happy birthday, mom

Today is a beautiful day - it's my mom's birthday!

I have been so blessed to have such a wonderful mom growing up.  She really has had such a huge impact on my life.  I would not be the daughter, sister, mother, wife or friend that I am today without her influence.  She has been with me through highs and lows, the good and the bad.  She has held me as I sobbed, has encouraged me through my achievements and has showed me what it means to be a mom.

Even my earliest memories are centered around her love and selflessness.  When I was only 2 years old, I got extremely sick with a stomach bug.  I ended up in the hospital because I was so dehydrated.  I honestly don't remember a whole lot - and much of what I do know has been told to me.  But  few things do stick out.  I remember the hospital trying to make me eat some sort of broth, and me refusing... and then quickly learning by refusing the broth, I would eventually get jello or popsicles.  I remember my arm being bandaged and telling people I broke my arm... but in reality it was bandaged so I wouldn't mess with the IV that was supplying me with fluids.  I also remember my room.  It had rainbows and Care Bears painted on the walls.  It also had a second bed right next to mine, on the left.  I also remember my mom, lying next to me in that bed.  I remember my mom, trying to get me to eat my broth.  I remember my mom being by my side always.  I remember feeling safe, loved and comforted because my mom was there.

Fast forward 11 years.  Many of my family and friends remember when I broke my arms in 8th grade.  Side note - if you are a super shy and awkward jr high girl who hates being the center or attention - DON'T break both of your arms.  Ok, moving on.  I was playing with some neighborhood kids and to make a long story short, I fell out of a tree, landed head first on cement, but by the grace of God, broke my arms instead of my neck.  My dad ended up taking me to the hospital.  My mom was out running errands, and since this was pre-cell phones, no one was able to get a hold of her.  My dad drove me to the hospital in record time.  We entered the emergency room and they brought me back right away (turns out a screaming girl with obviously broken arms gets fast service).  They ask me a million questions, take x-rays, ask a million more questions, but the entire time I kept asking for one thing: get me my mom.  Just as when I was 2 years old, I needed the safety, love and comfort of my mom.  My dad is strong and definitely the guy you want helping you out in an emergency, and I am so thankful he was home to get me to the hospital so fast, but I needed my mama.  As soon as she found out what had happened, she was in the ER with me.  My last memory of the ER is of me being wheeled in the OR and my mom by my side.  My next memory was of me waking up in rainbow-free, boring room.  I was confused, scared and felt sick.  I looked over to my left, and there was a second bed, with my mom laying in it.  Immediately I felt safe, loved and comforted.  And then she held my hair for me, as I vomited in the toilet.

I have so many more memories that I could share about my mom (and they don't all involve me being in the hospital).  Just about every significant moment in my life involves my mom in some way.  Now, as an adult and a mother myself, I get to enjoy seeing her flourish as a grandma.  My kids absolutely adore her.  Just yesterday, Jake was begging me to see "Nonnie".  I told him that we would see her tomorrow and have lunch with her for her birthday.  He replied with, "But... I want to see Nonnie today!"  When I ignored his plea, he began talking to himself, loud enough for me to hear, saying, "I'd sure like to see Nonnie..." (this kid cracks me up!)  so, I called my mom and asked if we could visit her on her lunch break, and of course, she was thrilled to spend some time with us.  She loves her family... and her family loves her.

So, dear mom, I hope you feel blessed, loved and valued today.  It's a glorious day - the day you were brought into this world by another amazing woman (who I could go on and on about as well).  You are beautiful, loving and one of my best friends.  I hope you know how much I love you.  If one day my son and daughter have as much respect, love and admiration for me as I have for you, I will know I have succeeded as a mother.  Happy Birthday, mom.



Love,
Your Daughter

i want jesus

Ever had one of those parent moments when you feel like, "Wow... maybe I'm doing something right?

That just happened.

At night , often times Jake will snuggle up in our bed and watch cartoons before he goes into his bed, but often times will fall asleep in our bed.  Well, tonight was one of those nights... except he didn't go to sleep.  I mistakenly thought he was asleep... until he came waltzing down the stairs at 11:15pm announcing he had to go potty.  I was not feeling to great about my parenting skills seeing as my 2 year old was up so late, so I hurried him back upstairs, exclaiming "What are you still doing up?!?" and tried my best not to sound thoroughly annoyed.  He went potty, tried to convince me to go back into our bed to watch Mickey Mouse, then we eventually wandered back to his room.  I tucked him in, told him I loved him, kissed him on the forehead like I always do, and he said to me,

"Mama... I want Desus."

