Well, we made it to Oregon. We got here early afternoon on Christmas day. We had a crazy day of traveling and then hurrying to wrap presents because everyone had waited for us to open presents. It was lots of fun and Garrison is loving all the fun of having his cousins with him full time. He woke up many many times last night and each time he would wake up saying play, anna, play, oma, play.... the overriding theme was, "Mom, Dad, GET UP I WANT TO PLAY!!!" We are all pretty worn out today. Hopefully the next few days we can take it easy and catch up on some sleep. Garrison and Justen opening presents
Garrison playing with the see and say treehouse toy with Great Grandpa Wales (my mom's dad)
Garrison is having a BALL with his cousins....
He has no fear of strangers, he climbed right up on Uncle Ben's lap. He has also decided that Uncle Ben must be the softie nice uncle. The minute Mom or Dad says no, you hear, Uncle Bum... (he has started saying Ben very clearly now but it was so funny at first when he didn't say it quite right).
And this morning before church we took a few pictures of all three grandkids for Opa's picture frame he got for Christmas.
I got a lot done this month. I never seem to get as much done as I'd like to but at least I got more than nothing accomplished. This month my main focus was on Christmas presents. It was a lot of fun for me making things for folks to enjoy, that is always one of my favorite parts about Christmas. I'm also happy to report I love my new sewing machine. Now I will say its walking foot stinks compared to a pfaff, but I love everything else about it. So here's what I got done with my sew along group for this month. Started off with a couple more pairs of soft soled shoes. I really love these things they are so cuddly and warm. These were made with the bamboo velour I low water immersion dyed last month.
Then I did a set of matching mother/daughter aprons. All I can say with these is I HATE BIAS TAPE!!!
Then I did matching father/son pjs for Garrison and Justen, it's John deere Camo. They are pretty fun and Garrison LOVES his matching pants. He kept asking for them this morning even though they were in the wash.
Then I did a couple of All in Two cloth diapers, these are some of my favorite design yet. I can't wait to make a couple more.
Then I made a roll of "unpaper" towels. So they are the same size and fit on a paper towel roll but you wash them. They all snap together with poly resin snaps. I was pretty darn excited to make these.
And then some matching scrubbie cloths to go with the unpaper towels.
And finally I made my brothers some Organic Bamboo Velour pillowcases and hand dyed them "gunmetal gray". Because shopping for them is hard but everybody needs a luxury pillow case so they can feel like they are sleeping on a cloud, right?!?
That is the only way we could figure out to describe how we were feeling tonight. Justen and I are just plain old worn out to the point that we can hardly even tell that it's almost Christmas. There are no halls decked, no cookies baked, and no music playing. I'm not even sure if I feel sad, pitiful, guilty or just plain old grinchy at my lack of Christmas spirit. We don't have a tree up and tonight decided we just aren't going to put one up. We are just to tired. Luckily Garrison is to young to know the difference.
Now don't get me wrong, I love Christmas. It's usually such a magical time of year. But this year we've just decided to admit defeat and go to bed early. I think this last week we've been in bed at 6:30 every night until tonight. We've had FFA activities the last two weekend in a row, and have them tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday after school. I've had two state accreditation things going on in the last two weeks, not to mention a host of other crazy things happening at work. And you may wonder why on earth would I blog about such an utter failure and defeat as canceling Christmas at our house, well the answer is simple. I'm to tired to get out of bed and go do anything else and to frustrated with myself to quit thinking about it.
We have decided we are going to do a few things to celebrate the season, but it is definitely not going to be the same. We are doing our annual Kash for Kids drive at school where we do a sub for santa thing for some families in our area. I love doing this, it is so much fun. We gather money and food all through December and then tommorow we go shopping for their gifts and dinner. Then next week we'll wrap and deliver it. It's such a great thing to see my high school kids be so giving. My classes alone have raised over $800 so far this year for the project, and as a school we are approaching the $30,000 mark (at least that's the rumor I heard today). It's wonderful we are able to pay for kids braces, and glasses and lots of other great things in the community. Justen and I also have our own little service project going that we decided to do last month, but it's a secret so I can't share, but it's been pretty fun for us too. So a little service helps it feel more like Christmas.
