Every day is a new day

Just an update.

2010-08-31T09:29:00.000-07:00

Two summers ago I planted four strawberry plants. They grew quickly and soon I had probably 10 plants. Last summer they took off and I had a mess of strawberry plants. In May I decided to thin them and make nice rows of plants for easier picking, when my bushels of strawberries started coming off. I soon discovered that I had many more plants than I had thought. I spent the afternoon digging and seperating plants. Keeping them alive by putting them in bukets of water. By the time one of my daycare parents arrived I had decided that I needed to share. So she took all that I had dug. That evening, my back hurt. The next day I continued to dig and separate plants, feeling like I never really did make any progress in my attempt to tame the strawberry patch. On that night I could barely move. Digging in the garden has always given me back pain, so I just decided to give the strawberry patch a rest for a few days until my pain was more manageable.

That was in May. In fact, after taking a small fall onto my back end, my pain got worse. Never before has my back taken so long to feel better. At the end of June, when I couldn't even sit down anymore, I finally went to the doctor. After trying pain meds and rest, I was sent for an MRI. Turns out I have some protruding disc down at the base of my spine and back. Three to be exact. My pain has lessened, thank goodness, but continues to hurt. Yesterday I went to a physical therapist. I will now be doing physical therapy two times a week, until my 20 insurance approved visits are over or until the pain stops. Which ever comes first. I am hopping the pain goes first.

My cleaning secret

2010-06-17T19:07:00.001-07:00

I don't like to clean very much. I do it any way because I like a clean house more than I dislike cleaning. This afternoon when I climbed on my kitchen counter to remove clutter from off my cabinets I had no intention of cleaning them, but once I got up there I saw what I had been avoiding for 2 years. That nasty grease residue that some how finds it way way up on top of the cabinets. No more pretending it wasn't there. Grease, plus 2 years worth of dust, not an easy task. I first tired to vacuum as much dust as I could. Only managed to get a few cob webs. Now I don't know if you put off cleaning this area like I do, but if you do you know that no ordinary cleaner will do. I tried 409, usually works pretty well. Not today. Lysol, no good. Hot soapy water, comet, still no match. I honestly thought of giving up and waiting another 2 years. Then I started searching through my kitchen and saw the vinegar. Which of course made me think of baking soda.

I first sprinkled the baking soda, then poured the vinegar. Cool bubbles, my own private volcano. It worked! Kind of. I noticed as I wiped away the vinegar that the dry soda was doing a pretty good job all by itself. So a little elbow grease, a lot of paper towels, and the tops are clean. It was so cool! It left no sticky residue either. I never seem to be able to get all the sticky off. I love baking soda! Who knew? Not me. So now you know too. My new cleaning secret!

Before. After.

Old Boots

2010-05-18T07:09:00.001-07:00

I cannot recall ever owning a pair of "cowboy" boots. Give me flip flops and I am happy. My son does not follow in my foot steps. Somewhere around the age of 4, when he got his first pair of boots, he decided they were the only shoes for him. We have bought him "fast" shoes (tennis shoes that make you run faster), and hiking boots, and flip flops, and Converse, to name a few, but for Gabriel none hold the same comfort and ease as his trusty old boots. We have got him countless pairs now. As you can see he wears them out! We bought him a new pair some where around the first of April. This morning as his is putting them on to go to school he tells me the don't feel right. His left foot gives no problem, but the right just is wrong. I tell him to "just put them on, it's almost time to go!" He contiunes to insist that something is wrong. So finally I investigate. Sure enough he is right. The inside seam of the boot has come apart, leaving a flap to push against his heel and cause great discomfort. My quick solution to the problem, duct tape. Of course I cannot find any tape.

Two of my daycare mom's show up at about this time, one of which is ready to take the kids to school. Gabriel has no shoes on. He insists he can't wear the broken boots. The tears start to swell when I suggest he wear his fast shoes. He tries to wear the old worn out boots, way to small. We are heading for a melt down. It is 7:40 in the AM. I am not ready for melt down mode. I take a deep breath and beg him to just wear his fast shoes. His answer, "can't I just stay home?" I can't let him stay home over shoes, can I? Some where, from across the living room, his Converse are calling to me. Just remind him Dad bought these shoes for him. His dad is his favorite person. One last hope. Please! Success. Dad did buy them. We have to struggle a little to get them on, but they go on and he appears content. And out the door he goes.

One of my mom's, as fate would have it, is heading to the same store we bought the boots from today, she offers to take them back for exchange. Hopefully they will take them back with no receipt. The benefits of small town living. If they don't I may have to go tonight so tomorrow morning we don't have a repeat of this morning!

A Painted Dessert

2010-04-01T06:53:00.000-07:00

When I hear the word dessert I think of sand, and heat, and cactus. Death comes to mind, as does rattlesnakes and other dried out reptiles who hide in the shadows of tumbleweeds. There is no color other than brown, and one drives through such places as fast as one can, if for no other reason than to not fall asleep during the most boring, need I say ugly, part of the trip. Since Phoenix is in the dessert the trip from here to there has it's share of desolation. I usually just drive through it without much thought, just a part of the trip. This time the dessert surprised me. We have received a lot of rain around here this winter, and it was apparent. The first signs where hills covered in yellow. Then beside the road new specks of color. Blues and more yellow. Before I knew what I was doing, I found myself slowing down! Just to check out the flowers. Every color of the rainbow. Flowers that reminded me of Texas Bluebonnets, buttercups, and varieties I cannot name. Bright pink, light pink, blues, yellows, and oranges. Flowers to rival any home grown garden. Nature had out done them all. And green. Wild grasses turning this usually dead wilderness into a lush inviting oasis of beauty. Beside the road cars stopped as people took pictures of something only God could have masterminded. A Painted Dessert.

I forgot my camera. So I have searched the internet to find some one who remember to bring theirs, so I could share some what I saw.

Sring Break

2010-03-19T09:16:00.001-07:00

It must be spring if it is already spring break! We are heading out to Phoenix for the week. I am so looking forward to some "no one else's kids" time. Yeah! Arnold got a little apartment of his own, and we are taking him some things to furnish it. We have decided that right now for the kids and I it is best to just stay here in New Mexico. Even if it is a little yucky to be apart from Arnold. Now that he has his own place, we will be much more likely to visit him.
I have yet to do anything with the garden as far as planting is concerned. But once I get back from Phoenix I intend to get busy. It has just been so wet this winter. Every time it seems like the ground is getting dry enough to do something with it rains again! Not that I am complaining, the rain is good. My grass already looks good, well as good as my grass ever does! I need to re-seed a few places.
Yeah Spring!