So sweet, so innocent.  Normally he says, "Mama, I pray?"  but tonight was different.  Mama... I want Jesus.

So I said, "Ok, let's pray."  We prayed, like we have done so many times, thanking Jesus for our day, for the fun we had, and prayed for our family and friends.

When we were done, Jacob asked, "Mama... where IS Desus?"  He then pointed at his bookshelf that houses a picture of Jesus walking with children and said, "Desus is over dare".

I said, "Yes, that is a picture of Jesus.  But Jesus is always with us.  Wherever we go, Jesus is with us." 

He said, "Oh", trying to understand as best a 2 year old can.

I asked him, "Do you love Jesus?" 

He smiled, "Yes". 

I then said, "Do you want to tell Him you love Him?" 

"Yeah!"

"Then say it... 'I love you, Jesus!'"

So he grinned and said, "I wuv you, Desus!"

I then asked him if he wanted Jesus in his heart always, and he again enthusiastically exclaimed, "Yeah!"  So I gave him a short, simple prayer: "Jesus, be in my heart always."

So he smiled again, clasped his chubby little hands under his chin, and said, "Desus, be in my ha-wert... ALLLLLWAAAAAYS!" and threw his arms out wide.

:)

It's moments like this that I've been praying for.  Moments like this that I have been looking forward to as a parent.  Moments like this that make my heart melt.  I know that Jake's journey of faith is going to be a long and personal one.  I  can say and do everything possible to point him in the right direction, but ultimately, it's his decision.  I'm hopeful that tonight is a small glimpse into what is ahead for him in his life.  That one day he will be able to remember that moment with mama where he said "Jesus, be in my heart always".  That a seed has been planted and will continue to grow.  As of now, I'll continue to pray and cherish moments like this.

I love this kid.

~ Mama Frenchy

the fruit fly trap: perfected.

Ok, for those of you who don't know, I'm pretty much addicted to Pinterest.  If I actually did all those wonderful recipes, crafts and ideas that I pin, I'd be superwoman.  Seriously though, Martha Stewart would have nothing on me.  In reality, however, I rarely get to any of those wonderful ideas floating around that site... but they'll always be there for me *just in case* I actually get around to them.

One Pinterest inspired idea I actually did attempt was the fruit fly trap (pictured to the left - not my picture).    I get so annoyed with those little fruit flies buzzing around my kitchen.  From the first time I made this (which consists of a jar, a piece of fruit, tape and paper), it worked great.  I was so excited to finally find a solution to my fruit fly problem.  I've been using this technique for months, the only problem I faced was how to dispose of it when I was done.  I like to be able to reuse the jars, but by the time I was ready to switch out to a new piece of fruit, I didn't really know what to do to get rid of the flies living within since most of them were still alive.  My solution was drowning them in water by filling up the jar and letting it sit.  The down side, I got a weird concoction of rotten fruit and dead flies to dispose of.  I finally just started throwing away the whole jar because it was just too gross to deal with.

Well, the other night I was "pinning" (of course), and one blog led to another, which led to another and I came across the idea of setting out a bowl of ACV (apple cider vinegar), putting a few drops of liquid dish soap, and setting it out to kill fruit flies.  I decided to give that a go.  Well, the results weren't quite as good as the other fly trap, but I did catch some flies.  The problem was so many of the flies were content hanging around the bowl and not making it to the ACV mixture.  So a light bulb went off: make the original fly trap but put the ACV mixture in the jar instead of the fruit!  PLUS - it will be much easier to dump out the ACV mixture than to deal with rotting fruit.

So this is my revamped version of the fruit fly trap.  Here is what you need:

A jar (I use old spaghetti sauce jars), scrap paper, tape, ACV, liquid dish soap and scissors.

First step: Make your mixture!

Pour in some ACV, then add a few drops of the liquid dish soap.  To be honest, I don't know why you use the soap.  I wish I could find the random blog I found that concoction on... should have pinned it!

Next step: Make the cone!

Take the paper and make it into a cone.  I usually make the point of the cone as tight as possible, then cut a hole in the bottom.  Don't make it too big, because you don't want the flies to be able to fly back out.  I also cut around the top to make the top of the cone even, but you don't have to do that.

Last step: Tape the cone to the jar!

I put a little pressure on the cone so there is a tight seal between the paper and the jar.  When you're taping, make sure there aren't any gaps where the flies can crawl out.  I usually put a finger on the inside and outside of the paper cone where the tape is and press all around it to make sure the tape is totally stuck and there is no escape.  Muahahaha...