Of course we are doing the whole gift thing, not that it's all that important. This year we don't even really care about that much. We just aren't into "things". Now if someone offered to clean my house or bake me some christmas cookies (German ones of course) I'd probably get pretty excited (or say do my scrapbooking for me). But every time someone asks what we want for Christmas I can't come up with much of anything. Now part of that is because we've been very blessed this year and don't need anything, and wants just don't seem all that important when there is so much need out there. But part of me just doesn't care. I'm to tired to put much thought into anything at this point. I'm actually most excited about a few of the projects I've been working on for other folks, although some of you may be getting your gifts in January at the rate I'm moving. Garrison will get a few toys that we bought last year at the day after sales, but we're not even sure we're going to bother wrapping them. Besides if we wrap them we may have a repeat of last year where he chucked the toys and played with the paper and boxes. Now I know Christmas is suppose to be about Christ. But somehow without all the other traditions I just can't seem to see it. We discussed in one of our Sunday school lessons a couple of weeks ago that when people's basic needs aren't met they can't focus on things of the spirit. Well, we were talking about things like food and shelter, but I'm starting to think that applies to our physical and emotional stress levels as well. I feel that if I could just find a way to clear everything else out of my life, the spirit that comes with Christmas would have room to come in.
So we have resigned ourselves to having a low key non-christmassy December. We are hoping to get to the live nativity pageant in West Weber next week, but with my luck a water main in the greenhouse will burst and I'll get called in to go deal with or something else similar. That's just the way this month has gone. At least next week we are flying to Oregon, so we can look at my parent's tree and eat their cookies and at least feel a little like Christmas does still exist. Of course we'll probably end up stuck in an airport because our plane can't take off and be stressed to no end by the time we get there, but hey at least there will be cookies on the other end. Oh, I so hope there are cookies...... and maybe a little time to recuperate from life and find Christmas.
Today we had snow. Lots and lots and lots of snow.... it just kept coming. So Justen and Garrison went out to build a snow man. I've got a sinus infection and just didn't feel like helping, but I went out long enough to snap some pictures. They had lots of fun.
I've been working on reorganizing Garrison's diapers because they finally outgrew the laundry basket on the floor of his room, so here's how I figured out to organize them. Hopefully this will make it easier to find things. Pockets and all in ones are on the top shelf, bamboo and cotton fitted with wool longies and covers on the second shelf, and covers, wetbags, and doublers on the bottom shelf. Getting this shelf put together and organized has been my project for the week.
Yesterday we had a very interesting experience. We were putting some things away in the spare bedroom when Garrison started getting really excited about something, followed by upset because we couldn't figure out what he was saying. We finally figured out he was saying FFA coat, but told him there wasn't one. We thought he was talking about the FFA hoodie Justen brought him back from back from Nationals. Well it turns out his insistance about FFA Coat was the one he saw on the shelf. He pulled it down and put it on, with a little help from Justen. He then paraded around the house in it. We tried to get him to take it off to go to town, but that just turned into a huge tantrum, ending in Garrison running down the hall clutching the jacket and hiding in his room with it. It was pretty funny.
And this is Garrison loving his new kitchen. Every time I cook he brings up a chair to help me. Well it wasn't a problem until he decide that the toaster oven was a his size version of my appliances. At first it was cute then when he started shoving stuff under the element that I didn't find until I smelled the burning we decided it was time he needed his own appliances that couldn't be plugged back in. He loves it. All he has wanted to do all day is play with his kitchen. It was especially fun when he started stealing stuff out of my kitchen to stock his. We probably should have waited until Christmas but we told ourselves it was a safety thing. ;) It is a safety thing but it turns out mom and dad have no patience for waiting for Christmas any more than kids do! Besides, he's to young to know we cheated, or at least that's what we are telling ourselves.
I got a lot done again this month. Sadly I didn't get everything done I had planned but I still got a lot accomplished. Some of my sewing projects this month were following along with my sewing group, some were just ones I wanted to do. I have a HUGE list all ready for December and I am racing to try and have it all done by Christmas. We shall see how far I get. So these are my projects for November: Started off with some baby legs- love these things for quick diaper changes around the house or extra warmth at night.
Then I FINALLY got my batch of daycare diapers done. These are stuffable AIOs (All in ones that can be stuffed for extra absorbency). There were a total of nine but only 8 made it in the picture.
