Eva is growing up

Look at my little girl. She definately is growing up. Check out those shoes. Yup, they have little heels. We were looking for shoes for Isobel this summer and Eva had gone around to the other side of the aisle. When she came back she had chosen these cute little girly sandals with heels. We about died! What taste this girl was born with! We didn't buy them that day, but when we went back a couple months later and they were half price, we bought them. She wears them all the time. (This pic was taken one day when we were in the grocery store. She just struck me as such a big girl that I took a picture right there. And yes, she is eating ham. - if you haven't heard it, ask about the Charlotte's Web story.)


This weekend we went up the canyon to see the fall colors. So many Aspens! We ended up riding the chairlift up to the top of the ski basin. On the way up Eva just sat up strait and held on to the bar herself - no help from Daddy. Once we got to the top it was quite cold so she agreed to sit close to me on the way down and snuggle. (Isobel wore the bunny ears on the way up, Eva got them the way down. My purse was a gift for my birthday from my friend, Ligia. Note the fun button on it from Share - it says "An attitude is a terrible thing to waste.")
This was our view on the way down. As we came up the canyon, the trees were brighter than at the top because more leaves were gone. Isn't it beautiful, though?
Come visit us in Santa Fe. My kids are growing too fast and we miss sharing the beautiful fall colors with you. Honestly, I am glad to be here with my family - I only wish all of you were here with us :)

Balloon Fiesta flops

We went with a couple friends to the Balloon fiesta special shapes Glowdeo on Thursday night. When we arrived, some of the balloons (like Sahuaro Grande and Noah's Ark) were up and ready to light up. It was barely dusk so we thought we had time. We were invited as VIP guests with our friends - which meant free food and ice cream. So we ate dinner and while we ate the balloons were occasionally lighting up their flames - but it still didn't seem dark. Then suddenly they were letting the air out and taking down the balloons. Bummer. Oh, well. At least we didn't pay to get in ;) The fireworks show after the balloons were down was AWESOME! We were glad to be there eating ice cream and enjoying the show.



After the fireworks, we walked around the park - it's like a fair. Tons of junk food and stoopidneers to buy. I did end up buying kettle corn - just can't say "no" to that! We had our friends take a couple pics of us - aren't we cute?



Friday night we stayed over at G and KT's house so we could get up super early for the fiesta Saturday morning. We made ultra tasty breakfast burritos and played fun games. We got up around 5ish Saturday morning, got the burritos hot, packed the car, dressed the kids warm, and drove to the bus stop. It was a bit cold and windy, but we were praying it would stop. We arrived at the park and there were a few trucks with balloons kinda waiting for the go-ahead to start filling balloons. We were excited. Long story short - it was too windy and the balloons never got filled up or went into the air. (Note to self: next year buy tickets for Thursday so if the weather is no good, you can get a rain check for Friday or Saturday. If you just get tickets for the last day and it's a dud - too stinkin bad.) Special thanks to the Creamland dairy crew who got out their huge black and white tarp (the one that goes under the balloon so it's not on the ground) and let the kids play under it in the wind. It was the highlight.



The balloons are so fun to see, that it's a big bummer to miss them. Last year was great, Katie has pics of us there last year if you wanna check her blog. All in all, the kettle corn was worth it!

My 28th Birthday

I am so spoiled. Growing up I rarely was - even though I am the youngest. My sister's birthday is in August just before school - so she had fun birthdays. Then my parents would have to come up with all the funds for all six of us to get school clothes and pay fees and all that jazz. So when it got to my birthday (just a couple weeks after school started) - it isn't suprising that funds were low. I used to care but thanks to years and experience, I don't anymore. HOWEVER, I do like to celebrate as much as possible now ;)

This year was an exception. As I am sure most of you who read this have already heard the story, I'll try not to go into too much detail (however you are welcome to email me for more details or leave comments for me to answer - I love those things ;).

My birthday was on Sunday this year so I intended to do much celebrating on the days leading up to the big 2-8. Thursday night was spent celebrating with my little family. With these advancing years I forget exactly what we did - but it was fun. On Friday, Bryce picked me up from work early and told me he needed to run some errands. We had planned on Katie and kids coming on Saturday and it had been discussed that Lily and Isobel trade bikes - Isobel's is too big and Lily's is too small. However, Bryce had to fix the tire first. So he told me he needed to pick up a pump to fix the tire. I had been teasing him all week about getting me this bike I had tried out and loved. We had decided we didn't have the money and so I was teasing him about getting it for me anyway;) So, I suggested we go to MY bike shop to get a pump. When we arrived at the store Isobel tried to lead me to where my bike last was. I tried to explain that I was sure they put it away and I looked for pumps. I couldn't see Bryce - but then I saw him following a salesman out to the bikes. The man took my bike down and said "We'll just have a final tune up and you can take it home." I was shocked - dead - stunned - amazed. What I said was, "when did you do that?" Bryce tends to forget to purchase things for me for my birthday til the last minute. Meaning, the day of my birthday. So this year I started dropping subtle reminders for about a month and a half. I suggested a CD that I wanted (She and Him) but then I ended up buying it because they finally got a copy in and I knew how much Bryce loves shopping. Then I was dying for a haircut and he thought about paying for me to go to a nice place but I got impatient and went to Great Clips. When I would ask him if he had gotten me anything, he would just say, "you already got the two ideas I had, sorry." I was sure he might not do anything this year since I had messed up his plans. I thought he might at least get me a gift card. Well, the bike blew me away. Sure it's my birthday AND Christmas - but I was thrilled. So excited, in fact, that I rode the bike home (sans helmet) and in a skirt no less. Loved it!

