Pigtails

Laurie's hair has been looking really shaggy lately, so I tried pigtails.
Initially she was mad at me for trying, but once I got them in she didn't seem to mind. We think she looks so cute with her hair done.

Daddy's Girl (In more ways than one...)

The other day Val & I were looking through some old childhood pictures of mine & stumbled onto this...

This one's Daddy....


This one's Laurie....

Can you see the resemblence?

So now, not only does our little munchkin love hanging out with her daddy, we've discovered that she kind of looks like him too...


But wait, there's more!
The past couple weeks Laurie hasn't been feeling too good. Pretty onry if you get right down to it. Bedtime has been the worst or early in the morning and she's been blowing out her diapers like no other (she's destroyed so many onsies it's amazing!).

After wracking our brains trying to figure out what it might be one of us came up with the idea that she might be allergic to dairy. She's almost a year old & Val has been slowly introducing dairy to her the past couple weeks.

Well, the last couple days we've been experimenting by not giving her any cows milk & seeing how she does. Amazingly, she's calmed right down and wasn't blowing out diapers anymore.

Val put a little milk in with her juice last night and all of a sudden, the diaper-nightmares came back and tonight she wasn't feeling well at all.

So....our little girl seems like she might be allergic to milk...Just Like Her Daddy Is! How about that!

We even tried yogurt (which Daddy can have with no problem) and, miraculously, Laurie was fine with it too....but, introduce milk to the diet and BAM! One cranky, upset, not feeling good baby!

We're not 100% sure that it's the dairy, but it's sure looking that way....if it is, I guess Laurie is more of a Daddy's girl than we ever thought....

Guess when she gets older Daddy & Laurie will be making fun of all you guy's drinking that nasty waxy liquidy substance that was intended for baby cows while she & I drink pop or some other cool beverage.

I'm just hoping hers isn't as severe as her daddy's was as a kid; that'd rule out ice-cream, cheese, and....daddy's favorite, Pizza!

Cheese hasn't seemed to bother her...yet anyway, but give her a little milk and a few hours later she's crying like crazy (to which daddy can fully relate!).

Interestingly enough, Val even got some Lactaid to give her & it hasn't even touched the problem (I never did care for Lactaid myself either though & even though they claim it doesn't have any lactose in it, it still bothers me, so I wasn't surprised).

So, I guess Laurie is one heck of a daddy's girl. She loves to hang out with him, kind of looks like him, & now it appears may have the same food allergies as her old man.

Poor girl! Hopefully she turns out better looking than her old man did though...

Graydon
(Who thinks milk is disgusting but loves a good pizza!)

I Must Be "Old Fashioned"....

I must be getting old because I've discovered lately that I'm really "Old Fashioned".

Here's a few reasons I'm thinking this is the case.
1. I Hate Digital Clocks.
When I learned to tell time it was on an analog clock & can still remember seeing my first "digital" clock. I thought they were cool & all, but I still prefer to tell time on an Analog dial face clock. I just get a better "feel" for what time it is that way...and yes, my watch is an Analog one....

2. I Love Wind-up "Ticking" Clocks.
I absolutely love the sound of a clock "ticking". Not the sound a watch makes or an electric clock ticking from one second to another, but the real, honest-to-goodness sound of a wind-up clock "Tick-tock, tick-tock". Such a classic sound!

For Christmas this year I wanted a real wall clock that actually "ticked" with a pendulum & everything. It's pretty much the only thing I wanted....Val was nice enough to get me one & now I have the sound of a legitimate "ticking" clock with real chimes hanging on the wall. It's so cool!

3. I Hate Texting!
I don't understand the purpose of "texting" on cell phones. My view is...it's a phone! Pick it up & call someone instead of "typing something to them".

I tried to figure out texting once but never got the hang of it. So, if you want to get ahold of me, CALL me, don't send me a text. I'll just look at it wierd....


4. I'm Not A Fan Of "Electronic Day Planners".
When I was in College, the big rage was to use "digital day planners" like a Palm Pilot or the windows versions of them (can't even remember what they're called). Anyway, I got one & gave it a try for a few years....and, well, after it lost all my data a couple times & the screen cracked I vowed to go back to paper. I pulled out an old Franklin Day Planner, got new filler for it & haven't looked back since. A mechanical pencil makes a great "input" and "delete" device too...


