WOW a winter wonderland.

What in the world happened? We had 40 degree weather up until December 18th, and then one morning we woke up and it snowed enough to be measured in the FEET. I felt the city kind of panic: school buses refused to drive, cars were stuck, and kids begged for more gloves. (How come we never have enough?!?) But after the snow plows came through everyone calmed down, and now my kids have managed to play in the snow for 9 hours in two days.
So I tried to be all "photographic" and make the picture seem "thoughtful", but it's just blurry-looking. :) Forget that...

A random FAT cat on my back porch. Just though it was funny.

Nate plowing at 6:30 am...

On his lunch break...

And at 9 at night.
(I think this garbage man outfit is awesome. He had it when we got married and dragged it around for 12 years, and now he wears it three times in one day. He loves it. :)

I got to help Emma at her kindergarten party. We played Christmas Bingo. :) I was sad that school was canceled the next day (snow) so I didn't get to help with Tyler's and Hailey's party. Bummer. I like an excuse to wear a Santa hat.

And we have done so good this flu season. Not a sniffle in sight except for me at Thanksgiving. But alas, it did hit our home. Tyler is running a 102 temp and strep throat. We need to get him healthy by Christmas, so he is napping in my bed right now. I hate when my kids are sick, but I LOVE to take care of them when they are down. Soups, cold rags, thermometers. Tyler said, "Your a good nurse, Mom". :)

Hailey is a nut. I always say she is my water girl because she loves the beach/swimming, but she is also my snow bunny. She LOVES playing on sleds, starting snow fights and making snow angels. I am talking hours at a time.

Mr. Mason Monkey. What a kid. He is fast becoming a stinker though. He LOVES to tease, and the "kids" (which is what he calls the older siblings) let him. His new trick is taking off his diaper and throwing it at Tyler's face. GROSS.
And this is how our lullaby goes before bed: (He helps me to sing at the end)

"Hush little baby don't say a.." "poop"
"Mama's going to buy you a mocking.." "poop"
"If that mockingbird don't"..."poop"
"Mama's going to buy you a diamond"..."poop"

This is followed by Give Said the Little Stream in the same fashion. :) Like I said, what a kid...

This is what 4 days before Christmas during bedtime at the Eaton house sounds like: (P.S. The lights are out, so just listen.)

I'm giddy. :)

Giddy is kind of an ugly word but it totally describes the week before Christmas with little kids. Who cares about Christmas morning, it is the anticipation that is so fun!

Santa Claus came for our ward party. I had to MAKE Tyler go talk to him. What an unbeliever. But he did tell him his "wishlist". Legos are a big part of that list. Emma asked Santa for lipstick. (What???) Hailey wants a camera and Mason a "choo-choo".

Speaking of Tyler, he is growing up. I find him on our bed quite a bit watching basketball and reading at night. He likes to come lay on our bed and usually climbs in it right between Nate and I. The worst is after basketball because he pulls of his stinky socks and his feet smell is SO ferocious! But I love that he cuddles with us.

 This would be Mason's face when he opened up a "goody bag" from Santa and found an orange. :)

 I have no idea where my kids are in this picture, but Tyler Hailey and Emma all had school performances. The 5th grade boys got to dance like ballerinas in "The Sugarplum Fairy" but as you can see the visibility was poor. Plus, all the tall 5th graders were in the back row hiding and giggling the entire time.

Lastly, I was able to be in The Messiah in Roosevelt with the symphony I play in. We had a HUGE choir behind us and it was the first time I have participated in The Messiah. I had to fight the tears while I played (two songs in particular). The crowd stood and sang "Hallelujah" and I was almost sobbing. Everyone (including the conductor) was trying to hold it together. I highly recommend enjoying this performance during the Christmas season. It is almost a spiritual experience to hear the life of Christ put to music and sung about it such a beautiful way. I STILL am getting chills thinking about it. :)

Today...

