If you ask a mom...

If you ask a mom what brings her joy, she will undoubtedly say her children. Then, she will begin thinking and realize she has a lot of joy in the quiet moments. She will then realize that sprinklers bring her lots of joy because the children are able to play outside and leave her in the quiet. Only, she will realize it's just too quiet and will find plenty of joy in Pandora's 90s pop station as she dances around the kitchen. She will then, no doubt, miss her children and call them inside so they can all dance to 90s pop music in the kitchen despite the   horribly wet mess that is being made on the floor. Being a mom is fun and children being so much joy, in the quiet moments but also the loud ones. :)

*This picture is not from today. It was all wet and the music was coming from the phone. The kids have returned outside to the sprinklers though so I am blogging. :)

Summer Plan

My kiddos, well, one specifically, has to have some structure or they go a little berserk. So, I have a plan! :)

They have a daily "To-Do" list that consists of:

Journaling: They both need to practice writing and phonics so Ryanne writes phonetically. It's really fun!
Reading: I set the timer for 20 minutes and they read. Then, I read aloud to them for about 10 minutes.
Home: They have to do their daily chores.
Physical: We go outside and play, go on a walk, or go to the park.

Practice: Collin's taekwondo will continue over the summer and I have signed Ryanne up for the 6 week summer season of ballet and jazz. Then, they will both continue piano. So, they have to practice these things. :)
Extra: This is where we'll do some activity... painting, sprinklers, swimming, library, $1 movie, swimming lessons...etc.

This will be good because it's structured enough that I hope the kids won't be too bored but it's still flexible so we can do some of the fun things we are doing this summer without feeling like we can't stick to the schedule. Fun fun!

DYT Week 3 for a Type 2

If you would like to see previous weeks then click the links below.
Week 2
Week 1

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am doing the 30 day Dressing Your Truth Challenge. You dress your truth for 30 days and pay attention to how you feel and how others feel around you. If you can make it through the 30 days without getting 5 compliments then you get your money back.I may also put on some of the colors I am not supposed to wear just to see how I feel in them. But, first, I will get through my 30 days of dressing MY truth. :)

Day 15: I am wearing 2 solids together which is a little boring so I put the flower pins on and a long necklace to help counterbalance the boring. :) I am not sure if the dark to the light is too much of a contrast though. I feel comfortable in it so... eh... not sure.

Day 16: Gray sweater, blue ruffle top and green corduroys. Second day hair and half of it is pulled back into a clip. :)

Day 17: This is an outfit I have worn many times in the past. The difference is the accessories. Also, third day hair is pulled back in a diagonal french braid. I kept some tendrils down and had the braid lose so it flows better. :) I am wearing my favorite earrings which are hard to see in this pic and I love the look of the scarf. Also, that bracelet is so perfect! It's the right color beads so it matches with pretty much anything. My daughter actually made it as a choker necklace for her but she never wears it so she said I could use it as a bracelet. I just doubled it and it fits perfectly. :) Of course, you can hardly see it in this picture but, trust me, it's perfect. :) I also gave up the necklace because the scarf is like a big, runched necklace. :)

Day 18: Today was a day of fun with the kids. Library, park, hanging out with my sister, nieces  and nephew, Sonic fast food, and a ward (church) party tonight at the park...etc. So, I wanted it casual but still fun and needed accessories but the kind that I can run and play in and not overheat in at a park. I thought a necklace would be too much so I went with one of  the t-shirt vests I made and dyed yesterday and decorated it with a flower that brought in the gray from my shirt and brown from my pants. Yay!! I also decided to wear my long earrings to give more framing to my face. This is a fun outfit to wear when I am active. I will have to remember this. :) So glad I made the t-shirt vests. Hard to believe it started off as a white, v neck, men's undershirt, huh?

Day 19: Grocery shopping day. Fun! :) I've worn this outfit before so nothing too exciting. Still awesome though and feeling confident.

