TRUE THANKSGIVING.

It has been humbling and and so very inspiring to live amongst a small portion of our nation's military over the past six months here in Hawaii. Talk about sacrifice. Talk about service.

Our ward is filled with men, women and children who are giving each day for the price of our freedom. I am moved each Sunday as I watch many of the sisters in our ward sit with their children alone as they endure separation on our behalf.

On the very first Sunday in our new ward we noticed a row filled with seven. One sister and six little kids under about the age of twelve. It was hard to miss this sister and we guessed immediately that her husband must be deployed. Soon we got to know her and learned that indeed her husband was deployed to Afghanistan. Each week she has been present, often even early to our 9 a.m. meetings and I have been inspired by her strength and stamina as she has endured this trial.

Well last night, this happy video showed up on my Facebook page. Her husband was home, just in time for Thanksgiving. I cried as I watched her soldier surprise their six children last evening, and  I couldn't have felt stronger feelings of thanksgiving for them, for the safe arrival of their Dad and for the safety and security of my own little family.

Happy Thanksgiving Mamas. May we enjoy the blessing of just being together on this Thanksgiving holiday.

CD REVIEW: POPCORN BOPPING.

Back before my hiatus I got this fun CD in the mail from Deseret Book. It stayed in its package for a while as our car was on a boat headed to the islands and we were in transition. A few days after our car landed, I remembered the CD tucked away in our luggage, and brought it out for our car rides around Oahu. It was a pleasant surprise!

It is described as Primary songs remade as sing-along and dance-along songs. I've gotta say, I was quite surprised to hear the beat of Popcorn Popping for the first time as we ascended the Pali Highway. To be honest, I really like this CD. It has provided hours of entertainment in the car and has kept our family smiling and bopping in our daily drives. My almost two year-old even adds her, "pop, pop, pop." to the singing.

I have been curious however because some of the songs do have an interesting beat and sound. I took a look at the reviews on Deseretbook.com and noticed that people were either giving it one or five stars. You either love it, or you hate it. Personally, I love most of the songs.

If you're interested in this fun CD, maybe as a stocking stuffer, take a listen to the music samples under the reviews at Deseretbook.com and see for yourself. You might love it. I'd love to hear your thoughts or opinion.

Aloha Dear Mamas.

And just like that, it's been almost six months since I took my hiatus from Mamas Who Know.

When  I decided to take a leave of absence from Mamas Who Know, back in May, I had not intended for this much time to pass before I returned to the land of blogging. But, we were up to our necks in our move and blogging needed to be set aside for that time.

With our arrival to Hawaii came lots of surprises that took my time and mostly, lots of energy. One of the most significant was learning that I am expecting our number three little girl in February of next year. For the first eight weeks here in Hawaii, my goal was that of surviving life in a hotel and finding restaurant food that did not sound or taste repulsive. I am oh so happy to report that we are out of the hotel and I can eat normally again. At almost twenty-seven weeks, I am definitely feeling pregnant and am happy to be so.

Over the months I have received a few "miss you" e-mails or comments from readers and those have boosted my spirits and have encouraged me. I have been reminded that there are many, many, of us trying each day to become the best at our job as mothers. I sure appreciate the support you've shown me as I've tried to do so.

Mamas Who Know was born when my husband was headed out on ten weeks of interviews last summer in search of a residency program and job. With the extra time each evening, Mamas Who Know became my hobby and friend in his absence. Now, we have landed, and our life feels different. With a new job, his days almost always begin at 4 a.m. The sun rises at 5:30 here in Hawaii and I haven't learned to sleep much later. At around 9:30 p.m. each night we gather ourselves together and crawl into bed. It is a much different schedule than we are used to, and I am still trying to figure it out.

Regardless of our life changes, I can't deny that my life has been blessed in many ways from this little blog. When I announced that we were moving to Hawaii, a fellow mama and island resident sent me an e-mail inviting me to ask her any questions I might have about the move and area. We exchanged e-mails last spring and when I got here, I e-mailed again. This time, when we were in the thick of hotel living she invited me and our girls to a backyard play-date at her house. She also invited a few other moms and kids for us to meet. That Sunday we ate dinner at their house and immediately we had friends.

