Happy 100th AZ. "The Little Red School House"

 Right in the heart of "Old Town Scottsdale" is the "Little Red School House".  It was school house, library, City Hall, Justice Court etc. in the early 1900's.

 I brought "my youngest", who has his father's gift of masonry.  He had to do his own inspection ;). 

He approved

Things sure have changed since then.
Scottsdale's Public Library today.

I love the architectural detail of the bird.  It's the sun shining through a cut-out in a detail in the roof.

Thanks for coming along with me today Nate!

I will post more of downtown Scottsdale soon. There's more cool stuff...

Thanks for visiting!

Conversation Art

Today I was pondering how hard it is for me to start a conversation these days.  I don't know if it's because I'm getting older and would rather listen more? I am turning into my mother in so many ways ;) Or if it's because I'm intimidated with personal insecurities or maybe it's the idea that it can actually be exhausting. 
Whatever it is I know how important it is to be able to converse well.
Everyone likes to communicate, especially us girls ;)  
I love going to a party or get-together and be able to talk to everyone.  Especially if there's kids! They're the most fun because they don't really care how perfect or put together you are, they're just happy that you're interested in them! Hmmmm.....maybe that should be a clue to us adults with how we are with each other?
Anyway, I was looking around the web for some thoughts on conversation and found a few fun conversation starters.
Try a few of these....


1. What do you wanna be when you grow up? (Use it with adults)
2. What did you want to do when you were 5?
3. What was the last really dumb thing you did?
4. What's the best gift you ever received?
5. What's the farthest you have ever traveled in a car? 
6. What's the grossest  food you ever tasted?
7. What's your favorite Dr. Suess book?
8. Who's your favorite Muppet?


If you want to have a little more serious conversation here's a few...


1. Where do you go for advice?
2. Where were you on  Sept. 11/01?
3. What habit are you most proud of breaking?


Above all else I think it's most important to let that person know you're truly interested in what they have to say. 
I like these wise quotes:


'Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you'd have preferred to talk." 
Doug Larson


"A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while he knows something." 
Wilson Mizner

As always, thank you for visiting and I hope you were encouraged on this subject. 

I appreciate any comments or ideas you have on the subject.

Happy 100th Arizona!

I hope to learn more about my beautiful home, Arizona this year in honor of her 100th year.We are blessed to have a second home in Payson so I thought I would start here.
 We built our cabin a few years ago and  have spent many hours going back and forth from Phoenix to Payson on the usual "well worn path". 
Well last weekend my Sweetie wanted to golf at the Municipal Course in town and I didn't want to get stuck without a car for 4 hours so I drove him there. It was off my usual path so I paid close attention to the surrounding this time since I hadn't in the past other than once or twice before and all I can remember thinking was "where is there to shop?" .  I really noticed a few things on this particular day. This was clearly named "Main Street" for a reason.  It had to have been THE MAIN street way back when.  There were some really cool old, I mean, OLD buildings. I made a mental note to come back before we left that weekend to snap a few pics. 
This "Mud House" was just the coolest! I hope you can read the plaque.  

and now for "The Mansion" it mentions....

It also had a few "Rentals" available!

This next photo is a very old barn or industrial building of some sort. I LOVED this one! Such cool texture and had such a look of "I've got some stories to tell"

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Who's this handsome guy?

It was a chilly day so we only had patience for a one more building.

 The Old School House

It is has been beautifully restored and obviously functioning.

Here are a few closeups of the building materials.

Look at the size of those block!

( He's a masonry contractor )

I have plans to go back an do a little more exploring. I would love to share it when I do so watch for more posts!

Thanks for visiting!

Grandkid Valentine Gift (Pinterest Attempt)

I spent much of my afternoon on Valentine's Day "trying" to make these fun edible aquariums for my g`kids.  "Pinterest" was my inspiration but I didn't have the time or patience to do the exact directions so I modified. They're not quite as perfect but they still turned out kinda cute. The kids enjoyed them so, mission accomplished.
If you would like to make these yourself, here's what I did:


I used 3 Oreo Cookies for the bottom or bubble gum balls for the ones that can chew gum ;)
Blue Jello
Gummy Fish


Crush the Oreos on the bottom of the jar
Make jello in bowl then let set up in another jar ( not the one with the Oreos) in refrigerator till almost completely firm. 
Pour the "almost set", not sure what else to call it :), into the jar with the Oreos.  Press fish with fingers down into jello (eeew) put lid on the jar and re-refrigerate. All done.
If you find another way to do this or have tips to make this easier, PLEASE leave a comment. I would love to hear about it!
Thanks for visiting!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope your day is special. 
I thought I would quote the words from an old song that is dear to our family.
Here's to my sweet family, I love you!

"I love you"
It's a sin to tell a lie
Millions of hearts have been broken
Just because these words were spoken

I love you, yes I do, I love you
If you break my heart, I'll die
So, be sure it's true when you say, "I love you"
It's a sin to tell a lie

xoxo

Am I There For You?

I'm pretty sure you didn't hear that last bit I just said because your phone is in your hand and I just saw a text light it up that got you to thinking about what it said. The computer is within sight, the TV is on and now I'm positive you didn't hear me cause you have that glazed look and you just said "uh-huh" when you shouldn't have.
Pathetic huh? I do it too. I hate it and I'm worried about what it's doing to my relationships.  There is a constant interruption that is accepted. Remember when it wasn't OK to interrupt when someone was in a conversation? Now it's totally fine. Because we are all guilty by association. But have you noticed something else? We are all saying " I think I have the beginnings of Alzheimer's" or "I'm going to go online and see if I'm a candidate for meds for ADD".
Hmmmm.....And we are lacking strong relationships.
I also have noticed that not too many of us even know what's going on in each other's lives. This one is painful for me. I grew up with a large family and being the youngest you got used to being drowned out. I vowed that wouldn't happen once I had my own family. A father that seemed to care more about outside relationships, strangers to impress, brothers and sisters who valued their friends more than each other. Those outsiders & strangers came and went, they weren't the ones at the end of life, those same friends, no matter how close at the time, weren't around even 10 years later!
If I can just encourage us to be a little more attentive to the ones closest to us, I KNOW they will be the ones there for us when we have to say goodbye to someone we love. Counsel or just comfort us through emotional or physical pain. 
So please, let's put our families first. Put down the phone. Shut off the electronics for awhile.


Don't know where to start?
Can I make a suggestion or few? ;)
1. Bake something or buy it, it doesn't matter and take it over to someone, just because. You don't have to stay long just chat for a minute.
2. Write a letter, no email. Handwriting is almost a lost art.
3. Invite someone over for dinner. Don't make anything special. Don't even clean up your house. They'll be more comfortable in it.
4. Here's a biggie....Sons, don't leave everything up to your sisters, it's not written that they are the ones responsible for all of the family relationships. 
5. Adult children can stop by and invite Mom or Dad out for a walk just to catch up. Around the block once or twice with no one else along gives them a sense of special one on one time that you both never seem to get.
Life is short, sweet and precious. Let's get fat on it!!

Greggy is 4!!

Today is  "My Beautiful Boy's" (he likes it when I call him that ;) ) 4th birthday and I'm feeling so blessed to have him in my life.

He has lots of cute little nick names... GT, Gheegs, G2, Greggy, Gheegadee, but "Beautiful Boy"is my favorite. I only call him that when I'm addressing him and when he's the only grandson around otherwise the other 2 would answer too cause they know I think they're beautiful too ;)! 

I love all of his special little talents but I am especially impressed with his animations. He gets those from his daddy I think.

Happy Birthday Beautiful Boy! Bobbie & Poppy love you too much!

XOXOXO