Sewing

The most beautiful fabric in all the world is Christmas fabric. I love that my home is one rolling pattern to another. There are scraps from the same print material in our stockings, and our tree skirts, and our quilt and back around again. It just ties the season together. I love to sew, and I really love to sew at Christmas time.

There is not much that I have sewn that I am proud of. I'm not trying to be modest, I just truthfully not very good.
Or at least the products of my hand show the speed and lack of effort I put in!
Tuesday I created an entire tree skirt for our Joy Tree in 2 hours, one of those hours holding a 3 year old on my lap.

There is one thing that I love the most is our Christmas quilt. I made it for J the second Christmas we were married. It looks wonderful... it is warm...the buttons I used to tie it were hand picked to match... the colors were laid out well, the pattern is pleasing to the eye, the back side is solid red flannel (from a thrift store sheet, my backings always are) and I can honestly say I LOVE IT!

I have been thinking a lot about myself lately. I think a lot about myself always, it's one of the many things that when I think about myself I think that I should change about myself. I also want to care less about what people think, I want to be more the person I pretend to be and less the petty person I really am on the inside. When thinking about what makes a day feel like a "holiday" I decided it is the feeling of peace that comes from having nothing much to do. Could I create the feeling of a holiday in my home everyday by as my husband said last night "What do you think would happen if I went down stairs and put 500 lbs on the bar? I could probably lift it, but than it would crush my to pieces and I would die" "You need only what you can handle and maybe a little bit more to make you grow. Figure out the things you don't like, notice when you make mistakes and do better, it's not hard" Do I sometimes crush myself to pieces?
So, in LIFE and in SEWING I need to slow down. Except the fact that I might not be or be using the top of the line machine, that some things might be harder to get my needle through than some other people...they might just have an easier time with some things, it's just the way we are all designed differently. It is creating that is the fun part, not just the finished project... that our children are the greatest creation we are privileged to help Heavenly Father in creating (not our world pleasing pass times) and that that darn unseen bobbin is way more trouble to keep track of than the top portion that everyone can see, so maybe I need to spend more time on what is on the inside than the exterior.

Please enjoy some of our homely creations...just don't look to close, there is imperfection in every seam (just like me:)

This is our Joy Tree after 3 days of making our paper chain


Mom and Dad stocking's from our first Christmas


RJ's from her first Christmas


M's from his first Christmas


S's from his first Christmas


RE's from this year


the second stocking I made this year for our next baby ( J was not amused:)


The tree skirt for the Joy Tree I made this year


The tree skirt for our real tree that I made our first Christmas ( I had to take it off for the picture)



My table decked for the month



and last but far from least the beloved Christmas quilt and pillow cases created in '03


MERRY CHRISTMAS!

honey

For the last 3 days EVERY time S has spoken he has added "hooooney" into his sentence.
So it sounds like this
"hi hooooney!" when he see's baby RE in the morning.
"I want some water hooooney!" speaking to his mommy
"Don't touch that hooooney!" talking to M

It is for sure adorable :)

RE's 2 months old!

Just like magic!
She turns 8 weeks and WOW!
She sleeps through the night AND Takes 3 day time naps in a BED for 1-3 hours each nap!!!!!!!!!
I didn't even know what to do with myself by the second day of this!

Want to know my trick?
You really don't want to ;)
It's formula.
With 4 out of 4 of my children within 2 weeks of them switching over completely to formula they begin acting completely different they are happy, full, content and they SLEEP! sigh.
Breast milk make you feel so proud of yourself (at least is does for me) but it sure leaves me tired of babies that go all day long with one 20 min nap, and multiple night feedings and all the crying and cringing.
There I said it, so through your tomatoes.

She had her 2 month appointment this morning and she is my smallest baby yet!
10 lbs 2 oz! The Doctor was not concerned. I was just expecting her to be about a pound more than that based on the other's at 2 months and how fast she grew the first 2 weeks.

