Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

stubborn..uh, I mean strong-willed...

You can ask any of my in-laws and they will tell you that the Hammond kids (all 8 of them) are very strong-willed individuals.
Heston is truly a Hammond in this respect. He has started talking a lot more in the last few months. However, he has refused to say his own name. We have tried to get him to say Heston, but then the strong-willed Hammond gene kicks in and he gives us this look like, ‘You ain’t gettin’ nothin’!’
Today, at 2 years and 3 months old, he finally broke down and said his name for the first time.

Today, I have hope for my stubborn, uh I mean, strong-willed Hammond child.

a fun Thanksgiving craft

Thanksgiving is right around the corner! I'm so ready for my favorite Thanksgiving dish, Frog Eye Salad. (It always tastes better when my Mom makes it :)

I wanted to share a fun craft that I’m working on for the big day. I got this idea from the November issue of Parents magazine.

Instructions:
-Cut a 1-inch sliver off the bottom of a 9-inch polystyrene ball. (I found an 8 inch one in the craft section at Walmart for around $8.)

-Wrap sphere neatly in thick dark-brown yarn, covering surface completely; knot on bottom.
-Make a 4-inch ball from light-brown yarn and attach to body with a wooden craft stick.
-Create simple facial features using felt: white circles (approximately the size of a quarter, with 1/8-inch pom-poms for pupils) for eyes, yellow triangles for the beak, and long red felt teardrops as the wattle. (I'm just using googly eyes and scraps that I have on hand)
-Cut feather shapes from colored craft paper (or old scrapbook paper you’re not using anymore)and bend in half lengthwise to create seam.
-Have the kids write or draw things that they are thankful for
-Glue wooden craft stick to the bottom third of the feather and insert in a fan shape on turkey body.

stepping out of my comfort zone

This last weekend, we attended our ward campout at the Peralta Trails just outside of Apache Junction. One of our bishopric members does team building stuff for a living. We camped at this place where he does his trainings.

When we woke up refreshed and ready to go on Saturday (can you sense the sarcasm? I don't enjoy sleeping in a tent but I was a good sport) we did a couple of the high rope activities. One of them involved a set of partners where each person walks into the middle of this rope and then they help each other to get to the other side, while being suspended 15 feet in the air. Aaron and I made it through that challenge. (The whole time I kept saying to the church folk, 'I'm trying really hard not to vocalize any profanities right now'...if they only knew how hard that is for me when I'm freaked out)

The other challenge involved us climbing to the top of a 25 foot pole and standing on top. Braden was fearless!

These are the Superstition Mountains. Living here, I have a greater appreciation for how beautiful the desert is.

I love this cactus. It was so tall and the way it leaned to one side like that...I've never seen that before. A tall cactus with bad posture...it's built like me :)

Veterans Day

This is the day each year that we have to reflect on the millions of Americans who have served our country. Usually on Veterans Day, the kids write papers about what this day means to them and they send drawings and essays to my Grandpa. This will be our 1st Veterans Day without him. I'm missing him, especially today.
I have so many favorite pictures however these two are very special to me.

is it Thursday already?

This week has flown by! I finished up my "Week in the Life" project on Tuesday. I got 4 out of the 7 days done but Blogger is not letting me post them, I'll try again later. The whole week I was doing this project, one of my favorite quotes kept coming to mind:



"Enjoy the little things in life...for one day you'll look back and realize they were the big things."



As I was taking pictures and writing things down, it reminded me that life really is a series of "little things". I needed to be reminded of that. It was so fun to take pictures of everyday things that I do that I don't even stop to think about. It takes a little time but it was worth the experience.

This morning I did a digi layout from a picture I took this weekend. I love digital scrapbooking! I still love my paper but being able to just sit down for 20 minutes, knock out a page and not have to clean up...it's a good thing!

Halloween recap

My parents came down this weekend, we had so much fun! They got here Friday night so they were able to go trick-or-treating with us. Braden is dressed up as his idol Obi Wan Kenobi (Grandma Martha made the cape but I worked some magic with some fake leather and clearance fabric from Walmart) Paige is Snow White of course (remember I said I was going to make this costume? I ran out of time! And it was cheaper to buy it. I wussed out.) Heston is a cute little M&M. I was going to be the yellow peanut M&M but I think I'll save that for next year. (there's red-eye in these pictures, I hate that and I apologize...I'll fix it later)

On Saturday, we went to B&P's soccer games. I'm glad they play their games in the morning because it got up to 93 on Saturday. I didn't make P's Halloween costume but I did do my soccer mom duties and made B's team banner.

Tomorrow is the last day of my Week in the Life project. I need to go through all my pictures and notes and get the book put together.

