Help! Help! Help!

I need ideas fast!!! I need cheap/free Christmas gift ideas for kiddos and adults!

I have 3 days to make them, the gifts have to be shippable, and about 20 kids ranging from newborn to 8 years old! Because we will be traveling next week until Dec. and I will have no time when we get back. I am crafty, have lots of paper supplies, fabric, natural elements (sticks, rocks, shells, etc...) so that might give you ideas.

Previous years for kids I have made hats, scarfs, crayon holders, magnets, bags, pillowcases, dolls, and ornaments. I am out of ideas, out of time, and am just considering forgoing Christmas totally! I want to give gifts, I have so many ideas I just don't have the finances available to do what I want.

I also need some gifts for people that live in the area. They won't have to be shipped and so can be breakable and or perishable.

For adults we have made soup mixes, bread, pasta. Some of the families on our list are gluten, dairy, and vegan so food is often difficult. Maybe granola bars, dried fruit leather? This year might be the time to forget adult gifts and just do kiddos, but I can't stand the thought. I think this will have to be our cheapest x-mas ever. Last year we did it for about $100's total and really if it could be free that would be best:)

Anyways, I thought that you all were crafty and creative and might be able to help me out!

Still working on the trip....in the meantime...........

I am behind so I thought I would do a picture blog to catch up on the happenings of the last month or so.





Dad and Landis had a cooking class. My sullen son and my cheerful daughter.



Our 1 of three trips to the pumpkin patch. Landis discovered a goat, Teilee discovered her love of hot dogs, momma discovered a caterpillar, and Daddy fed a noisy donkey.









Then Grandma Lee and Papa came for a visit. Nick and I took the night off to indudge our alter egos at a happenin' costume party. The Maverick and the MILF, and yes Ms. Palin (1984) won funniest costume. The next day the Madson elders joined us in a journey to the oval for a peek at the next President of the United States. Teilee found the horses to be a main attraction but was excited when she finnally spotted Obama through the binoculars. There he is between the pedestrian sign and the tree on the left.








After all the excitment subsided Teilee was able to get back to teaching Landis acrobatics.



We finnally carved pumpkins at about 5:00pm on Halloween. Momma made a spider and Teilee carved a pumpkin entirely on her own. It was a gorgeous monster. Then Nick headed to work at 5:30. Oh how sad the kids were to have Daddy miss out on Trick-or-Treating. We surprised them when Daddy showed up at 6:30 pm. He had to make an appearance at work and then was allowed to take the night off. Teilee was so excited, it made the holiday extra special.
Fortunately Landis fit perfectly in Teilee's old monkey costume so I only had to make Teilee's costume, which I finished that morning. She insisted on being a white octopus, I think I pulled it off! Although for much of the evening, Nick or I carried her prop because it was a little heavy. Landis learned quickly that he could unwrap the suckers and continued through the evening to magically appear with candy in his mouth. It was neat watching both my 5 year old and my 2 year old say 'Thank You' and 'Happy Halloween' every time they were given candy. On what is a very gimme, gimme type holiday they were so polite and respectful. Whew! Teilee says she would like to just stay home next year and give away candy. I don't know if mom and dad are okay with that. We like getting candy, our neighborhood is very generous:)


That evening I came home and went to our neighbors house to decorate for a party I was throwing the next day. For two years now I have been wanting to throw a surprise birthday party for my friend Delta. Her birthday is on the 30th of Halloween so it works out perfectly to have a costume Halloween party. We called it a Surprise Belated Birthday Boo Bash, and invited all of Delta's friends. It was great meeting them and hanging out. Delta was shocked and I was worried. Knowing she is not a fan of surprises I knew there was a chance of not making it through the night alive:) We all wanted to let Delta know how much we love and adore her and I think we achieved the message. Whether she liked it or not we celebrated her 40th birthday in style. Although Grant had to be the most stylin'!
Here they are the buxom bathing suit beauty and the pretty parting pirate. Happy Birthday Delta!



I had to include this picture. This is the benefit of throwing a party at someone else's house. I was able to do all the prep while being unconcerned about the massive mess at my house (including the huge pile of laundry in the background).


So that was our October. Well actually that was only two weeks in October! A fast fun two weeks and I am exhausted. My health, my mind, my body will need to recover but it was all worth it! Happy Halloween and el Dia de los Muertos to everyone! Also congratulations to all you Obama supporters. I don't know about you but I am feeling really inspired, excited and hopeful. As Bob the builder says "Can we fix it? Yes We Can!" YES WE CAN!

Oh yeah!

My favorite coffee shop Catalyst is having a birth art show and guess who has a painting in it! During a meeting with a birth activist group that I hold a membership in, we had an art session. For about an hour we talked and arted. What I produced during that session is now hanging at the art show! Yeah.....I can't wait to get creative again!

Sneak Peek

We arrived home tonight from our trip and man was it incredible. We reunited with old friends, made a few new friends, visited the Great Salt Lake, marathoned through IKEA, attended, Kara and Isaac's wedding, explored Goblin Valley, encountered The Killers, and had some really amazing adventures! Here is a sample of some fun photography that we were able to capture. I am sure there are many more to follow! This is a completely untouched photo of the squirt on a mushroom top.