Day 20: One of these days I will find another skirt that works with this. LOL! However, I do love that gray skirt! :) It is so perfect and I love how it feels. :)

Day 21: New outfit!!! I love it!! :) I am wearing my $1.75 pants and $3.50 shirt. I think they both look awesome! My hair is in an updue and has a gray flower on the side of the bun too. Love it! You just cannot see it well in this picture. :)

So, this is the end of week 3. I go back and look at the earlier clothes I wore during this challenge and see the mistakes in them. I see the things I disliked about them and love that I am learning more each day that I proceed through this challenge. I only have 1 week left of this 30 day challenge. YAY!!! I am so glad that I decided to do this. =D

Shopping!

Now that I understand what to shop for and what I feel comfortable wearing, I actually enjoy shopping. Here is my haul today.

My phone really makes everything look gray, doesn't it?

1 blue shirt -- $3.50 -- normally $25 new ----- savings of $21.50
Charcoal slacks -- $3.50, normally $25 new -- savings of $21.50
Corduroys -- $1.75, normally $30 new ------- savings of $28.25
Gray pants -- $1.75, normally $30 new ------- savings of $28.25

Grand total.... I spent $10.50. I get a $10 weekly allowance so woot! I had $.50 extra in my wallet so I had enough. Yay for new clothes. :) By purchasing them used I saved a total of 99.50. Why would anyone buy new? Really! Of course, I hope they continue or I won't be able to purchase anything used. ;) hehe!

Getting my dye on! :)

So, I needed some vests and little jackets that could be worn to create more layers but that wouldn't add too much heat because I do live in South Carolina and it's already in the 80s with high humidity and it's May. You walk to the mailbox and return to the house sweating and grateful for A/C. :) On pinterest I ran across this tutorial on making t-shirt vests.Oh, did I mention it is a no sew project? Yeah! I don't have to pull out the sewing machine. I love craft projects but pulling out the sewing machine and setting it up is such a pain. Anyways, so I bought a pack of 3 men's undershirts for a little over $7.

Then I cut them to the right design. Two of them I left little sleeves on them and one of them I did sleeveless. However, white is not a color I can wear when I Dress My Truth so I had to dye them. Yeah!! So, my white t-shirt vests turned from the above color to this:

The vests are colored, from top to bottom,  maroon (1.5 gallons hot water, 2 Tbs wine RIT dye, and 1 tsp dark brown RIT dye), violet brown (1.5 gallons hot water, 1/2 Tbs dark brown RIT dye, and 1/2 tsp purple RIT dye), and plum (1.5 gallons hot water, 1 Tbs navy blue RIT dye and 1/2 tbs wine RIT dye). I also threw in a skirt to the plum and my tan pants into the maroon. Those pants started off a deep brown but they were too dark. So, I used the RIT color remover which lightened them up but still not right. So, I added them to the maroon and now they are a milk chocolaty, rosy brown. Perfect!

And, here I am wearing the plum vest. 

What do you think? I think I like them. :)

Picture Purge

Time to remove some of those pictures on my phone! :)

Ryanne building gifts for Mother's Day at Lowe's Build and Grow workshop.

Collin building his.

The strip of tall grass behind the church. Fun to play in. 

:)

Picture Day at dance!! :) This is her recital costume. She doesn't like the feathers.

Birthday Party! Wait, we're missing one.

Oh!! There she is. :)

Oh yeah! A four wheeler! :)

DYT Week 2 for type 2

This is a 30 day challenge. If you'd like to see my first week then click here.

Day 8: I am continuing the challenge, of course. I got my 5 compliments within the first 2 days but I thought it was neat keeping track of everything so I'll continue. :) Today, I have a sick child so, unfortunately, I am not going anywhere. However, my daughter and I both went for hair cuts yesterday. She got a fun one and I got more extreme layers in my hair so it flows better instead of forming a triangle on my head b/c who wants a triangle head? The shirt I am wearing came from TJMaxx back in November or so. The pants came from there too at the same time, however, they were dark brown. Yessterday I used RIT Color Remover and it lightened it up enough that it matches my chroma card now. YAY! :) Oh! Maybe tomorrow I'll take a picture WITH the chroma card so you can see what it was. So, here are my newly lightened pants and my new haircut! :)

I need to clean the mirror again. It's all smudged b/c my son drew smiley faces all in the fog when he got out of the shower. haha! So, you look at the mirror and smile now but it makes for a smudgy picture. LOL!

