Pumpkin Cutting 2011...

We had a family tradition at one point where we all would go up and pick out our pumpkins and do the corn maze, but in the last couple of years it appears we have dropped this tradition. Wanting to stick with some of the tradition I took the boy out to go get our own. He was a man on a mission and knew exactly what he wanted got in and go out.



Given that he is now 10 and in previous years I had let him try to clean out the pumpkin, knife was still handled by me but I made him grab a spoon (ok he came back out with a ladle so I sent him back in for a spoon). Since he chose a huge pumpkin this year, and by huge it was so big he could not carry by himself we were out there for some time while he cleaned it out.

Now every picture has been posed because he thought they would be funny to show. Finally I got tired of waiting for him to clean so he was excused and I finished. Once he came back he thought he would see how clean I got it...

but obviously I didn't make the hole big enough for a close up inspection.


He did his own design and I was the cutter. I decided on mine to make a pumpkin although I have been told it looks like an apple. Coming to my rescue was the neighborhood kid who said it was a pumpkin too and then a polite reminder that he was only in 2nd grade so it really didn't count.

Sticking with at least one tradition I allowed H to destroy the pumpkins. The big one again was too big so he went at it with a bat.

Safety first, which is why he had the helmet and gloves on. :)

And again sticking with some tradition, you broke it you clean it up, hence the bag for picking up the pieces.

The kiss that missed...

Alright, I know you can get cheaper books at Walmart or where ever but I love to go to the book fair at H's elementary school. Usually anything they sale there he gets points on for reading.

It is wonderful. He gets to choose a few that earn him many points and then he gets to choose a few fun ones for him and we typically pick up a new book off the wish list for his teacher as well. We walk away spending a pretty penny but all worth it in the end because most of the funds are given to the school.

In one of our shopping trips we found this book, "The Kiss That Missed" by David Melling, I LOVE THIS BOOK. It is just a cute little book about a king who is too busy to spend time with his son. On his way busy being the king he blew a kiss and guess what, yep, it missed the boy.

The king then sends his trusty knight to track down the kiss. This kiss goes everywhere, a dark scary forrest, wolves, bears and yes even a dragon is in this book but the kiss is captured in the end and returned where everyone is happy and the king promises to not be in a hurry anymore.

It helps to remind me to take time to spend with the little lad before he is too old. The reason why I bring this up now is because H loves to say goodbye but to have missed kisses. Yes, we blow a kiss and the first one always goes on by. The second kiss usually lands on us and we rub it in. As he is getting older he doesn't want to kiss mom anymore but he really likes to play this game with me and I find it adorable.

I feel special...

I am a nerd in so many ways. I still am learning this blog thing and although I have had the followers thing on my blog I guess I never really looked at it. I must say I feel extra special to have 5 now and they are not just family.

And to feel even more "special" I guess some where along the line I turned off the notifications of those commenting on my blog and I never knew or checked it out, I feel special for being so "special" and not realizing what I am doing with this thing.

Thanks my lovely followers. :)

Blog name meaning...

Well originally it was hmgfamilyfiles (Hunter and mama), it is mostly about the 2 of us and seriously who would not be able to gloat about this cute, little, adorable boy (yes, even if he chooses to wear stockings on his head and hands). I tend to use it to rant about little things that urk me here and there or to boost up something I love. If I find the time I like to put down the musings of the little one when I come across them in his school journal (he wants his own blog as he gets older he says, I am sure that will be interesting). It allows my friends and family get to know me better by going through this blog. I in turn love to "cyber" stalk them back and read up on their life with their family, lots of cute little ideas I have come across.

I ended up changing it to the G-files because it fits me a little bit more (think along the lines of the X-files, yes, that geekdom coming out again). Same talk just different name, shorter for me.

Something I crave a lot...

I LOVE Cafe Rio!!!! If my body would allow it I would eat there EVERY day. I crave it significantly. We would go there once a week if not more and we had gone there sooooo much that they would know my order. We don't hit it up as much anymore because I have learned my body does not allow it.

Sorry Costa Vida you do not compare. I love their tomatillo dressing, I ordered a huge tub of it once just so I could have more. I can't say I have a favorite item because I like them ALL.

Who is my biggest impact...

Who has had the biggest impact on my life, I can sum it up with one word... Hunter. I know some who will read this will be like really come on. I am here to tell you that I would not be who I am and where I am in my life right now without him.

