Oh Ninety-five!

We were listening to some beautiful Christmas music on the way home from school and Lils asked, "what's 95?"
Me, "It's a number, Lils, silly!"
Lil, "Why is she singing about 95?" (then she sang) "Oh nine-...ty..FIVE!"

I laughed so hard! "No, Lils, it's 'Oh night...diVINE" Now whenever I hear "Oh Holy Night" I'll be hearing "Oh 95". :)

Purse + 2 Zipper Wallets

I have been looking for wallets for the kids for a few weeks now so they can have something to put their Disney money in that they will get for Christmas. There are no wallets at our Target, Wal-mart or Micheals for boys and the girls wallets are $7+. So, I had the kids each choose their favorite fabric and zipper color at Wal-Mart today. Then I found this little tutorial : http://sewsally.blogspot.com/2007/08/zippered-coin-purse.html and I made them each a little wallet for $2. And they are cute! I used the left over fabric to make a purse for Lils to carry her wallet and purchases around Disneyland. Getting excited!

Santa Claus is comin' to town!

Wow! My neighbor called me tonight and said, "make sure you keep your kids up tonight! (knowing we put our kids to bed promptly by 7 every night) Santa comes through the neighborhood and you can't miss it!" I don't know how we missed this last year, but we certainly didn't this year. All of the neighborhood kids congregated on the street awaiting Santa, Mrs. Claus, and the cool fire trucks! 15 minutes of kids running around in their pajamas and jackets passed and then we heard the sirens! Santa was coming right in front of our house! The kids gave Santa toys and food to give to children who need them and we got some great pictures, candy canes, hugs, and teary eyes! What a fun, memorable, and exciting evening!

Who's excited to see Santa! "MEEEE!"

It's that time of year...

For stomach flu! Ugh... But, only 8 more days until we head out to Disneyland! Hopefully it'll run it's course and we'll have the best Christmas ever! My brother-in-law is getting married to the sweetest girl down in southern Cali, so the whole family (17 grandkids in total) is going to make a real trip out of it. Disneyland on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, LegoLand, trips to the beach, chill at the hotel, and then the marriage in the temple on the 30th. I CAN'T WAIT!!!! Just got to get through the last week of school/work/flu.

My ringtone has been changed from Twilight to Tinkerbell. I think it's fitting. Everytime someone calls my cell, I get so excited! I'm feeling the magic of Disney... oh, and the marriage will be pretty great, too! :)

What we've been up to...

We had an amazing time in Utah for Thanksgiving. My parent's and brother, Cordell flew out from Virginia! My brother, sister, and their families live in Utah, so we hung out all week together. We missed you Lorel, Craig, Ella, and Orin! We went up to Milburne to an "investment" house of my sister's and went 4-willin' (as they say in Utah) ! It was a blast! Cora and I went first, we traversed a mountain, discovered a cave, and Cora flipped her 4 wheeler over on a huge ditch. (She was OK, though, her sweet ninja rolls saved her.... yes, and the 4-wheeler was ok too- though it smoked and stunk for a while after) There was this crazy dog that followed us up the whole time, stuck with us through the icy patches and guided us along. It was kind of a sweet, scruffy thing. It frolicked in foot deep mud and leaves and snow so by the time we got back to the house, it was filthy! And guess who left her van door open? Not me! Thank goodness! That dog ran all around in Cora's van and would NOT come out! I pulled and tugged and yanked until I thought I would choke him.. Anyways, my bro-in-law Brian managed to get him out.

It was wonderful spending time with my Mom and Dad and brother who I don't see very much. I needed that time with them. We made gingerbread houses with all the cousins and the kids spent most of their time playing out in the snow or the new "Super Mario Bros Wii" game- which is a MUST for every family! Dave and I play every night and laugh so hard! It is great. Oh, and of course the kids love it, too. Good times, good food, good laughs. I love my family!

Cora, Gibbs, Cordell, and I. We're just missing Lorel and Orin.

The cousins

Family photos

Lils

Baby Rose

Ebay

The kids chose their ornaments this year: Lils got a sparkly cupcake, E got a car with smoke flying out the back, and Rose got a cute little vintage girl ornament.

What three hours in the kitchen will get you...

A homemade, ill-fitting, delicious, gingerbread house! Yes, I know you can buy the ready-made ones at Costco for $10. I know that Thanksgiving hasn't even arrived yet, but I am a Stutz, and as such, Christmas starts immediately after Halloween. Dave and I watched "Mr. Kruger's Christmas" that Sunday after Halloween, as tradition, to start the season off right. And Yes, I still cry every time I watch that movie! My favorite part is the giggling baby that Mr. Kruger sees as he is buying a little Chritstmas tree. Dave and I have so many memories of watching that movie, crying together, singing the music randomly throughout the house, throwing out a line from the movie... that I'll never be able to get through that movie again if he dies! It's as dear to us as, well, our kids! Ha ha! Just kidding! But isn't it the little traditions and strange little things that we know about our spouses that really make them ours? That really make our relationships tick?

