And the stockings were hung

Can you fall asleep while repeatedly listening to “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer?”  He must have pushed that button over and over for at least fifteen minutes.  I was doing dishes.  When the song finally stopped I came out to check on him and this is what I found.

 

   

 

Our halls, decked.

 

I call this my Silver and Gold table.

 

My friend, Ashley, and I made these wreaths one day early in the month.  I love having a wreath to hang since I have never had one of any kind!

 

 

Windows are decked too.

 

 

I made this sign (thanks to Scott’s Aunt Paula for the vinyl lettering!)…maybe I got a leetle carried away with the glitter and I am not sure I love the huge size and general “loudness” of the whole thing  but it does the job.  Obviously the stockings are homemade.  My favorite thing about them is their small size.  It makes it easy for Santa to fill them!

 

Our “Santa Shelf.”  The Tupperware plate and mug on the left will be put to use tonight.  That is the set my family used when we were all little to leave Santa his treats.  Somehow last year it came into my possession.  No, I didn’t steal it, my Mom gave it to me.  I love that I have this and it is a very kid friendly set!

 

Our sad little tree…before you are confused, let me explain that it is four feet tall and at probably 20 years old.  It is currently perched on top of an end table, squished between our couches.  That is why it looks like a million gifts are there but really they are just piled up because there is not really room on that table.  There is a whole sections of lights on the bottom that don’t light up anymore.  I think Santa may swap out the lights tonight so the tree is all sparkly in the morning.  This situation reminds me of something…

“Santy Claus, why,

“Why, are you taking our Christmas tree? WHY?

But, you know, that old Grinch was so smart and so slick

He thought up a lie, and he thought it up quick!

“Why, my sweet little tot,” the fake Santy Claus lied,

“There’s a light on this tree that won’t light on one side.

“So I’m taking it home to my workshop, my dear.

“I’ll fix it up there.  Then I’ll bring it back here.”

I hope when Santy Claus brings the tree back it is suddenly 6-7 feet tall, pre-lit and has a magnificent star tree topper.  Maybe?

Merry Christmas!

Family Pictures

I am one lucky girl!  I entered a blog giveaway and won a free family photo session from an adorable girl named Kelsea Elwood!  Her photography business is called Simply You Photography and she has done some really cute work.  She has already worked on a few of our family photos and shared them on facebook – I LOVE how they turned out!  Thank you Kelsea!

Uhhhh, Thanksgiving and a Surprise Visit

Who has time to blog anymore?  Anyone? Anyone?  Obviously, not me.  Here I am just getting to Thanksgiving!

We had a nice, relaxing Thanksgiving.  Just for the day, our little family went up to Safford to enjoy turkey with his Grandma and Grandpa Thatcher and the rest of his mom’s family.  We had a fun time reconnecting with everyone up there.

The most notable part of that week was my little sister, Chery’s visit.  She is attending BYU and had fed my family a story that she was unable to find a ride home for Thanksgiving.  About a week before Thanksgiving she called me and let me in on the secret that she had at least five different people that she could come home with and that she was going to surprise our family.  She showed up on the doorstep on Monday night – the surprise was a huge success – tears from Mom and Celsea and huge grins from my Dad.  We got to have her around for a whole week and it was so much fun!  (I am counting down the days until she and my brother, Allen, come home for Christmas break).  The boys had a great time reconnecting with their lesser-known aunt.

Chery, Boston, and the stuffed beagle practicing their music.  (Chery is a dual music/education major – yeah, she is talented)

 

Both people in this picture are adorable!

 

We also did some “Black Friday” shopping in the afternoon, though we refused to wait in the two hour long line at Kohl’s. You can see that Celsea is still going strong in this picture, but my boys are DONE!

 

Temple Groundbreaking Ceremony

Clear back in November I had the opportunity to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the Gilbert, Arizona Temple.  It was a very hot and sunny day.  The next day at church, you could tell who was present at the ceremony by the burned left ear and neck!  I went with my sister, Celsea, and my Dad.  My mom was singing in the choir.  Scott and the boys dropped us off right at the entrance so we didn’t have to worry about parking.  It was a formal and yet kind of informal affair.  Thousands (at least five thousand) of people were milling around everywhere.  You could walk right up to the front and snap pictures next to the artist rendering of what the temple would look like.  There were news cameras and helicopters around too.  It was a cool experience to be there though the heat was really distracting.

The big empty dirt field.


Celsea and I – self portrait near the spot where they broke ground.


Can you see off to the left?  That is the painting of what the temple is supposed to look like.


Here is a better picture of the temple.


My cute Mommy on the stand.

Sunday

I tripped over the microphone cord while conducting Junior Primary today.  I fell hard onto my knees.  Church carpeting is not luxurious or soft.  In fact, I would much sooner compare it to sand paper.  Of course, I had to play it cool and responded to the concerned questions “are you okay?” with “yeah!” and a big forced smile.  (Watering eyes and shaking hands.)  I avoided looking at my smarting knee for a few minutes hoping that nobody would see my weakness.  Finally I peeked a glance:

 Sorry for the gross white leg picture.

