Making home a holy place part II

            It is because I really liked this article that I had to write more about it. For now, I will be focusing on television, music, and books. I can't tell you enough how many times I have stopped reading a book because of its vulgarity. Music that are extremely sexual and vulgar makes me mad! I enjoy a lot of different types of music, my favorite is heavy metal and classical (I know, two opposites but I love both equally). I am picky though in what I listened to and if I feel comfortable hearing certain songs loud then I know it is good to listen, I know of some people who listen to music and as soon as someone is close by, they lower the volume as if ashamed of what they are listening to and who could blame them? many songs are shameful, old and new songs. Some people think that music nowadays are bad but I have heard music from the 60s or 70s that are equally bad too. There has always been good and evil, therefore there has always been good and bad music.
     What about TV? there are so many shows out there that are family oriented, funny, and uplifting... there are also many that are... the opposite and not even funny when they try to be. Then why watch them? why waste our time on things that are not going to be uplifting? I am not saying I don't watch TV, in fact, my husband and I enjoy of a little "date" almost every night by watching a show on netflix or movies. The thing is, we have the power to choose what comes into our homes and what doesn't. We literally have remote control that enable us to "switch" the channel whenever is needed and to turn it off when TV is not needed.
       Like brother and sister Mouritsen (refer to the article) said: "We don’t feel it’s necessary to have religious or classical music playing constantly. We find it helpful to have appropriate music playing much of the day and evening; it produces the calming, cheerful effect as only good music can."
         It is plain that we are not required to only listen gospel music or classical music but choose wisely. What more about books??? just because it is a book doesn't mean that we can read anything we want. As I mentioned before, there are many books out there that are simple unreadable to me. Also, think about it. Movies and books are almost the same thing, movies, shows and TV are just representation of books that have been written, so... no, books could be equally evil if we let it be as TV, if we let it be.
          I have come to realize how hard is to be become and exemplary woman, mother, wife, person. There are so many things that threaten our families but I am so glad that WE  have the power to choose! I am truly grateful for good TV, good movies, good music, and good books. Thanks to people with amazing talent we can appreciate and enjoy all the things listed above. I don't have words to express how thankful I am towards my Heavenly Father for inspiring people to do good and to show it through their talents so that we can enjoy them too. As I said in part I of this topic, let's keep our houses clean... this time not only dust but from evil things!

Getting ready for Christmas!

We started a new tradition of writing Santa letters the week after thanksgiving. Alexis was really excited about it so that he could tell Santa to bring him back his tools (he saw or knew that his gifts were in the back of the car and we told him that Santa has them now). So, I set out to write the letters and this is what Alexis and Charlotte told me to write:
- Tools, belt for tools, helmet, mac (a truck that carries cars, he calls them mac thanks to the movie "Cars"), and food for Charlotte ( I hope he meant the play kitchen oven that comes with plastic food)
         We put it in our little Christmas tree and I told them that Santa would take it one night, after a couple of days the letters were gone and Alexis exclaimed "yay" while jumping up and down!
         It is so wonderful to see kids so happy about magical things like that. To me, Santa represents the love of Christ. I told the kids how Santa works for Christ and he was really happy that he was helping Christ. I explained to the kids how when Christ was born there were three wise-men who brought gifts to Him. In Christmas we celebrate the birth of the Christ. I loved an article in the lds.org website where it talks about Santa and Christmas. It says that if we eliminate Santa because we think of it as commercialism and then the idea of not celebrating Christmas at all because Christ was born on April not December.... well, it is plainly ridiculous. I have done some research and I loved some talks from Elder Holland and President Uchtdorf in which they say that Christmas is when everyone is united and can feel the spirit of Christmas and when the hearts of people open. I know I have strongly felt it, everywhere I go, I can feel people changing. I also love how President Uchtdorf quoted a story well known "The Grynch that stole Christmas" form Dr. Seuss.
           Let's not be a Grynch, also, don't let anyone steal the spirit of Christmas. Tonight a phrase that stuck with me after watching the devotional was "Don't spend Christmas" Christmas is not about money, or gifts, I am not saying gifts are wrong because even Elder Holland said "I am a little giddy about giving and... receiving" he mentioned he likes gifts but not to make this holiday season only about gifts. I am excited to spend Christmas with my family, this year I made the gifts for my parents and other family relatives, I hope is more meaningful this way to them as it is for me. I learned new skills while making them and I thought about each person as I was making them. It made me happy and it brought the Christmas spirit this season.
           Also we started a tradition a few years back of doing an anonymous service for someone. We love it, we love giving, and meanwhile, we feel like we are receiving blessings. I hope our kids can grow up and see that, I hope they know how important it is to remember the Savior even more during Christmas time. I really hope they can remember the biggest gift that Christ gave to us, salvation through his atonement. May the Spirit of Christmas be with you all. I can't express how excited I am for it and how much I am grateful for all I have and for all the blessings I have received.

