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Dandelion Bouquets

May 6, 2021 by Brenda Leave a Comment

Mother’s Day is one of those holidays I still don’t feel old enough to be the guest of honor.  I grew up wanting to be a mother someday, more than most anything.  It was what I wanted to be when I grew up.  But the actual celebrating of Mother’s Day is what we did for my mom.  It just feels weird to be the mom being celebrated, and I have been a mother for almost 25 years.

With that being said, when I think about Mother’s Day, I always think about the year my son was five.  He was in Kindergarten and honestly, it was the first Mother’s Day where he made an effort by himself to do something for me.  His dad was always good about it before, but there is just something special about the first time they give a gift that is completely from their child’s heart.  It is magical for a mother.

It was this year that my son gave me my first dandelion bouquet.  Oh, he had picked the occasional dandelion here and there for me prior to this, but this was the first time he did it without me telling him to pick them.  And this was a large bouquet of yellow.  We seemed to have a rather healthy crop growing in our backyard that year.  I probably could have made several dozen dandelion chains and necklaces and still had a ready supply for more.  So he had plenty to pick for my Mother’s Day bouquet.

We also hadn’t started homeschooling at this time.  So he had been influenced by his teacher at school.  I think she told the class that all mothers just love to receive dandelions from their children.  It is true.  It isn’t so much that we actually like or love dandelions though.  It is because our children thought of us.  It is because they made the effort to pick something for us that through their eyes is beautiful.  Eventually our children quit picking the dandelion bouquets for us and those days are over.

I think that this first bouquet was also memorable because of the other item he gave me that year.  It was also heartfelt and done in only the way a kindergartener could do it.  His teacher had made little papers for them to fill in with their own answers.  My son was in the more advanced group and could read and write his answers by himself.  He had all sorts of nice things to say about me.  He loved when I would play with him.  He loved when I would read to him.  I was feeling quite good about myself and then I got to the last answer.  It was a question about what my son loved most about his mom.  I read, “I love my mom because she is buttfull.”  What on earth did he mean by that??!!

Now, I tried to reason with my mother’s heart that he was only five, and meant beautiful.  But this is the child who rarely misspells a single word.  If he had written that at his current age, I would devise a suitable form of motherly torture that all good moms can come up with in a moment.  Things like extra dishes, cleaning the bathroom, or weeding the garden.  I would demand to know if he was saying that my derriere was big.  But you can’t do that to a five year old.  Five year olds are honest. And do you really want to hear the answer to that?  No. You just smile and thank them.  What else can you do?

It’s no wonder I smile at this time of year.  As the days pass, I remember fondly the many dandelion bouquets I received for Mother’s Day over the years.  I think that is why yellow is my favorite color.  It reminds me of sweet little faces handing me bouquets of love.  It makes me feel special.  Even if it also reminds me that I am forever the mom who is buttfull.

Filed Under: A Mother's Journal, Home & Family Tagged With: A Mother's Journal, Brenda Emmett, Home & Family

Lessons From Disney

April 29, 2021 by Brenda Leave a Comment

When I think of summer, it brings to my mind things like sunshine, parties, popsicles, watermelon, fireworks, things that explode, and family vacations.  It is extra special when you have something that combines all of the above, or at least a good portion of them.  As I think of all of these things, I anticipate memories.  And then I remember an occasion where most of these things were combined and I give pause…

The funny thing about our family is that while we love Disney, we haven’t made it to one of the parks yet.  I mean, I went when I was 5 years old, but I am the only one who has ever been to one.

However, when Chandler was just a little guy, he had a set of stuffed figures which resembled the well known mouse characters from Disney.

While the rest of the world referred to these characters as Mickey and Minnie, Chandler insisted that their names were Bob and Mrs. Bob.  We have no idea why.  It was just the way it was at the time.  If we tried to correct him, he would become extremely distressed.

Chandler took Bob and Mrs. Bob everywhere.  They were his real imaginary friends.  He needed to know Bob’s opinion on just about everything.  If we went to the zoo, he had to make sure that Bob saw everything too.

Bob was Chandler’s favorite.  But Chandler insisted that we have Mrs. Bob too since they were…yes…married.

Chandler also had a fascination during those years, like most little boys, with things that crashed and blew up.  He still does…who am I kidding here?  Anyway, during this time, Gary was the Cubmaster for our local troop.  We had a fun pack meeting planned and it even included a cannon that we were going to shoot candy out of for the kids. You can see where this is about to go, right?

