kristin mosbarger photography

A visit from the toothfairy?

2010-07-17T22:25:00.000-06:00

Today was a VERY big day at our house!!!!! While driving down a major road this afternoon, I hear this little squeaky voice pipe up from the back seat shouting, "MOM! MOM! MOM!!!!!! MY TOOTH FELL OUT!!!!!!!!!!!"

Well OF COURSE I veered over three lanes, went off the road and slammed on the breaks so I could jump in the back seat and see for myself! It had, in fact fallen out! Our family's VERY FIRST MITHING TOOTH!!!! We were whooping and hollering and high fiving all around! She even got to watch the new Rock movie "Toothfairy" before bed tonight. I'm - errr the TOOTHFAIRY is waiting for her to go to sleep so she can sneak a little cash under the pillow! SO STOKED!

Ashli told EVERYONE she saw today that she lost her very first tooth!!! *sigh* it's the little things that just melt your heart right? Here is a pic of her, minus one tooth. (excuse the food in her mouth - ugh). She put her tooth into an envelope and wrote her first AND LAST name on it - so that the toothfairy would not be confused as to who's tooth it was! LOL!!!!!!!!!!

My bubba workin' hard!

2010-07-09T20:45:00.000-06:00

UPDATE! Here is a video of Mason and his therapist Lisa reading books last month. I can't believe how far he's come in the past couple of months!!!!!

My Charlie

2009-12-21T16:44:00.001-07:00

My new baby Charlie! He's a Chiweenieauzer and he's snuggly and TINY and he loves me A LOT!

Digital Scrapbook Kit to benefit AUTISM SPEAKS!

2009-09-11T21:47:00.004-06:00

This awesome "Autism Awareness" kit was designed by talented digital artist, Stacey Towers. The kit, which boasts 14 papers, 27 elements, a full alphabet and word art was designed in honor of MY SON Mason who has Autism.Stacey has graciously offered to donate 100% of ALL proceeds from this kit to Autism Speaks in Mason's honor. Autism Speaks is a non-profit organization dedicated to finding a cause and cure for this horrifying epidemic. Won't you please download this very versatile (and SUPER CUTE) kit today? It is being offered at a special rate of only $3.00 per kit for a very limited time!

You can find this kit at www.scrapthatidea.com

Or click here for a direct link:

http://www.scrapthatidea.com/store/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=313

AWARENESS

1 In every 150 children will be diagnosed with Autism

This number is increasing by 10-17% each year

Autism is more common than childhood cancer, Juvenile Diabetes, and pediatric AIDS... COMBINED.

The cause of Autism is unknown

THERE IS NO KNOWN CURE

For more information about Autism and how you can help - please visit www.autismspeaks.org

or you can visit Mason's donation page here.

Thank You!

The Story of the Purple Snake.

2009-08-22T23:29:00.004-06:00

Last month I was in Orlando, FL for the CHA Show. (Craft & Hobby Association). It was my first time being away from my children for more than an hour at a time. It was heart wrenching to leave them at the airport. Apparently, I am having issues with our umbilical cords. I can't seem to sever them! My kids were ok and had a great time hanging out with dad. I, on the other hand found myself constantly checking my phone to make sure it was working. When it rang I raced to the phone to hear their voices! Ashli took this opportunity to manipulate daddy into letting her stay up all hours of the night under the pretense that she wanted to call mommy! HA! I had a terrible time getting to sleep that first night - until I found that Ashli had packed her pajammas into my suitcase. I smiled at the precious gesture and put her jams on my pillow. With her scent so close - I fell fast asleep!

On my last full day in Orlando, Ashli called me first thing in the morning so very excited and thanking me over and over! Once I was able to get her to calm down she explained that she had had a dream the night before that I brought her home a "PURPLE SNAKE" from FL. She was SO convinced that I had found this snake for her that she was thanking me already - very excitedly!!!!!

GREAT! I'm in a strange town, have NO idea where ANYTHING is, I have an incredibly tight schedule and now I have to try to find a "Purple Snake!" Thank GOODNESS I have family that lives in the Orlando area! Dad called to set up dinner plans and I told him about Ashli's dream. Dad made it his mission to find that baby girl a purple snake! They picked me up from the hotel - and off we went. I kid you not - the VERY FIRST STORE WE WENT TO we searched and searched and searched the whole store. Dad (who is apparently blind as a bat) saw this thing from a mile away and bee-lined for it! A 4' long stuffed "PURPLE RATTLESNAKE" (the last one). I cannot even believe he found that thing! We snatched it up and got out of there. I carried that snake around my neck the whole way home; explaining to countless curious strangers the story of the "PURPLE SNAKE". When my angel girl met me at the airport her eyes lit up when she saw that snake around my neck and squealed, "MOMMY!!!!! THAT'S THE EXACT SAME SNAKE THAT WAS IN MY DREAM!!!!" Way to go Grandpa! You scored!

We got Mountain Fever!

2009-08-10T22:02:00.003-06:00

Went caming with Mom and Larry last weekend and got the bug... bad! I haven't been able to keep Gregg off of the computer as he's been searching the area for log cabins. After much searching and not finding what we really want - we decided to buy some land and build our own cabin! We spent the whole day today in the Indian Mountain area of Colorado checking out available property. This is the one we found that we just LOVED!!!! We put the offer in as soon as we saw it and hope to have an answer back by the end of the week!

I was trying to get a nice photo of the view, but this dumb dead tree was in the way. I guess Gregg was sympathetic to my plight because he walked over and PUSHED the tree over!!!!!!! Then, he went and knocked over a few MORE dead trees! My man RAWKS!

See? No more dead trees!

Ya ain't IN Kansas anymore!

2009-06-08T00:05:00.004-06:00

Yeah welcome to SE Aurora, Colorado folks!

5 tornados touched the ground today in Colorado, this one just a mile or so up the road from us! It was a wierd day. Bugs were swarming and trying to get into the house by the millions! (I've never seen anything like it). Then sure enough, the clouds rolled in VERY quickly, the sky started to groan and THIS Popped out of the sky.

Not my photo - stole it from Stacey's blog - she stole it from the News =o)

Thankfully, this tornado which was on the ground for 30 minutes stopped just short of our house. We got away with a little bit of hail damage from GINORMOUS hail stones. They put some dents into my little baby HUMMER. Momma is NOT happy!!! Daddy - is gonna lose a spot in his garage!

This is Stacey, holding some of the hail stones that came down in her yard.

This is a very small area of damage that was in the tornado's path. This was in the mall just up the road from our house. The Pizza restaurant in here lost two of it's four walls and my poor poor JAMBA JUICE took a big hit too. I'm in mourning right now *sniffle*

The entire mall got hit pretty good. Stores had glass blown out, roofs lost A/C units, cars flipped over in the parking lots or were moved to the other side of lots. Homes had windows blown out and roofs blown off. Garages blown in and trees snapped in half. One condo I saw even had a landscape trailer dropped on the lawn - At least it was still in tact though. We saw a construction trailer that literally exploded. Lots of damage and thankfully at this time no one has reported any serious injuries.

We heard no warning sirens.

Catching Up!

2009-05-31T00:30:00.006-06:00

Lots to post, it's been a LONG TIME!!!

We've had so much going on that I haven't had two seconds to update the blog! So heeeeeeeeeere we go!

Trike-a-Thon, 2009

For the past two years Ashli has participated in the St. Jude Trike-a-Thon at school. This year (as always) she did so amazingly well! I can't believe how big she's getting!

Even Mason had the urge to jump in and do his part to help out the kids at St. Jude!

He's a motorcyle STUD!

Getting Settled in the new Pad

If you remember the photos I posted when we moved into our home in August you'll remember that we had NO landscaping and NO fence! We put the fence up the first week we were here and we've spent the past 2 months putting in our landscaping. (these photos aren't TOTALLY current, I have to take more photos soon). Gregg is SUCH a trooper! He built the concrete edge that surrouds the grass, he brought in 27 tons of river rock BY HIMSELF one wheelbarrow at a time! We put in a few mulch beds to use as planters and even have quite a few of the plants in already. We did have the patio poured professionally and decided to go ahead and have it colored and stamped to look like slate.

I brought in the compost (most of it) one wheelbarrow at a time, and tilled it in before we layed in the grass. We've had SO much fun hitting the nurseries and picking out all of our new plants!
I even got my weeping willow! (my all-time favorite tree) followed closely by my new aquisition - A weeping pussy willow, and my gorgeous Japanese Maple!

We put in a flower garden along the length of the south side of the house (about 35 feet). Now THAT'S A FLOWER GARDEN! We are slowly but surely picking out fun, beautiful and unusual flowers to put into it! I'll have to post some more recent photos soon!

Preschool Graduation

It seems like yesterday I was posting about Ashli's first day at school! Now, a year and a half later- she's finished with preschool. She is prepared (I am not) for Kindergarten. =o(

This is Ashli and Cody at the graduation ceremony. They will dearly miss each other! But hopefully we can make a few playdates and keep these two girls together~

WALK NOW FOR AUTISM

We took to the Nike's today to show our support for our baby man! Along with THOUSANDS of our friends and supporters the Denver area raised nearly $200,000 today on a 5k walk to raise awareness for Autism! This was our first (definitely not last) walk!

Bubba was STOKED by all the bounce houses and inflatable sensory gyms for the kids! We have GOT to find a way to get one of these things into our O/T Gym!!

Team Mason hits the pavement

With thousands of our closest friends

Thank You.

We would like to sincerely thank our team members who showed up to support Mason today. Your love for Mason shines and we are PROUD to have you on our team!

Daddy, Cousin Randy, Brandi (Mason's therapist), and cousin Connie. (Mom was hiding behind the camera). And of course, the stars of our team - Mason and Ashli

We'll do it all again next year!

Sorry for the lengthy update - will try to do better =o)

Swirlydoos Sketch Challenge - Prima Prizes!

2009-04-26T13:49:00.003-06:00

A Sketchy contest, with PRIMA deliciousness!

Swirlydoos is holding our very first OPEN SKETCH CHALLENGE! This challenge is 100% open to anyone who wants to play along! We're revving up our scrappy engines for National Scrapbook Day! To view the sketch, the rules, and most importantly the PRIZES. Contest ends on Sunday, May 3rd so HURRRRRRRRY UP!

CLICK HERE To go to our contest page!

Just for fun... kinda.

2009-04-18T22:26:00.004-06:00

Edward looks pretty damn good on me eh?

And FYI - I 'm all about "Team Jacob". Let Bella have him! That frees Edward up for ME! LMAO!

Just teasin... not really.

=o)

LOOK!!!! TREE-CICLES!

2009-04-05T22:29:00.005-06:00

We managed to go all winter without being absolutely miserable with cold weather. Not much snow, not too cold. My kinda winter right? Yeah, well as soon as I think I'm in the clear and Mother Nature can just 'BRING ON THE SPRING' of course it's gonna hit! We've had like 2' of snow in the past week with an expected foot and a half two days ago. But... lucky for us the wind was blowing at a sustained 40 mph (60 mph gusts) and that kept the snow from actually LANDING on the ground. Instead; the snow stuck to whatever it slapped up against and froze. Today, we have TREE-CICLES! I'm talking 1-2" thick ice stuck to the side or EVERYTHING! We also have bush-cicles, grass-cicles, mailbox-cicles, Hummer-cicles.. well, you get the idea. =o) Oh, and the Hummer-cicles? No more! Took my baby to the car wash and let those boys give my baby a little pampering. =o) Anyhoo - here are some pics of the "nature-cicles". Man, it sure was nice getting the camera out again!

Ohhhhhhhhhh ma GOSH!!!!!

2009-04-03T08:53:00.000-06:00

Nuff' Said

Win an Acrylic Album!!!

2009-03-29T11:11:00.003-06:00

Head on over to the SWIRLYDOOS BLOG and leave a comment to be entered to win a Mason's Puzzle Acrylic Album!!

www.swirlydoos.blogspot.com

2009-03-13T09:54:00.002-06:00

Please help support TEAM MASON!

We are gearing up for the Denver Walk Now For Autism marathon! Our team comprised of friends, family and even a therapist or two are hitting the pavement to help support Mason, and Autism Speaks! I myself am hoping to connect and network with other families affected by autism, and also other providers and doctors to learn about new treatments that may not have hit the mainstream yet! We are very excited to take part in our first Autism Walk, and hope that you will help us to support Mason and the millions of other children living with Autism! Please visit our TEAM PAGE to join our team (if you are able to walk with us) or make a donation in Mason's Honor to help us win the war against Autism! From my family to yours, THANK-YOU for your support!

With Love,

Krissy

Scrap That Idea - DIGI SHOP!

2009-03-01T08:53:00.002-07:00

Stacey, Vicki, Sara and Mel (awesome digital artists) have opened their own digital store and you digi girls will LOVE it!!!!!!!!!!! They have awesome specials going right now for their grand opening!

Check out Stacey's Blog for the full premiere announcement, and head on over to www.scrapthatidea.com to check out their designs!

Swirlydoos Next Kit - Whimsy!

2009-02-22T13:54:00.002-07:00

Here's the sneak peek of the next Swirlydoos kit, Whimsy! Whimsy will unveil officially on Feb. 28th, along with three fantastic add-on kits. Check it out in more detail at www.swirlydoos.com!

We ARE taking pre-orders for this kit from non-subscribers!

www.swirlydoos.com

Guide Me Daddy...

