Fra -la-la-la...la-la-la!

I have been avoiding this post going on two weeks now.  With this post means an end to my life as I know enjoy it.  No more sleeping in, no more staying in my pj's all day long, no more spending my days playing mom and loving every minute of it.  With this post means my Christmas break is O-V-E-R and it's back to the world of stressful tests, hours of studying and splitting my time between my little girl and all the other things that need my attention.  With a big sigh comes this post, for I have no desire to let it end, but end it must and so here is goes...

Oh were to start... how 'bout Christmas Eve.  It was wonderful spending the day surrounded by my favorite people.

My mom's house was chaotic and loud...just the way I like it. And what better way to spend your Christmas Eve than in the Hutchison Winter Wonderland?  My mom never disappoints and so the house was dressed to the nines and Christmas just oozed from every corner...

Kids were excited as ever to get the party started.  They knew Santa was coming and they could hardly contain themselves.

I was the crazy person taking pictures at every turn and setting up my tripod to capture these moments on my video camera.  I wanted to remember every moment of it and take it all in. I have every intention of make a little Christmas movie for all to see...(we'll see how long that takes but I am determined!)

We had a DELICIOUS Christmas dinner of enchiladas with all the toppings. And it just wouldn't be Christmas if it didn't involve some egg nog...am I right?

It was tough wrangling the kids to come and eat because all they wanted to do was play, play, PLAY!

Grandma and Pa gave the kids their presents before all our guests arrived so they would have something to play with while the adults played some games of their own.  Two little princesses received their very own castles to hide from the "bad guys" and shoot them down! (good luck trying to get those two to come out)

Whenever I went to check on them, Eden tried to convince me to MAKE myself fit in her castle with her, but there was only enough room for one queen and her throne!  Eden and Ever played princesses all night long.  Ever got a whole batch of princesses and she insisted on carrying them ALL wherever she went.  Brennen and Bennett were happy to be the "bad guys" while Eden and Ever squealed in delight chasing after them.

While havoc was reeking downstairs, all us big kids played some games.  We played dirty bingo and the infamous Left, Right, Center Game.  Some would call this gambling but other would call it "A WHOLE LOTTA CASH!"

As the night wore down the kids began to get restless and cranky (might I add) and so we took some time to decorate some cookies for the jolly old man himself.

and don't think we forgot about Rudolph and all this buddies...we would never!

reindeer feed station...CHECK!  Oats, carrots, raisins, potato chips, cocoa, flying powder...don't forget the glitter (to attract the reindeer to your house, of course!) All the essential ingredients that are needed to keep the reindeer busy and happy while Santa fills the house with toys!

 (don't forget to shake it!)

After a "20's" picture with all the girls (all us kids are in our 20's....my poor mother)

we opened our jammies in preparation for the big night!

Then it was OFF to bed so Santa would come...
Early in the morning (early for those of you without children...or dad's in general for that manner) it looked as though Santa had indeed come.

I snuck upstairs to take a peak at the transformation that occurred.  Before we went to bed only a few presents laid beneath the tree, but after Santa had come the room was filled with all sorts of surprises. Staring at the room with the Christmas tree lights a glow, you could just feel the magic of Christmas morning all around.  I felt the familiar feeling I had long forgot.  The excitement and anticipation was stirring up inside me.  I.could.not.wait. to see my little girls face when she walked up those stairs!

Then, as Christmas music played softly in the background and while my video camera was again rolling, I watched as everyone made their way up stairs while rubbing the sleep out of their eyes.

Christmas Day was here and Santa did not disappoint! 

Once wrapping paper covered the floor and toys were being ripped from boxes, we got dressed and headed out to start our day... This little girl made out like a bandit and there was still more in store!

We left my parents and headed to Les' brother's house for some Christmas breakfast...come to find out, Santa dropped a present there for Eden as well.  

