My First Blog Carnival Post to the Family of Life Carnival This week I finally remembered to submit my first post about,"What makes Grandmothers so special." This weeks host are Hsien & Kerri of Play Library. Deadline for submissions is Sunday, October 1st, time TBA. For more info on submitting a post or hosting a future carnival edition, please visit Kailani of The Pink Diary. Here's last week's Carnival of Family Life #20, which was hosted by Be A Good Dad. Stop by and check out all the fantastic family-related posts.

Friday Funny! The 8th Dwarf has been found! My husband took this pic of the baby, and it was just too cute not to share! Look at those dimples and all those teeth!

Everyone have a great weekend!

Appetizer

What is your favorite herb or spice?

Cinnamon in my coffee .

Soup

Name a song you like but haven't heard in a long time.

On the Radio by Donna Summer

Salad

If you were to take just one minute to write down as many things as you can think of that you need (not want) to do, approximately how many things would there be?

For tomorrow, I need to get the bills ready for the first, of course dishes and laundry, my son's insulin pump needs to be changed. Get breakfast and lunches ready, get 3 kids dressed. Run them all to school. Come back, clean and sweep the floors, and clean the bathrooms.Then I run to the nurses at noon for my son at lunch. Come back get the girls down for naps, by then I'm completely exhausted. Some days I do grocery shopping, but I'd get the kids from school, help with homework, get dinner ready. After dinner a trip to the park, give them all baths, read bedtime stories, and then it's goodnight to them. Get ready to do it all again tomorrow!

Main Course

Tell something interesting about one of your family members (nothing scandalous, please, just something unique).

Other than both my husband and son are Type 1 Diabetics, my oldest daughter plays the violin very well.

Dessert

What's the latest you've ever stayed awake?

I worked a back-to-back shift more than once at a resort hotel in CA.I got off around 2am, went out with friends, came home showered and changed to be back to work at 6am, so no sleep, until after my shift around 2 or 3pm.

To participate in Friday's Feast go here.

Since blogger is being difficult today with comments and visiting everyone today, I'm just putting the finishing touches in this Autumn design. There are a few things I need to fix , but I love the colors!

For my Thursday Thirteen this week, #21

13 Famous Proverbs

1.)A book is like a garden carried in the pocket. ~Arab Proverb

2.)A broken hand works, but not a broken heart. ~Persian Proverb

3.)A thorn defends the rose, harming only those who would steal the blossom.~ Chinese proverb

4.)Deal with the faults of others as gently as with your own.~ Chinese Proverb

5.)Fortune is a woman; if you neglect her today do not expect to regain her tomorrow.~ French Proverb

6.)God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers. ~Jewish Proverb

7.)He who has once burnt his mouth always blows his soup. ~German Proverb

8.)The light heart lives long.~ Irish Proverb

9.)The road to a friend's house is never long. ~Danish proverb

10.)The world is a rose: smell it and pass it on to your friends.~ Persian Proverb

11.)To be rich is not everything, but it certainly helps. ~Yiddish Proverb

12.)To deny all, is to confess all. ~Spanish Proverb

13.)Yesterday is but a dream, tomorrow is but a vision. But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness, and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore, to This Day.~ Sanskrit Proverb

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here! The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Wordless Wednesday -Where I'd rather be!

Wanna play? Get the Wordless Wednesday Blogroll Here!

Have you caught your kids doing something good this week? This weekend, I caught glimpses of my son trying so hard to be good, you could see the mischeif in his eyes. He knew it was hard work being good, at least for him. Don't get me wrong, he's a great kid, but he's just learning a behavior that doesn't come easy for him. I've been told I have the Patience of Job, but my son in that respect is quite the opposite. Let's just say he gets it from his Father. Saturday, my husband told him he'd take him bowling. If you tell my son something you better be prepared to keep your word. You better believe it. For the better part of Sunday morning, he couldn't stop asking to go bowling. My MIL had to remind him to be patient. He just nodded OK! It seemed like every half hour he was asking if we were going yet! I reminded him we were visiting family first, and that we would go bowling after. Finally, I just told him the next time he asks he wouldn't get to go, because he wasn't listening. That worked, and we left not too long after that. What caught my attention is the game of bowling? How is this related to being patient! My son loves to just go head first, no holding back, and gives everything he does all he's got. Which isn't a bad thing it can accomplish so much in the right way! With bowling, you have a lane next to you on either sides if you aren't on the end lanes. What my son had to do was before he bowled he had to stop, look both ways, and then continue having his fun knocking all the pins down. You could see him struggling with it. In a way too, he needed to be aware of who was around him and take his turn. Sometimes this comes easy to some people and children. My son's just learning that he needs to slow down be patient and wait his turn. He was so cute, because he knew what to do, and he wasn't frustrated, you could tell he was getting it, but it wasn't as easy as he'd liked it to be. Which means he just has to work at it, and it will come.

