A Natural Wonder for Sure!

 

For spring break, we took the girls to Arizona to see one of the worlds  "natural wonders", the Grand Canyon.  I have to admit, that I was in awe of the hole in the ground for about 10 minutes.  Most of my trip, I marveled over the other "natural wonder"...Eric and his girls. 

"Dad, dad, dad", that is most of what I heard on the trip.  Despite they're eye rolling and the "you're so annoying!" these two girls wanted nothing more than to be with their dad.  There are often times (many times) that Eric becomes overwhelmed with the female presence in our home.  We out number him greatly (Mom, Gabby, Sinobia, Coreena, Sicily and the female named cat Nera, who is really a boy!)  There is a lot of mood swings, demanding of attention and whining that goes on in our house.  Eric deals with it every day.  I do admit, we are not an easy bunch to live with...we are slightly high maintenance.  We do remind him, often, of how lucky he is to have us in his life and we take plenty of opportunities to point out more extreme female behaviors that he is spared from by having us in his life. 



 I believe that Gabby and Sinobia are the true loves of Eric's life.  He lives and breaths for them.  Everything he does (with the exception of football Sundays), he does with them in mind. Should I be jealous?  Nope...I know I'm Eric's best friend and his true love as well.  Our relationship is separate from the daddy-daughter thing.  My heart aches (in a good way) when I watch them together.  His heart is in the right place.  I couldn't dream of wanting anything more for our family...for our girls.  Yeah, I'm not chopped liver in our house, my relationship and mommy role is just different.  It's special in it's own way, but this post isn't about me.

Watching Eric on our vacations was priceless.  He was excited to see the Grand Canyon, but he was more excited to see the girls witness it for the first time.  He was proud to give them this opportunity to travel and explore the world, an experience that neither of us had when we were growing up.  They were adventurous, grateful and remarkably well behaved.  They soaked up every experience and I believe will always remember this trip with their family...with their dad.

There is nothing more magical than a father and his loving relationship with his daughters.  Eric possess a relationship with Gabby and Sinobia that I know I can never have.  It is special and sacred.  It will always be cherished.  They adore him, rely on him, trust him and know that he will always be there to protect them.  As a daughter, who's dad is no longer with me, I am more in tune with these special feelings they have for their dad.  I always knew my dad would be there for me, no matter what...and he was.  There is a place in my heart that feels the void, now that he is gone.  Eric is the love of my life, but there will never be another man like my dad. 

I often think about what sort of man could possibly capture the hearts of these two girls.  I feel sorry for this guy.  He will always be compared to the greatness of Eric as a dad and as a husband.  Will they even give anyone a fair chance? Eric has taught Gabby and Sinobia what it means to be a friend, a partner, a provider,  a protector and a mentor.  There probably is no greater gift he can give them than showing them what the best really is and that they should expect no less when they find "the one" for them.

Thanks Daddy Eric...We love you!

Gabby, I Know You're Reading This!

"Mom...why don't you just get a facebook account like normal people?"  This is what Gabby has asked me for over a year.  Now that I have started blogging, she is mortified!  Every time I publish a new post, I email the link to her.  She claims that she is not reading my posts and hasn't even looked at my "dumb blog" once!  "How do you know I'm not posting goofy pictures of you everyday?" "Are you sure you're not peaking at it a little?"  

So, these are not goofy pictures, they are actually from our recent Spring break trip to Arizona, but she has now been officially posted on the blog.  How can she not look now?  I may have to threaten to post naked baby pictures or her first 3 year old pre-school crush.  I'll get her to be a follower one way or another, even if it's just to make sure I'm not totally embarrassing her! 

If you're reading this Gabby...I love you more than I can stretch!

Enjoy the Arizona pictures...we took thousands of them (well, actually Eric took thousands), so you'll be seeing a lot of them in the near future.

My Favorite Souvenir!

We just returned from our spring break on Saturday evening (more pictures and posts about the trip later).  We stayed with our very dear friends, The Harms Family for a few days. 

