Celebrating Hamp

We finally got a day to fulfill Hamp's birthday wish = a day at The Barn at Woodward in Copper Mountain. He had been talking about this indoor skate park and training center for months, but I still had no idea what to expect. Well wasn't I pleasantly surprised at just how awesome this place was indeed! I was also impressed with how excellently these four boys shredded the whole park!
(picked up a little lingo as the chaperone... shred = skate well)

 

Even better than the "shredding" was the fun that we all had that day - and everyday with Hamp in our lives. Now that he is officially a teenager, I try to respect his burgeoning maturity and allow him to be his true self. It's an incredibly blurry and wild space for us both - him as a 13-year old boy and me as his mother! But we are figuring out how to grow together and I am learning to love our relationship. He is still not much of a talker (definitely doesn't take after his father on that one!) but when he does I try to really listen. He still loves sports and skiing and friends and being outside - but as his time with Playmobil and Legos wanes, I find his time spent on the Xbox or on Instagram or Youtube fills the void. He has become particularly adept at binge-watching on Netflix! But when he's not 'on a screen' he is still funny and clever and sweet. And a little silly:

January

 

Ahhhh..... we have been playing in the snow!

We have skied every weekend and we have experienced some real excellent days on the mountain. Sometimes there are a bunch of fun friends to take runs with, and sometimes it's just the three of us. Either way, it's good times. 

 

 

 

 

 

We have also spent a little time on the local sledding hill!

Between the cardboard sledding derby (check out the stellar creation below.... it didn't do too well on the hill but it sure looked interesting!) and getting new sleds for their birthdays, there have been plenty of good times there too!

 

 

 

  And of course there are the boys' birthdays!

Celebrations were limited this year to balloons, cake for breakfast, sweet cards and well-wishes from friends & family and a few really cool gifts.

I have managed to put off any major birthday event (skatepark? bowling? sleepover???) for now.... we'll see what February brings though!

New Year

Happy New Year!!!!!!

We rang in 2017 the best way we three know how - on the slopes!
Looking forward to a good, long ski season this year. 

 

Christmas cousins

We spent a week in Hattiesburg, Mississippi with the Hightower family for Christmas vacation this year - mostly to be introduced to the newest cousin: Charlotte Rose. She was born the Monday after Thanksgiving so this little 3-week old spent some time in my arms while the others slaved away in the kitchen or played with the kids! I dare say Miss Charlotte was very happy to meet her Aunt Moo and even wanted to come back to Colorado with me and her big boy cousins... but she couldn't manage to sneak away. There was much discussion about how much she will grow between now and the next time we see her... so I cherished these moments with my teeny-tiny niece! 

I wasn't the only one who thought she was pretty special!!!

As for all the big Hightower cousins, they resumed their sweet friendships - picking up right where they left off last time they were together. The 'littles' (in a month they will be 8, 9 and 10 years old) spent hours dreaming up plays and building a bamboo raft and making musical instruments and forming a band...

 

Meanwhile, the 'bigs' (in a month they will be 12 & 13.... yikes!) would only take enough time away from their video games or social media accounts to either play soccer, terrorize the littles, or chase me through the neighborhood in the golf cart!

 

These five have always been so fun to watch and such sweet friends...

 

 

 

 

ALL the Hightower grands!!!

Once the gifts were all appreciated and everyone was full on Christmas ham and we had seen the Broncos lose to the Chiefs, it was time to plan the trip home. This time we took a different route which was no more or less interesting or exhausting.
It just got us home...

 

 

 

 

... and it was good to be home!

 

Travel karma

We have all at some point in our lives been subject to some bad travel karma. Flight delays, bad weather, traffic, missed connections, obnoxious travel companions, etc. In fact, easy and effortless travel has become something many of us take for granted. So when travel plans go awry, I tend to respond with the the reaction of "oh well" and "it's an adventure!"  While this can be annoying to the adult who just wants to get mad and place blame on the nearest, under-paid service provider, when said to children it can set a tone for positive and grateful travel adventures to follow....

