Wyatt's teacher, Ms. Svetlana says to me this morning that toward the end of yesterday all the kids began to get tired and Wyatt was no exception. He had the little girl next to him doing his work for him!!
Ms. Svetlana and her aide Ms. Trudi said they watched as Wyatt told the little girl what to color and where. Both ladies got a chuckle out of it but said that Wyatt needs to do his own work.
Obviously.
Kindergarten and the boy is already sweet talking the girls into doing his work. He knows how to do all this stuff, lazy kid or brilliant?
One of the mom's said he had the makings of a politician. Yikes!
*Carrie*

Life has as usual been crazy so I'm gonna post on what we have been up to backwards.
They say variety is the spice of life right?

Yesterday I started to learn how to quilt! I am very excited because this is something I have wanted to learn for several years.
We are beginning with a table runner which is the perfect project for me.
It is also something easy enough that I can make one for each of my family members for Christmas.
Since this is my first quilt project I decided to use some fabric I already had been hoarding.
See once upon a time I wanted to make table cloths for every holiday season. I bought fabric for St. Patty's day, Valentines, Easter and a bit of Christmas. It's all been sitting in a bin waiting.
Well wait no more! I'm happy to be using my stash and accomplishing a goal that I have had for a long time.
So next Monday we will finish with the backing and batting, binding. EEEEEE so excited.


!I'm a big kid now!
Chelsea has figured out how to climb up and sit at the desk like her brother and sister.
She was so proud of herself that she didn't want to get down when it was time for dinner

Chelsea is just growing and discovering things so quickly. She is astounding me left and right. My baby is not so much a baby any more.
We, well she, is now eating more adult food and trying to climb up on the furniture. Learning so many new words and is very stubborn and opinionated.
If Chelsea doesn't like what you tell her she will just start babbling and has been known to smack you for it. Believe me we are working on the smacking part.

Now for the big news....well sorta.....Warning*** put on your sunglasses!!

Kelly has half way moved back into her room!
Rob still needs to put down base boards and some trim and we need to do some decorating but it's now in a livable condition.
With Robs moms help I sewed the curtains for her window and they are now up, sorry no picture.

Kelly's attitude since she moved back in has her on the verge of losing her "new" room. I'm about at my wit's end with my first born, she is yelling at everybody, won't let Chelsea even in her room. To top it off, she has reverted to her messy self and her room was becoming a clothes strewn mess.
All that's in her room is the bed and dresser!!

Her bed set is the Little Miss Mismatched from JcPenney.
It a crazy type of cool and we both love it.
One very noticeable difference with Kelly is that we used to NEVER shut her door. If her door was closed and she was inside she totally freaked out and would cry until the door was opened. Now she keeps her door closed all the time and even sleeps with the door closed.
I have no idea what happened for this changed but I just chalk it up to my daughter growing up on me and getting near those tween years. eeek!
What else?? Still out storm shooting but no luck, I've been reading up on different techniques and places to go shoot. I'm gonna work on my photography because I want to enter the Arizona Highways photo contest, broaden my horizons so to speak :)
I've been going through some older Sunset and Arizona Highways magazines for places to go and things to try in and around Tucson that are family friendly.
It's sad to say that it has taken me 16 years to truly appreciate where I live. Now I want to take off and go explore.
Have you really looked at your town lately??
*Carrie*

Kelly- Mom, I know what 10 + 10 is. (she is looking at her hands)
Me- looking at her expectantly
Kelly- 21
Me- HUH? Try again
Kelly- 20???

She seemed so proud of herself until I told her to try again.






*Carrie*

Look at that sweetheart.
You would think by her pose that I was playing either really bad rap or listening to the fat lady at the opera.
Actually you would be wrong on both accounts.
The house was quiet and I was scrolling through some blogs. I happen to turn and see how Chel's nap was going when I saw this.
How could I resist?

