little angels

anyone seen john's tooth?

2010-11-07T13:07:00.000-08:00

this is john 3rd tooth that has "fallen out" with the help of daddy. the tooth fairy left john $1 and a new tooth pillow for his future losses.

with one tooth gone the other is about to fall out. i have a feeling ol' bucky bucktooth will be around for our grand entrance back to las cruces.

needless to say john was excited to have his tooth out.

loverly tea party

2010-11-07T11:25:00.001-08:00

a little known fact about adelynn is that she LOVES tea parties. at any given moment you might be in the midst of an impromptu tea party. john is an amazing tea party guest. he makes sure that there always is enough food and peach tea.

this year we finally got around to having a birthday party for adelynn.

the theme...... A Loverly Tea Party

we had 4 of adelynn's closest friends over for a girly yet proper southern Tea Party. here are a few photos of the event.

john an adelynn in an impromptu Tea Party in our drive way.

the table scape for adelynn's birthday party.

real monogrammed cloth napkins with real glass plates and cups.

only the best for this Tea Party. : )

when the guest arrived we "had" to make sure that their nails were properly painted. : )

proper drying technique

then dressed in the finest Tea Party attire.

i had chosen a really pretty blue silk dress for addie with a white shawl. but that wouldn't do at all. everything had to be pink, from head to toe.

once everyone was dressed the Tea Party could start. our menu included nutella sandwiches, cheese sticks and red grapes. the drink was white cranberry - strawberry "tea".

my attempt to make a tea cup cupcake.

adelynn had a blast. it was the calmest, quietest and sweetest party i have ever been to. very different then a certain 6 year old boy's birthday parties.

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY ADELYNN.

john's first day of school

2010-11-06T18:17:00.001-07:00

I know the semester is almost over but I was about to post fall pics and realized I hadn't even posted first day of school pics. I think I posted most of these on FB so it's not like you haven't seen them already. just have to keep things in order. : )

photo bomber

john was SO excited about his first day of school.

then that moment past and reality set in. : ) just kidding he still LOVES school

daddy was post call but luckily he was able to meet us at school.

getting acquainted with his cubby

nervous smile.

waiting for "Don" with Sally Fwins a lot

leaping off the bus. which so far he enjoys riding home.

john was very excited to tell adelynn all about his first day of school.

john's 6th birthday

2010-07-30T19:00:00.001-07:00

JOHN'S 6TH BIRTHDAY

the birthday celebration started by john receiving birthday money so off to walmart we went were he bought a lego zurg and rex doll from the movie toy story. he and addie are obsessed with toy story at the moment. we almost had a toy story bday party but clone wars and spider ham won the battle. what????? you don't know who spider ham is???........... neither did i until a year ago. spider ham is the swine equivalent to spider man.

next year i am making sure john chooses a theme that is all purchasable. period!!!

here are some pics that document the festivities.

rex watching john put the zurg lego action figure together.

john and rex were excited to have a new toy to play with.

john still sleeps with rex, zurg and buzz light year (which was a big hit when he received it at his party.)

and so the party celebrations begins.......

homemade spider ham cupcakes.

homemade spider ham bath bomb (for the party favors)

homemade marshmallow spider ham popsicle, after this pic was taken i added the eyeballs, which was just a bit of white choc.

letting the feeding frenzy begin

guests of the birthday bash

john was non to happy about being sung too........

addie chloe, dilon and carter. our dear dear friends

real men eating light saber popsicles

church friends. me, carrie, julia and caroline (aka mrs. carolina)

good friends robyn and jason eckel

good friend moriah with her new baby, levi

john's already a ladies man.

ta da da DA!!!!!!!!!!! BUZZ LIGHTYEAR TO THE RESCUE!!!!!!

star wars lego set. if you don't know john LOVES!!!!!!!! legos.

i, on the other hand am not to keen on digging through the nastiness of our bagless vacuum rescuing pieces that have been vacuumed up.

everyone relaxing at the pool

john shooting out of the slide. he literally could spend all day going down this slide.

sweet friends. lilliana, hannah, jordan, chloe and john

dan going off the high dive.

john jumping off the high dive.

this is not something that john chooses to do at the pool. thank goodness for parent pressure :/

addie loves hanging out in her ducky puddle jumper life jacket.

best $15 i ever spent........... for the pool.

family pool pic.

see that lifeguard in the background.... he was in 8th grade when i taught photography..... trevor is now a sophomore in college...... *DISLIKE*

addie was pooped out at the end of the day

too much cupcakes and sun

john was showing off his party tshirt. it was nice and white when the party started. why use napkins when you have a perfectly good tshirt to wipe your hands.

the next morning, after the party, i found that john had gotten a sharpie and made buzz officially "JOHN'S TOY"

i celebrated the end of the party by going to see eclipse with my 2 best friends. robyn and moriah

you are cordially invited....

