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

Busy (Ham)Bees

We've had yet another very eventful weekend, and it's not even over yet! Last night we had some neighbors over for a spaghetti dinner, in part to "carbo-load" for the Race for the Cure, but mainly just to visit and play cards! This morning we were up bright and early so I could race (I use that term veeeeery loosely) in my second Race for the Cure. My neighbor and good friend Chastity ran with me, her first race, and did great! We didn't come close to winning, but that wasn't our objective. We finished it without stopping to walk and felt great at the end! I really like 5k's - they're about half as long and half as hard as 10k's - ha!

After the race, we went to Preston's football game. He did a good job and we really enjoyed the great weather - his game last week was called-off due to rain. After the game we went to pick up some grass seed for our back yard. Next weekend we'll be seeding the back with help from our friend Todd. We'll sod (i.e. insta-yard) the front and sides. After the "grass store," we picked up the first of our shrubs and spent the afternoon planting them. There's more of that in store for tomorrow, with a couple breaks for church and a wedding shower for my cousin Casey. We'll get to rest a week from. . . NEVER!! :)

Chas and me, looking *slightly* disheveled after the race
(well, mainly me, she never looks disheveled!)


Pres winds up for a pass


Kell helps plant shrubs with a shovel
bigger than she is!


Breck takes a break to admire the new flowers

Daddy and Kell, hard at work

I actually did a little more than "supervise"

Miss Vocabulary

Breckyn is now officially 2 1/2 years old. My how the time flies! We are often amused by her vocabulary and especially her flair for drama. She has recently discovered the word "actually" and uses it quite frequently and in the right context. Yesterday I heard, "I want skittles for my potty treat. No, Mom, ak-sully I want smarties." She always seems to be growing up a little too fast for my liking, but I caught her in this adorable asleep-on-the-couch-with-thumb-in-mouth pose and thought - awwwww, my sweet little baby!!!

Field Trip to the Zoo

This past Friday the girls and I accompanied Preston's 1st grade class on a field trip to the Zoo. We started the day by visiting the new Penguin exhibit and exploring the rest of the Zoo for awhile, then met the rest of the class for a cool show in the brand new Cargill Learning Center. We go to the Zoo a lot and never get tired of it. I love our Zoo and think it gets better every year. The kids had a great time, as usual! Unfortunately, I didn't get many good pics, but here are a few:

Kellyn, Preston and his friend check out the tortoises


Seeing how their "paws" compare to a grizzly bear's


Breckyn and Kellyn visit the sleepy bear


Breckyn looks for the hiding turtles

Chuck E Cheese!

We spent this evening enjoying our newly renovated Chuck E. Cheese. We all had a great time eating pizza, riding the kiddie rides, and playing video games!