Holiday decorating ..

and a few reindeer .. just for RuthAnn ... I'm not sure exactly when I started collecting reindeer. DH and I have been married 33 years, so let's just say I've been collecting for about 30 years. We have a room divider that is actually older than the collection .. it was the first piece of furniture that we bought as newlyweds .. it a great way to display all the reindeer don't you think? So this is a picture of most of the divider, there's one more shelf on the lower right that I couldn't get in the picture ...

Here's a close up of the top right ...

the top middle ...

and the top left ...

the next pictures are of the individual cubbies ...

oh this is the bottom shelf ...

more individual cubbies ...



and this is the front of the divider .. it sits at the end of the dining room .. because we don't spend much time in the dining room, you'll see that most the reindeer face the hallway, which is the major hallway from the upstairs and entryway and the family room/kitchen .. but of course you can't have dinner with a bunch of reindeer butts facing you .. so some reindeer get turned around ....

Here's my Christmas salt and pepper shaker collection .. I've been collecting them for as long if not longer than the reindeer .. DH helped with hanging my stitching around the shelves .. I think it turned out really nice :)

It's stopped raining thank goodness .. but there are still towns having to dig out of the muck and mire .. what a horrible way to start the Hanukkah/Christmas holiday .. Happy Hanukkah to any of you that celebrate it ...

No stitching this week yet .. but I've almost gone my Christmas cards all done *smile* I'm itching to stitch though, so tomorrow I'll be working on my Fair and Square exchange piece.

I'm grateful for my reindeers, they make me smile and remember ...

Crazy Mother Nature and Pictures ...

I think we in Washington State really made Mother Nature angry .. not sure what we did .. but the last 3 days have been some of the most crazy weather I've seen in a long time around here. It all Saturday when we woke up to snow, great weather to be baking Christmas cookies in *smile* So it snowed all day, we got about 3 inches which is a lot for us, especially in early December. Sunday morning we woke up to more snow, which turned to rain and it rained and rained like I haven't seen it rain in years .. it rained so much that the rivers started flooding sooner than ever, the storm systems couldn't drain away the water fast enough and our Governor declare the a state of emergency before 1pm today. It's the 2nd wettest 24 hours in state history! There are counties that seriously should be building arks. There is currently one town so flooded that the people can't get out and emergency vechiles can't get in. Combined with the rain the coast had severe winds. We are lucky, out community seems to only have some minor water over roadway spots .. but if you go a mile in any direction it seems everyone has a flooding story. Please send up some prayers for the flood victims and hopefully the rain will stop for a while so we can start digging out.

So, while all that weathe was happening, Lisa and I were able to cook up 5 different Christmas cookie recipes. 4 of them turned out great, one was a complete disaster and tasted so bad that we threw them all away! But the 4 that did work out were awesome! We made S'mores cookies, Eggnog Cookies, Angel Wing's and chocolate dipped/peppermint candied pretzel rods. I think we each ended up with 4 dozen of each kind. I got them in the freezer before the family ate too many of them! lol

Oh and I found the camera battery charger .. it was under a bunch of clean clothes in the master bedroom .. go figure! kik ,, but now I can share some pictures again! woo hoo *smile* Here's a picture of Lizzie*Kate's Ho ho ho that I finished last week. The banner for it came today .. I love these banners!
More pictures tomorrow .. hope everyone had a great weekend.

I'm grateful for being dry ...

Happy Friday ...

Wow, don't know about you all but the week just flew by for me! Work was crazy busy this week .. the end of year panic is starting to hit everyone here .. makes for some stressful days for sure!

My stitching week was pretty good .. I decided what to do for my last 3 PIFs and will get them in the mail this weekend .. woo hoo!!! I'll share pictures when they reach their recipients. I had such fun with my first round of PIFs and I'm looking forward to starting a new one in January 2008 *smile* I also have Sally's gift ready to mail out .. hope it doesn't take months to reach you Sally. And I finished L*K's Ho Ho Ho .. but can't show you a picture yet .. I've lost my camera battery charger! grrrrr .. I was really looking foward to sharing a few pictures with you this week .. especially my reindeers .. Ruthie, I thought everyone knew I had an obsession for reindeer lol *smile* Hopefully I'll find the charger this weekend and have some pictures to share with you soon!

