Halloween "Story #1"

When I decorate, especially for Halloween, I like to tell little "stories". I bought a new black cat with red eyes that flash this year and I remembered how at the line wrapping around the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland there are a lot of gravestones that tell fabulous "stories". I have tried to remake one in particular, "Glamma Style". First I needed some tiny gravestones. So I recycled some $1 store ones and made a few new ones.

I googled "mouse silhouette images" and found not only mice, but other animals as well. I changed the contrast and printed a few to the size that I needed onto card stock. Then I cut them out.
I then used my glue gun to adhere the paper and added some detail with the glue. I let that all dry and painted the whole surface in gray. I then added some detail with white using a fine brush. After I let that dry. I "dry brushed" the surface to add more detail and create a weathered look.
The story? This mean cat has eaten two birds, three mice and a goldfish. Naughty kitty...but look.. there are two bold mice hiding behind one of the gravestones. CREEPY! My glamchildren think the whole thing is weird and wonderful at the same time. And that is probably how they will remember me... Weird and Wonderful (and if they are kind, Fabulous!)

Halloween Decorating...

This morning I thought I had one meeting, forgot about another meeting and then started decorating the house for Halloween. This year, It seems like an ominous task. So the glamchildren helped me organize the paraphernalia into categories: The gravestones in groups of small, medium and large...

The skulls and bones all together...

The blow-up spider and electric pumpkins...
Scary birds...
Stuff for the kitchen...

and stuff for the living room...

It has taken me years to collect this stuff. I'm starting to think I might have a problem...

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!