To paint or not to paint....

So...I'm a girl, in case you were wondering. And I like to get my nails done....always have. Since having kids though, I havn't really done it. A: I don't want to spend the money, and 2: I just can't talk myself into going.

So I think to myself, I'm artistic....my nails grow long and strong quickly...there's no reason I need fake nails and there's no reason I can't do my nails myself. So, I looked up how to paint my nails the right way, and I've been practicing. I can now do my nails well enough that a paint job will last me a week or 2 without chipping. So now I'm getting into the creative and adding embellishments.

Here's an example of my new skill-in-progress of self mani-pedi's, my favorite so far:

Way to freak me out...

So, I almost killed my husband today, and not in the Haha he's driving me crazy kind of way. This afternoon I made Eddie a snack and we sat down to watch some Dick Van Dyke. I made him a PB&J, a cereal bar and a soda and we watched a good 3 episodes of our oldie but goodie sitcom.
Afterward we were walking toward our room and Eddie says to me, "My neck hurts". So I check it out and he had a breakout of hives on his neck. This is not all that uncommon for him because he has a good many allergies, and we have a good many pets. So he went to take a shower to calm the hives down and when he got out I put some aloe on his neck. After a few more minutes he started to complain that his stomach hurt and that he was dizzy.
This concerned me. So we tried to figure out what could've brought on the hives. We couldn't come up with anything. Nothing was new in our surroundings. He didn't eat anything out of the ordinary...but the peanut butter was a new brand so I went to check the ingredients on the list. Nope, nothing odd. So I checked EVERYTHING. The Jelly, the bread, the soda, the cereal bars.....
Sure enough, way down at the bottom of the ingredient list for the cereal bars, there it was: HONEY
For those who don't know, my husband has a VERY severe honey allergy. I am avidly careful that we never have honey or honey products in the house. 1: Because of Eddie and 2: Because there is about an 85% likelyhood that the boys either have or will develop this same allergy at some point.
Luckily there was so little honey in these bars Eddie is doing OK and his reaction is settling down, but I mean like 1/4 teaspoon of honey and my husband is hospital-bound.

So yeah....I slipped up and that FREAKS me out. In 11 years I have never let honey get past me and to my husband....I guess I have to re-evaluate my system for keeping it away from my house.

Cool Daddy

So, Daddy came home with a surprise for the boys today. I had no idea he was getting this.....they were sooooooooooo happy :)

Our New Baby

Hah...seems like I've been making a lot of these posts lately....but what can I say, Eddie and I are suckers for a baby. We have a house exploding with pets...and kids....and its awesome sauce.
So this is our new cockatiel, Gizmo. When he's grown he will live in the big tiel cage with our other three tiels, for now he lives in a brooder box. I have several pics below, just to show how fast baby birds change. The first pic is of when I got him, friday. The second pic is sunday, and the final pic is this morning (tuesday).

Mommy version 2.0

So, I think I may need a software upgrade. This mom seems to have a lot of bugs in her operating system. Well, at least the boys like me this way. I seem to be mom with ADHD lately, one minute I'll be looking up schools, the next I'll be in the garden, the next I'm baking brownies. Sounds great, but nothing seems to get done, I have a habit of starting something new before I finish what I started. Oh well, I doubt I'll be getting any new software anytime soon...so I guess all my poor boys will be stuck with this version of mom ;)

Garden Update

So I figure I'll give y'all an update on my little garden. It's plugging right along, and I am thrilled with the progress of the tomatoes and the orange tree. THe tree is COVERED in little green oranges, and the tomato plants got there first 2 tomatoes on them. Here's some pics to compare to when I first planted.

Group shot of all the plants in my mini-garden:



The Orange tree lookin all happy, do you see all the baby oranges on it?



The very first tomatoes!



And here is Tony and Phoebe "helping" me water the tomatoes:

Why me?

I find myself wondering why it is that my husband likes me so much, why he keeps me around.