Then I made a bunch of recycled wool longies (pants that act as waterproof diaper covers) out of old sweaters. The top two turned out to small, and the bottom one had to get hemmed up a bit.
And an action shot of my new longies on Garrison
Of course my soft soled shoes: And then another pair
And finally, I finished up a pair of Father / Son matching PJ pants.
And not sewing related, but I played around with dyeing some wool yarn this month. Didn't work exactly as planned, probably because I was using food coloring instead of acid dyes. I also started crocheting a pair of longies for Garrison but those will probably be done around the time he has a prom date. And then I also played around with Low water immersion dyeing some bamboo fabric. It was my first try and I learned alot. I'm going to try swirl dyeing next.
I love the soft soled shoes Garrison wore as a baby. But now that he's 100% mobile we have gone to all "real" shoes. He insists on wearing shoes all the time. So I decided to make him some soft soled shoes for in the house. These are leather bottoms, then the soles have a thick layer of wool felt. The outsides are a cotton fabric, and the toe cap is lined with soft Organic Bamboo Velour. They are really nice and Garrison loves them. He keeps pointing out to us that he has tractors on his feet. I hope to have time to make a few more of these, they were pretty quick to sew up.
What a great holiday! A wonderful day to enjoy food and family and enjoy the things we've been given in life. Today I reflected mainly on the joy of the living things in my life and what they have brought me. Justen is the best husband that could have been made for me; kind, patient, and hard working. Garrison sure took his sweet time joining our family but boy does he attack life with vigor! And at the end of the day I sure am thankful he goes to bed early and gives me a little time to enjoy the hobbies I have. Tia made a menace of herself begging in the kitchen, but she brought me the realization of how grateful I am for my animals, and the place we are in life that we can have them. Now, there are days when it's hard to find something good to say about Tia the psycho dog, but when Justen is teaching night classes or at late activities it sure is nice having a doberman around the house, and she does kind of grow on you (like fungus). Even though the only people she's ever scared are the ladies from church who stop by to check on me (and boy does she have fun with them!). Abby is one of those amazing border collies that you just can't help but love. She's not Elle and I still miss her some days, but Abby is still a good dog. I am so thankful that she was old enough to be a real help with the sheep by the time Garrison was born so I didn't have to go out and help when I was to sick to. She makes our lives so much easier by doing all the hard running and heavy lifting of caring for such dumb critters. Now about the dumb critters, I sure am attached to them. Itty Bitty is starting to look old, and it sure makes me sad. I am ever so grateful for the enjoyment they provide us, and the freezer full of meat. Which brings me to Nacho, I'm so glad that I don't have to worry about dogs getting in with our sheep any more, it is a releif to know that he will stomp them to death if they go near HIS sheep. And finally the cats, I'm a little miffed at them because I found a mouse in my house the other day, but all in all they do their job, when compared with how many mice we had when we first moved in. So for all the living things in my life I am thankful. As I was cooking dinner today, and loving everything about my kitchen, I reflected on the years it took us to get here. Our first kitchen in logan left something to be desired but we got by. Then of course you had to love our bothwell house with cupboards that swelled shut. Our St. George house will always be unforgettable, built in well, 1860, 1900, 1920s, 1950, and 1970 as each consective addition was put on, and none of them by professionals or even people who owned a level or measuring tape, but boy what a learning experience that house was. Our 9 month stint in the RV was of course unique but at least the cupboards didn't swell shut- and it sure is easy to keep a 36' X 8' space clean. Our brief stay at Nanny's house was probably the best kitchen to that point but it wasn't ours. The best part about that kitchen is it was always well stocked with yummy food! But now I have a kitchen to LOVE. But as I thought about how much I enjoyed our home here, I realized that even with all the interesting places we've lived we've enjoyed each place we've been in. We've always had a place to live, food to eat, and blessed with all the things we need, and many of the things we want. We have a lot to be greatful for we've been very blessed in everything we do. I thought I'd give you all a pic of thankgsiving dinner and share a few of the recipes I used (mother- this part is for you so you have the spinich pinwheel recipe I used)
Now for a couple of the recipes I made today: For the turkey, I used this blog. It turned out FANTASTIC! So moist and juicy. I think next year I want to try an orange glazed one thought, that sounds yummy. http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/moms_roast_turkey/
I made the spinich pinwheels using this recipe: http://www.razzledazzlerecipes.com/pampered-chef-recipes/cheese-spinach-pinwheels.htm
They were fantastic, I did make a few changes though. I used reduced fat crossant dough and cream cheese. And I sauted bacon and onions (chopped) drained, and sprinkled that on in place of the ham.