Then, to add insult to injury, I was asked to speak in church the Sunday after Christmas.  Scott won’t be speaking with me, I am speaking in my Primary President capacity. 

 

Sigh, at least I didn’t fall in front of Senior Primary.  They would have laughed at me.  As it was, most of Junior probably didn’t even notice what happened. 

Hmmmm

This was in the parking lot at Costco.  There is not a lot to say here except that Boston will not be allowed to chew gum again until he is a little more mature.

October in review

 

There was a little splishy splashy with the California cousins who came to visit.  Stephen and Boston loved having their cousins to play with.  We had so much fun that week and can’t wait until we can visit them in California.  Stephen often asks when we are going to see Anna.  Jeremiah is Bostons “twin cousin.”  They don’t look a thing alike but they were born six days apart and are both strapping young toddlers.  It was so fun “getting to know” Jeremiah better this visit.  It was so fun to watch him when dinner was being served.  He would get so excited and run for the table.  He out ate me several times - the kid has a huge appetite.  I  love those cute Quist cousins!

 

 

Our first 5K run…it was the 19th Annual Frank Kush Family run near Tempe Town Lake.  (As a side note, Scott proposed to me on the bridge you can see in the background there…)  We were able to bring the boys in the stroller.  It was hot that morning!  I didn’t do quite as well as I would have liked so we are doing another run in two weeks.  The next one is the “Dauntless Drumstick Dash.”  I am excited for this one – it is put on by ASU and it is right here in our neighborhood!

 

The Primary Program.  I already wrote about it but I had to include this picture.  A  sweet Korean woman in our ward enjoyed the program so much she had her husband (our home teacher) bring this basket filled will fruit, fruit snacks, and candy over as a thank you.  It was covered in plastic wrap and those flowers are real!  It was so sweet!

Random picture of my boys.  I love these guys!

Halloween Part II

The holiday is ridiculous really. 
But who doesn’t like an excuse to
DECORATE…


DRESS UP…
 
AND EAT CANDY?
     

We went to three Halloween celebrations in an effort to make up for not going trick or treating.  Our community had their annual Boo Bash (a great party), then the ward Halloween picnic which was in a pitch dark park where you couldn’t tell who anyone was even if they weren’t wearing a costume, and my parents ward party which we only stayed at for a short time and then left with both kids screaming – they were so naughty that night.  It was so embarrassing!

We confiscated all of their candy and rarely give them a piece.  I think they have actually forgotten about it, now why can’t I leave it alone?

I had so much fun making Scott’s nephew, Bently, his Woody costume. It turned out so much better than I thought and it was CHEAP too!  I just dyed an old Sunday shirt yellow, drew red lines on it with a sharpie marker, and whipped up the little vest and bandana.  The accessories include a belt and holster made from genuine leather scraps I found for $1 in a scrap bin at Mesa Sales and belt buckle made from cereal box cardboard glued together and spray painted gold.  (If you must know, the bull design on the belt buckle was drawn on with elmers glue and allowed to dry before spray painting…)  The hat was a cheapo foam thing from Joann’s for $2.  The most expensive part was the Sheriff badge at $4!  You can’t see it in any of the pictures but there is a pull string and loop on the back of the vest.  I am rather proud of this costume!

Boston’s costume was easy to whip up – a hat made from an old t-shirt and fleece ears, a few fleece spots sewn on a turtleneck from Walmart, brown fleece pants with a fleece tail pinned to the bum.  Of course he needed a little black nose.  We used washable marker which smears more than I would like (hence the dirty face picture) but comes off with one swipe of a wet wipe!

Stephen couldn't make his mind up between Harry Potter and Buzz Lightyear.  We had that Harry Potter costume from when he was a baby.  I made it for him back then, knowing it would fit him someday - that is NOW!  So he wore that to the first party and Buzz Lightyear to the other parties.  Really, Buzz is the "cool" thing for boys his age this year.  I personally thought he made an adorable Harry Potter though.  He insisted that the scar was a "scah" (imagine Brittish accent).  So funny!

Halloween Part 1

My sweet baby learned a new word last week:

SKULL!

It’s true.  Funny, the word sounds pretty cute coming out of his little mouth, “sko!”

Swap Time!

Another swap is coming up!  If you live in Arizona, this is your chance to participate in something different and fun.  If you visit my Covers by Camilla blog, you can enter to win free registration for the Swap!  For more information about the swap visit the Swap blog.

Ahhhh, that’s better…

Well, I survived!  The Primary Program went off well today.  Perfect? No.  Good?  Yes!  I was so incredibly nervous the whole morning leading up to the program.  Seriously, I don’t ever remember being that nervous for anything in my whole life.  We had sooo many extra visitors to the ward and so there were A LOT of people there.  It was ridiculous to be that nervous but I sat through the sacrament on the verge of tears, trying not to look around at all those people and reminding myself to take deep breaths.  So silly!  The anticipation was so much worse than actually going through the program.  Once the kids were up on the stand (they barely fit!) and we were chugging along I was able to relax and by the end…ahhh, all better! 

