Dear Birthday Boy,

You are five today. My baby is five years old. Wasn’t it just yesterday, or maybe last year, when you were two weeks overdue and taxing my patience even then? You've been asking me every day for three weeks if it is your birthday today. Then we have to go over the days of the week and count until we get to the 28th. Oy.

This past year has been full of so much growing and learning. You surprise me every day with your ability to read my moods—“Mom, why are you so grumpy?” and to express yourself. When you use the words “excited” and “believe” and “disappointed” and use them in the right context--like the other day when Joe said that something worked “automatical” and you told him, “You mean automatically”--I can’t help but be proud of the big boy you are becoming. You can even ride a two-wheeled bike (no training wheels!) and do a cartwheel!

Now don’t get me wrong, we’ve had our tough times, too. Like the days that you didn’t want to go to preschool, or the days that you didn’t have school but you incessantly begged me to take you. And we can’t forget the day you broke your leg. It was terrible having to carry you and hold onto you on the way to the hospital, knowing that every little jostle and move caused you so much pain, but I’m so grateful that I was there with you. And when the x-ray confirmed your broken leg, I couldn’t stop the tears from pouring down my face. It was so hard to see you in pain, and I wanted it to be me instead. But you handled the whole thing like a champ!

And now you’re five. And you can tie your own shoes, and get your own water, and when you are really feeling independent you even wipe your own bottom. I know the night will come that you don’t crawl in bed between dad and I, and if I’ve learned anything these past four years it’s that the time will come much too soon.

I love you, Monkey!

Mom Bloggers

If there's one thing I know for sure, "Mom bloggers" are here to stay. Scribbit (one of my favorite mom bloggers) recently wrote a post on moms who blog, and Momdot.com put their list out of the Top 50 Mom Blogs of 2008. A few of my favorites were listed, too, including Rocks In My Dryer, the amazing C Jane, 5 Minutes for Mom, and of course, P-Dub.

When I first started this blog, I thought this would be an online journal of sorts. But it's turned into much more than that! Family, friends and acquaintances have called or stopped to chat about something I have posted on my blog. I have been able to network with bloggers I admire, writers I adore, and perfect strangers with common interests.

Now, our lives are not always peachy-keen. You're getting just a glimpse of us on the computer screen; our reality might horrify or fascinate you (or maybe even a little of both!) But I will continue to blog about those things. I hope you'll stay around to read about them, too!

2008's Resolution leftovers, warmed up and served again.

Happy 2009!



Last year's resolutions post was a bit tongue in cheek, since there was no way I was going to accomplish all of them. Not without retaining my sanity, that is. So, here we go again.



1. Lose 40 pounds

2. Never, ever, ever yell at Andy or the kids again.

3. Keep the house clean at all times

4. Read church lessons before they are taught.

5. Keep up with the laundry

6. Exercise every day.

7. Go back to school.



Why is it just when I want to get on with life, life gets in the way? There is always something to be done, but it's never what I want to be doing. Ok, that's my complaining for the day.

On to resolutions. As I was reading the local newspaper a week or so ago, an editorial piece caught my eye. I only had a minute to skim, but the author was basically saying that as a society we are not comfortable publicizing our new year's resolutions anymore. We are afraid to tell the world (and those closest to us) what our goals are for fear that we will not fulfil them, therefore looking like a failure, not to mention foolish!

Wow, that hits the nail on the head with me. I rarely tell others my dreams, goals, and wishes. Then I feel the pressure to be accountable for working towards or achieving those things. Who wants to be accountable? Not I! At least not after the first few days/weeks/months (depending on what the goal is).

My new goal is to work on improving all of those aspects of my life, and then some, and not feel bad when I fall short -- just keep looking forward and plodding along.

Vigilante Mom Ellie Nesler has died

Most of the time I don't post about things like this, but after reading this article I was so SAD about the way Ellie Nesler's life, and the life of her son William, had taken so many bad turns. Unfotunately it was from choices that she made. I rememer first hearing about her on the news after she shot and killed her child's molester in the courtroom. As the Fox News article says, "Some hailed her for exacting her own justice, while others condemned her for taking the law into her own hands."

When this incident happened in 1993 I was graduating from high school, and even at that age I knew that she had done no favors for her son and other children by depriving them of their mother while she had to serve time for this crime. That's not even including the time spent in jail for her drug charges almost ten years later.

Then there's this (also taken from the article): Meanwhile, her son got into legal troubles of his own and was convicted of first-degree murder in 2005 for stomping to death a man hired to clean the family's property in Sonora. The 23-year-old said he believed David Davis was letting people pick through the family's belongings.

William Nesler killed Davis less than an hour after he was released from a 30-day sentence for an earlier assault on him. He is serving a 25-year-to-life sentence.

Apparently, and unfortunately, William Nesler did not learn from his mother's mistakes. It's just so sad.

Cooking on a Budget

Allrecipes has a webpage called "Cooking on a Budget". This is their winter edition, which includes some slow-cooker recipes and a menu that includes these recipes:

Baked Ziti I
Green Salad with Creamy Italian Dressing
Soft Garlic Breadsticks
Blushing Cranberry Pears

Yum! Pasta is always an inexpensive choice for a meal, and we always try to pair it with a salad or green veggie like brocolli. Pears are a fall fruit, so they are a great price now. Even our super Wallyworld had some bosc beauties in the produce section. If one of your new year's resolutions is to stick to a budget(or in our case have enough to even worry about a budget :D) planning a menu is a great way to keep your food costs down. One of my favorite frugal moms is Jonni McCoy, author of Miserly Moms. She has some great ideas for keeping the grocery budget in check. Click here for some of her Frugal Recipes!