2010-06-26T17:47:00.000-07:00

your are to cordially invited to attend a tea party at the home of adelynn hampton....

the featured hostess

the featured guests

would you like a spot of tea?

a bit of self service

can i refresh your cup?

let me take a quick sample to make sure it"s perfect....

just a bit more....

i say that john likes it

maybe a bit too much : )

but we don't care. a smile from the sweetest guest is worth it.

ORANGE BELT TESTED....

2010-06-26T10:44:00.000-07:00

AND MOTHER APPROVED!!!!!

today john was tested for his orange belt in tae kwon do. as part of the belt testing the students usually have to break a board. the boards are usually about 1/2" but today all the older kids were required to break an adult size board, about 1" thick, with some sort of kick. john was required to break it with an axe kick. i think this is the hardest kick to break a board. it's at least the kick that john has the hardest time. but he did it. :)

here are some pics of the days events.

addie took a few minutes to make sure she got some camera time.

here she is caught making out with the yellow tkd decals.

i don't know why she feels that they need some extra loving. ?

now she has moved onto dancing. this girl cannot wait until november when she gets to take dance. i am personally excited cause i still remember my first day of ballet.

john 3rd attempt to break the board with an axe kick.

KEI-AAAAAAHHHHH

5th attempt.... he finally broke the board. YEAH!!

receiving his orange belt by master jung.

showing off his broken board

upgrades. : )

proud momma and addie.

fickle creek farm/playnation

2010-06-02T19:17:00.000-07:00

yesterday we went to an organic farm with john's kinder class. when i say organic i mean ORGANIC!!!! i don't even know how to explain it. let's just say it was very interesting. but A LOT of fun for the kids!!!!

after the farm we meet up with a few friends for a playdate. it was a long yet wonderful day. : )

also, i added a few extra photos for you all to check out.

last day of kindergarten pics are still being worked on. they will be posted in a day or 2. or when i have a free moment to work on them. : )

discovering the farm...... and the limits of the electrical fence. :/ which luckily my kids were wearing rubber boots that insulated them from getting shocked.

also, the tour guide tracked the kids through a poison ivy patch. thank goodness for rubber boots

addie being a ham for the camera

checking out the chicks who are just a couple days old

so cute

daniel, john's best friend, john, and andrew, daniels older brother and john's 'silly band' connection friend. don't they look like they could be brothers?

where ever daniel is..... you will find john

getting some G50 lovin

letting boys be boys.. why don't we have chickens to expel some of john's energy? they had a blast.

gathering eggs very carefully

addie SO wanted to touch a chicken that she was determined to do so. even if it pecked her.

addie even got to gather an egg and put it in the egg basket...... which went much better then i had imagined it going.

only one cracked egg

what i wanted the kids to look for the pic.

how we all felt at the end.... who cares cause it's too hot and humid, cranky, and super tired

PLAYNATION

john rescuing addie from the ladder of fear. 'aka' a 4 step ladder that addie didn't want to climb down herself.

jumping with lifetime friend chloe

swinging on a tire swing with best buds

while addie was getting supper ready : )

Addie's a big girl now

addie sleeping in her big girl bed. : ( she loves sleeping in her big girl bed with biga dee dee's (blanket)

how much she has grown form her infant pics hanging on her wall

celebrating the holiest of holy foods.... PEANUT BUTTER AND HONEY SANDWICHES!!!!!!

oh how this girl loves her pb&h. the only food she will eat. literally!!!

new mexico trip

2010-04-24T17:53:00.001-07:00

we had a great time in new mexico last week. it was a super busy week seeing old friends, a job interview in albuquerque for dan and partook in a wonderful memorial for dans' grandmother. this trip i made sure to actually took pics of our trip. not all the pics are super exciting but it was a great trip

we finally got to see the sprays after years of missing each other

and got some play time in with the strawmanns

addie, nathan spray, andrew spray, john and caleb spray

i got to finally see aunt kelly's baby bump.

met sweet lily rose.

katie cummings reading to addie. katie gave addie the sweetest red riding hood dress up outfit.

like father like son

addie discovered the best thing in the world.... a trampoline

john throwing the football with kyle cummings

watching that crazy nana extract the honey comb

and addie doesn't want to miss out either

brave nana

capping the honey

waiting for the honey to pour out of the spout

THE BEST HONEY IN THE WORLD!!!!!

4 G's

gogo, john, gigi and addie

i am glad we remembered to take this photo.

i love it when the kids quietly get along.

enjoying the sunrise over the organs

addie getting some uninterrupted nana time

sharing m&ms at grandmothers memorial.

the bomber photo

todd must be saying something to the effect that laura owes him big for having to stand close to addie and her killer stink bomb of a diaper

nana doing her own jazzercise routine

sweet ol addie

i am not sure what is so amazing about a wheel barrow but my kids seem to know the secret.

if i close my eyes and pretend i'm flying then i really am flying no matter how uncomfortable i feel.

nothing ever changes.... comic books still rule the world whether at home or 2,000 miles away

from then to now

2010-04-04T15:19:00.000-07:00

i can't believe that our last post was john's first day of school. uggg. i am gonna pull the "i"m a busy mom of 2 kids". it's sounds so much better then i am too lazy. the post goes backwards. sorry.

