CELEBRATING MOTHERHOOD: DAY 3.

Quote taken from here.

CELEBRATING MOTHERHOOD: DAY 2.

Lots of great mama quotes in this lesson.

ONE PARENTING TIP & TWO WINNERS.

Wow, mamas, thanks for your great interest in Five Spiritual Solutions for Everyday Parenting Challenges. I wish I could send each of you a copy. I know you'd enjoy it. Alas, maybe the Easter Bunny can get the memo and include it as part of your basket.

Our two lucky mamas are:

#5 from the blog comments, Karisa who said, "Always love inspiration from the Eyres."

#17 from Facebook, Trachelle Smith Newman who said, "I marked that to read on Good reads!"

With parenting on my mind as I'm finishing Five Spiritual Solutions, I was reminded of this quote by Elder L. Tom Perry from his great talk, "Mothers Teaching Children in the Home."

 

 Daily, persistent parenting is what our families need.

We are headed out on an early weekend. Jimmy's brother got home from a year in Afghanistan in January and we are anxious to see he and his family before we cross the big, blue ocean this summer. We fly into Nashville and will spend the weekend in Fort Campbell, KY. Should be a fun weekend with family. 

Hope yours is a good one!

To our lucky mamas, please send me an e-mail at mamaswhoknow (at) gmail.com with your shipping information and your books will be headed your way.

BECOMING PROVIDENT PROVIDERS.

As most of you know we are on the downhill of our four years in medical school. While Jimmy will have the letters,  "M" and "D" attached to his name, we both agree that we are on the cusp of achieving a goal that we have accomplished together.

Recently, we received the last of our student loans to get us through his graduation date. Along with that, we had the privilege (hope you can sense my sarcasm) of seeing the grand total of loan money that we have received over our four years. Now, we aren't dumb, we did make the choice for me to stay home with our girls, and we know that education is a worthy use of our funds, but it is still an overwhelming experience to see on paper, a very large sum of money, owed to someone else.

Since that time, we have a renewed spirit of getting out of our debt as quickly as possible, and are more focused than ever on living providently. Of course, it is easier said than done, but as we anticipate our move and a new job, we are practicing the art of "joyfully living within our means."

Our talks and plans reminded me of a wonderful talk given by Elder Hales in April of 2009 entitled, "Becoming Provident Providers Temporally and Spiritually." I put my favorite advice from the talk above (given by his wife, by the way), but the rest is filled with wonderful ways of becoming temporal and spiritual provident providers for your family.

He explained, "I have learned that the three most loving words are “I love you,” and the four most caring words for those we love are “We can’t afford it.”

Elder Hales also said, becoming a provident provider is, "joyfully living within our means, being content with what we have, avoiding excessive debt, and diligently saving and preparing for rainy-day emergencies."

Regardless of whether we can afford things or not, one thing I know, is that it is our responsibility as parents to not only teach our children, but to show by example how to be provident providers. Soon enough they might be saying, "we can't afford it."

How about you mamas, how are you learning to joyfully live within your means? I'd love to hear any insights.

P.S. We've got a weekend wide open, and I couldn't be happier. Yard work and a possible camp fire are on the tentative schedule, along with sunny skies. I'm also making my way through this new book, and can't wait to tell you all about it come Monday.

HEALTHY BLOGGING & TRUE GREATNESS.

Over the past few weeks I've noticed a number of blog posts about comparing and inadequacy, especially when it comes to blogging. As we all know, it is easy as pie to portray total bliss on a blog.

A few years ago when blogging was becoming all the rage,  I honestly thought there might be an admonition from the brethren about the dangers of blogging, especially for Latter-day Saint women. I personally could see the danger, and still can. In the day-to-day life of mom's, it is easy to get sucked into reading blog after blog and wondering why your life is not quite like the next. It is easy to waste precious time, focusing time and energy, on the details of others lives, all the while ignoring the details of your own.

But, I was wrong.

In fact, Elder Ballard surprised us all (or at least me) in 2007 when he encouraged blogging as a means to share the gospel. Since then, buttons of "We Believe", or "Learn More About My Faith" have started to adorn blogs directing interested readers to LDS.org. There

Even with Elder Ballard's encouraging words about using the internet in the right way, I am weary. I can see and have felt how easy it is to compare my life, my home, my cooking and my kids to others sharing their life on the internet. I don't think that is what Elder Ballard ever meant or encouraged.

More often than not, when I begin to feel that way, the best thing is for me to step away from the computer for a bit. I usually need to find other things to fill my time and make sure I am doing the essential things.

It's not healthy or productive to compare.

I ran into the above quote a few weeks ago from President Hunter. And, maybe because of my thoughts on the subject, it rang true to me.

Each of our lives are filled with true greatness, it is our challenge to discover (and remember) those great things.