While I was enjoying catching up on reading everyone's post at Kailani's Carnival of Family Life, hosted by Be A Good Dad, this week, one post by Bonnie, really hit home. Before my son was diagonosed Type 1 Diabetic, some of you may know that my husband is also a Type 1, who in the 70's lived with a different type of treatment and diet than my son can enjoy now, because of the Technology available today. If it wasn't for my husband, and the knowledge of how to treat diabetes is so much better, I think things could be a whole lot worse. My concearn after reading Bonnie's post is Halloween time, and all the Chocolate and candy that come with it. I'll admit as a kid growing up, my brother and I would eat all the candy we could, on the verge of getting sick to our stomachs. I agree with her, I literally am so scared of what will happen this year. Last year was a nightmare. My son wasn't on the insulin pump, and so, it was a battle, to hide the candy, to keep him from sneaking it. Only limiting him one or two pieces of chocolate, how hard that was, with me knowing one more piece could send his normal blood sugar of under 200, skyrocketing to 500. Another reason, without the pump, if he couldn't wait until lunchtime, considering it an extra snack, meant an extra shot, which is not my option of choice, but that's the option I could give him, UNTIL I read Bonnie's post. Please stop by and read her wonderful post and in all honesty, even if my son was never a Type 1 Diabetic offering non-candy Treats for Halloween would be a wonderful option this year. Also, It's Pass The Torch Tuesday, stop by and visit Kelly, (she's moved) and read all the wonderful posts there about Catching Kids doing something Good.

Writing Collaboration at Crazy Hip Blog Mamas The ladies at Crazy Hip Blog Mamas are holding a writing collaboration (episode eight)! To participate, write a post on "The Best Part of Fall is....".Then email Crazy Hip Blog Mamas the link to your actual post(not the main blog page) to be included in the post on the CHBM site! All participating members will have a link to their entry. Questions? Go here for more information on the writing collaboration at Crazy Hip Blog Mamas. Not a member? Join Crazy Hip Blog Mamas today!

The Best Part of Fall is.....

Growing up in Southeren California, there wasn't much of a change to Fall. September was still HOT, and I knew it was Fall only because of Halloween and Thanksgiving.

Going to New England is one of my dream vacations. Not just to see the leaves change color, but for all the historical sites, and not to mention I'd love to go skiing in Vermont!

Back to the best part of Fall, I have a few memories that make Fall a really special time.

I'd mentioned before,that Halloween was great. My favorite Halloween memory, if I can find the picture, was of the year my brother and I took a picture with our dad all dressed up. Me as Strawberry Shortcake, my brother as Count Dracula, and my Dad as the Incredible Hulk.My dad had a fun night, scaring kids,and then making them laugh.

Once we moved to Albuquerque, this was the first time I'd seen leaves change color and it was gorgeous. Another thing happened, while I was sipping my coffee early in the morning, I witnessed one of the most amazing sights I'd ever seen.Hundreds of Hot Air Balloons were floating on air right past my apartment out in front of me. It was the first time I'd seen the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, we went a couple of years later, and I'd still like to go back and watch the night flights.

Here in AZ, there is a place that reminds me of Fall.

Oak Creek Canyon, in Sedona. The canyon is filled with Oak Trees and if you catch it just right, it's blazing with Red colors of Fall.

My all time Favorite thing to do for Fall is to take the kids to the Pumpkin Patch.

We've been to Schnepf Farm here in Queen Creek,AZ, and Youngs Farm in Dewey,AZ. I love to help the kids search for that perfect pumpkin.

