Summer schedule

Here is my home control center.  The dry erase board calendar, helps me keep up with appointments, events, and birthdays.











The board next to it is a foam board covered in fabric.  This is my bulletin board.  I have made a summer schedule for the kids to follow.  It will probably be changing weekly, depending on the events scheduled.

Before I posted this post, I made some changes to the schedule and I decided to use the clip art pictures with magnets on the board to remind me of special weekly chores.

Monday-  Grocery Day, and Sort Laundry
Tuesday- Library Day, Dust, Mop floors and Vacum
Wednesday-   Clean kitchen
Thursday-  Clean Baththroom,
Friday- Clean Car and purse.
Saturday- Family Day
Sunday-  Church day and Family Day II

Kids chores are:

Son, age 7:  Make bed, clean side of room, bathroom monitor ( make sure sink and toilet are wiped clean and take out trash can),  put away dishes, and sort laundry on Mondays.

Daughter, age 11:  Make bed, clean side of room, feed pet, set and clear table for meals and water plants once a week.

They get points for their chores. Points can get redeemed for computer time, TV time, special treat, etc.

Occasionally I ask them to help me do something and that counts as extra points.  If they help each other to do their chores, or if they do things on their own without being asked they get extra points.

Here is our weekly menu, my daily routines to follow, grocery list, and kids chore charts. 

I used clear plastic on top of paper to make it reusable and waste less paper in printing every week.


The envelopes hold, their point rewards.

VBS and Summer Adventures

This week my children participated in a Vacation Bible School hosted by our former Christian Church.  Their theme was High Seas Expedition.  Today was the last day.  Since it was the last day, and its was a little warmer than usual, they had water games outside.

I told my children not to get wet.  Did they listened to me? No.  I found them all wet.  Brought them home and made them take showers and washed their wet clothes. 

Tonight we will return to the church for their VBS showcase night.  My kids loved this VBS. 

I will have a VBS at home with my children and their cousins.  This year it will only be about seven kids.  Two of their cousins are on vacations.  I have ordered the Holy Heroes Summer Adventure package and we plan to finish the Little Flowers book from last year. 

This summer, my goal is to keep my children away from TV.  So I want to do lots of crafts with them and take them on educational field trips.  Will be taking them to the Library once a week to borrow books and also to the Library's summer events.   I think that will keep them busy.

I will try to update as much as possible on our Summer Fun Adventures. 

And before I forget, my sister told me about this website called Children of Hope.  She says that it will become one of my favorite websites.  I think I will go there right now to check it out.

That Resource Blog

Hi Everyone,

I will like to recommend to you this awesome blog called That Resource Blog.  I just printed out some labels for my home library.  And they have excellent resources for homeschoolers.  What I like most about this blog is that they have faith lessons.

I am planning to do their virtue lessons this summer with my kids.  I am also participating in the Holy Heroes Summer Adventure.  Another excellent program VBS style.   The program is actually free but if you want to get their summer package it is very affordable.  I have already ordered it, and can wait to get it.

Now I am getting back to my attic to start my home library organization.

Have a great day.

Love Letters

Today at Holy Experience the topic is:  How to write love letters?

I am not much of an expert on this topic.  When ever I want to express my feelings and can't find the words or the courage to express them, I use songs.  Songs are a form of love letters.  Poems are too.

There is a song in Spanish that my husband and I love.  The artist is Gloria Estefan.  The song, Con Los Años que me Quedan. ( With the years that remain for me)

We both had heard this song before, but the day we both heard it together at a marriage retreat, the words seemed to be the right words to express to each other.  Tears rolled down my cheeks and it was as if I had fallen in love with my husband all over again. 

Here is the English translation of the song.

