Bust at the Tucson Quilt, Craft and Sewing Festival...

ABOVE IS MY FABULOUS STASH OF "FIXINS" THAT I BROUGHT HOME YESTERDAY when Kelli, Chelsea and I went to the Tucson Quilt, Craft and Sewing Festival. It was sort of our own personal "Trail of Tears". Kelli got to my house in the morning right on time. I was feeling a little sick because I didn't get enough sleep the night before. We couldn't leave right away as our friend who was adding a water line to our back yard needed consultation. We finally got to Chelsea's (who lives in Maricopa) and loaded up the three strollers and car seats and the truck wouldn't start. Dusty came home from work, borrowed the neighbors car and we drove two cars to Tucson.

Once in Tucson, we finally find the "Expo". The convention was tiny. It was about an eighth of the size as the one in Phoenix in January. Carma and Daisy started off great and wanted to holds hands the whole time. Soon they got tired of seeing the decades old fabric and ONE craft booth that sold brass stencils and they cried the whole time. All the (darling) old ladies wanted to touch Baby Pearl and that started getting a little weird. So, we leave and Chelsea's car wouldn't start. LUCKILY, Chelsea was brought up in a family of all girls with vehicles that ALMOST NEVER worked, so we all know how to change tires, check the fluid settings, tighten battery connections and jump our various modes of transportation.

We start to head back to the valley, I start having crazy stomach cramps, the kids are starving so we roam around Tuscon to find somewhere to eat, get a little lost, then head back to the freeway and find a "Chili's". We get seated at a booth as none of the tables can host three high chairs and Carma and Daisy think they are free to explore all aspects of the bench. I'm trying to just look out the window so that the other quests in the restaurant can't see my VERY unattractive face contorting in pain from my weird feelings of sickness. Pearl has ANOTHER explosion and needs to be changed.

Giving up all sense of decorum, we decide to let the little girls feed themselves the desert we were all sharing and as you know, it is sooooo much better to eat a brownie sundae with your hands!!!
Then as we get ready to go and all three little girls need to be changed and Pearl's is another explosion so she just has to go naked.

Chelsea's car won't start again, but this time we were smart and parked the cars head to head "just in case" and She has become a whiz at getting the jumper cables out and on in minutes. We all get home safely.

This day was actually pretty "normal" (except for me feeling sick) and we all agreed that we had a really good time enjoying one another's company even though the festival was a bust and we had car problems. So after all that complaining, I'd do it all again.

Arizona's version of Sledding...

Monday night we went to Cactus Park which doubles as a water retention area. This fact makes for steep hills all the way around the park. Buy a bunch of ice blocks and there you go!

Falling and rolling down the hill was hilarious to watch!

The littlest glamchildren thought it was more fun to just gather around the ice blocks and lick them.
The "oldest" kids decided to make "ice trains"...

and a few "family" trains were made.

Family and "Friends who are like Family" came. It was so much fun!
Dusty and Chelsea brought gunny sacks for a race after every one's bums were frozen.

I just LOVE my family!!!!

New Shoes!!!

Well, you know how it is: shopping can be sometimes fun or frustrating. Yesterday it was FABULOUS! After my doctor appointment and waiting for my car's oil change, I thought I would visit a few of my old favorites in my old side of town. My first stop: Nordstroms Rack. I got these wonderful Naughty Monkey shoes for $29. I looked up the designer on the Internet and now this brand is my new favorite! I love, love, love them, and they are comfortable too! (not to mention that the price was a quarter of what they are selling them for online.)

Then, I took some of my better cast off clothes that my girls wouldn't be caught dead in to A Second Look. It has been two years since I have traded clothes there and they still had a $86 check waiting for me! I got these never used Etienne Aigner boot/shoes for $8.95!

And I could not pass these Wild Rose tweed boots up (also never used) for $12.95! I think they might look great with this blouse and blazer below. The teals are slightly off but with jeans or a skirt in between I think it might work. I will of course have to consult with my fashionita daughters for a go ahead.

Now back to real life and cleaning the kitchen... but thanks for letting me brag-share!

"Cloudy with a Chance of Meat Balls"

Today was my Glamson blue's 9th birthday party. His mom Hilari, made darling invitations using an image from the movie that opened today in Phoenix. First, we all gathered at the Jacksons for a spaghetti and meat balls dinner. Then we had this FABULOUS spaghetti and meat balls cake that Chelsea made. YUM!

Above is the cake made with piped "spaghetti" buttermilk icing. Chelsea made these Oreo cookie balls for the meat balls and then poured grape jelly over the top for spaghetti sauce. Isn't the cake amazing?!!!
My son-in-law Jason got the best husband award for making 100 meat balls for the dinner.

and here are all my Fabulous Glamchildren with a few of Blue's friends from church outside the movie theater. (This was the best shot that I got.) The kids were great and well behaved. And the movie was Hilarious! It had a lot of grown up humor and the script was quick. I give the movie 4 1/2 stars!

Happy Birthday Blue. Your Glamparents love you very much and we are so proud of how you conduct yourself and how you treat the people around you. You are FABULOUS (in a masculine way of course...)

Warning...Glamchildren are Slippery when Wet!

My older glamchildren LOVE to take baths together in my "Awesome Tub" (as they all call it). And now the younger ones are getting a turn. This was a first for Carma to take a bath with her younger cousins. She was happy as a clam!

Daisy also loved playing and posing for me. (It's a good thing too, as all the glamchildren learn..."If it's not in the Scrapbook, did it really happen?!"

Conway was THRILLED to be in the tub. He wanted to swim and be on his own. We had to keep a good hold on his slippery little body.

These are the moments that life so much fun!

Saying Goodby at the Funeral of Cory Jenkins

While I was staying at Chelsea's to help with the new baby, I made these little dresses for Carma and Cory's daughter to wear at Cory's funeral.

I had to cut the newborn bodice pattern down to fit 5 day old baby Pearl. It was like sewing a doll dress, so tiny and cute.

This is a picture of my darling daughter and her husband by the "Patriot Guard". The Guard stood holding American Flags in front of the entrance of the church and down both sides of the street for blocks. I could hardly hold back the tears when I first saw them. They also sang patriotic songs to block out the "very weird extreme religious group that protest at these events" people. We were all so grateful that these men and women took time out of their lives to support the families of our troops.

And if that didn't break your heart, when you drove into the parking lot in back, The Mothers of Fallen Solders flanked each side of the back entrance...

And here is Grandpa Fabulous walking Carma back to our car at the cemetery.

I look forward to the day when we will all be reunited with our family and friends that have passed and I am honored to have been able to participate in celebrating Corys life. I am also so grateful for the freedoms that we enjoy in America. Thank you Cory.

My 12th Glamchild!

Well, after 38 hours of labor, my daughter Chelsea had to undergo a C-section to be able to deliver her baby. Luckily, She knew the anesthesiologist very well, and with his permission and the doctors, both her husband Dusty and I got to go into surgery with her! (here we are with her midwife: The Fabulous Janice ((Janice has delivered 5 of my glamchildren!)) All I can say is WOW!!!! I didn't watch the incision, but looked at the rest of the procedure. It was really interesting!

And here is the proud Daddy with baby Pearl Cory Jenkins! She was born Monday, August 31st. She was 21 and a quarter inches long and weighed 7 lbs. 9 oz. Underneath that cap is a head full of dark brown hair. Both Mother and baby are doing fine. Yeah!