The Hampster Wheel of Life

I have been cleaning (albeit kind of slowly) the last two days and my house is no cleaner!!! Well the laundry is done- but that is it. And Becky called this morning to say she felt a little better and she and her brood were hopping in the car to come and stay!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAACCCCKKKKK!!!! I was planning on posting pictures of Alma doing yoga (while cursing) to tempt her to come- but I didn't expect her to actually ever get here!!!! You would understand the panic if you could see our guest room/ where every holiday craft was created and any thing I didn't know what to do with the last month has been thrown. AAACCCKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!

And yes, I know I am a junior high student with all these exclamation marks- but AAAACCCKKK!!!!!!!!!! you can't see this room- hours of work, not to mention the rest of the house.

Also, Andrea wrote the sweetest post about Conley sisters- so any cousins lurking go the the Life at 169 link just to your right there and read it. It made me cry (I admit not to difficult to do).

Christmas Eve Pictures

In typical blogger fashion here are our Christmas Eve pictures, backwards. Here are Alma and the boy's stockings. Notice how I forgot to get a stocking for Beckett- I think my sock filled in okay.

Here are the accompanists for our caroling.

The Shepard and her sheep.


The whole crowd- this is about as organized as we get.

The gun toting sheep. Baa Baa

Mary and the Baby

Joseph delivering the baby Jesus.

Angels

Mary great with child.

The inn keeper- he is always this serious.

Cesar Augustus

Hannah

Mary and Joseph- parts were assigned by picking a number between 1 and 100. Mitchell picked 90, David 89- so you can see who was Joseph.

Melissa and her Honey.

We like Abram because he is soooooo CUUUUUTTTTE.

My Darling

My cake- Pumpkin spice with a chocolate middle layer, and orange sour cream frosting.

Christmas Eve Magic

We just returned from Wendell and Kirsten's home. A wonderful meal of soup and salad, some caroling, and a fabulous nativity play filled our evening. I loved the Play Beckett was Baby Jesus and Coen a gun wielding, horse riding sheep. Baa Baa. I will post hilarious pictures later.

I love this time of year. I love the music, the food, the spirit all drawing you home and closer to your family and loved ones. I feel so grateful for my family, Alma's family, our little family- how blessed we are in our life.

The spirit is close to us this year and I feel especially grateful for our Savior and his life. I value how the lens of the Gospel helps me focus on what is truly important and needful. I value the support only the spirit of the atonement can provide. The sorrows and griefs are lightened by the Savior's loving hand. The joys and blessings even sweeter with the knowledge of our purpose and plan.

Well the little elves in our house need to get working. There are stockings to stuff and cinnamon rolls to be made. Lots of Christmas cheer from the Clove home.

This is what the little elves will be doing after all their Christmas Eve work. Just picture Alma's head on the green elf.

This is Just Life

Too much to do on my Christmas to dos.

Very little sleep (like two or three hours).

Fussy kids.

Painful back.

Fussy Mom.

Worry, worry, worry.

And yet so overwhelmed with gratitude for our blessings. The gospel, two healthy boys, a loving a supportive family, and sparkeling snow.

So hopefully a nap, an evening with Alma at Victorian Christmas, and some cuddeling with my boys (and lets not pretend the Vicoden bottle isn't going to get hit) and hopefully tonight I will be pain free, calm, in love, and setteling in to bed at a decent hour.

PS- isn't the cover of the New Era just lovely?

Late Night Crafting Update

I finished my BIG sister gifts tonight (What you say? no real rush on those- and yet Christmas cards which desperately need to get done were neglected for another day- pish on you voices in my head I will do what I feel like- it's the Sabbath!) Anyways- I was pleased with the end result (even if they don't quite look like I pictured them in my head), I showed them to Alma and he said "Those are pretty..................goofy looking." (There was a really long pause). ARRGGHHH!!! What do I care what he thinks- he doesn't even like Boden clothes- so what does his opinion matter. But it matters because no one else is in my house to give me crafting feedback. Here are some of the vintage sequins used in said project:


You will have to wait for final pics until after my sisters open them when I see them this weekend. It is a miracle already that we haven't told each other what we are giving on another- we are really bad at secrets.

While I was hot gluing the last few remaining nerves on my finger tips this is what Alma was doing:

You can't really tell, but he is making Beckett a little Mii Wii thingy. He didn't like that when he turned on the Wii there was Polly, Alma, and Coen and no little Beckett. He said it just felt wrong. So cute in a weirdo Alma way. So even though Beckett can't play (and lets be honest Coen is kind of a mess at this as well- he just runs around the room waving the controller and every now and then miraculously hits a ball) he has a Mii. Here is our little Nintendo family:

Alma Beckett Coen Polly

Do you like how Alma made Coen taller than me? Very funny people. Just as a side note- I am almost unbeatable at the Wii bowling- but useless at every thing else. When we first got it this was enough for me to have a much younger Wii fitness age than Alma but sadly he practices and has passed me up. Also my Mii has some crazy blue eye shadow and a mole on my cheek and bright red lips. Super Hotty.

One thing learned tonight: Peppermint Stephens Coco is yummy- but add marshmallows and it crosses over the fine line to not yummy. Some things you just have to learn from experience. Hopefully mine will help save you all.

SNOW SNOW SNOW!!!

