Handmade Christmas

Disclaimer first: Yes, I realize it's been two and a half months since I last updated, and we've gone through a move and a whole slough of changes in my family, and I haven't documented any of it on my blog. On top of that, there are birthdays and holidays I haven't covered. I'm hoping against hope that I'll play catch-up after the new year, and you'll all be so sick of my posts that you'll be begging for me to go back to this nearly quarterly update thing. ;) But in the meantime, I thought I'd cover some stuff that I want to show off now, and not later.

Since Jesse is out of work and we don't have an income beyond unemployment, which, predictably, doesn't cover all of our costs, I decided to make a lot of gifts for the kids by hand this year. We were able to buy some things as well, thanks to some money that my mom and dad sent out, and they also got gifts from Newson relatives... but I was really excited by the things I made by hand this year. So much that every time someone asked me about my Christmas, all I could remember were the things I made.

I started the sewing binge by finally making Melinda, Jacob and Alex some stockings to match the pair I made for Jesse and myself before we had any kids. Here are all of our stockings lined up: Jesse, Becky, Melinda, Jacob and Alex. Melinda and Jacob picked their own accent fabrics from Grandma Newson's stash:

For Melinda, I made:
A fuzzy/corduroy blanket. Honestly, even with sale prices at Joann's Fabrics, the fabric for this was a splurge. But the embroidered corduroy was on sale for the same price as regular corduroy, and I made it big enough that she'll be able to enjoy through adulthood. And I hope she will. I keep wishing I had made one for myself. ;) It was also, by far, the quickest of all my sewing projects. I finished it in one night. And note of interest-- I didn't realize that the embroidered corduroy was not as wide as the pink fuzzy material. My mother-in-law Nedra happened to have a darker purple corduroy in her fabric stash that she generously let me use to supplement what I had purchased (she also did this with various other fabrics for other projects I had!). I *love* the way it turned out... it's like I did it on purpose.

I also made Melinda a matching scripture tote. We got her a new Bible and Book of Mormon, and I took the leftover corduroy and some hot-pink knit and made a tote bag to fit them snugly. It was my second time ever making a tote bag, and only the first time without someone to guide me, so the process of figuring out measurements and everything took me quite a while. It was a two-night venture. And the embroidered pocket still ended up lower than I meant it to. Oh, well.

For Jacob, I made a scripture tote as well. He loves it to pieces. The fabric I used was purchased earlier in the year when I spotted it on etsy.com. I fell in love with it (I *adore* the owls and woodland creatures, and color scheme in general!), and knew I would think of something to use it for eventually. I was leaning towards a cuddle blanket, but this works just as nicely. I very nearly finished Jacob's scripture tote in a single night, thanks to figuring out the process and measurements when I had made Melinda's tote. I only wish I had thought to reinforce the handles a bit somehow, as they're flimsy with just a single layer of cotton fabric.

One idea I had for all three kids was to make a set of bombs. Like I've mentioned before, my kids just love watching and playing video games. Jesse's made toys for them before, like foam swords and cardboard/duct-tape shields, and Metroid "guns" out of drink bottles, and they always love pretending with them so much. So one of the games they love to pretend is The Legend of Zelda. It's got a lot of fantasy elements in it, and you often need to use bombs to clear a pathway, etc. in the environment. So I found a pattern for sewing balls, and then we used braided cotton rope to make a "fuse". Nedra had some fabric pigment markers that we colored orange, yellow and red on the ends of the fuse, to make it look like they were lit. Then we also made a bag, since you can't have bombs without a bomb bag! They knew what these were the very instant they opened them up, and have enjoyed playing with them. I only made three bombs, one for each kid, but Jacob wants me to make more so he can keep more in the bag while someone else is playing with them. Also, this is the best picture I got of them, since I forgot to take a picture when I made them.

I ended up having enough time on Christmas Eve to sew a few very last-minute ideas: A Zelda hat for Jacob, and a couple keys like you would find in one of the dungeons in the game. I'm glad I got to do those, as Jacob has been running around in full Zelda gear the last few days: Hat, bomb bag, keys, sword and shield. He keeps telling me that he wants a whole costume, though... But that's more work than I can handle at the moment. I'd like to make him a harness to attach his sword on his back at some point, however.

Alex's handmade gift was quite an undertaking. I thought it would be quick...and it wasn't. I made a Mr. Potato Head completely out of felt and velcro. It's a lot of fun, and I'm glad I made it, but whew, I'm glad it's over!! (It's just one Potato Head, with multiple pieces.)

