Baths

I love baths. When I was a little girl, I used to get all of the caps off the shampoo, conditioner and body wash. I'd pour a bit in each cap, make concoctions and add dashes of water and pinches of soap- I even narrated with my Julia Child voice.
I'd stay in the bath for as long as I could. I loved how my hair was so swirly in the water, and I loved how my voice sounded like an opera star as it resonated through the porcelain. I'd relax until my toes were crinkly and the water was cold!
Bath time isn't always so relaxing now. Matthew used to think it was funny to sneak outside when I was in the tub. I had to chase him down the street more than once in my robe. Mitchell loves it when I take a bath because he shares his whole basket of toys with me. After a few minutes of rubber duckie rapid fire, I'm ready to get out.
There are, however, those quite moments when I get in the tub incognito. I curl up like a pretzel so that I can fit. I sit in there until my toes start to wrinkle and the water starts to chill. I hum a little opera, and I can almost hear Julia Child when I reach for the shampoo. I love baths!

From the mouth of Matthew

* "When I grow up I'm going to wear oderant(not deodorant) so that no girls will want to come near me!"

*Matthew: "When I grow up, I want to have a beard!"
Me: "If you have a beard, your wife might not want to smooch you because you'll feel too scratchy!"
Matthew: "PERFECT!! I knew beards were AWESOME!"


* (in all seriousness) "Mom, do you think you could order me a pair of hairy armpits on the Internet?"

* "When I grow up, my belly button is going to be so deep I can save food in there! Then, when I get hungry at church, I can pull it out for a snack!"


* Dallan: (as Matthew and Mitchell are bathing) "Matty, you might not want to drink that water."
Matthew: "Why"
Dallan: "Because Mitchell might have p**d in it."
Matthew: "Aw, well can't I just put it in my mouth?"

Happy Mother's day

I echo the words of Joseph F Smith as I think about my mom today:

"No love in all the world can equal the love of a true mother...I have felt sometimes, how could even the Father love his children more than my mother loved her children? It was life to me; it was strength; it was encouragement; it was love that begat love or liking in myself. I knew she loved me with all her heart. She loved her children with all her soul.

... This feeling toward my mother became a defense, a barrier between me and temptation, so that I could turn aside from temptation and sin by the help of the Lord and the love begotten in my soul, toward her whom I knew loved me more than anybody else in all the world, and more than any other living being could love me.

...I have learned to place a high estimate upon the love of mother. I have often said, and will repeat it, that the love of a true mother comes nearer being like the love of God than any other kind of love.

I love you MOM! Thank you for teaching me that brownies always taste better with sprinkles on top!
Love
April

A Mother's day message from Matthew

Matthew doesn't always like to say "I love you" out loud, so instead he just holds up 3 fingers.

3 fingers for 1)I 2)Love 3)you.

I love it.

The other day Matthew and Mitchell came into Caleb's room where I was rocking him.

Matthew had his arm around Mitchell, and they were both holding little purple flowers they had picked in the yard. The conversation went like this:

Matthew: "Go ahead Mitchell, hug Mommy and say I love you"
Mitchell: (hands me his flower and hugs my neck with both arms)
"I wuv you momeeeee!"
Matthew: "Good job Mitchie!" Then he gave me a flower, a lightning speed hug and ran out of the room.

Could the message be more clear?
I don't think so.

I love you, too Matty!

A Mother's day message from Josh

Over the past few days, the older boys have been encouraged to think of something nice to do for Mother's day.

For Family Home Evening Dallan had the boys make me a card. Now, you must understand that expecting my boys to create something with hearts and rainbows is their idea of torture.

Josh started a card with me being roasted on a grill.

When he was instructed to start over, he started a card that had a heart shooting asteroids at me. I guess making the "love" part too obvious is too embarrassing.
On Friday Josh came home from school with a Mother's day card that began with the prompt: If I could give you any present, I'd give you...
this is what he wrote:

To no one in particular,
(if it's not addressed to me, it's sort of like taking the 5th amendment right?)
If I could give you any present
I'd give you 20 bucks if I were feeling generous
cause I wouldn't want to waste my money on you!
I will just spend it on junk like candy and game cube games.
That is all.
Too bad,
I bet you could really use 20 bucks.
From,
Josh

The thing is, Josh was excited to show it to me!
He assumed I would think it was hilarious and extremely clever!
What a compliment! I decided to let him be right about that assumption!
You might think I'm disappointed with the lack of
lovey dovey-ness around here.
I'm not-
because today, Josh sat on my lap so I could hug him while we listened to some music.

I told him he could go play whenever he was ready,

and you know what?

He stayed,

for 3 more songs.

I got the message.