What are you plans for the weekend? I'm spending tomorrow (saturday) Christmas Cookie baking with Lisa. We have 4 yummy cookies planned .. sure hope they turn out good .. all but one recipe is new to us! should me quite an adventure lol On Sunday I want to clean my stitching room and want to decided what I'll stitch in December and I also want to see what's screaming at me to start in January. I've been reading about all the wonderful new January project stitchers are going to start .. I'm sure something will jump out at me when I am cleaning :) Monday is Terry (DH) birthday .. the kids and I are planning to take him to dinner, either Sunday night or Monday Night. Terry and Robert will be working on the Christmas lights outside this weekend .. I just love Christmas lights! The boys really have fun planning and adding new lights every year.

Hope everyone had a great week!

I'm grateful for Friday's ...

Well, it's true .. the holidays are here!

Whew, what a long weekend .. have to go back to work to rest up! lol Grab a cup of coffee or tea and I'll tell you all about mine weekend ...

Thanksiving was a very nice day. Started out with coffee and the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. I still really enjoy seeing all the floats and balloons and I love seeing the marching bands, just wish you got to hear all of their performance. After the parade I stitched on Ho Ho Ho and watched the dog show. Then it was time to get ready and went to have dinner with my fil. Dinner was much better at the restaurant than any of us expected, it was a very nice surprise! lol .. home early so I stitched a bit more, read the ads for Black Friday .. yes I do go out on Black Friday .. crazy I know, but I don't really go for the "deals" at the early hours of the morning .. see, about 20 years ago my friend Lisa and I first decided to go and see what all the hype was about. We went that first time without kids and husbands and had a great time .. and we've been doing it ever since. We start the morning going out for breakfast, hit the mall about 9am. Sometimes we find a lot of Christmas presents for family and friends, and some years we just have a good time looking at all the holiday decorations and finding a new holiday pin or sweater. Of courses there's the holiday shopping traditions now .. we have to get a can of hot chocolate mix from Williams and Sonoma, a box of the newest flavor of Frango candy at Macy's and I have to find at least one reindeer for the collection *smile* It was a production shopping day this time .. I finished the shopping for our adopt-a-kids at work, found a couple of gifts for Robert (DS#2), coupld of Christmas ornaments for Lisa's boys, and have one of my nephews all done. Ohhhh and I found two wonderful new Christmas music CD's .. Elliott Yamin and Michael Buble' ... nice additions to my collection of Christmas music.

Saturday was a marathon blanket making/holiday party mix making day. Lisa come over about 10 and we starting off by making a batch of this new holiday party mix .. I got the recipe at the grocery store next to the new holiday Nestle chips. All day we alternated between making fleece blankets and making the party mix .. worked out really well, since the mix takes 45 mins in the oven, we were able to work on the blankets while the mix was baking. We finished 9 blankets and 6 batches of party mix .. WE ROCKED AND ROLLED ON SATURDAY! lol ..

So, Sunday came and you think I would want to sit and relax all day .. and catchup on all the house stuff that didn't get done all weekend .. well, I kinda did sit and relax in the morning .. watched the Seahawk game (yea, they WON!), stitched, and then after the game I started putting Thanksgiving away .. thinking I would spend the week starting the Christmas decorating in the house during the week .. but when my DH saw me putting away Thanksgiving, he asked if I wanted him to start bring Christmas down from the garage attic .. well I couldn't say no to that offer .. sooooo I have all the Christmas everyday dishes, mugs and glasses unpacked and washed and put away, my Christmas salt and pepper shaker collection in their shelves and the mantel started .. then about 6:00 tonight, I collasped!! lol .. spent the rest of the evening stitching and watching TV .. I'm watching Brothers and Sisters (one of my favorite Sunday shows) while typing this small book of a post lol

I love this time of year! and I'm sooo glad that so far I feel like I'm on schedule .. it's a great feeling! I sure hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving .. and I hope the rest of your weekend was everything you wanted it to be.

I'm grateful for my bf Lisa ...

Happy Thanksgiving ...

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone ... I hope you all have a wonderful day. Our tradition for the holidays, both Thanksgiving and Christmas has been that we spend Thanksgiving/Christmas Eve with one side of the family and Christmas Day with the other side. It's been a great way to spend time with both families without having to split the days in half. This year we will spend Thanksgiving with my fil. My mil passed away 3 years ago and since then my fil prefers to go out to eat. It'll be just the 4 of us, DH, Robert, my fil Al and myself. Monica and Chris are with her parents in Spokane. We don't have to leave for dinner until 2pm so I'm looking forward to spending the morning snuggled on the couch with my coffee watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and stitching a bit .. then off to dinner. Sounds pretty nice to spend time with my family and not have to do any dishes! *smile*

This picture is Heart in Hand's Thanksgiving Sampler .. I finished it 3 years ago .. I always enjoy displaying it every year.