We went over to our friend’s house to try the cannon out so we were prepared.  We all thought it would be fun to shoot Bob and Mrs. Bob out of the cannon for Chandler.  We placed them in the cannon and set it off, anticipating the fun of watching Chandler’s friends fly through the air.

We did not anticipate that they would emerge from the cannon on fire.  When we got the fire put out, Bob had scorch marks across his face and a melted hole in his butt.  Mrs. Bob had scorch marks and a melted shoe.  Chandler was hysterical.

Chandler was also convinced at this age that anything mom put in the washing machine came out new.  He begged me to wash his friends.  So we took home the scorched critters and I quietly placed them elsewhere and started a load of laundry.  Meanwhile Dad ran to the local and well known variety store and managed to snag another set of friends for Chandler.  The day was saved!

Lessons learned from our cannon experience?

  1. Never put anything into a cannon that you aren’t willing to replace.
  2. If you do decide to put something into a cannon just to see what happens, make sure there are replacements available.
  3. Read lesson #1.

Filed Under: A Mother's Journal, Home & Family Tagged With: A Mother's Journal, Brenda Emmett, Home & Family

Easter Shopping

April 1, 2021 by Brenda Leave a Comment

Toddlers and shopping are a recipe for an interesting moment in your day.  My son had a definite knack for making shopping a memorable experience, which is not always a good thing.  However, my son has impeccable taste in what looks good on my person.   So sometimes a girl has to live on the dangerous side and take the risk in order to get a little something new.

Easter was just around the corner and I had a gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket.  I had actually won the gift certificate in a contest at work and it was a nice little sum that would get me a new dress for Easter.  I hadn’t had a new dress for quite awhile.  So this was a real treat to be able to shop at the mall and get something nice.  Of course, I had to take my son along with me.  The lure of a new dress overrode my hesitancy I felt in making the trip.

We arrived at the store and I began to peruse the dresses that were available.  Things were going very well and I began to relax my guard.  My son was staying put and helping me look at the pretty dresses.  He pointed out a pretty peach colored dress, and I had found a pale yellow dress that I liked quite well.  I found both dresses in my size and we headed to the dressing rooms to try them on and make a decision.  The dressing rooms were packed.

After a brief period of waiting, it was finally my turn.  I pulled my 4 year old in with me as any good mother would.  At his insistence, I tried on the peach number first.  It was really pretty and I really liked it.  My son was emphatic that we should just get that one.  He said his mom would be the prettiest mom ever.  I couldn’t believe how sweet he was being on this trip.  It was definitely one of our better experiences.

Then, I tried on the yellow dress.  It was a soft chiffon type of material and I just knew I would feel like a million bucks in it.  I got the dress on and turned to look at my son.  He looked at me with a frown and then in a very loud voice that carried over the entire overcrowded dressing room, proclaimed, “You kinda look like a banana!”

You know those moments when there is an awkward silence that seems like eternity?  I lived through that before the entire dressing room burst out in laughter.  Needless to say, I took off the banana dress, left the dressing room with a slightly red face, child in tow, and bought the peach dress.  I haven’t purchased an Easter dress since that day.  I just can’t chance that I will look like a banana.

Filed Under: A Mother's Journal, Home & Family Tagged With: A Mother's Journal, Brenda Emmett, Home & Family

Food Storage in Limited Space–Food Storage Basics

January 25, 2017 by Brenda Leave a Comment

You know we have been strongly advised by church leaders to have food storage. But what if you don’t have a lot of extra room to store items? What do you do then?

Perhaps one of the biggest problems that people face when beginning a food storage system is limited space. Lack of space can be a big problem when you are trying to be prepared. But with a little ingenuity and imagination, you will find that it really isn’t as difficult as you may suspect.

The first thing that you will need to do is to look around your home for any wasted space. Even those who live in apartments will find places that they are not using. Now that you have looked everything over, look again. There are sure to be several places that you are not utilizing that can be used for storing extra food and supplies.

How about under your bed? If you are not using this space, it would be very simple to place some cases of canned food items there. Or perhaps you would prefer to place items such as toilet paper under your bed. The important thing is not so much what you place under your bed, but that you are looking and using the empty spaces that are available to you.

Do you have end tables or a coffee table in your living room? How about the space under them? Are you utilizing that space? You can always cover these tables with a nice tablecloth so that your storage doesn’t show. And you will rest easy knowing that you are a little more prepared than you were previously.