Even my non-affiliated with the blog husband, has mentioned how grateful he is for that connection on my behalf and on that of our girls. They are our pre-school friends, our dance friends, our field trip friends and our beach friends. It may have been just the reason that I felt prompted to pursue this small endeavor.

Aside from that little miracle, I have also loved getting to know each of you from the land of blogging. I am thankful for your comments, suggestions, ideas and encouragement. I feel and always will feel,  that we are a powerful group of women called upon to raise up righteous children. I have loved pondering the words that Elder Andersen quoted about our time as mothers in general conference saying, "it is what God gave you time for."

During my hiatus I've had plenty of time to think and ponder about this here blog and its future. On many occasions I have felt the urge to jump back in and share my discoveries and insights about becoming a deliberate mother. Other times, as we are adjusting to a new life, it has been so far from my radar. Truthfully, I haven't known how to handle this little space at times. The last thing I want to be known for is being a quitter, and to leave my blog hanging with a title called "Absent" seemed to be giving up.

The truth is, I still have much to share. I find things constantly that I think would fit perfectly here. I don't however,  have as much time for it as I did last Spring and that has been my hesitation to continue. I kind of like to do things consistently and really, who likes to read a blog that only posts very occasionally? Not me.

But really, I feel like I should keep on.

So with that, fellow mamas, I guess we're back in action here at Mamas Who Know. Maybe not as consistently, and as regularly as I'd like, but back none the less. Feel free to stop in, more than every few months.

Aloha!

ABSENT.

As you can tell, I've been away from my desk.

We're on step three of about a twenty step process that will get our little foursome across the ocean and to Hawaii in the next four weeks. It has included a long road trip out to Utah, and will include a trip to both coasts in the next two weeks, along with a long awaited graduation from medical school and a whole lot of other fun stuff along the way.

And, in being realistic, I am going to wager that my posts here at Mamas Who Know will be few and far between during the next few weeks. Hopefully you won't forget about us and will come back for a visit when the dust settles a bit.

Until then, wish us luck on our journey.

Happy spring, dear mamas!

Erin

CELEBRATING MOTHERHOOD: DAY 3.

Quote taken from here.

CELEBRATING MOTHERHOOD: DAY 2.

Lots of great mama quotes in this lesson.

CELEBRATING MOTHERHOOD: DAY 1.

Good morning mamas. As you read this, we are hopefully on the road (crossing my fingers), headed on our month-long journey, before we fly to Honolulu at the beginning of June.

Our first stop is St. George, UT, where we'll cheer Jimmy on in his first ever Ironman triathlon this coming Saturday. We are all excited, as it is the culmination of a whole lot of training over the last six months.

With motherhood on my mind, and our family on the road, I've gathered up a few of my favorite mama quotes to share with y'all this week. I hope you enjoy them as we draw near to Mother's Day this coming Sunday.

Have a wonderful week mamas, and thank you, as always for reading and contributing to Mamas Who Know.

Quote taken from here.

RELEASED.

Jimmy was released from his calling of four years this past Sunday. The week after we moved in, he was called as the second counselor in the young men's presidency, and later was made Scoutmaster. He has absolutely loved his calling. If you were to ask him the highlights of our time here in Dallas, I am certain that working with the young men would fit right at the top. It has meant that much to him.

I am assuming that I will be released from my calling in the Relief Society presidency this coming Sunday.  I've only been doing this for eighteen months, but have also loved and appreciated the experience of working closely with wonderful and inspiring women. I have had opportunities to serve and have learned so much about leadership, delegation and about Christ-like love. It was an answer to prayer to be able to serve in this calling.

It is interesting, the way the Church works. We are asked to volunteer our time, energy and talents to the building of the Church and the gospel. In some cases, great sacrifices are made to perform our Church duties. Long hours are spent, and great energy is exhausted in the magnification of Church callings. And yet, my experience shows that the growth and progress and blessings come to not only those receiving the service but even more so to the person offering the service, the one who magnifies their calling.