At first she wasn't sure what to do or say, she just shyly hid behind Les' leg.  When she finally realized that it was actually for her, the first thing she did was buckle Buzz into the passenger seat and then she was off!

After breakfast we made a stop at Grandma Rosy's and then a pit stop at our house to empty the loot. Then headed straight to Les' OTHER brother's house for some lunch.  We were exhausted but happy to spend the day visiting with family.  Finally, when I could take no more I insisted we go home and baby girl was OUT.  

I feel ya sister... it was a LONG day!  

Christmas was so much fun this year watching my little girl take in the magic of it all.  Her little eyes wide with wonder and shouts of "this is my favorite day ever!  I SOOOO happy!"  It makes these days even harder to let go because it means I have to work extra hard to make these moments while so many things require my attention, but my heart is happy. With that said, I take it with me as I set my alarm for 6am tomorrow to start the grueling task of finishing this school year!  

2011 was great and if I can survive 2012 then the rest is cake! 

'Tis the Season

What do you get when you pack your whole extended family into a cabin to celebrate Christmas?  Utter chaos!

but in between the chaos, if you pay close enough attention...there's gold!  Like watching your little girl shyly ask her favorite cousin to play beauty pallor...

Or watching your sister-in-law go in for the kiss only to recieve this...

And if you aren't on your game you'll miss the opportunity to catch a glimpse of these bad boys...

And what's a family party that doesn't involve a volume level that is so pronounce that it all blends together to create a constant hum that could lull a little baby to sleep? (and it did...I just don't have a picture of said baby, but trust you me...he's to die for!)

You know it's a family party when all the couches are maxed out. I don't think anymore people could fit on that couch and they MUST be family to stand sitting that close together! 

This family party reaches it's apex when the jolly man himself shows up!  There are squeals of delight balanced by cries for help.  There are secret conversations held just out of reach of a parent's ear between old saint nick and eager children promising to be nice.

Family parties are 50/50 for miss Eden.  She is either a social little butterfly making friends and having a ball or stuck to my leg like a little koala bear.  This year I was happy to find her somewhere in between.  She was timid at first to play and made sure to come get some reassuring hugs from mom but then was off just as quickly chasing kids.

When Santa came she avoided eye contact the whole time but she wasn't about to miss the opportunity to tell him that a BIG buzz was on her docket for Christmas morn.

As soon as her request was made she demanded to get down and put out her hands to receive her gift.  Santa tried to explain that she needed to be nice and he would bring it on Christmas day, but little girl just didn't understand.  She came to me and said "He NOT give me my BIG buzz!" ( guess we have a little more explaining to do).

Ah! Family parties...it just wouldn't be the holiday seasons without them!

Magic Is Happening Within This House

Today I felt it.  It was real and it was tangible.  I could feel it dance all around me.  It was fairly simple you see...you just take 1 part christmas lights + 1 part two year old and you get...Christmas magic!

After church today while a yummy dinner was roasting in the oven, we made use of the waiting time by turning on Pandora Kids Christmas and headed into Eden rooms to give it the good 'ol Christmas make over.  Eden diligently handed me the tape while I strung some lights around her room.  She wasn't exactly sure what we were doing but with a good effort of excitement from mama she was okay to go with me on this journey to Christmas Spirit. 

We paused occasionally to dance it out to our favorite tunes as the echoed through the house.  Once it was all finished I told Eden it was time to hit the lights!  She ran to her desk, carefully climbed on top of it and REACHED to turn off the lights....and BAM! magic instantly filled the air.  Eden gasped and said "OH MY! THANK YOU MAMA!  It's my favorite!" 

We laid on the floor to soak it all in.  We watched as lights drooped and promptly secured them with more tape for good measures.  We stood and twirled/danced as we sang "Jingle Bells" and "It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas". Eden squealed when Les got home from work and rushed to greet him at the door with a "Dadda!  Come look!"  He oohed and aaahed as Eden flipped the lights on and off to show him our creation. 

