On Golden Pond

Anya is potty training. Rachel still wets the bed on occasion and hates to wear diapers to bed. Recently Johnny has decided to be too lazy to go to the bathroom before bed. Help me!! I am drowning in pee!!!!!!

The problem with potty training is a 2 year old just doesn't find urine and feces as disgusting as parents do. Anya doesn't mind pooping on the bathroom floor, then getting out a few facecloths to wipe up the mess-- or rather smear it around.  Pee in the potty-- just a great swimming hole for little miss Polly Pocket and her petshop friends. Pee on the couch-- no problem--just throw a towel on top and it is all fixed. But pee or poo in the pants??? That is disgusting!-- must remove those immediately, step in the mess and walk away.

Potty training is HARD!! It is hard to be patient, to not yell, to not say things like, "hey, pee pants!!" I am trying to be good. I wonder, will it be harder when my kids are teenagers and not peeing on everything?????? Someday, I will be able to answer that question.

Last Minute Reward

At 11pm last night Johnny popped out of bed and said, "I have a field trip tomorrow and you said you would pack a lunch." This morning there was no lunch stuff not even jelly for a peanut butter sandwich (the usual end of the month woes.) So, my dear little Ruthy got breakfast for everyone while I ran quickly out to the store. Johnny got an extra good lunch for being so last minute. I had to buy food that I could just throw into a bag. Yesterday, I would have bought jam and made cookies. Johnny instead got chocolate covered pretzels, gogurt, and strawberries.

General Conference Talk Summary:President Henry B. Eyring

Henry B. Eyring: Help Them on Their Way

• "Brothers and sisters, our Heavenly Father wants and needs our help to bring His spirit children home to Him again. I speak today of young people already within His true Church and so are started on the strait and narrow way to return to their heavenly home. He wants them to gain early the spiritual strength to stay on the path. And He needs our help to get them back to the path quickly should they begin to wander."
• "we help God’s children best by providing ways to build faith in Jesus Christ and His restored gospel when they are young"
• "Our most important and powerful assignments are in the family"
• He talks about how family and church programs are put in place to help children gain faith young. Then he talks about the Young Women's Personal Progress and the Young Men's Duty to God Programs. "Both of these programs put great responsibility on the efforts of the young people themselves. They are invited to learn and do things that would be challenging for anyone. As I reflect on my own youth, I cannot remember being so challenged. Oh, on a few occasions I was invited to rise to such tests, but only now and then. These programs expect consistency, great effort, and the accumulation of learning and spiritual experiences over years."
• "Of all the help we can give these young people, the greatest will be to let them feel our confidence that they are on the path home to God and that they can make it. And we do that best by going with them. Because the path is steep and sometimes rocky, they will at times feel discouraged and even stumble. They may at times become confused about their destination and wander after less eternally important goals. These inspired programs make that less likely because they will lead the young person to invite and receive the companionship of the Holy Ghost."
• "The best counsel for us to give young people is that they can arrive back to Heavenly Father only as they are guided and corrected by the Spirit of God. So if we are wise, we will encourage, praise, and exemplify everything which invites the companionship of the Holy Ghost."
• "The example they most need from us is to do what they must do. We need to pray for the gifts of the Spirit. We need to ponder in the scriptures and in the words of living prophets. We need to make plans which are not only wishes but covenants. And then we need to keep our promises to the Lord. And we need to lift others by sharing with them the blessings of the Atonement which have come in our lives. And we need to exemplify in our own lives the steady and prolonged faithfulness that the Lord expects of them. As we do, we will help them feel from the Spirit an assurance that if they will persist, they will hear the words from a loving Savior and Heavenly Father: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”⁴ And we who help them along the way will hear those words with joy."
  
