Snowboarding at 2 1/2......WHY NOT?

That is enough practice mom...I want to go on the real mountain with dad.

Here they go.

On the lift with dad....

Snowboarding down the mountain.....

Brody definitely was the cutest kid on the hill but....

AM I CRAZY TO LET HIM GO? HE'S ONLY 2 YEARS OLD!

Gone is the post about Hawks!! Look at my new pictures. I know it has been a while so all of you that have complained here you go. We went to Sienna's blessing a week ago and got a couple of pictures of our family.


Here I am with Araia and Brody is with his daddy.






















Araia and Sienna having fun at the party.

Hawks in my yard

Sunday morning I was awakened to a strange sound. There was a loud screeching, screaming, yelling sound right outside my window. I tried to ignore it and go back to sleep but it was so loud. It was probably around 6 am and I could not take it anymore so I got out of bed to see what was making this sound. I could not believe what I saw. There was a red-tailed hawk perched on my fence holding a pigeon in its' talons. I was so excited I woke up Neil to tell him about it. (He didn't really care about the hawk. I think he just wanted it to shut up.) I quickly got on some shoes and went outside to get a closer look. When I went out there I noticed that there was a second hawk perched on on the back fence.

There were two hawks on my back fence!!! I know I am revealling the nerdy science geek in me but I was really excited. I love watching hawks and I have never before been this close to one. My closest encounter to a hawk was when I was hiking in Santa Barbara and I saw one swoop down and snatch up a mouse. It was probably 30 feet away. This was even better...these hawks were probably only 10 feet away.

I think that hawk #1 was trying to protect her breakfast from hawk #2 who was trying to steal a piece of the yummy pigeon. One thing that I noticed was how easy the hawk handled the pigeon. Soon after I went out there the hawk with the pigeon flew into the neighbors yard and up on her fence. She (the hawk) just flipped that pigeon around like it was nothing.

I am grateful for those hawks and hope they kill all of the pigeons around here. GO HAWKS!

Click on this link to hear the noise that woke me up:

http://www.hangingrocktower.org/calls/red-tailed.htm

HAWK FACTS

• The eyesight of a hawk is 8 times as powerful as a human's.
• Like all hawks, the Red-tailed Hawk's talons (claws) are the main weapons.
• The Red-tailed Hawk has hoarse and rasping 2- to3-second scream that is most commonly heard while soaring. The scream of the Red-Tailed hawk is the sound used to represent hawks and eagles in movies around the world.
• 85 to 90 % of the Red-tailed Hawk's diet is composed of small rodents.
• In the courtship display a pair of Red-tailed Hawks soars in wide circles at a great height. The male dives down in a steep drop, then shoots up again at nearly as steep an angle. He repeats this maneuver several times, then approaches the female from above. He extends his legs and touches or grasps her briefly. The pair may grab onto one other and may interlock their talons and spiral toward the ground.

How do you like them apples

I am so excited when Fall comes. I love the cool weather and the fall decorations. Yesterday we went up to Oak Glen to pick apples....a perfect fall activity. Brody had a great time.

He enjoyed picking the apples.

He checked out the horseys through the fence.

His favorite part was probably eating the apples and carrying the basket.

We had a lot of fun. Sometimes I wish I lived on a farm. I love big white farm houses, split rail fences, bright red barns and home grown fruit and vegetables. It was so peaceful and relaxing up there. However, I am not sure that my family would have any food to eat if we had a farm because I am a horrible gardner. This year I had 3 tomato plants, 3 bell pepper, 2 cucumber, 1 watermelon and 1 cantaloupe. Here is how they did:

tomatoes: 1 plant did okay. They weren't the tastiest ever but definitely better than store bought.

cucumbers: 0

bell peppers: maybe 4

watermelon: I had one small fruit that shriveled and died

cantaloupe: I was so excited to have 1 cantaloupe growing that was about the size of my fist...then my dogs puled it off. None since then.

Maybe I will have better luck next year.

Okay...I know what your thinking

Finally I am posting a new blog. I know that I am lame and have not changed my blog for a long time but I have been busy. I started working again and since I teach online and am on the computer constantly, I do not want to be on it any longer than I have to. So, I am sorry to all of you who had to look at the same picture of Brody over and over again. Hopefully you haven't given up on me altogether.

So, here are some pictures of me when I was little. I haven't changed a bit. What do you think? Hey, doesn't the one on the swing set look like Brody? Maybe he does look like me.

I don't know why the pictures are all over the place, but what can I do. They won't move now and Brody is about to break something so it is what it is. Gotta go.

Monday Memories

Since Brody's birthday is on Wednesday I thought that I should devote this week's memories to his birth. What a wonderfully awful day that was. I went into labor on September 11th...yes on 9/11. Neil told me that I could not have him until the next day so he would not have to share his birthday with such an awful day. Luckily, I do not have short, easy labors so he was born on September 12th. At a whoppng 9 lbs. 12 oz. he looked and acted like a 2 month old. I cannot believe that something so big was curled up in my tummy. I must have been huge. That just proves that when people say you look great when you are 9 months pregnant...they are lying.

Here he is just a few minutes after he was born.

I can't believe that I evern took this picture. I felt like I had been hit by a truck and my legs were shaking uncontrollably.

What a sweet baby boy.

Here is daddy and his little minime. Brody looks just like his dad.

Although I hate being pregnant and I hate labor, this was a wonderful day. I love my son and love every minute I get to spend with him (even when he throws his food, pushes other kids and refuses to go to bed).

Yahoo! I am an aunt! This is baby Sofia and my sister-in-law, Taylor. Sofia was born on August 25th. I have finally reached aunt status for the first time. I am so excited. I can finally spoil my very own niece and Araia and Brody have a life long friend. Isn't she a cutie!!!