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What does my house have against light bulbs?

Aug 11, 2013 · 1 Comment

A few days after we moved in it started. The light bulb above the stairs in that "ha ha, you have to have a ladder to get me" highest possible spot went out. It has been nonstop ever since.

Replaced both of the ones in the garage door opener when we had to replace the back up battery. One went out the next day.

Put in a fun colored light on the front porch for the holidays, burned out within days.

Every few months or so one of the five in the chandelier over the dining room table decides to quit.

In my son's bathroom 4 of the 5 are now out. All put in at the same time, all from the same box.

In the downstairs bathroom, not only did one go out, put when I tried to unscrew it the bulb came off in my hand and the metal part is still hopelessly stuck in the socket. Did the potato trick, tried a pair of pliers. Nope it is crazy glued in there. The other bulb in the fixture that I put it in at the same time is still going strong after over 6 months.

One outside, a few table lamps here and there, all burned out. And they aren't the cheap incandescent ones either. These are the more expensive supposed to use less energy and last longer compact fluorescent ones that can't be thrown away. I have a drawer in the garage full of them! Someday I will take them to a hazardous waste dump.

My only theory is that the house is secretly sucking the life out of the light bulbs and creating some kind of weird energy vortex beneath my son's bed that he has figured out how to tap into so he wakes up in the middle of the night ready to play!

Either that or the house enjoys tormenting me very slowly, one bulb at a time...

Bike Ride and garden update

Aug 5, 2013 · Leave a Comment

I went for a quick ride this morning to buy the Sunday paper. I haven't been on the bike in over two months. And of course both tires needed air, sigh. I finally got on my way and boy did that feel ...weird!

Look, no trailer! After dragging it (25 pounds) and, more often than not, J and our stuff (another 40-50 pounds) behind me for the better part of two years I had a hard time feeling comfortable. But did I ever sail over that hill that I used to struggle up every day.

The garden is looking pretty tired right now. My summer edibles are nearing the end of their production and the California natives look a bit scrawny - totally normal for them this time of year. Not sure what fall plants I am going to put in, beets, carrots, arugula and lettuce, other than that I don't know.

Bitter disappointment - doesn't look like the peppers or the pumpkins want to grow.

Happy Happy - the sunflowers are starting to bloom and a few have grown as tall as the fence.

Probably the last two zucchini of the year.

Planted this eggplant on a whim and I love every thing about it except those vicious thorns.

Yeah! Still have green beans coming. I actually grew them this year!!!

Surprise! One tiny little pomegranate is hanging on. I found out it isn't supposed to start producing fruit until next year, so this is another happy happy!

A tiny little zinnia.

The lilies are still blooming, just closed up for sunset.

An experiment. Hopefully in about 3-5 weeks these will be rooted plants instead of dead cuttings in rooting medium. I am trying to propagate 3 different kinds of my native plants to fill in some bare spots. Lilac in the foreground, manzanita in the back on the left and 2 kinds of sage on the back right.

And finally, I ran spell check on this like I always try to do and blogger made the following suggestion for manzanita:

That's just so wrong. If you know anything about Monsanto and large agro business at all,
you can probably guess I am not a big fan of said company, its products or its business practices.

Sometimes I wonder about Kids TV Shows

Jul 24, 2013 · 2 Comments

Am I the only parent (or grandparent, babysitter, or other adult role) whose mind starts to question things while watching shows with their children?

To name a few:

Curious George - cat and monkey wandering around the restaurant kitchen. Don't they have health laws in that city?!

Blues Clues - The cat, side table, mail box, shovel, pail, alarm clock, salt and pepper shakers and even the bar of soap can all talk, but the dogs can't.

Thomas and Friends - Why do the engines always get in trouble? They all have drivers, what do they do up there, just ride around all day?

Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood - Have these hard economic times hit the Land of Make Believe so bad that King Friday XIII has to have his oldest son, Prince Tuesday, work as a waiter, babysitter and crossing guard? Maybe he is just letting the boy experience being a commoner.

The Chica Show - Mom and Dad not only talk, they sing and dance. Chica squeaks. Might be time to consider some speech therapy. Except I can understand her perfectly, which is kind of scary.

The Sunshine Barn - What happened to Kevin?

Caillou - His mother may just be the laziest person on tv. She drives him to preschool everyday, yet Miss Martin walks the entire class to his house so they can do a puppet show through the window (hope she had signed permission slips). And she has to take the subway to Clementine's house yet Clementine's mother walks all of the kids back to Caillou's house in another episode.

Franny's Feet - Grandpa watches little girl in his shoe repair shop during the day. She puts on the customer's shoes and is transported somewhere else in every episode! Uh, may be time to consider other child care arrangements.

Bubble Guppies - They live underwater, they have flippers for legs and swim everywhere, their teacher is a fish. Why do they need a fire department? Couldn't Gil just have swum up and gotten Bubble Puppy down from the tree?

Backyardigans - Penguin, Moose, Hippo, Kangaroo and ?? what kind of animal is Uniqua?

Max and Ruby - WHERE ARE THE PARENTS?!

Diego - If you tell me to get up one more time I might have to patear la televisión

Yo Gabba Gabba - Where is the ibuprofen? extra strength.

Maybe it's just me.....

For my fellow gardeners

Jul 21, 2013 · 1 Comment

Although if you see this growing in your garden you may not be so thrilled.

Queue the theme song from Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.

Or maybe its Little Green Men from Mars instead.

Maybe I need some therapy too.

English can drive you crazy!

Jul 17, 2013 · 4 Comments

Today, as I was preparing my red table grapes for jelly I wondered

seeded grapes have seeds in them but
pitted olives have the pit removed.

[Tweet "Why do seeded grapes have seeds in them but pitted olives have the pit removed. #English #humor"]

At least I don't:

Put out the lights - Take all the light bulbs out of their sockets and hang them on a clothesline.
Dust the furniture - Literally throw dust on the furniture with dusting powder
Change the towels in the green bathroom - Use scissors to change the look of the towels.
Draw the drapes when the sun comes in - Draw a picture of the drapes.
Measure two cups of rice - Pour rice in two coffee cups, stack them, measure them with a ruler, then dump the rice back in the box.
Trim the fat on the steak - Put lace trimmings around the steak.
Dress the chicken - Put clothes on the chicken.

Okay, some of those expressions are a bit dated, but the Amelia Bedelia books still make me giggle! And I would love to have that lemon meringue pie recipe that she made so well that Mrs. Rogers decided to keep her and learned to write the to do list in Amelia's vernacular.

[Tweet "Was Amelia Bedelia crazy or are American idioms nuts? #language #humor"]

And finally here's a gem that appeared this morning in one of my favorite comic strips:

Being grammatically precise, shouldn't Louie (the dog) be the one to pick it up?

Check here for more of my observations of this crazy language.

Inexpensive Summer Sensory Activities for Preschoolers

Jul 7, 2013 · 2 Comments

Here are some fun Summer Sensory Activities to sneak in a little learning and sensory stimulation to those long hot summer days.

finger painting with text overlay "sensory activities for summer"

I am trying to keep us busy with ideas I have stolen uh, discovered on Pinterest and from his teachers for some cheap fun. Here are a few:

Fun with Ice

I call this "Fun in a Box". Ok, Dr. Seuss already used that one, how about ice in a tub outside on a hot day?

bucket of ice with tongs, cups and scoops inside

On the last day of school J and his classmates spent about 30 minutes playing with ice like this. The scoops and tongs help work fine motor skills. Hinged salad servers work well too. Or just let them play with their hands while they get the tactile feel of cold and slippery. If you want to make it academic write numbers on some cups and have them put that many ice cubes in the cup. Like this:

Hand holding a small cup with number on it while ice is put in with tongs.