   

My Thoughts:

I have generally thought that John and I have been decent gospel teachers to our children. As soon as they are reading well enough, we buy them their own scriptures and give them a time for personal scripture study each night before bed. 2 of my 3 readers have completed the book of Mormon and my third is well on the way. i also read scripture stories to the young children each night before they go to bed, to get them in the habit of personal scripture study. What I I think, we need to improve on is to talk more about the Gift of the Holy Ghost and how one listens and feels the promptings. I really think, the thing that I can change the most is to be calmer and more patient so the Holy Ghost can be in our home more consistently. I have a plan for this. I am going to make a chart that I have to mark on whenever I raise my voice or say something unkind or even in an impatient tone. I also need to work more steadily with Ruth on her personal progress and with Kate and Johnny on their faith and God programs. I should probably set a couple evenings aside a week for this.

General Conference Talk Summary: M. Russell Ballard

M. Russel Ballard: Mothers and Daughters:

To the Daughters:

• He basically told daughters to love their mothers. That Mothers care about them the most and to look to their mothers for an example and not to the media portrayal of women.
• He said, "Immodest, immoral, intemperate women jam the airwaves, monopolize magazines, and slink across movie screens—all while being celebrated by the world. The Apostle Paul spoke prophetically of “perilous times” that will come in the last days and specifically referenced something that may have seemed particularly perilous to him: “silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts” (2 Timothy 3:1, 6). Popular culture today often makes women look silly, inconsequential, mindless, and powerless. It objectifies them and disrespects them and then suggests that they are able to leave their mark on mankind only by seduction—easily the most pervasively dangerous message the adversary sends to women about themselves."

To the Mothers:

• "... the young women behave like their mothers. If the mothers are thrifty, so are their daughters. If the mothers are modest, so are the girls. If the mothers wear flip-flops and other casual clothing to sacrament meeting, so do their daughters. Mothers, your example is extremely important to your daughters—even if they don’t acknowledge it."
• "Throughout the history of the world, women have always been teachers of moral values. That instruction begins in the cradle and continues throughout the lives of their children. Today our society is bombarded with messages about womanhood and motherhood that are dangerously and wickedly wrong. Following these messages can put your daughters on the path to sin and self-destruction. Your daughters may not understand that unless you tell them or, better, unless you show them how to make good choices. As mothers in Israel, you are your daughters’ first line of defense against the wiles of the world."
• "Teach your daughters to find joy in nurturing children."
• "A mother-daughter relationship is where a daughter learns how to nurture by being nurtured. She is loved. She is taught and experiences firsthand what it feels like to have someone care about her enough to correct her while continuing to encourage and believe in her at the same time."
• "Remember, sisters, God is the source of all moral and spiritual power. We gain access to that power by entering into covenants with Him and keeping those covenants."
• "In today’s world this means talking to your daughters about sexual matters. Your daughters as well as your sons are coming of age in a world that openly embraces early, casual, and thoughtless promiscuity. Immodest, unchaste women are glamorized and all too often celebrated and emulated. While there are steps that we can take in our homes and families to minimize our exposure to these unsavory elements of contemporary living, your daughters cannot entirely avoid the blatant sexual messages and enticements that surround them. You need to have frequent, open discussions during which you teach your daughters the truth about these issues. For example, they need to understand that when they wear clothing that is too tight, too short, or too low cut, they not only can send the wrong message to young men with whom they associate, but they also perpetuate in their own minds the fallacy that a woman’s value is dependent solely upon her sensual appeal. This never has been nor will it ever be within the righteous definition of a faithful daughter of God. They need to hear this—clearly and repeatedly—from your lips, and they need to see it modeled correctly and consistently in your own personal standards of dress, grooming, and modest living."
  
  
  • "Teach your daughters about things of the Spirit. Point them to the scriptures. Give them experiences that will help them cherish the blessing of priesthood power in their lives. Through keeping covenants they will learn to hear the voice of the Lord and receive personal revelation."
  My thoughts:
• First: blogger can be really difficult to write in sometimes. This has been a really hard post to lay out.
• Second: The world is a scary a place. I think I need to be a more loving mother. I need to give more of my time to my children. I need to be there with them.
• Third: I think  the last quote is probably the most important. I need to be a good example and live how I tell my kids to live (especially when it comes to snipping and using a kind voice.) But I think talking to them openly about the Holy Ghost and how to understand the promptings and feelings from the Holy Ghost are very important. I think the best thing I can do for my daughters is teach them how to gain faith and a testimony.
• Fourth: I need to talk to my daughters more openly about sexual matters even if they writhe with disgust as I do.
• Fifth: I need to have my daughters work along side me in the kitchen and the house more.
  