Anyhow, BEST. Family. Home. Evening. Ever. (except for last week when we walked around the temple and talked about families, and then threw a frisbee around the parking lot together) Making the dough, rolling it out, cutting the shapes, cooking each side of the house individually .... yes, very time consuming. But frosting it, putting it together, licking the cream cheese frosting, placing a candy, eating a candy- that was all time well spent. The most delicious and fun family home evening! I think it turned out pretty cool.

Dress for Less

I have recently been inspired to make my girls dresses. Dresses are so expensive to buy and looked really easy to make, so I bought $2.50 worth of fabric and ribbon and made this little number! (My Photoshop isn't working, so forgive the "straight out of the camera" shot) Oh, man I am so snootie with my pictures now!

I basically made a pillowcase dress, minus the pillowcase because the fabric at Wal-Mart was $1.50 a yard and I only needed one yard. The pillowcases cost anywhere from $6-25. When I went
to Kohl's yesterday I saw $30 holiday dresses and $25 jumpers. Jumpers were everywhere! When did they come back into style? I was all over the jumpers in the 80's! Ew. I am not a fan of the jumper. Out of the 20+ I saw there, I only liked one, but I was not about to spend so much money on that. So, she'll wear this to church with a long sleeved white t-shirt or a sweater and it should be cute.

Yummy Pumpkin Delight

This will be a new Thanksgiving dessert! I made it for a party a week ago and everyone loved it! Super good!

Here's the recipe:

Yummy Pumpkin Delight

2 can (15 oz. each) prepared pumpkin
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 pkg. (18-1/4 ounces) yellow cake mix
1 cup butter, melted
1-1/2 cups chopped pecans

NOTE: I add 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice to the filling.

Frosting:
1 pkg. (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 carton (12 ounce) Cool Whip, thawed

Line a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with waxed paper and coat the paper with nonstick cooking spray, or shortening. Set aside. In a mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin, milk and sugar. Beat in eggs, vanilla, and also pumpkin pie spice, if using. (I think it makes it better). Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle with dry cake mix and drizzle with melted butter. Sprinkle with chopped pecans. Bake at 350? for 55 to 60 minutes, or until golden brown. (Shake the pan, if the middle doesn't wiggle, it's done) Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Invert onto a large serving platter; carefully removed waxed paper. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla extract until smooth. Fold in the Cool Whip. Frost top and sides of dessert. Store in the refrigerator. Makes 16 delicious servings.

The Mark of the Chunder Monkey - (by Dave)

We are possessive creatures. We like to own, buy, claim and protect. Some choose to scribe a name, while others label with a sticker. We all know how dogs mark ownership. Fortunately our children choose a different route. They mark with incredible grace and surreptitious stealth. After discovering something they love, they calmly ram their digestive system into reverse and toss their cookies over everything they hold dear.

Let's take the big E for example. Few things bring him greater joy than the Costco Food Court. He is a giant among the beef franks, a beast among the cheesy pizza, and dominates any churro in his path. He finally returned his love last Saturday as his Costco meal had a round-trip ticket we didn't expect. Better yet, he chose to shoot his salad right behind some poor patron's shopping cart. I am sure that patron would have reacted differently if she knew our son's action was out of love and not spite. E turned away with indifference and finished his hot dog.

And yet, he learned from the best. Lils can be matched by no one. The oh-so-lucky eatery she chose to mark never saw it coming. Red Robin couldn't have ever anticipated what was about to befall them. What could she have done? Her carnal nature took over when three of the greatest things in the world collided: free balloons, chicken nuggets, and a TV embedded in the daggum floor. She chose the last great thrill and chundered all over it.

Whether you choose to label with a sharpie or with your gastroinstentinal system, the chunder-monkey children salute you and will go on marking their own way through life.

Lils' Saw the Sign

Lils has gotten into signs and writing things lately. She wrote a note to Dave telling him she missed him while he was gone on a business trip. She wrote me a sweet card when I had the stomach flu this weekend that said "I hop you feell bedr, ritin by Lil". She is just sweet that way. She made Baby Rose a card at school in the shape of Rose's head with a piece of red yarn for hair that said, "I am so so soree that you got sick, I hop you feel bedr".

She was doing projects in her room this afternoon and made two new signs. The top sign's translation is "If you want to go in Lily's room then you have to get a stamp". Apparently there are rules for entering her room now. This bottom message is a conundrum, though she is offering help if you need it! Translation: "If you need help reading this message you can say to her I need help reading this message"! Classic.

Guest Bedroom Info

This is a pricing breakdown of how much the guest room cost to re-do-

Paint: $17
Painting Supplies: $18
Goodwill glass vases: $25
Mirrors cut to size at Lowe's: $20
Shower curtain turned into a quilt: $12 shower curtain + $4 sheet = $16
Pillows: $25

Total: $121

I still need to get my Fort Bragg pictures framed, that'll be a another $45- (hopefully $15 a frame)

Candyland

Baby Rose has been sick for the past week, and as I was rocking and holding her, I noticed a pleasant quietness and giggling in the home. I went downstairs to investigate and saw Lils and E playing NICELY the game of Candyland! This being such a rare occurance, I broke out the camera! Yay! They do love eachother!

