Mother's Day

The kids each made something for me and were so excited to give it to me this morning. Garhett made a book, it started out with my name, the beginning letters were cut out of a magazine and then the meaning was next to it:

C aring
I ntelligent
N ice
D aring
I ncredible

The next part of his book Garhett answered questions about his mom; here are some of the questions.
List 3 adjectives to describe your mother: kind, caring, helpful.
Who feels: happy when I don't fight.
Who Needs: a break.
Who gives: me love.

Thanks Garhett, I love you.
________________________________________________
Trent answered questions about what he thought I liked the best and then he drew pictures of the answers. Trent is in kindergarten and just learning to spell out words, so he writes them as they sound. So precious!!

My Mom's favorite food is: Salmon
but she doesn't like: Ha
She spends most of her time doing: shopping, cleaning
Mom helps our family by: She duz wash mi cloz
The thing my Mom likes to do for fun is: go to movies, swimen
When my Mom daydreams she things about: camping
If Mom could have one wish come true, she would wish for: tralr, capen, shoden str

Thanks Trent, I love you.
___________________________________________
Paige's preschool class, made handprints with paint and attached them to this poem.

My Handprint

Sometimes you get discouraged because I'm so small
And always leave my fingerprints on furniture and walls.
But everyday I'm growing big and soon I'll be very tall.
Then all my little handprints will be hard to recall.
So here's a special handprint just so that you can say
This is how my fingers looked when I placed them here today.

Paige then wrote her name the best she could. Thanks Paige, I love you.
____________________________________________
Now for Emmett, what can I say, but today he showed me how big he was by taking steps all by himself, yes he walked. I was so excited that I started to cry, oh the progress he has made.

__________________________________________
I was very happy to be able to go to church with my family and listen to several talks on motherhood. I have missed church for the past couple of months due to sick kids, vacation, conference, sick kids and sick kids. Today has been a time of deep reflection of what it means to be a mom. Here are some thoughts that a friend and I share about being a mom.

Maker--The woman really is a maker of everything. She is a maker of the home, a maker of the food, a maker of the mood in the home. It’s amazing that when I'm happy, peaceful, and calm, so is everyone else. The days when I am not, it is incredible how everyone else is magically following my mood. Why is that? Why does the mother set the mood for the home? How come when dad comes home in a bad mood, the mood of the home isn't affected as much? Therefore, mothers have the responsibility of being happy from within, and work at making it so. As she does this, the rest of the family follows. I have found this to be a blessing, not a curse, as the Lord places much responsibility on us to be a Maker in every sense of the word.

True -- We have a responsibility to be true to ourselves and others, and to teach that truth to our children. What a daunting task that is. The responsibility, along with our husband, of teaching our kids how to be true, while also trying to be true to ourselves. It is so overwhelming, it is no wonder we get extra help from Heaven when we ask for it. And, sometimes when we do not.

Helpmeet --Eve is so valuable to the Plan of Salvation. She truly was created as a helpmeet and companion to Adam. Together, they would lead each other through life and all the problems they were expected to encounter. Adam, as the Priesthood holder, held the power to activate God's power, and Eve was created to help him use that power in the right way. His true equal. As are we. We are meant to be our husband's equal, and to teach our children in a similar manner. The Lord would have it no other way. It is our responsibility to not squander each other's power, but to share it equally. The world, in the past, told us that men wielded that power over women's heads. Now, the pendulum is swinging in the other direction, where women do not need men, and we hold all the power. That is simply not the plan of God. He created us to be equal in every sense.

Expectation -- We have huge expectations placed upon us. We are expected to teach our children how to survive and serve others in this ever increasing evil world, to be happy when our husbands come home, to be sexy to our husbands, to exercise, be healthy, serve our neighbors, get along with our family members and friends, learn a new skill, study the scriptures, be available to all of our children's demands, and of course, find time somewhere in there to actually get 5 minutes to ourselves to recharge our batteries. And yet, we miraculously find time to do it all. We prioritize and organize in every possible way. We place these burdens on the Lord, and He helps us get all of it done, many times doing about 5 things at once. A true miracle.

Recognizes -- As mothers, we recognize where we are needed, and recognize the Lord's influence on us. We recognize the Spirit's whisperings when a friend is in need, our husbands are being neglected, or when one of our children are out of sorts and sick. Finally, we recognize where our extra strength and increase of love is coming from, and we thank Him a thousand times a day because of it. We recognize the good influences and get rid of the bad influences in our lives, so that the Spirit can dwell in us.

What a wonderful time to be a mother. I am so grateful for my mother in helping me be a better mom to my children. Thank you mom -- I love you! Happy Mother's Day.