Detail of the pocket... I made just a basic pocket first, and I could barely fit my hand in it... forget about 16 stuffed pieces!! So I cut it out and added a bigger pleated section that I hand stitched on. Because there was no way I was unstuffing the thing so I could rip out the pocket and sew one on with the machine. Just my luck, the new pleated pocket fits the pieces exactly.

I was also going to make pajamas for all three of them with some fabric that Nedra and my sister-in-law Rachel picked out for me, but I simply ran out of time to even attempt it. Hopefully I'll get to it before winter is over, though. :) Binge-sewing kind of got me looking forward to more projects again. I've been designing a make-up organizer in my head, and I also need to finish up the baby blankets I promised to my sisters before their daughters have their first birthday!

Shocking!!

I have a blog!!  Who knew?!

I promise I think about updating almost every day.... but then I don't.  I *could* use the "life is busy" excuse, but who am I kidding?  I make time to play a few rounds of Bejeweled every day, and update my Facebook status... yet I don't stop over here to write a few words about my day.  Or my week.  Or apparently even my month.  I just haven't been able to commit the energy to put my thoughts into so many words, I guess.

Anyway.  I obviously don't have quite enough free time to sit down and really blog about my last month or two or three.  Even though I want to.  I want to share all the pictures and videos from Jacob's birthday two whole months ago.  All the fun photos from the last-minute summertime things we did before Melinda started school.  All the details about how very much Melinda's enjoying Kindergarten.  All the leaps and bounds Alex is making into toddlerhood.  But those will all have to wait.

For now, I'll fill you in on the life-changing details that you may not be aware of if you don't keep up with me otherwise.  Since Jesse lost his job last month, and our apartment lease ends on October 31st, we need a place to live.  We still have our condo back in Louisville, Colorado, and our renters' lease was up on October 1st.  Since Jesse wants to work in Colorado ideally, and we'd honestly both love to settle there with our family, it makes sense to go ahead and go back.  So that's what we're doing.

On October 27th, just over a week from today, we'll be getting a moving truck through ABF, and packing it up.  We've been slowly packing our things in boxes over the last month (and boxes + kids make the best entertainment ever!!), but we'll really crack down hard for the rest of the week, beginning the fun of living out of suitcases while we pack away everything we don't absolutely need.  Our goal is to be on the road by the 28th, maybe the 29th, depending on how long it takes to clean up after ourselves.  ABF drives the moving truck for us... we just have to get ourselves there.  It's a 26 hour drive, if you ask Google Maps (by way of I-70), and we're thinking of trying to make it in two days.  The longest road trip we've taken with the kids was about 9 hours, and they did great for that... but who knows how they'll tolerate a 14+ hour drive.  We'd love to get at least as far as St. Louis, Missouri on the first day, but really, our plan is to go as far as we can, till we can't stand it anymore.  We just want to get the drive over with, save a few bucks on less hotel nights, etc.  And, if we have a reeeeeally long first day, if we need to take 2 more days, at least they will both feel nice and short by comparison.

I've been trying to get rid of a lot of things in preparation for our move, but apparently nobody wants my stuff.  ;)  I took all the baby clothes out of the closet, sorted them, washed them, and took them to a consignment store across the street.  They only took about 1/3 of those clothes, because they have ridiculously high standards.  I tried listing a bunch of stuff on Craigslist, too, but only got one bite.  Thankfully, that was on my biggest bunch of clothes, and I got myself $40 out of it, but I really wanted to get rid of it all.  And I will, one way or another.  If nobody wants to buy them, they're going to be given away for free.  I'm not hauling them halfway across the country to store in a condo almost half the size of where we currently live.  I'm keeping the boys 2T clothes for Alex to grow into, but everything else is going.  And someday, when we have another child, I'll have tons of fun getting new clothes!  Hopefully it will be a bunch of baby girl clothes, because seriously -- getting rid of the baby girl clothes is breaking my heart in strange, nonsensical, unreasonable ways.  I'm not a girly girl, I didn't dress Melinda like a girly girl, but oh, I love those adorable little outfits.

I've also been trying to get rid of a few toys and pieces of furniture with varying success.  Since we won't have a playroom, the toys will belong in the kid's bedroom.  Maybe a few of them will be allowed in our living room, but I've rather grown to like having the toys stored out of my living space at the end of the day.  And I won't be taking my desk with me.  It's too big and bulky, and starting to look really shoddy anyway.  All that lovely top-quality veneer has been peeling off.  So we'll take Jesse's desk, which will disassemble nicely for moving, and we'll come up with some creative way to have both of our computers in the living room, somehow. 

