Credit for Images Above and Below (except for book cover): Patti Rokus YouTube Channel
This video from my amazing, gorgeous friend Patti Rokus is so beautiful! Patti creates beautiful images out of rocks depicting Jesus, as well as other characters from Bible stories.
As Patti says, “Have you ever felt unworthy, broken, or too far gone for Jesus to accept you? This stone art depiction of Jesus is a reminder that His love is unconditional. No matter how beaten down by life you feel, God’s love never wavers. He isn’t asking for perfection—He just wants your heart.”
You will feel peace as you watch the video below. This peace comes from Jesus Christ, the source of all peace, joy, love, life and light. He loves you!
If you want to feel more peace, you can feel it from Jesus as you ponder His word in the Bible and the Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ. These two books go hand in hand together to testify of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. In fact, the Book of Mormon has a scripture that tells us that Jesus is the Rock, the only sure foundation, to build our lives upon.
“And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.” Helaman 5:12
Want more of Patti’s beautiful rock stories? Go to her channel here and buy her books here. She has one called The Miracles of Jesus, one about other Bible stories, one for Christmas, and one for Easter. They are all so amazing!
Thank you Patti for sharing your gift of finding just the right rocks to show us how the rocks testify of Jesus Christ. I love it how she has found so many interestingly shaped rocks to put in just the right places to create these lovely scenes.
In the video below, we see Dan Debenham, the host of the Relative Race TV show, at the recent 2025 RootsTech, answering questions about Relative Race. He speaks a bit about the history of the show and especially about the new season. Watch it and learn a few secrets, including what Dan prays for every day about the show. I hope his prayers come true! Thank you Cheri Hudson Passey for facilitating this interview and sharing it with all of us!
Season 15 of BYUTV’s Relative Race premiered last Sunday! Who watched it? I’d love to hear your comments in the comments box below if you did. If you haven’t seen it, you are missing out, so go here to watch. It was such a tearjerker! My husband even cried at a few parts. This is the first season involving a Hispanic team, as well a team involving an uncle and niece. In fact, it has two uncle/niece teams! So fun! It also has two mother/daughter teams. We’ve seen a mother/daughter team before, but this is the first time we’ve seen two mother/daughter teams in the same season, as far as I can remember, and two uncle/niece teams as well.
Image Credit: Relative Race Live Facebook Page
If you don’t know what Relative Race is, read on. It’s a reality TV show where people find relatives whom they have never met before. The tears and stories that flow after these introductions are just so heartwarming! These people were usually adopted at birth or at a very young age and don’t know who their birth parents are. People apply to be on the show. If they get accepted, they have to submit to a DNA test so their relatives can be matched up with them. The show involves four teams of two people each. The two people can be related or not. Usually they are, as husband and wife, siblings, parent and child, in-laws, and sometimes they aren’t even related. Each show involves a race for the whole day. The race involves two mini-races: first completing a challenge, then second, a race to find a home after given an address, where an unknown relative is behind the door. The teams aren’t allowed to use any smartphones with GPS, they can only use paper maps and oral directions from everyday citizens of the town they are visiting. They have to turn in their smartphones on Day 1 and get a dumb phone in exchange to use for texting and simple phone calls. Ten days compose a season. On Day 10 the overall winner gets $50,000. Here’s what one team of winners did with their winnings.
At the beginning of each show, it just feels like Christmas as I wonder what new relatives the searchers will find. Then as they find them, especially if it’s a mother or father, or sibling, I feel so tender and joyful for those people. It makes me cherish my current relationships a lot more.
Fun fact: I’ve been blessed to meet three people from the show: Team Black of Season 9, Kyle and Layton, at the Orem UT Costco, and Ashlee of Season 13, also of Team Black, at the Spanish Fork UT Pioneer Day parade. It was so fun to meet and talk with them!
Want to read and see more Relative Race? It’s the best reality TV show ever! Watch all the shows here and read all my blog posts about it here. I envy you if you all 15 seasons of the show to watch! It’s a great show to especially watch on Sundays. We do it on Sunday nights. I definitely feel the spirit of Elijah when I do.
Want more of Dan Debenham? Go to this page here where I have a bunch of Dan’s videos curated just for you!
I totally loved this week’s Come Follow Christ YouTube video by Jared Halverson of the Unshaken Saints YouTube Channel. This week’s reading involved Doctrine and Covenants section 20, which is known as the constitution of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It also involved section 21 and 22.
First, I loved how he talked about people who say they are spiritual but not religious. He explains why both are needed. That’s at the 5:50 mark. It’s just such a beautiful explanation of truth, with the need to reach out sideways to others and upwards to God.