I'm pretty annoying, I can be whiny and needy, I'm not that great of a housekeeper...so why? What is it?

It is then, deep in thought, I trip and find myself careening through the living room as if channeling Dick Van Dyke and I realize, ahhhhhh.....he keeps me around for entertainment value :D

Barrel of Monkeys

So I'm going to have my sisters 3 kids over tonight through friday evening. At the very least it should be interesting haha. I'm sure by the end of the week I should have a scad of pics....so maybe y'all will get a glimpse of mi casa :D
I'm not entirely sure wht I'm going to do with the kids, they're all a fair site older than mine and 2 of them are girls......I have nooooooo idea what to do with girls LOL
Well at any rate it'll be fun.

My yard

So this is my yard, in these 2 pics you can see the majority of it anyhow. You can see the boys play dirt area as well as their "driving" area. Behind the camera, where I am standing will be the BBQ area with a picnic table and all that jazz....but that's a long time away from being ready. All in all not a bad slice of land for city living.


And this is my little garden....so far. I started here and will migrate throughout the yard, in containers and in the ground where I see fit. Here we have large and cherry tomatoes, bell and jalapeno peppers, oregano, basil, and mint. Also pictured is the Orange tree, I am considering surrounding the base of the tree with small colorful flowers.

Life in the slow lane

So, Friday is my anniversary. 5 years of marriage and 10 years of couplehood lol. My sister is going to take the boys on Friday and Eddie and I are going to have a day to ourselves, not sure what we are gonna do yet, maybe just soak up the silence haha. Eddie's also taking a 10 day vacation starting Friday, so it'll be cool to have him home, maybe we'll actually get some things in the house the way that we want them. I do know that for my anniversary present, if you will, I am getting some supplies to start the little gardening project I want to start...so that'll be fun.......I dunno what if anything Eddie wants...he's a hard man to shop for.
So here's to the love of my life, father of my children, but most of all, my very best friend.

Welcome to the world!

Welcome to the planet my new little niece, Avah Armida Rayborn-Mancha. Born March 14th 2009 weighing in at 7lbs 3oz and measuring 20in.

I just have to note that she is perfect and the most beautiful little girl ever...well maybe a close 3 way tie with her cousins Claudia and Sarah ;)

Been a While

Well, I havn't written in what feels like a coon's age....
Maybe that's because I havn't much to say lol.
Well, I've been unpacking like a maniac because the in-laws moved into their new house and now I have the space to unload my things. The boys are ending up with quite the set-up downstairs....we gave them the whole downstairs area, seeing as there is a master bedroom upstairs for Eddie and I, there's really nothing else to do with that giant area down there.
So, downstairs there are 2 rooms, a master bedroom that is really large and the other room is joined, separated by only a door, and that second room is rather small. In between the 2 rooms is a bathroom. In the large room I have put both their beds, their toy box's and when Eddie is done fixing it their computer will go in there too. In the small room they have a "living room".....That's what Tony calls it, and he's very excited about it haha. They have their dresser, TV and 2 folding chairs in there right now.....I'm on the hunt for a futon for that room....seating for them and a sleep space for visiting cousins. It's coming together well....the boys are starting to like it...it's just a little weird for me that short of a kitchen my 3 and 5 year old have their own apartment LOL

The upstairs is coming along and it's starting to look like "home". I'll post pics of the house as soon as it stops being a mess that looks like a storage facility......never ending boxes........

Well, at any rate, this is Tony with a view of about a quarter of the backyard lol

Announcing......

So, I am making a formal introduction announcing the newest members of our family. First up is our new "daughter" Phoebe-Lynn. She is a tiny pug puppy, and pictured above. She is a doll and we love having her here.

Next up is our new buddy Squeaker, pictured below. After the loss of our little rat pup Adrianna, I decided to give it another go and we have a little male rat who has survived and is now old enough I feel comfortable announcing him.

Circle of life......or something like that.....

