Thank You For The Gift

I want to share a couple things that my son said and did at this Christmas season.

A couple weeks before Christmas, our son asked almost every night, "Mom(Dad), is the day after today Christmas?" We would always showed him the calendar and pointed out which day was Christmas. It's so wonderful to see his excitement and patience as the time went. We told him if he's not good, Santa would only leave him a potato. He was not upset and said, "Then I will just eat it!"

One day he dumped lots of coins out of his fish bank and carried them in his pocket. He said he's going to buy a Christmas gift for mama because he loved her!

I think he believes in Santa. He said that Santa had been in the Museum twice and he told him he wanted Bakugan for Christmas. He also told people that one Santa was in his school and he lived there. I said that made sense because Santa could watch how the children behaved.

At Christmas Eve, Baba's aunt brought so many gifts and we placed them around the tree. He was puzzled and said, "We already have so many gifts, Santa won't bring us any now!"

On Christmas morning, we heard a voice coming through his door saying, "I DIDN"T GET A POTATO!" He brought the presents to our bed and was so happy to show us everything!

During two Christmas parties, he got many many presents from his grandparents, aunts and uncles. After he opened each gift, he would go to them and said, "Thank you for the gift!" Everyone was so loud and some didn't quite pay attention to his soft voice. My heart was full and was touched by his action.

I also received many nice gifts this year. But the greatest gift of all is from my Father in Heaven. I am grateful for the precious gift that he has given me, which is the Savior. I hope I will always remember to go to him and thank Him for the gift!

Avocado Milkshake

This is another yummy recipe for avocado. I don't really follow any recipe so adjust according to your taste. If you choose to add vanilla pudding and banana, you may decrease the amount of honey needed. Be creative and let me know if you find other variations for it! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 large Avocado
1 banana, optional
1/2 Cup Vanilla Pudding, optional
2 Tbsp Honey (more or less to taste)
1 1/2-2 Cups Milk or Soy milk
Ice cubes, optional

1. Put avocado, banana, pudding and milk in the blender and blend well.
2. Add honey through the funnel while blending or just add honey in the milkshake and pause a couple seconds.

Note: If you want to add honey in earlier and then all blend together, you might find some honey stuck on the blender. Mine does that so I choose to add honey later.

Avocado Toast

This is one of my favorite food. My mission President and his wife made some for me one time and I loved it so much. It's very healthy and easy to make. I eat it whenever I feel like to. Avocados contains good fat and lots of minerals and vitamins. (http://www.avocado.org/healthy-living/nutrition)

Ingredients:

1 Avocado
1 Tbsp Honey or more to taste
3-4 pieces of bread

1. Smash avocado with a spoon or fork in a small bowl or shallow plate.
2. Add honey and mix it well. Add more depending on your preference.
3. Toast the bread.
4. Spread the mashed avocado on the toast and enjoy!

The Gift for the Savior

Every year as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, we think about something we like to give him. At Christmas Eve this year, we sat around the nativity scene and wrote down the things we would like to do this year to show our love for the Savior. We then put the paper in the silver box. I know the Savior would be pleased as we strive to be better in words and deeds.

Inner Freedom

I have been thinking about freedom lately. The freedom our spiritual bodies feel. Most of the time we feel the constriction of our physical bodies with inflexibility, sickness or lethargy. We try to overcome this by exercising and eating healthy. Once we get to the deeper level of mind and spirit, it is not that easy to set up a plan and see its progression.

I practice meditation and pray to God. That is the time I get to check in with myself and see the condition of my spirit. I desire for the freedom of my spirit. One way to achieve that stage is to practice "non-attachment". For example, when someone say something hurtful to you, you feel bad. You choose to get attached to the things he says to you and develop negative emotion in yourself. We get attached to many things or people in this world. We are afraid of losing them. We are bound by these things and can't feel free from them.

When we ponder or meditate, we watch our minds and learn to focus on one thing. Once we feel the stillness of the mind, we can apply this to everything we encounter in life. We watch the thoughts and mind and direct it to the desired place. We detach ourselves from outside world and look inward. And this is practicing yoga.

My spirit desire to be free. One day maybe this desire would even disappear and then I would truly be free!

First Day of Preschool

Yes, he started preschool two weeks ago and enjoyed it a lot! He had no problem leaving me that day and so did I. We are the same type of person who loves adventure and adjust new environment quickly.

We went on the adventure after school to the Mt Airy Forest. The tree house fascinated him and we lingered there for a long time. He gave this big tree a hug but it's too big of the size for him....

So he found this one and he said,"it's perfect!"

Happy Halloween

He was the bravest knight at Truck-or-Treat. The sword was his new favorite. He was good not to use it among all the children. Playing sword fight is a thrill to him.

We made pumpkin cookies together. He made the "snake cookie". He was Tomas the Train at the school party. He was really curious about all the classrooms at school and got lots of yummy treats.