Drinking hot chocolate, because Dewey's almost a mile high, and it gets pretty chilly. I almost feel like an impatient kid waiting until October, so I can run through a corn maze and eat apple fritters, while drinking hot chocolate and looking through a sea of orange to find a pumpkin.

Those are some of my favorite memories.

What are some of yours?

What started out to be a boring weekend of endless chores and cleaning, actually turned out pretty fun. One of my husband's aunts from CA who was coming out for a surprise visit, I wasn't quite sure if she'd make it or not, did in fact come out. She popped in my door around 3pm Sat afternoon with my husband's grandmother. I should name them Grandma Carol, and Aunt Renee. They invite me and my husband out for dinner, but my husband said just for me to go. We headed for Outback SteakHouse, home of the Bloomin' Onion. Yumm....! It really was a treat, because I've known Renee half my life, and have only been out to dinner with her sister my MIL, and her other older sister Kathy. I love it, because there are 6 sisters in all. A couple of them, includind Renee are considered black sheeps of the family, but I get along with her,Kathy and my MIL the best. Sat Night was movie night, so we didn't even have to rent movies this week, 50 First Dates, and POTC 1, was on TV ,and Sunday night we watched Forrest Gump. All movies we could watch over and over again, without getting Burned Out on. Sunday, I took the kids over to Grandma Carol's to visit Renee and Great-Grandpa Bill. He always gives the kids chocolate,ice cream or Oreo's when they come to visit. My MIL was there which was a surprise visit too, because she lives about an hour away and with the prices of gas hasn't come down to visit very often. It's kind of sad in a way, because our family is so close, and because of gas prices, how hard it makes it on some people. After visiting, Josh and Katelyn had their hearts set on bowling, so we went, and I signed Josh up for Fall League which started a couple weeks ago, but they still had room for one more. He's a natural. I know this may sound funny, but with bumpers, he still bowled a 110 with 2 Strikes and a spare. He has a passion for it. After he gets a strike he gets so excited he smiles from ear to ear. My 'lil girl on the other hand bowled one time, and said the ball was too heavy. That's OK, she's my little cheerleader/drama queen, I think she'd rather be in some type of Dance class. That's our weekend wrap up! How was your weekend?

Join

This week, while visiting my husband's grandmother, I snapped a shot of her Mandevilla.I just love it. Of course all the good blooms were at the very top! It's easily over 6 feet high. She's only had it a year, and it must like the heat, because it made it through the Summer.

Katrina at Callapidders Days has come up with a great idea for this fall. She's created the Fall Into Reading Challenge. She's asking us to come up with a list of books we'll read between September 23rd and December 21st. OK! I love to read.So, while I'm waiting in the car to pick my kids up from school,I'll pick up a book and read as well. I'd also like to read one book to each of the young ones, have my 6yr old help me read them, and have my oldest daughter choose one, so both of us can take turns reading outloud to each other.

HERE'S MY LIST

1.) Eleven on Top (A Stephanie Plum Novel) .If I like this one I might start at #1!

My Goal is to finish this in 6 wks, and

2.) The Christmas Angel ,

the last 6 wks. It doesn't come out until Oct. 6, so I'm pre-ordering it. It reminded me of , Gift

I love Thomas Kinkade's pictures, and I was looking for a good Holiday Book.

3.) Death on the Nile: Hercule Poirot Series .My oldest daughter loves everything that has to do with Egypt. I read this several times, a very long time ago. This book, I thought she'd enjoy a quick read with me, and she even requested I not SPOIL it for her.

4.) Stuart Little , If the kids like this one, I'll add

Charlotte's Web .

The Twelve Dancing Princesses ,for my 3yo daughter, and

Jack and the Beanstalk . I can't resist a good Fairy Tale, can you!

So come and join us! You might even find some new books to pick up and never put down!

*I just love Eleven on Top, Had me laughing from the beginning. I don't think I'll be able to put this one down!*

It's Emmy Time! Blog Emmy's! Mysterious Lady is hosting her FIRST quarterly Blog Emmy Awards! So stop by her site and vote! You have until Sunday 9pm.

Feast One Hundred & Twelve

Appetizer

Measured in minutes or hours, how much exercise have you had in the last week?

