Daily Schedules

I have found in the last few weeks of my life, a need for a schedule. I felt like I wasnt accomplishing much, so I sat down and wrote out a daily schedule for each day of the week, and I am going to post it on my homesechool blog www.homeschoolblogger.com/jaelle so if any of you are interested in the things that go on in my boring little life, check it out there!!! LOL. I have been researching over the net, other women who have sat down and done this. I am so impressed. I have of course, written out my schedule, as for actually following it to a tee, it has yet to happen, but I pray that each day will be better!! If you feel the need to do this, check out my blog and then do a search over the net, for daily schedules, etc. Most homeschool families do this, I have found. It just kind of helps make your day go smoother. I feel like I'm not forgetting important things, well, things that are important to me, like I have actually had to schedule time to snuggle in bed with my kids to read books! That is how crazy my life has been. I am going to post at some point, how I am trying to prioritize my life more. I have read every self help book out there I believe! LOL. If anyone else has a daily schedule that they would like to share, please post a comment! I am loving mine so far, even though I dont follow it to a tee, but it gives me an idea of what to do!
With love,
Jaelle

A Mother's Education

I have recently stumbled upon the greatest yahoo group/ website. You can join the yahoo group from the website, www.truelightacademy.com/mother's_course.html Basically, it is an educational course for LDS moms. This was an answer to my prayers. I felt for a long time like I just wasnt getting anywhere in my life. I wanted to be the mother of Zion I dreamed of. This is an amazing website. It gives you neat things to read, and study, helping you to become closer to Christ, and also to become better educated. Right now I have read a book for literature, poetry, read chapter 9 in the preach my gospel book, etc, just tons of neat things. Check it out, it is wonderful!!!! I do this at night after my kids have gone to bed, just for mommy time. I have added it into my normal scripture study time. Wonderful!
Love, Jaelle

updates!!

Just wanted to say sorry for not updating for soo long!! My life became so hectic that I just did only the absolute essentials to get by. We had our home appraised, then my son got sick, etc just so much at once!!! So I am now back to somewhat normal although I am averaging at least one bubble bath a day!!! Just to make it through! But I want everyone who does happen to come here, that I am back and in action and have lots of great ideas and posts!! Just need to get time to update! So please enjoy!
With Love,
Jaelle

Sunday morning with little ones

It's saturday night and already I am thinking ahead to tommorrow morning. The chaos of getting three kids under the age of 5 ready for church, a bag packed, and praying with all my heart that I will hear at least some part of the talks in between potty breaks, and picking up cheerios off the floor! I used to absolutely dread sundays. I will be honest. It is hard for a parent to take young kids into church and sit for an hour and 15 minutes in sacrament. It is just a challenge for some of us. But I have learned a few things along the way that I would like to share. First of all, we always pray before we leave for church. When everyone is in the van, ready to pull out of the driveway, we pray. Last week, my 4 year old autistic daughter prayed, it was her turn and she prayed that we would be reverent and that curious george would help Sydney stay in nursery. hmm........ We will have to keep working on the prayer thing. LOL. Some things that I have tried to do personally on sunday mornings to make them go a bit smoother is to lay out clothes the night before, pack a small bag of things to do, no snacks anymore, my kids were at the point where we were having to come to church on monday morning just to vaccuum our pew LOL, and amazingly, they dont even miss the snacks. Also, I have packed simple quiet things like stencils and colored pencils and coloring books. Now that Dylan is 5, I am packing the friend magazine and trying to encourage him to be thinking about Jesus as the sacrament is passed, and also to think about the time that he will be a priesthood holder and pass the sacrament. He is finally sitting very very quietly during the time the sacrament is passed. I think it is because I have tried really hard to get him excited about it. That is another thing I have tried to do, we practice church at home. I know it sounds funny, but I got the idea from the Duggar family, I don't know if you guys have heard of them, they have 16 kids and they have had a couple of shows on discovery health channel. Anyway, they have their kids practice " quiet time" each day. They sit quietly for 2 minutes, then they can play, etc, then they go up in time each day. My kids loooved this. I totally didnt think they would even go for it, but I told them we were practicing being reverent , etc and so we had church music playing in the house, then they had to sit with their arms folded in a row on the couch for 2 minutes. We are going to keep trying with this. Hopefully it can make a difference. Another thing that I have learned personally is to get the kids excited about church. Every sunday my son wakes up and says " its the sabbath" they know the rules, no video games, church movies only, etc and they know that is just the way it is, we have had quite a few fhe's on the sabbath, what we should do, why it is done that way, etc. My kids are really excited about going to church, and I just love that. Last sunday, Marlee ( my four year old) opened up the door to the chapel and announced quite loudly " We're here Jesus!" She is autistic and she has a very special relationship with the Savior. She knows even at a young age, that we go to church for a reason. Anyone else have some good tips on church with little ones???? Please share!!!! I would love to hear them!! THanks!! Jaelle