With the years that remain for me

I know i still have an opportunity

I know it's not late to reconsider

I know our love is true

with the years that remain for me

I' ll demonstrate you how much I love you.

with the years that remain for me

I will live to give you love

Erasing every pain

with kisses full of passion

like I loved you the first time

With the years that remain for me

I'll make you forget any mistake

I didn't meant to hurt you, my love

you know you're my adoration

and will be my whole life

I can't imagine living without you

I don't want to remember how I lost you

maybe it was immaturity from myself

I didn't knew how to love you

I assure you that with the years I have left to live

(with the years I have left)

I am going to dedicate them to you (to you)

Make you so happy

that you fall more in love with me

I will love you until I die

How to prove that I am not who I used to be

time will tell you, if you have faith in me

that how I loved you

nobody else

will ever love you

tell me it is not the end

I know i still have an opportunity

I know it's not late to reconsider

I know our love is true

with the years that remain for me

I' ll demonstrate, how much I love you.

I know our love is true

and with the year that remain for me

I'll demonstrate, how much I love you

From: http://lyricstranslate.com From: http://lyricstranslate.com

Now visit Holy Experience to read more inspiritional stories in the series of Walking With Him Wednesdays.

Summer Fun Begins

My kids started Vacation Bible school this week.   High Seas Expedition is the name of the theme.  So far my son seems to like everything.   He was so excited yesterday because he learned about Peter .  How God came to rescue him and another apostle when they were in jail.

My daughter's first day was today, because she had a doctors appointment yesterday.  Over the weekend, she was not feeling good.  Had sore throat and lack of appetite. 

Yesterday morning she woke up with a rash on her cheeks and her lips red and swollen.  So I called the advice nurse, and was told to bring her in to see what was going on.  Test were done but, was told the results will not be in until the next day. 

Today, she feels much better.  The rash on her face disappeared and no more sore throat.  Still she needs to take medication for a throat infection for 10 days.  And she started that today.  The Doctor said she could resume normal activities as soon as she feels better. 

I thank God that she is feeling much better today.  The rash is gone and she was able to eat breakfast this morning without complains.

The picture is from our day at the fair this past Saturday.  My son is waving at the camera.  And daughter is next to him, holding on tight.

A door wreath

At Catholic Icing our friend Lacy gives lots of ideas on how to make beautiful crafts and home decorations.  She also gives us links to other blogs that share their craft ideas. 

I like the idea from At the Foot of the Cross on How to make your own Sacred heart wreath.

And here is my version of this wreath.  Not quite the same but I hope you like it.  I remembered my valentine's day wreath and took it out from the storage bin.

Then I started to work looking for materials and started adding them to the heart.

I used red felt for the background, colored the outline of the thorns with black permananent marker. 

Used chenille stems for outline of heart and flames.  For the top flames, I used a  flower.  Then I placed the cross on top.

An here it is on my door.  It is not really how I wanted it.  I am thinking that I should just spray paint the basket in red.     What do you suggest?

Thankful Thursday

Here is something to be thankful.

My son drew this for his Dad.  It is St. Martin of Tours.

I told my husband that our son had drawn the Sacred Heart icon and Our Lady of Guadalupe. 


He wanted to challenge our son and asked him to draw the icon of St. Martin of Tours. 


Here is what my son drew.  I took a picture of the drawing instead of scanning it because sometimes the scanner fades some details.

My son is only 7 years old.  I hope that he uses this talent well.

The following picture was taken at my sister's house.  She has this display on top of her media cabinet.  She changes the color of the drape for each liturgical season. 

She also has a home shrine or altar, where she has the infant Jesus dressed in white.   The family bible opened.  The easter candle.  And a rosary on the wall.  She also changes the colors of the linens and the dress for the infant Jesus.

She also has a collection of saint icons.  But she keeps those in her bedroom.  

She uses them for the Little Flowers Club meeting.  To show the girls the particular saint they are learning about.  

I will be having our club meeting this summer like last year.  There is also a club for boys, they are called the Blue Knights.  You can find out more about this clubs at this blog.  Little Flowers Girls Club.

A Father

Father's Day is this coming Sunday.  Like Mother's day it is a very important day world wide.  As well as a sad day for many children and adults.

The reason it is a sad day for many is because many of us do not have a father in our life.  Or their father died. 