And voila!  

You're trap is done and there are likely several curious flies wondering what that interesting contraption is.  Set it next to your bowl of fresh fruit, or wherever you see the most fly activity.  I left mine out for about 2 hours, and as you can see in this picture, I have already caught several flies (I stopped counting at 20 and there were plenty more waiting to be counted).  Most of them crawl to the ACV mixture and die.  If you wanted to, you could use pretty scrap booking paper for the cone and wrap the outside of the jar with it so it's not so ugly.  I don't really care that much, so mine stays ugly.  Plus, I like to see all those flies trapped in there, never to bother me again.

Well, there you have it.  My first DIY blog.  I know it's not that exciting, and my ideas were heavily inspired by other creative people's ideas, but I'm pretty excited about this.  Maybe next time I'll have a pretty craft or yummy recipe.  But for now... enjoy getting rid of those pesky fruit flies.

- Mama Frenchy

meet mama frenchy

For a while, a few of my faithful Facebook followers have been telling me I should write a blog.  To be honest, I've thought about it myself, but haven't quite decided what it will be about.  I've salivated while reading blogs about delicious adventures in cooking like One Mad Housewife's blog.  I've laughed, cried and smiled while reading about art, family and the pursuit of international adoption over at groundswell.  And I have been encouraged and educated with my own breastfeeding and mommy-hood endeavors while reading about one woman's breastfeeding experience.  And don't even get me started on all the blogs I have encountered through Pinterest!  The fact of the matter is, there are lots of talented, creative and wonderful bloggers out there and I don't really know where I fit in this great big blogging world.

I could talk about what it's like being a SAHM (that's "stay at home mom" for all you non-blog-lingo savvy folk) to 2 wonderful kids.  Jacob and Jenna are my two cutie-patooties.  Jacob will be 3 in July, Jenna will be 1 in July.  Jacob is a sweet little guy, but definitely still a toddler striving for independence all while making me laugh on a daily basis.  He is such a great kid - the kind that makes you think, "Wow, this parenting stuff is a piece of cake!"  Then, there's my Jenna Bird.  She is my little fire cracker.  I can tell she is going to be all sorts of fun as she gets older.  And I'm serious - I think she is going to be one fun little individual!  She already has so much personality, and definitely knows what she wants and when she wants it.  She is suddenly realizing how amazing the world around her is and wants to experience EVERYTHING.  So, between Jacob discovering who he is outside of mommy and daddy, and Jenna exploring this brand new world with her new found mobility, I am one busy mama!

I could also gush about my wonderful husband.  I love this man so much.  He is definitely my best friend and the person who makes me laugh the most.  I could probably write books about the crazy, witty and occasionally usually inappropriate yet hilarious things that come out of his mouth.  We met in high school when we were 16 and bonded one summer night before our junior year of high school over funny stories and popping those little seed pods that grow on impatiens flowers.  We've pretty much been inseparable since.  In our nearly 13 years together (almost 8 years married), we have experienced a lot as a couple.  Some of it has been so amazing, some of it has been difficult, and some of it has been beyond hard.  But no matter what we face, good or bad, when we face it together, we always come out stronger.  We're not perfect, but we're perfect for each other and that's what matters.

OR... I could talk about myself and all of my random little adventures, like my 3 months 'poo free, or my attempts at all those fun things I find on Pinterest.  I mean... I think I'm pretty interesting.  At first glance you might peg me as a typical Southern Californian mom with a typical Southern Californian life (unless you're view of typical Southern Californian is something from the Real Housewives of Orange County).  I actually don't mind being viewed as "typical"... because that just means when you get to know me, you'll be pleasantly surprised to find out I'm not as typical as you may think.  I'm sure as I blog, you'll get to know my quirks, my passions, and my shortcomings, but here are a few random tid bits so you can start to get a picture of who I am.  I became a vegetarian (pescatarian to be exact) when I was 10.  I love Jesus.  I am a huge advocate of breast feeding.  And I have 3 very random but very real fears: clowns, balloons popping, and fish swimming in water within my proximity.  Interesting, eh?

The truth is... I don't know what this blog is going to be about.  It will probably encompass all of these subjects and so much more.  I can't guarantee that every post I make will contain something profound, but it will likely be slightly entertaining at worst.  Or it could be totally boring.  Well boring for you.  I won't write anything on here that I consider boring.  Ok, I'm babbling, but you get my point.  I hope.  Anyway, I am eager to see how this blog develops.

I'm Mama Frenchy, but feel free to call me Sarah.  Nice to meet you!