Family Party

Friday, the 4th of December was our family party with my Mom and siblings.  I kinda butted in and planned it myself since it was getting close to the date and I wanted to do fondue :)  It was a lot of fun.  We had the oil, cheese, caramel and chocolate like we did with our Halloween party a couple years ago, and other than the cheese having a lumpy texture (store brand : L ) I think everything was great!  We ate, then played the candybar game which I think was a total blast!  I think my favorite part was watching Noah steal everyone's candybars, but no one being able to take anything away from him since he's so little.  Brad was sweet to give the Milk Duds to Brent K. after the game.  He's just a sweetheart.  After that we played Heidi's game where we opened presents that had been wrapped a million times over.  The kids were fun to watch with this, we did it with music.  They seemed to like it a lot.  Fun game.  Then the adults had their turn with the gloves and all..... good times.  I think we were supposed to carol afterward, but that never really happened.  Mom and Simon sang to us basically.  It was so nice though.  And I think the best part of it all was that we were able to have everyone over at OUR house.  I like that.

(brent so should have gone into acting.  or working in a Day Care or something.....)

It's just so fun to have a tub again....

Now that we have a bath again this is the latest time killer.  The boys and Erika LIVE for "taking a bath tub".  It's really been fun for me too.  It's crazy to think that we went 2 years without one.....

I do realize that this is a lot of pictures of ONE of my kids.... in the bath tub.... especially if you add them to the ones I posted like last week.  But she is SO STINKIN' cute regardless.  I just love looking at my little Princess and all of her many expressions.  She's not the easiest smiler.  But when she does it just melts my heart.

There's Luke over there.... somehow all the pictures with his face in them did not turn out.  He kept trying to splash my camera.... maybe that's why....

Future Memories

- Sunday, 11-28-10 Luke gave his first talk in Primary!! I felt horrible because regardless of how many types of reminders I was given, I still failed to remember it. Of course it popped into my head as we walked in the doors of the church (thank you Charity!), and THANK YOU, NATE (my incredible husband), he did a little improv talk, and Lukey pulled it off like he'd practiced it all week. This is embarrassing, but hey, it worked, nobody could tell a difference :) And I have to document his first talk!! That's just the coolest!

- Wednesday was our hang out with Grandpa Hatch day.  We just went up to his house and bummed around like usual.  The kids were so happy to see him.  I keep trying to tell them that we see him just as much as we did when we lived there, but for some reason they don't believe me.  Erika just about jumped out of her car seat when she saw Grandpa through the car window up on the porch.  She just loves Grandpa and his way of wrapping himself around her little finger.  He does whatever she wants.  He got us pizza and we played with the massive ice cicles that were hanging above his front porch.  Such fun.  And it was even more fun to not go downstairs when we left :)

- Thursday night was a new one.  We had 10 kids in our house, running around, shooting guns, spying, being dogs, knocking over Erika, chasing each other around the house, getting soaked little feet.  Charity had Annie over, Kelly had Trisha, and Brad had Jackson and Jake (he called it a "club").  SO MUCH FUN!!!!  I had forgotten how much fun that was.  In the basement it was difficult to have friends over (not to mention embarrassing), so it didn't happen enough.  This was like a breath of fresh air!  I loved it!

- Saturday, Heidi, her friend Brent, Charity, Kelly and I all went to see Tangled.  I was in love with it the whole time!  There were only a few things about the story that I disliked, but not any worse than The Little Mermaid or Aladdin.... or Mulan.... I hate the whole disobeying the person in charge of you thing.  But I guess in Rapunzel's case it was a good thing.... so anyway.  I still think that "Mom" reminds me of me :)  The girls said she didn't remind them of me, but I still want the soundtrack so that I can learn the song "Mother Knows Best" :)  Good movie.

- Sunday 12-5-10 we got to go see my newest nephew, Alvin Brian Hatch blessed.  I wish I could say that the whole meeting was nice, but I think the only part I really enjoyed was the actual blessing.  I must say that Testimony meetings are definitely my favorite, but there have been a few times in my life where I feel like if I had been having a weak day, certain testimonies could have pushed me over the edge.  Luckily I was not having a weak day.  Maybe it's the whole gotta-be-in-a-member-of-the-ward-to-understand kind of thing, but I was not loving the meeting.  My kids were ruthless as well.  But either way :)  I LOVED hearing my brother bless his second son, and feeling the Spirit from that.  He sounds like he is going to be a pretty neat little guy.  Of course.  The thing at their house afterwards was fantastic.  I loved it.  Good food, good company.  Just doesn't get better than that.