Day 9: I am excited because even if Collin is sick I will be taking Ryanne to dance so I am going out in public. haha! Yeah, I'm a little weird now. I just love that I know how to dress now and I don't look frumpy. I just want to walk around and yell, "I'm not frumpy!!!" haha! But, since I am a 2 and don't really want to yell and have people stare at me that way, I'll just go with walking around and happy because I feel confident in the way I look. :)
Yay! Today's outfit consists of things I have worn before but they are put together with different things making a new outfit. I am wearing my $2 shirt from Salvation Army, my khakis from TJMaxx and the scarf I picked up at Walmart for $5. I didn't wash my hair today so the scarf is in my hair. Otherwise, it could be fun as a loose belt today too. :)

Oh!! And, in my hand is the chroma card. I mentioned it yesterday. I hold it up to outfits and see if it blends with the outfit. If it pops from the outfit then it's not one of my colors. ;) I love this little chroma card. The kit also came with a teeny tiny one to keep in the purse so you always have one with you if you're out shopping. :) It is very handy.

Day 10: This outfit, I didn't feel very confident in. I think it was the combination with those pants. My gray shoes are a pewter gray so they are very light and these gray pants are a darker gray so they just felt funny together. Not sure. Anyways, this was my outfit for day 10.

Day 11: I really like this outfit. They are the first colored pants I bought that aren't the neutral blue jeans, black or brown/khaki colors. They are GREEN!! Ack! haha! But, I really like them. They are also a fine corduroy so they are really soft and I cannot stop rubbing them. I may look sort of funny walking around in public rubbing my leg. I'll have to resist. haha! I googled them and to buy them new, Cambio Jeans Sharon, they are $158. Oh my heck! Why would someone spend so much on a pair of pants? Oh well, keep spending and then donate to Goodwill so I can purchase later. :) The shirt is also new, it is GAP. Together, I spent $4.50 on the two of them. Oh yeah! I love thrift stores and have no idea why people would go anywhere else. They are even easier to shop at now that I know what I am supposed to wear. It is awesome! :)
I took a couple of pics with this outfit. One with the scarf as a cowl neck. I didn't like that. One with no scarf. It looked too boring. So, I finally took one as an infinity scarf. Love! Sorry the color is so yellow. Not sure what happened there. ;)

Day 12: This is an Ann Taylor Loft shirt. They normally sell for $50 and I got it for $3!! Yay!! It's hard to tell in the picture but it's a purple shirt. This outfit is fun! I love how the flower in the hair softens the whole look. The flower has a hair clip and a pin on the back so it can be worn in the hair or on a shirt or scarf. You can order them online for $12-16 but I found them at Hobby Lobby for $3.50. I bought 2 of them and saw how simple they were to make so I found directions online. Hopefully I'll be able to make a bunch more. Love them!! :) The jeans are just an old pair I already had.

Day 13: I love dressing up for church now! :) So fun! Today I wore a ruffled shirt. Can you believe that? Me with ruffles? Yeah, I thought it was crazy too but I love it!! It's blue with lace and t-shirt ruffles.I got it from Goodwill for $3 and, after Googling, it's a Kohl's shirt that normally sells for $20. The sweater was originally a light purple but I dipped it in some gray dye and darkened it up a little bit, just enough for me to feel comfortable in it. LOVE IT!! It's also a Goodwill find that normally sells for about $20 and I paid $3. I am also wearing a flower in my hair today. I love the flower look. It really softens up the whole look and it sort of brought in the gray from my skirt to complete the blended look. This is also second day hair so the flower helped to hide that little issue. LOL! :)

Okay, the top doesn't look blue and the sweater doesn't look violet but it really is. :) Oh, and I got so many compliments today! I guess I really don't get my money back for the course. haha! I got 5 compliments today alone! Carol Tuttle says if you don't get 5 compliments during the 30 day challenge then she'll return your money. Yeah, I don't get my money back but that's okay. Apparently my confidence is growing. People are noticing the growth of confidence and commenting on it. My hubby is a big fan of the confidence. ;)

Day 14: Just want to say that Mondays are tough. The days start early with speech and occupational therapies so this is day 3 hair for me. I don't normally go this long without washing it. LOL! So, it's a bit rough. I am trying to learn how to though because I hear people say they love day 2 and 3 hair so I am going to see if I can figure out how to do that. I have Old Navy Gauchos on! Woot! I really love the way gauchos look so I was excited to find these. This is the same t-shirt I've had for a little while. I think I was pictured with it before. Anyways, here's my outfit.

