And by the way...today's Spring Cleaning Party is taking place in "The Kids Rooms". I have some gasoline. Anybody got a match?

Does any one know how I can turn my heart to stone? If so, please let me know, cause I'm really tired of having mine broken!

PS - Sometimes I wonder why I even get out of bed.

PSS - Didn't clean my bathroom yesterday...what's the use, it just gets dirty again.

PSSS - Come back tomorrow...I'm gonna eat some chocolate now. I've heard that it cures what ails ya. If not, at least there will be more of me to love.

This and That

I worked on my kitchen again on Friday. I didn't accomplish as much as I'd hoped to, but the counter tops got scrubbed down, and a number of things were re-located, plus a cabinet got cleaned up I'll keep plugging at it, while working on this weeks assignments. Today, in the Spring Cleaning Party...we are supposed to be cleaning and de-cluttering the linen closet and the bathroom.

Here's the after shot - looks a lot neater.

Before

After

Before

After

Love this dish towel. I don't use it. It's just for decoration.

Here are the flowers that my husband brought me on Friday afternoon.

On to other stuff.

I live in a unincorporated small town. I don't really know my neighbors...but have felt relatively "safe" here. I know that you can't be 100% safe anywhere, but I feel being in a small town makes for safer and healthier living, and I don't think that I could ever live in a Big City. The headlines, last Friday, in our nearby big city newspapers was:
School finds loaded assault rifle, in 13 year old boy's locker!

It seems that he was angry with another student. The gun was found last Wednesday, after the principal was tipped off, by a student who over heard the boy talking about having the gun in his locker. His mother claims that she has no idea where he got the rifle.

This is scary...really scary. Makes me think about pulling the J-man out of school. I know, I know...you can't protect your kids all the time, but this gives pause to think.


Are any of you master gardeners? If so, please go HERE, and help Colorado Lady figure out what the heck was growing in her garden!

Anybody want a new layout? Then go HERE - and be sure to tell Eduardo's mom, that I sent you! To find the info on page layouts, click on the Sweedy's Layout on the menu bar.

My friend Jientje over at Heaven is in Belgium, tripped and fell while on a photo outing, yesterday. She's okay - just some soreness and bruising - BUT - sadly, her camera bit the dust. I'm hoping that her followers, and anyone else who enjoys her wonderful posts, might want to chip in to help pay for a new camera. I put out a plea, in a comment (oh I hope she doesn't kill me for doing this;-) at her place, but I'm wondering if any of you would like to chip in? I can't imagine how I would feel, if I didn't have my camera. Just let me know if you would like to throw a few bucks into the pot!

Happy Mother's Day

Today I would like to wish a Happy Mother's Day, to all you moms out there.

I've sat here at my computer, trying to think of a way to eloquently express my feelings, on being a mother. I'm still waiting for the words to come. It [motherhood] has been a part of me for so long, that I where it like a second skin.

It hasn't always been easy. Being a mother can be messy and tiring and lacking in sophistication. It can be heart wrenching, and filled with grief. It can be confusing, and filled with misgivings. There are times when I feel as though I've let my children down...that I haven't been the mother that they needed me to be. But, I truly believe that more often than not, I've done the best I could.

At one time, when I was young and filled with a sense of certainty (oh to be so naive again), I was convinced that motherhood was just a stage of life. But now that I am older and wiser - I know with a surety, that once you become a mother... a mother you remain...for time and eternity. It shapes and molds your life, as you shape and mold your children's lives. It is a process, of trial and error...of give and take...of learning and relearning.

The joys of motherhood far out weigh the heart breaks. I tell this to myself over and over and over again. If I had been given a magic wand, I would have waved it over my children, to make their lives perfect. But that's not the way it's supposed to be. If it were, we wouldn't be here on this earth...learning and experiencing, and discovering...finding that we can do things we thought, were surely beyond our capabilities.

Motherhood is a gift from God, which I cherish within my heart. I hold it deeply, and with reverence.

I love my children, and I thank them for making the choice to come into this world, and allowing me the privilege, of being their mother.

