The Love for a Mother

Unfortunately, Carrie already posted today, so we can't give her a much deserved break. But, by her own admission blogging IS her break, so we made these videos today while she blogged. The kids wanted to make these as a surprise present for Carrie, the best mom in the world. Babe, they love you so much! Happy Mother's Day.





Sorry Care, Livs didn't have much to say. But I think the big kids said it all. Thanks for taking such good care of them!

In This Moment

"For me, the secret of motherhood is in the moments. To stop and hear the peals of laughter, to touch the tiny hands, to notice the organic smell of their sun-warmed bodies after they come in from playing outside on a hot day--to be deliberate enough to enjoy it all. Who--when they've slowed down enough and have come outside of themselves enough--could not enjoy a child? This is the surest way I know of enjoying motherhood--ENJOYING my children. Taking the time and learning the skills of being present in the moment.

This is my greatest desire and my greatest anxiety--that it's going too quickly and that I've had too many children too fast, to be able to squeeze all the life and love out of these moments that I can. I feel as though I'm in a race against time to suck all of the joyful marrow out of each stage before it's gone."

--Emily Halverson, from The Mother In Me.

There is much to be said on this role of motherhood. But for me, right now in this period of my life, the words above capture my feelings so perfectly. And I am praying earnestly that I can learn more and more how to savor the moments of mothering. I do love it. My children are such beautiful and dear little souls. They bring chaos and stress and a hundred different chores into my life, but they have brought so much love, so much happiness and an entirely new, more humbling and powerful perspective into my life.

Thank you, Bentley, Caroline and Olivia for helping me become the woman and mother I hope to be. And thank you to all the mothers in my life who remind me daily of the tenderness and sanctity of our role--you continually inspire and teach me.

20 Minutes

We had one of those nights last night: Cares crept into my room at 3:20 am and asked me for more water. On solid auto-pilot I refilled her cup, tucked her back in bed, and easily drifted back to sleep in my own bed. At 6:10, miss sunshine again crept into my room to inform me she'd "had an accident." I woke up in a daze and without turning on any lights I changed her bedding while she independently changed her undies and PJ's. Again, I tucked her into bed and wandered back to my room--that time it was much trickier to fall back to sleep. And Cares was subsequently up for the day, chatting in her room, organizing her animals, then turning on her light and outright playing. I could hear her off and on and then at 7:00 she marched into our room and announced she was awake for the day. Joseph slipped out with her and I finally fell back to sleep for almost an hour...a much needed hour at that point.

At any rate, the girls are both napping right now while Bentley is at school. And I can't shake the feeling that I should be on the treadmill or preparing dinner or planning my lesson for Sunday! But no, I am blogging--one of my favorite ways to unwind and feel very much relaxed. It is never a chore but one of the things I really enjoy and love to carve out time for--can you tell? And just before this I took a solid 20 minutes to sit out on my back porch and read my brand new Real Simple (arrived in the mail yesterday!) Heaven sent I tell you because it is all about garage organization and we have our own garage clean-up planned for Saturday (if we can fit it in between a ward mother's day breakfast, cabin clean-up in Sundance and Bentley's soccer game...) Because of the article I just read I now feel very passionate about painting at least one wall in our garage a vivid color (babe--what do you think about that?) And I think I need an orange hose too (green is so boring!)

Check out the entire garage article here if you please.

Fieldtrip

A temple fieldtrip for Cares' little preschool group last week

All Livs wanted to do was dig her fingernails into the flowerbeds--she loves dirt these days.

Remembering our ancestry

Preschool buddies + Bentley eating snacks

We love to see the temple

Entertainment

Watching intently as our lawn was aerated yesterday.

I heard the big kids rush into Cares' room when the aerating machine loudly revved up, and Livs followed excitedly behind them. I went into the room to help Olivia up on the bed and found them already like this.
3 little buddies...

Did You Know...

...all of last month's General Conference talks and musical numbers are available for free download as iTunes podcasts? Get them. Right now, as you read this. They are just plain good for the soul.

And once you have them, listen to the 3 hymns sung in the Priesthood session by the BYU combined men's chorus. They are so beautiful and such powerful songs--some of my new favorites thanks to these arrangements. There's just something so rich and engaging about a men's chorus.

This MP3 format of conference has made it so easy for me to listen to a conference talk or hymn while I prepare meals or sweep the floor (my new fave right?). And because they are all in my iTunes it only took 2 minutes to transfer them to my iPod so I can listen when on the go.

Just this afternoon I listened to Elder Uchtdorf's talk from the General Young Women's meeting. It's a keeper, even for us "not so young" women. Listen to it here when you get a few minutes.


**for those who need a little guidance:
1) Open iTunes and go to the iTunes store.
2) Select the "Podcasts" tab from the top menu bar and then do a search in the upper right hand corner for LDS General Conference.
3) Look for this icon when it brings up results, click on it and then choose the "subscribe free" button.
4) They will download into your podcasts in iTunes.

Clean

"I really love to clean. It's not anything compulsive, it's just that you can see a difference when you're through. Not like raising kids or something that you're not sure how it's going to turn out for a couple of decades."

--Jill Churchill, quoted from May's issue of Real Simple.

We worked all morning today cleaning the house. And while it is exhausting work, it is such satisfying work. I am the kind of girl who likes to dig in and get the housework all the way done all at once. Then, for the next few weeks, I can just do a little bit of daily cleaning and tidying. Although my kitchen floor sees the broom every day--sometimes two or three times. Lately I have become obsessed with crumbs--they are my arch enemies. And with 3 children eating meals and snacks they accumulate en masse. It is all I can do to wait until dinner is over before sweeping (or vacuuming--the Dyson works wonders under the kitchen table...)

I do love the feeling of getting real work done--especially dressing my freshly bathed children in crisp, clean PJ's and tucking them into bed--a huge task with all 3 of them in a row, but rewarding and wonderful at the same time.

I suddenly feel so nostalgic about my babes, raising them and nurturing them in these tender ages of theirs...listening to The Samples as I type isn't helping things. I really do adore my sweet little kiddos. Especially when they are happy and kind to each other and help all day picking up toys, arranging their little shoes, blankies and cuddly animals, and scrubbing the toilets with me. One thing is for sure--they are very good helpers. They may not be the best at keeping a freshly cleaned space actually looking clean for more than 10 minutes, but we will just have to work on that...

Nothing Lasts For Long-- by The Samples. Check it out if you aren't familiar. I have loved this song since the ripe old age of 16.