We also just passed on Alex's high chair.  He's apparently such a big boy these days that he's been in love with sitting on a grown-up chair.  Well, standing more than sitting.  The first time I let him sit at the table at an adult chair, I gave him a shoebox to sit on.  He LOVED it.  Every time he went to the table after that, for the next week at least, if the box wasn't sitting there waiting for him, he looked around for it expectantly with an audible harrumph.  Because he is so entitled to sitting like a big boy at the table!  At least, he thinks he is.  ;)

Anyway, bottom line is that we're getting ready to go.  We've been saying our goodbyes, prepping ourselves emotionally as well as physically, and we've got all of one weekend left in Maryland.  It will be incredibly sad to leave the good friends we've made here.  It will be hard to say goodbye to the place I gave birth to all three of my children.  But... we've missed Colorado so much.  We've been aching to go back.  Now we're actually going!  It would be lovely if it were on a more positive note, but we're confident that the employment piece of the puzzle will work itself out with time.  I know we're following the path the Lord wants us to take.  And while we wait to figure out the how and why of it all, we'll very much enjoy living close to relatives - Grandma and Grandpa Newson, Aunt Rachel, Uncle Ben and Aunt Brea - and being in our old stomping grounds.  Plus, the weather these days is practically chasing me away from Maryland.  It's been rainy, gray, and cold for almost 4 straight days.  And here I thought I got away from Seattle years ago!!   Granted, the autumn colors are just starting to show all their glory... but I need the sun.  NEED IT!  Doesn't matter if it's cold or hot, just give me anything but gray.  All gray does is make sad things even sadder.  And saying goodbye to your home and friends from the last six years is sad enough.

In the meantime, please do keep us in your prayers.  I'm sure it won't be a perfectly smooth transition (Melinda's already completely up in arms about having to switch to half-day Kindergarten once we get to Colorado), and we're very concerned about the van's ability to make the trip.  It's been giving us so much trouble the last several months.  Jesse keeps saying we may need angels to carry it... or that we'll get all the way to his parent's house (where we'll be staying until our things arrive with the ABF truck), and the van will just heave and fall to pieces as soon as we're in their driveway.  The good news is that we'll be able to walk pretty much anywhere we need to go, from our condo.  But, please keep our safety and sanity in your prayers- we'd appreciate it so much.  Being stranded in the middle of Kansas because of car troubles, with 3 kids in tow, in late October, is not a trial I would like to experience. 

I probably won't make any other updates until after we're in Colorado, and probably not until after we're at least mostly settled.   Adventure awaits us!  May we greet it with happy hearts.

Facebook Friday

Look!! I remembered to do Facebook Friday... on Friday!! Aren't you happy? Aren't you proud? Aren't you.... oh, wait. That's right, I went multiple weeks again, didn't I? So even though it's a Friday, it will still be a super-long Facebook status catch-up. Oh, well. Beggars can't be choosers!

Let's get the ball rolling with .... wait for it.....
....
August 24th
1:43pm

Becky is trying to think of fun things to do all week while Jesse's home from work on a forced week off. Looks like great weather, so I suppose we'll be getting plenty of last-minute summertime things into our week!

2:43pm
Becky just spent a maddening 45 minutes with a calculator, spreadsheets, scratch pieces of paper, trying to explain the discrepancy between my online checking balance and my register balance. Finally found $12 I forgot to write down after sending off some PayPal earlier in the month. Doh!

August 25th
4:32pm
Becky got to hang out at Kilgore Falls with the family this afternoon. Beautiful day, beautiful spot, lots of cool refreshing water, and great scenery. ♥ A bee stung Melinda's hand only 1 minute after we sat down to have a picnic. She probably breathed on it wrong or something... but that was traumatic for her (first bee sting for any of our children!)... Finally got distracted enough to enjoy herself.

10:32pm
Becky wonders if seeing 6 deer in one day is some sort of omen, or possibly a sign of good luck. (Of course, not hitting any of them could be construed as good luck in and of itself!)

August 26th
12:02pm
Becky didn't sleep so great last night, but it still trying to get in the fun stuff before Melinda starts school. Bike ride, check. Swimming to come after lunch sometime.

5:29pm
Swimming: Check. Got Jesse to smile by starting a splash fight. He continues to insist it wasn't fun. ;) Next up, off to donate blood. Hoping I don't get woozy or faint... last time went pretty well, hope it's the same again.

