cowboy baba

i can't really speak to what my grandpa was like before 1981....  i wasn't around then.  and i've heard that i'm not the best person to ask about that first year either.  my grandma used to tell me that i would cry hysterically any time i even sensed my grandfather's presence in a room.  but once we got past our differences (it was me... not him), he quickly became one of the most important people in my life.

my sister and i used to go out to my grandparents' house in lakeside on a regular basis.  i would wake up early in the morning and creep out to the living room where my grandpa was reading the paper in front of their wood burning stove and the morning news (channel 8, i believe).  i would crawl into his lap, snuggle against his strong chest, listen to his rhythmic breathing and absorb the latest breaking news from carol lebeau.  my grandma would get up to make us warm waffles and fresh squeezed orange juice.  we would pour Cairo syrup into all the little waffle square compartments and my grandpa would offer me a cup of coffee.  i declined every time but he would try to convince me to drink it anyway...

"it'll put hair on your chest!"

after my mom passed away, my grandparents were there a lot to pick us up from school or watch us when my dad went out of town.  i'll never forget the day before my 16th birthday.  grandma asked me to back the car out of their carport.  grandpa moved his truck first and i backed the oldsmobile out... right through the side of the mobile home.  i dragged the kitchen stairs (along with the back of the newly painted car) straight into where the dining room was.  grandpa came running up the street thinking a bomb had gone off.  grandma opened the kitchen door (thank God she didn't try to step out!) thinking the big california earthquake had finally struck.  my sister ran around the side of the house...

"sam!  what did you do?!?!"

but grandpa just shrugged the accident off.  said it must run in the family (my mom ran a car through the living room when she was 16).  he pulled out a hammer and pounded the house back into shape like it was no big deal.

even after my grandma passed away in 2004, grandpa still managed to make the time to support me and my sister.  he was there at my wedding.  he sat with me for hours at the hospital while we waited for jack to be born (still not sure how grandpa got to the hospital).  he was there at my sister's wedding.   he came to the hospital when ellie was born.  he always made it to all the important events.

though he's gone now, we know he's happy in heaven reunited with those we've lost already.  we will miss you cowboy baba. 

having lemon slices together with jack...  another thing that will put hair on your chest

tickles with cowboy baba

meeting ellie at the hospital

hanging out at grandpa's apartment

time for a snack.. thanks, cowboy baba!

what's that smell?

life has been pretty crazy these days at the mitches but i will spare you all (really it's just jill reading though) the drama.  school is back in session and i'm avoiding inputting my dra scores onto a google doc as i type this. 

i was over at bunco the other night (where i CLEANED UP) and got called out for not posting enough...  so here is the boring post to kick off my weekly postings.  i set alarms to remind me of most things in my life and so i set an alarm to remind me to "write something on the blogs!" too.  it's that bad. 

anyhoo, here's my story of the day... 

i was washing the dishes and loading the dishwasher (like you do) and fending off attacks from the tank ellie.  seriously, that girl hears the sink start up and she comes running to grab the nearest ceramic plate, serving bowl, or butcher knife to carry out her evil plans against the rest of us.  but i digress.

so i moseyed up to the sink when i was assaulted by the god-awful smell of something like dead ass.  sorry to be crude but it was out of control.  i immediately recoiled and shooed the boy (my puker) out of the room in hopes that he had not caught a whiff yet.  i guess i should have done the dishes earlier....  gag.  i had to battle through the cups, plates, and silverware when i finally caught up to a cutting board that looked (or smelled) pretty guilty.  i seriously had no idea that cutting boards had expiration dates!  have i been too naive?  well, it got the boot and i finished the swamp dishes from hell without further incident.  however, tonight i was getting dinner set up and i swear the smell is coming from the disposal now!  ahhhh!!  it lives!! 

well, i found this post tonight as i was avoiding more school work browsing through my blogs and i think i'm gonna try it out tomorrow.  it's actually how to unclog a sink but some of the comments say that it will get rid of god-awful dead ass smells too!  i'm pretty sure they used those exact words....  just gotta get to the store to pick up the supplies and then give it a whirl!  i'll let you know how it went.  hopefully next week when my alarm goes off.... or in a few months...  =)

i'll end this post with a couple pics of the mitchletts just for kicks... 

look, mommy!  i'm a knight!

cheese!  (i swear she puts herself in the cage... i just take the pictures)

"a trip to wal-mart" or "to hell and back"

sunday we were getting ready to go to a birthday party and i mentioned to hubby

"you know, we really should get the kid something...."

so i went to my go to spot for cute gift ideas and came up with this!  super cute for a dinosaur party, right!?  problem was... i needed a hooded sweatshirt... in june... in southern california... during a heat wave.  damn.  hubby says

"well, let's just go over to wal-mart.  they'll have everything you need all in one place."

gasp!

"you know how i feel about that place",  i muttered.

"i know i know.... but it's on the way home.  it'll be fine."

famous last words.

as we pulled into the unholy ground parking lot, the kids immediately started melting down.