Sharing our Testimonies with our Children

I had the neat experience the other night of sharing my testimony with my three young children while we had scripture study. It was such a neat thing. I have always tried to be a good example to my children, to let them see me reading my scriptures, to have them see me pray on my knees, etc, and I knew that it was important to share my testimony with them, but never really took the time to do it. I am going to really try hard to do this at least once a day, even if just a casual comment, such as, I am so thankful for the gospel, i know it is true.
My experience was a good eye opener for me. We were reading scriptures at breakfast time, and I told the kids we were going to read Moroni Chapter 10, and that it was a wonderful testimony to all who read it. I read the chapter to the kids, then commented on how wonderful it was that all who read this chapter were invited to ask heavenly father themselves, if the book of mormon was true, and what a wonderful gift that was. Well, my five year old looked at me like i was stupid and said " why do they even have to ask?? it IS true." well, that was just awesome to hear. I know it is important to bear our testimonies frequently to our children, that they might also gain strong testimonies through our examples and through their own special personal spiritual experiences. I do know that this church is true, that Joseph Smith was an incredibly smart, spiritual man, and was a prophet. I am so incredibly thankful for Pres. Hinckley, and know without a doubt that he is a prophet of God. I love the gospel, I dont even want to think of where I would be without it. I love the scriptures and know they are true. How thankful I am to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and how thankful I am for my friends on the internet! I say these things in the name of our Savior, whom I love with all my heart, Amen.

Official First Day of School!!!!

We are so excited! It is the first week of homeschooling here in our home!! Keep updated on all the fun going on around here with my homeschooling blog www.homeschoolblogger.com/jaelle
Check it out!!!!
Also, I have a yahoo group for lds homeschoolers, that any of you are welcome to join
it is called ldshomeschoolersrus so feel free to join!! I can send invites to anyone, just email me and let me know!! We are going to discuss weekly topics and I will be sending a weekly newsletter out!

Motherhood Blues

I sincerely hope that I dont sound incredibly selfish as I write this post. Last week it hit me that I was going to spend the next 18 years, every single day and second with all three of my children. Most moms, when a child turns 5, or even younger if you count preschool, straps on their backpack and sends them to school for 8 hours a day. Not me. I am homeschooling my children. Now I am incredibly thankful for the opportunity, for knowing that Heavenly Father sent me very special children to teach, but honestly, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Suddenly , I felt like I needed a big break. A really long bubble bath, and some new magazines or something. Maybe a vacation. Or a nap. Suddenly, my mind shifted to the thought of " what exactly do I really do??" I change diapers, potty train, fix meals, and now, teach school for 3-4 hours a day. What am I???? Who am I???? It was incredibly depressing all of the sudden. I had a case of motherhood blues. Suddenly I began to remember what it was like to be a teenager and lay by the pool all day on a hot summer day. To go to a dance. To SLEEP IN!!!!!! I remembered my aspirations to become a doctor, to make a difference in this world. Suddenly, I wasnt so sure I wanted to be a mother to three children under the age of 5, one with severe health problems, another with autism. It was just to much work and worry, and no glory. I wasnt worth anything to anyone, except when they needed clean socks.
This was really getting me down. I even for half a second, considered trying to send my kids to school. Then I realized, umm.... then what would I do?? I would REALLY have nothing. My kids are my life. Then I started thinking about all the things I do, how it may not seem like much, but it does mean something. I thought, yeah, I used to be able to lounge around the pool all day in a cute swim suit with a cute adorable teenage body, but now, I get to watch all three of my adorable children play in their little pool and look at their sweet little bodies in their elmo and spiderman swimsuits and just smile. Well, I dont go to church dances anymore, but I can still dance a mean dance to Barneys I love you song. It is sooo much more fun to dance with a little toddler in your arms, then some nervous boy who really doesnt want to be at that dance! LOL. Yeah, I may never ever in this entire life be allowed to sleep in again, but I adore having little bodies come tumbling in to my bed in the morning with sleepy eyes , just wanting to snuggle mommy. Yeah, this motherhood thing isnt to bad after all.

