Christmas

  It has been an insanely busy couple of weeks which have included 3 Christmas parties 2 of which were at my house, a missionary farewell and open house, family in town, a kitchen "remodel/mold removal" which displaced us from our home for 3 days, a new babysitting gig, and one less car all in the midst of Christmas shopping/present wrapping/treat making. Phew I am exhausted just talking about it. With all this going on I have somehow had time to reflect on what Christmas really means to me. And I find that I am amazed that for one month out of the year everyone is just a little bit more generous and thoughtful. Whether people acknowledge Him or not, everyone who celebrates Christmas is truly celebrating the birth of Christ. The tradition of Christmas lives on and though it may be a more commercialized version, many unite in celebrating the birth of the Savior of the world. I feel so blessed to be living the life I have, though I experience struggles and challenges which sometimes feel unfair and overwhelming. I have known and experienced my Savior's love for me. I have time and time again received blessings and answers to my prayers right when I needed them most. And I know that when no one else understands me, He does and He truly knows my heart and intentions. I am exceedingly grateful for the Birth of Jesus Christ and for his life and mission here on earth. Words cannot express my gratitude for Him and His humble birth.

Halloween (belated)

In case you were dying to know what my kids were for Halloween.....
Tristan- Clone trooper NOT to be confused with storm trooper
Morgan- Young Anakin  Sky walker not to be confused with Obi Wan
Daphne, Violet (and me)- cheetahs not to be confused with leopards( according to Tristan the pattern of our markings was more leopard than cheetah. Whatever!)

We had a great night we ate homemade Navajo fry bread with Randi and Warren and Papa J and Grammy Linda before heading out to our favorite neighborhood to trick or treat. Violet was a pro and walked to nearly every door bucket in hand where she expertly selected her treat before depositing it safely into her green jack o-lantern. She seriously cracked us all up as she practically ran to each door she even knocked on a few with her puny fists. After Trick or treating we visited Grandma Sheila who gave us cute bags of goodies before racing home to our cozy beds. Anyway our Halloween was a success hope yours was as well!

Blog updated: Check

Violet says HI!

Last week we all took a much needed hiatus from Internet, TV, and movies. So of course that means that i had a good excuse for not blogging and also means that I have spent too much time this AM catching up on FB and my favorite blogs. So here's a list of the notable highlights of what you missed.

• Tristan smashed his CTR (choose the right) ring on his finger so much so that it was pinching off his circulation and his finger turned purple. Whilst Golden ran to Lowe's to find a tool which could cut it off,  I tried my best to keep Tristan calm and convince him that his finger would not die and fall off, as he supposed it would. I also had to stop myself from panicking and running around yelling ahhhhhh his finger is Gonna DIE and fall off!!!!! I succeeded in keeping both of us calm long enough for golden to get the tool and cut it off. It was crazy smashed and in no way resembled an object that had ever been a circle!!!
• Golden's little sis, who is my age, moved back to AZ from OR so we have had a good time with cousins around here. Braelynn who is 6 months younger than Daphne was able to spend the night and the girls had a blast.
• We  also got to play tennis for the first time in years! Tristan had been bragging that he was so good thanks to his practice time on the Wii. I had to inform him that it was not the same and I even told him that he probably wouldn't be good (aka you are gonna suck and I am gonna beat you). I should have bit my tongue. Having been an Eyestone for 8 years now you would think that I would have figured out how athletically talented they are. Tristan was amazing and actually excelled in a game of doubles on Golden's team against Randi and Warren. He quickly figured out how to serve and was pretty accurate. Then of course Golden and Randi had to compete and both of them played so well (what else would you expect?). I always forget how good Golden is at well, everything. You might not be able to tell but Golden is really good at sports especially basketball, baseball, and tennis. He also could have quite a career as a pool shark if he wanted to.
• Weirdest story ever: I was at the grocery store and decided to write a check which I never do. I handed the cashier my check and ID knowing he would need it. He runs the check and then looks for my ID to process my payment and he can't find it. So he is panicking and looking everywhere assuring me it's not in his pocket (haha). I finally hand him my backup ID and step aside while he helps the next customer so we can look again. The manager comes over and we are all searching everywhere the garbage, bags, everywhere . Finally the manager gets a flashlight and looks down a crack that leads down into the kiosk where all the wires are hidden and what do you know he finds my ID.They have to take the front panel off of the register just to fish it out. Things like this ONLY happen to ME!!