I did Loraines blueberry Jello recipe, but used frozen mixed berries instead of canned blueberries, I will be doing that from now on. It was good.
I used my super secret recipe for the stuffing. I'll share the secret with you though: stovetop turkey flavor. Anyway, those are the basics. Hope everyone had a wonderful day.
Last weekend was Justen's school's Harvest Ball. Since Justen and the FFA were in charge he put a ton of work into it. They did a carnival this year too with cotton candy, games and they were suppose to have a climbing wall. But at the last min. the National Guard (who was bringing the wall) called and told us the hydraulics were broken and they couldn't come. But the Seargent we had been working with felt really bad and brought a bunch of gear and tons of free stuff and did some fun activities with the kids. He also headed up one of the clean up crews, boy did those kids ever step it up for him!! We thoughrougly enjoyed having him there. Anyway, since Justen also had some parents cancel on him he asked if I could go. So Grandma to the rescue. Grandma Raine came and spent the night at our house with Garrison. Did he ever have fun! He woke up the next two mornings and the first word out of his mouth was GRAMMA as he ran down the hall looking for her. The second morning he was really dissapointed that he couldn't find her. I think he's used to having Oma Jackson here for two weeks at a time and getting to see her every morning, so he was quite confused that Grandma was only here for one. But they had lots of fun, and we got a few cute pics of some of Garrison's favorite things, Hiding in his cupboard, and his balck hat. It was a fun weekend. We also got to take Grandma Raine sewing machine shopping for my new machine. I was really leaning towards the Pfaff when we left (Grandma never quit leaning towards the Pfaff :) but in the end I did end up getting the viking. It does so many things automatically and that's good for me since I don't really know how to do them the hard way. Although last night as I was sewing I found that I liked having the old pfaff and the new viking side by side because I kept switching between them based on what I was doing. Without further ado, here is our cute boy...
And for fun, here are a couple of pics of Justen getting ready for his job interview today. He's got a good job, and he really thinks he'll probably end up staying there, but an opportunity came up he just couldn't pass up. He debated for over a week on whether or not he should even apply but in the end he decided he would kick himself if he didn't at least try for it. But either way he's happy whether he gets it or not, so that is a pretty good spot to be in.
So last night we crashed another ward's church Halloween party. We had decided that for Halloween we were going to go to the Punkinaze up on 1900 West. I had checked their website and it said they were open at 3 on Saturdays. So we went up, but they were closed. I decided I must have read it wrong so we went shopping and decided to come back on our way home. So we got there about 6 pm, and it was pretty empty but there were definitely people there so we went in. We stood at the ticket booth a long time and nobody came. Well someone who was already inside told us to come on in it was reserved for a church party but then would be open to the public and we could pay on our way out. So we did. We went through the corn maze and had a fun time. We came back out went back to the ticket booth and still nobody was there. After a few minutes a lady came up and told us they were closed, last week was their last weekend open. We explained to her that we had already gone through the maze and needed to pay for it. She laughed told us she was keeping the slide and fire pit going for a few more minutes before their church party ended and that we should come in enjoy the slide and help ourselves to their donuts and cider. She owned the maze and explained no one ever comes on Halloween because they are all out trick or treating. She wouldn't take our money but said we should just come have fun with them. So here are some pictures from it, we had a blast. As soon as Garrison got to the bottom of the slide he would jump back up and RUN, not walk RUN back to the stairs to start climbing to the top again. The picture of the side of Garrison's head is him RUNNING as fast as he could go (and faster than my camera could catch him) to go back down the slide again. Afterwords we decided to come home and trick or treat, but after three houses we had enough and came home and Garrison went to bed. And our sad but true way of giving out candy, we put a sign on the door that said, sorry we missed you, please help yourself to a treat, with a bowl of candy on top of our milk can. We left it up even when we were home so we didn't have to answer the door. Amazingly when Justen went and took it down at 10 pm the bowl was still half full. Of course according to the neighbors they only had two trick or treaters all night and one of them was Garrison, so I'm guessing where we are so far out everyone went into town to get their loot.