2010-02-22T09:59:00.000-08:00

The kids room is painted, except for the closet, which is still purple. I have yet to find the time to get every thing out of there in order to paint, so it sits purple, very purple. Arnold was home for a week (YEAH), but doesn't like the idea of wood floors. BOO! For some reason he thinks the house is to cold to have bare floors. Maybe he is right. I do hate walking on cold floors. But my poor little dream bubble has been deflated. There is a very sneaky part of me that wants to just do it anyway, and not just that room but the whole house! I know there is wood in my room, the living room and the dining room. To bad the pellet stove is in the dining room and I can't move it by myself to remove the current flooring.
In other news, it is raining, again! I love it. Except for the mud that is tracked in. I am so excited for spring to spring! My tulips, daffodils and hyacinths are poking there heads up getting ready to bloom. The garden lays sleeping. I started to dig in it the other day, but my poor body has sat far to long inside and left my in pain. I'll dig some more when it stops raining! I will not be stopped by pain. Just have to get use to it again. Not the pain, the being physically active again.

Wood floors?

2010-02-01T11:50:00.000-08:00

My house is old and small. The floors have creaky spots and sag in others. For two years now I have been planning on painting, getting new carpet, fixing cracks, but for one reason or another it never gets none. I did manage to turn my bathroom from black to white. The paint was peeling, (helped along by my children) I hated the color, it seemed easy enough to just peel the paint, right? Wrong. Whoever had painted the sheet rock in the first place didn't think it necessary to primer it, so when the paint started to peel off it took a layer of the paper off the sheet rock. To make a long story short sheet rock doesn't like to be wet, even if it is primer you are putting on it, it makes more layers peel. So I had to mud quite a bit of my bathroom, good thing it is small. It is still a work in progress, as I don't think I want to keep it primer white, but I still have yet to decided on the perfect color. Plus I was a little put off by how long it actually took me to finish what I did.

I now have a new project. The kids room. Which also has peeling paint that has been helped along by children, not only mine but little hands who do not belong to me. The color is not a horrible color, it is just not one that I would have picked, nor would any of my kids. Plus it is peeling, so I have taken on a new project. This time it appears that the task at hand will be easier in the fact that the sheet rock was primer, making the paint peel right off, but the room is bigger, and has much larger furniture in it. Which brings me to a whole other issue.

The bunk beds. I have moved them around that room a hundred times, or at least ten, with no problem. But as I was trying to move them this time I became a complete wimp! I could not get the post in the corner to budge. Which was unacceptable. So I pulled with all my might, and low and behold it started to move, I continued to tug with all the strength I could muster. At this point Breana informs me that I a pulling up the carpet! Yes it is true. My strength is more than even I am aware of. So I squeezed myself between the wall and the bed to see why the carpet is coming up with the bed. It looks like the post has been glued to the carpet! I kid you not. Upon closer inspection I notice the "glue" is blue and smells like blueberries. Ashley admits that it maybe some of her goo candy that she left on the bed. It had spilled down the post and dried around the bottom, holding the post in place, very solidly I might add. Getting the post unstuck from the carpet was, let's just say not easy.

Now I have the carpet unpeeled from the floor, and since it was up I had to look. Guess what? There is hard wood flooring under that stinky purple carpet! It is not the best I have ever seen. What can you expect it has been under carpet for 20 years. A little scratched, but have I found my next project? Surely I could learn to redo a hardwood floor?

2010-01-29T12:06:00.000-08:00

I have found myself at a lose for words, which explains my lack of blogging in MONTHS. It seems that I need to tell a story whenever I write, and since nothing new has been going on in our little lives, I don't write. I wake up every morning get my kids ready and off to school, then watch other peoples children while they, the children, play. There is comfort in routine, there is also boredom. I can't complain, after the year I had last year it is nice to have predictability, and stability. I haven't made it to college just yet, pell grant doesn't cover enough, and couldn't get to paper pusher of the army to send to required info I needed to complete my application. So I wait. I am sure when the time is right the way will be made for me. But I am studying up on my math skills.

Here are a few pictures of life these past few months. In no particular order.

It snowed, a little.

Christmas. Poor Ashly was sick on Christmas!

Ashley had a birthday, 11 already!

Halloween.

He hates getting his picture taken!

No pictures of Thanksgiving. I did make a pumpkin pie from a real pumpkin, not from a can. And it turned out good!

No pictures from News Year. The kids and I went to the movies then come home and almost made it until midnight. It just isn't as fun as it use to be to stay up late. Arnold was back in Phoenix so it was just the kids and I. He is currently in Little Rock going school, for National Guard. He will be gone until February 12. But after that he will be fully qualified to do his job. I should say trained, because he had been doing this same job for the army for 7 years. There are minor details that are different, anyway, he is away.

We have had lots of much needed rain the past couple weeks. I am now looking forward to seeing the sun any day now. And I am ready for spring. So that is what you have missed while I have not blogged. Probably there is more, but that is all there is right now.

Close encounter of the eight legged type

2009-10-07T10:24:00.000-07:00

Why is there a spider on my arm? Not just any spider, but a tarantula. As the kids and I were coming in from our morning of play outside, they spotted it, and screamed. I had on gloves, been creating a new flower bed, so I picked up our little friend, just to show there was nothing to be afraid of. I must say, I myself was not sure enough to take off my gloves in order to test this idea. Our friend was not content to say on my hand, where else to go except up my arm. So of course I grabbed the camera to capture my calm/fear. It creeped me out just a little. I really hate most spiders. I am not sure why, but tarantulas aren't as scarey to me. He was kind of small.