He is gives me the most joy in my life, not all of it but most. He makes me want to be a better person because I see parts of me that I hate coming out in him so I want to change those habits to get him to be the best person I know he can be.

I know it is corny and crazy but he has been the biggest impact on my life, I only hope to live up to the highest standards to make him as proud of me as I am of him.

15 interesting facts...

I don't know how interesting this is about me but hey they are facts and maybe you can tell what kind of a personality I have...

1- All things frogs, I don't know why or how my obsession started with frogs but I LOVE them. Over the years I have accumulated many frog items so pretty much every room in my house has something frog related. My son gets items that are frog related and I laugh because he appreciates the gift and once everyone is gone I get told "I think they forgot to give this gift to you".

2- If it ain't a frog it has to be purple. Alright technically periwinkle is my favorite color but all things purple are great. I love that the boy talked me into a purple couch although I HATE that the dog and cat fur show up so well on it.

3- My eyes are a Hazel green, most days green but still some brown. The boy had blue eyes for the longest time but they are now a Hazel blue green, he loves that they are part green because he wants his eyes like mine.

4- Yep forget it being all things me being on this list. I can always find a way to rope the boy into any conversation. I wouldn't say I have no life without him but it is a more fulfilling life. :)

5- I have attended the Parade of Homes in the past few years and guess what I have hit up EVERY house on the list for those years. Crazy.

6- As I was younger I had to have both my legs in casts. They were thigh high and I woke up after surgery and they were too tight. They then had to cut them them wrap them with ace bandages. I remember getting to use the power skooters at the grocery store because of them. I then had walking casts and they had a little balancer on the bottom that I walked on. I also had to learn to walk all over again because of the amount of time I was in the casts, let's just say it is easier when you learn the first time.

7- I have never had a traffic ticket, I don't speed for the most part and even though I have been in two car accidents in my life never have had a ticket. (knock on wood)

8- Although they are not as tough anymore I have some incredibly tough feet. I can go barefoot almost through anything, they are softening up as I get older so I can't walk on the rocks or the goat head stickers or even the really hot pavement anymore I once was able too.

9- My monkey toes, I love my monkey toes. I can do pretty much anything with my toes. I even was working on writing for some time but haven't tried in a while. I bet if I kept at it I could though... I may need to look into this one again.

10- My HUGE candy apple head. My family always makes fun of my big head, it is huge, we weighed it once I remember this as a child and it was heavier than everyone else's. I must say my big brain just needs to have a huge noggin to hold it.

11- I love things that are miniature. I love the small little bottles and such that I come across along my way in life, just so cute.

12- I have only had I worked at the recreation center for 7 years and I have been pretty much at my current job since. I have had a few other little jobs here and there but I seem to be dedicated to my jobs.

13- I truly believe I have only kept my head above water financially because I truly believe that the Feng Shui rule of keeping your toilet lid down helps. If I happen to have to spend a whole lot of money because of something I blame it on the toilet lid being up, usually from my family visits, occasionally the boy but even less from me. (I know I am crazy)

14- I am a geek at heart, I may not know all the ins and outs of comic books and the "geeky" things but I love it all. I love that the boy is getting geeky and schools me in things of geekdom.

15- I have fallen in love with Heber City, I don't know why (partially a lie) but I want to live there now.

I can't promise I will be as strong as Kathleen at doing this list but here it day one. I don't have many current pictures but this one is fairly current and it is one of my favorites.

Getting ready for the nice guy...

My sister put it best, I have a tendency to go after the "bad" boy, hence the reason why I love Chuck Bass and Jacob. Knowing that I tend to develop these crushes on married men or men with girlfriends or even men who in no way shape or form would ever give me the time of day or even guys that I will never see again. I don't know what the appeal is other than if I do this I won't tend to get my heart broken and I don't have to tear down this wall I have built.

What is funny right now in my life my 10 year old son is ready for me to date and I must say I don't think I am on the same page. I know I say I am but I have made a number of mistakes when it has come to guys and I know it is part of "growing up" but I am done with the mistakes. I don't want to put forth the effort to date if it really is not going to go anywhere. I want a dating service that will just do all the leg work for me and I just have to show up. A lot of that is because I work full time and I am a full time parent to my son through out the year.