Once A Month Cooking Tips and Ideas!

I have had a couple of people ask me to let you guys know how it went with the freezer cooking. I spent a couple of hours one afternoon, and this is what I made, I put vegetable soup to cook in the crockpot, made tuna noodle casserole up and put it in a tupperware container to freeze, and then when the vegetable soup was done, I put it in a gallon freezer baggie and put it in to freeze. It was a really small start, but was super easy to pull it out and stick in the oven or back in the crockpot. This week I will be searching through ideas and articles here on the internet and hope to get some cookbooks at the library, I will post the best ideas and recipes I can find! I hope to make up a lasagna, meatloaf, and possibly chili to put in the freezer! Yay!

Once a Month Cooking/ Freezer meals

In my quest for simpler living, I have looked into once a month cooking (OAMC) and I really really like the concept. Basically, you make a detailed menu plan and list for a whole month, then shop and cook in a few days, the meals you will eat for the whole month. You freeze them, thaw them out the night before they are to be made then, pop them in the oven, voila! Dinner is served. So I began researching what could be frozen, etc and how to go about doing this. There are many great websites out there that talk about it and give some great recipes. A simple web search turned up some great sites. I think that personally, cooking for the whole month is a little to much for me, with three kids under the age of 5, but I adore the idea of making extra and a bunch of meals at a time and freezing them, for whenever they are needed. My husband works a weird shift, he goes into work at 2 pm, so lunch is our main meal together, but because we are always doing errands, or just spending family time, we arrive back home around 11:30 or noon, and there is just no time to thaw out meat, plan a meal, etc and get it on the table before he has to leave at 1. So I am going to begin making meals ahead of time in the evenings when the kids are calm and ready for bed, I will start meals, and then freeze them, then first thing in the morning , grab it out of the freezer and pop it in! By the time we get home, their will be a full meal waiting for us! I am really excited to try this out. I am trying so hard to make my life more organized and simpler because we are going to begin homeschooling in late august, I need my life to be simple and organized so that I can concentrate on the kids school! If any one is interested I would love to post some of the oamc recipes that i have found and tried!

My Quest for Simple Living

Lately, it has really been on my mind, the fact that I have a whole home full of clutter, that we really don't need. I mean, I have clothes that I have bought my children that I just recently found, in the back of their closet - with the tags still on them, completely forgotten. My big problems in my home are clothes and toys. I have cleaned out our playroom with garbage bags, then donated probably 8 bags of toys within two months! CRAZY! The clothes situation is even worse. I have no idea why, but my big shopping vice is children's clothes. My kids are some of the most well dressed kids on the planet! I LOVE kids clothes and accessories and shoes, well, basically I love to buy anything if it has to do with my kids. I am still wearing pants and shirts from when I first was pregnant with Dylan ( 5 years ago) and my kids get new clothes constantly. So I looked at my huge laundry pile, realized I couldnt walk into the playroom, and decided to start doing some thinking on simple living. Basically , I was thinking about how the pioneers lived with so little in our eyes, but that they had everything they needed, to survive. Why do we need so much stuff??? Why do I THINK I need so much stuff?? It just makes more work for me. I would rather be playing with my kids, than doing laundry. So in my quest for simple living I have taken the challenge to go through my home, room by room, with a pioneers eye, and take garbage bags and boxes and absolutely have a major house cleaning. I am going to donate anything and everything I possibly can. I want a simple, clean, beautiful home. It makes me feel so much better to even think about it! My goal after I get my home all cleaned out, is to remember how wonderful it looks, and to not buy more clothes and toys! My kids really dont need it!!!! We homeschool and dont go very many places, they are just mainly here at home with me, they dont need a new outfit for every day!!!! They can get by with less. So, wish me luck everyone! I want to concentrate more on other things in my life than drowning in unneccessary laundry!