Daphne the chicken

• Or ward had our primary program yesterday and my boys did GREAT they had their parts memorized and even sang a song in front of the microphone. Daphne however..... I practiced, begged, and bribed that child and still her tiny teacher had to carry her to the microphone and tell her what to say and she still only said 2 words and not even into the microphone!!!! I guess I should be glad she chickened out since I'm pretty sure I would have had to cough up a pony or something.
• And last but not least my amazing husband Golden finished his associates degree in business whooohooo. And the best part is he gets a week off for good behavior before he starts his bachelor's. Better late than never right.

Well have a good week I probably won't post again till after Halloween when I have fun pics

Fall Break

In case you were wondering what a mother of four does to keep her children occupied during fall break let me give you a little taste.

 The boys got out brushes and did all the girls hair. Seconds before this was taken, I myself was sporting an identical look. My "hair dresser" said I looked like Rapunzel when she has all the flowers in her hair.

 While Morgan was coiffing my hair we had a funny conversation which went something like this
Mo: Mom, why do girls just get whatever they want?
Me: Cause boys are very nice and take good care of them
Mo: But why don't boys get whatever they want?
Me: Some boys do, trust me
Mo: You mean like rich boys?
Me: yeah, rich boys
Mo: I bet rich boys don't even get what they want either.
Sadly his questions stem from the fact that he has two spoiled rotten little sisters who appear to get whatever they want and maybe a tiny bit because his mom kinda gets most things that she wants too.

 DO NOT tell Tristan that you saw this picture cause he will freak, but it was way too funny not to share. I love that my kids know how to ham it up and have great senses of humor.

Daphpunzel

 And of course Vy had to get in on the photo shoot too, The boys also gave her a comb and bow.

Doll baby

In other news Violet has been saying some words, they are not well pronounced but she consistently says them so they count. She says doggie, sit, shoes, and of course No. She also blows kisses and waves. She is such a happy baby and has learned how to behave in the spot light thanks to her siblings. She is so sweet and happy just like Morgan , with the exception that she articulately expresses her opinions, like when we are at the park and she doesn't want to get out the swing so she arches her back and grunts. She is quick to recover her equanimity though and finds something to smile about. I LOVE her!!!!!

Fall Break

In case you were wondering what a mother of four does to keep her children occupied during fall break let me give you a little taste.

 The boys got out brushes and did all the girls hair. Seconds before this was taken, I myself was sporting an identical look. My "hair dresser" said I looked like rupunzel when she has all the flowers in her hair.

 While Morgan was doing my hair we had a funny conversation which went something like this
Mo: Mom, why do girls just get whatever they want?
Me: Cause boys are very nice and take good care of them
Mo: But why don't boys get whatever they want?
Me: Some boys do trust me
Mo: You mean like rich boys?
Me: yeah, rich boys
Mo: I bet rich boys don't get what they want either.
Sadly his questions stem from the fact that he has two spoiled rotten little sisters who appear to get whatever they want and maybe a tiny bit because his mom kinda gets most things that she wants too.

 DO NOT tell Tristan that you saw this picture cause he will freak, but it was way too funny not to share. I love that my kids know how to ham it up and have great senses of humor.

Daphpunzel

 And of course the Letts had to get in on the photo shoot too, The boys also gave her a comb and bow.

Doesn't she look fake in this one I edited it as best I could in windows and I kinda like that she looks like a doll.