SPRING

HALLELUJAH!!!!!! SPRING IS FINALY HERE

we are all excited that the snow is finally gone.

john is especially happy. he cried every time it snowed.

with spring comes ice cream, red buds, dogwoods and flip flops.

FLIP FLOPS YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!

EASTER

yesterday we went to our good friends Ms. Brenda and Mr. Chris' for a wonderful, relaxing Easter Hunt. though the weather was wonderful the kids still were as sweaty and dirt filled as they could possibly get.

we didn't get our annual family easter pic this year but we were 30 minutes early for church. that has to count for something. right?

summer dress, flips flops and swings... nuff said

listening to instructions on the Egg Hunt. the bucket on the head helps.

addie loved searching for eggs.

though john was done with finding his six eggs before i could even snap a pick.

THIS AND THATS

2 weeks ago addie attended her first birthday party. it was a dress up birthday party. that had her name written all over it. it was the best day.

last summer dan and john built a fire pit in our backyard. we had to break it in and make sure that the fire pit made adequate smores. and it did. they were delicious.

just thought you'd like to see our dog beanie. just in case you forgot about her.

leon and elaine visiting back in feb. it was a great visit.

addie pretending to be a baby who is sleepy and needs to take a nap.

john has become so independent this past year. here he is making oatmeal. he is such a big help around the house and an even bigger help with addie. he gets addie out of bed, fixes her breakfast, and turns on a cartoon for them to watch.

john spends a lot of his time reading. i don't care how he wears his hair as long as his love for learning never stops.

riding off into the sunset with pinky bear.

daily outfit for addie.

john in his first tae kwon do class.

supporting the SAINTS in the superbowl

the snow is finally melting.

the kids literally spent less then 20 min in the snow the entire season. here is a rare photo of this event. john told dan that he is to look for a job only in the hot cities where it doesn't snow.

this snow we got 11" of snow in one night. we were trapped in our house for 4 days. literally we couldn't leave our drive way. it took the city 4 days to make it to our neighborhood.

at christmas john and nana had a "nana adventure"

we started our year with the welcoming of emma mae.

John's first day of Kindergarten

2009-09-11T09:38:00.000-07:00

John' first day of Kindergarten
September 10, 2009

John's first day of kindergarten was the highlight of this year. He has been looking forward to this day for months. Ever since the last day of preschool, back in May, he has been constantly asking when he gets to start kindergarten. Over the summer he practiced doing "school work" and worked on his reading skills in preparation for kindergarten. He walked into his classroom like it was just another day. Said goodbye to me, Dan and Addie and went on. I on the other hand needed about 5 minutes to get myself together and finally walked away knowing that he was going to do great. His first day was not a let down!! When I picked him up after school he jumped into the car with a huge smile on his face and talked about the things that the class had discussed and the classmates that he met. Last year it was like pulling teeth to get any information out of him about his day. Now, by the time Dan saw him last night John had forgotten everything that happened in school. A gentle reminder was all he needed to kick start his memory. Then he talked and wiggled the rest of the night.... about Transformers that is. For a special dinner we went to a Hibachi grill and he loved it. The "valcano" was the best part of dinner.
Here are some pictures of John's first day of Kindergarten

ok... i think i need to go cry again... i don't think i got it all out yesterday :...(

i bought John bigger clothes then he needs because he is in the middle of another growing spurt. So hopefully these clothes will last until Christmas.

proud papa

Addie was taking pictures of John's first day as well.

Daddy's girl, 100%!!!!

walking to school with mommy and addie

walking to school with daddy and addie

walking into school all by himself : (

hanging his bag up outside his classroom

putting his name in his name slot.
there are only 12 students in his class this year.
i hope that ends up being a good thing for him.

sitting in circle time waiting for all his classmates to arrive.

summertime fun

2009-08-24T18:05:00.000-07:00

Summer time fun

we started the summer off by celebrating John's 5th bday. how did he grow up so fast? i don't know. but some how every time i turn around i am planning his birthday party. this year we had a swim/transformers/star wars theme. the best and most relaxing party ever. we had a friend take some pics but they are really small on the blog so i will forward you the pics.

john blowing out his darth vader candle

opening up his transformer towel present. he was SO excited

daddy and addie being silly with the camera.

we went to Austin to see the Self's the day after john's birthday. we had a great time. but some how came away with one pic. i guess that is what happens when you have 4 adults and 5 kids. no time.

dan and i were able to get away for the evening and spend it with great friends and COLDPLAY!!!! : ) it was a great concert. well ok, i thought it was a great concert. dan sat in a chair most of the time wishing he wasn't there. : )

nothing like fun dip. john ate his so fast i couldn't get a pic.