- Also on Sunday, when we picked Kelly up from her primary class her teacher informed us that she was "the only one who knew the words to I Wonder When He Comes Again, and so she sang the whole song to her class".  She totally surprises me with her bravery.  For someone who comes across as so shy, she sure stands out in a crowd.  I love it!  I hope she keeps it up.

- Tuesday I got to go judge the Reflections submissions (this is the district level).  Is it bad that I gave my daughter (didn't see Charity's there : (  ) a 10 out of 10 and then circled and starred it as being one that I think NEEDS TO GO THROUGH TO THE NEXT LEVEL??  I think it should.  Both of them should.  I was just being honest :)

- Wednesday, Sarah and I took our 4 boys (and Erika) to see a GIRL movie!!!  Sarah didn't get to go see Tangled with us on Saturday, so I sacrificed some of my precious time to go sit through that movie yet another time.... HA!  Just kidding.  When she called she asked if I "had time to fit it in" that day and I just have to laugh because my life is just that pathetic :)  I do :)  Well, I shouldn't say pathetic, I like that it's like that, but it's just funny that my choices were: clean the house or go see a movie.  Of course I'm gonna go see the cute movie that I loved :)  I think the boys were okay with it and I think Sarah liked it too.  I LOVED it even more.  It's fun to go do something for the Moms every once in a while and disguising it as something for the kids :)

- Wednesday night we stayed up till all hours of the night working on yet another project with Charity for school.  She's just like her Mommy.  We have GOT to start on these things sooner than we do.... she's had weeks to do it and we crammed all the work into 2 (ish) days!!!  And now I've gotta make a last minute dash to Ikea tomorrow for some chocolate and Julmust (however you spell that) so that her class can get a real taste of Sweden..... good grief.  It's kinda fun though.... my life would be a complete bore without these last minute things.

Fun Stuff

This is the cutest thing ever.  Luke handed me this picture today and said, "Mom, I made dis for you!"  He has never been as into drawing as the rest of our kids, but every once in a while he finds it enjoyable and I just love it when he thinks of me when he draws :)  His pictures are looking so good lately.  This one is really special though because when I asked him to tell me about this picture he said, "Those are hearts, and that's me and you!"  Look how good his hearts are!!!!  I actually thought they were hearts to begin with, but I wanted to make sure.  He told me "I made this picture because I love you so much!"  Such a sweetheart!  Luke has acutally been REALLY affectionate lately.  Almost too affectionate if that is possible.  He just showers me with kisses and hugs.  And I'm talking EVERYWHERE!!!  He actually kissed my neck the other day!  And today after our little cuddle session, he smacked my butt as he walked past me.  I asked Nate if that qualified as sexual harrassment in the workplace :)  He's a cutie.  I hope he never stops loving me :)  And I hope he knows how much I love him too.  I try to tell him often.

The boys talked me into getting out the big book of tattoos today.  What fun that was!  These moments are funny because in my head I'm thinking, "is this a good idea? do I want to be sending the message that tattoes are okay and fun? should I be doing this?"  (not that it's the first time or anything) And all the while my boys are like, "You're the coolest Mom EVER!", "Thanks SO much!", "I just love you, Mom!"  Just having a grand ol' time.  Even Noah got into it!  He was asleep by the time I took the pictures.  And actually later on in the day when Steve came over, we decided to put a cute little smiley face on Erika's arm :)  It looks cute.  I figure, and this is how I am justifying it to myself for now, it's not any worse than face painting at the carnivals and stuff.  So for now.... And actually Luke and I had a long talk about real tattooes (do you like how I keep testing out different ways to spell that?) and how much they must hurt and how dangerous and bad they are for your body.  He was very impressed by it and made me retell it for the girls when they got home.  So who knows, maybe it's more productive than not.... ya never know.  Either way, they had fun with it and it's harmless. 

