Because I Had Children

Writing for me has always been fun.  I write when I'm happy, I write when I'm sad, I write when funny things happen or when I don't want to forget something.  With the popularity of blogging, I kinda trailed off with my personal journal although I still write down personal things there and while working on my Personal Progress, I write a lot of spiritual insights there.  But, writing for me has always been therapeutic. It may have started when I was young and my mother would leave notes for me on my bed or dresser and I would find them after coming home from school or work.  Sometimes they were just the kind of notes that would pick me up and lift my spirits, sometimes they were reminders that I needed to do a better job of pulling my weight around the house.  I love notes.  I keep every note that someone writes me and put it in my safe place or hang it near my desk so I can read them often.  Having said that, I don't keep cards that just say what Ha...

There ought to be a rule about moms getting sick.  I mean when that happens, it isn't as if I can call my kids around me and say, "Listen, mom feels pretty sick today so you are all on your own" as I hand the baby his diaper bag full of fruit snacks, wet wipes and diapers and send him upstairs to watch cartoons. No. Mom has to be on 24/7, there is no relief for her... Unless you are me. I take getting sick pretty serious around here.  But, just like the analogy of the oxygen mask on the airplane, I realize that sometimes I must take care of myself so that I'm able to take care of everyone else. I started coughing on my anniversary weekend trip.  It wasn't anything unusual, I figured there was something in the air in Snowflake that was agitating me so I didn't think twice.  By Thursday, I had had enough.  I called in a nursing student friend and had her listen with her stethescope, but she said it sounded fairly clear.  The next day, my home teacher ...

Have you heard of  www.71toes.com ?   I love this lady; there is nothing about her family life appears sugar coated or perfect and she doesn’t pretend to be something she isn’t.   She completely adores her husband and kids and it is completely obvious in every post.   The pictures of her family are gorgeous and she seems to capture their personalities so well.    She has a daughter with a disability, which is a topic many can relate to.    I love her Q&A session every Friday, but she doesn’t seem to take part in the comments from her posts as often as I would like to see, but her Q&A session seems to make up for it. Another favorite of mine is  www.iamboymom.blogspot.com .   This is a personal friend of mine who is the mother of two boys.    She is super funny and her blog is full of the antics of the men in her life.   She shares her devotion to Clorox ©  wipes and Soft Scrub ©  cleanser in the form of...

I get in a rut with my meals sometimes.  I don't really love to cook either and I especially hate to cook in the summer, but this recipe is so great for so many reasons, and it is a new recipe that my family has fallen in love with and I expect to see it as a regular request. The recipe comes from my friend Lisa S., (it is actually her mom's recipe.)  We at these for dinner at girl's camp on Bishop's night and they were a hit.  It is a fabulous recipe for any size of family because once you  make the meat mixture, you can freeze the meat into smaller portions for later.  We had about 45 people to feed that night so I doubled the recipe and cooked all the meat at home in my large roaster oven (on the back porch so I wouldn't heat up the house).  When it cooled, I put it into two large gallon freezer bags and froze it.  By the time we were ready to cook it at camp, it was thawed in the ice chest and ready to heat up.  As I fried them, I placed th...

Once in a while, my husband takes me on a trip away from the kids, just the two of us; the thought of eating out and not having to clean up after anyone, sleeping all night undisturbed and waking up whenever I want, watching whatever I want on t.v. or reading in peace sounds heavenly, doesn’t it?   It is, and our marriage is worth it.  I just can't believe I didn't take any pictures. For our 20 th wedding anniversary, we went to Heritage Inn Bed & Breakfast in Snowflake, Arizona.   The temperature was a constant 70ish and we even got rain on Saturday night.   The B&B is located on Main Street in this quiet little town.   It is decorated in antiques and the grounds are covered with beautiful roses and other flowers.   Each room is different, ours had a queen (note to self, there is a reason I have a king at home).   We had a claw foot tub, wood floor and beautiful furnishings.   After checking in, we went and walked around the LDS templ...

Like most parents out there, I have a lot on my plate.  I work, I go to school, I take care of my family and home, I fulfill my responsibilities at church and do my best to serve those around me.  My mind is regularly on the verge of combustion with the amounts of information I have to remember.  Just calling the Dr. to schedule an appointment for one of my children is sometimes more than I can take. Please don't ask me the birth date of any one of my children, I go into information overload.  I have mommy brain; a semi-permanent state of confusion and chaos: birthdays to remember, school papers to sign, phone calls to make, errands to run, groceries to purchase.  It can be overwhelming at times.  I can feel it in my whole body when the time has come for me to recharge my mental battery. My me-time does not count on date night, that is us-time. It does not count when I am in class, that is, well, teacher-time, as is any volunteering I do at the ...

I am far too hard on myself; I worry about what people think too much and I don’t often give myself enough credit for the things I do well.  I'm not a terrific housekeeper, I don't even like to cook, I don't ever feel crafty, and as for style, I am the queen of casual wear (maybe too casual).  Sometimes I have to work at remembering my value and my worth as a woman, a mother, a wife and a friend.     Today I will remember that I can do hard things, that I am not measured by how clean my house is or how cute I dress, that I am a good friend, and that I am smart (and doggone it people like me.) These are things I just say to myself (and apparently anyone who reads this).  It doesn't mean I am bragging, I am just reassuring myself of something I already know but sometimes forget.  The pressures of motherhood and life in general are major distractions in making me forget my worth.   This is my way of trying to be the best me I can be. Give yourself ...