I have gotten the most wonderful gift yesterday in the mail! A check for me to spend on maternity clothes! I need some right now. I am slowly outgrowing my bottoms and do not have a smaller size that I fit. This has come at the most beneficial time also. A group of ladies that I frequent on Happy Housewives forums have donated to Help A Military Wife. A new service Darla Shine has come up with to help the families that stay home and support our husbands in the military. It is an amazing idea. So many of us support our husbands in the military and outside sources that support our husbands, but then we are left at home trying to find a way to support ourselves. This is a wonderful way to help those of us who need a little extra help. Please go to this site if you get a moment and donate. Every little bit adds up.

ow is everyone doing today? I am on a cleaning and crafting hiatus. Not because school is starting in a couple of weeks, or that summer is almost over, but because we are moving in 3 days to a house nearby. I am about as packed as I can be without actually having to live without everything. We are already using clean clothes out of laundry hampers so I don’t have to be battling laundry on top of packing. We have a decent sized dining room so we moved our couch and TV into there so I could use the living room to pack all the boxes. There are still some smaller furniture pieces that can come downstairs. We are trying to make it as easy as possible for our friends that are coming to help us move, to get it out of this house and into our new one. I have a game-plan for moving day. All the boxes will go into the garage so I can unpack as I go in the new house. That way my house isn’t destroyed until fully unpacked.

Why is it that my 5 year old son is doing EVERYTHING to get in trouble?! He had both of my vacuum cleaner attachments and was play-fighting the pillow with them. He has to beat on anything and everything he comes into contact with. I don't even like him touching anything anymore because he has to rip, tear, smash, step on, fight with, whatever it is. And my toddler girl is now screaming at everything she doesn't like. It's too hot for my kids to play outside. They overheat quickly. We are soo ready to move! I don't think we are going to make it the next 3 days. The dogs are outside and they should be inside, but oh how I don't feel like messing with them too right now!

Welcome to my life right now! We need to do something not here at home! Maybe when DH comes home we can go to the McDonald's here and let them play at their indoor playground. They are finally playing together without fighting. They are playing inside one of the big boxes that we have. I have left it out for them.

mommylynda

Wow. August is almost over. I have been so busy packing and getting ready to move that I haven't sat down long enough to post on here. Shame on me! There seems to never be an end to all the junk we have accumulated in this house. And to think we are moving into a house with more bedrooms. Sheesh!
My pregnancy is going normal. I had my OB appointment on Monday. The baby's heartbeat was fine although he was hiding from the Dr. when she was trying to get it. I am fine. We will check my thyroid level at my next appointment. My doctor is seeing me every 4 weeks instead of the standard 6. This has been since my first appointment. I think with my thyroid, and other meds that I take, she wants to keep an eye on me closer together. That's fine with me. Although I am not looking forward to taking a second glucose test later in my pregnancy. She thinks that I might still be close to getting it when I get bigger. (I tend to have big babies.)

Anyway, I am going to go now. I have my online school work to complete and turn it. Busy, busy, busy!

Mommy Lynda

Manic Monday

Today is just one of those days. I have clean laundry folded in piles across the top of my couch. I have big plastic bins for the clothes that my youngest is outgrowing. I have boxes out to pack including clothes that I will not be able to wear until about 6-9 months after I have the baby which is a little over a year from now. I have boxes out for packing so we can get ready to move in 3 weeks. I have piles for fall and winter clothes that we will not need here until after January. My house is a complete mess.

I am still getting morning sickness too with one of my medicines that I take. Within an hour after I take it I am giving everything back up. Yuck! I do not like being this sick. I am not use to being like this as I did not have it with either of my other 2 kids. I am trying the peppermint candies, but those are no longer working. I feel for those ladies who battle morning sickness all day long throughout their whole pregnancies. It's not fun. It's hard to get stuff done and tend to the kids while you are not able to get up for long. I am having more good days so I thank God for that since I can get more packing done. I do not want to leave it to my husband at the last minute for him and his friends to just throw everything in boxes and in their trucks to just unload and dump when they move us. I will not be able to move anything seeing how I am pregnant. I didn't think I was going to be able to pack either and have to pay someone to pack us, but I am feeling better so that is a blessing.

