Roz and Cora checking in to say that there was a control burn over the week...

...and it sucked.

And why did it suck, exactly? Because everyone got sick from the smoke. Allergies kicked up, some had to go home from their jobs, some who lived near by the smoke evacuated immediately.

And I had to get sick, right in the middle of everything!

Oh, don't worry, it wasn't bad; just a sore throat. I'm better now except for the fact that my nose is a water-fall. Cora still has a little bit of a headache(from me dropping her on the floor on Wednesday) but she'd doing fine.

Someone that mom knows said that it was supposed to go on for three months. THREE MONTHS. But it looks like they're ending it right now, 'cause I don't smell any smoke.

And, boy did it smell bad!

Well, no wonder I can't smell anything now... my sinuses are plugged up.

Like I said to mom the other day, "If I sound stuffed up it's because the government is trying to kill me with their control burns."

It's funny because last year I didn't get sick. Well, at least I don't remember being sick last year. I just remember the smell.

Well, me and Coraline are gonna sign off and watch her movie. And do some drawing, too. I need her to get better so she can go golfing with her peeps. She might win a medal this time...!

Guess who came to visit? Miss Coraline Jones, the bendy doll!





I got her off of eBay. There were only four of these(there were other dolls like her but in different clothing) so I got the raincoat version. Her clothes are removable, too, so that way I can dress her in my - ahem - Polly Pocket clothes.



Coraline reading her book...


Coraline reading the back of the Coraline DVD...



Cora and the peeps playing miniature golf...



I love her so much. I take her every where with me and she totes around in my black Emily the Strange purse. Takai loves her too. Right now she sitting next to Cora, telling her a little about her life adventures. Mom knitted her a small skirt, blue and black stripes running across it.

Oh, and by the way, sorry I haven't been blogging that much. I've been kind of spacy, because we're moving to a neighborhood a street over from us, and everything has been really confusing. But now we're moving in and trying to pack everything, and since all that is going on, I'm trying to avoid painting because I don't want to get any more stuff so that I can't pack anything else.

But I WILL paint some more once we move.

And do lots and lots of blogging.

Because we've got a new back yard that if you go beyond this little mountain with dozens of rocks, there's a FANTASTIC view of Prescott! I was eyeing every corner with envy when I saw it; and I thought, "This is great blog material!"

So anyway, I'm going to get on with my life and draw a little - drawing some of the characters from Coraline is what I'm doing right now. Me and Cora say bye and that we'll both be blogging soon!

But... a little nap first...

Well, I guess the monsoons are finally here. I'm sitting on my bed with Tuxy right now, watching the rain. We're quite enjoying it - the pitter patter on the window, the little puddles that are developing on the ground, and the leaves bouncing with every drop of rain.

It hasn't been raining that much, though. When it's not raining, it's usually cloudy, or the suns, out - and when the sun's out, it's humid! And I HATE it when it's humid.

But on Thursday, it got really cold, and I was like, "I picked the wrong day to wear shorts!"

"So, can I go out? I think it's PERFECT weather for gardening."
- Coraline Jones, Coraline, 2009.

Is it hot enough for you? I'm sweating like a pig here. Yesterday it was 96 degrees! The monsoons better get here fast!

Oh my gosh, I have a new cat, too. Yeah, we just don't think that Tuxedo and Takai are going to get along too well, but this new cat(who we're naming "Chester") looks like he could get along with her really well.

While Chester was out on his own in the world alone, he wore a collar that had a bell on it so he couldn't catch anything. Mom fed him, but when Tuxy was around, she felt like he was bothering her, so she ran him off all the time.

Then he just came back a week ago and he was a little too thin. We were so worried about him until now.

He's hiding out in our tiny bathroom right now.

At least this one's calm, and not like Tuxy where she scratches your leg to make you stay in the room with her. Yesterday she bit my toe. My toe!

Poor Tuxy. She's like the Other Mother: She won't let you go!























We're working on finding a home for her to be in.

How beautiful is this? I went outside to take out the trash and saw this wonderful display. I was like, "Mom, you have to come see this! It's so cool!"
















































































So pretty! It reminds me of OwlCity's Vanilla Twilight music video.

I have to admit, I started singing the song while taking the pictures.

It was a beautiful song, beautiful video. Great job, OwlCity! I love you!

Well, last night I finished a new Murphys book. The synopsis is:


Dan's favorite TV advice show, Psycho Dad[with a show host of the same name], is going off the air(because he gives the same advice over and over again, which is, "Just keep smiling and everything will be okay") and Dan is devastated. He get's so devastated, that he makes his whole family go out to the TV station to protest. But, due to weather conditions, they leave.

Dan and his friends soon locate Psycho Dad in Washington and leave to tell him why he should stay on TV. Psycho comes home, and later on does not give the same old advice that he usually gives because he was inspired by Dan, if you can believe that!

Meanwhile, I sleep with one of the five-year-olds, Harry, because I'm afraid of my closet door; and Nana leaves Harry mysteriously while he's taking his nap because she has to get her "face powder", and turns back not getting home as soon as she expected!

I have been working on it for a month, since I get real busy in life.

And speaking of life, I'm already planning on my Halloween costume for this year, which is going to be EVE from Wall-E.

I'm thinking about getting some whit tights, a small white dress, and a white top to go underneath. And then maybe some blue sunglasses for the eyes because there is no way that I am going to be putting blue head-lights in my eyes. That would be kind of crazy.








Well, at least I'm not going to be this girl.

I am not dieing my hair blonde, I can tell you that much. And I am so not putting purple eye-contacts in my eyes, either!

