Wisdom for Me to Live by...or at least try.

Today I was having a rough day with the kids. Well, let's be honest here... it's been rough on and off since Kaylee decided she had a mind of her own and Ginger followed suit. When I finally had a moment to myself to think about the day and how it had gone, I found myself pondering what I could do because the way I was doing things just wasn't cutting it. I yelled so much today, and I felt so behind in trying to keep up with the house and all that needs to be done. The list is exhausting and I always feel like I can't keep up.
These sorts of days just don't sit well with me - I always feel I could be doing better, that yelling and being angry isn't the person I want to be, and that I'm sure I'm hurting my kids by being this way. You know, the regular guilt trips us moms give ourselves. While I was thinking about all this, a friend's name popped into my mind and I knew I should give her a call. She answered right away and had the best advice. She's a mom of several kids and always seems so laid back. I admire that about her and that her kids really seem to respect her. So I asked her what her secret was.
She said she remembered the scripture in D&C 121: 41-43 which says we should persuade only by gentleness and meekness and love unfeigned. I've read these scriptures before and I know this is the way Christ taught and the way I need to teach. The next thing she said which made the biggest difference in how I look at this scripture was to decide what is critical that my kids do and what's not. Chances are there are very few critical things that my kids do, things that are life/death sorts of things, incl. spiritual life/death things. So if she's asking her kids to hurry and put their shoes on so they're not late, she'll help them out instead of get angry at them and frustrated. It's the long-suffering part, the love and service part of that scripture I need to do. These are my children, my job is to love and serve them. Because who else loves us like our mothers?
My friend also mentioned Moroni 7: 45 - charity (the pure love of Christ) suffereth long, and is kind...and seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked...beareth all things...endureth all things. I need to be less selfish and seek to put the needs of my children (and my husband) before my own selfish interests. Of course we're supposed to take care of ourselves too, so we don't deplete our well of love and service, but I need to remember these two scriptures.
The other thing I've learned through motherhood is the meaning of sacrifice. We sacrifice so much for our children: our bodies, our time, our showers, our sleep, our money, you name it, we give it at one time or another. But we do it because they are our greatest source of true joy and happiness. I love my girls - they have been my greatest trials but also my greatest blessings. I hope I can remember the advice I received from my friend tonight so that my relationship with each of them is better, that we're closer and we can feel the peace that comes from living in a Christ like manner.
By the way Sam, you are the best husband! I'm so grateful for your love and help in raising our children and for how hard you work for our family. Thank you, really, for all that you do everyday for our family and for me. Your love and service to me has not gone unnoticed - your girls are grateful for all that you provide for us. I'm so glad our girls have such a great relationship with you. It's so very important for them to have you around and to have the relationship they have with you. Thank you Sammy and I love you!

Addresses please....

If you're address isn't in our sidebar to the right, chances are we don't have it anymore... or we've misplaced that email. We don't have to add it to our links if you don't want us to, but we'd sure love to see what you're up to! Just email us with your blog address and tell us if posting it is an option or not. Thanks all!

Chloe Update

Chloe had her four month birthday this month which means we can start giving her real food. She loves her rice cereal. Kaylee loves to feed her, I think more cereal ends up on her face then in her mouth when she feeds her though.

Did you know that they made a Cabbage Patch Doll after Chloe. If she were smiling you would see her dimples and she would look like the doll even more!
Chloe has found her voice. Usually after we change her diaper she is happy and starts talking.
As you may know Chloe made an exciting entrance into this world and had a rough first few days of her life. She hasn't had any health problems from being born in the truck. Sarah and I were just talking about how much of a blessing she is in our family. No matter how crazy our home gets and frustrating Kaylee and Ginger make us Chloe bring a special spirit into our family. She can always make you smile. She always smiles at her sisters and her parents. We love her so much.

Do You Like It?

Okay, Sam is forcing me to blog right now about my hair. I was debating about what to do - it's been falling out for a few weeks like crazy and getting too unmanageable and Chloe loves to pull it and wrap it around her hands (which probably adds to the hair loss). So I found this photo of Alexis Bledel and took it into my stylist Debi Tea at Salon Revez. I think she did a great job and Sam said it's better than things I've done in the past to my hair so that's a good thing too. Of course my hair in this pic doesn't really look like Alexis' but it did when I came home from the salon! We'll see if I can get it that way again.

The First Snow

Kaylee and Ginger were so excited yesterday when it was snowing outside. I got their snow clothes out of the box in the garage and got them all bundled up. By that time it had stopped snowing and none of it stuck to the ground. they were bummed. Then this morning they were so happy to see the snow on the ground. We let them play a Little bit this morning before church. Everything has melted now. Seven Years in Utah and we still love the snow.

Catching up on September

September came and went before we knew it. We wanted to blog about all the things we did but wasn't able to, so here we are just doing one post for the whole month. September means Peaches in our family. We are blessed with two peach trees in our yard. One tree is more than enough peaches for us to eat and can. We were able to can 20 quarts of peaches and give away a bunch more. Yumm.....Kaylee and her friend Mikelle made their own peach soup one day after school.



Where's Chloe?
Roooooaaaarrrr!!!!!
Ginger Loves her Firefighter costume ad wears it everyday.

I'm ready for a bath Mom.
Kaylee was so excited to go to the theatre with Grams (Sarah's Mom). She talked about it all day long. They saw "Suessical the Musical" at the Scera Theatre in Orem.

Grams knew the actor who played the Cat in the Hat, who is the Narrator for the show, so after the the show they were able to get his autograph in Kaylee's Cat in the Hat book.