Woohw Dizzy!

Man, my sinus' are filled with gunk and I am so dizzy! The last time I was like this I had a massive ear infection, although I have no pain in my ear. Yes, I have been a bit naughty with the gluten lately. It takes soooo little to affect me and soooo long to recover from.
I am so excited, we get to go on a trip next week. It will be our first vacation. It still revolves around traveling to see people but I have resigned myself that this will most likely always be. We are headed to witness the union of Kara and Isaac, soon to be Mr. and Mrs. Stewart, in Salt Lake City. We are hoping to visit Antelope Island on the Great Salt Lake, the Bonneville Flats, and Goblin State Park. Oh yeah and IKEA. I can't wait for all the fun visiting we will get to do with Kara and her family, I can't wait to meet Isaac and I am hoping that we will successfully work in all of the fun stuff too! I just don't want to be at their house day in and day out waiting for them to provide the entertainment. Although a few rounds of Settlers is almost a requirement of my visit! The only detail yet arranged is our food. Since we are trying to be diary, gluten, and sugar free I am not yet sure how we will achieve this without the comfort of our home. Any cooking will probably be a mass effort to feed a hoard of guests. We will most likely have to come prepared with food and recipies. It is a small detail in the excitment of getting to see old friends, new friends, new sites, and to have some fun adventures! Salt Lake City here we come!!!!

We had a crazy weekend, typical of our house. We finally, after nearly 2 months of constant procrastination, finally had a party commemorating the kids birthdays. I suppose I will blame it on my desire to party all summer. I was a smashing success if I do say so myself. Two things that you hope for in every party: 1) Everyone has a good time! 2) Everyone will want to come back! I personally had some side goals that were sly and sneaky at best. I am looking for that compatible group of delightful children and parents to join with me in providing cheap and fun play dates in a non-denominational parenting group that I am spearheading. It could be called the alternative parenting group, or the eclectic parenting group, or the frugal parenting group I have yet to discover a name. Anyone have any suggestions? We will hopefully be non-judgemental, cheap, dedicated, conscious parenting group. I also have yet to discover the medium in which I will launch this group. I am wanting it to be an invitation only group with a calendar set up online. I will place things on the calendar which parents will visit and determine which events they will want to join us in. This way when we go to the free mushroom farm tour, the art museum, etc.., anyone who wants to can join us! Was that a long enough explanation?! I am just not having success with existing parenting groups that are either too elitist or not selective enough.

I though I would share this bit of brilliant parenting that occurred the other morning. The kids arrived at the breakfast table to discover that N had made muffins. T immediately was unhappy with the morning selection and this quickly brought me to attention. I explained that this was breakfast and she was not allowed to be disrespectful to daddy. How did this make daddy feel?, I asked. She must thank daddy for the delicious breakfast and eat the muffin or she has to go to time out and have no breakfast. She thanks N and takes a bite of the muffin through strained compliance. Then she again refuses to eat the muffin. Fine, get down from the table and go play. This is breakfast and if you choose not to eat than go right ahead and not eat, but there will be no food until snack time and that will most likely consist of the non eaten muffins.
Both T and L went and played and left me scratching my head as to why they would not want to eat or rather why was starvation a better option than muffin eating? Ahhhh.... the idea crossed my mind that maybe I should try the muffins. Turns out the baking soda and baking powder were mixed up resulting in salty, metallic tasting nasty muffins. After my own taste test I resorted to milk, juice, and water to try and wash the taste out. Now what? If I serve the kids something else for breakfast they will learn that I am wishy washy. If I admit that they were right and muffins were meant only for the compost bin then how do I tell them the next time that they must eat what we serve them! In to their room I venture and here is what I told them: "Hey guys, I am sorry but the muffins got ruined and now they are yucky so if and when you are ready to eat then you may come and have yogurt and fruit instead." The kids took pity on me and allowed my explanation to stand as they frolicked back to the table. Polite, and respectful they thank us for breakfast and ate everything we gave to them. Score 1 for taste testing first before serving hand made items! I seriously had flashbacks to Dads oatmeal and the courageous kids who ate what was before them. At least the oatmeal was a consistency issue, I tried to force my kids to eat metal with a dash of salt!

Rain Fun!

There is nothing this momma loves more than a fresh rain and two eager kids! Even better if it is still raining when a walk commences. We have had an abundance of rain and we couldn't be any happier. One evening the lightening and thunder ended after bath. The kids decked out in raincoats and pjs loved stomping and jumping in the puddles.


T would spend all of her existence airborn if she could and L just loves to copy every action of his cool big sis. We stayed out until the light was gone and I was able to capture this cool shot with L where it looks as though the background is black and white. No touchups needed!

Since our neighborhood drains water very quickly, it is a rare downpour that gives us puddles. We are fortunate that we have a green belt in back that if we walk a little ways turns into a large concrete drainage area. After one downpour we walked through the marsh in the ditch and down to the concrete. There is a little ramp that the kids unsuccessfully tried to slide down but nonetheless had a great time getting wet. We were visited by a couple of horses and L rescued an abandoned frisbee. The sky was beautiful, the light was perfect, the air was warm, and the kids were wet: What could be better!!!!!!