He played with that set up for about 15 minutes and then Team Umizoomi wanted to go to Ice World. Which continued the fun long enough for me to finish what I was doing!

Team Umizoomi toys in a bucket of ice water with cups and scoops.

Squeeze Bottle Painting

One positive to coloring my hair is all those swell applicator bottles I diligently rinse out and save. A little paint, a little water, some big pieces of paper...

A little water being the operative term. The red got watered down a bit too much. Oh well it worked anyway even if it was a bit runny.

Squeeze Bottle Painted Cards and Posters

Once the paint dried we made a birthday card,

giant poster card made with stickers and paint

and a heart to decorate a Just Because I Love You present. This is a direct reference to an episode of Team Umizoomi, the only thing I didn't write on it was the street address of 6 Crescent Street.

heart shaped card for Grandma like Team Umizoomi

Colored Rice

This one I got off of Pinterest: Rice Colored with Powdered Drink Mix.

I made the mistake of making it in the kitchen right before dinner. Ugh! the rubbing alcohol stunk up the place and I had to get it out to the porch or we would not have been able to eat. Once it dried it smelled wonderful though, no rubbing alcohol smell at all.

A few of the colors (like the yellow and orange) were a little pale, even with adding a whole packet of kool-aid, so I just added a few drops of food coloring before setting it out to dry.

You can put it in a tub and let the kids just play with it enjoying the smell and the feel. Or glue them on some paper (which we did and I forgot to take a picture of).

Summer Sensory Calendar

Every morning we "check the schedule" to find our fun activity for the day.

This calendar was created by the MVUSD OT Dept (for those that don't speak alphabet soup that's Murrieta Valley Unified School District Occupational Therapy Department). We did the calendar every day last summer, and I even had to create one for August.

Great sensory activities, most of which you already have the equipment on hand, plus working on calendar skills. Woohoo!

So what fun things are you doing this summer? Got any ideas for great cheap fun for kids? Please share!

July Garden Pictures

Jul 4, 2013 · Leave a Comment

Happy 4th of July. If you are outside of the United States it is business as usual for you. Here in the US of A it is a pretty big deal. Parades, barbecues, fireworks. Not for us though. We don't enjoy crowds and anywhere we'd like to go will be packed today. I might look out the upstairs windows at the big fireworks displays at the neighboring cities. Our city had them Saturday night for the city's birthday celebration.

It is illegal to set off fireworks on your own, even Safe and Sane ones. But that hasn't stopped some of my neighbors every year. Last year my backyard was littered with spent bottle rockets. Grr! I watered well this morning and have the hoses out, just in case.

Considering it is officially a holiday (no such thing to a stay at home mom), today is going to be a gardening picture post! If you are new to my blog, I am occassionally using it as a gardening notebook so I can remember what I did and how the garden looked each month.

Before I get to the meat and potatoes, er, I mean fruits and vegetables of my garden. A quick word about my California Natives. One reason some people are not fond of California Native plants in their gardens is the mistaken impression that their garden will look dead in the summer time. For the plants here it is like winter in colder climes. Many plants go dormant because of the heat and lack of water. The sages and lilacs look a little tired, but they will be back. In the mean time, summer brings out the blooms on one of my favorite plants.

Zauschneria californica, aka Hummingbird Fuchsia. It has beautiful silver green foliage and when summer hits it is covered in beautifully irresistable red trumpet flowers. Irresistable to hummingbirds anyways.

On to the edibles...

Beautiful eggplant flower

Vicious eggplant thorns! Yeouch! I have bumped into these beauties a few times while watering.

The beets have been harvested and given away (including Spicy Pickled Beets for my sister in law's birthday). Pumpkins and a second try at peppers have taken their place.

Big and Early tomatoes I grew from seed. Almost ripe.

Red Table Grapes almost ripe.

Small watermelon, not ripe, but fell out of its sling and broke off the vine.

It became a small batch of Watermelon Rind Preserves today.

Sunflowers are about 2 -3 feet tall now.

I harvested one artichoke and let this one bloom. In a day or two I will cut and dry it.

And finally, my elephant garlic harvest!

The Devil Made Me Do It - That's my story and I am sticking to it

Jun 26, 2013 · 15 Comments

Scene: the main conference room on the 13th floor of 666 Hades Towers.

Flunkie #1: We're sorry, Mr. Beelzebub, sir. We have tried EVERYTHING! She just won't crack.

Lucifer Beelzebub: She is a premenopausal housewife with a whiney non-sleeping 5 year old whirlwind on summer vacation and a husband working nights. What do you mean she won't give in? What have you tried?

Flunkie #2: Well, L.B. As you mentioned she is premenopausal so we have amped up her hormone fluctuations to level 5. They are keeping her up at night and her irritation level is at a consistently high level. But either the black cohosh is working or she is starting to adjust to always being irritated so it is having less of an effect.

Flunkie #3: Even though it is summer vacation she got the boy in swim lessons and he loves them. The only trouble he is causing is ducking his head under water when he is waiting for his turn. Today, we replaced the instructor with one that had the kids standing around most of the 30 minute lesson. But the boy still had fun so she bit her tongue.

F #2: And the lessons are making him more tired. Combined with the new allergy medicine he is taking at night he is sleeping better this week. Even though he woke up at 4 a.m. this morning she calmly got him back to sleep before the light peeked into his room and he started demanding to get up because it was "the bottom of the night". We increased his whiney factor and added "Dora-itis", she grumbled a bit about wanting to do bodily harm to the perky little animated cherub, but other than that nothing.

F #3: We also convinced him that the cherry flavored medicine is "too sour". He threw a fit and even gagged when she tried to force him to take it. When she went to the store to get another flavor and a few other things we hid everything she wanted to buy! Well, she did find the grape flavored allergy medicine, but nothing else she wanted. She just sighed and said "Oh, well I probably would have been the only one to eat it anyway."

[Tweet "Can a woman resist the work of the devil and his minions and not eat the cake? #humor"]

L.B.: Have you tried using anyone else? What about the house? That usually gets to these types.

F #2: We put the cloak of invisibility over her so no one in the store saw her. They kept standing in front of what she was looking at or blocking her path in general. No visible reaction.

F #1: And Captain Clueless here (pointing to #3) posted some particularly annoying and oblivious comments on Facebook that would normally cause her to rant and rage, but instead of responding she turned off the computer and actually found time to get a few things crossed off of her to do list like cleaning out the garage so she could get to the weight bench.

F #3: Hey, don't turn this on me, Messy Marvin. Your the one that filled the kids shoes with sand so he'd dump them all over the carpet. Instead he sat where he was supposed to and made a tiny little pile on the tile that was easy to sweep up.

F #2: Stop it you two. Sir, we also dumped all of the toys out of the baskets as soon as she turned around to cook dinner. She just sighed, made it a game and had him help clean up a path between the dining room and bathroom. Then the husband cleaned up the rest while she was giving him a bath. We showed him though and gave him a sore throat and congestion right before he started teaching summer school. He'll be grouchy and short tempered and she'll just want him to rest which he won't do.

F #3: And we made the kid sick too! So he is sure to have trouble sleeping, not eat and be even whinier! And when he is sick his Dad always gets angry at the world and insists on giving him a fever reducer when his fever is only 100 degrees, even though she tells him every time to let his body handle it unless he is miserable or the temperature is over 102.

F #2: We wanted to ravage her garden, but someone used up all the hornworms on her friend's tomatoes. The best we could muster was some grasshoppers that devoured most of the leaves on the green beans. But she had already harvested so many that she just shrugged.

