Category Archives: My Family

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Little Squirts

August 6, 2007 – 9:19 pm









Little Squirts
We (Kristen & I) took the kids to the water park today. It was fun, they ran around and played in the water. We loved the nice fence that kept them in the water park. :) Cooper was not shy. He just got out there and crawled around in the water. The other kids had a ball and must have run for 45 minutes straight. They were tired & all went down for a nice nap.

By Tanya | Comments (0)

Highlights from our Vacation to IL

August 2, 2007 – 1:11 am
Adventures from our trip to IL with 4 kidlets under 5 years old…
We had a fantastic time with the family this past week. It was exciting and full of adventure with no dull moments. It was a 16-18 hour drive, we lost count somewhere in Oklahoma.
Our best traveler award goes to Cooper & Griffin. They did the least amount of complaining & asking for this or that. We were surprised that Coop did so well, but he is really a little trooper. He just goes with the flow and doesn’t even let out a fuss. Who’s child is this we ask??Maybe God knew we needed one like him. :) Speaking of Cooper Ben, while on the trip he grew 3 new teeth and has a grand total of 7!
This blog could take me all night so instead of all the details I will add some photos and briefly describe them. I plan to snapfish them out too, so if you would like to be added to our snapfish list please email me and I will add you.
A picture of true love. Aren’t they the cutest you’ve ever seen? Robert & Lura Hammitt (R’s grandparents) have been married for 65 years. Can you imagine? They have lived an especially blessed life and are now responsible for 100 family members. 9 children, 26 grandchildren & 36 great grand children later… Last week we celebrated their love for each other and their love for us.


Yes, they have talent too. The last night was a talent show with the grand kids singing, playing guitars & telling their special memories of Gma & Gpa. Here is a shot I took of the grand kids singing. Notice the picture of them on the screen. Next is Rick & Ben playing & singing a song to gma & gpa.This is Griffin on Calvin’s lap (Rick’s dad) Then Griffin dancing. He loves to sing and is dying for Rick to teach him how to play the guitar. Next is Aunt Melissa (Rick’s sis) holding Park & Gma &Gpa next to them.





The corn inspector also known as Daddy… Rick drove us down the hill where he has many childhood memories of feeding the cows and playing in the creek. Times have changed and the cows are gone and the fields are full of beautiful tall corn growing everywhere.




John Deere: As Carson would say “It’s all about John Deere” Well we saw & rode on a real live John Deere tractor. I am sure this was the highlight of their trip. This is the lake in front of the farm, then the silos & barns where the tractors are kept. Griffin & Cooper inside the tire of the John Deere & then Coop in the hay.





Flower power: So gma plants amazing flowers on the farm every year. Here are a few. Check out that sunflower, have you ever seen one so big?? We asked her about it and she said that she never planted it, but a bird must have dropped a seed. It is the size of a dinner plate if not bigger.





Children of the Corn: The Hammitt farm is 265 acres of love. No really they grow beans, corn and other stuff I’m sure. So can you tell that Carson is saying Cheese in every shot?? Then Cooper was caught eating dirt of some sort, the 3 bigs in the fields, then us riding on the golf cart to see the farm.





Family photos: Just a little Hammitt (Rick’s mom’s parents). There are 9 original children, then 26 grand children (Rick is one of them) and now 37? Great grandchildren. So in all there are 100 exactly members of this family. Its amazing!! We had a photographer take the group shot of the family this year. (Tim’s family of 6 is not in it & Tiana’s family is missing as well, otherwise our Blue shirts would have been the biggest group of all) So the first picture is our sweet family, then everyone, then Gma & Gpa with the great grands, then with the grand kids.




The Blob:Ok so this is the blob and Rick’s cousins were having a great time on it. I was having a great time using the fast shutter speed to capture their silliness. This is Ben (who Coop is named after) he jumps down and then this is Regan who is catching some major air. Rick took some sunrise shots of G&C in their superman Pj’s. Aren’t they tough??





Water Bugs: Canoing with Uncle Tim (Rick’s bro who Griffin Timothy is named after), Rick kyaking with corn fields in the background (have you ever seen that before?? I’m such a FL girl!) And then Rick on the zip line. PS the lifeguards required the life preservers! :)





Sliders:The lake is a big hit every time at the reunion. There are several activities to choose from. Here are some shots of Griffin & Parker going down the slide into the lake. It’s a pretty big slide and Carson wanted NO part of it. He has never been a “big” slider, even though he is an excellent swimmer.




Day 2: Those are fields of corn growing in the background of Griffin & cousin Cole. Daddy & Parker swinging, Cooper, Parker at the park. All of this playground equipment was Rick’s mom’s as a child. Next is Griffin & cousin Avery, then Parker & cousin Bailey.





First day at the camp: Cake eater Carson, shovel digger and tired swing rider…




Daddy teaches the kids how to play Putt Putt and sleepy kids after a fun filled day of Branson, MO.





The swings were my favorite as a child, and they are still my favorite now. Only now its about the photos I can capture…





These were taken in Branson, MO. The kids had fun riding a train, go carts, the Farris wheel, putt putt, swings and bumper boats.





