Mama Who?!?!?!?

You may be wondering why I chose the title Mama Maria. One year we hit a rough patch. We were going to buy a home, but the sale fell through the weekend we were hoping to move. We had to be out of our rental by the following week. We were officially homeless. We had no place to go. Talk about a low time. I was devastated, where would we live with three kids. I knew we would be able to find a place, but trying to get everything aligned seemed like a daunting task at the time.

When we arrived to church on Sunday, Jim Bradshaw came right up to me and said "Your family is going to live with us." I thought how sweet, but we cannot impose on anyone. After the services that day, his wife, Ann approached me and said"Jim told me what happened, you can move in this week." There were other conversations that followed as we tried to decline their offer for fear of imposing. They would not take no as an answer. Not only did they take us into their home, but they helped us pack and clean. Talk about above and beyond. So the Hunsaker's, family of 5, moved in with the Bradshaw's, family of 3 ( The Bradshaws have nine children, Taylor was still at home).

We had some fun times in that home. We shared many family secrets, stories, traditions and recipes in that 2 1/2 months. One recipe was my salsa. It is a simplified version from my Abuelita Saenz. Her salsa is homemade with fresh ingredients, mine is just made at home using some fresh and canned ingredients. The Bradshaw's dubbed my salsa Mama Maria's Salsa. My family continues to use the term Mama Maria as a term of endearment for me, especially when I make salsa.

Now you probably want my salsa recipe. Well, keep checking my blog. It will be on there soon.

The Reason for My Blog

During my 10 and 3/4 years as a mother, I have received a lot of advice in regards to raising my children. Some advice was solicited, some unsolicited, but most given because people care. Moms and dads, grandparents, extended family and friends, genuinely want to help. We all enjoy being able to share an experience that was positive for us. Sometimes we even share the disasters. Not all the advice I received was put to good use. Some I have tucked away for a later date. Other advice I have thrown away because I knew that I would never do it. The most important thing about parenting advice is that one idea might work for one child, but will not help the next. Children may look alike on the outside, but inside, they are so different in personalities, likes, dislikes and attitudes.

My four children are part of my inspiration for starting this blog. I don't have all the answers, nor am I an expert in any field. Nothing I write is meant to be offense, but it is meant to be helpful. If you can use the advice great, if you want to ignore it, that's fine too. If you would like to share your ideas and thoughts as well that would be wonderful. I don't claim to know everything about parenting. There are many experts in the field of child rearing with titles and lots of initials after their name. I think the true experts and professionals are those of us walking the walk everyday, with no days off and pay that only comes in spurts of pride, love, joy and with the occasional I love you or thanks. Hopefully, through this blog we can all share tips and tricks that will help us make it through this never ending and wonderful job we call mom and dad.