"see!  they can sense it!", i hissed.

we dragged them into the store - jack started arguing with EVER-Y-THING i said and chris farley ellie was a hot mess already.  of course.... no hooded sweatshirts.

of.  course.  hubby tried to make it all better

"just pick out some clothes while i distract the kids in the toy section and then we can get out of here"

i'm sorry if you are a wal-mart shopper.  i truly am.  especially if you buy their clothes.  they're cheap.  they're ugly.  and your poor children are going to go up in flames if they are anywhere near a candle or heat source.  ALSO.  they make their labels so that you either see the price ($3.87) or the dreaded store name. and you can't take it off or else you look like you raided your closet for presents.  and you can't leave them on because everyone will know you shopped at whiskey tangoville wal-mart!  gah!!!

so i finally just grabbed some cheap-ass-zero-quality clothes and sprinted to the front of the store.  we purchased our crap gift and as we're leaving realize that the boy should probably make a pit stop.

cue the screaming demon.

"i don't want to go pee-pee!!  i hate pee-pee!  it's not my favorite!  i. don't. want. to. go. pee. pee!!"

allllllllll the way into the restroom, into the stall, onto the potty.  as i'm holding him down on the potty he suddenly looks at me and says

"fine.  i go pee pee all by myself."

i grabbed that kid, yanked up his shorts, and made a mad dash for the front door.  we got to the car and he fell asleep almost instantly.

the power of christ compels you! ohthankgoditsover.

by the way.  i made a beeline for target once the kids were home with the mister and bought a super cute little outfit.  returned those damned clothes the next day.

mark my words....  never.  again.

the stink turns one

worst.  blogger.  ever. 

that being said....  my baby girl turned one about a month ago recently!  i know it's super cliche to say, "they grow up so fast" but seriously... they kinda do!  i remember the dark days - aka those first 6-8 weeks and thinking to myself, "this madness is never going to end!"  anyway, we had a lovely "hungry caterpillar" party for our sweet chunk and she had no problem digging right into her cupcake (that's kinda cliche too, right?)  happy birthday, ellie! 

a story by jack

jack and pepe and greco were running.  and there was a lot of big humungous ice.  and then pepe and greco falled down.  but angel grandma bring medicine and picked pepe up.  then jack and pepe and greco were running again.

oh man, i love this boy.  he finished his story by asking me, "what do sea monsters eat?"

"probably sea monster food", i said.

"ohhhhh... the pirates feed them?  they are babies and then the pirates feed them and they get bigger bigger bigger?"

"yes, that's exactly right."

we miss you, big dog.

baby food.

oh man.  long time.  and watch out... this is a long post. 

okay.  so i was at lunch with some ladies who are new (or up and comers) to the "mommy" scene and we were talking about the big baby food debate.  do you slave over a hot stove all day to make delicious, nutritious, food for your baby a la crunchy granola?  OR do you spend a fortune buying the organic baby food that comes in a jar because you don't have time for all that food making nonsense?  well... i've been in both camps and i'm back from the trenches to tell you...

you don't have to do either one!  with the boy i thought that i never had the time to make my own baby food and honestly, i didn't have the confidence either i guess...  but it turned out to be super expensive and i felt guilty for not being the super mommy who does it all.  so with the girl i decided to just buckle down and try out this whole homemade food nonsense.  and you know what?  it's really not that bad!  and!  it's waaaaaaaay cheaper than buying the jars.

so here is just a quick picture tutorial into how i do it (in case you're interested) so you have something to look at ... and also because it's easier than you coming over and judging the state of my house.  just saying...

okay.  first thing.  you're going to need to decide what to make.  i started the girl on sweet potatoes as her very first food.  since then she eats almost anything i put in front of her, especially if i blend it with something else.  tonight i made butternut squash.  so, buy a squash.  you're also going to need a good, sharp knife, cutting board, good vegetable peeler, a pot with a lid, one of those steamer basket thingies, and some sort of food processor.  i've heard you can use one of those handheld immersion mixers too but that's too fancy for me.

peel the squash then scrape out the nasty stuff inside.   cut it up into about 1" pieces or thin slices (it's your call) and put it in a steamer basket thingie in your pot with some water.  you're gonna let it steam until it's super soft and a bit mushy.

move all your squashy goodness into a food processor.  you can add some of the water that you steamed the squash with or some breastmilk or formula to thin it out and give it a familiar flavor if you like.  

blend, blend, blend until it looks like... baby food.  =) 

 okay, now you need to figure out how to store all of this yummy goodness.  i use two different methods and they are both great.  the first is by one step ahead and it's these great little containers.  they hold about three ounces of food and you can freeze, warm up, and serve all from the same container.  the second is the fresh baby - baby food freezer tray.  i think you get a two pack and they hold twelve one ounce "cubes" once it's all filled.  just spoon in your puree, cover, and freeze.  you can also use these for breastmilk that you've pumped too!  the good thing about this one is you can just pop out a few cubes whenever you want. 

so when it's all said and done, you've got your food for your kiddos!  oh!  a bonus of the whole thing:  sneaking purees into regular food so your boy (or girl) gets extra veggies.  trust me.  when your kid eats a steady diet of nuggets, corn dogs, and mac and cheese it's nice to know he's getting a little something extra when you slip some carrot, squash, or sweet potato puree into his mac and cheese or in tonight's case - quesadilla!  true story!  i just spread some squash on one of the tortillas and then smashed it in there with the cheese.  

 poor thing didn't even notice.  and the girl was just thrilled that i was feeding her again. 

 gasp!  you made me food, again!?!  oh you....  you shouldn't have.