As a woman, I have always thought that a father is a very important person in the life of a child.

I have said it in previous posts that my parents divorced when I was just four years old. 

My mother was a  single parent for many years.  To raise three daughter's on her own was a challenge.  She had to be both a mother and father because my father was not there for us.

I thank God, our heavenly Father, that he sent an awesome person like my now Dad to my Mom's life.

See any one can be a father, but few can be "Abba" or Daddy.   My step-father has been to us a Dad.  A good man who has been there for us in good times and in bad times.   He was there on our wedding day  to walk us down the isle.

I have never asked my real father, what it means to him, knowing he was not present on his daughter's wedding day.   To be honest,  I was sad.   But  also thankful  my Dad was able to be present and take the place of my real father.

My real father, comes from a dysfunctional home too.  His father left his mother and four young children.  My father never again saw his father alive.  Even after knowing he was alive he never went to see him or forgave him for leaving them.  It is sad that the story repeated. 

But in my case, I have forgiven my father.  My paternal-grandfather did get to meet me and my daughter.   He passed away a year after we met .  He also got to meet two of his  children and grandchildren.

A father's role in a family, is very important because,  he is the head of the family.  Many researches have been made  confirming  that when a Father is active in the life of a child, that child is more likely to succeed academically and socially.

This is why,  I always motivate my husband to be there for his children.  I know that because fathers are the providers for their families, they are busy during the week, but on the weekends they should spend some time with each of their children.  Or do some activity as a family. 

In the first picture at the beginning  of this post, you see my husband and son walking near a water dam in Mexico.  You see him holding on to his hand making sure he is safe.  I am sure my son will always cherish this moment.  As well as the times his father and he, go ride their bikes every weekend .  Having his father take him to get a haircut.  Seeing pictures of his proud dad holding him on the day of his birth.

In the second picture you see my husband next to his daughters.  The one in the middle is our daughter.   The one on the right side is my husband's daughter from a relationship he had before we met.  It is a long story, that I will probably share with you in another post.  The important thing is that my husband is able to be there for his daughters.  Now at this time of age that they need their father to be there.

I know my daughter is looking forward to that day that my husband gives her away on her wedding day.  She  also has many special moments  spent with her dad.  Even the times when he disciplines her are moments to be cherished because he cares for her.  

I am not to sure about our oldest daughter.  Since she lives in Mexico, she only get to see him once in while and speaks to him on the phone very few times.   She is already a teenager.  The most difficult time in a child's life.  I am thankful that she has good foster parents that have cared for her since birth, as their real daughter.  And have permitted my husband to be part of her life.  They have given her a good education, a home, and most importantly love. 

My husband loves his children in very unique ways.  I have never felt jealous in any way of that.   I am happy that he took responsibility for his actions.  And he is  helping in providing a good education for his daughter.  When ever possible, we send her clothes and school supplies.

I am hoping that soon we will be able to communicate with her more often.  Do to the violence in Mexico cities, we have not been able to go to vacations as a family.  We pray that this will get resolved so that we can go to Mexico soon.  Or perhaps this year our oldest daughter can come visit us.  I think this will be much better for us.

I say a prayer today for my own father.  Where ever he is now.  I pray that soon I will get to see him too.  I have not seen my father in 18 years, since the last time I saw him.   I have spoken to him on the phone and know he lives in Utah.  He keeps saying he will come visit me, but I am still waiting.  He has not met his grandchildren in person either.  I hope that he get to do so soon.

For all the Father's in the world, I pray that they realize the importance of their presence in a child's life.  I pray that if they have been distant from their children, may they reconcile this year.  I pray they be the Father that God has called them to be.  And I also say a prayer for foster fathers and step-fathers.  I thank them for having the courage to give hope to a child.

Now visit Holy Experience to read more inspiritional stories in the series of Walking With Him Wednesdays.

looking into the past

Wow, I found this picture in my sister's laptop,  it was taken two years ago.  She had let me borrow her laptop when my old desktop broke down.  This is how crowded my living room looked before.  The huge media cabinet, the china cabinet.  I think this was right after christmas because I see the nativity scene is  and some boxes with christmas lights.  The guitars , that Santa Claus brought the kids.

