I have been touched by a story of a young mother with four kids, almost the ages of mine, who was in a plane crash and has been in critical condition for several months with over 80% of her body burned. She had been keeping a blog for several years and had quite a following of people she didn't even know because of her positive attitude on life and especially on motherhood.Reading some of her posts has made me reflect on some things I want to do better with my own children. I have felt the need to try harder to help create fun memories with my kids. It is far too easy to get into the rut of our daily routine, and I've often felt too exhausted to even try an attempt at something more.
I geared myself up, and on Conference Sunday (twice a year the leaders from our church speak to its worldwide members http://www.lds.org/) we spent every non-Conference part of the day making the messiest but most fun treat...sugar cookies! My kids love the entire process...cutting out the cookies, frosting and decorating. Because of the mess and work of it all I rarely instigate this project.
Before the first session of Conference we had all the cookies cut (we had almost 70!) and baked. I was already tired and grateful for President Monson's talk encouraging us to enjoy our moments with our young children...it gave me an extra boost to move onto part 2--frosting and sprinkles!! Sprinkles drowned cookies as children tend to do and orange and green frosting clumps clung to chairs and walls...but the kids loved every minute of it.
The best part? After our masterpieces were all decorated we piled up plates of cookies and brought them around to the neighbors. And then the excitement catapulted as we drove to some houses of friends in the ward and the kids sneakily crept to their front doors, rang the bell and ran with all their might back to the van as to not get caught. We were the "Cookie Phantoms" and I think the kids could have done that all night. It was fun for Scott and I to watch the three older kids race with such glee---Ellie almost gave us away screaming and whining because she wanted to be in the run as well. Jared was in heaven being included with the girls and was sure he could run just as fast as them since he has big muscles.
At the end of the day there was a lot of mess to clean up...but it was definitely worth it!
6 comments:
this would be perfect for a moms site I am helping with www.powerofmoms.com
Any way you would submit this on there..you just register to be a contributer and then submit your entry. We need some articles for our newsletter this week. If you had a minute that would be awesome!
You know I have also been influenced by the Nie Nie blog. Reading your blog also inspires me and makes me feel more motivated as a Mom. Keep it up! Michelle
mmmmm I want one of those.
Your kids are so cute! I just want to eat Ellie up! LOL What a fun way to create some lifeling memories for your children. :) Some of my fondest memories of growing up were the little things like this. I am sure you are an amazing Mother. After reading your blog entries I can tell how much your family loves and adores you (as they should!).
PS I LOVE Mary Engelbreit! When I moved back here I had such a hard time finding her stuff. My kitchen is done in cherries and I have a ton of her stuff. I love her illustration and fun take on life. My favorites are "Life is just a chair of bowlies" and "Let's put the fun back into dysfunctial".
PSS I think the song Scott wrote for you is so sweet and romantic. You guys just have such a cute family!
PSSS Thanks for the comment you left. I am weird looking, but thanks for thinking that is gorgeous. haha You don't look you have aged a day since I saw you last. You get your beautiful and youthful looks from your Mom. :)
We wondered where the cookies came from! We loved them. . . unless they were from some other phantoms. Scott wondered if they were from you, but I discounted it saying hey weren't quite up to looking like a Sarah creation - but they were awesome Kaitlyn, Brynn & Jared creations. We love you guys!
I thought it might have been you guys--I recognized the plates from Amber's shower. Anyway, they were delicious. I think I ate the most of everyone in my family. Good job creating fun memories. You're a great example to me. :)
Post a Comment