Halloween 2011

I was really excited about trick or treating this year. As in, I started making costumes a full two weeks in advance. The day of, all I had left to do was make Ginny's treat bag. Not bad.

I was so ahead of time that Ginny's costume was done in time for Aunt Tasha (a much better photographer than me) to do a photoshoot. That means I didn't take a single picture of the girl on the 31st. And I do not feel guilty!

Here the little lady is...

 I used THIS tutorial by Prudent Baby. If I had had red fabric, she would have been red... but since I already had yards of this pink, well, she was a pretty little pink bird. I loved it.

Raymond's was a bit more work. About two weeks before the big day I sat down at the computer with Raymond at my lap. We googled images of "toddler costumes" and looked and looked and looked. What he really (insistently) wanted to be was a skeleton. Really. He's two. There was no way I was going to go with that. Not while I can convince him otherwise. I talked him into a cowboy.

I made the vest, chaps, and horse. Poor Max (the horse) didn't make it to trick or treating because he was so heavy. Next time I would make a sock horse instead of using this tutorial.

And since I'm lame, I only got two phone pictures. Alright, I do feel a little guilty about that. Sorry.

Earlier in the day I cooked (!!) a pumpkin and I made pumpkin soup (only Ginny would eat it... it was a total let down) and roasted seeds. I love me some pumpkin seeds. Trick or treating was interesting since there are only a handful of kids in our neighborhood. I think we made people's night by knocking on their doors. We saw only two other trick or treaters the whole night. Seriously. (And didn't get any ourselves. Boo.)

Raymond was pretty cute about it though. He wouldn't quite say "trick or treat" but when we got to a door would just start yelling instead of knocking. It was hilarious. He was pretty cute. All in all, it was a great Halloween!

The weekend

I think I'm still recovering from what was The 4th 2011. The crowds started coming the Wednesday before and the last car-load headed out the Tuesday after. At the peak there were 23 people in this house. It was a party.

I may or may not have finally finished washing all the towels.

Here is an (incomplete) list of some of the goings-on

• Jeanine made (almost all of) a new skirt
• Lindsey sewed eight (darling) patriotic bags for the kiddos
• seven adults hiked/swam the Black Hole (while three (sometimes four) adults watched eight kids under six)
• Ginny cut two teeth and learned to crawl (!!)
• unfathomable amounts of food was consumed... at least 8 bags of chips, 30 enchiladas, 3 packages of brats, 2 huge cases of strawberries (made into three delicious pies), a couple of dutch ovens of chicken wings, a few dozen cake pops... the list goes on
• Grandpa spent a solid two hours giving rides on his four wheeler
• Lindsey took family pictures for us and Jason and Cansas
• We actually went to the parade early and were able to sit and see it (rather than stand at the back)!
• Mark and Debbie reported on their trip to Jerusalem with a full table to Jerusalem food (hello homemade pita bread, let's be life-long friends) and a slide show
• Endless entertainment on laptops, ipads, and the DVD player for children of all ages
• Countless drink runs
• And occasional sleeping

Like I said, it was a party. I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed not having to drive anywhere or live out of a suitcase for this family gathering. It was incentive for us to buy a big ole house someday so people will come to us again. Alas. Someday.

Easter and Conference

(My little Easter display atop the bookshelf. Didn't my chickee turn out cute?)

For some reason, I really love when General Conference falls on Easter weekend. (Maybe my mind will change when I have a few more little ones running around... but for now, it's my favorite.).  There are often more talks focusing on the meaning of Easter (it's like the Christmas devotional, times ten, you know?).  The weekend is more relaxed: staying home, munching on chocolate and jelly beans while sitting in front of the computer (in our case, since we're sans TV).  Good amounts of sugar. Spiritual upliftment and enlightenment. Doesn't get much better.

Since this coming weekend is another first with our little Raymond (don't you just love the first year with your first child? So fun!), we've been talking about what Easter traditions we want to implement with our little family. We both grew up with lots of Easter traditions--some similar, some pretty different.

Jeremy's family grew up doing the Easter egg and basket type traditions on Saturday (we did the baskets on Sunday). We never really did any sort of egg hunt (whereas they always went into the canyon and raced jelly beans and did an egg hunt with fun prizes). They didn't find Easter baskets... but rather the candy was strewn all over the living room to be collected and divied up (we definitely went basket hunting. And we definitely ate ham and cheese potatoes at Grandma Snowballs house.)

