Last night my husband showed me how to view the statistics on my site and I discovered that there are quite a few people reading my blog. Wow! Thank you for reading even though my writings are few and far between.

If you have never commented on my site before, here is your chance! Please comment and introduce yourself! I would love to meet you and know what you think of my site or anything else you want to share.

I started this website as an outlet for me to talk about motherhood, but I wanted this website so that I could connect with other mothers who value motherhood like I do. If you have any questions, comments or experiences about being a mother, please feel free to share. Or if you are a dad who would like to comment, please feel free! My husband is very involved in the rearing of our children and we are in it together. Dads, if you have an experience please feel free to share!

If you have commented before please comment again! If you are a friend or family member, please join in, I always love to hear from you too!

Sometimes it is hard for me to figure out what to write, is there anything you are interested in knowing about me? If you have a question about parenting and would like to hear from anyone reading my site as to what their advice would be, e-mail me a question and I will post it up so anyone who wants to comment or help out can!

Thank you again for reading!

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I was very surprised but excited to find that I am expecting my seventh child! Thankfully my morning sickness hasn’t been as bad as I have had with some of my other children. Although I still feel pretty icky.
I know that morning sickness is a good sign that things are developing healthily inside, and that is a nice assurance. I don’t have morning sickness though, I have all day and night sickness. I have tried every remedy that people have thrown at me, I even tried taking a prescription anti-nausea pill. Nothing helps, I just have to endure through this. Four more weeks and I should be feeling much better. Hopefully!

I am a bit nervous about having another little one. My post-partum depression after Hannah was so severe. I don’t think that will be the case this time since it has been a while since I have been pregnant, but I will be watching for signs.

Again, posting will probably be few and far between, but those of you who check up on my site regularly already know that is how I post. Thanks for reading!

Announcements, Journal Entry | 2 Comments »

As I am sure you can imagine, moving is a big adjustment. Especially for children. So far, my children seem to be adjusting pretty well. Texas is a wonderful place and we are very happy here. The children have struggled with missing friends thus they are on the phone with them almost weekly. Other than that we have all been adjusting pretty well.

Christmas without snow was a new one for me, I survived however. I am enjoying the weather now, and I am enjoying not having to deal with all of the winter colds and such.

All in all we are adjusting well to our new environment and we are now trying to get into more of a normal routine. I will keep you posted!

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Well, I made it! I cannot believe the amazing journey it was to get here. I am still frankly dazed and stunned at how quickly and smoothly it all went. I had an outpouring of love and support that was unprecedented. I feel so inadequate as to describe all the service that went into getting us to Texas. God has blessed us so much with wonderful family and friends. My children and I arrived at our new home two days before Thanksgiving.

My dearest friend Leena drove with us all the way to Texas from Utah. We could not have made it here as easily as we did without her. She drove the entire time, while I helped the children to survive the long drive. She says she got the easy job, but I know it was not easy for her to leave her beautiful family for a week and a half and work from morning until evening every day trying to help me get the house set up. Thank you Leena, Adam, Jaron, Natasha, Daniel, Andrew, Paxton, Batya, and Rebeccah.

Thank you to all of you that sacrificed so much to get my family here. Thank you Adam and Brian for packing the moving van, everything got through just fine! You are awesome! Thank you Maria & Russell, Aubria, Dad, Tara & Brian, Matthew, Tim, Heather, Daniel, Andrew, Paxton, Jaron, Adam, Leena, Mom & Dad, Jessica, Heather & Matt, Mom(Debbie), Dad(Keith), Suzy, Natalie, Josh, Jacob, Natasha, Natasha’s friend, Aunt Peggy & Uncle Brian, Laura, Robert & Cheryl, Regina, Karen, Andy, LaDawn, Tiffany, and April who helped pack boxes, load boxes, bring meals, watch children, clean, and were a shoulder to cry on and a big hug. Thank you to all of you who kept us in your prayers and thoughts.

Thank you seems so inadequate and such a simple thing to say after the great love and service I received. Many of you took several days off of work and/or school. All of you sacrificed other things that needed to be done in your own lives to do something for me. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I cannot thank you enough. I pray your service will be returned to you in a time of need ten fold. Thank you!

We were invited by a member of our new Taylor ward to Thanksgiving dinner. Wow, thank you Erin and Joey! I am so thankful that I didn’t have to eat at a restaurant for Thanksgiving. With all of the unpacking and organizing of a new home I haven’t had much time for reflection, but tonight I have a little while. The children are sleeping, and Aaron is working late. I wanted to take a moment and record some of the things I am grateful for.