"goggie" switch. addie thought it was so funny to switch swim goggles/sunglasses.

crazy rainy days equals...

crazy sick days.

we all caught a horrible summer cold and were out of commission for a week. the kids snuggled up on the couch and watched lots of tv.

this summer john and beanie have developed a closer relationship, which has been nice to see.

john's imaginations has EXPLODED!!!!!!!!!!!!

here he has lined up his lizards, and action figures to watch the rain storm. they watched it and talked about the storm for about 45 minutes.

john spends hours a day in make believe land!!! it is awesome to watch and hear all the conversations he has with his playmates.

today john and i wanted to be true southerners. i was missing gogo and had too many cucumbers that were sort of unusable. so we made lots of sweet pickles. they were awesome. i am very impressed with john's cooking skills.

how come you don't write anymore?

2009-07-02T17:09:00.000-07:00

so we have been VERY!!!!! busy since school has let out. Not with anything big but just with the day to day activities. So before the year gets ahead of us any further I am posting a long blog of photos. so here we go

i uploaded the photos backwards. We are starting from yesterday and will end at the beginning of May. sorry

Movie Day

With our best friends at Free Movie Wednesday

seth, addie, john, dylan, ezra, carter, chloe

New Mexico Trip

Wedding Day for Kelly

Last week I was part of the most beautiful wedding for my best friend Kelly.

John and Addie pose for their yearly Peter Piper Pizza Picture

John and Addie loving on Nana's new cat Ferguson/Fergie/Fergus

John and Braydon mixing up a saucy dip for the supper time bread. Letting boys be boys is very rewarding...

so much that it wears Addie out

Hair Cut for Daddy

John really enjoyed getting to help daddy cut his hair. I love these sweet learning moments in life

Not a morning person : (

Addie has a hard time waking up. She takes after her momma. But a warm bottle and sometimes a warm dishwasher is all she needs to perk up.

Tattoo time

If you don't know that John is OBSESSED with Transformers you must be living under a rock. He is always wanting Dan to draw tattoos on him.

Date night

Dan and I went to the annual GI dinner in May. This is one of our 2 set dates a year. This dinner is for the Fellows that have finished the entire medical process and finally have REAL jobs.

Next year it will be Dans turn.

WE HAVE ONE MORE YEAR TOO GO!!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Family Photo

Practicing for our family church photo.

Cookie time

The kids made and decorated the prettiest and most delicious cookies. : )

Snake Time

John and Dan look at snake pictures everyday. literally. As soon as Dan walks in the door John has a list of snakes that he wants to look at on the internet.

Prepping the soil

We planted a wonderful garden this year that is growing nicely. Here the kids are picking out all the worms in the dirt in preparation for the planting.

Time Out

Addie is attached to John. Even if he is annoying the tar out of her she will still follow him around. In this pic John had been sent to time out for irritating Addie. Addie followed him to time out and started "reading" him a story from her favorite book. One day they will deny this ever happened but you all are witnesses that they really do deep down inside love each other.

T - BALL

John showing off his tball trophe with coach Dad

John with his team mates. He is literally a head above all the other kids.

John hitting his first home run. We celebrate at McDonald's

Addie was a big help with Coaching.

running to 3rd base

Sometimes other things are just more interesting

#1 fan

showing John the straight and narrow.

Not much is cuter

there are few things cuter than a toddler walking in their daddies shoes. Especially when they are only wearing a diaper and sucking on a bottle.

Rainy Days

It had rained everyday for weeks here in NC and I just couldn't keep the kids inside any longer so we went out and enjoyed the puddles.

Sweet Southern Belle

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE having a girl. Addie loves putting her own shoes on and wearing hats. She is a typical girly girl!!!

Beans the dog

Our dog Beanie.

We have a few bats in our Cave

Our bats. We counted close to 30. They were packed into the bat house like sardines.

Local Reptiles

Ratty, our rat snake, has made about 3 visits to our house this year. We saw him today and he has grown to about 6 feet.

Johns first local snake that he got to hold. It was a very scary moment for me but he loved every moment. He even was blessed my the snakes musk. STINKY!!!!!

Markers

2009-04-28T15:29:00.000-07:00

the definition of "a marker"

- a coloring agent

according to John

- a light saber

according to Addie

- a make up brush

Easter 2009

2009-04-14T18:16:00.000-07:00

Easter

We had a wonderfully relaxing and blessed Easter weekend. We went to a friends house for an Easter Egg hunt. THe kids had a blast and enjoyed every moment. Dan was post call Sunday morning so we only got pics of the kids. They were super cute in their Sunday outfits and amazingly they stayed nice and clean.