I'm Beginning to Look Like Nora Batty

Have any of you seen the long running BBC Sitcom - Last of the Summer Wine? It's one of our favorite (Saturday night on PBS) shows. It happens to be the longest running comedy in Britain and the longest running sitcom in the WORLD!

Any - hoo, other than those shoes and hair curlers - Nora and I could be twins.
I joked about this (on the phone) with Steve, before coming back home last weekend. I told him that with my compression hose, that I looked just like her. Dang if he didn't agree when he saw them on me.

You better believe that I'll be getting something good for my birthday, after he made that remark!

Sadly, actress Kathy Staff, who played Nora since the very first episode in January/ 1973, has now passed on. You can read about her


HERE

Minnie Higginbottom (Staff's real name) - I thank you for all the laughs you brought my way.
May you rest in peace.

Spring Cleaning Party Continued

Yesterday was day one (of two) in the kitchen. We were to start with our pantries and then go to the fridge. Since my pantry needed very little work (just had to throw out a bag of potato's that had gone bad while I was in the land of sun and fun), so I just took an after shot.

Don't pay attention to this one. I downloaded the wrong pic...
...but the living room still looks this way.

Look at these cute little cans of Coke!

Gratuitous Crisco shot for the Spud Woman;-)

My freezer was a mess, so I tackled it head on. I found several bags of freezer burned veggies, with maybe 1/3 cup left in each . These went into the garbage. Then I spied a bag of frozen pre-cooked bacon, which only had 5 slices left. The bacon went into ME, hee-hee. Put them in a sandwich with guava jelly on toasted Seeduction bread. This is the best bread ever, and you can get it Whole Foods! Tossed 2 bags of stuff that wasn't marked and looked like nothing that I would want to try. Chucked a box of fudge pops (only 3 left) that looked like they had melted at one time, and then were shoved back into the freezer. Who would do that? Had to have been J-Man!!! Decided to eat the last 1/2 cup of sherbet, but darn if it didn't melt before I remembered that I had taken it out! Any-hoo, when I was done, my freezer looked like this...

...this! I put all my stuff (frozen grapefruit cups, Healthy Choice dinners, frozen veggies, etc. etc. into the bottom basket. Next up - is all frozen fruit (bags and cans). Then Big J's pizza's, burritos, Pizza Rolls, and waffles. The white basket has pre-made meals (that I cooked, bagged, and labeled, before I went south), which obviously didn't get eaten while I was gone. Don't have a clue what they ate, and don't really want to know! So I have several meals on hand, for nights when I don't feel like cooking.

Had to throw in a baby photo...just so I can keep your attention!

On to the other side...look at all those bottles. Tossed a few that only had a dribble of stuff left in them. I don't know where a lot of this stuff came from, cause I sure didn't buy it. All I need is some mustard, a bottle of salad dressing (Ken's Lite Walnut Vinaigrette, if you please), soy sauce, sesame oil, and Laughing Cow Cheese Wedges!

The shelves needed to be wiped down, and a couple of things tossed,
but overall is wasn't too bad!

Here is the after shot.

And the other after shot. From the looks of things, I do believe that the husband did most of his shopping at Target, while I was gone. FYI - did you know that you can go into Target and print off coupons at the little kiosk area at the front of the store. They have some really good grocery deals, and you get to save your ink and paper by printing the coupons in the store!

Well - I'm off to work on the Spring Cleaning assignment for today -Kitchen Day 2. This means moving everything off the counter tops, wiping them down, storing seldom used items, and tossing things that I just don't need or use anymore.

If any of you want to join in just click on the Spring Cleaning Button on the top right of my sidebar.

And don't forget to visit my favorite site for house (and life) cleaning and organization...
...The FLY LADY - HERE!

Tomorrow I get to supervise the installment of border material around the beds in the front of the house. I'll be sure to get the photo's of my manly men work'n up a sweat.

This and That

I'll start this post today with a picture for my Katie Tatie over at Tatersmama. Aren't those sweet little feet. It's hard to believe that in a few short years...they will be stinky, dirty, nasty boy feet...but for now, they make me go "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah"!

I received these in the mail, while I was gone. These hand knitted dish clothes are from

Aunt Kathy

I won them for naming her car...who is now known as Malibu Barbie!

