Jail Bird Mama

Every few days I feel like this:




All day long the kids ask me, " Mom come watch what I can do!" or "are we going anywhere fun today?" or "Can I go to Kace's house?" or "read me a story" and "I'm hungry mommy" ect...

I feel like I am a prisoner to the constant cleaning monster slave master! I don't mind a little cleaning I actually love making everything look nice, freshly vacuumed rooms, neatly folded piles of laundry, and the smell of bleach. What I hate is that I have to be cleaning or a mess is being made! Its like they follow me around messing up behind me, little tornadoes at my feet. I have found it helps to clean just every other day. So hit or miss you may come over on a clean day or a real messy day.

There is some good though, the kids love to help clean, and are happier when the house is clean. Brian jr, asks me to help him clean his room when it get messy, Katie loves to help with the dishes, they both love to spray cleaner then use a rag and clean with Mama. When Brian was born the Relief Society ladies fave me this poem and I try to remember it when i get too caught up in all that cleaning, prison monster slave driver:

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,

Hang out the washing, make up the bed,

Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,

Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekabo

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew

And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo

But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo!

Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?

Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow

But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!

I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

- Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

Last night after the house was all clean, while Katie was asleep in bed I was nursing Susan. Brian came out and wanted another story. So Susan squirmed away and I held Brian. The big kid almost 5, was curled up laying on my chest while I sang to him I played with his hair. As we were having a nice moment together I could hear Susan dump out a whole cup of milk just as I was going to get up I remembered the last few lines in the poem. I then decided to ignore the cleaning monster inside me, as I continued to cuddle Brian Susan splashed and giggled in the milk.

garden journal entry#1

I finally have little sprouts! I was beginning to wonder if I had messed up because there is a little white fuzzy mold on the soil but they sprouted last night! I still don't know what to do about the mold though. We planted in the indoor-mini-green-house last Saturday and a week later they have sprouted.

Brian and I always said we wanted a garden but used the excuse that we are in an apartment and have no place. We have lived in a house now for 2 years and this is the beginning of the 2nd garden. I have found gardening is not as easy as it looks. Last year our we bought some plants, 2 tomatoes, a bell pepper, a jalapeno, 2 squash, basil, and a watermelon. We had lots of fun setting up the garden and watering almost everyday. It really looked good with dark fresh soil all around neat circles of green plants. Then the squash got way too much water and molded, it produced about 4 vegetables then died. The tomato plant had about 6 green tomatoes and Brian was trimming a big tree above it to provide more sunlight and a branch dropped and bent the cage and knocked off lots of the tomatoes. the cage was never the same and the plant later sot a spider I could not get rid of. The pepper didn't produce anything good but is still alive and looks alright. The jalapeno produced the most, a couple bowls full. It was fun to learn to cook with a jalapeno. We still have some that turned into a pepper that are drying out. Lastly the monster watermelon, it grew fast and spread its self all over the whole garden and down the wall produced about 6 good watermelon then a peace would died after each new watermelon, covering the whole garden in a mess of dead vines neatly curled around anything it could. The kids loved the watermelon they checked its progress every day, and wanted to pick it as quick as they could. We had watermelon up to the end of October just in time for Halloween so we carved watermelon instead of a pumpkin!(Sorry no Picture our camera was broken for a few months: (


This year I wanted to plant different types of tomatoes then next year we would know what we like best and use it. Also we are going to plant peas, squash, cucumber and pumpkin. ( learning form our watermelon mistake and plant it in a different area of the yard). Look forward to more garden updates!

January 12 planing seeds with the kids.

Food Critic

In between errands on a busy Saturday we drove down Imperial Avenue in San Diego for a more scenic drive. On this strip of the Avenue it is a sort of "little Mexico" there are Catholic Shrines in front yards, lots of garage sales, brightly painted murals on walls, and lots of street vendors selling tacos, tamales and my favorite the whole grilled onions grilling on a huge grill next to our restaurant. We had the windows down and the smell was too much to resist. Brian and I have been in that neighborhood before for dinner at El Salvodoreno. Brian loves to reminisce about his time in Ecuador and I love good Mexican food. This time we stopped at Casa De Pepe across the street from El Salvordoreno. Its hard to miss with the purple Pillars and bright rug painted on the stucco building. Brian said "You know the food must be good if there are bars on the windows"It was a brave move but we took all the kids with us into the little restaurant. We seated ourselves in the room decorated with Minni pinatas and were shortly greeted by a short happy woman who spoke little English. She gave us our menus Brian was exited to see most of the short menu was in Spanish. I ordered a Chicken Tamalie and I heard her tell an older man coming into the restaurant something about a "pollo tamalie" he turned around and left the then returned shortly with what looked like a tamalie wrapped in foil in a bag. I imagine he went to the street vendor or the other maybe kitchen? Where ever it came from it was good! Everything was good. I loved sitting next to the kitchen whenever our waitress came through the kitchen the door would swing open and I could see ladies cooking and talking together in the back. The atmosphere was friendly, the restaurant was clean, the food was great, and it was all priced very well!

