Month: December 2017

1 Amazing Announcement & 1 Amazing Week

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This week has been chock full of goodness, business and cheer! We had our last Brownie meeting with Brie’s troop, attended Natalie’s BFFs birthday party, saw Santa on the fire truck for the first time in our new town, went to the Nutcracker Ballet with Mushy (my mom), went to celebrate Christmas with my dad, stepmom and sister Melissa, and last, but soooo not least, met my new niece Madelyn!

Nutcracker Ballet

Monday we went to Natalie’s pre-op appointment at CHOP. We had to wait four months after having her adenoids out to make sure she healed properly, get her last scope to make sure everything is where it should be and decide which procedure she needs, and officially schedule her Velopharyngeal surgery for January 3rd. Natalie hates, hates, hates getting scoped so she was nervous about her appointment but excited that it was the last one. She did amazing! As for her surgery, she’s not excited, but happy that this is the last step. There’ll be one follow-up appointment two weeks after but then she should be all done with this and potentially speech therapy too.

In two days we have our annual Christmas party so I can’t sit here and chat all night unfortunately, gotta wrap, prep, list…so maybe I’ll get down to the nitty-gritty and let you know the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT?!?! Here’s a hint…

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The Hamman’s home for 7 months!

Drum roll please (bddddddddddddddd), in approximately four weeks, we, the Hamman family, are leaving in our RV and traveling around the USA for SEVEN MONTHS! Shaun is going to visit clients for work, the girls and I are going to home school and we are going to see this amazing country we are so very blessed with.

We are going on an ADVENTURE!!!! So stayed tuned, don’t forget to follow my blog, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc… so you can find out what we are up to!

Merry Christmas from the Hamman family to yours!!!! 

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The winning tree

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

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This has been a spectacular week! Not a lot of house stuff but a whole lot of fun and some good R & R! Last weekend we had our first snow and it was magical. The girls played in it all day, lots of Christmas crafting and baking, we went to a Christmas tree festival, and visited an artisanal holiday bazaar with lots of local food and handmade goodies. We finished decorating the tree and did a lot of chilling out with the seasonal colds settling in a bit too. Note: House pics at the bottom finally!

Playing in the snow
Baking cookies

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On Wednesday we had a very special surprise, our niece Madelyn was born! She is our daughter’s first first cousin and they’re over the moon for another girl in the family! We all can not wait to meet her, hold her, and smell that new baby smell.

Also on Wednesday we had another reason it was a special day! We went wedding dress shopping with one of my two sisters. One dress shop helped us determine more of the look she was going for, then we stopped for lunch, and then went to the second dress shop. With tears in my eyes she tried on the most beautiful, perfect, gorgeous dress! It was such a spectacular moment and so special that the girls and I got to share it with her. (no pictures not to ruin essence of surprise)

img_7202With Shaun traveling this week we had a special sleepover with my other sister. We shared a special dinner I slaved over, watched Polar Express, and snuggled a lot. Good times!

So many wonderful memories, specialness, and holiday goodness happening right now it’s making me all warm and toasty inside. As the season approaches, I want to share one idea my family does every Christmas morning. It is called the First Gift of Christmas and the link brings you to the full article for more details. Before anything else happens in our family on Christmas morning, we take time to do this and it makes us stop, reflect, and really remember the reason for the season.

I took some pictures of our house…the parts that are photo ready. Note that there isn’t anything on the walls on purpose. I don’t like to commit to hanging things until we are 100% sure and it takes a loooong time for us to do so. But I’m totally digging just enjoying our new paint colors on the walls also.

Kitchen
Family room
My fav new pieces we’ve bought for the house

 

Missed a whole week…first fail

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Me, the girls, and Mushy

I just realized today that I didn’t post last week. Non-stop action packed fun, that’s what’s been happening! Ok so there’s been some fun but a lot of schooling, organizing, unpacking, cooking, and general momming. Again, I have to ask, why are the boxes multiplying? If you saw how much I threw out, donated, and sold, you too would wonder how I am still unpacking. We even had a dumpster for two weeks.

With the holidays upon us we have really been trying to savor this time with our little ones while they’re little and not stressing over house stuff. That being said, the day after we savored, there’s moments of insanity and throwing boxes out of the garage door in an “effort” to organize. Our annual holiday party is approaching in less than three weeks and all of our guests are family or like family so much that I am in no way worried that they’ll judge what our new home looks like. However, I would like them to walk in and love it as much as we do! I’m so excited for all of those people to be with us celebrating (extra so for ones who moved away and we miss so much).

Homeschooling is still going splendidly thank God. The girls are still loving it and I think I am still doing a great job of helping them. We added Bible and Geography to the subjects they are learning. We eliminated as much Science as they were doing. Occasionally I’ll throw in a fun science project but what they were doing was not necessary. Natalie keeps insisting that she wants to continue homeschooling next year and start fresh in middle school/6th grade. I guess I’m doing something right?!

In the past few weeks we had lunch with Santa with some of our besties, went to Rockefeller Center with Mushy (aka my mom), cut down our Christmas tree (not completely decorated), met more nice neighbors, mailed our official letters to Santa and Christmas cards, welcomed back our Elf on the Shelf, Sprinkles, had a Junior Girl Scout meeting, playdates with the girl’s new, sweet neighbor friend, donated to a local foundation and two families in town, surprised the girls with Annie tickets with Mushy, and more!

It’ll probably be the day before our Christmas party that’ll be the day I finally take some good pictures of the house to post for you all to see. If it gets hectic, you might just get to see a whole bunch of pictures filled with our loved ones having a jolly time…bonus for everyone!

During this season I hope that everyone is taking time to give a little to those less fortunate, those who serve our country so we can have our freedom, and those who just need a little cheer! Enjoy the little ones, enjoy the elderly, enjoy the happiness from those who don’t always have it and enjoy enjoy enjoy!

Lunch with Santa
The winning tree
Rockefeller Center Lego Store
American Girl NYC
Revolving door fun!
Waiting for Annie to start