Now THIS is one of the funniest things Kelly has ever presented me with!  I have shown it to everyone who has come over including the Bishopric.  It's not her best art, but the comedic value far outweighs art quality.  So read what you want, this is how it was presented to me: 

"This is me [pointing to the middle] and I'm saying, 'I'm enjoying this!'  And this is you [pointing foar left], and you're saying,'Are you okay?' to Daddy.  And Daddy is saying, 'I'm not enjoying this.'"  And I said, "Why is Dad not enjoying it?"  And Kelly's funny reply, "Because he's being stung by a bee!!!!!!"  HA!!!  LOOK AT THAT BEE!!!  And I do believe it's stinging him in the rear.  Not to make light of Nate being stung by a bee.... he is very allergic (not that Kelly knows that).  But it's just hilarious to me!!!  I'm still laughing about it.  I do love the two people up on the top of the page.  I think they're supposed to be Heavenly Father and Jesus, since that's what the two people at the top of the page USUALLY are.  But when the Counselor in the bishopric asked her if they were the "two more kids waiting to come to your family?"  She said, "yes" so who knows :)  Kelly informed me tonight that she wants to have an even number of kids just like me.  And I said, "so should we be done having kids then?" and she said, "Yeah. Or you could have 2 more and have EIGHT!  That's even too!  Or ten, or 12, or 14, or TWENTY!!!"  So didn't get anywhere with that question :)  But I was just like Kelly when I was younger, I wanted an even number. 

Putting up Christmas

For FHE on Tuesday we "put up Christmas" (my kids have called it that for a while now :) I think it's cute).  It seemed a little more chaotic than it usually is and I didn't even get any pictures of putting the tree up and decorating!  These are actually reinactments :).... gotta have something :)  This top picture is of all the kids with their special "Baby's First Christmas" ornaments from Grandma Hatch.  They all LOVE those ornaments SO much!  It was cute to see them all get all excited about whose ornaments were whose and where they came from.  I like the sentimentalness of it all.  Lukey's ornament was dropped on the hard floor (which I warned them of even), but we were able to glue it back and now it's good as new.  Probably won't be the first time though :) I'm afraid.  Erika threw a huge fit when we had to take hers away.  She was.... overall.... very overwhelmed with the whole project.  She wanted to touch too much than we all wanted to let her.  It made things difficult, but gives us more insight into her personality.  She really does struggle with being a baby and not being able to do everything the big kids do.  It's SO different from how Noah is.  Kids are so amazing that way.... SO completely different from each other.

It was Luke's year to put up the star.  We let him just pick whatever ornament he wanted to put on the top since we STILL don't have a blue angel.  I wonder if I'll ever really get around to making that!  I need to.  He felt very privileged! 

We did the traditional- get out the "holiday specs" and check out the lights on the tree- that we do every year.  The kids love these :)  It's fun to think about Sis. Ashton every year when we get these out.  Everyone in Alaska for that matter.  I hold so many close to my heart especially this time of year.  These glasses are so cool, Kelly had the awesome idea to take a picture through them.... I thought they turned out good enough to put in the blog book, just in case they fall completely apart and are not useable forever.... (I did have to do quite a bit of taping this year to keep them intact.

This is the snowflake one- this one's not as obvious until you look at the other ones, but it makes each light on the tree into a little snowflake!  It was really fun when we used to take these for drives in the car and see all different colors of lights with them.... fun stuff.

This one has little Christmas trees with the words "Merry Christmas" over them.... Pretty cool huh!

The North Star

Kinda hard to see, but these are angels

Snowmen.  This one's my favorite.... they even have the buttons!

And of course Santa Claus.  I think I may have missed one.... but anyway, you get the idea.  If you're over at our house during the holidays, we'll probably force you to look through them :) They're our favorite!  We went online to buy some replacements and you actually have to buy them in groups of 50!  And they're $1.25 each.  Kinda lame.  If anyone wants to go in on it with us.... I do realize that this is a stretch, but hey! I can try can't I :)..... Let me know :)

I feel kinda funny this year (don't ask me why) about all my Christmas stuff.  It's all just so random.  I know it looks a little tacky all spread out all over my mantel the way it is.  But I just can't help myself, putting it all up.  It all has so much meaning.  I get tempted to find some classier looking decorations and stuff that matches and goes together, but why?  What would be the point of that.  I think the best part about Christmas is the memories and the traditions and the sentiments.  That's what makes it special to me.  I wanted to tell about some of my cute little decorations and why they are special. 