How about you mamas? How do you keep from constantly comparing yourself to those around you? I would love to hear.

And, if you want an additional reading, I posted my favorite excerpt from one of my favorite talks below. Yes it deserves a post all of its own!

REAL LIFE.

Please don't be jealous, but it is eighty degrees in Texas today!

We have had a healthy dose of "real life" this week. Early in the week we were greeted with a stomach bug that brought lots of changing of sheets, if that explains it at all. My girls seem to be better and just in time to fire up the air conditioner. We've got beautiful weather on our radar for the entire weekend. And, a Mommy / daughter trip to see the BYU Basketball team / Jimmer Fredette for Saturday afternoon is making me happy. We are looking forward to the weekend.

Aside from being a bit under the weather we have stayed very busy with a few other Church commitments. Monday, I spent half the day on the roof of the Dallas Temple on a service assignment and last night we had the missionaries for dinner. With a few other things mixed in, we have managed a very busy week.

The other night I came across this quote from President Joseph Fielding Smith from way back in 1905. I loved the term, "real life", because that is exactly what we are in the thick of. I'm not always able to capture "real life" with my camera, but believe me it is here. I loved President Smith's encouraging words about our job as mamas.

As always, I hope your weekend is full and wonderful.

TRAIN HIM (OR HER) WELL & A WINNER.

I hope you'll indulge me on this Monday morning, but I just had to share one more quote from Elder Ballard's talk that I posted about this weekend. I loved this thought. It makes me excited to see what my two little ones become. Their potential is limitless.

And, a winner! Thanks so much to Susan of Persimmon & Pink for sharing her talents with our Mamas.

Congratulations to comment #29 Heather, who said, "I really like the Families can be together forever. In any of the color choices. Seeing that everyday would be such a good reminder of the "big picture" in life", as well as "I just became a follower on facebook."

E-mail me Heather, at mamaswhoknow (at) gmail.com with your print preference and we will get that shipped out to you. 

WEEKEND THOUGHT.

I stumbled across this amazing talk from Elder Ballard printed in the Ensign in 1978 (the year my parent's were married). Because there are so many relevant talks recently, I almost never peruse the archives, but I am so glad that I found this talk. There were so many great quotes to pull from it. Make it your Sunday afternoon reading, I am sure you will love it.

After a snow day yesterday, we may be out of the frigid weather. Thank goodness. The sun is shining today and everyone is happier for it. I hope your weekend is wonderful. We have Stake Conference via satellite from Salt Lake City. I wonder who else will be listening to the same conference. Let me know, I'd love to hear.

Finally, don't miss out on our giveaway of one Persimmon and Pink print. Seriously, the more I check out their etsy store, the more I fall in love. Random.org will determine one lucky winner after the giveaway closes on Sunday at 11:59 p.m. (Central / Texas time).

Happy Weekend!

A FAVORITE.

Not only was yesterday my birthday, but it was a Monday and Monday is my cleaning day. If there's one thing I try to be consistent with, it's a clean house on Monday's. So, with Hannah at a playdate and Kate napping I got to work and also listened to five or six talks from last October's conference. In all my listening, these words by Elder Scott stuck out to me:

You can read the entire talk here.

WEEKEND WISHES.

Would you have ever guessed that Kate totally face-planted after this joyful trip down the slide? Life is a little rocky at times for all of us.

We are enjoying the most beautiful day in Texas. A full morning at the park, has worn my girls right out. Let's hope the weather stays kind, although I've heard rumors of coldness on the horizon. Jimmy will be hit and miss this weekend so we'll be entertaining ourselves with a weekend trip to the library and Ikea. Along with the regular trips to the grocery store of course.

Hope your weekend is a good one.

Quote from "Daughters of God".

MADE ME THINK.

Quote from Sister Wixom's talk, "Stay on the Path".

"MORE THAN CASSEROLES AND SOUP".

I am a young mama. With small children we are far from the life of cell phones, parties and dating. Our worries these days have to do with sleeping through the night, potty training and transitioning to the big kid bed. Big stuff, I tell ya.

One of our biggest challenges is meal times, dinner in specifically. Between begging Hannah to eat more than just rice, and not allowing Kate to intentionally drop her entire meal on the floor, things can get a little chaotic when the dinner bell rings.

That's why this article, "Powerful Nurturing", really struck home to me. I am sure you've gathered by now how inspiring Julie Beck is to me, so this article choice is really no surprise. The article printed in the December 2005 Ensign shares wonderful insight into the importance of family mealtimes.

She shared that everyone's presence at dinner time was "nonnegotiable". It was their family's time to be together and learn together. And, as she explained, it is the the mother's job to make that happen. She said, "mothers, who are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children, can be a powerful force for strengthening families when they use mealtimes to gather loved ones."