For example:

Our Christmas travels plans were originally pretty straight-forward: drive to Denver, fly to Mississippi. But to add a little excitement to the journey, we left early enough to visit the Denver Art Museum, where a special Star Wars Costume exhibit was showing! Soooooooooo cool.....

 

 

Paired with some time at Dave & Buster's for dinner and games - we were already enjoying a great travel experience!

We have flown in/out of Denver airport a million times. This was another ordinary day. All was well with the morning - shuttle on time, lines manageable, security easy - until it was time to board our flight. As the gate attendant picked up the microphone, I got ourselves ready to board..... except her spiel was a  little different than I had heard before. Instead of "now boarding zone 1" it sounded more like "your flight is cancelled". 

Huh. Oh well. It's an adventure!

So here's what we did:

We got our cancelled flight refunded.

We waited for our checked bag to be returned. 

We went ice skating at the Denver Airport:

 

And then, we got in the car and headed east. 

Through Kansas, Oklahoma (boys were sleeping!), Arkansas, and finally Mississippi!!!!!!

 

 

 

And the gaggle of cousins we found waiting for us (including a brand new one!!!!!) was worth all the adventure!

Performance

The boys have spent the past 2 weeks in performance mode of some kind - either on the court or on stage (or in their head!).

Hamp played Junior High Basketball from Oct - Dec - a big milestone!
Once kids in Meeker get to 7th grade, they graduate from Rec League ball on to the school teams. That means three important things:
1) We get to cheer for the Meeker Cowboys!
2) things just got real. Jr. High sports start to kind of count! (no offense Rec League)
3) He gets to take the team school bus to and fro away games! That was Hamp's favorite part... and mine, quite frankly. No stinky, sweaty boy in the car all the way home from Rangely! Poor bus drivers....

It also means that all the kids are on the same team - no splitting up due to numbers - so they all support each other instead of compete against each other. It was so fun to watch, and I was really impressed with Hamp's hustle and skill. It will be great to see these boys grow together as a team through the next few years!

 

Sam took a little hiatus from gymnastics in December and has enjoyed spending time learning, perfecting, and memorizing a Christmas song which he played for the local nursing home. He seems to really enjoy making music - whether on the piano, on the Marimba at school, or on his ukulele. In fact, he is hoping Santa will bring him a xylophone for Christmas this year....

 

Hamp has stuck with the saxophone for a second year in the middle school band. It isn't always his favorite thing - he never practices and doesn't exactly come home exclaiming how great band class was. But when no one is looking I think he secretly enjoys making music... as long as he doesn't have to work too hard to do it! In fact, he is pushing to move from woodwinds to percussion so he can bang on the drums!

 

 

Sam had his 4th grade Christmas musical presentation as well this week - and he took it very seriously! He sang every song and stood very still and each kid got a chance to shine with a solo or speaking part.... so we spent the whole show wondering when he would step off the risers and have a shot at the microphone, too. And then at the very last song, he had a beautiful solo and I could not have been more proud of his moment!

ready for his solo - in the Santa hat and snowman sweater!

As proud as I am of both these dude for all that they do and how well they do it.... my favorite performances to watch are ALWAYS the ones they create themselves, unsolicited and for no one else's enjoyment than their own!

dashing through the snow...

With the first big snow of the season there is always (in our house, at least!) jubilation!

We dig deep for stowed away snow clothes, hats, gloves, and dust off the boots. We pull the shovels out of the shed and the rack on the driveway makes the exchange of bikes for sleds.

When the snow finally came the weekend after Thanksgiving, the boys spent all afternoon making snow forts, having snowball fights, building snowmen and  shoveling the driveway for me. Gabe prances around like a puppy when we take him on walks and the whole town feels cozier.

We have so much fun in the snow..... especially when we go hunting for our Christmas tree! Gabe gets to run amok, the boys have grand adventures through the forest, and Mojo & Dado went with us this year to help us find the perfect tree. (although Sam had a little trouble holding it up by himself!)

I only hope the snow keeps coming so we can have a whole season of adventures - especially on the ski mountain this year!!!