Second, I love it when he explains that when Jesus uses the bridegroom symbolism, the bridegroom represents Jesus, and the bride is the Church. We are each born into this world as spirit children of Heavenly Parents. We also each have a physical father and mother. When we make a baptismal covenant as we get baptized in the Church, we become children of the covenant, children of Christ. When we become children of Christ, Brother Halverson says that Christ is like our father, and the Church is like our mother. That makes sense since Christ is figuratively married to the Church, since He is the bridegroom and the Church is the bride. Yes, the Church is made of imperfect people but that doesn’t mean we should ask Jesus to divorce the Church. This is all around the 8:41 mark when he starts talking about Paul saying in Ephesians that husbands should love their wives, even as Christ loves the Church. (I have more about the wedding symbolism here.)
Third, I loved how he explained the chart above. You can read the explanation at the 12:23 mark.
Fourth, I loved that he said that April 6th is not necessarily the birthday of Jesus Christ, which many people have been led to believe because of Doctrine and Covenants 20:1. His talking about this is around the 22:05 mark. He explains that some people, like Elder James E. Talmage and Elder David A. Bednar, have interpreted it to mean that day is the Savior’s birthday. Then other people like J. Reuben Clark don’t interpret it that way. I’ve never wanted to either. I don’t think that verse means that 1830 years ago exactly to this day, April 6, 1830, is the day Jesus was born. Ever since I first read that verse in my seminary class in high school I thought, “Well, people say all the time, such-and-such-amount of years ago, this happened, but they usually don’t mean, exactly on this very day that it happened.”
Fifth, I love that he likes to call The Fall of Adam and Eve, The Jump, instead. That’s because he says that Eve did it on purpose, not accident, and it took a leap of faith. He says that Eve had courage and Adam had the wisdom to follow her by partaking of the fruit. That’s at the 41:14 mark. (If you want more about Eve go here and here.) I love this! Yes, it was a jump because it was a leap of faith!
You will have to watch it all, I’m not doing this video complete justice. There is so much more! Enjoy!
Then below is the video for this upcoming week when we study Doctrine and Covenants 23-26. I listen to these videos in the morning as I go about my daily routine, about 30 minutes a day. I do this after I listen to the Book of Mormon for about 5 minutes and then a talk from General Conference, using the suggestions in the Come Follow Christ lesson for the week.
He also has shorter videos that don’t go verse by verse if you don’t want the deep dive. Plus he has daily devotionals. Check out his channel here. He has a theology degree from a divinity school in Tennessee plus a gift for explaining things with stories and analogies, so I just love learning from him.
This is one of those rare unicorn movies that is perfect for a married date night movie because it is about marriage and staying married. I love that it shows the journey of a married couple from a young 20ish years old couple to silvery old age. It shows the tears that come from everyday living, arguments, rebel children, and other trials. Then it shows the joy that comes as a married couple decides to turn their lives over to God and raise their children according to the Bible. It’s done by the Kendrick Brothers, who have produced Fireproof, Facing the Giants, and Courageous. I love that it shows the couple’s 50th wedding anniversary celebration at the end, with family gathered around to honor the couple’s legacy of God-fearing, honorable living in rearing a family to the Lord. It also shows interracial adoption, and what future technology we might have, which make it extra fun. The acting isn’t the best but that’s OK. I hope you enjoy it!
Here’s the trailer below. Then the full movie is below that.
I am highlighting this book today because it is about family roots, and March is the month where I love to celebrate family roots. First, because many people revel in Irish roots the month of March because of St. Patrick’s Day. I do have a bit of Irish ancestry to join in the St. Patty’s Day fun, as well as English, Danish, Swedish, Scottish, and German. Second, I love celebrating family roots in March because RootsTech is often held this month.
Here’s why I love the book:
-it’s based on a true story of family hospitality, compassion, service, love, and sacrifice
-it involves family roots, did I already say that, LOL?
-it takes place in Korea, which I have a fondness for, since one of my brothers served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in South Korea, and then lived there after his mission. One of my Veggie Gals girlfriends lives there now, after serving a mission there, then two other Veggie Gals also served a mission there. All three of them had my brother as their Korean language teacher in the Missionary Training Center. A nephew, a brother-in-law, and my former bishop also served missions there. To top it off, so did famous author Brandon Sanderson!
-it involves history, so when you read it to your child for homeschooling it will help the child, and you, feel some emotion and context behind the division of Korea into North and South with the 38th parallel.
-you can learn Korean words and culture by reading this book. Things like “kimchi” and “goguma.”
-it teaches the importance of community. I love, love these two lines from the book:
“Our visitors are not stones we can toss to the sea. They are people, our neighbors, to help and to love.”