You are supposed to hear the above title as sung in White Christmas when they are on the train on their way up to Vermont. This is what I hear whenever I see this:

And to make it even better church got canceled after sacrament- so I didn't have to teach my semi-prepared RS lesson- and then to top things off the SNOW is supposed to continue through the night. Yes, I already made a sledding date with my nephew David if there is a snow day tomorrow.

So this is what Coen was doing while I was blogging and talking with Becky on the phone. (And Megan was on the blog at the same time!)

Here is a quick little update of our week.

Beckett and Coen got hair cuts. This was Beckett's first and I did it a lot sooner than I did Coen's and have been regretting it ever since. He just looks so grown up. He isn't a little baby anymore. I didn't get any pictures at the barber shop. I didn't want Uncle Dave or Jared to laugh at me. But here is my little baby right after the deed.

And here he is after a nap- I do like the funny little Mohawk look.

Then Andrea Green and I hosted a luncheon at my house for the sisters we visit teach. The turnout was a little disappointing. But my house looked great. Not to creative with the menu but it was good. I made ornaments for everyone as a hostess gift. Of course I don't have a good picture but they are in the centerpiece. I hung a bell from a ribbon in the center of a clear globe. I then wrote the lyrics to I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day by Walt Whitman, and put a bow on top. It turned out pretty cute.

This is Coen's buddy Kira (Amanda Ivey's daughter for those of you from NC- Linda and Wayne's granddaughter). She is the only other kid in Nursery this year with him. We sure will miss her in Jan. when she moves on to Primary. Sometime after this was taken Coen laid on top of her and bit her on the forehead, right between her eyes. Apparently she was pretending to sleep and he was trying to wake her up- he then proceeded to poop and get it all over himself- Kira came and got me. So the party ended with Coen in the shower and a scarred Kira. Sigh.

The other thing that has been fun this week is how much Coen and Beckett are playing together. Thank goodness Beckett is a tough little dude. Coen wrestles with him, and drags him around the house. So here are some pics of the buddies. Here Coen dragged Beckett in his chair to the counter and then tried to share and apple with him.
Here Coen has climbed into Becketts hoppy gym thing. Beckett doesn't like this. He always gets squished. But he likes how high Coen can bounce it.

Here they are playing around on Coen's bed. They both love to hide under blankets.

I have also gotten most of the decorating done. Here are some of my favorite bits. Of course Mr Opinionated thinks they are weird or ugly- but I disagree. Let me know if you agree with me. If you agree with Alma- just keep your nasty comments to yourself.



Andrea and I made these this week- cute I think. Mr Opinionated doesn't like the tree we used for and A.
This is the arrangement I put on the mantel in the living room. Mr O. thinks it is weird and wanted the stockings here, but they were to close to the fire, so I put them by the fireplace in the family room.

Upcoming soon (I hope)- Pictures of finished crafts- they are mostly all done. I just have to get the Christmas cards out. Ugh.

So this was on Tisha's blog I copied the list and then highlighted the things I had done. It was fun. Thank you Tisha. Of course I couldn't stop myself from commenting.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping-With Holiday no less!
27. Run a Marathon-Triathlon-no but when we ran the 5k last year a little 6 y/o wearing a velvet dress beat me and she fell a lot. So sad. My only goal was to run every step- which I did. Of course Susie didn't train at all and came in 2nd. Sicko.
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise-Not really cruises, but we chartered a yacht around the Caribbean a couple of times and spent a month on a similar boat in the South Pacific.
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant -No but my cousin Emily and I ate a meal with a stranger at Kolletto's is SF- he was French and asked if he could join us as the restraunt was full. This is unusual here but a common occurence in Europe. It freaked the Maitre de out and he kept asking us if we were okay. It was very nice and he sent us a post card from Paris later as a thank you.
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Gone without food or water for 24 hours or longer
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Stayed up for 24 hours with NO sleep at all
60. Served at a soup kitchen-It was a hospice for AIDS patients who were homeless- close enough I think?
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job- It was kind of mutual- they couldn't afford me and I was tired of bounced paychecks.
76. Changed a light bulb
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Mowed the lawn
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Wow I got 70! Thanks to my traveling parents.

Baking Weekend

Here are some pictures from our annual Baking Weekend- It was a little early this year due to Granny Eschelman's surgery. I didn't like the stress of the Thanksgiving at the same time- but at least this year I didn't have to really make the dinner as we went to Harvene's.

The weekend was great- we loved having Sarah with us, the boys were so cute most of the weekend, and the food was great. We made a lot of food just for us to eat- yum yum key lime bars and lemon cloud pie (can you tell I love me a citrus dessert). We also brought lots of frozen dough to share- so we didn't bake as much as usual. I let each of the girls pick out a recipe and that is what we mostly cooked that weekend. Well- here are all the pics-

Cuteness-
Grandma Da showed up for a picture with grandkids
Anna picked this recipe- choc cake cookie topped with marshmallow and choc frosting- very sweet and very popular with the kids.

Playing with trains

Playing with Nick

I have no idea what this hat thing was but Cone LOVED it.

All the kids tucked in for a nap, Ahhhhh.

Susie's huge amazing kitchen- two ovens! counter space! cool drawer pully thing for kitchen aid!

This is Coen with Mom's new puppy- why she needs some more pooping and pee stress in her life is beyond me.