When looking for extra space for food storage and other storage, think of any of the possible places that you may not have thought of before. Look up. Look down. Look left. Look right. You will find that there are several places that you can stash one or two items. It doesn’t need to be cases and cases of items. Emergency storage is done one can or package at a time. Break things up if you need to. Go vertical. Build a few shelves. Just do it. If you find yourself in an emergency situation, you will be grateful that you have at least some of the necessary items in your home. And you will be blessed for obeying the counsel of our church leaders.

Filed Under: Food Storage Basics, Home & Family Tagged With: Brenda Emmett, Food Storage Basics, Home & Family

Food Storage for $5.00 per Week–Food Storage Basics

January 18, 2017 by Brenda Leave a Comment

This week I am sharing a wonderful little resource I was given by our Food Storage Specialist in my ward. I am not sure who came up with this wonderful list, but if you know, will you please tell me so I can give proper credit?

The basis of the sheet I was given is that you can gather an entire year’s worth of food storage for two people with just five dollars per week. Some weeks will cost a little less, and some weeks will cost a bit more. But the average money spent is just five dollars. It is suggested that you save the change from the five dollars so you can use it n the weeks that the items cost a bit more. I am sure that some of this will depend on where you shop and how you obtain your supplies. But I really do think that broken down this way, it makes getting a year’s supply seem reachable, doesn’t it?

At the end of one year, you will end up with 500 pounds of wheat, 180 pounds of sugar, 40 pounds of powdered milk, 12 pounds of salt, 10 pounds of honey, 5 pounds of peanut butter, 45 cans tomato soup, 15 cans cream of mushroom soup, 15 cans cream of chicken soup, 24 cans of tuna, 21 boxes of macaroni and cheese, 500 aspirin, 1000 multi-vitamins, 6 pounds of yeast, 6 pounds of shortening, and 12 pounds of macaroni.

This should be enough to sustain two people for one year. For every two people in your family, add $5.00 more and double or triple the amount of the item you are purchasing that week.

Here is the breakdown, so it doesn’t seem so overwhelming.

Week 1— 6 pounds salt,
Week 2— 5 cans cream of chicken soup
Week 3— 20 pounds of sugar
Week 4— 8 cans tomato soup
Week 5— 50 pounds wheat
Week 6— 6 pounds macaroni
Week 7— 20 pounds sugar
Week 8— 8 cans tuna
Week 9— 6 pounds yeast
Week 10— 50 pounds wheat
Week 11— 8 cans tomato soup
Week 12— 20 pounds sugar
Week 13— 10 pounds powdered milk
Week 14— 7 boxes macaroni and cheese
Week 15— 50 pounds wheat
Week 16— 5 cans cream of chicken soup
Week 17— 1 bottle 500 multi-vitamins
Week 18— 10 pounds powdered milk
Week 19— 5 cans cream of mushroom soup
Week 20— 50 pounds wheat
Week 21— 8 cans tomato soup
Week 22— 20 pounds sugar
Week 23— 8 cans tuna
Week 24— 6 pounds shortening
Week 25— 50 pounds wheat
Week 26— 5 pounds honey
Week 27— 10 pounds powdered milk
Week 28— 20 pounds sugar
Week 29— 5 pounds peanut butter
Week 30— 50 pounds wheat
Week 31— 7 boxes macaroni and cheese
Week 32— 10 pounds powdered milk
Week 33— 1 bottle 500 aspirin
Week 34— 5 cans cream of chicken soup
Week 35— 50 pounds wheat
Week 36— 7 boxes macaroni and cheese
Week 37— 6 pounds salt
Week 38— 20 pounds sugar
Week 39— 8 cans tomato soup
Week 40— 50 pounds wheat
Week 41— 5 cans cream of chicken soup
Week 42— 20 pounds sugar
Week 43— 1 bottle 500 multi-vitamins
Week 44— 8 cans tuna
Week 45— 50 pounds wheat
Week 46— 6 pounds macaroni
Week 47— 20 pounds sugar
Week 48— 5 cans cream of mushroom soup
Week 49— 5 pounds honey
Week 50— 20 pounds sugar
Week 51— 8 cans tomato soup
Week 52— 50 pounds wheat

Filed Under: Food Storage Basics, Home & Family Tagged With: Brenda Emmett, Food Storage Basics, Home & Family

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