It's not a train wreck.

 Quinn found this almost 50 year old train set in our garage.  Rick got it one year for his birthday from his dad and grandpa.  Apparently his dad and grandpa ended up playing with it because Rick was only 1 and wasn't interested. Now, all these years later, Quinn asked Rick to put it together.

He did, and it still works!  Even though the track is razor sharp and could potentially cut off a finger, it's still a great toy!

Serve it up.

I mean seriously, who thinks of these things?  I saw this cute little entertainer's helper this morning on my favorite show in the world, The Today Show.  It's called Serve it up.  It's made out of porcelain and has a suction cup on top so you can attach any plate to it making it a very unique cake/display stand.

I gotta get me one of these.  If anyone has used one, please let me know how your experience with it has been.  Because right now, I'm sold.

My feet hurt.

I am a master of copying other people's stuff.  Recently we went up to Prescott for my nephew's baptism.  His mom, my sister-in-law, had painted this wall treatment on her fireplace surround.  Then, I found out my other sister-in-law had just painted the same thing on her entry way and dining room.  I had to try it.  Below are the results.

It got quite wonky in places but the pattern is forgiving and hopefully only I can tell.

Climbing up and down the ladder to reach the 10 foot high walls kind of killed my feet, a lot.  I'm pretty sure my neck and back will never be the same.  Pretty sure.

But, it turned out nice and only cost me $3 for a special 1/4 inch paint brush from Hobby Lobby.  If I had been more patient, I could have found a coupon and gotten it even cheaper!  I used old paint that was gummy and dried almost before I could put it on the wall.  That wasn't fun.  I had grand ideas of going around the corner to the left of the picture over the den but once I got started, I nixed that crazy idea real fast!

Does anyone have a light?

Our built in microwave has this very well placed light on the top of the inside of the microwave.  It's burnt out and pretty impossible to figure out how to replace it.  I found the owner's manual for it but found nothing about how to replace its tiny light bulb.  So, I called the 800 number listed for guidance.  I was told that the built-in microwaves require a service repairman because it has to be pulled out and the fee to send one out is $179.00.  This is not even including the light bulb!  For that kind of money I'd rather get my entire home cleaned and car washed and waxed.

Cupcake Pop Heaven.

On Sunday night we celebrated 3 birthdays on the Tipton side.  This was the perfect occasion for me to try out these cupcake pops that I've been dying to try.  They're supposed to look like mini cupcakes, however, a friend told me to not go to the trouble so I didn't!

Through trial and error, I learned what to do and what NOT to do.  I think they turned out pretty cute and man did they taste fine!  Happy birthday to Tiffany, Adam and Jayden!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Honestly, what could be better than a July monsoon storm?

For weeks we've been having the threat of storms with little result.

A couple of nights ago we finally had victory,

a rain storm that lasted more than two minutes!

This is a view of the sky looking toward the Superstition Mountains.

I love them.

I love the summer monsoons.

There's nothing like them.

We're forcasted to have rain for the next week.

I say, "Bring it on!"

The smell of rain hitting the hot pavement brings me directly back to my childhood.

Watching the ginormous dark clouds roll in with rapturous thunder

and chatiotic lightenting makes me scared and excited at the same time.

Really, there's nothing better than an Arizona summer storm.

I gotta get me one of these.

What is this?

It's a Haan SV-60 Steam Vacuum.

I have a lot of tile in my home which isn't very fun to sweep and mop each week.

This will do both jobs at the same time.

See,

I'm actually saving time and my time is worth a lot to me.

So, in the end, I'd actually be saving money if I got one.

Agree?