5. I Don't Understand The Purpose Of Reality Shows
When I grew up TV actually had really good TV shows that made you think or at least were "entertaining". Ever since "The Survivor" hit the boob tube, life on TV has never been the same. I just don't understand this whole "reality TV" thing! I want my old TV Shows back. Sitcoms have turned into complete garbage (the last "good" sitcome was Boston Legal and it's now ended). About the only TV I can stand to watch these days is PBS (some cool documentary or concert or educational program) or the news.

6. I Don't Like Changing Things Much...about me that is...
Val took a long time to break me of wearing the same old clothes. And I've just now started accepting the idea that it's OK to rearrange the furniture every couple years (My thought is, "Hey, there was nothing wrong with where it was before....why do we have to 'move it around'?")


7. I Prefer To Work For A Living
I don't understand how people can stand to not work & mooch off the government & live with themselves. I've been reading about people out there that specifically quit their job just to go on welfare so that they don't have to work "because Uncle Sam will foot the bill".....


8. I Believe In Capitalism And The American Way
I don't understand this whole "bail-out" of the US Car Industry. For too many years these guys made crappy cars, refused to figure out the Union problem issues, and ignored the fact that Toyota & Honda were kicking their butts.

And now they've come up with a way to get you & I "Joe Tax Payer" to pay their stupid bills because they "can't compete in the global market". Yo, GM, I've got news for you, ya build crappy cars! That's why you're in trouble! People quit buying them!

I just heard where GMAC was just approved to become a bank and now will have access to that 700 billion (I wasn't a fan of that either). And, GM announced that it'll need "long term aid" pretty much going forward indefinitely. Ugh! Just let the dang thing die! It's called CAPITALISM!!!

If ya make a crappy product or you run your business poorly, don't expect the government to come & bail your sorry butt out! (which is EXACTLY what we're doing by the way! Bailing out companies that couldn't figure out how to compete in the global market place by giving them our tax dollars to further squander--GM expects to lose over $16 Million A MONTH!!!! Hello???? Does that sound like a wise investment for the US Taxpayer to make? I don't think so!!!

I have a business degree & the events over the last couple months go against everything in the capitalistic society of the United States that I've been taught.

I guess the rule now is, "Hey, if ya screw up & run a crappy business, not to worry! Uncle Sam will come & bail ya out!"

9. I Believe In Being Debt Free
Debt scares the living crap out of me. It always has. Unlike so many people out there, I hate debt. I have no consumer debt and don't plan to have any in the near future (all cars are paid for, credit cards are at $0.00 balance, and we have savings put away).

Some may say, "Yeah, but you had a really good year with your business this year.."
To which I'll say, "Yep, I did, but before that I lived the same way."

I've always saved money "for a rainy day", even when I was dirt poor in college and I've avoided debt like the plague.

Someone said that when you have debt you're a slave to it. It never goes to sleep, it never takes a nap, it has no mercy. It's always there...with interest ticking away too. I just hate the stuff.

I also heard a story at a fairly young age about debt & interest that has always stuck with me. It goes like this...

One day a very successful business man called in his assistant to teach him some of the lessons he'd learned in his time....the conversation went like this.

"Junior, I'd like to teach you something today but first I have a question....what can you tell me about interest?"

The young assistant rattled off how interest was money paid on dividends, the rule of 72, mortgages, and a bunch of other technical things about interest".

"No, no, no" said the old man, "I just want to know the basics"...
So the assistant rattled off some simple concepts about interest.
"No, that's not what I'm looking for"
Bewildered, the assistant gave up and asked, "So what were you looking for?"
"Well, when it comes to interest, there's two things you need to know."
Not understanding, the assistant asked, "What do you mean?"

Junior, the two things you need to know about interest is that there's two types of people. Dems that understands interest, and dems that pays it...get that down and you'll be alright."

That fact has ALWAYS stuck with me and ever since that time I've vowed that where possible, I will never pay interest on anything, or only when absolutely necessary.

