I Love to See the Temple part 2

Here are a couple of pictures that my sweet friend Kim took the day we were up there.

We have 15 girls total in our Activity Days group.  We were missing one, but added the sister of one of our girls who wasn't able to go with her age group.  We had such a great time!

I love to see the Temple...I'm going there someday.

In church I have 3 responsibilities.  One of them is looking after a group of 8-12 year-olds known as "Activity Day Girls".  We meet twice a month for an hour each time and go over different gospel principles and work on developing talents, etc.

Over the past couple of meetings, we've learned about Family History.  We went to a family history center, worked on the computers and talked about different family stories.  Tonight we took the girls to the nearest LDS Temple in Richland, Washington and walked the grounds and took pictures.

We were fortunate to be able to go into the first set of doors into a waiting room and visit with a member of the Temple Presidency and his wife.  Lots of great questions were asked and the girls were so reverent (I was worried about that one).  After the short visit, we lined up outside in the misty rain and took pictures.  I want the girls to remember that the Temple is a special place and should be their goal to begin an eternal marriage.  After pictures, we walked around the grounds and looked at the beginnings of spring with the flowers blooming and the trees budding.  There was such a special spirit of peace there that I hope the girls were able to feel it.

Afterwards, we went to Baskin Robbins and enjoyed a scoop of ice cream before heading home.

We had a total of 15 girls and 5 adults that went and we all had a great time and enjoyed each other's company.  I hope that they will remember the special feelings that they felt and strive to make it back when they are old enough.

I took a couple of pictures, but none do the afternoon any justice!

ETS is 4!

Ethan Taylar Shaw (ETS for short) turned 4 today.  My baby is 4!  It's mind boggling, to me, to think that I have kiddos as old as they are!  I honestly can't keep up!  So, enough talking, here are some pictures of the birthday boy!

The Light Saber cake!

Loves his cake!

All of his gifts...he's pretty excited! 

And I couldn't resist some older pics of him...

He seriously climbed up there by himself!
He's given me more than one heart attack!

Trying to rock out with dad!

Love his grin and those eyes!

Mommy Education

Today I attended a baby shower for two first-time mommies.  I loved sitting there oohing and aahhing over one baby and all the fun and cute clothes and blankets that were given to both.  One of the things that we did was write down mommy advice for these two wonderful ladies and then we read them out loud so we all could hear.

We laughed at some things and nodded in agreement on others.  It made me think of all the times I wished I knew what I was doing and realized that even though I have 4 kiddos, I still have no clue at what I'm doing.

I find it comforting when I talk to other moms and find out that they have the same stress I have.  They might yell more than they want.  They might not have as clean a house as they would like.  Their kids cry and whine and pout just like mine do.  These other moms cry at night, and don't get the sleep that they want and they go places with crumbs on their shoulders or on the seat of their pants.  And it's OK!  They also have great joys when their kids stand up for themselves and when they learn to go potty in the toilet.  I'm thrilled when one of my kids remembers to say "thank-you" without being prompted.

My kids often ask how I learned how to do something, or how I know when they are fibbing or hiding something.  I tell them that it was on the "mommy test" and I had to pass the test before I could be a mommy.  The truth is, I just remember being a kid.  I watch my kids more closely than they think.  They were a part of me for months.  I just KNOW them.

I know I am far away from being a perfect mom or even a great mom.  But I do know that I am a good mom and that works for me.  There isn't a book that works for every kid and and every personality.  Learning to listen to the Spirit and working on living my life they way Heavenly Father wants me to is the best way I can think of to teach my kids and to be the mom that I want to be.  It's a learning process.  Sometimes the thing that worked all the time just doesn't and I'm back at square one.

By recognizing this and reminding myself that I'm doing a good job and that things are going to be perfect, I think I've made a lot of progress in my mommy education!