Two Christmas Thoughts:

#1) If you are like me and like to support "support worthy" places (such as hobby lobby and chic-fil-A that close on Sunday) you might enjoy this list of "naughty and nice" stores. If they say Christmas than they are on the nice list. If they want your well earned money but refuse to say the dreaded un politically correct word Christmas than they are on the "naughty" list.

http://lc.org/index.cfm?PID=17981

#2) This year don't forget what true J.O.Y. is:
J esus first
O thers second
Y ourself last

easy and cute for kids to remember. I refuse to have a pretty theme tree so this year we are trying to create a very special purpose for our second family tree.

another word for "lie"

M says to S "that's not true! That is pretend true."

"I want to be no one!"

I just tucked M in for his 30 min "rest" he is looking at Lois Lenski's book "when I grow up"
So I asked him: "have you decided what you want to be when you grow up yet?"
his response in a very whinny 3 year old voice "No, I don't want to. I want to be like you. I want to be no one when I grow up!"
Thanks for valuing my work as a mother little man! LOL

Must Have Baby Items

You know how we all think we know everything?
Well I actually do...j/k
but nevertheless here is my list as the all knowing mother of 4 of "must have's"

#1 - - For all mother's who will be pumping and storing milk. My number one favorite baby thing ever! It keeps everything nice and organized, milk freezes flat in the spring loaded case, you can fill from the back take from the front, use the lid for additional storage holding about 50 bags in all.



#2 --- Swaddle blankets. I am not so great at folding a baby into a receiving blanket, and man are these things easy! They keep baby warm and snug and help them to know when it is time for bedtime:) I like having at least 3-4 of them



#3 - - -Newborn gowns (in gender neutral colors) my babies LIVE in these for the first 2-4 weeks. They have mittens built in so that baby will not scratch his/her little face all up, they are so easy for diaper changes and perfect underneath the swaddler blanket! I like to have at least 6-7 of them.



#4 -- Sling, the one I am loving on right now is this one: http://www.slinglings.com
A very very life saver for children born like 3 out of my 4 needing you ALL THE TIME;)
and no, that is not me. It's just some model on the internet who's baby has a mop of dark hair, my baby is almost bald.


#5 - - -Gerber baby food and bottle organizer ( again I am big on this organization stuff :)


#6- - all my runners up/"nice to have's"
* For a first time baby a small low to the ground "take along" baby swing, you can take it ito the bathroom with you, very bad for non-first b/c it is at older sibling grabbing level.

* mobile in crib. My babies have all enjoyed lying in there cribs watching it go round and round :)

* Exersaucer to hold them safe in one spot!


The rest of the stuff is just unnecessary junk...that is if you take my word for it little sister ;)
oh, and I really love the boppy pillow too.

"Jesus gave me candy"

On Halloween as the children and I were trick or treating around the neighborhood we had this experience:

An "olderish" man with a full grown beard ad long long gray hair opened the door. He was also wearing sandals, a large cross around his neck and a flowing robe. It was quite obvious who he was dressed up as.
My baby of the night S crys out instantly upon the door opening "JESUS!"
The man laughs and says "ya, all the kids have got this costume figured out pretty fast his year."
After getting the candy safely in out treat bags we walk down the steps and as we hit the sidewalk S proudly exclaims "Jesus gave me candy!" I tried to clear things up "no honey that wasn't really Jesus, that was just someone dressed up like Jesus." to which he replied in typical 2 year old faith. "na uh, Jesus gave me candy!"
and then of course RJ and I had to have a deep theological conversation for the next three house about whether this was a good thing to dress up like Jesus for Halloween or not. In the end all that I could really say was that I would not choose to dress like Jesus for Halloween.

"Dag on! I am one cute baby!"

I love the very first time a new baby catches a true glimpse of them self's in the mirror.
RE had this moment last night.
Her eyes slowly slide over to her reflexion and one side of her smile curls up, and than the other in a huge brilliantly pleased..."hey, it's me!" and "dag on, I am one cute babe!"