This is one of those moments while precious and cute will fade to oblivion because I no longer have the brain cells to retain the memory. Sigh..
I must protest to God right now...if the experts are correct, WHY do women lose 10% of their brain cells with each pregnancy.
With everything we are to remember why not INCREASE our brain cells by 10% with each pregnancy.
Hello God?? Jesus can you pass this question on?
((Obviously this cannot be true otherwise women like Michelle Duggar, with 19 children, would be a blubbering basket cases, and that is not the truth))
I don't know if anyone remembers, and it's been a very long time ago, do you remember the movie Flash Gordon??
I believe there was this scene where they hook a machine up to somebody (maybe Flash) and watch all his memories in reverse.
That might be pretty cool.
Granted there are some things I would like to glance over but for the most part there is so much I wish I could remember, people, feelings, dates and places.
Because each one of those little moments has helped shaped the person I have become.

Granted from now until the scientists unlock the "secrets of the mind" I have this blog to store some of my memories.
You have been warned.

*Carrie*

The best September storm (so far)

Last night was an answer to prayer. I asked for a great lightning storm and the opportunity to get multiple lightning shots.

God and mother nature delivered.

All of these shots are from different directions around the city.

None of them have been cropped or altered in photoshop.

I know I can't cover my home in just these type of photos so the idea I had earlier about a lightning scrapbook is looking even better.
(photo 1) looking west across the city






(photo 2) looking northwest across the city

(photo 3) also looking northwest

(photo 4) look out east at the Rincon mountains

(photo 5) same direction east

(photo 6) same as 4+5

(photo 7) looking west - getting closer to me

(photo 8) looking northeast. Scared the crap out of me and I got back into my truck.
(photo 9) I headed south to try and get out of the rain but it wasn't to be. I decided to have fun and see what I could get out the rain spattered window.

This bad boy showed up.

After this I headed back toward home. I got one more with the airplane graveyard in the foreground but it didn't turn out. Maybe some other time.

I actually have about 12-18 photos with lightning in them but these were the best.

thanks for looking!!

*Carrie*

The monsoon season is winding down for here in Tucson but it seems the southern cities are just hopping.

Last night we went on a little jaunt to check out the light show. I thought that the storm was heading into town but it slowly crept away.

Toward the end I decided to let my camera stay open to see what I would get. This is my best shot.

The hard part about leaving the shutter open is that it takes the camera that much longer to process the image. Example; I normally leave my camera open about twenty seconds. When I close the shutter the image processes fast. This time I left the shutter open about 2 minutes, and it takes another two minutes for it to process. Imagine all the shots you could miss!

Since the lightning was sporadic I decided to see what I could get. The next shot I left open about 4 minutes and it is too bright. See example below.



I left the shutter open that long and all I got was three lousy strikes (remember the T-shirt)
Anywhoo tonight the weatherman's predicting 60% chance of rain. We'll see.
Oh and you wanna hear what Rob said to me last night?
I was getting the tripod ready and he said,"You really need two cameras". This is because the action was in two places. It has happened before and he has made the same comment.
I love that my hubby is supportive and I know if things were better he would gladly get me a second camera body. Major points for that.
I am just fascinated by the awesome beauty that is lightning. I know to be careful and I am but it floors me every time.
When Rob and I were first married we would grab dinner and go watch the lightning show like a person would go watch fireworks. Oh and the sunset that can come with storm are usually gorgeous.
Sorry, I'm beginning to sound like a broken record.

This weekend we will be painting Kelly's room a Watermelon Pink.
Hey, she picked it out!
And I'm secretly excited to see how it's going to turn out.
Originally Kelly wanted a pretty turquoise called Sweet Rhapsody but she changed her mind and kept telling everyone she was going to have a pink room.
Rob and I will hopefully be installing her flooring too. What was suppose to be a week project has turned into about a month.
That's life right?