I don't know (really) how much we'll do of anything since Raymond is still too young for all of it (although, don't worry, we'll dye eggs (LOVE them) and definitely be eating us some sugar this weekend). But as it snowed about a foot last night (where did that come from??)... there will be no outdoor hunts around here. At least I can wear something as bight and spring-y as I want... and just crank up the heat since there will be no reason to leave the house!

But since it's conference, it's bound to be a great weekend no matter how we celebrate it with all the superficial stuff.

(Oh, and for all you conference watchers with little ones... have you seen the children's activities the church put out? A few computer activities to get them geared up for the weekend, and some things to do while watching. Awesome.)

I hope you have a bright and beautiful Eastery weekend!

love,

cj

Spring Break...

has been fantastic. Sleepy, lazy, yummy, fun. Good times all around. Ah, the life.

So great that I never even took my camera out of the car while we were in Blanding. Too much of a bother.


I did take some pictures of our walk today... but again too much of a bother to download.

Someday soon I'll snap back to action in blogland. In the mean time, we're enjoying our last day before the break officially ends (and the countdown to Blake and Whitney's wedding officially begins).


On a side note: Raymond learned to clap yesterday. It is officially the cutest thing ever. And now he is usually standing when I greet him in the morning. Ah, the sweet joys of milestones! Isn't life exciting?

All my love,

cj

Christiansen Chaos and a Birthday Girl

Well, life has been busy in the Mark and Debbie Christiansen family.

One week ago yesterday Jackie (Jeremy's sister) had her sweet baby boy. Oh my.

(photos by Jackie. She's good.)

Those who know, say he looks a lot like Jeremy did as a baby, which isn't surprising since Jackie and Jeremy look so much alike. Jeremy says he hopes someday I have a baby that looks just like this (since Raymond looks almost 100% like me and apparently fathers deep down want their sons to look like them--at least a little bit). Haha.

Then yesterday, just a week after this little fellow came, Jordan (Jeremy's younger brother) got home from his mission is Houston, Texas. So exciting! This means the troops are assembling in Blanding this weekend... and WE CAN'T WAIT. While he was gone, Jordan got a new sister-in-law (me), three nephews, and a niece (am I missing anyone?). I haven't actually ever met the boy myself and am excited to officially know all of Jeremy's siblings!

And since we like parties (um, and good food... have I mentioned that the women in this family can cook?) I think we'll also be doing a little family shower for Jeanine (who's little man is coming in May) while we'll all be there (is this still true? Anyone?).

I say, let the Christiansen celebrations begin! Woot!



P.S. A shout out to my little sis, Paige Christine, who is the big 1-7 today. Goodness gracious, I couldn't love that girl more. A double Woot to the Birthday Girl!

(Um this picture was taken in the summer of 2008, sorry I don't have a more recent picture of the two of us. Pretty much mirror pictures rock. And pretty much Paige is just as adorable/gorgeous now as she was then.)

And, for good measure, here are some more never-before-published picture of my sassy, spunky, smart, and stylin little sista. Also taken in the summer of 2008. It was a good summer, what can I say? But don't worry, come May 2010 I'll be updating my photo archives of the two of us. Bring it.

Happy Birtday Banner

(Note: camera batteries are on my shopping list. Phone pictures follow. Proceed with caution.)

I've been wanting to make a fabric birthday banner for about a year now (since Jeremy's birthday last year, I think).  This year I was bound and determined to do it. I've gone back and forth and up and down on just what I wanted it to look like, however. There are scads of tutorials out there, but most of them are of the triangle variety (like this). A few are squared. Most are appliqued. And well, meh, I just wasn't in the mood to applique. Or iron on.  Not that I think I went with much of a simpler route (although, maybe, I don't know), but it is a bit more original and not as big (which was another goal). It also lends itself to adjustments (thank goodness!) such as adding a name or a different event all together or, heck, the whole alphabet to be strung up in a play room someday. Yes, I think that last one is a definite possibility.

So without further ado, here is the official Christiansen Birthday Banner of 2010. (ps pretend you see a beautiful plate of cupcakes on the table below the banner all festive-like)

(Um, yes, I do realize it says "Birtday" instead of "Birthday." It did, for the record, take me a full 6 hours of it hanging on my wall before I noticed, however)

Two little button holes in each letter make the whole thing just about as versitle as it gets. (Thus an H will be added to Birtday shortly).

Next up: a valentine's banner of the same variety with lots of reds and pinks and hearts. Happy!

