Category: Raves

MISSION Potty Training: COMPLETE

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I am so behind on this post! After almost three weeks, I’m calling it official, B is potty trained.

It all started back during spring break earlier this month when a friend at school said they could do a play date later in the week because they would be potty training in the early part. It dawned on me that spring break would be a great time to try (again) to potty train. Ali (friend not sister although I mix up their emails constantly) suggested that we give the girls an incentive; if they could get the potty training down enough to venture out, then we would have a  Big Girls Wear Undies Tea Party at their house.

It worked like a dream. I think B was finally ready and with some new puppies-wearing-crowns undies, we were ready to roll. Using the “set the timer and every 20 minutes, we pee” strategy, we had success! By Thursday, she was taking care of business mostly by herself and we had only had 1 accident so we were off to the tea party! B got to bring her real china tea set from her friend Joyce, which she was thrilled to share. Ali had apple juice and even a plate of cucumbers, crackers and cheese for the girls to snack on – it was adorable. Estella and her sister Addy greeted us at the door in their favorite princess dresses and were quick to rush B off to pick out one for herself. In addition to tea, they made butterfly wands and princess crowns to accessorize their looks. It was a sweet reward for such hard work!

Rain Rain Come Again – Soon!

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All last week there was much talk of a big storm that was coming…but much like Jimmy, I never really believe what the weather girl is saying. Especially around here – each time rain is predicted, it keeps getting moved to the next day, and the next day, and the next day until it disappears all together. Baylor spent all day Saturday saying “it’s raining!! Yeah!!! Oh wait, just kidding”. I think the kid has seen more Mickey Mouse Clubhouse than rainy days. Now that I type that, I know it’s a fact.

Well Weather Girl didn’t disappoint this time. The rain came in huge down pours with hail and lots of wind. It was, in a word, awesome. I can’t remember the last time it rained…October? November? Either way it was way over due and thankfully it made up for being gone for so long.

The only down side is we, once again, have a leak in the garage. We get to start the whole story of flat roof + leaves + down pour = water build up under flashing and water on my car that is indoors. Arg. But after getting a little (a lot) ticked off, I became very grateful that it was the garage and there was only minor damage rather than in our house and or with major damage. See? The rain makes me happy AND an optimist!

DIY Cake Stands

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It’s Scottsdale Moms Blog day! Check out my post on DIY cake stands. They are ridiculously easy to make and the final product looks like it was far more work.

Wouldn’t this make a lovely housewarming, wedding or birthday gift? Go and see how easy this is – you could crank out 10 of them this weekend!

Planet Orange

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When I was in 5th grade, the Phoenix Suns were it. They had a winning season and were going into the play offs. Ali and I knew all the players and we watched all the games. We had Suns cups, Suns basketball and painted our nails purple and orange. And it wasn’t just us, the whole town was energized by the team – walls were painted with “Go Suns!”. Our catholic school allowed Suns shirts on game days – picture that: a purple, orange or purple and orange shirt with a blue and red plaid skirt. It was awesome. Charles Barkley still holds a special place in my heart to this day.

When we went to see George Strait at US Airways Center (which will always be America West Arena to me, just sayin), I told Peter I wanted to go to a Suns game. I can’t remember the last time I went to one, but it was at least 15 years ago (at least). Which means it’s about time. It happened that two weeks later, Peter’s firm sent out an email asking if anyone would like the firm’s seats for Monday night. PW snatched those tickets up faster than me at the Nordstrom half year going for the last pair of cute size 11 shoes (ok, 12. That urban legend that your feet grow when you have babies is true).

As we expertly snaked through downtown traffic (it helps to have a hubby who drives it every day) we kept looking at our parking pass, sure that we had passed the garage. We couldn’t really be parking AT the arena, could we? We pulled in, certain they were going to turn us away and the parking attendant handed us a piece of paper with a number. Huh? She told us to just pull up the ramp and hand it to the attendant up there. When we did, he instructed us to back up two spots where he then took out a cone from a reserved spot and waved us in. Like whoa. THIS is how I like to attend sporting events!

We proceeded to walk maybe 50 feet to the entrance of the loge level where we were given all you can drink and all you can eat bracelets and then escorted to our seats. Which were at the very front of the loge level, maybe 20 rows back from the court. A.MA.ZING. Not to mention the food was great, a waitress kept a steady flow of drinks AND the other two tickets went to an associate at the firm and his wife who we love.

