Gotta Clean

Jacob is one motivated little boy. Today while I was on the computer (only for 20 minutes, that's not long, is it?) Jake managed to get into something quite important.

I turned around to talk to the little boy and noticed the wet wipes were emptied from the package and laying all over the floor and entertainment center. When I asked Jake what he was doing he said, "I gotta clean!" Then he proceeded to "clean" the TV and the mirror.

I can't get mad at the boy, because he's got a good point, the house DOES need cleaned, but I just think there's a better choice than wet wipes.

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On a side-note, I've been reading a REALLY good book that has me looking at motherhood a little differently (probably why I didn't freak out when Jake emptied the wipes....) It's called For Every Mother: Celebrating all ages and stages of motherhood. The author is wonderful. She's the mother of 10 children, so she DEFINITELY is an expert in motherhood. This book is filled with short excerpts, stories and poems that will make you think a little differently about being a mom. I know that I'm trying harder to enjoy those moments I used to dread with my own boys.

If you're struggling with being a mom, finding that you are upset and feeling overwhelmed most of the time, check out this book....it's truly wonderful.

I'm a Porcupine, You're a Porcupine....

This last weekend I bought a book that I have to admit is probably one of my MOST favorite books EVER!! I find myself underlining favorite or appropriate things and making notes in the margins. I LOVE this book.

"How to Hug a Porcupine" by Dr. John L. Lund is my NEW love.

I have to admit, I bought this book HOPING to fix those Porcupines in my life. I have several people in my life that I feel are toxic or behave in toxic ways. (A porcupine is anyone who has toxic personality traits.) Instead of ONLY finding them in these pages, I'm finding my OWN toxic traits...and it's scary! I don't want to be a porcupine! I want to be a fluffy muskrat.

The number one thing that I've learned from reading this book is: "The ONLY person I can change is me. I cannot change ANY toxic person, I may persuade or love them, but I cannot make them change."

It's SO fascinating. I've had my eyes opened and I am LOVING it.

For example, did you know toxic people cannot or will not give you the validation that you want? They'll also with hold love to assert their power over any given situation. They will chose a "favored one," so that the rest of the people that they deal with have hope to one day BE that favored one. And something I've always said, "You do it because I said so," is a forerunner to rebellion.

I'm learning that I really DO have a good relationship with my husband (despite what other people think) and that the way I've BEEN treating the porcupines in my life has been appropriate.

There are things that I've learned that I'm SURE will take time to sink in and for me to understand. Some of those are that love and trust are NOT the same thing. That the "art of parenting is not the art of hanging on, but the art of letting go."And that I really need to transfer responsibility to my children for their own behaviors and emotions.

Now, mind you, I'm only half-way through this book. I've read chapters about how to identify emotional porcupines and what some other people have done to deal with these emotional porcupines. NOW I'm at the point where he's giving me the "armor" I need to protect myself from these emotional porcupines.

It's SO fascinating, and SO helpful! I'm SO glad that this book was recommended to me (by several sources) and that I listened to them.

Books Review: Fablehaven

I may have mentioned this series of books before, but I just finished the final book and want to let everyone know that these books are GREAT! The fifth and final book of Fablehaven came out last month, and it took me 10 days to read the whole thing. (And only because I valued my sleep....I had to FORCE myself to go to bed at 2:00 in the morning instead of reading more, like I would have liked.)
The books are VERY imaginative and a fairly easy read. They might be scary for younger kids, but for tweens, teens and adults, they're fine! They DO get intense, but that's part of the reading experience, isn't it?
The series follows Kendra and Seth Sorenson and their exposure to the mythical world that lies beyond the typical human eyes. There are fairies, centaurs, dragons, demons and more. It's fun to see the different ways each group is presented.
I have to say, it was sad to know that I was reading the final book in this series. But it didn't leave me ACHING for more, but wishing there was more.
If you like Harry Potter, you will adore Fablehaven. I highly recommend it.....to everyone!

Book Review: The Peacegiver

I've mentioned that lately I've been having some hard times and while talking about it with some friends, one recommended that I read "The Peacegiver" by James L. Ferrell. I instantly went to my library website and put it on hold....I'm still on hold for it.
I mentioned this book to my mom, and she said, "Oh, I've got that one....you can read it. It's REALLY good."
I instantly went to find it. (Like I said, I've been having MEAN and hateful feelings....I don't like being a grump, so I've been struggling to let go of my hatred and angry attitude....but like I said, I've "struggled.") I found it and decided to read it as soon as I could.
Once I started, a change began inside of me. I instantly began to see the Atonement of Christ SO differently than I'd ever seen it before.
Let me share a few of the truths that I read in this MARVELOUS book:
The Atonement isn't just for me....Christ atoned for the sins of others. (How could this truth NOT be a "duh" moment?)
The Atonement covers completely any hurt, sin, situation of life that we may or will find ourselves in.
If we are willing to give up our grudges, hurts and pains to Christ, he will fill in the gap and make US whole. He will cover all the hurt and pain with his love and acceptance.
Loving others shouldn't be so hard. If we believe that we are all One in Christ, then we will treat those who hurt us with more care and patience than we naturally want to do.
Christ loves ALL of us completely and wholly.
This is SUCH a wonderful book. I now want this book for my own, so that I can read and re-read it over and over. I know I will fall and fail again, but knowing that the Atonement covers my every trip and fall is an amazing feeling.

