves you--you are His child. You are destined for more than you can possibly imagine. 

Even though my life will never be easy, and I am certain there are many hard days ahead, I know that these forget-me-nots can help me to have the perspective and peace that I need. And hopefully help me experience those bottle-it-up days more often.

From the Mouth of My Babe

Puddle-jumping in the driveway during yesterday's rainstorm.

Davis was yelling while we were running errands the other day, voicing his frustration for being trapped in his car seat. "DAVIS! Stop. Screaming!" Maddie demanded, "I don't NEED anymore SCREAMING in my life!"

Cross my heart I've never said those words to her (thought them....yes...vocalized them...not in those exact words...)