“We’re all scared, but it’s easier to face our fears if we stick together and hold each other up.”
-it is just soooo lovely! The ink and watercolor illustrations are just so intoxicatingly beautiful. They give me such a supreme yummy feeling. Like the kind of yummy feeling I get when I listen to “Longer” by Dan Fogelberg. The kind of yummy that just makes me want to melt into a bathtub of hot water and bubbles and never get out of the tub. Until the water gets cold, LOL. The kind of yummy that just brings tears to my eyes and make my heart ache.
I highly recommend this book! It is a keeper! Buy it or get it from your public library today! It’s a book you will definitely want to share with your children, grandchildren, even neighbors. It was a contender for the 2025 Caldecott Medal, and I can see why.
The cover of a pattern to make capes and jackets like the Sound of Music girls. I can’t remember where I got this image, other than it was a sewing blog. if anybody knows the blog where this came from, please let me know in the comments so I can give credit.
We’ve had a lot of rain today. It’s a day where I feel like singing, “Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens…” That’s the “My Favorite Things” song from The Sound of Music movie musical.
So, let’s talk about some of my favorite things for mothering, which relate to The Sound of Music, because of the Maria Principle, named for Maria Von Trapp, the governess turned mother in The Sound of Music.
Image Credit: wikipedia.org
Before I get into the Maria Principle, please indulge me with some history of The Sound of Music.
Did you know that 60 years ago, this month of March 2025, The Sound of Music starring Julie Andrews, the greatest family movie ever, premiered?
Yes, it’s true! A year ago, at my homeschooling co-op school, we as moms read the book the movie is based on and discussed it. It’s shown above and written by the real Maria herself. I found out that one of the moms hadn’t read the book nor watched the movie! I was aghast! She is so missing out! I hope she has rectified that cultural literacy omission by now. Anyway, that got me on a Sound of Music binge for a few weeks, reading other books about it and watching YouTubes of behind-the-scenes.
Heather Menzies, who played Lousia, one of the children in the movie, reported that it was strange to introduce herself on the first day of school in 1964 as someone who had just filmed a movie for her summer vacation. Nobody had seen it yet, so they didn’t realize what a big deal this was. Then during the fall of 1964 it went through whatever they do to make a movie launchable: edits and such. Then it was released in theaters in March 1965. So, to celebrate this 60th anniversary of the release of The Sound of Music, I’m going to blog every so often in 2025 about Maria von Trapp, Julie Andrews, and all things Sound of Music.
The first post in this series is all about “The Maria Principle.”
What is the Maria Principle?
We get it from the book mentioned previously. The principle is hinted at in the movie, with the piece about Maria making the Von Trapp children play clothes out of the curtains in her room. The real story, as usual, is a bit different. In her book, Maria tells us her problem of seeing such a beautiful outdoor world for the little Von Trapps to play in. The home where she worked as a governess had a beautiful yard with grass, flowers, bushes, etc. She asked the little darlings why they didn’t ever play in the yard. They stated that it was too hard to play in the yard because if their ball went rolling away, they would have to get into the mud and then get their clothes dirty. The idea started percolating in her mind of how to solve this problem. Well, Christmas was coming, so she asked for boots for the children so they could get walk in the mud.
She put the letter on the windowsill, as was the custom for Austrian children when leaving letters for Saint Nicholas. Imagine her delight when on the morning after the visit from Saint Nick, all her Christmas dreams had come true! He had delivered boots and raincoats for the children. Now they could all play outside and not stress about the captain getting mad that their clothes got dirty.
In the movie, the fictionalized story goes that Maria sewed play clothes out of the curtains in her bedroom so the children could feel free to romp in the hills of Salzburg. That way they didn’t have to stress about getting their nice clothes dirty.
Translating the Maria Principle literally to your own life means having the proper outerwear (hats/boots/coats/capes/gloves etc.) for any kind of weather conditions to protect your regular clothes.
See my photo at the very top of this post. Here we have The Sound of Music movie girls dressed in charming hats and capes for a proper outdoor outing when it might get chilly. The boys don’t get hats, just jackets and pants. I guess they all don’t plan on chasing any balls in the mud, so they don’t need boots. I just hope the girls have some kind of leggings tucked away if it gets super cold.
I haven’t yet seen a Sound of Music coat, but here’s an umbrella with the pattern of the curtian/play clothes, designed by Marta, aka Debbie Turner, which you can get here.
This principle is super important if you are a Crunchy Mom who loves to get her 1000 hours outside in. A year ago, my married daughter did Forest School with her two preschool boys, even in January and February. That means they met outside with other homeschooling families in a forest at the same time every week, rain or shine, snow or not. They all loved it! Even though it was wet, mushy and gray, because they were equipped for the wet and cold, it was fun for her and the boys. She loves putting them in bright colored boots and other winterwear.