Here is a Funny Story that happened on the trip, well not funny at the time but now we are able to laugh:
On the way home we went about 13 hours IL to OK. We were going to try and go on the next 5 hours to Austin and then we made the stop of all stops that concluded our trip for the night. We got out to let the kids potty in a grassy field. It was about 9:30pm on Sunday night. So Rick is out in the field taking Parker & Carson potty. I changed Coop’s diaper and then set him in his seat with no belt (mistake #1). In the mean time Griffin is messing with things in the front seat (mistake #2)and picks up a bag of about ummm 1,000 sunflower seeds. He then precedes to hold them upside down without knowing what was in them and dumped them all over the middle row on the ground. Aughh!! So I shew him out of the car to potty while I figure out a way to gather all of the sunflower seeds throw them out of the car. So I am busy with that and I hear Griffin yell ouch, ouch! He was in a bed of ants. So we run over to him and gather Carson & Parker out of the grass. Then Cooper falls out of his seat onto the ground of the car and starts screaming. In the mean time there are 1,000 sunflower seeds on the floor and everyone is falling apart. I said this trip is over for today, get us to a hotel!! And get me out of OK!! I have to say OK is my LEAST favorite state of all. At least the parts we went through were extremely dirty & run down. I have been to Oklahoma city and it was much nicer. But at this point I was done. So we went to Sherman, TX right outside of Dallas and stayed the night.

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Illinois or Bust!

July 24, 2007 – 2:58 am

We are headed out and on our way to Rick’s family reunion. The kids are so excited they can hardly stand it!! Our first stop will be Branson, MO where we plan to go to the White Water, water park. Over the past few weeks the kids and I have been “studying the map” and talking about which way we are going. Here is a sweet shot of them & our puzzle of the USA.

We will update you all next week on our adventure!

~The Warpula Family
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Cooper is 11 Months Old!

July 20, 2007 – 1:47 am








Our Cooper Benjamin turned 11 months today. We have thoroughly enjoyed him this past 11 months. So far he has been our easiest, calmest, sweetest one of the bunch. However, we think he is our most skilled climber. He is always climbing into a small chair, up the stairs, to the top of the rescue hero’s center, you name it he climbs it. This could mean trouble in a few months for us. We will keep you posted. Until then we will go about enjoying our “sweet” baby.

Coop has 4 words that he uses all day long:

1. Mama (he only uses when he is crying)

2. Dada (who he talks about all day long!!)

3. Dog (he signs dog at the same time, so we know its Dog)

4. Ball (of course he says ball, he’s a boy)
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Green Thumb

July 18, 2007 – 3:50 am








I started a rose garden early this year & thought I would share some photos of how well they are growing. Also here are some shots of my crepe mertal tree & some other flowers we have growing…
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Golden Retriever turns Yellow Lab

July 18, 2007 – 3:18 am




Well she is not as fat as we had once thought. It was all that hair. We have been wanting to shave the girl for weeks now. We broke down and did it for the summer.

“I’m so embarrassed mom”
It took Rick a few hours to shave her. She stood there patiently. We didn’t know that she would be so soft!! Now all she needs is a bath! I guess that’s what the kids and I will do tomorrow.

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Never a Dull Moment

July 17, 2007 – 2:33 am

We had a fantastic weekend full of things to do. On Friday night we, well I should say Rick did all the yard work. I washed both cars (its been a while now and WAY overdue). Then we stayed outside to chat with the neighbors.

On Sat. we spent 2 hours in Walmart. (it was a new one, and very nice I might add) We had a very long list of items we needed to get ready for our big trip to the Hammitt Family reunion next week. While we were there it was, as always, full of very exciting moments. Such as Parker going peepee on the floor. She has been potty trained since March and typically does not do things like this. We are coming to find out she has a phobia of the public potty. (well who doesn’t right?) No worries Walmart has these, clean up sections. We were surprised too. It was complete with bags, thick pads for wet messes & paper towels. How about that? I must say we were impressed ourselves & glad that was the isle she happened to pee at! :)

We then went on to Mason’s party. Griffin & Carson’s good friend. They had a blast with the water balloons & I will post pictures as soon as April sends them along. The party was a Cars theme (the movie Cars) and they love that. They held onto their goodie bags for, well until today and its Monday. They even brought them to church on Sunday.

On Sunday we went to church, then to lunch with our friends Kristen, Eli & Meredith. We went to Rudy’s. They have this sweet family with one child & must think we are just a walking side show. Not only are there a lot of us, there is never a dull moment. For example, Parker spilled a huge cup of water all over herself and was cold. So she ate in her panties, yes at a restaurant. Then we went swimming with them that night at their pool and I had dressed her into her dry clothes, a skirt & top. I turn my back for 2 seconds and she is wading in the pool, now in a wet skirt! Go figure. So back in panties & a shirt. Aughh!! I will be glad when the “terrific twos” come to a halt. :) In the mean time the boys were jumping off the side of the pool and some how Carson jumped on top of Griffin and ended up with his first black eye. Boys will be boys. Cooper had a great night until Parker came up and “patted” his back. He then did a nose dive into their carpet and his top teeth that were coming in started bleeding. Poor little guy, he’s just trying to keep up with the big kids.