I saw this quote on a church reader board this week .. good words to live by don't you think?

We need to not only practice Thanksgiving but ThanksLiving

and here's another of my favorites ..The art of thanksgiving is thanks-living. It is gratitude in action. . . .

Enjoy your day .. however you spend it ...

I'm grateful for family and friends ...

A winner, a finish, a weekend ...

Thanks everyone for your prayers and thoughts for Cheryl .. it was a very nice memorial service .. she still has a lot ahead of her, but a nice supportive group of friends to help her along the way. Lisa and I arrived home Friday night .. it was really nice having someone to spend the 3 hour drive with. Got up Saturday morning to a long list of errands, staring with a haircut/color .. but I got them all done, even in the most incredible rain squall I've seen in a long time! Lisa came over in the late afternoon to work on blankets .. yea I do see a lot of Lisa, especially during the holidays! lol .. so, we spend about 4 hours working on blankets and were very excited to get 4 of them done! and my fingers didn't fall off from cutting all those blankets! lol. Saturday night we just vegged and watched Lucky Me, cute movie but predictable.

Sunday I finished my HIH's Thanksgiving Bird .. very fast stitch .. and I think he's quite cute. I'm not sure when or how I'll finish him .. maybe I'll try a pinkeep.

Sunday morning was grocery shopping and then home to watch all the pre-race stuff for the last Nascsar race of the season. Oh and Matt (my favorite driver) dominated the race and won! WTG Matt *smile* .. now what ever will I do with my sundays? lol It was a good sports Sunday for us .. the Seahawks won too! (football).

After the race we headed over to my dad's house to celebrate my sil's 50th birthday and my neice's 12th birthday .. lots of laughs, way too much food and the girls were spoiled with gifts from all of us *smile*

And just in case you think I've forgotten .. I have winner in my blogaversary drawing ... it's SALLY!! I'll be putting together a little package for you Sally .. I do have your address and will let you know when it goes in the mail so you can look for it :)

Thank you everyone for your comments about my blog and my blogaversary .. I really have enjoyed this year with my blog and look forward to my 2nd year blogging.

Hope everyone had a great weekend too!!

I'm grateful for busy but productive weekends ...

Happy Blogaversary to Me!!!

One year ago today I started my blog and it's been a really fun journey .. I've enjoyed sharing bits of my life and my stitching with all of you .. and I've enjoyed reading all your blogs, sharing your lives and your stitching with all of us. What a wonderful group of stitchers you all are. I've laughed with you, I've cried with you, I've been in awe of your stitching and your finishing, I've participated in some wonderful exchanges, and I've met some wonderful strong women. I love this blogging community that allows us to feel so close to each other, even when we are spread all over the world.

To celebrate my blogaversary I'd like to have a little drawings .. post a comment to this blog entry and if your name is drawn I'll send you a stitched gift.

I'll be gone for a couple of days, so the drawing won't take place until this weekend. A dear friend of mine lost both her parents last month .. 4 days apart .. so very sad. Their memorial service is on Friday. They lived out at the ocean, about 3 hours from here .. so Lisa and I are leaving today, driving to the ocean and being their to help and support Cheryl. Please say a little prayer for her .. this is a tough time for her.

See you this weekend ...

I'm grateful for blogging friends ...

Tea and Stitching ...

Have you seen the new Tea Thread Packs? OMGosh they are cute! Even this coffee drinker likes them lol So, who's going to stitch these . inquiring minds want to know lol :)




I started Heart in Hand's Thanksgiving Bird this week. These silly birds have been a favorite of mine ever since the first ones were published .. over the years I've stitched all the holiday ones .. Thanksgiving and New Years were the only ones missing .. now I'm really hoping for New Years to be next! I also have 2 of the 4 season Birds stitched .. hopefully I'll finish the other two next year .. I forget wha a fast stitch they really are .. at the Pals Retreat two years ago, a few of the girls started calling them the Poopy Birds lol .. that's been my favoriate name for them every since!

I've also been stitching on Ho Ho Ho this week .. cute design isn't it :) DH loves the frame and told me to go ahead and order it .. it'll be one of my Christmas presents .. maybe from the furbabies!

