"SEVERE?"

Yesterday I took Ethan to the orthodontist for a consultation. As the doctor was evaluating him he mentioned that Ethan had a severe overbite. Ethan immediately responded, "SEVERE?" as if he was offended by this observation. The doctor explained that anything over 7 or 8 mm is considered severe and Ethan's overbite is 10 mm so it is in fact considered to be severe. Ethan shook his head in disbelief, "I can't believe my overbite is severe!" The doctor then reassured Ethan that it was okay and that it was definitely fixable.

I found his reaction to be so funny. When we got in the car to take Ethan back to school the first thing he said was, "I can't believe that he said my overbite is severe!"

And then in the evening when David got home from work the first thing he said to David was, "Dad, did you know that I have a severe overbite?"

YES! You have an overbite! AND IT'S SEVERE!

You know that Ethan has always known that he has an overbite. They have mentioned it multiple times with every new dentist he has ever been to. They always ask if he was a thumb sucker, which he was not. He had to go to speech therapy for something like 6 years to help him learn to speak correctly because of his overbite. I guess that's why this is so funny to me. Something about Ethan hearing someone tell him that his problem is in fact severe is so shocking to him. As if a severe overbite is worse than just having an overbite. It's still an overbite! The same overbite he's always had... nothings changed!

So needless to say Ethan is an excellent candidate for braces. He will be getting his spacers on today and a full set of braces next Wednesday.

No one saw it!

This morning Bradon rolled out of bed at 7:15. He got dressed all the way down to his shoes. I heard the TV turn on and then shortly thereafter the sound of the Wii turning on. I walked in the room and looked at him....

Bradon, Aren't those the same clothes you wore yesterday to school?

He nodded his head in agreement and said,

"Oh yeah, I didn't take my jacket off all day yesterday... ALL DAY!"

So that makes it okay to wear the same outfit again?

"Yeah, no one saw it!"

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

Quilting

I'm learning to make quilts.

This is my first and only one for now. I look forward to making many more in the days to come!

I gave this to my mother for Christmas. It's a Joseph Smith quilt. Every other block has part of the Standard of Truth embroidered on it.

It says,"The Standard of Truth has been erected; No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; Persecution may rage, mobs may combine, armies my assemble, and calamity may defame, But the truth of God shall go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, until it has penetrated every continent, visited every climb, swept every nation, and sounded in every ear, until the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say

"The Work is Done!" Joseph Smith"

It was a lot of fun to make. And I have to say if it wasn't for my friend Michelle Rich I would have never started or finished it. So Thank you Michelle for helping me out!

MeRrY cHrIsTmAs!!!

It seems like every year I'm trying to figure out exactly how WE want to do Christmas in our home. Every year it's a little different. Every year I try to keep what we liked or what worked from years past and change the things that didn't go over so well.

This year we made a special request of Santa. Only one present per child and stockings as usual. We told the kids well before Christmas that this is what we were doing and they were surprisingly more than fine with it! We told them that they would be getting one present from Santa, one from us and one from a sibling. Three gifts in all!

Of course the one from us turned into two, and Christmas pajamas don't really count... and either do items of clothing. So it really amounted to more than just three gifts in the end. But I have to say,

it was just about perfect!

We wrapped all the gifts from us well before Christmas and had them underneath the tree. I think this made waiting for Christmas day that much harder and that much more exciting! And it definitely made Christmas eve that much easier!

Santa doesn't wrap gifts for us, he just sets them out next to our stockings. The kids woke up to see their one gift from Santa. They all seemed thrilled! They took time to look through their stockings and enjoy the gifts brought by Santa.

After waiting a little while for our sick little Talan to wake up we decided that it would be best if we opened gifts without him. So the kids each picked one gift from under the tree to open and then opened them one by one. When those were all opened they went back to the tree for another round until they were all opened. It was so much fun! And I think the kids really enjoyed doing it this way. Finally Christmas morning didn't seem to be over in a matter of seconds and each gift seemed more loved and appreciated!

Carsten got a boomerang in his stocking from Santa. Later we found out that the reason he wanted a boomerang was so that he could kill a kangaroo with it. Nice! Unfortunately for him he got a rubber boomerang that wouldn't do very much damage if any at all. Not to mention that he lives in Utah were kangaroos don't run free in the wild!

Ethan got the new Harry Potter movie in his stocking along with whole bunch of other things.

