The other day, I happened to burst into song (something I do from time to time, to the embarrassment of my family and loved ones) with a few lines from “Señor Don Gato,” a song we used to sing in first grade. (It was the part about him jumping so happily that he falls off the roof and breaks his ribs, whiskers, and solar plexus.)

I couldn’t remember the last line of the verse, so I went onto the Internet, where I found several recordings on YouTube. And then I had to play them for my children as a relic of my long-vanished youth. They laughed — and promptly started singing it themselves. It was a Bonding Moment. Or something like that.

The Internet is an unequalled resource for taking trips down memory lane, either alone or in the company of those you love — and love to irritate with tales of Ye Gude Aulde Days. Many’s the time I’ve insisted to my children (and sometimes my wife, though I’m more cautious with her), “You have to come see/listen to [some specific cultural relic from the 1960s, 1970s, or 1980s]!” And they come, and watch, and shake their heads and walk away, muttering something about how it makes sense that I’ve turned out this way since I’d been exposed to that stuff while I was growing up.

My children — I hesitate to admit this — had never heard of The Brady Bunch before I told them about it. Or Gilligan’s Island. Or The Bee Gees. (Heck, I don’t think they’ve heard about The Bee Gees yet.) Or The Monkees. Or Saturday’s Warrior. They can’t tell you who are these children coming down like gentle rain through darkened skies. They don’t know the anguish of wondering: What about Naomi?

For that matter, I’m not sure my wife (5 years younger than me and an oldest child, so she didn’t have the corrupting influence of older sisters growing up) had been exposed to all those things either. I know for certain that she’d never heard In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida before our marriage — though strangely even after that gap in her knowledge was filled, she still doesn’t seem to appreciate its true importance. It is indeed a mystery.

The sad truth is that even I’m a cultural illiterate in many ways. Happily (or perhaps not), the Internet provides opportunities to catch things I missed the first time around. Have you ever watched Culture Club’s Karma Chameleon video? If not, you have a real treat to look forward to! Go — right now. Get on YouTube. I’ll be waiting.

There. Wasn’t that one of the most bizarre things you’ve ever seen? You had not truly lived until watching that video.

It works the other way too. Our oldest child is a connoisseur of webcomics, making recommendations for what different people of his acquaintance might like — including his mother and me — much the same way I used to recommend science fiction and fantasy books to my friends. We’ve become fans of homestarrunner.com. Our whole family can join in singing the theme song from Portal (courtesy of GLaDOS, the psychotic computer). We score high on the geek test at www.innergeek.us.

We don’t have a working television in our house. This isn’t a matter of principles, but rather laziness: we put up an antenna back when our youngest was still in the womb, but never drilled the hole in the wall to run the cable down to our television. It’s never seemed worth it since. He’s 10 now.

Which isn’t to say that we don’t have zombielike TV-watching-type behavior in our home. Our kids watch videos. They watch YouTube videos. They play video games. They watch YouTube videos of other people playing video games — something I can’t help but think takes passive involvement to a whole new level.

I’m not a great video game fan. I grew up at just the wrong moment to develop the dexterity needed to be any good at them. So that’s one bonding opportunity I pretty much miss out on. (Anyone who thinks family members can’t bond over video games hasn’t seen my brood.) And we’re all — I hesitate to admit — just a bit too flabby to do well with physical activities. I admire the families in our ward who go on 20-mile bike rides and run the decathlon together, but we won’t be joining them anytime soon.

The point is: my kids are true members of Generation whatever-we’re-up-to-now. (Klingon, maybe?) The Internet is where they live. But that doesn’t mean we can’t still do fun things as a family. If that involves looking up things together on the Internet — and snickering about the weird songs Dad used to sing in school Way Back When — then so be it.

- - - - -

Jonathan Langford, www.langfordwriter.com, is a freelance writer and editor who lives in western Wisconsin with his wife and two children (his oldest is currently serving a mission in western Washington state). His first novel, No Going Back, a 2009 Whitney Award finalist for best general fiction by an LDS author, describes a Mormon teenage boy’s struggle to remain faithful despite his homosexual feelings. Langford is also coauthor of the Latter-day Saint Family Encyclopedia, published by Thunder Bay Press in November 2010.

photo source

-Invictus by William Ernest Henley

“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.” -Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Oh, beans! Such an old school food. Funny, though, when you look at dry beans, they don’t even look like food. (See this about bean fear)   They’re hard, they don’t really smell good, (or bad) and well, let’s  face it. People fear them, even though they are cheap and nutritious.  They fear that cooking beans is too tricky or takes too long, and they  end up relegating the sack of dry beans to that corner of the pantry  labeled “Only If I’m Starving.”