2009-02-06T20:56:00.004-07:00

Guide Me Daddy

Journaling Reads:

Walk alongside me, daddy
and hold my little hand.
I have so many things to learn
that I don't yet understand.

Teach me things to keep me safe
from dangers every day.
Show me how to do my best
at home, at school, at play.

Every child needs a gentle hand
to guide them as they grow.
So walk alongside me, daddy -
We have a long way to go.

This layout was created using the Swirlydoos Premiere kit - "DECADENCE"

Check it out at www.swirlydoos.com to get yours!

A New Venture...

2009-02-04T08:39:00.016-07:00

I have opened a new (and hopefully AWESOME, SUCCESSFUL, POPULAR) Scrapbooking kit club! You will enjoy our thoughtfully prepared coordinating scrapbook kits. We take great care in choosing high quality, current, beautiful supplies to help you preserve your most treasured memories. Check it out at www.swirlydoos.com and TELL YOUR FRIENDS!!

Our premiere kit - **DECADENCE**

$36.00

Detailed Product List

Pattern Paper Note—All papers are double sided

Kaisercraft—Eleanor (1)

Kaisercraft—Victoria (1)

Kaisercraft—Catherine (1)

Kaisercraft—Elizabeth (1)

Making Memories—Falala music note (1)

Heidi Swapp—World Traveler (1)

Heidi Swapp—Old Coat (1)

Autumn Leaves—Bella Picola (die cut, single sided) (1)

Embellishments

Making Memories-Tiny alphas (1)

Maya Road-Chipboard bracket album (1)

Maya Road– black sequins (1 yd)

Kaiser—wood flourishes (2)

Paper frills—12” die cut borders (2 asst)

Maya Road- Chipboard Flourishes (3)

Maya Road- Chipboard Keychain (people) (1)

Kaisercraft- 12” flourish border rubz

Kaisercraft- Clear Rhinestones (1 pkg)

Kaisercraft– Pearls (1 pkg)

Daisy Bucket– Flourish corner stamps (1 pkg)

Kaisercraft– Cream flowers (5)

Basic Grey– Wassail buttons (8 asst)

Prima– Belle Fleur flowers and brads (3)

Prima– Lg maroon bloom (1)

Prima– Cream blooms (2)

Prima- Rose buds (4)

Prima– Journaling notes (2)

Stretchwrite– Cream Lace (24”)

DMD-Raffia kraft ribbon (1yd)

Misc-Pearl stick pins (2)

The Decadence Add-On Kit

$42.00

Pattern Paper (double sided)
Webster’s Pages—Bloomin’ Beauty (2)
Webster’s Pages—Brown Pokee Dot (2)Heidi Swapp—Old Map (2)

Album

My Acrylic Album—6” 6-page Acrylic Album w/ rings

Embellishments
Prima—NEW CHA RELEASE Say it in Crystals
Wrights—Black Floral Lace (1yd)
Clearsnap—Fluid Chalk ink pad (Chestnut Roan)
Prima—Build-a-Swirl stamp set (8.5 x 11”)

Prima—Felt Border (12”)

The Decadence Flower Add-On Kit

$10.00

A generous offering of a minimum of “90” delicious blooms carefully chosen to coordinate beautifully with the “Decadence” main kit and add-on kit.

Check out the website (still kinda in progress- the flippin computer whiz "I" am) - www.swirlydoos.com

And our blog is www.swirlydoos.blogspot.com

~We just kicked it off and will be holding contests and challenges VERY soon~

My little woodland friends..

2009-02-01T11:52:00.004-07:00

Ironic. This morning Ashli, Mason and I watched a movie I haven't seen in a REALLY long time. Disney's The Fox And The Hound. It had been YEARS since I've seen this flick!

Later today, I let the Wonder Spaz out for a potty break and he (as is usually the case) went ape-shit barking and freaking out. It's times like this when I hate having a see-through fence! Anyway, he was very adament in his bark. So much so that my other dog started barking too! I got up and went outside to shoosh Matani and see that he isn't just barking at nothing this time! No, the deer hadn't come back. He pretty well scared the hell out of her last time she was in our yard! But this NEW little friend was NOT afraid of Matani. In fact, it almost seemed as though he was TEASING Matani through the fence as if to say, "HA! You big dummy! You can't get me!" While this is cute, I know it's also dangerous to have a wild animal hanging around the house who is NOT afraid of the Wonder Spaz.. or me for that matter. Even so, we enjoyed his company, kept the dogs as quiet as we could and let our new friend relax for the many hours that he was here!

Then, we had a nice long talk with Ashli about staying far away from wild animals. Anyway, here are the pics I shot of my new friend Copper! Gregg says if I feed him, he'll shoot him. So, no feeding this little guy for me!

All worn out from teasing Matani.

Watching Codi go pee.

Not askeered of me at ALL!

VICTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-01-23T16:16:00.002-07:00

My beautiful friend Tara blogged about her "Word-for-the-Year" a few weeks back. This word is to be sort of your "Focus" for the year. I told Tara that my word for the year was going to be "FIGHT". It seems to be all I do anymore with regard to Mason's Autism.

Fight - noun; a battle or combat.

We have been trying to get Mason some MUCH needed speech therapy for nearly a year now. Our insurance company (Cigna) has continually denied benefits. We have taken it to State level arguing that a Colorado state mandate rules that Autistic children under the age of five are legally entitled to speech therapy (up to 60 visits per year). Come to find out, OUR policy isn't subject to state mandates because of the way they are contracted with Gregg's employer. Well, back in Sept. I went to Gregg's employer (Big Ol' Hospital) and told them that their policy is not in state compliance and that my son is suffering for it. They agreed to change their policy beginning in 2009 so that Mason could get the speech therapy he needs. We thought that was fair and went ahead and footed the extraordinary bill for therapy from Sept - Dec. The first of January we put through the referrals for Mason to get speech therapy using this "new plan". We were DENIED stating the same reasons as before. Our plan had in fact NOT changed! I was unbelievably PISSED OFF at having been lied to by my husband's employers. I called said Big Hospital Employer and left a "Mommy Freak-Out" message on the head honcho's voice mail. At that point, I didn't care if Gregg got in trouble or faced reprocussions for my tyrade. They LIED to me and my son was going to suffer even LONGER for it!

Well, today I got a phone call from a big-wig at Cigna stating that our insurance policy has been changed and that Mason will be covered not ONLY for UNLIMITED visits of speech therapy but for ANY AND ALL AUTISM RELATED TREATMENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is unheard of in the state of Colorado. No insurance company in Colorado (to my knowledge) covers any autism related treatment because it's EXPENSIVE and you need a LOT of it. Some states require coverage for autism treatments, Colorado is not one of them.

The woman (big wig at the insurance company) told me that if ANYONE gave me any grief at all over billing, or benefits for ANY autism related treatments that I should call her directly and SHE would take care of it personally."Mason WILL be taken care of," she told me. She was so sweet, and so understanding and she was my saviour today. THANK YOU DORRIS!

This is the biggest, hugest most mind blowing "WIN" I could have imagined! I was fighting to get him speech therapy and we got him total autism coverage! We got him what THOUSANDS of children in this area and hundreds of thousands throughout the country are being denied. We can now get mason the help he needs, and the insurance is going to pay for it! (Well, most of it anyway!)

I have been floating on cloud nine all day, you could not possibly wipe this smile off of my face. A weight has been lifted and now I know that I AM doing all I possibly can for Mason and it feels DAMN GOOD!

Thanks for letting a proud mom gloat!

Uhmmm ... OoooooooooKay?!

2009-01-19T23:17:00.004-07:00

*Takes a swig of beer*

So, wanna hear about my night? Well, i'm gonna tell you because I'm pumped full of adrenoline and have nothing better to do. I was sitting on my couch watching a Bruce Willis flick at about 10 pm. Kids are sleeping, Gregg is working. Just me and the dogs.... When the doorbell rings. Nobody EVER rings my doorbell this time of night. I walk slowly out of the living room and look in the direction of the door. Next to my door is a full length window with a sheer curtain over it. My porch light is on, but I can't see anything through the sheer curtains. I decide it's in my best interest (since I am alone) to NOT answer the door regardless of how frantically my dogs are barking. The bell rings again. I was thinking, WHO IS AT MY DOOR? Could it be Stacey? Or maybe my sister-in-law Karin? Well, it COULD be but they are both the type of people who call before coming over... The bell rings AGAIN. At this point I figure I better go see who it is before my kids wake up and REALLY Piss me off! I grab my phone and head for the door. I pull back my sheer curtain just enough to peek out onto the patio. What is staring back at me?? GAHEAD.. GUESS!

A bloody man!

Yep. You read that right. There is a young man standing on my patio COVERED In blood. wearing black thermal underwear and wearing a t-shirt wrapped around his hand! I'm like.. uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh whaaaaaaaaaat????????? At this point, the sheer curtain fell right out of the window and landed on the floor exposing the young man to Codi, my rottweiler who promptly went ape-shit upon seeing this bloody person. I asked him through the window if I could help him, to which he replied, "Please call my mom." I had the phone in my hand and asked him for the number and dialed. There was no answer. I asked him if he wanted me to call the police and he said NO. I told him I would be right back (with the phone still to my ear) and to not move. I went up to my room and called the police. I told them that there was a bloody man on my patio, what had transpired up to this point and to get somebody here.. FAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I went back downstairs where I could get the boy back into my line of sight, and I found him slumped over on the patio. It looked as if he had collapsed. I let Matani the wonder spaz out of his kennel, dawned a little self-protection and went out onto the patio to see what was going on. He was still conscious and told me that he had been approached by a group of people who asked him for a smoke then beat him up. At that point I called his mom again and this time she answered. I confirmed with the woman on the phone that she had a son by the name he gave me. She said she was his mom and I gave him the phone. He started whimpering telling his mom that he had been beat up. I gave his mom the address to my house and informed her that the police were on their way. I asked if I could give her son some advil and she said okay. I went into the house, grabbed him some advil, a pepsi and a bag of ice (after telling him not to open my door or Matani would eat him). When I came back out and gave him the items the police showed up. Two cars at first, followed by about 6 more cars, a fire truck and an ambulance!!!!!

Can you say "WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD!"

I told the primary officer (we'll call him "Officer Hot-pants" for now ) what the boy had told me, then I went into the house while the police questioned him. I am still not sure what the extent of his injuries were. I do believe he had the hell beat out of him, and more than likely had been cut with a knife as he had some very deep gashes in his hand. His neck and pants had been cut, and there was blood all over his face. He seemed very scared, very weak and very lethargic. He was also freezing. The paramedics put him into the van and began trying to warm him up.

Officer Hot-Pants beckoned me back outside to tell me what he had discovered. Apparently this young man was 16 years old. He told the police that he had gotten into a vehicle with some people he did not know to smoke some pot and they hurt him. The police had received a call before I had called about a young man standing in the middle of an intersection near my home trying to wave cars down. The kid had told me that this incident happened about 10 minutes away, and he had walked to my neighborhood. Officer yumminess... errr Hot-Pants said that the kid WAS very hurt, but was also very stoned, and judging by the way he was dressed he was probably up to no good. I asked the officer if there had been any burglaries in my neighborhood and he said no. He proudly reported that this is 'HIS' neighborhood and he wouldn't tolerate that kind of stuff in 'HIS' neighborhood. Had there been any wrong-doing in this neighborhood, he would have let me know. Then he told me his exact schedule, what days he works and that he's always very near by in case anything were to happen again. (Because bloody people show up on my doorstep a lot??...) The caring officer did thank me for what I had done for the child, but reinforced that when bloody people show up on my doorstep I should only speak to them through the window and not open the door. That's what HE'S for. He could see my killer attack dogs, but I didn't think it proper to tell him about my personal protection. I understand what he was saying. In retrospect, I should not have opened the door as I didn't know what was beyond the porch. I'm sure the cutie pie was just extremely concerned about my personal safety *laugh*

We chatted for a bit about the neighborhood and the kid and then I went back in the house because.. well... it was very cold outside. Not too many minutes later (maybe 15) there was another knock at the door. I opened it and there stood the boys mom, wanting to know where her son was. I walked out onto the patio and saw that the barrage of emergency vehicles that had blocked off my street about 5 minutes before had all packed it in and left. I told this poor woman what I knew about her son, how he looked and acted while he was here, the story he told me and that he had told the police something else, though I did not tell her what her son had told Officer Hot Pants, let them break her heart.. I didn't want to do it, it wasn't my place. I told her they were planning on taking him to the near-by hospital. I wished her luck, and that I hoped her boy was okay. She thanked me and left.

These things just happen to me. Weird shit just ALWAYS happens to me! I do hope the kid is okay, and that maybe he learned a valuable lesson tonight. I am glad that I was able to help him to get the help he needed tonight so he didn't continue to run around lost, bleeding and cold. I hope the punks who did this to him get caught...

Ahhhh Monday night excitement!

There is something WRONG with me...

2009-01-14T23:12:00.002-07:00

Today, not only did I lock my keys (and that damn phone) in the car, but I also locked my two-year-old son in the car too. How? I have NO flippin' idea. At this point, I am convinced that my car is doing this on purpose. Again, I called Onstar (after borrowing an SUV - yes, SUV that had onstar) and then a cell phone because the SUV's Onstar service wasn't working. And started ranting into the phone something about a car, a baby and UNLOCK IT NOW!

