more camping I lost count...

Here is Tim with his marshmallow creation!

and Abby through the fire!

The gangs all here!


The beautiful meadow on the way out on route 66! Those are horses out there

The fun in the car on the way home! Max likes to hide he is also not above covering both of their mouths at the same time when they just won't keep their mouths shut!

CAmping part III

Camping part II

After the injury was behind us, the girls cooked on! Here is Molly stirring it up!


The best part of dinner was the clean up crew! Look at all these Dads! They conquered all the large pots and dishes at the tap! We were all sure to take lots of pictures of it!


His shirts says it all! Max was a happy camper!

He was even a happier camper when he got to get into the MARSHMALLOWS!



Here we are fire side, Sandra, me and Kim...ironically all wearing a bit of 3 Day stuff! I have walked a lot of miles with this two, figuratively and literally!

We Survived Family Camp Part I

We loeft town Friday afternoon which if you live in the Phoenix area you know if it is cooler up north there is a traffic jam to high tail it out of town! We had a nice slow creep over the bridge from the 101 to the 17. We could have walked faster! We finally get moving and get up to the top of the mesa at sunset point and the sky looked like this!



When we got just past the point the rain began, not goo news for TENT campers! I tried to stay positive and just said well it will be more of an adventure, Jim was not as sure of that! We arrived at camp and our good friends where there ready with laterns and a helping hand and we got the tent up in no time! We managed to stay dry all night wiht out any leaks it rained most of the night!

This is Max enjoying a drink in front of Ben and Hollys tent...ain't he so cute!


The "boys" were very concerned about what THEY would do all day while the girls worked on thier badges. Very early they decided they would try to start a fire...this kept them busy ALL day and into the night! Since they were working with well soaked wood and pinecones we all felt fairly safe that a fire was never going to happen in thier ring at least!


Here is Mike ironically helping Abby cut up a cucumber, after her turn Holly took one, and cut her finger pretty well! It took awile to get the bleeding under control but thankfully she was fine.

Here she is with Abby flashing me "the finger" yes the irony was not lost on a bunch of 4th and 5th graders!

Gathering

This week has been about gathering...
First was a gathering of friends at my house for a candle party. It had a Christmas in July theme and it was lots if fun. Abby and Holly even made Christmas cooking the day before with it, with lots of frosting and red and green sprinkles. They were yummy!
Then the real gathering began, see we are going camping this weekend with Abbys girl scout troop. It is family camp so the whole fam is going it should be fun! The gathering here is the gathering of STUFF! I got into the camping gear figured out what we needed to take and started gathering it together, now we don't ave a garage and no other place to really gather things for trips. To make matter worse Tim and Abby were with Tom his whole week I had to pack for them too. All this stuff is on the table and the love seat. I know if drives everyone crazy but I can't leave it to the last minute and no one else seems to like to plan ahead like I do, so they have to live with it.
Jim has still not packed, I left a few things on the bed this morning as suggestions of what he might want to bring. I am sure most of the ride will consist of did you your bring this or that and why I did or didn't....but that's how it goes. I will drive and hopefully they will all fall asleep on the way and it will be a pleasant trip!
I am sure I will have lots of pictures to share on Monday!

The cirlce of life!

There is a great circle of life when it comes to kids clothes... or maybe is karma a good case of what goes around comes around...

Take a look at these beauties...

They were part of the last bag or two of clothes that I got from Patty...see those plaid shirts right in the middle those were Tim's. That bag even had the shirt he wore for his first pictures at preschool. You see Patty's son Trevor is just a little younger than Abby and he is the benefactor of anything Tim has out grown since...well preschool. This was before JT and Max were ever even born, who knew that these clothes would live on the way they have! The stories they could tell! So there they go from Tim to Trevor to his little brother JT and back to Max... it is like a trip down memory lane when I get a bag from her.
There is always a mix of newer items things her boys got along the way and my favorite things are the things that were Tim's..

Some have even made a new life as decor in Max's room. His room has a surf "beachy" theme and so I hung some of the Hawaiian shirts from a shelf above his bed and even dressed some teddy bears in them!

