THE BACHELORETTE (week 6)

Ali Fedotowsky, 26, is in Turkey this week with the guys.

SHOW RECAP:

The show starts off with a BANG!

The host, Chris Harrison, shows up at Ali's door and tells her that Justin, 26, a "professional wrestler".....has a girlfriend. Ali talks to the girlfriend on the phone and she admits this was all a scheme for his wrestling career. Ali confronts Justin and the CHICKEN takes off. Then when he finally finds his balls and talks to Ali, he still continues to lie through his teeth. The show even plays phone messages that he left his girlfriend, professing his love for her. Needless to say he is now gone! GOOD RIDDANCE!!! All the guys find out and bring up how they wanted to vote Justin out the first night!

Moving on....Ty, 31, medical sales, gets the first one-on-one date. They go to a BATHHOUSE! ICKY!!!! Ali even remarks that people have been "bathing here for 300 years." Yah...that is why I wouldn't bathe there if you paid me! Icky! Disease central! Why not go to a vomitorium for lunch, too!!!! Anyway, they kiss and he gets a ROSE! Still not in my top three, but he's ok!

Next, is a group date with Chris, Roberto, Kirk and Craig. So, to win alone time with Ali they have to OLIVE OIL WRESTLE, four Turkish guys and then each other. DOUBLE ICKY! Anyway...Craig wins and they watch fire works together. There is no kiss, but Craig is sure they have a connection...they don't.

Frank, 31, a retail manager, gets the last one-on-one date. They kiss as soon as they see each other. They shop in a Spice Bizarre. Frank ends up buying a $1000 rug. They eat lunch in a cistern (Yes, a large well...but it has candles....). They talk and Ali feels much closer to him and he gets the ROSE!

So, Ty and Frank are safe and Justin is gone. The others who get ROSES are:

Kirk, 27, a sales consultant...KEEPER!

Roberto, 26, an insurance agent, is a KEEPER!

Chris L, 33, is a landscaper. She keeps him, but I don't think he'll make it to the end.

Craig R, 27, is a lawyer is the one who is DUMPED! He's shocked, I'm not! I was right about him being booted this week.

So of the 5 guys left I would dump 2: Ty and Chris L. The only ones in the running for me are Frank, Roberto and Kirk, as they have been since the very beginning.

Join me next Monday night, when they all go to LISBON, PORTUGAL. The previews gave too much away though...Roberto, Ty and Frank making it to Tahiti, which must be after they go to Portugal. Then they show: Ali meeting Frank's family and Ali being really freaked out by someone's family because they are into taxidermy. The other major drama is that Frank says something very upsetting to Ali and they are both crying. Frank implodes and blows it! So, I think it will come down to Kirk, Ty and Roberto in the end.

Join me next Monday night to see if my predictions come true!

Ice Cream in Madrid, New Mexico not Spain!

We took a drive to this a cute little hippie art town about an hour east of Albuquerque.

We walked around the shops and then had ice cream. Can you guess what part Sam liked the most?

He's not too wild about chocolate, but he loves cookies-n-cream.

He was flirting with all the women, of course. On the way home he fell fast asleep.

LITTLE ROOMS ARE NOT EASIER!

This room is so little that I can't even take a picture of it without being in the hall. It's the entrance from the garage that also doubles as the laundry room. I'm finally painting it. What? We've only been here 7 years. Besides my junk room "sewing room," it's the only other room that we haven't painted. Home improvement has kind of slowed down since Sam came along.

This is one area that I'll have to wait on, as the washer and dryer are in the way. Hubby will have to move them so I can climb behind them....Yes, I have thought about just going around them and letting the next fool person who wants to move them discover my "artistic" paint job.

Yes, I do prep, but only so much. Painter's tape is useless because the walls are textured. My method is to get the big areas with a roller, do what I can even closer with a paint brush and then use an artist's (dinky) brush to get the line that touches the ceiling, doors and the base boards.

