Monday, September 22, 2008

6 Quirks ~ Tagged

So here are the rules:
Link the person who tagged you. Mention rules on your blog. Tell about 6 quirks of yours. Tag 6 fellow bloggers to do the same. Leave a comment to let them know.

~Amy tagged me so here I go:

1. I love sauces. When I was a kid I used to sneak teaspoonfuls of mustard. My Mom rarely kept bottle BBQ sauce in the fridge, but I'd eat a couple spoonfuls of that when I was out babysitting. I still love to have a really flavorful sauce on my foods. Right now I've been enjoying a new BBQ sauce that I just got the recipe for. It is really yummy. (Thanks Elizabeth for sharing it.)

2. I don't need an alarm clock. I can just think about what time I need to get up and I'll wake up then the next morning. It really bothers me to be awaken by an annoying beeping. We still have an alarm clock in our bedroom, but usually only set it when Gordon wants to get up extra early. Usually we all just get up when we're supposed to in the morning, including the girls.

3. I pick at my fingernails. I used to bite them when I was younger. I've been able to curb that habit, but I still find myself picking at them with other fingers. I can't stand to have them painted because it make them stand out even more and drives me batty. I keep them short too, I want them unnoticeable, so I don't notice them.

4. I don't have a very good sense of direction. I think growing up in Utah Valley is partly at fault for that. I always feel like the Mountains should be East. Up hill should be North, down hill should be South and so on. I was lost a big portion of the time when I lived in Atlanta. We ended up buying an extremely detailed road map. Like the ones realtors carry. So I could look up any cross streets and figure out how to get home. I'm lucky that now, in Albuquerque, the Sandia Mountain Range is in the East, and North is uphill!

5. I have a visceral reaction to horn honking. I immediately feel an uncomfortable change in my gut. I've always felt the negative feelings when I hear that, like someone is feeling frustrated or annoyed with me. I never honk my horn. Even when I should. I hate that feeling so much, I don't want to give it to anyone else.

6. I like my hot drinks hot, and my showers too. I'm not sure what the temperature is, but when I make hot chocolate I want mine several degrees warmer than the rest of the family. It happens when we eat soup too. Every one else (including Gordon) will add ice cubes to their soup, while I can already eat it.

I had a really hard time thinking of things to finish this post. Most of what's on here I don't even think counts. But I'll pass on the fun anyways and tag: Amber, Leslie, Julie, Stacy, Jill and Maren.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Birthday Party for Eve at the Air Show

To celebrate Eve's birthday we went to the Santa Fe Air Show, along with us came Bettie and Bryce and their kids, and Karen and Kyle and their kids. The air show was great for a family event because there was a lot to do and to see. There were several planes and helicopters open to look into and a couple you could climb into. There was a small car show with lots of Corvettes for Gordon to drool over and in the hanger were displays advertising different groups and museums in the state, and they were all handing out goodies, pencils, pens or small toys. Each of the kids had quite a collection of stuff after going through there.

To start off the show they had the National Guard Colorguard present the flags and played the National Anthem. I love participating in patriotic events with my kids. I love the chance to show my kids how to act and show honor to our flag and our country. The first planes to fly through did a formation to honor the fallen soldiers. They were all together until right in front of the crowd, then one started to smoke and fell back, out of the formation. During this they played Taps over the speakers. It was so moving I was in tears. I was embarrassed and grateful I had my sunglasses on, but it was hard to recover my composure. Also during most of the show I couldn't help but remember my Dad, how much he loved planes, he would have loved to watch this with us. It made me miss him so much today.

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After the first act the show was full of fun and tricks that were amazing to watch. Several times Gordon and I couldn't help but hope the pilot had taken dramamine before taking off.

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One of the really neat acts was a glider that the pilot had mounted a jet engine on top of. He could do some really neat things since his craft had a lot of power, but not much weight.

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But the most nail biting act was the "Wing Walker". Which was a woman who climbed on top of the plane, after takeoff and held on to a little metal apparatus doing hand stands and other tricks while flying around, including during loops and twists!

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Here's the kids playing
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And did you notice any yellow stuff in our ears? Bettie brought earplugs for everyone to help us save our hearing. It was a good thing too, because some of those planes were loud.
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Here we are with an Alien, advertising for the Roswell UFO museum.
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Here's some of the neat aircraft we saw.
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And here's the car Gordon wants to own someday.
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After the show we went to Kyle and Karen's home for the birthday cake and ice cream!
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So now it's official, our Eve is four!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Eve is Four!

Eve has made it all the way to four. She is so curious lately, and coming right along with that, so messy! It really is wearing my patience thin as she has to try out every substance in our house to see if it is art worthy. She is loving to color and is producing some very good art. She loves all of the colors and often makes things "rainbow colored" so she can use every crayon. She also loves to dress-up and dance. She changes into tutu's and asks me to put on ballet music for her often. Eve is doing well in her pre-school, she is starting to remember her friends names and she loves her teacher. She is still in speech therapy twice a week and she loves that too. I think she really likes having teachers and schools that are "hers" and not just taking Lily to her school. Here is Eve through the years.

From Eve


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Happy Birthday Eve! I love you!

Us, Today, Right Now!

Here are current pictures of us. We were just playing in the front yard waiting for Daddy to come home.

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And he's home!!!
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An Accidental Death

Someone, I really don't know who, but I know they are a minor child, played with the heater on our fish tank. I came home this evening, after an afternoon of shopping, to find our frog had passed away. The water was over 90 degrees! It's supposed to be around 75. So I started putting ice in the tank to save the rest of the fish. I ended up putting more than two trays before the thermometer said I could stop. We'll see tomorrow if there are more casualties.

Eve being Cute

This was during naptime yesterday. I took Eve outside and we just had a little fun. I'm wishing I had washed her face first. She was being really cute and cooperative, I could have gotten a good for-the-wall shot if it weren't for the runny nose.

I also took a couple of the few flowers we have blooming in our yard right now.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

A Saturday at the Botanical Garden

In case you don't know, here's my favorite animal...
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Here's Abigail, who was my best model today, since she would stay in one place the longest.
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Here's the kids looking at the chrysalis some of the butterflies still had curled wings and were just "born".
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Here's looking at the fish
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and the fish themselves
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Being Buddas in the Japanese gardens
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In case you're wondering, who the extra is, he's Lily's friend who lives near us. He and his mom came along. They were great company.

After walking through the gardens we decided to walk through the aquarium and found a diver!
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I think Hannah should move here and get a job at the aquarium. It'd be so cool!

Thursday, September 04, 2008

A walk before dinner

This was last week. We just went for a walk around our neighborhood.

The girls found some feathers.
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Then Lily tickled Abigail with hers.
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