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.