Kate Voegele

If you haven't noticed by the songs on my playlist right now, one of my favorite new artists is Kate Voegele. She has been featured a lot on the TV show One Tree Hill (yes, I am a fan of this show which is how I was introduced to this awesome singer--don't be a hater!)Not only can she sing, but she can act as well. AND she's beautiful. She has a lot going for her and I hope she's around for the long haul.
Just an after thought, for any of you who do tune in to One Tree Hill (probably nobody?), I can't believe Lucas told Payton that he hates her. And, Brooke and the surgeon are SOOOOO going to get together! ;p

The Joys of Living in the Desert

On Saturday, as we were getting the hose out to wash cars, I noticed a hole in the ground with fresh dirt all around it like a gopher had just recently dug the hole. This "hole" is right next to the gate that goes into our tiny little backyard area where I let Scotty play. I hadn't given the "hole" much more thought since then. But, today I was walking by the large arched window in our living room and saw something moving from the corner of my eye. I looked and saw a big snake shooting out of the "hole." It was by my guess, a little more than 3 feet long. I watched it glide it's way up into the bushes on the side of the house. CREEPY!!! Scotty and I sat there and watched it for awhile as I explained to him that we NEVER, EVER touch or go near snakes. I left the window after awhile to do some things. After about 20 minutes, I went back to see if it was still out there. I didn't see it but.............Standing right beside the window was a roadrunner with a big grasshopper hanging out of it's mouth.
It looked like it was watching something in the window sill, so I looked to the left and there was a lizard running along the outside of the window.
The bird ran away and ran right over the snake hole. About 30 seconds later, the snake comes shooting out of the hole again and slithers to the bushes. The lizard just sat there very still until the snake was into the bushes and then ran away. I had looked closely at the snake, looked online and found that it is most likely a Sonoran gopher snake. Not poisonous but still SCARY. Now I don't feel like I can let Scotty play outside anymore. Man, the desert sucks!!

A couple of weekends ago, I left Scotty with my parents in Willcox and my sister Jodi and I went to the Mesa Scrapbook Convention. We met up with my sister-in-law Missy there. We took a couple of classes in which we made some cute mini albums and we went to the Friday night crop (where you take your own stuff to work on and there are lots of prizes to be won. Unfortunately, none of us won any of said prizes that night.) Here's a pic of me, Jodi, and Missy at the crop. And yes, my eyes ARE closed and I look silly but I didn't realize that until I uploaded the pic. It's the only one I had of us together.

Here is the cute heart album we made. I still haven't decided what pictures to feature in this book (I still haven't decided what pictures to feature in the albums I made the past 2 years at the convention!)

And, this is the cute chipboard binder album we made using "Love, Elsie" products. It's a book dedicated to HOME. Oh, and I did win a pack of papers from the "Love, Elsie" Christmas line in this class. Lucky me!!!

We had fun and I LOVE coming away from the weekend with cute albums that somebody else designed and all I had to do was put them together..............didn't have to think too hard!! What I DIDN'T love was feeling guilty about all of the money I spent on scrapping supplies from the vendor fair. But, I have all year to try and use those products and I can hopefully go and do it all over again next year. Thanks Jodi and Missy for a fun weekend!!!

I really haven't been in the mood to blog or to upload pictures lately. So, I'm finally getting around to it. A few weeks ago I decided to try my luck with cutting vinyl with my Cricut and making a cute wall hanging. This is my finished product! I didn't have transfer tape so I had to draw a line with a pencil and eyeball the rest. Not perfect but I'm happy with the results. Then, I thought I'd throw in a pic of my little binky boy......................we are STILL having trouble winging him of that thing. We are only using it for nap time and bed time. But, every once in awhile he will push a chair to the counter to sneak it. Or dump out one of the bins in his bedroom and use it as a step stool to sneak the bink bink off of his dresser. When I catch him with it, sometimes he'll hurry and take it out of his mouth and throw it on the table and say, "Good boy, take bink bink out." And then he'll continue to say it until I tell him what a good boy he is for taking it out of his mouth. It's small progress but still progress!!!

I'm IT!!

