Hoagies at the Hamiltons Home

Now that we feel a bit more settled in our new home, we invited some friends over for Hoagies with the Hamiltons.  Before our guests arrived and while the boys were napping I took some photos of the new house.  I realized that I hadn't really posted new photos of the house since we moved in.  I was also having a huge sense of accomplishment as I had FINALLY organized the play room and I wanted to get some photos before the band of little people invaded the space.  The only rooms I don't have photos of are the boys bedrooms (since they were napping) and our bedroom (since Keith was folding the mountain of laundry).

The Play Room!  The Boys LOVE LOVE LOVE this space!!  We believe that it was designed as a media room since it is wired with surround sound but we have a higher need for a play room.  Someday, our need may be higher for a media room over a play room.

Thanks to our bigger living room and bedroom needing a bigger TV, the boys got our old bedroom TV and the old VCR.  They love watching the "big" movies.  Funny boys, if they only knew how old school those movies are.

Keith installed this awesome light/fan in the play room.  Oliver originally wanted this in his bedroom but we didn't know if it would provide enough light.  For a special surprise, Keith picked it up for the play room instead.  They Love it!  It' comes complete with rocket ships painted on each fan blade.

From outside of the playroom you look down the hallway toward Oliver's room on the right (Kellan's is on the left with a Jack and Jack bathroom in between.)

Looking over the balcony toward the front door.

(We want to replace the chandelier... someday)

The guest bathroom.

Guest Room #2.  Right now it is holing all of our wall portraits that I still need to hang up.  That will be a big project so we may be waiting for a rainy day.

The Western View from our guest bedroom.  Kellan has this same view from his bedroom.

In the foreground is our dead grass that we are in the works of fixing.  In the background is the community pool and playground (to the right).

Community Pool, practically in our backyard.

Playground, also practically in our back yard.

Guest Bedroom #1.

(We want to pain this room... someday)

Just inside the front door to the right is our office.  This desk was given to us by Keith's parents.  His Dad used it in his Engineering Business and Keith has many memories of going to see his Dad at work and seeing him behind this desk.

The piano in the corner was the one I learned to play on.  Now Oliver is using it as he started piano lessons two weeks ago.

This is the view as you walk into the front door.

Still the view from the front door.  It is hard to get the full perspective in a photo.

Backing out the front door (since we are going backwards).

The front door.  Don't worry, the lock box doesn't mean that the house is for sale.  It's just our thing.

A little further back.

The full view of the front of the house.  Hey look, we have grass in the front yard!

Ok, back inside.  Just past the office on the right is the dining room.  We love having an actual dining room.

(WAY in the future, I would like to paint this room.  Sooner than later a new chandelier is a must purchase item.)

From the dining room you can go straight into the kitchen.  This also provides a thorough fair for the kids to run circles, which they usually get told to stop doing.

Living room with enough room for all of our furniture to fit comfortably.

From the living room you can see into the kitchen.

Standing at the kitchen sink, you can see into the living room.

The kitchen.

Back in the living room, looking toward the front door and the stair case.

From the TV, looking back at the living room and the kitchen.

Laundry Room

(Another room in need of a paint job, but not a high priority.)

From the laundry room.  To the left is the powder room, straight ahead is the master bedroom and to the right is the living room.

The powder room.

(Needs painted because it is yellow and none of our decorations match it.  All in due time.)

Master bathroom.

We LOVE having enough space that we don't run into each other multiple times a morning.

Master bath room looking back toward the master bedroom.

Then.... it was time to jump into action to get ready for guests to arrive.  I only got a few photos, but we had a great time.  It was so nice to put our house to the true test for entertaining and it passed with flying colors.

Keith's Aunt Donna, Uncle Jim and Keith.

Aunt Donna, Uncle Jim, Carrie and Keith

Jen, Baby Boy #2 (due any day!) and Julie

Kellan having a hat moment while he pushes around a few toys.  One of the kids got a hold of that Rams dinosaur that is BEYOND noisy and they turned it loose on our tile floor.  It about drove me nuts.  Thanks (or no thanks) to Uncle Jerry for the Christmas gift that keeps on giving.

Parker found a happy place on the landing to do some art work.

Owen having a great time in the play room.

Cole cheesing it up in the play room.

Oliver being the host with the most in the play room.

Mid-Action Play Room chaos.

Jason and Theresa

Kellan working on some landing art work.

Once the party came and went, we were all smiling ear to ear and the boys crashed with exhaustion.  We tucked them happily into their beds and then I tackled the play room.  My type A personality came out in full force and I had to get my master piece back in order.  In only 30 minutes, it was back to it's original state.  Not bad.

We LOVE our new home and we love that we were able to share it with some friends.  We look forward to many more Ham Fam gatherings in the days and years to come.

Soccer, Soccer and a Hair Cut

In Soccer season you can bet that you'll see many photos that to the average person may seem the same.  However, to a parent of the soccer player they are all very much different.

You see those where your child has great control over the ball, is moving it down the field yet the threat of being trampled by the opposing team is extremely present.

There may be the photo where it appears to be the same chase but from a different angle.  This may lead the parents to believe that surely their child was steeling the ball from the opponent.