My husband and I stayed up last night like we normally do on weekends. He plays his online game while the kids are in bed and I sit on the couch next to him at the computer and knit while watching a movie. We talk about more things when we get to spend time together like this than we do all week when he is sleeping and working nights. He has a complete opposite schedule from us. He gets home when we wake up and get going and I wake him up early afternoon when it starts cooling down enough outside for my oldest to go play outside with his friends here on our street. So he goes outside with our son so he can be an "observer" so no one gets hurt.

A few days ago I posted pictures of our tomatoes that are sprouting wonderfully on our plants. Now I am getting those tomato worms like crazy! I am picking them off in 3's and 4's every time I go outside and look at my plants. I go out there a few times a day. They are eating my plants! I have been wanting tomatoes for so long now that I will do anything to save these tomatoes. I've had to pick off a handful and throw them over the fence for a few days now. I do NOT want to pick any more off! I know I will have to though. If any of you know of a safe way besides picking them off by hand to get rid of them, please leave me a comment and let me know!

Lady Lydia has a wonderful article once again on homemaking and the importance of it. Click here to see her blog. I promise you that you will be interested in this article.

Here is a bag that I am knitting. It is from Debbie Stoller's book Stitch N' Bitch. I have all the pieces done I just have to sew them together now. But of course since I am packing, they are somewhere in a box ready to move next month. So that project is on hold. I do love to knit. Another project I am knitting is a baby blanket. I do not know how long it will take me to knit it as I am new to this. The blanket will only be my 3rd thing I've ever knitted. You can find the pattern for the blanket here. I will post progress pictures as soon as I can borrow my friend's digital camera again. I have to give it back today. Of course I can't use the yarn that it recommends so I am making it hard on myself. I do hope that it turns out as fabulous as it is in my head! The kids and I are headed over to my friend's house that just moved in a couple streets over to swim in her kiddie pool. It is extremely hot today. She text messaged me on my cell phone earlier asking if I wanted to meet her at the park. I then asked her if she knew how hot it was outside today and she then tells me no, that she is still in her pj's. I did let her know so then she offers a dip in her little pool! Yay! And my son has a playdate with a dad and his two kids at the community pool early this evening when it starts to cool off about 5pm-ish. Since this is southern California, the sun doesn't even set until 9pm here. Which takes some getting use to since none of my kids want to go to bed with the sun still out. And it throws my schedule off. I am thinking it is still afternoon and it's already dinner time and I haven't even started yet.

Well, I am going to leave you with some pictures of my beautiful tomato plants. I have to water these 3 times a day to keep them from dying. They wilt so easy here in southern Cali. Even still, the leaves are still turning yellow. I had to move them to partial shade in the hottest part of the day. I hope this will help them stay nice and green. I do have a lot of tomatoes on them! I can't wait for them to be ready to pick. I will have some Fried Green Tomatoes finally!





Everyone enjoy their summer!
Mommy Lynda

So today was a really good day. I woke up not so on top of the game, but as I got going it did get better.

I got 4 boxes packed and inventoried for the move. The kitchen is almost caught up on being cleaned. I still have the microwave to wipe out with my cleaning solution, a couple more pots to wash by hand, my china cups I use for my evening tea to hand wash and to clean out the draining board in my sink. It is just cluttered with things to put away.

I am baking the lemon cake that is featured in Ladies Finishing School that is going on. I just found this on Elizabeth's blog here and she had a link to the Lemon Cake that is here also. I am letting the cakes cool on the cooling rack right now and I am going to make the icing now.

It's done! Here are the progression pictures:





As you can see, my little girl was my big helper and was delighted to be there. Every time I turned around to read the recipe off the blog, she was dipping her little fingers in the batter! My husband kept coming in too and taking his turn of licks. Everyone is dying to have a slice, but we are waiting for my son to finish his supper.

For supper we had tacos with flour tortillas. One of our favorite cheap meals! There is enough left over for my husband's lunch tonight and for us lunches tomorrow while my husband sleeps. Yay! For us not making it to the grocery store this payday, the Lord has shown us how he provides still. I am thankful for a gracious God! He has shown me how he can still answer prayers even though I haven't been the daughter that I was meant to be. But I am humbled and return to his feet. Thank you God!

For all of you, have a wonderful week this week. Enjoy your families.

Mommy Lynda

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I am taking classes online and I got to tell ya, trying to keep up with the due dates is a lot! There is something due everyday and then on top of that you have to respond to 3 other posts twice a week. I am taking 2 classes at once so making sure that I am posting the required amount in each class sometimes confuses my pregnancy memory. But the first week is done and we are half way through our second week, so the routine of it is coming along and the confusion is clearing.