She is also a sheet snob! After moving to a king size bed, Sherry gave me some hand-me-down Queen size Egyptian cotton ones ( never had such a luxury) and my daughter now seeps 4 nights in a row until 4am! I'm sending her to your house Sherry! This girl might never make it in my cotton blend world! LOL

"do any of those guys want a turn?"

M and S are to the adorable stage where they must both pray at every meal, so waiting to eat time just got a little longer.
M does not mind b/c he always waits forever for the prayer to be said ( sometimes a long time in the morning if I am preparing things and he is the only one to notice that I forgot:)
S doesn't care b/c he just starts right in eating (mind you with his eyes closed) during the prayer.
So tonight the Saturday twins were still here at dinner time so it was a table with 3 six year olds and the little boys.
M says his prayer. S says his and than M still with arms folded turns lovingly to the older three "do any of those guys want a turn?"
He was happy to wait if those guys did:)

Impossible?

These words hang on my refrigerator:

"That is impossible! Perhaps, but we will do it anyway."

This morning as I sat on the toilet (yes the toilet) with a 7 week old in a sling, a 2 1/2 year old hanging over my arm trying to kiss that baby =, a 3 year old in the wide open bathroom doorway asking for help getting something down from somewhere and my six year old jumping up and down on my unmade bed for some reason telling me that it was 8:27, 8:27. 8:27 I thought about the 16 loads of laundry a week, the house to clean, the leaves to rake,my hair to curl, the really awesome curcuit training book that I got at the library that I really want 10 minutes a day to do, the children to love and play and cook for and I thought, This is impossible!
How can one woman do all this!
and than I thought about my hero Michelle Duggar, and how much I wish I had enough faith to have 19 children. Mayne if I could achieve those other two goals of getting to the temple twice a month instead of once and read the scriptures as if I love them the way that I do and not just another chore...and if it is impossible and there will always be laundry in the washer, laundry in the dryer, laundry on the window seat and laundry on the floor than does that mean that I give up? I think not! I think that even though it is impossible you still get up everyday and work all day long ad ask yourself why this lazy ideals that life would be anything besides hard word ad hard knocks. I don't know any women with self-cleaning houses? Who look really really good without hard work and sacrifice. My poor husband has to sit in a office all day and look at a computer and all over the world woman are up at dawn to carry water on their heads or grind meal or some insane work load, and I just want to complain about 16 loads of laundry and not enough leisure time to develop my leg muscles! Sheesh some whiny mom over here!

I have a great calorie counting, money rewarding system for all the good days I have where I eat and do what I am supposed to do instead of rewarding myself for the actual pounds lost, so if that makes sense I get my $1 for the day no matter what the scale shows as long as I o my part. So far it is working! 3 lbs in 4 days! I'm always so amazed at how much food I must be eating when I cut down to 1,800 a day and see such results! I won't bore this blog with pound by pound accounts, but take note that I am off and running with 27 lbs to where I want to be, 22lbs to where I was before this pregnancy and 7lbs to my life time normal from back as far as when I was 14 years old weight.

Happy Halloweening :)

This year my sister bought the kids a set of "pegs" to decorate there pumpkins with.
They are sort of like light bright pegs and they were so much easier than dealing with knifes on the table with all the little fingers trying to help in the carving process.



In case you can't tell from the background of that picture, here is what our world looked like October 30th from our front window. Greetings from Colorado for those of you who may not live in such a beautiful almost always snowy for Halloween place as this :)





and lastly I finished just in time the boys costumes for the church party and RJ's the night before her school party.
She went as Hermione from Harry Potter. She even helped sew it herself. This time she did the bottom half of the machine, and so I further developed my sewing skills as I tried to keep a street line while standing bending over the side of the machine while she sat in the chair...ah, the things we do for the love of our little helpers. I think she will be a good seamstress, mostly because she has been "helping" in one way or another for about 3 years already now.
Enjoy your candy everyone! (we all know I will:)

"you be the bad guy, and I'll be the ghost"

It's a little bit of history repeating....how come the day of the ward Hallween party and three minutes AFTER you finish sewing the Mr LowPart costume your son decides he did indeed want to be Handy Manny, just like his little brother, not the side kick Mr. LowPart??
How come only 1 hour before the ward party your daughter changes her mind about what she wants to be?