Thanks for all the comments .. the fleece blankets are really fun .. I've made one and cut another couple. And yes my fingers will hurt just a tad bit from all the cutting lol .. anyone want to help us? I promise not to forget to double tie the knots Kim .. Monica forwarded us about that when she was teaching us .. but it's amazing how you can still miss one or two, there's a bit of double checking to do too! and a warm welcome to a few new blogging friends .. that's for stopping by and saying hi *smile*
I'm grateful for silly long-legged birds, they make me smile ...

Kitties and Fleece ...

Monica (my dil) came over on Friday to give Lisa and I a lesson on how to do the tied fleece blankets. We moved the dining room table and set up the fleece on the floor .. Beau decided he needed to learn how to make a blanket with us .. he was really studying Monica's cutting technique! lol

Cutting the fleece is tiring work! Beau decided he needed a little nap, using the scraps as a pillow .. a couple of minutes after I took this picture he actually slide up so his head was really on the pillow of scraps .. too funny!

Lisa an dI had a great time learning how to make the blankets .. so I Saturday we went shopping for more fleece. We found two great sales!! Joann's was having a sale on patterned fleece .. 50% off most of the patterns we picked. I think the most we spent was $6.00/yard. The plain colored fleece wasn't on sale .. not a bad regular price, it was $8.00/yard .. but we decided to get the prints and go to another fabric store to see if we could find any other sales .. well, Hancock Fabrics had all their fleece on sale for 30% to 50% off. We couldn't believe our luck! And we were able to find solid colors that worked with all the patterns from Joann's. Here's all the blankets ready to cut and tie .. I'm sooo happy with everything we picked out! Here's a list of the blankets ....
Starting at the top left .. the Frogs are for Lisa, the plaid for her sister, the apples for her sil, the Seahawk print is for her younger son Travis, the pawprints is for my friend Cheryl, the reindeer is for me, the multicolored flowers is for my friend/neighbor Joan, the penguins is for Monica, the University of Washington print is for Lisa's husband Ken, the other seahawk print is for my son Robert, the Christmas plaid is for Lisa's mom, the leaves is for my dad's girlfriend Jean, the sunflowers is for my friend Pat, and the Christmas Cats/Trees is for my sil Tammey.

And here are the two blankets we made Friday night .. they are 5 X 5, perfect lap blanket size.

Saturday night I decided to start on one blanket .. got it all cut and ready to tie. I had put it on the dining table while we had dinner and watched a movie .. when the movie was over .. look what I found ... Subie and Chloee had found the fleece blanket and were sound asleep on it .. had to take a picture .. they were sooo cute! lol What is it about cats and blankets?? Think I might have to make them their own little blankets for Christmas! lol

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

I'm grateful for our kitties ...

Finishes .. really finished!

I had one of those days at work, the day definately couldn't end soon enough. I was created at the door with a large box and when I saw the return address I couldn't wait to open it. A while ago I found someone that did finishing .. another friend of mine had used her and was very pleased. Soooo I contacted Vicki, and sent off my stitching. I really don't sew and I was really excited to find someone to finish them .. and when I opened the box I was even more glad I'd sent them off .... I'm soooo happy with everything .. take a look!!!!

I stitched this last year .. Shepherd's Bush's Eggs .. how cute is this pillow! and the pillow insert is removable :)

This was stitched this year .. Christmas Joy by Angel Stitchin' ... it has a slot in the back for banner hanger .. don't you love the fabric choices?!

This is one my first counted cross stitch pieces .. I found it last year when I was moving into my stitching room .. I don't remember anything about this pattern except that it was in a big hardbacked book of counted cross stitch patterns. Fun to have something from sooo long ago! lol

This is SB's Believe .. this little pillow has a hanger .. I love the way one of the corners is turned in.. Vicki told me it would be easy if I wanted to turn them all in .. looks cute both ways. I just love this fabric too .. sooo warm and Christmasy

I always try and stitch at least one reindeer for myself .. this is a cute little guy, Prancer .. designer is Ewe & Eye & Friends .. stitched in 2006

This cute little ornament is by Erica Michaels, Slice of Christmas, stitched in 2005

I really love this pillow .. the fabric is just perfect! It's Angle Stitchin's O Christmas Tree from 2005 JCS, stitched in 2006

Here's another cute pillow with the turned in corner .. It's Noel by Glory Bee from 2006 JCS, stitched in 2007