Halloweenie

I can't look at this without laughing, Daphne is super into Care Bears right now so when we found this at Goodwill for $6 I had to buy it even though it is a little small.I know she looks angry but really she is just being funny. Besides as I tell Golden , I can always sell it on Ebay. We laugh becasue I use this argument every year to justify spending a fortune on Halloween costumes but I have sold a total of 0 costumes and only even reused like 3. In case you didn't know I love, love love Halloween. So far we have already been dressing up and watching festive movies. I still need to haul out my tub of decorations but it will happen soon! If I am feeling extra festive I will let the kids have a few friends over and have a little party. My kids still talk about the one I threw a few years ago where I dressed like a witch and had them help me with my witches brew ( sprite/magic potion, grape juice/frog's blood, and green jello/Brains) They loved it! I am getting super excited, hopefully you are too or else I'm pretty sure we can't be friends any more.....Sorry

It's a sad sad day at the Eyestone house:

Breaking News!!!!!:   I have it from a reliable source that our beloved favorite restaurant Gecko Grill in Gilbert is closing!!!!! This is truly tragic news and though this reporter has not confirmed the validity of said rumor, I myself will be acting on the assumption that it is true and haul my cookies down there at least once before the rumored closing date Friday, September 30th. When I told golden the news, which came in late last night from my SIL Lindsay, he was reeling. We are both in shock and heart broken. All I have to say is where o where am I gonna get a shrimp mango quesadilla from now huh? Gecko is nearly the only Mexican restaurant we will go to. I know everyone likes Tia Rosa's but I am NOT a fan the food is bland, unexciting and extremely over priced. And before you suggest El Charro or Matta's think again they are not even worth mentioning! Yuck and yuckier if I wanted food from a can I would use a can opener. The only other place that even comes close, is Moreno's but it is more authentic and less baja then Gecko, so many of the seafood items are not on the menu and they do not have the American fusion element that Gecko has perfected such as jalapeno cream cheese and spicy spinach con queso. Gecko you will be sorely missed , we may not have visited you as often in the past few years but it was good to know that we could. I want you to know we were always loyal to you and defended you at any cost, even friendship. We will never forget your shrimp burro, crabby burro, shrimp mango quesadilla, salmon tacos, fiesta tacos, enchiladas, special chimi, pollo grande, and so many many more. You will be in our heart forever and always!!!!! We can only hope that you will eventually reopen and we can once again enjoy your delicious offerings. So long my looooveee, until we meet again. I will leave all you fans with a few mementos drool over....

picture compliments of google

Update****: We went in tonight and found out that they are maybe just moving but even then they will be closed for at least 6 months!!! This reporter has her doubts though. As many of you may know Golden worked there as a server and then manager for like 6 years, as I mentioned earlier Moreno's is one of our faves especially because we know the owner Angel, who is Fransisco's( the owner of geckos) brother . We heard it through the grapevine that the owners of gecko have been spending a lot of time working and helping out at Moreno's which is doing really well and has actually expanded and now owns a Neveria on Broadway and Horne (ice cream shop). I personally would speculate that they are working on a merger and would not at all be surprised to find that Moreno's adopts some popular menu items from Gecko. Either that or I would suspect that Gecko might adopt the same business plan as Moreno's and become more of a walk up type of restaurant. They are actually closing Saturday so get your fill before then! The official word is that the complex they are located in is under new management and were requiring that Gecko sign a 5 year lease which they were unwilling to commit to so they chose to close and potentially reopen only time will tell I will keep ya posted :)

Mally

This brown eyed beauty Is my sister in law Mallory Corine Eyestone and NO she is not available to date your son/brother/nephew/co-worker or even you! This gorgeous girl has chosen to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for 18 months. She has been called to serve in the Neuquen, Argentina mission and she reports to the Missionary Training Center on December 21st!!!!!! We are soooooo excited for her. Congrats Mally we know you will be an excellent missionary and that it will be such a life changing experience for you and those who you will teach. We are so very proud of you and the choices you have made which have qualified you for the Lord's service! We will definitely miss your pretty little face:)