I've been tagged by Laurie on "What Have You Done?"
(X ) Gone on a blind date
( X ) Skipped school
( ) Watched someone die
( ) Been to Canada
( X) Been to Mexico
( ) Been to Florida
( X ) Been lost
(X ) Been on the opposite side of the country
( X) Gone to Washington , DC
( X ) Swam in the ocean
( X ) Cried yourself to sleep
( ) Played cops and robber
( X ) Recently colored with crayons
( ) Sang Karaoke
( X ) Paid for a meal with coins only?
( X ) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't
( X ) Made prank phone calls
(X ) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose--(hot chocolate hurts!!!)
( X ) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
( ) Danced in the rain
( X ) Written a letter to Santa Claus
( ) Been kissed under the mistletoe
( ) Watched the sunrise with someone you care about
( X ) Blown bubbles
( X ) Gone ice-skating
( X) Been skinny dipping outdoors
( X ) Gone to the movies

1. Any nickname? Racecar or Race
2. Mother's name? Ethel
3. Favorite drink? DR PEPPER--yes, I know it's not good for you, but I LOVE it!!
4. Tattoo? Yes
5. Body Piercings? Ears
6. Birthplace? Winslow, AZ
7. Favorite vacation spot? I loved Maui
8. Ever been to Africa? No
9. Ever eaten cookies for dinner? No
10. Ever been on TV? No
11. Ever steal any traffic sign? Nope
12. Ever been in a car accident? Yes
13. Drive a 2-door or 4-door vehicle? 4 DOOR
14. Favorite salad dressing? Buttermilk Ranch
15. Favorite pie? Lemon meringue
16. Favorite number? don't have one really--in basketball, it was 22
17. Favorite movie? I don't have a fave...I also HATE giving movies "stars" Derrick always asks, "How many stars do you give it?" I like to keep it simple--I either enjoyed it or I didn't!
18. Favorite holiday? Christmas
19. Favorite dessert? Bahama Bucks shaved ice
20. Favorite Food? Mexican food, Bean and Cheese Burro-Enchilada style with Spanish Rice--YUMMY!!!!
21. Favorite day of the week? Saturday
22. Favorite brand of body wash? my fave was a Oil of Olay one that was replaced with a newer line a few years ago.
23. Favorite smell? It's a tie. Calming baby lotion and McCall's candles Country Store
25. What do you do to relax? Read, watch TV
26. How do you see yourself in 10 years? I see myself with a couple more additions to our family--being a happy mom---hopefully thin and in shape!!!
27. Furthest place away this will be read? I'm not sure who all reads---if Ted checks in every once in awhile, then Germany but probably Pennsylvania-Thanks Suzi!!!!

Time to Make a Push for Potty Training!!!

I think it's about time that Scotty is potty trained. I was just changing Scotty's poopy diaper. As soon as I started to open the diaper, Scotty reached down and grabbed a handful of squishy poop. I hurried to grab the wipes and looked over and he was squishing it in his hand---like toes in mud, giggling like crazy. The more disgusted I got, the more delirious he was in his laughter. I know a lot of people say that you shouldn't push your kid to potty train, that you should just wait until they are interested but.........................now every time he has poopies, he's going to think that he should play in it. Any suggestions on the best ways to get them to use the "big boy potty" and what rewards work the best???????? He has been interested in sitting on the potty off and on but nothing has ever actually happened. Lately he's been refusing to sit on it. I need HELP!!!!!!!

I bought Scotty some clearance Easter sidewalk chalk last week. He had a lot of fun drawing on the porch. He had just watched an episode of Max and Ruby where they were playing Hop Scotch and he kept talking about it. I drew the Hop Scotch squares and Scotty had a lot of fun jumping all over them. I wish I had thought to get a video of him jumping around thinking he was playing hop scotch but totally missing the squares. It's too funny. He still asks me if he can go "play Op Scotch, momma?" Here are a couple of pics of Scotty having fun with his egg chalk.
Now, here's a guessing game for you. There are at least 4 people on my links list that should have a chance at guessing what the below pic reminds me of and maybe some others who view my blog. It's something from my childhood. It should probably remind these people of something from their childhood too!!
Not such a hard guessing game is it?