Of course I don't see myself dating anyone soon because I don't feel as pretty as I once did. I know that most of it is in my head but I have gained a lot of weight and I have never let it go to my head until recently and now I just feel big and I feel like I don't have the self confidence that I once did to obtain a man in my life.

I am reading a friends blog and she is incredibly inspiring and is making me re-evaluate my life and feelings. I know if it is meant to be it will be but I know I can't be sitting back just waiting for it to happen. But again it is the self confidence I once had was gone.

This weekend I developed a crush on a man and I was actually embarrassed to talk to him and I know at one point in my life I would have had more self confidence to talk to him. I did pick up on a few things in our brief conversations and know now that he was married so it never would have worked out anyway but instead of talking to him directly I picked up the conversation he was having with the other guy helping out at the station we were.

I need my self confidence back and maybe this is what I need to get off my behind and start working out to lose the weight so I start to feel better about myself. Even if I don't lose the weight I know I will feel better about myself anyway I just need to start.

I offer my friend lots of words of wisdom however she doesn't know I am a chicken myself and really don't act upon the words I give to her, it is easier to say the words than to act upon them. I am sure she will read this and think I am full of, well you know what, but now maybe I can start to act upon those words as well.

My half marathon experience...

My time for the half sucked big time but I didn't have much training to go behind it so I must say it was a bigger accomplishment just to finish. Overall I would like to do it again with some real training behind me.

This wonderful journey started the day before, we rode up on the train to get our packets (we being Mary, H and I), while we were at the expo I was convinced if H had this orange visor that he would run better. I must say he wore it for 2 days but I bet he couldn't tell you where this is now. Money well spent not really but money well worth it to make the boy be happy for two days, I must say yes. While we were at the expo he got to try his hand a Kinect dodgeball.

I chose my first one to be the Ogden Half Marathon because my sister always talks about how beautiful the course is and it is basically down hill so worth the pain and suffering that follows the race. The two above pictures are from the start line. I signed up for this race thinking Mary was going to sign up for it as well. She did, just not the race I thought she would do, she chose the Marathon. Her, Megan and Mike were all doing the full. So it kind of made me loose determination to train because I was by myself. I did fairly good but really I was no where close to where I needed to be. Once it warmed up some too it H was a great joy and rode on his bike on my runs carrying water for us to drink. I love that little man at times, he was being very helpful for this race but it came a little too late so next time I get to be better at it.

There were some great views, two were taken before the camera got too sweaty. I don't remember what mile I go to with my run (ok really my run is more of a very light jog but it is what I do) but I got through I want to say about half way (the stop where Scott was at, maybe my sister can help) and I was feeling really good. I was about a mile after that I started feeling the pain. I am glad I decided to get a back brace to wear because I know I would not have been able to complete with out it.



The other two pictures were taken after the sweat took over the lens (I know gross but it's my blog). The running joke from Mike was he was going to use all the toilets in the race, sort of like a marking of territory. Jokes on me because I did practically use everyone. I thought I could miss one and you know what I regretted missing it. I missed using the one at the 3k mark and I regretted that one the most because my last 3 miles were the worst. I was no longer running, I was walking at best and I guess I looked terrible because even the spectators were coming up to me asking me if I was fine.

I had my knee hurting, my back was killing me, my muscles ached and I had feet problems (which later I find out were blisters). I got worried my son and mom were not going to make it in time along the course, come the 3 mile mark I was sure they would. H kept texting me but finally I came up to the finish line and got worried I had missed him. Finally he sent a text of I see you, I looked ahead and saw him. He was so excited to cross the finish line (rule breaker me) they allowed him to cross the line with me he was so happy and thrilled for me. Even though my eyes teared up along the way with all the encouragement from everyone along the way, that moment got to me the most having him be so proud.

Overall it was a decent experience and would like to try it again. I decided I preferred doing it alone because I hate thinking others are being held up by me so I didn't' mind doing it alone. I appreciate that my mom was able to bring the boy up so he could see me finish. I am still mad that my sister didn't try to contact me until AFTER I crossed the finish line to let me know she didn't make it, but it was all good and I plan to do it again.

Unaccompanied Minor...

Okay, H has been flying back and forth from my house to his dad's house since he was 5 and by himself since he was 8 so he is a well traveled little boy. He is good on planes and usually falls asleep even before the plane is up in the air.

My complaint in this whole process is there have been a number of things that have happened in the whole unaccompanied minor process. Maybe my experiences have been out of the norm but we have been doing this for awhile now so really come on how many times does something need to happen for it to be un-normal.