There once was a boy

Named Jeremy Max.

A good small town sort of boy. With some big time dreams. A lot of guts and go-to. And the prettiest blue eyes you ever did see.

Even when he means business. Which has been known to happen from time to time.  (Particularly when discussing politics.)

But most of the time those baby blues are crinkled behind a wrinkly twinkly smile.

Oh how I love that smile.

I hope today is an all-smile kind of day.

Happy Birthday, Hun!  Love your guts.

Love,

your Janegirl

(note: Jeremy had a fantastic birthday. He ended up coming home a little early from work and got to play with Raymond more than usual (we pulled out the pots and pans! Such music fun was never before seen!) and read some of his new book (thanks Mom!). Many thanks to all the well wishers, phone callers, package senders, and blog commenters for making his birthday so great!)

A homemade Christmas

You may be wondering why I've never posted (up till now) about any of my Christmas-Gift-Making-Extravaganza. Confession: I didn't take a single picture of a single gift. Not one. I had good intentions to. But, you see, my camera was out of batteries. And my phone pictures are so lame. It just couldn't do justice. And then suddenly it was the eve of our trip and needed to wrap them all. Sorry folks.

Good thing my sister is a photographer, huh?

She posted today about my very favorite Christmas project. The Alphabet Bean Bags.

I made two sets of these for my two nephews. Brayden, who's three, got the 26 letters all in capitals. Tanner, who's five, got the "scrabble set" consisting of some 70 lower case pieces--with multiples of all but two letters so he can write words and sentences. I loved them. Seriously, I wish I had a set myself! (Don't worry, I will make me one sometime soon.) And I love thinking about Tanner and Brayden having fun with letters and words as they play with their ABC bean bags made just for them. (ps: for more info on how I made them and what to do with them (so many things!), see Tasha's post)

But because I know a few of you are curious (and goodness knows we all need homemade gift ideas sometimes!) here are some other fun gifts I made:

• 5 Lunch bags (based off this pattern, but lined instead of embroidered. I loved the way they turned out)
• 5 sets of Coasters (all different fabrics and designs--very fun)
• 3 Scarves (based off this pattern, but with buttons like Soul Mama did on her's)
• 3 neck pillows (pattern from a 4-H sewing camp Jeremy did this summer--easy, but the ideal neck pillow. I seriously want one for out next road trip)
• 3 Super Hero capes for Hunter, Max, and Lucie (with appropriate insignia for their initials)--These turned out SO fun. (based off this pattern)
• 1 cute little "small outings" bag for Paige
• 1 pin cushion
• 1 fabric beaded necklace and bracelet (similar to this)
• 1 M is for Monkey wall hanging (for Miss Maggie Moo) (similar to these)
• 1 set of stuffed plush balls for little Chasers (like these)
• around 30 little birdie ornaments. Maybe the cutest of all! (These, but at 80% the size... note: a few people have asked me for this pattern. I can't find where I got it online, but I have it saved as a pdf on my computer. If you want it, leave a comment and I'll email it to you!)

Is that all? I think I missing something somewhere... but oh well! I am so very much in love with homemade Christmas's. I just need to start earlier, you know? Like now (or maybe February) for next year. True that.

Hooray for sewing and gifting and Christmas!

Christmas 2009 Christiansen Style

This year Christmas took us to the snowy northern lands of Logan, Utah.  Jeremy's brother, Jason, and his wife, Cansas, live there, and were gracious enough to house quite the crowd of Christiansens.  12 adults, 6 kids (including two babies and a toddler) later, I'm not sure they knew what hit them!

We arrived Wednesday night, just in time for some of Cansas' tasty sausage stew (note to Cansas--you should email out that recipe!).  Gavin (their 5 year old) greeted us at the door with a clip board in hand, ready to check us in, give us our room assignment (room 1), and have us draw numbers for our door prizes. Awesome.

Photo courtesy Jeanine

Jason and Cansas had set up a detailed itinerary (emailed out ahead of time) including things like morning calisthenics, sledding in the bowl of death, staring contests, and optional hygiene. It was awesome. We didn't end up doing everything on the itinerary, but there was plenty going on regardless, let me tell you.

Sledding did make the cut, however.

My first time donning a sled... and I must say, it's like Disneyland without a seat belt! And you know how much I love Disneyland. That's Jason and Gavin in the background. Gavin was DIE HARD. Wow. That kid has no fear. As for the sweet snow suits... it was a balmy14 degrees outside when we left the house. Hello Logan.