Cooking your own beans, as opposed to opening a can of beans, really  isn’t hard. It does take a little forethought, of which the Damsel  admits she is often in short supply. But the hands-on time is small.  Really.

This morning, the Damsel read a recipe on one of her favorite blogs  for white chili and decided to springboard off it for a lesson on beans.  Let’s take away some of that bean fear.

If you think of it early enough, it’s nice to soak beans first. To do  this, you simply cover beans with water and walk away. That’s it. For  this recipe, put about 3 cups in a pot and run some water over them.  Don’t fuss. Cooking with beans is not an exact science. (By the way, a  pound is about 2 cups)

About 3 hours before you want to eat, drain the water from the pot,  leaving the beans in the colander. After soaking they look a little  plumper, a little wrinklier, but not so much that you’d think, WHOA! The  Change!

At some point along the way, cook some chicken. 1 whole chicken  breast would do, or for even better flavor, use a bone-in type. Just  cover with water and simmer until cooked through, then shred. You want  to end up with around 3 cups of cooked, shredded chicken.

Dice  a medium onion and three or four cloves of garlic. To peel garlic the  easy way, just smash it with the flat side of a knife. The papery peel  comes right off. Then dice. This is the Old School way to deal with  garlic, and it’s lovely because it doesn’t get extra kitchen stuff  dirty, such as a garlic press.


Put a glob of butter in a pot, perhaps the same one you soaked the  beans in. The Damsel is all about making fewer dirty dishes. Add a  matching amount of olive oil. Maybe 3 tablespoons of each, but don’t  fuss. Turn the flame to medium, and in goes the onion and garlic.

After  the onion and garlic have gotten accustomed to each other, add the  drained beans. Then add five or six cups of chicken broth, depending on  whether you like your chili super thick or soup-like. You could use the  water you cooked the chicken in, or you could use something like this:

Class,  meet Better Than Bouillon, the Damsel’s favorite way to cheat. This is a  paste you stir into water–a handy shortcut to good broth, especially if  you’re using boneless chicken. Cooking that stuff makes a very weak  broth.


When the beans are nearly tender, add the shredded chicken. How can  you tell when they’re tender? Bite one. Soft, but still with a little  firmness is perfect, but don’t stress. If they are already quite soft,  nothing bad will happen.

The Damsel can’t resist telling you a random bean story here.  Apparently, the Knight discovered as a missionary in Denmark, that the  words for “bite a bean” are almost exactly the same as “say a prayer” in  Danish. Imagine the hilarious confusion for a moment…missionaries  asking folks “do you mind if we bite a bean?”…errr ok…


Add  between one to three teaspoons of dried cumin. This spice says “chili”  even more than chili powder to the Damsel. Just remember, it’s easier to  add than subtract. As a matter of fact, subtracting cumin from a pot is  downright difficult. Throw in salt and pepper, too, according to your  taste.

Now  take a cup or so of milk, and add a tablespooon of corn meal. Stir  well, and add to the pot. This will thicken it slightly and give it a  nice chili-ish flavor. Cook for another ten minutes or so, or until when  you “bite a bean” everything seems right.

The  Damsel freely admits this is wimpy chili. You could add green chilis,  hot peppers, cayenne pepper, etc. It’s up to you and what your dream of  the perfect white chili is.

While  this cooked, the Damsel’s Monday afternoon crop of piano students  drooled over the delicious smell floating from the kitchen. The Damsel  cruelly declined to invite them to dinner. It was a purely selfish act,  because the Damsel wanted three bowlfuls all to herself.

Topped with grated jack cheese and cilantro, this felt great going down.


-----

Margot is a  mom of seven and pretty much crazy from it. Online she's known as the  Damsel in Dis Dress and blogs at the Old School and twitters at @the_damsel. Her writing blog can be found at Inklings.