Now I have more furniture in the living room but somehow it looks less crowded.

I having a little trouble typing this post,  laptop keeps moving the cursor into a different section making me type over what I have already written.  It is frustrating me.  Wanted to share more but I will write a post later from my desktop. 

Changes to blog

Happy Sacred Heart Day!  Today is a very special day for me.  I went to Mass,and visited the Blessed Sacrament. 

Later, I will be going to visit my mother and sisters.  I will be spending this weekend with them and our cousin who came from El Paso,TX.  

She will be leaving this Sunday.  My kids still have three more days of school next week.  So I must come back on Sunday too.

Today, the Mexican soccer team played the South African team.  My kids were sad they will miss the game.  Son wore the Mexican team outfit under his uniform.  Daughter found a wistle shaped like a soccer ball and colored it with the Mexican flag colors, to show her support for the team.    We are not much of soccer fanatics but once every four years we join our friends and family to cheer for the Mexican team. 

I made it clear, If Mexico plays the United States team, I am supporting the U.S. team.   Which I believe is a much better team than the Mexican team.    Actually my favorite soccer team is Brasil's.

Did you noticed the changes I made to the blog.  I am so happy that they introduced this new design templates.  I was getting tired of the same templates.  I noticed other blogs, that are so nice and I wanted to make my blog look great.  I think this is much better than the previous look.

I still have to figure out how to make the music player smaller.  But I will do that another day. 

Now I have to get my things ready for my weekend trip.  Have a blessed weekend.

Home Blessings

I have been making little improvements all over my home. Making changes in home decor. Since summer is coming up, I decided to change the colors in my room to summer colors. Green and aqua are my favorite colors for my bedroom.



Husband had never told me anything on how I decorate or keep the house, but lately he has been making complaints about the clutter in our room. To be honest my room is the less cluttered room in the house, but I want to keep my husband happy. So I made sure that nothing extra was on top of our dresser, or any clothes on the bed, or ottoman next to our dresser.





You can see the bedskirt and bed cover in this next picture. The shams and pillow are a dark coffee color.

The following pictures are from our attic room. I wanted to show you the progress I have done. First picture is of all the toy boxes, most belonging to my son. There is a tent in the corner with their big stuffed toys inside.

Next picture, I call this area the reading and imaginative zone. I have a calendar on the wall, just like in most classrooms. The closet has some of the hallowen costumes, Mexican traditional dresses, and winter clothes. In the corner, more imaginative play items, doll clothes, wigs, and hats. There is still some baskets and things that need to be sorted and organized. Same for the toy area.

Next picture is the book shelf area. Craft supplies, school supplies, and other educational items. The clutter at the bottom, needs to be sorted and organized.

The next picture, here are more things that need to find a home. Under the table, I have all my fabrics for sewing projects. I want to use this table for measuring fabric and cutting patterns. That is the reason it needs to be cleared.

The futton sofa was also cleared of all the things that were on it. All I left were some pillows

And here is the stuff that I removed from the futton sofa. Mostly covers and comforter sets. I will organized this covers in a plastic bin and place in the attic's storage area.

Which you can see in the next picture. Behind all that clutter, there is a small door. That door leads to the small storage area. Here I keep all my christmas boxes, linen boxes, and other seasonal items. Most of the items you see in the picture, are things that need to be put back in their proper storage bin. Some things like party trays and party supplies, I like to keep there for a quicker access.

This is what you actually see, as soon as you enter the attic. This is why, it is my first priority to organize this area.

The last picture is the china cabinet. My husband decided, he no longer wanted it in our living room. Since we do not have a dinning room, it ended up in the attic. Here I keep my collectibles. Mostly angels, party favors from first communion, baptisms, and weddings.

So now you have seen my collection of clutter as well. I will continue to work on each area in the following days. And I will post the after pictures as soon as I complete each section. My goal is to finish by the 1st of July. I hope that I can accomplish my goal.