  

General Conference Talk Summary: President Boyk K. Packer

In the last LDS general Conference (April 2010), there were a lot of talks given on parenting, and what parents need to be doing to help their children during these times of great wickedness and temptations everywhere. I wanted to make sure that I am diligent in following the given counsel, so I am going to write the instruction given in each talk on parenting on my blog each day until I have them all summarized. This is mainly for me, as writing them down will write it into my mind better than just listening to them a lot. But, this is really good counsel and I think it will help any parents that want to take the time to read through my notes.

Boyd K. Packer: The Power of the Priesthood

• "We live in a day of “wars [and] rumors of wars, and earthquakes in divers places.”³ As prophesied, “the whole earth [is] in commotion”⁴ and “Satan is abroad in the land.”⁵ He seeks to destroy all that is good and righteous.⁶ He is Lucifer, who was cast out of the presence of God.⁷ Against all of that, we have very positive feelings about what lies ahead."
• The priesthood was restored to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery . John the Baptist came and restored the Aaronic Priesthood. Peter, James, and John came and restored the Melchizedek priesthood which is the highest order of the priesthood. "This then became their authority. Through the keys of the priesthood, they had access to all of the powers of heaven. They were commanded to carry the gospel unto all nations."
• "It has never been easy to live the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was not easy when He lived, and it was not easy in the early days of the Church. The early Saints were subjected to unspeakable suffering and opposition. It has been over 180 years since the priesthood was restored. We now number nearly 14 million members. Even so, we are a tiny fraction when compared to the billions of people on earth. But we are who we are, and we know what we know, and we are to go forth and preach the gospel. The Book of Mormon makes it clear that we never will dominate by numbers. But we have the power of the priesthood."
• "We can and in due time certainly will influence all of humanity. It will be known who we are and why we are. It might seem hopeless; it is monumentally difficult; but it is not only possible but certain that we will win the battle against Satan."
• I think this next quote is a very important and strong statement. I must remeber this about my husband, "Priesthood is the authority and the power which God has granted to men on earth to act forHim.When priesthood authority is exercised properly, priesthood bearers do what He would do if He were present."
• "The priesthood does not have the strength that it should have and will not have until the power of the priesthood is firmly fixed in the families as it should be."
• It is the father's right and duty to preside over his family. "The father presides at the table, at prayer, and gives general directions relating to his family life whoever may be present.^" So even if the prophet is in your home, the father of the home is still who presides and administers to his family.
• "While the priesthood is presently all over the world, we call on every elder and high priest, every holder of the priesthood to stand, like Gideon’s small but powerful force of 300, in his own place. We now must awaken in every elder and high priest, in every quorum and group, and in the father of every home the power of the priesthood of the Almighty.The Lord said that 'the weak things of the world shall come forth and break down the mighty and strong ones.'" 
• "We need everyone. The tired or worn out or lazy and even those who are bound down with guilt must be restored through repentance and forgiveness. Too many of our priesthood brethren are living below their privileges and the Lord’s expectations.We must go forward, confident of the supernal power of the priesthood. It is a source of strength and encouragement to know who we are and what we have and what we must do in the work of the Almighty."
• "The authority of the priesthood is with us. After all that we have correlated and organized, it is now our responsibility to activate the power of the priesthood in the Church. Authority in the priesthood comes by way of ordination; power in the priesthood comes through faithful and obedient living in honoring covenants. It is increased by exercising and using the priesthood in righteousness.
• "Now, fathers, I would remind you of the sacred nature of your calling. You have the power of the priesthood directly from the Lord to protect your home. There will be times when all that stands as a shield between your family and the adversary’s mischief will be that power. You will receive direction from the Lord by way of the gift of the Holy Ghost."