He did.. I drove away wondering if perhaps I was just born without the gene that keeps me from doing this.... repeatedly.

GOOD LORD!

2009-01-01T22:46:00.003-07:00

Sooooooooo Monday was Ashlis bestest friend Calista's birthday.

HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY CALISTI SWEETIE!!!!!!!!!!!

What do three gorgeous littles do for a birthday? Skating? No, too much work. Party? No, too old fashioned. Sleepover? No, not yet. Zoo? No, too much poop. No, these little divas packed it up and headed off to the SPA. Yeah, you don't need to go back and read that again, I said "SPA". Stacey found a great little place near our houses that is a spa, for kiddos. MAN this place rocks! Calista, Tori and Ashli all went in and had the works! There were peppermint pedicures, facials, glittery lotion rubs, manicures, glittery make-up, princess (and punk rock) hair doos,with sparkly hairspray, lolly-pops, jewelry, webkins, cameras, flashes, mama and paprazzis going ape nuts and two very tired (yet thoroughly amused) beauticians! We ended our 2.5 hour spa day with many walks and runs down the modeling cat-walk in the spa with the girls (Ashli) singing "Jingle Bells" (of course) LOL!

To say the girls had a good time would be a devastating understatement.

To say that the moms were a teeny bit jealous? Well... it took every bit of self control we had to keep our feet out of those "Toe Baths" as Ashli so eloquently described them!

Thanks for inviting us Stacey, we had a BLAST!

The girls kicking back with their feet in the peppermint "toe baths" while watching Kung-fu Panda. (Notice the facials?) Gah! I've NEVAH had a facial! I'm dripping with envy!

Calista's facial.. CUTE CUTE CUTE!!! I think it was a white chocolate facial? Not sure.

This is Ashli after she had her hair and makeup done. She had a BEAUTIFUL princess hairdo, it pained me to take it out that night!!

Three little ladies lined up for their manicures... LOL! Too precious eh?

Everything PURPLE! Fingers, Toes towels, rings, toe ring.. you name it~

Ashli's hair and makeup again (sigh, i wish I could make it look like that!)

This is Ashli cracking everyone up while she was getting her hair done. She had everyone in stitches the WHOLE time!

Lovin it, and she's totally a natural. That's scary.

Sorry for the crappy photos. I was shooting raw indoors with no external flash and almost ALL of my photos came out blurry! I have got to get this fine-tuned!

Just testing.. and teasing =o)

2009-01-01T22:22:00.005-07:00

Can anyone build a kick - butt blinkie? Man, I suck! LOL~

Hallelujah and Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T21:46:00.004-07:00

I am bowing down before the RAW gods. I've had this silly little camera of mine for a year and a half now and have not had the nerve to start shooting in RAW format. I braved going to all manual settings and that seemed a large enough jump into photography for me! OH MY GOSH!!!!!!! Heather!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHY didn't you smack me and MAKE me shoot RAW?! My wonderful photographer friend! It wasn't until I saw what my good friend Wendy was doing with her macro shots in RAW that I decided to take the plunge.... today. HOLY CRAP! What an amazing difference in both quality and editing capabilities! NOW, I get it. (shaking head) I get it. BRING ON THE PHOTO SHOOTS! LMAOOOOOO!

Here are some random shots that i've been meaning to put onto my blog but haven't. And a couple that I shot RAW today (YAY ME!)

I hope you all have a wonderful, beautiful Christmas, and a prosperous and Happy New Year!

Here's one I took of Ashli today while we made cookies. Isn't licking the mixer thingy the best part about making cookies? I think so! So does Ash! (Shot in RAW)

While I was experimenting with my new found RAWness, Mason was my willing? subject. All of the photos I shot today would have been deleted had I not had the extended editing capabilites that come along with RAW shooting. ESPECIALLY the photo above!

Another one of my "would have been deleted shots". Now? One of my favorites of Bubby this Christmas! Yes, yes, I know. Bad call putting him in an orange sweater LOL!

Bubbs helping to re-decorate the tree. He's enjoyed trying to figure out how to re-hang the ornaments he rips off! (RAW)

Me continuing to stalk my son. And him running at me (ready to throw my camera I'm sure). RAW

Bubbs doing that "ornament thing" again. But hey, it made for some good pics!

Here's Ash by the tree. Not shot in RAW, but I thought it was cute anyway!

Dad and bubbs in November when we went on a veeeeeeeeery long hike. Mason and Ashli did SO well. They hiked a few miles with us through some pretty tough terrain (well, it would be tough if you were three feet tall) and came through like champs! Way to go kids!

I would show you photos of the kids with Santa, but in my "Spring Computer Cleaning" I seem to have DELETED my scanner! Add that to the list of stuff to fix! HA!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Memories of Fall 2008

2008-12-16T22:04:00.002-07:00

Here is a digi (I know, faint - right?) from me using Stacey's Cinnamon Spice kit. This kit really is FANTASTIC and you can dl it free on her blog HERE.

I {heart} my Secret Santa!

2008-12-16T20:32:00.006-07:00

Well, well, well... today I discovered the identity of my "Secret Santa". I'd been wondering for a while who she was and today I found out! Thank you Rebecca for the wonderful package! Some of my very favorite things were in there. Each gift I opened was most DEFINITELY something I would have picked for myself! You rock!

Not only did she include some awesome scrappy goodness, but chocolates (a woman after my own heart I tell you!), and a BEAUTIFUL handmade card, along with one of the most beautiful mini albums I've ever seen. Rebecca is a master at distressing everything. You should definitely check out her blog HERE.

Here are some photos of the goodies I received, thanks again honey! LOVE IT!

Lovely pearl stickers which I just ran out of (thank you!), Beautiful Primas that are SO my style and a great asst. of gems. PERFECTION!

LOVE that spice candle, it smells SO yummy! A bottle of MORE yummy primas and uhm HELLO?! CHOCOLATE! I'm eating one right now, they are TOTALLY YUMMY!

Isn't this card gorgeous? I just LOVE handmade cards. Now for a SECOND time, I find myself asking Rebecca ," Where did you find those poinsettias?" LOL!

The Lot, I'm a lucky girl eh? Thanks "Santa"

Is this not just BEAUTIFUL?! Oh my I nearly choked when I opened up this beauty! It's a LOVELY HAND MADE mini album that Rebecca created for my family. Unbelievable how talented this lady is. I really REALLY love this!

Two new AWESOME digi kits!

2008-12-14T22:16:00.006-07:00

Yes, I am a walking? ad campaign for my dear friends!

Stacey just released TWO new complete, jam packed digital scrappy kits in her store! They are jam packed with LOTS of embellishments, definitely check them out HERE. And here's a tiny secret... shhhhhhh, *looks around suspiciously* if you go to her blog (HERE) she is giving awayparts of a mega kit each day for FREE!

Hmmm I don't know what happened with that little guy there. Apparently my stellar blogging skills are seriously lacking lately!

I feel old...

2008-12-13T21:29:00.005-07:00

You know, sometimes you see something, or hear something that just kind of hits you in the gut and makes you feel really damn old. Maybe you see a photo of yourself, and notice that you are getting wrinkles around your eyes, or you find a few gray hairs and think it's "distinguished". Maybe the National Finals Rodeo comes and goes yet again, reminding you of those never ending wild nights you usedto have not so many years ago... or maybe, just maybe you are listening to the radio and the announcer informs you that Nikki Sixx just turned FIFTY FRICKEN YEARS OLD! Yep. 50. 5-0 folks. *shaking head*. If you don't know who Nikki Sixx is, get off my blog! Because that means you are either too young to remember and YOU will make me feel old, or you slept through the 80's.

Some Digi Goodness

2008-12-08T22:58:00.004-07:00

Lots of you (traitors) dabble in the dark-side of scrapbooking. My dear friend Stacey is now designing her own lines of digital kits that are flat out AWESOME! She created the cutest Christmas alpha and kit! She is giving the alpha away and you can check out the Christmas kit and all of her other fabulous creations at her store HERE.

A Family Affair...

2008-12-07T22:40:00.005-07:00

Here are a few shots from a session I did today with a really LARGE family, 14 people in all.It was a real pleasure working with these folks! They were SO easy to photograph, and a very very nice family!

A moment of of unbelievable humiliation..

2008-11-24T22:03:00.004-07:00

Thanks to my sweet, precious, adorable, perfect daughter, I have experienced a level of humiliation I previously thought

unattainable

Ash and I went to Michael's tonight to pick up a few things (thanks Rebecca!) and we were in line to check out. The lady in front of us had a few returns, and a few purchases. Needless to say, we were in line for quite a while. While in line, Ash struck up a conversation with the sweet lady returning things. Ashli had that lady and the cashier laughing and smiling with her cute and sweet ramblings, her screeching laughter pierced the silence of the store. FINALLY... It was our turn to check out and Ash was sweet talking the cashier like she always does. I was half paying attention to her while I was digging in my purse for my wallet to pay. Then it happened. I heard that sweet, angelic voice pipe up and say, "Wow! You've got a BIG butt!" I looked up just in time to see the cashier return from her bent over position and stare at me with a half shocked / half disgusted look on her face. My heart sank all the way to my shoes and my jaw dropped even lower than that! Of course I chastised Ashli for her rude and extremely improper outburst and had her apologize to the still shocked woman and then we RAN for the door. OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!! Ashli was SO upset. She didn't understand what she had done wrong. When I told her that she had hurt that woman's feelings by saying her butt was big, she replied by saying, "But mom, all giants have big butts." ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Lord...

What is a mom to do?

I {heart} Technology...

2008-11-21T22:02:00.002-07:00

If you read my blog on any kind of a regular basis you know that I am CONSTANTLY losing my keys, or locking my keys (and cell phone) in the car. I swear this is an every-other-week thing with me. It's so rediculous at this point that it's even kind of comical. No, not really.

Today I had a VERY special and VERY delicious lunch date with Ashli at her pre-school. The children worked very hard and prepared a lovely meal of Pumpkin bread and Pork & Beans with hot dogs. Mason and I arrived for the meal, and when it was time to go I came to the all-to-familiar realization that the keys (and the phone) are locked in the car. AGAIN! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

I went back into the pre-school and started calling home. Home is the only number I know by heart (the rest of the numbers are programed into the damn phone... in the damn car). Gregg of course is asleep because he works nights. Any phones within his earshot have the ringers turned off. I sat in the class room for about 40 minutes calling and calling and calling. Hoping that he might just wake up and hear the phone... I began to get pity looks from the other parents in the room, and one lovely mom who obviously felt VERY bad for me even offered to give us a ride home. Then, like a brick to the forehead it hit me.

*I have OnSTAR*

(Cue the orchestra, and let the angels sing)

DUH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'VE HAD ONSTAR FOR A YEAR NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why just now do I realize this????? Do you know how much aggrivation this could have saved me if I'd have realized this MONTHS ago?

I called Onstar and explained to the sweet guy on the phone that I was locked out of my car and trapped in a pre-school room full of 4 year olds. He understood the urgency of my situation and offered to help. This man, in God knows where America sent a flippin' LASER beam from OUTER FRIGGIN' SPACE down to my car, and popped the locks! NO SHIT! It took him a half a second to break into my car from... uhmm.. I have no idea where! I am so in love with OnStar! Ya, I'll be renewing my service contract with them, I'm just sorry it took me so long to realize I had this tool in the box!

2008-11-17T13:58:00.008-07:00

I've been a busy girl... doing something for ME! YAY! I have been wanting to create an advent calendar for my kids for a really long time. This week I finally got it done! (Thanks Amy for helping me find the right calendar). This is a Karen Foster 8" x 8" x 1.5" countdown box. It has 25 drawers that measure 1.5" x 1.5". Ya, I know. I went cross-eyed working on this one! LOL!

I very proudly used Cosmo Cricket's "Wonderland" line for the papers here. They are my alltime favorite Christmas line out there... and for good reason! I also used the following products:

Rubz- Basic Grey, Cosmo Cricket

Stickers - K&Co, Mark Richards (gems)

Stickles (Uhm helloooooooooooooo! Love these!)

Lots and LOTS of thickers

Prima flowers (of course)

Colorbox fluid chalk

Mod Podge

Front View

From the back. The script reads, "In the air there's a feeling of Christmas".

Some cose-ups of the drawers

Lemme tell ya, i.5" x 1.5" is NOT a lot of workspace!

The wooden sign at the top is also by Karen Foster and reads, "No pouting allowed". Too bad Ashli can't read yet... LOL!

I put this on the back so that hopefully, future generations will know I made it. =o) Awww Sappy sappy right?

Now, for more (yes, this post is SUPER LONG I have lots to say!)

You will recall that we just moved to our new neighborhood this past August. The one thing I miss noticeably about our old neighborhood are the rabbits. It was very common for us to have 1-6 cotton tail bunnies sleeping or sunning themselves in our front yard every day! They were pleasant to have around. There are NO rabbits at our new place. They are one of those things you really don't miss, until you don't see them anymore. =o(

But guess what!?!?!

Matani went APE nuts the other night when I let him outside. I've never heard this dog bark and go mad like he did, so of course I go running outside like mama Rambo ready to shoot someone and what should I see on the other side of my fence????

No silly, not a rabbit.

A DEER!

Who needs stinkin' rabbits when I HAVE DEER!!!!!!