This week, I did not post anything for Walk with Him Wednesday, but you can go over to Holy Experience and read what the other writers posted.

Quick update

Hi Everyone! I have been very busy the last couple of days.

Friday, went to Mass early in the morning. Had symptoms of a migraine but did not let that ruin my plans for the day. Spent time visiting Blessed Sacrament. I am thankful that after my time in God's presence, my headache went away. Friday afternoon, spent finishing my report on the Franciscan order for the History of the Church class on Saturday.

Saturday, Went to theology classes. Gave presentation in class of the Life of St. Francis. In the afternoon, I spent time working on homework assingments.

Sunday, went to Mass as usual. Later took my children to eat. Came home and just relaxed. Later, I spent some time in the attic room. It is looking so much better now. Will show you pictures later this week.

Monday, spent morning cleaning my home. Went grocery shopping, return home to finish cleaning and prepared dinner. Sisters came over to visit. We went to park. My son's classroom had a fielday at the park. It is a yearly tradition from their school. Returned home, finished preparing dinner. And got ready to attend the Volunteer's Banquet for Parent Teacher Organization.

My daughter wrote a poem in memory of the school's receptionist that passed away a few months ago. Daughter read the poem at the banquet. Awards were given to all the school volunteers. I am currently on the Board for the PTO, my title is Bilingual Parent Liaison. I volunteer in my children's classroom as much as possible on field trips, school activities. I also help our Spanish speaking mother's translating information for them. I encourage them to attend meetings and school activities.

I honestly due this for my children and because I know that parent participation is very important for the success of a child's education. The school that my children attend, has been considered one of the schools that has increased their test scores and over all achievements in the last year. I am thankful to the teachers, administrators and the PTO for making this possible.

And today, Tuesday, I will be doing my daily house chore, before I attend my daughter's fielday at the park. We still have one more week of school, and then they will be on vacations.

But here at our house we will be having our first vacation bible school. And continue the Little Flowers and Blue Knights program. I plan to do lots of learning activites with my children during this summer. That is why I am getting our Attic room ready for our home summer school events. Will be posting more about this later.

Have a nice day.

Picture, taken by friend of a light house.

liturgical colors

As you enter the front door of my home. You see immidiately that this is a Catholic home. Not just Catholic but also Mexican-American. I am proud of my culture and of my faith. In every single room of this house, excluding the bathroom, you see a small shrine dedicated to Jesus and Mary.



This year I have been using the liturgical colors used to signify the seasons, feasts and holy days of the church.

Thanks to Jenn over at Wildflowers and Marbles and Lacy at Catholic Icing, I was introduced to how to use the liturgical colors within my home.

This small shrine is in my home office, just above my computer. The sacred heart icon is one of my favorite. The child of Atocha was my grandmother's special devotion. And of course Our Lady of Guadalupe, patron of Latin America. The cross is a reminder of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. This one is from Home Interiors' Max Lucado collections. I placed a small rosary on it as a reminder to pray the rosary.





The picture above where you see the icon of the Holy Trinity is another section of my living room. This is actually the wall adjacent to the kitchen. Here you see pictures of my Parents, sisters family, and brother with his fiance. The words Family and Love are a reminder that in our family Love is what keeps us together.


Next picture is from my bedroom. Here I have a big mirror with the image of our Lady of Guadalupe painted on it in gold color. On top of the dresser a picture of my children, a small icon of the Divine Mercy and the sacred family, Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus.






I have another table in the hallway going towards the laundry room, stairs to the attic and the back door. Here I have another small shrine that will be changing monthly acording to the different celebrations of the month or season. You can see the picture on this post.

Here is a picture of a few months ago during lent when I decorated for the feast of St. Joseph the worker, spouse of Mary, and foster father of Jesus.

These are just a few of the ways that I have been using the liturgical colors withing my home. And how I am making a domestic church in my home. Keeping our traditions alive and sharing them with my children and the people that visit our home.