Oh, and him? Yeah, that’s Tom Chambers. Like 5 feet from us. THAT’S how good these seats were!!

An Offer I Couldn’t Refuse

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This past weekend I became a Godmother (again!) to one Ms. Nicole-Maree Isabella. Nic’s momma and I go way back to my first years at Merkle. Donna worked in HR and was the one who sent me my offer letter. Then I trained her in data processing and eventually handed over clients as I moved into data base. And finally we worked on the same team in data base. It’s funny to see how our paths intertwined over the years!

Donna called me a few weeks ago and asked if I would be Nic’s godmother – something I (and she) consider to be a great honor. Sadly, the bank account didn’t quite allow for a family trip, and PW’s schedule didn’t quite work for a solo trip so I was a godmother by proxy. But proxy godmothers do send nice gifts so I she’s got that going for her 😉

Is she not the cutest thing? The headband was a gift from yours truly (however, I have to give Donna credit for the idea) and the dress was Donna’s. I love the tradition of wearing a family garment for baptisms!

Crafternoon

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Whew, we had a whirlwind weekend! Dad’s Pancake Breakfast at school, Zoe’s second birthday party and a lovely crafty get together with the ladies – or crafternoon. And that was just Saturday! More to come on the other events, but first, the crafting.

A friend from college and fellow Alpha Phi, Stephanie, hosted what she called Crafternoon. It was a small gathering with cocktails, snacks and 3 hours of uninterupted crafting time. It was, in a word, heaven. And something I would like to repeat often.

Once the supplies were out, I’m not sure we made eye contact until Teri got out the camera:

Because B  is always loosing hair clips, I’ve now stocked up on them until at least April…

Our lovely host Stephanie and Teri

Andrea and Kristin

Kristin and Moi

Thank you Teri for all the great pics!

Beautiful Bulbs

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Baylor and I found an Amaryllis bulb that was the biggest we’ve ever seen at Baker’s nursery. It was expensive, but one of the only one’s the had so we went for it. It bloomed this week and oh my goodness is it worth every penny.

Soooo ready to trim something…

Look at the size of that thing!

Diggin’

The final product!

And a mere four weeks later, we have this:

Six! Six blossoms all on the same stalk at the same time. I’ve grown these flowers for years and I’ve never had this many flowers!

Pinterest in Action

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I found these lovely little appetizers on Pinterest and made them last weekend for a dinner party. The picture doesn’t show the final product, which was drizzled in olive oil and balsamic reduction, but it does the little beauties justice. In addition to adorable, they are delicious! Little basil leaves wrapped around mozzarella balls and grape tomatoes…bite sized caprese salad!

Oh, and I made the cake plate – more on that in a later post 😉

 

Gettin’ Strait

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Friday night we joined good friends Ryan and Lisa for dinner and the George Strait concert. It was the second time I’ve seen him and it’s honestly one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to. The man may be getting older, but man can he still entertain! He hit all of my favorites; Run, Blue Clear Sky, The Chair and Amarillo by Morning – a favorite of both PW and I. We especially like that we have been in Amarillo, in the morning while listening to Amarillo by Morning.  We’re nerds, we know.

The Iphone did not capture just how good our seats were…

I think the best part about George is he plays a ton of old stuff with a few new songs – so the result is a lost voice from singing along all night. We also had fantastic club level seats thanks to Ryan. Although when PW is enjoying himself, he is all. over. the. place in those rolling chairs…

I think my favorite was the encore. He opened with Fireman and then did a 10 minute long rendition of Folsom Prison Blues.  It was really amazing.

The last time I saw him was about 7 years ago. My entire family was there and we had a box. PW was still in law school and completely annoyed because we kept calling him and singing to him despite the 2 hour time change. The best part was Mame was there and being a life long George fan, she was in heaven. And a little drunk. Which made for a lot  of screaming and cheering. It was hysterical. It didn’t quite feel the same without her this time.

When we were kids, my favorite songs was All My Ex’s Live in Texas and  (which we heard on Friday). The reason it was my favorite was because I thought it was about tic tac toe – like x’s and o’s. I would always ask Mame “Where do the O’s live?”. Her response varied from trying to explain that it wasn’t about tic tac toe to just responding “Tennessee – where his hat lives”. I was also a little baffled why he sang a song about Ocean Front Property in Arizona when we didn’t have an ocean. It was then that she would explain that there used to be an ocean, but not any more. Because trying to explain sarcasm to a 3 year old is just too much work … as I am learning myself.