I desperately wanted to get a photo but it was REALLY dark out and she was just too far outside of flash range. Not to mention I didn't want to blind her and have her go running into the street!

Well folks, TODAY I found her. Rather; Gregg found her! She was sleeping in between the neighbor's houses. So off I tramp camera in hand to finally catch a photo of her. She is a loner. No herd. I hope she will be okay this winter. I will be keeping my eyes peeled for her. I took this photo at 8:30 this morning. It's now nearly 2:30p.m. and she is still snoozing in the same place!

Yes, I love having friendly woodland creatures!

Are those ears not the cutest ginormous ears EVAH?? I love them!

These are just some REALLY cool shots of an amazing sunset we had last night. I'm a sucker for a killer sunset... and a full moon... *sigh* Yes, I do love a full moon.... oh but that's a totally DIFFERENT Story that I probably shouldn't share with you people. So, here are some completely untouched sunset shots.

A Mommy Moment...

2008-11-15T19:18:00.003-07:00

"I am thankful, for you"

said my sweet little Ashli tonight as she climbed into my lap and gave me a GREAT BIG hug.

Oh, out of the mouths of babes! She made my whole day!

Uhm... eww?

2008-11-13T21:18:00.003-07:00

I have heard the term "window licker" a few times in recent past. I never knew what it meant, and thought I would be showing my uncoolness if I asked. I do believe I have finally discovered what folks were talking about when they used the term "window licker". What I did NOT realize is that all of those folks own South African Boerboels! Wow! Small world eh?

Yes, it's gross. Yes, I'm going show you more.

Oh quit complaining. You only have to LOOK at it. I had to CLEAN UP AFTER IT!

As I was watching the gallons of slobber drip down my sliding glass door, I was reminded of a fact sheet I read before buying Matani. This fact sheet was an integral part of our decision to purchase this particular breed. The author of that 'fact sheet' was a dumb-ass who OBVIOUSLY has never had a South African Boerboel living in their home with them. I shall now clear up some common misconceptions about the S. African Boerboel for you.

1. South African Boerboels very rarely bark.

My Ass! Have you ever tried to talk to me on the phone? Call... and listen to my dog!

2. South African Boerboels don't shed.

My Ass... again! This dog sheds more than any other dog I've had the pleasure of sharing my bed with. ICK!

3. South African Boerboels don't produce the mass quantities of drool that other Mastiff breeds do.

MY ASS!!!!!!!!! You saw the pictures right?

One could easily understand why I felt the sudden urge to strangle the shit out of the author of that fact sheet while I was mopping up all of slippery, slimy puppy drool.

Pleasant Dreams.

For Mom

2008-11-13T21:06:00.004-07:00

This is a special post for my computer illiterate mom who can't seem to be able to receive -furniture emails- My mom wanted to see the new livingroom set we got, and no matter how many times I try to email the photos to her, she just isn't getting them. So mom, here it is.

Gregg's *man chair*

On a MUCH cuter note, it would appear that my little girl has a bit of a creative bug! Her and daddy built this beautiful birdhouse out of popsicle sticks and wood glue.

Then, Ashli picked out her own color and painted it. After it dried, mommy and Ashli embellished the heck out of it! I think it came out so cute! We're going to hang it in her room for her "pretend birds".

Argghhh little green Matey!

2008-11-09T17:22:00.002-07:00

Our sweet Dobby came to stay with us this weekend. What a lovely visit! And what perfect timing too! I unpacked Ashli's pirate costume and dressed her up. With Dobby on her shoulder (or head as the case may be) he was the most perfect and precious accessory to her adorable little get-up!

These two bottom photos are my favorites! I touched them up a bit adding a softening filter to give them an intimate feel. Gregg says they just look "Blurry". There's always a critic right?

Oh well, I do believe I have enough photos to complete Ashli's Pirate Princess acrylic album now! I've only been collecting odds and ends for it since JUNE! hahaha!

Hugs & Kisses...

Sigh

2008-11-08T09:33:00.006-07:00

Now doesn't this look like a nice, warm, inviting place to just "be"?

Unsolved Murder

2008-11-02T21:56:00.006-07:00

This is my very dear friend. His name is Michael Brian Iverson.

He was murdered.

This case was never solved.

In 1994 my friend was shot and killed while walking to his house with a "friend". There has been controversy over this case from day one, with a single witness who suddenly couldn't remember anything about the people who shot his "friend". My ass. Somebody knows something. I believe the 'witness' knows something but for some reason, isn't talking.

It has been 14.5 years since Mike was taken from us and for whatever reason he is just so strong in my mind tonight. I pulled up his photo and tears just fell from my eyes as I looked at that familiar handsome face. Even now, the pain of losing Mike is raw. I miss him. The manner with which we lost him was so brutal and so very unfair.

Mike was very special to me, as he was to so many others.

A lot of people from Vegas read my blog. Please take a very close look at Mike's photo. Read the Cold Case file below, and dear God if you know ANYTHING... no matter how trivial it may seem please call the detectives at the phone number listed. Please.

At approximately 4:30 p.m., on February 27, 1994, Michael Iverson was walking in the area of Arlington St and Wyoming Ave with several friends when they were approached by another group of teenagers. There was an exchange of insults. Two members of the opposing group pulled handguns and fired at Michael. Michael was struck in the chest. He was transported the University Medical Center-Trauma Unit where he was pronounced dead. The friends were not able to identify any of the suspects.

Anyone with information is urged call LV Metro Homicide Cold Case Detail at 702-828-COLD.

In the spirit of Halloween...

2008-11-01T18:29:00.004-06:00

I thought I would post these photos I took of Mason when he was nearly 5 months old.

Hind sight being 20/20, I wonder if I didn't permanently screw up my son. I mean, I shoved him into a really big pumpkin in the name of awesome photographs and now? He won't even THINK about reaching into one of these things... Things to ponder.

A little Trunk-or-Treat!

2008-10-30T22:15:00.006-06:00

What a BUSY day! But really, aren't they all busy anymore? Today we had Speech Therapy in the morning, and then it was time to get down to PUMPKIN business! Every year I lop the top off of some hideously large, unsuspecting orange gourd and let my little princess dig in! Her favorite? Halloween activity is to get the "oooooey gooooey punkin guts" out of that poor vegetable. Don't laugh, it makes for GREAT photos!

Mason, on the other hand is very "Anti-Goo" and would rather kick his feet up and supervise!

After Mason took his nap (and subsequently woke up with Croup) I decided it was probably time to try on our costumes and make sure they fit properly! Afterall, we had to meet up with Stacey, Curt and their kids in two hours for Trunk-or-Treat. It would SUCK if the costumes didn't fit!

Yeah.. she rocks. My little 'princess' thought better than to dress up as Ariel, Cinderella, Belle, Jasmine or some other form of pretty pretty. 'MY' girl says, "Momma, I wanna be a pirate".

YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!

My - Pirate Princess. (Scrapbook Album to follow) LMAO!

And to introduce you to the most adorable vegetable you have ever laid eyes on...

*insert drum roll here*

MASON!!!!!!!

And Matani wondering what the HELL we did to his boy!

Hehehe Just kiddin, here is the front photo!

The making of a Pirate.... princess.

Step 1. Dark eye makeup. I'm not sure why, but ALL pirates have dark eye makeup.

Thank you Jack Sparrow!

Step 2. Glitter. All princesses must have some bling right? Even the pirate types.

Step 3. Ashli wanted a beard. *shaking head* I obliged.

This is her best, "ARGGGHHHH MATEY" look!

Cool right? This is my pumpkin all lit up. I gave it the Pirate look, as it seemed fitting with.. well.. you know. The whole PIRATE thing we have going on here.

Off to Trunk-or-Treat with some good friends, and one very cool Brat Cat! This is Ashli with her "bestest friend" Calista. I love that she has someone her age to be silly with!

I just had to put up this photo of Calista's big sister Tori. This little lady is just a knock-out and I love how this pic came out! A beautiful witch... with some SCARY hair~

I really like this photo of Ash and Calista. I wish It would have come out a tad more clear, but hey, I'll take what I can get when I have ZERO light! Hope yours came out better Stacey!

One of the kiddos. I just realized I didn't get one shot of the older boys tonight! I'll have to take a few extra tomorrow night! (Tomorrow is actually Halloween).

Have a SAFE and Happy Halloween all!

A little bit of YUMMINESS for you!

2008-10-28T22:56:00.005-06:00

Today I'm gonna tell ya about a new recipe I tried that you are going to LOOOOOOOOVE, yes, LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! It's a clever twist on the standard Roasted Potatoes w/Rosemary that we've all managed to screw up one time or another.

(Or maybe it was just ME who kept screwing it up?)

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 lbs potatoes cut into small chunks. (I used Red Potatoes, Fingerling Potatoes, and Purple Potatoes, these potatoes are what made the dish!)

About 7-8 baby red onions chopped and separated. (4-5 of these suckers makes a handful and they are YUMMY!) If you can't find baby red onions use 1 small, or 1/2 large onion.

1 red Spanish Spice pepper, seeded and cut into strips

1 FRESH FRESH FRESH 4" stem of Rosemary. (Did you get that it needs to be FRESH?)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Mix all ingredients in med-large bowl and drizzle with Olive Oil. Mix until well coated. Place in a single layer on a foil-lined baking dish. Sprinkle with FRESH chopped Rosemary leaves. Bake at 425 until lightly browned and tender (about 20-25 mins)

This is a 'before' photo. Sorry, when this dish came outta the oven it smelled so good I forgot to photograph it. I just DUG IN! This is a really PRETTY dish too isn't it? I just love all the colors! This one will look GREAT on my table this Thanksgiving! This was a perfect accompaniment to a nice steak and some french bread.

Apparently, Mason wasn't nearly as excited about my Potatoes with Rosemary as I was.

As you can probably tell by this post, that whole "Cleanse" thing is over. It was over 72 hours into a ten day cleanse. Lets face it, drinking that lemon concoction became a horrible chore. The more I drank it, the more I hated it! Eventually, I stopped drinking it and the hunger kicked in. That's when my loving and supportive? husband lopped a big fat plate of fresh Calamari in front of me. I was powerless to defend my 'cleanse'.

*Note* After not eating for 72 hours, that was the BEST damn Calamari I have ever had!

Look Ma! No Ponies!

2008-10-24T23:03:00.006-06:00

Just a quick little post tonight to show you a lovely photo that I took of Ashli this morning. The poor thing woke up with no voice! I told her that I would have to keep her home from school today because she was feeling so poorly. She mustered up the sweetest (croaky) voice she could and said, "Look momma! I'm feeling better now! Can I pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease go to school?" I told her we'd have to wait a few hours and see how she was feeling when it came time to get ready and she politely reminded me that she just HAD to go to school today because it was picture day!

How can I argue with that?

So today, was the first day I actually "did" Ashli's hair. Curling iron and all. Not that her thin silky hair will hold a curl, but hey.. I tried. *shrug* We ditched our usual pony tail and opted for a more elegant down-do. She looked so amazingly beautiful that I just couldn't take my eyes off of her! Then it hit me... School photographers (for the most part) suck! So, I grabbed my own camera and snapped off a few shots before that beautiful hair got ruined on the playground.

I was telling myself, "self.." I call myself 'self'. I said, "Self, you sure do have one beautiful little girl, and you know what makes this little girl so incredibly beautiful? The simple fact, that she is the most gorgeous person this world has ever seen... on the inside. That inner beauty just radiates through every pore in her beautiful little face."

P.S. Mason waved and said, "Bye" probably 15-20 times today!

I'm a very lucky momma. =o)

Bye!

2008-10-23T18:02:00.003-06:00

Oh be still my heart. My little boy has stolen my heart TWICE today!

This morning we had speech therapy. Allison really pushed him hard. He was tantruming like I haven't seen in months. Each time she pushed, he pulled further and further away, threw himself to the floor and cried like we were torturing him. This made therapy seemingly impossible. And each time my baby boy fell apart, I did too. I sat through our one hour session, and cried three times. Sometimes, I just want to run away and pretend that my son is a neurotypical child, especially when he has days like this. Therapy ended and we came home. A little while later, I was sitting on the floor watching Mason play on the other side of the room. He eyeballed me. You know, that sly, fun sideways glance out of the corner of his eye. I knew it was playtime! I sat in that same spot and gave him a big smile. Then I puckered up my lips and stared at him. He came RUNNING and gave me a BIG BIG KISS! YAY! He's only puckered up and kissed me on one other occasion and it wasn't all that long ago. Today, he kissed me probably ten times and I cherished every single one of them! Gosh, he knows how to make a mom feel better!

Tonight, we were working on Turn-Taking at the dry-erase board. After about 20 minutes of this particular therapy, I decided to pack it up and call it a night. I erased all of the scribbles and waved to the board saying, "Bye Bye colors." To which Mason responded by waving and saying, "Bye!"

what? Did he just.. wave and SAY Bye? It took a half a second to register before I screamed and threw my child to the floor smothering him in positive rewards and slobbery kisses! He wiggled out from under me, waved and said, "bye!" then ran to the stairs! Are you KIDDING ME???? TWICE!?!?!?! He laid down on one of the steps and sheepishly watched me. I waved to him again and said, "Bye Mason." And yes, yes, yes by God he did it AGAIN! That voice was the sweetest voice I have heard in a really LONG time. And just what this worn out, beat up mom needed on a difficult day like today.