F #1: We've given her all kinds of technical difficulties like websites not loading and broke the printer when she was trying to print the belated birthday card they made for his cousin. She just cut out the part that printed, glued it to construction paper and had him add stickers and drawings. It came out even cuter than the one they made on the computer. And the printer still works if you hold down the corner. She's so cheap she'll try to make it last another 6 months that way.

L.B.: Let me look at the file. Hhmm. Ah. Here, give her this. By the time she finally gets the kid into bed and gets a few precious minutes all to herself she'll dive right in to it.

F #1: D'oh! How could we miss that?

F #2: So simple.

F #3: The weight bench, the healthy foods, of course! Give her the cold just when she starts a new weight loss regimen. That will do the trick.

L.B.: Well, there is a reason it is called Devil's Food. Mwa ha ha ha ha!

[Tweet "The Devil Made Me... when you have a cold you have to do what it takes to power through. #humor #funny"]

----

The Devil Made Me Do It... tale of the devil and his minions trying to make a woman give into the temptation of chocolate cake. fitness. funny. humor

Scene: TheTV room on a quiet cul-de-sac in suburbia. A woman is plopped on the couch with her feet up managing the DVR remote with one hand and eating a bowl of "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake and Homemade Country Vanilla Ice Cream with the other.

Woman: Oh c'mon, you crab fisherman are a bunch of whiney wimps! Boo hoo! It's cold outside, he is working us too hard and yelling at us! Try being a MOTHER! On duty 24-7 for a minimum of 18 years with no financial gain. You tell that greenhorn, Wild Bill! Wah wah! I miss my girlfriend. Sheesh, let him go. We already have Elliot rambling on about Val ad infinitum we don't need another one on the show.

Woman (shoving another bite of cake and ice cream in her face as she speeds through a commercial): Sigh, I knew it was only a matter of time before I caved and ate it. But, it's all natural and trans fat free! Ha ha ha. Okay, how about it feels really good on my sore throat? The diet and exercise starts next week, I swear!

L.B.: mwa ha ha ha ha ha

Woman: ugh! this cold must be making me hallucinate. I thought I just heard laughter. Maybe I need another scoop of ice cream.

Fade to black....

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Repurposed Bike Trailer

Jun 19, 2013 · 3 Comments

After almost two years of use trucking J back and forth to preschool the trailer is now officially retired!

A gold watch, get it?

He was a bit over the size limit on it anyway, and I don't plan on going anywhere that he won't be able to walk or ride his own bike when we don't have the car. I also still have the one that got hit by a car, though it obviously doesn't have wheels anymore.

One is wheel-less and the other is well used so I didn't want to mess with trying to sell them or even give them away. Instead I came up with these two ideas for repurposing them.

The toy holder:

The wagon/ play shopping cart/ clean up assistant cart:

I figure we will be able to use both for years to come. Even when J has outgrown playing grocery store I'll be able to use it as a garden cart. And I am sure we will always have "junk" that needs a place to be stored in the garage.

Garden is looking great

Jun 10, 2013 · 2 Comments

I have been a neglectful blogger because I have been enjoying my garden.

You know what that means PICTURE POST TIME!!!

Eggplant on the left, green beans and tomatoes on the right.

Not quite ready for a sandwich yet, but maybe fried green tomatoes?

Oh wow! I actually grew green beans!!! The inoculant definately worked.

Baby Zucchini grow faster please, I have a new recipe to try!

Trellised watermelon, lush and producing three beauties so far (hopefully a few more). I put some of those panty hose to good use that have just been sitting in my drawer since I left office work.

Hello, asparagus plant #3! I had given hope that you would pop up this year.

Sunflowers aren't reaching the sky yet, but at least the snails didn't eat all of the sproutlets this year.

And a break from all of that green, here's a little red. I ate the greens for dinner last night (with a little sauteed onion and bacon bits) and I am going to pickle these for my sister-in-law's birthday present. All my brother is getting her is a new phone - psh!

Crazy Hopscotch and Homemade Sewing Cards

May 22, 2013 · 3 Comments

I am 2 ½ weeks away from Summer Vacation, and we don't have summer school this year. Ooof! Nine weeks of keeping my little darling entertained 14 hours a day! I have been pinning away on my Summer Vacation - EEK! Board on Pinterest. Hopefully I will find a few things to keep him occupied at least for 20 minutes or so.

Since other bloggers are helping me I thought I'd throw out a few ideas that will hopefully help someone else while away a few hours. Both are extremely simple to make.

Crazy Hopscotch Fabric Squares
I bought a few yards of this pretty green knit fabric to make something for my babies room. After sewing about 12 inches I remembered I loath sewing with knit. I just don't have the sewing skills. So I gave up, stuffed it in a box in the closet of doom and forgot about it. One rainy day my toddler and I watched Curious George's Lucky Cap in which Steve makes a long twisty hopscotch course for George to follow. Since I couldn't do it outside I had a stroke of genius, grabbed the fabric, cut it into 20 squares approximately 1 foot each (honestly I eyeballed it), dug a permanent marker out of the drawer and wrote on numbers.

We have had so much fun with these through the years. Obvious learning concepts are number identification and sequencing plus following directions and of course the Physical Education teacher in me LOVES the cardio workout. Make them big enough for your feet and jump along with them.

At first my husband or I put them out, once he mastered the concept we put the squares in order and he made his own hopscotch path. Now he can take them out of the box, arrange them in order himself and then make his path. We go all over the room, sometimes having to turn around (or go backwards to proceed). The only rules are they have to stay on the carpet: Safety First!

Your kids aren't ready for numbers? Try arrows to point to the next square. I used a midweight knit, but you could use precut felt squares, fleece, denim (repurpose jeans?). I would avoid any slippery fabrics for obvious safety reasons. Make 26 and put numbers on one side and letters on the other. Use fabric paints or iron ons for the numbers if you want. I went cheap and fast.

Homemade Sewing Cards

Cut out big pictures from a magazine or print something of the Net or have your kid draw a picture. Glue on to some cardboard (I let J help with that part). Cut the cardboard so there is about a ½ inch border - or go all the way to the edge and your holes can go on the picture, your choice. Punch holes around the edge - grown up job! Tie a knot or two in one end of a shoelace and have the child thread it through the holes in the card.

The two skills this works on are fine motor skills and following directions. My little guy used to lace it from one side to the next then top to bottom and all over the place instead of just going to the next hole. I guess technically there isn't a "right way" to do it, and I was really emphasizing the fine motor when I made them. I admit it doesn't hold his interest long, but it is a good non electronic activity on the go (got any long summer road trips planned?).

And they also make nifty little pretend kites for little guys that are too small to handle a real kite. Or maybe that's just my little guy.

If you have any resources for summer activities for preschoolers/early elementary I am going to need a ton! Please share in the comments below.

More garden pictures

May 5, 2013 · Leave a Comment

I am lazy, and tired and my garden is actually doing amazingly well right now, so it is picture post time again! Plus this helps me log my progress for next year.

I had given up hope on my asparagus coming up this year,

then lo and behold look who decided to show up after all.

Oooh! a cute little baby artichoke!

And a cute little baby watermelon.

Oh my, could those be actual blossoms on my green bean plants?

Could I actually get my garden to produce green beans?

I need to sit down before I faint!

I planted some old seeds (packaged for 2011) and all of them have germinated.

This is a black zucchini. Also eggplant and some banana peppers.

The beets' leaves are so big I can't water them, so I plucked one or two leaves off of each plant. I gave some to my MIL and sauteed a few with some garlic jelly for me. YUM!!