As I was catching up on e-mail and reading the updates on all of the family blog sites. I saw a common thread among them to which I would like to add my own. In my husbands family they have a tradition that we have continued in our own family. Every Thanksgiving before we partake of the food, we are given three candy corns. Each of the corns represents something we are grateful for. We then go around the table and express to the family the three things we are grateful for and there is not usually a dry eye in the house by the end. All of the other siblings have continued this tradition in their own families and have recorded their three corns in their blogs as well. I too would like to express my gratitude belated though it may be.

The first kernel of gratitude for me is gratitude for a Heavenly Father, who loves me so much. I am grateful for His spirit which guides me everyday. Especially I am grateful this year for all that he has guided and helped me through. From braking my leg to moving across the country and everything in between, I could not have made it through any of this without Gods loving hand guiding me every step of the way. I am grateful that he helps my weaknesses become strengths.

The second kernel of gratitude is family. My dearest husband and best friend who helps me through thick and thin. Aaron had to go through losing me for three month while I recovered from my massive ankle injury. He helped me bathe, eat, sleep and every other function during that difficult time in my life. He was so loving and understanding. When put into perspective, moving the family without him was maybe a way I could help him in a similar way he helped me. I am grateful that he is happier than I have seen him in a long time and it was so worth moving here to have him happy again! I am grateful for my dearest children who have been so brave and trusting to go on this adventure to Texas with their Mom and Dad. They have all worked so hard to help and be loving to each other. What a great blessing they are to me. I am also grateful for extended family. My parents who took in my children for ten days so that Aaron and I could find a home in Texas, to Aaron’s parents who did what they could to help us with our move. I am thankful for their moral support as well. I am grateful to have goodly parents. I am thankful for brothers and sisters, and the great examples I have of love and strength from my siblings and Aaron’s. That includes in-law siblings too!

My third kernel of gratitude is for friendship. The friends to which I refer are family to me. I am grateful that God gives us family, and that he gives us family by choice. Thank you my dear family by choice! I am grateful for the love and sacrifice of my dear friends who make me feel more loved then I know what to do with. Thank you for touching my life forever! I am so grateful for the amazing gifts you have given me like, crying on my shoulder and guitar strings. I am a better person because you are my friends.

There are so many blessings and gifts that I have been given this year that are to numerous to describe on one blog entry. I attempted to name the most important. Thank you for reading! Happy Belated Thanksgiving and if I don’t get a chance to write again before then, Merry Christmas too!

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I am moving to Texas! My husband got a job offer from a company in Austin and we decided to take the job!

There have been so many miracles already as we have been preparing to move. For intstance our house is already under contract and all of the projects we need to finish are done. Wow!

Anyway, I am letting you know that if you don’t hear from me for a while it is because I will be extremely busy packing and moving! As I am sure you can guess that is a gigantic job when you have a large family. I look forward to posting more about our move!

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As a mother and a home schooler I am always on the look out for educational opportunities and experiences for my children. As I have to study to be able to help them in their learning, I also gain new knowledge and insight. Most of the time and energy I have in my life is devoted to my family.

Six months ago I went to a Women’s Conference at BYU. I learned many things at that conference, but one of the main messages that I gleaned for my own personal growth was that in order to be a good wife and mother, I needed to take time for myself. Tonight I am taking my first photography class. I feel this is the first step towards me bettering myself and developing my own talents. I have always had an interest in photography. Learing about the things I am interested in and developing my talents is the best way for me to take time for myself.

I am a bit intimidated because I have no real experience in photograpy other than the shots I take of my family. At least I won’t be doing it alone. I am excited that I get to take this class with my sister-in-law Heather!

I will post some of my pictures if they turn out well! I hope they do!

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I wanted to write down an experience I had recently. It was a miracle to me.

I had taken the children to visit my mother in Nevada last week. I wound up staying a few more days than I had planned, and I needed to wash some clothes for the children and me. Well, as it turned out there was a piece of gum left in the pocket of one of the pairs of pants I was washing. As I was pulling the laundry out of the dryer I noticed that the entire drum of the dryer was streaked with gum. My heart sank as I was absolutely sure the clothes has been ruined. I quickly started to fold the clothes, scanning them closely to see what the damage would be. As it turned out, not one article of clothing had gum on it. As you can imagine, trying to keep six children outfitted is expensive! What a relief that was! Even the pair of jeans that had the gum in the pocket came out unscathed. I was amazed! God knew we did not have the means to replace all that the dryer contained. Thus this was a miracle to me.