Playlist Fever!

2008-10-20T22:45:00.004-06:00

Stacey got me HOOKED on this playlist thing for my blog. Every day I add another song or two to it. I LOVE THIS THING! It's like the world's greatest radio station.

No Commercials and I know every song it plays is gonna ROCK!

Stacey writes an article in each issue of Scrap N' Art called Stacey's Scraptunes. Her article is about music and how it can affect a person, bring out emotions and old memories etc. I got to thinking, nearly every song on my playlist evokes some kind of emotion, a memory, a wish... a SOMETHING!

So, I'm going to list some of the songs on my playlist and say WHY that song is special. Then, I want YOU to leave me a comment (even you people who stalk my blog and never leave a comment) telling me some of YOUR favorite songs, and what those songs evoke in you.

*I'm serious about you blog stalkers too.. comment this one*

Described in the order they played for me.

1. The first song that played for me was 'Grandpa' by the Judds. This song has always been one of my very favorites. It makes me think of my own Grandpa who is quite possibly one of the strongest, stoic, beautiful men I've met. I love the 'calm' that this song evokes.

2. Must Be Doing Something Right - Billy Currington. This song is just SEXY. I totally get butterflies when I listen to it.

3. Barbed Wire & Roses - Pinmonkey. Ha! Someone once told me that "I" was like Barbed Wire and Roses. For the longest time I wanted to get a Barb wired rose tattoo'd on my lower back... *sigh, the memories* lol

4. Strokin' - Clarence Carter. LMAOOOOOOOO I LOVE THIS SONG! No, I'm so not a pervert. Well, maybe a little bit! This song is the first song I ever learned to Country Line Dance to. It's still the only song I CAN line dance to! The "Sleazy Slide". My girls and I (hey Bobbi Jo!) used to get down with this one at Dylan's Dancehall in Vegas EVVVVVERY weekend! OH how I miss those parties! Yes, I tried it when I found this song on playlist and yes, I can still rock this dance! HA!

5. Radar Love - White Lion. OMG Have you ever seen the lead singer? He was hot. Yes, I'm showing my 80's-ness. FYI, 20 years later the man still has it!

6. Chrome - Trace Adkins. I'm fairly certain he wrote this song about me. He's so right on I should be getting royalties!

7. Love Like Johnny and June - Heidi Newfield. She sings in reference to Johnny Cash and the love of his life June Carter Cash. Theirs is a love story that held no boundaries. They truly did live for one another and they lived their entire lives showing it. Who wouldn't want to love like Johnny and June? I know I would.

8. You Can Leave Your Hat On - Joe Cocker. Uhmm well. *blush* To be completely honest here. I likes me some cowboys. You figure it out. OUCH! hot-hot-hotttttttttt!

9. Poison - Alice Cooper. Well, aside from the fact that I wanted to marry this man when I was younger. I attended a show of his in Vegas quite a few years ago. I made my way to the front row and he sang this song. He looked at me the entire time he sang it. Yeah, that totally boosted my ego! yeeeeeeeeah baybeeee! ohkay. I have goose bumps LOL! This song is a GREAT all-purpose song *wink*

10. Jose Cuervo - Dottie West. Well, to make a very long story short. I lived this entire song. In one night. Every last word of it. Thanks to a dear dear friend who KNEW I liked to drink Hot Damn shooters, yet he decided it would be a good idea to start filling me full of Tequila shooters instead. sheeeeesh!

There were pictures... Bobbi Jo had a camera. I've never seen the pictures. Man... I wish I could remember.. or maybe It's better that I can't remember?

Now post a comment and tell me a story about a song on YOUR playlist. Don't have a playlist? Pull a song out of your ear and tell me all about it!

Day 1 down...

2008-10-20T13:12:00.002-06:00

If you read my previous post you know I'm doing the 'Master Cleanse' that my cousin Keli told me about. Here is the jist of it:

For 10 (yes, TEN) days you eat NOTHING.

Drink 8 - 8 oz glasses of "THE JUICE"

(8oz water, 2 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice, 2 tbsp maple syrup, 1/10 tsp cayenne pepper)

Drink a special herbal tea before bed

Drink 32oz of luke warm salt water in the A.M.

Day one is finished. It was no walk in the park that's for damn sure. I couldn't stomach the salt water flush.. two sips in and I was ready to vomit. So, I am ditching the salt and just drinking the 32 oz of water. Will this affect the 'cleanse?' Don't know. But man! Talk about BLECH! I managed to get down 5 or 6 glasses of "the juice" but had to take out the Cayenne pepper. Rather than mixing it into the juice I am taking it in capsule form. I'm not a Cayenne kinda girl... hot hot hot! The tea is no biggy. It's not all that tasty, but it's better than any of my other choices at this time. I figured I'd be starving by now. I've gone 44 hours without food at this point and surprisingly, I'm not hungry. When I get hungry I make the juice and that squelches that. Now, there is a BIG difference between NOT being hungry and MISSING FOOD. I enjoy food. I enjoy preparing it, tasting it, sharing it etc etc. So while I'm not hungry per se, I do miss food. The hardest part so far I think was preparing supper for the family last night. They ate a delicious meal of Country fried pork, potatoes and veggies, with a fruit salad after. Me? Oh don't worry about me. I sat, I drooled, I drank 'THE JUICE'. I'm finding it fairly easy as long as I keep the pantry door shut and keep food out of my direct line of sight. I've heard the first three days are the hardest. I'm dead center into day 2 and am doing fine so far.

Have I discovered a new me? Have I found this elusive 'mental clarity' that I was promised? Well, not so much. I think one day wasn't enough to see the bountiful rewards of "THE CLEANSE." I'm still as spacey as I was last week. Last night, I took my shower. Been doing this for thirty-----something years. You would THINK I'd have this down by now right? Nope. I shaved ONE leg. Yep. Just one. *nodding* Apparently in my fog I either forgot to shave the other, or my subconscious thinks that shaving just one leg is good enough. It's a darn good thing no one touches them! (the legs)

I'm out, will try to check in again tomorrow.. see if we can't find that Mental Clarity buggar!

Just A Filler...

2008-10-19T14:44:00.004-06:00

So, here I am at home, taking the day 'OFF'. Things have been crazy hectic. oops brb Grey's Anatomy is back on! (Huge Thank-Yous to Jeff for programming my DVR for me!!) Ok, commercial. So I'm lounging on the couch after what could have been the WORST night I've had in a long time! My joints were all swollen and sore, my skin hurt, I had cold sweats and chills all night and a HORRIBLE headache. Lying in bed HURT. I had NO idea what was happening to me. I tossed and turned all night long and had to keep my window open to let the 35 degree air in to keep me cool. LAST NIGHT SUCCCCCCCCCCKED! I woke up feeling a bit better today and am thinking (hoping) that it was a side effect of the flu shot I got on Friday. I do not recall asking the doc to pick up that BIG ASS LONG needle and spew a live mini flu into my arm that would completely wipe my ass out! Grrrrr. Grey's is back on, hang tight. Okay. Anyway, I woke up this morning to start my first day of the "Master Cleanse." My cousin told me about this 'cleanse' that makes you feel SO much better by ridding your body of all the poisons we've been ingesting for the past thirty----something years. Supposedly after this 10 day cleanse I will have more energy and mental clarity which lets face it, I NEED! I've been in a FOG for the past week and need a bit of clarity in my life! So, no food at all for 10 days. Just a ton of a magical lemonade drink made of bottled water, fresh squeezed lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper. Yeah, you're drooling now right? *eye roll* I figure it's only for 10 days, I can do it. I hope!

Here is a sweet little photo I took the other night, after Ashli so generously created a portrait of me. She worked VERY hard on this portrait and I think she did a MARVELOUS job! I can even see the resemblence? Can't you? Okay, I'm going back to my Grey's! Have a good one all.

Pee.. Shots.. Snakes.. Fall.. and Cars. I've had 'THAT' day again!

2008-10-17T19:29:00.012-06:00

Catchy title huh? I didn't have the foggiest idea as to how to better title this entry. What a DAY! I decided that rather than posting 4 separate blog posts about today, I'll just jumble it all up in post and you can bounce around just like my day did!

*lucky you*

My day started with a cancelled therapy session and an impromptu trip to the doctor's office. Of course, since Gregg was home sleeping I got to bring my littles with me =o) Always fun. We were in the waiting room, children playing behind the fishtank in the children's area when I hear Ashli pipe up, "Mom. I have to pee." I asked her if she could hold it for just a moment until we were called into the back, and she politely answered yes and went back to her toy. Within ohhhhhhhhhh say... 10 seconds she looks back at me and says, "NO!" and proceeds to have her very first accident in better than a year. Yeah. Peed all over her jeans, her socks, her shoes.. I wanted to die. I had no other clothes for her to wear and I couldn't very well strip my 4 year old naked for the duration of our trip. I couldn't run out the door because I needed to see the doctor. So, being as creative as I possibly could, I hid my two precious angels behind the fish tank and stripped Ashli from the waste down. Then, since my teeny little peanut can still fit into 2T pants, I promptly put Mason's jeans onto Ashli, and put Ashli's things into a plastic bag. Then, they call my name. Here I come out from behind the fish tank into a room FULL of people. I have one child wearing a sweater, diaper, socks and shoes and my other little one is wearing a sweater, pants and no socks and shoes. Can you even IMAGINE the looks I got? Oh it was awful! The only things that could have (and did) make that appt worse was Ashli happily announcing to EVERYONE who passed us that she isn't wearing shoes because she PEED IN THEM, and we rounded out the appt with a nice.. painful flu shot. yay.

*I have no photos of this... Thank Goodness!*

The doc kept me in the office a little longer than I had planned so when we finally got out we had to FLY home to dress my two naked kids and then get Ashli to her pre-school field trip at the Morrison Nature Center here in Aurora. We've been talking up the field trip all week and she was REALLY looking forward to it. We got their only 5 minutes late (thanks to mom flying 90 the whole way) and Ashli went right in and sat with the rest of her class and watched the puppet show. These people really put on a great puppet show! They spoke all about the local animals and taught the kids what is and is not safe when out in 'nature'. Ashli even got to pet her first snake! She was VERY excited. This was a 3 year old Bull Snake. These things are EVERYWHERE here.

See? Snake. No fear. I KNEW where it was!

*see post below*

After the puppet show and snake petting, we all lined up to go on a beautiful walk through the nature center. The class walked ahead with the teachers and tour guide while I and one of the other kid's daddies stayed behind with our Canon Rebels taking in the scenery and the colors!

I got this sweet little picture of Ashli when her class was lining up on a small dock overlooking a beaver pond. Somehow, this sweet smile and that sweet voice can make any bad day all better again. She's something else.

A little about LOVE... *and threats*

I have SO much going on in my life with Mason, Ashli, therapy, the house, the dogs, scrapbooking, Scrap N' Art, and industry related stuff that sometimes Momma needs a break! Momma gets it in her car...

My little Hummer is like my third child. I LOVE MY CAR. Honestly, truly flat out LOVE my car. It's going on one year now that i've had my little angel and I got to thinking today, you know how when something is 'new' in your life you can't seem to get enough of it? You crave it even? Yeah, that is how I was when I got my car, but this is also how I still feel about it. He (my car) still gives me goosebumps every now and then. And when the sun hits him just right I can still feel the butterflies in my tummy.

SOMEBODY... *coughgreggcough* has begun "Threatening" my baby. Due to rising fuel prices and a crappy economy SOMEBODY... *coughgreggcough* thinks that I should give up the Hummer and go for a more modest and fuel efficient vehicle... *snort* Uhm.. NO. I don't want an Xterra. I don't want a Toyota Toaster Box. No thank you. I love MY car. I am fully aware that I am single handedly destroying the Earth with my 'Not-so-green-car'. And I'm OKAY with that! I have learned recently that once you find that certain something that makes you happy, and can still give you goosebumps on your arms and butterflies in your tummy after all this time..

you hold on to it. You fight for it. You don't let it go.

In honor of my 'FIGHT' for my car - I present... The Sticker. A custom creation by Dee Gilcrease at AJ's Engraving in Kellogg, Idaho. Contact - dee@ajengraving.com.

THIS STICKER RAWKS! It took me a while to put it on the car... as I

didn't want to offend anyone.

But now? Who flippin' CARES? This is my car.

I have a sense of fricken humor!

If you don't like it, Don't Look.

*As a side note*

Don't think I don't see you people CRACKING UP in my rear view mirror!

One last little tidbit for ya... If you read my previous "Fall Post" about the snakes. Well I wanted to photograph my car overlooking the lake and to do so had to find some pretty creative ways of getting him (the car) where I needed him. No biggy, he's a Hummer. He was BUILT for this. We drove out to the middle of this field and I hopped out to take some pics. I squatted down for a shot and I heard it. *Rattle, Rattle, Rattle* NO SHIT!?!?!? A RATTLE SNAKE! Let me just tell you one little thing, I didn't even look to see where that sucker was, I HIGH TAILED it back to the car and only kept watch of the ground I was about to hit. So, no Wen.. NO PICTURES! MAN I hate when those things just 'POP UP' on ya! GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

But, the great shots of my baby were worth it!

Finally... Fall, and that DAMN voice again!

2008-10-13T21:37:00.007-06:00

The fog has lifted!

