Tip Tuesday

This month has been a busy one. First I tore the ligaments of my ankle, that was over a month ago and it still hasn't healed completely. It's funny how the house gets when mommy is not 100% well. Also the boys have been a little under the weather. With that said I am joining some of you and posting a tip this Tuesday.

The best tip I can give is plan. Yup simple as that or is it. See this month I have been trying to catch up with my housework after my little accident, that I have not planned my days as well as I used to. I have noticed that I spent alot more money on groceries and I did not take advantage of sales because of my lack of planning. I also did not plan my menu for two weeks and the result was chaos. A lot of food went to waste and my kitchen was a mess adding to the chaos and my discouragement. Now as the end of the month comes near I noticed that we have no money in our account, most of which I don't know where it went.

So ladies learn from me and take time to plan. Trust me that time spent on planning menus, outings, household cleaning, etc. will be time well spent.

Mother: A Review

Before I venture into writing a review on this book I would like to say that I am not a writer. I don't really like to write, especially not review. I lack a large vocabulary, I believe it's because I am surrounded by kids all day. So with that said here it goes.
Some time back I read a short bio on Jennie and in it she mentioned how the book Mother had changed her life so I got my hands on it. At the beginning this book seemed to have a slow start. Instead of making me want to stay home it showed the greatness of being an independent woman. These women had it all great homes, money, parties, beautiful clothes, excitement. But did they really have it all? The more I read I came to the realization that they didn't have it all; they were not happy, not truly anyways. Sure they seemed to be happy. But in reality they were overwhelmed with everything they "had" to do. They were mothers, wives, business women, socialites, etc. Can one be truly happy trying to do it all? That is what society would have us believe. We see all these career women on t.v or in magazines beaming, but we all know that isn't reality.
At the end of the story Mark realizes that being a mother and a wife is the most important and exciting 'career' she could ever have. Raising children for the glory of God is the most important responsibility we have. Let us (and our daughters) learn from her choices. And don't forget not everything that shines is gold(my mom always said that) :P

Yes, I am still here

Just wanted to say that I am still here, just busy and recouperating(sp?). Last week I slipped and tore the ligaments of my left ankle. The first two days I took it easy putting my foot up to bring down the swelling. Now I am just playing catch up on all my household chores. I have mountains upon mountains of clothes I need to iron. I didn't get to them since the doctor wanted me to be off my feet as much as possible. She said it could be six weeks until my foot heals. Yikes! Does she not know that I am a busy woman. I don't think my ankle knew :P

On a side note I just finished reading Mother. I will have to post a short review. I will just say it was such a great book, it will go on my favorite book list.

What is their defense? A Child's Life?!

As I was driving home yesterday I surfed the stations of the radio (rarely do I do this) and I came upon a talk show. They were discussing a pill that was shown to reduce the chances of breast cancer, endometriosis (sp?), and so many other womanly problems. It sounded great but this pill was an abortion pill developed in France. Many Pro Life proponents of the country got them to pull it out of the public. Pro choice people were upset (radio station personalities). Everything they were saying did not make sense but what really got me and made me turn off the radio was the following. I can't quote them but this is close. 'this pill saves the lives of many women who otherwise would die trying to get an illegal abortion and what do the pro life proponents have as a defense? An unborn child's life?! This is a child at 1o weeks, most abortions occurs at about 10-12wks.

Yes, they said that and he chuckled. He then went on to say that many of us promote adoption instead of abortion but that most children stay in orphanages and foster homes.

I know that putting up children up for adoption is not the answer. The answer lays in educating parents on how to go about sex education at home. None of the artificial contraceptives are 100% effective. The only thing that effective is abstinence. We need to teach our children to love life as a gift from God.

Maxwell Conference Weekend

Like in my Purpose entry I had mentioned that I want to grow in spririt and as a wife and mother. So this weekend I was fortuante enough to attend a conference featuring the Maxwell family of Kansas. I was so blessed and encouraged beyond words by their testimonies and seminars. The seminars were divided by men, ladies, young men and young ladies. I of course attended the ladies' seminar given by Teri Maxwell. If you are not familiar with the Maxwell's I would encourage you to visit their web site at Titus2 .
On Friday night the whole family (minus married son Nathan) delighted us with music and personal testimonies. Then mom and dad spoke of the great blessing homeschooling is.

On Saturday the conference began with a "Managers of their Homes" seminar for moms. Which was great since I struggle with order in my home. The next seminar was given by both Teri and Steve, and to be honest was my favorite. The title, "Keeping our Children's Hearts". I believe that as Christians this is what we struggle with the most. It is not just about raising good kids, but about keeping their hearts turned toward us until marriage. (Malachi 4:6)

I would recommend any one who has a chance to attend this wonderful conference. I purchased many of their books (some as Christmas gifts with money hubby gave me and others at the conference). I will later post a review on the book "Keeping our Children's Hearts: Our Vital Priority", which promises to be a good one.

Purpose

As I was reading other people's blogs I noticed that they all pretty much had a theme. Crystal also recommends that you keep to a theme, so I began thinking about it. I listed some of the things that I am interested in to help me narrow my blog to a theme (or themes).

This is my short list :)

Learning to share the hope that is within me (defending the faith)

My children

Cooking (baking especially)

Living a healthy lifestyle

Learning to be a good steward of the gifts the Lord has given me

Reading & Learning

After much thought and prayer I have decided that everything is kind of related into two categories Faith and Family. So that will be my focus. At this point all of my reading is geared towards how to be a better wife and mother. I want to expand that into books on Faith (since I have departed from it since I was a teen and I want to regain all the time lost). I will soon begin writing book and movie reviews pertaining to my growth as a Catholic wife and mother.

I hope you will join me on my journey.

Financial Shape in 2008

Crystal at Money saving Mom, has been encouraging all of us ladies to get our financial house in order. I have decided to join her since we are trying to get out of debt and believe this program will greatly benefit our mission. Blogging about our goals and progress will keep me accountable (yes I need a lot of motivation and accountability :))Our first mission was to set a budget we could live with. Today we need to think of our short and long term goals.

So here are our short term goals.

Pay off our debt by summer
Have an emergency fund (at least 3 months worth of expenses, if not 6) by the end of summer.
Save for a down payment on a house. (we're hoping to buy a home by the end of the year)

Long term goals
Pay off the house in 15 years (sooner if possible)
Build my husband's business
Live off of my husband's salary, so that I can stay home (we're hoping to do this in 3yrs)

I would welcome any prayer so that we can meet our goals.

The Perez Family