If chasing my children around the house, making bottles, taking care of a house, and driving the kids to all their activities not to mention I'm a cheerleader for them,

I'd say easily more than 6 hrs.

Soup

If you had to change your blog title to something else, what would it be?

I've always liked how Another Day In Paradise sounds!

Salad

Name one television show you watched when you were 9-12 years old.

Hard to pick only one. My all time Favorite Show would have to be Gilligan's Island.

Main Course

If someone gave you $50 to spend with the one condition that it had to be educational, what would you purchase?

Books for the children. You can never have too many!

Dessert

Do you tend to prefer dark colors, neutral shades, or lighter/pastel hues?

I look really good in Black or Navy blue, and another favorite color a Dk. rose or Mauve color.

More Great Places to Dine!

1.) Higher

2.)WideImagination

3.)Caylynn

4.)Wendy

5.)TC

6.)Ghost

7.)Grey

8.)PaperBack Writer

9.)Logtar

10.)Connie and Rob

11.)Deb

12.)Paxil Princess

13.)Kailani

14.) An Abundance of Blessings

For my Thursday Thirteen this week, #20

13 My Favorite Soft Rock Songs

1.) Air Supply-All Out Of Love 2.) Rick Springfield-Jessie's Girl

3.)REO Speedwagon-Keep On Loving You

4.) Robbie Dupree-Steal Away

5.) Jackson Browne-Somebody's Baby

6.)Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes-Up Where We Belong

7.)The Police-Every Breath You Take

8.)Lionel Richie & Diana Ross-Endless Love

9.) Foreigner-I Want to Know What Love Is

10.)Foreigner-Waiting For A Girl Like You

11.)Air Supply: Even The Nights Are Better

12.)Chicago-If you Leave Me Now

13.) Phil Collins-Take A Look At Me Now

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

1. Southeren Girl

2.) Chelle Y

3.)Cozy Reader-Jane

4.) Pass the Torch

5.)JAM

6.)Kailani

7.)Patchwork Anahata

8.)My 2 Cents

9.)Nat

10.)Blue Moon

11.) Brony

12.) TC

13.) Frances

14.) Momma K

15.)Lily

16.)Mar

17.)Amy

18.)Carmen

19.)Barbra

20.)Caylynn

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here! The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants After thinking about using Mr. Linky or not, I've decided that I will use Mr. Linky as a quick way to Visit Everyone. I've experienced difficulties in the past about leaving comments, If you leave a comment or if you email me in case of a difficulty, I will LINK you on my own. Be nice, if you LINK and RUN, I will delete your link from MR. LINKY!I'd love to hear from y'all, so feel free to email me your comments too! Everyone Have a Happy Thursday!!

Friend's Day Weds. #16

Here are 5 things I found today that brought a smile to my face, or that I would enjoy doing!

1.)I'm a true chocoholic, and these Chocolate Crumb Bars look really delish.

2.)I really liked these garden pics that Pamela from The Dust Can Wait posted.

3.)I found this post very interesting by Erica from Little Mummy.

4.)I'm wondering if my son will try This,

by Natalie from A little bit of this, and A little bit of that!

5.These pics from Guppyman are gorgeous.

After reading Kelly's post at Pass the Torch, really made me think. I've also been participating in Tricia's Green Thumb Sunday. You see my mother had a gorgeous garden, and I have pretty much a black thumb. Thinking back, it would have been cool for her to share her passion for growing things, but I think now, it was a type of therapy for her, where for me it just would mean another responsibility, to have to take care of. My kids on the other hand are getting curious at the new things I'm doing. Growing vegetables, and tending to my plants. My little one,actually enjoys helping me water them. My son helps me plant the seeds, and is so excited when he gets home from school to see his new baby plants grow. And my oldest likes helping me in setting the plants out in the garden.So in a sense what I thought would be more responsibility for me is actually a great way to pass on my passion and dream in sharing it with my kids, and having them help. Is there something that you enjoying doing with your children?