She later quoted her daughter about their family mealtimes. She said, "dinner in our home was not just an eating ritual, but a special time for the family to communicate and to share our thoughts and stories of the day. … We often sat together for over an hour as we savored the conversation as much as the food.”

As I've reflected on this article over the past few weeks and our family's mealtime rituals I have come up with a few things that have been helpful to us in experiencing a successful dinner time.

Prepare ahead of time: From the crock pot to freezer meals you never can be too far ahead of yourself as a mom. If I am really on my game, a weekly meal plan is made ahead of time and dinner is started in the afternoon. I have learned from the mother-in-law that you can cook many things ahead of time that still taste yummy. Every time I prepare a batch of spaghetti sauce or taco meat, I do enough for another meal and stick it in the freezer.

Ask for help: Enlist your children in helping. For my age kids, that means setting the table. Whatever age your children are at, you don't need to go at it alone. Figure out a way to incorporate them in the getting the meal on the table.

Sit down: When my husband isn't home at the dinner hour I can usually be found running around frantically, feeding my kids all while I am standing at the counter eating here and there. When we sit down together, everything goes better, and much calmer.

Start with prayer: This is probably a no-brainer to most LDS families, but in the chaos of getting hungry kids fed, it sometimes happens well after the kids have started eating.

Sister Beck adds from her article, "Because I prepared a meal to share with my family, something special happened. It was a simple process, and our style changed with the ages of our children. When they were young we could discuss a picture from the Gospel Art Picture Kit or memorize a scripture. When they were older we asked more questions and shared experiences. Over the years our children grew and matured, and we loved each other."

I thought those were great ideas. I would love to start incorporating conversation from the gospel art kit to our dinner time. What about you mamas? Have you learned anything to help make your family's mealtime a great experience? Please share with us.

image via

CHURCH LAUNCHES FHE WEBSITE.

Have you checked out the new Family Home Evening portion on LDS.org? It is full of great ideas and materials. I loved these quick tips and ideas. Take a look over the weekend and let me know what you think.

We enjoyed sixty degrees today and are taking advantage before the cold hits next week. Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Quote taken from this video.

GOAL SETTING.

With the new year on our heels, I've started to think a bit about goal setting. For me, setting goals does not come easily. Maybe it's because I am very realistic, but I am often hesitant to set many goals or goals that seem unachievable. It's easy to write lengthy lists of an ideal life, but I'd rather focus on what I can actually accomplish. So, this week, I am concentrating on setting a few attainable goals for 2011.

How about you, do you have any tried and true suggestions for goal setting?

Quote via New Era Article entitled, "Go For It!"

THIS DAY.

I marked a big, fat check mark next to something I've been meaning to get done for what seems like years. In fact, it has been over a year since I've wanted to accomplish this task.

What, you ask? Well, our home video footage of the last two years is now safely burned onto DVD's. May seem little, but it's something that I've wanted to get done for some time, and just today, got it done!

Gotta say, it feels good.

A few weeks ago I started making some serious lists. With lots to be done, I figured I better figure out how to do it. The detailed lists each day have been helping me get to things that have been on the back burner. It feels good to see things accomplished that I have been wanting to do.

I came across this President Eyring talk about procrastination a few evenings ago and these words rang true, both about accomplishing secular and spiritual tasks. Reminded me a lot of Sister Beck's talk.

What do you mamas do to keep yourself moving in the right direction? Lists, organizers, what keeps you going?

GOOD MORNING MONDAY.

I hope you had a wonderful weekend and survived the time change. Daylight savings is not always nice to us mamas. I'm just praying our wake-up times return to normal in the coming week, I'm just not a fan of a 5:55 a.m. start for a one year-old.

I was flipping through my calendar yesterday, taking a bit of inventory.  November is one week down, leaving two full weeks until Thanksgiving week. Like you, these are busy months at our house. With the regular holidays we also celebrate all four of our birthdays in November, December and January. In fact our celebrations began this weekend with my husband's 27'th yesterday.

With November underway, my visiting teaching sisters came to mind. The earlier the better, in my opinion when there is so much to be done in these busy months. I was reminded of Sister Thompson's talk this last General Relief Society meeting. Wasn't it good? I especially love the quote above.

On another note, the Tabernacle Choir giveaway ends tonight, make sure you've signed up. Thank you all for sharing how you use music in your mothering. I have loved reading your thoughts. For some inspiration, I would definitely recommend reading through the comments of the giveaway.

Hope your day is productive!

ON TIME.

Last night I read scriptures to Hannah while she was in the tub. It was just she and I. Kate was long gone in her crib and Jimmy was at the hospital. I was tired and getting Hannah tucked away for the night couldn't have come sooner. It was one of those days.

I am going to assume that we all feel a bit overwhelmed at times. Or a lot of times. Or maybe even a lot of the time. Whatever the case may be, motherhood brings those feelings.

