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I'm going to try do be better at this.  I always say that but let's see how it goes.

 

Stand for Truth and Righteousness

About a month ago, I strolled into Barnes & Noble while my children were at Science camp for a few hours.  It was Tuesday, story time day, so there were many children in the store.  I spent some time in the children's section, picking out some books for my children.  As I headed to the check out line, I walked passed one of the many tables of bargain books.  A particular book caught my eye, I saw the word "NUDE".  This book was on the very corner of the table, right where the line begins.  On the cover was a woman from the '50's era, laying on her back with her legs crossed, up in the air.  She looked at the camera with a smile on her face.  There were colored bubbles strategically placed on her body covering up all the good parts.  I was taken aback as I read the rest of the cover. "Hollywood Nudes" "in 3D".  There's no way, a book with fully nude women would be within reach of small children, right?  I must be crazy.  I had to open the book (which wasn't wrapped) to see if it were actually possible.  I opened it and saw fully naked women, in horrible poses.  Without hesitation, I grabbed the book and took it with me as I checked out.  No not to buy it, but to complain about it.  I was upset and showed the gal at the register the inside of the book and she was shocked too.  She called the manager and I told him that this book was absolutely inappropriate because small children can pick up the book and see pornography.  He was silent and had a look on his face as if it was no big deal.  When I proceeded to say that it shouldn't be out in the open where kids can have access to it, he proceeded to say that those kinds of books usually are wrapped and someone must have unwrapped it.  There were about four copies, none of those books were wrapped.  

I told him how much I LOVE books and enjoy bringing my children with me to his store, and that we will begin homeschooling in the Fall and I had planned on bringing my children often.  But I also told him that because books like this are out in the open, I cannot come back to the store because it's not a safe environment for my children.  Once I said that, he grabbed the books and put them behind the counter with all the other trashy magazines.  I was happy about that.

The sweet gal finished ringing me up.  She had mentioned that her and her siblings were homeschooled and that they loved it.  I found out she was Christian and I apologized for opening the book to show her the horrendous photos.

Two weeks later, I took my children back to this same Barnes and Noble.  We had a great time in the children's section.  We picked out some fun books and walked to the where the line begins.  And there it was; the same book, in the same corner, on the same table.  I was furious, this time I had my children with me.  How naive of me to think that a store would understand how harmful a pornographic book can be for children.  It is common sense isn't it?  I took the book with me once again to the check out stand to complain.  There was no manager in the store at the time, he was on break. So the gal ringing me up (a different one this time) said she was acting manager.  I told her my frustrations and how I wouldn't be back after this.  Once again, it seemed like it wasn't a big deal.

My cousin went back the following day.  The book was back in the same spot.

So apparently '50's porn is now considered art.  That's no excuse to allow it to be out in the open for all to see.  Porn is porn and just one look can leave a long lasting detrimental impact, especially on young children.

“Pornographic or erotic stories and pictures are worse than filthy or polluted food. The body has defenses to rid itself of unwholesome food. With a few fatal exceptions, bad food will only make you sick but do no permanent harm. In contrast, a person who feasts upon filthy stories or pornographic or erotic pictures and literature records them in this marvelous retrieval system we call a brain. The brain won’t vomit back filth. Once recorded, it will always remain subject to recall, flashing its perverted images across your mind and drawing you away from the wholesome things in life.” 

^{Elder Dallin H. Oaks}

I went back to the store to take a photo of the cover of the book, the ISBN number on the back, and unfortunately, a picture of what was inside.  I decided that I needed to complain to corporate.  So the next day I called and complained and I was given a case number but told that I probably wouldn't hear back from anyone.  I then sent an email to the company with the photos and told them I would never shop at the store again.  I received a confirmation email about my complaint which stated that I would hear back from someone within 24 hours.  I heard nothing.

Like I mentioned before.  I love books.  I get an adrenaline rush being surrounded by books in a store like Barnes & Noble.  I enjoy bringing by children there every once in a while to pick out a book to take home and keep, not one they have to borrow and return to the library, that's what makes it so special and exciting for them.  So the decision to never go there again was a very hard one for me and for my children.

Time went by, and I wondered if I should call corporate again or send another email with my case number.  I wondered if it was a lost cause.

Twelve days after my formal complaint, as I was driving my children to karate, I received a voice mail from the manager at Barnes & Noble.  He said that he wanted to talk with me to see if there was something we could do to make my shopping experience more enjoyable.  I was shocked.  I was a bit excited because I felt like I was finally heard.  Not just me, but all of my other friends who felt the same way I did about this issue.  More importantly, for the innocent children who cannot speak up and say, "Hey, this trash right here at my eye level and within reach of my hands, is no good for me and will harm my innocent and pure mind and plague me for the rest of my life."

I stopped by the store the next day to meet with him.  He showed me that the books were located behind the counter and said that he talked to all the managers and employees and told them that those books should remain in that spot.  He did mentioned that he still believes everyone should have the freedom to purchase whatever they want, but understands that not everyone will agree with what is being sold.  I reminded him that pornography shouldn't be out in the open where children can see it.  He said he understood, that he has three children at home.