I'm to the point I just want my scrapping room back.
Kelly turns seven this month and wants a Ariel birthday. Thankfully I have the Disney princess carts and I can do some cool stuff but I need my room! I'm running out of time!!! Cupcake toppers, decor, banners.
When Kelly was three she had a Ariel birthday and I saved most of the stuff so I'll pull it back out but I want to add some touches to it.
I get all excited about birthday decor.
HHmmmm....birthday party planner......hhmmmm.....
Naw, then I would have to work every weekend.
Have a great weekend!
*Carrie*

Canon EOS 7D Hands-on Preview: 1. Introduction: Digital Photography Review

Ohh, I think I've found something I would love to grow with. (I think I might add it to my want list)

Now I will wait and see what everyone who buys it first will say but the reviews so far are fantastic. I've been wanting to move up my camera and maybe this will be my next baby.
The cost is reasonable too. $1700 with just the body.
I had been lusting over the Canon 5D mark II but I've read that even though the 7D is not a full frame it is better than the 5D. hmmmm... need to do more research. Is full frame that important??
I have spent most of this morning reading photograpy articles and getting inspired when I saw the article for the new Canon.
Why did I have to pick two of the most expensive hobbies??
The one thing that consistently goes through my mind is that I can teach my children both hobbies and to grow with them on both. (or am I looking through rose colored glasses?)

Canon EOS 7D Hands-on Preview: 1. Introduction: Digital Photography Review

*Carrie*

I can't believe it is Wednesday already.
On one hand I'm very happy that it is Wednesday but on the other hand I feel like I have accomplished nothing.
Creatively my brain is on rapid fire and I don't have the time or the space to spread out and mass produce.
Emotionally and physically I feel so spent and drained of my last drop that I'm falling asleep at 8:30 at night.
Life has been so not my norm that I only took 15 pictures of the flowers that Rob bought me for my birthday. :)
I think this has been one of the most beautiful bouquets that I have ever received.
(Me and my little man)

Last Friday the ladies and myself set up to start crafting on Mondays. This past Monday I brought a TON of my stuff so that we can begin making Christmas cards. I only got 4 done. Now I want to set up for mass production and crank those cards out.

In about two weeks I'm going to learn how to quilt a table runner. This is something that I have wanted to do for years. I have most of the fabric I just need to get the rest of the supply list. This might be what everyone receives for Christmas gifts this year. hmmm.
My goal for this past year has been to be more creative. To become the person God is leading me to be. For me that is to let my passion take flight, whether that is photography or scrapbooking/cardmaking. So starting last fall I began my Artist's Way creative journey. You can find these books at Amazon if your curious.
For some people it seems its easy for them to create, for others it's a struggle. I'm known to be a procrastinator but in reality it is fear that holds me back, from what besides rejection I don't know. Rejection is probably enough to hold most people back.
A year later being creative is easier for me but I believe I'm ready to push some boundaries. Now my issue is time management and financial. Having a 14month wiggle worm and just trying to stay up on housework, namely picking up after my mini tornado, leaves crafting to nap time, if that.

So I previously said that part of my current issue is financial, so I have begun making a list of wants and thanks to the ladies from the cricut message board I have found about a thousand dollars worth of Stampin Up stuff I would love to get. At the top of that list is the ticket corner punch and the white ink pad.
Now, I would like to switch over all my ink pads but it will take time.
Ooohh and the markers ooohh.
I also believe they have the best stamps around. Compared to CTMH where I found maybe a hundred dollars worth of stamps.
Next on my list is my ever favorite: pattern paper. There are too many to name but I have my eye on several brands of Halloween and Christmas paper.
Next is cuttlebug folders, dang it I'm the only person in my group that doesn't have these yet. I'm the one that told them about the cuttlebug and the new folders! How does that figure??!!
Last but not least are my loves, my cricut cartridges. Thanks to others creativity I have seen stuff that makes me want some carts that I had previously looked over.
All in good time.
I have a list and when I can I check something off of it.
It is something to look forward to. :)

*Carrie*

ETA***

It's my birthday and I'll cry if I want to, cry if I want to.

It hasn't been the best week, could have been worse but it definitely wasn't the best.

as I type this right now I'm watching Ted Kennedy's funeral. What an amazing service. Some of the news people have said that this is a closing of a generation or even a dynasty.