For some reason I'm "old fashioned" when it comes to that though since we bought less of a house than we qualified for on a FIXED interest rate, drive cars that aren't brand spanking new, and don't eat out every night of the week and I don't have credit cards that are completely maxed out (in fact 99% of the time they don't carry a balance & when they do they get paid off the same month).

Here's another quick tip on money. It's an easy one too.

Spend less than you make. Live that way all the time.
If you do, you'll be able to have pretty much anything you could ever want. It's amazing how that concept works. Take my word on that one. Oh yeah, and save the rest. It might come in handy someday....

But, hey, I guess in 2009 some of these "old fashioned" idea's of mine may actually be to my benefit.

Anyone up for listening to the sweet sound of my "ticking & chiming" clock?
Maybe I can share a couple other of my "old fashioned" habits as well...

-Graydon
The Old Fashioned Guy In Syracuse

Snow Girl

We took advantage of the snow storm today and made a snowgirl. Emily wanted it to be Ariel with red hair and tail, but I am not that gifted. Here is the finished product. (If you look close you'll see Emily holding her hand.)

Lost and Found

Don't you love those Polly Pocket Dolls? Let's see how small we can make a doll. How fast can a child lose it? Emily has lost hers so many times and every time we get a catastophic melt down.

On 6 December we attended a family party where Santa came. Emily received a polly pocket as a gift. On 7 December we went to church and she lost it somewhere between the van and the chapel. We couldn't find it anywhere and I was so frustrated with being late to the meeting that I wouldn't allow her to look for it the moment she discovered it missing.

By that evening she had come to terms with the loss and was doing great. Occasionally the lost doll would be brought up, but she wasn't upset by it.

This morning my visiting teachers came by and during the course of conversation the lost doll was discussed. Would you believe that my visiting teacher had the doll!? The week that it was lost she was attending an Achievement Days activity and her son found the doll and brought it to show her. She put it in her pocket with the intention of giving it to the lost and found. Like most busy moms she forgot all about it and took it home in her pocket.

Emily was thrilled.

Got Milk?

This is for Grandma Blair. Laurie in her Got Milk? Shirt.

My Six Quirks

1- I pick at my hangnails without thinking. I have made my hands look so ugly with sores because of this habit. I do it if I'm bored or nervous. This took the place of biting my nails when I was younger and it stuck.

2- I have a hard time putting things away. This bothers Graydon so bad. I think it has something to do with the fact that I get distracted very easily or I tell myself I put it away when I go in that room again, which rarely happens. I can organize very well when I take the time, it just isn't instinctual.

3- I can't stand the feel of chalk. It sends chills through me just thinking about it.

4- I interrupt people a lot during conversation. I have to really try hard to stop myself and sometimes I don't realize what I did until afterward. Then I feel guilty.

5- I twirl my hair. I have done this since I was really little. It's another bored or nervous habit. My sister was following me home one day and she said that she always knew my van because she could see me twirling my hair as I drove.

6- I am a channel surfer. I can't just sit and watch a show. For one I hate commercials and second I always feel that there might be something better on another channel that I am missing. So quite often I will watch two or three shows at once; changing the channel during the commercial brakes.

I tag anyone who is interested.

6 Quirky Things About Me (Graydon)

My sister Michelle sent me one of those "tag" thingy's...

She wanted me to share 6 things that are quirky about me.

Hmmmm.....gotta think about that one, I'm sure Val could share a lot more of them, but, here goes.

1. I can hear a note that is out of tune a mile away. I'm the worst person to go to hear a choir sing with because I can pick out the tenor, bass, soprano, or alto that's off tune (and I can usually pick them out of a HUGE choir too--"That one, the one in Red, she's flat!" or, "The guy on the top left can't blend with the others"). Yep. Don't go with me to a choir if you wanna go just to hear them sing. However, when someone is "good", I can usually tell you why (by the way, I totally agree with Simon Cowell about 90% of the time. Half the crap on American (idiot) Idol is just that...crap. I don't understand where they get half the singers! Even in the top 10 a bunch of them are still REALLY off & out of tune. Carry Underwood was really good from the start though. Very good tone!)