Our oldest son was born in the middle of a three month deployment. It  was a scheduled deployment, and we'd known it would happen, yet there  was a chance my husband would be able to come home early for Wyatt's  birth. Except, no matter how hard I prayed for that, he didn't. I  remember how frustrated I was at the time,  how helpless and angry that nothing had gone the way we'd planned. It  was a long time before we could even talk about what  had happened, the pain was so raw. It felt like something that had been  irreparably lost to us. As I was thinking it over recently, though,  something struck me hard about that  period in my life. Those months afterward that I had spent fretting and  being  angry about all the things that didn't work out, I was overlooking all  the beautiful things that did  happen.

For instance, I didn't get to tell Oliver we were expecting in person. I found out a  couple days after he left. It was three agonizing weeks before he had a  chance to call home (back when cell phone calls on the top of the sub  were still allowed). I had intended to wait until I met up with him in  Hawaii during a port call a month and a half later and do something cute to tell him about  the baby, like I'd planned when we were trying to get pregnant.

However,  I'd kept it in for too long, and I just told him.  That was definitely not what I would have chosen for the big reveal,  especially since I didn't even get to see his face when I told him. I  though I'd lost something, but I discovered a few months later that in  reality, Wyatt had gained something beautiful instead.

We  have each  written letters to both our boys before they were born. Oliver wrote to  him how he was standing on a submarine rocking in the waves when he  heard the wonderful news he was going to become a father. It was  beautiful, and clearly showed that despite the distance, he very much  wanted and loved his new little son right away. That one  letter is worth the temporary disappointment I suffered.

I recalled also the moment Oliver held his little boy for the first  time. Wyatt was almost six weeks old. We'd just come back from picking  him up at homecoming. He hadn't held him there because he was loaded  down with a sea bag and other random luggage. When we got home, Oliver  dropped his stuff, then sat down on the couch. I unstrapped Wyatt and  put him in his father's arms. I'll never forget the way Oliver's face  lit up. He's not one to be enamored with babies, but he quite clearly loved his.

We didn't get to share the hospital experience, but it's okay. There was a  time when I really didn't think I'd ever be able to feel like it wasn't  some massive loss. Today, I really feel like we gained something else. I  have a lot of emails (as email was uncommonly good that one patrol)  and letters we passed back and forth. The journals we trade every time  he is gone are full of talk about how we felt and what it was like for  each of us, learning about our son.

I don't have anything like that for Oscar. His daddy was there, and we  have some pictures and video of our brief time in the hospital, but not  much else. I am very, very grateful we were able to share the experience  that time, but I don't think I can even compare the two of them. They  were unique, and they were both special for different reasons.

Life is all too often not the way we  think it should be. When we get too caught up in what didn't happen, the  good things that did can slide right past us. I did that for quite a  long time after Wyatt was born. I'm very grateful that today I can look  back and feel good inside about all that we did gain from it. In the  end, we didn't lose a chance to share in our son's birth; we just shared  it in a different way.

----

Ana is a restless soul who would love   to keep moving around the world the rest of her life. This is probably   why she married a submariner in the U.S Navy seven years ago. They have   two energetic little boys, and currently live in the Bahamas. She  blogs  about life in paradise at Sunrise on the Water.







Pic taken byAna

We are so excited to be able to finally tell you about our big super secret project that we have been working on with Liz Lemon Swindle! She contacted us back in October to collaborate with her on a project which we have entitled  Return to the Family.

The premise behind this project goes hand in hand with Liz’s Bringing Peace Into the Home project, and makes that more feasible for us “regular folks”.  We wanted to promote not only having a picture of Christ in every home, but a Return to Family and Family Dinners. Together, MMB, LeeLou Blogs and Liz Lemon Swindle have come up with the perfect recipe:

"Return To The Family" 2011 Signed Limited Collector's Edition

The Return to Family project are 12 Limited Collectors Edition Paintings with a custom sayings on each print designed to teach and inspire your family and provide opportunities for you to teach lasting values and principals of integrity. Every Month you will have the opportunity to look forward to receive a new matted image that will create new interests, new ideas and fresh conversation around the dinner table. Each painting comes with a brief history behind the artwork along with several topics of discussion that correlate with the print.

You are probably thinking that is will be out of your price range—but that is where you would be totally wrong. We wanted to make this accessible to everyone so for $199.00 you get 12 Limited Edition SIGNED  Paintings sent to you on a monthly basis along with the history of the painting, hidden symbolism and various values  and principals of integrity you can discuss with your family around the dinner table.

