I love to see the temple...

One of my New Year's resolutions (out of the two I made for myself this year), is to attend the temple once a month. I had the chance to go this morning. A lot of thoughts and feelings have been weighing on me lately. I was anxious for the chance to go the temple and glean from the peace that is there. I sat in the chapel praying and reading my scriptures, trying to figure out exactly what it was I was seeking for when I was struck by the words to the song the organist was playing: Lead me, guide me, walk beside me, help me find the way... That's how I felt. Like a small Primary child pleading to her Father for help and assurance. I attended the session and afterwards, in the Celestial room, I sat amidst its sacred beauty and prayed again, a child pleading to her Father. After awhile the thought came to me, "You are a woman of Zion. With that comes privileges, responsibilities, and covenants. Covenants that give you power, if you live up to them." I realized that as a covenant daughter of God I was blessed with all that I needed shoulder what I needed to bear. Like the pioneers, I had the strength and the ability to continue to walk, despite the difficult terrain and journey. The the Lord was with me, loved me and would help me. Coming to the temple I felt like a lost little child and I left feeling like a strong woman of Zion, and as the scripture says, "endowed with power from on high." That is the glory and beauty of the temple. I know the temple is the house of the Lord. I'm grateful for it's sacred ability to bring together heaven and earth. I'm grateful for it's holy and sacred nature, for all it stands for and represents. But most importantly, I'm grateful for the covenants we make there with a loving Heavenly Father who most assuredly leads us, guides us, and walk besides us. He will help us find the way which I quietly learned today and bear testimony of.

Crafts

I've been trying to finish up some crafts projects the past little while and finally got some done.

But first, my daughter loves crafts like I do and on Saturday came to me asking me if she could do one. She exclaimed, "I want to sew buttons!" I mentioned a few simple flower projects she could sew a button on and she insisted, "No, not one button or flowers. I want to sew a LOT of buttons. On fabric." Not thrilled with the thought of her just sewing all my buttons on random fabric I came up with an idea.

I got her a strip of wide ribbon and my buttons. I taught her how to sew a button on and then let her go at it down the ribbon. We then folded it in half, I sewed down the sides and tada! Bookmark!

She was so excited! She now has her treasure with her scriptures and took it to church so she could show off her handiwork.

I also got some flowers on clearance at Walmart and have been wanting to turn them into barrettes for Abbey. I finally finished a few of them.

Then I decided, hey, she needs a place to put her new barrettes and quickly came up with a barrette holder to hang in her room next to her mirror. Though as I saw how few barrettes it holds, this will probably just be a temporary one as I work on making her a bigger one that holds more.

And last of all, my mom has been sending my sisters and I a pattern for quilt blocks once a month to be put together for a final large "Count Your Blessings" quilt by the end of the year. I finally finished the pieced blocks for the first few months. It feels so nice to have a few projects done. Now for the other hundred floating around in my head and stored in my craft room....:)

Mom moment...

So I had a 'mom moment' last night. It was fairly late and I still had all 4 little kids awake. As I laid with them on their bedroom floor, hoping they could play and tire out quickly, Zach crawled over and on top of me. As I sat there holding him and enjoying the sweet softness only babies possess, I was suddenly hit that these are my last babies. The special squishiness, innocence, pure love and joy of these little babies will be gone soon. These are my last few moments in time to enjoy it. The tears started leaking out of my eyes and trickled down my face and I just sat there and quietly held them. I wanted to somehow capture the feeling and lock it in time. We certainly don't expect and want babies to stay babies forever, but there is something sad about watching them grow up. These sweet innocent fresh spirits are such a glimpse of heaven, naturally invoke such a feeling of peace and love, how could one not want to cherish that forever? I sat there with my silent tears, I knew I certainly wasn't the first mom to feel such emotions and not the last either. Motherhood runs deep and holds such powerful emotions that only another mother (and yes, perhaps fathers) understand.

Sweetest thing...

Kids say the funniest things and sometimes the most profound things as well. My favorite from the past little while happened last week. I had babies and kids crawling all over my lap and I said in exasperation, "Good grief! Why do I always have kids climbing all over me?!" My son looked at me and with sweet sincerity said, "Because you have a lot of children who love you."

Gently humbled, my full lap suddenly felt like a blessing rather than a nuisance :)

Mother of Boys

So I am a mother of boys. Not just a few boys, but 6 boys. Six boys and one girl. There is something said in being a mother of boys. Let's just say there is never a dull moment or a quiet one for that matter. I jotted down a bunch of indicators your house is over run by boys a while back and thought that I would share it.

You know you’re the mother of boys when…

AYou wonder if you should just see if Lowes carries an already yellow toilet, or at least yellow linoleum.

AYou can name every Ninja Turtle, Star Wars character, and super hero, but when it comes to politics, you can barely name the President of the United States.

AYou can’t seem to go a whole day without of conversation that doesn’t involve Bakugan, Pokemon, or the Wii.

AYou own a machine dart gun that can shoot almost 30 bullets in about 30 seconds!

AYou find yourself saying things like:

No ball in the house!!!

Not in your school clothes!

Not at the dinner table

And THAT’S why we don’t play ball in the house!

AYou are shopping and when your daughter finds a pink little purse she wants, your son exclaims “Oh, that’s cute Abbey, you can put all your favorite weapons in it!”

AThe only version of Eensey Weensey Spider you know involves crawling up the person’s leg, entering their ear, and laying eggs that hatch!

AThe only version of Jingle Bell your kids know is the “Jingle bells, Batman smells” version.

AYou get after your son for proudly demonstrating his ability to burp the ABC’s at the dinner table, and then silently wonder why after all these years, you as an adult STILL can’t do it!

AYou suggest perhaps it’s your turn to pick out the family movie and are met with desperate cries “NOT the Sound of Music! “NO WAY am I watching Pride and Prejudice!” etc.

AA few days after your only daughter gets a Barbie house for Christmas, when you go to pick up her room, you glance at the house and find Pirates on the patio, a dragon soaking in the bath tub, and Batman on the couch.

AYou get after your boys for jumping off the top bunk with their eyes closed, telling them they are going to hurt themselves, when they reassure by saying, “Oh, don’t worry mom. We said a prayer first!”

AYou are thankful God made ladybugs, because they’re cute enough for mom to handle and buggy enough to satisfy little boys.

AYou son has 10 reasons why a python would be the perfect family pet.

ABodily functions require a public service announcement.