Christmas in July

I have to thank my Sister-in-Neuroses, cmhl, for posting THIS the other day. Even though I am having a baby soon and babies tend to not care so much about your Holiday preparation schedule, I couldn't resist reading up and printing out the Holiday Grand Plan calendars, if only as a loose guide to getting myself together for the holidays (even while nursing and sleeping in three-hour stretches!).

Last month when The Crazies died down and I started my "resting," I also started Christmas. Well, actually, I start Christmas 2006 around New Years 2006 at the after-Christmas sales. I can do this because both our families are so cool, they have a family gift exchange that's on a rotation, so you always know who you have which year. Families give to families, so we start buying a few things for each of our exchange people right after Christmas and keep on buying/making gifties all year long. It has gotten to the point where I hardly have to go out in the crazy holiday rush unless I actually WANT to. Plus, this year, the Melins are having "Homemade Christmas" gift exchange, which means for me, the craftily-challenged, starting WAY early. CMHL wanted me to post some of my little projects, so at the risk of ruining some surprises, I am posting some of the things I have been making. Keep in mind that I am terribly allergic to following patterns and directions, so all of this stuff was either totally made up by me, or lifted from something I have seen at a craft store or gift shop! It's not the most skillful rendering, but it comes right from my heart and imagination. :)

I like embroidering favorite lyrics or quotes onto muslin and making pillows/ runners/ wall hangings out of them. Although my house has very little country-feel to it, I love to decorate for the holidays with such homey, handmade stuff. I hope my friends and family do, too, cuz that's what they're getting! These little bits are going to be small pillows. They say "Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room," one of my favorite lyrics form "Joy to the World." I might make a similar runner for my table, too (Merry Christmas to me).
I know it seems weird to give a Thanksgiving decoration for Christmas, but when you are just setting up house, you need decor for every holiday, which is why my sisters-in-law will be getting not just Christmas decorations, but Thanksgiving and Easter as well! I am making both runners and pillows from this pattern...and aren't the fabrics great!?? I bought them for 80% off last year when our Ben Franklin closed.

This is a tag book. My step mom gave me one for Christmas last year and I loved it so much, I figured out how to make them for other people...
The book has 12 accordion-folding panels (6 on each side) with pockets that hold little tags. I decorate the pockets and tags for each month of the year. Then you can use the book as either a date book, where you jot down birthdays and anniversaries on the tags, or as a mini-scrapbook for the year. You just crop your favorite photo from each month, paste it on the tag, and write the caption on the back of the tag. These are great baby gifts because the mommy can record the baby's first year on the tags, with a photo and notes about height, weight, development, etc....good stuff. It's a great way to use everylast scrap of your favorite papers and ribbons.

I am also making tiny "quiet books" for my nieces and nephews (for church) with pictures of family and fun things we did this year, and some scripture stories, too. I also made a book of 35 Family Night lessons/ stories with accompanying games or activities (with that great laminator I got for Christmas last year)--they turned out great, although I still have a few lessons to laminate. Rich is doing some beautiful photography, too, but that's all I am gonna say about that!

By the Way

I have been meaning to say this for a while... some people read my blog and don't leave comments (LURKERS). That's okay, but maybe some people (Hi, Grampa!) don't know how.

At the bottom of every post, it says something like, "Posted by Jamie at something-0'clock---Comments." If you click on the word "comments", it will show you the comments along with a window where you can type your own comment. I allow anonymous comments (from non-bloggers), so just write your comment (maybe include your name in there) and click anonymous, then type in the silly word verification (so I don't get spam comments), and voila! Not only does your comment appear in the comments section on the blog, it comes to my email box as a little note.

And I like little notes.

BELLY

Addie took these photos of my belly today. I should have done a sideways one--I'll do that later. You get the picture...Biggest prego belly ever for me, by far, but about 10 pounds less than when I had Heidi.
I got an email about this fun little google game where you search for your name + the word “needs” and then make a funny list of your needs according to the internet. So my “Jamie needs…” search turned up the following:

JAMIE NEEDS…
A kid
Your vote
Mental help
More than a mother’s love
A teacher
A car
To grow up
Some sugar
Permanency
A liver transplant
Some sleepy
A gavel
To radically improve [her] interpersonal skills
To learn to sit up straight (pilates)

(they forgot "to have that baby!!!!!")

Try it yourself and let me see your faves in the comments section!

The Young Ones

With the recent lull in family/summer activity, Rich and I have been cleaning out the corners of our house--you know, the garage, the office, certain closets--places where you stack your junk. Well, I have a "mission box" full of funny stuff I saved from my days in North Carolina and shortly thereafter. Imagine my hysterical fits of laughter when I looked in side and found this long-forgotten photo of my Provo roommates:



If you are a child of the 80s like me, you might fondly recall the fine British sitcom, The Young Ones. Well, after my mission in 1994-5, I got to LIVE The Young Ones (well, okay--a tamer, American, girl, BYU-version) in a crappy little brick apartment above a dental office in Provo, Utah, with these three gorgeous women...(from left) There's me (I'm Rik with a silent P, the people's poet), Erin (our Vyvian, a recently converted Mormon/former punk rock girl), Heidi (our Neil, the beloved "bloody hippy" from Canada), and Piedad Fernandez (our Mike, the normal/slightly disco character, our roommate from Spain).

