Multitasking?

I am so talented.

I can amuse my youngest even when I am sick!

As I was trying to get her to nap today (I gave up eventually), I started to sneeze. And sneeze. And, well you get the idea.

With each progressive sneeze she started to giggle. Because I am that funny. And then it just turned into full on belly laughter (for her, not me, by that time I was too busy blowing my nose).

Can this count as multitasking? Because I would like to feel like I got something done today.

*Achoo*

Proper English

He Said Yes!

Yipee! My hubby agreed to be Lucy and Desi! This is going to be so fun :) We'll be sure to take lots of pictures!

Going to bed now because my daughter has been sick and kept me up all night long....

Trying to Find Myself...

No, I haven't lost myself...not yet anyway! Trying to find a very frugal, yet fun, costume for Mr. Q and me. The challenge is on! Our church is doing Hallelujah Night for the kids on the 31st and the theme is any period of time.

Originally I was thinking Ancient Egypt, because what girl doesn't secretly want to dress like an Egyptian queen? Plus my sheer curtains, that no longer hang over my patio door (they get replaced in wintertime by thermal lined curtains), would have made a great costume. But Mr. Q wasn't up for being Pharaoh. What guy doesn't want to rule the known world?

So Egypt went the way of the pyramids...

Then I was looking up famous couples in time...ran across these two faces...



What do you think? I have reddish hairdye and a handsome Hispanic hubby...do you think we could pull off the famous duo? I have to wait and see what Mr. Q thinks, but "I Love Lucy" was one of his favorite TV shows too.

Now what to do for the kids....

In Which You Will Find Me Dancing In My Kitchen...

The Apron Queen has a fun giveaway on her blog, go check it out! Don't forget to carefully study her step-by-step instructions regarding the Secret Ingredient.

Oh, and if I win the $30 giftcard, you WILL find me dancing in my kitchen...

Mrs. Q's Confessions...

It is said that confession is good for the soul. I do agree with that, but it also makes for great blog material...lol!

I am not a coupon queen, just someone who enjoys saving money! I aspire to the greatness of Ellie Kay, but it will take me YEARS to get that good! (If you haven't read her book, run, don't walk, to your local library and borrow it!)

I do not know everything there is to know about being frugal. On my blog, I only post what works for us. The same might not be compatible with your family. You be the judge :)

When I created my grocery goal, we were not receiving any government aid. Now we are on the WIC program. I have chosen to keep the goal the same as a personal challenge. When I am able to achieve that, I will lower the amount to see how low we are able to go! Without the assistance, we would not be eating cheese, drinking milk or scrambling up eggs. I am so grateful for WIC! This assistance alone has saved us at least $45 this month. If you are low income, have any children under the age of five (or any on the way!) check out the link! You may qualify and it is such a blessing!

I am not a gourmet cook. Any recipes you find on my blog will be simple, no-nonsense meals. Please do not search for "cremebroche" or "tumeric"...you will not find either of those here. We at the FITPH have a simple palate. No elaborate hoops to jump through.

If a recipe has more than five steps to it, my eyes glaze over and I lose all concentration. If it has more than seven ingredients, forget it! It has to be a real taste-bud pleaser for me to go to any lengths of energy expenditure!

I am a good, albeit pedestrian cook. We are accustomed to a Mexican fare over here with the occasional meat and potatoes American meal thrown in. I use my pico de gallo seasoning more than salt. Garlic is used liberally in almost everything.

Onions make me gag. The challenging part is that Mr. Q loves onions in anything and everything. And I love the flavor they give to the food. What is a alliumiphobe (no that is not a real word..)to do? Mince! If I can't see them, they don't bug me!

I like to make up words. My family tells me that I should write them down and create a dictionary. Sample: integritous-full of integrity...doesn't it make sense? It is less laborious to say "He is so integritous." rather than "He is full of integrity." Maybe some day I will make my own dictionary.

Typing a post while holding a fussy baby takes a bit longer than I expected!

Tag, I'm It!

Sarah tagged me, and while I normally don't participate in tag memes, this one sounded easy :)

I am supposed to list six things I value and six things I do not value.
So, in no particular order they are...

Things I Value:

Integrity, both in myself and others.

My awesome church, I am accepted and loved.

Friendships that spur me on in my walk with Christ.

The faithfulness of my husband, and his drive to provide for us and love us.

My handsome sons and adorable daughter, who are much more than I could have ever dreamed of.

Oh, and of course, the most important of them all: Jesus! Who died on the cross for my sins, was resurrected and is alive in me today!

Things I Do Not Value:

Doing laundry. OK, I am being brutally honest here, I loathe laundry. However, until I can hire a maid to do it for me (HAHAHA) I am stuck as the designated laundry lady. Plus, there are certain people in this household who simply MUST have clean socks and underwear!

Entertainment technology. We still live in the Dark Ages over here. No iPhones, actually, no cell phones period! No Wii. No Playstation. No cable. We chose to remain unplugged from all of that. We only watch DVD's that we borrow from the library (this speaks to our frugality not our convictions about television). Our kids only watch VeggieTales and similarly approved videos. We find that the less TV we and our children watch, the more content we are with what we have.

