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.