Catching Up

Life has been busy at the Hamby house. We've had lots going on at home as well as several Halloween/Fall activities in the past few days, and more to come. The weather has been so pleasant, and we've taken advantage of it. This past weekend we worked in the yard, Paul mowing and I planting 5 dozen tulip bulbs (hopefully I'll see the fruits of that labor in a few months!). Paul also built a few more stud walls in the basement that day. Sunday evening we attended our church's Fall Festival where the kids dressed up and played lots of fun games and we all ate huge funnel cakes and fried oreos - MMMMM, and oh-so-good for the waistline! Yesterday was Kellyn's Fall party at preschool; it was also a lot of fun! Tomorrow is Preston's costume parade and Halloween party at school. And of course we'll be trick-or-treating tomorrow evening! Have a safe and happy Halloween!!!

The girls admire the beautiful Fall flowers


Paul works diligently (i.e. slooooowly)
on the basement :)


Snow White, Curious George, and a KC Chief
get ready for The Christmas Pumpkin story


Kellyn enjoys her Fall Party

Breckyn got a plate full of goodies, too!

Daddy and Princess Breckyn string beads for a necklace

camping and hiking at Robbers Cave in OK

2 weeks ago Preston and I went camping and hiking at Robbers Cave State Park in OK with our friends Mitch and Triston. We'd had a lot of fun. Here are the pictures:

Punkin' Patch

Monday we went to the Applejack Pumpkin Patch for Kellyn's preschool field trip. Unfortunately, the weather was pretty bad - very cold and windy - so the trip was short and sweet. We rode the hayrack out to the patch and the girls had a good time picking out their pumpkins and even insisted on getting one for their "Bubby," Preston. Gram joined us and was smart enough to dress more warmly than we did. You just can't mess around with this nasty Kansas wind! In any case, we had a good time and are definitely in a Halloweenie kind of mood now!

Kellyn and me in our festive shirts


Kellyn gives this pumpkin the once-over


And we have a winner! (or two)


Breckyn and her little green punkin'

Huddling together to stay warm!

We were so glad Gram joined us!

Gram and Breckyn riding the hayrack

Trip to the Corn Maze

Last night with the weather taking a definite turn toward Fall, we went to a local corn maze with our neighbors. The kids had a blast with all the face painting and games before we went thru the maze. The "big boys" even got into the action with some wild "steer" roping. We ended the night with hot chocolate and cider. A great time was had by all!

The kids line up for smores before leaving

Preston gets a dragon painted on his cheek

Kellyn's beautiful butterfly

Breckyn gets a pink ladybug

The whole crew: Sterling, Preston, Stephen,

Reagan, Breckyn, Kellyn, Bryce, Cydney, Haley

Breckyn and Reagan have fun jumping

American Gothic a la Paul and Julie

Chris P., Paul, Trey, and Chris W. rope the "steer"

FINALLY - we have a yard!!

After 6 1/2 looooooong months (plus 3 1/2 in the apartment), we finally have a yard! Well, half a yard so far, but the rest is germinating (hopefully) as I type! This weekend we had a Sod Blowout and did 3 yards in two days. Friday afternoon, we helped our neighbors Chris and Shannon lay their yard. When that was done, there were nearly 4 pallets left over, so a nice construction worker working on another house on the street agreed to fire up his forklift and move the pallets to our house. We got them laid just before dark and ended up having enough to cover the whole front yard. Saturday morning after Preston's football game, our friend Todd came over to rototill the back and sides with his tractor while I helped lay sod at our neighbors Chris and Aimee's house. As soon as theirs was done, the rest of our sod was delivered and we moved the "party" here. We laid the sides and a good portion of the back while Todd drilled seed for the rest. We finally finished up about 6:30 last night. Today I have pain in muscles I didn't even know I had, but the finished product is fantastic! The kids thought it was Christmas - they were thrilled to finally have grass to play in again!

Paul, Chastity, her husband Trey, and one of the
Chris's get started on our front yard


the work continues. . .


Breckyn and her friend Reagan enjoy
the new grass


Todd rototills the back yard to prep for seed

Shannon works in the back yard

the other Chris, Shannon, and I work in the

back while the kids supervise