This I believe

I believe in mothers. I believe that one virtuous mother, led by the spirit, can change the world.
There are two pinnacles in every woman’s life; the day she is born and the day she finds out why she was born.
I was born to be a mother.
When my first child was given to me, my arms encircled his little body and my heart forever joined with his. I knew that I would do anything in my power to be with him forever. After I gave birth to my daughter I held her and saw that her little fingernails and ears were shaped just like mine. It was an existential experience for me as I realized that she was a part of me. My next daughter was so tiny and exquisite, I knew I was holding a real, live, angel and touching heaven. When I gazed into my youngest son’s alert newborn eyes, I felt as if we had always known each other.
I know that I have been blessed to mother great and noble spirits. I have a great responsibility to them and to my Father in Heaven to lead them in paths of righteousness. Where much is given, much is required.
I feel very strongly that motherhood is the most important gift, responsibility, and calling given to women. It is the impetus that drives us to be our best and compels us to be worthy of the spirit’s direction. It points us toward the temple and our heavenly home.
We are each equipped with the right tools for raising our children. The universal and most comprehensive tool that mothers have is unconditional love. I once read that no one should ever leave your presence without feeling better about them self.
I believe that all mothers can be led by the spirit and can teach children to be moral, ethical, upright, chaste, and charitable human beings.
Mothers have within their power the possibility of doing great things, of changing the world. Doing small things with great love, by giving great love to small things, begins an extraordinary task.
Mothers change the world one by one, through ministering to their family who in turn will minister to their future family thus setting the pattern for a virtuous world, this I believe.

Talking to Madders

I had a little Q&A session with Madsen today. He just wanted to snuggle up with me and talk, so I started asking him some questions and all I know is that he is just about the cutest thing around. One thing is for sure, he loves me and I love him!

What is something your mom always says to you?
I Love You

What makes your mom happy?
Kisses and Love

What makes your mom sad?
Being mean ( I didn't get any clarification on if this means when I'm mean, or he is :)

How does your mom make you laugh?
Being funny

How old is your mom?
36- no wait, I know how old you are, it has an eight in it, but I don't know which other number

How tall is your mom?
She is humongous and about 30 pounds. ( okay, so he redeemed himself from humongous with the 30 lbs comment)

What is your mom's favorite thing to do?
kisses and checkers ( for the record I have never played checkers with my kids, well maybe once with Caden, I don't know where he got that from)

What does your mom do when you are not around?
Hide our treats (what?)

If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
cause you're AWESOME!

What is your mom really good at?
you're very good at cooking

What is your mom not really good at?
checkers (again with the checkers!)

What does your mom do for a job?
You don't do a job anymore. Helping, you help a lot

What is your mom's favorite food?
pizza

What makes you proud of your mom?
She's beautiful

If your mom was a cartoon, who would she be?
Elvis

What do you and your mom do together?
We help each other cooking and stuff

How are you and your mom the same?
cause we are family and family is the same. We have the same hearts and our eyes are always the same color, greenish blueish because we love each other so much.

How are you and your mom different?
We have different faces and clothes

How do you know that your mom loves you?
cause she loves me

What does your mom like best about your dad?
He's handsome

What is your mom's favorite place to go?
that's a hard one, is it Denny's? (definitely not!)

Interviews

Recently I was paging through my journal and I came across an entry from April 10, 2005. I had asked my kids some questions and recorded their answers. I decided to ask Madsen the questions now, since he was too young back in o5. I've compiled the questions and answers and ages of the kids when they were interviewed. I remember asking them these questions and trying to keep a straight face as I wrote down their answers. They still make me smile today!

Q.- How do you decide who to marry?
Caden- age 6- I'm gonna marry one of my friends.
Kelsey- age 3- Jackson ( her friend)
Madsen- age 5- I don't know what to do, maybe I will when I'm older, I'm only 5!

(When I read the kids their answers from when they were little, Caden said no way, I'm not going to marry anyone I know! Maiya teased Kelsey about Jackson and she said, but he was the only boy I knew!)

Q.- What is the right age to get married?
Caden- age 6- When you're 13, maybe 18
Maiya- age 5- You have to be all growed up
Kelsey- age 3- When I'm taller
Madsen- age 5- I'm not gonna be 19- not supposed to get married when you're 19. Maybe 50,
oh I don't know.

( Caden, now 10, blushed when I asked him if he is ready to get married in 3 years!)

Q.- When is it okay to kiss someone?
Caden- age 6- only if they're married
Maiya- age 5- When they say you are husband and wife you can kiss
Madsen- age 5- When you're like a teen-ager or a grown-up

(Caden and Maiya still thought those were reasonable answers.)

I need to think of some questions to ask them now at ages 10,9, 7 and 5. Let me know if you think of any.

Meet and Greet

I was in my room getting ready to go to a meeting when my little one burst in and in one big leap landed on my bed with a "Hi Beautiful!" It doesn't get any better than that! He is the best! He always give me two hugs, two kisses on the lips and one on each cheek whenever I leave to go anywhere and he is the first to greet me when I get home. You've heard the idea expressed that whatever you send out into the Universe will come back to you? Well, he can expect a whole lot of love.

Hyding Out

I feel like I have been "hyding" out for too long, wrapped up in my own little world. Although it is comfortable here, it's time to open the door that separates the worlds. I've thought about my friends and family often as gentle reminders of their friendship have come in the mail through Christmas cards. I want to cherish my friends, not only in thought but in action. Merle Shain said, "Friends are people who help you be more yourself, more the person you are intended to be."