This morning I decided to try to get some photos for the photography challenge's "Colors of the Season" challenge. If you will recall from a previous post, we've been fogged in for half a week making outdoor photography impossible. Anyway, Mason and I dropped Ashli off at school and headed to a little spot about five minutes from my house to see about getting a few decent photos. So, Helen and Wen, here are my Fall photos for the challenge. I couldn't pick a favorite, so you ladies choose whichever you like for the challenge. I'm good.

(Keep reading to hear about my day.. and that damn voice again grrr!)

So, do any of you remember my post a while back about "THE VOICE?" click the link to get caught up. (Go ahead, I'll wait...) The voice pops in and out every now and then, reminding me that it's still around and yes I, for the most part am still ignoring it.

I parked my car when we got to the spot I had chosen. I grabbed my camera bag, my keys and glanced at my cell phone sitting on my console.

"Take your phone," said the voice.

"No, I don't think so. I don't need it." I said in my head.

"You REALLY need to take your phone," said the voice.

I rolled my eyes, left the phone and got out of the car. I grabbed Mason and double checked my back pocket for my keys. I closed the door and Mason and I went for our hike.

We had lots of fun running, playing and taking un-posed photos. It was a really nice break from the every day work and therapies!

WOOPS! Mason was crawling along the top of a rocky (teeny) waterfall and he fell into the Icky mud! Didn't bother him one bit.. he's a boy, he LIKES mud!

He is such a beauty isn't he? Everything is new and exciting to him and I thoroughly enjoy re-learning how magnificent the world around us really is with him. To see the same ol' same ol' through his new eyes is an like experiencing the world all over and I cherish these times.

We were doing really well until I looked down and saw a snake slither across my baby's shoe! Now, I have to interject myself here and let it be known that I do really like snakes. I DO! I've caught wild snakes in my yard, I've hugged them, kissed them, wrapped them up around my torso and kept them warm beneath my jacket. My point? I dig snakes! But I have learned with my past few interactions with them that I only like snakes when I know where they are. I turn into a shreaky, cootie-covered 'girl' when they just SHOW UP out of nowhere! This is NOT good for my "cool points". Anyway, I see a snake slither across my baby's shoe and I freaked out. It wasn't my proudest moment and I'm sure I scared Mason to death. I snatched him up off the ground and froze. From where I stood I began staring frantically at the ground. Without moving, I saw three different snakes within a 3 foot radius of where I was. Ya wanna talk about heebie-jeebies? Yeah, it was time to GO! We packed it up and headed back to the car. At which point I discover that I HAVE NO KEYS! WHERE THE HELL ARE MY KEYS?! I know I double checked when I got out of the car, I had them when we began our hike. I double and triple check my pockets, my camera bag, my son, under the car, you name it. I looked three times. They weren't there.

"Told ya to get your phone, now you're screwed," I hear the voice say.

I ignore the voice. I know it's right.... again.

I start scanning all of the buildings in the parking lot for where I might be able to use a phone. I have NO idea what time it is (clock is on the phone... in the car). I had no idea if it was time to pick Ashli up from school or not, I had no phone, no car and I was in trouble! I could ask someone to use their phone but who would I call? Gregg is at home asleep with the ringers turned off. He'd never hear the phone. I thought to call Stacey, but then remembered in a horrifying realization that I don't know ANY ONE'S phone number! I, like many of you have all my numbers programmed into my phone (which is... in the car) and I don't know any one's number by heart. CRAP!

I could call Triple A, but what would they do? Break into my car? Fine, but I'd still have no keys to start it. I could feel the blood rushing to my head as I did the only thing I could think to do. Put my camera backpack over my shoulders, pick up Mason and go RUNNING back through the fields and trees trying to retrace every single step of the mile-long hike Mason and I had taken. Begging and praying the whole time for God to just take me to my keys.

With the 10lb camera bag, and the 30lb two year old, I was getting tired and a tad bit cranky. I was frantically searching for a glimmer of metal in the grass when out of the corner of my eye I see something move. I turn around quickly with just enough time to see a GOLDEN EAGLE flying not 20 feet from me going from his nesting box to a near-by tree branch. My jaw DROPPED! How could such an enormous bird fly so silently through so many trees? It was beautiful! And this time, I had my camera!

But... I had no keys and I had a little girl in pre-school. I had no TIME to dig out my camera and go hunting down the eagle.

The voice - "Tee Hee"

Me - "GROWL!"

After what seemed like an eternity, I saw it. That faint glimmer of shining metal hiding in the tall reeds next to the creek.

THANK GOD!!!!!!!!

I grabbed up my keys and BOLTED for the car. Sweating profusely in this balmy 40 degree weather, I turn the car on to see that I still have an hour before Ashli is to be picked up. *whew!*

I ran home, to put Mason down for his nap before going to get Ashli. Here is where I begin to lose it (I think). My 'voice' was trying to talk to me on the way home and I was in NO MOOD to talk! I could hear this VOICE trying to tell me that it is only trying to help me blah blah blah.

I turned the radio up louder to drown out the annoying voice.

When I pulled up to the house and turned the radio off, I hear it again!

"I'm only trying to help, honest!"

At this point I actually AUDIBLY yelled at the voice! I grabbed my camera bag, and Mason and yelled out, "I'M LEAVING MY PURSE IN THE CAR!"

Why did I yell that to.. no one? Because I'm losing it. Of course it's idiotic to leave one's purse in the car. My mom would shoot me if she knew, but in my own little world this was my way of having the last word. Putting my foot down and overriding the opinion of my VERY NOISY conscious (the voice).

The voice had finally gotten to me and I was rebelling. I've now missed TWO photo opportunities for an Eagle, because I don't listen to this voice. I am now audibly speaking (yelling) to this voice. Would you think this is the beginning stages of Skitzophrenia?

I'll just end this post, with the news that I lost my keys two more times today. Once while hauling pumpkins (yes pumpkins) in a wheelbarrow.

It was just THAT kind of day.

Finding Mason...

2008-10-12T12:33:00.012-06:00

When I speak to people about how my son Mason gets "lost" sometimes. I am usually given a half blank stare followed by the same old question.. "What do you mean Mason gets lost?" Or, "What do you mean you lose him?" Getting lost is not a technical term relating to Autism, rather it is my way of describing a very real symptom. I managed to capture Mason's journey in some really poor quality photos this morning and would like to help you understand what I mean when I say, "Mason was lost," or "we lost him."

I walked into my kitchen this morning to find Mason standing on a chair staring blankly at nothing. The technical term here is perseveration. This is when a child get's "stuck" on something, or in Mason's case it would seem that he gets stuck "somewhere." I like to explain it as Mason has gone into "Mason's world" where things are normal for him. Where he can more easily digest a complicated and over-stimulating world. At any rate, I saw that Mason was lost when I came into the kitchen this morning and reached for my camera to try to document with photos my journey into his world, and his travel back to ours.

This is Mason... lost. He wasn't staring at me, his is how I found him when I came into the kitchen. I know he is lost, because he does not 'snap out of it' or even so much as blink when I repeatedly call his name. He was in "Mason's World" internally. Externally, he was staring at nothing. I stepped in front of him, to put myself in his direct line of sight and began my journey into his world.

We have been working for a year now, on finding Mason when he gets lost. The episodes happen less and less frequently these days. Usually, no more than a few times a day and he is relatively easy to pull out of it. A year ago.. this was his constant. It was all but impossible to pull him out.

I start by positioning myself in his direct line of sight, and I sing. I vary my pitch, my facial expressions, the words and sounds. I move slowly within his line of sight. I sing songs that I have made up for Mason. Songs that I know he enjoys and that make him smile. I clap my hands and make clicking sounds with my tongue. I touch his face gently to let him know that I am here.

His softened facial expression lets me know that he is not so deep into his world as he was when I first began my journey. He is hearing, feeling and possibly even seeing me. I have made contact with him, on his terms, in his world. Now, I have to gently pull him back to ours. This may seem like a silly routine. Silly to speak of luring Mason back with songs and such. But this is a part of Autism, and of what works for us. A big part. The more time Mason spends in his world, the less likely he is to want to be a part of ours. It is necessary that we be vigilant in keeping Mason here.. with us.

I continue with my songs, my soft and welcoming smiles and my gentle caresses. I decide to test Mason.. to see if he is progressing in his journey back with me. I move slightly out of direct line of sight. His eyes shift toward me. He is now definitely seeing me, and I have gained his attention. The songs have worked again. *tears* He is following me with his gaze. I keep on with the songs gently until I am sure he is comfortable in MY world. I continue until I know he is okay here and will not regress back into "Mason's World." It only takes a few seconds and I know...

I got him. He's okay.

Colors of Fall?

2008-10-12T12:09:00.010-06:00

This week's challenge on the Photo Challenge Blog is to photograph the 'Colors of the Season.' I've been patient for three days now.. waiting to see some of those amazing Fall colors that we normally see in Colorado. As luck would have it, a fog vaguely reminiscent of something you'd see in a Stephen King movie decended upon my town as the challenge was issued and I can't even see the ROAD, let alone the COLOR! I'm waiting and watching for one of those hideous 3 foot long mosquito looking things to slam into one of my windows! (Stephen King movie). Yes, the fog is bad!

I took this photo around Noon today off of my back patio.

In a true effort to snuff the fog, Ashli and I decided to make some Fall Colored Food!

We pulled her "helper's chair" over to the island and set forth on our mission to create whole wheat pumpkin, raisin, walnut muffins. (From scratch!)

Ashli was a VERY big help!

YUMM! They came out super moist, and the perfect pumpkin color!

Why stop there? We're in the ZONE! So we decide to make some coconut macaroons. Those of you who know me know that I am a firm believer that cocunut should be it's own food group!

Ashli proved to be invaluable with the mixer while Momma was getting Pumpkin Muffins out of the oven =o)

She only whined about her arms getting tired once!

Mmmmm not too bad for my first attempt. Perfectly light, moist and oooooooooh so coconutty!

Definitely a great way to waste a foggy fall day!

I caulk... therefore I ROCK!

2008-10-10T20:51:00.002-06:00

Catchy eh?

I have been a caulking FOOL the past couple of weeks. Caulking/painting the chair rails in Ashli's room, caulking the bathrooms, and finally, caulking and painting the shelves for Ashli's room today. While I think i'm a handy sort of girl, I am in no way some contracting master. I don't even know if I am using the caulk gun (or caulk) the right way! But let me just take you to CAULK school for a breif moment. Have you ever cut off the tip of a caulk bottle? The crap explodes out of the tube with ferver! If you don't slam a paper towel over the tip ASAP you'll lose half the bottle all over the floor. And WHAT a PITA to clean up! It smears goo all over the place and if you don't get it cleaned up while it's wet, you'll NEVER get it out! Speaking of "Goo," after you squirt the stuff on the tub, or shelf or whatever, you have to squish it into place with your finger and spread... fun huh? Not so much. So, I was perusing the caulk isle at Home Depot a while back (yep, they have a caulk isle) and I saw this little yellow finger looking thingy called a 'DAP CAP' It is basically a paper towel replacer and a finger all in one! YAY! It keeps the goo in when you want it in, and after you lay down your bead of caulk, you can use the other end to squish! LOVE IT! Now, I can caulk all over the place and I don't leave a nasty white bead of goo all over the house, nor is the icky stuff all over my fingers! So ladies, get out there and show your husband/boyfriend/dad/other significant male in your life that you can ROCK THE CAULK too. LMAO corny huh? Can you tell I'm like SO High on my new found capability?

Don't look at my post like you're on the wrong blog.. LOL Caulking really gives everything a nice, finished, clean look. And it's super easy! Get thee to Home Depot and get to caulking your baseboards ladies! Next week? We're installing SHELVING (for your scrapbook supplies!)

Did a little Scrappin'

2008-10-10T15:59:00.004-06:00

A WEEK AGO! Gosh, I'm so behind with everything! I completed this layout nearly two weeks ago and just haven't had time to photograph and upload it.

The camera was lying all by its itty-bitty lonesome on the counter today begging me to pick it up and DO something with it, so I figured I'd get some of my work photographed and uploaded to it's appropriate places. =o) It's been a productive day! Work is photographed, I have participated in manual labor around my house (i'll tell the story in an upcoming post), my children are clean and fed and I have two seconds to post my new layout while the chicken for my Chicken Enchiladas is 'poaching'. Now, I have a silly question and if any of you happen to have the answer to this, please let me know. Why do they call it "poaching" Why don't they save me a lot of time and research and just say "BOIL THE DAMN CHICKEN?"

Anyway, here's that layout I was talking about - I used some awesome cut papers from Pink Paislee, some Primas and a Fancy Pants overlay =o) TFL

Stacey & Curtis

2008-09-29T22:00:00.008-06:00

These are some photos from a shoot we did today for Stacey and Curtis. I really do like how some of these came out~ Hope they like them too!

YAWN Good Morning!

2008-09-26T21:53:00.003-06:00

I'm a few days late.. but better late than never right? LAST WEEK'S challenge on The Photo Challenge Blog was to photograph your morning... Yeah. My mornings are hectic, so I took my camera to bed with me and decided I would photograph the very first thing I saw when I opened my eyes. Welcome to my bedroom, welcome to my morning---

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Sorry for the iffy quality. I don't know what has happened! Either, ME or my camera forgot how to take photos. I'm betting it's prolly me! =o(

Matani vs The Pool!