After dinner and nice warm bath, we tucked our little girl in and promised to keep her Christmas lights on while she fell alseep.  An hour later as I was putting folded clothes away, Les walked in and said "Go look at our daughter.  She's in heaven".  I peaked into her room and there she was just laying in bed with the biggest grin on her face.  You could see it in her eyes.  Her room had transformed into something of a dream, something magically and she just couldn't take her eyes off of it.

I asked her what she was doing and she said "Come lay with me a minute, mamma" How could I resist?  How could I not soak in all that was happening in this room?  I squished myself next to her on that tiny little toddler bed and there we laid...just gazing at the magically lights.  I felt transformed by the glowing of her room.  I felt like a child again. I could almost taste the excitement that makes you so sick you can hardly stand it. As I peaked at my girl, there she was just smiling the biggest happiest smile with the occasionally squeeze for mom.

 I whispered "Your room is beautiful Eden"  to which she replied
"Jesus will be so happy that I put up Christmas lights for his birthday"  (Melt my heart!)
"Yes, Jesus will be happy" 
"Mary will be so happy too!"
"Yup, and Mary too" (I want to die right now!)
"And Santa will be so happy that he will bring me a BIG buzz cuz I love Jesus" (You've got it my dear)

Then we spoke more about baby Jesus and how Christmas is his birthday and how since Jesus lives in heaven he asks us to give present to the ones we love since he doesn't live here.  Then I re-assure her that if she's good Santa will indeed bring her that BIG buzz she keeps talking about.  I gave her one last kiss and told her good-night.  As I walked out the door she said
"Mama?"
"Ya baby?"
"I'm so happy."
"Oh good!  I love you, honey.  Good Night"

And that is what magic is made of!

A Birthday Surprise

As you know... (pretty sure I say this A LOT) but we Hutchison's LOVE our birthdays....actually, we love all holidays but birthdays are the most monumental event of the year and so a celebration is in order.  That celebration usually starts the week of the birthday and is filled with activities, dinners and presents.  My poor husband has learned that hard way that just merely telling me happy birthday is NOT enough.  I want an event...I EXPECT an event. 

Friday morning I woke up feeling not so hot (thanks alot Sara!).  I woke up to a full blown cold.  Head congested, nose stuffed and my throat was killing me.  I bucked up and went to school. May I just say, I have the most WONDERFUL friends at school though, I arrived to a basket full of goodies and was taken to lunch followed by a trip to my favorite dessert spot "Sweet Tooth Fairy".  They really are the best and are the only reason I actually make it to school each day! After school we went to dinner with Les' best friend to the Pizza Factory for my birthday.  Oh how I love this place.  I could eat breadsticks dipped in honey butter until I am blue in the face.  It was a great start to what I thought to be another uneventful and "learning" year for my husband.

Saturday I laid in bed most of the morning and Les was nice enough to wake up with Eden and feed her breakfast so I could get some extra sleep.  When I finally rolled out of bed, still not feeling so great, I was pleasantly surprised to find the house all picked up and looking nice.  I thought to myself "Well, if nothing else, at least Les cleaned the house for me...that was very sweet"  We are tight on cash these days with Les' summer job at and end and waiting for his winter job to begin and so I was not expecting to receive any presents that day and I had prepped myself for it so I was all good.

I was feeling a little down because not only did I feel like crap but I felt like my birthday was just going to pass by without a notice.  My sisters had been trying to plan a day to come down, but the day they wanted to come all their kids ended up sick and so we had to reschedule.  I knew Les had no money to buy me presents at the time and so I was feeling a little gloom. I promised myself that I would take any birthday money I got and go take myself on a little, but much needed shopping spree.

