Holiness in Motherhood

I went to Time Out for Women (a conference specifically geared toward LDS women) this past weekend. It was wonderful. I enjoyed the presentations, felt uplifted, and enjoyed a much needed time away from the kids.

Three of the most influential women in my life. SIL-Samantha, Mom, and MIL-Val

One presentation specifically was about finding holiness in motherhood. It seemed an oxymoron, but I enjoyed the presentation. However, when recapping the conference to Carlin I sort of skipped an explanation on that particular topic, it just didn't stick out to me at the time.

Mondays are always my hard days. I have loads of laundry, the kitchen is always a disaster zone, and today has been particularly bad with me fighting off yet another pink-eye infection. You can imagine why I was close to tears when I came out of the laundry room to find this scene:



After a talk about how it made mommy sad and what could we do to make mommy happy, the kids and I started cleaning. Suddenly the thought "holiness in motherhood" entered my mind. How was I supposed to find holiness in a situation such as this?


Reflecting back on the conference I again looked at my children and saw that they were happily cleaning with their wash cloths. Suddenly a quiet peace fell upon me and in that small moment I found holiness. I can't really describe it much better than that, so just take my word on it.

The Crime

Samuel decided to redecorate the house today.

With red crayon.

Walls. Floors. We keep finding it all over the house.

The red crayon is missing.

It seems he had an accomplice.

Judging by the red flakes coming out of Lillian's mouth, I am assuming she destroyed all evidence.


The suspects gave no comment.

P.S. Don't ask why they are wearing Christmas and Halloween pj's... I mean really, it was the least of my worries at the time.

A Beautiful Thing

I got this little beauty for my birthday (which was over a month ago...):


Carlin and I have been stuffing our mouths since. I've made white bread, cinnamon swirl bread, sour cream coffee cake, banana bread, and just last night Carlin used it for cinnamon rolls. Yummm. It is so much fun and I can't wait to try out more complicated recipes like French Baguettes.

Of course, this isn't really helping with my goal to get us back on our diet, but I think we will live.

Flight

Take these wings
and let them soar.
And with you,
love evermore.
Dreams and hopes
of yesterday,
Are once again
here to stay
Into the valley
of death to roam
Into His arms
find your way home.

Good-bye my dear friend,
I will always believe.

Ken Helton
September 11, 1953 - April 24, 2011

And now for Dessert...

I went to the bathroom. When I came out I found this:



That's chocolate pudding folks...

While writing this post:

Not sure if this makes me or the kids look bad.

Looks like...

We will be going out for dinner tonight...

Sigh.

P.S. It was in a 9x13 in Pyrex pan that hit a fellow Pyrex bowl (that Lillian was holding - everyone's okay though). There is nothing left of the Pyrex pan.

Neglected

I've neglected my blog a bit as I try to finish a project I started at the beginning of the year (which I should be done with today - woohoo!).

Until then I wanted to let everyone know I'm alive (in case you were worried...) and provide you with a picture till I get back into the blogging world.

This was scene I found last when I went to check on Samuel before going to bed myself...

Yes he is hanging upside down on his bed. Yes, he was sound asleep - didn't even wake up when we put him back in bed.