Christmas eve also brought all sorts of delectable delights (honey baked ham, my favorite cooked carrots, shrimp, waldorf salad, gingerbread cupcakes, and the list goes on).

Photo courtesy Jeanine

Since the babies (Raymond and Chloe) have pretty early bedtimes, we did our little nativity before dinner. It starred all six grand kids in residence. Raymond was a shephard, Chloe was the star, Sadie was a sweet little angel, Bauer was a wise man, Gavin was Joseph, and Bentley was Mary. The kids were surprisingly calm and all caught their cues.

Photo courtesy Jeanine

Isn't he the cutest little shepherd you ever did see? Pretty much.

Christmas morning was a bit chaotic (would you have it any other way?) Lots of toys. Lots of wrapping paper (Raymond was in heaven). And lots of delicious raspberry crepes. So fun!

After that the rest of the trip seems a blur. Let's see. A few games of settlers happened, some fantastic pinini sandwiches, an ugly sweater contest (I think Sadie's was cute too, just for the record), a sleigh/wagon ride and  herd of elk, Harry Potter 6, a handful of casualties (what's a holiday without some sickness?), and some seriously good napping for Raymond.

All in all, it was a party. Thank you Jason and Cansas!

We got home on Monday (Jeremy was one of the casualties, postponing our return a day). I've already taken down Christmas (whew!), tried out both my new vintage table cloth and the beautiful pieced table runner from my mom, and made a dehydrated an apple or two. Hello dehydrator for Christmas, my new permanent counter fixture, let's be good friends. Raymond is in toy HEAVEN. He went from owning a few handmade things by yours truely, to some serious toys. The kid couldn't be happier.

ps. don't judge the photography.  I know it's bad lighting and fuzzy and probably just no good (and mostly taken on my phone). But hey, I'm just plain not good at it.  Maybe Jackie will post her sweet shots soon and I'll replace some, ok?

Santa Mouse

I really, really, really wanted to make Raymond a stuffed animal for Christmas. You may recall my desire to make him a monkey before he was born. It never happened. I couldn't find a pattern (ahem, free pattern) that I liked enough. Plus, I've never really made a stuffed animal (the scads of bean bag frogs I've made don't count). So I needed a pattern, of that I was sure.

When I found this mouse pattern, I thought it would be a good place to start. It looked doable. I got a bit of white corduroy out of the $2 bin at Walmart, and used felt instead of wool as the accent fabric. So the whole thing was pretty darn cheap (maybe $2). And it didn't take me all that long either (about two days of sewing and stuffing intermittently). He turned out a bit fatter than I thought he would, but who wouldn't want to take a fat little mouse to bed Christmas night?

The oft told tale

painting by J. Kirk Richards 

I love, at this time of year, to try to imagine the detail of Jesus' birth.  What was Mary like? What of Joseph? What happened in that small stable when the shepherds came?  Did they notice the star hanging overhead? The other night we watched this program on BYU TV (showen originally Sunday, December 6th at 7pm) about the birth of Christ.  I loved how they slowed down the story and piece by piece talked about the events surrounding that sacred night.  And I am reminded that

"Always at this beautiful season, we repledge ourselves to His work--and invite all people everywhere to join us in our prayers of joy and love and gratitude for the life and teachings of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the Son of God."  --President Spencer W. Kimball

Giving Good Gifts

Raymond and I have spend a huge amount of time like this (how much do I love the Bumbo my sister loaned me? Mucho):

Me sewing, him playing.  Would you look at that happy face? Naps and bedtimes work miracles, I tell ya.

So I've been steadily working on Christmas gifts for a solid two (plus) months now.  Planning and scheming began in September, sewing officially began in October. I'm not quite done (although hopefully all the needed supplies have been purchased).

From the beginning I've prayed earnestly and sincerely to be able to give "good gifts."  The Christmas budget was tight and the plan has been to make everything. It's required thought, prayer, and work.  Over and over, almost daily, I've been praying to be able to give "good gifts." Do you know what I mean? The kind that is a pleasant surprise, an unexpected thrill, and most importantly, a tangible evidence of my love for that person.

In my family we don't draw names at Christmas, we give to everyone.  While I have had a few moments of feeling overwhelmed with the enormity of it all, I have loved thinking about each person throughout each step of planning, sewing, and wrapping. It has been a sweet, sweet experience.

