One year older and Quirkier, too...

So, as Halloween has come and gone, so has another birthday for me. Yes, as most of you know, I was born on Halloween, which is actually a very fun birthday to have...There is always a party going on somewhere, plus there is LOTS and LOTS of chocolate!!! This year we had a blast the entire week, with 3 parties for the kids plus the Ward Trunk-or-Treat. As for the birthday part of the day, I was blessed with lots of birthday wishes from family and friends as I celebrated my last birthday in my twenties. I am already kind of having a mini-crisis thinking that I will be 30 next year. I know it's not that old, but with my 10 year high scool graduation mark this past summer, I'm begining to realize that I really am not as young and cool as I like to think I am...maybe that's why the Young Women seem to act like I was born in the Stone Age! A quote, "I bet high school was so much different for you back then"--Back then? Hello! the only difference was that we had better music and had never heard of a text messege! Of course, I do remember a time when I bought that music on cassette tapes and nobody even had cell phones (just car phones, remember those?)...

Anyway, as since it was my birthday, I'll entertain you a bit by answering Ellen's "Quirky" tag. And to make it more interesting, I'll throw in some pictures of our Halloween escapades (thanks for the idea, Adrianne!)

Kate's and Jonah's pumpkins (they helped with the designs)
Micah's pumpkin--the kids wanted it to say "I Love My Mummy"

Tag Rules:

Link the person who tagged you

Mention the rules on your blog

Tell about six quirks of yours

Tag six fellow bloggers to do the same

Leave a comment to let them know

Quirk #1: I hate vegetables. Yes, call me a 5-yr-old if you'd like but it is the truth. There are some that I like (corn, broccoli, carrots, salad; green beans are tolerable). I honestly think its a texture thing, because I can handle veggies cooked a lot better than raw--except peas, I hate how those taste. I am really working on this (in fact, much to Micah's dismay, I have decided that I like tomatoes--I know, that's really a fruit but give me credit for trying) He laughs at me sometimes as I'm telling my kids to eat their veggies, all the while gagging as I'm choking them down myself. Maybe someday I'll grow up.

Kate's Story Hour Party

Quirk #2: I am a laundry-folding Nazi. Micah doesn't even try to help me fold the kids' clothes. I have specific piles for every article of clothing (pants, outfits, long-sleeved, short-sleeved, etc). I get very aggravated if these said piles get knocked over or messed up, so I have discontinued folding during daylight hours and now wait until the kids are in bed in order to eliminate any such incidents. When I put the clothes away, they have specific drawers/closet locations as well. This way, the clothes are in complete order and I always know where to find them when the time comes.

Jonah's Preschool Party--He went as a penguin because you weren't allowed to wear scary costumes. There are two other boys in his class, but they were both sick, so it was just him and all the girls.

Quirk #3: I sleep with a blanket on my head. Sounds weird, I know, but we are sharing quirks here. It started when I was younger and still scared of the dark, but I hated having the light in my eyes. I put the blanket just over my eyes, leaving my nose and mouth exposed for breathing purposes. Now the nightlight is gone, but the blanket remains. I can sleep without it, but I'm so used to it that any little type of light (like a street light through the window, etc) just bugs the heck out of me. Honestly, I tried to kick that habit once but it was just too hard--Micah doesn't really care, and I prefer a good night's sleep.

The whole fam at Trunk-or-Treat

Quirk #4: Since we're talking Halloween, I'll include this one. I don't know if it's because of my birthday or what, but I start thinking about my kids' Halloween costumes in like July. Seriously, we kick around ideas for what they are going to be months before the day actually comes. First of all, I love Halloween. And secondly, if I make their costumes (which I didn't do this year but really prefer) I need a lot of time to plan/sew. So while the rest of you are thinking about lemonade and sitting by the pool, I've got fall festivities on the brain.

Princess Belle
Scary Ghost--Instead of the mask, we went for face paint and covered his hair with baby powder. He was both scary and fresh-smelling.
The best catch of the night

Quirk #5: Micah hates this, but I am kind of a stickler for facts. If someone is telling a story and they say something that is inaccurate, it is extremely hard for me not to say something. As I said, this annoys Micah because he likes to exaggerate sometimes and I'm always like "that's not how it happened..." I know, totally annoying. I try, I really do, but sometimes I just can't help myself. Anybody out there a therapist who can explain to me what my problem is?

Mom and Lincoln--at least he looks cute. I'd have put not liking pictures of myself as one of my quirks, but I think that it is actually pretty normal (I hope...)

Quirk #6: Nobody would ever call me The Queen of Clean, but I am finicky about one thing: toilets. If I know someone is coming over to my house, if only clean one thing it will be the toilets. In fact, once the missionaries stopped by for a potty break, and I made them wait a few minutes because I hadn't cleaned the toilet recently--I think the poor Elder almost wet his pants! So, if you ever visit and have to make a pit stop, you can be sure that you'll be sitting on clean porcelin.

After trick-or-treating...the kids are hyper from all the candy, while Mom and Dad just want to go to bed. Ahhh...the joys of parenting.

6 quirky people I tag: Brittany, Kristen K., Emily, Kari, Jolyn, Julie

Thanks for enduring such a long post. Even if you didn't read it all, I hope you enjoyed the pictures. I guess if there's one time a year you can ramble on, it's your birthday, right?