I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy. -Rabindranath Tagore-

This week was a great combination of hard work, fun, and spiritual growth.

For a few months now I've been wanting to take care of some of the untidy corners of my house, in particular a few stuffed and disorderly closets.  Every time I would find a pocket of time to accomplish those tasks, something fun would come along and I would forget about them.  However, this week I told myself I would be strong and say no to a few outings till I get my projects done.  The goal was to get my house projects done by the end of September, my Christmas projects done by October, and my two unfinished stories finished by November.  I think this is a bit ambitious for me, knowing I'm a mom of four with a very busy schedule, nevertheless it's good to have goals.  And believe it or not, for September, with the exception of one project, I was able to get the rest of them done by the end of the week.  I can't show you all of my accomplished tasks because that would be too long and boring, but here are a few pictures of three closets I was able to clear out this week.

The coat closet was covered with blankets, coats and boxes full of videos.  I gave away most of the VHS, a few DVDs, a bunch of winter coats that we never use, and organized the space.  I also added a box with school supplies organized in individual sections.  My kids can finally find where their pencils, crayons, glue or markers are.  Love it!

The next closet that needed attacking was my boys' closet.  I clean that room and closet once a week and it still gets messy each week.  I dedicated a whole day to this project.  I gave or threw away half of their toys, more than half of their clothes, and put up a couple of boxes in the shed.  I left out legos and blocks for the older kids, and knights, cars, animals, and puzzles for Charlton placed under their beds.  For the closet I kept only weapons, and then added a bookshelf to give the kids a bit more space to play in their room.  I'm very pleased with it, and it still is very orderly at the end of the week.

The last closet that needed attention was Gillian's.  Let me just tell you that Gillian was having hard time using and even closing the door of her closet.  The reason being half of her closet was being used as a dumping place for all of the dress-up clothes.  There were three gigantic boxes full of hats, props, and dress-up clothes.  I cleared out half of them, either gave them away or just threw them out.  And the rest I organized in two boxes.  The dress-up clothes went into the treasure chest and the hats into an open faced box on top of the chest.  My daughter can actually get to her church clothes now without much tribulation.

Having a clean and orderly house truly brings the Spirit, and this week that translated into a quiet house where everyone was quietly playing or working.  Charlton found his zoo animals, having learned about the zoo and its animals in preschool on Tuesday; Jefferson and James each found a corner in their room and played with legos while listening to Jules Verne tapes; Gillian drew her imaginative art while listening to her own tapes;  I was at times working while listening to French cafe music, or reading. 

Besides accomplishing my goals in getting my projects done, I also tried to follow the Spirit in helping others.  I felt impressed to cook for three different friends this week, and at times was a whole meal, and other times was fresh bread right out of the bread machine, or just a plate of cookies, and another time all of them together.  My husband, who loves sweets, was in heaven this week with me cooking two batches of cookies and one pan of brownies to share with others and my family.  Yum.

 

 

 

Sometime ago I read an article that said that God has given us talents and gifts to help others and to built His Kingdom on earth.  I remember getting a bit upset about that because I thought my talents weren't given to me just to help others, but to accomplish what I wanted in life.  But as I have grown older and hopefully more mature, and as I have experienced life, I've become grateful for the gifts that I've been blessed with and for the desire to share those with others.  One night Elijah and I were discussing the principle of consecration, and as I pondered on that later, a thought came to my mind that truly giving of ourselves through our talents, time, and energy is what that means.  I know from my own experience that sharing what we have been given with others brings joy not only to those who receive it but to us who give it as well.

As a preschool, we had planned to go to the Zoo on Thursday.  The kids had learned about zoo animals and letter z on Tuesday, and so we thought they would enjoy looking at the animals and playing with each other.  Letter Z is one of the first letters that Charlton could recognize, so this outing was awesome for him.  He kept saying that he wanted to go and see the Zebra, because zebra starts with a z, although his favorite animal is the giraffe.  He even took with him a toy zebra and carried it around everywhere we went.

 

 

 

Besides, taking pictures of landscapes and children, the next thing that gives me joy is taking pictures of animals.  They are so beautiful and diverse, and I'm at awe at God's creations.  Here are a few of my favorites this time:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, for my favorite picture I had to wait till we were getting ready to leave.  I had seen hummingbirds flying busily the whole time there, but I was close to this particular one, and he was so intent in drinking nectar that I was able to come close and click a few fabulous shots of this extraordinary bird.

 

 

 

  

On Friday, we had been invited by some friends of ours to spend the afternoon and evening with them.  We were looking forward to some good company and relaxing times, and we weren't disappointed.  The kids had a blast tubing, roasting marshmallows, and playing with fireworks. And as for us adults, we enjoyed the boat ride with its accompanying peaceful noise of birds, the calming effect of the water, and relaxing view of the sunset.  Thank you friends, that was much needed.