If that seems to steep, then we have set it up so that you can purchase it every single month, with it automatically debiting your account. The first payment will be for $34.95 + shipping and handling. The following eleven months your card will be auto-charged $21.95 which covers the new matted image and shipping and handling.

The idea of the Return to the Family project is to simply hang this art work next to your dinner table and then let the conversations begin. When children ASK questions, it means that they are ready to LISTEN to the answers. As parents we have a tendency to lecture our children when we want them to learn a specific lesson, value or principal.  Hanging uplifting Art in your home makes it so that the children can study it out in their mind and then ASK making it possible for the spirit to then TEACH.

Steevun, the President of Foundation Arts explains it perfectly:

“The Savior said to "ask and ye shall receive... knock and it shall be opened unto you." He didn't say, "Be quiet and let me tell you what you need to know," or, "stand back I'm kicking the door in." Yet, as parents we do this each time we preach to our children without our children first "asking." So, with that said, here are the keys I have found to promote change.

ASK - a person must ask a question before they are truly prepared to listen.

LISTEN - children and adults listen when they truly want an answer.

FEEL - if we answer with the Holy Ghost our children will not just "hear" the answer - but more importantly they will FEEL the answer is from God and NOT us as parents

CHANGE - once we have felt the Holy Ghost it will inspire us with what we need to change, all that is left is to decide if we will. “

Steevun told me a story about when he had a child that was acting rather ungrateful entitled. He was stumped as to what he should do with this child and how he could go about teaching the principal of gratitude to this ungrateful child. His wife stated “We need to buy a painting.” They purchased a painting entitled A Thankful Heart and hung that painting next to their dinner table. That was it. They all went about eating their dinner, never bringing the painting up.  He noticed that his child was constantly looking at the painting and he could tell he was thinking about it.

Finally, his son asked “What’s the painting called, Dad.” Steevun told him, and his child said “Well, from the looks of it, she doesn’t have much to be grateful for.” Steevun then stated that it was then that they were able to have a wonderful conversation about gratitude and what it means to be grateful.

He stated that the remarkable thing was several years later, he found his child again standing in front of that painting, and he asked him what he thought about the painting. His child repeated back to him the conversation they had-had years early—almost verbatim.

The child had asked. The child had listened. The child had learned.

That is what uplifting Art can do in your home.  Teach. Testify and Change hearts.

That is what we want to help you do with your family and the Return to the Family is a start to making that happen. It is a fantastic opportunity for endless dinner time conversations by letting to let our children Ask understanding that they are then ready to Listen and Feel the Change taught to them by the Spirit from the paintings.

Look around your home and at the paintings you have on your wall. Now ask yourself this question: “What will my children think is important to ME because of what I have chosen to hang on my walls?”

We invite you to join us in the Return to the Family and Bringing Peace Into the Home Projects through hanging uplifting Art on the walls of your home.

 

 

Liz Lemon Swindle  is a renowned Christian artist who believes that one of the most successful ways to teach and inspire children is through having uplifting Art in the home and through dinnertime conversations. She has an immense love for the Savior and is a believer in His life and His teachings. Liz has painted more pictures of Christ and His ministry here upon earth than any other artist— living or deceased.

Liz invited MMB and some other local bloggers to her studio to learn about her latest campaign entitled “Bringing Peace Into the Home” It is her goal to get a picture of Christ in every home across the country. By simply having a picture of Christ in your home, it changes the feel of not only the room the picture is in, but the entire home.

For example, notice the difference between these two photos:

Simply putting a picture of Christ on the table completely changes the feel of the home.

Gina, one of Liz’s employee’s, taught us a powerful lesson about Time Outs and children: "Does putting our kids in time out really work?  I was giving this some thought one day and came up with the idea of "Time Out with a Twist". Instead of taking two arguing children to their rooms I decided to put them in front of a painting of Jesus that hangs in our home.  I then told them to look at the picture of Jesus and talk to each other about what it meant to them. I saw a difference with these two children.  I have since looked for art to put into my home that teaches and inspires.  Art is an incredible way to teach lessons to children and even ourselves.  Often when I need a break I will sit down and look at the painting of Jesus on my wall and spend a quiet moment or two learning a few things about myself."

Hearing this idea about changing up the whole Time Out was an ah-ha moment for me. I loved the idea of setting the misbehaving child down in front of a painting. It totally changes the Time Out scenario and helps soothe both the misbehaving child and frustrated parent.