I really need to figure out a better place to do these pics with better light. Here is a shot of my hair and earrings. I love them! :) The earrings are so fun. It's a long chain but has an elongated spiral that goes around the chain. They are perfect type 2 earrings. LOVE THEM. Then the flowers are just adorable I love how well they soften the look. It's hard to see but there are two flowers in my hair, the pink and the gray one. ;)

I have no been dressing my truth for 2 weeks. I cannot believe it or how great I feel. My husband comments about the increase in confidence he has seen in me too. I love knowing how to dress and being able to feel confident in myself.

Closet Makeover

Today is Day 11 of the 30 day Dressing Your Truth Challenge. And, guess what! I love it! I love it so much that I went through my closet and took out everything I couldn't wear. I also went to Goodwill and bought 4 new articles of clothing for $10. Poor Paul. He thinks I'm crazy but he is supportive through it all. ;) So, here is my type 2 closet now. :) YAY!!

Dressing Your Truth Week 1 for a Type 2/1

This has given me an entirely new outlook on myself. I have always hated my looks and wanted to change them. Constantly trying to improve. If I can only do this then I'd be beautiful. Well, not anymore!

Day 1:

I will admit. I felt a little awkward today but I got comments that I looked really cute from people. This just wasn't my normal style and I felt like I stood out a bit too much. I know I probably didn't but I felt like I did.

Day 2:
Today I felt good! :) My husband even came home and told me how hot I looked. That felt good. :) I took my daughter to dance later and got several comments that I looked really nice. It was a great feeling. I rarely got comments before. Yay!! I think I felt more confident today than yesterday because I incorporated my secondary type (type 1) into my hair. A type 1 is fun and yesterday I just looked too "flowy". It wasn't me. Today, I added some "fun" and felt much more myself. I think Carol would say that I need more jewelry but I am working my way up little by little. My pants in this picture look black but they are actually jeans with a navy blue base. :)

Day 3:
I forgot to show off my new handbag!! :) I got it for $4 from Salvation Army. Woot! I have always worn army green messenger bag style purses. I thought they would be less noticeable and these little things were always so "fancy" to me. Then, I saw this little bag. It was soft and comfortable, it was the right colors, the right size and the right price so I got it. Now, I think I actually love it. I was walking around the supermarket and was sure everyone was staring at me and my little bag and then I looked around and realized they weren't b/c they all had bags similar to mine. LOL! I don't know why I worry so much.
This is an outfit I have worn many times in the past. However, this time, my shirt has been dyed. The laces are gray and the shirt part is an off white color. I need a necklace but don't have one the right length for this outfit. I love my hair!! It's fun but still soft and flowing and the scarf just helps soften up the look.

Day 4:

So, today I tried an outfit that I hated. Ack! I don't know why. I think it was that the collar was too high. I may have to make some adjustments to the shirt. So, I kept the skirt (this is the white one I dyed) and dug in my husband's side of the closet and stole his charcoal gray button up shirt and the end result was kinda cute in a lounging around the house type of outfit. :)

                                                                                                           

See, isn't that so much better? I continue to feel confident in my body and I am feeling beautiful. I want to go places just to get the compliments I keep getting. Now, I just wish I had some cute sandals to wear with this outfit. I may just have to wear my flip flops until then. They are clear but maybe I'll spray paint them. ;)       

Day 5:

I love knowing how to dress for me. Today is a cleaning, shopping, Lowe's Build and Grow type of day so I didn't want to go off dressed up too nicely so here is what I chose.

     Notice that I am wearing two necklaces!! :) Yeah! Win for me! :)I am also wearing a dark gray scrunchie on my wrist. Does that count for a bracelet? LOL! Okay, so I am not wearing shoes yet but, here's a secret, I wasn't for any of the other pics either, I just managed to not get my feet. Not sure how I did that this morning. Oh well. haha!                          