Two Slice Hilly

So recently I mentioned that I read The Help, and watched the movie. Both were really enjoyable envoking the full spectrum of emotions from laughter to tears. It was honestly the best contemporary novel I've read in a long time.Though I will say that I should have watched the movie first and then read the book because I would have enjoyed the movie more if I had. Any of you who have read/watched it will get the title of my post hehe and get why it inspired me to look up a recipe for chocolate chess pie (sans excrement).I found a few and tweaked them to my own liking, essentially coming up with my own recipe and to my great surprise it was wonderful the first time I baked it!!! So I thought I would share the recipe as well as my/ Lee's recipe for easy pie crust.

This is not the actual pie I made but it looked similar to this one, picture courtesy of Google

Pie crust (yields 2, 9in crusts) you only need one for this pie so half the recipe unless you are making 2.
2 1/2 C Flour
1 C Crisco butter flavored shortening sticks
1/2 C ice water
1tsp salt
1tsp vinegar

For now I will tell you the easy and fast way to make this because I want to eventually do a tutorial with pictures on how to make a pie crust by hand using butter, which takes longer but I believe it turns out much more tender and flaky however it is much harder to describe without pictures. Maybe I will have it ready in time for thanksgiving?
So first  measure out the flour and salt into the bowl of your food processor with the blade in, and add the Crisco cut into squares on top. You can then measure out the ice water, adding the vinegar, and set it on the counter to allow the ice to melt. Then pulse in the food processor till the pieces are about the size of peas. Slowly pulse in the water/vinegar mixture. Do Not over mix once the water is mostly incorporated I like to turn the mixture out onto the counter and bring it together by hand.  The key to a tender crust is not to overwork it if you do it will be very tough, trust me I know. Form into two equal sized balls and wrap tightly in plastic wrap before pressing them flat, then refrigerate for at least an hour. After it has chilled roll it out onto a lightly floured counter top, roll from the middle out applying even pressure. You can then carefully fold it into quarters before transferring it into your pie dish then just gently unfold it without stretching and press into your pie dish place in the freezer while you make the filling.

Chocolate chess pie

1 stick of butter
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips I used Ghiradelli
1/3 cup milk chocolate chips
1 C sugar
2Tbs flour
2Tbs cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 C whole milk
3 eggs
1 1/2tsp vanilla

preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a double boiler or heatproof bowl fitted over a pot of water on low heat, melt chocolate and butter together. Pour chocolate mixture into the bowl of your stand mixer then add sugar , flour, cocoa, salt, vanilla and milk mix on low till Incorporated. Next add the eggs and turn mixer on to medium for 5-6 minutes. Pour mixture into your uncooked pie crust and bake for 35-40 minutes. Allow to cool for at least and hour on the counter for the center to firm up. Top with fresh whipped cream or ice cream and enjoy!

De Loser

Sooo lately blogging and I have not been friends. For no real reason except that I am pretty boring/ anything I would write about would sound like Debby Downer. Let's see lately we have had lots of car trouble ... like 6 new tires and expensive break problem car troubles. Then last week Letty got sick and it was especially sad. Also I realized that I am an old women and as a result my life is super boring. I have been waiting for exciting things to blog about but since there aren't any I decided I will just blog anyway and  all 5 of you who read my blog will just have to settle for what little entertainment value my life provides. I am setting a goal to blog 2x a week.... let's just see how I do.
 In other breaking news:
Violet has become a force of her own and now expresses her opinions quite vocally about which cup she wants, what food she will and will not consume, and which songs her singing dog should play. She also has eaten nothing but watermelon for 2 days!!! Seriously I have tried giving her nearly everything in my cupboard but to no avail. At least she is well hydrated right? I am not certain but she has also been saying something that resembles what that? while she points to various objects. And last week I taught her to say uh uh (sp) whilst shaking her head no, and then Gold taught her to wag her finger simultaneously I laugh so hard every time she does it, mostly to the dog....