My thoughts: I need to be careful not to be critical of my husband. I know that he follows God and I need to follow and trust my husband more. I think that if  I am less critical of John, then he will have more confidence to administer the power of the priesthood in our home. I think that I need to remind our children that Dad presides at the table, at prayer, and at family scripture study. I also think that it is good to make John the final say in what media comes into our home, or when we will leave other places. I think John has the power to protect our home, and I should not object when he says a book, movie, or song is inappropriate, evil, or drives away the Spirit. I know I can trust John to do what is best for our family, as thoroughly as I know I can trust that the Lord watches, protects, and guides us.

Divine Assistance

Everyone who has several children knows that God supports them in raising and caring for their children in miraculous and unforseen ways. When I was pregnant with Rachel, we had to get a minivan to fit all of our children. Minivan prices were rather astounding to us, and we were living at the very edge of our income already. John would often sigh and say, "We can't afford a $200 a month payment. We can't afford afford a $50 a month payment!" That was when I was a good 7 months pregnant. Yet, the need was there, so we persisted in looking for a minivan. We found a good van at a good price. Our payments were $155 a month and Rachel was born a month and a half after we bought the minivan. When John went to add Rachel onto the health insurance we had a big surprise. John's employer at the time, the State of Kansas, has a health insurance program for their employees under a certain income.  (This wasn't a state run program.) Once we had Rachel, our income was low enough that we qualified for this program. Our health insurance premiums went from $550 a month to $220 a month. We had the money to pay for the minivan and even a little extra. We knew this was Divine help. The minivan has also ended up being a very good and reliable car. We have been very blessed with it, because after 4 years and the car being 10 years old, we have had no expensive repairs. In fact, the new tires we just put on at $250 is the most we have spent on the car at one time. And because we were also able to make it an 8 passenger van before Anya was born.

After, Joseph was born, we outgrew our minivan. We bought a small commuter car from John's brother and just took 2 cars when we needed to go with the whole family. But John's brother needed their car back, and we needed extra money for the closing costs on the house, so we sold the car back to them for the same amount we had paid them. We were then without a car that fit our entire family, and a large mortgage. It took about 3 times of driving with the children all buckled in properly, but with one parent on the floor or squished next to the kids for us to realize that we needed a legal vehicle for our whole family. We started to look online, and we researched big vans. This week we made some appointments to look at a couple of 12 passenger vans. A few days later John received an email from his job stating the company is giving everyone a 3 to 5% raise and it will show up in the July 1st paycheck. The raise will give John the exact amount of money we are looking at for a car payment. John will have only had the job for 6 months when he gets this pay raise. The date also corresponds to the exact time we expect to make the first car payment. We are still looking for a van, but now we know how we are going to afford it. We know that this is Divine assistance. God gave us these children and He has always given us a way to take care of their every need. I know that God will continue to provide us with His help in raising how ever many children we have.

Did You Know???? : A Comment, My response, and More Information

This is from Margaret Tarkington, a law school professor at BYU. She is an amazing researcher and she is a lot more educated than I am.:

Diane-

I looked into this, and it isn't quite true. Cells from aborted fetuses are NOT used in Vaccinnes. (Keep in mind that the church spends tons of humanitarian aid money vaccinating children in other countries.) Here is a very good explanation about what is the truth from a Catholic PRO-LIFE scientist.

http://www.drwile.com/lnkpages/render.asp?vac_abortion

As he explains, cells from aborted fetuses are NOT used in Vaccinnes. Some vaccines are cultured on human cells, and some were initially cultured on cell lines that came from 2 abortions 35 years ago. The cells from those 2 abortions were used to create a self-propogating cell line that is still in use (further abortions have not been added, is my understanding).

But, there are not aborted fetus cells in vaccines.

Love you all,

Margaret

Here is my response:

Actually I did look into this further too. And I do know what derived from an abortion means. But, I did not know this from the first three articles I read. However, I still object. There are other ways to make vaccinations and other companies are doing so. Scientist made vaccinations from aborted babies as an excuse to make people think the use of cells and tissues of aborted babies is good for human health and wellness -- the baby was not wanted and so we can use it for science. As it is turning out, the use of aborted babies whether in vaccinations or stem cells either produces some frightening correlations(which are now being researched)or have been given up due to it just not working as well as using adult cells. And needless to say, I am very pro-life. I vote 100% prolife and it has served me well. I join prolife groups, I have friends who are very prolife and work tirelessly to help young girls chose adoption.