One minor bump in the road was that Primary President’s son…yeah, my son had to be bodily hauled out of the chapel by me after he spent the first five minutes sulking on the stairs and refusing to say his part (which he had memorized) or sing the songs.  After trying to talk some sense into him he started a major resistance, hence the removal.  Later, when speaking with the Stake Primary President about how our program went, she told me that she thought it was so funny when I had to haul Stephen out.  She said she could see the exact same thing happening with her boys when they were young.  She and her counselors were laughing and she said when she saw me carry him out she turned to her counselors and made the comment, “that boy is headed for the dumpster!”  I am glad she helped me to see the funny side to the incident.  It is always funnier when it isn’t your kid making the scene though.

I was so proud of the Primary kids.  They did a great job singing and they did their speaking parts so well.  The highlights were the last two songs: “I Know that My Savior Loves Me” and the children and congregation singing “I Am a Child of God.”  The children sang the descant on the third verse and it was beautiful!  The spirit was very strong and we even had a few tears from people.  It was so sweet to feel the children’s testimonies and pure spirits as they sang and spoke.  

Sundays

Sundays around here have become major stress days for me.  I literally dread going to church.  We have been practicing for the Primary Sacrament meeting program the last few weeks and as a result I am loosing my mind. 

After church last week Scott and I were chatting in the kitchen he kind of squinted at me and then leaned in close and plucked a scraggly gray eyebrow hair that was poking out of my eyebrow!  How long was that there? I don’t remember seeing it before church – but there it was after church.  No question what caused it.  I have been breaking out worse than a teenager the last few weeks too. That just goes to show how crazy it has been. 

When the children are all up on the stand it is seriously pure mayhem.  I can’t believe how crazy it all is.  There have been many complications including but not limited to my chorister suddenly being released a few weeks ago.  I am so dreading the day of the program because it feels like impending doom. 

I have a confession to make:  I am a perfectionist.  The older I get, the more of a perfectionist I become.  This program is going to be far from perfect.  That makes me CRAZY!  I know some people can just take a deep breath, let it out and just say “it’s all good” but that is so hard for me to do.  Also, I feel like the way the program turns out is a major reflection on ME.  I know, I shouldn’t be thinking about myself, but I can’t help wondering what people will say about me when it is a total mess.  After our practice today, I spent the rest of the afternoon feeling so embarrassed about how the practice went because it was so crazy.

I can’t wait until it is all over next Sunday.  Everyone keeps telling me that it will all turn out in the end, that the kids will be quiet and reverent up there, and if they don’t know their parts it is a reflection on their parents, not me.  Don’t worry, my attitude isn’t always this bad.  It is often this bad, but not always.  :)

I have great counselors who are so supportive and great Primary teachers who do their best to help things run more smoothly.  I have also witnessed several small miracles as a result of the challenges I have encountered.  Hopefully by this time next Sunday I wll be writing a post about how well it all turned out and how we helped the members of the ward feel the Spirit.  I'll hope and pray for that.

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Superman!

We had “just the family” over to celebrate Stephen’s fourth birthday.  (Okay, and my good friend Ashley and her daughter).  Even with the “limited” guest list, our little house was packed with 15 adults and 7 children.  We had several of Stephen’s current favorite foods including mac-n-cheese, strawberries, pineapple, dehydrated blueberries (fresh are too pricey and frozen are too messy), and breadsticks.  My mom made “gourmet macaroni and cheese” for the grown-ups.  It happens to be one of my favorite meals too!  Enjoy the pictures!

Waiting for the guests to arrive…


The spread:
 


Superman likes macaroni and cheese.


Cousins, Atley, Ryker, and Talan, wearing their capes.  I have to say that Ryker looked so adorable in his little cape!


Cousin Bently, wearing his cape and Stephen donning his.  Uncle Travis (far right) was mighty jealous – he and Dylan wanted to know where their capes were!
 

Scott insisted that a real bat would break the piñata too quickly so we bought this plastic one.


Boston thinks the bat is a light saber.
 

Notice the wooden rod Scott had to resort to using in order to smash the piñata.  I don’t think he will doubt my piñata making skills again.  :)
 

I think Stephen liked the piñata.


Everyone got in on the candy action.  Ryker turned one on Thursday and we got to celebrate his birthday later the same day as Stephen’s party!


Reading the first treasure hunt clue: “Oh no!  Where is the present???”
 

As they solved the clues, a clump of children and adults would rush from one end of our house to another.  I think my house never seems so small as when it is loaded with people.  It was great!
 

When he discovered his bike at the end of the treasure hunt Stephen was a little confused at first…and angry.  I don’t think he was ready for the treasure hunt to be over.  And, after all, it is a big shock when you receive your first bicycle!
 


Singing the Birthday Song and blowing out the candles is still a favorite part of birthdays for Stephen.   I love this picture of him.


I think the sugar is finally kicking in!


Thanks to everyone who came and celebrated with us!  We had so much fun!