There is the photo where their child is about to take the lead from the crowd, even if it looks like just another mob of 4 and 5 year olds to other onlookers.

Then there is the photo where their child is, once again, moving the ball with skill and precision down the field.

Don't mention that they are only 4 or 5 years old.  These are serious soccer players!

...

Who are we kidding.  Most of the hour is spent with a mob of kids kicking around a soccer ball. The moral of the story is that Oliver LOVES to play soccer and we LOVE to watch him.  Every week we see him blossom more and more into the athlete that he is becoming. 

A Mama can coordinate her son's super cool soccer socks with his red Nike swoosh, but he is still a boy with the masculine chair pose and no care that his underoos are in plain site.

With a slight adjustment of the shorts (once the dear Mama realized that there were tighty whiteys in the previous shot), we have a great shot of two best buddies.

Charlie (AKA early Brad Pitt as Keith likes to say) and Oliver.

Then the leg swings back over the chair arm.

Take Note.... The Hamiltons FINALLY purchased chairs for the players so they don't have to kick the Metzger's out of theirs anymore! 

Then, Oliver was back in again.

Yes, these may all look alike, but I can't get enough of how aggressive, determined and competitive he is becoming.

Going for the Goal!

(this was a make-up game due to a rain out so the goals were improvised with cones instead of the usual net.)

After soccer, we had a mother/son date with Oliver's good buddy Owen and his Mom Kristi.

When we asked for a small scoop of ice cream for each of the boys, this was Hacienda Colorado's interpretation. 

Let's Hear It!

I Scream

You Scream

We all Scream

For Ice Cream!

(Yes, he has better manners than this.  It took quite a bit of convincing to get him to go in tongue first.)

The next morning, we were back at it.

Cole and Kellan were very much appreciative of the new kiddie chairs.  So much for chairs for the players.

3-4 months ago we got Kellan's haircut and it was a physical wrestling match.  He HATED having his hair cut.  We opted to forgo haircuts until the weekend prior to the family reunion.  We dreaded that the time had finally come for the big hair cut.  We went out of our way to go to the haircutting place by our old house, which happens to be close to where Oliver plays soccer.  We got Oliver in on the plan.  He jumped in the seat (which the lady did mention he was a bit big for.  I used selective hearing to not hear that comment), the hair cutting lady offered Oliver a sucker and before we knew it...

... Kellan was ON BOARD!

It didn't hurt that Elmo was also entertaining Kellan front and center.  Kellan recently became a huge fan of Elmo.

He held up through the whole haircut and he looked SO Handsome!!

The rest of us (all three of us) had a big sigh of relief that it went well.

We owe Oliver BIG TIME for helping out with this one and being such a great sport.

Next up.... A House Party... then a family reunion!

Baa Baa Twinkle Twinkle

Kellan is turning out to be quite chatty.  He loves to talk and sing, sing and talk.  We have even noticed that he carries a tune now and then, typically Baa Baa Black Sheep or Twinkle Twinkle but every now and then he'll throw down some A, B, C, D.  Here is a LONG video of him enjoying a book and a tune.  For your viewing pleasure, I even added a clip at the end to demonstrate a translation of Baa Baa Black Sheep.  Don't mind my weekend morning, pre-showered look.

Pumped Up Kicks

Spring/Summer soccer is here and the boys are loving it!

Even Kellan has found that it is a great spectators sport.  He fits right in with the Hamilton habit of stealing the Metzger's seats.

Kellan eventually found his way over to a more bleacher/bench style seating arrangement.

Oliver was pumping up his kicks and high stepping to race to the ball.  Oh yes, that's Oliver with the red socks that coordinate with the red Nike swoosh on his shoes.  Just because his Mama has two boys doesn't mean that fashion coordination has to go out the window.

Kellan sits and watches the kids play for the entire hour.  It's amazing that he is entertained for so long but surely it is in part due to the continuous flow of snacks and drinks.

"Seriously Mom?"

I think I may hear this statement a lot in their teen years.  For now, I imagine it's just what's going through their head.

Toward the end of the game Oliver stood in as the goalie.  Coach Dan is doing a great job at teaching the kids technique, including taking turns playing defense as goalie even though it's not required.

Like everything Oliver tackles, he took his role as goalie very seriously and not a single score was made on his watch.

That same weekend we got a new wagon for the boys.  Our new neighborhood is a great place for a wagon, especially for the trips to and from the pool.  For our maiden voyage we took a little trip to our friends the Limback's.

The boys were well stocked with snacks, drinks and entertainment.  You never know... Gilligan thought it was a three hour tour and look what happened to him.  You never know what could come up on a wagon ride.

Kellan has a LOVE for hats and lucky for him, he can reach the hats in the closet.  It is common for him to turn up with a stocking cap on his head.  Even in the heat of summer he has been known to sport a hat in the bright summer sun.  He is also a big fan of sharing with his brother and Oliver was fair game in the hat game.

Can you tell how much Oliver looks up to his big brother?  It's about 6-8". HA!

This Dude loves a good hat day.

This guy is a fan of a good time too.