And here are the dolmades I made with the leaves I pruned off the grape vines

that were blocking the baby grapes from getting full sun.

The recipe is over on That Recipe (my other site).

Mother's Day Decoupage Vase

May 4, 2013 · Leave a Comment

My husband surprised me today with the news that we are going to stop by his parents' house this weekend instead of next for an impromptu Mother's Day celebration. I needed to come up with a project for J to make with what I had on hand instead of what I planned to do next week. A brief scrounge into the "closet of doom" found me the goodies to make a nice little Decoupage Vase.

Needed:

bottle, any size any shape, cleaned all labels removed (if possible)
white glue
cup for glue (old yogurt container, meat tray, paper cup, etc.)
tissue paper
paint brush

If you can't remove all of the labels, try to tape them with masking tape or use the technique below.

Pour some glue into the cup and add water until it resembles thick cream. The ratio depends on how thick your glue is to begin with, I like about 2 parts glue to 1 part water if not 1:1. This will give you enough glue for the tissue paper to stick, but not be so thick that it will tear the tissue paper when you spread it on.

Tear the tissue paper into 1-2" pieces - it does not need to be exact.

Paint the bottle with glue and put the tissue paper on the glue. Paint over the tissue paper until it is thoroughly soaked put not tearing apart. Continue layering on the glue and tissue paper until the bottle is completely covered.

I used a Pom bottle thanks to MY mom saving it for us because she thought J and I could make something with it. And the labels weren't coming off, so when J wasn't looking, I bunched up some tissue paper over the stubborn red label and slathered it with glue . Not that a little heart shining through wouldn't have been a nice touch.

Let the tissue paper dry overnight, fill with dried flowers or make some with tissue paper and chenille stems. You probably don't want fresh flowers because water will disintegrate the tissue paper.

And there you have it, a quick and easy project that will make a lovely gift. But not for my mom (I know you are reading this! I have something else planned for you!)

Getting ready for the Tour of California

May 3, 2013 · Leave a Comment

The Amgen Tour of California is set to begin next weekend. It doesn't have the world reknown that the Tour de France has, but it is one of the premier cycling races in the U.S. and actually most of the teams and atheletes participating will be headed for France in July.

The second stage starts at Town Square Park in Murrieta on Monday, May 13. A place I visit four days a week since J's school is across the street. Luckily, he doesn't have class on Mondays, so we will be watching on TV. I think that TV coverage has the city a little nervous because there has been a lot of work going at the park recently.

The field has had these signs on it for over a month.

Not that it gets that much foot traffic anyway except during special events.

Special events like the Murrieta Field of Honor.

2,012 full sized flags decorated the field last year for Veterans Day!

People pay $35 to sponsor a flag and the profits go towards building the Veterans Memorials.

Thanks to the Tour of California coming, the Vietnam Memorial

has been repaired in this past month.

While I was snapping my pictures of the repaired Vietnam Memorial today I met Cal Benson who was visiting the Veterans Memorial for the first time. He is formerly of Evanson, Illinois, USAF retired, WWII Veteran. He told me that he lost one brother in the war and his other brother was in the first wave of the Normandy Invasion. And thanks be to God, was one of the few to live to tell about it (tears welled in his eyes as he talked about it).

Mr. Benson himself was recruited to be a pilot, but they had too many so they decided since he was small (due to surviving Polio) he would become a Ball-Turret Gunner. When he asked if I knew what that was, I paused and then flashes of the movie Memphis Belle popped into my head. Yes sir, I do know what that is. He regaled me with a few other stories about the Air Force bases he trained at (Nelles and Edwards before it was Edwards), and then I had to make my apologies and be on my way after thanking him profusely for his service and his stories.

I wanted to check the progress of the Honor Garden which will pay tribute to those

local U.S. Service Members that have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

Looking good, I hope it is done by next weekend!

The City of Murrieta has a fun pre-race day event planned in the park on Sunday May 12 including a 5K Walk for Hope, Family Festival, live music, food and kids activities.

And once the hoopla of the race is over, I hope we can get back to being

a sleepy little three tumbleweed town just off of I -15.

Pond side find

Apr 25, 2013 · 3 Comments

I've spent the past few days home with a kid that had the sniffles that somehow turned into pink eye. Or at least it looked like it could have been pink eye - what do I know. Neither hubby nor I have ever had it. So, today I could rant about how annoying it is to keep a kid home that is contagious but not really "sick" or go with another picture post from my garden. Photos for the win!

When I went outside to water my vegetables, which are next to the pond, I noticed I had four beautiful pink lilies in bloom so I quickly darted back inside to get my camera.

Ooooh aren't they pretty?

As I was happily snapping away, this little beauty climbed up on a rock nearby to catch some rays.

Look at those pretty blue markings!

From the pictures on California Herps, I think it might be a Sceloporus of some kind. Maybe I will send them the picture. It looked so content and peaceful that I didn't want to try to catch it and flip it over for more identification (translation, I am old and slow and it probably would have taken off the moment I tried).

[Tweet "Photos of Pond Lilies and California lizards. #photography #lizards"]

I hope it hangs around catching lots of icky bugs creeping and crawling around. If only it ate snails, I would build it a little lizard condo with a nice deck overlooking the pond and bring it lizard margaritas in tiny little cups with itty bitty little umbrellas in them.

Have I mentioned I HATE snails!

Garden Pictures

Apr 22, 2013 · 2 Comments

Some pictures from my backyard.

One of my favorite California native, Apache plume.

pretty white flowers in spring that turn into fluff balls in summer and fall.

This bush is buzzing! Happy Happy bees enjoying the Ceonothus.

Watermelons are thriving.

So are the beets and carrots.

Green beans, eh, not so much. At least a few are still alive. blankety blank snails.

I sense lots of red grape jelly in my future. And maybe some stuffed grape leaves.

Blankety blank snail! Get back in the pond and drown already!

Trying to find perspective through flowers.

Apr 16, 2013 · 2 Comments

If you have ever been on the 5 Freeway between San Diego and Los Angeles in the springtime you probably have seen the blaze of color on the hills just to the east. The Flower Fields of Carlsbad. It has been on my "things I'd like to do list" ever since I first saw them decades ago. I finally got my wish on Friday night as we snuck away for a quick overnight at Legoland "Cali-A-fornia" as J calls it.

First stop: Legoland for a quick run through 90 minutes before closing.

A spider almost 6 feet across! If it wasn't made of plastic blocks I'd have passed out.

The very first thing Knight J wanted to do was hop on

his trusty steed for a Royal Joust.

And then it was WATER WORLD time with Daddy!!!

In case any future Darwin Award nominees were thinking of diving

in to the 0ft 0in water on the edge of the pool.

Then we went across the street to our hotel, the boys went swimming while I stopped to snap a few pictures on the walkway overlooking the Ranunculus fields.

A wide shot just to put things in perspective.

And now lets take out the perspective.

Pea Soup Anderson's windmill in the background.

If you zoom in closely you can see the white and red blooms in the purple band. These are "weeds". Even in something this beautiful, there are a few weeds that can distort the overall picture. But there are only a few. And if you look at the big picture, you see the beauty and not the ugliness. It can be challenging to do in life, especially after events like the bombings at the Boston Marathon.

God Bless America!

Grandma Ruth

Apr 14, 2013 · 4 Comments

Nettie Ruth Cowan on her engagement day

After 98 years on this earth, my Grandmother Nettie Ruth Cowan Smith passed away yesterday. She went in her sleep, is no longer in pain, and can hopefully now remember us all. For the last 3 -4 years she hasn't remembered any of us. Alzheimer's sucks.

