Ahhh. Another week passed, another weekend (almost) here! Don’t know what y’all are planning, but my family and I are going to be shoveling out (sadly, that descriptive is almost literal) and rearranging bedrooms. Amazing that even though it’s going to be a lot of work that I’m NOT looking forward to, just thinking about having my husband home for two days and spending that time with the six people I love best in the world makes my face and heart involuntarily smile! Truly, if I had all the money in the world (a personal goal of mine) I would build my dream house, lovely, one-storied, and big enough for each family member to have breathing room. Larry (my husband, who else would be puttering around my dream home in my fantasy?) and I would work from home, both doing only work that MATTERS, and hang out with our kids. I can just imagine a writing room where I type the morning away (overlooking the ocean, of course, or maybe the mountains), then spend a good hour or so rolling down hills and playing in the sandbox with the world’s greatest boys, before attending an award ceremony in the evening where my husband receives a nice looking plaque and certificate for being the best “whatever-he-chooses-to-do-now-that-he-no-longer-has-to-fix-jets” in the universe. A girl can dream! (I’ll get back to you in a year or so....)

Teapot Tempest:

Back to reality—I would like to thank all of you who sent me messages about last week’s newsletter and articles. The article featured about HBO’s “Big Love” got mixed reviews, to say the least! I heard everything from “I felt led to your article, thank you!” to “your article gave me the creeps!” Truly, I appreciate it all. The truth is that I stayed up all night writing it. I ended up with 5,000ish words, and a couple of different approaches. I was unsettled, and uncertain about the final product that went live. I sought some advice from a fellow editor here at BellaOnline, who gave some great insight about listening to my “inner guidance,” and not trying to do too much in one article. I took her advice earlier this week and went back to re-edit the piece. (Not something I would usually do, but definitely an advantage over the printed word!) Finally, I felt at peace with my piece! If any of you who were concerned would like to see the new and improved thing, it can be found here:

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art51338.asp

New Content at LDS Families:

This week’s featured article is on a topic that is very close to my heart. Being a huge fan of creating poignant memories for my children, deepening family bonds, oh yeah and saving money, I am a true convert to the “camp-in” and “Living Room Passport.” Check out my suggestions for entertaining (and educating) the kids right at home. If you aren’t going to be doing any shoveling or rearranging this weekend, you might try it yourself! The article is here:

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art61106.asp

New Product Reviews:

This week’s product review is actually of a group of items. Four children’s books that I firmly believe are worth buying. I envisioned writing only 100 words or so on each, but as usual got carried away. Sometime in the next couple of weeks I will separate these four reviews into four separate articles, but it is nice to see them compared and contrasted, rather than just reviewed separately. This article is here:

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art4137.asp

I apologize for covering a children’s item for the second week in a row. The truth is that I am swamped with children’s paraphernalia, and it takes a lot longer to critically read and review adult books. But, coming in the next several weeks will be grown-up offerings by LDS authors, such as Eve and the Choice made in Eden, by Beverly Campbell, and Robert L. Millet’s Getting at the Truth: Responding to Difficult Questions About LDS Beliefs. I’ll also review a product I was somewhat unenthusiastic about until I watched: family Home Evening lessons on DVD.

In addition to products, I am looking forward to spotlighting church members in the larger community. Business owners, entrepreneurs, and those who work from home, as well as artists, authors, and politicians. If you know of someone you’d like to see featured, please drop me a line!

The quote of the week:

Alighty folks, this one has to come from one of my almost-three-year-olds: Last night I was sitting at this very computer writing up this very newsletter. Larry (who has worked the swing shift something like 9 or 10 of the 12 years he’s been in the Air Force) was still at work. The other four boys had collapsed into little heaps of sleep on the living room floor (did I mention we’re rearranging the bedrooms?), but one lone triplet remained awake. Unwilling to sit in the chair pulled so close to mine that our knees were touching, he kept trying to climb onto my lap. After about the fourth time I patiently set his little bum back down on his own seat I asked, in gentle exasperation, “honey, what are you doing? Mommy needs her hands to type.” He looked behind him into the corner where night had made ominous shadows in what for me was soothing , mellow lighting. “No Mosters,” he said, shaking his head solemnly, searching for my reassurance. “No.” I replied, with swift and sure confidence,” There are no monsters anywhere in this house. You are safe in every single part of your home.” Just then the dogs wagged past us, asking to be let out the back door. “And see,” I expanded, “we have dogs who love us and help protect us too. They make sure no monsters ever come inside.” To review he looked me in the eye, speaking around the two fingers in his mouth, and went down the list,
“no mosters,”
“right,” I asserted
“No dragons,”
“Uh-huh, no dragons. Are there ghosts?”
“No,” he was positive. “no goat.”
“But what about angels?”
He smiled in that way they do when expecting to see magic dust falling from the ceiling, and nodded. He then crinkled his nose in a gigantic yawn, got up off the chair, and padded into the living room to find a spot of floor next to a warm brother. I was a little confused by the sudden departure and called after him, “Are you going to sleep now, baby? You’re not scared?” I stood up and peered around my monitor to see him rearranging the blanket between two of his brothers, “no mosters,” he mumbled, “just angels and dogs.” So I offer this bit of wisdom and assurance to all of us seeing spooky corners in our lives:
“No monsters; just angels and dogs.”

This Week’s Sanity-Saving Tip:

Mini-Trampoline!

Totally serious here. We first purchased it to help with the much-lamented and oft-referenced INTERMINIBLE ARIZONA SUMMERS, envisioning its being of use to help the kids expend some energy indoors and save the furniture. I t has certainly helped with that, but, surprisingly, I have found a couple of added benefits in it for myself.

I am very limited as to the type and amount of exercise I can do, owing to orthopedic and neurological issues that would take waaayyy too long to get into here. But, I can bounce gently, sometimes not even leaving the surface more than an inch or so, saving my joints and raising my heart rate. While we know that for serious weight loss we need a significant amount of cardio work, research shows that there are real health benefits to doing just a few minutes per day, including increased energy. (Check out Robert K. Cooper’s High Energy Living) I’ve begun jumping a few minutes in the morning (5 at most) prior to doing 15-30 minutes of Yoga. Also, when I am just about –tear-my-hair-out-ready to scream, I kick the kids off and jump for a few minutes. For the first time in my life I actually feel the heretofore elusive stress relief that can come through exercise. WHO KNEW!

Big Stuff For Next Week:

March 24 will mark my one month anniversary as editor of this site. I have already completed BellaOnline’s training for her editors, and will graduate to become an official member of the BellaOnline family. Hooray! Already this has been such a great experience, I can’t wait to see where we go from here!


Please visit LDSFamilies.bellaonline.com for even more great content about LDS Families.

To participate in free, fun online discussions, this site has a community forum all about LDS Families located here:

http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=392

I hope to hear from you sometime soon, either in the forum or in response to this email message. I so appreciate all feedback!

Please pass this along to your family and friends; the more people who visit the site and join in the better it will be!

Until next week, my friends!

Jamie Rose, LDS Families Editor
http://LDSFamilies.bellaonline.com

One of hundreds of sites at BellaOnline.com