We can apply the Maria Principle much more broadly to all aspects of life, beyond having proper outerwear. It can look like having the right material things to enjoy play in all environments, not just mud and/or cold. It can look like having the right materials to enjoy all opportunities, for work or play. It can look like having the right materials that even turn work into play. When you don’t have the right materials, play can actually turn into work, LOL.
So, to sum up the Maria Principle, it is this: “Having just the right material thing allows one to best enjoy the opportunity for play, or work, resulting in the least amount of stress.” In this case, the boots helped them to play outside, protecting their regular clothes from the mud. They didn’t have to fear grumpy Dad would get grumpier. (Actually, the book stresses that the dad was actually quite nice. It’s just in the movie where he was grumpy.)
As a mom, I long ago learned the Maria Principle, I just didn’t have a name for it yet. I love it when I read books and they talk about things that I’ve already thought about! I know I would have loved talking to the real Maria about this. It was fun to read in her book about how, after she moved to America, she decided to have a family camp in Vermont to preach the joys of singing. She got to go shopping to get all the right stuff for it to equip the cabins. That sounded like some fun shopping trips in NYC and its environs.
So here is the beginning of my list of my top favorite material objects for enjoying opportunities to live, work, and play as a mom. When you are a mom, your whole life is actually a “job.” You are always on call 365/24/7. The lines between “work,” “play” and “just live” are so blurred. For example, nursing can be such a joy, but it’s also a “job” since you are nourishing another human being. If you are committed to nursing your baby, I encourage you to find all that you can to make it more enjoyable. My list below includes some of those things.
Here we go, here are Tree of Life Mama’s Top 15 Things that Exemplify the Maria Principle for Every Crunchy Mama With a Nursing Baby. This list comes after 30+ years of being a mom. Please appreciate all the years of hard knock experience I went through to gain this knowledge. I am assuming everyone reading this has a smartphone, if not, add that to the top of the list. Some of these things I don’t even own, I’ve just heard praises about them, so they are on my list. I’m also assuming you already have an automatic dishwasher, washer and dryer, and refrigerator. If not, start with those basics. I’ll cover other things beyond being a nursing mom in other posts.
These 15 things all relate to being a young mom with a nursing baby, balancing that job with homemaking. On other days I’ll share Maria Principle items related to pregnancy, homeschooling, and older motherhood.
1. An apron. Much as it might sound old-fashioned, frumpy, and unfeminist, an apron is actually quite a desirable thing. In my newlywed and early mom days, I resisted using these every day even though my sweet sister-in-law gave my husband and me matching aprons for a wedding gift, which I still have. Finally, I wised up, realizing that it was worth wearing them. When I used one to protect my clothes when preparing food, I saved time doing laundry. I later discovered that they come in lots of fun colors and styles. Like the one with The Sound of Music curtain print above. You are sure to find one that you love, from etsy or amazon or somewhere else like here. You can even feel glamorous in an apron! I now subscribe to apron therapy. That’s the idea that wearing an apron can make working in the kitchen more fun because you feel so good because you look great!
2. A bed big enough to enjoy sleeping in with your growing baby next to you and your husband. Sharing a bed with the baby at night makes night nursing so much easier, after you master the art of nursing lying down. I’m talking California King size. Get that instead of a crib. I wish I had bought one before my first baby. It’s probably the best investment you can make for family and marriage harmony. The three of you fit easily enough when the baby is a tiny newborn, but trust me, that baby will grow in a blink of your eye. When the baby is a toddler, and starts giving you ninja kicks at night and wedges between you and your husband to form the letter “H” you will be glad you got the biggest bed possible.
3. A sturdy bed rail that folds down. It attaches to the side of the bed. We had two of these through my nursing baby years. They gave me peace of mind, for all the times when I was cosleeping with the baby not between my husband and me but on the other side of me, next to the edge of the bed. With it properly installed I didn’t worry about the baby falling out of bed. I didn’t always want to nurse on the same side all through the night. This is needed after the baby learns how to roll over.
4. A babysling or some other babywearing gear. Babywearing gives a mother an extra set of hands. So needed and so wonderful! That’s my husband and me above, with our firstborn in my first babysling, a puffy padded Dr. Sears NoJo ring sling. I had two other iterations that were blue plaid and blue striped. I’ve also enjoyed a homemade baby carrier that my mom sewed for me, a New Native imitation. It was a simple tube of khaki cloth that I enjoyed because it was more streamlined, without all the padding. The drawback however is that it’s not adjustable like the ring sling. See what New Natives look like over here. Baby carriers make getting out and about with baby easier as well so that when shopping or touring baby is right by you without your arms getting tired. (I do believe in strollers too, they have their place. I’ll have to have my married daughter fill us in about the best strollers another time.)