I could go on and on about the humor in the fact that we even got this portrait taken, or that we all wore denim shirts and were posed on a ladder (!?!?!), or just--the EYEBROWS!!! But mostly I get a happy, sunshiney feeling thinking of what a fun year that was and how much we learned and did together. Look how young and glowing we are! Heidi looks like she is about to crack up, and yet is still the beautiful Earth Day Barbie I remember (who wanted to live with chimps and marry a lawyer). I am still quite sisterly with Erin and Heidi, but we sadly lost track of Piedad when she graduated from LDS Business college and stopped working at our favorite taco stand, Diego's. Between the three of us, we have TEN kids with 2 more on the way. Erin lives in England with her Dentist husband and Heidi lives in Seneca Falls, NY with her chiropractor husband. And I think we all drive mini-vans (heh, heh).

Once in every lifetime,

Comes a love like this,

Oh I need you, you need me,

Oh my darling can't you see.

Young Ones.--Darling we're the Young Ones

Young Ones--Shouldn't be afraid

To live, love, there's a song to be sung

Cause we may not

Be the Young Ones very long.

Update

High inside my house yesterday: 74F...
This morning: 61F...
THAT'S MORE LIKE IT! Of course it smells like the entire county is smoking bacon or something because Pine Creek, Mission Creek, and Big Creek are on fire. Even our barn is still smoldering and some embers caught the river bank on fire on Saturday. My poor dad-n-law is obsessed with watering the ranch to be sure we don't spread the embers and burn down our beautiful Paradise!

Rich and Addie made it home safe on Sunday night. Yesterday (Monday) was a terrible day for me--I didn't feel good, I looked haggard, the girls went crazy with all manner of mischief (including Heidi painting my toilet seat and her hands with clear nailpolish, cutting her hair, spitting milk all over the basement couches, filling the toilet with TP THEN taking off her diaper and peeng in the shower....I'll stop there). I was so frazzled, we just sang songs for FHE and hung out with Rich's brother Mike who came to visit. The only bright spot was that I made up a great new recipe (if you like Hawaiian food). Rich's mom gave me a bunch of left-over teriyaki chicken strips, so I cooked some rice, chopped up the chicken and made this in a saucepan:

4-5 chopped chicken tenders
1 can cream of chicken
2 TB soy sauce
about 1 tsp each of garlic powder, ground ginger, & dry mustard
1 can of pineapple chunks with about half the juice drained off

Bring to a boil and serve over sticky rice. It's an instant family hit around here--almost as yummy as Moko Loco!

Here's to a Tuesday that's better than Monday! And Happy August!

You Are My Sunshine

May I please have a moment to whine about the weather? I mean some more? Okay...

Current Temps according to MSN: Livingston 102F...Tucson 83F....

Doesn't that seem backward? Heidi and I celebrated with a THREE-HOUR siesta (and she's not even up yet).

Rich and Addie are enjoying similar weather in Salt Lake City today. Yay.

Hangin' Out with Heidi

Enjoying the freshly-cleaned floor...
Heidi was being silly while I cooked lunch today...we're having fun together!

Last year when Addie was a Sunbeam, her teacher (Sister Orton) gave her a package of Zinnia seeds. We moved in to late to plant them last year, but we planted them in May this year, and look how great they look now, even in the heat! (There are about three patches of zinnias like this in the front yard).

Livingston Weekly Photo

Freaky Friday

Actually, today is not freaky at all--I just like saying the name of one of my favorite movies (I liked both versions). We are just lounging about, trying to stay cool, keep laundry done and house clean and kids happy. Same ol'...

I have tried several times today to post the half-page photo of our family that appears in this week's Livingston Weekly. It's a cover story about the skyrocketing cost of housing in Livingston and the possible answers to the affordable housing question. So we got to be the shining example for the Rural Development/RC&D self-help program. I'll post it as soon as blogger lets me!

Other than that, it has been a nice week. Last Sunday our RS president announced that I was on moderate bedrest, so lots of people called to take the girls or help around the house this week. I can't handle people cleaning my house (unless I am at death's door), but I can let them play with my kids once in a while, so each day they have had a playdate or someone has come over to entertain them while I rest, which has been a huge help. Even just the offers made me feel better! This is a great church family we have here, not to mention my mom -in -law, who is totally Mary Poppins. We are so fortunate! I am trying to just give into the bedrest, combined with the "Summer Lazies," and the instinct to SIESTA when it's so hot outside, and just let this baby grow and get born safely. Sometimes I wish I could do more and enjoy the summer (like camping in the tent trailer, visiting my sister who just moved here, floating the river, working in the yard, swimming on our little pool, etc...) , but I just keep reminding myself this is the LAST time I ever have to be on maternity bedrest--there will be lots more fun Montana summers! Plus, it's only a few weeks--baby will be here before I know it!

So there you have it. I am using the downtime to make Christmas gifts, since we are having a mostly handmade Christmas this year. Embroidered runners and pillows and ornaments and other fun stuff can be done while "resting," so that has been fun. And then there's the reading, TV, jacuzzi tub, phone calls, and emails to keep me going (hint, hint--drop the ol' invalid a note!), as well as the crazy-cuteness (and busy-ness) of my daughters.

How are the dog days going at YOUR house???