Dishonesty. No need for further elaboration here.

Popularity contests. I place no value on how much you make, what clothes you wear, what car you drive or where you live. That is not who you are. Simply the outside trappings...er..wrappings. As someone who was judged only on my outside appearance when I was younger (weren't we all geeky when we were younger?) I understand what it feels like to be deemed "un-cool".

Bugs in my house. This includes but is not limited to: fruitflies, ants, spiders, silverfish, beetles, flies, wasps, or any other creepy things!

Watches. I do not own a watch and probably never will. I can't stand to have something on my wrist. Which also means that I don't wear bracelets either! Not owning a watch does mean that I have to rely on the kindness of strangers to tell me the time when I am out and about. Because I don't own a cell phone either...lol.

Eenie meenie miney moe...I tag Jennifer at Peaceful Living who happens to be my dear friend. We'll have to give her a little bit of a longer time frame because she is planning a friend's wedding and she is down to the deadline.

Thanks for stopping by, and thank you Sarah for the tag! I had fun :)

Calling All Font Freaks!

Check out a wordle!

Just put in any text and randomize.... I did all of Psalm 91...it looked so cool!

You can even print out your creation if you like (I'm all out of printer ink. Boo hoo.)

Fine Literature Heard At My Home...

My husband is reading "Around the World in Eighty Days" to our sons. Passpartout morphs into "Pastors Toe" and Mr. Phileas Fogg becomes "Mr. Frog"!

Tonight the story started out like this...
"Pastors Toe farted.." *brief pause while peals of laughter ring throughout the bedroom...

Yes, we have classic literature read at my home.

Silly Kids...

Taming Toddlers With Grace....

If you are the mother of a toddler...read this article by InsertGraceHere...guaranteed to make you laugh so hard your face hurts!

And 'fess up...who all out there hasn't considered Benadryl on those very trying and very active days? I'll be the first to raise my hand!

But my kids are used to ingesting medicine even if they don't require it. They do it for fun and to give me gray hairs!

You Know Your Kids Are Easily Entertained...

When they can sit and watch the ants haul off crumbs from your kitchen floor...for hours. A neighbor of our's told my husband that we could get rid of the ants by leaving oatmeal for them to carry off. Apparently, they cannot digest it and it kills them. Really cheap RAID :) I really hope it works, because I am SICK of sharing my home with the little invaders. My sons are crouched on the floor MESEMRIZED by the little workers. They are even providing a running commentary!

Dot dot dot

After reading through some old posts of mine, I just realized that I use (...) a lot. Like some bloggers use LOL in excess, I overuse (...). So...what is the importance of this? Not much really, just thought it was amusing...

Dare You...

Can you look and not yawn? I dare you to try!

Sunburns and Strawberries...

What is the common theme between the two? They are both RED!



Who forgot to put on sunscreen before she went to pick strawberries for half the day? Yeah, me. Boy I am feeling it today! I am feeling the self-neglect..lol! Oh sure, I remembered to remind Mr. Querido to put sunscreen on, then he slathered up the kids, Miss Precious as well. By then I had completely forgotten about myself. You can be sure I will remember next time! My only consolation is that I will have one awesome tan in a couple of days..lol!

More photos of our strawberry fields adventures to come...

By the way, can you tell I was wearing a necklace?

Colorful Minds

Last night as we were saying our bedtime prayers with the boys, Mr. Querido asked them to pray in Spanish with him. We gently encouraged them to follow along after us.

"Gracias a Dios" *a pause as we wait for them to join in*
Silence.
"Don't you want to pray in Spanish?" Mr Querido asks.
"But I'm not brown like you yet, Daddy!" was the reply from Mr. Independent.

So there you have it. My inability to speak fluent Spanish is in direct correlation to my skin color!

More Poetry Continued...

On sandy beaches where people lay,
Along the shores where they would play,
I have come.

Amidst towering clouds of gloom,
Behind the forked streaks of doom,
I will come.

When the angry clouds buffet the sea,
While the ships lean toward the lee,
I am there.

My power is the force that tickles the waves,
As people enjoy long summer days,
I will be there.

The ocean broils under my playful hand,
As anxious people quietly stand,
I am present.

Now I have churned up the water, causing it to foam,
But soon I am bored, so now I go home,
I have left.

Once again on a summer storm,
The air will tingle with the warm,
Wind.