For us, that is the case. We feel extremely blessed as we are wrapping up this time in our lives for the opportunities that have been ours through our Church callings, and for the people we have grown to really care for.

And though it is hard for us to leave our Dallas home and ward, we are confident that there is another ward out there for us to love and to serve in and we know that it can be just the same in Hawaii.

What about you mamas? What do you love about serving in the Church? Do you have a favorite calling? I would love to hear.

EASTER REFLECTIONS.

The longer I am a mother, the more I realize that this job is way more for me than for my little girls. Inevitably, I am the one growing and learning as each day passes.

This has felt especially clear to me over the last few weeks as we prepared to celebrate Easter in our home. As I tried to emphasize the Savior, His life, His teachings and focusing especially on the resurrection living again, my testimony and feelings of love towards Him have only been strengthened.

This is a pretty great job we've got, and after a wonderful Easter weekend, I'm feeling thankful for the privilege it is to learn each day with children.

"WHAT WE CANNOT DO FOR OURSELVES."

Happy Friday to you all.

As you can see, the postings to Mamas Who Know have been a little sparse this week. We are on the downhill slide of our time here in Dallas and are involved with everything that comes with moving. Not leaving time for much else.

Regardless, we are moving full ahead with our Easter Celebrations this weekend. We chatted with a lovely woman in the check-out line at Jo-Ann today who referred to Easter as "Resurrection Sunday". I appreciated that, and felt glad knowing that we are very familiar with the word resurrection here at our house.

Thank you to all who entered the Net Nanny giveaway. We have four copies to give away. The winners are:

Blog winners: Cheeri who said, "Our kids are using the internet more and more so this would be an awesome thing to have." and Heidi who said, "I think is a must in every home! My oldest is 8 and is starting to come home from school with school approved websites and wanting to play...it makes me nervous because like you said, it comes to us...you don't have to seek it out anymore!

Facebook winners: Samantha Strong Murphey who said, "I've been looking for a good internet filter software. I would love to benefit from the giveaway!" and Susan Pendleton Harris who said, "I'd love this also!"

Send me an e-mail at mamaswhoknow (at) gmail.com and we'll get the subscriptions set up. 

Have a lovely Easter, mamas. 

Above quote taken from this talk.
Here's a link and some thoughts on my absolute favorite resurrection talk by Elder Wirthlin. 

REAL LIFE EASTER FHE.

I've been following along over at Women in the Scriptures as Heatherlady has shared and linked up with many great blog posts about how real live families are doing Family Home Evening. I thought I'd join in on the fun, and snap a few photos of our Monday night as well as share how it went.

At about 4:30 p.m. on Monday I realized I better figure out what we were going to do for FHE that night. A lot of times we go straight to the nursery manual or will have discussed briefly beforehand what we want to talk about, and Jimmy is very good at teaching off the cuff. But, I'd been reading about lots of great Family Home Evening ideas surrounding Easter and wanted to be sure to talk about the Savior and the resurrection this week prior to this coming Easter Sunday.

I began exploring the Easter Egg Lesson, and realized quickly that it wasn't going to happen. I didn't have a lot of the materials handy, and wouldn't be able to pull it off. I also knew it would be a little advanced for our crowd.

But, in my brainstorming I realized we could do a much simpler version of this. I quickly made a list of characteristics of Jesus or key events in His life and found a coordinating image online. I saved small images into a document, printed them, cut them out and stuffed twelve eggs. I then numbered the eggs and we were set to go for our own Easter lesson.

Here we go:

Jimmy closed all the blinds to a very curious Hannah and I distributed the eggs in the back yard. After our opening prayer, song and talk of any family business, she was instructed to hunt for the eggs that would teach about Jesus, but not to open any of them. Kate played, while Hannah did most of the hunting.

After we came back inside with our eggs we quickly realized that this setting wasn't going to work for Kate. She was intent on opening every egg immediately. Hannah and I moved to the couch while Jimmy did his best to distract Kate. Slowly, we opened each egg and talked about Jesus' life, mission on earth, His death and then to His resurrection. We spent a few seconds on some of the eggs, and a few minutes on others.

