The First Snow of the Year

This was the very first snowfall of the year. Corbin and Brock were so excited about it that they got together with some of the other kids in the neighborhood for a good old snowball fight. Corbin was so cute. Since he was the biggest kid there (and the oldest) he let all of the little kids gang up on him. It was Corbin against the world and I am not too sure
who won. It doesn't matter. Either way, they all had a blast!

Better Late Than Never...

Happy Belated Birthday! Actually these pics made it on relatively close to my Mom's birthday. It is just the text that is a half year late. Hey- the rule is it's not late until an entire year has past, Right?!? So In an effort to celebrate my fantastic Mama, I have decided to honor her with a top ten list...... Drum roll please......

THE TOP TEN THINGS I LOVE ABOUT CLAUDIA

10. I love that she will think this is just as great as if it had actually occured on her birthday!

9. I love that she loves my children and is supportive of their interests.

8. I love that she is so eager to learn, whether it is how to grout tile, or how to teach sunbeams to sing, she is always game.

7. I love that she constantly searches for the good in others, even when they don't deserve it.

6. I love that she knows the value of having good chocolate around at all times.

5. I love that she can help Averie with the math and science problems I can no longer remember how to do =D

4. I love that she is amazingly easy going and just rolls with the punches.

3. I love that she is a great sounding board for all of my looney ideas.

2. I love that she thinks of others before she thinks about herself.

1. I love that she believes in living in the moment and living each moment to it's fullest.

She is an awesome woman. I am blessed to be her daughter. My children are blessed to have her as their grandmother. We are all lucky to have her in our lives. We love you Nana.

I Heart Halloween!

Halloween is my absolute favorite. It is the best holiday on the planet- maybe because it is the day after my birthday, so I get presents and candy all at the same time....... This year we had a blast! The day started off, with me substituting Brock's second grade class. His morning teacher, Mrs. Earl, had family in town for her daughter's baptism, and wanted to be with them, instead of at school with a bunch of rowdy 7 year olds (go figure). I graciously came to the rescue and agreed to work for her (how could I not? It is a full day of partying).

I got dressed up as one of those tattooed biker chicks on LA Ink, and headed off to elementary school with Indiana Jones and Prince Caspian in tow. Averie, being in jr. high, and a whopping 12, almost 13, was far too cool to bother with dressing up for school, so she went as herself. I hung out with Brock's class until noon, when I switched off with his afternoon teacher, just in time to hook up with my mom and watch the boys in the school parade. I checked them out after the parade, picked up Ave, and drug them around to local businesses for free candy. After suckering Albertsons out of large amounts of chocolate and sugar, we returned home so Averie could get ready for her very first boy girl party (YIKES!!) and so we could take Scott along on our trick or treating adventure. As we left home, it started raining. O well- we couldn't be detoured by a little rain. We headed up the road to Scott's brother Mark's house, for his annual spook alley and doughnuts. Every year they are amazing! That is the highlight of trick or treating for my kids. By the time we left, the rain stopped and the weather was perfect. We dropped Ave to her PAR-TAY, and hit every house we could find within a mile radius. The official Hampton Family Halloween Rule is: you don't go home until your bucket is overflowing (there has to be enough in there that I can steal what I want without anyone noticing...). About the time the buckets were getting TOO full, Brock thought he was dying of thirst and walking too much (funny, since we drive the golf cart from house to house). We bummed a drink of water from my good friend Stefanie, just to keep him from whining, and called it a night. Averie thought she would tire of her party after about a hour and call us to come pick her up, but (SURPRISE) she had too much fun to even notice the time. She said she even flirted a little (HOLY COW!! I hope not.). All in all, it was a great Halloween night. Any time I get free chocolate I seriously canNOT complain.

Holy Happy Birthday Batman!

It was my birthday- YEAH!!! I LOVE- LOVE- LOVE my birthday. My sweet hubby got the kids up and ready and took them to school, letting me sleep in. Oh my goodness, I can not even tell you how freaking amazing that was. I think it was one of the best birthday presents I have ever had. Normally I have to get up at 7 am to get everything ready on time, but I didn't bother to open my eyes until almost 10.