*Up with the early birds this morning. I love when Hailey comes in at 10:30 last night after bedtime and says "I have a diahrama due tomorrow". (That looks too close to diarrhea. Not sure how to spell that.) So this morning we were cutting out little bald witches with big noses for "The Witches" by Roald Dahl. Great book.
*Read 3rd Nephi and had to look for candy ornaments on the tree. The kids are loving the envelopes they get to open every night. But I think we are a day behind. hmmm...
*Tyler had a basketball game last night. Jr. Jazz and Traveling Team at the same time. He spent his allowance money on a Nike "sleeve" that is just a rubber sleeve on the arm. We aren't sure if it is cool to wear one or two, but he only had enough money for one. He could be starting a trend I suppose...
*Mason and I are having a running dialog on "Toy Story underwear" that he is getting from Santa Claus. Potty Training time starts Dec. 26th. (Except he calls it "Story time underwear.".ha ha :)

On the 1st Day of Christmas...

So my grand plan was to have a mini-lesson every day in December to really bring the spirit of Christmas into our house. Than I realized that half of December is already over. (How did THAT happen??) Anyway, I still was able to do the 12 days of Christmas with an accompanying Christmas treat. Luke Chapter 1 with yummy (gross) eggnog tonight in Envelope 1. (After we read the scripture verses I asked Tyler a "review" question. We had a good laugh when he said Mary's pregnant cousin "was called barren". Uh, no, she was called Elizabeth...

And we LOVE this video here at our house. It's from Family Guy, (which is I show I truly truly truly hate, except for this clip. :) Anyway, the kids love to do the "Mom, Mom, Mommy" part.

So tonight we practised and recorded it, except I couldn't stop laughing so I had to look away from the video recorder. :) (And I am so bugged that this video will be one we watch all the time in 20 years and I am in workout clothes/no shower/no makeup. Oh well..)

Boxes and mattresses=Best toys for kids

I think I like watching basketball now...

...but it has to be in the third row in the "Lexus" seating. That's not to much to ask is it? Somehow Nathan was awesome enough to be given 4 tickets to the Jazz game, and we decided to ask Tyler and my Dad to go. Dad ended up stuck in North Dakota (dang it!) so we let Tyler pick a buddy. This is how Tyler looked almost the entire time:

 We got to eat shrimp and all sorts of yummies first and were right next to the owner of the Jazz. I thought it was awesome how much we stood out, (kind of like tourists in New York). Everyone was dressed really fancy and "expensive", while all four of us had on Jazz jerseys. Ha!

 This is how close we were to the floor.

It was an awesome evening-until I had to drive home by myself with the boys sleeping in the back. It is December in Utah and the ground still has no snow on it, but of course it was a stinkin snowstorm after the Jazz game. I was not terrified but definitely scared. I drank one of those energy drinks which WHOA kept me awake, and I started up the road all by my lonesome self. I learned I'd much rather see the lines on the road. (eeek!) I was the only one on the road until some crazy brave mini-van driver passed me up. He DEFINITELY knew how to drive in snow, so I sped up from my whiny 35 miles per hour to 65 and followed the leader all the way home. Than I had some weird food poisoning and actually didn't go to bed until 5 am, but who cares that I only got 3 hours of sleep that night??? It was totally worth it to see that look on Tyler's face. And to see D-Will in all his glory...

Lover Buns

I am so glad I married a sweet man. :) Today was a tough day. I am on day FOURTEEN of no hot water (water heater died out), and so the laundry is piling up, the dirty dishes are very very smelly and no one can take a bath. (PEEEEEEEEEEEEEUUUUUUUUUU). All of this is "nothing" in the big picture, but short-term, I was bummed. My dear sweetums came home for lunch, wrapped his arms around me, and told me to lay in front of the fire and look at the Christmas tree while he made me a chicken and mushroom lunch. AND he said he'd watch/feed the kids while he did it. WOW. Am I grateful for small little acts of kindness like that! I did lay in front of the fire and even fell asleep for 15 minutes. Awww...

P.S The plumber is finishing up the project now. Just as an FYI. :) We will be good tomorrow...

Dec. 1st. What to post? Thanksgiving pictures. :)

5 Stucki siblings

Eaton Family

Grandma Linda and her growing-bigger-every-year posterity

The best friends in the world: Emma and Maddie, the "sister cousins"

Picking up Dad from HIS school, University of Utah

Warming up after swimming in the pool at the hotel



An example of the picture I find saved to my computer, designed by Hailey the little sister. :)
Last night at FHE Tyler ran into the piano room to play Book of Mormon stories while we sang. That was a moment to me! All those piano lessons are paying off...
Except we had to start over and over and over every time we heard him say, "Oops!" Took awhile to get through the song. :)