He had been talking about Transformer costume since day one. Every time he looked at the catalog, he got so excited but I told him it was too expensive. This morning I went to the store just to see if I could find a good sale. I called him to ask him what he liked. He said he really liked "Optimus Prime" but that would spend all mommy's money. Oh, bless his heart! I felt so touched by his sensitive and selfless response. He had a great time going around the neighborhood trick-or-treating with Daddy tonight. What a fun time of the year to see all the little ones dressing up and having a good time!

Baba carved this Jack-o-lantern with freehand. He's amazingly talented without a doubt. :)

Food Storage Analyzer

This post is for the recent give-away from Emergency Essential to write a review for their new food storage analyzer.

We have been gradually building up our food storage for Emergency. However we have not yet put together an inventory list. I tried to use the Food Storage Analyzer from Emergency Essential and it's very useful since I buy regularly from them. I also can put up the items I buy from the grocery stores or add my own item. It calculates the total calories that my food storage provide and the days they last for my family. It's a great tool and I'm very excited to finish my inventory. The only thing that I don't see from this tool is to show the target food group I should store. For example, it will be nice to know the quantity of protein, grains, sugar, salt... that I already store and how much I still need to get for each group. This way I would know better what to buy next.

God's Love

We went to the Louisville Temple yesterday. I drove us down there safe and sound which was the first time by the way. Baba didn't like to lose control of the wheel. He let me drive this time to give me experience of driving long distance and overcoming my fear of driving in the rain. I almost had an accident once when I slipped on the wet road and I was scared of driving in the rain since.

It was so wonderful to go back to the Lord's house to feel His love and be reminded the purpose of our life on earth. It's a sacred place of peace, love, wisdom and it's timeless. I'm so grateful to have a temple to go back often to remind me of all the beautiful covenants I made with God.

As we were about to leave the temple, I could not get the car to go. Yes, Baba let me drive again. ^_^ He had to switch to take the wheel and finally got the car to go after a few tries. Our hearts were racing because the car seemed it would stall in any minute. We were an hour and half away from home. It didn't look good at all. Our gas was low so we had to stop for gas, which made things worse. The car struggled when it stopped. We said a prayer and didn't stop praying all the way home. We did make it home and knew God stretched out His hands to us. We tried to start the car again and it just went dead. It surely was a miracle that we made it home yesterday. We feel Heavenly Father's love and are very grateful for His help.

Heuston Woods

Heuston Woods has a little lake beach that is quite attractive for Cincinnatians who are so far away from the ocean. It's about an hour drive north of Cincinnati. We like this beautiful place. It's a perfect day for a picnic at the beach! It calmed me down listening to the waves, feeling the wind, smelling the beach air.....

Zoo Trip

Carousel is his favorite thing in the zoo. He had to ride on this wolf which he always called it a coyote.

He loved to pet animals and showed no fear toward reptiles obviously.

A hero had to conquer the spider web, right?

Don't worry this tiger was harmless!

His "wingspan" is far narrower than the Steller's sea eagle(blue shade)! Wow, what a big bird!

Dinosaurs all around us!

Baba had the opportunity to do summer hours this year. I work extended hours Monday through Thursday and then on Friday I get to leave at noon. Last week, we decided to go to the Dinosaurs Unearthed Exhibit as a family. My son loves dinosaurs, so we thought this would be a lot of fun for him. Turns out he likes to see them from a distance.

Baba-I really enjoyed having the time to spend with my family. Some of the dinosaurs move on their own, but most are controlled by little buttons, which he liked to push. After taking in the full exhibit, despite how interesting they were, I think we all walked away grateful that we don't share the earth with this extremely large predators. Being faster than the next guy, might not have been fast enough.

Our First Family Campout

We went camping with some church families yesterday and it was such a fun experience. Traveling brought me such a healing power to my cabin fever. :) I could feel my sensory mind changing as soon as we were approaching the country area. My son and I both fell in love with the campfire. His favorite thing was throwing sticks and marshmallows in the fire. He loved the glowing sticks and playing with his little friends. We were blessed with nice weather so everyone enjoyed the starry sky and bright, clear moon. Baba is not a fan of camping but he made it through the night. He's fortunate enough to have his buddy help with the tent and spending some time playing Xbox with him. Yes, his friend brought all the equipment to the camp site. They really enjoyed their game time and I was just glad that he seemed to be in good spirit most of the time. He even took care of our son in the middle of the night when he had night terror. Oh, his scream was fierce in the dark, silent night. I felt bad that we might have awaken a couple of poor souls but our sweet friends were very understanding.

Breakfast was so delicious with pancakes, sausages, bacons, eggs and fruit. I could stay in the woods forever, bathing in the sweet smell of the phytoncides from the trees. We will definitely do it again and again....

Happy Reading

Mama-I have been teaching our son to read using this book "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" and he finished lesson 20 the other day. I asked him how we should celebrate and he decided a chocolate cake would be a great idea. He helped me make the cake and decorated it all by himself mostly. You might be able to see the number 20 on the cake, which was done with my help. He put some candles on the cake, which he really enjoyed putting on every cake I made. We sang the song "Happy Reading Day to You" and then he blew the candles vigorously. He has been loving the simple stories he can read by himself. He loved to discuss about the stories he read and we had great time together.

Happy Birthday, Son!

