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...