Wonder . . . I wonder what she's thinking. I wonder how she got that close to the butterfly. I wonder what I'm going to do when she grows up and we no longer have wonderful moments like this.

Laughs and Giggles. That's what was heard yesterday from the workroom at Analis Scraptique. My two wonderful friends, Tina and Carmen decided to pop up to Phoenix to spend the day scrapbooking with me and to celebrate Carmen's birthday. We also had to dine on Mexican food which is a tradition when they come up. We had such a wonderful time, as usual. I believe that scrapbooking with friends is the modern-day quilting bee. Lots of talking, sharing, bouncing ideas of each other and encouraging. My tank is full once again.

Couldn't help but play. I was preparing for a scrapbook day tomorrow with my good friends Tina and Carmen who are driving up for the day from Tucson, when I could not control the urge to scrapbook this 4th of July page. I had an idea to use a photocopied page from a family member's 1912 reader and to duplicate the "Liberty" banner that I made for my kitchen desk.

Grandpa builds house twice. That's right, twice. When we found out that we had to move from our beloved "Town of Oro Valley", I insisted that we move the playhouse that Grandpa built along with our putting green. The movers were less than thrilled. It took two large moving vans to move us here. Now, 2 years later, the playhouse is getting rebuilt. Taylor can't wait. She's all ready half moved in. This time, since brother is older, he is more excited about building the house than playing in it. In fact, this time it will be a girly house. We found these adorable chairs for it and are currently on the lookout for a cute bistro table to go with it.

Country French Library Cabinets. 12 of them. This is what I put together for our "Club Little House" group. We had to create or customize 12 identical items and in return, we will receive 1 each of 12 items. We can't wait to see what everyone else created. This has been so much fun. Amy Powers of Inspireco put together this little club and I was so happy to be able to be a part of it. If you want to see the items that the members completely last time, you can check out Amy's wonderful blog at www.inspireco.blogspot.com.

I blinked. Not only has summer, come and gone, but today is Cole's first day of Junior High and it's the first day that my kids won't be in the same school, crossing the street with each other and waiting for each other after school. When I found out that Mark was taking the day off today, I gave a big sigh of relief. I panic every year, walking into a big, lonely house that is way too quiet. So today, my husband got to witness it. The tears flowing. He said, "now they are right down the street, you can go see them whenever you want". The summers are passing by way too fast. Our dog is pouting. She doesn't know what to do with herself. We'll adjust. She and I.

Three Dolls. I've always loved this statue in front of Sandy's Dream Dolls and we just found out that it is being relocated to Texas. We are so glad that we got to see it again. It's so much fun to visit this charming store in the middle of old town Glendale. When the weather is cooler, we usually have tea, but in the middle of summer we just include a stop at Cerreta's Chocolates. It's never too hot for chocolate.

Auntie Em's Miniatures was so much fun to visit. Taylor and I were practically giddy. It was amazing that we walked away with only these charming items along with a few technical necessities. However, these beauties may be small in size, but they cost a pretty penny. We were thrilled to be able to find a little Cavalier like ours, as well as the rooster plate and toaster. We plan to decorate the dollhouse in both Shabby Chic and Country French styles to match the decor in our house.

Soccer camp, outside in the middle of summer, in Arizona. Go Figure. At least the temperature cools down from 110 to 102 when the camp began at 6 PM. I don't know how these kids do it, but they do. They drink gallons of water. Soccer season starts here in August. Please forgive the somewhat fuzzy picture as I was forbidden, by the preteen, from taking any mortifying pictures. Those of you with teenage sons can totally relate, I'm sure. Cole said that a few of his instructors were from Brazil and had them practicing barefoot. They all had fun and learned alot and returned home every night to jump right into the pool.

I had been promising Taylor a trip to the American Girl Place for at least four years. When we heard that they were opening up a location in nearby California, we decided to make this promise a reality. So we packed up the van and we drove to Beverly, Hills, that is, swimming pools, movie stars. Well I did walk right by Della Reece from "Touched By An Angel". The American Girl Company has an ingenious marketing team. The American Girl Place is nothing short of Disneyland for young girls. In a few short hours, we attended a musical, complete with orchestra, had a magazine cover photo session, Elizabeth, the doll had her hair done in the doll salon, added another doll to Taylor's collection, Felicity, who is Elizabeth's best friend, and dreamed of more shopping for our return visit the next day. Upon returning, we experienced the exceptionally decorated "Cafe" where every doll has her own seat and dinnerware. We were so thrilled to see Taylor so happy, yet appreciative of this trip. I also have to mention , The Orlando, the exceptional hotel that we stayed in. When we asked how far they were from the American Girl Place, they offered us a $50 a night discount and said that they do a little something for the doll. At turn down, they placed an American Girl doll bed with a note for Taylor hoping that this would make her doll more comfortable. They also kept us comfortable with plush down comforters and cushy pillows. Remember this trip Taylor!

Lucky Me! We were lucky enough to happen upon this wonderful dollhouse a few years ago and the price was right, free. We were in the middle of a move and so it has been stored at my inlaws house until our playhouse was rebuilt in our backyard. The playhouse is now partially rebuilt and we were able to move the playhouse furniture out of our loft and bring over this wonderful dollhouse. Taylor and I are sooo excited. I especially love the black and white kitchen floor. I can definitely envision this as a country french kitchen. The house is quite large, 54 inches long and 3 stories high. It has three terraces on top which provides us with lots of shopping opportunities. I was so lucky to become a part of Club Little House. We are making 12 miniature items and will receive 12 different items made by other members. I will be posting more about this soon. This dollhouse brings back memories of my childhood and I'm thrilled to be able to share this with Taylor. It is wired for electricity but isn't quite up and running. Our friend, Lynn, just generously surprised us with several pieces for our house. I don't know who was more excited, Taylor or me. But those of you who know me can easily answer that question.

We have been blessed with a house guest this week. This is Greg's 3rd year of the "Golf Immersion Program", rising at the crack of dawn, going to work with Mark, playing golf, getting daily golf lessons and practice, practice, practice. He is the captain of his high school's golf team and comes to visit us once a year to live and breathe golf with Mark. He fits right into our family, having a younger brother and sister the same age as our two. We love having him. He is funny, witty, polite and charming. The house will seem empty without him. Today is his last day here. Until next year, Greg.

Look at my wonderful picture and clock that my friend Tina surprised me with for my birthday. Carmen gave me this perfect scrapbook in my favorite color, pink. Saturday I drove down to Tucson and we took a scrapbook class in the morning, went to lunch, shopped, attended a scrapbook seminar in the afternoon and ended the evening dining outside in the beautiful Tucson weather. I'm so blessed to have these two women as my close friends. They are both such strong Christian women, wonderful mothers and great role models. Can't wait to see them again.

We just returned from a wonderful vacation in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We rented a beach house near the town of Nags Head. We spent a week traveling to the different islands. The kids had such a wonderful time boogie boarding and I was able to beachcomb to my heart's content collecting shells, seaglass and coral. I even found a large conch shell. We also visited Kitty Hawk and went to the wonderful performance of "The Lost Colony". As well as the trip being a total blast, it was also educational. The kids participated in three junior ranger programs and we stopped at several Civil War markers. Nothing like a great vacation to bond with your family. So fun!