Golden, curly haired, adorable little ones, with the soft, rosy pink tones and the sweet message of hope. Notice hope is reminiscent to something, light, airy, hanging by a thread. Simply let go, and it's gone.
It would be different if it was a photo of two children holding anvils. Heavy, stoic, firm, unmovable, unable to be shaped, opaque no, that wouldn't be right.
Hope, uplifts us, lightens our load, overcomes our weaknesses, helps us look upward, set our focus and concentrate our energy. Hope is something we engage our hearts in, we grasp on to, and hold on for the ride.
Amy of Living Locurto's edible paint project is adorable! She got the idea from Katherine's amazing drive in movie and popcorn themed party. Katherine used sweet evaporated milk with food coloring, and Amy used regular milk with food coloring.
We have been loving both popcorn and marshmallows lately, ( put them together to make popcorn balls) and so I'm confident that my boys will just love this little activity.Wouldn't those marshmallows be cute in little s'mores?
This weekend I visited my local antique mall and brought my camera! I have over 200 amazing photos to share with you and will be posting the best of the best this week, so do come back! (click on photos for larger view)
Mommy: (blow drying hair)
3 yr old: (jumping on mommy's bed)
Mommy: (putting on make-up)
3 yr old: I love Jesus
Mommy: You do? How come?
3 yr old: He loves me. He lives up high! (pointing to the sky)
Mommy: He does?
3 year old: Yeah, but he lives on Earth, too.
Mommy: uh-huh
3 year old: I'm going to die someday
Mommy: (silence)
3 year old: But it's okay because Jesus loves me.
Mommy: He does. I love you too!
3 year old: You're silly mommy
Mommy: (continues putting on make-up)
3 year old: (screaming contest with little brother ensues)
I try not to ask leading questions so I can see where my son goes with these conversations. He really likes to talk about God and the wonders of the Earth. I hope it never stops.
I know this letter has been around for a while, but I read it and it was a reminder that we should never underestimate our children. We should teach them that it is okay to not always agree, and to question authority at times lest something like this awful thing happens to them (video here, but don't watch if you upset easily. For a rundown sparring the details, in the video, the abused young girl says she did was she was told by the abuser because her parents taught her to never question what an adult told her to do).
Some day our precious little ones will grow up and may possibly rebel or go through other hardships and make our hearts ache, but that doesn't mean we can't open up our arms to them in those rough times. We have to remember, that if we do our part, they have to be trusted to eventually make their own decisions. I believe, that at a young age, a child can be led by the Spirit, as they are closer to the veil than we are. But as we age and we harden and the world bears down upon our children, we as parents and adults in general have to help guide our young. As the Prophet Joseph Smith once said, “I teach them {the children} correct principles, and they govern themselves." I love this talk, "Teaching Children to Govern Themselves" on the subject.
That has always been my goal, and just as long as my children know that I love them and want what is best for them, everything will be alright in the end if we keep our family strong. What is your goal when fostering your children up in this world?
One of my favorite child rearing bloggers is Zach Aboard. During a particularly stressful child rearing day (nay, week), I came across her post Enjoy the Ride. I love how she has photos of her son in a swing woven throughout the words, so fitting. My dad use to say all of the time to Enjoy Life! He had phrases with various words and used them as acronyms for his wise owl advice. One of his most famous acronyms was FLY FREE. I will have to find the detail of this one and post it sometime.
Everyone has sleepless nights. Everyone endures tantrums. Everyone has moments when they need the mute button on their kids. Everyone wonders if they are doing the right thing. Everyone has days when they are at the end of their rope.
But I always tell myself to remember -- he's just a little boy with a whirling twirling mind and a body bursting with energy and he's still learning this whole "how to be a person" routine.
My job is not to order or ask or expect or demand or direct. My job is to teach and guide and explain, and explain again, and then to do some more explaining and forgive and forget and hug and humor and hand hold. And most of all to listen and learn. That's right, we the parents need to listen and learn. I try to remember that it's my job to learn how to communicate with him, not his job to take orders from me.
It differs from kid to kid, mama to mama. It's just takes some patience to find your path.
Through the ups and downs, I try to remember to hold on, and enjoy the ride.
I took Cindy's parenting inspirational advice and framed it in a free scrapbooking page from Smile Box, so I can print it out and hang it up. They have everything you need to make online scrapbooks, even adding music, video and moving graphics (but I think you need to upgrade to a paid account to save them):
Wouldn't it look pretty to have an inspiration wall like this? You could add your own inspiration words or family photos, perhaps in a sepia tone to the pages you pick for a soft and lovely accent wall, maybe even as a headboard accent piece. Tutorial found HERE from Thrifty Decor Chick:
I am sitting on the couch taking care of the baby, my 2 year old sitting next to me. Of course, he and our dog are playing a bit of tug o war, she's barking like mad and he's in a giggling frenzy.
All of a sudden, he starts screaming, I look over and bright red blood is everywhere! I put the baby down, thinking, "Oh my gosh, did he get bitten?" I rush him to the bathroom and search wildly for scratches, bite marks, anything...
He is amused by the blood in the mirror and starts to stare at in admiration and wonder, a little smile across his face. I realize this was just a very random and harmless nosebleed.
Interesting how something so small, can be so scary.
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