6:40pm
Becky didn't get to have a date with the vampires today, after all. Iron was too low. And, of course, the very first thing on the list of remedies is chocolate ice cream. Well, my list, not theirs. ;)

August 27th
3:26pm

Becky spent a few hours out on the beach of the Bay (Hammerman Area of Gunpowder state park), probably got a little too much sun, and had to hold Alex the whole time, who disliked both sand and water. Resting for a short while, and then we'll be heading off to Melinda's school orientation night. Exciting!

9:14pm
Becky is berating herself for turning off her computer when Jesse warned her not to. Stupid thing craps out and hangs up on the mup.sys file every now and then, and is incredibly difficult to get working again after doing so. It's been not working all day, and my hero Jesse is *trying* to get it working again. I have a photoshop project I stupidly only saved on my desktop instead of on my external hard drive! :(

August 28th
2:12pm
Becky had a little emotional meltdown last night because of frustrating computer stuff. And then good sleep was interrupted by an INSANELY constant lightning storm (looked like strobe lights I could see through my eyelids!). And of course, young kids don't like thunderstorms at 1-2am, either. Yawn. Is it naptime yet?

9:42pm
Melinda's been saying for a few days now that she doesn't want to go to Kindergarten. Finally got it out of her tonight that she's worried she'll miss her family. (aww! ♥ ) So I told her all about when I was in Kindergarten, the things I did, what I thought of it, how I liked it... and even one of my most embarrassing memories. She seemed much better and more interested in going to school, after all that. 3 days!

August 29th
11:22am
Becky convinced Jesse (without much effort) that we should get donuts for breakfast. Mmmm. And thanks to starting the mountains of laundry last night, I'll probably finish before midnight tonight! Whoopeeeeee!

10:53pm
Becky was watching Jacob interact with Jesse earlier today. Jacob patted Jesse's head, his thinning hairline, and said with complete honesty, "Daddy, I like your big forehead." And then, after a few moments, "I want my hair cut short, too!" (As in, a bald forehead??) ♥

August 30th
4:43pm
Becky snuck in an "I'm-exhauted" nap back in the bedroom. Woke up startled and panicked to Alex screaming over 20 minutes ago (he was closed in the playroom while daddy cleaned up a mess Alex had made). Still in a groggy-just-woke-up-badly sort of state.

8:49pm
Becky is cautiously excited for tomorrow, Melinda's first day of school! She got a father's blessing from Jesse tonight, and we made up "get ready for school" chart to help her in the mornings. She doesn't seem nervous anymore!


August 31st
10:14am
Becky was completely panicked when we were leaving the grocery store and I saw that Alex was not in the front of the car-cart. "Oh NO!! Where's Alex?!" Without a second of hesitation, I turned on a dime and dashed towards the store to search for him. Jesse yells, "BECKY. He's in your ARMS."

2:21pm
Becky just got back from Melinda's 1st day of school. (Though it seems deceitful, to call it a day, when it was really only 1hr., with 2 other kids...) Loved the teacher, though I wish all that effort teaching Melinda to read wasn't just so she c...ould go and learn the ABC's for a couple months before they even start phonics. Still, I think she'll really like it. Tomorrow is a half day, and then Wed. is the REAL 1st day.

September 1st
2:53pm
Becky was going to go swimming with friends after Melinda's 2 hours of school today, but they have colds and the air is chilly (Well, chilly compared to 90 and humid, that's for sure). Trying to come up with a game plan for this afternoon. Looks like I have to add the bookstore to it, since I totally forgot that Suzanne Collin's sequel to The Hunger Games is out today!!

September 2nd
12:05am
Becky is up way too late, doing things like showering, making breakfast ahead of time, making a fancy note to stick in Melinda's lunch box, all trying to get ready for Melinda's first REAL day of school, and hoping we aren't late in the morning!

11:38am
Melinda's at school, and should just be finishing up her lunch break. Picking her up in about 4 more hours. Took Alex and Jacob for a long walk this morning, but it's definitely too quiet around here. Well, maybe not *too* quiet. Anything's better than constant arguments, I guess!


1:18pm
Becky promised myself an hour ago that I would quickly check email/facebook, then go run the dishwasher, then sit down and fill out Kindergarten paperwork I've been putting off for 2 days. I'm still in front of my computer.

4:00pm
Yaaaaay! Melinda's home from school!! And she had a good day!!


