Universal Studios! Part 1 (Everything but Harry....)

As the boys play outside today (if you can believe it, it's nearly 60 degrees and sunny today...that's Christmas Eve for ya in Albuquerque!)... Anyway, as the boys are running around and being silly, I thought I'd take a few minutes to catch up on the blog. I've been stalling because my next 3 or 4 posts are going to have nearly 50 photos each (which I've re-sized to save space, so click each one to make bigger).

And those that blog know that you have to rotate each photo, re-size a few of them, and then upload, upload, upload. And all that take some serious time. But it's all worth it, because when I'm bored or when I travel, I look at my own blog more than anyone does because I love reliving the memories!

But I digress...

This blog (and the second part) are the about the Greenie adventures to Universal Studios in early November. Our pal Jennifer got us some cheap-o tickets, so we signed up in a heartbeat. And I promise you, it had nothing at all to do with "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter." Nothing. Really... (That's the next post, so be sure to keep reading...)

This "Part 1" post contains everything ELSE we saw at Universal Studios in Orlando, FL!

First up, the entrance - here's a shot of Carter and I before we began our adventures:
Carter was already excited to see all there was to see:
Of course, there was a Christmas-themed gift shop, so I just HAD to take a photo (I'm a Christmas nut...):
And here was my very first sighting of the "Wizarding World of Harry Potter." If you peek to the left, just over the bushes, you can see the top of Hogwarts:
But we'll get to that...

The first attraction we visited was "Seuss Landing." If you'll remember, Carter was born on Dr. Seuss's birthday (March 2), so we have a special place in our hearts for Seuss. As you view these photos, just look at the attention to detail. EVERYTHING is themed - the bushes, the pavement, the tables, everything!
Weren't quite sure which way were were headed, maybe Near, maybe Far:
Stopped in this little gift shop and got a few fun treasures to take home:
We didn't ride many of the rides, but our pal Jennifer (and her sister Marilyn - bottom right) tried out this one with Marilyn's son, Henry:
Carter got to run around in a Seuss-themed kid garden and had a blast:
Whatever this wheely-thing was, he loved it and kept running back to turn it:
Cute pic of Carter's backside as he peeked in the tiny windows:
My favorite Seuss character, The Lorax (he speaks for the trees!):
Another fun gift shop:
And that attention to detail I mentioned? Check out this topiary:
Next up is the "Marvel Comics"-themed area. The Fantastic 4 Cafe:
Right off Stan Lee Blvd, of course:
Fun pic of the front of a gift shop:
One of the rides, one of those free-fall-type thingies that scare the bejeebus out of me:
If you look closely, there is a very, very handsome man sitting on the bench in front of this Comics Shop:
Ooookay, so it's Matt!
As we were leaving the Comics Shop, we caught a "parade of superheroes"...
Couple close-ups of my nephew, Daniel's, favorite character, Spiderman:
Next up, "The Lost Continent:"
Big mountain with carvings and fountains (and two handsome men in front!):
This area wouldn't have been complete without a ginormous trident:
Carter loved all the water that was flowing around the park. Here's a shot of him enjoying the view (and looking for "Quark, quarks" - or ducks...):
This (below) is actually the entrance to a ride. We didn't go, but I love the giant feet out front...makes you wonder how big the statue used to be, eh?
Matt snapped a few photos from the medieval weapons shop. Here's the guarding knight in shining armor:
Opposite the park from the Lost Continent was "Jurassic Park." Matt, Carter, and Brett went over to see it (while I was in Harry Potter la-la land...). Looks like a T-Rex escaped from the compound:
We all later went back as a family and here's the official entrance sign:
Again, the attention to detail was amazing. Remember the alarms and flashing lights from the movie? Well, here they are along the fence line:
We walked up and saw this guy trying to get a photo of him "feeding" his little girl to T-Rex. She was screaming, he was laughing. I'm guessing this happens ALL the time there...
And the final area of the park, "Toon Town." Here's good 'ol Betty:
And one of Matt's favorites, Prince Valiant:
And the final pic for this post - the entrance to Blondie's Cafe. Love the sandwich (which has hotdogs, spaghetti, even a lobster poking out - ha!):
Can't imagine how people make it through the whole park (we only went to HALF) without taking a zillion photos! Just wait until you see how many we took in the Harry Potter area!

Hope you enjoyed reading/viewing our Universal Studios experience!
~kerrie

Christmas Recital 2010

Today was Carter's very first Christmas Recital! His school (again, it's really a "learning center"...we're just teaching him early that it is fun to go to "school"!)... Anyway, the school organizes this splendid, annual event for all four of their locations around Albuquerque and this year's was held at the Albuquerque Convention Center.