Dear Josh,
If I could give you any present,
I'd probably give you a wash cloth because I love you so much that I could blow up into a million pieces and my guts would probably glop all over you and you'll need a rag to wipe them off. (he'll like that)
Love,
Mom

Julie B. Beck

I love listening to our General Relief Society President, Julie B. Beck! I was really excited to hear her speak at Women's Conference and wanted to share a few of my notes:

"Nourishing and protecting the family"

*Our 3 greatest responsibilities are to 1) increase faith and personal righteousness 2) Strengthen families 3) Serve others

* The theology of the family = the plan of salvation

* Re-read the Family proclamation!

* The plan of Salvation is a love story of a husband wife and family

* Threats to our families: Worldly doctrines are focused on "I"

* Anti Christ teachings are always anti family. We of all people should not be drawn in. We are those who should stand firm in preserving families!

* We need to stay focused on the blessings of eternal life

* When we are engaged in God's work, it changes us

* We need to be intentional in all we do

* Develop a culture for your family

* Create a personalized family plan

* Creating is our destiny

* Prepare your children for the temple

* FIGHT against pornography, we can not be victims! We have the responsibility to teach a better way

* Eliminate activities and create opportunities to teach

*Devote your best efforts to teach the gospel in your home- defend the time that has been reserved for family home evening

* No other love in all the world can compare to the love of a mother.

* Nurture and care for your husband

* We need to seek every day to qualify for the blessings of the spirit

* This is a faith based work

* Women of the church are the defenders of right and truth!

If you'd like to hear more from Julie Beck see the clip below:

Swashbuckler

Manners

Last week I had the opportunity to go to Women's Conference. I just loved being on BYU campus, smelling the flowers, and soaking in classes without worrying about being tested!
One of the classes I went to was of great interest to me:
The Indispensability of Civility: Manners do Matter!
As a mother of 4 boys, you can imagine the conversations we have about manners around here...
I went to this class expecting to leave with a list of great ideas that would help me produce well mannered young men. I left this class with so much more.

The presenter taught that our role as mothers is to teach more than manners... we need to teach our children to have a Christ-like manner.

(A few of my notes)
* There is a direct link between Manners and Morality and Behavior and Belief in God

* We should teach our children "what manner of men ought yet to be!"

* People felt love and acceptance from the Savior even when they were socially unaccepted. The Lord cared about their hearts. He treated everyone with civility and kindness regardless of their station, religion, health or race.

* I want to draw my children- with my life- to the Savior.

* If we want our children to have good behavior we need to teach them who they are! If they know this, they will want to have a Christ-like manner

* They belong to the "Royal Household of the Kingdom of God"

* We want to have the refining influence of the Holy Ghost. The real refining power comes from being raised in a home with the spirit... our very natures can change.

* The world needs my children!

This class taught me that manners ultimately stem from our knowledge of who we are. When we know this and when we know our Savior, we will want to be like him. I learned that manners are so much more than saying "please and thank you" This perspective increased my desire to create a home where my boys can feel the spirit, learn of the Savior and through Him, develop their own Christ-like manner.

What manner of men ought ye to be..... even as I am.

Sci Fi!

Caught!

I don't know what else they caught that day, but I know they've captured my heart!

Sunshine on my shoulders

Sunshine on my shoulders
makes me happy....

If I had a day that I could give you
I'd give to you a day just like today
If I had a song that I could sing for you
I'd sing a song to make you feel this way

If I had a tale that I could tell you
I'd tell a tale sure to make you smile
If I had a wish that I could wish for you
I'd make a wish for sunshine all the while

I love you, my sunshine boy.

Runaway Stage!

I love these messages! I'm going to post a few of my favorites over the next few days!

Budding!

I am just delighted every time I step out my door and see beauty bursting everywhere! How can we doubt how much Heavenly Father loves us when it smells this good outside?

“Here and there you'd see a tree that was budding or grass trying to grow. There was hope.”
Carolyn Hunter

A yellow hello

I am surrounded by such good people.
One of whom gave me some tulip bulbs last fall.

He shared his bulbs with many of us.
I can't help but smile when I drive down my street
and see clusters of happy yellow tulips waving hello as I pass.

My rosebushes have been pruned by him. My leaves have been raked...
and my yard is more beautiful because he was there.
He has been in Afghanistan for the past few months,
and he'll be returning soon for a short stay with his sweet family.

There may not be yellow ribbons tied to our trees,
but there are clusters of yellow tulips to welcome him home and say
thank you.

Flower Power

What do you get when you gather some brothers and sisters
and play a 60's themed "How to Host a Murder" game?

...a group that thinks they're pretty "hip."

Peace!