Reagan was excited to see a mini box of Lucky Charms in her stocking. Her big gift from Santa was a PINK electric scooter and helmet you can see in the bottom of this picture.

Bradon got Madden 10 that he's been wanting for so long!! He was pretty sure that he was getting it by the looks of the package under the tree. Sure enough he was right!

Carsten got a Lacrosse stick!

He wants to get on a Lacrosse team this upcoming year.

His big present from Santa was a helmet and skateboard.

Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas for Ethan if he didn't get something Club Penguin! He got the figurines and the jitsu cards. His big gift from santa was a digital camera.

Bradon got a helmet to wear while he skateboards/rides his bike/rides his electric scooter/or does anything that could inflict harm to his noggin! His big gift from Santa was a pitching machine with a net for practicing baseball in the basement.

Reagan had a Hannah Montana Christmas! She got a new Hannah Montana bedspread, a Hannah Montana radio/CD player, and a Hannah Montana microphone! Reagan loves Hannah Montana!

At 12:30 in the afternoon our sick little Talan finally woke up! Fever free and feeling good!

He got a scooter and helmet from Santa.

Are you seeing a helmet trend here?

My good friend Shari's son Marcus, had a bicycle accident on November 6th were he was life flighted to Primary Children's hospital. The back of his head landed on the peg of the bike and punctured a whole in his skull. If he hadn't been wearing his helmet he wouldn't be here with us today! The helmet literally saved his life! We haven't been big helmet pushers in our family but we are starting to think that it's never too late to start!

By the time Talan woke up David was already taking a nap in preparation for our drive to Arizona and missed it. The kids had so much fun having Christmas with Talan. Bradon was so adorably cute with him! Talan was a little dazed and confused and I think the kids pretty much opened all of his presents for him. It was fun for all!

Talan enjoyed his peppermint stick.

And loved his magnadoodle!

I'm hoping this will end his need to write upon my walls!

Talan's most favorite Christmas gift of all was a basketball hoop. This kid loves to "Shoot!"

Another great thing we did this year in the present department is that we told the kids that they could make a few suggestions as to what they wanted for Christmas but we were going to get them what WE wanted to get them weather it was on their suggestion list or not. David and I have decided that our kids don't even really know what's out there. All they know is what their friends have and what they have seen commercials for. And most everything they asked for was WAY EXPENSIVE! And if one asked for a DSi, then they ALL asked for a DSi. And it's really unfortunate but WE are not DSi buyers. And especially not four of them!

So they got what the got...

and it turned out perfect!

MeRrY cHrIsTmAs ToO aLl

AnD tO aLl A gOoD nIgHt!!!

Christmas Eve

We were to bring diced tomatoes and shredded lettuce for the traditional Christmas Eve enchiladas. It was almost time to go and I was busy in the kitchen cutting away. As I was finishing up Talan walked in and began throwing up. I reached down to help him and he was burning up with a fever. The poor little guy was so sick! David quickly put him in the tub and I began cleaning up the mess in the kitchen.

We decided that I would take all the kids to the party and David would stay home with Talan. By this time we were late and I was worried that we were holding things up. We hurried to get everything in the car then I raced to the Haws'. When I got there I had each kid help bring something into the house. The tomatoes! Where are the tomatoes? Did we leave them behind? At this point I was more than frustrated. I threw my stuff down in the house and headed back out to the car to drive back for the tomatoes.

When I got home David told me that Vicky had called and insisted that David and Talan come for Christmas Eve. Sick or not, they were both welcome. Immediately I felt better! There is just something about Christmas and having your family all together that's important!

So David got Talan dressed and came as soon as he could. The Motrin kicked in and Talan felt good for an hour or two.

We had our traditional enchiladas

and then each family presented a talent.

Jeremy and RuthAnn had their son Taylor recite the Grinch who stole Christmas. He is truly amazing! He recites the whole entire book from memory and he is only in the 1st grade.

Heidi and Nate had their daughter Elise play a number on the piano, also very good.

Emily and Ben played the Viola and the Guitar. They sounded beautiful!

And then Kelli played the piano.

Everyone who preformed was amazingly talented. And then it was up to us, THE GRAND FINALE (so to speak) to bring it home!

In all of our musical glory we preformed 3 numbers on the brass pipes using a beautiful set of wrenches of course! We truly outdid ourselves! We brought the house down with tears of laughter! Reagan was #15 and a little slow on delivery when it came to the live performance. Whenever it would come to her note there would be a little pause and then someone would whisper REAGAN! And then note #15 would play beautifully shortly there after! It was awesome!

