-Keeping my house clean, laundry, and feeding my people.
-Helping each child learn, do chores and be where they need to be when they need to be there.
-Trying to be a good friend and neighbor.
-Trying to be patient and kind when things don't go as planned…this one can be difficult sometimes!
Just the regular tasks of getting everyone dressed, hair combed, teeth brushed, and ready and then back to bed again can sometimes seem to fill up hours and my list of to do's never seems to be done! I know it is the same for Ryan…he has never ending things to be done with his work, and any free moments seem to be taken up with just daily things that come with running a house of eight!
The talk in General Conference by Sister Linda S Reeves seemed to jump out at me and stuck in my mind almost more than any other. She shared something she and her husband learned when they had four small children at home...
"As we faced challenges of parenting and keeping up with the demands of life, we were desperate for help. We prayed and plead to know what to do. The answer that came was clear. It's okay if the house is a mess and the children are still in their pajamas and some responsibilities are left undone.
The ONLY things that REALLY need to be accomplished in the home are daily scripture study and prayer and weekly Family Home Evening.
We were trying to do these things, but they weren't always the priority, and amidst the chaos were sometimes neglected.
We changed the focus and tried not to worry about the less important things. Our focus became to talk, rejoice, preach, and testify of Christ by striving to have daily prayer and study the scriptures and have weekly Family Home Evenings."
Emphasis was added up there for me. :) Now, if my house is a mess it is really hard for me to not feel stressed and get grouchy fast. However, I have to say that housework is often the priority and we try to squeeze those other more important things in around everything else. Sometimes the kids hairdo takes priority and family prayer is given in haste on the way to school. Laundry will get done no matter what…but do I put the same priority on our scripture study? This was a great wake up call about what is really important. I loved what she followed that up with…
"A friend recently cautioned me, 'When you ask the sisters to read the scriptures and pray more, it stresses them out, they already feel like they have too much to do.' …Brothers and Sisters, because I know from my own experiences, I must testify of the blessings of daily scripture study and prayers and weekly Family Home Evenings. These are the very practices that help take away stress, give direction to our lives, and add protection to our homes."
Keeping the commandments takes AWAY stress, makes life EASIER, and makes us more HAPPY.
Duh. It was a great reminder for me.
Another thing that makes me happy are funny moments captured on camera…here are a few I recently ran across.
I love this moments captured of Ryan and his Dad (Papa) a few years ago. Just made me smile when I saw it…a great teasing moment between father and son.
We didn't go to California this year for Spring Break. We miss our family there and are feeling the need for a reunion! This is me (pregnant with Sophie) cooking with the sister-in-laws at Thanksgiving. I sure miss them all…even though I don't miss being pregnant so much.
I have not gotten to posting about what we did for Valentines, but here are some funny pictures I found from the night. (Ryan was in California and we spent the evening at my parents.) I had about twenty of pictures with these two...
And quite of a few of me trying to recreate my own Olympic moment I think?
Michael's makes me laugh even more. I don't think figure skating is in his future.
A moment of brotherly love.
And last…Sophie's Olympic Debut. She is always a crack up.
Speaking of crack ups, James will kill me, but this was taken back in January. I needed him to do something really fast…I don't even know what it was. But he was handy, put his boots on, and took of things in his undies. Good work, son.
Joshua didn't look too much better in his PJ's and socks. I have some funnier pictures, but I am trying to not get into too much trouble.
This was taken one afternoon last month. Another shot taken after glancing out the window. When I am at my kitchen sink I see all kinds of things! I love how these girls "play" with the dogs so much!
In the last few weeks a lot of green has begun to spring up amidst that sea of drab beige outside.
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