Guest Bedroom Makeover

Our trip over Labor Day weekend to Fort Bragg inspired me to redo our guest room and bathroom in a Fort Bragg vintage chic style. We have shells from our trip, sand dollars, and "soon to come" framed pictures to put up on the walls. Here is the transformation so far! The first two pictures are of before.

After:

Monster Trucks!!!!!!!

For the past 3 or 4 years my father-in-law has taken whatever grand kids live close to Monster trucks! Finally we were able to go! We were so excited, especially Lils and Ebay. They were talking about it all week and when it came time to go they were ecstatic. Garndpa had plenty of "plug ears" to go around and the funnel cakes and candy bars were in abundance. The show started with a funny redneck announcer in a blue mechanic jumper and fake mullet telling us about the drivers as the monster trucks game barreling in the stadium! Oh man! The look of E's face when those trucks came in! I want to bottle that up forever. We each picked our favorite trucks. All of the kids loved Bigfoot! My fav was Jurrasic Attack! After 2 + hours of races- all of the kids were asleep by then- the REAL show started. Free style! The monster trucks went out one at a time and had 3 minutes to run over stuff, get sweet air, and make huge circle donuts. It was pretty amazing! Though I don't think anyone in the stands enjoyed it as much as my father-in-law, who was just giddy and crazy! Loved it! And, by the way, look at the first picture- could Dave and E look any more alike???!

Soccer picts

So, I'm trying to do cool stuff with Photoshop. Here's Lils team at their first soccer game. What do you think?

Sick Baby

(She's spitting out an apple in that picture, I thought it showed her grumpy sick 'tude well!) Lil Rose has had a fever over 100 for the past three days. Usually I like the excuse to lay low, stay home, watch movies, or cuddle with the sick child I love. Rose is another story! She won't watch movies yet, she's whiny, she's not cuddling and she wants to be held constantly. Not too fun around here. Plus she had me up over 2 hours last night rocking her.... which I enjoyed for most of that time. I love rocking babies and hearing their sweet little sleeping breathes. I know I won't have the chance to hold my sweet little baby too much longer before she's too big to hold and rock in the rocking chair. She gets bigger every day! So I enjoyed it, until the third time I tried to lay her down and she screamed again! I think I'll get her ears checked. Here are some new pictures of my sweetie, it's nice to remember the "before she was sick" Rose.

Pumpkin Pancakes with Apple Cider Syrup

Every Spring General Conference, Dave and I have homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast and every Fall General Conference I make pumpkin pancakes! We had a good recipe our first 6 years of marriage until we moved to Chapel Hill. Our friends, the Harmon's, introduced us to the best, most delicious, and scrumptious pumpkin pancakes ever. You MUST make it with the cider syrup. (I always use apple juice because that's what we have on hand and it is great.) These are divine, easy to make, and perfect for fall.

Pumpkin Pancakes:

2 eggs
3/4 cup pumpkin
2 Tbs sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup oil
1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 cup milk

Syrup:
1 cup sugar
2 Tbs cornstarch
2 cup apple cider or juice
2 Tbs lemon juice

Pancakes: Beat the eggs and stir in pumpkin, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, baking soda and salt. Then add baking powder, oil, and flour. Stir in milk until desired consistency. (It should be thinner than you think. These pancakes are so good when they're thin and sand-dollar sized.)

Syrup: Mix well and boil one minute.

Soccer babe!

So Lils had her first official game on Saturday. The weather was gorgeous because it was overcast and a little drizzly. I was just glad it wasn't 94 like it was supposed to be! We spent the morning yard sale-ing and Costco-ing. Played a little Mario Kart during Rose's nap and after lazing away the day, rushed out to soccer! It was the only planned thing we had, and we were late to it! We got to the game right as it's starting. Lils went in as a sub and scored the first goal! Another girl had kicked it all the way down, passed it off to Lils and she ran it in! It was pretty fantastic living our dreams through Lil! :) Ha ha! We were very proud. The game was pretty intense. I was so glad when Lils wasn't in so I could reax for a few minutes. The girls did great, but lost with an end score of 4 to 1. They couldn't care less as there were plenty of m&m covered rice krispie treats and Capri Suns for all.

Fort Bragg

So far the past few weeks...

Lils started soccer

Lils and E have adjusted to sharing a room... sort of! Here they are asleep in the doorway!

Their room

Lils started first grade,

We spent Labor Day weekend camping at a beautiful coastal campsite at Ft. Bragg. Dave's family went every Labor Day weekend growing up with his family and a bunch of family's from his ward. The whole campsite was full of Orovillians! It was great! We went to Glass Beach, Sand Dollar Beach, walked along a gorgeous lake, roasted marshmallows, ate navajo tacos and peach cobbler from the dutch oven. mmmm. It was wonderful and the kids just had a blast! They swam in the freezing water, played chicken with the waves, rode their bikes all around the camp, ate dirt, found shells, and had an adventure. It was great to be there with their cousins who are the same age. They had a constant buddy to play with! Here are a few of the pictures, in no particular order!

... oh and Ebay had his first day of Joy School today!