it's a bonbon life

I have such talented friends. My lovely friend Margaret, a gifted writer, spends her time playing with two darling children in the Palo Alto sun while her husband studies. She has turned that precious play time into an inspiring website for mothers: Bonbon!

M's hip mama website offers an abundance of mothering tips in the style of a mini-magazine. Oh, how this girl can write! And unlike other ultra-chic sites, Bonbon allows me to feel happy about who I am as a mother, yet inspired to put a little more of the joie de vivre into it. Sometimes with the mundane I neglect to savor the aspects of mothering that I'm truly passionate about: art, play, literature, food, love, good quality time. {Yes, that includes lazy mornings in jammies.}

Take time to savor Bonbon this week! You can thank me later.

dirt

I love the smell of dirt. The realization hit me this weekend as I dug around in my garden. I was thinking about growing up in sunny New Mexico and how I still love the dry dusty smell of desert mountains. I thought about the beach and digging my toes into sun-warmed sand and inhaling the scent of ocean and earth. And I realized I also love the musty, foresty smell of the rich black dirt in our cozy garden. Who knew dirt had so many fragrances?

As we dug & planted, Anna told me, "This is my favorite thing ever!"

post edit: Wednesday is Earth Day, people! So go hug yourself some dirt. Or smell it, lie down in it, and roll in it. Just, as Kara said, please don't eat it. I know it's tempting. Especially if you're pregnant. {And check out the Disney Earth movie released tomorrow. I can't wait to watch it with the girls!}

i have a family tree

My lovely friend Jennie has started selling her gorgeous quilted family trees on Etsy! They are so beautiful and I'm in complete awe of her quilting abilities {if you may recall, one of my lifelong goals}. Go take a peek at her Etsy shop, you won't regret it. Mother's Day is coming up . . . .

one last cookie

I have a confession. Please don't judge me.

I make my husband hide the Trader Joe cookies from me. {Or chocolate-covered raisins. Or salty chips. Or . . .ahem.} I beg him on my knees to save me from myself. So into the little pantry he goes and finds a verysecrethidingplace. I have never found it. Believe me, I've tried. {Should I have confessed that?}

Today I was reading Frog and Toad Together with the girls and came to the story titled "Cookies." Read it to your child. You'll see why I couldn't stop giggling.

"You know, Toad," said Frog with his mouth full, "I think we should stop eating. We will soon be sick." "You are right," said Toad. "Let us eat one last cookie, and then we will stop."

"We must stop eating!" cried Toad as he ate another. "Yes," said Frog, reaching for a cookie, "we need willpower."
"There, now we will not eat any more cookies."
"But we can open the box," said Toad.

"There, now we will not eat any more cookies."
"But we can climb the ladder and take the box down from the shelf," said Toad.

Will they ever find the willpower?

easter sweethearts

Easter Sunday

Easter Saturday

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!