How was everyone's day today? It is very sunny and HOT here. I babysat my friend's baby girl while she had her doctor appointment today. Her baby girl is 16 months old while mine is 20 months old so the two play extremely well together. Except today. They took turns crying. So it was a little more difficult than normal, but we made it.

I didn't get as much done today that I normally do. I wasn't feeling as well as I have been the past few days. I did get some laundry done still which is slowly dwindling the piles that we have so that is a plus. My husband did the dishes for me. And I got to take a much needed nap on the floor with the dogs. I watered my tomato plants that need watering 2-3 times a day. I moved my hanging flowers to the front patio. The sun is too strong on them in the back, they were dying. I water them a lot too. When you buy flowers and plants at the store they usually come with a tag that specifies whether or not it requires full sun or partial sun. It should have a saying "except in southern California where the sun is too strong!".

The picture shown above is from Allposters. It is a painting by Charlene Winter Olsen and it is called "Cottage Living I".

Many blessings to you and your home this evening.
Mommy Lynda

Ahhhh. Just when you think you budgeted right. That's when another company takes their money without authorization for a past bill. Now we do not have money to go grocery shopping with. So in light of our new found situation, I have really had to lean on God for inspiration for our supper with what we do have left. So for tonight's supper we had Baked Potatoes with chili and a Super Salad. In the salad I put prebagged lettuce and chopped some tomatoes, yellow squash and green bell pepper. I also shredded some cheese on top. That was our lovely and filling supper! I have to say that it was yummy and even my husband said that he enjoyed the salad. Now he is normally not my salad eater! My 5 year old son got even more creative and he wanted his salad wrapped in a tortilla and he put ketchup on it. He will put ketchup on everything. (Thank you God for the meal you provided us and that it filled us up like the loaves you gave the multitudes!)

I'd also like to hear of any of your creative supper's that you have had to make in the past. I know at one time or another we all have had these moments. Blessings to you all!

Mommy Lynda

I have an upset toddler in my lap as I sit and write this. Now she's playing with big brother.

I am beginning to feel better now that I am entering my second trimester. I got a load of dishes going in the dishwasher. I folded the sheets that were in the dryer, swapped the sheets in the washer over into the dryer and started another load of clothes in the washer. We are extremely behind in our laundry. I cleaned the downstairs bathroom which I haven't done in *gasp* over 6 months. My husband was the last one to clean it. I thank God for my husband on many levels! He truly is a blessing to me.

I still have much to do to catch up, but I'm trying not to overdue myself. I've been rereading a couple of my homemaking books. One is HouseWorks by Cynthia Townley Ewer of OrganizedHome.com. The other is Mrs. Dunwoody's Excellent Instructions For Homekeeping by Miraiam Lukken. I collect homekeeping books. I like to reread them to get me motivated when I've lost my way. I also have a long list of homemaking blogs that I have bookmarked on my computer when I just want to get away and escape. Which some days can be a lot. I highly recommend these books to any homemaking enthusiasts. Add these to your collection.

Having a 5 year old at home all day and a one and a half year old and pregnant can be overwhelming some days. I have had days of morning sickness get a hold of me which I didn't have with my other 2 kids. So this is new to me. I've had headaches that blackout parts of my vision. I have sciatica that acts up on it's own choosing. Most days I can walk. This pregnancy is definitely testing me. I try not to look at all the negative it's causing me.

Have a wonderful Monday. I hope your week goes as planned. Enjoy the summer!
Mommy Lynda

Celebrating the first day of Summer. I love each season as it's own. I love having friends over every weekend and cooking on our grill. I love the weather being hot and taking the family to the pool almost every day. I love all the flowers and trees that are in bloom. I love all the activities that the city does during this season. The Farmer's Market is always full of wonderful fruits and vegetables!

This year, we cooked ribs and I put a log in our firepit and lit it. We enjoyed the yummy ribs my husband cooked. They were so tender.

