Pie and Charms

We did a bit of a belated Pi Day with some dear friends for Family Home Evening last night. Their pies were amazing and it was so much fun to hang out. We finally got around to eating our chicken pot pie and I made my first time ever pumpkin pies for James (his favorite).

Then today we celebrated the great St. Patrick's Day! With the tradition of an early morning bowl of Lucky Charms (only once a year), and golden Rolos. It was a fun day in between all the errands and to-dos.

I got Jane some of my college watercolors out and had her paint a "rainbow." She loves drawing and painting and getting those hands dirty. We then went and got a free mint shake and showed off our greens. I love Holidays and making time for special traditions and memories!!

Chickies

Let the chicken journey begin!!! We have five pecking, chirping and adorable chickens currently residing at our abode in a plastic bin. They have won our hearts and we love all their funny personalities.

James is quite the chicken rooster ;). We've been holding them in hopes to have them "comfortable" with us. I think James secretly wants them to learn tricks and be circus chickens!

We've named them all already with the funny personalities and traits we've seen in them. It's so fun to see them cuddle for sleepy time and follow eachother around their home. I think we are going to like being the owners of chickens. Stay tuned to get their glamor shots and names.

Now we need to get cracking at building them their coop. We've drawn out plans and are trying to gather as much cheap wood as possible to make it as non costly as we can. We are excited for this fun adventure with chickens!

Charity Never Faileth

 
      I had the opportunity to teach my Relief Society last Sunday and wanted to share my lesson. Every 3 months I get the chance to prepare a lesson on a Christlike Attribute given in Preach My Gospel (the Missionary Manual used in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). This month our attribute was charity and love. And it could not have come on a better week. Our whole household got sick, especially sweet Jane, I had a friend who wanted a surprise photo shoot, my cooking articles were due for my side job and it was just a wild busy week. It taught me a lot to show love and have extra boosts of charity when I am stressed. Care for those you love, even when it is not "convenient." There is a great strength and happiness that comes when we strive to become more like the Savior Jesus Christ. I am so thankful for His life and teachings! What a blessing it is to belong to His church. 

      So many of the wonderful women in our Relief Society made amazing comments and shared experiences of their lives with this topic. It was a beautiful meeting and I felt so grateful for the women I get to rub shoulders with and learn from. As a hand out I gave each woman a ruler that I had written on with a gold pen, "The Golden Rule" "Treat others as Jesus would" "Charity Never Faileth." I loved preparing this lesson and learned so much in doing so and then even more from the women I taught it to. Enjoy reading my lesson outline and thinking about Charity and Love in your life!

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Charity & Love

"The highest, noblest, strongest kind of love, not merely affection; the pure love of Christ."

Talk I reference: “Love of Christ”, C. Max Caldwell, Conference October 1992

“Charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever.” (Moro. 7:47.)

Let us consider what is meant by the phrase “love of Christ.” That answer is critical because “the Lord God hath given a commandment that all men should have charity, which charity is love.” (2 Ne. 26:30.) If we must have charity, then we must know what it is. The phrase “love of Christ” might have meaning in three dimensions:

1. Love for Christ: live gratefully

2. Love from Christ: the Atonement

3. Love like Christ: service & love to others

First, love for Christ. This concept proclaims Jesus as the object of our love, and our lives should be an external expression of our gratitude for him. Sometimes that is difficult to do.

• Our beloved President Benson told some of his experiences with the Saints in war-torn countries and shared the following: “One sister walked over a thousand miles with four small children, leaving her home in Poland. She lost all four to starvation and the freezing conditions. Yet she stood before us in her emaciated condition, her clothing shredded, and her feet wrapped in burlap, and bore testimony of how blessed she was.” (Ensign, Nov. 1980, p. 33.) Things we don’t enjoy must not overshadow our reasons to maintain our love for the Savior. Otherwise we may lose our perspective or become bitter, and our love for Christ may be lost.

• Another story of a man who lived through the Holocaust expresses gratitude and charity in a time of great sorrow and turmoil. In the book, Man’s Search for Meaning” Victor Frankl shares an experience he had upon the rescue and release from the concentration camp he was in. “Upon liberation a friend and I were walking through fields near the camp when suddenly we came to a field of green crops. Automatically, I avoided it, but he drew his arm through mine and dragged me through it. I stammered something about not treading down the young crops. He became annoyed, gave me an angry look and shouted, “You don’t say! And hasn’t enough been taken from us? My wife and child have been gassed- not to mention everything else- and you would forbid me to tread on a few stalks of oats!” Only slowly could these men be guided back to the commonplace truth that no one has the right to do wrong, not even if wrong has been done to them.”

• He later quotes, “He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how. It is a peculiarity of man that he can only live by looking to the future. And this is his salvation in the most difficult moments of his existence, although he sometimes has to force his mind to the task. To choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, is to choose one’s own way.”

• Have you experienced or watched someone else live through a challenge with Gratitude and love for the Lord?

• What helps you to have grateful charity and love in your life!?

• How deeply do we love him? Does our love depend on favorable environments? Is it diminished or strengthened by our experiences? Is our love for him evident by our behavior and our attitude? Charity, or love for Christ, sustains us in every need and influences us in every decision.

A second dimension of the meaning of charity is love from Christ. 

• Through his compliance with the severe requirements of the Atonement, the Savior offered the ultimate expression of love. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13.) And by permitting his Son to make such a selfless and suffering sacrifice, the Father provided us with an ultimate expression of his love as his gift to the rest of his children.