Yesterday my beef was with time. At eleven in the morning I looked around to a disaster of a kitchen and wondered what exactly I had accomplished up to that point. One of three of us was dressed for the day and I had yet to check any of my to-do items off of my list. It felt like we were surviving.

My kids eat, nap and they are usually pretty clean. My dishes mostly get washed and the laundry is usually done each week. I serve in my calling, and I try to exercise, and that about rounds up my life. Oh and I write here on this blog.

The problem is, I want to do a lot more. I have ideas and plans and don't seem to get to them. It frustrates me sometimes. There never seems to be the time to do anything beyond the day-to-day living. These thoughts led me to remember a conversation with my sister-in-law, she was feeling much what I feel. She recommended Sister Beck's 2010 Women's Conference talk.

It is an expanded version of her talk given in April 2010 General Conference entitled, "And upon the Handmaids in Those Days Will I Pour Out My Spirit."

In it, Sister Beck shares:

"Years ago I began using a system that works for me, and maybe it will work for you. There was a time when I needed to prioritize, and in one of those sacred meetings between me and the Lord, He gave me three categories that I have worked from, and they have been a guide in my life. The categories are the essential things, the necessary things, and the nice-to-do things. I started writing those things down. I asked, “What has to go in the category of essential?” What things must be taken care of, and if I don’t take care of them, the blessings of eternal life won’t be mine nor will they be my family’s" 

Later, she expounded on each category, I'll share my synopsis of the things she mentioned. All of our lists will be a bit different.

Essential Things: 
Revelation
Scripture Study
Personal Prayer
Making and Keeping Covenants
Service
Temple Attendance
Sacrament Meeting Attendance
Repentance
Sharing the Gospel

Necessary Things:
Homemaking
Keeping a House of Order
Supporting Your Husband
Smiling
Self-Reliance

Nice-to-Do Things:
Crafts and Hobbies
Recreational Reading
Movies
Travels
Lunches with Friends

She then shared:

"To walk with the Lord, we have to know what is essential, what is necessary, and what is nice to do. There is a lot to do, but I find that it is amazing how much I get to do on my nice-to-do list. The Lord blesses us with those mercies, but only if the other priorities are in order." 

What a wonderful reminder that was to me. Much of the things I want to accomplish fall into the nice-to-do category. While they would be fun to do, they are not essential at this time. I appreciate the wisdom and counsel of our leaders and felt renewed as I reviewed Sister Beck's words.

One more quote from her General Conference talk that rang true to me:

"A good woman knows that she does not have enough time, energy, or opportunity to take care of all of the people or do all of the worthy things her heart yearns to do. Life is not calm for most women, and each day seems to require the accomplishment of a million things, most of which are important. A good woman must constantly resist alluring and deceptive messages from many sources telling her that she is entitled to more time away from her responsibilities and that she deserves a life of greater ease and independence. But with personal revelation, she can prioritize correctly and navigate this life confidently. "

"TIE YOURSELF TO RELIEF SOCIETY."

I love Relief Society. Seriously. I'm not sure I always did, but over the years I have needed just what the Relief Society has to offer, and have come to love it.

Last night we had a wonderful activity in our ward. Very simple, but very effective and fun. 

One sister in our ward is a master sugar cookie artist (a title I am giving her). Upon questioning I learned that she had been taught the fine art of sugar cookie'ing at a Relief Society activity in her previous ward. With more questioning I learned that she would be more than happy to share her secrets with the sisters in our ward, so we could all become sugar cookie masters.

As an introduction, before the detailed class of butter, sugar and flour, she bore her testimony of the Relief Society program and shared this quote:

I truly am thankful for Relief Society. In more ways than just teaching me to bake sugar cookies, it has blessed my life. From filling the social interaction I need as a mom to young children, to building my testimony, I feel blessed to belong to such a wonderful organization.

So, good mamas, have you tied yourself to Relief Society? How has Relief Society blessed your life?

A CONFERENCE FAVORITE: PRESIDENT MONSON.

I just made it through the Relief Society broadcast. Per usual, it was very good. Like many of you I especially loved President Monson's talk. Here is a favorite quote from his talk.

Have a wonderful weekend. We've got family in town and have already eaten our weight in my "Y" sugar cookies that have morphed into a tradition for our once-a-season BYU game. I'll have to snag a photo before they're all gone.

A CONFERENCE FAVORITE: ELDER UCHTDORF.

Thank you for sharing your conference favorites with me. Turns out we have a lot in common. With the text out this week of the recent conference addresses, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite quotes over the next few weeks. Feel free to save these and post them on your blog or even print them for your bathroom mirror. We never really can get enough reminders of these good words.

Here is one of my favorites. The full talk, "Of Things That Matter Most" , can be read online.