Sunday Outfits

Hunting Eggs

John counting Addies eggs

Stopped to smell the flowers

Easter Rocks

Being a boy with the boys

Chocolate explosion

E-I-E-I-O

2009-03-09T18:56:00.000-07:00

E-I-E-I-O

Today our play group went to a great farm to spend the morning. When we arrived the kids started the farm tour by digging in the dirt to find earthworms. These worms would eventually end up being feed to the chickens. But for the time being John didn't care what the future held in store for these worms. He was trying to get as many worms as he could find. I mean how can you go wrong with a 4 year-old boy, dirt, a shovel and worms.

Digging with Seth

Showing Brady a worm

Then we were off to the chicken pen. This is where the poor little worms were tossed amongst the sea of chickens for an morning snack.

Oh well.

As soon as John entered the chicken pen he walked around, ok, ran around, greeting all the chickens by giving them heart attacks. It was amazing that the kids were encourage to discover the chickens on their own, just sweetly reminded that the chickens like to be touched with loving hands. He was even encouraged to pick up the chickens, which he was all about. Even a goose got handled by John.

Adelynn wanted NOTHING to do with these creatures. When we entered the pen she was very nervous, like velcro to my leg. Then after a few minutes she slowly let loose and started smiling and saying KO- KO (which means, chicken, goose, rooster or duck). When the chickens started to come towards her she freaked out, started screaming and clawing at my leg to be picked up. It was too funny.

The last exciting thing that happened in the chicken pen was gathering all the eggs that had been layed that morning. I was quite impressed with the fact that only a few eggs were smashed by little loving hands.

Greeting every chicken

kissing a chicken

"i'm ok. this isn't too bad"

"TOO BAD, TOO BAD!!!!!!!!!"

John goosing addie

After the chickens had been feed and eggs gathered we were off to the grand finale.

The horse and donkey ride.

The kids needed to brush the horse and donkey before the saddles were strapped on. I think the animals only got a few brushes before the kids started crying "is it time to ride yet?"

Once the saddles were put on and the helmets carefully chosen we were off.

brushing the donkey

adelynn and the donkey

adelynn watching john ride the donkey

john riding the donkey

addie riding the horse

addie riding the horse with mommy

this was much more fascinating to addie than riding the horse with mommy.

Though the worm digging, egg gathering and horse riding were really fun the highlight of the day was John receiving a dollar from the farm tour guy, Will. Will told John that if he could catch a certain rooster that he would give him $1. Apparently this rooster has never been caught by any worker no matter how hard they tried. Let me tell you John was determined. With in 3 minutes that rooster was caught and John was so excited. He said "I caught the rooster, I caught the rooster... Now where is my $1.?"

We were all impressed. Though one mom told me she knew John could do it.

chasing the rooster

caught the rooster

Dumpster Diver

2009-03-01T10:37:00.000-08:00

the past few weeks John has started to collect something that he says is "very special to his heart". i wouldn't mind if it was something like rocks from outside, sticks, or dead bugs for that matter but he wants to keep every piece of trash that he comes in contact with. i tell him that he doesn't need to keep trash because eventually it will cause ants to come into the house or clutter will over take the house/ his room. every night after he goes to bed i check his pant pockets to find a wad of trash that has been collected through out the day. gum wrappers, string cheese plastic, fruit cup tops, tissues, straw wrappers. whatever he can get his hands on.

last thursday night dan was looking for something and moved the couch to look behind it. to his shock there was a mound of trash stashed behind the couch. an empty bottle of dishwasher soap, banana peels, plastic bag, paper, junk mail. all these things had been thrown into the trash by me trough out the week. John had been Dumpster Diving collecting his favorite trash finds. i wish that i had taken a picture. but i am probable sure i will be able to get another one here pretty soon.

sweet valentines

2009-02-16T18:34:00.000-08:00

my little sweet valentines

the kids sent me the prettiest tulips this year for valentines. they always know what kinds of flowers will make my day. i thought that i would share a pic of them. the flowers.

Without Training Wheels

2009-02-12T16:16:00.000-08:00

This weekend was absolutely beautiful. Spring like temperatures and sunny skies made it impossible to stay inside at all. Dan was home and took his new mountain bike for a few test spins on the local trails and within the neighborhood. John was quite envious of daddy riding a bike without training wheels. So Dan took off Johns training wheels and within a couple tries John learned how to ride a bike without training wheels. The next day Dan showed John how to start riding the bike on his own and that moment was captured for all to view.

So Sad...

2009-01-27T19:45:00.000-08:00

RIP

Pink Mail Box

As I drove John to preschool friday morning I saw our sweet and lovable Pink Mail box on the side of the road. It looked like it had just fallen off the post. It was hanging by a tread anyways and the snow and frigid weather we had last week must have taken its toll. I didn't worry too much about it and drove by thinking that the owners would pick it up. Not three hours later after picking John up from school we were on our way home and drove by the Pink Mail Box, too check on it and make sure that it was ok. Someone had run over our Pink Mail Box. It was lying flat on the road. John was devastated. He kept saying. "What happened to the Pink Mail Box?" I didn't know what to say to him. Now when we drive my I try to distract him so that he doesn't look for it.