Marriage Vows

Over at Holy Experience, Ann Voskamp has asked us to share, over the next few weeks, any aspect of marriage/love that we will like to share with her and other bloggers during our Walk with Him Wednesday posts.

Last week, I shared a little on my parents marriage and my in-laws marriage. I believe it is important to take their marriage into account, to see how this will influnce, in any way our marriage relationship with our spouse.

Knowing the difficult relationship my mother had with my biological father, I was a little scared to have the same story get repeated. I prayed many times for God to send the right person to my life.


The day that I met my husband, he was drunk. He asked me to dance. We were at a Quincenera, 15th birthday celebration. Definately not the person I will like to date. So it was not love at first sight.


Actually it took many months for me to finally say, this is the person I want to marry. I dated my husband about two years, before we got married. During that time he worked at a roofing company during the day, in the evenings and weekends he will work with his brothers remodeling a duplex that they had purchased together.

This duplex ended up being our first home. My husband is a very hard working person. He had being saving up for our wedding to make it the best it could be. This is what attracted me to him, his determination to provide a home for our future together. And his responsibility to save up for our future plans.




Going back to our marriage vows, I can say that my husband has fulfilled his promise to make sure that nothing lacks in our home financially.

At the beginning of our married life together, I was also working and going to school part time. Like many couples we had our plans for the future, mutual plans and individual plans.

I wanted to continue school and wait a few years before starting a family. At first, I thought he had agreed on that, but a few months after the wedding he insisted on starting a family. Wait a minute! What happened to what I want?

Number one problem in most cases of divorce is selfishness, according to many marriage counselors. I believe my husband and I, were facing our first marriage difficulty and it had to do with selfishness. He wanted children, I wanted to wait.





But what ever happened to our marriage vows?

I, ____, take you, ____, to be my (husband/wife). I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life. I, ____, take you, ____, for my lawful (husband/wife), to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.

Was I going to let my selfish desires be the cause of yet another broken marriage. Husband wanted kids. He was already reaching his thirties, I was twenty-four. Why should we wait longer?
Did not God created marriage for that purpose? To procreate life. I finally agreed to start a family. But in reality I was not ready. I was not putting God in the center of my home. I was thinking selfishly. And I believe husband was being selfish too. I got pregnant in July of 1997.

What a joy for my husband! I was happy too, but still not feeling it was the time yet. A month later, a huge dissapointment. I had miscarried my first child. Why? I do not know. Perhaps, God was trying to teach my husband and I something. We had to face a situation together and we had to be there for each other, in this time of grief.

Less than six months into our marriage and we already had our first conflict and our first loss of a child. And this were the first of many more situations that through the years have affected our marriage. Like I said before, God has made it possible for us to stay together, after all this years, and difficulties. He has strenghten us through the trials, that we have faced together.


We have been there for each other, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.

A Psalm for Today

Psalm 90:12,14,17

Teach us to count our days aright,

that we may gain wisdom of heart.

Fill us at daybreak with your love

that all our days we may sing for joy

May the favor of the Lord our God

be ours.

Prosper the work of our hands!

Prosper the work of our hands!

Today, I read the bible up in the attic. I placed a small table and chair near the window of the attic room. I thought of doing this on Saturday when I was working in the attic. This reminded me of the cloister rooms of convents. The only difference is that the attic's room is much bigger and is filled with so much boxes and other items that need to be dealt with.

I am going to continue working in my attic rooms. My goal is to have our vacation retreat room there. A place where my children and I can create things. I could get back to knitting and they can play or read books. I have plenty of books for them and myself. I also have lots of craft supplies. Most of their toys are there in the attic. I have a small table for the kids and a big table for my sewing projects.

But at the moment everything is not organized. All of the unwanted clutter from the other rooms came directly to the attic. So now I need to decide what is useful, and what needs to go. My parish is having a yard sale this coming weekend, and they have asked for items to be donated for the sale. What an excellent way to help my parish, and help myself by getting rid of the things I do not need.

Prosper the works of my hands this week Lord. Amen.