Then there is this great pile! You see Abby is near the top of the food chain we don't really know anyone who is bigger than her Kaitlyn, Patty's daughter was the closest but Abby has pretty much bridged any gap there was there. Abby's clothes have their own path, Bridget is the primary benefactor of Abby's clothes, some go to Holly a few here and there, they get around!

Recently my good friend Christine had her niece unexpectedly come to stay with her. She needed clothes! Well I knew just what to do, since I had already given her the last load of Abby's stuff and her niece is a tiny little thing, I sent out an e-mail to my wonderful friends who have been dropping clothes off to my house ever since! That is where this pile is from. See all the pretty pinks and purples.

Christine is thankful for the clothes and Gina, Patty and Kate are happy to have helped out and have cleaner closets in their girls room so it is what we like to call a WIN WIN!

p.s. I had the pleasure of helping Christine out at Bridget's birthday party tonight and I brought her the additonal bags and when I got home there were even more bags! Tami got the message and a wonderful backpack and shoes and more clothes were there! I am truly blessed by my friends! You all are amazing!

All Star update...

Well the boys had a tough weekend and lost all 3 games. It was way to hot to be playing ball, heck it was too hot to even be watching it!
They put up a good effort! It would have been a really long summer if they had moved up!
So now we can spend the rest of the summer just having fun and looking forward to family camp with the Brownies in a few weeks! I for one can't wait to get out of the heat!

Grace...

Grace, it's the name for a girl

It's also a thought that changed the world



......




What once was hurt

What once was friction

What left a mark

No longer stings

Because Grace makes beauty

Out of ugly things

Grace makes beauty

out of ugly things ...U2







Do you ever have days where you feel like this?



I have had a few days like this! I have been sick as a DOG! Can't get out of bed let the kids run wild (if they are screaming they are still alive, right?) kind of sick... I missed work, I still feel yucky, BUT today is a BIG day! Tim made the All Star team and it is their first game! Sick or not that is where I needed and wanted to be!



Here he is in action! The was the staring pitcher tonight! How could a baseball loving mom miss that!


Or these beauties!


It was a long game! It was only 103 so it shouldn't have been too bad but being feverish still it was bad, but I made it through the game! The boys lost 4-7, They play one tomorrow, I hope for a better game.

Okay well what does that all have to do with GRACE?

Literally from Websters it is..



Main Entry:
1 grace
Pronunciation: \ˈgrās\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French,

from Latin gratia favor, charm, thanks, from gratus pleasing, grateful; akin to



It also happens to be Abby's middle name and the name of one of my favorite great aunts.



You see it is by grace that I was able to go to the game tonight

It is grace that has helped Tim to not beat himself up when his team loses

It is grace that makes me think even on those days when things seem really bad, well the grace turns things around....I like the idea of Grace, it is unconditional, unlike Karma, which is do good so good can be re payed to you, Grace is just there. Like a good friend it is always there. I like the idea it is like doing good things even when you know no one is looking because it feels good!



We were graced tonight with a beautiful summer rain! Rain in the Desert is awe inspiring every time I see it! The smell is amazing and all is right in the world! Here is our Saguaro in our front yard, soaking up the rain!









Grace, it's the name for a girl




It's also a thought that changed the world... u2

Grace to you!

Here it is...

Look over there---->
It is a link to my ESTY store!
Isn't it neat! Just click on it and you will see my pretty little aprons!

Okay so here is the BIG News!

Aprons by Amy...
That's it! I have been making some Aprons it has been fun so much fun I decided to sell them! Keep your eyes and ears open, they will hopefully debut this week! I have set up a shop on ETSY and I just need to take some pictures and post them!
I am really excited to see what you all think of them! So far my family has been my critic and my good friend Sandra had a sneak peak! Max seems to want more with a train motif and has enjoyed playing with my sewing machine and running through the house with spools of thread, Abby has been modeling them for me and Tim well he could really care less by that is an almost 11 year old boy!
Jim likes them, I think he likes the excitement I show towards them and calls them gitchy a word he often uses when referring to me and my style weather it is clothes or how I like to decorate the house it is always gitchy which I know I have then reach the point of it looks like me! I hope you all will enjoy them too!
STAY TUNED!