Copyright 1996 J. N. Gallegos


The Forgetful and Exaggerative Survivor

Once I saw a Tigertailed Fly,
Or was that a Dragonbutterswallow?
At any rate it swooped down low to the pond
And upon catching its meal, soared to the sky.
That Swallowtigered Dragon flew quite fast!
Its green body contrasted nicely against the azure sky.
The Tigerbutterfly finished eating its catch and then looked around.
Soon its eyes rested on me, in them I saw a devilish gleam
That fierce Flytailed Swallow attacked me from above.
With its sharp talons it scooped me up from the ground!
That fearsome creature carried me to its nest high in the trees,
And then left me for a midnight snack!
Well that nest was twelve feet tall with thorns on the top,
If you did happen to get out it was at least a thirty foot drop!
They say no one ever escapes the Dragontailedswallow Fly,
But that did not cause me to lose heart, so I got to work.
I was not about to become someone's breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Cautiously I stood up as high as I could get in that wobbly nest,
That Buttertailed Dragon was taking a noonish nap.
Quietly but quickly I started to climb that prickly nest
How that creature could sleep in it I could only guess.
Ocasionally the Swallowtiger Fly would twitch and wiggle
Probably doing some terrible thing to someone else in its dreams!
When it was going to wake up, I had no idea, so I climbed more rapidly.
Finally I reached the thorny edge of that enormous nest,
And what I saw was not a pretty sight.
That Flybuttered Beast was fifty feet long with seventy foot wings!
It had greenish gold eyes that seemed to watch your every movement.
Long gruesome daggers protruded from its feet,
And from its hideous mouth six foot long, razor sharp teeth!
Blue and red scales covered that entire beast, and they glimmered in the sun.
Carefully I pulled myself over those sword-like thorns on the top,
And then I had to cling to the side of the nest to avoid that thirty foot drop!
Just at that moment that Swallowtailed Dragon decided to wake up,
Hungrily it peered into its nest.
When it saw that I was not there it screamed the most horrible, blood curdling scream I have ever heard!
Then its eyes searched the ground.
But I was using my brains, and as it was busy looking on the ground I was climbing that tree.
Out of pure luck I found a branch that connected the two trees together.
Now I could get away from that hideous creature!
All of a sudden that branch snapped and I plummeted to the ground.
On my way down a strong wind blew me back to that pond!
Warily I sneaked through the bushes until I reached my house,
Once inside I locked the door and watched out the window.
Well, I sat there for hours expecting that Buttertaileddragonswallow to come knockin' on my door
You see they tell me those creatures have excellent noses.
But it never came; perhaps it had a cold that day.
So I am the ony survivor of a Swallowdragonbuttertailed Fly attack.
And that is no lie.

Copyright 1996 J.N. Gallegos

Author's note: The Forgetful and Exaggerative Survivor was one of my favorites! It was a lot of fun to try to think up different names for the beast that contained the same words, just mixed around.

Melts in Your Mouth, Not in Your...Toilet???

As I got up this morning, and I went to the bathroom, I discovered that someone had been there before me. We usually have the rule "if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down."; but some of the younger members of our family don't quite get that yet. So needless to say I discovered Number Two fermenting in the bowl. But this particular specimen had tinted the water BLUE! What?!?!?!?!?! I thought back to the boys' meals yesterday and I could not find anything that would cause the poo to be blue. Then I remembered the M&M's bag I had found in the pantry, half-consumed... enough said.

Gardenin' Angels

The other day, I was discussing God's protection with Mr. Dramatic and Mr. Independent. We were talking about how God is always there for you and He always takes care of you. Also we discussed angels. Guardian angels.

"Gardenin' angels?" Mr. Independent queries.

"Not gardenin' angels, GUARDIAN angels." I correct.

"What's a GAR-dee-yun angel, Mama?" he asks me.

So I proceeded to explain.

(Kids are so cute when they try to make a new vocabulary word fit into the old vocabulary repertoire..lol!)

Losing Our Minds but Not Our Sense of Humor!

Last night we had a friend fly in late (11pm) from Mexico. So we waited with his family to greet him. After all the hugging and back slapping (men..lol!) it was time for him to go home with his wife and baby daughter. We parted ways in the parking garage.

Toting three kids, my beloved and I wearily walked to our van. As we headed into the elevator, we realized that we didn't remember what level we were parked on. There are only six levels so how hard could the process of elimintaion be? We pressed P3 and whooshed up to that level. As we stepped out we immediately saw that our van was no where to be found. Although we found the white truck we had parked next to. Panic started to set in. Then we realized that it was the WRONG level. Whew! Our vehicle had not been stolen. Thank God! The only thing was is that we were hopelessly lost and had ABSOLUTELY no idea where our van was parked! So with a prayer and some humor we pressed P2 and arrived on the rental car floor. Definitely the wrong one. OK, for the sake of not boring you to death, it took us HALF AN HOUR of whooshing up and down the floors to find out that we were parked on the OPPOSITE SIDE of the parking garage!

I tell you, we could not have felt more dumb going up and down in the elevators with 2 tired toddlers and one very hungry baby. I imagine that airport security would probably have come to find us eventually...
Actually, I wonder what would have happened if we hadn't found out about the different sides of the parking garage.

The best part is that we had paid prior to reentering the garage and because we took SO LONG to find our vehicle, they wanted to charge us another $3!!! We pleaded insanity and they let us off the hook!

LOL! These are the kinds of situations that could have escalated into a full blown argument, blame-shifting, etc. But we both managed to see the humor in it...how many adults does it take to find their vehicle?..and we maanaged to stay happy with each other and just look at it as a really great workout!

I am so cracking up as I think about what the security footage must have looked like!

Mr. Independent thought that the whole fiasco was great fun. "Mama, we're silly!" he told me on the one-hundredth run up the elevator.

If you can't laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at?