Halloween

So... Halloween this year was a little different for us, Jeremy, Chili, and Mason went to a wrestling tournament in Denver leaving Me, Giuseppe, and Gage here to go to Beppe's football game and to go trick-or-treating... We found out that the tournament was giving out very cool prizes if the kids won a costume contest and that the winners would be chosen by the crowd and that one kid per age group would win... We thought it through and figured that the best way to get the most attention at the wrestling tournament was to dress like girls... Now some may think its not wise to encourage cross-dressing in your children, but seriously, have you met MY boys... no worries here... I made all of the boys tutus and got them coordinating tights, wings, wigs, tiaras, and wands... some would've stopped at the dress... but not us... if we're gonna be gay... were going all the way baby!!! I have good news and bad news... The good news is that both Chili and Mason won the costume contest at the tournament and Chile got an iPod and Mason a sweet RC Car... the bad news is that nobody got pictures of either of them in their outfits!! Chili had a pink wig and pink and black tights with all pink accessories and a tutti fruitti colored tutu... Mason was pretty much the same except in purple... not all hope is lost... Atleast I took pictures of both Giuseppe and Gage... LOL

I Am Lame!

So, this summer has been quite busy. which is why I have been such a lame blogger! So I appologize and I am now going to update on the days of our lil lives... Firstly as many of you already know Jer had a pretty rough spring which brought him no work, 2 surgeries, 10 days of hospitalization, and and a very long recovery. He is finally now able to do some of the things he usually enjoys over the summer, like hiking, camping, and bicycling. Usually he is pretty sore and needs some ice or heat but we are very grateful to have him able to enjoy a bit of 'life' again.

Chili and Giuseppe flew to Denver to visit their mom a couple of times this summer and of course the had a blast and were spoiled to death! All of the boys have done a couple of wrestling camps to keep up their skills. Mason went to cub-scout camp in July, Giuseppe went to 11yr old Boy Scout camp with Jeremy. Chili and Giuseppe went to a Boy Scout gathering of 5000 scouts called WashJam which was pretty interesting for them..they got to have sacrament meeting in the woods and were able to hear a couple of awesome general authorities speak. It probably would've been more memorable for the boys however the speakers spoke for a total of 8 hours in one day!! yikes! I'm not quite sure who planned that... as a mother of any children can tell you nobody especially deacon age boys want to listen to anything for 8 hours let alone listen to church speakers... actually the boys said that it was long but they mostly enjoyed the experience.

Jeremy has done some work this summer but things are still pretty slow in the construction world. This has prompted us to look into other options. In January he took the tests and applied for several fire departments in the regions and a couple weeks ago he also tested for several police departments as well. He really wants to get hired on as a fireman but there are more positions in the police officer world so hopefully something will work out. We are pretty hopeful since he has already has a couple of interested departments.

We are moving soon... the house is great and we are pretty excited about it. Its a little weird though since there is a chance we will be moving much further if we get a job on the other side of the mountains but we're prepared for the possibility of more than one move this year.

Okay so I know that this is a lame post... I didn't even have pictures or anything!! I think I just wanted everyone to know that we've been busy and enjoying life!!

Mother's Day

So my Mother's day was a little bit different than most of the ones I have had in the past. first of all Jer was in the hospital so I didn't have the opportunity to spend the day with my boys like I had been planning and there wasn't huge fanfare or anything but I really did have a fabulous experience. There was a need that day for the boys to 'hold their own' because I was needed at the hospital and Glorya(Grandma) was taking the day to visit her own family. Now the fact that the boys were home alone isn't the amazing gift since this was something that happens on occasion and isn't exactly a new idea, but what made it special and significant was that I was gone all day long and not once did I here negativly from the boys. Often when we leave we get to have phonecalls and complaints from the boys because 'so and so did this' and 'so and so did that' but even when I called and asked how things were they were all so happy and getting along... I think I would take all the Mother's Day presents in the world and trade them for more days where the boys love and enjoy eachother. Gage also had a small preschool program for mothers which was very cute...

You Know You Are a Mother of Boys When...

You are having a leisurely Sunday dinner, when all of the sudden you look out the window only to discover that your sons are climbing to the top of the shed and jumping off... now some mothers would hurry outside and make them stop immediately, but not me... I grab the camera and tell them to do it again so that I can get a video... So looking back I am thinking I should've probably played it a little safer and encouraged them to stop... nah : )

Sewing

So usually we try to have some sort of fun during our Spring Break but this year we are on an especially tight budget and Jer is down a from surgery this week so instead of going somewhere to have fun we had to improvise a little bit. I decided to take some time to teach my boys how to sew. We went with pajama bottoms which my boys wear often and they are super easy to sew. they all did pretty well and all of them did most of the work to make their own pants. with exception of Gage who helped out mostly by pushing what he called 'the gas pedal' on the sewing machine... as it turns out with Gage pushing the pedal and making the machine work as fast as possible I can complete a pair of pants in about 25 minutes including the time it takes to iron as I go. Mason and Beppe both made a couple small errors requiring them to get to know a little tool known as the 'seam ripper.' I assured them that I too am well acquainted with the 'seam ripper.' Chili needed the least amount of help and got the job done pretty quickly. They really enjoyed learning how to sew and are excited to do some more of it!!

Our Special Day With Gage

Somehow over the last few years we had simply neglected to take our little Gage to the zoo. His older brothers are just not interested anymore and we almost never have just Gage. Yesterday Sandra had the older boys, Chili, Beppe, & Mason, and she took them skiing so we decided to have a 'special day with Gage.' We did a lot of things with him... first we went to the zoo, then to eat a special lunch out, then we helped him ride his motor cycle, we let him play his favorite video games, we even played a couple rounds of 'Candy Land' and then when we were too exhausted for anything else we talked him into watching a couple movies with us. At one point in the day he turned to me and said 'Mom, I love Spring Break.' We are so thankful for our Gage!!!

St Patricks Day

So for St. Patrick's Day traditionally, though I am pretty sure that I am not of Irish descent, I prepare all of our food green. The boys simply love our silly little tradition and we are all so amazed at how much my food looks like vomit once it is tinted green.

Green Eggs

Garlic Toast, Punch, and Shepard's Pie

and below we have added some celery with green cream cheese as our after school snack!

Mmmm... does anyone want to come over for dinner!!!

Mr. and Mrs. Hammond

Las Vegas

So last weekend my little sister, Sara, got married! She decided to forgo the usual pomp and circumstance and go to Vegas. I was all for this idea, that is until I actually went to Vegas. Don't get me wrong I think that Sara and Ray getting married is a great thing. Its just that I don't think I have ever been to a place where I had felt so uncomfortable. There is just really nothing for a poor, non-drinking, non-gambling, non-porn watching, Mormon couple to do in Las Vegas. We did get to see some family and enjoy people which was awesome. I got to see my little brother Wyatt and little sister Madison which was great, not to mention all of my parents, some grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins, lots of people. That was probably my favorite part jusst seeing all the family.

Before we went to Vegas we spent a couple of days with Jeremy's parents in Havasu. They spoiled us rotten! We stayed a their friends home and the fed us home cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner. mmmmmm I think that the best part was not having to think about what was to eat! Then his mom gave us massages, arranged for me to have a facial, and also something called a salt glow. Talk about relaxing!!!

For the most part it was a good trip, but I really seriously doubt that I will be asking to go back to vegas anytime soon!