My children use a lot of cups.

My favorite story she's come up with so far?

The aliens are coming to turn our minds into marshmallows and Jesus comes to save us.


OK. So I have some work to do on doctrine, but the fact that she's loving a book and using her creativity? Simply fantastic! You can order yours online from Deseret Book. Your kids (or grandkids) will thank you.



Here are a few of our favorite finds from this past week.
Check 'em and love 'em.

One
Two
Three*
Four
Five 
Six

Digital PDF     |    Image File 

       (for printing @ home)          (for printing as a photo)

Visiting Teaching is a sacred responsibility that has been entrusted to the women of the LDS church. We have an important spiritual mission to fulfill, and the leaders in the ward depend on us to do our callings with love and inspiration.  

The April Visiting Teaching message gave us the how's of visiting teaching, and this month is focused on the why.  

There are two options for download, a digital PDF, or as an image. The PDF is an 8.5x11 digital file that can be printed at home very easily. The image file is for those of you who like to print things at Costco and whatnot. 

TO PRINT AT HOME:

• Download the Digital PDF file
• Open the file using Adobe Reader, which is a FREE PDF file viewer that you can get here.
• Select the pages you want to print
• Get Visiting!

Remember! MMB printables are for personal use only! No redistribution allowed! Feel free to share, but link back to our site for the original download. Thanks! 

I've noticed a trend on Facebook recently. People are putting as their status' how excited and happy they are that their kids don't have school anymore and summer has finally arrived. 

"No more arguing about homework or bedtimes! YAY!"

Uhhh... I don't feel like that. Not even the slightest bit.

Don't get me wrong. I am the consummate sun worshiper-- I love the hot weather, the swimming, the BBQ's and the long days.

However Julie McCoy I ain't.

The fact that I am not looking forward to summer vacation  actually makes me feel like a loser mother, too. What kind of mother doesn't get all excited and joy-filled that she will have her angel-buns around for the entire summer?

Me. That's who.

Wanna know why?

1. The stupid Ice Cream Man. He comes like 47 times a week. And you can't buy a treat only one time and not the next 46 times because the kids? They have elephant brains and they remember everything. Right down to every. single. ice cream. you bought. and they have no problem reminding you every. single. time he comes. All 47 of them.

I am really starting to hate the ice cream man.

2. The incessant "I'm bored." I can only repeat "Only boring people get bored" so many times before I start to wonder myself about that load of crap.

Seriously people.

I'm bored of hearing them say they're bored.

3. The lack of schedule. The school year brings a schedule to my life that I need. Summer sucks it right out of me. My kids think that the word Summer Vacation also means "Chore Vacation" and the fighting that occurs when I ask them to pick up their stinky socks is about more than I can handle.

4. The food. My freaking heck, THE FOOD. They are eating me out of house and home during the school year. I am horrified to think of how astronomical my food bill is going to be this summer with two growing teenagers. All they do is eat. They eat from the time they get up until they close their eyes-- mid chew-- at night. The little kids are just as bad. Moxie is the biggest grazer I have ever seen. That kid eats all the live long day.

5. The fighting. Oh my laws, the fighting. They argue about everything. "She's breathing my air!" "She's breathing too loudly!" Seriously. All day long they argue. About the dumbest stuff, too. It doesn't matter how many times I ground them or send them to their rooms for the rest of their natural born lives... they will argue the minute they get out of their rooms. It makes me want to hide in mine and suck my thumb.

6. The late nights. I'm super old, people. I need my sleep. My kids? They turn into crazy vampire children in the summer time. They want to sleep all day and party like vampire rock stars all night long. By 10:00 I can hardly keep my eyes open and if I go much past 11:30 I feel like I have a giant no-sleep-hangover.

Not that I know what a hangover feels like, mind you.

7. The disorganized MESS that becomes my house. The kids disrobe the moment they walk into the house, leaving their crap right where it lands. No matter how many times I remind them that taking their clothes off in front of everyone is a no-no they leave it where it lands. People. I am pretty sure I didn't sign up to be a hotel maid. I need order. And structure. Summer takes both of those things away.

8. Holy Laundry, Batman. Seriously. My little girls think that if a lady bug falls on them then they need to promptly change their clothes. I swear I do laundry from sun up to sun down and it still isn't done. I don't know why, but it is fifty-times worse in the summer.

9. Cruise Director Status. That was not in my job description. I don't want to have to entertain these monkeys 24/7. I want them to be self entertained. That may sound awful to those Mother-of-the-year types, but seriously? I get sick of playing "Kitty." I can only have my head petted so many times before I start wanting to kick someone.

10. Sleepovers. I hate sleepovers. And, my kids know this. We actually have a no-sleep-over-rule at our house (except for cousins and grandparents) and yet they still insist on asking us if they can have a sleep-over EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. It's like they're little alligators testing the electric fence we've built to keep them safe. "If we test the fence long enough she'll finally give in" is what I am certain they are plotting.