2008-09-14T21:04:00.004-06:00

Here's a layout I did last night of Matani's pool escapades this summer. He took on the pool... and he won. In about 2 hours. The pool had to be thrown away it was thrashed so badly!

I used the new Black Market Paper Society papers on this one, as well as some magic mesh, and some Basic Grey rubz. I wanted to give it that 'wet' look, so I dribbled diamond glaze all over the grungeboard splashes (thank you Tim Holtz!), and left 'water droplets' all over the page. It looks like the page is soaking wet, until you touch it! Cool effect!

~K~

Just a few Odds & Ends...

2008-09-14T20:55:00.005-06:00

Pretty cool huh!? I've been wanting to get a decent 'MOON' shot since I got my zoom lens. I've been so busy with the house, the kids, the... the... the that I never got it. UNTIL TONIGHT! It seemed so close tonight, and the zoom helped even more! Thank the Lord for tripods and remote controls! YAY!

And... here's one of the Wonder Spaz. I noticed that Photo Challenge this week is animals too... maybe they'll let me back in with this one of Matani showing his goose who the BOSS is!?

First Deposit!!!!!!

2008-09-09T22:19:00.002-06:00

Thanks to friends, family, caring scrapbookers and of course to My Acrylic Album, we were able to make the very first donation on behalf of Mason Puzzle to Autism Speaks!! We have created a tribute page for Mason and Mason's Puzzle. Through this page, we are able to keep track of the funds going to Autism Speaks in honor of my precious little man! Please take a moment to check out Mason's tribute page, and if you are able... please make a donation to Autism Speaks. No amount is too small!! Let's solve this puzzle, not only for Mason but for all children afflicted with Autism!
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Check out Mason's tribute page here: http://events.autismspeaks.org/tributes/masonspuzzle

STOP INTERNET PREDATORS!

2008-09-03T14:57:00.002-06:00

You owe it to your children who use computers to check this program out! This program will effectively reduce the chances that your child will give pertinent personal information to online predators!

A very dear friend of mine has come up with a personal safety computer program which can prohibit your children from accidentally giving out personally identifying information via computer to online predators (or anyone for that matter!) This program monitors your child's internet activity, can be customized to suit your specific needs and will give you reports of your child's activities if your child tries to type in 'prohibited' information.

You've probably all seen the Dateline specials on T.V. about online predators and sex offenders, and how prevalent they are in our computers. They prey on our children in the safety of their own homes. This program stops these animals from getting any information you don't want them to have! I so very strongly urge ALL of you with children to go to www.blockoutgoing.com and check out this very inexpensive program. It just might save your child, or a child you know. And by all means, please let your friends and family know of this invaluable program!

Just a few photos from the house...

2008-08-31T21:55:00.006-06:00

The house we bought has been sitting empty for at least one year, maybe more. The grass was dead, we weren't sure we'd be able to bring it back, but so far it's coming along! We have four trees in our front yard. One is DEFINITELY dead, one is definitely alive. The other two are really questionable. So off we went to the Nursery this week to pick out our new tree. This is a big deal for us, we love our plants and trees and buying a new tree is like welcoming a new family member! After MUCH deliberation and searching, we found our perfect addition! He's an English Oak tree. Slow growing and very very strong. We love him and can't wait for him to grow along with our family! (no.. let me re-phrase, he can grow UP with Ashli and Mason, we are NOT growing our family!)

Here is Gregg planting the new Oak, while Ashli supervises.

Guess who I walked in on "helping" me to paint Ashli's room? Yeah.. that was a heart-stopping moment! A two-year-old with a loaded PURPLE paint brush in my new house! YIKES!

I'm in heaven.. I found RUB-ONS for WALLS! YAY!!!!!!!!! You scrapper people know what I mean! These are Vinyl rub ons from www.vinylwallart.com. These were the PERFECT addition to Ashli's new room! She loves her flowers!

This is Ashli's room (unfinished). I spent this week painting it the colors that Ashli chose. The darker purple on the bottom and the lilac on top. We're waiting for daddy to pull it all together with a beautiful chair rail to separate the two colors. Then, I have to paint a book case and add a few little things and her room will be complete!

Here's the back yard. I think I took these photos two days after we moved in. We had NO fence and let me tell you.. with "Matani, The Wonder Spaz" living in this house, we NEEDED a fence! Not to even mention what a pain in the butt it was to leash up both dogs to take them outside every hour or two! Thank GOD I have a very handy husband who was equally motivated to get that fence up ASAP! (I did help.. quite a bit too!)

Another view of the backyard. Don't I have such lovely weeds? The yard had never been landscaped, so that is our NEXT big project! YIPPEE! More trees!

And yet, another view of the back yard. This one shows the little deck we have off the dining room.

Here is my honey building our peace of mind. (And my sanity).

You know I had to throw in a shot of Mason's amazing smile! *sigh* I love that boy!
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More photos to come, SOON hopefully!

From A Dear Friend...

2008-08-31T21:49:00.003-06:00

Many of you who read my blog know my dear friend Paulien Van den Bosch, of Castricum Holland. This woman is a card making PHENOM! HOLY COW her work is so unbelievably GORGEOUS! She just finished giving classes in the Netherlands to more than 100 people on how to make cards like 'SHE' does! Anyway, my beautiful friend sent me this gorgeous card for my birthday and I just had to share it! It's STUNNING! Thank you Honey! I LOVE IT!!!

Found a few minutes to SCRAAAAAAAAAAAP!

2008-08-31T21:37:00.003-06:00

I snuck down to my little craft-room / office in the middle of the night (okay, it was 10:00. But at my age, that IS the middle of the night!) to get in a little bit of scrap-time. It felt good to get back to the hobby that I love and actually PLAY with some paper!

This is Ashli and her first Snowman. The journaling here reads:

" I just love this photo of you with your first snow man! Oh how you loved him. You, daddy & the Smiths worked on him all morning and your "imagigation" brought him to life. In your eyes he was alive, and you loved him. It broke your heart when he melted, but he will always live in you!!"
A big thank you to my dear friend Tracey Jackson, from whom I stole the lacing idea! Her layouts are REALLY fantastic!

Here is a layout I've been trying to get done since FEBRUARY. (I'm a tad bit behind) This layout documents Matani's travel from Johannesburg, South Africa to the United States. It's just a fun little collage full of memorabilia from his memorable journey. The tassels on this layout were made by Eco-Africa , A company who employs women in a small village in Zimbabwe to create hand made paper crafting papers, kits and other stuff. All proceeds go to help these women feed their families.
Look for a complete feature on Eco-Africa in the March/April issue of Scrap N' Art!

Wanna know what'll freak ya out?

2008-08-24T21:10:00.005-06:00

So today, I am lazily going about putting laundry away and tidying up the house. No biggy right? Right. I walk into my bathroom to toss a loofa into the shower and turn back around to leave.. but I stop. Had I just seen... something outside the bathroom window? No.. No, it couldn't have been. I turn around slowly and gaze out my bathroom window. And just WHAT to my wondering eyes should appear?
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A FRIGGIN' TORNADO! (No, I am not kidding. Who could possibly make this crap up?)
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Yep folks, there was a TORNADO outside my window. I sat and stared at it for about a minute while trying to collect my thoughts and come to terms with what I thought I was seeing, when Gregg came in and says, "whatcha lookin' at?" I tell him that I'm not sure... but I think it's a tornado. He comes over and peeks out the window and sure enough... it's a tornado! "Go get your camera!" he says. Not, go get the kids.. go turn on the news.. no. "Go get the camera!" LOL! So I of course go turn on the news to see what is going on, as we had received no warning. The sirens never went off and sure enough there is a tornado warning in our area and a tornado currently on the ground (duh!). Being as the tornado was moving away from us, I thought it was safe to go ahead and grab my camera, but by the time I got all the way down to my scrap-room, unpacked the camera and got back up to my bathroom the tornado was dissipating and returning to the clouds. (Of course). So, here are the shots I did catch of it before it finally disappeared. You can click on the photos to make them larger if ya wanna.

This first shot shows the funnel going back up.

funnel going back up...

funnel going back up, and the view from my bathroom LOL!

The End!

WE'RE IN!

2008-08-23T21:02:00.003-06:00

Gosh it's been a long time huh? We finally got moved into our new place two weeks ago. It's been CRAZY trying to unpack, get settled, build a fence, do the window coverings, keep up with therapies 4-5 days a week, keep up with Scrap N' Art and with My Acrylic Album and *attempt* to keep my sanity!

So here we are! All moved in, no photos on the computer yet *GASP!* But I'll get to it as soon as I can! Maybe tomorrow? I don't have any plans tomorrow other than staying in my Jammies ALL DAY LONG! LOL~

Anyway, just wanted to post an update and let everyone know we're all alive! I hope to be able to start posting regularly again soon!

Big hugs!
~K~

Mason's Puzzle makes it to ENGLAND!

2008-08-23T20:58:00.002-06:00

Thank you to my very dear friend Tracey, who has brought Mason's Puzzle to England.

Check out the link below to see the store display for Paper Paradise, in England!

http://tj-runningwithscissors.blogspot.com/2008/08/masons-puzzle.html

Just a little update...

2008-08-02T20:36:00.002-06:00

Well, our house is STILL under contract. No one has backed out *yet*! We did manage to get our other house 'back', but in order to do so had to move the closing date up to the 8th! This seriously gave us less than 2 weeks to get ready to get out! I'm not going to count my chickens before they hatch this time, but if all goes as planned, we sign off on this house and sign ON to our next house on Friday the 8th, and Saturday is moving day!

We have been terribly busy with house hunting (up to 50+ properties in 4 days), Mason's therapies and various inspections and appraisals all over the place. Did I mention.. all of this with psycho dog? LOL! I only say that because he's right next to me mutilating his squeaky sea-horse! Anyhow, I'm hoping that by Sept. 1st our lives will be SOMEWHAT back to normal, whatever THAT is!

We have LOTS to do at the new house (landscaping, furniture and window coverings.. etc) so I may be off and on sporatically for a while!

Hope everyone is doing well!

~K~

Some Pics.. Some News!

2008-07-17T20:21:00.004-06:00

My daylillies are up! YAY! Just in time for me to get one last photo before we move! (Hopefully). Our house is back under contract with a NEW set of buyers! So, again.. we have 30 days to find a new house and get out! We are trying desperately to get the house we had under contract back in May... but we are having to fight another buyer for it! UGH!!! Hopefully we'll know something soon. We've seen all the other homes in this area and they all pretty much SUCKED. So.. keep our fingers crossed!

This is a baby American Kestrel (Thanks HB!) There are three babes and a mommy (see a few posts below). They have made my yard home for the past few days and enjoy sitting on my back fence! I got my camera out, DOUBLE CHECKED MY ISO and popped off a few shots. This little angel who has only been out of the nest for about 1-2 weeks let me get to within 5 feet or so of him. I just loved this shot!

Here is a dragonfly that I found hanging out on my raspberry bushes while I was Kestrel hunting. I tried to get some great shots of it's face as I am convinced it was giving me some pretty strange looks, but every one of them came out blurry! Ah well, i'm trying my best to find those bugs Wen!

Fill 'er Up!

2008-07-10T21:44:00.004-06:00

This week's challenge on the photo blog is to fill your frame, OR make your subject the focus. I'm reeeeeeeeeeeeally good at that one! So here are a couple from today!

I FOUND A BUG!!!!

Here ya go Wen, not nearly as good as YOUR grasshopper shot, but at least I flippin FOUND one! I was tempted to give him a leaf to eat.. just to see if I could get the 'money shot' No such luck! LOL

Here is my attempt to fill the frame with the beautiful storm clouds that were hanging over the house today!

This little beauty is the center of an Orchid... Her name is Sally.

(It's an Ashli thing)

Here is "Sally" again, after a little misting (spoiling)

This is Sally, in all her beautiful glory. MAN! These plants are just stunning!

It's Mah POOCH!

2008-07-10T21:31:00.003-06:00

There's mah boy! And his.. uhhmmm, errrr Tree? Gregg got so tired of Matani chewing on our bushes and trees that he just lopped a limb off and gave it to him! It's his new favorite toy!

Oh yeah.. notice that pink blob in his right eye? Yeah, I rushed him to the vet Monday morning (Thanks Stacey!) because I thought he had poked his eye with a stick (I don't know WHAT would make me think that...) Turns out his third eyelid (yes.. dogs have 3 eyelids. How alienish eh?) prolapsed. He has a "cherry eye" Purely cosmetic, won't cause him any harm and will cost about $600.00 to tuck back in with no guarantee that it won't prolapse again.

ughhhh

I have finally accepted the fact that my dog has a lazy eye. I was in doubt (denial) until this photo series. Now I'm convinced.. poor thing. I can't tell if he's looking at me or the kids!

OR BOTH!

*stop laughing, it's not funny* Do you think he likes his tree? Good grief, I couldn't get him to let it go!

Here he is "hovering" over it. Like I'm going to take it from him and start chewing on it!

Finally! A photo with no stick in his mouth! It is however, right beside him....

Eh, at least he likes it!

Ohhhhh a new Raptor moves into the 'hood!

2008-07-07T23:08:00.005-06:00

My yard is a varitable playground for all things wild. We've had raccoons, rabbits, snakes, birds, bugs, squirrels, mice, Matani, and I'm pretty sure a coyote even!

