August

Small acts of kindness: do them. Notice them. Focus on them. Positive thoughts.
Agency: he gives it to us, we accept it, and we give it all back. We give him everything that is most precious to him.
How much effort are we putting into our children's spiritual success?

 There is no greater legacy that parents can leave to their children than the memory and blessings of a happy, unified, and loving home.jfis

The highlights of my days are when I put andrew to bed at night. He only cuddles on his terms-- except at night. Then he melts right into me and I get to just hold and rock him for as long as I want. And usually that's for a long time. He is such a cute kid and I'm really enjoying him and trying to soak in every bit of him before the new baby comes. He's my baby for only two more months.
I absolutely love my boys. I couldn't be more thrilled and more grateful that the number four is a boy.

You will be called to serve with and teach children more times. So you might as well enjoy and get good at it

Bishop Gardner: "It doesn't matter what you're doing but who you're with (ward activity)"

Ogden temple: "I feel peaceful and happy when I'm in the temple." Mike

I trust Shelly or Tammy with my kids. They are most like me, they love their husbands, and they love the Lord. They would raise my boys to be missionaries, fathers, and leaders.

My new parenting motto is: "If you want it, you earn it." James is in first grade and wants everything handed to him. He wants to be able to play without doing his chores, he wants a clean room without cleaning it, he wants a new, bigger bike (with gears) so he can keep up with Josh-- without paying for it. As his mother, I am taking this sense of "something for nothing" quite personally. Today I told him that nothing is free in this world, and whatever he wants he's going to have to work for. Hopefully I can live up to those words and provide him with the opportunity to have to want, really want and then to have figure out what he needs to do to get it, and work for it. That's how Mike and I got to where we are, that's the only way he's going to get to where he truly wants to be. Handouts are a disservice to everyone and they're not appreciated or cherished. "You got to want it to win it, not just ask for it and get it."

James: "some kids at my school don't like the bells on my backpack."
Me: (what I wanted to say was: tell them to deal with it or that you don't care what they think or that you don't like them..) what do you think you can say to them next time they say that?
James: that I worked really hard for these bells
oh my goodness, what a sweetheart. The answers really do lie within the grasp and inside of our children.

I am taking care of heavenly fathers children... It's human nature to give important people extra attention and special treatment. Am I doing that with my own children? Am I lifting them or tearing them down?

Tahitian seafarers: "They pray and then they go"
Tolerant of others and lenient of their actions. Patient. Forgiving.