Day 6:

Today, I gave a talk in church on Motherhood for Mother's Day. My entire ensemble (the clothing anyways, not any accessories) came from Goodwill for $10. Woot! After my talk, so many people at church told me how great of a talk it was but two people came up to me and told me I looked "Fantastic" and "Amazing"!! Oh yeah! I was excited! Today is also the first day I used the curly hair method recommended for a type 2. My hair is even curlier. They didn't all form into giant ringlets, which is what I have always hated about my curls, but formed loose, flowing curls all over my head. It was fun. I am so pleased with how today's outfit turned out and the reactions I received at church. YAY! I wish you could feel the skirt too... so soft and smooth. Love it!

Day 7:

I think I now like my hair like this. I love the casual look on me even. Ah! I just cannot tell you how much Dressing Your Truth has done for my self-esteem and it's only been a week. I already feel beautiful. I know I am still overweight but I feel beautiful even though I am. I will continue living my life in a healthy manner but will not be so obsessed with what shows up on the scale. I am happy and beautiful as I am.

My shirt was $2.50 from Goodwill. The pants I have had and my gray belt is a black belt I had that I spray painted pewter gray. :) I did my hair the type 2 way again and this time just left it down. We'll see how it does. :)

 Here is the end of my first week of dressing MY truth! :)

Motherhood

Happy Mother's Day! So, guess who was asked to speak again! Yeah, I was. In case you missed it, I spoke 6 months ago at church on Gratitude. Here is a link to that talk if you'd like to see it. With a ward (congregation) as large as ours, one would think I wouldn't have to speak as often. Oh well, here is my Mother's Day talk if you'd like to read it.:)