Fall

2009-10-04T09:11:00.000-07:00

It is more than the chill in the air, and changing leaves, getting up before the sun. Or the smell of chili being roasted, the shorter days and orange pumpkins. It's the light. The way the sun shines and the heat of the afternoon just doesn't feel as hot. There is some thing about the light this time of year that is unmistakable. Then I woke up a couple of days ago to find my house was cold. It is usually cool in the morning, but this morning I was cold. I feeling I hate! After the sun had spread it's warmth for a few hours I went outside to enjoy the feel of fall. I always water my garden in the morning, but this morning I was shocked to find my tomatoes looking as if they had been froze. Can it be? Already. The Weather Channel says no, it was only 37 degrees that night, but I have proof they are wrong. So now I must admit the the fact that it is time to snuggle down at night, closing my windows and turning off fans. Time to take the air conditioner back to the garage, and buy pellets for my stove. Good bye to summer and fresh veggies. Hello to sweatshirts and sweatpants, thick blankets and hot soup. No more flip flops and tank tops. Here we go again, another summer come and gone. I love this time of year!

2009-09-07T19:25:00.000-07:00

Tonight my heart is breaking. Gabriel is crying his little heart out because Arnold had to go back to Phoenix. I am not sure how much more of this I can take!

The sweet smell of skunk!

2009-08-31T07:01:00.000-07:00

As you may have been able to guess by the title of this blog, I have a skunk story. It begins a little like this, actually exactly like this. The day is August 30, the time 9;55 pm. I put to dogs in my back yard. A yard that has a 6 foot tall chain link fence around it. A yard I feel is safe from predators. There is a light in my back yard, some might call it a street lamp, I don't because there are no streets around it, but it does light up my yard. On with the story. I go to brush my teeth, wash my face and get really for sleep. My bathroom window is open, so when the dogs start barking I hear them immediately. Their barks don't alarm me, as I said I feel my yard is a safe place. But I knew the instant I smelled the skunk that their barking had caused this foul odder. I quickly dried my face and hurried to the back door. I can see the skunks tail standing straight up behind my 6 foot chain link fence and my dogs barking feverishly at the varmint who dared to get to close to our yard. I know it is to late, my momma dog comes running to me, mouth watering and, for lack of a better word, foaming. The puppy, who is a year old now, continues to bark, even as I beg for her to come to me. The skunk is unfazed by their noise and continues to be doing whatever it is that he was doing before he was bothered by my pack. My yelling does not even disturb this creature of the night. I then venture out into to safety of my yard to collect the biggest rocks I can find. I hurl them at the skunk, only to be disappointed as they hit the fence or fly to far over the fence missing the target. Still the skunk will not budge. I consider the guns for a brief, let me emphasize brief, moment, I don't even know how to shot the guns. So I go for the next best thing, the hose! No animals wants to get wet. Success at last! I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to soak my pest, he ran as soon as the first drop hit him.

Needless to say, my dogs slept outside last night. Now today I must see if tomato juice will really get the smell of skunk out of dog fur!

Loose screws

2009-08-24T07:45:00.000-07:00

Have you even been sweeping and you find a screw where a screw does not belong? On your floor with no apparent hole from which it came. You put the lost screw some place safe, just in case you ever find where it belongs. Then a month later your kitchen chair starts to fall apart because it is missing a screw. Good, you think, because you kept the screw and now you can fix your wobbly chair, you think. When you look in your safe place you realize it was not a safe place, it was a place with a portal to an alternate universe, because that is the only explanation to where your screw went. No way a child would have found your screw and decided to do what ever it is that kids do with things they are not suppose to play with, no, no way your kids would do that! So that is where I am this morning, no not the alternate universe, the place where you are trying to find a screw to fit into your kitchen chair.

Home again

2009-08-03T20:15:00.000-07:00

The kids and I made it safely home from Phoenix last night. We had a wonderful weekend with Arnold. Swimming, shopping, and eating out. I think it is much cheaper for him to come visit us than the other way around! They did need clothes for school, which unbelievably starts next week. I will have all three in school this year. Wow, is all I can say. Well I could probably say a lot more, but not tonight!
I took my placement test last Thursday, I did great on the reading and writing portion. My math was better than I thought it would be, but not good enough to get me into a college level algebra. I need to score a 40, I got a 38, bummer. The good news is that I can take that part of the test again, and I placed in the developmental math 102, not 101. I don't have to start at the very bottom. I think I will buy the book and just refresh what I once upon a time knew. I can't take the class on-line, which is all I am planning on doing for now. It is not a good idea to decide to go the college in July when classes start in August, all the classes that I need to take are full. So I will take what I can for now. I am sure my brain will appreciate easing into learning again, rather than trying to go full force all at once.

2009-07-26T08:24:00.000-07:00

Last night as I was laying in bed listening to the owls as I fell asleep, my heart began to pound and my stomach felt a large rock sitting squarely in it's pit. No it was not the sound of the owls, I fear not the owls. All owls make me think of is tootsie pops and how many licks it takes to get to the center. No, my anxiety came from the thought that today is Sunday which means we are entering a new week, the week in which I have decided to take my college placement test. I am determined to go back to school, the classes I am only mildly intimidated by. But this test, this test I fear. I hated tests in high school, but I was always prepared. There was never any material that I hadn't thought about in 16 years on those test. It all became extremely real to me last night. All my doubts and insecurities came crashing down on me with all the wrath they could muster. Then for an instant I wanted to quit before I had even begun. How easy it would be to just not do it. I could stay in my comfort zone. Never pushing myself, never changing. This must be some thing I need to do, why else would I feel such fear? Some force trying to stop me from doing what will ultimately lead me to where I need to be. Some many thoughts running around in my head. I feel like a bouncing ball in outer space.

My jungle

2009-07-13T13:01:00.000-07:00

The garden keeps growing. I am finding it harder and harder to make my way to the back corner where the Lima beans and black eyed peas are growing. Also bugs love my garden. I get lots of new little bites every time I venture in to far. Nothing grew this good last year. It grew, just not this big. The tomatoes are out of control! I may have to leave more space between the plants new year. I thought I left enough this year. I guess not. Anyway just wanted to let you see my jungle!

Just a thought.

2009-07-01T20:41:00.000-07:00

I sit here tonight with a thought in my head, one that was one of my mom's favorite. "Every thing happens for a reason." My husband and I were heading down life's path comfortably last year when he decided to get out of the army. I had a lot of fear and anxiety about this decision. But I supported him and decided that whatever he decided was what he needed to be happy. He got a job at the mine that was short lived and we have been living on my daycare income since December, when our saving ran out. This has not been an easy time in my life. The stress has some days overwhelmed me and brought me to tears. I have questioned my faith, my strength, my sanity, and everything in between. This was not a place I had EVER pictured myself being. But there we were. Some how together we made it through. I say we made it through because today Arnold started his full time position with the Arizona National Guard. The money will return. The bills will be paid. I will no longer have to worry about my kids getting hurt or sick and having no insurance. I can enjoys days when no kids show up at my house to be watched instead of worrying that this weeks pay will not be enough. I feel as if I can breath.