2. I like my work area clean. I grew up with slobs (sorry brothers & sisters, but ya were!) and it drove me nuts. When I rented an apartment in Roy after graduating from college I kept the place so clean that they gave me all of my cleaning deposit back because in their words, "My gosh, the place is cleaner than when you rented it!" I can "Tolerate" a mess a lot better these days (I just ignore it...3 kids can trash our house pretty quick these days--but I still keep my office and my shed really clean).

There's a few quirks I picked up from mom on cleaning. If I pull a fridge or stove out, I HAVE to clean under it. It's just how it goes. Oh yeah, and I'm with Anna, I HATE smelly rags or bad smells in a house. Grosses me out.

3. I can organize the worst mess into something orderly pretty fast. Don't ask me how, I just can. It can annoy people sometimes because I like to keep things so organized, but hey, my world, my life. Although I don't try to organize other peoples stuff unless they ask me.

4. I'm allergic to milk. Have been for most of my life. I don't understand that whole "have to have milk" thing. To me it's gross. It tastes like waxy water to me...nasty! On my mission people always used to try to offer me a substitute for milk & I never understood it. It's like Milk is as important to them as toilet paper or something. I always thought, "Look, it ain't the end of the world, I'm allergic to the stuff, No, I don't want to try Soy milk or goats milks or goats cheese, or some other sad excuse for a Milk substitute. Get over it. There are people out there that just don't drink the stuff!"

Funny story about Milk....
When Val & I first got married, we were married in St. George, then drove home & spent our first night in our house. I got everything ready in the house that I thought we needed, but when we woke up the next morning & we pulled the cereal down she asked, "Where's the milk?" "Huh? Wuddya mean?" "I mean, where's the milk for my cereal?" I'd completely forgotten that people put milk on cereal (I use water--yeah, I know, you might think it's gross, but it's better than Orange Juice or non-dairy creamer, or even worse, Soy Milk! Ugh! That stuff is NASTY!!!). My dad's never let me live that one down though; it was pretty funny.

5. I like pictures to hang STRAIGHT on a wall and if given the chance will walk up to a picture and straighten it (I can spot a crooked picture quite a ways away..if I straighten your pictures, don't worry, I'm just aligning them right...they're crooked! Dontchya know!)

6. I can tell if a tire on a car is out of balance and usually can even tell you which one it is just by driving the car. Along the car theme.....at night if I see the taillights of a car I can 9 times out of 10 tell you what the make & model and pretty close to the year of the car is just by seeing the taillights from about 100 feet back. Even in the dark. I know, kind of quirky.

7. Oh yeah, one more, just remembered (because Val reminds me about it). I like to brush my teeth with the water running while leaning over the counter into the sink. I don't know why. I do it subconsciously.

Well, I'm sure Val could name a bunch more, but there ya have it. 6 kind of quirky things about me.

-Graydon

It's Vintage Christmas Time!

Ok all you out there in Blog-land, time for Christmas Vintage Pictures!

If ya got em, share em!

Here's some from Val & I.
Val on Christmas Morning


Val & Siblings by Santa
Eric, Andrea, Kevin (in Santa's arms), Valerie, Stephen, & David



Graydon, Anna (screaming), Daniel & David w/ Santa


Graydon & David w/ Santa


Valerie "Excited" to see Santa...


David, Graydon, & Daniel at the Day Christmas Party


Graydon in Wellsville (I think) on Christmas Morning


Graydon w/ a pony on Christmas (don't know where though, maybe Syracuse or Smithfield)


The famous Blair Christmas Sleigh


Grandma & Grandpa Blair, & Max w/ Graydon in the Christmas Sleigh

Tumbling Demo

Every Christmas Emily's Tumbling class has a class demonstration which allows family and friends to see the progress of their students. Emily's was Wednesday night. She was excited to have an audience and we enjoyed watching her. I think she is doing great. She had to do front and back somersaults, one and two handed cartwheels, and front handsprings or back bends.

What You Ought To Know

Val & I have a few favorite "YouTube" posters.

One of our favorites is a guy that posts on the channel WhatYouOughtToKnow.

Here's a few that I really like:
Lumpy Fudge


Ninja Stars!


Recession, Depression


Duct Tape


Digital Pictures


Me, Myself, and I


Credit Cards vs Evil


Liberals vs Conservatives


Ebay Rocks!