My husband was always such a great sport to wear our babies, even when we went to our church’s Valentine Dance one year! This is Baby #4.
5. A wonderfully fitting, supporting nursing bra. I had my favorite brands when I was nursing, which were Bravado and Leading Lady. My married daughter likes Hot Milk.
6. Nursing friendly clothes. They don’t have to be specifically designed for nursing, with the special slits that allow easy access to mom’s nipples. A loose-fitting top and skirt or pants make a nursing-friendly outfit as does a specially designed nursing dress. This way your baby can nurse easily without you feeling like you have to undress or go hide in a closet to nurse if you are in public because you feel like you are showing too much. Not that I’m against nursing in public, I’ve done it many times. I’ve done it in church, at the park, at the zoo, while shopping and at the airport. I do agree that it’s high time we normalize nursing in public. Anyway, this site has some stylish offerings of nursing clothes.
7. Baby outfits with feet covers so you don’t need socks. Baby socks and booties and shoes are those things that seem so cute when you first encounter them. So you want to buy them all as soon as the pregnancy test turns positive. But after living with them for months/years, having to keep track of them after they constantly fall off, launder them (the socks, not the shoes) and store them, you realize they are really annoying.
8. A nursing pillow. It’s amazing what a little support under the arms can do to make nursing more comfortable, something you look forward to because you can completely relax. If I had to buy a nursing pillow today, I’d get the one below with the gorgeous pillow cover shown above.
9. A food chopper that can be operated with just one hand, like the Zyliss food chopper shown above. This greatly came to my aid with my second baby. Sometimes I ended up nursing her in the sling while making dinner, otherwise she would cry, and I don’t believe in letting babies “cry it out.” This chopper allowed me to chop veggies with just one hand while I supported her head in the sling to nurse, with my other hand. Some moms have mastered the art of nursing in a sling with no hands. I did when my babies were older, but when they were younger it was hard for them to maintain the latch in the sling without my addding a hand to support the head.
An even better item is a food processor attachment for the next item, because it gets the job done faster. If you get it set it up before the baby needs to nurse, then you could operate it with one hand. It’s rather ironic that the same baby I just mentioned in the previous paragraph gave me this set of attachment blades for my KitchenAid stand mixer after she grew up and graduated from college, for a Christmas gift one year. It was like a karma paycheck for sacrificing for her all those months, nursing her in a sling while making dinner.
Credit for Two Photos Above and the Two Below: amazon.com
10. KitchenAid Stand Mixer. Speaking of stand mixers, let’s dive into that topic. My mom had one of these when I was a child. One of my sisters inherited it so I had to find my own. I was thrilled to finally get one used for $100 about ten years ago off of KSL Classified ads. It’s still working. It’s not nearly as pretty as the one shown above, it’s just boring white, but hey it gets the job done. I’ve heard they don’t make them like they used to and now use internal plastic parts instead of metal, so they don’t last as long. I don’t know which kind mine is, but it’s still working after getting it almost ten years ago used. I love all the attachments you can get for it for different jobs: food processing, pasta making, sausage making and more. Now they come in so many fun colors! You can even find knock-offs with the Pioneer Woman designs.
11. Sharp kitchen knives. Sharp knives cut so much better, so much more cleanly and so much more efficiently than dull ones. This allows a mom to enjoy food prep so much more! When the knife easily glides into the food, it’s like fitting Cinderella’s foot into her glass slipper. Such perfection and satisfaction in the kitchen! Get a knife sharpener for your knives and keep it handy. I’ve had a Cuisinart set of knives for years. They do well as long as we keep them sharpened. If I had more money I’d invest in the best knives of all, Cutco brand.
12. A sturdy vacuum cleaner that’s lightweight enough so it’s easy to push and pull with one hand, especially if you are nursing a baby in a sling. I’m so glad we’ve improved upon the clunky Kirbys like I had when growing up. That thing was a beast to move around! I’ve had an Oreck and thought it would last forever but the handle fell off. If anyone has a vacuum recommendation I’d love to hear in the comments below.
13. An Instant Pot. It makes fixing dinner so much easier! It has a slow cooker feature, so it can cook like a crockpot, but it can also cook things in “fast cook” mode as well with high pressure. If only this had been around when I was a young mom! Recipes abound on the Internet for all of the possibilities: yogurt, beans, pot roast, mac and cheese, soups, lasagna, dessert, and so much more!