Right now, I do not know what I want to do as far as vaccinations go. I believe in vaccinating. A lot of babies died of these diseases before vaccinations. I think they are good things. But, I think that there are scientists who have used a source to derive the vaccinations for evil political intentions.

For others interested here are a number of websites that discuss this.



http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2298274/posts

http://www.examiner.com/x-35406-Christian-Activism-Examiner~y2010m4d24-Study-Confirms-Autism-Boom--Correlates-with-Aborted-Fetal-DNA-in-Vaccines

http://www.soundchoice.org/home.html

http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.abstractDetail/abstract/7877

http://www.soundchoice.org/Images/SCPINewsletter_April_2010.pdf


http://www.christianpatriot.com/vaccines.htm

Oh, and I have one more thing to add. We can be sure that the autism correlation research will be countered the other way and those researchers will be better funded.

Did You Know???? More Information

  U.S. Vaccines Derived From Abortion

Disease	Vaccine Name	Manufacturer	Cell line (Fetal)
Polio	Poliovax	Aventis-Pasteur	MRC-5
Measles, Mumps, Rubella Mumps-Rubella Measles-Rubella Rubella only	MMR II Biavax II MR-VAX Meruvax II	Merck & Company	WI-38
Rabies	Imovax	Aventis-Pasteur	MRC-5
Hepatitis A	Havrix  Vaqta	Merck & Company Glaxo/SmithKline	MRC-5  MRC-5
Hepatitis A-B Combo	Twinrix	Glaxo/SmithKline	MRC-5
Chickenpox	Varivax	Merck & Company	WI-38 and MRC-5
Smallpox	Acambis 1000	Acambis	MRC-5
Ebola	Unknown	Crucell & N.I.H.	PER C6
HIV	Unknown	Merck & Company	PER C6
Sepsis	Xigris	Eli Lilley	293

 For more information on Xigris, PER C6, 293 Cell Lines and AD5 Vectors

U.S. Vaccine Alternatives
NOTE: No alternatives for Chickenpox, Rubella, Hepatitis-A, Ebola or HIV in U.S.

Disease	Vaccine Name	Manufacturer	Cell line
Polio	IPOL	Aventis-Pasteur	Monkey kidney cells
Mumps	Mumpsvax	Merck & Company	Chick embryo
Rabies	RabAvert	Chiron Therapeutics	Chick embryo
Measles	Attenuvax	Merck & Company	Chick Embryo
Smallpox	Acambis 2000	Acambis-Baxter	Vero (Monkey)

Vaccine Alternatives Available In The United Kingdom
NOT FDA APPROVED FOR USE IN THE UNITED STATES

Disease	Brand name	Company	Cell line
Rubella	Takahashi Strain	Kitasato Institute	Rabbit kidney
Hepatitis A	Aimmugen	Chemo-therapeutic Institute Japan (Kaketsuken)	Monkey kidney

Did You Know????

Did you know that since 1979, the cells of aborted babies have been used in vaccinations for children? I did not, and I have to admit that this really disturbs me. The aborted fetal cells are used in the MMR and varicella vaccinations. An interesting point that is beginning to be brought to the attention of the public is that the years that abortion cells were legalized to be used in vaccinations correlate to years in which rises in autism began.Unfortunately there is not a lot of money to fund this research.

Here are a few important years/change points in the rise of autism:

• 1981 Two years after the MMRII vaccine made with fetal cells was approved in the U.S.
• 1988 The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices added a second dose of the MMR  vaccine, containing fetal cells from aborted babies, to its recommendations
• 1995 Chickenpox vaccine using aborted cells was approved.

Apparently cells from aborted babies are used in other products like skin cream and cosmetics. Now I am not generally an all organic do what is healthy person. I have good health, my husband has good health, my children have good health and organic and health promoting products are rather pricey. But, I do care if aborted fetuses have been used in the products I purchase including vaccinations.