Have a good Monday!

Facebook

My "Week in the Life" project is going great. Just taking pictures and documenting things each day, it's been fun.

I started a Facebook account months ago because my friend Jolynn invited me to join. I didn't do anything with it for months and about a week ago, I updated my profile and added some pictures. Oh my gosh, I have been having so much fun! Reconnecting with friends I haven't seen in years, seeing pictures of their growing families and hearing about their careers, where they live, what they're up to...I have missed these people.
Have a great Thursday!

A Week in the Life

I'm a fan of Ali Edwards. I really like her style and she comes up with some great projects and ideas.
A couple of weeks ago, she completed "A Week in the Life" album. I am so excited to start on this project and I thought you might want to join in with me. It's basically just documenting your every day life for a week through journaling and pictures. Your routines, errands, meals you cooked, activities, anything that you did during the week.
Here's a link to her website that explains it all:

http://aliedwards.typepad.com/_a_/2008/09/weekend-creat-3.html

I'm going to start tomorrow and end next Tuesday (election day!) I'm excited, this will be fun!
I'm off to charge my camera batteries and finish my mountain of laundry.

Monday

Yesterday we had our Primary program. We had a practice/pizza party on Saturday so we could fine tune everything. I know those kids were just sick of me by the time Sunday rolled around. They did really well. I'm so glad it's over for the year... (insert sigh of relief)

I'm a little bummed that Toni was voted off Dancing with the Stars last week. (in my earlier post, I wanted her to win) Now that she's gone, my new choice is Brooke Burke. Paige has always had a crush on Derek Hough so we'll go with them.
A couple of weeks ago after DWTS, I watched "Samantha Who?" for the first time and now I'm hooked! I rented Season 1 so now I'm all caught up.
What are some of your favorite TV shows?

goodbye binky

On Sunday, Heston said goodbye to his binky. We gathered them all up and he tossed them in the trash. (I kept this one though because I'm a sentimental sap that way.) He hasn't been sleeping well all week but I'm hoping it'll get better soon.

On Tuesday, we had a break from our after-school activities and we took the kids to the pumpkin patch. It was really nice to be able to hang out as a family on a weeknight without rushing somewhere.
Instead of carving the pumpkins, I bought these Mr. Potato Head kits at Target a couple of years ago. You just poke the little pieces in and that's it, fast and no mess.
We're in the middle of our soccer season. The weather has finally cooled down, it's so nice. Braden's team are the Vampires and Paige's team are the Inferno. She has little flames on her uniform, so cute! Soccer is so much fun, the kids love it.

some digi pages

I've been working on a few pages here and there. Just wanted to share a couple. I may have posted some of these pictures before, I apologize :)

Halloween is right around the corner, I've got to get some costume stuff finished up.

Tuesday

I've been meaning to post for a while...I'm finally getting around to it!
Wes and Ricci got married on the 4th at the beach in La Jolla. It was a really nice wedding and it was great to spend time with our families. Matt and Alisha let us stay with them and so the kids got to have a sleepover with their cousins. Thanks again Matt and Alisha! We needed to get pictures in our matching shirts for Grandma so Alisha took our pictures. She does such a great job.

For some reason, I'm having trouble posting some of the pictures I took at the wedding. These are the only ones that are working.


The kids are out of school this week for Fall Break. The weather here is so nice right now. We went to the park yesterday, just trying to entertain the kids.

for the Moms

I received this e-mail yesterday, just wanted to share it with you.

Real Mothers don't eat quiche; they don't have time to make it.
Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils are probably in the sandbox.
Real Mothers often have sticky floors, filthy ovens and happy kids.
Real Mothers know that dried play dough doesn't come out of carpets. (In my case, it was a bottle of nail polish last week :)
Real Mothers don't want to know what the vacuum just sucked up.
Real Mothers sometimes ask 'Why me?' and get their answer when a little voice says, 'Because I love you best.'

The Images of Mom
4 YEARS OF AGE - My Mommy can do anything!
8 YEARS OF AGE - My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!
12 YEARS OF AGE - My Mom doesn't really know quite everything.
14 YEARS OF AGE - Naturally, Mom doesn't know that, either.
16 YEARS OF AGE - Mom? She's hopelessly old-fashioned.
18 YEARS OF AGE - That old woman? She's way out of date!
25 YEARS OF AGE - Well, she might know a little bit about it...
35 YEARS OF AGE - Before we decide, let's get Mom' s opinion.
45 YEARS OF AGE - Wonder what Mom would have thought about it?
65 YEARS OF AGE - Wish I could talk it over with Mom.