Oops...Sam is waking up...time to stop...the detail work will have to wait for another day.

GOD HEAR OUR PRAYERS #102

My mother has always had a prayer list and I've now started one of my own. So each Sunday I will publish the prayer requests of anyone who e-mails me. Please keep us updated as God answers your prayers too.

Who we are praying for this week...

* My mother to be healthy and happy.
* Ethan James has gone home to the Lord.
* Ray's healing from cancer.
* Shannon's cancer is worse then was originally thought.
* All those children still waiting to find a Forever Family
* Penny's, entire family needs prayers for healing their hearts and spirits.
* Janice needs healing from her cancer.
* K-the birthmother of our baby
* Bri's hubby's job situation.
* Dawn - husband to hear God and find his way to Him
* Christy prayers and praise
* orphaned and alone
* peace in the Middle East
* the Gulf Coast
* our economy
* honesty in our leaders
* all service men and women that they may come home soon

E-mail me if you have someone for me to add to the weekly prayer request. God Bless.

I HAVE A QUESTION #2

In what ways will you treat (or have you treated) your children differently from the way you were treated? If you've already raised children and could do it again knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?

SUMMER IS FINALLY HERE!

Now I have the next 3 weeks off....yes, only 3 weeks....my husband has no sympathy. He only gets 10 days off a year. Sorry, Richard.

Anyway.....on the last day of school, my four kids (that's all that showed up) left at 11:30 and by 12:00 I had my room all cleaned, my bags packed and had turned in my keys, but we were told we were contracted until 2:30 and had to stay! How silly is that?!! So, I had to take a 1/2 day of sick leave.

For my summer break I plan to:

* paint the laundry room
* clean the refrigerator
* paint the cat box
* clean the garage
* put some things on Craig's List
* plan for next school year
* spend time with my parents
* clean one room a day

...and most importantly spend A LOT of time with Samuel! He'll be finishing his swim lessons next week and then starting physical therapy! Hopefully, by the end of summer, he will officially be a toddler and not a crawler any more!

We'll also be in Vegas, July 9-12. Samuel will be with Super Aunt Genie and a friend will be house sitting and watching the pets.

SWIM LESSONS

Here we are waiting for swim lessons to begin. He gets very excited any time I mention the pool. You can't beat $25 for 8 lessons.

Samuel loves the water. This pool is much colder then the one that we are used to by our house and I have to walk in very slowly. Samuel clutches me pretty tightly until he gets used to it. If you look closely you can see the strap to my bathing suit is all twisted. That is because I spend half my time trying to keep Samuel from pulling it off. He grabs on to it any time I try to move him away from my body. Flashing the pool attendants would not be good.

This is one of the positions we learned. You start like so, encouraging them to kick and as they get more confident you move them farther away from your body. He laughs and giggles the entire time.

He's learning to kick and not hold on to me. We make everything a game. We pretend we're in a washing machine and spin around and around.

Samuel loves splashing and kicking.

This is the position he is least comfortable in, which the instructor said is the one you need to practice the most.

Daddy took pictures while we made funny faces. Samuel fell in love with a gray haired grandma that was watching from the side lines and spend a considerable amount of time waving at her. He is such a flirt.

He loves jumping in from the edge too. At this point it's not really jumping, it's more like falling and mommy catching.

Getting out is the worst part. He was very cold and cranky the first night because mom didn't go fast enough in the "wrapping up with towels and changing" process. I made sure to bring extra towels the second night and I'm getting quicker at the changing process, but those "swimmer" diapers are hard suckers to get off.

THE BACHELORETTE (week 5)

Ali Fedotowsky, 26, is the new bachelorette! This week they all flew to ICELAND.

SHOW RECAP:

The guys compete to win a one-on-one date by writing a love poem. Kasey mumbles so badly that no one has any idea what he is saying and the show has to add subtitles.

