Family - McKenzie Sue Makes

My two little shadows✨ I shared a poem recently

My two little shadows✨ I shared a poem recently and immediately set to work on a design to hang in my home. The symbolism I created into the piece I think turned out to be even more powerful than the poem itself. I’ll share all about it in my stories! Women like Heavenly Mother, Eve, Mary, the Woman at the Well, the Mothers of the 12 Tribes are all mothers I want to emulate and the art piece subtly represents each of these amazing Women. You can download it on my website mckenziesuemakes.com!

Life lately: Vibrant canopies and blankets of yell

Life lately:
Vibrant canopies and blankets of yellow in a desert.
Creative playdates with new friends.
An unexpected sibling cuddle.
A newly painted thrifted bench.
Mommie and Hazie giggles during yoga cards.
Pretending to be a puppy.
Duck pond adventures.
James still sweet as can be.
Cutest little girl friends.
Brushing teeth “all by myself”. Life is just so good when you soak in these short moments. ✨

I am fully aware I am in the “middle of it”. T

I am fully aware I am in the “middle of it”. The middle of the mundane and chaos, the wiping noses, the potty-training, and more babies to come. The middle of can’t take a poop alone, spilled messes to clean every mealtime, and messy bun-no makeup days. I know I am in the part that others long to come back to or long to begin. The dimple baby fingers, the tickle giggles and the soft cuddly nursing moments. The naps in the car seats on a quick drive, the first steps and words, the complete and utter excitement over a piece of paper, and that all they want more than anything in the world is for mama to hold them. I know this is an incredibly hard, yet wonderfully beautiful time that I am holding dear and close to me. Although I don’t do it perfectly, I am cherishing this time because I know it is fleeting. “Motherhood is both a great blessing and a great challenge, and I’m grateful for the ways in which it stretches me, teaches me, and refines me to become the person Heavenly Father knows I can be.” (5 Ways to Find Joy in Motherhood — I’ll share them in my stories). Happy Mother’s Day to those in the middle of it, in the last quarter, in the end, and those who haven’t quite begun yet. It is a wonderful ride that we cannot control or stop so why not just enjoy the ride. ✨💛

This month I will… Go on a girl’s trip with s

This month I will… Go on a girl’s trip with sisters-in-law who have become some of my closest friends. I will wake up on Mother’s Day away from my husband and kids which at first will be refreshing and needed but then I will miss them dreadfully until I am back home that evening. I will think of the Mother’s Day 5 years ago when a dear friend Venmoed me as a very sweet gesture to say she was thinking of me in my sorrow of another Mother’s Day without a baby. I will give that same gift to someone I think needs a virtual hug on that sometimes difficult holiday (something I have done every year since that gift was given to me). In May, I will listen to uplifting podcasts, Inklings Zoom meetings with friends, and gather that knowledge and light in my number of physical and digital notebooks. I will write notes in my scriptures and read a book or two on the bench near the playground. I will host playdates and get to know the moms in my area, hopefully creating the foundation for deep friendships on the way. I will begin exploring the idea of hosting small Bible groups with these women because what better way to connect than through Jesus. I will draw up new ideas on my iPad Pro and finish a few projects sitting on the pile of my desk. I will design websites with my door locked behind me because “Mommy is working and Lindsay is here to play”. I will give myself grace because this sounds like terribly a lot and I may feel spread too thin. These things above are sprinkled between the majority of my May: spending quality time with my husband, cleaning up spilled cereal off the floor, cooking amateur dinners, folding lots of little clothes, and loving this family and home I have created. What a wonderful month ahead. ✨ #onedaymay #exhalecreativity

There is 8 years between photos 1 and 2. We sure h

There is 8 years between photos 1 and 2. We sure have some gray hairs and wrinkles already that show just how much life we have enjoyed together ❤️. I wouldn’t do the highs and lows with anyone else. I love this life we have built together. Happy anniversary @dr.ryan.rucker!

He is Risen — Happy Easter! So very grateful for

He is Risen — Happy Easter! So very grateful for the Savior and the knowledge of His gospel.
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I guess I wasn’t done with garden tomb projects — we baked an angel food cake and it made the perfect little tomb dessert for our Easter lunch!

Here I am, sitting and reading through the story o

Here I am, sitting and reading through the story of Jesus washing the feet of disciples in the gospel of John. I imagine him taking his nice outer garment off and wrapping an apron cloth around him. Kneeling down and surrounding himself around disgusting sweaty, dirty feet. Doing a task only the lowest of slaves would take part in. And Jesus becomes both the priestly king in the day before’s anointing as well as the lowest of all slaves in his washing of their feet. My study is cut short when I turn my head and see little Hazel with her “I just pooed in the toilet and need you to wipe me” look that only a mom knows. As I begin this disgusting task of wiping my child’s bum, I can’t help but see a similarity to the washing of the feet. As her mother, I honestly don’t find this task that disgusting at all. I will do anything for her, even if that means getting poop on my hands from time to time 😅. And I know the Savior feels that way towards me. He will do anything for me. He did EVERYTHING for me. I am working hard to love others deeply with a sacrificial heart and without judgement and by gosh, I am grateful for this incredibly difficult, yet completely fulfilling humble task of motherhood that is teaching me little by little how to be more Christ-like. ✨