Power of the Priesthood Continued

Another blessing that was so amazing in my life was the one I received when I found out I was pregnant with my third child. I had a blood test and an ultrasound to determine how far along I was. I told my dr, I was only about 4 weeks, because i kept track of my menstrual cycles. So I knew that I was only about 4-5 weeks along. Well, my exam showed me to be about 8-10 weeks, the hcg blood test said double what I should be, and the ultrasound showed that I wasnt even pregnant. Hmm. I asked my father to give me a fathers blessing. The spirit was so strong. The dr had called me at home to tell me that they were going to do a d and c. That what had happened was that I had something called a molar pregnancy, and that I really wasnt pregnant at all. That the body was just messed up. They were going to perform the surgery to clean me out. Well, my blessing said that things would work out , and that I had a very special spirit inside of me. I begged my dr to give me one more chance. One more ultrasound. He finally consented. There was my little Sydney, heart beating strong. What had happened was that I was pregnant with twins, and that accounted for me being " double" . The other twin had miscarried and was hiding sydney. So that was why we didnt see her! What a special blessing that was answered. What faith I had to have to ask and beg for another chance! My dr thought I was incredibly stupid !!! boy was he surprised!
My husband received a blessing that was pretty amazing. He was very ill, and was told that he had a brain tumor, that it was basically inoperable and that they would try to biopsy it, if they could, but it would be very tricky. They basically said he was going to die. My husband is only 24. We have three children under the age of 4. We were high school sweethearts. This was devestating news. He receieved a blessing that said he would live to help raise his children, but that he may have to endure some pain. We traveled to the Mayo Clinic. He endured testing and severe headaches, etc. and we were told it is bone. It is not a tumor, but bone! He was having severe migraine headaches. They were able to get him on medicine and he has done well. He still suffers occasionally, but he isnt going to die. What a blessing that was.
There have been many other occasions like this, where I have witnessed a priesthood blessing that has healed, and saved lives. It is powerful stuff. It can also be as simple as needing help through a small trial, that may seem like nothing to others, but is hard for you. God is there, he will bless us if we just ask. We have to have faith. It could be something seemingly small to others or something as large as help me to live if my husband dies. Heavenly Father hears our prayers. He wants to bless us. We just have to ask and have faith. I bear my testimony to you, that priesthood blessings are powerful. Amen.