Saturday was one of the hottest days of September, the heat climbing up to the high 90s.  I took the kids swimming for about four hours, and believe it or not they were in the water for most of the time.  Charlton wanted to be in the water, but he wanted me to be with him too.  He is an interesting child; he needs so much attention and I'm not used to it.  My other three had each other growing up and after I would play and read to them they would just play together.  They do the same now.  Charlton has me and his siblings to play with, but he still wants my attention constantly.  He is so adorable though that I don't mind giving it to him 100%.  When I would swim a few laps on my own, he would want me to take him with me.  We finally convinced him to put some floaties on and then I took him to the deep-end with me.  He figured it out that he could swim all by himself, and after that he didn't want to get out of the water.  First step to swimming by himself. 

On Saturday evening, I attended the General Relief Society Broadcast.  The messages shared focused on the themes of  applying the atonement of Jesus Christ in our lives and in raising our bar in our service toward each other as visiting teachers and as sisters in Zion.  It was impressed upon me the thought that if we all concentrate in helping and serving each other regardless of our differences, the Spirit of harmony and love will enter our hearts and friendships.  I'm grateful for a heritage of service.  At a very early age, my mother's example of always giving what she had to others and the joy she felt in that service taught me that nothing matters in this life but our pure hearts, and service has that power to purify us.  That message was reinforced on Sunday in our Relief Society meeting when we heard talks and experiences on how we can be better Visiting Teachers and friends.  I loved the title of the meeting: Visiting Teaching: A Personal Relationship; A Discipleship of Ministering.  I invite you to pray and find one person this week to serve and minister, whether that be your friend, neighbor, spouse, or even someone you don't particularly like.  I know you will be blessed with joy and peace, and we all need those blessings.  Have a great week!

Wretched beginning!

Blame my very long book that took three days to read, or the preparations for my mom's coming (I've moved Gillian downstairs, and arranged the upstairs room for my mom), or just my laziness, but I feel ashamed that we are already two weeks into 2011 and I haven't written even one post. My new year resolutions included my consistency in my blog. Don't distress; I'm not easily discouraged.

These past two weeks have been filled with work, lots of reading to my children and to myself, goal setting (many of them quite impossible), lunches and dinners with friends, and more work.

Last week I took upon myself to clean out and organize the boys' room, especially after noticing all the Christmas presents spread out all over the floor. That took a whole day, but in the end I was very pleased. When I clean out rooms, I always bring one box for trash and one for give-away. I do this very often, probably once a month, but of course after Christmas is a great time to get old things out of the house.

Next was Gillian's room. This project took me a whole week, the reason being that I wasn't just cleaning things out, but moving the rest downstairs. I wanted my mother to have the upstairs room for herself next to the boys. She would have the privacy of her own bathroom upstairs, as well as be near "her boy" Charlton. Gillian loves her room downstairs, and my mom's room feels very comfortable. Believe it or not, I had a whole box full of trash and two huge boxes to give away out of Gillian's room, and I still felt I could have given more away. We just have to see what she is going to use this next month. I also went into my room and got stuff out that I don't need or wear; I just wished Elijah had time to go through his closet and toss things out too. Maybe will add that to his already busy Saturday. Well, enough about work.
For Christmas, one of the many gifts that Santa gave Gillian and Jefferson was an alarm clock. Actually, they each got one. They have been wanting one for a long time, and I don't know why I hadn't bought them one already. Nevertheless, they got their wish for Christmas, and I'm so glad Santa granted it to them, because it has been a blessing to me and to them. Since school started last week, Gillian and Jefferson have woken up by themselves, made their beds and brushed their teeth without anyone telling them, and after dressing themselves, have come to wake me up. In some instances, Gillian has also made food for Charlton just so he wouldn't wake me up. To tell the truth sleeping in a bit longer is sweet, but that's not the reason I'm so happy about this change. I felt for a long time that they are all old enough to take care of themselves without me having to get their clothes out and reminding them to brush their teeth. I personally don't mind helping my children; I actually like it, and I think every mother does. However, I wasn't teaching my children independence. Now, they take pride in doing all things by themselves, and race to my room to show me who got ready faster. The funny things is that from the older three, James has already been ahead of my other two. He has already been waking up and dressing on his own for a long time. It goes to show that kids are capable of way more than what we think.

Last Monday, I was out shopping for a few things that I was going to need after switching the rooms. When I got back, I found three bags full of children's books in front of my door. There was no note, and although I kept looking for clues, in the end I couldn't figure out who had dropped them. Gillian brought me into my senses by saying "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's read them!" Truth be told, we spent the whole afternoon till dinner time, devouring them all. Sometimes I would read to all of them, and sometimes Gillian and Jefferson would read on their own, while I read to James and Charlton. In one of those moments, Gillian exclaimed "Ah, this is a good life!" Truer words have never been said!
That evening, I get a phone call from my friend Amy telling me she had dropped some books off. She later explained that her sister-in-law, whose children are older than ours, had brought her about ten bags full of books. When there was no more room in her house to store them, she thought that maybe she should give some of them to some of her friends. My name came immediately into her mind, and she followed her promptings. She then proceeded to tell me that if I didn't want them she wouldn't mind taking them to the library. I told her what we had done that afternoon and what Gillian had said, which made Amy say that she knew she had brought them to the right house. During the small talk that followed, she asked me where I had been that morning. I told her I had been shopping for bookshelves. We both had a laugh.