Motherhood
 Motherhood is such a broad subject. I was a little worried about it just because there were so many directions I could take. So, I prayed and then I just started typing. I am sorry. You are about to hear the randomness of my thoughts and notes I gathered in my scripture journals and stories that popped in my head. My first thought was, “What do I strive for as a mother?” The first thing that popped in my head was “Mother in Israel” which automatically made me think of Deborah from the Old Testament. Deborah was one of the coolest women of the old testament. Not only was she a Judge of Israel but she was also a prophetess (Judges 4:4). Those of you who haven’t read her story should totally read it. It’s very cool. There’s war, deception, a violence… yeah… lots of fun stuff in this section. However, the reason I bring up the story of Deborah, besides the total coolness of herself and Jael (another woman in the story), was because of Judges 5:7, “The inhabitants of the villages ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.”
 The term ’Mother in Israel’ originates from Deborah. There is no evidence of her having biological children. Instead, she was a mother figure to her people. “She loved the people she served as a mother loves her own children. Deborah nurtured, protected, taught, and inspired the people of Israel to trust in God, act in faith, and work with Him to restore freedom, peace and opportunity within the land. She led her charge to the source of salvation… A mother sees beyond daily survival to eternal and spiritual progression. She recognizes that she can never save her children but He can. Armed with this knowledge and conviction, she selflessly seeks to bring others to the same truth.” (Women of the Old Testament, Camille Fronk Olsen, pg 114) I think of the many women who serve the primary, youth, and relief society. Not all of the sisters have biological children but we can all be “Mothers in Israel”. I think this lesson we learn from Deborah is so important to achieving the title of “Mother in Israel”.
Another amazing mother of the Old Testament was Rebekah. She is actually my favorite. She also taught a very important lesson to us. She and Isaac seemed to be a very righteous family who prayed for over 20 years to have a child. Finally, Rebekah became pregnant with twins. In Genesis 25:22 we read that Rebekah felt the twins “struggling within her”. She wanted to know why this was happening so she went to the Lord in prayer. She went herself. She didn’t ask her husband to pray to the Lord for her but she went and received her own revelation. She learned through that revelation that her youngest would receive the birthright and she made sure she obeyed the Lord and made that happen. Bruce R. McConkie said, “What a marvelous example Rebekah has set for all the women of the church. Not only did she pray and get personal revelation when she needed it, but she so influenced her husband and her son that they did what was necessary so that Jacob married in the church and with his beloved Rachel, gained eternal life.” I love that Rebekah did this. Women have the power to know how to help their family as well. the husband and wife can receive revelation independently but they must work together to influence their families to follow the commandments of the Lord.
On Sept 23, 1995 something very profound was shared in a General Relief Society Meeting. The Family Proclamation. President Hinckley said, “Why do we have this proclamation on the family now? Because the family is under attack. All across the world families are falling apart. The place to begin to improve society is in the home. Children do, for the most part, what they are taught. We are trying to make the world better by making the family stronger.” He continued by saying, “You are the guardians of the hearth… You are they who nurture them and establish within them the habits of their lives. No other work reaches so close to divinity as does the nurturing of the sons and daughters of God.”
President James E Faust then said, “Because you mothers are the heart and soul of any family, it was appropriate that [the proclamation] was first read in the general Relief Society meeting.”
Sister Zina D. H Young (3^rd RS General President) taught sisters to “make the home the center of attraction, where the spirit of love, peace and unity will dwell, and that sweet charity that thinketh no evil will ever abide.”
Ezra Taft Benson made this profound statement that puts great amounts of pressure on me. “Mothers in Zion, your God-given roles are so vital to our own exaltation and to the salvation and exaltation of your family. A child needs a mother more than all the things money can buy. Spending time with your children is the greatest gift of all.” *sigh* Recently, the relief society sisters were presented a challenge. A challenge in which we were to eliminate or moderate something in our lives to make us more present for our families. The week before that was national screen free week. The following week was our weekly challenge. So, during the day, after school was complete and screens were allowed back on, the kids and I had to share a screen if we were on it. Often we find ourselves on different devices and we may as well not even be in the room together. We aren’t present in each others’ lives. During this challenge, when we did watch TV we were watching it together, cuddled together and discussing the show. Often we were outside playing, running through the sprinklers, hiking through Hitchcock Woods. I listened to the stories my kids told me. I have to say, I have some really hilarious kids. I want to reiterate the last sentence in the previous quote from President Benson, “Spending time with your children is the greatest gift of all.” I hope the memories my children have of their mom are fond ones. I hope they remember the fun they had with me and the time they spent with me and that they are great memories.
Hopefully, the fun memories aren’t the only things they remember about me. Hopefully they remember that “I knew it” just like the Strippling Warriors knew their mothers knew it. We all love this story, right? Just in case you are unfamiliar with it, here is a quick synopsis. “In the Book of Mormon we read about 2000 exemplary young men who were exceedingly valiant, courageous, and strong. ‘Yea, they were men of truth and soberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him’ (Alma 53:21). These faithful young men paid tribute to their mothers. They said, ‘Our mothers knew it’ (Alma 54:48)” (Julie B. Beck). I bet mothers of Capt Moroni, Mosiah, Mormon and others also knew it. Here are some lessons learned from these great young men.
1)      Teaching our children in the home makes a great difference in the world.
a)      These mothers caused a ripple effect. Ready for it? (1) These mothers, ordinary mothers, taught their children. (2) These boys lived and obeyed those teachings. (3) They inspired Helaman as they lived and shared their Mother’s teachings. (4) Helaman wrote this in a letter to Captain Moroni. (5) Over 400 years later, Mormon chose this story to be part of the Book of Mormon. (6) We now know their teachings and example.
If we effectively study and teach, what type of ripple can we cause through the generations?
2)      The seemingly small and insignificant things we do as mothers are much more significant than they seem.
In 1945 Elder L. Tom Perry was in the Pacific during WWII. He wrote a letter to his mother for her to open on Mother’s Day. Here are parts of it:
“Dear Mom,“This year more than any of the others I can see just what having a wonderful mother has done for me. First of all, I miss the little things you used to do for me. Whenever I got out of bed in the morning, I never had to worry about whether I’d find a clean shirt and clean socks. All that I had to do is open a drawer, and I would find them. At mealtime I always knew that I would find something I liked, prepared the best way possible. At night I always knew that I would find clean sheets on my bed and just the right amount of covers to keep me very comfortable. Living at home was really a great pleasure.”
“But deeper is the feeling for you because of the example you set for me. Life was made so enjoyable for us as a family that we wanted to follow in your footsteps, to continue on through experiencing the same joy that had been ours in our younger days. You always found time to take the family into the canyon, and we could count on you to do anything from climbing mountains to playing ball with us. You and Dad were never going on vacations alone. The family was always with you. Now that I am away from home, I always like to talk about my home life because it was so enjoyable. I couldn’t turn from your teachings now because my actions would reflect on your character. Life is a great challenge to me to be worthy to be called the son of Nora Sonne Perry. I am very proud of this title, and I hope that I will always be worthy of it.” The small things are important and will, hopefully, be remembered and perceived as acts of love
3)        We must make sure our children know we know it.
I hope my children and the children I teach in primary know that I know it. I know I am a child of God and I rely on Him. I know what President Ezra Taft Benson said was true when he stated that “in the eternal perspective, children – not possessions, not position, not prestige – are our greatest jewels.” I know that the temple is a holy place and somewhere we should strive to go and get our children inside someday as well. I know that by being the nurturer in the home I can provide my children with a home where they feel safe and loved and truly be the guardian of the hearth. I know that, together with my husband, we lead an eternal organization and must keep our organization looking towards the future, towards eternity. I know that I can be a teacher and am never off duty as I train my children for missions, finding an eternal companion and teaching them the things they need to ‘endure to the end’. I know that I allow less in my home, less media, less distraction, less of anything that may draw away from the Spirit I want in our home. I know that I can set the example and teach my children to stand strong and immovable. I know that I have great power and influence in my home and if used wisely my family, our eternal organization will endure to the end and be together throughout the eternities.
4)       Our children are strengthened and empowered by opportunities to teach and share their testimonies during scripture study and family home evening.
a)      “Young children desiring to bear testimony in public can be taught to respond to the Spirit and share heartfelt expressions. Such teaching is done most effectively in the home by loving parents who adhere to principles related to testimony bearing.” (Elder Carl B Cook)
5)      The war that began in the Premortal life rages on. Ephesians 6:12 tells us, “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”  Mothers do not need to fear though. Family scripture study and prayer, arms and prepares our children to face the battles of their lives.
I hope that I will be able to live my life in such a way that my own children will think of me as Joseph F Smith thought of his mother when he said, “Whenever… temptations became most alluring and most tempting to me, the first thought that arose in my soul was this: Remember the love of your mother. Remember how she strove for your welfare. Remember how willing she was to sacrifice her life for your good. Remember what she taught you in your childhood…. This feeling toward my mother became a defense, a barrier between me and temptation.”