• This gift of charity is to be received. The Savior’s act of redemption for our sins is of no effect without our willingness to comply with the conditions of his atonement.

• In Preach My Gospel, Christlike Attributes, Charity and Love:

I think it is really neat that in this section it uses the words "You WILL..." Not, you can, or you may...you WILL! When you have charity you are actively doing, you are eager and willing and you don't have to be asked. It's part of your being, it's who you are!! As we read this list, think of the things you WILL become when you receive this gift of Charity and Love from your Father:

•  "You will come to feel a sincere concern for the eternal welfare and happiness of other people. You will avoid negative feelings such as anger, envy, lust, or covetousness. You will avoid judging others, criticizing them, or saying negative things about them. You will try to understand them and their points of view. You will be patient with them and try to help them when they are struggling or discouraged. Charity, like faith, leads to action. You will develop charity as you look for opportunities to serve others and give of yourself."

A third perception of charity is to possess a love that is like Christ. In other words, people are the object of Christlike love. 

• Live in anticipation of the divine directive that is proclaimed by the Savior as the key to the development of love: “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you.” (John 13:34)
 Jesus’ love was inseparably connected to and resulted from his life of serving, sacrificing, and giving in behalf of others. We cannot develop Christlike love except by practicing the process prescribed by the Master.



• Charity is not just a precept or a principle, nor is it just a word to describe actions or attitudes. Rather, it is an internal condition that must be developed and experienced in order to be understood. We are possessors of charity when it is a part of our nature. People who have charity have a love for the Savior, have received of his love, and love others as he does.


Individually and collectively, we can experience the peace and happiness enjoyed for nearly two hundred years anciently when “there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people.” (4 Ne. 1:15.)


• Daughters in My Kingdom: Charity Never Faileth    "Sister Wells, 5th RS President, and her counselors established a motto that would become a constant reminder of the organization’s founding principles and inspired origins. They chose a scriptural declaration: “Charity never faileth.” These three words embraced the charge that the Prophet Joseph Smith had given the Relief Society sisters: to “relieve the poor” and to “save souls.”

Link to Elder Caldwell's Talk:
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1992/10/love-of-christ?lang=eng

Janes Smarty Pants List

Jane is quite the little Smarty Pants. She is learning so quickly and is curious about all the world. We have loved watching her learn the words for things and put action with many words. Children are amazing and really can learn so much! I'm so proud of our Jane and the love of learning she already seems to have within her. Here is a list of the things she's doing lots of right now:

Animals: She'll either say the name or noise for 13 animals (more almost there, but these are the ones that are clear)

   -Fish, cow, monkey, dog, elephant, duck, cat, kangaroo, chicken, bunny, crab, horse and pig.

Other words you say:

  - car, no, ball/balloon

Signs you know:

   - thank you, more, all done, brush teeth, shaking head no, yes

Body parts you identify:

   - head, ears, nose, toes, tummy, eyes, mouth

Food you'll say the name of:

   - Nana (banana), Crakah! (Cracker), Chee (Cheese), Mmmm (Milk)

People:

   - Mama, Dada, Bo(Bop), Mah(Matt), "Chi Gor"(Curious George), Bay(Baby)

Things you know:

   - your Drawer; Tupperware drawer in the kitchen

   - your Chair: highchair

   - your Bedroom

   - how to "open" & "close"

   - "In": putting objects back in something.

   - how to dance and shake your booty!

   - how to guide a spoon into your mouth

   - how to WALK! 

   - drink on your own with a sippy

   - when we laugh or say funny you will do a little chuckle!

   - if you drop something and we ask you to pick it up you will!

   - pointing to pictures of the temple and Jesus

   - scribbling with a pen on paper

   - you love reading and turning pages

   - "conducting" music

  - turning off/on lights

She continues to learn things daily it feels like. We are so excited for all that she does this year and to watch her discover more wonderful things about this great world! We love our little Jane dear reindeer!!!!!

Early Bloomer

I'm proud to say that my first ever bulbs planted last fall are popping up!!! Bulbs have always frightened me. I don't feel like I know much of hat side of gardening. Give me a plant in dirt and ill quickly put it to use, but bulbs were the unknown to me. I planted some in my ugly little front garden that I'm dying to landscape. And just the other week I saw the beginnings of little green nubbins and then yesterday discovered a bid!! Those early blooming crocus' popped open for me! Despite the mailman always stepping in that garden and neighbor kids enjoying he dirt, these hearty bulbs are surviving!! I can't wait to hopefully see more popping up as spring continues forth!

It's a........

 

Well we found out the gender of our little muffin....it's a Boy!!!! 

We invited family to guess and it looks like most of us got the boy vibes going. Jane is going to be a great big sister and we are pretty excited for this little man to join our family. He was pretty sneaky in the ultrasound, keeping his feet tucked right where we needed to see the gender. But some good poking, patience and persistence we found it out. He loved yawning and wiggling all about as we watched him. He's a healthy little fella and will be joining us in July. 

We feel very blessed to be adding a fourth to our little family!

Seuss Birthday

"A persons a person, no matter how small." 

"I meant what I said and I said what I meant." 

"Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!" 

I love the quotes and books of Dr. Seuss. We celebrated his birthday today by making green/spinach eggs and a green smoothie with cat in the hat striped straws.

The eggs were delicious, Mister James says he'll be blendtecing all our eggs from now on. And we made our very first green smoothie to celebrate green dinner. It was pretty yum yum. Happy Birthday Dr.Seuss!!!