Through the months of waiting for this job to actually materialize I kept reminding myself that "everything happens for a reason." A time or two I may have demanded that this reason be shown to me so I might understand and except more humbly. Of course we all know that this is not the way things work. I have wanted to go back to school for a number of years now. But paying for college and children at the same time was not possible. Until now. I have applied for a pell grant and it appears that I will qualify for the whole thing. Yeah me! So tonight I sit here with this thought and wonder if my education could possibly the reason.

Garden Geek

2009-06-15T19:46:00.000-07:00

Beans tonight.

Tomatoe plants, tonight.

June 3rd.

June 3rd

Tomato plants June 3rd.

Cucumber in the corn.

Tomato in the strawberries .

Beans May 18.

Tomato plants May 18.

Spinach, all gone now.

I am a garden geek. Last year I had a little compost pile in the corner of my garden. I put the cucumber peels, cantaloupe seeds, whole pumpkins, lettuce cores, and lots of kitchen scraps. Well last years compost has become this years weeds. I have "wild" cucumber, cantaloupe, watermelon, pumpkins, and even tomatoes growing throughout the garden. I call myself a garden geek because it makes me happy to find little tomatoes plants growing in my strawberry patch. I like to see cantaloupe in my corn and cucumbers next to a potato plant.

So anyway here are a few weeks worth of garden pictures.

2009-06-04T11:43:00.000-07:00

When I was in the 6th and 7th grade we lived on a military post way in the middle of nowhere Utah. It was a small post, living quarters divided in to two sides, the West side, and the East side. One could easily walk from one side to the other, and back when ever one wanted. My best friends were Melissa Moore and Erin Merrit, they lived on the west side, we lived on the east. I was usually the one who had to travel to their side when ever we wanted to get together, I won't say play, because we were much to old to "play". Anyway, although it really was a quick trip to and from their houses, I soon got tired of walking. Now I am not sure were they came from or how long they were in the family, but one day a pair of skates found their way to me and my walking days were over. I would fly down the sidewalks making my way to better places. Melissa and Erin must have thought it was a cool idea, they broke out with their skates and we skated everywhere. I remember skating up and down streets, back and forth between the east side and the west side. A freedom unknown to me until that time. The wind, the speed, I loved it.

Yesterday was Montana's 10th birthday (one of Ashley's friends). She had a birthday party at Mingos Party Place, just outside Silver City NM. At Mingos you can play skeet ball, or pool, or some other silly game I didn't understand, but most people just skate! Yes, real skates with four wheels and a rubber stopper. You can try your luck with roller blades as well, not something I wanted to do. I skated. For the first time in many, many years, I got to feel the wind blowing my hair as I sped round and round in circles. Unable to control exactly when I would stop. Still the memory of being 12 could not be contained and for the short time I felt 12 again. I couldn't help but smile. But I am no 12 year old girl, and this morning my shins feel the years of not skating. I love it!

Looking back.

2009-05-21T12:59:00.000-07:00

Halloween 2008.

Gabriel.

Ashley and Breana.

Breana's 2nd birthday.

First day of school this year.

Ashley.

Breana.

The girls are done with 2nd and 4th grade. Today was their last day. I can't believe how very fast this year seemed to have flown by. Not only this year but the last 10 years. I swear I can still feel Ashley swimming around in me. I want to save every moment, the remember the sound of their laughter. To be able to pick them and cuddle with them when ever I want. To be the center of their universe. To be able to kiss an boo boo and make it all better. I want them to like the cloths I pick out for them. To do as I say without question ( that one maybe pushing it even when they were very young!) But they keep growing. The older they get the more memories I need to write down and don't. I always thought that I would remember the funnies, but I seem to be forgetting. Now my kids remind me of things that I have told them. I really must start writing it all down. Is it possible that time goes faster when you get older?

Good night

2009-05-18T20:41:00.000-07:00

Tonight as I was getting Gabriel all

tucked in to bed he wanted to know why he couldn't just sleep on the couch. His bed always gives him bad dreams, but not the couch he says. I don't really mind him sleeping on the couch, I prefer his bed, why buy it if it's not going to be used. Anyway, I proceed to explain to him that I have some kids who have to be here very early tomorrow morning, long before Gabriel will want to wake up, so the best place for him to sleep is in his own room, on his own bed, far from the noise of small children. He tells me he wishes they were robots. This is a strange wish even for him, or so I thought. I ask him why he wants them to be robots, and he tells me that we could then turn their ears to turn them down, as in volume. Oh if only toddlers did come with volume control!

Spinach

2009-05-17T10:46:00.000-07:00

This is our second summer here in New Mexico, and my second year planting a garden. This year I got seeds planted a lot early than last year and I am happy to say that within a few days I will have peas to eat! And this morning for breakfast I had spinach. I have been thinking of eating it for at least a week now. I thought a great big salad or steamed with dinner, but since I am the only one in the house who will actually eat it, I put off cutting it. Then this morning while I was watering I decided no more waiting. I cut a few leaves, steamed them and ate them for breakfast.
The rest of the garden is growing. Soon I will have lettuce, and if I am real lucky I will get to the 2 strawberries before the wildlife does. I planted zucchini this year, I am sure I will have more than I can eat. I thought it was a good idea to plant more seeds than I thought I needed plants, thinking that not all the seeds would come up. I planted 10 seeds and 9 became plants. I thought about pulling the smaller plants, but I can't seem to bring myself to killing something that I put so much effort into getting to grow. Thinning is not my strong point.
Anyway I had spinach for breakfast.

One Question

2009-05-05T12:28:00.000-07:00

I have a question. One that I thought I knew the answer to, until I had children. Can inanimate objects reproduce? I know what most of you think. A definite NO. That's what I had always known to be true also. But I swear my baskets of laundry reproduce! I know there is a bottom to the basket, but try as I might I can't seem to be able to find it. So this is the only conclusion I can come to.