This summer I will be pregnant and gaining weight. I am in my 3rd month now. I am getting over my morning sickness so I will be able to enjoy more of the season now. I didn't get to plant anything though. So I went to Walmart and bought a couple of tomato plants so I won't be completely out. We will be moving into a 4 bedroom house in July or August so I will be weeding through the house and getting rid of things we don't need to take with us. I am not looking forward to that. I have sciatica when I'm pregnant and like today, I can't walk. So the weeding will take a while. I will have to work on a room a week or two. Maybe take 3 weeks per room, depending on how it goes. We have too much clutter and not enough pretty and cozy. My goal in the new house is to have MY OWN reading corner with a comfy chair with ottoman and a reading lamp next to it.

I hope all of you have a wonderful summer this year! Enjoy!

Morning sickness has now subsided! Thank you very much! I am in my 3rd month now. We weren't exactly planning to have another baby this soon after Baby Girl, but then again, we weren't exactly preventing it either. I'm happy that we are. It just happens after I got rid of our pregnancy and baby things. So now, I have to rebuy maternity stuff and baby stuff. Ugh. I still get nauseas sometimes. Not really looking forward to spending the money again. There are some websites that I can go on that offer cheaper clothes. Craigslist is my best friend.

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there! Celebrate the day.

So after reading some of my favorite blogs this morning, I came across Skirt Month at Sew,Mama,Sew! Sewing Blog. You have to check it out! It is a whole month dedicated to sewing skirts. Now I am not a big skirt fan, but recently I have been wanting a few more skirts in my wardrobe for summer. This is going to be ideal.
Growing up, my grandmother has influenced me in a lot of ways. I remember her always wearing a dress. Even working out in her yard. She had more dresses than anyone I knew. She had all 3 of her bedroom closets full. And her bedroom closet was a walking closet. One of my favorites that I have seen.

This summer season will be fresh and new for me. I have been reinventing myself the last couple of months. Trying to make a better home for my family in the process. I haven't been much of a homemaker lately, if ever, and that is something that I need to change. My family needs me to be here for them.

I am very excited! I received Amy Butler's In Stitches yesterday. I sat down and went through the book twice. I was getting ideas of what I wanted to make first. I still haven't decided. I want to make everything in the book! They are wonderful ideas. If you have never had the opportunity to see any of her patterns, you will love this book!

A Day at the Beach

We took a trip to the beach yesterday morning. I loaded up my 5 year old that you see in the picture above and my 18 month old and went treasure hunting. We were looking for intact seashells or any rocks that caught our fancy. It was such a beautiful day! At this time of year the tourists haven't arrived yet so the beach is empty except for the few runners and a few quiet strollers. The perfect time if you want to enjoy the effects of the ocean and the breeze. It was a little more chilly than what I had thought. Next time we will bring a few jackets.




As I was looking for seashells the call of the waves were answered by my two. They just couldn't resist! They would run into the waves as they rolled onto the beach and then run back to the shores. It was such a sight. The water wasn't that cold yesterday. Last summer I remember the water being freezing. Even just stepping in the water with just your feet was like stepping in ice.



I love this picture. It was amazing how the light from the sun reflected off the water! When you look in our ocean here on the beaches here, you can see gold flakes. It is so beautiful that you literally just stare in amazement at the water.

In all this fun, I did manage to find 3 big seashells that were not broken! It's so hard to find them not broken. I put them in a dish when I got home and rinsed them clean. We will do this again in a couple of weeks. We had so much fun!

Mornings at My House

Monday mornings at my house are like Sundays left over. It takes me a while to get going while the kids run around the house playing. They keep each other entertained which is wonderful for me.

Tuesdays are like my Mondays. I get my cleaning done on this day. I can get more loads of laundry done on this day than any other. I don’t know why, but that seems to be my cycle. I just go with it instead of fighting it.

Wednesdays are my mornings that I spend cuddling with the kiddos. They really like that I do that with them on this day. They don’t like it on other days. I know. I have weird kids. But I like them that way.

Thursday and Friday are my toughest mornings. I drink a cup of coffee extra than normal on these mornings. I spend a little extra time at my computer on these mornings also. I need a little extra to get me going on these days. More often than not, Fridays are my pajama days. I don’t get out of my pajamas on these days and stay inside on these days.

Saturdays are my Fridays. Except my husband is with us on these days! He’s not working his long hours or sleeping in between his long shifts so he is spending his time with us!

Sundays are family days. We lounge on the couch and watch kid movies with our kids. There’s no going to the store on these days. No games on these days. No going outside to play with friends. It’s the day we spend with each other.

I have not achieved a routine yet, but I work on it every day during the week. Tuesday is the peak of my week. This is the day I have the most energy and get the most done in a day.