Les asked me if I would go on a ride with him to one of his customer's house to get a check and since I just wanted to spend my day snuggling with my family I decided to go (which I rarely do)  and so off we went.  After we grabbed the check, Les asked me if would be okay to stop by the bank so he could deposit said check and I told him that was fine.  While driving to the bank Les kept texting on his phone (naughty naughty) and I was getting after him about it.  I asked him who he was texting and told him to stop.  He told me he was texting one of his playstation buddies.  I offered to text for him so he could stop breaking the law and he told me to "relax".  It happened a few more times and I was about to rip the phone out of his hands before we arrived home.

When we got home Les told me that he was going to park on the street so he could scrap off our driveway (it had snowed the night before and was looking a little icey)  I thought nothing of it and told him to open the garage so I could run Eden and me inside.  He told me to go through the front door and without any thoughts as to why I had to open the front door with my key rather than use my garage opener... I walked inside and OUT JUMPED my sisters!  I about had a hard attack!  Eden screamed and starting crying as well.  I was NOT expecting them. 

I started laughing my head off as they told me how they planned this surprise last minute and nothing was going right for them.  They had arrived moments after we left to run our errand and they kept texting Les to help them find the things they needed (so it wasn't his playstation buddy after all).  I was welcomed home to my "CREATIVE" birthday celebration.

 

C was for Craft...a Christmas craft that is
R was for Relax...with a pipping cup of hot chocolate while we listened to some Christmas Music that was blarring in the background (also a reason for a frantic txt to my husband.  First they couldn't find a CD player, then they couldn't find my christmas CD's so they decided to use Pandora on my computer but couldn't log in without my password)

E was for Exfoliate..for beauty. A home-made face peel was on the agenda.

A was for Appetizer.. Santa hat appetizers at that
T was for Tea...Mormon Tea that is... to help with my cold in case hot chocolate didn't sound good (which it did and so tea was omitted this round)
I was for Ice Cream Cones or Cups that served as my decorations that Christy spent most of the set up time trying to create.

 

V was for some VERY luxurious lotion and body wash.  and finally,

E was for Extra...wood for our craft...just in case.

So I was handing a cup of hot chocolate as my sister's explained to me that we would be making a craft together for my birthday.  I was stoked because they picked a craft I was just about to make by myself. 

They got some old frames at the DI and we spray painted them lime green.  While they were drying outside we pampered ourselves to a home-made face peel. 

Eden even got in on this action...

Here we are exfoliating as we gather our supplies to assemble our craft...

While our faces dried we pulled out the ornaments my sister Christy got from the dollar store and arranged a collection of bulbs we liked...

 Then we took different ribbon and strung our bulbs through them.

Last we made a bow for the top of our frame...

We glued the bow to our frame and then glued our hanging ornament to the back of the frame and WHA-LA!  

So stoked about this right now.  I love it!  It has become my new inspiration for all my christmas decor.  I call it Whimsical WonderLand and I hope to have my house decorated top to bottom with stuff like this come next year!

While we were assembling our craft we took a minute to remove our facial peel.  Little did we know that not only would be ridding our face of blackheads and dirt... we would also be giving ourselves a little waxing as well....

Laughing through the pain...but our faces felt like a baby's bottom when we were done!

My sister's had to head back home shortly after to relieve my mom of sick children but it was so awesome to have them there.  It really made my day.  I was expecting a very low key and dare I say depressing birthday but it ended up being everything I always hope my birthday to be.  I got to see my sisters and we had a blast.  Later that afternoon Les' parents took me out to dinner to finish off my birthday celebrating.  

I couldn't ask for anything more.  My husband HAS learned that something must be done on my birthday and he got a big wet (and sick filled) thank you kiss from me.  I was seriously so surprised he helped my sisters plan my bday.  I love him even more because of it.  My birthday was the best...just as it should be! 

Pizza Factory

I love Christmas because it means I get to do all my favorite Christmas traditions.  One of which is going out to dinner with my great friends. Love these people!

Eden also loves these people.  Johnny has made SEVERAL appearances in her baby books and so she thinks that anytime we see him, she need to take a picture with him.  I think it's hilarious and I'm happy to oblige.