It was tough for all of us knowing she was still physically with us, but we were all strangers to her. It had to be especially difficult for my Uncle Clark and Aunt Lyse and their boys, with whom she lived. I want to publicly thank them and their four sons for all they did for her, even when it might have been easier for them to just "stick her in a home".

She was one of 12 children in a Texas farm family so poor they "couldn't even afford a dirt floor". She was the first to go to college where she met my grandfather. Here's my Uncle Clark's hysterical recounting of how Grandfather Carl was able to get Papa Cowan to agree to them getting married.

She told me on her wedding day Papa Cowan pulled her aside ("not him, mind you, but ME") and said "Ruth, you are going to have to take care of your husband and your children when they come. You can't spend your whole life with your nose in a book." She didn't completely listen. she took care of her family, but reading was always important to her. I have been told one of her proudest moments was when she took her 18 month old first grandchild in to meet the principal at the school where she taught. I looked in amazement, pointed at the book shelves and announced "It's a book."

Reading, teaching, crafting, making do with what you have instead of just buying new, all things I inherited from my grandparents - all four actually.

Just a few of the homemade goodies I have in my house made by her hands:

If I am not mistaken one of the last things she made was a baby blanket for J. I am not sure she had to much interest (or the dexterity) to do much crocheting after that.

One of my most vivid memories from my younger days was being incredibly awed and proud that I actually knew someone that wrote a book and it was my grandmother! The book was about flags and their history and was basically designed as a school pageant. I have two copies of it, but am just too lazy to go dig it out and take a picture of it. Instead, here she is with her flags (my Dad and her sister Wanda are in the background).

Grandma and her flags! (Dad and Aunt Wanda in the background.

It wasn't until I was three months pregnant with J that it dawned on me that she had her younger two children at 42 and 44 years old. So why should I worry about having one just over the age of 40. Strangely just the thought of it gave me confidence.

One regret I know she had was that we never made cookies together. She mentioned it once that she just thought it was something a Grandmother and Granddaughter should do.

We might not have had the chance to make cookies due to the distance we lived from each other but we did like to talk on the phone, and more often than not the conversation turned to mom.

Me: YOUR daughter is laughing at us.

Her: Well, you know YOUR mother can be ornery.

Me: Didn't you try to break YOUR daughter of that?

Her: Oh, I tried the best I could, but you are just going to have to finish raising her right.

Us: << hysterical laughter>>

Me: Now she is rolling her eyes at us.

Us: <<more giggling>>

What other stories should I share? How she gave her son Syphillis (totally NOT true) or how she nonchalantly waded through waist deep water carrying her son to escape the Great Fairbanks Flood of 1967 (definitely true). The words that strike me from her recount of the flood was:

It was around 50 degrees so it wasn't too cold. It rained or misted all the time but I did not get wet above my hips - just damp.

The Mistress of Understatement.

There is plenty more I could write, but I think I will end it now. With a promise to keep raising HER daughter right, and not spending all of my days with a nose in book.

Miss you Grandma, much love,

~Baby Ruth

Save

Take that weeds!

Apr 12, 2013 · 5 Comments

The other morning I poured some plain old distilled vinegar into a spray bottle, added a squirt or two of dishwashing liquid and attacked my weeds. I don't necessarily mind pulling weeds, but 1) you have to stay on top of it or they get out of control quickly and 2) it is nearly impossible to get them out of the cracks in the cement completely.

While I was spraying, my vinegar-smell hating husband poked his head out the back door and asked if I wanted him to use "real weed killer".

Now, why would I want you to do that? So you can be like this city worker I spied the next day at the library:

And his results from spraying "real weed killer":

Well, I guess you really can't tell from the photos (and blogger won't let me enlarge it), but more than 48 hours later there is no difference in the weeds despite that funky brown spray all over the ground. Trust me, I was very careful not to step on any cracks over there. 🙂

I am pretty sure my solution cost far less than the mystery chemical that was less effective. Maybe the City of Murrieta should look into it both to stop exposing residents to chemicals and save tax payer dollars.

My "if you give a mom a muffin" kind of morning

Apr 11, 2013 · 1 Comment

Have you seen this poem floating around the net based on Laura Numeroff's book "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"? (click on it to view larger)

I had one of those mornings yesterday. Normally, Wednesday is my coffee morning - therapy with my girlfriends solving all of the world's problems over a cup of joe. But due to a crappy night sleep and trying to stave of a cold I took a pass and decided I'd be better off staying home and taking nap.

Then I remembered some Facebook wisdom:

Cleaning a house with kids around is like brushing your teeth while eating Oreos.

The carpet really needed to be steam cleaned and I had five kid free hours. Plus it was a warm day so it would dry quickly.

Hhmm, better sweep the kitchen and entry floors first because then we'd just be tracking stuff on my clean carpets. And they could use a mop too.

Okay, on to vacuuming the carpet. Rats. I forgot to empty the canister and clean the filter the last time I vacuumed. Oh no, I did not just dump the dirt on the freshly cleaned kitchen floor. I'll just swap out the filter and vacuum it up. Back to the carpet.

But first I have to pick up all the pillows, magnetic letters, trains, cars, hats, shoes, blankets, animals, cones, books, etc. Phew, now I can vacuum.

Vacuum away, steam cleaner out. Aaaugh! why are there spools of thread all over the floor in here. Little Man, how many times do I have to ask you to stay out of the Closet of Doom? Thread rewound and put away, steam cleaner out.

Now to find the Soylent Green. Well, that's what I used to call it when my Dad bought it years ago. He used something called Agent Orange before that, and then switched to Simple Green. Hey, when you are a very well read smart aleck teenager it is funny.

I'd use plain old vinegar if I had a choice, but somehow I know when hubby comes home in 11 hours, despite the floor being dry and having fans running and windows open all day, he'd still complain about the smell. And hey, after working for 11 hours, you deserve to not walk in the door and be overwhelmed by a smell you hate (no matter how faint it is).

Filled up the tank, put it in, plugged in the cleaner, started it up and cleaning time. Shouldn't the carpet be getting wet? Grr! Why isn't the water coming out? Water switch is working, water seems to be going into the tube, but it isn't coming out. Let me just take the sprayer off and clean it out.

Off to the garage to find a screwdriver, which luckily was right where it was supposed to be. Undid the two screws and started to slide the sprayer out. Voice in my head screamed STOP! So I did, because I listen to the voices in my head. Well, sometimes, when they aren't whiney or telling me to do something stupid like "step away from the carrot cake". Taking off that sprayer probably wasn't going to solve my problem and would be a pain to try to get back on. How about just poking the holes with a pin?

Back to the Closet of Doom, rummage under all of those spools of thread I just picked up for a straight pin. Poke, poke, poke, etc. Put down the pin, pick up the screwdriver and reattach the sprayer. Hunt for pin in the carpet. At least I found it with my hand and not my foot. Screwdriver and pin put away in their proper places. Turn the machine on again and ... we have water! Yippee.

Now the carpet is getting nice and wet, but the water isn't getting sucked up. Oops, forgot to latch it down all the way. Where is the second latch? Back to the Closet of Doom AGAIN! Put latch on upside down, growl, flip it over and lock into place.

Finally, everything is going smoothly. Cleaner tank empty, dirty tank full. Time to dump the dirty water and get more cleaner. Drip drop drip drop drip drop splash all the way across my freshly cleaned kitchen floor to the sink. Oh no, really! the sink is full of breakfast dishes. Too bad! they need to go in the dishwasher anyway.

It took six tanks, three with cleaner and three plain water, but now the carpet is spot free. Finally, nap time!