The last lion of a huge family, who reminded us about what his family had accomplished and continued that family vision.

Of course I have learned more about him in the last few days then I had ever known.

Yes, he had a shady past but the work he did should eclipse the mistakes that he made.

Enough about Teddy.

IT"S MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!! the 34th.

As my mother in law said I'm getting closer to the half century mark.

Today is just another day.

Heck this picture might be the closest that I get to a birthday cake today.

So far I have finished folding and putting away the kids' laundry and that's about it. Rob is at work and the older kids are at Grandmoms until after lunch. Just me and Chels.

I don't know what to do with myself.

Some friends from church are getting together on Monday to start making Christmas cards so I should brave the mess that is my craft room to dig out all my Christmas embellishments and paper.

We had our craft night last night and I enjoyed the time I was able to spend with friends. The ladies and I made plans to get together more often to craft, and I'm even going to learn how to quilt. The end of the evening I was told to take home the chocolate cake that became my breakfast this morning. What a way to kick off the day!

So, right now I'm open to what today may bring. May it be a great day!

Have a happy weekend.

ETA- Rob came home with a beautiful bouquet of flowers that I'll photograph in the morning. My mother in law bought me a new book and a new cookbook..yum.... plus some other goodies that were from my kids. I had thought that the rest of the night would be quiet, heck I was starting to nap on the couch when my mom showed up with a cake. I still thought it was just us when I was informed that the family was coming over in about 15 minutes! So it turned out to be a very comfortable and relaxing evening with my whole family and hearing our kids laughing and playing in the background.

I should start to plan more family get togethers like this more often, especially now that the cooler weather is on the way.

*Carrie*

It has been a sad weekend in our family. My step sister passed away early Sunday Morning.
The doctors have ruled it an accidental overdose from taking Tylenol Pm and an anti-depressant. The combination of the two caused her to have at least two massive heart attacks and seizures. All of this happened Wednesday morning but I didn't receive the call until Saturday when I was told she had been taken off life support.
Tracy was only 36.
It is such a shock.
Before she became my sister she was my bowling partner when we were teens. We have always gotten along well even if I wasn't thrilled that her mom and my dad hooked up.
Just recently I had a great conversation with my step mom about my feelings toward my sister and she cleared up some of my misconceptions.
I will willingly state that I was jealous of her because she was around my dad(go places, holidays, birthdays) more than I could be. I live in az, sis still lived at home in michigan.
I'm deeply saddend. T was a great mom to her son and she was fun to be around. I'll miss her.

Photo taken last night over Reddington pass.
Boring storm never even got close to the city, and really was too far away to shoot.
Our summer non-soon is about to end. But I have faith. My best work was taken/shot last year at this time of the month. Weatherman says storms possible today and tomorrow and this weekend.

*Carrie*

Good Friday!!
I have so much to yap about that I don't know where to start.
The kids had a geat week of school and Wyatt was even praised for his coloring and manners in his class the other day.
Today has the possiblities of being a great storm day. The weatherman has stated that for the next week we have the possibilites of plenty of thunderstorms. Yippeeee!!!
We have one tv station that shows the radar every hour and you can see the storms build and find out which way they seem to be heading. I find it nerdy but cool.
I know your bored about me talking about the storms.
I'll hush for right now.
I happen to be taking out the trash the other morning and saw the sun illuminating my neighbors bouganvilla. I wished I had more time to get different angles but I snapped off a few.
I needed to get the kids to school and the other neighborhood dogs were starting to bark like crazy.
So the events for this weekend look like tonight is a training dinner, mexican is the theme and I'm going to try my hand at making Posole. Posole is a soup with pork and hominy. It was tasted real good when I had it once before so I thought I would give it a whirl.
Tomorrow the kids, all of them, are spending the night with my mom. Rob and I will be working on Kelly's room some more. No partying for us.
Yeah like we party.
I'm off to go cook some pork and make my soup. I'll check in if anything exciting happens.
*Carrie*

I'm walking, yes indeed and I'm talking, just barely, but Im still walking.