14. A stylish diaper bag with tons of functional pockets that doubles as a purse. I suffered through using the cheap diaper bag given to me by the hospital sponsored by the artificial baby milk (ABM) company that had a contract with the hospital, stuffed with cans of ABM (which is so unethical! As it says here, “Hospitals should market health and nothing else!”) After suffering the fate of having such a bag that lets everything fall to the bottom, I ditched it and found something much better. I didn’t like hauling a diaper bag and a purse and learned to combine the two, with a bag that had lots of pockets so things stay organized. My favorite was a Lands End bag that the company no longer sells. It was similar to this one by L.L. Bean over here. I loved that it had a compartment for a bottle, which was for the baby, but I used it for my water bottle, plus lots of other compartments, with a changing pad that fit nicely inside. If I were to buy one now, I’d get something like the one above that is more stylish. I just might get it now to use a purse, not a diaper bag, since my baby is now 15.
15. Rugs, blankets, shower curtains, towels, bedding, and furniture in the colors you love. We see these things daily, they may as well be in colors and designs that you love. For me, that means bright cheery colors. My favorite “line” for all the afore-mentioned things is Pioneer Woman designed by Ree Drummond, from Walmart. I call these the Garanimals (it’s a 1970s things) of housewares because even though the designs are different, as every season she comes out with new designs, they all sort of go together in a splashy, eclectic way. You can find potholders, towels, dishes, appliances, rugs, kitchen tools, and more. She even has furniture that she has designed! These designs and colors just make me smile. You can find the “out of print” designs on ebay.
Photo Credits for Pioneer Woman Goods: walmart.com
That’s it for now! When I was a child, my family’s budget was always fairly tight. It wasn’t until my teens that my parents had more disposable income. When I was 14, they bought new furniture. Then we got a new TV and even a VCR. (This was the 1980s.) Our furniture was all brown and boring until the new stuff came in. Basically, I was raised with the pioneer mindset of “Use it up, wear it out, make it up, or do without.”
It’s nice to be thrifty like that but the drawback is that one starts to limit one’s thinking with that view and not expand one’s vision to see how one can attract more money and more material things that will make life much more beautiful and much easier. I believe God has inspired people to create things to make life more pleasant and convenient. It’s wonderful to become aware of all these wonderful things and avail ourselves of them and give them to others too!
So, in the coming months, I plan on blogging more about the Maria Principle. I want to blog about the Maria Principle regarding books during the nursing baby years, as well as items related to pregnancy, labor and birth, life with toddlers, life with older children, as well as homeschooling. I’m excited to share, so stay tuned!
(None of the above links are affiliated with me. I receive no compensation if you purchase anything from those links.)
Image Credit: Weston A. Price Foundation YouTube Channel
Wow, I wish this had happened when I was a young mom. This video below is from the 2024 Wise Traditions Conference in Orlando, FL. It’s a panel of women talking about nutrition for babies and children from a Weston A. Price Foundation point of view. Who is Weston A. Price? He was a dentist who researched the different indigenous populations the world over in the 1930s before these people were contaminated by the modern food industry. He found these people had zero birth defects, zero need for braces, zero glasses, zero chronic diseases, and zero mental illnesses. These people were happy and healthy. He analyzed their diets and discovered commonalities among them. The big ones were that the diets involved local foods, animal foods, and nutrient dense foods like organ meats. So, there were no vegans or vegetarians in the groups. He also discovered that the sacred foods all involved what he called Activator X, which is now thought to be Vitamin K2. If you want to know more, go here. A list of the diet principles is here.
When I was a young mom, I knew about Dr. Price and even bought the cookbook shown below, but I didn’t apply it all to my life or understand how to apply it to my life. I’m glad so many resources are around now to learn how to apply the WAPF dietary principles.
Those involved in the video are the following women, as shown in the screenshot above:
Hilda Labrada Gore, aka Holistic Hilda, the moderator of the panel
“Don’t worry if your kid won’t eat vegetables. Skip the veggies. Focus on nutrient-dense foods of meat and eggs.”
“Regular picky eating is a natural phase in a child’s development that all kids experience. They will outgrow it with time.” -Christine Muldoon
“During the break between pregnancies, it’s essential for a woman to rebuild her nutritional stores and avoid breastfeeding while pregnant.” -Sandrine Perez
“Just do the work, and even if the children don’t eat it all the time, remember that you’re doing what’s best for them.” -Pam Schoenfeld
Want more Wise Traditions ideas for nourishing your family?
Here are other times I’ve blogged about it with links to resources.