Later that evening as I was cleaning the dryer drum to get the gum off, I noticed that under one of the paddles was the majority of the gum. I shed tears of gratitude.

Motherhood is made up of these small miracles. I hope I appreciate them as they come.

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There are some days as a mother that are really tough. I feel angry and frustrated at times. Today was one of those days. I am trying my best to be a good mother and speak positively to my children, but they really can push my buttons. I think they are born with that ability. I have been trying to teach my children to be respectful and that as their mother, and a person I need to be respected. It is a hard task. Hopefully my children will learn. I am respectful to my children and I expect the same. I hope they will be able to reciprocate some day.

If you have read my blog up to this point you know that I try to write positive things about mothering. Today is dedicated to all the hard days we have as mothers. All the days of teaching respect with respect. Thanks for reading, and if this note hits home with you, I hope that you have a better day after reading this and knowing that you are not alone. Keep moving forward!

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Well, all but one of my tomato plants died, but the one that survived is doing quite well. Both of the blackberry bushes are still alive and we have two blackberries on one of them! Exciting!

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The end of May is here and we are finished with the curriculum phase of school until Labor Day. In the summer we begin the “hands on” phase of home school. This year we decided to start a little garden. My children and I planted blackberries and we are getting ready to plant tomatoes. This is the first year that I have planted a garden myself. I helped my mom with our garden when I was growing up and I really enjoyed planting seeds and watching them grow. I guess it is about time for me to continue on the tradition so my children can have the same experience. I must say, it is quite enjoyable to be up a little after sunrise and be working out in the cool morning air! I feel quite invigorated!

Another wonderful thing about planting a garden with your children is that it gives me the opportunity to teach my children and show them the power of God. As we planted our blackberries I asked my son if he would say a prayer for them, and ask God to help them grow. My son said the sweetest prayer and I was so grateful for that opportunity. I was able to teach my children the importance of prayer, (Cry unto him when you are in your fields; Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them. Alma 34:20,24) and as those little blackberry bush plants grow, their faith will grow as well. Planting a garden is a wonderful way for children to see the miracles that God does for us every day. What a blessing! I am grateful for the opportunity to teach my children all of the really important things.

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The main focus of my website is motherhood, but I wanted to take a moment and recognize the importance of being a wife. In my invalid state I have come to see my husband in new light. He has shown me what unconditional sacrifice is, and how much love he has for his family.

My husband and I had five out of our six children in the seven years we had been married. My oldest is from a previous marriage, but my husband loves and cares for her as his own. Five children in seven years is amazing! These years went by quickly and I thought we worked together well to raise them.

After the birth of our sixth child (as you know if you have been reading my blog), I suffered from severe post partum depression. At this time in my life I went through a really difficult time, and I felt that I had lost myself. My dear husband helped me through this and was there for me, even when I wasn’t there for him. During this time of trial for our marriage, he told me something that truly didn’t sink in until my accident. He said that when I have a new baby, I become consumed by the baby and everything else in my life, including him, becomes non-existent. I hadn’t realized this at all. As he told me this I began to reflect and realized that it was true. I did exclude everyone, even my best friend, him.

After my ankle was broken and I had a lot of time on my hands to think and to ponder, I found that I hadn’t been seeing him. My dearest love. I had been blinded by time, hormones and obligations. I hadn’t been putting him first or his needs before anyones. I took him for granted. I am sorry to say that I did this, but God helped me to see. Through this trial of being crippled I was shown what true love and devotion is about. I hope that I do not take him for granted or exclude him again. I hope that I can be as good a wife as he is a husband.

I could not be a good mother without his love and sacrifice for me. With his unconditional love and faith in me I have been able to have the freedom to be the mother I feel God wants me to be. I hope I will not fail. I also hope I will be able to support him as he has done for me.

Being a woman as a wife is even more important than being a woman as a mother.

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I am back, well sort of anyway. I am now completely healed as far as the x-rays show, but walking is a totally different story. Recovery is a difficult part of any accident. Rehabilition is difficult as well. I am having to learn to walk again. Ouch! I am happy that I can get around again however. I am writing again!

I have learned many lessons through the experience of my broken leg. I hope that over the coming months I will be able to put down in writing many of the understandings that I have gained through all of this.

I am sure you can imagine how difficult it would be for a mother of six to all of a sudden lose her ability to care for her children, home and husband. I was frightened at first as to how things would work out. It was a great relief to realize that the world does not have to revolve around me.