A Nice Walk

This is part of a water way that runs through our neighborhood. There are paved trails that circle this. I took the little kids for a walk here. They call this area "snake and spider soup", but we haven't found a snake yet.

I can't believe how big my little Joey is getting. He was great and smiled for every picture I took of him.

Here is Rachel looking at the flowers she was picking to bring home to press.

This is a  very wide angle picture of Adam. He was excited to find some dandelions.

Anya loves these overalls. She wants to wear them every day. She ran ahead most of the time. I had a hard time getting a picture of the front of Anya. She is so cute, though-- love this girl!!

They all just loved this. We will be back for a lot of walks around snake and spider soup. I think it will be a great place to get good pictures once we buy a decent camera, and maybe we will catch some snakes and frogs. But only the flowers can come home. :)

2 Good Things

I had my college roommate from way back when over for dinner tonight. Her husband and my husband got along great. I think it was easy to pick up back from 14 years ago. Her 2 kids got along with my 7 kids fabulously. The food came out well and everything was great!!! Also, our other roommate is coming out to Salt Lake City and we are all going to meet for lunch together on June 14th. That will be great fun.

The second good news is while my roommate was here visiting we found our bunny that we thought was dead. We were able to catch it and put it back into it's cage. So we have 2 bunnies once again!!!! I guess the dead, decapitated rabbit we found was not ours. Rachel laughed and said, "our bunny was dead and now we can see it." So it has been just a good day.

Long Rambling Tale

Last night, Kate needed $2 for school today. Because, some one always needs $2 for something, I never have any cash. So I had to go to the store to buy something to get cash in $1 bills. I thought I would head on over to Smith's and buy my favorite chocolate pie. (Good excuse right?) I told John and he was like, "Do we need pie?" No, we didn't, but we did need eggs, and milk, and peanut butter, and I am sure I can write a pretty big list of food needs. I offered to buy eggs and said, and John said, "No. get pie, and get Adam a treat." (Adam left the bunny cage unlocked, the bunnies got out and one was fine and the other got caught by a cat or a dog. It had no head :(. We will replace the bunny, but John is worried about Adam so he told me to get him a treat.) I took Kate along with me to Smith's..

Kate was so fun!!! She talked and talked and talked. She told me all sorts of interesting things, and I just had to write a couple of them. A boy in Kate's class named Haze, looked at her and put the loser sign on his forehead. Kate looked at him and sang, "He was looking kind of dumb with his finger and his thumb in the shape of an L on his forehead." Since, I know that Kate is actually quite nice almost all of the time we didn't have the discussion of how you need to be nice to people who are mean to you. Then Kate told me why Ruth doesn't ever use her ipod. It is because, Ruth does not want the battery to run out. Too Funny!!! I think I actually did stuff like That when I was 12 too.

Well, once we got to the store, we got pie right away. Then we went to get Adam some fancy lollipop thing that he likes and all of the candy bars were on sale. In the end, we put the pie back and got a whole bunch of candy. When we got home (at 9:30pm), we dumped our too expensive (what was I thinking?) bag of candy out on the upstairs family room floor. Ruth, Kate, Johnny, and Adam dove in. (The little ones were in bed.) I read to the kids and shewed them off to bed. I think it is  harder to put the older kids to bed no matter how late it is. If it is before 10pm it is almost impossible. After 10, there is still some convincing and arguing. "It is a school night."  "You have been tired." " You are happier if you get more sleep." "You have testing tomorrow. The teachers asked us to get you to bed early." "Would you quit arguing?" "I DON'T CARE!!!! GET TO BED NOW!!!!"

It was a fun little night, though. I had a great time with Kate. I think of it as one of those treasured mother moments. It is so fun to have my girls chatting with me so very much. I love it. I love being a mom.

Mother's Day Highlights

1. Kate made brownies for breakfast.
2. Kate's great wrapping paper
3. Playing New Super Mario Bros. Wii with the kiddos.
4. Anya still using her potty chair happily and independently.
5. John making a heart shaped meatloaf for a joke dinner and we all do think it is disgusting :).
6. Mothers Day party in Provo at Grandma's house.
7. Having a lovely conversation with my own dear Mom.