But you know, I suddenly have a craving for blueberry muffins...but first I have to empty the kitchen sink and remop the floor.

Spring Break Sanity Saver

Apr 5, 2013 · 3 Comments

The end is in sight, and I have a bad case of STA (short-timers attitude). As I type there is a trampoline in my living room, legos on the floor, magnetic letters scattered across the table and various other toys and dress up clothes scattered from one end of the floor to the other downstairs. I don't even want to look upstairs.

I am beat and as long as he wasn't destroying the house he got to do what he wanted without (too much) nagging from me today.

Until he started whining, incessantly, over something ridiculous. So ridiculous I don't even remember what it was. So I dug down deep into my bag of tricks which is almost empty after two weeks and then remembered I had the stuff to make Play Clay.

I split the recipe in thirds (ish) before adding the coloring so I could get three colors. All we have on hand is regular liquid food dye, and I added a bunch.

And of course with red, yellow and blue you can make secondary colors and mix in a science (or is it art) lesson on color mixing.

Yeah, I know they aren't in the right order. You try to stage a photo while an almost 5 year old is grabbing your props away from you. Enough learnin' kid, go play!

He started with some basic rolling and cutting. And then decided the Cars needed to play.

"Lightening and Mater go through the mud, then the rocks, then the volcano to get to the tower in Paris to see Finn." I did not know there was a volcano in Paris, did you?

Meanwhile Mommy made this truly awe inspiring ultra realistic blue bunny.

Is anyone else craving ice cream now? Bourdeaux Cherry and Chocolate for me.

I know you are thinking my sculpting skills are as incredible as my drawing skills. I promise to let you know when MoMA and I work out the details for an exhibit.

Meanwhile, my son keeps me humble.

Me: What did I make?
J: Uh, a snail?
Me: Ouch!

So, was the hour of whine free quiet occupy himself play time worth all of this mess?

If you have to ask you either are not a parent or you are Super Mom (or Dad) with patience of steel. I am not. That quiet hour is the only reason I am not calling Margarita Momma right now to see how soon they can deliver.

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Some seriously funny posts for your weekend reading pleasure.

Love my Easter Egg Hunting Yard

Mar 29, 2013 · 1 Comment

When the landscapers were putting the finishing touches on our native landscape, we found out J was on the way. For a moment M and I regretted removing all of the grass in the backyard. Then we looked at each other and said in unison "Easter Egg Hunts!" It is perfect for them. Here are a few photos of the one we had yesterday.

They all seemed to have fun, and after finding all the eggs and trading the stickers stuffed inside, they had races around the paths.

And when they got tired and hot from that, they cooled off by soaking their feet in the pond and trying to spot the goldfish.

And while it is quite a bit of work to trim everything back in the winter, when my neighbors are busying themselves mowing their lawns every week, I am enjoying a cool (or warm, depending on the season) drink while sitting by the pond listening to the waterfall and watching all the birds and lizards enjoy themselves throughout the yard.

Spring Break Science Project: Exploding Ivory Soap!

Mar 27, 2013 · Leave a Comment

Two and a half weeks of no school. What am I going to do with this kid?

My cousin complimented me a few weeks ago that she could never be a stay at home mom because she isn't that creative, her daughter would end up knowing all of the characters on Days of Our Lives. Not in my house, instead we know all of the characters on Sprout and PBS - same thing, different channel.

I have the advantage of working in day care for eons, so I had some activity ideas. But, she has one advantage I didn't have even a few years ago - Pinterest. Evil time sucker - yes! Source for potentially fun entertaining ideas to occupy your children for a few minutes - definitely! And in case you need more ideas than this one, check out my No More "I'm Bored" Board.
Follow my "No more "I'm Bored" Board" on Pinterest.

I have no recollection of how I stumbled on to this idea. If you have ever been on Pinterest you know what I mean. You click on one thing and that leads you to another and another and suddenly your boards of full of ideas that you will never have enough time to complete in your lifetime.

But this one appealed to the science geek in me. You can't just put a bar of soap in the microwave and it will explode into a pile of goo, can you? Forget the kid, I had to try it 'cuz I wanted to know what happens.

I cut a bar of Ivory Soap in half, put it on a paper plate and popped it in the microwave. Thirty seconds later it had "grown" off the plate! That could be why she says to only use a quarter bar. I scooped it back on and let it go about 20 seconds longer and then I called it quits. J was watching the entire time with wide eyes. He was so fascinated that he didn't even object when I stopped the microwave with time still on it - small miracle.

I snapped a quick picture and then Mr. Grabby Hands wanted at it. I let him carry it outside to the garage. He made it about 8 feet before he had to put it down and play with it. I can't really blame him, I was dying to try it too. And before long it was snowing in my garage.

I didn't know snow made that sound, did you? Hey, he is a SoCal boy, snow is that pretty white stuff on those mountains, way over there, in the distance.

The actual science is a little beyond him at the moment, but if you want to know more check out Physics Central. Hint: same concept as popcorn, as I suspected.

[Tweet "Create fake snow with a bar of soap and your microwave. #science #kidsscience #trythisathome"]

But it was a fun and easy thing to do. Easy to clean up since we took it outside. Even the microwave was just a simple wipe down with a sponge. We will be doing it again. Maybe with the "glow water" next time.

Now I just need to find about 15 more projects like this to get through the next few weeks.

A little smile with your coffee - Funny Coffee Memes

Mar 20, 2013 · 8 Comments

Some days even an IV drip of coffee won't get me going. I need a little laughter too. To tell the truth, this is my lazy way of sharing my collection of funny coffee memes and cartoons with Terry's Coffee Trader, my favorite little coffee shop in town.

But, I am sure all caffeine addicts will also get a chuckle or two.

A little smile with your coffee - Collection of funny coffee memes.

[Tweet "Need a little smile with your coffee? Collection of #funny #coffee memes"]

And in conclusion, one of my own.

Yes, I really did pour the beans straight in without putting them in the grinder first. At least I caught before I started brewing 😉

Family Quilts

Mar 8, 2013 · 2 Comments

It is cold and drizzly today. Perfect weather for some Beef Stew with Guinness (in the crock pot since this morning) and curling up under a quilt. I have some beautiful quilts that have been made with love by my family. Which, if you have been reading my last few posts has been the theme of my week as i start drawing up the family tree.

That is Great Grandma Smith (nee "Tommie" Rachel Anna Purdy) in a photo taken in the early 60's by my mom. When I shared it on Facebook with some of my Smith cousins (remember there are LOTS of them), three of them had the same first thought I did, "I wonder who has that quilt?"

Lone Star pattern

Here are two more she made for my mom:

Drunkard's Path pattern

Grandma's Flower Garden pattern

This one has been well used and needs some mending.
Someday, when I have nothing better to do, I'll have to get to this.

Her oldest daughter Bonnie was also a pretty talented quilter. She made these two for me when I was born. They look beautiful all put together, but if you look closely at some of the fabrics it is proof of one of the rules of quilting I read somewhere: use a few ugly fabrics to make it more interesting and ultimately more pleasing to the eye.

I wonder if Grandfather Carl thought "I want to marry a girl just like the one that married dear old dad"? Because my Grandmother Ruth was every bit as talented of a seastress as her mother-in-law. Here's the top piece of a quilt she made for me that I still haven't gotten around to quilting. Mostly because it doesn't go with anything in my house so it got shoved to the back of the closet and I keep forgetting it.

Applique flowers.

I have one quilt from my dad's side of the family. Not sure who made it, but the cool thing about it is, some of the white blocks have bled through from the back side and you can see that it was made with cut up Holly Sugar bags. Waste not want not.