Once I woke up, I found that my terrific family decorated the house. They didn't have streamers or signs. Instead, they used twisted scotch tape, and sticky notes. It was so creative. I think it was way better than the real thing.

I found sticky notes saying happy birthday EVERYWHERE! They were in my makeup, in my wallet, in the drug cabinet, in the silverwear drawer, by the cereal, in the shower, everywhere. I think I will still be finding those sticky notes into 2009.

I had the luxury of taking a jog, doing some shopping, and going to lunch with good friends (Mo and Teri- you are the best!). Scott also bought me a new camera, that I have enjoyed using and learning to use. My mother came for dinner, games and cheese cake. The kids picked out some cute gifts (Thank you sweet babies!) The night before, my angel of a mother-in-law brought over happy birthday wishes, and secret presents that I am forbidden from talking about. It was a fabulous birthday! Thank you to everyone who had anything to do with it...........

Pumpkin Party

After much begging and pleading, the boys convinced me that we could carve pumpkins on the back porch. Scott was in the garage working on his truck, and Averie was hanging out at a friends house. Corbin and Brock carried the pumpkins out, gathered their knives, and began to carve. This is about when I caught them. It seems like they want so badly to be independent
and cut up the pumpkins on their own. They did a pretty good job on their own too. I was only allowed to help loosen the top and pull it off. I wish they would stop growing up. Soon they won't let me help at all. We had a great time together, and the night went amazingly well. Scott was thrilled that he didn't have to help or get pumpkin guts all over his hands. Averie was sad that we didn't wait for her, but she had fun at Lauren's and she was still able to create a fantastic pumpkin a couple of days later. Good times... Good times...

The Toilet Bowl

The football season is officially over. The league ended by having a playoff for the best teams. Corbin's team played well, but not good enough to get into the playoffs (they won 4 lost 4). Because the boys have loved it so much and because the coaches are such die hards, they decided to arrange their own playoff among the teams who didn't make it to the official one. Our playoff was lovingly christened THE TOILET BOWL. The boys played amazingly, and came in second. I have to say, I was a little disappointed we didn't win. Instead of a trophy, they winners got a real toilet with vinyl lettering that read "Toilet Bowl Champions 2008". Can you imagine? A real toilet. That's priceless! Maybe next year....

Grrrrrrrrrr-iffan!

This is my sweet 4.5 pound yorkie Griffan. Scott and the kids gave him to me for Mother's Day a year and a half ago. He is the kindest, easiest going dog ever. Over the summer he was hit by a car on Center Street. He had a concussion and needed stitches, but he survived....... YEAH!!!!!! Mostly, I am just posting this because I really liked how the photo turned out. Isn't he cute?

Hee Haw

My mom took took the kids to Hee Haw farms
last Saturday. They had so much fun in the corn maze and kissing pigs. Yup, that's right. I said KISSING PIGS. Apparently, they were all chosen (in their individual age brackets) to compete against other kids chasing, catching and kissing pigs. The beauty of this story is: once Averie caught her pig and was holding it, trying to turn it around for smooches, it responded by emptying it's bowels all down her front. I guess as a natural defense mechanism,it works well, because she dropped that pooping pig as fast as she could and it ran happily to safety. Averie, on the other hand, was stuck wearing pig pooped on pants for the rest of the day. On a happier note, Brock won his division, Corbin did well in his, and Ave was given a free baby pumpkin to make up for the naughty porker.

I Love You WildCat!

Averie's orthodontist, Dr. Swenson, rented out
three theatres opening night for High School
Musical Three. He held a contest for his patients to determine who would go, and HURRAY! HURRAY! Averie won two tickets. She really wanted to invite her friend Lauren, but I put
my parental foot down, and made her take me instead (besides, Lauren couldn't drive her to and from the theatre). We went early and had dinner at Thanksgiving Point before. We had great seats, and so much fun making fun of the movie together. Secretly we bothed liked it, but it was cheesey enough that we wouldn't have been able to look at ourselves in the morning if we didn't throw out a few comments here and there. All in all, it was a perfect girls night out. Sorry boys.......