Because Hannah is a mini-mom, she then took the liberty of teaching her lesson after (she usually does this), using our materials. One by one, she told the story of Jesus' life, remembering a lot of what we had just discussed. When she got really into it, we pulled out the video camera and recorded for a few minutes. Kate, our little growing toddler cried in the background.

After our lesson we ended with three songs, "Popcorn" for Kate, "I am a Child of God" for Hannah and "I Wonder When He Comes Again" because I had suggested it. Typically we go out for yogurt if there is time, but this week we went outside again to enjoy popsicles.

I deemed it a successful FHE. It's not always that way. It's not always planned either, but it works. We are spending time with our family and learning together.

How's FHE working at your house?

I know this is late in coming, but if you'd like to use the images I did for a simplified version of the Easter Egg Lesson, go ahead and download them here. Might be fun to do on Sunday or earlier in the week if you've got smaller kids.

And, don't forget about the great giveaway going on for a subscription Net Nanny, internet protection software. You can also enter over on Facebook.

PROTECTING OUR FAMILIES--GIVEAWAY.

To be completely honest, I am quite naïve. Call it sensitive or inexperienced, but I have never had much of a desire to do wrong. I’m definitely not perfect, but I don’t seek out things I shouldn’t.  I consider this a great blessing.

When I was a missionary in Ecuador we were allowed to use the internet to e-mail our families each Monday morning at local internet cafes. On one of those mornings I learned a very powerful lesson, that has stuck right with me.

As I was working on my weekly e-mail, I glanced up and my eye caught the screen of another computer, what I saw was graphic and completely inappropriate. It blew me out of the water. Quickly, I put my head down, finished my e-mail and we left the internet café. But, the images stuck, and they have to this day.

Luckily, the effect of the experience for me has been positive. I was disgusted more than anything, but amazed at the power of such an experience. I learned then, how even in avoiding evil, we can become casualty to Satan’s cunning tactics. I learned how readily available pornography is and I learned just how accepted it has become. I am very aware of the powerful influence of pornography.

I love the metaphor that Sister Beck made of women being the “lioness at the gate” in their homes. I gain great strength and power from that visual as I think of myself as the keeper of the gate into our home. What comes into my house, must pass through the mama.

Ever since that experience, and even more so as I’ve become a mama, I am hyper aware of the media consumption in our house. At this point Jimmy and I are really the only ones that use the computers, and we control the TV and movie selections. As nice as that is, I know that soon enough our girls will be savvy enough to navigate the internet and control the remote. As such, I want our home to be protected from anything that might be of harm to anyone of us, and that includes my and husband and myself. 

One of the things we have always had is an internet filter, where we have controlled the settings of what can and cannot be accessed on our computers. It has provided a safe guard and protection for us, providing safety as we use the internet every single day. We know that even when we don’t seek for evil, it can find its way into our homes, and a filter prevents that from happening—in most cases.

We have used a few different companies over the years, most recently using Net Nanny, and have been very pleased at the protection it has provided. I'm happy to share today, that Net Nanny has offered a few copies of their filtering system to Mamas Who Know readers. Their program, a $39.99 value annually, is available for download and will be given to two lucky giveaway winners here on the blog. They have also offered two additional copies to Facebook commenters. Even if you've got a filter, you can use this when your current subscription ends.

So, mamas, here's your chance to win a Net Nanny filtering system for your home computer. Leave a comment here for a chance to win. And, to up your chances, head over to Mamas Who Know on Facebook and leave another comment there. I'll announce the winners on Friday morning.

Quote taken from an article entitled, "The Secret Enemy", in February 2011 Ensign.

APPLYING GENERAL CONFERENCE.

One day last week,  in the midst of showing our house I felt the powerful influence of General Conference.

I was down to the wire to get out the door before the potential buyers would come and was running around like crazy. Kate was already buckled in her seat and Hannah was playing on the rug. In a fit, I'm sure, I asked Hannah to hurry and clean up the toys. I went to another room to make sure everything was just right. After a few minutes I came back to find everything put away, just as I had asked.