Last week we added a few new additions to the household. In fact, there are three of them: 1. A new curtain in my room; 2. A new doorknob for my door; and, 3. A new remote control for the TV.

Actually, the curtain isn't really a curtain. It's just a quilt top hooked to curtain rings. The last three curtains that we got didn't quite fit in the window, and we were using this one for a while, so we decided to get some curtain rings, and voila!


On Saturday me and Keli went to True Value and got a doorknob. My last one broke off, sadly, shortly after we got Takai. If you push on the door, it will push open, but it stays shut.









And since our old remote's buttons were falling out, a friend gave us a new remote. It was easy to install; just hold a few buttons, push in a code listed for the type of TV you own, and then you have a modern remote!


And this is our old remote.

I apologize, the picture of the new curtain was accidentally deleted.

This is a "Magic Box". Why is it so magic? Well, there's a little slot at the top of the box. you slip a coin in there, and for some reason, it doesn't show the coin dropping in! I found it while thrifting this morning and wanted to get it.

They don't go for much money on ebay, and I don't really know where there are any else. But, it's a good thing I nabbed it before some other germy kid got it!

And speaking of germy, I was sick at the beginning of the week. I had a sore throat, and a runny nose, which dripped like a waterfall. I'm all better now, but, boy was I miserable!

This is a Travel Journey Clear Stamps set from
my art supplies suitcase. It's a new concept, ladies and gentlemen! This is a stamp set that you can stick to the back of acrylic blocks, press in ink, and put on any art project you wish. I haven't used them yet, as you can tell, but I wanted to take a picture of them before I opened the packaging.


On the back it has the "How-to-use-clear-stamps" instructions:



How to Use Clear Stamps:

• Separate the stamps: Follow the pre-cut lines to break apart the stamps then remove from the backing sheet.
• Mount a clear stamp block: Clear stamps cling to acrylic blocks.
• Ink the stamp: Tap the stamp on the ink pad until the raised part of the stamp is covered in ink. Do not rub the stamp on the pad.
• Stamp the image: Press the stamp firmly on the paper or stamping surface. Do not rock or wiggle the stamp as this will cause blurring.[Stop telling me what to do, instructions!]
• Clean the stamp: Peel the stamp from the block and swish in a bowl with warm water and detergent. Towel dry.
• Add color to the stamped image: Once the ink has dried, fill in the stamped image with markers, color pencils, watercolors or chalk.

And, as always, there are some helpful tips:

Helpful Tips:

• If you find that getting a small stamp to stick to the acrylic block is difficult, apply a small piece of double sided tape to the stamp then mount on the block.
• If your ink is beading on the raised surface of your stamp, try gently standing the image with a nail file to reduce the slickness of the raised surface.
• Save the index sheet and place clean, dry stamps on top of matching image, then return to package for easy storage.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Sad news is, I don't have any acrylic blocks. I don't have the darndest idea what they look like. When I first read the instructions and they first mentioned them, I immediately thought of letter blocks... like the ones from Sesame Street. Too bad I can't stick them to my fingers(they're not acrylic!!!).

Maybe I'll put them on a travel journal(when I get blocks, that is).

This is the new addition to the family, Tuxedo. We rescued her a month ago from our back yard. She is black and white, with yellow eyes, and white feet.

She and Takai would probably make good friends if they weren't so mean to each other. Tuxy crouches and growls at her, and Takai runs back into mom's room.







Mom says that she reminds her of Jiji from Kiki's Delivery Service.


This would definitely be Takai and Tuxedo if they got along.

This is my Nintendo DS. I got it for Christmas in 2006. I have had it for three and a half years and I'm still playing with it!


I have fifteen games. My favorite is Mario Kart DS. I have been playing with it a lot lately because I'm unlocking different courses to race in, such as Rainbow



Road, Airship Fortress, Mario Circuit, Desert Hills, and Yoshi Falls.

My games are: SimCity DS; Super Mario Bros.; Animal Crossing; Kirby Super Star Ultra; Kirby Squeak Squad; Harvest Moon DS; Hannah Montana Music


Jam; That's So Raven: Psychic On the Scene;Imagine Fashion Designer; Super Mario 64 DS; Yoshi's Island DS; Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses; and - whew - Hannah Montana DS.

A. Lot. Of. Games.

Do you think it's ever going to be warm again? These two don't think so.




Yes, I am sorry to say that we got a little bit of snow yesterday, if you can believe that. It made me sick; this is the middle of April! I guess there is NOTHING like a white Easter, right?

It was warm a week ago today(April 16), like, 80 degrees! I hope tomorrow's better, because I want to play soccer again(it's one of my physical activities).

Please, Mother Nature, make it warm again! I am sick of it being cold!!!

Yesterday evening I was laying under one of my trees when I saw a nice little scene that would look really good on this blog, and then I saw more... and got a little carried away. A lot of the pictures are from my yard and one of them is from my next door neighbor's house(not the one with the chickens). Enjoy!

You are reading blog post number 101. It has been that many posts since December 10, 2006.

And then I abandoned you for two years. I really don't know why anymore. Maybe I was just bored... or had a bad case of the writer's rash...

Poor Coraline's father!

But I'm not going to do it anymore. It was a long time.

But meanwhile, let's cheer on for 101 more posts!

Our neighbors have three chickens, whose names are Fluffy, Dixie, and Tweety. They are about one-year old. They have been very good friends with me and mom, since we've looked after them a couple times.

They always watch us. They love to look around their back yard and peck the ground, looking for worms and such. Whenever I talk to them, one of them(Fluffy) sticks her leg up because that's how you know she's listening.

We absolutely love them. And so does Takai!!!