Okay so I can only remember the first verse of this little jingle. Truthfully I just started walking yesterday, by the end of my first walk I need my inhaler. Today I did the same walk and feel so much better. And no inhaler!


I made the mistake of hopping on the scale yesterday. Now I've known for quite a while that I'm not happy with my weight. I finally decided to do something about it. After I drop the kids off to school I head to Lakeside Park and walk their track. Yes this is the place where I go to take photos. It has lots of hills as my screaming calves can attest to.
I found a not very good picture to show you lakeside park. I start on that far side of the lake to the left of the hill with the ramada. Walk up and downs about three hills and then back down in front of this hill around toward the back of the lake. Now I have no idea how far this is because the lake doesn't go all the way around but it's a workout. I'm going to work my way up to going around several times. Right now I can do once, back and forth but by the end of this week I want to be able to add another 1/2 around.
I need to get some of this weight off. I'm not happy and I know when it becomes jeans season I really will not be a happy camper if I cannot fit into my old jeans. So I'm gonna do something about it.

My days consist of lots of snuggles with Chelsea and trying to get the house back in some resemblence of order since our "summer" is over. I think I would rather snuggle with Chelsea but house work calls. Once we pick up Wyatt we sit at the school and wait the hour till Kelly gets out. I shouldn't say wait because we actually work on Wyatt's homework and color pictures.
So this is my boring life this week. If anything changes I'll let you know. :)
Cheers,
*Carrie*

Well the first week of school is winding down and both kids are doing well.

Kelly has told me every day that she had a fantastic day and she is liking both 2nd grade and her teacher. This is always nice to hear.

Wyatt, he had some problems the first couple of days but yesterday was better. Little man thinks if he says he can't do something that someone else will do it for him. The boy is smart but can be lazy. His teacher told me that he needs to count from 1-10 forwards and backwards. He can do that. He needs to know right from left. He knows that too. Stubborn boy won't do it in front of the class. So incorrigible.

This sweetheart has spent most of this week with Grandmom as Daddy and I work on remodeling Kelly's room.

Chels has taken to "talking back" when Grandmom scolds her for getting into things. Grandmom will tell her no, no and Chelsea gets going with her gibberish. Makes us smile every time.

This really has been a good week so far. Rob has especially enjoyed taking and picking the kids up from school. Since he only gets to do it a few times a year, and the kids are so excited to see him there at the school Rob is over the moon. Well over the moon until the kids start their fighting and bickering over everything then he wonders how I can stand it.

I guess he hasn't noticed the chronic facial tic.

No, you just take a lot of deep sighs and play referee, or play Socrates (answer their question with another question) ha ha ha.

Right now Rob and I are putting drywall on the walls now that we have finished the ceiling. I HATE doing the ceiling. Such a PITA and my head hurts from holding the drywall up with it.

I take these quick breaks as Rob measures and/or screws the drywall up and doesn't need me to be in the way.

We have a great working relationship, he does most of the hard work and I just do what he tells me to. He doesn't get mad at me, I don't get mad at him. Perfect.

Back to work!

*Carrie*

Back to school

It's the first day of school!

I think I was more excited than either of the kids.

Once I told Wyatt that today was the first day of Kindergarten he got excited.

Kelly is a old hat at the first day photos but trying to wrangle Wyatt to look at the camera for more than a nano second is like trying to catch a shooting star.

We left for school early so that I could get some more school shots and I'm glad we did. ( I won't bore you with all those photos)

Walking into school I chased behind like the paparazzi hoping for a good shot of the two heading into together, kinda hoping Kelly would hold Wyatts hand. But the fact that they walked into together was good enough for me.

Wyatt was the first student in his class so we had the teachers attention to ask questions and explore.

But seeing that the tv was on, a blast could happen and Wyatt wouldn't have flinched.

I left Daddy with Wy and headed to take Kelly to 2nd grade. Chelsea hung out with Nina under the covered patio.

