Too hot to sleep!

Up at 4:30 am this morning. It is just too hot to sleep. DH has a fan that sort of blows on me. We have one other fan that blows on Cupcake. Maybe its time to invest in a new fan. Hmm...I wanted to get up early anyway to work on Christmas plans. We have our open house tomorrow night and I am no where near ready. The whole house has to be clean, just in case someone accidentally opens our bedroom door. This is my Achilles heal. Our bedroom is the catch all and I have been trying to clean it for weeks and weeks. Maybe I will actually get it done this week.

I started cutting out things that I am making for Christmas presents. My Mom is getting a tote bag made from a dress her mother made her almost 60 years ago. I wore the dress for a play we did together when I was 12. I hope she will love it. I cut most of it out yesterday, but need coordinating fabric for the inside. DH is getting more sleepy boxer shorts made from duvet covers we no longer need--really pretty polished cotton, red brick colour with a small check, and very soft. My nephews from Ireland are getting denim drawstring backpacks with their names painted on (that I am making from leftover denim) and Christian music CDs. Both should be easy to pack to get home. My one sister who chooses to stay in touch with me is getting a set of placemats and napkins--either from the second duvet cover or from NZ Christmas fabric depending on how much it costs. I'm quite excited! It's not the crocheting and things I planned to do early in the year, but still it will be fun. I love to make my gifts. For 2011, I swear, I am starting early and making all of my gifts.

This year my mother has helped a lot. She sent copies of her book (very good by the way) for all the ladies here, plus pretty fleece Nativity blankets. That was so sweet of her. Plus she spent a small fortune sending great hand me down toys for the kids and some discovery toys she bought. So our kids' Christmas is taken care of. I ordered some books that DH really wants plus 1 for me. And I ordered some personalized stuff (free) from Vistaprint for my favourite nieces. Plus the traditional photo calendar for the grandparents. I have paid for all of it so far from DH's mileage reimbursement and my Trademe sales. I am quite chuffed really. I am sort of loving the challenge of gifting on a budget. It is the theme for where we live this year and it makes so much more sense to me than what usually happens at Christmas.

Cupcake will be in her first Christmas play, a week from Sunday. I am so excited I can hardly wait. She is just so darn cute this year. Three years old has been hard--lots of attitude that is new--but she is also so sweet, affectionate, and helpful. I hope she will not get shy and not want to participate. I don't think she will, since she thinks she owns the church anyway. It was amazing when we came here, because she had never been really outgoing or comfortable at any church we were at. She wouldn't even stay in the nursery at our last church in America. But she immediately LOVED it here. Just walked in like she owned the place and has never stopped. I hope she will always feel that way about church. Maybe if her Mummy can keep her big yap shut when it comes to her feelings about church politics--Cupcake will have time enough to learn about that when she is an adult.

Wish you could all come to my open house on Friday. How awesome it would be to see my bloggy girlfriends? It makes me cry just thinking about it. On that note--wouldn't it be awesome if my Mom, Sister and her family could come. Or my brother that I haven't seen in three years. Okay, I'd better stop now. I am making myself homesick. The sun is up now--time to get busy.