Making home a holy place

        I love cleaning but I guess, is not so much the cleaning as it is to have a clean house and be able to feel the spirit. I have 2 young kids that love getting their toys out and that is fine but there is a big difference between toys scattered and dirt scattered. I see toys in the floor and it doesn't bother me, as long as the kids are playing with them, but it bothers me when there are crumbs on the floor. It doesn't take long to clean up a room or to vacuum. I vacuum the living room twice a day and each time it takes 2 minutes. I sweep the kitchen floor few times a day, usually after we are done eating and when the kids go to bed, again it takes few minutes to do this. It feels really good to have a house that smells good and feels good. 
         http://lds.org/ensign/1980/01/making-home-a-holy-place?lang=eng&query=clean+homes This is a really good article that pretty much summarizes how cleaning:
1 - Home beautification and orderliness

"Just as we feel the Spirit of the Lord in the clean, orderly surroundings of a chapel or a temple, we can more easily invite the Spirit of the Lord into our homes by making them clean and orderly. No home, no matter how costly, is beautiful if it isn’t neat. Even an impoverished home can be beautiful if everything is orderly. We find an increased spirituality and reverence when our home is clean.

Parents and children should all help keep a home clean, inside and outside. We have tried to make housecleaning more of an attitude than an event. We try to generate pride in our home, which prompts a more constant awareness of the home’s condition. When we clean thoroughly, father is responsible for major parts of the process. When the children see him helping, they have a greater desire to do their part." 

      With that said, let's keep our homes clean and organized! let's not accumulate things that we don't use, let's keep the dust out of our homes, let's keep our homes as a sanctuary and we all can start by cleaning!

              

Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving day. I know we did. The thankful jar was a success, it was so great to hear the things we had written down that we were grateful for on that day. We definitely felt the spirit in our home. As for the "Thanksgiving meal" it was great, we are still eating left overs. We loved it and it was such a fun day. Here are the things that we wrote down:
Cameron:
- A clean house. Studying to get a good job for Millie, Alexis, and Charlotte. Living in Provo. Charlotte, Millie, and Alexis. Prophets. Mormon messages. Life. Bright future. Living in the mountains

Me: 
- For Service and the opportunity to serve. Beauty of the Earth. My body and its strength. Family. Lord's guidance. For freedom. Internet. Mountains. For my kids. Snow. Grateful that Kena is ok, and that her surgery was a success (my neighbor's daughter)

Alexis:
- My feet. Daddy. Food. Hot chocolate. Puiqui (his penguin). Cookies and cars.

Charlotte:
- Cookies. Water. Feet. Belly. Eyes. Elbows. Pizza. Poto (butt). my hair.

Ham, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, gravy, green bean casserole, brownie, pumpkin pie, cheesecake, and stuffing.

Families are Forever

Every day I have gospel discussion with the kids, they are very simple of course for a 3 year old and a 1 year old. Lately we have been talking about "The Family: A Proclamation To The World" and I have been explaining how we are a family and that we do things together and try to be good so that we can stay together forever. Well, I thought they weren't listening or that they didn't understand the meaning of family. Every day I wondered if they were learning something or at least feeling the Spirit, now I know that they have! My son took a picture where I am with my parents, my brother, and my little cousin then he showed it to my husband and told him: "See? my family!" I couldn't believe it! He understands it so well, it is nice to see the fruits of hard work and love! He is such a sweet little boy and I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father to have sent me such wonderful children. I know that families are forever and every moment is precious.

My  sweet boy!

Babies!!

I am crazy about babies! I want more kids and we have been trying to get pregnant for over 1 year now.  So I had surgery a little over 2 months ago. I had an appendix attack and when they opened me to remove it, they discovered cysts, and scar tissues, which they thought it was cancer. They fixed everything but meanwhile, they discovered I had only one fallopian tube and the only one I had was the one filled with cysts. Now, I hope you can see why I think it is a blessing. I am so glad that I had an appendix attack, otherwise I probably wouldn't have discovered the cysts and scar tissues until it was too late... and no, I don't have cancer. I do, however, have a pituitary tumor which affects all the hormones of my body and doesn't let me get pregnant unless I take some hormone medicine which I can't until I get an MRI, which I also can't have until I have insurance so... next year I will have my insurance and get that all checked out. Still, I feel terrible every time I get a Negative Pregnancy Test! I am not even 100% sure that it is the tumor affecting me but at least a 90%.. which is a lot! I felt stressed and horrible about myself. I kept thinking of all those girls that don't want a baby and yet get pregnant so easily! but now I know better. I know that if the Lord wants me to have more kids, he will send them to me, granted I have to do my part, which I will once I get my insurance, and the rest it is up to HIM. I feel much more relaxed now and I am just looking at the future with faith, if the Lord only wanted me to have my two kids, it is for a reason. I love them and I am happy with them and I can't deny I still would love more babies, at least one more. As I said though, it is so much nicer to just trust in the Lord  because even you want something, it might not be the best for you and the Lord knows better. I am grateful for the surgery, I am grateful for my kids and my husband, I am grateful for my health even though it seems like I always develop a new place for a cyst or tumor I still love my body!! I am grateful that my Heavenly Father gave me this body, and I just need to walk with faith on HIM. When I do get pregnant though, I will post it to the world!!!