Wow, yesterday’s Family Discovery Day at RootsTech 2025 was so inspiring! It’s my personal tradition to watch this online every year. Some time I want to make it a family event and go in person. I always come away feeling so inspired. I love knowing that I’m joining with thousands of people the world over in watching it. It just feels as communal and full of surprises as Christmas. (Here are other times I’ve blogged about RootsTech.)
Just below is a short video summary about RootsTech. It’s the biggest genealogy conference in the world. Then I have the full video of yesterday’s Family Discovery Day below that. I watched a few videos each day on Thursday and Friday too. Family Discovery Day, on Saturday, is always my favorite.
I loved hearing from Elder Holland and Elder Andersen, two apostles of Jesus Christ. Elder Holland shared such a tender story about being near death for about 4 weeks. He said that he came out of with a strong revelation that it was important for him to pray more and to tell people everywhere to pray more. That felt so encouraging. After hearing that I thought, “Yes, I do want to do that more, to remember to pray silently instead of slipping into mentally complaining or despairing.”
The Piano Guys, Jon Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nelson, performed before we heard from Elders Holland and Andersen and Sister Andersen. Their music was so beautiful as always. They also shared a few family memories. I so loved that Brother Nelson showed the power of family stories in parenting. He said that with his children bedtime is often a battle. The difference between bedtime being a battle or bonding time is the bedtime stories he tells. He decided to look at his family history stories and tell them as bedtime stories to his children. Then he shared one of these stories, about his ancestor Eliza, who lived in England. Within a few months of each other, both her parents died, so she and her siblings were orphaned. She had to go to work in a button factory to support the family. She was feeling so poor and bereft, walking down the street, wondering where to go or who could help her. She prayed silently to God for help. A kind neighbor, Mary, reached out to her and invited her to church, to a meeting of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She found the hope she needed in the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. She got baptized and joined the ward orchestra. Then she found a handsome cello player in the orchestra, and they got married. As a couple, Eliza and her husband moved to Utah. They were walking down the street with just the clothes on their backs, not knowing where to go. The same friend who found Eliza on the streets in England found her again in Salt Lake City. She took them into her home and helped them get started in their new land.
He invited all of us to be like that. He said that he hopes all of his children turn their lives to God. He said that he has told them that when they do that, they may find themselves walking down their street, not knowing what to do. He encouraged them to pray and look for those Marys in our lives. And be those Marys for other people. I loved that, as well as the performance on the organ by Richard Elliott that sounded just like the Piano Guys. It’s amazing that an organ can sound like different instruments and that Brother Elliott can play the organ so well.
Elder Andersen’s wife, Kathy shared a few beautiful, touching stories about her family’s introduction to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. She said that her grandparents saved money so they could travel from Florida to the Logan Temple so they could have their 13 children sealed to them. Elder Andersen joked that Utah was too cold so they didn’t stay in Utah and went back to Florida.
This is the car that Sister Andersen’s family used for the 5k mile road trip
Then when Sister Andersen was four years old, her father and mother wanted to have the same temple blessing of being sealed and having their children sealed to them, so they traveled from Florida to Utah as well. Sister Andersen’s grandmother was worried that the family car wouldn’t make the 5,000-mile trip so she loaned them her car. I won’t tell the rest of the story; you’ll have to watch it. I felt touched by the Holy Spirit when Sister Andersen told that story, as well as another story of this same grandmother. She said that her grandmother went through a divorce at a time when that was rare. Years later she endured a tragic car accident that put her in a coma. Her father cared for his mother-in-law so much that he visited her every day in the hospital, to check on her, every day for years. Wow, what a devoted son-in-law! May we all live to engender such devotion towards each of us as family members.
It was fun to see videos of Elder Andersen on a dairy farm, talking about his childhood memories of living on a dairy farm. I love that he concluded by saying that our family history memories are precious. We can keep them alive by starting with “what you know” such as photos, dates, names and places. He said we can put them into familysearch.org, and then enjoy them for a long time.
You can get started today with what you know. Go to familysearch.org and create your account. It’s free, and you don’t have to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to join.
Want more of RootsTech? Go here to watch the archived videos from this year and past years.
Wow, we woke up to a LOT of snow this morning! All from what fell last night as it started snowing as I drove home from the theater. I went on a magical trip with relatives to see a Broadway-comes-to-SLC rendition of Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. It was so amazing! As we left the downtown theater to go home with the throng of theater goers, it was raining, and then the rain turned to snow. It felt so communal to leave that amazing play with other people, knowing that we had shared in a wonderful story about faith in God and redemption symbolizing redemption from Christ, as we headed to our homes. I’m so grateful to God for Victor Hugo creating such a beautiful story.
