rEVOLution

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend a Power of Moms  retreat.  It was uplifting, empowering and inspirational, even revolutionary for me as a person and as a Mom.  I have renewed energy and desire to be a better Mom.  My spirit was filled to overflowing with all the wonderful things I learned.  I went to the retreat here in Vegas last year and loved it so much.  This year I helped plan this retreat and in the near future I hope to become a trainer for the Power of Moms organization and will teach classes and possibly do retreats locally.  It is something I am very excited about.  For years I have wanted to, (in fact I have been passionate about it) do something to strengthen families, but haven't known where to do or what to do.  This is such a good fit for me as I truly believe in what their philosphy is.  If you don't know much about them, I encourage you to check it out.

These ladies are phenomenal.  On the left is April Perry who is a co-founder of the Power of Moms.  She is an amazing woman and Mother.  In the middle is Tiffany Sowby, she is the Trainer Manager and plans and directs the retreats.  She is a gifted teacher and director for these retreats and is so fun to talk to and is wonderful. (many of my photos on this blog are courtesy of Tiffany)  I was excited to get a picture with them.

This is my good friend Amy.  She and I have known each other for 8 years, she was my counselor in a Young Women's presidency years ago and she has always been a favorite of mine :)

This woman is Angela Brown.  She is married to Jason Brown, who is my husband's cousin.  We haven't seen each other in 15 years, but have reconnected through facebook.  We both have 5 kids and commiserate on the craziness that entails. She called me about a month ago and said she was interested in coming to the retreat and wondered if she could stay with me.  Of course I said yes.  We immediately began talking like old friends and it was so fun to have her here (too short Ang...next time you need to stay another night).

This is the whole group that attended.  It was held at a beautiful home and the quality of women there was absolutely incredible.  When you have  women who are already phenomenal mothers and are wanting to be better you can't help but have an amazing experience.

the woman in the green sweater in the upper left is Jonelle Hughes, who also helped plan the retreat.  She is a new friend and I loved meeting her and getting to know her.

These retreats are held in a home for a reason, it feels so much more personal and we are working on building up and improving home life so it makes sense.  Because of that, there is a ton of interaction, lots of small group discussions and so much insight from so many women.  There were women there with 1 child all the way up to 6 or 7.  There were women with newborns up to 20 year olds.  There were single Moms and women who have been married over 20 years.  The diversity there was amazing.

I will do several posts of what I learned and ideas I got, but what was most important for me was to be reminded to take care of the person inside the Mom.  It's okay to say, "Mommy is going to have a shower and lock the door because Mommy is a PERSON."  We have basic rights and it's okay to have margins and ask our kids to respect those.

 I had a big aha moment, when I am stressed, tired, not feeling well etc....that is when I lose it with my kids and yell.  That is when I get frustrated and need some extra support.  Whether that comes from my husband or a friend or through prayer, sometimes I forget to ask.  Sometimes I need to tell my kids I am having a rough day to to be patient with me.

Most of all I was reminded that I need to care for myself so I don't feel that burnout and frustration that a 24/7 job no matter how great it is will create.  I need to rejuvenate my spirit, I need to eat well, exercise and sleep enough so I am ready to care for these 5 amazing kiddos.

More later, but my time on the computer is up and I am going to dance with Rapunzel and Flynn Rider.