I’d love to hear how your mornings are!

This past week has brought up many issues that we have with our society. This whole ordeal with the incident that happened at Virginia Tech just brings to light the loopholes in our education system. But is doesn't end or begin there. There are so many issues tied into this one incident.

There were a lot of lives lost that fateful day. They will be mourned. There will most likely be a memorial set up. I grieve the lives of those people that were shot that day. I also grieve the gunman student also. This young man clearly needed intervention. Many warning signs were brought up. Many people expressed concern for him. And yet, only one doctor had the opportunity to diagnose him. For all those people that voiced concern, a second doctor was not let the opportunity for a second opinion.

My kids are not old enough for college yet. However, if I pay money for my children to leave my home and live under their roof, they should follow their guidelines. I will NOT pay for my child's privacy. If my child gets suspended or expelled, I want a phone call. The same goes for any mental health evaluation. If many people feel that the safety of my child is at stake (as the one doctor clearly stated) then they should be taken care of. If it is medicine they need, get the medicine. If it is time in a hospital, then admit them. Regardless if my child is willing to accept the help. They are still young enough to not realize when or if they need the help. Or even mature enough to know when to admit they need help. And need help recognizing and dealing with their help. It gets complicated for a grown adult to handle yet we expect our kids to just jump in and swim.

I do not know what is going to take place at the campus now. There are a lot of suggestions as to what should take place. Should there be metal detectors placed at all the doors? Should there be more armed guards walking the corridors? Who is going to pay for the guards? The expense of universities and colleges are already too high for the majority of Americans. Almost all of us Americans cannot afford to pay for college and take out loans and apply for grants. We cannot afford our own education that is our right.

The school has a lot on their plate right now. I do not envy them. A lot of controversy surrounds this particular incident. Mainly people are wanting a someone or something to blame.

What does it mean to be a housewife? A homemaker? A stay at home mom? I use to think it meant to be chained down to the house and be bored with chores that never get done. I didn't have happy thoughts about it. But I am learning to love my house. And to love on my kids. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, but I have learned to love ON my kids. All the time. I have a window box over my sink that looks over the front yard and the street. I have made it pretty instead of a having nothing in it. I have rearranged my counter tops so that they look more open and not so cluttered. I am working a little bit at a time. It is starting to feel more homey now. A truly warm and cozy place. Once I figure out how to post pictures to here I will show you what my kitchen now looks like. I hope all of you have a nice cozy kitchen to warm the hearts and souls of your family!

Hey fellow bloggers! How is everyone?

I am on a good roll now! I have my 3x5 index card system of housework in place and I'm now on my 2nd day. Yay for me! Now the trick is to see how long I can follow it. I have noticed that my kitchen sink stays empty, the dishes stay put away, food is thawed, dinner is on time, and everyone is pretty much in a better mood. AND, best part of all, I have more time for here!

I love going to some other blogger's pages. Here are a few that I visit regularly:

http://homeliving.blogspot.com/
http://keepersathome.blogspot.com/
http://www.prairie-kitchen.com/blog/
http://www.homesteadblogger.com/quiverfull
http://www.hiddenhavenhomestead.blogspot.com/
http://www.carlalynne.blogspot.com/
http://vintagepleasure.typepad.com/vintage_pleasure/

If I haven't posted your site, I probably haven't seen it yet.

So I've started trying to chart my fertility signs the past few months. I've actually learned a lot. I only have one book that I have been learning from. There is one other book that I would actually like to add to my repetoire. I have found out many useful information through this book that I have. By observing my body signs, I have been better able to recognize why I do certain things at certain times of the month. I can now better anticipate those signs also. I have also found out that my thyroid actually plays a critical role in my conception. Because my thyroid has failed since the pregnancy of my last child and since her birth, my conception chances has lowered dramatically. My thyroid actually plays a key role in keeping my body temperature above a certain range. Conception is harder to have happen if the body temperature isn't high enough to essentially "bake" what needs to be baked. My temps are consistently lower than it needs to be before ovulation. Even on the medication I need, it is still low. There are also ways to help myself with my diet. I haven't been eating right so therefor haven't been getting the key vitamins that my body needs for fertility. I must be sabatoging myself. I want more kids, but it just doesn't seem like it is likely. I have to rely on God and his timing. Maybe this is his way of keeping the timing in his hands instead of ours.