In Jeremy's family we draw names.  I've had mixed emotions about it.  On the one hand, I would be making an additional 14 gifts (added to the more or less 25 already on my list! I would definitely have to start earlier. Like in January.)... on the other hand, I keep finding myself sad that I don't get to make or give anything to most of his siblings.  Often while working on a gift for someone else, I've thought, "this is something Cansas would like!" or "Maybe I'll have to make one for Sadie anyway and give it later!"  I've missed not getting to think about them as I make for them, you know?

While it has been an intense couple of months, and I don't plan on making all my gifts every year, I've already come to treasure this Christmas. I've learned so much about what it means to give good gifts (which sometimes means giving what I would want most to someone else, and sometimes means taking a lot of time to make something that isn't my style at all, but I know the other person would love). Even though most of my gifts are small, and my sewing is imperfect, each one is filled with love and time and sacrifice.

Yesterday's quote on my advent quote calendar summed up my thoughts on gift giving this year:

"Christmas gifts should be in memory of the divine gift--the life of Jesus Christ.  His gift gave us eternal life; our gifts should enliven with joy those who receive them. His gift was teh sacrifice of his earthly life, our gifts should represent personal sacrifices on our part." --John A. Widtsoe

 I hope that you're Christmas is filled with the giving of good gifts (made or bought) and that the gifts you give are in memory of the divine gift.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas

How much do I love the Church's topic pages (always found in the left-hand sidebar of lds.org)? So much. This one even has coloring pages and activity ideas for kids. Not to mention great ideas for how we can focus our Christmas on what matters most.  And a sweet little Mormon Messages video. Go and make yourself at home.

Merry Christmas!

Our wee man child

A day late and a dollar short, I know. I was all set to post pictures yesterday when we had some serious internet woes. When it finally decided to kick back on, Jeremy needed the computer to finish a paper. But, I promise not to disappoint today. Oh me, oh my, the pictures! If you don't want to gobble this boy up after seeing them...

He sure loves his papa.

And he patiently endures all our kisses and rasberries.

Would you look at that sweet face?

It seems we have a smiler on our hands, folks!

Oh the sweetness of cousins...

Chase, what's wrong?

Oh how that pacifier works wonders!

Yeah, I'm just chillin in my chair.

Raymond has an uncanny knack for raising one eyebrow at a time. Really, it's just a flicker, so I wondered if Stanford would capture it on film. Here it is, folks. I see this fun face a hundred times a day, and I never get tired of it!

So can you believe it's his half birthday on Saturday? Me either. Six sweet months in mortality.  Oh how we love our Raymond John.

Thank you, Stanford, for so many wonderful photos (I didn't even post a fraction of them). You captured all his personality perfectly.

Goodness gracious (Thanksgiving) gravy!

 photos by Jeremy

I have always loved Thanksgiving. For as long as I can remember we have gone to my Aunt Chris's house in Redlands, California.  She now lives in the historic side of town (in a 100 year old house... see picture above), and I love it. I love everything about her house (from the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves or the chickens in the back). And I love everything about Redlands. It is, as Jeremy has come to agree, a perfect town.  And I love, most of all, spending Thanksgiving there.

As is tradition, the setting of the table is as important as the filling of the plates. This year did not disappoint. My aunt has special Thanksgiving china (in appropriate browns and creams) that compliment her beautiful crystal goblets and sterling silverware.  The effect is always so beautiful. 

photos by Stanford

The day itself is never overly stressful (minus the 30 minutes before mealtime). We lounge about, read books, chat, watch football (well, the boys do), take pictures, munch of the goodies strewn about the house, slowly get the meal organized. And then dinner is somewhat of a fancy affair. As little kids we had to change our clothes and look nice. It's not super formal by any means, but we try to match the festiveness of the table at least a little bit.  I love it. All that polite "Please pass the potatoes" and "where's the gravy gone?" does my heart good.

I think Quinn officially did the honors of clicking this one. Stanford did the arranging.

This year's big excitement was that Tate (my Aunt Chris's son) came home from anesthesiology school in New York and was bringing his new fiance, Eleece. It was so fun to meet her and welcome her into the family.

That, and the excitement of having a photographer in the family to take all sorts of fabulous pictures. Stanford took some so-cute-I-want-to-cry pictures of little Raymond John. I would post pictures of that, but I've been working on this post for nigh onto 24 hours now. I must move on with life. Cute pictures of Raymond promised tomorrow...