She threw this in as a bonus. It's a bottle apron. Maybe I should submit this photo to the

Apron Goddess

Raving Robynn ( who by-the-way, is going through a rough time right now - please keep her in your prayers) got her photo on the site...why shouldn't I go for it?
Aunt Kathy has an Etsy store where she sells all kinds of cute items. Somehow I failed to upload the photo's of the "swiffer pads" that I ordered from her. Any way...please drop by her blog, and tell her I sent you. She has the most wonderful attitude. She has lot a LOT of weight, and she is an inspiration to me! Make sure to take an extra couple of minutes to browse through her Etsy site - and BUY something - okay?

This is a tricky one. I can't remember where I won this. I know that I've won at least two books, maybe three, from

Smiling Sal

So I need to go take pics of them and post them...but in the mean time...Thank you Sally!!! As far as this book goes... I'll tell you what...I'll spend some time checking out blogs, and when I find the post I'll let you know the gracious giver. Will that work for ya?

Don't know if you noticed...but I've joined the Spring Cleaning Party over at

Simple Mom

If you want to play along,...just click on the button at the upper right on my sidebar. Monday's assignment was to do a sweep through of the house. Above is my kitchen/dining room table. When I got home it was piled up with newspapers, and J-mans scriptures. I added to the mess by unloading some of my scrapbook supplies, and my "haul" above.

Here it is, after I glanced at the papers and then put them into the paper bin (to go for recycling - the proceeds go to the local senior center), put everything else away, washed and then buffed the table dry. Those pretty hydrangeas were a gift from three little girls at church. It was a thank you, for Easter Bags that I gave to them.

Will you take a look at this? I was assured that Big J had "Swiffered" the house just a few days earlier. Hah - I went back over the floors, and this is the result. The J-ster does Round Cleaning. I do Square Cleaning. Whats the difference? He just goes around, but I get into the corners (and under and behind the furniture)!

Days two and three, we were to clean the living room...putting things away, de-cluttering, etc. etc. Things weren't too bad in here. I did take Gracie's comforter off of the sofa, and threw it into the wash. Put away some candles, and the sports pages that I found under the big ottoman. I also picked up the throw that has been sitting on there for a while now...I've been wondering why it wasn't on the sofa - so I'm glad that I moved it. Someone had spilled something sticky/gooey on it, and instead of cleaning it up, they just threw the throw on top of it....GROSS. S0 I cleaned and washed and buffed and polished...

And this is the result. Not a big change...but I feel better knowing that the room is CLEAN!

Had to include a photo of Connor. I love the look on his face. He's a happy little guy. He eats well, and sleeps well (5 - 6 hours during the night), and has his very own little personality.

And here is a rare glimpse of me. I'm usually the one taking the pictures - AND - I can't stand looking at photo's of myself. This isn't the person I picture myself to be. This isn't even the person that I see when I look into a mirror. This is a stranger! A fat women, with washed out skin. A middle aged woman. A woman with three chins - oops, my bad - this woman only has two chins the 3rd one is in actuality, just a scar from when she had a tumor removed from her thyroid. This is a woman who has age spots on her hands and grooves along side of her mouth. So where am I?

....Lost in yesteryear, I think. Back to a time when I was young, and my arms didn't flap in the wind, and my face didn't sag. Back when I could get out of bed without creaking, and aching. Back when the children were small, and they needed their noses wiped, and their diapers changed, and when the tv blared...along with stereos, and high pitches voices. When they argued and rough-housed, and dirtied every surface in my home. When, shortly after I had washed all the dishes and cleaned the kitchen and dining room, from the most recent meal...they would surround me from all sides...whining about being hungry again. Back when I would sit up into the wee hours of the morning nursing the youngest and waiting for the oldest to get home from work, or a date. Back when I did 6 to 8 loads of laundry a day...went through a gallon or two of milk a day... when a trip to SAMS's took three carts to fill...

Uuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmm - I think I'll stick to fat, saggy, washed out...and cuddling newborn babies;-)

Love - Peace - go get something to Eat - which is what I'm going to do. I'm heading into the kitchen, which is where (conveniently) today's Spring Cleaning is to take place. I'll be sure to get before and after shots!