We have a Red Tailed Hawk who has frequented our yard on NUMEROUS occasions. He would sit on our fence and lay in wait for some hungry little bird to hit up the neighbors birdfeeder.

Stealthy killer my ass! They are AMBUSH predators! But hey, I guess it's a bird-eat-bird world out there and ya gotta do what ya gotta do right?

Anyway, we haven't seen our Red Tailed Hawk in probably six months or more. Today I was outside with the kids and heard a squawking unlike anything I'd ever heard before! I ran outside and saw THIS little momma on the fence and ran back to get my ZOOM lens! Gregg and I have seen the chicks (three of them) in a neighbor's driveway and we could NOT figure out what kind of bird it was.. all we knew was that they were baby raptors of some sort, we are kind of thinking she may be some breed of Falcon? Well, the babies are flying now (and screaming very loudly) for their momma! The babes were up on the neighbor's roof and mom was on the fence.

I couldn't for the life of me figure out why her babies were screaming, and why SHE wasn't moving... until.......

She pulled this tasty treasure off the fence picket. YUM!

Have I mentioned that these beautiful birds of prey (sabotage killers) like to catch, pluck and eat these things in my garden? It's pretty gross! But, she IS pretty! Anyone know what she is?

I think I'll call her SPIKE.

An after-thought. I just realized when I blew these photos up and wondered WHY they were so grainy, that I had left my ISO at 800 after the firework show.

blah!

I hope she comes back!

2008-07-06T22:04:00.002-06:00

I know it's not a great shot. I almost deleted it, but then I stopped... and started looking "into" the photo. You know? Matani is a little Crack Dog (See Matani's pool post below). He is hyper, only listens about half the time, is rambunctious and very VERY BIG! He's a true "puppy"... in a really big body. Somedays I want to send him back, others I love him to pieces. But one thing I've noticed about this 8 month old puppy is, he IS where his children ARE. If they are out back, He is out back with them. He is ever watchful over them while they play.

So, while he snores something awful and has reeeeeeeeeeeeally bad gas, I am grateful for him because he is doing exactly what we bought him to do.

Love and Protect our precious babies.

Okay, Okay Okay!!!!!! GUESS WHO'S IN A BIG-BOY BED!!?!?!??!

YESSSSSSS!!!! Mason!!!

After promptly bailing out of his crib in a rebelious leap inspired by insomnia (or it could have been a toy.. who knows), I decided it was time to turn Mason's crib into a toddler bed. Everyone had mixed feelings about this, citing that Mason wasn't "Mature" enough to handle being in a big boy bed. Well, "mature" or not, we didn't need a 2-year old with a broken leg...

Most little ones on the Autism Spectrum do NOT tolerate change very well. Mason, thankfully is NOT that kid! WAHOOOOO! He loved his new bed and hasn't had ONE single issue since we changed it around. That's "MY" boy!

Oh, and please disregard that big nasty bruise on his head. It's been a mainstay since Mason began to walk. I have no clue why it seems that "I" have got the CLUTZIEST kids on the PLANET!

I have this very same shot, of Ashli when she was about 14-15 months old. It was always one of my favorites! When I saw Mason looking out at the rain today, I bolted for my camera! There is something so pure and innocent about a baby gazing out into the storm....

oooooooh Feel That!

2008-07-05T22:13:00.001-06:00

This week's challenge on the Photography Challenge Blog was TEXTURE. So, I thought... Trees have lotsa texture! Off I went. Here's what I got!

Happy "Pretendence" Day!!!

2008-07-05T14:31:00.005-06:00

In the words of my darling 4 year old - "Happy Pretendence Day Everyone!"

Me, Ashli, Mason, Stacey, Brayden, Victoria and Calista all piled up and headed for the firework show at about 8 o'clock. On the way, I saw this great sunset and had to jump out for a quick pic!

Here are a few of the firework photos I shot. I still need some practice on firework shots, but all in all i'm pretty happy with how they came out!

The Grand Finale! And boy, did they do it up RIGHT!

Then, we pack it up.. clean up the spilled Razzle Juice all over the back of my Hummer (not a good thing), and promptly spend about 45 minutes trying to get home in firework traffic~

Ahhhh to be Free!!!!!!!

Help Us Solve Mason's Puzzle!

2008-06-30T11:28:00.003-06:00

(RE-POST)

See Below for new Blog Posts

It is estimated today that 1 in every 150 children is diagnosed with Autism. That number is increasing by 10-17% each year, making it more common than childhood cancer, juvenile diabetes, and pediatric AIDS combined. As of today the cause of Autism is unknown and there is no known cure. Krissy Mosbarger and My Acrylic Album have designed this forward thinking, beautifully crafted acrylic puzzle to help raise awareness of this catastrophic condition that is silencing our sons and daughters. For every puzzle album sold, a portion of the proceeds will go directly to autism research via http://www.autismspeaks.org/. We invite you to contribute to the fight to find a cure for this rapidly growing epidemic by purchasing one of our exclusive acrylic puzzle albums. Thanks in advance to each and every one of you for helping to find a cure for my son and the countless other children who suffer from this disorder.

This fabulous one-of a-kind acrylic puzzle album takes project versatility further than any other acrylic album on the market! Our 6" x 6" puzzle album comes complete with (4) 6" interlocking puzzle pieces pre-drilled to be ring bound for use as a 6" puzzle album, or, this album can be "pieced" together to form a 12" x 12" scrapbook page or piece of home decor! The pre-drilled holes are arranged perfectly for showcasing this piece of art right on your wall! Our 8" x 8" album boasts the very same versatile qualities as our 6" puzzle with a lot more room to create! This 8" puzzle album pieced together creates a whopping 16" x 16" piece of wall art to showcase your beautiful paper crafting project! Not into mini albums? Not ready to venture into wall-hangings? This puzzle is the perfect medium for your group's puzzle swaps, or ATCs! The very BEST part of our one-of-a-kind puzzle album, is the benefits of buying it. Portions of each and every "Mason's Puzzle" sold will be sent directly to AutismSpeaks.org to further their research in finding a cure for Autism.
Each album comes with (4) pre-drilled puzzle pieces and (1) metal binding ring.
http://myacrylicalbum.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=22 <~ This link will take you directly to the Mason's Puzzle page! (Please feel free to send this blog link to ANY AND ALL of your scrapbooking friends! Lets smear these awesome albums all over the scrapping community and really push to find a cause and cure for this horrible disorder!)

With warmest hugs, Krissy Mosbarger

"OOOOOOOOOOH DAISY-DAISY!"

2008-06-29T22:46:00.003-06:00

Yeah.. there's a story here. And a CUTE one too! My grandmother has this little thing she says whenever she drops something, or a baby falls... etc. She always says, "WHOOPS-A-DAISY". Well, Ashli spent a little time with her Granny while learning to crawl and walk and she of course picked up this little "whoops-a-daisy" saying. Only, Ashli didn't say it quite right... Or, maybe she did. *smile* Whenever Ashli would fall down or drop something, she would always say, "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOH Daisy - Daisy!" with a little southern twang in her voice. It was THE CUTEST thing you ever did hear! Okay, so YOU didn't hear it, I did... but just trust me! It was cute!

Anyway, my neighbor has some beautiful Daisies growing in his front yard and I asked to take Ashli over for a little photo session so I could create a scrapbook layout. These are some of the photos I got today. (Thank you Mr & Mrs Smith!)

Heeheehee, yes... they said it was okay for Ashli to pick a flower! They LOVE this girl, they'd give her ALL the flowers if she asked!

Just some Pretties I found...

2008-06-29T22:43:00.003-06:00

Here's another 'reflection' photo from last week's challenge!

It's an ADDICTION!

2008-06-29T22:32:00.002-06:00

This week's photo challenge, is to photograph FOOD. Well, this is more like 'pureed food' but it's my sustenance nontheless. I could LIVE off of Razzle-Juice! For those of you not "in-the-know" - Razzle-Juice is what Ashli calls the Razzmataz. It's my $5.00 slurpee from Jamba Juice. Not only am I addicted to these things, but Ashli is now as well. It's at least ONCE every two days that I hear that sweet little voice pipe up and say, "Hey Mom, can we go get a Razzle-Juice today?" "Yes baby, of COURSE we can!" It's gotten so bad for us, that Gregg has actually said NO to a house I wanted to look at because it was, "too far from Jamba Juice!"

Help us Solve Mason's Puzzle!

2008-06-26T23:24:00.011-06:00

Krissy Mosbarger and My Acrylic Album have designed this forward thinking, beautifully crafted acrylic puzzle to help raise awareness of this catastrophic condition that is silencing our sons and daughters. For every puzzle album sold, a portion of the proceeds will go directly to autism research via http://www.autismspeaks.org/. We invite you to contribute to the fight to find a cure for this rapidly growing epidemic by purchasing one of our exclusive acrylic puzzle albums.

Thanks in advance to each and every one of you for helping to find a cure for my son and the countless other children who suffer from this disorder.

Each album comes with (4) pre-drilled puzzle pieces and (1) metal binding ring.

http://myacrylicalbum.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=22 <~ This link will take you directly to the Mason's Puzzle page!

(Please feel free to send this blog link to ANY AND ALL of your scrapbooking friends! Lets smear these awesome albums all over the scrapping community and really push to find a cause and cure for this horrible disorder!)

With warmest hugs,
Krissy Mosbarger

Reflections... continued

2008-06-25T22:34:00.002-06:00

Soooooo we went to the park the other day, after getting a tip from Karin that there really IS water in Colorado! You just have to DRIVE 20 miles to FIND SOME! Anyway, I loaded up the littles and we headed off to Wash Park to practice a little reflection photography. I really didn't get too many decent shots as there were "storm clouds a-looming" (as Ashli would say)! But, I did manage to get a couple to share with ya'll! Thanks for the tip Karin, it's a fab park!

A Day At The Park...

2008-06-25T22:17:00.004-06:00

While we were at the park having fun and practicing my 'reflection photography' I got some fun shots of the kids, the critters, and the scenery~

Ashli LOVED this beautiful old climbing tree that had ginormous branches that hung over the water's edge! And MOMMA loved the fantastic photo opps!

We were lucky enough to have Mason's Occupational Therapist (Mike) meet us at the park for a little O/T! Mason LOVED the slide routine and even counted ONE, TWO... THREEEEEEEEEEEEE! Before he raced down the slide! YAY!

OH OH OH! Framing shot! LOL~

I am not sure WHAT kind of wierd funk this poor tree had going on, but it looked REALLY COOL!

Hhahahaha, I love this photo of this curious Goose! I handed ashli a loaf of bread and let her try her hand at feeding the ducks. Within a matter of .08 seconds we must have had every duck, goose and gosling at the park chasing us down! This little guy was just as interested in my camera, as I was in him! Too funny!

After we ran for dear life from the starving mob of 30 pound geese, we happened across this little fellow who was just soooooooo cute we HAD to give him a few bites!

Oh to stop and smell (shove a macro lens into) the flowers! This park had great flower gardens with lots of beautiful blooms! (Thanks Karin!)

Here's our little squirrel friend (or Tree Rat, as daddy calls them) having a little bite to eat - courtesy of Ashli.

Here's another fantastic photo of Ashli curled up on that old climbing tree again!

All in all, I think it was a great day! Sure there were clouds making it difficult to capture any 'outstanding' photos. But the kids and I had a really good time, and all the critters at the park had full tummies!

Reflections...

2008-06-22T21:34:00.003-06:00

This week's photo challenge, was 'reflections'. I was so hoping to be able to get to a lake, or pond... or even PUDDLE for crying out loud, but it was a big fat NO-GO. Too much going on around here between therapies, dentists (oy-vey!), and even an emergency trip to the Veterinarian! (Borris will be okay thank goodness!)

So, here is my best reflection photo. Mason's reflection in the refrigerator, as he is sitting on the dishwasher door! Hmmm you think he's dishwasher safe? LOL!

A cute wittle wabbit!

2008-06-16T21:58:00.005-06:00

I really do LOVE my yard. EVERY SINGLE DAY I can count on having at least one (sometimes up to six) little cotton-tail rabbit taking a rest in my lush green lawn. Sure, he may nibble here and there, but they have never in 6.5 harmed my yard. So they can STAY! Besides, I get to have cute little bunny rabbits, and I don't have to feed them OR clean up after them!
SCORE!
I went outside today and played "Jane Goodall" of the rabbits to get these shots. This precious little angel let me get to within about 3 feet of him, and was so comfortable that he actually groomed himself with me there~ No, I don't speak bug (Wendy does that!) But I may know a few words in cotton-tail!

hehehe this is how they 'hide'. Everytime we see the bunnies hunched down like this, we feel as though they are saying, "they can't see me, they can't see me, they can't see me!"

A little grooming to let me know, he's okay with me being there!

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-16T21:55:00.003-06:00

This was the kids' HAPPY DADDY'S DAY gift to Gregg. It's a 12x12" garden stepping stone with their footprints laid in, and the flowers were created using stained glass squished into the stone (cement). All in all? I think daddy loved it!

5 More...

2008-06-16T21:51:00.002-06:00

So, i'm trying my darndest to look for "fives" for the photo challenge. Here are two more FIVES that I came up with yesteday!

Five rocks. I didn't put them there, I found them there! Darn Kids!

I know, I'm back-tracking here, but I did happen to find FIVE of the most precious piggies in the world! What a lucky girl I am!