Steevun, Liz’s son and president of Foundation Arts, taught us about the hidden symbolism in her paintings  and the “back stories” of her art work.  The spirit was quite strong as he testified to us on the power that Art has, and how it can change lives.

First he showed us the painting “I Would Gather Thee” which is a very nice painting of the parable found in Matthew 23:37 about how He would “gather us as oft as a hen gathereth her chicks.” I thought it was a nice painting that I would probably hang in my kitchen (which he aptly predicted is where we would all put that painting). He then showed us Liz’s modern day version of this painting “ A Mother's Vigil: I Would Gather Thee (Modern)” and every woman in that room started to cry. Steevun says that when he shows the paintings in that order, he gets the same reaction from women. This is because every woman knows that place that the painting is depicting—That dark place every woman has been where you are begging for revelation and help  from God. It was a profound moment and the spirit was strong as the Art testified of Christ.

When Liz begins a painting, she hires models and a photographer to actually shoot what it is that she is trying to paint. She begins each photo shoot with a prayer and scripture—inviting The Lord to guide and direct the photographer and models to portray the scenes in ways that He would have done.

She said that it is always inspiring to hear about the models and what lead Liz to find them and why they needed to model for the particular painting.

For example the model used in A Mother’s Vigil was not the original model. The original model was sick, so they contacted one of their friends and asked if she could come down and help them out. This friend immediately started to cry, because she had been up all night the night before reading her scriptures, praying and begging the Lord for help and guidance. Her son, who is addicted to drugs, hadn’t been home in two days.

As you can see by that example, The Lord is directing Liz, her photo shoots and her paintings so that He can influence the masses.

Having  uplifting Art in your home as well as a painting of Christ is a sure way to invite His spirit into your home and to feel His influence. You will be able to teach values to your children in a lasting way. Every time they see that picture, they will remember the way they felt in their childhood home, and the lessons that we, as parents, taught them.

If you are searching for gifts this holiday season, please consider adding uplifting Art or a painting of Christ to that wish list. Your children will thank you.

 

My posting has been very light of late, here and on my own blog because of my day job. You see, I'm a middle school theatre director and we just finished our fall production. The play this year was Fiddler on the Roof, a play that has a wonderful, but very demanding role for the leading male character.








---

Braden Bell is the author of The Road Show. He is a husband, father, teacher, and writer, and blogs about all these roles at bradenbell.com







photos owned by Braden. 

It's been about four months since I had Ellie. Four months of cute squinchy babyness and four months of not-so-cute squinchy belly fat. I know this is part of having a baby. I've gone through it three times now. I'm not complaining (okay, a little), but this four months of squinchy belly fat, it also includes not fitting into ANYTHING. Maternity clothes? I'm steadfastly sticking to the idea that they are way too big. And besides, I have this theory that maternity clothing is secretly laced with food-craving chemicals that cause my body to want to eat and eat and retain it all. So those clothes are boxed and hiding in the garage.

I do have a pair of gaucho-style brown pants, but are those things even acceptable to wear in public anymore? Who knows? I don't go out in public that often, and when I do people are probably too busy staring at the snot on my shoulder or wondering why I can't control my children to notice my pants.

After four months of trying to stuff my new self into my old jeans, and then giving up and putting on basketball shorts, or sweats, I decided a trip to the mall was in order. I hate the mall. I'm pretty sure it's owned by Satan. A stylish and trendy Satan, but nevertheless, Satan.

My oldest child broke my laptop. Again.

We won't go into specifics, but it may have involved some serious amounts of yelling, head spinning and possibly some green spray. I really can't remember because I was possessed by Linda Blair.

Later I take the broken laptop to the local UPS store to ship and I'm chatting with the worker boy.  I have a tendency to be a chatty-patty. I will talk to pretty much anyone, about anything.  I need to get the filter on my mouth fixed, because it's broken.

I was telling the cute worker boy what had happened and we were commiserating together about the woes of children and how they ruin your stuff.

Not that HE would know. He's single. And Pure.

While he was packing up my precious, I noticed a flier for "Same Day MTC Delivery Service".

What does that mean?

Well, when boys reach the age of nineteen in my church they can volunteer to serve the church for two years. The church will pick where their assignment will be--we have NO say in where they go.  It takes a lot of faith to send your child out into the Lone and Dreary world like that.