All the kids took part in the Nativity. Ethan played the part of Joseph...

Carsten (in front) was a sheep and a very good one I might add. Bradon was a wise guy, I mean a wise man! But to tell you truth, he is a bit of a wise guy too! And then Reagan was an angel!

We sang Christmas songs and ended the night with a family prayer.

As soon as we got back home the kids decorated cookies for santa and made hot chocolate. We read the Christmas Oranges story and Talan fell asleep in my arms. The kids all got to open their Christmas pajamas and then it was time for bed. Talan wouldn't wake up for anything so we dressed him in his sleep and put him to bed. Surprisingly enough the kids went to bed quite quickly!

Such cute personalized pajamas from the Disney store!

I love them... And my kids too!

The Christmas Sing 2009

This year we represented kindergarten, 2nd grade, 4th grade and 6th grade. And lucky for us they preformed in that exact order.

This was Reagan's first year to preform. Every year up until now she has come with me to watch the others, but this year it was her year!

They wore cute little reindeer hats that they made and sang their hearts out. They sang Rudolph the red nose reindeer and Santa bingo. Reagan did a great job!

Carsten was next. I love how the pictures we took of the kids as they were coming in shows their individual personality. Carsten always gets a little nervous to preform and shies up a bit!

I'm the Wolf den leader over Carsten's den and leading up to this Christmas sing you should have heard the boys belting out their songs. They knew every word and weren't afraid to belt it out the window as we drove through the neighborhood. They sang Jingle bell rock and Haul out the holly, they sounded great!

Bradon is so cool! I think that's what happens in the 4th grade,

you become COOL!

Bradon sang Chocolate in my stocking and another song that he swears has NO NAME. The nameless song starts out, "As we were standing in line to sit on Santa's lap I wish I could just lie down and take a nap."

Ethan is so cute!

This is his last year to participate in the Christmas sing.

Our big 6th grader!

Ethan sang, Where did they hide my presents ...

and snowball fight!

Snow ball fight is a 6th grade tradition. At the end of the song the kids throw wadded up pieces of paper into the audience. It really makes being a 6th grader the envy of all grades!

The Annual Haws Girls Party.

Every year since living in Utah I have hosted

The Haws Girls Ornament Exchange Christmas Party!

We all get together, eat a nice dinner, enjoy one another's company, exchange ornaments, play a game (or not), and take a group picture.

It's absolutely lovely!

This year my cousin Heidi presented me with this plaque she made.

AND I LOVE IT!

Except... when the party was all said and done and my last party guest had left for the evening it dawned on me...

I HADN'T TAKEN

ONE SINGLE PICTURE!

I feel so unworthy of

The Hostess

with the Mostess

plaque.

What host forgets to take a picture?

It's tradition! We always take a picture!

We take a picture of us all holding our new ornaments!

Oh well, there isn't much I can do about it now.

There is always next year I guess.

So to all of you Haws Girls out there...

Please don't let me forget the TRADITIONAL picture next year!

Real Candies.

Real candies was in full swing again. David and I made enough Almond Toffee and Fudge to feed a small village. We are very grateful for the work we received and look forward to making more candy again this upcoming year!

Thanks to all those who ordered from us.

You can find us @ www.realcandies.blogspot.com now.

Talan's toilet obsession.

Talan has reached a stage where he loves to sit on the toilet.

He says, "poo poo, poo poo!" and then runs to the toilet. He climbs on all be himself with a very 'I'm proud of myself' look on his face. Sometimes he'll give it a little push and occasionally he'll even pee. But he loves to get the toilet paper from the roll and he especially loves to flush!

He is so adorably cute!

I'm not getting my hopes up for early potty training or anything (been there, done that!) but I love watching him explore his world and learn new things.

WHAT A BIG BOY!

Ward Christmas Party

This year at our ward Christmas party they had sort of like a silent cake auction. Except instead of money, people bought things that were then donated to an orphanage. It's hard to explain how they did it... but I decorated a cake for the event!

It was a classic "Stephanie" cake to say the least!

Earlier that week I had taught a class to the young women in the ward on cake decorating. I quickly decorated a cake to show them how to do it and they brought that cake to the auction as well. I didn't get a picture of it but it turned out cute enough.