All four schools have classes from infant to Pre-K to some after-school-care-only-aged kids. Each class (except the infant classes) performed a Christmas song, complete with fun, festive outfits. We were not told in advance what the kids in his class (the 1-to-2-year-olds) would be performing. Matt and I actually thought he'd be doing something with drums because he's been banging on EVERYTHING as of late. And when he's done banging, he'll tell himself "Bravo!"

Anyway, the event started out with the older, Pre-K-aged kids performing "Silent Night." It was very well organized, the teachers were on stage to help guide the kids through the performance, and all of the kids participated. It was entirely adorable (as well as hilarious)!

Carter's class was the lucky #2 performance. I won't lie, I had tears in my eyes (as did many in the audience). Our little elf was just so adorable on stage, I couldn't help myself... And well, the fact that as they performed "Jingle Bells," every single one of his classmates stood there in fear, stiff as a board. It. Was. Hilarious. But since they were just so dang adorable, the crowd loved it!

Matt and I were so proud of our little guy that we were indeed beaming with pride after the performance (the parents of the toddlers are asked to collect their children immediately after their performance so the teachers could continue to help corral the kiddos for the remaining performances). Once we got back to our seats, several of the families around us said, "He was so cute!" "Great job!" etc. etc.

Anyway, yes, I know you don't want to just read about it, you want to see it all for yourself.

So first, let me orient you - below is Carter's class of cute little elves on stage with his two teachers (Brenda - left; Diana - right). In the first photo (start of performance), Carter is third from left. In the third photo, Carter is fourth from left. If you're having trouble, the second/fourth photos are identical, but I've added a note in case you can't spot him - click to make pic bigger.

There photos are here to also help orient you for the videos that follow (and I'm still learning how to use the Flip, but I'm pretty sure I can edit them, add captioning, etc....I'm just too lazy to read the manual...).
And now, if you really want a laugh, Matt caught the entire performance on video. There are 6 parts, each no more than 40 seconds in length. As you can see, very little "performing" from our kiddo, but doesn't he look adorable? (And for the record, his teachers REALLY know the routine!)

Enjoy! (And you can make all of these full-screen but clicking on the 4 arrows in the bottom corner of each video.)

Christmas Recital - Part 1 (Carter's moved to 5th from right):



Christmas Recital - Part 2 (Carter's the tall one in the middle - and check out the kiddo on the left making a break for it!):



Christmas Recital - Part 3 (Carter's still in the middle - the tallest kid):



Christmas Recital - Part 4 (FINALLY, a kid is dancing...but not Carter....):



Christmas Recital - Part 5 (Carter's moved to the back of the pack):



Christmas Recital - Part 6 (Still 5th from right, behind the one kid that finally "dances"):



What'd ya think? Entirely adorable, eh? Next year, when he's in the "Two's" class, he should be a little more in to it. But we'll always have the memories of this one (and yes, we'll share with his future girlfriend...)!

Hope that you have a wonderful weekend!
~kerrie

PS Yes, I know I need to get some posts in from November, but these were too good to pass up tonight!

Carter's First Snow!

It started snowing on Thursday afternoon when I picked Carter up after work and as we walked to the car, he looked at the big flakes and said, "Wow!" Well, Albuquerque received quite a bit of snowfall on Thursday night/Friday morning! So much so that Carter and I had a snowday! (plus, his school was closed...)

While I still had to work from home on Friday, I took a few minutes to take Carter out to play in the backyard. Yes, folks, his very first time playing in the snow! And what would any kid new on the snow-block want to do with that fluffy white stuff? Eat it! So after he ran straight for the shed (which is where we lock up the backyard toys), he realized that that white stuff under his feet was pretty neat!

Couple short videos of our snowday in the backyard below. Any my apologies for the shakiness, I'm just getting used to our new Flip video camera - which I bought for Carter's Christmas Recital (next post!).

Part 1 - Let's run to the shed...and stop and eat the snow!



Part 2 - Now, let's play in it!



Realized soon afterward that his footwear was not appropriate for snow playing, so I asked Matt to grab him a pair of boots when he made his late night Wal-Mart run. And what were his options at Wal-Mart? Camo, camo, and camo. So here's Carter sporting his new camo boots this morning with his fuzzy PJ's...and riding his rocking-giraffe from Grandma C (his look is a little suspicious, because his parents were laughing at his crazy outfit...):
He then got wind that it WAS pretty funny and gave us a big 'ol smile:

That'sa our boy!