Kelly is a very shy, reserved kid in a strange setting. So seeing her find her seat, at the front of the class and the chaos that is kids, supplies, parents, my poor kid looked like she was about to cry. By the time I left most of the parents had cleared out and the class had calmed so she was doing great. After a quick hug and smooch, I headed back to Wyatt class.

I think as a parent we are more stressed about our kids starting school than they are. I believe one of those reasons is we think our childs behavior is a reflection of our parenting skills.

In part it is. We want to make a good first impression but the reality is once your out of that room you lose all control. You just have to know you have done your best and your child will be well taken care of.

(I think I wrote that last part more for me than for you.)

I miss my little buddy but I know he is going to have a great day.

Heck he was telling me I had to go home, so he knows he is going to have fun.

I think I'm also more stressed about getting him to do his homework than anything else. Stubborn boy.

So now that the kids have been in school for about two hours Rob and I are in the process of draining the water heater so that it can be replaced and then we start the demo on Kelly's room.

Hopefully by some time next week we can move Kelly into her "new" room. New for her as in flooring, paint, blinds, curtains, comforter set.

Rob has this whole week off and we have a ton to do. Chelsea will be hanging with Grandmom most of the week so we can get this stuff done.

So after school, there is a hour lag between the time Wyatt gets out then Kelly so we will talk and play then it is off to DQ for the first day of school ice cream tradition. More photos of course.

I really need to get cracking on those scrapbooks. I'm getting further behind but thankfully I have this blog to help with my mommy brain.

*Carrie*

I made the news last night! And this morning!!

EDIT** * This is the photo that made the local 10 o'clock news last night!
I'm also pretty excited because I learned a new technique in photoshop and was able to erase all the rain drops from my picture.
The second photo I haven't cleaned up yet but that was actually the first that I captured when I got to the hill at Lakeside Park.
Things got a little hairy for a second. The storms were all around me and the pavillion I was taking cover from has a hole cut in the top. Rain is slashing in and I'm getting drenched.
Then the rain slows and the lightning was not consistent so I couldn't let the shutter stay open to capture several strikes like I wanted. It was by the grace of God that I got the awesome shot. A double ground strike from one bolt.

**** This second photo made the news at 11am. I was just getting ready to turn off the tv and leave with my mom when right in front of me is my picture!!!! They didn't show the first picture again that I know of but talk about super excited!!
Capturing lightning at dusk is not easy at all so this first strike blew my mind because I was still trying to get my setting right.
I mean I know what to do when it's full dark but, I've already said it before.

From what the weatherman has said rain will be pretty non existent the next week so I guess this was my fix.

I think I'm going to look into more things I can do with night photography.

I've tried light trails while driving and that is fun and weird. I would like to get a cool light trail from the highway but I haven't gone out to do it yet.

I think I'll go research that very topic, night photography.
See ya later aligator


*Carrie*

I think I really love taking lightning photos. There is something so beautiful and dramatic about each one.

I've taken to carrying my camera equipment with me in the chance of seeing anything photo worthy.

Last night just before we began home church I saw a little flash of lightning but I prayed that it could wait for me.

So on the drive home Rob and I see all these flashes of lightning and are ooh-ing, ahh-ing over them and trying to decide where is the best place to set up.

We decided to head back over to Lakeside Park but more on the hill. Little did I know there was a couple up there with 4 cameras taking shots at various angels.

This first is of course my favorite. I was hiding under a pavillion and I had just set the camera up when this big bolt came down.

That was probably the last big bolt of the night. The rest was pretty much cloud lightning and that in itself can be amazing.

The news is saying that we should have a repeat preformance tonight so I'm hoping to have quite a bit more fun. I believe I'll head to this same location because not only do you get lights from the city you can also get real cool light trails from the cars.

This morning I'm prepping for tonight, recharging batteries, cleaning lens, etc.

I know I've whined about it before but I wish I had some better lenses. Where I'm setting up has a good view of the east side of the city.

My lens is a 18-55 kits lens. Kit lens enough said. One of my three dream lenses is the 10-22. A very wide angle lens. Perfect for landscape shots.