Double Wedding Band pattern

I did not inherit much of this talent for quilting. Here's my latest attempt. I cut up all of my sons cute baby clothes. I loathe sewing with knit, none of the seems line up, it is a quilting disaster. But it is warm and full of wonderful memories. So, I hope someday he will appreciate it.

I think it is time for me to get snuggly under one of those. Hope you like them!

My Pictorial Gardening Notebook

Mar 3, 2013 · 2 Comments

For the past few years I have tried to keep notes on what I do in the garden in a spiral bound notebook. Things I have put in are when I trim, what I plant and when, when things start blooming, etc. The problem is I start out pretty well in early spring and then I forget about it. This year I decided I am going to put it here on my blog for my reference. Some of you might find it interesting, if not, sorry! Maybe you'll like some of my other blogs better.

Also, those of you still in snow, I am not posting pictures to rub it in. Depending on which source I chose to believe, the last frost date in my area is sometime between yesterday and April 14. If I lived in the snow, I'd probably be in a walker or wheelchair - my knees do not like wet and cold. But, if I did live in colder climes I could grow some fruit that need plenty of frost hours. hmmm...

Spring has a smell on my block - plum blossoms. Our street is lined with them and they just started blooming the past week (per my notebook, this is the same time as the last two years). The smell is intense, especially when it is warm (mid 70's to low 80's this past few days).

Underneath the foot or so of top soil the builders added when the house was built, the ground underneath is clay! Slow draining, nearly impossible to dig through unless it is wet. My natives love it, but edibles are pretty tough to grow. Hence, I am going all containers this year. Lots of hand watering. Luckily I have an almost 5 year old to "help" me.

I finished my milk crate planters and filled them with potting soil yesterday. I sewed the landscape fabric together to make the liners. I originally saw them on Extra Virgin (Cooking Channel) just stapled together, but I didn't want to risk the soil leaking since I may be moving them around a bit to find the sunniest spots of my yard.

Now I am just waiting on the seedlings we planted last week to pop up. We already have a few sprouts on the cilantro and basil, but nothing on the ones I really want, the tomatoes! Patience, Audrey, patience.

Of course, I just realized that the herbs are in mini greenhouses and the tomatoes are not. I shall have to get creative and fix that - TODAY.

I also recieved my order of green bean inoculant this past week. Later today we will probably direct sow those into two of the milk crate planters. I am hoping this will end the infertility problem with legumes I've had for the last 6 years. The plants grow nicely, but never produce ANYTHING. And that is one of the two things my husband asks me to grow.

I also have to find a permanent (at least for the season) place for this raised bed planter. It wasn't getting enough sun on the other side of the house, and where I have it here, still may not be enough. Might leave it and just put the carrots and beets there. Decisions, decisions.

Has anyone tried square foot gardening? how about vertical gardening? I'd love to hear what worked and didn't work for you.

Planting time!

Feb 23, 2013 · 1 Comment

Today is just too beautiful of a day here in my area to spend it on the computer.

The boss and I will start these seeds indoors as soon as he is finished with snack and maybe go to "the flower store" (aka Lowes) to get the potting soil and hardware for the raised bed and milk crate planters I am going to try this year.

I'll go ahead and get the green bean seeds but will have to wait a week for the inoculent to get here. I hope that will be the answer to the problem I have had getting them to actually produce beans for the last five years. From what I have read I have lots of nitrogen in the soil, but no bacteria to help the plant absorb it. Dipping the seeds in the bacteria before planting is supposed to do the trick. I wouldn't try again, but it is one of two things my husband asks me to grow along with watermelon.

J is also asking to plant beets, I have no idea why, but they are easy to grow. If he won't eat them I can always make red velvet cupcakes or beet ricotta pancakes or pickle them and send them to my brother and his wife.

That's all I have planned so far, not counting the strawberries and garlic I found still alive in the old raised bed and put in pots and the periennials that should start coming back soon (grapes and asparagus).

Hope you are having a relaxing Saturday. And I will take advantage of the sunshine and enjoy it doubly for those of you snowbound folks. 😉

Save those pictures

Feb 4, 2013 · 1 Comment

On That Recipe, my mother and I often harp on writing down the family recipes before they are lost. But, I have also begun a quest to get the family photos and letters saved so they are not lost to the ages. My mother's parents lost most of their photos and other momentos during Fairbanks Great Flood. Thanks to Hurricane Katrina my brother lost many of his childhood photos as well as copies of love letters from my Grandfather to my Mimi sent during World War II - luckily I still have the originals which have since been scanned.

Still not convinced this is an important project?

A year ago my mother and I were going through some old photos and we came across a tinted wedding picture of my great grandparents, Eugene and Helen (Reymond) Lalanne, that I don't think I had ever seen. I remember the black and white version in their children and grandchildren's homes but never the tinted version.

The big problem was after 97 years it was in bad shape. I knew the moment I saw it that it was "losing silver". So, I rushed it to Photo Works Temecula to have them work their magic like they'd done on some other photos I'd had them digitize. She took one look and said "It is losing silver". She trained my eye pretty well, huh?

Here are the before and after versions:

WOW!!! Do you see why this is important now? Additionally, with a few quick keystrokes, all of their grandchildren and greatgrandchildren now have a digital copy that they can have printed for themselves. And it will be saved in multiple places so we've decreased the risk of it being gone for good.

Quick digression - One of the family jokes is that my grandmother, Eleanor, is in the picture. No, they didn't HAVE to get married, the photo was taken a few months after their May 9, 1914 wedding date since they didn't have the money at the time. My grandmother was born in April 1915. I am also trying to write down and share stories like this for the next generation as well.

While I am lecturing you I may as well add one more. If you are the family photographer that hides behind the camera (my hand is raised in guilt), you need to step out from behind it once in awhile and be in the pictures. I hate having mine taken too. But, your children, nieces, nephews, etc. DO NOT care. Sure they might make fun of your clothes or some other goofy thing, that's what kids do. But, years from now they will thank you because they actually have a picture of you.

Hopefully, I inspired some of you to preserve your family's photos and videos and to be in them. And to my family, I am still in the process of setting up photo sharing folders, but J wants to go outside and play so I am going to balance being in the present with remembering the past.

Heart Box for Daddy

Jan 25, 2013 · 1 Comment

The day after I started thinking about what I could have J make his Daddy for his birthday/St. Valentine's Day, I saw this post on Doodles and Jots for making your own heart shaped box out of a cereal box.

How cute is that?!
I ended up doing ours slightly differently because I wanted J's help and I really didn't want to deal with paint.

I cut up the cereal box into 2 big rectangles and strips then let him glue on the construction paper.
Then I made a heart shaped template and "we" traced two big hearts on the two big pieces of the box and let him cut them out (I "fixed" it when he wasn't looking).
Then I cut my template down about ¼ inch and traced it on the bottom, lined up the strips for the sides along the line and using a glue gun put a bead of glue on both sides.
I cut the template down another ¼ inch or so, flipped over the top and glued smaller strips along the traced line to make a lid that would fit inside the bottom.
I let J go to town with markers and stickers to finish decorating
fill with ? I haven't decided yet. We'll make some kind of cookies of brownies closer to his birthday

[Tweet "Make a heart shaped box from a cereal box. #kidscrafts #valentinesday"]

If I happen to ask where I stashed it in a few weeks, just remind me it is in the room Daddy rarely enters.

And in case you didn't know, I handled the glue gun when he wasn't around because:

That stuff is dangerous! Luckily it was my left index finger instead of my right clicking finger.