Hope you're staying warm and have sensible footwear for the snowy season! :)
~kerrie

Annual SWE Conference - Orlando, FL

[attempting to get the blog back on track... which means I have to go ALL the way back to early November... bear with me here, folks...]

November was QUITE an exciting month around the 'ol Greenie house! To kick off the month, I flew away to Orlando, Florida, for the Annual Society of Women Engineers Conference (or "WE10" as we call it). WE10 was held in one of the largest convention centers in the world! And SWE only used HALF of it...that place was HUGE! Each day, I swear, I walked 2 miles just from my hotel and back!

As a Region Governor (of which I oversee NM, AZ, So.CA, So.NV, and UT), I get to attend many of the "exclusive" events and get to hang with a few celebrities! Including the SWE President, Siddika Demir (this photo was taken at the Region Governors meeting):
Over the 5-day conference (Tues-Sat), I attended multiple meetings, a few technical presentations, walked the career fair (and picked up my share of freebies), ate some fabulous meals, hung out with all of my SWE-pals, gave a presentation on "Arsenic Removal for Municipal Water Treatment," and....

I received an award! That's right, I was selected for SWE's "Distinguished New Engineer" for 2010. This prestigious award is given to up-to-five recipients each year and it's QUITE an honor to win! But the best part? Matt and Carter flew all the way to Florida to be with me when I received my award!

Landing in Orlando with 8 minutes to spare, they made it, were decked out in their finest, and met me for the pre-awards banquet reception:
At the dinner itself, we had rock-star seating and were placed at the very front table (Carter went nuts shortly after the ceremony, so we ducked out and missed the final awards - and well, being at the front table, we didn't mind having the eyes OFF of us for a bit...):
And here I am receiving my award (again, with Siddika):
(And quickly, a funny story... In true Greenfelder fashion, Carter poo'd his pants RIGHT BEFORE my name was called. So where was Matt when they were calling my name and I was going onstage? He was changing a diaper! Sure, I was a little saddened that he missed it, but you know what, I'd give up everything to have a husband that changes poopy diapers any 'ol day! Plus, Matt has been THE most supportive "SWE husband" (keep reading...) and I KNOW he's proud of me... And now, looking back, I actually just sort of roll my eyes and say, "Hey, that's just how the Greenies do it!")

Anyway, a few more shots of me and my award:
The recipients (three of these gals work for Boeing and the gal in the middle-right in blue works for Disney... So some pretty prestigious company, eh? And again, that's SWE President, Siddika, in the other blue dress):
The billboard outside the banquet hall - had to kneel down since my photo was on the very bottom (and the pose is showing off the photo that was used in the SWE magazine article... yes, google me, I'm famous now!):
The next day, the boys and I went across the street to the infamous Peabody Hotel. Apparently, every day at 11AM they have a "parade" of ducks that come into the hotel and get a snack in the lobby fountain. The parade is led by a conductor, complete with the red carpet and music.

For some reason, I assumed the parade would be lengthy and we'd get to see it all. Silly me... Those ducks pretty much hauled tail and went right for the snacks in the fountain! I think the whole thing took 30 seconds!

Anyway, Carter loved it, so I'm glad we went. Here's a shot of the parade:
And up close - here are the ducks:
For the final event of WE10, a "Celebrate SWE!" event is held. This event is a let-your-hair-down, have fun, and really, celebrate the fun times with SWE. In the past, the regions have "competed" against each other and performed short little skits highlighting their SWE-skills (which sometimes involves singing, dancing, wearing red gowns, etc.). The "winner" won a prize and carried the prestige throughout the year.

Well, the Region Governors decided to do things a little differently this year. We decided to have a "game show." We called it "SWE Know It or Show It" and it was a sort of truth-or-dare type game that involved answering SWE trivia questions or performing silly challenges. And which lucky husband got to help with the "game show"???

That'd be mine! That's right, Matt hand-made a 4-foot diameter, 6-foot tall game show wheel (complete with clicker!) that was hauled all the way from Albuquerque to Orlando to play the game. I can't believe how talented he is, not to mention creative, and the "wheel" (as we fondly, er, used to fondly, call it) was amazing! The "contestants" had SUCH a blast playing the game and the wheel was SUCH a hit!

To top it off, I got to test my comedic skills by being a game show emcee and received rave reviews for my witty sense of humor (does that mean I can quit my day job?).

Here's a shot of me onstage with the wheel:
The other emcee, Jeanne, and I right before the gameshow started:
Here's a shot of the contestants, but most importantly, that's ME on the big screen being projected to the 1500 attendees:
And finally, some mid-gameshow action:
Matt was all-too-thrilled to see the wheel carted off to a local SWE section in Orlando. My guess, if the wheel disappears and doesn't show up next year (in Chicago!), he'll be a happy, happy camper!

