Happy Birthday Linsdsay!!!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful sister Lindsay! I love you and hope you have a wonderful day. Maybe Mark could bathe the kids tonight and give you a well deserved break:)

First Day Of Shcool

Today was the first day of school for the kids and I am now sitting here all alone:( The school they are attending this year is brand new and we were able to tour the school and meet their teachers last Thursday. That was great because it made them less nervous about today. They road the bus and Vinnie and I met them at school to take pictures and make sure they got to their classes. Lola was excited to be in her new classroom and didn't even care about us leaving. She is such a big girl now and was totally ready for school! All the children have kids from church in their classes and are happy that they don't have to worry about making new friends. We'll see what they have to say about their day when they return home at 3:25.

My Table is Finished

Before

After

When I first started this blog I think I mentioned that I was in the process of refinishing our kitchen table. Well, it's finally done! Instead of buying a new table I thought I would save us some money by redoing our old one and I didn't think it would be to hard. Man, was I wrong! After sanding and de-glossing everything, it took 3-4 coats of stain to get it as dark as I wanted it. In the picture the table looks kind of black, but it's a very dark walnut. After all the staining, then I had to varnish every piece several times. Now I have to refinish my hutch to match. Next time I'm buying a new table!

Feeding Time

I know this is kind of gross, but our snake, Lickity Split, ate for us for the first time today. We have heard that Ball Pythons can sometimes be hard to feed and they need to be comfortable and happy with their surroundings before they will eat. Well, he must be happy because when I dangled the little mouse in front of him he didn't hesitate to snatch it right up. He was quick! I'm glad I had some distance from his mouth thanks to some tongs, or he could have accidentally grabbed my fingers. As you can see in the pictures he is in a plastic container and the reasoning for that is so he knows when he is in that container he will get food. This will help keep us from getting bit when we stick our hands into his terrarium. He won't mistake our hand for lunch.

Our New Pet

Here are some pictures of our new pet. He is a Ball Python and is about 23 inches long. Lola just loves him and named him "Lickity Split," because of his forked tongue. His full grown length will be about 48 inches, so not as big as some snakes get.

Sedona Trip

Weekend Getaway on a Whim

Yesterday around 10:00am we decided it would be fun to be spontaneous and do an overnight trip to somewhere. At first we wanted to drive down to Rockey Point, but all their hotel rooms were booked which was no big surprise being 4th of July weekend. Then we came up with taking a trip to Sedona and visiting the Out of Africa Wildlife Park. What a great choice! We had so much fun! Sedona was beautiful and the views from our balcony were spectacular! Lola didn't want to leave and asked if we could move into the hotel. We walked around in all the neat shops and had a good dinner before retiring for the night.

This morning we got ready early and checked out of our room and headed to the Out of Africa Wildlife Park. The park was amazing! We took a ride on this safari bus and were right next to the animals. We were able to feed the giraffes and a camel. The zebras were chasing our bus and there was an ostrich that would not leave us alone. We were able to see lions and tigers and bears. The only thing keeping them from eating us was a regular chain linked fence and the animals were literally one foot away from us. This place is unlike any zoo I have ever been to.

We were able to pet a huge python and a green anaconda. We also saw a show with the tigers call "Tiger Splash" where the tigers were playing with human trainers and jumping into a pool. We even got to hear the tigers roar at each other when they fought over some of the play toys. It was AWESOME!!! I definitely want to go back! We had a great weekend. I told Vinnie we should visit Tombstone next weekend, but I don't think he's going for it.

Out of Africa Wildlife Park

Out of all the pictures we took this weekend this is our favorite one.

Lola's WALL-E

Today we went to Sam's Club and Lola found this remote controlled WALL-E toy and had to have it. I figured it would be a good way to occupy some of her attention while the other kids are away.

Baby Blanket Resurrection

When I was growing up I had a blanket that was my absolute most favorite thing in the whole world! I had to sleep with it every night and could not live without it. I had this blanket up until my late teen years when an old boyfriend took it an decided not to give it back when we broke up. Since then I could not stop thinking of my blanket.

I started sewing blankets as a hobby and that's basically all I sew. I have made pajama pants and a dress but my main addiction is blankets with matching pillow cases. I have so many that I could probably start a business but I like to hoard them for myself and family. If there ever happens to be a freak blizzard in Arizona my family will be warm! All my family members know where to come if they need a special blanket or quilt made.

During this addiction of blanket making I became hooked on buying fabric on EBay. You get many more options for prints than in a fabric store. Then I noticed many listings were for vintage fabric and I started to think about my blanket again. Could I really find material just like my blanket? I searched through thousands of listings and came up empty. I did this for months until one day I found it! I was so excited! I placed my bid and waited. The fabric was less than a yard but I still wanted it! I thought for sure this fabric was mine until the very end I was outbid. I could not believe it! The fabric sold for $125.00. I cried and cried and cried.

After that experience I stopped my search for a while. Then one day I happened to try it again and there it was. The exact fabric only this time there were two yards of it. Wow, I could actually make something out of this fabric! So I cautiously waited to put in my bid. I waited until the end and was able to nab it for $28.00. What a steal!

So I've had the fabric for several years now and hadn't done anything to it but take it out and look at it once in a while. With Bailey and Todd visiting my family in California I thought it would be a good chance to do some of my projects and making my blanket was one of them. So here it is all finished. I'm happy to have my blanket back!