Pink Mail Box you have filled our life with so much joy and happiness. We are truly going to miss you.

Adelynn walking

2009-01-22T11:46:00.000-08:00

I thought that you all would like to see Adelynn walking all be herself.

Welcome Home

2009-01-21T19:30:00.000-08:00

sweet family that loves me, feeds me, shelters me and don't forget rescued me from being euthanized.

Tonight we meet some friends that we haven't seen in a while for dinner. Since it was below freezing I didn't want to leave Beanie outside for the 3+ hours that we were going to be gone.

I put her in our bathroom and removed everything that was on the floor and what I thought was out of reach.

You see where I am going with this?

When we got home I told John to let Beanie out of the bathroom and put her outside so she could use the bathroom.

I heard John say "Mom, the bathroom door is locked."

I thought "He probably didn't try hard enough"

"Try harder" I said as I walked into our bedroom

hmmmmm... the door IS lock.

"oh, no. this can't be good"

As I looked down at the floor I saw small fragments of wood peaking out form underneath of the door.

As I unlocked the door my mind was going crazy imagining what was waiting for me behind door #1.

This is what we found...

Toilet paper dispenser ripped off the wall

Brand new bath towels that were hung almost to the ceiling. Torn to shreds on the floor

Hand towel draped on the floor

Floor matte, brand new, ripped to shreds

Little pieces of toilet paper and roll from one end of the bathroom to the other.

makeup every where

remains of what used to be my fashionable silver makeup bag,

Dog food all over the floor.

and last but not least...

our door molding had been clawed to death.

Now how is it that I have put her in this very same bathroom on numerous occasions and tonight she decides to destroy it

She is lucky Dan was home or else she might be snuggling up outside with Winter Storm 2009

Winter Storm 2009

2009-01-21T18:45:00.000-08:00

Our first and possibly only snow fell on Tuesday. Allowing us to relax in our pj's, watch the inauguration and play in the snow for 5 min. John was not felling the snow so we didn't get any pics the first day. I was quite amazed that the snow was still there today. Though why wouldn't it be, it never got over 30. Needless to say that in Texas/New Mexico when it snows it is gone by noon. So this morning I dressed John and Addie in their coats, scarfs, hats and mittens and we went outside to get some photos of "Winter Storm 2009". Ok, so it wasn't really a winter storm but we were trapped in our neighborhood all day due to icy roads and we received 1.5 inches of snow.

Stacked poplar behind our house

John making a snow angel

Snow angel

Addie hanging out in the stroller... to cold for her.

John pretending to be a wolf making tracks in the snow

Accidental shot. Thought is was too sweet not to share

posers

mmmmm.... hot chocolate.

I had to bribe John with hot chocolate to go out in the snow for a few pics.

I'm on my own

2009-01-20T20:40:00.000-08:00

baby steps

Adelynn is officially walking on her own as of January 13th. She, of course, still wants to crawl everywhere but the knowledge that she can walk on her own is fabulous. She is so cute to watch walking because she walks on a pivot. So walking a straight line will need some work. Oh man, I hope I am not foreshadowing. I am super sad to see her reach another milestone but am excited to see what this new milestone has to offer.

pint size

2009-01-20T18:55:00.000-08:00

John and Dan posing in our backyard with their bows

Looking up to daddy

I am so excited to have a man that absolutely loves our kids. It makes my love grow stronger for him when I see him spending time with them. He includes them in all of "his" hobbies. Obviously we all know that he introduced John to comic books and Star Wars. His recent introduction is bow hunting. Dan has bought John a pint size bow with suction cup arrows, camo shirts, pants and even a neon orange/camo hat to wear when they go "bow hunting". With all the cold that we have had he has only been able to go outside and shoot it once. THe past 2 days I have heard "mommy can I shoot my bow?" John even puts his bow and arrows in Dan's bow case.

I am so excited for John grow up to be a loving father and remember these sweet memories he has created with his daddy and pass them to his children.

"let me do it"

2009-01-18T17:48:00.000-08:00

Utensils or no utensils... that is the question?

Addie has discovered forks and spoons. Not really wanting to eat much with her hands, except for this that one needs a fork and spoon for like yogurt and ice cream. It is so sweet watching her try to get food on the spoon and try so hard to get in into her mouth. When the goal is accomplished, how sweet it is.

Santa Claus is coming to town...

2008-12-25T17:30:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2008

This was such a fabulous Christmas. It was SO RELAXING. Once the kids woke up a bit after 7am we opened gifts. John made out with was Star Wars toys, action figures, board games, clothes, etc. Pretty much everything that he received was Star Wars related. Adelynn received a few things but after her first present she was done. She received clothes and a her first cell phone. The rest of the day we lounged around trying to put a 1000 piece puzzle together, watching the Christmas Story, playing with our new toys, and took Beanie on a nice long walk. Santa was good to all of us.

