Merry Christmas!

It seems that we wait all year for this morning, and then BANG, it's all over.  I made the kids stand on the stairs for a minute to really push the anticipation to it's maximum.  As their gifts are getting smaller and smaller due to electronics, creating that awesome "oh-ah" moment becomes more difficult.  

Hope you all had a great Christmas and remember that the real gift isn't under the one under the tree -- He's the one in our heart and lives.

Middle School Concert

Middle School Choir is some serious business.  They are required to dress up for concerts -- white tops and black bottoms.  All the kids looked so good, especially mine.  The director did a great job of mixing in Christian songs with the contemporary.  She also had a great mix of fun with serious. 

Trim the Tree

 This is probably the last year for footie jammies - sad, but true.  What will Christmas be without my kids in their footie jams?   Almost every dear memory of Christmas time includes this toasty nightwear.  I suppose it gives me a reason to savor this year a bit more.

These two tweenie-weenies won't even wear normal jammies.  It's a hobo array of hoodies and flannel pants.  I will say, they were really helpful when they helped put out the Christmas decorations this year.  We've hit a stage where, when they help, it's actually help.  This is huge here.  Like last night -- I teasingly said, "Why don't you come up with a sidedish for my beautiful dinner?"  Without skipping a beat, Claire said, "I'll make a salad."   "GREAT!"  And so we had a beautiful salad with my "beautiful" tuna melts. 

Happy 12th b-day!

Yeah -- 12 is a big one.  It's the first b-day in junior high.  This also brought on less presents.  I guess the packages get smaller, but the price gets higher as the girls age.  This year was a huge step -- cell phones.  *yuck*  I'm not ready for texting, face timing, and the likes.  Whether I'm ready or not, here it comes.

M & M's

The kids have picked their own costumes for years.  Really -- I don't sway them at all.  This year they picked M&M's.  I was a little floored by the simplicity, but it was a good year to go basic.  Isaak truly wanted a rip off shell for the red M&M (imagain "Sexy, and I know it . ..), but my sewing skills have their limitations.

Pumpkin Carving

 Every year we break into teams to see who can carve the best pumpkin.  Hands down, my team wins every year -- except this year.  Brant really put in some effort for his team this year with a Frankenpumpkin.  My girly team created a pumpkin carriage, complete with princess stuck in there.  Cute, but not the winner.

Crazy Hair Benefit

Ike and Ava's elementary school had a fundraiser -- pay $1 to wear crazy hair to school.  It was a big hit (pay no attention to the pained look on Ike's face).  Pretty sure they raised a ton of money.  It was sort of a in-lieu-of-Halloween thing.  I still miss the halloween fun at school, but I understand why they quit having the school parties -- what is with the bloody costumes and street walker costumes in size 6x.  Really?

Paige's First Heels

 Sorry, my camera has been a little sick lately.  So has Claire.  She had to miss her first middle school choir concert.  Bummer, but Paige got to shine all on her own.  She even wore heels.  Little, baby heels that I agreed on, but still *sigh* heels.

 

 The songs were absolutely lovely, but Paige looked so darn grown-up.  In all her finery, my Paige still didn't want to wear make-up.  It's just not her thing.  She says it feels icky on her face.  Fine by me -- she is growing up far too fast as it is.

Go Raiders

 How cute is this kid!   I know I'm his mom, but this has to be the cutest center ever.  I mean look at him. 

 Brant is helping coach, which has it's ups and downs in the the Hamby house.  It's hard not to take it personal when that cute center is having a bad day.  I have to remind everyone that we are trying to raise well-rounded kids.  We want them to be good at sports, academics, and friendships.  No one thing can be perfect without letting the others drop.  All are equally important in being the growing-up a good, Christian kid.  It's a challenge for us to keep the balance.  I want to go reeling when someone brings home an unsavory grade.  Brant wants to blow his stack when they have a "loaf" day in sports.   We all have to keep each other balanced.  That's why God put the six of us together.

But this . . . this is what it's all about.  Look at that smile. He loves football.  He gets so excited to put on his gear and get rough.  It sets him apart from his sisters, this new step in his journey from boy to man. 

Barn Entrance

So, my whole before-and-after-finale plan got bundied over when my hard drive recently fried.  Right.  So the before, you'll have to trust me, was boring.  The after -- fabulous!  The wood is from a barn at my dad's farm. Barn wood is just so gorgeous.  You can't buy anything like it, and the fact that it's from the family farm gives it a sentimental note.  We love the new entry.  Now if I could just convince the kids to not pile all their junk right there.

Back to School 2012

Whew -- the Hamby peas are now covering two schools.  Yikes!  Can you believe P and C are in Middle School.  I and A are super,big,third graders.  This means the homework meter will be in the red for this year.  The bus comes a bit later, thank God -- ten extra minutes is huge around here.

This is my bus tribe.  Each morning, we have these two cuties for about a half hour before we get on the bus.  They make it a fun wait for the bus.

Hope everyone has a great start to the school year!