The Power of the Priesthood

I love to hear about other peoples lives. Call me nosey! I hope that no one is offended with this little post. I am wanting to talk about priesthood blessings, and I am going to share with you alot of personal experiences.
I am a firm believer in the power of a blessing. My parents joined the church when I was a year old. I grew up in a home where my father was a worthy priesthood holder and exercised his authority with love and wisdom. How thankful I am for that. I am also a firm believer that in order for you to be blessed, you have to believe. Here is my first example. My brother in law, is inactive in the church. He married a woman who has never been to church that I know of, and they gave birth to a beautiful boy. Unfortunately the birth was incredibly traumatic. My sister in law, died on the table, and was brought back to life amazingly. But my little sweet nephew was in the birth canal at the time and they were trying to save my SIL so he was without oxygen for an amazing amount of time. He survived to everyones amazement. But not without injury. He is now 6 years old, and gorgeous, but lives a terrible life. He is basically a vegetable, for lack of better term. He can't eat or swallow, or move. He has seizures and other health problems. He lies in a hospital bed, staring at the world. Because of him, my husband and i were married. I was there at his birth and drove Keith and his mom to the huge hospital that the air evac helicopter took Moses. My SIL was to ill to be moved. As I walked into the NICU ( consequently I used to work at the hospital so I knew my way around, etc) and I stood beside the bassinet and looked across it, I met the eyes of Keith and realized then and there that I was going to marry that man, and we were going to have gorgeous children of our own. I have such love for my little nephew. He was born for a reason. Because of this traumatic experience , his father, my BIL, remembered the gospel, for a time. He decided to have Moses named and blessed by my father. We were all very good friends. I wasnt able to be at the blessing because of my job at the time, but my parents stopped in and told me about it. Such amazing words were spoken. That Moses would live, and that he would be an active loving child, he would run and talk like any other boy, but that it was dependant on his parents faith.
Could you imagine hearing those words? They werent even sure that he was going to live one day, let alone to an age where you could walk. His parents were there, they heard these words. They heard that it was dependant on THEIR faith.
When Moses finally got out of the hospital, his parents sad to say, decided that it was just to much to have a kid like him. They have since divorced and only pretend at times to care about him, and they have received a large amount of money because of what happened. Neither of them have ever had to physically care for him, a nurse does 24 hours a day. When I hold this child in my arms, I weep for him, knowing that if he had just been born into a different family, things could be different for him. If his parents had faith. This is an example of a beautiful blessing, but no faith. We HAVE to remember to have faith. Their was a reason that this child was born, and suffers. He was born to get his Uncle Keith and Aunt Jaelle to stop beating around the bush and pronounce their love, lol, and he is an amazing example to so many. What a precious child in the sight of God.
I have seen so many miracles in my life. I should write a book! People wouldnt believe the things Ive been through! So many of these miracles were brought to pass through the priesthood. Almost every member of my family has been profoundly touched by a priesthood blessing. Im sure that given time, I will be able to say that about all of my children. I would like to share some experiences with you, to lift you up, and to bear my testimony of the priesthood and the power of blessings.
When I was 6 years old, my mom was having back pain, to the point she had to go to the dr. They were shocked at the x ray. Her spinal cord was wrapped around her lung. She had such severe scoliosis, it was going to kill her if they didnt act immediately. So she was rushed to Cleveland Hospital, and underwent a major operation . So major they didnt think she would make it. It was traumatic for me, who at 6 years old, knew that my mom was the world. She was everything to me. She was in the hospital for over 2 months, and my little sister and I were shipped to different loving families in our ward, and our grandparents and aunt. We were very well cared for, but it wasnt our mom. I remember seeing her for the first time in the hospital. My mom knew that we probably shouldnt see her like that, but she was just so thankful to be alive, and missed us so terribly, that she asked to see us. I was very unprepared for what I saw. In order to straighten her spine, the doctors had drilled two big screws into her temples and attached a metal "halo" and connected it to her spine. This kept it straight. I was completely unprepared and was traumatized. I screamed and ran out. It broke my mothers heart, and left a lifetime of scars for me. Long story short, she lived and was able to come home and raise her two little girls. She was amazing. The best mom ever. But I was traumatized and scarred. I developed a huge case of seperation anxiety, marked by throwing fits and crying and lying about illness just to stay home from school. I just knew that if I went to school, my mom would die. This continued until I was in 7th grade and my parents learned about homeschooling. What a relief. But it was always in the back of my mind that something like this could happen again. My absolute worst fear. That she would be sick again, or have to have surgery.
When I was 16, my absolute worst fear became a reality. Once again, my mother was in pain, to the point of needing major surgery. This time, they would take out the metal rods they had inserted into her back, clean them, replace them and then fuse her hips to them. Major surgery. She made it through the surgery as well as to be expected. My dad called my sister and I ( she was 12, I was 16) on the way home from the hospital 2 hours away, saying she did good, I will be home soon. Ten minutes later, we received another call. It was my dad again, he was turning around and going back to the hospital, the dr called him on his cell phone saying to get there as soon as possible. My mother was going back in for an emergency surgery. It seems that someone "forgot " to clean and sterilize the surgery room between surgeries. My mother had a fever of 107 and was in severe pain and they were taking her back in to find the source of infection. We found out that she had a staph infection. 5 emergency surgeries later, she was able to come home. I was 16 and suddenly responsible for a home, a family, and everything that goes with it, along with doing school, and caring for my very ill mother. It was extremely touch and go for 6 months. They didnt think she would live. I woke up each morning and started her iv antibiotics, and stayed with her, caring for her, and also the rest of the things I was suddenly in charge of. I honestly thought she wouldnt live, as did everyone else. She received a blessing. It said she would live. But she was dreadfully ill and in pain for about 2 months after that, and we all began to doubt the blessing. How could it be possible??? She was wasting away before our eyes, strapped to this huge hospital bed in our living room. Then we realized that we werent having faith. It didnt say, you will be healed instantly. We still had some trials to go through. My attitude changed, as did the rest of the families and my mom lived. She lived and one day, she got out of the bed. Slowly, she took back her life, and was cleaning the house, cooking meals, and helping me with school. Sadly, my moms battles are not over. She was just diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis this past month, and we are all trying to have faith once again.