I'm a Genius!!!

Yesterday my mom brought over the board game 1313 Dead End Drive. The kids and I played it for hours with her. In this game, you can move any of the "people" in an effort to keep your "people" a secret. Every time someone would start moving any of Brock's pieces, he would try (with no success) to control his facial ticks, bust out laughing, and then cover his mouth while he laughed, as if that would keep us from noticing, and realizing exactly who he was. Finally, we asked him what he was laughing at. He looked at us, and said "I am a genius! You guys have no idea who I am." What a funny kid. He truly thought he was pulling one over on us. We had no choice but to agree with him. Yes Brock, you ARE a genius!!!

(Almost) Teenage Angst

Okay, so I am a blog-slacker. It just seems that my life is not always interesting enough to write about.
Averie has been SOOO moody lately. The other day, she was in rare form (it was bad enough that my mom overheard her while talking with Corbin on the phone, and tattled on her. If you know my mom at all, you will realized this is COMPLETELY out of character for her.). Anyway, Ave already had plans to go to the movies with her friend, and I was burnt out from spending the day in my salon, so I let her go, with the understanding that we would address her issues when she got home. When she got back, Scott and I invited her into our bedroom for a little come to Jesus meeting. Apparently, she didn't appreciate it, because when she was excused, she stormed off to her room, slammed the door, and then made all these signs to let us know EXACTLY how she was feeling.

Notice the cute bums on the top sign

When I walked down her hall to tell her goodnight, I found her door closed, covered in these signs. They said things like, NO RULES ALLOWED, NO BOYS, PARENTS GO AWAY, and ENTER AND DIE. She had also drawn pictures of pirate skulls and what I can only guess were light bulbs, but they just looked like fat people mooning me while they pulled up their pants. I know I should have taken her anger seriously, and been super offended by her nasty signs, but I couldn't stop laughing. Honestly, the effort it took to make all of those signs, and the fact that her mean and imposing light bulbs were actually bums... it was just too dang funny. Thank you Averie- for being so entertaining when you are angry.

In The Immortal Words Of Junie B. Jones, "I Have Tension In Me!"

Translation (for those who don't understand seven year old writing):

10-6-08

Dear Mom and Dad, I am having a hard time finding friends at school but I want you to know that I love you Mom and Dad. Love Brock

Usually I love SEP's (snazzy new way of saying parent teacher conferences). I go, the teachers rave on and on about how great my kids are, and I leave thinking I must be the best mom in the world to have raised such amazing little people. Imagine my surprise, when I went yesterday and was handed this letter from my son. Mrs. Earl (Jeanie) looked across the table at me and Scott, told us that Brock was doing phenomenally academically, and then said "he wrote you a letter, but it broke my heart when I read it." I'm sure that was intended to give me some kind of warning about what I was about to read (since when I asked her earlier that day at the book fair if she was going to tell me anything bad when we met for SEP she conveniently left that warning out and said it would all be great). Honestly, it was all I could do to keep myself composed and not start crying. How can my baby be having such a hard time and I had no idea?!? This is my kid who still cuddles with me and talks with me about everything. How did this not come up in our conversations? His teachers (there are two who split the day down the middle) both said they were baffled by his feelings. They told me he was friendly and outgoing in class and that the kids seemed to like him a lot. He always has a partner when they split off into groups, and they thought that he had tons of friends. I am constantly at his school, volunteering or subbing and I have always seen him with friends and felt he was well liked. He doesn't have a bunch of kids over to play, but that is entirely my fault. We are always so busy running from practices and games and scouts and whatever other project I have going on, that friends (for all of my kids) usually hits the bottom of the list of priorities. I know that makes me a loser mom, but truly, they ARE with their friends at most of the activities I just mentioned. Perhaps Brock was just having a bad day on Monday, but I am still devastated that he was hurting enough he wrote me a letter about it. I don't know what to do. I don't know how to fix this for him. I need suggestions. Please comment (and be gentle, I am already a mess over this) and give me advice. Thank you friends and family for all of your love and support. It means so much to me. Looking forward to hearing from you....