He turned 4 two weeks ago. He was so excited and telling everyone about it. He started the day with a huge yummy pancake made by Baba.

He had the superhero party at church with his dear friends. They made blue kryptonite to restore their powers and went through the superhero training course. They also played a game aiming the green arrow target with flying balloons to sharpen their super power skills. He really enjoyed playing with his friends and was so happy to receive all the toys from them.

He's really into Transformer so he got four new ones from his grandparents and aunt and one from his friend. He also got more action figures from his uncle. Now Mama has homework to do to figure out how to transform all these cool Autobots and find more space for the new toys. Two parties were quite overwhelmed for him and Mama. He was so overtired at the end of the day but we were grateful for the wonderful day we had and for all the people who celebrated with us.

Yoga Training Part Two

When Baba was on the computer the other day, I said to him, "Your neck is out of alignment. Bring your head back to align with your shoulders." After that, I chuckled with a sense of accomplishment. How interesting people change with the things they learn. I would not pay much attention to body alignment a year ago. As a yoga teacher, I learn about human body. Besides the physical body, I also try to discover the subtle/astral/spiritual body.

I grew up at church and learned about not judging others by their appearance. Studying yoga philosophy helps reinforce this quality. Very Often we describe ourselves using such terms like, "I'm tall. I'm rich. I'm beautiful" Are these the right description for our true self? After peeling off the physical layer of "I", which is the body, how would we describe ourselves then? This is very interesting when we think this way with our spiritual eyes. It is so easy to lose ourselves in this material world. The things we see, the people we know, the life we create can all become the obstacles to discover our true self. We become what people see in us, we become what we create for ourselves, we become someone that we don't really know or like. So how can we distinguish our true self from all the other forms we see?

First, we have to have faith, to believe that the true self exist. We have spiritual body that will exist through eternity. This true self has unlimited potential to become like God.

Second, we find a path to help us. For some, it could be studying the scriptures, praying to God; for others, it could be meditation, practicing yoga. No matter what we choose, it takes a sincere heart, steady and long-lasting effort to progress.

After we see our true self, even just a glimpse; after we taste the sweetness of God's love; after we realize the energy that flows beyond our physical eyes, WE SERVE. We serve ourselves, we serve others and we serve God.

Gradually, the little light in us will shine brighter and brighter. It brings us wisdom, tranquility, happiness, contentment and love.

Now I see people differently. When I come across someone, I would try to get to know the person inside of him, instead of the one I see outside. I feel I am in a different world when I do that. It makes me feel good. I see more and I feel more. I feel less confusion and my mind is calmer.

Butterfly Show

We went to the butterfly show and it was an incredible experience. He always likes to chase the butterflies everywhere and this time he could touch them. He was very gentle with them. There were one birdwing and one peacock pansy butterfly got very attached to him and didn't want to leave him. It was a beautiful scene to see him dancing with the butterfly.

He made this butterfly at the library and got display at the show. He was not happy that he could not take it down and play with it. He was not thrilled that I asked him to pose for this picture as you can tell. ^_^

After the show, we went to have picnic at Eden Park. This raccoon was behind the retaining wall. He took this picture. The coon took off as soon as he stretched his hand to pet him!

Yoga Training Part One

The first thing some friends asked me was, "Did you lose some weight?" Sorry I had to disappoint them with a no. Actually my triceps are getting bigger. I can do yoga push-ups quite perfectly I believe. ^_^ Most people think yoga is about exercise and that's not wrong at all but there is a lot more in yoga. I learned the true meaning of yoga through my training and I'd like to share with you what I have learned.

"Yoga is the stopping of the mental fluctuations of the mind stuff." said Patanjali. The mind flies to every direction all day long and most of us can't control our mind. Yoga is about focusing the mind and bring stillness and calmness to the soul. Meditation is a great way to achieve yoga. However, it's hard to sit for a long period of time if you don't have a healthy body. This is where the postures (asanas) come from. By performing all these yoga postures, our strength, flexibility and general health is improved. So all these practices are preparing the body to meditate and bring the mind to tranquility and balance.

Of course for people who are not interested in meditation, they can still get the benefits of doing the asanas(postures). I learned to focus on my own practice. It does not matter if I can or can not do certain postures. It's the feeling I have while I'm practicing that matters. We often try to compare or compete with others in real life. The result of that is unhappiness and endless desires. We only need to focus on ourselves. Concentrate on our own practice and then we will grow and improve.  

Valentine's Day

Holiday celebration is really not my forte. I saw people come up with so many fun ideas to decorate the house or make beautiful crafts. I decided to just have fun no matter what I do. We went out to pick a nice tree branch (we had lots of them on the yard due to the wind storm) to make our little Valentine tree. We cut some valentines and decorated them with stamps and markers. He really loved the stamps and tried many times signing his own name. We hung the valentines on the tree and pointed out each one of them with love and excitement.

He kind of planned our Valentine's Day with a trip to the museum to see the Dinosaurs. He really enjoyed that. We had a great time watching Dinosaurs Alive at the OmniMax and will definitely be returning to see the full Dinosaur exhibit with him.