Even though we hit some rocky times this weekend, we enjoyed ourselves. Lunch with my MOM was nice. We ate at Olive Garden. Love the breadsticks. I was hoping for to order their Spinach Alfredo pasta, but because of the Spinach scare, they weren't serving it! The highlight of lunch of course was dessert. We shared a Raspberry Cheesecake with a chocolate crust! I love my mom to death, and I don't write to much about her, because I don't understand a couple things about her. For instance she didn't visit with us before or after lunch on the Saturday, she just came over to have lunch and left. She wasn't busy, she does this all the time. She's a wonderful grandmother, and yet it seems like she doesn't want to be around us. Some of it has to do with and I"m just assuming, which is one of my faults, but because I don't share her idea of going to church 4x a week, I feel she treats me differently, if I did go as much as her, she'd spend more time with us! This is just how I feel. After my mom left, my oldest and I went shopping for my niece's birthday present, which my SIL said she wanted a CowGirl hat. So we went and found a plain pink one, which while I took my son to his friend's birthday party, my daughter decorated it with rhinestones. She's always been very creative. Onto the adventure of finding my son's friends birthday party. It was at a PeterPiperPizza, and I just assumed (again, one of my faults) it was at the closest one to their school. From the beginning I should have called my husband to find the correct address of the one it was, but sometimes I just feel I can do it on my own, kind of like my husband and drive around for a couple hours before he listens to me and pulls over while I ask for directions. My son was on the verge of tears after an hour or so later we made it to the right one, and then he had a blast. He shared a piece of cake with me, and it's nice to spend some one-on-one quality time with him. Sunday morning I started getting this horrible headache. I think it had to do with, not knowing how my husband's kids would be. After getting all the kids ready, we made it to my SIL's right on time, his kids got there a few minutes after we did. My husband's family is one that loves to give hugs, I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but I also understand that there are families that this just isn't their thing. I personally like it just because I like to keep a ceartiain closeness to the ones I love. My husband's grandmother is one who went through a very bad childhood, and has been through a lot in her life. Understanding, that she can be a little cranky sometimes, I believe she's earned some respect in that she is a very thoughtful and giving person. My husband's son who just turned 18, in my opinion was very disrespectfull to her, and I thought I caught a glimpse of my husband who understood his son's meaning as being also disrespectfull. Both me and my husband were taught to be respectfull to our elders, teenagers or not. That was the only rocky part of the birthday party, the rest of the day was GREAT!! The kids had waterballoon fights, and my son and 3yo love my husband's kids, so they really liked spending time with them. Since my husband's son isn't going to college or working, and my husband is starting his woodworking business offered him to come and help him, which I thought was great! My neice loved her present, and all day the kids all got along. The most hilarious part of the day was watching my son try and do the Hula with a HULA-HOOP! And then my BIL trying to explain why girls are better than boys when it comes to doing a HULA! Thank God for that, because my son wouldn't make a very good Hula dancer! LOL!!

Everyone have a Great Monday!!

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I was so thrilled this morning when I walked out to the patio to enjoy my cup of coffee, when I looked at my Portulaca. It was aburst of colors. Besides the salmon color when I first bought it, there was a canary yellow, and a bright pink, but by the time I got around to taking a pic of it, the pink had faded. There were also blooms of white and a very pale yellow.

With fall coming, for the next week temps are coming under one hundred, so I actually could enjoy a little bit of gardening.

This wasn't one of my best pics, and I'm sorry it's a little blurred, but these little beauties brought a warm smile to my face.

Everyone have a great Sunday!

Imagine my surprise when I saw ERROR 500 message this morning!! My blog went MIA, which sucked. I thought it was gone. I'd backed up my posts on Wordpress. So just so everyone knows I don't plan on going anywhere just right now! This weekend is pretty hectic. I don't know what it is, but it seems like half my family is born in September. My Mother calls them New Years Babies....My mother's bithday was yesterday, so I'm taking her to lunch tomorrow. Then my son has a friend's birthday to go to, and Then on Sunday is my neice's 6th Birthday. My husband's kids will be there too, so I'll be sure and post a report on Monday how everything goes! My dad's was the 4th, my husband's grandmother and 2 of his aunts are all in the same week. Then it starts Oct 31-there are like 4 more.... What are your plans? Anything exciting this weekend! I'll take a nice quiet weekend, which I know this is not going to be one of those weekends! Everyone have a great one, and Take care!