September 3rd
8:50pm
Between the power being out till 2pm, playing with friends, and getting heavily absorbed in Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, I haven't turned on my computer at all today!

September 4th
1:33pm
Becky just finished reading Catching Fire. SO GOOD!! But ahhhhhh, when can I read the next book in the series?!? Such torture to wait!

10:22pm
Becky is seriously contemplating bed, as the eyelids are drooping beyond my ability to keep them open, and it's only 10:20. Methinks this week of school has been far, far more tiring for me than it has been for Melinda.


September 6th
2:48pm
Becky is trying to figure out if Alex will need to be taken to urgent care and get stitches for a gash on his eyebrow. (Jacob pushed him, playfully, into a corner.) It's not bleeding profusely, so much as it's just oozing very slowly, but it's kinda gaping open. Jesse's out looking for some liquid stitches, in the meantime, and I already shaved the poor little guy's eyebrow.

4:30pm
Becky took Alex to urgent care, after all. The doc there agreed that it was fairly superficial, but agreed about minimizing the scar. We ended up going with some dermabond skin glue, and Alex was magically calm through the whole thing, though he's currently fingering his owie & saying "eee". Jesse thinks it looks pretty jagged right now... But what's done is done. Not like an eyebrow scar can possibly look pretty.

September 7th
3:59pm
Becky is feeling a bit of a failure. I *tried* to think of only inexpensive meals for our coming week, but still ended up spending $160 on groceries for the week. I can't imagine how I'll *really* be able to drop our grocery budget significantly unless I go total beans-and-rice crazy, and never buy fresh produce. And my kids hate eating rice.
>>> Got some good ideas from people on Facebook and over the phone. Hopefully I'll do better this week!

10:06pm
Becky gets very frustrated on nights like tonight, where it takes 1.5 hours for Alex to fall asleep (fighting the whole time), long after somersaulting, wall-kicking Jacob manages to pass out peacefully. Even a nice warm shower didn't cure my "stompy" mood. Maybe a good night's rest will.

September 8th
9:47am
Becky is about to go hunting for shoes again. My last hunt yielded some nice summer shoes after a lot of pain and frustration (those darn size 10 feet!), but I'm going to need something for the upcoming cold and rain, since my last shoes died on me. ... Wish me luck... I'm hoping I can find something without spending multiple weeks looking!
>>> Found some good shoes for dressy casual, but still looking for something comfortable for every-day use.

2:15pm
Becky felt a bit sad when, after just getting hurt for the 3rd time while we were out, Jacob decided the *most important thing* to instantly wail about was how "everything is not fun" when Melinda isn't here. Poor guy, must be on his mind a lot if it's the first thing that comes out after getting hurt. :(

10:33pm
Becky cleaned up the playroom, got the laundry all folded and put away, and has breakfast baking in the oven. Productive evening!

September 9th
11:05am
Becky is discovering that when nobody else is around to do all the talking and noise-making, Jacob is quite the narrator, explaining every single thing he does in detail. ("And see, when I turn like this, then I swing this around (*whshshsshhhh*) and then it hits this chair, like this!")

1:13pm
Uhhhh... Jacob just picked up "Hop On Pop" and started sounding out the first few pages. I guess I *should* start him on reading lessons soon, huh?

4:54pm
Becky was *actually* able to take a quick power-nap on the couch this afternoon before picking up Melinda from school. W-O-W.

7:06pm
Becky rescued a very stuck husband from his hide-and-seek hiding spot. Also, I fail at hide-and-seek because a certain toddler follows me everywhere and gives me away.

September 10th
5:42pm
Becky loves it when the weather is cool enough for cooking a good, yummy soup. ♥

10:36pm
Becky found Melinda's "pretty" drawer (full of ribbons and clips and headbands she pretty much never uses) fully organized by type, size and color. Where on earth did an interest in organization come from, with Jesse as her father and me as her mother??

September 11th
11:20am
Becky has taken her husband to his job for the last time. Today he'll be signing his severance papers, and so will begin our time with unemployment. Here's to hoping it's short-lived.
>>> It strikes me that when Jesse and I heard of the terrorist attacks on the NY twin towers 8 years ago, we were listening to the morning radio as Jesse was driving me to work. It wasn't long after that when my company's business started lagging so greatly that layoffs began (leading to my layoff, a year later). And now here were are, half a country away, 3 kids later, and I'm driving him to work, knowing that his job is ending. How odd to be full-circle. The pouring, non-stop rain fits my brooding mood.