The missionaries pay their own way and the only communication they have with their family is via one weekly email.  (or when Jefe and I served ONE weekly letter)

Jefe went to Spain and spent the majority of his time living exotically.

I went to Spokane, Washington and spent the majority of my time in Idaho.

Shut up.

Anyway, the flier.

I looked at that flier with the cute little cartoon missionary and the tears turned on like Niagara Falls.  The worker boy stopped and followed my line of sight and then he smiled and said "Ohhh. Where's your missionary?"

I wiped my eyes and said "In the car."

He looked at me puzzled and then looked in the car and could clearly see Thing 2 happily playing my dashboard with his drumsticks.

He then looked at me again, very puzzled and ever so slightly shook his head as if to say "Man! Women. They NEVER stop being weird."

It's true.

I got all weepy in the UPS store because my son is GOING to be a missionary.

In seven years.

---

---
DeNae Handy is an editor for and contributor to Mormon Mommy Blogs.  She has served for twenty years as a Gospel Doctrine, Seminary, and Institute instructor. 

If you know me at all, you know that I read a lot. When I was new in my ward, we played a game at Enrichment (back when it was called that) where everyone had to say two true things about themselves and a lie. One of my truths was that I had read thirteen novels in the two weeks previous. Everyone guessed that as my lie.


Stand for the Family by Sharon Slater is the most important book I have ever read (okay, besides the Book of Mormon, of course...)

Have you ever wanted to stand up in the battle for the family but wondered what you, a single person, could do? Do you sometimes feel tongue-tied when talking about family issues with those outside the LDS faith? I have.

This book will answer your questions.

It is a well-researched, well-written book about the attacks that are being made against the family, both overt and covert. Sharon Slater discusses attacks at the local, national, and international levels.

Although it is disturbing at times, Stand for the Family is written as a call to action. You are left feeling like you can (and must) make a difference. Each section talks about what YOU can do.

Honestly, it is a page-turner. It's both appalling and empowering. Stand for the Family isn't written as a touchy-feely look into what we think is right. (Although the author is LDS, the book is not specific to any religion.) The author shows over and over again, through experience and research, that it is in the best interest of society to preserve the institution of the family.

Sharon Slater was "just a mom" who found herself fighting against the anti-family agenda at the UN. She is proving, through her work, that anyone who has the desire to stand up for the family can help and, in fact, change the world.

To see a chapter breakdown of the book and a press release, see here. For more info about Sharon and her organization (Family Watch International), click here. (Start helping in the battle by signing the petition while you're there.)

What else can I say? This one is a must-read.

Emily loves books more than chocolate cake. Find hundreds of reviews (and other chatter) at her blog, Homespun Light.








Book Cover from Standforthefamily.org

You might be asking yourself  "Why do I even need essential oils when I can just go to the Doctor?"  The reason is: Essential Oils are a safer, more natural approach to medicine with no side affects.  Eighty percent of the time your illness is a viral infection and there is no "over the counter" medicine to combat a virus, however, Essential Oils will kill a viral infection BEFORE it enters into your cells.

Every home needs ten basic essential oils.  These oils are found in the Family Physician Kit and are available at a retail price of $166.00.  You can also set up your whole sale account for $150 (It's like having a Costco Card for doTerra).


1.  Lavender - It is the most versatile and popular oil. It is great for burns and takes aways pain and blistering fast! It works very well as a sleep aid and it has a very calming effect. It also works as an antihistamine and provides relief from insect bites. Rub on your feet each night for relaxation, or headache relief.

2.  Lemon - Use a drop of lemon every day in your water to keep your body acid free (alkaline). Lemon helps clean your lymphatic system.  It is excellent for sore throats-- just place a droop on your tongue or gargle with lemon water. You can also use it as a cleaning agent. Lemon oil will clean ninety-nine percent of bacteria.

3.  Peppermint - It has been double-blind studied against Tylenol and was proven to be just as effective in treating headaches.  Peppermint Oil was reported by the Mayo Clinic as being the most promising treatment for I.B.S.  It is fantastic for digestive issues and when inhaled it will stimulate the brain to increase alertness.

4.  Melaleuca (Tea Tree Oil) - This is fantastic for acne since most acne medications are antibacterial creams, melaleuca is antibacterial.  It is also great for most skin conditions: general rashes, eczema, psoriasis, fungal infections, and MRSA.  It will work really well for pink eye.  You can rub it on your head to control dandruff and on your chest for coughs.