My dream tonight, if storms happen, is to get several strikes in one shot. I know how to do this, I just need the opportunity.

I'm ready.

*Carrie*

How not to reheat leftovers.

I could have sworn I had popped the top off to vent, but obviously I didn't.

Thankfully it wasn't the good tupperware but I got a lot of ribbing from the hubby for this new art piece I created.

Seriously, look how sucked in it is.

I will say the food was hot on the inside when I managed to wrangle the lid off.

As for this piece, it went into the recycle bin.
The only evidence left are these pictures, which by some quirk of fate keep popping up frequently on my screensaver slide show.


*Carrie*

Mom's makeover

One of Mom's clients gave her a makeover for her graduation gift. My job of course was to give Mom a hard time and play paparazzi.

Now we are not upscale people, want to be, but are not. We are the cost cutters type. This was a very special treat.

Mom's stylist name was Loren and she fit our personalites perfectly, joked with us and was just great.

Here is my Mom before, boy was she nervous. I think it was more because she didn't know what to expect or how nice Loren was gonna be.

Mom was pretty much a blank canvas, a diamond in the rough, a blank page, open to anything, you get the idea.

So after a consultation, Loren asked several questions my favorite being,

Do you want your hair to whisper? a speaking voice? or scream?

The decision was for Mom's hair to talk loudly.

More of "Hey look how great my hair makes me look and feel".

So the two of them got to work.

the coloring part....or....

Tune in Tokyo!!

There's enough foil on your head to prevent alien mind probes.

This isn't the 80's.

You get the picture.

I won't bore you over the 33 pictures I took. I just picked the 3 I thought best described Mom's makeover event.

At one point after the color was rinsed and whatever voodoo they do I was telling Mom about all the bright blond streaks in her hair and how it reminded my of her hair frosting fiasco of 1999. This is before the glaze was put on . I had her wondering there for a minute what she was going to look like.

I believe two of colors were called Mango and Vanilla.

Anyone want a raspado?

Being all girly, checking out her hair.

We both LOVED the way it came out. Loren even colored mom's eyebrows...shhh... don't tell.

At least it looks like she has eyebrows now. hehehe.

It was a great 3 hour experience.

Granted going back for touchups won't take as long but we had fun all the way through.

photo of Mom and Loren.

She'll hunt you down if you let her hard work go to waste Mom!!

Not really, she'll just call you with a freindly reminder.

*Carrie*

Feeding the....Pelican??

According to the Tucson parks guy, occasionally they have pelicans show up. A few months ago it was this guy. He obviously doesn't realize that this is the desert. Not a great food source for him.
What's interesting is he tries to act like a duck.
When we started to feed the ducks he came swimming in with the rest of them and even on occasion would chase other ducks away. He never tried to eat the bread we threw but he hung out with all the rest of the duck gang.

I was actually excited that my kids were willing to feed the ducks. Any other time I've tried they, meaning Kelly and Wyatt, have had no interest.


Now Chelsea she was semi- content to sit between my legs and watch, but then I caught her trying to eat a small rock and she didn't like that mommy took it away.
After the rock incident she started finding little bread crumbs that we had dropped and tried to eat those too... oh well, by then the bread was gone and the kids wanted to go play on the playground.

Now I couldn't get a photo of this but flying all around the playground were about a hundred dragonflies, big ones too. Just flying in this one area. I have never seen anything like it before. The kids thought it was pretty cool also and basically played with the dragonflies buzzing around them.


*Carrie*

So I went to my local J's because I had heard a rumor they had some of the new cuttlebug folders. Not at my J's yet. Well anyway I was checking their dollar bin area and saw all new Halloween stamps.
I was smart this time and bought my mom a duplicate set. Last time I didn't and they sold out so fast that she has still not found some of the others.
Most are Halloween, our favorite time of the year, and a couple are fall themed.
I'm thinking of making some cards and "boo"ing some random people.
Since I just received my new issue of Paper Crafts magazine I'll have to see what I can come up with.

*Carrie*