He flies Delta and because of his age he has to fly on a direct route which is all good and dandy because less of a chance for something else to happen to him. We get to the airport and we have to go to the counter to check him in because of the paperwork that needs to be filled out and the additional fees. As we go to the line for the counter of course the "monitors" there don't seem to think I know what I am doing and always try to get me to go to the kiosks and want to see the ticket info I have. I explain he is an unaccompanied minor so I am going the correct way.

Most times we have a nice enough agent helping us but sometimes we get the one that you can tell is really annoyed at being there. Not sure if they are annoyed with our situation because he has to fly by himself or if they just are having a bad day or even if they are just ready to go home because I know I have had those days. We always check a bag, most of the agents look at me like really why are you checking this because it will cost $25. I know how much is costs, he wants to take his stuff with him. I question sending his stuff with him because it doesn't seem like they want it or need it there but it is the only stuff that is stable in his life that he can take with him at this point so to me I would pay whatever for him to feel comfortable.

Next thing that changes on each trip, the paperwork you have to feel out. I don't mind filling out the paperwork but you should be consistent on what you need me to feel out. Some agents are more helpful than others where they give me his dad's address or they feel out everything and I just need to sign but we have had the ones that get upset at me because I don't have his dad's address memorized, he has a new address pretty much each trip I am sorry I don't care to learn them if they are going to change anyway.

Then I get the instructions and I am told I need to wait at the gate until the flight has taken off and they will put him on the plane first. Which again I am fine with but then the gate agent takes his ticket and some of them call him first other prefer to load them last. I am fine with either one when you take the ticket just tell me instead of making me try to figure out which you prefer. Sometimes you can see the plane from where they load, other times not. I have been told at times I can leave once it leaves the loading zone other times I have been told I need to be there until the plane is in the air. I have been told only once, once mind you that the plane has left and I can leave now. I have gone up and asked before when I can leave and I get the look at really why are you even still here. I thought I was following the rules I don't know.

Typically TSA has never caused me any grief up until today and this is why I am even writing any of this down. They have been pretty consistent through all of this process, well today I was told to next time put the ticket through the scanner and not carry it with me. If you didn't want me to carry the ticket, which is what I all the times before then maybe instead of calling me through the machine ask me to put the ticket through and not cuss me out because I didn't read your mind.

I really don't mind any of this and it would never has caused me to get upset today if they and the airline could be consistent through all of this. It is hard enough for the child leaving or the parent (or other) sending them away but really don't you think some consistency would help us to feel not only more safe but secure in knowing you are going to take care of my child?

That is it, sorry I have ranted and if you made it this far good for you but I appreciate the ear.

Golden birthday boy...

Oh my beautiful son, today is his birthday and because we can't be at the park because of the fun Utah weather I didn't want it to be uneventful for him. As my sister took him to see the movie Hop yesterday I ran out and bought as much golden items as I felt like I should.

I waited until he was a sleep and I decorated his room. There were 11 gold balloons, yes he is only 10 but I was worried one would pop or deflate so it wouldn't float up by the time he went to sleep. I also hung gold stars from his light and got a gold door hanger.

I got woke up this morning by one quiet little boy, "mom, my room is decorated?", it was almost like he thought a fairy came in and decorated. I explained that I had done it and he was even more happy.

I told him even though we couldn't have a party I wanted him to enjoy his day. He even gave me one of his gold balloons because he noticed there were 11. He also has a gold necklace and is running around the house rapping his little heart out. Oy, I have created a monster, the above picture is him in "rapping mode".

H was also given gold nugget gum and the closest to gold candy I could find because the lady cut in front of me and took the remainder of the gold coins.

And just to keep up the tradition, his interview...

How old are you? I'M 10!!!

What is your favorite animal? A shark, to be specific a tiger shark.

Why is a tiger shark your favorite? Because he can swim up to 20 miles per hour. (he really does know lots about sharks)

What is your favorite color? Navy blue slash camo. (the slash was from him)

What is your favorite toy? My favorite toy is my DS, well I do know you will give me a DS 3D.

What is your favorite food? My favorite food is (pounding the couch imitating a drum roll) fried chicken.

If fried chicken is your favorite food why do you not eat your mother's? Because they are not fried enough.

