Thanksgiving 2012

 Wednesday was a 1/2 day of school for us. The Turkey Trot is a tradition at the school. The kids run and play games. I'm the only one in the office who has kids that still attend school here so I got to participate. This is H's class...

 I wish I would have taken a video of him jumping rope. He does it backwards and he's fast! It was funny

 juggling scarves...

 and eating oranges

 Paige found this hat in the dollar section at Target :)

On Friday, we traveled down to Tucson for a day and night. We took the kids to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. What an awesome place! It's a museum and a zoo. All the landscape, animals and exhibits are all about the Sonoran desert.

 These are 2 pieces of art that I really liked

This is a Ring Tail Cat and a Diamondback rattlesnake. One of those cat's climbed on Aaron looking for food when he was sleeping at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. In this presentation, we learned that they spray like skunks when they feel threatened...scary! 

 The museum had stamp pads of different animal tracks...P&H loved stamping in their books

 It was a beautiful 90 degrees that day

 These wildcats loved that pair of Levi's

 They released owls and some other birds and they were flying really close to everyone's head. It was cool!

 Our hotel room

This labyrinth was right behind our hotel room

 

 The kids wanted to find somewhere to toss the football and frisbee around. While we were walking we heard all 3 of them yell, "Grass!!" We weren't expecting to find grass with all the desert landscape. That hour we spent with our kids was one of my favorite of our Thanksgiving weekend :)

 H kicking the football in his pajamas :)

 Before heading home on Saturday, we visited the Children's museum of Tucson. It reminded us a lot of the one in Phoenix but I think our kids liked this one better

 The was a machine that showed how frequency works. This is what A does for a living so it was fun to see him explaining to the kids how it worked.

 He loves motorcycles and I had to take this for my Dad :)

 What up Ben?!

 P&H could have played here for hours :)

 They had an entire wall display of vintage Mickey and Minnie Mouse collectables. I thought back to a Minnie Mouse bank that our sweet next door neighbors brought me back from Disneyland when I was 2. I lost it years ago but I was curious to see if they had it on display. Sure enough, there it was :)

 Life with a teenager...never a dull moment

 Paige loved this little pet vet area. She loves kitties

 This outdoor area was something that all 3 of the kids enjoyed

 Hammond kids doing what they do best...Hamming it up :)

I'm still here! :)

It's been a while since I've blogged. Just trying to get organized and ready for the holidays.We had a nice, low-key Thanksgiving here at home and then went to Tucson on Friday and Saturday. It was lots of fun, I'll post some pics soon.
Today is December 1st so it's that time again! December Daily 2012! Is anyone else out there doing it too? I have to say that I really look forward to this time of year and I especially love documenting our Christmas activities. My kids look through the albums throughout the year and Paige has told me that she's so glad I make them. So that right there keeps me going :)
The plan is to do a 5.7x8.5 size like I did last year. I bought a red binder and sheet protectors at Staples. The binder is not cute however I do love how sturdy it is. We R Memory keepers makes a cute binder in that size and I might order one online.
I'm off to finish my Christmas cards and to play catch-up on my housework and shopping :)
Happy Saturday! I {heart} the weekends!

October/ November good stuff

Wow...time has been flying by. We had a 3 day weekend, it was so nice!

My parents came back for another visit a couple of weeks ago. My mom treated Paige and I to the "So You Think You Can Dance" tour! It was UNREAL! The sad part...no cameras were allowed :( 

Thanks again Mom, we had a blast!

 We signed up to bring in treats for the fall party in Paige's class. A coworker gave us the idea of Rice Krispie pumpkins and Paige had the idea of doing the Tootsie Roll stem with the ribbon. We had fun putting them together for her classmates :)

 Braden usually plays his games on Thursdays nights. It was nice to have a couple of Saturday morning games this year. He plays left mid defense and really loves soccer. His skills have improved so much over the last 2 years. He's been fortunate this year to have great teammates and a really good coach. 

 Papa and Gaga were able to come to a couple of Braden's games this year.

 It won't be long until B is taller than Aaron...he wears a size 10 shoe!

 Paige being silly on our shopping adventures with Gaga. I had these shoes on and a guy walked by and did a double take because I was being goofy and I was freakishly tall...we laughed so hard :)

 What is that and how did it get on the ceiling??

 He looks a little guilty, right? :) He got some money for his grades and bought a Spiderman glove

 Heaven's Ice Cream...that's funny

 Today the kids set up the tent and ate their lunch outside. They were sweet to each other, visiting and chatting about life and getting along just great.

15 minutes after this picture, they were screaming and fighting with each other...good times ;)

Halloween 2012

 It's been one of those crazy, busy weeks. Halloween was fun! Thank you Ray and Em for having us over for your annual Halloween party :) Melanie and Erik- It was so fun to visit with you! Jordan and Karin- You were missed! You all had such adorable costumes!! I had my camera sitting on the table and I didn't take one picture :( What was wrong with me?? I was so tired that night I couldn't think straight...we did come home and do a little trick or treating in our neighborhood before bedtime.

Our kids are growing up so fast. Paige wanted me to make her a costume this year. She had an idea of what she wanted. I bought some felt at Joann's and we made it happen. It was our little project and I enjoyed every minute of making it with her :) H wanted to be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle (Michaelangelo) so Target helped us out in that department. B was a soccer player who put together his costume 10 minutes before Halloween. He had a great idea for a costume...maybe next year. 13 year olds...they're full of surprises :)

Oh how I love November and Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to a month of gratitude and having more days off with my family :)
And the food...let's not forget about the food :)