Middle School Lockers

 Claire and Paige start Middle School this year.  I still forget to call it Middle School; my entire life it has been Junior High.  We have gone every day this week and ran through class schedules, mapped out the routes, investigated bathrooms, timed walking from class to class.  This is all new and ever so nerve-racking.  The biggest bother is the locker combination.  Jeez -- I think keys would be easier.  They are getting the hang of it, but it's a new skill that needs some practice.

Of course, with girls, comes the locker decor  We had to decorate it shmancy for the first day.  Thank God for the Dollar Tree.  A few bucks later we were loaded with all the goods we needed to hot glue together and awesome, unique locker.   

I still can't believe we're hitting this phase.  I'm not old enough to have middle schoolers (right?).  The girls still remain late bloomers in the boy department.  It's all about softball and friends currently, but I feel that future storm brewing and am bracing for the impact.

Boy Fun

My nephew and my mom came up for the weekend, so Ike had been saving some of his better boy ideas for when they arrived.  One of the best ones was Coke and Mentos.  This is a classic mess that all kids love, especially boys.  Just plop in four Mentos and run.  Ike could explain the whole removal of carbonation, but why?  It's just plain, old fun.

Budding Artists

 Mix together: 1.) one of those hot, boring summer days, 2.) tons of nearly empty paint cans, 3.) an old, sheet and create . . .

a Jackson Pollock-ish original.  We studied some of his paintings and watched a couple YouTube videos of Pollock at work.  The kids loved splashing together a piece of art with plastic spoons, toothbrushes, and paintbrushes. We stretched it over a homemade frame and hung it in the front room.  It adds a touch of class to the forelorn front room.

NC Vacation

 It was a long drive to the mountains, but well worth it.  We hiked to the highest peak this side of the Mississippi, Mt. Mitchell.   It was a difficult 2 1/2 mile hike up (and then 2 1/2 miles back down). I was super proud of my four peas.  They were a little floored when we hit the top of the trail to find a parking lot.  I quote, "Jeez, Mom!  We could have drove up here!  My legs feel like they were hit with a bag of hammers."  The next day we did a bit more hiking to some of the amazing waterfalls that Pisgah National Forest has to offer -- beautiful. 

We spent another day at the Biltmore, where it rained (and rained and rained).  Can you believe the opulence of such a place?  We couldn't get over the fact that kids actually lived there.  It seemed too musuem-like to fathom someone spilling juice on the couch or writing on the walls.

The rain followed us for the next two days.  We literally drove through three states of rain, but as soon as we got an hour into the Indiana border it all evaporated. I tried to drag it with us!  We wrapped up the vacation with a day at Holiday World.  I was dreading this day -- not a huge fan of amusement parks.  However, this has to be the nicest, cleanest amusement park I've ever been to.  The water park was amazing, and it had some of the biggest, longest, craziest roller coasters we've ever rode.

Tie-dye July

It's kind of a bummer of a 4th around here.  Our favorite fireworks show got cancelled.  It's hotter than Hades.  What do you do with this kind of day?  Tie-dye.  Why not?  Everyone made their own groovy shirt to wear on vacation next week.  Oh, yeah.  We are turning into that family.  You know the one.  Minivan and matching shirts.  

Free!

This has been our life  This is the excel spreadsheet that kept the Hamby ball season organized.  All the highlighted rows are nights that we had 2 or 3 games in different places.  We made it through -- no major injuries, no huge drama, and only one time did we go to the wrong place at the right time.  : )   I say that's a successful season.  Two of the four kids had a chance at all-stars, but we said no.  Two more weeks of practice and running was just not in the plan.  We can relax, swim, and start our summer now.

Brant helped coach Ava's team this year.  How cute are they both in their hot pink?!  The one girl I have that is so not a pink girl, got put on the pink team.  Life is funny with Ava.

Chalk It Up to the Heat

It has been so hot and dry here.  Really dry.  We don't have the mosquitoes we had last year, so we've been try to live in the shady backyard as much as possible.  With the heat, comes some crazies.  Did you know that you can draw with chalk on a trampoline?  The best part is that the black canvas the trampoline provides makes the art all the more vivd and attractive.  Then when you are all done -- you can jump on it and it's like a colorful powderpuff.  The kids looked like decorated cakes when they were all done, but another great summer day spent here in the woods.

P.S.  The art came right off when it rained that evening.  So if you try this it home it comes clean with rain/garden hose. : )

Cheer?!

Paige signed up for cheer camp.  Now, I try to stay supportive of whatever choices my kids make, but I had a pause at cheerleading.  Did I produce a cheerleader?  I'm soooo not that girl.  Paige, however, seems to love it.  She had a great time.  She even won "Best Encourager" -- a grand honor on cheer squad.  I do have to admit, she was super cute bouncing around on the court. 

Which one of these is not like the others?