I am grateful that I didn't give up but continued to stand for what I believed in and knew to be true.  I complained not only once, or twice, but also filed a formal complaint to the company.  It can be intimidating to choose the right at times because what the world considers popular, harmless, and acceptable, is actually detrimental for people. For more information on just how detrimental pornography can be, just click here

Even the notorious serial killer, Ted Bundy, felt it was so important to talk about the detrimental affects of pornography the day before he was executed and how it led him to kill many women and young girls.  Ted Bundy's last interview.

Starting over

Ok so here I am again trying to blog.  It's been over two years, oh dear where do I begin?

First off, I know why I don't blog, I don't have a patience to sit and type, especially right now as I'm typing from my iPad mini screen. I need a keyboard. I have a Bluetooth keyboard at home, but I'm in Salt Lake City right now so that isn't much help.

But the biggest reason I don't blog much is because I want to protect my family.  I love my children very much and do not want their photos floating around the Internet. Yes we have some on Facebook but hubbers and I have our profiles private. There are a lot of creepy people out there who create fake accounts using other people's photos, like this case

I miss life being simple; Life before smart phones, iPads, and Internet. When there wasn't a pull tugging people away from REAL LIFE.  When people, young and old, weren't addicted to their devices.  Yes, I will admit that sometimes I myself get trapped in that pull.  I don't want my miracle children to think that disappearing in technology is normal, because its not.

A friend posted this on facebook the other day and it was one more reminder of how easily we can forget the real world around us and become addicted to our "deVICEs".  I paid attention to people around me in public and noticed a lot of them were zoned into their vices and were ignoring their kids as they were climbing on handrails, or a couple out for dinner both in their own worlds.  Once again, I must confess that I am guilty of this as well.  But now that I am more aware of it, I make an effort not to pull out my vice so much.  I admit that I still feel that pull once in a while, but the more I don't look at it, the more I realize how much I don't need it.

Before I move on from this topic, I will share one more thing I read the other day.  It was an article that talks about teens being so addicted to their vices that some parts of the brain are not developing properly.  That's scary, doctors have labeled it "digital dementia".

So all the above I wrote while we were still in Salt Lake City.  Now we are back home.  Prince Charming and I had the pleasure of having the company of another wonderful couple with us who aren't members of the church, they kept commenting on how peaceful and clean Utah was.  It was true, it was so peaceful and quiet and clean.  Definitely not like L.A.  I would love to live in Utah, but we are stuck here for now.

This was our view from the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building where we had a delicious dinner at a restaurant called The Garden

In the Joseph Smith Building, there is a film about the life of Joseph Smith and how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 

I am so grateful for all that he did, all that he sacrificed.  I'm so grateful that he stood for what was right and that he never gave up or denied what he knew to be true.  It would've been so easy for him to say that what he saw, never happened so that he and his family could live in peace instead of constant persecution.

To learn more about the sacrifices I'm writing about, just watch this film 

The Funnies

*Thing 1's prayer this morning:
"please no bumble bees because they sting you on the head, but thank you for their honey. Thank you for mommy, daddy, Gummy bear, Thing 2, and Buttercup, but no thank you for the devil"

*We looked up our home on google maps and then Thing 1 asked to see Jesus' house and I told him that Jesus doesn't have a house, but then he remined me, "what about the temple?" Thing 1's response when we looked up the LA Temple on google maps, "Jesus has a swimming pool too?!"

*Thing 1's response when I asked the boys what things Jesus gave to us, "Jesus gave us bunnies so daddy can shoot them."

*Thing 2's answer when I asked the boys last week what the Army guy told them he does for a living, "When people try to mess with our country they shoot down their planes." Thanks Army guy. He visited their school during summer camp.

*We arrived home from getting lunch one day, and when I unpacked the food, a toy was missing from a kids meal, so I said, "Ugh that guy was a bone head." Thing 2 then said, "He was a skelleton?"

*When ever we arrive somewhere, Gummy Bear always says, "What is this place?"

*Gummy Bear will frequently look at me and say, "I want to go home." Most of the time, we are home. I think he misses his first home in heaven.

*Gummy Bear LOVES to shake mannequins hands whenever we walk through department stores. Today we walked through Macy's and he walked up to me and said with a smile on his face, "uh, oh", in his hand was a hand-- a mannequins hand. I had no idea how to put it back on so I gave it to a gal who worked their.

*Gummy Bear knows how to manipulate, whenever I discipline him he hugs my legs and says, "I need you mom."

Summer Fun

Well summer has officially started, maybe not calendar wise but the boys are now home for the next two months. I'm excited to have them home, they grow so fast that I'm looking forward to our time together. This is their second week home and it's been pretty wild, but what else does one expect with three very active boys? It's nice not to rush and make sure Buttercup has been fed and is content, while trying to get everyone dressed, fed, and ready to get to school on time. Believe it or not, even though school is only two minutes away, once Buttercup was born, we ran late often.