I do have the cutest kids in the world!

Homeschooling...

Do you need patience to homeschooling? yes! Do you need to be organized? Absolutely! Is it easy? Nope, Is it worth it? Yes. I am often asked why am I homeschooling my kids, there is a simple answer: Because the Lord told me to. I did not want to home-school but my husband was saying that it will be the best. When my first child was born, and after much praying, I felt that I should home-school, I knew the Lord wanted me to do it and I knew, as I know now, that He will guide me through it. When you see your kid learning something new it's like watching them to walk for the first time! or like saying their first word. That is homeschooling, it is a blessing! Do I think is for everyone? NO! Some friends have prayed and half their kids are homeschooling and the other they felt strongly that they needed so send them to school. We are all different individuals so I know that the Lord has special missions for each one of us.  For those out there who are homeschooling... don't give up, if you know you are doing the right thing you will be guided, you are your kids best teacher and they will eventually appreciate the time you are giving up for them. For those of you who know that the right thing is to send them to school, ask your kids how their day was, learn what they are learning so that you can talk about it with them. They will love that their mom is interested on the things that they are learning! Needless to say, I love being a mother, I love homeschooling my kids, and I know I am doing the right thing. I have never ever felt like I needed to send them to school. In fact, when I think about it I get a feeling like it's wrong! So it's better to follow what you feel and never doubt!!

Mother for the eternity, what a great calling!

     I am so grateful to be a mother. Even though my husband is going to school we still want to have more kids, sure our finances are a little tight because I don't work and I am not planning on doing so because I think I have a bigger job to do, which is an honor, to raise and educate my children. It is interesting to see women go to school, marry, and keep going to school and still they don't feel fulfillment. I think because we as women are born to be nurturers. We might not have a lot right now, but I am sure the Lord will bless us for following his commandments. I love a quote from President Kimball:
        "I have told tens of thousands of young folks that when they marry they should not wait for children until they have finished their schooling and financial desires.... They should live together normally and let the children come....
        "I know of no scripture," President Kimball continued, "where an authorization is given to young wives to withhold their families and go to work to put their husbands through school. There are thousands of husbands who have worked their own way through school and have reared families at the same time"
   I have to say, I love it. My husband is working part time and going to school full time and he still has time for us. We don't have much money but we are smart on our finances and more efficient because of it! I have learned to appreciate things so much more and I feel it is a blessing because when losing so much I have gained so much more!!! I can't deny that I am scared of how my kids are going to turn out.
    Today my little girl fell backwards from the couch, my husband slid on the floor and was able to put his hand on the floor just as her head was about to bump it! It was a scary thing to watch and I am grateful that my husband was quick enough to stop what could have been a disaster. Afterwards my daughter said to me, while hugging me, "mommy, I am not going to fall anymore... no more" to which I replied: "I know you won't, I know you learned, and I will be here to hold you if you do" I can relate to that when she grows up, how many of us get scared of our kids "falling" into bad habits?, into things that they shouldn't be around of?. I kept thinking that I don't want her to "fall" but I can't shield my kids from everything, they are going to have their own experiences and makes mistakes but I am going to make sure that they learn so that they don't "fall" as much and when they do I will be there to hold them and "catch" them. In moments of trials it's when we need a loving person to hold us tight. When you fail you learn but hopefully they don't have to learn the hard way. It is scary indeed and that is why I have to change myself and be a better person so that my kids can have a good example in their life.

Aren't they adorable?

This Fall..

I am planning our first Thanksgiving dinner by ourselves this year! I am really excited because I feel that I have learned so many new things like: cooking, sewing by hand, and crafts. I am making the decorations and planning the menu already!. I really enjoy cooking and making my home look beautiful. It is hard sometimes to find time to do some things with the kids around. As mentioned in my profile, I am homeschooling and even though my kids are 3 and 19 months we still have a routine that we love to follow. When they go to bed at night, it's my time to read, learn, do crafts and rest which works out perfectly. So... this year I decided to make a "Grateful Jar" which  I am decorating it (pics will follow once I am done) and as soon as I am done making it we are going to put paper and pen right next to it on a table and write things that we are grateful for until Thanksgiving day. On Thanksgiving, we are going to read them out loud before we eat!
 I thought this was the perfect solution to the repetitive "I am thankful for my family", which it's true but it seems sort of meaningless when you don't know what else to say when it's your turn to say what  you are grateful for this year.  I am sure some days we feel really grateful about some things but we don't write them down and either we forget, or it loses its meaning b/c we don't quite remember how it happened... am I right? So writing them down as they happen will have more meaning and it will be a great tradition to start. Also, we can learn from each other and we'll be strengthen as a family when listening to moments of great joy and happiness. I think next year we are going to start since November 1st though, to give more time for us to appreciate things better and find more reasons to be grateful about our life that the Lord has given us.

I painted the vase with homemade materials