Ch- Ch- Changes: Menopause Humor

Jan 18, 2013 · 4 Comments

Peri Menopause can be scary, but also funny if you keep it in perspective.

When it's time to change, then its time to change
Don't fight the tide, come along for the ride, don't you see
When it's time to change, you've got to rearrange
who you are into what you're gonna be.
- Brady Bunch

I am actually not old enough to remember watching Brady Bunch when it first aired (1969-1974). I was around then, but really too young to watch. However, I watched them endlessly in reruns.

If you haven't seen every episode so many times that you can identify it within 10 seconds like I have, big brother Greg wrote the song above because middle brother Peter's voice was changing. He was experiencing that flux of hormones that male humans experience in their early teens marking their transition to adulthood. Then that's it, their hormones pretty much flat line for the rest of their lives.

Not so for women.

Once they hit puberty, the female of the species experiences hormone fluctuations which can be like a monthly roller coaster ride. Until it stops. Until *duh duh duh* "THE CHANGE". You know, Aunt Flow stops coming to visit. No more checking in at the Red Roof Inn. Mother Nature no longer brings her monthly gifts. No more cotton pony rides. No horses stampeding through your ovaries! (need more euphemisms?)

But like any good roller coaster, it saves the really crazy stuff for the end of the ride: hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, forgetfulness, fatigue, irregular menses.

And the kicker is, you won't know The Big M is complete until a full year has gone without the Redcoats landing.

Since we practice Natural Family Planning, I know my cycle has always been pretty close to 28 days for most of my life. I have been late twice, once at 15 when it was supposed to occur on our vacation to Hawaii, but thankfully waited until we got back home. The second was when I was pregnant with J. We knew his real due date better than the doctors.

The past year I have noticed that there is increasingly more variance to my cycle length, with every other one being in the 24-25 day range. I did what I usually do when I have a burning medical question: got on the phone with Nurse Sister-In-Law and whined asked "aren't they supposed to get longer?" Nope, in the early stages they can get shorter and vary from long one month to short the next.

Rejoicing about Peri-Menopause

So, it looks like I am heading up that last big climb on the roller coaster of womanhood. And how do I feel about it?

BRING IT ON!
LET'S DO THIS!
Yippee!!
Go Mommy, go Mommy!
Who's got it better than us? NOBODY. (oops lost myself there)

No really. I am not being sarcastic, for once. I am sooooooo ready for this.

Some women might be upset about "permanent infertility". Not me. I gave birth one month after my 40th birthday. Almost five years later and the kid still doesn't sleep through the night consistently! We are still not completely done with potty training. I do not want to go through all of THAT again. And, I am more than ready to be done charting and scheduling our intimate time so we make sure we don't go through that again.

Peri Menopause is a Great Excuse

But the absolute best part of the prospect of beginning this new stage of life is I have a new excuse!

Forgetfulness? I don't have to blame Mommy Brain anymore. Now I can use peri menopause!

Fatigue? Not that I stayed up too late online, or making mental to do lists (or even the kid chatting to himself in bed for 2 hours in the middle of the night). Nope, peri menopause.

Weight gain? Nothing to do with the Peppermint Bark Cheesecake I ate all by myself. It's peri menopause.

Mood swings? Aaaah Ah Aaaaah Ah (that was my tarzan yell). Not my fault! peri menopause.

I am being responsible, and have made an appointment with my ob/gyn just to be sure there isn't something else going on. And if this isn't the start of The Change of Life, it will be coming eventually. There is no way of knowing how long it will take to get up the hill, and how many loops and spins and deep drops are left.

But, I am okay with it, because:

Day by day, it's hard to see the changes you've been through
A little bit of living, a little bit of growing all adds up to you

more about menopause

woman in lotus position with text overlay "Natural Methods for Reducing Stress during Menopause". — Reduce Stress During Menopause

woman eating with text "Six Dietary Changes to Make Menopause More Manageable" — Dietary Changes to Make Menopause Manageable

woman sleeping on bed with text "Getting a Good Night Sleep During Menopause" — Sleep During Menopause

Survivor Stories - Fairbanks Great Flood of 1967

Dec 7, 2012 · 4 Comments

In August 1967 in Fairbanks, Alaska, Carl and Ruth Smith had the truck loaded up to go camping with their two sons Stony, age 12, and Clark (aka Hoppy), age 10. Then the rains came, almost 4 inches in the 24 hours prior to noon on August 12. In the next few days the Chena River flooded. It would later come to be known as Fairbanks Great Flood.

The Smith family eventually made it from their home to high ground at University of Alaska where they stayed with most of the residents of Fairbanks for a week. Ruth managed to get a note out to her oldest daughter, my Mom, in California using the only paper she could find.

The rest of the letter was written on the back of deposit slips.

Tuesday morning. Six stories up in Moore Hall, University of Alaska. Well they say that certain things can be told to your grandchildren. We certainly have one to tell somebody. I am writing this on the paper I have. We are well and safe now but we certainly got out with only our skins. My wardrobe now consists of one very wet pair of blue jeans and one of your old pink knitted blouses and one pair of underwear. Daddy and the boys are no better except they are not as wet as I am. Haines Avenue broke last night some where about 8 o'clock. Daddy had

been down Eureka helping to try to keep a basement dry but is {sic} was absolutely hopeless. 17 feet of water was on us. Everybody took to Trainer Gate Road - the only exit. A car in front of us stalled and sent back waves on us and flooded out engine. There was nothing to do but get out and walk. I took my purse and we had stuffed our savings bonds in a manilla file so we took that. Daddy took Stony on his back and I took Hoppy. Daddy had on his hip boots but I just had my snow boots. We

waded water about 30 inches deep surging down Trainer Rd from C Street to the Club Car. Ken Haycraft came along and took Hop for about half the way. It certainly did help but I would have made it. We stayed at the corner at the Club Car for 30 minutes or longer when Ed Prince opened up the Cat Shop and we got in over there. The boys and I stayed there while Daddy went back and help other people carry their children out. He finally got a pick up

that could pull us us {sic}. He got out pick up on the railroad bed and it started - it just had to - . But we stayed at the Cat Shop until after 12 and had to leave because the water was coming in there. Daddy (and others) walked along to feel out the road bed and then came back and drove on. We were in water until we made the bend at Birch Hill. People were camped right in among the graves and on both sides of the vault. But we were running so we kept going.

The radio was on and they told us the U of A was available. We got here at 3:15 this morning. Wet and tired but altogether. Miss Utila is here. She is the only one I know that you know. The Brunners were stranded on Trainer Rd. too. I don't know where they got to. One family got seperated and I have not heard if they are back together or not. The Police, Fireman {sic}, news staff, Civil Defense have done a good job but it was simply too huge a job to handle. We were never in any danger at all it was rather a "high charged" exceitement.

When we left the pick up on Trainer Gate both boys almost panicked. They just were not going to leave but when they saw there was no other way and once we were out in the water they calmed down. It was around 50 degrees so it wasn't too cold. It rained or misted all the time but I did not get wet above my hips - just damp. But I have no shoes or other clothes. We have bedding, food and water in the pick up but it is so damp we felt it best to come here out of the elements. We have only a little gas for the gasoline stove and no idea when we can get more. We have no wood at all. So. Love, Mom.

Let this be a lesson!

I have read this letter a few times, but retyping it now I got chills. So proud to come from such strong stock!

Among the many other things they lost due to the flood was almost all of the family photographs. Which is why it is my mission to scan and upload as many family pictures (and letters) and get them "on the cloud", so if there is another earthquake, fire, flood, hurricane, or some other natural disaster we don't lose everything again. Hoping my family will help out and scan and share what they have.

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