 You got a love a girl that signs up for basketball camp and is the only girl on the team.  I was more concerned about the other boys on the team -- girls have cooties ya' know?  They didn't seem to mind a bit.  The coach even spurred the boys on by saying, "Come on, don't let a girl beat you!".  Ava would laugh and beat over half the boys down the court

It was a great camp.  She learned a few things and had a ton of fun.

Let Them Eat Cake

Claire has signed up for cake decorating for 4-H.  She has been busy making practice cakes all summer.  We've been passing along cakes to neighbors, church, and work to get all those calories out of the house.   

East Tipp vs. East Tipp

 The Pinto League Tourney came down to two East Tipp teams.  This happens quite a bit here in Tippecanoe County.  We seem to breed winning ball teams (or super competitive Coach Dads).  Whichever way you look at it, it's hard when you have friends on both teams.  Parents find themselves cheering for all the kids.  Ike's team came in 2nd.  They battled so hard in the semi-finals that they just had no gas left to go on for the final game. 

Still, we are a happy Hamby family just bursting with pride.  We love these boys and all of the coaches.  The coaches, make or break the ball experience.  These guys always have a kind word to go with the instructions.  They point out when the boys do good, and never ride them when they don't.  I will be a bit sad to see this season end.

Brace Face

How cute is this cool cat?!  Ava is in love with her new braces.  She choose four different shades of green bands to make them uniquely hers.  She has adjusted to having braces like a champ.  The first day, I offered to stay home from her ballgame with her.  She said she was fine and just couldn't give up her spot at third base.  I will admit the team does count on her.  Funny enough, sore mouth and all, one of her best games ever.  She made five outs on third, threw several "assist" outs, and hit a triple!  Maybe these braces will straighten out more than her teeth.

End to Elementary

 Fifth grade, is the last year at elementary school, and for girls, it's all about friends.  Paige had a brilliant year in 5th grade. We loved her sweet teacher, Mrs. Ferguson. Paige constantly tells me that Mrs. Ferguson never yells.  (Good for Mrs. Ferguson. *blah*)   Paige also formed some tight bonds with good friends.  Hoping they carry over into middle school.  Heaven help us -- that's a rough territory with a lot of drama.

Claire also had a terrific fifth grade experience.  She and her best friend of three years were finally in the same class.  I constantly asked and emailed if they were behaving together.  They never acted up in class.  My theory -- they saved it all for weekend here!  God love 'em -- they are a cute, little team.

Tough Game

The hardest game of the year for Ike is the one against his BFF's from the 'hood, Cooper and Bricker.  We love these guys, and can't imagine our neighborhood without them.  There was a lot of friendly banter before the game, but someone had to lose.

Ike had a couple good hits and some pretty good fielding.  We were behind the whole game, but in the last inning, we pulled ahead.  It was a bittersweet victory that a good night's sleep will heal.

2nd Grade Zoo Day

I called in sick to spend all day at the zoo with the 2nd grade class.  The day started out with a down pour, but finally the sun crept out and the fun began. As you can see from these pictures, my shy son has blossomed into a hambone.  He loves to make the ladies laugh, especially his sisters.

Besides enjoying the zoo, we rode the mini train, which Ike and Ava said was no different than riding the lawn mower.  We ate cones from Frozen Custard.  We pet a ferret, skink, and red-footed tortoise.  Then wrapped it up with some play time on the huge playset.  All in all, the best sick day I've ever had.

Grueling Game(s)

What a day!  Paige and Claire are playing "real" softball now -- no more mamby, pamby, kiddy stuff for my girls.  They are the youngest girls on their Junior team, but the other girls treat them no different.  With the transition to real ball, comes real tournaments.  We woke up Saturday morning early to drive 40 minutes for a 9:00 start game (you have to warm up for 45 minutes prior also).  The funny way the bracket worked -- they played 6 games back to back for 12 hours!  They had approximately 20 minutes to break in between each game.  It was a long day that landed them second in the tourney.  I could not have been more proud.  Not because of the win, but because these ladies stuck it out and supported each other cheerfully and prayerfully through the whole day.  Way to go CLS team! 

Oh yeah -- our sponsor is the largest pawn shop in Lafayette, so we are the CLS Pawn Stars.  Nice, right?

Happy Easter

I just love Easter morning.  I love the new(ish) clothes that you have abstained from wearing so they are fresh for Sunday service.  I love the new beginning feeling of the whole service.  Also, of course, I love the candy. 

 This is the first year our family practiced Lent.  Whew, hats off to the Catholics!  Forty days is much longer time than you would think.  The kids gave up playing their personal gaming systems (I hearted this freedom from electronics), Brant gave up snacking through the week, and I gave up chocolate.  Hence, the Easter candy was extremely special to me this year. I didn't realize that chocolate was in so many of our snacks:  granola bars, cookies, even coffee creamer.  

We sometimes forget to dye eggs.  I don't know why.  I have fond memories of it as a kid.  I just forget to get it out and do it.  The kids love it, but I have to limit them to 3 or 4 each or else we'd be eating hard-boiled eggs for days.  After more than two, I have that mental, bloated-belly vision of Cool Hand Luke.