Tour of Gila

2009-04-29T12:40:00.000-07:00

The Tour of Gila is a bike race that has been going on annually in our little neck of the woods for 23 years now. This year it has found it's place on the map as Lance Armstrong has decided to race in it. Today's leg of the race flew by my house several time, 3 to be exact. Sarah is to say the very least, a fan. So last night she made me promise to take pictures and video. Here is the video. I took my 4 daycare boys out to the almost road to watch the race. It put a little excitement in our lives for the day. I wish they had been going slower so I could have gotten a better look. Anyway, here it is for Sarah.

Bees

2009-04-24T12:08:00.001-07:00

It has been very windy here, no big surprise, it is spring. The wind tossed my humming bird feeder around so much that half of the syrup ended up all over the porch, which brought it to the attention of the bees. Hundreds of bees! On my front porch. I couldn't even leave the house. But I did. And I sprayed the porch clean. Then gave those bees a nice shower. That only worked while it was spraying on them. I had to get the feeder down. I couldn't just leave it there to attract more bees. So I kept spraying the feeder while trying to take it down. It is hung up pretty high. If I were short I wouldn't be able to take it down. Anyway, I took a shower while trying to remove the feeder and keep the bees off me. They didn't want to share the food. So after I got it down I expected them to go away. No they kept hanging around. So I sprayed them some more. And got out my raid. Not such a good idea. They are not as easy to spray with raid as say any non flying creature. So I got stung. Did you know that bee stings itch after the pain goes away? They do. Just like a mosquito bite. More water. Finally they got the hint. I have moved the feeder. It not longer hangs were I can view my friends while sitting in my living room, but I can watch while laying in bed. Still would rather have it on the porch.

PS I am not very good at filming.

2009-04-20T11:59:00.000-07:00

I had something to say. I know I did. Then away it went. Fleeting. Floating. Leaving me alone. So here I sit, alone, without a thought to share.

Their Back!!

2009-04-14T08:22:00.000-07:00

Spring is here. Although this weekend we had a bit of a storm blow through. It was beautiful, but cold. There was thunder and lightning, very little moisture. Just the unmistakable desert rain smell that left everything feeling some how cleaner and more alive.

I have been under the belief that spring was here for a few weeks now only to have my mind changed by the cold that keeps creeping in. But now I know it is truely here. How do I know this? My humming birds are back! I thought I heard one buzzing by last week, but thought it must be my own desire for their return. Then yesterday Gabriel came running from the front of the house to let me know that he too had see our old friends. I mixed up a quart of sweet red liquid and hung it out on the front porch, their favorite place to eat. Now sooner had I hung it than someone was enjoying. As I sat on our cough last night, with the western sun shining through the window, I could see the little shadow of our summer friends. Not only is spring here, but summer is on it's way.

Pictures

2009-04-09T13:04:00.001-07:00

My kids hate taking picture. They thought I was torturing them when I made them sit down for a family photo.

Quick stove update

2009-04-09T12:57:00.000-07:00

My stove was fixed! No big problem. Just a jammed auger. A little elbow grease and some instructions from the manufactures, and good as new. It was actually fixed the next day. Good thing too, because it is still kind of chilly at night, early morning. I hate to get out of bed to start the stove to warm me up!

2009-04-09T12:45:00.000-07:00

It had been far to long since I had seen my family all together before this weekend. But thanks to Lin we were able to surprise my Dad for a pre birthday gathering. And he was surprised! Yeah! I flew to Vegas where I met my sisters Sarah and Alica, who also flew in, then we rented a car ( thanks Alicia!) and drove to my Dad's house in St. George UT. So much fun to see the reaction on his face. Deborah joined us about a half hour later, as she was driving from her house in Spring City UT. I don't think one could have asked for a more perfect weekend. I miss my family so much. Time seems to be passing by faster with each year. Youth really is wasted on the young!

2 am

2009-02-05T11:35:00.000-08:00

I was awaken this morning, at 2 am, by the sound of silence. Yes silence. We have a pellet stove with a noisy blower. Pellet stoves are a wonderful invention that I did not know existed until we moved here and our house was equipped with one. That one died some time around Christmas 2007. That in itself is a story for another day. You pour a bag full of wood pellets into this fireplace looking stove and you get fire. No matches, no wood, no newspaper or kinling. Like magic you get a nice toasty fire. We bought this one the first part of December and have been very pleased with it's performance.

But did I tell you I woke up to silence, at 2 am? I am thinking no big deal, maybe the hopper is empty, just needs more pellets. No such luck. Now I am thinking that maybe it has too much dust from the sub par pellets that WalMart is now selling. I had that problem a few nights ago. So I empty the 60 pound hopper, and vacuum the dust out. That should do the trick right? I press the on button and wait for magic. No magic. I continue to wait, maybe it's just taking longer that usual. It is now 2:45 am. I realize the top auger is not feeding the pellets to the bottom auger, so no fire can be made. I push on the auger hoping to will it into action. No. It is time to give up.

Next option, our furnace. I think it is as old as our house, but it does do the job it was made for. Except for tonight. We haven't used to for, well since we got the magic pellet stove. The pilot is out. It is getting cold now. And its not getting any earlier. I know how to light the pilot, I am that cool. But after sitting there for another 30 minutes, pleading with the pilot to stay lit, it's feeling are hurt by our lack of use these past months, I think it maybe a good time to give up on this idea and go to plan 3.

Space heaters. We have 3. One I found out overheats within seconds of being turned on. The other two work. Yeah! And my kitchen stove. I know, fire hazard, but at 3:30 am I don't care! I am cold and I have insurance. I finally get back to bed and I think asleep by 4 am. Then the dreams of broken pellets stoves keep playing in my head. I have to thoughts of trowing the darn thing away. That would be a sight. I am sure I couldn't move it 2 inches.

You maybe wondering where my other half is during all this fun. He is not asleep in our bed. He is in Phoenix. He did not leave me to suffer alone in the cold of the night. Although I did think of calling him.

I called the manufacturers this morning. A very nice gentleman tryed to help me fix my problem, but I don't have the proper tools to take the back off the stove, so alas I must wait for Arnold to return and find me the needed tools. Then they will walk us through the trouble shooting steps to fix our auger and return the magic back to us. ( If not it is under warranty)

New Mexico is a State?

2008-12-18T15:55:00.000-08:00

My house was getting a little crowded with art projects and perfect spelling test from my children. My mother in law had an old file cabinet she was no longer using. Now it is mine. Anyway, she cleaned it out, and sent it over to me. There were some folders still in there and I came across a newspaper clipping that I find amusing. I am not sure of the exact date, probably 12-13 years ago judging by the info in it. Here it is.