I couldn't believe it. She doesn't always listen and follow-through, but this time she had. In a moment of anxiety for me, she had stepped up. I felt so grateful for her, for her obedience and for her willingness to help.

As we were driving out of the neighborhood, the thought of Elder Robbins' General Conference talk popped into my mind. I didn't know his words exactly, but remembered feeling the impression from conference to compliment my children more for the people they are and not for the things they do. I need to help them realize exactly who they are. I've posted Elder Robbins' talk above.

I took a moment to thank Hannah for her obedience and for how she is such a good listener--not just for picking up the toys in that moment.

Regardless of the situation, I was thankful in that moment for the counsel I had heard in General Conference. I am amazed at how it influences our lives so much, and how it is such a guide.

How about you mamas? Have you been able to apply any of the things you learned in last General Conference? It's been on my mind, has it been on yours?

TEACHING ABOUT EASTER.

Texas Bluebonnets, fresh from the weekend.

Good morning Mamas!

It is a happy Monday indeed, here in Texas, because our house is under contract--meaning, barring any change in the buyers plans, it has sold! What a relief. We are grateful that everything has gone so smoothly thus far.

On to a new topic. Have you started thinking about Easter yet? I felt fully consumed with General Conference / selling a house preparations that I have yet to really ponder on this upcoming Easter. Even more so than Christmas, I think Easter loses its true meaning. It takes real effort to emphasize the reason for Easter and I want to make it a priority this year with my family. There are still two full weeks, so let's get moving.

Here are some of the great resources I have found over the past few days of looking:
Jocelyn at We Talk of Christ, We Rejoice shares a great list of Easter books
An Easter Tomb Craft from Sugardoodle
Another idea from Jocelyn, are paper plate tombs, I think we'll try them for FHE tonight
A neat way to incorporate eggs into learning about the life of the Savior
An article about establishing wholesome Easter traditions

What does your family do to teach your children about Easter? Any fun ideas or traditions you've started? I would love to hear your ideas.

And, our winners for the Hilary Weeks book and CD. 

From the blog, Staci who said, "Looks like such a great book! I'd love one for me and one for my mom and sister! great mother's day gift!" and from Facebook, Mariesa Morgan who said, "that book looks soo cute!"

Please e-mail me at mamaswhoknow (at) gmail.com with your address and we'll get those sent right off.

EASTER MORMON MESSAGES.

Hope your Sunday has been a good one. We've got two napping girls this afternoon, and that makes for a few peaceful minutes around here.

Thought I would share two wonderful Easter Mormon Messages. Both are very good.

  

Don't forget to sign up for the Hilary Weeks book and CD giveaway. The giveaway ends tonight at midnight!

THE PARABLE OF THE MARATHON.

My husband finishing the Ogden Marathon in 2008.

I've learned a good lesson over the past few months. I hate learning lessons.

I've always wanted to run a marathon. I'm not sure why, but it's been on the list for some time. I've run a few halfs, but have never committed to run the full 26.2 miles. Well, at the first of the year I realized that there would never be a better time. My husbands work / school load would be as light as it possibly could for probably the rest of his career and I had just finished breast-feeding my one year old and the timing was perfect.

I began searching for a race. The last week of May would be the perfect time. As I looked, I realized there were no races in our area, that didn't fall on a Sunday. I began searching for Saturday races and that left me at April 9'th in the Houston area. I quickly signed up, and started mapping out my schedule. Soon, I realized that I would have to up my mileage very quickly, cut out some of the tapering and do less long runs. I didn't have as much time as I needed. But, I surged ahead because there was never going to be a better time.

Soon I realized that my knees were bugging me, my left in particular. It wasn't too much of a problem because I started icing them after long runs and taking ibuprofen. I ran ten miles at the end of January in freezing weather and felt good. Then I jumped to twelve, fourteen and to sixteen, all the while my knees aching. I kept telling myself that people do this all of time.

About a month ago I ran eighteen miles and that was my last run. Since then any time I've attempted to run, my left knee has reacted. Even a trip up or down stairs reminds me that I pushed too hard and did too much. I hate this lesson.