The Sport of Champions

My sweet Corbin has been playing tackle football this fall. I have to say, that originally I was opposed to this. Corbin is so tender-hearted that I thought it would make him feel badly to knock people to the ground. Not to mention, the fact that they have to practice 6 days a week, 2 hours a day. He has LOVED it. Corbin is one of three X men on his team. That means he is too big to carry the ball and have the game be fair (the official max weight is 95 lbs.). He plays nose gaurd, left gaurd and sometimes center. He is amazing to watch. He works hard, and plays great. I am not just saying that because I am his mom. His coach usually has him play the majority of the game, and he told me that he gave Corbin the offensive position he reserves for his best lineman... (maybe he tells all the moms that.) If I had known how good football would be for his self esteem, I would have put him in years ago )when he first started begging) He stands up for himself more, he's made 26 new friends, he is more confident in himself and his abilities, and he looks great! They work so hard at practice that he lost over ten pounds and developed muscles we didn't know he had. This has been such a good thing for him. I couldn't be more proud of him. I love you Corbin!

Party Animals!!!

For Scott's 35th birthday I decided to throw him a party. True to my form, I wanted to invite anyone and everyone that we know. You know, it isn't really a party unless there are more people than you can count in attendance.... Scott vetoed that in a BIG way. I narrowed my list down to something like fifteen families. Again, he put his massive foot down, and we ended up with "the short list". It seems that Scottie wanted a smaller, more intimate gathering of his closest friends. FINE!!! It was his birthday, so I gave him what he wanted. I invited only the closest of the close friends, which included the Wellman's, the Melling's, the Munoz's, the Robbin's, the Hansen's, the Luke's and the Peterson's. Let it be known now that the Hansen's and the Robbin's are officially dorks who didn't show up. Monique didn't want to come minus her hubby, and the Hansen's couldn't seem to empty their house of the spare kids hanging out there. The rest of us had an AMAZING time!!! The kids (assisted by Brittany Peterson -THANKS BRITT) decorated the way down to the creek and the creek itself. We started a bonfire and bought tons of food. We BBQed hot dogs and hamburgers. Roasted marshmallows, ate cake and ice cream, and played a rousing (unplanned) game of where in the heck are the golf cart keys. It was a FANTASTIK night. Thank you to everyone who came and helped to make it GREAT!!! And a great big thank you to all of our friends - long list, short list, and everyone in between. We love you all. Thanks for making our lives a little more fun!

Is This Really How They Dress In Jr. High?

So the other day, Averie came into my bathroom to do her hair for school, and this is how she was dressed. I guess I should have taken a picture of her standing so it would show the full effect. She has on her Ernie shirt (yes, Ernie, as in Seasame Street), yellow yoga sweats pulled up to her knees, stripped socks, and Elmo slippers on. If I had never been to the Jr. High to see that, indeed the girls do occassionally dress this way, I might have tried to convince her to change. Fortunately for her, I have been, and I have seen how it is there. I know it is super cool to wear your slippers instead of real shoes. All things considered, I think she looked fantastik! I love you Ave- and I love that you know who you are and that you are confident in yourself!

And the Award For the Muddiest Player Goes to.....

BROCK!!!!! Okay, the object of the game is to make a goal, not a mess. Brock (who thinks he is David Beckham) plays soccer on a field with the worst drainage I have ever seen. This patch of land should be a swamp, not a soccer field. He started the game trying very hard not to get too muddy, but when the whole field is a mess, that is too tall of a request for a seven year old boy. One push later, he was rolling in the mud like a pig. He had mud
EVERYWHERE! He was covered in it, but when it got on his hands, he walked around like they had cooties on them. We kept yelling at him to just wipe them on his shirt, so he could run normally again, but he would not do such a naughty thing. At the end of the game, he had to strip daown to his underwear before we would let him in the truck. It's a good thing I love this kid!!! Otherwise, I might have left him sitting on the sidewalk in his dirty uniform. I love you Brock-o! Thanks for making me smile!!!

Hippo Birdie Two Ewe!!!