This is just a typical day in our lives…

That was our exciting weekend. Next week we head out for an adventure to IL. The boys are so excited. We have been putting our USA puzzles together and tracking our drive there. I am busy making a million lists before the big packing job on Monday.

Kiddie quote of the day by Parker “You’re Amazing Poops” (she was talking about Cooper who she calls Poop Poop Ben, maybe we should have thought of the nicknames before we named our sweet boy)

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Cozy Coupe

July 11, 2007 – 2:34 am





For Cooper’s 1st birthday Judy & Calvin also known as Nano & Granddaddy (Rick’s parents) bought him a fire truck cozy coupe. So on Sunday night Calvin said let’s put Cooper’s car together. This was around 6pm. Rick & Tim (R’s brother) had left to run errands, leaving Judy, Leslie and I with 11 kids. Calvin & Landon (13yrs old) got out the big box for the Cozy Coupe and began assembling. We all went about our ways doing this and that. After about an hour I sat down in the living room with Judy and we started watching these “builders” at work. It was quite entertaining to say at the least. The top of the car would not stay put. Every time they put it on it popped off. Judy kept saying “now Calvin, are you reading the directions?” And he would say “yes I’m reading them” this went back and forth a few times. Finally they figured out that a screw needed to hold down the roof. Then Judy says “If you were reading the directions, then you would have known a screw needed to go there”. After about hour 2, Calvin turns to me and says “I thought this thing came put together, you didn’t tell me there was assembly required”. Judy and I were laughing so hard we were crying. Landon kept saying”where is my dad when we need him” Anyway, the car finally got finished in about 3 hours total.
So later that night Rick says that his dad came up to him with a handful of parts and says “Now son, these parts go somewhere on the car, I’m not sure where but you may want to put them on” “The steering wheel keeps popping off”.
The next day everyone had left and the kids were riding around in the cozy coupe. I look over and the back wheels are buckling and falling off. The kids kept bringing me more and more parts to this car. I finally had them park it and had daddy fix it that night.
It was hilarious and we got a lot of good laughs. I reminded Calvin that at least he has his day job.
Today the fire truck is up and running. Here are some shots of Coop playing in it with Parker.
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Warpula Weekend

July 9, 2007 – 2:15 am





We had a fun filled weekend packed with 22 Warpula’s at our house. Yes we can actually fit everyone. 10 adults and 12 kids ages 10 months-13 years, 6 boys and 6 girls. Friday was spent cooking and preparing for the meals & for Cooper & Lauren’s joint 1st birthday party. On Sat. the Dad’s took all the kids to the Home Depot kids workshop where they all made memory boxes. They brought them home and painted them beautifully. We have some budding artiest in this family! On Sat. we headed to the park for the birthday bash. The theme was a Hawaiian, sail boat theme. Very cute. (notice the sail boat creation Judy, Rick’s mom, and I made, its pretty cute). We had a great time. On Sunday at 7:45 am we had a photo shoot of Nano, Granddaddy & all 12 kids. We had their outfits all coordinated. (I will add a picture). We then went on to church and were a big walking side show with our matching crew of good looking kids. Anyway 5 members of the family have headed home and the rest will head out in the morning. It was busy but tons of fun and the kids made lots of memories for years to come.

Funny quote of the weekend by Carson: “Mommy, I want to be a cousin” I told him “You are a cousin Carson” He replied, “No I’m not, I don’t get to sleep up in the playroom with them”
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Happy Birthday America!

July 4, 2007 – 9:26 pm





Happy 4th of July all! Hope you all are having a great day off with your families.

I was woken up by Carson who barged into my room saying “mommy who’s birthday is it?” (He must have seen the Flag cake I had made last night for the party today.) I told him it was America’s Birthday. He asked “Who gets to blow out the candles”. And I said no one. So he ran out to tell the others “Guys there are NO candles on this cake!!”

Before kids the 4th of July was a time when we would scout out the best fireworks show we could. The best one we have ever been to was the one in Boston with a live show from the Boston Pops. They even had stelth bombers flying over head. It was quite amazing. But now our lives are different. :) We now avoid any kind of fireworks show for many obvious reasons.

1. Its WAY to crowded to keep up with 4 little ones

2. It is Way past their bedtimes and we don’t mess with that.

3. It is Way to loud and I am sure 2 out of 4 of the kids would be terrified at the sound.

Maybe next year…

So last night we had finally gotten the last one to sleep and they were all resting so peacefully and then BOMB BOMB!! Yes our neighbors were letting off their fireworks right outside the boys windows! They were so scared. Aughh!

Today our young families class from church threw a party at Steiner Ranch. There were 50-60 people there with lots of little kids and yummy food. We swam all day, The kids had a blast. Here are some photos of them today.

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