"Albuquerque, NM- What's just below Colorado and between Arizona and Texas?
The answer, New Mexico, wasn't easy for the Atlanta-based Olympics ticket office, which insisted the state wasn't even part of the country.
Wade Miller encountered the geography gaffe Tuesday when he tried to buy Olympic volleyball tickets by phone and gave the agent his address in Santa Fe.
"She put me on hold, then came back and said she couldn't sell tickets to someone who lives outside the United States. She said I needed to call my own national committee." Miller said.
Half and hour later, Miller was still trying to prove New Mexico has been a state since 1912.
"I asked them, 'You've never heard of Los Alamos, where they did all the atomic testing? It's right next to Arizona, underneath Colorado, next to Texas and Oklahoma, there is a state called New Mexico,'"Miller said."'We have a big city called Albuquerque.'"
The woman's supervisor was equally clueless.
"She told me, 'Sir, New Mexico, old Mexico, it doesn't matter I understand it's a territory, but you still have to go through your nation's Olympic committee.'"
Not until Miller asked for the tickets to be mailed to Phoenix where he also has a home, did he get some satisfaction.
Scott Anderson, managing director to games services for the Summer Olympics, promised yesterday that the mix-up won't happen again.
"Obviously we made a mistake,"Anderson said, " and we want to apologize the everybody out in New Mexico."

There are many thoughts that come to mind after reading this story. I find it funny and disturbing at the same time. What has our educational system come to? No wonder we can't compete with the rest of the world.

To be a woman

2008-11-18T07:58:00.000-08:00

I am glad I am a woman. To have been blessed with the ability to express emotions, to sympathise with others. To grow life within me. To be able to watch sappy movies and cry during them, if I wanted to. To have to power to heal a scraped knee with just a kiss. To be strong beyond strength. Women's intuition. To be a mother. And so many other reasons that are inexpressible. But sometimes, at three in the morning, and I have to go the the bathroom and sit on that cold, cold seat, I wish for a second that I was a man!

Sick puppy

2008-11-05T09:20:00.001-08:00

When I was pregnant with Ashley I had a very weak stomach when it came to certain foods. Even the mention of sardines by Arnold would send my stomach twirling. So I have sympathy, but find it also quite humorous, for my baby Gabriel. Last night, after spending the afternoon outside chewing on grasshoppers, our puppy got sick and threw up. All three of my children where standing around her arguing who was going to clean up after this mess. Gabriel kept looking at the mess, which really wasn't very much. Then completely out of the blue, he gagged, and then he threw up! So now I have two piles, quite small piles, of mess to clean up. The girls are really grossed out at this point, so guess who got the honor of clean up duty? Poor baby, but for some reason the whole situation made me laugh. Maybe because everyone else was disgusted, and the whole thing didn't phase me at all.

Tagged

2008-11-03T07:03:00.000-08:00

Well since I got tagged twice, I guess I will think really hard and find 7 random facts about myself. Thanks Lin and Alicia.

1. I have only lived in 9 different states since my birth, and passed through or visisted 4 others. That means I only have 37 more states to visit, I don't plan on moving anymore. I want to see all 50 states. From there the world.

2. I follow directions. Completely. There is nothing that comes with instructions that I do not follow.

3. I like bananas, but HATE banana candy or pudding.

4. I am compulsive about finding things. Like this weekend, Breana couldn't find her school book, wasn't even sure if she brought it home, but I tore the house apart looking for it. I can't wait for her to come home today to see if she left it at school. If she didn't, heaven help this house.

5. I want a bigger garden next spring. With a real watering system, not a sprinkler.

6. I miss going to the gym. I loved running and sweating, and having sore muscles. At home I just can't find the motivation to do it:(

7. I am very frugal, dare I say cheap? But I will not buy generic peanut butter.

I don't know 7 people who blog on here, so here are the few I do know:
Sasha, I haven't been around you in a long time and want to know you better again.

Jamie, you were just a little girl when I last saw you, now you have kids of your own, so tell me about yourself.

Katie, my cousins wife who I know very little about.

So thats it.

Things I've learned

2008-10-30T11:16:00.000-07:00

While sitting in the freezing cold early yesterday morning I was thinking how much I hate to be cold and I have learned that I'd much rather be hot than cold at least until summer rolls around. Then I'd rather be cold than hot. Here are some other things I have learned over the years:

70 degrees in January is much warmer than 70 degrees in July.

You shouldn't honk at skunks when they are crossing the road.

Desitin comes off of fabric, like a couch for instants, with Dawn dish soap, applied full strength. Not hot soapy water, like one might assume, it must be applied full strength. By the way, it is really fun for a two year old to "paint" the couch with said Desitin.

Marshmallow can be roasted over an electric stove using a fork, but should first be removed from fork before putting in ones mouth. Burns on lips hurt!

Unrelated children, when spending enough time together, will begin to act like siblings.

Telling a four year old it's better to give than receive is useless.

Eggs will not cook on a sidewalk, even if it is 120 degrees outside. They will however attract a lot of ants, and are extremely hard to remove once they are sun dried onto concrete.

Please and thank you are not a foreign language and will be understood by everyone, and can be spoken by even the youngest of talkers.

Low temperature glue guns do work as well as hot glue guns, and don't burn.

It is important to remember when going for walks that as far as you have gone, is how far you must turn around and walk back.

Plastic reptiles and spiders MUST be put away every night before bed. Even plastic snakes will scared the good gollies out of me when walking around in the dark.

Children don't care if you sing the right words to a lullaby. They will sing the wrong words along with you.

Halloween temptations

2008-10-30T08:18:00.000-07:00

I made two mistakes this week. First I bought halloween candy that I liked. Second I opened the bag, just to put it in the bowl. You maybe able to figure out the rest.

Cow Bells?

2008-10-21T08:41:00.000-07:00

We have one neighbor, to our north. Our south and east is nothing, and I mean nothing, but a big empty field until you get to the river. Sunday morning Breana woke up bright and early, happy to inform me that there were cows in the field. Her Sunday morning entertainment, watching the cows, and when I say watching what I really mean is trying to scare them

into running off. The dog are more than happy to assist her in her attempts. These cows do not scare easily, so Breana gives up and comes inside for waffles. The dogs do not give up. They run wildly back and forth up the length of the fence barking their scariest barks, not to scary considering they are cocker spaniels. Eventually the cows move on and the dogs come in.