Easy, elementary answer my dear...because you and your siblings did the same thing to your own mother :)

M after playing outside barefoot in the dirt on Saturday afternoon sits down on the kitchen floor and proceedes to put his foot in his mouth!
Me "what are you doing M!!!"
M "cleaning the dirt of me feet."
I did not deserve this one! I never ever tried to lick the dirt off my feet! (Maybe this one was from his Dad LOL)

and last but not least, silly moments caught on memory:

M (spoken to S) "you be the bad guy and I'll be the ghost" than he trows his blanket over his head starts to "whoooooo" and plows right into his little brother. Ah, this must be what brothers are for :)

J after finding the young culprit hidden in his favorite spot (under the dinning room chairs) questioned M as to why he threw his sword and shield on top of his little sister....his answer "I was wearing a green shirt" ...I guess the best moral here is to watch out for those green shirt days!

The Marvel of Immunization

There are two reasons I immunize my children.

#1:
I have heard tell that shots can cause egg allergies to flare, that they may be linked to the high rates or autism cases.
However I have never personally known a single person who either knows, believes or feels that their child was hurt by an immunization given. Whether or not these claims that immunizations can hurt some children are true, I do not pretend to know. I do not know.
I have however known personally a woman who has spent her whole live in a wheel chair because of polio, raised her 4 children from a wheel chair. I have read my family history, read all the notes of empathy sent and seen the beautiful picture of an uncle who died at age 2 of polio and and aunt who was crippled from it's effects. Mary Ingalls went blind from a now preventable illness. Perhaps you have heard of F.D. Roosevelt? Immunizations work, I know that this is true. I know that many many people, often young children's lives were made short or difficult by these now nearly eliminated diseases.

#2 A true and living prophet of God told me to immunize my children. I realize that this may not mean much to my none LDS readers. I hope that you can at least understand if not agree with my feelings. If I believe that a man is called of God to lead his people here on earth than I have not the authority to pick and choose which of his advice to follow. I think we as Christians tread on thin water when we want to choose how to vote, feel, live and think in more accordance with an article we read in local media than on scripture.




In addition to the below statements that can be found on LDS.org there is a WONDERFUL lesson entitled "The Marvel of Immunization" in the 1988 Relief Society Personal Study Guide "Come Unto Me" If you would like to read it, I will gladly lend my book out for anyone who wants to read it.


"Support for programs to immunize children against preventable childhood diseases has been expressed by the First Presidency.

In a recent statement, the First Presidency said, “Reports that increasing numbers of children are not being immunized against preventable childhood diseases deeply concern us.

“In the United States alone approximately 20 million children, 40 percent of those 14 years old or younger, have not been adequately immunized against polio, measles, German measles (rubella), diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), mumps and tetanus."

“Every parent who has agonized when these diseases have maimed or brought premature death to their children would join us, we are certain, in a plea to mobilize against these deadly enemies."

“We urge members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to protect their own children through immunization. Then they may wish to join other public-spirited citizens in efforts to eradicate ignorance and apathy that have caused the disturbingly low levels of childhood immunization."

"Immunization is such a simple, yet vital, matter and such a small price to pay for protection against these destroying diseases."
“Failure to act could subject untold thousands to preventable lifelong physical or mental impairment, including paralysis, blindness, deafness, heart damage and mental retardation."

“Immunization campaigns in the United States and other nations, if successful, will end much needless suffering and erase the potential threat of epidemics. Such efforts are deserving of our full support.”

First Presidency statement, reported in "LDS Scene," Ensign, July 1978 p. 79
"First Presidency Supports Shots," Deseret News, 6 May 1978, section A

I am grateful as a parent for the gift to receive revelation for my own children. I am equally grateful to not have the burden of receiving this revelation for anyone else! What a burden that would be!

"Thanks Mom!" (says my band-aid clad daughter:)
Now, off to start considering on that beam in my own eye ;)