(This is me on my bike today - Isobel took the picture.)

Friday night Bryce and I went on a date. We went to dinner and then to the Georgia O'Keefe museum - they had an exhibit of her work with Ansel Adams that I had been dying to see (and it's free Friday nights!). It was great. Our friends met up with us for the museum and we went for ice cream after.

Saturday night was girls' night. Bryce and Kyle had all of our kids and Katie's at the Sheffer house - we truly have excellent husbands. I invited a bunch of friends over. We had a yummy spinach salad, cheese fondue, and chocolate fountain. Yummo! (And yes, the meal was inspired by Zupas) I didn't have concrete plans. I just intended to eat yummy food and sit around and visit. We had supplies to make cards if people wanted and a friend brought supplies to make necklaces. Well, after eating and visiting, we decided to make necklaces. We ate ice cream cake from BR with nutty coconut ice cream - my favorite. (Isobel decided on the decorations of the cake - the color and words.) Afterwards we went to pick up the kids and look at Cake Wrecks. I am sure we went to bed eventually. It was a great party.

(Did I mention that I made a super fun mix CD for me to sing along to during the party?)

(Is this a cake wreck? I did pay for it and it does kinda say "Mdmmy")

(Thanks Karen for taking the pics of the party and for being a great friend!)

Happy Birthday to me! It is fun getting older if only for a reason to go on a date and have a party.

Hair Cuts

I know I have more stuff to tell you about my birthday and whatnot, but this is too much on my mind - it's gotta be blogged about now.

I got my hair cut on Friday because my short haircut was starting to look more like feathered David Cassidy hair.

Today, after I finished work and was on my way home, I called Bryce to see what was up. He said that he didn't think we would go play basketball with our neighbors because Eva cut Isobel's hair - at Isobel's request! What is worse, Bryce tried to fix it and got one side ultra short. Here's the face I saw when I got home.

This is the LONG side.
This is the SHORT side.
This is the back - the part Eva cut all by herself - without Daddy's help.

So off we went to the place I got my hair cut - Great Clips. It's the only place in Santa Fe that doesn't charge at least $50. So they cut her hair and when they were done, they asked if they could blow dry it. Thinking that was a silly question, I said, "Of course." When we were checking out, the lady said I owed her $18 - the cut should only be $12 - so I asked why it was $18 - "because of the blow dry." Duh. Note to self, if they ask to do something extra, say NO.

Anyway, Isobel looks pretty cute even with shorter-hair-than-she's-had-in-5-years. By the way, she is so excited - as you can see - to have short hair and bangs for the first time. I guess she learned her lesson.

The wounds of White Sands

So, we went to White Sands last weekend. It was very wet in our tent, but the days were lovely. Sledding on White Sands was excellent! You don't even get cold - and we didn't get hot because it was overcast. Which actually was quite a bummer because we heard that the full moon is amazing how it lights up the sand - which is why we went last weekend. Anyway, while sledding, the back of my knees were hurting because I had to hold my legs straight out to keep myself from turning all around on my disc. The next day, this is what I saw. (Please try to ignore the nasty legs and the fact that I took the pics myself...)



OUCH!!! Note to self, it's probably worth going backwards or sideways to avoid this unsightly discoloration.

For some great pics of us on White Sands, check out Katie's blog. There is a super fun slide show.

Stay there a while and you will also see a beautiful pic of Eva and a nasty pic of me in my camping jammies. (Not to mention you'll get a more comprehensive story of our trip - thanks, Katie for doing all the work for me;)

I'm totally buggin'

The other night I came home from Karen's house really late - like midnight or so. It had been raining for several hours. I went into my bathroom to do my "bedtime business" so I could go to bed. I heard this noise kind of above me and I thought it was rain on the roof. But then it wasn't consistent. I looked up at the shelf above me and didn't see anything. Then I heard the noise again. I peeked around the shelf and - mind you, I'm on the toilet - I see THIS on my shower curtain above my head! (The noise was it's many legs clicking around on my shower curtain! Eww!)



It was 5 inches long - like this one in the picture - and I finished what I was doing and washed my hands. Then I went out to the living room to tell Bryce there was a HUGE centipede on our shower curtain above the toilet and would he please get it out of the house. I was very calm about it. He walked back into the living room a few seconds later - "That is HUGE!" It was kinda funny because he kept going in and out of the bathroom trying to figure out how to get the thing and work up the courage to try. One time he came out and commended me on my composure - he was shuddering. Finally, I decided to help. We got a jar and I tried to get it to go in and it would move away - causing Bryce and I to shudder and squirm. Finally I got it directed down and scooped it into the jar and Bryce took it outside. We didn't have the presence of mind to take a picture of it. So when I looked them up online the next day I found out that it is a giant redheaded centipede. They grow to 7 or 8 inches and generally have a black body - I think ours was a teenager. They are poisonous but it's more like a bee sting.

Another fun discovery about New Mexico. Did I mention you are all more than welcome to come visit? :D

She and Him

I'm really digging this band - She and Him. I'm sure you will recognize the singer from Elf. I heard this song on the radio a few weeks ago and I called Bryce and told him to look it up so I could buy the album. I haven't yet, but my birthday is coming up ;)

Be warned, this video is a bit like the scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail where the arms are chopped off. If you don't want to watch the video, just listen to the song - it's wonderful!

'Why Do You Let Me Stay Here' Video