So, I had a small tragedy yesterday. The rat baby I was trying to bottle raise died, in the late morning/early afternoon time. She was a sweet little girl and at least she died with a full tummy and a warm nest (instead of in a snake's belly). My sister's rat baby is still doing very well, and I'm pretty positive that little one will grow up healthy and just fine. Half the baby's from my ratties littler were sick and dieing when I got her so I assume she had some sort of respiratory illness like her litter-mates, she was always a bit more lethargic than the baby my sister brought home. I knew that it was a possibility that she wouldn't make it, but it doesn't make it less sad. So one last time, here's our little Adrianna

I lost the love of my life.......

MY CAMERA!!!!! WAHHHHHHH!

I'm desperate. The need to take pics is overwhelming......the thought that there may be a 3 week period in the boys lives in which I have no photo documentation is more than I can bear....

Ok, enough with the melodramatics...but, we're all moved and I can't find my camera. It's somewhere in box limbo....and this house-frau needs to be snap happy. Oh well....pisha paysha....it'll turn up eventually.

Pay It Forward

{The Rules}

1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me - something crafty or yummy, who knows?!

2. Winners must post this challenge on your blog, meaning that you will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift -anything!- for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!

3. The gift that you send to your 3 Friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember: It’s the Spirit and the Thought That Count!

4. When you receive your gift, please feel free to blog about it, sharing appropriate Linky Love! If you are not one of the Top Three Commenters on this post, you can still play along. Go ahead and start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same! SO, REMEMBER...Pay it forward!

We are a go!

In the house.....I repeat we are in the house.....

Pics to come soon of all my new crap that I have to keep clean haha!

Well, things change....

So, mom-in-law is not going to be living with us after all. this has it's pro's and cons.....Pro: we get the house to ourselves :D Con: We pay mom rent lol
It's all good though.
So today we're moving to the house...officially starting to stay there. We're bringing everything important and bringing the rest over the course of this next week. Mike and Humberto are coming over to help us move all the big stuff. I think mostly I'll just be at the house in the backyard with the boys and the dogs, keeping them out of the way.
My short story is taking a sabbatical if you havn't noticed, I'm far to frazzled to think of where to take the story right now hahaha.
The pic of the dogs.......is just because I'm missing them lol

Been a while

Well, it's been a while since I've written what with the preparations for moving along with the unbelievable dramatics from the in-laws, don't ask just suffice it to say it's....WOW, my brain hasn't been in the blogging place haha. The kids have been their same crazy selves and I'm still looking forward to the move for the simple fact that they will have a big yard to go crazy in :D
Looks like my mother in law may be living with us in the house for about a year, which is perfectly fine with me. I like her and she likes me and she's not the "typical" nosey mother-in-law stereotype that floats around. Besides, we've lived with her before and shes always nice and helpful, it only gets hard when we get desperate for some privacy, but I don't see that being an issue this time around. Shes taking the 2 bedrooms and bath downstairs and leaving the entire ground floor to us. This way she'll be able to really make her own space out of the downstairs, and considering the downstairs and the ground floor each have their own entrance it'll be good.....like a duplex with a communal kitchen hahahha.

........

omg.....in-laws suck.....If I go to jail for murder I'll miss you all.
Nuff said.

Nothing really new to report from my little corner of the world. The move is fast approaching and we are on a mad hunt for boxes haha. It's funny what happens when you are packing up for a move, especially if you've been settled for a few years. The things you find are so unexpected. Running across things you completely forgot you had (especially us pack-rat types). I keep saying it's pretty fun, like shopping all over again....except all the merchandise is free this time around. :D


Jan. 10, 2009
Our lost person has returned, as unlikely as it seemed. She had taken up hiding in the dollar store about a mile from our location. She did return with some interesting information; during her hunt for supplies she was able to discover that the aliens have set up headquarters in Wal-mart. With the aliens having such a diverse stock of supplies (at unbeatable prices) I fear the worst. She has volunteered to help me draw up a map of the surrounding area for my up-coming trek though, for this I am greatfull....