Cookies and Milk for Santa

Gingerbread house constructed by Hampton Construction

Christmas 2008

Christmas morning 2008

Playing with the bad guys (his favorite guys). Darth, Gen Grievous and Battle Droid.

Testing out Johns new Leapster. He's playing Star Wars, Duh!

Addies first cell phone

The Battle

Christmas Breakfast. Thanks Santa

Hampton Construction Inc.

Christmas Tree 2008

Life Lessons

2008-12-25T16:59:00.000-08:00

Life Lessons

It is priceless watching as memories between a father and son are made. Dan and I went to his annual Christmas party a few weeks ago. Dan needed to polish his shoes and asked John to help. Johns eyes lit up with excitement in anticipation of helping Dan polish his shoes. It was so sweet watching my boys polish shoes together.

Sorry Ms. Hampton

2008-12-22T11:42:00.000-08:00

SORRY MS. HAMPTON

So I am going to apologize right now to Johns future bride. And you all are witnesses. It must be in the Hampton men DNA to be passionate about specific things. I am sorry for what I have allowed to happen. I swore that my son would never have a Hampton passionate gene. For Leon it is geneology. For Dan it is WWI and WWII propaganda and propaganda comic books. It is amazing the amount of time this man spends on the internet looking and drooling at books made out of crumbling paper. So when John started becoming interested in Star Wars and comic books I knew that there was no turning back for this little man. He loves reading and looking at anything related to Star Wars. He has had at least 3 books fall apart because he looked at them so much. He will sit and become a stone if he has something Star Wars or a comic book to read.

He also is like his father and loves comic books. This part I am taking, well putting, responsibility and blame on Dan. We allowed this to happen and for this I am truly sorry.
I am SO SORRY!!!! but know;

Never fight this force. You won't win. Trust me.

notice the box in the background...guess what's in them...
COMIC BOOKS.
and there are three more under that one

Again,
I am sorry

Deck the Halls

2008-12-22T10:58:00.000-08:00

Deck the Halls

This year has been so much fun decorating and getting ready for Christmas. John has really been into the holiday spirit and Addie loves all the sparkly lights and glitter. Her favorite thing to look at on our tree is a Santa ornament that John made last year in preschool. John was Joseph in the church skit of 'The Birth of Jesus'. He was so sweet with the baby Jesus. Every time we pass a nativity he says " Oh look at the sweet baby Jesus. The angel Gabriel told Mary and Joseph that they were going to have baby Jesus."
Here are some pictures of us getting our tree and decorating it. We are not yet ready to spend $100 on a tree so we hit Lowe's for a beautiful tree for only $30. We still get the felling of searching all the trees until we find the perfect one. This year we broke our yearly tradition of getting a tree on the rainiest night of the season and went on a clear yet chilly night. No fighting or cursing under the breath. It was fabulous. I think we are going to make that our new tradition.

John and Adelynn riding on the lumber cart.
They not only rode on the cart but rolled all over the floor at Lowe's. They were filthy by the time we left.

The Perfect Tree
Dan found the perfect tree on the first test. No needles fell off and John got a new rope snake from it. Notice John's high waters. He has grown so much since the beginning of the school year. He was a good size 4 almost size 5 back in August now he is on the border of size 5 going into 6/7.

Decorating the tree

Decorating the Tree
John likes to put all his ornaments in one spot.

Putting the Star on the Tree.
This is John's favorite thing to do. Every 2 min. "daddy can we put the star on now?"... "daddy can we put the star on now?" The whole night until the star is on the tree. AAARRRGGGHHH

2008 Hampton Christmas tree

been a while

2008-11-19T18:04:00.000-08:00

So it has been over a month and I am just now catching up with life. We had family in town for 2 weeks and then a week later went back to New Mexico for a week to visit some more. During the past month a lot has happened. We went up to Williamsburg, VA with my parents and had a lot of fun. Halloween was even more fun because of all the candy we received... i mean the kids received : ). John was Darth Vader and Adelynn was Princess Leia. But most importantly Adelynn turned 1 year old on Nov 6th : (

We keep telling her that she needs to stop getting bigger, but she isn't listening.
Here are some pics of the past months activities.

Williamsburg

mommy was thinking "hmmm...can i take this device home with me?"

Adelynn

John

Relaxing in a tree

Halloween

Darth Vader and Princess Leia

New Mexico Visit

Dan, John and Adelynn hanging out in Nana and Papa's backyard

Adelynn hanging out with Daddy and Papa

Adelynn's 1st birthday

Kitty Cat cupcakes

Birthday girl
Adelynn loved her birthday cupcakes. Red Velvet Kitty Cats

"oh, don't take my picture "

Post party clean up

Visit with Great Grandmas

Gogo, Adelynn and John
(Angie's moms mom)

GiGi, John and Adelynn
(Angie's dads mom)

Sweetest faces

2008-09-24T11:02:00.000-07:00

Natural Light

What is it about natural light that casts the perfect light onto a child's face as they look out the window. These are my 2 most favorite pictures of the kids. Innocently looking out the window at some activity going on outside. To small to participate but old enough to teach me a hundred lessons of life in just a brief moment.