5.  Deep Blue  -  It reduces inflammations and relieves sore muscles and back aches.  Use this oil on all sport related injuries and will also relieve headaches.

6. Oregano - It is your heaviest fighter oil with several studies proving its ability to kill MRSA (staff infection). It is one of the most important oils to use when fighting any infection. It is a very hot oil and must be diluted with any carrier oil (Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, Almond Oil etc) to apply topically.

7. On Guard - This oil helps to strengthen your immune system.  This is great for disinfecting via a diffuser.  Rub this on your feet every night for cold prevention.

8.  Breathe - Use this oil from respiratory infections or coughs.  Rub it on your chest to help combat congestion.  Rub on chest and under your nostrils to help with snoring.  Unlike other Vapor Rubs, Breathe will actually assist your body in fighting off the infection.

9.  DigestZen - this blend will work for any digestive disorder: Acid Reflux, heartburn, H.Pylori Bacteria, diarrhea, Constipation, IBS, etc. Rub four drops of DigestZen on your stomach for all the above.  Seventy percent of your immune function is through your GI so if you have a compromised GI you have a compromised immune system. Using DigestZen will help strengthen immune system.

10. Frankincesnse - This oil will help increase the amount of oxygen in the limbic system of the brain  This will lead to an increase of secretions of antibodies, endorphins and neurotransmitters.  Frankincense has the ability to break the blood-brain barrier and has show promising effects in people suffering from depression and addictions.  It can be used as an anti-depressant, anti-infectious, antiseptic and antitumoral.

To order your basic kit please visit  doTerra. 

----

To find out more about DoTerra essential oils, please visit our sponsor.

Make sure to visit Lisa, follow her and check out all her other amazing photos! If you participate in Wordless Wednesday link up!  It's a great way to increase your readership!

Interested in having your photo be on the Wordless Wednesday Post? Send us an email at info@mormonmommyblogs.com with Wordless Wednesday in the subject line and attach the photos.  Please include a link to your blog and only include photos that YOU have personally taken. You will retain all copyright with regards to your photos!

With school back in session, I thought I'd give those powerful mom's a great tip I just learned. While visiting outside with my neighbor, I watched her write spelling words with her son on the sidewalk with chalk. After writing each word, her son would hop as he spelled out each letter of the word. It was one of the awesomest ideas I have ever seen for making mundane homework enjoyable. Love the idea! Love my neighbor! If you have children that aren't school age, have them draw a "city". Complete with a firehouse, church-house, thoroughfares and of course a Wal-mart! I watched our neighborhood posse draw golf courses, malls, Build-A-Bears, etc. all the way up and down our street. Each driveway was a corner or commerce. Only one warning: it may reveal more than you ever wanted to know about mommy's little shopping habits! Married to the hilarious Bro. Wray, Kristen is the mother of 3 inconceivably amazing Humans and Humphry, the St Bernard. Residing in LDS Church Headquarters; when she's not golfing, reading or being sarcastic, Kristen can be found trying to catch her racing mind. At war to keep traditions and values alive with Things To Learn At Home.com Photo Courtesy of: Kristen Wray

If you are still looking for a good dish to make for Thanksgiving that is easy and everyone will go Ga-Ga over, this salad is it! It's super easy and very very good!


Autumn Apple and Walnut Salad

2 Granny Smith apples - chilled
2 Red Delicious apples - chilled
1/2 C sherry vinegar, or more if needed
1 C chopped celery
3 scallions (green onions), cleaned and cut diagonally into 1/2 inch pieces. (lets be honest, shall we? I totally cheat here, and just cut those babies up.)
1/2 C shelled walnut halves
4-5 tablespoons of walnut oil

Wash and dry apples. Core and chop, but do not peel. Toss in the bowl with the sherry vinegar. Add celery, scallions and walnut halves, and drizzle with 4 Tbsp of the walnut oil. Toss again. Taste and correct seasoning-- adding more vinegar and up to 1 more Tbsp more oil as necessary, and serve immediately.

*as a side note, this is really good served with spinach!*

yield: 4-6 servings

...These two experiences are examples of many similar experiences which started happening in our home over a couple of weeks. I can’t say I was exempt from being selfish either. In fact, I think that my husband and I were the ones who started the chain of selfish communications. For a few weeks we were really busy at our house. When the parents get really busy, they have a tendency to get really selfish with their time. When parents get selfish, it is only a matter of time before the children are also treating each other and the parents selfishly.