Story over, except when I take them out at 10:00 pm for their pre-bed potty break. The cows have returned, glad that I watered all these weeds for them over the summer. How kind of me. Really meant to just water my grass. Anyway, the dogs go crazy, because now it is dark and they can't really see the cows, only hear them moving around outside the fence. I am ready for bed, the dogs are ready to protect me from the beast beyond the great fence, or at the very least, show everyone how big and brave they are. They refuse to listen to me, so I am running around the yard, in the dark, in my PJs, barefooted. Not happy. I finally convince them to at least bark from the back yard. And I go to bed. I guess the cows left, or the dogs gave up, and when it was quite, they came in.

No cows yesterday, but again they were out this morning. Only one difference today, the dogs showed no interest. I guess cows aren't a threat to our home after all.

The rose buse

2008-10-17T12:07:00.001-07:00

Before
After.

The rose bush. It was to big. Now look I have a side yard. It only took 3 days and countless cuts to chop down. I took a hand saw and by the sweat of my brow began the pain staking task of cutting each limb off one at a time. It was not easy. Getting to the base of that monster was a challenge. And I did it all by myself. Yeah me.
So the story goes like this. My daycare kids liked to go behind the bush where I couldn't see them and I didn't like that. I had been talking about removing it for months, maybe even since the first time I saw it almost a year ago. You couldn't see around it and it would grab you as you walked by it. I love plants and flowers, but this thing was too much for it's own good. Plus the flowers didn't even smell like roses. If they had I may have had to keep it. In any case all that remains is a stump. Which will probably start growing back soon if I don't do somthing more with it. I think I will need a stronger shovel.

And then there was 1

2008-09-15T16:49:00.000-07:00

After much trying and heartace, all but one of the puppies have died. I guess it just wasn't meant to be.

Puppies

2008-09-12T15:47:00.000-07:00

So I am an irresponsible pet owner and neglected to get my dogs "fixed". Now my puppies have puppies, which wouldn't be a big deal if they were not brother and sister. But they are and they did. And it probably would have been ok if my female didn't have a birth defect, a hair lip. In any case, she had 4 puppies on Monday night, 3 with hair lips, 2 with double hair lips, 1 is perfectly normal. The 3 cannot nurse, and I have taken on the duty of bottle feeding them. One died last night:( Not of starvation, but because of the hair lip milk was able to get into her lungs through her nose. Her breathing became very raspy and she wouldn't eat, then just before I fell asleep I found her dead. The other two are very small compared to there normal sibling, and I fear greatly for their lives. I am greatful for the sake of my momma dog that one will live, she is a wonderful mommy. I have been debating the logic of keeping these 2 alive and wondering if it would be nicer just to put them to sleep. But my heart keeps telling me to just give them a chance. What if some one had given up on my dog when she was a puppy? So I have decided to just give them a chance. I will do my best to keep them fed, and hopefully the milk will stay out of their lungs.
Something to be learned in all of this, stop procrastinating and do what needs done. If I had, all this could have been avoided. So I am tired, puppies need fed at night too. I feel like I have a newborn again. At least they will be able to eat solid food in 4-6 weeks!

Cell Phones

2008-08-29T12:32:00.000-07:00

My 9 year old daughter thinks she needs a cell phone. We live in the middle of nowhere. My cell phone doesn't even get good service out here. But she has convinced herself she must have one. To make matters worse her friend, who I happen to babysit, got one and brought it over today. What a joke! I have heard all it's ringtones and have seen all her must have photos. Why does a 9 year old need a phone? Is it not enough to use the home phone, now they must be able to text and recieve pictures? She uses it as a toy, nothing more. I will not be getting my daughter a phone until she is much older and possibly able to pay for it herself! A cell phone for a 4th grader!

Nightmares

2008-08-25T12:10:00.000-07:00

This morning in my last hours of sleep I was awoken by a terrible nightmare. My daycare kids were arriving for the day. They kept coming and coming. Some I didn't even know their names. They were coming in the back door even. I kept thinking where are the kids I know? And no parents even cared that I was running around about to go insane. They had no worries about leaving me with all these kids. I had no idea how many I even had, let alone where they all were. Thank goodness I woke up.

Fall

2008-08-18T13:29:00.000-07:00

The days are getting shorter and I can feel a change in the air. It is still very warm during the day, but at night there is a chill. This morning when I opened my door, I smelled smoke, not like a forrest fire, but from a fireplace. Can it really be that someone needed to build a fire already? I think not, but that is what it smelled like. I look forward to fall. I love the cooler days and changing leaves. I want to bake cookies and eat soup. I can't wait to carve pumpkins and turkeys. It feels like only yesterday spring found me in dirt digging to make things grow. Now it seems winter will soon find me inside wrapped up snuggly in my favorite blue flannel blanket and sipping hot chocolate. I love living where there is a noticable change in seasons. Isn't nature grand?

Crash

2008-08-05T12:14:00.000-07:00

So my husband crashed his car about a week ago. Wet road, going to fast(he says he wasn't) deer, corner, muddy shoulder, and a 2 inch metal pole fence ended in a totalled car. The mud spun him around and he hit rear end and passenger side. Thank goodness, or it would have come right at his face.

In any case the car is a total loss. So this past weekend we went to Phoenix to get a new car, well truck. Before we moved to NM Arnold had a truck. He traded it in for a car that got better gas mileage since he had to do alot of driving to work. Anyway, he got his heart set on a truck again. We looked on line all week, and the more he looked to bigger the truck got. He looked locally, but nothing worth buying. He found a 2005 Ford F150, with a lift kit and oversized tires. And that is what he got. Now I may have to sell a limb to pay for the gas!

We weren't planning on spending to night in Phoenix, but ended up doing so anyway. Which was actually really nice, the hotel was cheap because it's summer and no on wants to stay in Phoenix in August. We bought bathing suits at Target and got to swim in a reall pool again. It was great. I love swimming. The kids had a great time and we got all our back to school shopping done.

Ants

2008-07-21T20:23:00.000-07:00

A little known fact about red ants: Some times a colony of them will grow wings and fly to a new spot to build a nest. The other day they decided to land on my roof. Thousands of them. They then will chew each others wings off and return to the red ants we are all use to. They ball up in clusters of serveral ants and roll around chewing at each other. My roof was covered, they then would roll off the roof and land all over the ground in my back and side yard. I got my trusty can of Raid and started to spray ants. I ran out and still the ants continued to roll off my roof.