Anyway, you can check out more of his stuff here...
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=WhatYouOughtToKnow&view=videos

Our Little Princess

Laurie is turning into quite the little cutie!

She really loves bracelets! Absolutely loves them!
I snapped this picture of her in the perfect pose!

She's becoming quite the little lady...

 

More pictures!

I've been snapping more "photography style" pictures....

Night shots are still my favorite. The colors just come out so vivid.

This one's my favorite one from this crop of pictures.


I love how the clouds are flowing by while the branch in the foreground gives the photo some depth.

Check out those stars too!

Anyway, more from this bunch here:
http://graydonsphotos.blogspot.com

Enjoy!
-Graydon

Saturday Project

We received these bar stools for our wedding. After almost eight years of use the uphostery was really looking bad. I had some scrap vinyle, left over from an earlier project, that luckily was big enough to cover them. So I grabbed Graydon's Staple gun and about an hour and a half later, viola! The project went quicker than I thought and they look a lot better. They are also spill proof.

The Bird Feeder

Last winter I bought a bird feeder for our backyard and was amazed at how many birds were eating from it.

So, later that winter I picked up another one.

We've sporadically filled them with Bird Feed & let the birds eat to their hearts delight.

The other day while I was shooting some video for a work related project I noticed a huge mass of birds at the bird feeder. They were all over the feeder and even more of them were on the ground.

So, I turned the video camera toward the feeder & shot this......


I'm embedding it in HD format, so if it doesn't load immediately, just let it sit for a bit and it will. The quality of the video is worth the wait.

Enjoy the birds!
-Graydon

Lights on Temple Square

One of my favorite Christmas traditions has always been going to Temple Square to see the lights. I love watching the christmas story and seeing the Christus. We would go every year when I was a kid and it just stuck. I love seeing how they change things from year to year. The one thing I could do without is the crowds; and there were so many people there tonight. Emily kept complaining that her hands were cold and wanted gloves, but then she stuck her gloved hand into the reflection pool. What can you do? We all had a really good time.

Big Pile Fun

I wanted the kids to do something active. I decided to pile up all the couch cusions, pillows, and blankets that I could and let them play. They were so excited about it that all three of them were climbing all over it before I had finished putting it together. I got almost an hour of activity from them. Not a bad snow day activity.

It's Party Time! (Christmas Parties That Is!)

Well, the Holiday parties are starting!

Here's some pictures from our latest round of parties...

These are from our Ward Christmas Party. They themed it as a Christmas Ball.
Complete with food, music & pictures, the kids had a blast!

Next was the Day Family Christmas Party
This one included a visit from Santa, lots of food, and of course, a Piniata for the kids to whack at.

More to come as the parties continue....

Enjoy the fun!

She's Walking

Laurie has been toying with the idea of walking for a while now. She would take two steps here, four steps there, but wouldn't really get very far. She is now becoming for comfortable with it. She still prefers cruising and won't perform whenever I have the camera so footage is hard to come by, but I think it's official.

Josh

Here is Josh, our cute, silly boy.

Emily

Yes, I discoverd Picasa. Here are several candids of Emily. Such a beautiful girl.

Laurie

Here is our sweet little girl. Daddy was playing with the camera and she was just having fun being with him. She even decided to walk a little bit.

A Blast From The Past

I was going through some pictures tonight & thought you'd all enjoy some of these fun pictures from when I was a kid.

Lots with my brothers & some with Anna. I love the one with Santa. Anna wasn't happy!

Enjoy!


Me on my 3rd Birthday


Graydon & David with Santa


David & Graydon w/ Big Bird. Daniel is in mom's arms.


David, Daniel, & Graydon at the Clearfield Apartments


Graydon, Daniel, David - Christmas at the apartments in Clearfield


Graydon, Daniel, & David on bunk-beds at the Clearfield apartments


Graydon, David, Daniel & Mom on Mom's Birthday


David, Graydon, & Daniel at G'ma day's at Christmas


Graydon, Anna, Daniel, & David on Santa's lap at I THINK Grandma Day's Christmas party


First Day of School for Graydon (Graydon, Daniel, David at house in Clearfield


David, Anna, Graydon, David - not sure where


Me with really long hair.

So now it's your turn! If you have some fun ones from Childhood, share em!

-Graydon