Meandering Through The Neighborhood

The kids and I have taken to going on a (almost) daily walk. I try to walk faster to burn some calories though so the kids tend to ride scooters or bikes so they can keep up with me. Sometimes Collin jogs. He loves to go running with me but my knees always hurt so I don't do it anymore.

Here are some fun pics of the kids. :)

Right off our driveway.

1/2 mile down the street and still going strong. Well, Ryanne looks a bit tired but she made it about 1/4 mile longer before turning around. Collin likes to go all the way down the street which is almost 1.5 miles before heading back to our house.  However, yesterday he decided to head back when his sister was tired.

The Sun Returned!

After a couple of weeks of rain (South Carolina is no longer in a drought). So, the sun was finally shining and it was in the 80s so we used that to our advantage. :) And, yes, I am very aware that we need to mow the lawn. ;)

Collin wasn't a fan of the cold water. It took him a while  to get in. Finally, I just picked him up and took him in. LOL! He laughed and then he was fine. ;)

We had a water fight. Occasionally one of us would grab the sprinkler and chase the others. Yes, I was involved in these water fights too. So fun. I was out there in my swimsuit chasing them as well. Tons of fun!

Not really sure what was happening here. They both stuck their bums in the water and laughed. Weird kids. haha!

Arwen, the dog, wanted nothing to do with the sprinklers. She was hiding under my chair or the slide. But then the kids took the sprinkler to the slide. ha! Poor Arwen.

Then they made mud and slid down face first into it. haha!! It was very funny watching. I did not participate in this part.