He is not here, for He is risen

Garden Tomb

Garden of Gesthemane

Old City Jerusalem

Hot Israeli soldier? How'd that sneak in there . . . .

come listen to a prophet's voice

So General Conference is in a week, and can I tell you how excited I am? How refreshed and encouraged I feel after each General Conference weekend? For me, General Conference is a festive family-centered mini-retreat. Food is important to our tradition. We always have special breakfasts, like cinnamon French toast and strawberries or German pancakes. Fruit and fruit dip. You get the idea.

Then begins the actual watching of Conference. I must admit, the last few years rated exceptionally low in the "what I got out of conference" category. I had to rely on my trusty Ensign to show up a month later so I could get the full impact of the talks. However, last Conference, Chris and I had a wonderful time relaxing and listening to the talks with minimal interruptions.

What has changed? Well, for one, our girls are getting older. They tend to entertain themselves better. But the other essential factor was that I prepared them for Conference. We read this fabulous article in The Friend magazine about a family who made a conference reverence tent. We followed their lead by learning about King Benjamin in Family Home Evening and then setting up a tent on Conference weekend. They LOVED it! Even Clara snuggled in quietly just to be with her older sisters. {I just found this King Benjamin-themed FHE lesson which I will borrow from this time around.}

My second big hit last time was a Conference bingo {don't worry, does not include the calling out of "bingo!"}. You can find these in conference packets or personalize it for your children, which I did. Ours included pictures of the Savior, Thomas S. Monson, the temple, a choir singing, and a girl praying. Then we played "reverse bingo": I put very small goodies on each picture and when anything was mentioned or done {choir, prayer, the Prophet talking, the Savior's name, the temple or an actual image on the screen} they got to eat a goodie. It was entirely up to them to listen and they did GREAT. They were so excited that they'd yell out, "It's the Prophet!" or "She's talking about Jesus!" This way they were entirely aware of the general flow of conference {pray, sing, prophet recognition}.

As the girls waited to get a bingo treat, they worked on a fun Conference packet, coloring & cutting. You can Google "general conference packet" and up will pop a list of fun, homemade activities. This year I've selected my favorite age-appropriate activities & put them into colored folders for a customized packet {thanks Amber for the idea!}. Of course you can always rely on The Friend magazine, as my dad did, as a resource to make a fun little conference packet {they have activities galore to print}.

My favorite links this time:
SugarDoodle: big list of conference-related activities
2009 List of GC packets
And, my FAVORITE packet, even though it's for fall 2008

As the girls get older they'll be able to internalize the messages more, but for now my primary goal is to get them excited for the cultural & spiritual traditions of Conference. What are some of your General Conference traditions? I'd love to hear!

not your granny's website

I adore morning church. Mostly because afterwards I get to take a luxurious nap while Clara naps. However, I wanted to devise a special Sunday quiet time for my two older girls. {I had to listen to bible records growing up, but that is a story for another day . . . .}

So I've begun to set up Sunday Stations based on this story I read in the LDS Friend magazine. Chris is around to monitor {sleep} on the sofa as the girls rotate among the Church-themed stations. Last Sunday we had a puzzle corner, an art table, a game table, and computer games. Now, the only reason I included the last station is because of my recent amazing discovery!!

Take yourself over to The Friend website right now {click on link, or go to http://www.lds.org/ choose magazines, then Friend}. I adore what they've done with their website, as it is now geared toward kids visiting! Our girls have begun to ask for computer games {pbs site, my little ponies} and so finding that The Friend is competing for their attention is great. They've had a blast playing the little games, doing the online coloring pages, listening to the songs & stories & slideshows. I'm going to limit it to Sundays so they anticipate using it. Such a find!
I'll go take that nap now, thank you very much.

springtime

Although snow still covers a bit of my yard, this is what's popping up:

And this is exactly how it makes me feel

bittersweet

Why is it that no matter how long I nurse my babies, I'm always a bit heartbroken when they fully wean? Each weaning has been a gentle fading away of our sweet nursing ritual: Anna at 16 months {and I, five months pregnant}. Sophia at 18 months. And now Clara, here at 20 months, nursed her last. I'd skipped a morning this weekend due to a meeting, couldn't quite bear to give up our lovely morning snuggle today, but she was interested for only a couple minutes. The time has come and she's ready. But, am I ready? Will I ever be? {Okay, yes to that last question, but a few more months would be nice!}

This to this--in the blink of an eye

{Disclaimer: She is not potty training}

One of my favorite writers calls parenthood a "heavy-hearted happiness" and I definitely feel that today. I love watching my children progress toward independence and each stage is more rewarding than the last. Yet each day that passes drains away a bit of this precious time with my young girls. I've felt lately that my two girls and a baby have become three little girls. It's hard to believe how fast this year and a half with little Clara has passed. I love her toddler self so much and I know there are even better times {and more sleep!} ahead. Yet a part of me mourns the tiny infant that used to nestle in my arms.

There's a quote from one of my favorite books that appropriately sums up my feelings today:

"God warns us not to love any earthly thing above Himself, and yet He sets in a mother's heart such a fierce passion for her babes that I do not comprehend how He can test us so" {Geraldine Brooks, Year of Wonders}.

under fire

Recently there has been a bit of furor in the Latter-day Saint community regarding some negative attention that will be given to our sacred temple covenants on television. The same day that my inbox was rapidly filling up with petition requests from LDS friends, I came across the video below.

Rachel Esplin is a 20-year-old LDS Harvard student who participated in a religious panel directed by Newsweek journalist Sally Quin. After watching her mature & thoughtful handling of some pretty intense questions about our faith, I wanted to stand up and cheer. I suppose I'm sharing this because I think discussions like these, and forums like this, are much more productive than allowing our critics & opponents "to choose the ground on which our battles are fought". (See LDS news article here.)

Day of Faith: Personal Quests for a Purpose - 3. Rachel Esplin from Harvard Hillel on Vimeo.

march 5: international women's day

Tomorrow night A Powerful Noise opens in theatres. This documentary addresses the most marginalized group in any nation--woman and girls. This topic is near and dear to my heart. My three little girls are lucky to be born in a country that recognizes their value & in which they will have a voice. Most are not so fortunate. Please visit http://www.apowerfulnoise.org/ to see how you can add your voice and resources to helping women around the world.

{Quotes taken from A Powerful Noise website}
A Powerful Noise takes you inside the lives of [three] women to witness their daily challenges and their significant victories over poverty and oppression. [This] is a meditation on the inherent potential of women to change the world.
This view of women's empowerment . . . is useful in virtually all types of development programs that help communities improve the quality of and access to water, health services, education and microfinance services {to name a few}, and those programs in which communities are guided to confront specific social injustices such as violence against women.
Working with women strategically makes good investment sense. Women, more than men, tend to parlay improvements in their own lives into the lives of their children and communities. Increases in income typically translate into greater investment in children's education and health care. Education for girls and women plays a strong role in the next generation's health and well-being. And the entire world benefits from the creativity, intelligence and effort that flower when girls and women are freed from strictures that keep them uneducated & silenced.

Want to Help? Get Started Here:
LDS Humanitarian Services
Unitus: Innovative Solutions to Global Poverty
CARE

{Any others you'd like to add?}