This post is dedicated to my man, Scott, who turned 35 today! Wow! 35 is half way to 70. I think that makes him ALMOST old. Scott, thank you for being you. You make the world a better place! In honor of your birthday, I am going to post a double issue of top ten's.drum roll please...

The Top Ten Reasons I Love You

10. You are such a hard worker (and I am usually the one who benefits from it)

9. You always let me pick the movie, even if it's a chick flick

8. You are a great father (and I know you secretly liked coaching Averie's team- even if you won't admit it

7.You are amazingly good to your parents. I know I tease you about being a mama's boy, but really I find it adorable that you try so hard to keep them happy.

6. You are a superior judge of character. (I just need to learn to listen to you more)

5. You have the BEST butt I have ever had the pleasure of checking out!!!

4. You can fix anything (which is good, because I can break anything)

3. You make it a top priority to come, support our kids at all of their (sometimes tedious) events.

2. You have great taste in women (you picked me... more than once)

1. You put up with me, love me in spite of myself, accept my flaws, laugh at my bad jokes, share my crazy sense of humor, fill up my snap cup, help me be a better person, and did I mention you put up with me?!?

The Top Ten Interesting Things About Scott In The Last Year

10. After many many years of not going on cool vacations, Scott took us on several. We stayed in a beach house in Wahington State, hiked through Arches, enjoyed Zions, visited his parents at Cove Fort, and he and I enjoyed a blissful week holed up in a hotel in Salt Lake, just the two of us for our 10 year anniversary.

9. He read the entire Doctrine and Covenants while sitting on the pot at night (maybe that is how I should prepare for my class)

8. He is planning to go back to college and started all of the crazy red tape to get registered at UVU.

7. He coached Averie's competition soccer team. He handed it off to the assistant coach for this year, but he misses it. At the games, he always ends up doing the subbing and coaching from the side. The girls really like him, and miss having him around all the time (he misses them too).

6. He changed jobs, within the company. He is now a project manager, instead of just a member of the engineering team.

5. He single-handedly installed (half) of our yard (it's almost an acre, so we are doing it in incriments). Yeah!! Green grass at last!

4. He is the king of hot dog roasts with friends. Our families creek property is right behind our house, and we have taken full advantage of it, inviting friends over whenever our schedule allows.

3. He is obsessed with watching educational shows on tv. It drives me nuts. TV is for entertaining, not for learning.

2. He discovered he could still wake (or is it wave) board, thanks to our friends the Robbins, who took us boating with them. It really was awesome, right up until he turfed it.

1. He has been a great husband and father!

I love you Baby! Happy Birthday!!!!!

A Shout Out To My Three Favorite Kids!

Aren't they the cutest?!? My kids are the light of my life. They all bring me so much joy and happiness. Right now, as I am typing, Brock is calling himself from my Mom's cell phone to my cell phone. He just sang a snazzy little song into the reciever of one, so he could hear it on the earpiece of the other (that should be a fun message for me later...). Averie is an amazing girl. She has a tremendous sense of what is right. She is always looking out for the underdog and tries to treat everyone kindly. She seems to know just who she is, where she is going and how to get there. Corbin has a heart of gold. He goes out of his way to include everyone and always gives 110% at whatever he's doing. He likes to pretend that he's a tough guy, but secretly he is all mush (he lets Brock sleep with him every night, and even reads him bedtime stories). He is the most easy-going guy, and so much fun to hang out with. Brock is the peacemaker (which is ironic, because he can hold a grudge like nobody's business). He is funny and charming and keeps me on my toes. He changes his mind and emotions like girls change their clothes. He knows he is hot stuff and he is not afraid to tell you about it!

Me and My Hubby

Scott and I have been married for just over 10 years, (this time)! Yup, we got married then divorced, then remarried. We've been together for 14 years all together. Seems like it's been forever... Sometimes it is a rocky road, but it is always worth the effort in the end. We like to go to dinner, go to the movies, watch our three amazing kids play whatever sport they are currently involved in, hang out with our friends, and hang out at our family creek property. All in all, we have a good time together and I am so glad he is my friend on this journey through life.