Easy peasy lemon squeezy...hardly!

Yesterday our family headed south about an hour to attend the new Payson temple open house. For my non LDS friends, a temple is a sacred place to us where we worship, learn about God's plan for us as his children and make covenants with God. Normally you have to be a member of our church in good standing and have a temple recommend to enter but anyone can attend during the open house, which happens for a few weeks before the dedication. That means our children could go in and see this beautiful, peaceful place. They can go to the temple at 12 to certain places in the temple, but they have to be much older to see all of it. 

This photo looks pretty picture perfect right? Let me share some of the things that happened leading up to this. My husband and I bickered on and off all day, several of my children did NOT want to make the drive and wanted to stay home, there was major fighting in the car, horrible traffic on the freeway so we got off to go another way and that was was worse, we got lost, my 16 year old was driving so that made it more stressful, several children didn't like the picnic I packed for dinner, we didn't have tickets and went standby so the wait to get into the temple was an hour, the kids were restless. I could go on but you get the idea. Needless to say it was crazy! 

Honestly it would have been easier to stay home or turn around once we hit the traffic and go home, put on pajamas and watch a movie. But then we would have missed out on this picture filled with light, we would have missed out on the smiles I saw on my kids faces in the temple. We would have missed out on the memories created and the lesson that the temple is important to us and that even when it's inconvenient and hard we still go. One of my friends pointed out the contrast of dark and light in this photo and we certainly had the contrasts as we made our journey. 

Doing the things that really matter isn't easy, often it's inconvenient and messy and really difficult. Raising a family isn't supposed to be easy, it's a learning and refining experience. Once we learn to accept that it changes our perspective. 

All of my kids agreed at the end of the night that it was worth it and they loved going.  And Dave and I kissed and made up...

Mother's Day is for martyrs?

I am a champion of Motherhood. I am passionate about uplifting and strengthening Moms so they can strengthen their families.  So don't take this the wrong way because I believe Mothers are amazing people who should be celebrated and applauded. However there is a trend I have noticed surrounding Mother's Day. Sometimes I get the feeling that we become martyrs and become a bit selfish around this holiday.  

I have seen blog posts and Facebook posts saying things like, "I had better be pampered and spoiled this Mother's Day or else..." It's a sense of entitlement that really rubs me the wrong way. Hopefully those we love really show us their appreciation and love on this day, but let's be grateful for the gestures they do and not begrudge anyone if it isn't the "perfect day" due to our unrealistic expectations. The day I put my expectations away of what Mother's Day should br is the day I became much more grateful for what it actually is. Communication about some nice things our loved ones can do for us is key, our husband and children aren't mind readers. 

I  saw this graphic this week on Facebook 

I though it was ironic that on the very day we celebrate Motherhood and the blessing it is, that many women want the day off of parenting?  That makes no sense to me. I love a day off from the mundane tasks such as laundry and cleaning and I am for sure going to enjoy sleeping in Sunday morning believe you me! But I am going to completely enjoy being surrounded by the 5 munchkins who gave me the title I am most grateful for in this life, that of Mom, Mama, Mommy.  I am going to soak it all in, I adore the handmade cards and presents, the extra hugs and snuggles. I have big people as children now and even they make me cards and give me extra hugs on this day. 

Maybe instead of focusing on ourselves we need to focus outward and focus on our gratitude for our own Moms and other women we admire, let's make their lives better this Sunday!  Check out this video, how will you make someone's life better this weekend?

https://www.mormonchannel.org/timeformom

I am far from a perfect Mom, I have so far to come. However I absolutey love this life of mine and the little (and not so little people) who have stolen my heart and have made me a better person by being their Mommy. I cannot imagine being upset over not getting the perfect gift or meal or a perfectly clean house.  I am grateful every day for these incredible souls I am allowed to raise and I cannot imagine my life without this opportunity as hard and exhausting as it can be.  Life is beautiful and Motherhood is a privilege and a refining process that turns us into new creatures. I'm so grateful for it!