Book Meme

The Rules of the game:

1. Find the nearest book to you.

2. Name the book and author.

3. Turn to page 123.

4. Go to the fifth sentence on the page.

5. Copy out the next 3 sentences and post to your blog.

6. Tag three other people.

Since I'm SO into Church history...my nearest book is Fire of the Covenant (I've either read or listened to this book 4 times now, and currently re-reading it for the 5th time...LOVE IT!!) by Gerald N. Lund (yeah, the guy who wrote The Work and the Glory series!)

"'Class starts in fifteen minutes. I can't even say hello to them. I don't know a word of Danish.'"

Geez, I thought I'd get more out of it than THAT!! Oh, well! I just bawl when I START this book, but if you are curious about the plight of the handcart pioneers, or more specifically the Willie and Martin handcart companies, this is a MUST read!

To be totally honest, if I could do ANY one thing in my life...I would love to just read and study about the early years of the Church. It's so interesting and just fascinating to me. My favorite year in seminary was the D&C year...when we got to study those stories in SCHOOL! It's just my favorite! Steve will tease me about knowing SO much about the W & G series...any time there was a quote from the recent movies, either on TV or on the radio, he'd look at me and ask, "So, what was happening at THAT part!?" (I've only read THAT series all the way through 7 or 8 times....but some of the individual books I've read MANY more times!) And the sad part, I could tell him...

I tag NO ONE....if you feel so inclined....go for it!

A Jumbled Mess

Today's post is a bunch of thoughts thrown together into one...please forgive the HUGENESS of this post! I just have a lot to say, and I don't want to post more than once a day...if I don't have to! So begins my jumbled mess...

I started a book the other day...yesterday I finished it. Yes, I know...I have no life! It was one read that I HIGHLY recommend! It's called Stolen Innocence: The Jan Broberg Story by Mary Ann Broberg. Usually I'm one for fluff books and non-thinking books. I love the stuff, but I was watching KBYU the other day and the speaker recommended a book, and since my mom has her own library I decided to raid her stash to see if she had it. I was looking and looking for the book, but had no such luck (I still want to read that one too...) But while I was rummaging around I came across this book. I skimmed the back cover and noticed a picture of the author and her daughter. I had the weirdest feeling that I knew the daughter from somewhere, so I figured, "What's the harm in reading this...if I don't like it, I just won't finish it." I started and found that I couldn't put the thing down.
I learned SO much from this book. It's the true story of a mother, her daughter and the slime of a man who kidnapped the daughter twice! It talks about a pedophile who brainwashed a little girl into thinking that what she was doing was right and that he was a wonderful person. On one hand it scared me. I can't even fathom some creep coming up with these CRAZY ideas...on the other I was fascinated with how the parents handled everything. I hope that I NEVER have to go through this situation, but if I do, I'm better educated and know what is right and what is NOT!
Today we had a mini family vacation, in our own back yard! (Well, not literally, but close enough!) We had decided that for my husband's "weekend" from work we'd do some family bonding. So today we decided to go to the local zoo and have a picnic. We had a ball! It wasn't nearly as hot as it was yesterday, so the weather cooperated with us and it was so nice to just hang out as a family! One of my other friends went yesterday, and thanks to her I got the heads up on what was new. There were SEVERAL new babies in the exhibits and we had fun trying to find them. We went through the ENTIRE zoo in about an hour and a half. Cam kept dragging us around from exhibit to exhibit. His absolute FAVORITE was the monkey house. There were these gibbons (we call them monkeys) and one was just thoroughly entertained by the people watching him...I actually felt like we were the ones on display for him! Anyway, he would swing from perch to perch and he liked to rub up against the glass and scare little kids. He was hilarious. I think if I were a monkey I'd do the same thing! But we had fun.
We ended up watching an animal thing where they brought the animals to us and let us see them. We thought it would be fun, until we heard that it was a special REPTILE thing. YUCK! I despise creepy crawlies, and snakes and lizards definitely fall into that category! They brought around a gecko and that was fine, it was still in the cage, but then they brought out the snakes....yes, TWO SNAKES!! They allowed anyone to pet the snakes if they wanted to and my son, the kid who freaks out over fluffy things flying through the air...the same kid who asks if there are spiders in our house...the very same kid who wants to know if there are snakes in every body of water we come across....THAT kid pet the snake! I was grossly proud and disgusted at the same time!
On the way out of the zoo, they have you exit through their gift shop. And of course, we're suckers for cutsie shirts and toys, so we spent extra moolah to please our already happy son. He got one of those monkey toys where the hands velcro together and they can hang from things. It looked a lot like the gibbon that entertained us so well. So the whole ride home our back seat was filled with screeches and howling. Needless to say, we had fun!
Then we ended up going to a local antique mall and browsed and dreamed. There were some really cute things there. I didn't think we'd be there that long, but I was wrong. We stayed there for over an hour. Then I wanted to try a local restaurant that is a throw-back to the 50's diner days. It was SO cute, but SO expensive. All in all, our day was fun! We laughed and enjoyed our time together in our own hometown.
One more topic I wish to cover before I leave for the night....Yesterday, my friend "L," who just had her baby and who's little girl I babysit, called and asked us a favor. They wanted to go down to the temple visitor's center and watch a movie. They didn't think that their daughter would be able to handle it, so they asked us if we could watch her for a couple of hours. They were going to take the baby...hoping he'd sleep through it, but they wanted to leave little "L" with us. I don't know what it was about that request, but it just made me feel like they were taking advantage of us. I've been watching little L off and on for a while, when they have doctor appointments and such, but this time I felt like they should take little L with them. They have her in church and she does fine...why can't they take her to this?? I guess I was just upset. How can I tell her that I don't want to watch their daughter any time they want some alone time? I just felt a little like a doormat. Don't get me wrong, I love them and want to help them, but this time I felt like it was a bit too much to ask. What should I say to her??