I would give Casa De Pepe 5 tacos!

I have been taged

Hoary! I have been tagged thanks to my good friend form High School Annie. So now I have to tell you some things about me you might not know. I will get right into it, 1 My life is not an open book, I do have secrets. Nothing big like “Skeletons in the closet” I guess what I mean is I can keep a secret. On the same line I hate gossip! I confess sometime I indulge but on a whole I hate the sound of it and I hate to do it. Brian is very good at supporting me in this, we decided if you are sharing it with your spouse it is not gossip. Am I right?
Number 2 is, I wish I was better at keeping in touch! Lately I have been thinking about my High School friends, Megan, Annie, Carianne, Mandy, Amanda, Ginger, Bethany, Framchesca, Christine remember the boys lie shirts? What ever happened to those? Where is Tristen my best friend in Jr high? Bonnie who I served with in Del Rio? I live in San Diego now and don’t get to see my sisters or family much. I am not lonely or home sick I just wish I was better at keeping in touch; I need to be more like Anna, she is so good about calling me every year on my birthday.
On a less melancholy note; Number 3 is I love rick-rack, ruffles and bows! How girly, but I do! Whenever I sew it makes me so happy to add just a little bow here or a stripe of rick-rack there.
Number 4 is I love stupid comedy movies! Nacho Lebre, Napoleon Dinamite, Zoolander, the Elf, SNL skits, Sinefeld and Will Ferrell 5 is, well I am goanna copy Annie because I too L-O-V-E to play games! Nertz, Rook, Pit, Rummie, Quelf, Charades, Pictionary, 1000 dollar pyramid, Settlers of Catan, the new scrabble game Jenny taught us, Catch Phrase, Cranium and whatever else you wanna play. I am very completive but I also really enjoy seeing the underdog win. Not that Brian the underdog but if we are playing together and he is left of me when I discard I always try to give him a good card. Jenny and I used to stay up late playing the name game, or 20 questions. Such fun times!
6 I am a movie sonb. I am so picky with movies, if it doesn’t have a good message I don’t really like it, if its too slow I turn it off, I guess that might be hard to believe after reading that I love stupid comedies but its true I am a movie snob I love to watch a good movie but I hate to waste my time with a bad movie.
Now six facts you already know about me, 1. I love to a clean house, to decorate, learn new crafty things; I love Arizona, and my Children. They are my post precious jewels. I have an awesome husband and I have faith that my Heavenly father loves me and wants me to be happy.
Now I guess I have to tag some people, so, if you read this, Charmaine, Julie, Carianne, and Cyndi

The Card

The First One.

Dun-Da-Dun here we are. The very first post on our very first blog

Now, I am still trying to figure this out so it still has some kinks to work through. I mean the blog thing not life, but actually that is kinda the story of my life ( right now). I try hard to get it right, cleaning the house, patience with the kids, giving my husband lots of attention, leaning to sew better, Thanks to Mardell, and whatever happened to the kids scrapbook? or reading the scriptures daily? Somedays I do real well, I feel like I have it together, but life still has some kinks.--but enough about that.

I have started this blog mostly to introduce myself to the craft world and confess to some friends that I occasionally spy on you he he he! As for the crafters I admire all you do I love to read your amazing new ideas for quilts, baby boots, hand bags, stuffed critters, button bouquets, kids shirts, applique jeans, dresses, skirts and so much more. So thanks for putting your I ideas out there!

To my friends in San Diego, a confession: I do occasionally read your blogs. So now that you know, here is my big hello to the Linda Vista Ladies!..and their husbands.

As for Christmas..Charmaine did the great Christmas card she is so talented and willing to help me. She is my favorite person to call on the phone and talk to about nothing for hours. Or to call when I need serious boost, someone to say "your not crazy" " people like you" "your a good mother" and all that good stuff. Everyone needs a friend like Charmaine. Tommi took the pictures of my family for the card she is also very talented! It was was so nice of her to take all 5 of us out to La Jolla and try to get the kids to stand in just the right place and smile she did a great job!

Christmas is coming up and I have been trying to teach my kids that Christmas is to celebrate when Jesus Christ was born. I love my savior and and the gift he has given to me!

I love Christmas movies. Last year I watched The Elf so many times! and everytime I would laughed it makes me smile just thinking about it. I cant wait untill December to watch it again. I also love Its a wonderfull life its so pure and feel goodish. So tell me what is your favorite Christmas movie?