My Sore Back!!

 In Feb I started cleaning up the back yard. It was over taken in weeds, grass and leaves from our tree.  Our Chinaberry tree is a very messy tree. I hoed up the weeds around the tree and raked up the millions of leaves into a several huge piles. I never got around to cleaning up those piles. I finally got that done today. Brandon was HUGE help too. He raked and hauled and cut down weeds. His red wagon was put to use hauling the bags from one side of the yard to the other. Sadly, the wagon handle broke. We hope Daddy can fix it.

When we moved into this house, we were very concerned about this tree. The berries are highly toxic if ingested. Naturally, we were not worried about us, but we were worried about our dog. It has worked out. Newman has not bothered the tree at all. The tree went dormant over the winter and is now blooming. It is such a pretty tree and it smells WONDERFUL!! When it started blooming the flowers were purple. I wish I had taken a picture of that. Now they are white and  dark purple (they look black in the picture).  Again, this tree smells so sweet!  All the while I am cleaning up the berries and leaves I am singing the song "Just what makes this little old ant". It is going to be a never ending job just keeping the mess under some control.  I should have taken more before pictures. Believe me it was a huge mess. It is as cleaned up as it's every going to get, just in time for the rain the weekend. Ugh..

                                          The berries fall off constantly

I added about 6 more bags after I took this picture

Sorry Babe. We need more trash bags, a new rake (the handle broke)  and we need to make a run to the dump.  I need Tylenol and my heating pad. I never could have done this 38 lbs ago.. Yeah me!!

Level Four

Brandon has worked hard at learning his King's Kids Bible verses. He was very excited to get his award tonight, even though the picture I took does not reflect that. LOL.. He is at that age where picture posing is just not 'cool'.

T

My New Glasses.

My friend JoAnn asked for before and after pictures of my new glasses. Here they are.

BEFORE

                                                                         AFTER

Ha Ha Ha!!

These are Christie Brinkley frames. I put them on and I don't look like Christie Brinkley. I think I got ripped off :)

P.S. Before anyone asks.. No, they are not purple. they are gold and pink. WM didn't have any purple glasses. :(

From Green to Green Blue

I Smell Smoke

My hubby called me from work. He wanted to know what all the smoke was coming from our direction. It was thick where he was. I looked outside and saw this. It's a huge fire at one of the fields. It went all day long. Tribal pd had roads blocked off. I am not sure if it was a controlled burn or if it was a unplanned brush fire. I am hoping the local newspaper will tell us Friday. It was less than 2 miles from out house. I was thankful the wind was blowing it to the north of us. Most of these pictures were taking from my driveway.

****Update** Here is the news paper report BRUSH FIRE

Part Two (part one below)

After Peggy left we start preparing for my dad's visit. He arrived and after a day of rest we headed off on our traveling adventure. I was very excited to be able to travel with Dad and show him some more of AZ. Wednesday night Brandon threw up. He seemed fine Thursday morning so we continued on our trip. Half way into the trip our check engine light came on. We were heading to the Peoria area to meet up with a friend from our police days. After we had lunch with her and two other officers who surprised us at lunch, we headed to the Toyota. As we were waiting Brandon threw up on the sidewalk! We had no choice but to wait for the diagnosis on our car (which is fine-just needs some minor recall type repair). Brandon laid down on the table bench outside the dealership and ended up throwing up 3 more times. Sigh... Finally, we were off to our hotel (3 hours away). Brandon slept the whole time. He felt tired but better by the time we reached our hotel. Friday morning he was back to feeling fine again (just tired). A friend of ours, was 'in the area' came over and met us and spent the day at Tombstone. He is also the hubby and father and grandfather of my friend who visited us two weeks ago. It was such fun to see him again. We enjoyed catching up on things. We keep in touch via e mail frequently. Sometimes daily and hourly with my friend Peggy. But it's just not the same as being together :).Oh ya, Brandon threw up on the sidewalk of Tombstone too. LOL. By Friday night Brandon had broken out in a horrible rash on his stomach. After several cortisone cream applications and ice he was better by the next morning. I am sure he had a reaction to the harsh laundry soaps hotels use to wash the sheets with. I too will react the same way at times if the use bleach or granulated laundry soaps. Saturday we worked our way home. We did stop at Cabela's in Glendale and had lunch. Then we spent Sunday and Monday just relaxing. Dad had to go home on Tuesday. I really enjoyed our 'adventures". Brandon had problems Monday night again, but by Tuesday evening and today he is back to normal.

A Busy Few Weeks- Part One (See Part Two above)

The middle to end of Feb have busy. First Brandon was sick, then I was sick. I had strep and figure the week before, while Brandon was sick, he must have had the same. When I woke up with a nasty throat, I rushed to the Dr for meds. My dear friend was coming to visit and I didn't want to be contagious for them (some will understand the irony in that situation). LOL. Anyway, She arrived along with her two daughters and her little granddaughter. I had never met her granddaughter and she instantly captivated my heart. She was the sweetest little thing and it was not long before she became my buddy.

I am having trouble with the slide show in my Part Two.. I will work on it later.