Kyra

This is exactly why I couldn't live without my DVR!!! I usually record what I want to watch while hubby is watching his shows. Then I can watch it later and it's even better anyway because I get to FF through commercials! We've also just learned to be bored through each others shows a lot of the time so that we can have that time together. I learned to like Heroes just to spend some time with him, he's learned to like a couple shows for me, like House. Still can't get him into Desperate Housewives though! (Yes, I know, I'm going to hell! My mom tells me all the time! LOL)

I must be a slave-driving dictator then, because I use this concept in the way I raise my children! When I give my 5 year old a chore to do and she complains about doing it, I tell her that she doesn't have to do it, but if she doesn't then she will have a punishment. Or at least there will be consequences for her actions. But if she does do it, then she'll be rewarded. I'm letting her choose which outcome she would prefer, just like Heavenly Father has done for us. There's no force involved. There will be consequences for our decisions and actions no matter what, we are free to choose whether we want them to be good or bad consequences.

I have found this article by Pres. Hinckley to be a great source for a lot of things. LDS.org - Liahona Article - A Season for Gratitude

I never got a chance to thank everybody for all your great advice. I'm not certain, but I'm pretty sure I'm getting food storage for Christmas again. I told my mom a couple years ago that food storage is the only gift I ever want for Christmas or birthdays. Some people think I'm boring, but it sure helps me feel better. I wouldn't go out and spend all that money on food storage just to let it sit there. I would keep rotating it and adding to it, of course. But just knowing I have what I need would make me feel much better. And yes, there may be things in there that I wouldn't use if I had the choice. But if I'm starving to death, I'm going to be grateful for whatever I have. And it will help me feel much better knowing that my daughters will also be okay. Plus, if I know that I have enough food to get us by, then when I add to it I know I can add some fun things in there. Things like Kool-Aid or something that will be a real treat my kids might not get otherwise. :)

"While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but once they lose their virtue they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader." Samuel Adams

You're right, a lot of it is my attitude, and I'm 100% willing to admit that. I'm always the first to admit that I have pride issues and control issues. I work on them as I can and try to take it one step at a time. That's why I asked for help though. I don't want to feel this way about my sister. Like I said, she really and truly is my very best friend. I'm just so angry right now with her self-destructive behavior. That's why I decided that it would be best right now to pray for my bil and nephew until I calm down a little bit. I also have a bad temper, and it's obviously getting the best of me right now. But I've come huge strides in the last few years and learned a lot of patience and tolerance. This is just one more thing that will teach me. Although I cannot tolerate her behavior right now, I'm at least trying to get over my anger.

Fun ideas everyone! When I was growing up we always did an advent candle. There were certain bible stories we would read by candlelight from Dec. 1-Dec. 24, and on the 24th was the story of his birth. My mom now has a couple different advents that she uses for my brother and sisters. We have an angel tree put up at church every year and for the last couple years I've tried to set the example by buying Christmas for someone on the tree. I'm a little upset though, because I don't know if I'll be able to afford it this year. But I haven't been able to in years past either, and somehow it's always worked out. Plus it sets a great example for my girls. I tell them that there is someone who isn't getting Christmas presents this year, so we're going to each give up one present that we would have gotten and spend that money on someone who needs it. I really love doing that! We have a very wealthy ward, so I'm sure our presents aren't the best they could get, but we still do our best.

I've always been taught that we'll be physically perfect in matters of our health. I don't know of any scriptures or anything to back it up though, I'll be interested to read more about it.

Well, I definitely can't go into details because only my mom, another sister and I know exactly what's going on right now. Other than my bil, at least. So I'll just ask if you've ever heard of the phrase 'cyber affair'? If you haven't, google it and you'll understand more. My bil has made mistakes and may not be perfect, but he certainly doesn't deserve this. Thank you for all of the advice. I'm going to sit down sometime today and read through Enos, because I need all the help I can get right now. And then I've decided that when it comes down to it, if I still can't bring myself to pray for her, then I can at the very least pray for my bil and my nephew. My nephew more than anything. He's an adorable little boy (he's in my avatar with my girls) who deserves much better than this. He needs a mommy who's willing to put him first in her life.

I totally have to agree with this one! Good thinking!

You're right, I don't hate her. I was so mad (still am) and typing so fast that I just put down whatever came into my head at the moment. I don't hate her, but I absolutely hate her attitude and her actions right now. With some of the things she's doing right now I can't even let her around me and my girls. My 5 year old watches and mimics everything she does. She absolutely adores her auntie and worships the ground she walks on. Is that wrong of me to keep her away from my kids? I'm really not doing it just because I'm mad at her, I don't even want to do it. But she's doing things that I don't feel comfortable with my girls being around.

I know that we're told we need to pray for our enemies or people we're angry with, but how in the world am I supposed to do that? My sister is ruining her marriage. She's a selfish brat (and I told her so the other day, only my language wasn't so nice) and she's only thinking of herself. They have a child!!! They should be putting him first, but she is SO full of anger and selfishness right now that she can't even tell the difference between right and wrong anymore. She and my bil need so many prayers right now, and I just can't do it. She's not only my sister, she is literally my best friend and I hate her right now. I know that's horrible, but I do. She's ruining her life, she's being very self-destructive right now. I tried to pray for her tonight, but I'm so mad at her I don't even want to think about her, let alone pray sincerely for her. I shouldn't be feeling this way about my sister and best friend. I'm so mad at myself for not being able to pray for her, and I'm even more mad at her than I originally was for making me feel this way. How am I supposed to pray for her when I don't even want to talk to her or think about her? I feel like a horrible person.

What do you do in your families to keep Christ in Christmas? My daughter is almost 6, and I realized that she's old enough to really start understanding. We still do Santa and all the fun stuff, but she needs to learn that there's more to Christmas than fun and presents. Do you have any fun traditions that you do at Christmas to help you and your children keep the proper perspective?

Thank you! That's exactly what I thought when I was writing it! Sounds just like something a kid would say. And if you have the kind of child that wouldn't say that, then please tell me how you're doing it!

I teach a children's choir for our homeschooling group. I adapted my favorite Christmas book, Santa and the Christ Child, into a little program with music and a small line for all the kids. It starts out with "Grandpa" coming in telling the kids it's time for a story. They ask which one and he says that he's going to tell them a story about the time Jesus...then gets interrupted by one of the kids saying "We don't want to hear the same old story again. Read us something more exciting." In my head he would have finished with "The time Jesus helped Santa with Christmas" and later in the program you understand that more. The whole program really is centered around Christ, and it's basically teaching kids how even Santa knows that He is the real reason for Christmas, etc. But I had the mom of one of my kids call me the other day and tell me that she was offended by that part of "Same old story" and "read us something more exciting." I explained to her that I didn't hand out the whole script to everyone (too expensive to pay for that many copies) and told her the whole story. She said now that she understands more about it she's okay with it, but she didn't sound convinced. Our concert is in less than a week, I absolutely do NOT have time to change the script and make those kids learn anything new. I haven't had any complaints from other parents, and I've even asked a few specifically if they found it offensive and they said absolutely not, they thought it was a really cute program. I really don't want to offend anyone, but I also don't want to cater to 3 kids when I have 35 others who aren't bothered by it. But if enough people feel offended by it I'll make a couple changes. So do you think it's offensive? Should I make some last minute changes or do you think it's okay?