Don't get me wrong.

My kids are pretty great and I actually DO like being their Mom. I just dread the chaos that summer brings into a home where you have four vastly different age groups: Teens, Pre-teens, Elementary school and Pre-school. There is no way I can keep every single age group happy at the exact same time. Someone is going to be miserable. Or bored. Or irritated. Or left out.

Joy. Rapture.

Will the real Julie McCoy please stand up?

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*Check out this super fun Pinterest board full of Summer Survival ideas, tips and tricks.




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Editors Note: The New Era contacted MMB recently and asked us if we would help facilitate a conversation with all of you awesome parents and  youth leaders. They want your input and help in starting conversations online, as well as sharing content on Facebook , Twitter and Pinterest. Please take the time to read this post from the Managing Editor of the New Era and then take the quick survey. By taking the survey you can opt in to be an "ambassador", of sorts, for the New Era. This is an excellent opportunity for all of our readers to know what will be the most beneficial content they can share that will then help in starting conversations online.

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Whether we’re parents or youth leaders, a lot of us are looking for ways to help youth understand more about the gospel and help them see that others just like them are striving to live God’s standards (even when it seems like the rest of the world may not be). So when you find articles or ideas to help your youth, they’re worth sharing. Lucky for us, there’s help each month in the New Era magazine. For example, if you’re planning an activity about the upcoming Mutual theme, this Mormonad may be just what you were looking for (and something you’d want to add to your Pinterest board).



Or if you’re talking about the importance of a wearing a modest prom dress, this young woman’s story may help. If you’re sharing thoughts on avoiding steady dating during teen years, this article gives great insights from a young woman.

See what I mean: there may be content from the New Era and on youth.lds.org to help you start a discussion on your blog.

So if you’re interested in receiving ideas for talking about youth topics each month, take this survey. It will help us know what topics you’re most interested in receiving updates about and will help the New Era staff know how and when to best contact you.

Click here to take the survey from the New Era.

Editors Note: Overwhelming it seems that Authors, especially YA authors, are convinced that in order to have a book that will appeal to everyone and sell there has to be sex, vulgar language and in particular the "F" word. We have an opportunity as Christian Women to speak loudly and clearly that this is not what we want to read, nor what we want our children to read.

Please read the following article and take the 5 minutes necessary to help make our voices heard by voting for this Amazon Breakthrough Novel and in the process help out a fellow Mormon Mommy Blogger. Hurry! Voting ends tomorrow!

(You must be signed into your Amazon account to vote. Don't have one? It's easy to make and it is also free!)  

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I always talked about writing a book. I'd bring it up in the middle of conversations with my husband. "When I write that book..."
One day those words came out of my mouth for the last time. "When I write that book.."
I stopped mid-sentence and had a moment with myself. And it went exactly like this:
If you are going to write it, write it. If you aren't going to write it, shut up about it!
A little direct, but I meant it in the most constructive way.

The next day I started typing. Somewhere in between fruit snacks and ear infections I wrote a book. It took the better part of a year and all kinds of fortitude.
I wanted to write something clean and honest and uplifting. Something devoid of sex, longing for sex, bad language and violence. Oh yeah, and I didn't want it to be sappy, syrupy, boring or stupid.
Good luck to me.
But I gave it my absolute all. I am a daughter of the greatest Creator in the universe and that gave me courage to keep looking for my words. I knew I had something to contribute, no matter how minuscule.

This week my novel, On Little Wings, was announced as a finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award 2012. Out of 5,000 young adult manuscripts, only three moved on to the finals. Of the three, I am the only writer from the United States. And here is where the hard part comes in. For one week Amazon lets its readers decide which of the finalists should be published. This is a unique opportunity to have a say in the content of our media. You decide which book you want to read!

In the midst of the madness accompanying this competition my favorite moments are the ones where I stop and gather my daughters into my arms and remember I didn't come to earth to write a book. I came to make a masterpiece of my life.

I do not create beautiful things in spite of being a mother.
I create beautiful things because I am a mother.

 You can learn more about the contest at Amazon.com/abna  or go directly to the voting page at Amazon On Little Wings

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Regina Sirois is 90% reader and 10% writer, and as such, her loyalty lies with readers. She believes a book should do more than mildly entertain- it should change us. She graduated summa cum laude from Missouri State's Department of History and English and settled in the golden wheat fields of Kansas with her High School love. She is currently doing laundry (probably) and raising her two daughters. She fell in love the day she learned to read and cried the first time she did a word problem in math ("But it's not a problem..." sob, sob. "It's a story!"). In her debut novel, "On Little Wings," Regina Sirois holds nothing back as she dares to make us believe.