The mutt is doing well she is very smart and has come a long way potty training not to mention obeys commands 75% of the time. I think we'll keep her.

Daphne is getting naughtier by the minute and her recent accomplishments include crying on the floor at Sam's club as it echoed throughout the building, I was just thinking, oh please don't hold back child not EVERYONE is staring yet! But alas I still love the little beast, who could resist those big brown eyes and her life gripping hugs? Not I my friends, not I.

The boys are mostly independent and nice, it helps that they are at school the majority of the week. Tristan is really into the D-Backs and informs Golden of every night they are playing by taking a glance at his handy schedule that he keeps under his pillow. Morgan is off in his own world most of the time except when he makes obvious observations hours after everyone else. He is such a little airhead, yet so like me he will occasionally surprise us by saying something so smart that proves he is listening. I have to say I am so glad that they are such good friends and play so well with one another. I only hope Daphne and Violet will be as good of friends!

Golden is a few weeks away from finishing his associates and starting his bachelors program. I am so proud of him for conquering his fears and doing so well in school and hopefully the next 22 months will fly by. I decided to save a little cash to present him with at the end of his program, for him to spend on whatever he wants. Hopefully it will be a dream vacation for the two of us? hehe But If I know Golden he will buy an old VW bug or dune buggy like he's been wanting forever now.
 Right now Golden and I are laughing hysterically at our children who are playing dress up in our closet and pretending to be us, I guess life is not always boring...but it sure is messy!
 So that's us in a nutshell. Ta-ta for now:)

My current Faves

In no particular order my current faves are:
Well groomed schnauzer puppies named Ruby who poop and tee-tee outside thank you very much

Daphne calling me a stupid bobblehead after she got in trouble for brawling (sometimes u just gotta laugh at horrible sass mouthin' girls)

The little boy I watch, Kai who tells me every morning how cute Violet is, and calls her bayba ( like the Justin Beiber song) and last week when he asked to hold her and I asked him if she was cute he replied, she is Hot! 3yr olds are definitely not allowed to call my bayba Hot!

Morgan calling Golden the hairiest dad ever. He told us that he told a kid at school that his dad was really a bear hahahaha soooo true just check out Golds legs next time you're around.


Tristan in his boy scout uniform soooo cute( pics to come I promise)

Golden randomly bringing me home a love owl via Ross on his lunch break.( it was like 3 weeks ago but it still makes me smile every time I see it.

Reading and then watching The Help with Best Pal Randi last Saturday. She rocks, for many many reasons, but especially cause she is willing to bring my two lovelies, Daph and poopy Vy along for girls night, and she never got annoyed once!.....I think:)


Finally finishing my associates degree in Communications 9 years after I began!!!!!! Now onto my Bachelors....after I take a much needed sabbatical hopefully not 6 years like last time.


Day one of Morgan not screaming and clawing when I drop him off at his new school. Hopefully this starts a trend.

Hanging with our peeps Mallory,Tay, and Gramma Sheila Monday night for FHE. Love spending time with those guys!


Black Bear Diner Tuesday nights.We are a little obsessed, they have free kids meals no limits. That means if you have 2 adults and 8 kids ...or half of that, they all eat free!!! Plus their food is super yummy and homecookedish as well as super cheap!Last night our bill went from $57 to $35 with tip!


Sleeping in 1/2 hour this morning after staying up late watching Teen Mom.(shhh don't tell)


With all of this to smile about who could be grumpy... not this girl!

I lub poopies, play bolleyball.......