The Harms Family lived next door to us for many years (I think it was 7?).  Our children grew up together and played together every day.  About 3 years ago, they relocated to Arizona.  It was difficult for us to say goodbye to our neighbors.  We had grown so close, like family (we had keys to each others houses, our yards were connected there were campfires and sleepovers in the yards and the girls would sneak over to the Harms house to watch TV and eat ho-ho's and squeezy cheese).

Momma Harms (Sarah) is an awesome jewelry maker.  I own a few pieces of her jewelry...they are some of my most cherished pieces of jewelry.  While we were visiting, Sarah decided to give us a steel forging lesson, to show us how she works her creative magic.  What would normally take her 10 minutes to hammer out and create, took us close to an hour!  Gabby and Sinobia gave up, but I kept on hammering and sweating it out.  The final result was my very own piece of knock-off Sarahzona jewelry!

 

This is my favorite souvenir from our trip!

Doesn't look cute?  I can't wait to wear it out in public:)  My little swirl can do no justice to the beautiful jewelry that Sarah creates...see for yourself:  http://www.sarahzonadesigns.com/

Happy Birthday Sinobia!

Our Abundantly Aiden feature photo is from the photobooth at Gabby's Sweet 16 birthday party in December.  The way it works at our house is that, you get a full-on birthday party every year through your 10th birthday (whole class invites, entertainment, party venues, goody bags, etc..).   No more parties after 10 until your Sweet 16 comes around.  The 11 through 15 birthdays are not too dull.  They usually consist of dinner with friends, cake with family, a small gathering (4-5 friends) without the frills.  We have not decided what happens at 17, maybe a college road trip?

Today is Sinobia's 11th birthday!  11 is a waiting year.  No big party.  She has opted out of having a small friend gathering, instead she would like a Nook  (one of those electronic/digital reader things) for her birthday.  Today is her Golden Birthday, she is 11 on April 11th.  I think it may be her triple threat birthday, she's 11 on April 11, 2011!  I'm not sure what that means to others in the world, but we may just have to go all out and grant her wish for Chipotle for dinner:) 

5 years until we throw our next Sweet 16 gig (although Sinobia has decided that she would like to have a Quinceañera...whatever!). 

The years are going too fast...who wants to come to our "Empty Nester's" party (not too soon, but close enough to get excited about it)?  I think Eric and I can swing for goody bags!

Hello everyone! Welcome to our family blog and my first posting. The rule in our house for our daughters is that, you have to be in high school in order to join facebook.  Well, Gabby cheated a little (and got caught),  she joined just before her 8th grade graduation.  A little before her joining, Eric joined.  He ranted and raved about all of the long lost friends he was able to reconnect with through facebook.  I sat back and watched the two of them and most of the world around me become absorbed in the facebook world.  Late nights, extra time, during car rides, vacations, morning, noon and night there was facebooking going on around me.  I refused to join..."Everyone I want to be in contact with, I am.  I send birthday cards, Christmas cards and make phone calls and girls night out dates.  I don't have time for facebook!"  I was very aware of the fact that, I was not willing to be sucked into the facebook world.  I knew I would be terribly upset with myself, if I used up my kitchen clean-up, dog walking, homework, and bedtime routine time to reach out to others on the computer.  There were a few times that I glanced over the shoulder of Eric and Gabby and instantly forgot what I was doing for an hour while we browsed photos of high school friends and relatives.  I knew I would be in serious trouble if I became a facebook addict. 

Every time someone says, "you should join facebook" I frown and give my speech about not needing to be on facebook to keep in touch with friends. I sit on my high horse and preach about how I could use my time more constructively, I have dug my heals in the sand and firmly stood my ground...now there is no turning back.  I have made such a stink about the life of facebookers, that I could never join now!  What a hypocrite I would be!  So, this blog is my rebellious attempt to reach out to friends (new and old), family and a few strangers who may stumble upon Abundantly Aiden WITHOUT JOINING FACEBOOK! 

Enjoy and visit often!

Tracy Aiden