I love this shell. I grew up with it and for some reason, I took it when I moved out. I don't even remember doing it. I wonder if my mom misses it? There is no significance behind this shell that I can remember.
I can't remember if it came from a store, or if it came from a beach in Hawaii. But, it holds a special place in my heart. You see, there is a picture of my dad holding a Tritan Trumpet shell that he found scuba diving when we lived in Hawaii, he was a very young man. He is holding the shell, with a huge smile on his face, and someone in the picture is wearing a striped shirt... striped almost exactly like this shell. I need to find this picture.
So, in my slightly ocd, facts connecting mind, this shell reminds me of my dad. And I will always treasure it.
Do you have any objects that aren't actually heirlooms, but you treat them as such anyways because of feelings they produce for obscure reasons?
One of my favorite desserts. Reminds me of my childhood, my dad's favorite.
Simple to make, pretty to look at, almost like a comfort food for the sweet tooth.
Heart warming. especially when adorned with a little crape myrtle cutting.
What is your favorite dessert? Is there a reason other than simply how it tastes?
We were at a little restaurant and saw an elderly man wearing his retired vet hat with all of is service info on it. My husband went up to him and asked about it. He told us he was a front line infantryman in both Nazi Germany and the Korean War. A very nice, quiet and kind man, with a subtle pride and humbleness. We gave him our thanks and shook his hand. He and his wife were touched... so were we.
*my little brother Jae, in special ops in aviation electronics, on the way to bootcamp*
So, a giant, respectful hug and thank you to the men and women who have served, and are currently serving in the military. For those who have died, those who have been injured, those who have experienced things we could never imagine and gave up some of their freedoms, so that we could have ours. A thank you to the husbands, wives, parents and children of those who say goodbye to their loved ones and wait every day to hear if they are safe.
No matter what our personal opinions are about certain conflicts and politics, we should at the very least recognize that there are people willing to leave their families, homes, and comfort in order with the possibility of tragic ends in order to do what they feel is best for our country.
So, I salute you and hope and pray, that wherever you are in this world, that you and your family have peace.
* You may be surprised to know, that when I was 17 or 18, I was in the process of signing up for the military. I was home alone, with the recruiter sitting at my kitchen table, laptop out and I was taking some type of an entrance exam and filling out paperwork. Then, my mom walked in the door, started freaking out... and that was the end of that. Interesting how my life would have been so different had I joined.
**A few years ago, I was starting to write a book on the stories of these heroes before they passed on, never to have their stories told. I was preparing to go and interview veterans at the VA hospitals and nursing homes. Perhaps I will pick up this project again one we are settled, as time is running out. Remembering the past has always been very important to me, (many ladies played an important part as well).. Years ago, when my father was receiving treatment at the VA, we met Dan Illerich who was rescued by headhunters after being shot down in WWII, and were fascinated by his story. You can watch his story here, or see the image gallery here of the story that just aired on pbs the other day, to our surprise.
***For interesting reading, you may enjoy the short starvation experiment log by Lester Glick, that occurred in the University of Minnesota starvation experiment in 1944.
There is a blog called IMNC with lost of simple inspirations that I found recently. He has a lot of Asian indie film and technical video posts and such that are very interesting. Maybe I'm drawn to it in part because my dad lived in China for a few years and so I have always been fascinated by that culture. I appreciate her dedication posts to her mum as well, since I also lost my dad to cancer several years ago.
But I love his room. A vintage toy museum as he calls it, perfect. It's organized chaos it seems, yet the white walls and bedding and simple shelving makes it work. Visit the link to see larger picture of the collections.
Also, if you love this, you will enjoy visiting the Geek dress up party post too.
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?
I am leaving in the morning for a little vacation.
It is my mom's 35th high school reunion and I am her date. It will be an 8-10 hour drive and we leave in about 8 hours. I have not packed. My laundry is on the bed waiting for my tired hands to fold them, hang them up, decide which of my cottony, heathered loves will be my roadtrip companions...
Which grey shirt do I bring... which do I leave? Over half of my shirts are grey... well, I take that back, the other half are gray (did you see what I did there?)
I can't decide if I should take the little chitlens with me. Do I leave them? My hubs offered to watch them both so I could get away. My first thought, "ca-CHING!" "oh, how liberating!" He explains, "I would love to experience being a full time stay at home dad by myself for a couple of days". {swoon}
Do I deprive him of that opportunity? (esp since the dishwasher is broken?)
To be fair on both of us, we worked out that I would take the older since he would enjoy seeing the great grandparents, and the younger would stay with hubs. So, while putting the younger down in the crib tonight, I could barely let him go knowing I wouldn't see him awake again until Monday! No!!!!!
Well, I have to pack and then I have to go to sleep, and wake up early and prepare food and such for the drive. How am I to pack when I don't even know if I will be taking a child with me? My husband keeps telling me, sweetly, softly... hintingly... "uh, honey... don't you need to go pack, it's 11:20pm?"
Such a tough decision. I suppose, we shall see in the morning. It will be a parting of many hugs and kisses.
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 love my beautiful Mother's Day bouquet. My honey works for a major shipping co and one stop on his route is a flower shop. Well, they always give him flowers on special occasions for *free* to bring home to me! This bouquet is absolutely beautiful! I even split it up to give some blooms for my sweet mom for Mother's Day as well!
For Mother's Day, we had a lovely lesson at church on words/actions that hurt others, and how we as women may not always know when we can be hurting others. We talked ways we can show love and support to others, and try to see more clearly our own weaknesses and gifts. It was a lovely and uplifting lesson, and we followed it with a yummy Mother's Day brunch of fruits, cheese and crackers and croissant sandwiches.
We then visited my Husband's family (his dad is recovering from heart surgery) and we then came home and made Sheppard's Pie (my fav) with my mom and watched Outsourced. A cute little indie romantic comedy (yes, we did skip any love scene we encountered (there were 2).
Also, I got my Mom and Mother-in-law cup cozies. They both are always carrying around a drink of some sort wrapped in napkins, so I thought these would be perfect! Unfortunately, they got thrown in a pile somewhere, so I haven't given them the cozies yet, but they will be loved, I know it!
A quick word on Mother's Day. Not every woman is a mother. Whether it is by personal choice, or the opportunity just hasn't come yet, whether a woman is no longer a "hands-on" mother who has lost her child through death, spirit or distance, if you no longer have your mother on Earth or really despise the one you have... every woman can celebrate Mother's Day.
It is my belief that woman have divine nurturing tendencies to be mothers. You can be a mother in a sense in your community, in your home, in your prescence or career. Through love, educating ourselves, perservering and honing a sincere desire to help others are ways you can also be a mother. By using our motherlike qualities, we have the power to influence the world for good, one small child, adult, politician at a time.
Here are some free printables and ideas for next Mother's Day for you! Here is a great site for vintage cards, Vintage Holiday Crafts and second post HERE.
You need: one jar with a tight fitting screw on lid, a pinch of salt, 2 marbles and heavy whipping cream filled about 1/2 way. Put all inside jar, screw on lid and let your kid shake it up till it's creamy butter.
I hope your enjoyed your Mother's Day! Remember, next year, keep it simple, fun and easy :)