All in all, the conference was a success and I had a blast. Next time, though, when I make it to Orlando, I sure hope the weather is warmer than the 50 degrees I experienced every day!

Up next....HARRY POTTER!!!
~kerrie

Just Like Mike

...Michael Jordan that is! Remember those awesome commercials for Nike shoes that had Michael Jordan jumping, like, 400 feet in the air? Well, I think Carter is trying to tell us something...

I can't quite put my finger on it... Maybe these photos will hold some clue...
Oh yeah, the kid's a nut... Jumping in the crib is his new favorite past time! Couple short videos of the action below.

Part 1:


Part 2:


Oh yeah, that kid gets some SERIOUS air!! Looks like he's got the makings of a basketball player (for the Jayhawks, of course...)!

Seriously behind on blogging, but I couldn't resist posting these tonight!
~kerrie

Happy Birthday Mom!

Just a short post to say a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY (number 60!!!) to my amazing mother!
And for fun, here's one of my most favorite photos of my mom - taken in the Caribbean with a beautiful sunset backdrop:Great looking gal, eh? Now you all know where I get MY good looks! :)

Hope your day is amazing, Mom! We love you!
~kerrie (and matt and carter)

Greenfelder Halloween Costume Party - 2010

As I sit here at home with a gnarly sinus infection, I thought I'd post a blog. After cruising through the photos, it has occurred to me that I am nearly 2 months behind in posting! Gah!!!

So here goes, if I aim for a post a day, I'll catch up eventually, right? Well good luck to me!

This fun post is about the annual Greenfelder Halloween Costume Party! We had a smaller than usual turn-out due to the scheduling of the party (I know we were invited to about 5 parties, so I think everyone in Albuquerque had their Halloween parties on the same day at the same time!). However, we still had a great, great time and are very thankful to all of our pals that came out!!

We ditched Carter with Paul and Eileen (for a sleep-over) and partied the night away! Carter had a blast (and was quite reluctant to leave, since they have some neat-o toys - as well as a cool vacuum, Carter is still keen on cleaning up the floors...) and we are still uber-appreciative that they'll watch our dude so frequently!

Anyway, let's move on to the fun photos (and AMAZING costumes!) from the night!

We'll start with the "infamous" Kitty-Litter Cake (still can't believe people are so willing to eat this...). Been a tradition at our house for ages:
And now, the costumes... We'll start with our winners (in no particular order - and you can click on any of these photos to see them better) -

#1, Lauren and Matt - as the "dream sequence" from the Big Lebowski (google it, you'll crack up!...ok, here's a link to the video):
#2, Shawn and Amelia as Ghostbusters (with homemade proton packs!!!):
And #3, Chuck and Carol as Dog the Bounty Hunter and his wife, Beth:
Amazing attention to detail from ALL of our winners! Congrats to you all!

Let's see a few more!

Previous (and repeat) winners, Heidi and Steve as Mr. & Mrs. Frankenstein on their way to the Masquerade Ball:
Another previous (and repeat) winner, Brett and Jennifer as Milton (from Office Space - check out the likeness with his badge!) and Jennifer as an old-school Trekkie girl:
Mark as a Sumo Wrestler:
Danita as a Hippie:
Tyson and Geetha as Jack and Sally (from A Nightmare Before Christmas):
Erik as a Convict, er, I guess at this stage, he's just an alleged criminal...:
Matt and I as Astronauts, yes, we work for NASA:

**post edited to add in this funny note: Matt picked out the helmets to accompany these costumes... and, well, the majority of the night was spent saying, "WHAT?!" to each other because you couldn't hear a dang thing in those helmets. Hilarity, I tell ya! Scott and Beth as a Geisha and Samuari:
Natalie and Kevin as Pi and a Recent College Grad:
Adam as a Swashbuckler:
Justin as a Rodeo Clown:
One of my favorites, Holly as Mrs. Dorian Gray:
And last but certainly not least, Katherine and Jeff as Medusa and the Statue:
Hope you had a terrific Halloween and have made it through your stash of candy and treats!
~kerrie

Catchin' My Breath

So the Greenies have been busy. VERY busy. Lots of work, a little bit of travel, and some fun to go with it (and loads of photos to accompany the past few weeks).

As I finally get caught up on the laundry (been away for 2 weeks), I'll have some time tomorrow to post. So watch for all sorts of excitement here on the Greenie Times.

Stay tuned...
~kerrie