Tomorrow is the race and we're not going. Last night I got a reminder e-mail about parking, race-day packets and the after race party. I was so disappointed I told Jimmy I wanted to just drive down and I would do the best I could, probably aggravating me knee even more. I'm finally convinced it's not a good idea.

I'm not sure why this lesson is so hard to swallow for me, but I have been reminded constantly over the last few months of King Benjamin's famous words, "it is not requisite that a mans should run faster than he has strength...it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order."

I ran too fast, too long and increased my mileage too soon, and I'm not going to win the prize--this weekend that is.

I'm hoping I can remember this lesson and apply it to all things in my life as they come. Hopefully there will be another day for another marathon. Until then, I'll apply the lessons I've learned to living every day. One day at a time.

HILARY WEEKS BOOK GIVEAWAY.

The other night I was on bedtime duty alone. After getting Kate tucked away in her crib, I heard the words "one down, one to go," no one said the words, but in my mind, they were clear as day. I laughed out loud, as I realized that this is my life.

The thought made me think of Hilary Weeks' new book that I had received in the mail last week from Deseret Book called, Bedtime and Naptime and Bedtime and Naptime: Simple Joys of a Mom's Life.

In it, LDS singer and songwriter Hilary Weeks, shares some of her favorite quotes, experiences, memories, insights and recipes from motherhood. Along with the book is a CD of lighthearted songs she has written about parenting and mothering. She has shared these songs with thousands over the years and they are finally available in one place.

Listen to this song about a mama's to-do list. It is all so true.



Well lucky for you and me, Deseret Book has kindly offered a few copies of this fun new book to Mamas Who Know readers. I think this little book would make a great visiting teaching gift, or would be perfect for any Mom for Mother's Day. I love the photos and love that the message is to enjoy motherhood.

Giveaway now closed.

PRESIDENT MONSON PHOTO.

We've got a new friendly face in our home.

I came across this photo of President Monson a few weeks ago and loved it. I downloaded it, had it printed at Costco, picked up a cheap frame from Michael's and it has been a great addition to the top of our book shelves.

I used it as part of a display last week at a Relief Society dinner and had about five people ask me about it, so I thought you might like it too.

I love seeing the personality of our Prophet and love having him part of our decor even more.

CONFERENCE WRAP-UP.

And just like that, another General Conference has come and gone.

How was it?

We thoroughly enjoyed it. Enjoyed beautiful summer-like weather, good food (including successful homemade cinnamon rolls), family in town, and listening to the messages of our leaders. It wasn't seamless of course, with keeping the kids occupied and all, but it was nice. It's a good thing we have another six months to get familiar with all of the talks, because I know I missed some good things.

Like last Conference, I wanted to share a few of my favorites. As Elder Holland said, I think we will all have different favorites depending on where we are at in life. I'm going to choose three, but I have about seven I could mention.

How could you not love Elder Quentin L. Cook's talk Saturday morning? Seriously. I think every sister in the Church felt appreciated and recognized. It was a definite favorite of mine. 

I loved Elder Scott's words about his wife and family on Sunday afternoon. So much can be learned just from his example of love and adoration than anything else. I felt the desire to be more kind, supportive, appreciative and  focused on my spouse.

I also loved Elder Robbins' talk about Christ-like parenting on Sunday afternoon. I was reminded that my role as a parent is to teach by example how to become more Christ-like.  I loved his comments about discipline as we have recently been questioning how to handle a few situations with this specific principle. It was so relevant for me.

How about you? What were your favorite parts of your conference weekend? What were your favorite talks?

Here are a few ideas about how to apply General Conference in your family.



Photo taken from here

ENJOY GENERAL CONFERENCE--GIFT TAGS.

Back when I forgot that we are trying to sell our house (that was last week), I created these little tags to attach to something sweet for the ladies I visit teach. My time hasn't quite expired to do it, so I thought I'd share them with you too. I'm thinking banana bread would be a fun treat.

You can download them here.

I plan to print them off, cut them out, punch a quick hole, tie with some cute ribbon and I'll be set. Now, I just need to get baking!

There are even some other colors to try too. Have a great weekend.