What is your favorite thing to do? If it wasn't snowing (which is what has been happening the last two days) I would be playing outside. If it was snowing it would be playing Poptropica (which is his way of saying can you hurry up and get off the computer so I can play on it).

Is there anything special that you want to tell people on your birthday? Well if they were all here I would say "thank you for all your presents and I love all of you and I hope this is the same thing next year."

If there was anything in the world that you could have what would you want? Anything in the whole world, I would probably choose any DS game that I don't already have.

What would you like for your birthday? All the love that I can get.

Anything else you want to say on your birthday? Yeah, I wish that I could bring the laptop with me while I wait for everyone to show up I can play Poptropica. (this is if we were having a party today)

Local disturber...

Today while driving to daycare we pulled up to the stop light and the boy was looking out the passenger window. I could see him get a little tense and he looked straight forward as a delivery truck pulled up beside us.

I didn't think much of it while we waited for the light to change. Then he says "mama, the truck beside us is a local disturber." It took a few seconds for what he said to sink in so I looked at him and said "huh?", he was cautiously trying to point to the truck and said again "a local disturber". I looked at the side of the truck and it said local distributor. I explained the difference and we laughed because he said "oh, good because I didn't want to be disturbed."

Of course I think we should have that caution on our car because he is a disturber himself but I am sure most would think that too.

Lucky as can be...

As a parent but even more so in my case as a single parent I must remember to control my temper more. I know I don't get upset when it comes to some things but I may lose my temper over others. I tend to take more of my stress out on the boy and he really doesn't deserve that.

We fight tooth and nail at times but I must take advantage of the time I have with him. If I push him too hard as he gets older is will only keep him further away.

Today I did and said somethings that I regret in a fight we were having, why did I do it? Because I knew it would make him cry and I wanted to see an emotion other than the dislike and hate I see coming from his eyes at me at times when we fight. I must remind myself he lives with me full time, even though it may be all fun and games when he gets to see his dad I know by the end of the time he thankful to come home and be an only child again. I get jealous and I let it get the best of me at times. As he gets older he will realize that the rules and stipulations he has at home are there for good reasons.

As a parent I must remember the good times more than the bad and show him the love that he deserves.

As a parent I must remember that I am as lucky as I can be when it comes to him because he is a wonderful person to be around and I am learning as much from him as he is from me.

As a parent I must remember to love the sweet innocent face more than the mean face that we get even if we know the rules we set forth are for good reasons and not what is deemed as "just being mean"...

I must remember this face, well maybe not the face exactly because that one kind of scares me ;) but the memories behind the face that show me I am loved.

V-day change of heart...

If I have liked Valentines day before I don't recall, I hate it. It has nothing to do with the holiday really itself, I just feel that if you love someone you should tell or show them all the time and not have a day that makes you do it. The boy has stepped it up a notch this year and I must admit that I have really enjoyed him gifting me this year.

He created this beautiful heart valentine for me, it has purple, my favorite color. I have this hanging up at work.

His next wonderful surprise consisted of me being asked to work late one night. What?! Me work late, that ludicrous! (see previous post) I got to a part where I didn't want to start another project so I asked my sister if I could come home. I love that she helped him out with this because it's hard that he doesn't have someone all the time on hand to help him out with things for me. I love her comment of "I love your son to death but he is SO SLOW MOVING." I know it was said with pure love in her heart and meant nothing by it because I feel the same way some times.

Needless to say these Cherry Chocolate cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese frosting were some of the best cupcakes I have ever tasted. I must say everything tastes better with love behind it.

113 hours...

I am a work-a-holic by nature, I must admit I get this from my parents and I want to be a proud mother who can say my son knows I bust my butt for him. Can I just say working 113 hours over the last two weeks has really gotten to me this time? I am so exhausted that I honestly can say I can not think straight.

Why do I work this hard? You mean other than the work ethics my parents have put into me? It is because I don't want to be one of those people that just has things handed to them. I know I should accept the help when it is offered but I just can't get it through my head, I would rather me be the one who does or gets what I want. This is my down fall when it comes to guys in my life, they don't seem to want a girl who can do it on their own and as much as I might regret it I would prefer to call my dad to help me over a guy.

Oh I am sure there is a man out there that is willing to put up with this but he has yet to be found. Can I say though the boy is willing and ready for me to date, he has directed me to web dating and thinks that is a good thing, it will come with time I just need to get the work out of me.