My Mother's Day Poems

You are my sunshine

My only sunshine.

You make me happy,

When you aren't mad.

You probably know, 

How I do love you.

So please don't divorce Dad.

BY: Kate (she said it was a joke.)

                                      Magnificent

                                      Onerable

                                      Terrific

                                      Her soothing touch

                                      Extraordinary

                                      Radiant

                                      BY: Kate

Love is like a dove

It flies in the skies

It soars over boars

It floats like boats

love is used by many

But...

We love you the most.

BY: Ruth

Happy Mother's Day To Me

I bought Anya a singing potty chair and set it out. She has been hanging out naked and has peed and pooped in the potty seat all by herself today with no accidents. I know this doesn't mean I won't have 6 months of accidents and messes but, Hurrah!!!!! Anya knows what she is supposed to do in a potty chair and given that there have been no accidents she must even have a sense of what it feels like to have to go. So happy mothers day to me!!!!!!

For Mothers Day: Amazing Mothers Who Have Influenced Me

1. 

Amelia Hostetter, my next door neighbor from Lehi. She is a lot younger than me, but one of the greatest Mom's I know. Amelia is just good, compassionate, fun and faithful. She gives adoring attention to her kids. She is always positive about herself and her 5 little kids. You can tell she puts a lot of time into her children because she has 5 of the best, cutest children I have ever met. I don't usually like babysitting, but her kids were always a welcome addition to our home. You can just tell that Amelia walks by faith. I love how happy she always is-- like a breath of fresh air. How have I been influenced by her???? Well, I think of how happy and sweet she is and know that I need to be more like that.

2. Naomi Kitchen, my closest friend in Wichita. Naomi is like a week younger than I am. She is the only person that I have met as an adult that I knew for sure we would have been the best of friends if we knew each other in high school. Naomi has 6 children and a very busy husband who is a Bishop. She is open an sweet. She serves everyone whenever they ask. She left her home open for me to crash at when we were selling our home in Wichita. She is very patient with her children. I don't think she ever gets angry with them. How have I been influenced by her?????? When I think of Naomi, it reminds me to be more patient with my children and not crabby when my house is a mess.

3. Jane Robertson or just Great Grandma. She is John's grandmother. Grandma is mom to 6, grandmother to 45 and Great Grandmother to...A LOT and counting, and she remembers everyone's birthday!!!! She is 90 and does all of her own cooking and cleaning and everything. She tells great stories. She loves education and teaching and learning. Grandma is a fine accomplished woman. From Grandma's example John and I go to the library faithfully and we try to answer every question our children ask us. (We have it easy with the internet, though.)

4. Judy Robertson, my amazing mother in law and good friend. She has influenced me in so many ways. She made my husband the good man that he is. She is faithful and true. She works harder than any person I have ever met. If I need any help at all, she is there. She calls and talks to me all of the time and I really appreciate the friendship and adult conversation while I do my housework. I love and treasure her friendship. She serves her children and grandchildren and all of her neighbors. She spends a lot of time helping the elderly and babysitting. She keeps of with current events and cares a lot about America and society. She is an amazing mother. She taught her 9 children to be good, faithful, and productive people.I want to be a good mother like Judy.

5. This is my own grandmother, Yvonne Harrison, we called her Memere. She is my Mom's mother and she died of ovarian cancer when I was 19. I always wished she could have lived long enough to meet John. I know they would like each other. I think, I am probably more like my Memere than I would often like to admit. Memere was strict like I tend to be. She liked to read and learn things. I think I got half my nerdiness from my Dad and the other half from my Memere. Memere picked me up from early morning seminary when I was in high school. She would have me over for dinner and always have things set up so nice and pretty. Whenever I felt lonely as a teenager, I would go and visit Memere. She made me feel happier. She also quit smoking and drinking cold turkey to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She served 2 missions in California after she retired. One of my most treasured items from Memere was a letter she wrote me 2 months before she died in which she bore her testimony of the true gospel. Memere left a true legacy of faith for me. I have been ever grateful to her for listening to the missionaries, introducing my mother to them, getting baptized, and staying faithful, so that I could be born in a covenant home and spread that Legacy to my own children.