Anyone who knows my hubby well knows that he is low maintenance and asks for very few things....at all....ever. Example: in the last 8 yrs we have been married he has owned literally one pair of jeans at a time! He wears the same pair day in and day out , when we were first married I would fight him on the matter and even purchased a second and third pair gasp, but they were never worn. Anyway I digress, he has lately been bothering me about getting a dog. This topic comes up about every few years and Golden either impulsively brings home some poor mutt who will sadly end up elsewhere/my MIL's, or we pay actual $ for a dog that ends up on Craigslist mere months later (I am not a horrible dog hating person and this has only happened a few times.... and mostly for good reasons, like my carpet/sanity!). I finally decided that we were cat people why? I'll tell ya why, they clean themselves, are not loud, do their own thing and put up with the little people around here who like to poke fingers into perfectly good eyes.Last tangent I promise, I have a really funny cat story. Fi-Fi/ rotten princess enjoys herself a good howl anytime she hears the word No. Well one time she was howling on the floor like she just saw her favorite doll dismembered, she was soo loud and I guess our cat Al just got sick of it so he ran up to her quick as lightning and B-slapped her so she would shut up. He didn't scratch her he just pawed at her face. She was shocked and looked at me stunned before I busted up laughing and she joined in, all I can say is Hey it worked, she stopped crying! Back to the dog sitch, Well since we have moved into a place with a yard and a doggy door Gold cannot help himself, all he can think about is that perfectly good doggy door going to waste. So slowly he has worn me down and my definitive "N. O.'s" have turned into "well maybies". He finally convinced me when he came up with a scheme that makes a dog almost seem useful. He wants to breed dogs on the side. He has even held off from just buying the first little fuzzy thing with four legs and we have done research on what type of dogs are good with kids, easy to potty train, are not hyper and make cute puppies with a Yorkie. After much deliberation we have decided on a miniature Schnauzer.That is her in the pic, she will be so cute once we get her groomed up proper like. I am actually really excited we get her tomorrow.We are now just thinking up names. Would it be tacky to name her a name I wanted for Violet but was too chicken? P.s. Any ideas? Pass them my way! On another side note, this may sound weird but I think having puppies around the house will really fill the void of not having more babies.Grrr Violet, don't you know you were supposed to stay a baby for much much longer!

Happy Bday boooy!

I have about 10 seconds before my hot date with the MR. But I wanted to just wish my honey a Happy Happy 32nd Birthday! I am so grateful that he was born and for the parents who reared him to be the amazing dad and husband he is today....and almost every other day! ( p.s. this is the first pic I take on every phone/camera I get lol :)

My baby is Not such a baby anymore :(

Last Thursday Violetty disobeyed my orders and went ahead and turned one anyway the little twirp. Since she is the fourth child she is a little less loved so instead of an elaborate birthday bash we just had a small party with our nearest and dearest to celebrate. I did however bake her a cake! I made a violet crown and a small Belle cake just for her. We ordered Venezia's pizza and opened presents. I have to say she was adorable with all of her gifts. She just kept laughing and dancing. It was like she knew that the toys were for her and she was really excited about them. She would walk up to everyone, hand them her toys and giggle. Now if you will, indulge a mother and appreciate the excessive volume of Violet pictures I am about to bombard you with.

hurray for presents!!!

What? for me?

Dancing to the music.

She loves it!

Squish face

Gimme gimme!

Love dat babyeee

Tippies

First a purse now a cell phone she is growing up too fast!

where you at?

she was showing everyone her new toy

giggle giggle

wiggle wiggle

she wasn't quite sure about the cake.

yummy frosting

her hair was much messier than her face by the end of cake.

I am so incredibly grateful for this baby girl and I can't help but reflect about the day she was born and how very near we were to not enjoying that sweet little face everyday. I cannot imagine what my life would be like if I couldn't kiss those chubby cheeks, hear that shrill little giggle, and watch this beautiful baby grow up! I can't wait to see the woman she grows up to be!......Ok maybe I can!