Adelynn 10 months

John 1 year

She's a climber

2008-09-17T11:10:00.001-07:00

To Stand on her own two feet...

While we were playing on the floor this afternoon Adelynn decided that she needed the toys in the red box that was placed on a small table in the living room She climbed herself to a standing position.
It fun watching the wheels in her brain trying to figure out how this event was going to happen. She chose the placement of her feet and hands very carefully. Slowing inching herself up the table legs then Voila! she was standing. She was very graceful unlike her spastic brother who is unable to do anything without a sound effect or speed.
Moments like these make me proud to be a stay at home mom.

Can we slow it down a bit?

2008-09-17T11:10:00.000-07:00

How is that one day your little one can hardly hold their head up alone and the next thing you know they are dropping them off at school in the carpool line, allowing them to walk into to class alone. Why does time go by so fast as you get older. Why can't time be like it was when we were children? Time would slowly pass from one birthday to the next and days seemed to last forever as the sun very slowly crept behind the mountains.
Can't that be the way with your children growing up? Can we hit slow motion allowing us to capture every moment and really let the experience settle into our memory so that we can recall every move they make?
I have been keeping a journal of the kids since the moment we found out we were pregnant with each of them. Every now and then I glance back through the years and just allow myself to live in that moment for a little while. That has been the best thing that I have done for myself as a mother. I think I drive Dan nuts with my speratic reading from the past years of John and Adelynn. He, on the computer, trying to keep up with the buckeyes or the latest must have comic book and me ranting on about "remember when..." I know he secretly loves it when I do that.
I makes me sad to think that in a blink of an eye we will be empty nesters and I will be wishing for John to leave a saucy trail on all the cabinets and light fixture in the bathroom after having pasta for lunch. Or Adelynn allowing the artist, within her, to come out while she has a poopy diaper... I will leave it at that : (
I will try to remember this blog the next time...

Funny Times

2008-09-13T19:06:00.001-07:00

John and Addie make me smile a lot during
 the day with the silly things that they do.

Bath Time
Bath time is one of the funnest parts of the day. It is very exhausting to get the job done but the kids have so much fun together in the tub. John makes Addie laugh the whole time.

Sour Candy
John begged for a piece of Atomic Sour Candy and we finally gave in. It was hilarious watching the faces and puckered lips. After the candy was gone he asked for another piece.

Bed Time
We let john read (look at books) for about 15 after prayers and this night he feel asleep with puzzle pieces stuck to his face and about 15 books in bed with him. I removed everything from his bed without him being bothered.

Car Time
Our car is the home to many of John's toys. He is very good about sharing his things with Adelynn. He had given her a princess book to read to calm her down because she was very sleepy and cranky...that didn't work. so he gave her his Batman to snuggle on. It worked. Within a few minutes she was out.

Play Time
If there is a bucket of toys it will get dumped, oh yes, it will get dumped. These two can play for hours with this small box of Adelynn's toys in the living room.

Star Wars

2008-09-13T17:59:00.000-07:00

STAR WARS

John is obsessed with anything and everything Star Wars. Everything straight turns into a Light Saber. He quizes Dan and I all day long about Star Wars facts and trivia. He even sits at the computer studying photos of Star Wars characters.
He has read his 3 Star Wars books so much that we have taped them a few times and they are still falling apart page by page. He will be Darth Vader for Halloween and has decided that Adelynn will be pricess Leia, Dan Hans Solo and I am to be Jaba the Hutt. I am in protest.

Enjoying Life

2008-09-10T19:02:00.000-07:00

Full of Love, Life and Laughter

Adelynn loves life to the fullest. She is such a happy little girl. Always full of joy and laughter, She is now 10 months. Were has this year gone?

First Day of School

2008-09-10T18:14:00.000-07:00

1st Day of School

John's first day of school was very "john". He was so excited. He couldn't get into his classroom fast enough that he plowed past some pregnant lady which made him run into the door and scratch his cheek. He loves school but is sad that he can't take his light saber to school. If Jedi school existed he would be the first in line.

First Bite

2008-06-10T06:17:00.000-07:00

First Bite

Adelynn's first taste of cereal was a hit. She is a true Hampton. Anything you give her to eat she gobbles down. Her favorites are mango and peas.

Adelynn Brooke Hampton

2007-11-09T09:52:00.001-08:00

We are excited to announce that our second little angel has finally arrived.

Adelynn Brooke Hampton
November 6, 2007 8:02 am 6 lbs 10 oz

funny face

2007-10-11T05:00:00.001-07:00

john has the silliest faces and hair dues when he first wakes up.