6. My very own wonderful mother, Pat Pardon. My mother is always serving people because she loves them. She serves without even knowing she is serving. If someone my mom knows is sick or down, she will just take in dinner or invite them over. My mother's home has always been open to the lonely, and depressed. My mother just loves people. She loves, her friends, her family, and even strangers. My mom loves her grandchildren. She would give them anything. If one of my kids wants something, even just candy, all they have to do is call grandma and it will be in the mail. (Fortunately, my kids don't really know this :)). My mom taught me to read my scriptures, to pray, to have faith and repent. My mom faithfully attended church and did her callings even when she suffered from a neck injury. My mother formed me and made me who I am. My mother served me in ways that I never knew until I became a mother. My mother still spends everyday of her life serving and helping her family. I have been very blessed to have born to such an amazing woman.

Perfect Day

I had a very unusual day today. I got everything that I meant to get done today completed. This is what I did today:

1. 7 loads of laundry dried and folded
2. Changed Johnny and Adam's sheets
3. Played trains and talking toys with Adam, Rachel, and Anya for one hour
4. Played peekaboo and baby games with Joseph
5. Taught Adam and Rachel the alphabet
6. Read to Joseph, Adam, Rachel, and Anya
7. Read to Kate
8. Watched while Ruth and Johnny practiced the piano
9. Exercised
10. Hands and knees wash of kitchen floor and baseboards
11. Had dinner made, served, and the kitchen cleaned by 7pm
12. Played the wii with Adam and wrote 2 blogs.
13. I will read to Ruth, Kate, and Johnny later too (But they do not let me skip that.)
14. I also had homemade cookies warm and ready to go for after school snack.

This was a very unusual day. I think my house would be clean, I would be thinner, and my kids would be happier and better behaved if everyday was like today. Alas, I do not think that I had days this productive when I only had one child. I am very thankful for one productive day even if it only comes once a year.

From Scrap Paper

Kids tend to grow out of saying funny and ridiculous things around 6 years old. But that is the time that they start writing and so you move into a whole new stage of enjoyable family comedy. I have often found part stories, and poems on random scraps of paper or in forgotten notebooks. Sometimes I have found lists of things to do or just things the writer thinks. Other times I find some hilarious declarations. I found one the other day. This was written on a very nice piece of drawing paper by Johnny:

"Things to never do again be cause they get me in trouble."

"Playing cuputer."

"Reading comics."

"For Johnny." 

I left the spelling and random periods just as I found them.

What Happens When a Mathemetician Has Kids

Ruth and Kate built a block tower and then calculated the total area.

My Family

I just have to say how much I love my family. My husband and my children are so much better, smarter, funner than I ever dared dream they would be. This morning John and Ruth got up early and went to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. John stayed and assisted with a lot of youth there this morning. Then they came home with a  dozen delicious donuts. Kate blessed the breakfast and said, "thank thee for the wonderful food, especially this wonderful food. It is donuts for breakfast, so thank thee for donuts!" Then the kids all danced around and we ate donuts. John sat down to the computer and in 30 minutes wrote a program that brightened up our dark pictures way better than turning up the brightness does. I played the piano, Ruth read a book, and the other kids played Greek gods and wars. I just love, love, love my wonderful family.

I have often had people look at me with pity and say, "Boy, your hands are full." Yes my hands are full. I am so very grateful my hands are full, because they are wonderfully full. My children are not a burden. They do not keep me from accomplishing things I could have done if I hadn't had my children. My children are my accomplishment and my greatest accomplishment at that. All of the time I put into cleaning, and teaching ,and cooking and playing babies and war-- all of the poopy diapers, puke, dirty dishes, tears, piano lessons, reading lessons, complaint sessions, and fights that I take care of are worth so much more than if I were a doctor or a lawyer or the writer that I thought I might be. I did not give up much compared to how much I gained. Children are truly a gift and an heritage from God. I am so grateful for my wonderful 7 children that keep me so busy and so happy. I am also grateful for a wonderful husband who wants children and loves, cares for, and puts time into his children. Our family is precious and wonderful. I love them.