Self-fullfilling prophecy

What did I tell you?! Seriously?! How did I know....maybe because it was obvious....
Well, My kitty is gone. My little tiny cat girl is *poof*. I had this dumb hope that she would be fine with the 10 ft walls in the backyard....please, shes a cat. You can't keep a cat contained if they're outdoors. Anyway, I refilled her food dish, in case she's still around to keep her coming back, but she's never been outside before, I don't know how her sense of direction is.


Jan 8, 2009
We lost someone last night. She went out for supplies and didn't come back. All of us here are hoping she found a better hiding place to bed down for the night, but I think we all know that that's wishful thinking. I'm really starting to consider my idea to try to trek to an unpopulated area of the country...maybe live in a cave...maybe go deep underground. I was thinking of asking a few people to go with me, but after some consideration I think it will be safer to travel alone, boy I'm glad I hadn't asked anyone yet. More later....a few people are talking about putting together a "search party"....oh boy...

Ok, thought of something

Alrighty, I have something to write. This move stuff is killing me. I don't deal with stress well, and most often times things that stress other people out just kinda roll off me. For some reason this move is kickin my butt. Even though the timing ended up really well, I don't know, it's rubbing me the wrong way.
Maybe it's because the 4 and a half years I've been here in our little apartment is the longest I've ever lived ANYWHERE. I feel like I'm at home, and I can't remember another time in my life that I have ever felt that way. I just barely started allowing myself to settle in and make this place homey about a year ago....and now I have to let it go, I feel stupid for letting my guard down. And now I have to start all over trying to feel at home in a new place. At least this will be OUR home....belonging to us, and I really have no reason to fear moving again......maybe the "home" feeling will come sooner......I doubt it.
On a side note about this move....and this is not helping my stress level.....my dogs and my cat. Thanks to my landlords (I seriously almost typed something else, but i'll keep it "G" rated) my furry babies had to move ahead of us. They're at the house already, but my in-laws havn't moved out yet. And since my in-laws are sooooo very anti-pet they have to be outside 24/7. I know, I know, big deal Rose, the animals are outside....but yes to me it is a big deal. all 3 of them are indoor only pets. My little dog is 3lbs at best and my big dog is **maybe** 10lbs. They havn't been outside since I brought them home at 6 weeks old. They're frightened and I KNOW my chiihuahua is freazing her butt off...but its only a few weeks, they'll be OK. The cat is an indoor only cat, she is also very small for an adult cat....but she's a cat and resorsful, she'll be OK.....but she's OUTSIDE and a CAT...she could very well take off......or get knocked up by a roaving Tom......yarg. All of this is small stuff....the biggest issue, I miss them....a lot.
Anyways.....end whining rant.


Jan 7, 2009 evening
Things have quieted down, i feel safe enough to sit by the window and write by the moonlight now. There is a small group of humans trying to think of a decent peace offering to give the alien race, in hopes of peace and assimilation. I think I may join them. The rest of the humans are angry with this group though, calling them traitors and terrorists, acting violently toward them and creating a rift between our own people. Honestly I don't know who to be more afraid of....the aliens or the humans. I'm considering running away by cover of night, maybe I can find an area with little inhabitation, somewhere the aliens have no real interest in. The only thing stopping me is the fear of having to find a decent hiding place at sunrise everday during my travels...more later.....I need my rest......everyday requires all the strength I can muster....both mentally and physically.

In the beginning.......

Rose was talked into having a blog......and it was good.

Anyhow, this is where I am starting it. I havn't really wrapped my brain around what to write just yet, but it'll come to me. I suppose, as this is the norm for a journal I should talk about whats going on here at home, with me, but I am afraid that that is terribly boring. So instead....

Jan 7, 2009
It has only been a few days since the aliens came. I'm not sure how long we'll make it in hiding. They came offering peace, but the situation quickly deteriorated. I'm not sure why the president thought that they were harboring weapons of mass destruction....but ever since the armed forces invaded the mothership everything has gone downhill. More later.....I hear something outside.....