Email Address

I just want to thank everyone for their comments. They really warm my heart and make me feel great! I wanted to leave my email address here, posted so that you can feel free to email me directly. Unfortunately with the comment system on blogspot, I can't see the email addresses for you, or I would email you back and thank you!!!!!
So please feel free to email me and give me your comments, or ideas! I would love to have ideas!
Thanks!
Jaelle
momtothreebabies@aol.com

Nauvoo, the city of Joseph

For my anniversary on saturday, my husband and I decided to go away on a little day trip. So we left all three kids with their grandparents, prayed really really hard that they would be ok ( alright i admit it , i am a nervous mom!) and then took of for Nauvoo!!! We are sooo lucky to live just an hour away. This would be the first time for Keith and I to get to go alone! We put the windows down in our mini van, cranked up Silverchair and Bob Seger ( oh yeah we are so cool!!) and let the wind fly threw our hair as we sang along really really loudly ( and off key i might add). So the trip up was totally fun, and when we got there we realized that we weren't to late to catch the new Joseph movie in the theatre. If you havent seen this movie, find a way to see it. It will change your life. I am still , two days later , so emotionally affected by it. I couldnt sleep last night, and all I could think about was this movie. I am looking forward to the next time that I am inside the Nauvoo temple. I will be focusing alot of my prayers on gratitude for Joseph and Emma . We have it so easy these days in our church. We don't go to sleep at night, waiting for the door to bust open as we are drug outside and tarred and feathered, we arent killed for our religion. We must always, always be thankful for that. For our religious freedom.
Next we headed to the Lucy Mack Smith home. So adorable! The missionaries there call it " the dollhouse " and it really looks like it! I am so fascinated by the clothing, and dishes, etc of that time. They just have so much in Nauvoo!
We went to the Brigham Young home and I was very touched by going into the room that he had built on for the 12 apostles to meet. We stopped in that room and the spirit was very strong as the sweet missionary read to us a portion of a letter that Brighams wife wrote to him while he was on a mission. Such love.
I think the place that we went that impressed me the most this trip, was Heber C Kimballs home. The love he had for his wife Vilate, was so pure and sweet. I love the story of how she was soo sick, and in bed, and had all these sick kids, and Brigham Youngs wife was there trying to help, and was sick herself, and they had to say goodbye to their husbands, who were off on yet another mission ( dear souls served 8 missions each if I remember correctly!!) and they went to the door to wave goodbye, and they were so sick, and Heber C and Brigham drove by and cheered for them three times " hurrah hurrah hurrah" just to lift them up!! While I was in that home, I thought of a dear friend of mine who has 6 children and another on the way, and she just kissed her her husband goodbye again, he is off to serve our country and she is home with the children. I admire her so much, and I just really felt so close to Vilate Kimball, in their home, knowing that I could never be like her. She was so strong. I throw a fit if Keith has to work overtime!
Wilford Woodruffs home is one of my favorites. It was especially neat to get to go there on saturday because we are studying his teachings in Relief Society this year. I love his home because of the little childrens toys. They are just so precious.
Well, Keith and I finished our date with dinner at the little cafe there and a trip to LDS harvest where we were suckered in to buying way more than we should! LOL.
Being so close to this amazing city, is such a special blessing for me. I feel their spirits as I walk down the street, at times you feel as though you are there back in the 1840's and you are just headed to a friends home. They are such amazing examples to me and I thank them so much for their courage.

Vacation

It has been over a week since I have posted, thanks to vacation!!! My husband gets the week of the 4th of from work, because of a company shutdown, and it is awesome! We didn't go anywhere, just lived and relaxed. We enjoyed the fireworks, catching fireflies, swimming, and so much more. We even found time to paint our master bathroom! I am going to work hard and get stuff caught up , not only in my home, but in my writing too. So look for a few new posts to go up here in the next couple of days! I have a blog on yahoo 360 that talks about my daily life, if any one is interested, lol. Here I try and keep things a bit more spiritual. I will be writing here in the next couple of days about Nauvoo, preisthood blessings, and a great book I have just read that really is changing my life.
Hope everyone is having a great day, and I just want to thank everyone for their comments! I want to email everyone and tell them thanks but it doesnt show email addresses!
Have a great day!
Jaelle