I love this quote from Sister Hinckley:

"Being a mother at any age is a blessing, but as we age and our children become interesting and productive adults we really begin to savor the joys of the harvest, the fruit of our labors. How could we have known when they were young and the demands so constant that we would ever have the luxury of simply enjoying their loving companionship?"

Enjoy your Monday!

Thursday

Is it Thursday already? It's crazy how fast time flies, especially during this time of year. I've got to get the whole Halloween costume stuff figured out pretty soon. Paige wants to be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, that'll be fun. It's hard to find modest costumes for young girls!

It's Conference weekend! I love Conference, it's a good thing. Here's a little packet I found on Sugardoodle that you can print off for your kids. I find these helpful.
http://deseretbook.com/conf.pdf

This idea out of October's Friend magazine sounded like fun, too:
http://www.sugardoodle.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3143&Itemid=406

Have any of you had your Primary Programs yet? Ours is coming up in a couple of weeks and I would love to hear how yours went. I applaud anyone who has ever had to pull one of these off. I have an awesome counselor that does a great job with the program.

Have a fun weekend!

Dancing with the Stars

Dancing with the Stars is back!
Misty-May has some serious muscles!I think she has great potential. Can you believe Brooke Burke has 4 kids?! Get out! She did well. Warren Sapp was fun to watch and Cloris Leachman was so funny. Lance Bass knows how to perform, that will help him. My pick to win it all this year...


Toni Braxton. She did a great job last night and she has been one of my favorite singers since '92.
(is it just me or does the costume department have a fabric shortage...dang! I guess less clothes=higher ratings)

Who was your favorite?

I've been tagged

I got tagged 3 times so there's no getting out of this one.
3 joys: 1. Aaron and the kids. 2. my family and Aaron's family 3. my friends

3 fears: 1. scarring my children. We do the best we know how to do as parents but I hope at the end of the day we did a decent job of raising them. 2. heights. (I'm with Rebecca on that one) Last year at Disneyland, we went on the ferris wheel and I was having major anxiety. 3. being home alone with the kids when Aaron is out of the country.

3 obsessions: 1. pictures and home movies. I'm obsessed with preserving old family pictures, organizing and backing-up every picture I have. 2. craft stuff, I love it all! 3. being on the computer.

3 interesting facts:
1. I was born Kriston B. My dad wasn't legally adopted by my Grandpa until he was 21. I became a S. when I was 3.
2. I was born on 7/14 and I weighed 7 lbs. 14 oz.
3. My aunt was the manager of the Hallmark store in Vernal. When I was in high school, I used to dress up in a bunny costume around Easter and take pictures with little kids at the store. (I'm usually the person that comes to mind when people are thinking, 'Who can we possibly get to put on this ridiculous costume...Kris will do it!) I had to walk across the street all dressed up (my mom had to hold my arm because I couldn't see) and as I was walking across, I waved at this car just to be silly...and the guy flipped me off! My mom and I were laughing so hard I almost fell over on Main Street. Good times...the story wouldn't be complete without a picture, right?


So I'm going to tag Chassie, Robyn and Brenda.

If I can do this, YOU can do this!

I was able to have some time this weekend to work on some more digital stuff. I've been having fun and trying new things out. The great thing about digital scrapbooking...NO MESS! I love that. (I'm using Adobe Photoshop Elements 6)

Here are some helpful links if you're interested:

http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/cg_list.asp?t=133

http://www.designerdigitals.com/

And some FREE kits you can downloadhttp://www.shabbyprincess.com/downloads.asp

These pages were created using the Gabby kit from Shabby Princess. This is my favorite kit.

Thanks again to Karin and Alisha for helping me!

"Rise and shout the Cougars are out"

I know my husband loves me and the kids however there is one other love in his life and that is BYU Football.

So you can imagine how crazy he went for his alma mater today when they shut out UCLA 59-0. Watching the game made me homesick for the days when we could go and Grandma would watch the kids. Good times...and I miss the mountains...

life with a 2 year old

I forgot what life was like living with a 2 year old. A month ago, Hes was taking 2 naps a day (i know, crazy huh?), sleeping through the night and staying in his bed until someone got him out. Those days are over. He's climbing out of his bed now, taking 1 short nap a day and his new thing is wandering around the house in the middle of the night. He's high maintenance but I love the kid.
Fall is here!! I don't know about you but I love fall, it's my favorite season. We don't really have Fall in AZ but I'm looking forward to cooler weather. I'm back to my running kids here and there after school and trying to motivate them to get their school work done. You know how it goes...

I just wanted my friends and family to know how much I love looking at your blogs. I love seeing your pictures and hearing about what's going on in your lives.