Well first we had a fun weekend together.
Laughing.
Playing. Swimming.
Masen got a new car from some friends and loved it as you can tell.
Hanging out. Working together. Went on a few Bike rides.
Gave this a try one of the best idea's out there - awesome!
The kids loved it and it took them 25 minutes to eat! Give it a try- seriously!
Helping this little princess tame the "whiny ness" and the "I can't's" hard job any tips or helps cause I need them!! She is a feisty one! Good thing we love her so much!
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ME THINKS
This world needs help and the best place to start is in the home and teaching our children.
We can save our Nation by saving our homes.
From Standing for Something:
10 neglected virtues that will heal our hearts and homes
by Gordon B. Hinckley
From the section on THE FAMILY:
1. Accept responsibility for our role as parents and fulfill our obligations to our children.
Barbara bush said: Your success as a family- our success as a society - depends not on what happens at the White House, but on what happens inside your house."
2. Get married and stay married
Wall Street Journal -"American society would be better off if more people got married and stayed married."
"Marriage is much more than a civil contract, much more than an agreement between two people. It is an institution essential to the purposes of God. Children are entitled to be born within the bonds of matrimony, and to be raised by a father and mother who honor their marital vows with complete fidelity."-GBH
3. Put the father back at the head of the home.
"Far to many families have been denied the leadership and stabilizing influence of a good and devoted father who stands at the side of an able and caring mother in quietly training, gently disciplining, and prayerfully helping the children for whom they are both responsible."-GBH
4. Recognize and value the supreme importance of mothers.
5. Celebrate and treat children as our most priceless treasures.
6. Discipline and train children with love.
"As the twig is bent, so the tree is inclined."
" Children are like trees. When they are young, their lives can be shaped and directed, usually without much difficulty. "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it," {proverbs 22:6}
7. Teach values to children.
"Teach children tolerance."
Teach them respect
Teach them loyalty
Teach them the beauty of freedoms
Teach them obedience to law
Teach them the importance of health
Teach them the quality of charity and the meaning of service.
Teach them that there is a Power greater than their own to appeal for help
Teach them the thrill and joy of learning
Teach them the sanctity of sex
8. Teach children to work.
"An idle mind is the devil's workshop."
Children need to learn to work.
A little hard work breeds a greater respect for personal and public property.
May we show them by example that some of our finest work comes through service to others.
9. Read to and with Children.
"Television is perhaps the greatest medium ever discovered to teach and educate and even to entertain. But the filth, the rot, the violence, and the profanity that spew from TV screens into our home is deplorable. It is a sad commentary on our society." -GBH
10. Pray together.
" I believe that there is no adequate substitute for the practice of kneeling together, morning and evening, as a family in prayer. This , more then fine carpets or the latest in window coverings, will make far better and more beautiful homes." -GBH
We can change the course we are on. We must begin with parents. We must provide, to every man and women, an understanding of the eternal purposes of life, the obligations of marriage, and the responsibilities of parenthood. Then we must teach our youth of all races, languages and cultures that there is a better way than the way so many are now going. It will take patience. It will take persuasion. It will take the counsel of wise fathers and mothers. It will take inspiration and a spiritual guidance that reaches beyond our own wisdom.
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I've been thinking so much about the things that are happening to our world, to our youth, to families, to our society the things we blindly accept. The things that we just let slide by or don't stand up for. It makes me sad to think how many things have changed since even I was little.
i sometimes wonder if my children will be able to make it through this life to be strong and grounded and untainted by the things in and of the world. Its scary but we can do our part in our homes to help our children be respectable strong adults.
It starts with us.
It's a big job.
But every day we can make a difference.
IN our homes.
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Have a great week! Make it a new beginning~!
9 comments:
Ooooohhh...I LOVE your new background! How cute! And what a great idea with the muffin tins!! You are so smart!
I love all the things you wrote about regarding the family and marriage. All of that is so true! You always share the BEST stuff. Gordon Hinckley sounds like such a wise man. I know you admire and respect his words and advice.
Your kids are always so adorable in the pictures you share. Every one of them is just precious!!
Well, hope you have a great day!!
Cute summer pics...I gotta try the muffin tray idea...very inspirational words. I know of Gordon Hinckly only through what I have read on blogs and his words are so wise.
GREAT reminder of the things we can do to make a difference! What a good idea for lunch too! I'm so going to try that! :)
FUn FUn Weekend! We do something similar to your muffin tin lunch only it's done on little plates and the kids are allowed to have a "picnic" on a blanket in the house or under a tree or wherever. They call it the picnic lunch. It's so much fun, eh?
I love what you shared about the family. That last worldwide leadership on the Family is SO awesome.
It sure is nice to have that direction to look to as parents. You are awesome. I don't know if I have any advice for you with Lauren. Only, just keep on trying. Persistency and continuance pays off they say.
We just did the Muffin Tin a couple days ago. The girls really loved it. I'm thinkin it going to be a Muffin Tin Monday lunch thing. Really adds variety to their meals. Plus it's fun for them. Ellie is a very fiesty girl as well. The key i've found with her is that she likes things in order, some have called her Type 'A' personality because she puts things in a row, and likes things just so. I've started a happy helper jar, I bought a ton of marbles at the Dollar store down from Moxie's in Lethbridge. Every morning if they make their bed and get dressed before me asking them to do it they get to put a marble in the jar for each task. When the jar is full they have picked an activity that they really want to do as a family like go to the waterslides at the Ramada or go on a picnic to the lake. They also get to put one in there for having a tidy room before bed. Ellie is great with making her bed and getting dressed. Sadie not so much. It made me feel a little better when I talked to another lady whos kids are teenagers, she said one of her girl is very tidy the other is terrible always has been. I guess some of us have different personalities and when they clash with our own it makes it difficult. Positive motivation always makes them feel good about it, and some ownership on their own part. I don't know I hope maybe that might help a little or give you some ideas.
My suggestion for Lauren is to ignore her when she whines. I go through the same thing with Tanner A LOT. I find if I respond to it at all in any way shape or form, it's like a fire that I keep fueling. Sometimes I have to just go into my room and shut the door and not let him in. Sometimes I ask him to talk in a nice voice and it works but not always because sometimes he is genuinely whiney because he's tired or frustrated. I always try to think of what my Mom did when I was whiney and that's what she did is just ignored it. As for the can't thing, Tanner again does the same thing. I just keep encouraging him and telling him that I believe in him and to never give up. Sometimes it makes him madder and other times it works. But like Lynn said, try to stay consistent with it. It's so easy to just give up but being a parent is such a huge responsibility. Giving up is the easy way out...lol. Good luck.
we just got our new ensign, august ... and in it on page 52 is *grasshoppers, purple bathtubs and other surprises* .... just what the doc ordered ... what you are looking for ...
love your blog .... darlene, knows you are *secret* copycat ... LOL LOL LOL
ok, i've been peeking in on you blog for a month or 2 now and i can't hide any more. your thoughts are amazing. i love reading your testimony on here. i don't even know you, but i can tell you are an amazing mother and i totally admire you. there, i hope that wasn't too creepy.
Your photos are so beautiful and I LOVE the tray thing. We eat so much better now.
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