Then, how fun to wake up to a winter wonderland! What was even better was that my 15-year-old got up at 7:30 AM and shoveled the driveway and walks, without being asked. I’m so pleased I have such a thoughtful son! Later when we did Morning Basket for school, he fell asleep to take a much-needed nap. :-). So, I let him sleep while I exercised while I watched RootsTech, then came back so we could finish.
Speaking of Morning Basket, we recently read the book shown above, Sugaring Time, together for MB time. It’s the time of year when maple syrup is gathered. Every year, I like to read books about that in late February and early March. It sometimes feels as warm as a spring during this time. We had a few days like that over a week ago where it was 60 degrees. Then we get days like this wherethe temps plunge, and I feel like we live in Vermont with a blanket of snow everywhere.
It’s this kind of book that helps me remember that cold is fun and it’s fun to live with it in February and March, as it is what helps makes maple syrup. When you read the book above, you will learn about how it’s the cold that helps maple syrup happen. When the days warm up, to over 40 degrees, but then get below freezing at night, then the maple tree sap starts to flow.
I love this book because it shows the process of harvesting maple syrup from a sugar bush of maple trees in Vermont. I also love it that it shows a family and neighbors involved in the process, from Grandma down to a toddler that falls sleep in her arms while watching the dad work in the maple syrup shack. I also love that I can tell the photos come from the 1980s, my late childhood and teen years. It goes step by step from starting to put the spigots and buckets on the trees to tap the sap, all the way to eating the syrup on pancakes. You see the family load up the equipment on a sled, pulled by horses through the snow, wending through the sugar bush. It feels straight out of Farmer Boy. You learn about terms like “aproning” and the grades of syrup. So fun!
Here’s what amazon.com says about the book:
“In lyrical prose and black-and-white photographs, Lasky’s book depicts the Lacey family of Vermont making maple syrup…A rare kind of nonfiction, informative yet as easily read as fiction.” (School Library Journal)
I highly recommend the book so that you and your children can learn where maple syrup comes from. Here are some fun videos to watch as well.
-It’s sturdy, made out of plastic. I know plastic is not the Crunchy Mom thing, but at least it’s BPA-free. Sometimes you just have to lower your ideals. Since it’s not ceramic I’m not fearful of it breaking if dropped from the counter to the floor. I suppose it could break if dropped from a window 30 stories up or if run over by a car but that’s not likely to happen in my home. I have a super pretty Pioneer Woman butter dish (over here) but I don’t use it every day because I don’t want to risk it getting broken. Having 7 children and seeing so many things broken through the years does that to a mom. 🙂
-It can hold two Kerrygold sticks of butter at once.
-It has a lid so you can cover the butter when not in use. As any butter lover knows, you can store butter for up to the three weeks without refrigeration at room temperature without spoiling. Another thing any butter lover knows is that the butter dish gets really messy after just one or two uses. With the lid you can cover it all up. I also love that you can move the lid quickly with one flick of the hand as it is attached to the dish and just swivels up and down. I love having a lid so I can leave it on the counter so the butter stays soft, but protect it from the occasional bug or dust. Decades ago I had a butter ball which was touted as keeping the butter soft and covered. The problem was the poor design. It was a two part thing. The bottom part held water to keep the butter soft and the upper part, holding the butter, was turned upside down. So you had to grab the top part and turn it over to get to the butter. Then turn it back upside down. Inevitably the butter would slide out into the water. This is so much better! We can have soft, room temperature butter, with no mess, and no fuss to get to it.
-It comes with a matching spreader that has a special slot to fit into on the dish, behind a lip so it doesn’t easily get knocked off. See photo. I’ve always hated having a salad plate, or saucer (which is worse, because it’s smaller) for butter because there’s no “place” on the plate for a knife. It falls off easily. So then you might just say, “Just get a new knife out every time you use the butter and then wash it” but then you could end up using a dozen or more knives a day if you have a big family.
-It is dishwasher safe. You can remove the lid and put all three parts, the dish, the lid, and the spreader into the dishwasher to get all clean.
-It comes in 10 different colors, you are bound to find one that fits in with the color scheme of your kitchen. The ones below, plus ivory, orange, green, gray, beige, and yellow. Beautiful choices!
-It’s got a great price, $24.99 as an Amazon Prime product, as of today, over on amazon.com. This dish is totally worth the price! That’s not an affiliate link, I receive no kickback if you buy it through that link. I’m not being paid to promote this product. I just love it and think every butter lover should have one! Just train your family members to put on a new stick as the butter gets eaten, and you will always have soft butter with no mess. Kudos to the butterie.com team for making such a fabulous product! Go there to check out the other products, such as toast tongs. The price over there for the dish is $19.99, and if you buy at least $29.99 worth of products you get free shipping, at least as of today.
Tree of Life Mothering 