Arnold got the ladder, which was to short to reach the roof, so he put it on a folding table we have in order to make the ladder just a little taller. He has a gallon of bug spray and is going to go spray the ants. I am looking at the ladder on this table and wondering if I am soon to be a widow. But as we walk around the house he is side tract by all the ants that have fallen on the side of the house. He starts spraying the ants and they don't die. This keeps him off the roof. Releif. The next step is the exterminator. He explains to us all about the migration of the ants and assures us we have no need to worry. He is right. By morning the ants have left. The bug spray did work a little, we have lots of little dead ants laying around the house. We also have the house sprayed outside, just in case.

Willow Creek

2008-07-17T12:38:00.000-07:00

We went camping a couple weeks ago. Nothing exciting happened. We thought we might get rained on, but no, the wheather held. It was so nice. The first night I thought I had made a mistake and would freeze to death before morning, but I survived. I am not sure what the allure of camping is. Maybe it's sleeping on something uncomfortable, be it the ground or an air mattress. Maybe it's the fact you can never get really clean. I forgot my hairbrush and spent the weekend with my hair in a bun to avoid the tangles. Maybe it's the smell of smoke that sticks to everything you take. Or maybe it's just getting away from TV's and computers, WII's and Playstations. To enjoy each other instead of all the distractions of our time. The food never tastes better than when cooked on an open fire. Smores, do I need to say more? In any case we had a great time. Willow Creek is beautiful. And "getting back to nature" is, for me, well worth all the discomforts.

More on the gopher

2008-06-26T07:36:00.000-07:00

Ok, so while I was inside blogging about the gopher, It was outside chewing on another tomatoe plant.

So I got the hose and decided to wash the little bugger out. It didn't work. The water kept going down. I had heard it wouldn't work, but I had to try. Also I was hoping it would at least bother gopher enough to send him some place else. I got out my shovel and started digging holes wherever a gopher hole was. The dogs even got in on the action. I made a mess and still I have a gopher.

I dug a trench around my tomatoe bed, I put shingles around them and buried them. Hoping it will turn the gopher in another direction. So far so good. But every day I go out and stick the hose down any new hole I find. This gopher has me insane. When we moved here I was so excited to plant a garden, the main reason was for fresh tomatoes. The thing I wanted the most is the one thing this beast has targeted.

My rock garden

2008-06-23T13:20:00.000-07:00

So I have a small fenced in area in my back yard. I grow rocks there. I swear I am growing them. I have planted some vegetable there, but every time I water them, rocks grow. It's true. So anyway, there are some peas, onions, corn, strawberries, pumpkins, cantaloupes, watermelons, jelapenos, greenbeans, and tomatoes growing with the rocks. I had a thief in my garden two nights ago. A gopher. It came like a coward from beneath the ground and stold a whole tomatoe plant! It left only a hole where a plant should have been. Not even a leaf was left. I may have to start sleeping in the garden to protect my tomatoes. I only had 4 plants.

Crunchy towels

2008-06-20T06:44:00.000-07:00

I remember when we moved to New Mexico as a kid and my mom made us hang our cloths on the line to dry. I hated the way it made everything all crunchy. Nothing felt soft. You had to dry off with hard towels. And it was always so hot to go to the line to hang or take off. Oh I hated it.
It's been pretty warm around here lately. I have been doing laundry early in the morning so the dryer won't heat up the house to much. But yesterday after I washed towels, I had a brillant idea, I have a cloths line. So yes, I dryed my towels on the line, outside, in the sun, to get all crunchy. And this morning when I dryed off with one of my crunchy towels I could smell 16 again. I could close my eyes and remember the old house, I could feel the way the swamp cooler made everything just a little bit humid. Never before have my towels smelt so good.

On the catwalk

2008-06-19T13:59:00.001-07:00

I hadn't been to the Catwalk since I was in high school. The other day we took the kids and went for a hike. It was amazing. The trees shade most of the path and make you feel like you are in your own private world. There were wild mulberries growing off the side and they reminded me of Texas. We took off the well beaten path and found a little pool to dip our feet in. The water was ice. I could see my feet turning red right in front of my eyes.

The kids started out grumpy, they had stayed with a friend the night before, but the magic of the river soon changed their mood. By the end of the day they were all laughing and skipping down the path. Maybe it was just because they knew we were heading back to the food. I like to think it was something more.

My blue journal

2008-06-17T18:15:00.000-07:00

When I was 10 years old my mom took me to a small book store on the "square" in a small town in Texas. They had little earsers shaped like animals and smelled like various fruits. I don't remember much about that bookstore, but I seem to remember that is where my mom bought me my first journal. It was blue with a silver unicorn on the front, I LOVED horses at that point in my life.
It took me until I was 18 to fill all the pages of that book. Some of my entries make me laugh, some bring back memories I had forgotten that I had. After filling these pages with my most personal thoughts, I made myself a journal out of notebook paper kept sercurely in a yellow notebook. That one only lasted a couple years. Still stored in a box in my garage. I now have a small pink journal with two little teddy bears happily hugging each other on the front. I believe my dad got it for me, right before I got married 11 years ago. It pages are slowly filling. I wished now that I had wrote more about my children, as they are growing so fast. I thought I would never forget those unforgettable moments, but there are so many and I seem to be forgetting some of them.
Today as I type I wonder if these words will replace my little pink journal. I seldom get it out anymore. And when I read it I feel silly, it seems as if I only wrote when I was upset. So today I write, type, my thoughts. I am happy, tired and hot, but happy. All my journaling started with a little blue journal that my mom bought at a small bookstore in Texas.

2008-06-12T12:15:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my sister Alicia I decided to try this blogging site. So here it is. My blog for today. It's naptime. I would love to be able to lay down and sleep with the little ones, but the big ones are still running around, so I dare not sleep. I am so happy tomorrow is Friday, I need a weekend. I love what I do, but I sure get tired doing it. I know not every one can do daycare. I have been blessed with patience and find children to be little gifts full of energy, wonder, and endless possiblities. I find joy in being there for them and their parents. My "kids" are happy to be here, I am sure they would rather be at home with mom or dad, but since they can't I try to make them as happy as possible. I love kids.