As a mother, I always felt that if I were to fail to do everything, that everything would fall apart. I was shown that this feeling was unfounded. My family can function quite well without me. Through the hard work of my husband, children, family, friends and through the blessings of Heavenly Father, everything in my home ran smoothly. In fact, more smoothly than when I am in charge. I have found through this experience that I have been getting in the way of my family’s growth. I have been doing too much and keeping my family out of their own buisness.

I assumed that since I was juggling almost all of the balls that if I dropped one they would all drop, but I now know that my family will help keep the balls up and moving. Isn’t that the way it should be as a family?

As I said previously, I have many experiences I hope to be able to share. I hope that I will be able to write more soon!

Thank you to all who wrote to me with words of encouragement. I greatly appreciate your support.

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If you’d prefer to send greetings to Diana directly, rather than as a comment, I’ve fixed the comment engine.

–Aaron Mildenstein

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My husband has offered to put this online for me since I can’t make it downstairs where my computer is, nor will I be able to do so for quite some time as I’m sure you can see from the attached photo.

More photos can be found here.

I had an accident outside one of our local malls on January 13, 2007. It resulted in a tibia/fibula trimalleolar fracture. (This means I broke both my leg-bones at the ankle in 3 places). The worst part is that I’m completely bed-ridden right now, and will be for at least the next 6 weeks. I get up to crutch my way to the bathroom and to shower, then I’m right back in bed (or in my La-z-boy) with my leg elevated.

This is really rough on my family right now. Perhaps I will chronicle some of my experiences when I have healed some. In the meanwhile, I am making the best of a rather horrible situation. My husband prints and brings to me all of your comments, so don’t hesitate to send those if you think I won’t receive them.

–Diana

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I love this time of the year. When the weather turns crisp and cold. I love seeing the mountains where I live covered in snow. I love the way the leaves crunch underfoot as I walk. These are a few of the things that I love about Autumn.

It has been a while since I have written. I haven’t really known what to write about and frankly I have been too busy with home school starting up again to write. I guess that I would like to write today about the things I am grateful for.

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to reflect on those things that give us the most joy. It’s almost as if Thanksgiving is the one true holiday left unscathed by commercialism. Of course there are some Thanksgiving sales and what not, but they are mostly for food. Yes, Thanksgiving is the best holiday in the sense that we can sit back, spend time with our families and be thankful.
For starters I am thankful for the pilgrims and the native Americans who first helped them when they arrived here. I am thankful for the freedom that was fought for and paid for with the blood of my forefathers. I am grateful for John Hancock to whom I recently discovered I am related, for being the first signer of the Declaration of Independence — the final catalyst which ignited the Revolutionary War. I am thankful for the sacrifices of the men who sat freezing in tents staked in the snow without shoes or boots who marched with bloody feet to fight a war that wasn’t supported by many of the people they were fighting for.

In my family we always eat sweet potatoes just baked in the oven for Thanksgiving. We do this to honor and to help us remember those of our forebarers who had nothing else to eat during the Revolutionary War. They were fighting for freedom and starving for it.

I am thankful for food, the abundance we have is a blessing from God.

I am thankful that our Founding Fathers were God fearing men who loved freedom and were intelligent enough to be able to establish the Constitution and The Bill of Rights. I am grateful for the lives they lived and the study they put into this great work of establishing our nation.
I am grateful for those who have tried to uphold the Constitution.
I am grateful for my brother who cannot be with us this year at the holiday season because he is serving in the U.S. Marines. I am grateful for the sacrifices he makes every day on our behalf. I am grateful for all of those whom serve in the military and the sacrifices they and their families make.
I am thankful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I don’t know who I would be without the direction of my Heavenly Father and the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
I am grateful for family. I get to go and see my sister and brother in law in Idaho next week for Thanksgiving. I am so excited! Family is so important to me. I am thankful for my children. They bring me such joy and such wonderful learning experiences. I am thankful for the love they have for each other. They are such great friends. I am thankful for their examples to me.