I've got things planned for them, we do some sort of art everyday and review the alphabet. Thing 1 and Thing 2 will actually be going to a summer camp for two days a week, just so they get out of the house. I'm not too thrilled about it, because once again, I will be rushing and this time school will be 20 minutes away, but I know that the boys need to get out of the house. Poor Thing 2 asks me every morning where we are going that day, but it is impossible to take all four kids somewhere everyday. I can be daring every once in a while and take all four of them on a quick trip to Target, or Vons,(especially if we are in desperate need of diapers and formula) or to get a treat at the cupcake shop, but anything more exciting than that i.e. the mall play place or park, is not happening without the help of daddy or a friend.

Gummy Bear is on the waitlist for his age group for summer camp, but I don't mind having him home with me for a little longer, this will be good, then I can attempt to work on potty training with him. He's afraid of the big toilet, he says he'll fall in (I highly doubt that) but there is a Lightning McQueen potty that he seems pretty interested in, so I may just have to pick it up for him :0) Today I actually picked up those cute denim looking diapers by Huggies, and he like them. He looks pretty studly in them, I may have to take him for a walk in those and see the reaction he gets from all the little girls in the neighborhood. Hopefully you know what I'm talking about if you've seen the commercial.

I've taken up a new hobby, bow making. I've been making bow hair clips for Lilly, and it's been so fun. I'm not that good at it yet, but this is the first time in my life that I've ever been able to envision something in my head and create it. I've got paintings in my mind, that'll never be, the same goes for movies, music videos, and novels. Who knows, maybe the book thing will happen someday, but not anytime soon.

The kids have been doing so good, here's a quick update:

Thing 1
Thing 1 has been growing so fast, he's about 2/3's my height. I think he may end up being super tall. He's always been very curious about things and is known for setting off alarms when we go out and for taking things apart to figure out how they work. The alarm thing hasn't happened in two years but, we've stopped him from pulling the fire alarm at church a few times. It's always been one of those slow motion, flying through the air moments and reaching his hand just in time, right as it was about to pull down on the lever. He's had a rough 24 hours and I'm not making this up; he's gotten his hand snipped by a mouse trap, almost touched the fire while I was warming a tortilla, getting into daddy's screws, and also getting into our art supplies, (I noticed teeth marks in one of the glue sticks LOL) But Thing 1 is so very sweet and he's a smart boy. His speech is improving and he is telling such funny stories and is always reminding us about the choices we make by telling us, "Jesus doesn't like that.", or if one of his brothers is making a bad choice, he'll say, "He's listening to the devil." Yeah, he got that one from me. My car got egged one day and he and Thing 2 kept asking why someone would do that and I said something like this, "People make bad choices because they aren't doing what Jesus has asked them to do, so they are listening to the devil whispering in their ears to make bad choices." So ever since then, that's what we hear when we make a bad choice.


Thing 2Thing 2 has the memory of an elephant. He remembers everything you say or do, so be careful not to tell him you will get him something or take him somewhere because he'll nag you until you follow through. He'll remember things from years ago, like trips to Disneyland or things that happened in a store. He's also very funny and a jokester. He'll hide things from people and play tricks on them. He likes to trick my cousin Patty when she is babysitting them. He is just a funny kid who wants to make people laugh. He is also crazy about Buttercup, he is always there to make her laugh and smile when I am making her a bottle. He is very gentle, I know I can trust him when he's near her. The other boys love her and are good to her, but I need to keep an eye on them.

Gummy BearGummy Bear is hilarious. He loves to laugh and be silly, he's still learning how to be reverent during family prayer and scripture reading, but he loves to say the prayer and will volunteer to do it everytime, but obviously doesn't always get chosen with two other boys. He is learning his shapes, colors and counting very quickly, thanks to his big brothers. He speaking very clearly and will return with Thing 1 and Thing 2 to preschool in August, this will be his first preschool experience.

Buttercup
Buttercup has aquired quite an array of nicknames already.  Charming thinks I'm crazy with giving her all these nicknames, but she's just a sweet cutie pie. She is growing so fast and loves to be around all of us, she is always smiling and happy. The only time she really cries is when she's hungry and fighting sleep, this little girl will kick and wiggle and cry as she fights sleep. When this happens, I'll sing to her "Don't want to miss a thing" by Aerosmith. I love this little girl, having Buttercup has taught me so much about myself and how I need to be a better person. I've always been humbled by my boys and have always sought to show them the proper example of a woman, a mother. But now that is increased by a million just by being a woman and having a little girl that will look to me as an example.

I love my kids and am so grateful to be there mama. I love Charming, he's a great daddy and he's my best friend. Our life is crazy and hectic at the moment with the kids and all the changes in Charming's business, but life is good and we are all healthy and happy and that's all I could ask for.

I'm going to deactivate my FB at the end of this week, I'm just waiting for a couple of orders to come in from a few of the WAHM's on FB and then I'll deactivate it for the summer while the boys are home, I just need less distractions and want to be more focused on my kiddos.