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