Starting on the left: -You can't see it very well in this picture, but Charity's "melted snowman" that she made in Mrs. Groom's class.  She loved that thing.  And I will never forget how fun that class was when I went in to help with that party.  The kids all loved each other so much!  I remember feeling terrible about tearing her away from those close friends to move.  It's such a cute craft too. 

- Then the Santa Claus that the Hokanson's gave us one year, in Taylorsville.  I just loved Shalyce, and that ward.  It brings back good memories.

- The cute little cottage candy jar that my Aunt Nancy gave us one year.  Nancy is always so thoughtful.  The kids have always loved that thing too (for obvious reasons :) )

- The Nativity set that my Mom gave me the first year we were married.  It's little kids dressed up as the Nativity.  Pretty cute.  My mom was helping me start the collection that I had wanted to start.  Ever since I saw Elaine's (my Dad's Aunt) collection when I was little, I had wanted to.  Also the display at Temple Square the year Nate and I were dating was full of different Nativities.  I love that.

- The cute little snowman from Kim Ball (my former Young Women's leader) when I went away to college.  She made it herself.  She's an inspiration.  She can do EVERYTHING!

- The little saucer and cup from my sweet, faithful Visiting Teachers in the Taylorsville ward.  Jannell Veenendaal and Valerie Koeber.  Love them.  Heavenly Father has always blessed me with such amazing Visiting Teachers.  I really couldn't ever ask for more. 

- The ceramic Nativity scene from the Stricklands our next door neighbors in taylorsville.  I love the Stricklands.  I remember the whole time we lived there I always felt so terrible to be having kids so rapidly when they were having such a hard time having their first.  Everytime I got pregnant I just never wanted to tell her.  I knew how much it would hurt to hear about another one.  Thankfully they have been blessed with 2 boys and I just get chills everytime I think about them getting pregnant with this last one.  Such a miracle!  They deserve it.  They're such examples of faith and endurance to me. 

- The awesome wood nativity from the Mathers.  That was SUCH a creative way to make a nativity.  I've always loved it!  And I've always loved the reminder of the Mathers (Taylorsville ward as well).  He was our Bishop the whole time we lived there.  They were just amazing.  They were the ones who shared all of their baby girls clothes with us.  I think we still have several things from them that I hang on for Erika to use... so cute.  The Ladybug Halloween costume especially.

- The little Christmas shoe (not sure the significance, but I"m assuming it's Japanese) from Sis. Lofthouse.  Bradley seemed to be one of her favorites in Nursery.  She sure treated him as such.  She gave him a few really cute things those years in Alaska.  And several articles of clothing that we still ahve for Noah.  I loved Hiroko.  She was such a sweetheart.  I wish I'd been able to be a better Visiting Teacher for her.  She had such a neat personality.  And so humble.  I'll never forget her.

- The nativity from Jen and Dan from our first Christmas.  I love that nativity.  So cute!!  And it was such a fun gift to receive that year.  I remember how much I loved the welcome into the family that Dan and Jen showed me.  They were so nice to me.  From day one.  I remember hanging out at their house while we were dating, Nate throwing Allan around and watching Liz do her thing.  It was so fun for me to see Nate with their kids.  He was (well, IS) such a cute CUTE uncle. 

So our stockings are still not my favorite.  I think for the last couple of years I've said that I want to make new/matching ones, and I think I really will this year.  And probably retire my big ol' red one.  That's the stocking they brought me to my mom in, in the hospital after I was cleaned, when I was born.  I've ALWYAS used it, but I think it would be really fun to make a family set.  I've thought maybe I could make everyone's look like that one.... but we'll see.  It's probably just time to put it away :)  I am all for sentimental, but these stockings don't really bring back too many fabulous memories other than scrambling for some one year at Macey's and finding those first three for a dollar.  Kinda lame.  I'll keep you posted if I actually do make them!

So now Christmas can start :)  I'm all for the music, snow, red, green, cinnamon smells.... it all starts now!  This is going to be a fun Christmas.