I am thankful for my husband and for all he does for me every day. He works so hard to support our family and gives me the gift of being able to stay at home and raise our children. I am thankful for his service and love. He is wonderful.
I am thankful for good friends. The kind that call you up because they just know when you need to talk. The kind of friends that would give you the shirt right off their back if you asked for it.
As I mentioned before, Thanksgiving is the one pure holiday left. Don’t get me wrong, Christmas is my favorite holiday because of the warmth and joy I feel and the wonderful memories I have, and the ones I am making with my family. But would Christmas be the same without Thanksgiving? I think Thanksgiving helps us to truly be grateful for Christmas. The purpose of celebrating Christmas being the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ — Heavenly Father’s greatest gift to all mankind. Thanksgiving helps us to stop and look and remember all the great things God has done for us, and does for us daily.
I hope all who find this post have a wonderful holiday season! Happy Thanksgiving!

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I have a dear friend who works for a radio station.  Yesterday he called me and asked me to phone into the radio show.  He told me that they were discussing a mother who is bored with her children. 

I asked my friend some questions about this mother. Is she a working mom? (Yes) How old are her children?  My friend asked me once again to call the show.  I was really nervous as I have never done anything like this before.  I don’t consider myself an expert.  My friend assured me that it would be okay and I made the call.  The radio personalities asked me what my opinion was on the matter.  I started by telling them that I am a mother of six children and I homeschool my children.  I continued on about how sometimes I may feel bored as a mother, but I am generally too busy to be bored.  I basically stated that motherhood is like anything else in life: we get out what we put in.

I said that I realized as a working mother her task of overcoming her boredom with her children would be a lot of work, but very worthwhile.  To me there is nothing better in life than to struggle to get to know my children and how they work and how I can work with them.  It’s the most challenging thing you can ever do.

I was once a working mom and I know how difficult it is to try to make a connection with your children when you have been working all day and your children have been at school or daycare.  You have to make a concerted effort to bond and connect with your children in that situation. I no longer work yet I still have the choice to ignore my children, or bond with them.

The last question they asked of me was if it was “worth it” staying home with my children.  I replied, “Absolutely.”

This experience has served to remind me that I need to refocus on the important things.  I was giving advice to someone else, but I also needed the reminder myself.

I am grateful for my radio adventure!

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Wow, our vacation was the best one we’ve ever had! Our family had a great time and we were quite relaxed. I was pleasantly surprised to see how well behaved my children were. We had a great bonding experience with my husbands family. This was a trip that I will not soon forget. The experience really was priceless.

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My husband’s brother is going to be getting married next weekend in San Diego and we get to go! My family and I are so excited. Although planning a trip for six children and two adults is not always easy. I am the type of person that believes in over-preparation. You really never know what is going to come your way when you are out of your home enviroment and you are on the road with six under the age of twelve. Five of which are seven and under. I hope all goes well! I will keep you posted.

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A few days ago a memory was recalled to my mind of a time when I was younger and still living at home. One bright spring morning my little brother (who was probably about five at the time) came walking into the house as proud as could be. You see he had brought in a present for my mom. A tulip, one of the only ones that came up that year. I can just picture it my sweet little brother, having been very thoughtful and wanting to tell mom he loved her. Picked her the only flower he could find. Of course from my mother’s end of it she was busy in the kitchen and when she saw the flower, the first thing that went through her mind was AHHHH my only flower and you picked it! Of course she said something to that effect to my little brother and he was devastated. In fact he is now almost twenty-one and he still hasn’t gotten over that incident. At least, he still gives mom a hard time about it. My mom feels horrible about it to this day.

I am so grateful for this story. As I was thinking about the situation the other day I thought, man, just let them pick the flowers. Flowers can always grow back, but feelings and memories can’t. You know, sometimes the way my children show me that they love is an adventure. But I am so grateful I could learn from my mother’s experience and let them pick the flowers.

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I can’t believe that today is the last day of February. This month has gone by so quickly. I am sure that part of the reason the month felt this way is because we completely re-arranged our basement.

On the subject of flying time, I noticed that as I was busy working to get things back in order at home I had my checklist of things to do. After several busy days I was sitting down to rest for a few moments before moving on to the next task and my baby came crawling up to me. She wanted to be on my lap and she wanted to play. As I was taking those few moments to tickle and play with her something occured to me. In my hustle and bustle I forgot to include play as a “to do” on my list. I have always had difficulty playing when there is so much work to be done. It never occured to me before then that playing is still part of my “work.”  Perhaps playing is the most important work I can do as a mother. I heard a saying many years ago that went something like, “The dishes can wait, time doesn’t.”  I guess as I ponder that saying I think, yeah, there will always be dishes. There will always be un-finished projects. That is life. My children continue to grow everyday. How do I want them to remember me?  I am going to put play on my “to do” list. I hopefully will be able to check it off. I will keep you posted.

Time really does fly.

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