Kirk, 27, a sales consultant...wins the first one-on-one date. They are very cute together. They buy matching sweaters and bond over lobster and a story about Kirk being very sick because of mold. Ali feels even closer to him and they kiss. He gets a ROSE! KEEPER!

Then there is a group date with: Roberto, Chris L, Chris N, Craig, Ty and Frank. They ride horses and climb in a cave. Chris L. and Ty bond the most with her and Frank stays in the background. Then they go to a hot springs and Ali peals off her clothes to reveal a bikini and Roberto is the first to hop in with her. Ty is right there for everything she needs and Chris L. gets a kiss on his alone time. Frank gets a wake up call when Ali tells him that he's not reciprocating her attention. She gives the ROSE to .....

Ty, 31, is in medical sales. KEEPER for now!

Next, Justin gets his cast off and finds out he'll be on a two-on-one date with Kasey. Kasey has a very dramatic talk with Frank about how he got his tattoo, "to be someone, to be a man."

One their date they fly off in a helicopter to an active volcano and have alone time in a glacier cave. Ali tells Kasey that all he needs to do is be "normal." Kasey finally shows Ali his tattoo and it goes over like a led balloon. Ali gives....

Justin, 26, a "professional wrestler".....the ROSE and dumps.....

Kasey ("COTTON MOUTH"), who is left on the glacier as they fly off in a helicopter. I am so glad we are rid of him! Enjoy your tattoo! DUMPED!

Finally, we have the rose ceremony. Ali tells Chris Harrison that Kasey "fell in love with falling in love." Here is how it went down....so Justin, Ty and Kirk are safe. The others who get ROSES are:

Frank, 31, a retail manager....I'm a sucker for a cute, geek! KEEPER! He has a talk with Ali before the ceremony and you can see the love in his eyes. They have a great connection.

Roberto, 26, an insurance agent, is a KEEPER!

Chris L, 33, is a landscaper. DUMP! I don't think he'll be there in the end.

Craig R, 27, is a lawyer. Yet again, another one that she kept, but that I would DUMP!

The other one besides Kasey to be DUMPED is....

Chris N, 29, an entrepreneur (unemployed). The only conversation he had with Ali was telling her he liked Mexican food.

So of the 7 guys left I would dump 4: Justin, Ty Chris L. and Craig (who I think will get booted off next week). The only ones in the running for me are Frank, Roberto and Kirk, as they have been since the very beginning.

Join me next Monday night, when they all go to TURKEY and we find out that one guy has a girlfriend!

LIFE HAS CHANGED

Here are the top ten ways that my life has changed since becoming a mommy 18 months ago:

10. I have a new perspective on the word "clean."

9. Life no longer runs on TRACEY SPEED, it runs on SAMUEL SPEED.

8. I am a more careful driver.

7. Believe it or not, those of you who know me, I am more patient.

6. Going to the bathroom alone is a treat.

5. I've become a better teacher.

4. The emptiness is gone.

3. I have a new found respect for my mother, who at my age had 7 children between the ages of 2 and 11.

2. A smile and a hug from my boy, makes all my troubles melt away.

1. The world is an amazing and interesting place when you see it though new eyes.

I HAVE A QUESTION #1

What would induce you to give up life as you know it and face the unknown? Were people in previous centuries more adventurous than we are today or was it simply harder to avoid risk and adventure? How does affluence make people complacent and averse to risk?

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

I've been a Daddy's girl since the very beginning...and proud of it! My Dad's pet name for me was "Sweety-Babe" and sometimes he still calls me that. This is my Dad's 62 Father's Day and he's still going strong! Thanks for being a great Dad! I love you, Daddy!

This is my gorgeous husband, Richard. This is only his 2nd Father's Day, but he's loving every minute of it. He is such a good Daddy and I love watching Samuel's relationship with him grow stronger every day! Thanks for being a great husband and father! I love you, Richard.

This is my father-in-law, Don. This is his 45 Father's Day! He's funny, caring, and a great backgammon player! Thanks for being a great father-in-law and grandpa! I love you Don.