Our Solution

By the time our regular Sunday Family Meeting came around, I knew our problem had to be my topic for family discussion. During the meeting I brought up the topic. We all saw how not serving other family members when they ask for help was in conflict with sections of our family mission statement about love and relationships. We had recently adopted some selfish habits, and our habits were affecting our family relationships.

We all contributed ideas of what we could do to motivate our family to want to serve each other when asked and to be less selfish. We discussed earning extra chores for not helping others when asked, because the requests were like instructions. Ultimately though, we decided that our family needed a positive consequence, or motivation, to really make a change of heart and get a feeling of working together on the project. All of the sudden the “bean counter” game came into my mind.

I suggested we get a quart jar and enough beans to fill the jar. The system goes like this. Every time a person asks someone in the family to do something and the person asked says “OK” and does what was requested the person giving service gets to put a bean in the jar. The whole family serves each other and adds beans until the jar is full. When the jar is full our family gets to go ice skating. We were all a little bit shocked at how often we ask each other to do things for us. We even started asking someone else to put a bean in the jar for us. This meant that the person putting the bean in the jar got to put two beans in because they were helping someone else get a bean in the jar.

The jar is filling up quickly. All the members of the Peck family, parents included, have started stopping what they are doing to help each other all the time now. I expect we will be going ice skating really soon. We won’t use the jar any more for a while after our ice skating trip, because I have found games like this can’t usually go on for too long or they loose their motivational value, and the family forgets about them. But, our family has already had a great reminder about how selfishness can ruin the feeling of unity in the home. Thanks to the beans, we are much more conscious about the way we respond when someone asks for help. We have successfully played “bean counter” before to motivate secret service, and to motivate the four basic skills and school achievements, but this time we used it a little bit differently; and this time was just as motivating.

Don’t forget to use positive consequences as motivations too. Sometimes the positive focus is better than the negative.

Nicholeen Peck
*Wife, Mother, Foster Parent
*Author: Parenting A House United, 
*Public Speaker and Star of BBC program The World's Strictest Parents









Photo by: Juanmonino

Cold and flu season is upon us!  Increasingly, pediatricians are recommending no cold medicines for small children, and it's good to have an arsenal to help those tiny bodies feel as comfortable as possible and heal quickly!

Some of our favorites:

• Acetominaphin (Children's Tylenol is a popular brand) for those night-time aches and sore throats
• Cool Mist Humidifiers- my kids have ones shaped like animals, and they love them.  I love that they humidify the room,  but don't get hot so there's no risk of burns.
• Warm drinks are a favorite- my 2-year-old loves when I give her warm water with a squeeze of lemon juice and honey.  (Yes, it's lemonade.  But so healthy, right?!)  The warm water soothes swollen muscles in the throat, the lemon cuts through any gunk, and the honey is an antibacterial agent and also helps soothe muscles rubbed raw from coughing or mucus.  Please don't tell our dentist, but on occasion I've put this in her sippy cup at night when she can't stop coughing.  And....if there are any singers or speakers out there, I LOVE THIS STUFF.  I once made it through a 2-hour-long Messiah rehearsal powered by nothing but a travel mug of this, during the nastiest cold.  
• Homemade cough syrup- you can take an onion (or garlic, or ginger) and slice it up, then layer the slices in a glass jar with sugar in between each slice, using 1 cup sugar for 1 large onion.  Let it sit on the counter a day or 2 until macerated, then strain the juices into a clean jar and store in the fridge.  This is great for helping coughs be more productive, as it breaks up phlegm in the throat.  We give our kids a teaspoon of it when they need it, and they love it.
• Warm meals, and healthy food whenever they're hungry.  I like to get plant proteins in my kids when they're sick- beans and rice, wheat bread and peanut butter, etc.  This is probably because my toddler was born a vegetarian it seems.  If your kids will eat chicken soup, great!  (Mine won't touch it.)  
• Warm baths before bed
• Hug and cuddle time.  Kangaroo care isn't just for infants!  Especially when they're sick, kids need love and touch.  Find the picture books, and that cozy quilt, or maybe even a favorite (calm!!) movie and snuggle up.