I am just sooooo pleased with all these finishes! Now to decide what I'm keeping and what I'm might give as presents .. it's going to be hard not to keep them all .. but I do have some very good friends that will appreciate a gift like this *smile*

I have a Blogaversary (what a silly name eh? lol) coming up soon .. Thanks Ruthann if you hadn't missed your .. I wouldn't have been aware that mine was sooo close! Hmmmm, now that I have all these new pillows and wallhangings and ornaments, maybe I'll have to give one away on my blogaversary .. come back and see what I decide :)

This week has really gone fast and I'm really glad .. it hasn't been the best of weeks, between work and menopause .. it's been pretty ugly! lol .. Thanks everyone visiting and leaving me your comments .. I really enjoy them .. and it's nice to see a few new people commenting too!!

I'm grateful for someone else creating beautiful things from my stitching ...

Wow .. November already!

Happy Monday .. hope everyone had a great weekend. Mine was good. Friday evening we had Sears come out and to tell us about re-facing our kitchen cabinets and updating the countertops. We should have the bid sometime in the next two weeks. This is the next phase of remodeling. I'm curious to know how much this might cost us! lol!

On Saturday, Lisa (my bff *smile*) and I went shopping .. Had to go to the Hallmark Open House to see all the next Christmas ornaments .. then it was off to figure out what we were going to make for our gf's this Christmas. A few posts ago I showed you pictures of the candlemats .. well, we decided we'd bitten off more than we could chew and decided to make something that was a little less labor intensive this year. We have all the supplies for the candlemats, so we can start earlier and make them for next year. We decided to make fleece laps blankets .. the kind you cut around the edges and tie .. we'll see how that goes. When it comes to the holidays, Lisa and I really try to keep each other grounded and as stress free as we can pull off .. I think making the blankets will be much more stress free for us .. at least I hope they will be! lol

While we were out shopping we stopped by the quilt shop near my work .. the one where I found that fun coffee banneer hanger .. they had more for the holidays .. look what I found ...

this cute Christmas tree banner hanger .. I finished No Peeking a couple of years ago, had it made into a banner last year .. but never could find the right one .. until now!

This is a Bent Creek exclusive that I stitched a few years ago .. it came with the tuck banner .. isn't this snowflake hanger perfect! I just love him :)

Saturday night we went to dinner with Chris, Monica and Robert .. it was kind of a bittersweet evening for me .. my mom passed away 10 years ago Friday .. I really don't like celebrating the day she died .. last week is always tough .. but I like celebrating her birthday and days like that .. for just going to the cemetary to put flowers out for her and chat a bit .. I do visit her grave, not as much as I used to, but often enough .. it's comforting to me. Well, this year I really wanted the boys to go with me .. I just thought we needed to do this as a family .. and I must say my kids really were wonderful. Chris, Monica and Robert thought it would be nice to do .. they really knew without me saying much how much I needed them to do this with me .. after our visit we went and had dinner ... toasted mom/grandma .. had great food, laughs and then came home and watched License to Web .. well, it was just one of those perfect evenings .. and I thank my family for giving me that *smile*

Sunday was just a lazy day full of nascar racing (only 2 more of the season!), football, laundry, grocery shopping and some stitching. I started Lizzie*Kate's Ho Ho Ho .. and just got ready for work today.

Thanks for all your wonderful comments about my Halloween decorations .. glad I could get the pictures to show up finally! I do enjoy the holidays .. all of them! lol .. I'm sure you'll be seeing a few more pictures in the upcoming months *grin*
I am so grateful for my sons ...

Happy Halloween!! fixed pictures .. I hope!

I hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween .. with no rain on those cute trick or treaters and lots of candy *smile* .. Do your kids sort their candy when they get home? I remember when I was younger my brother and I would empty our pillow cases (yes we trick or treated with pillow cases! lol) in the middle of the living room .. mom and dad would do check to make sure there wasn't anything odd in our candy stash and then mom got first pick from both our piles! Then my brother and I would spend the next 30 mins sorting and trading our candy .. I loved watching my kids sort and trade .. it's one part of this silly holiday that I reall miss .. that and walking the neighborhood with the other parents and our kids .. and of course the older the kids got the further back we parents had to walk! ohhh what fun!

Thought I'd share a few pictures of my house and our halloween/fall decorations .. this is our fireplace mantel in the family room

My dad made these shelves for me .. they are really for my salt and pepper collection, but during the holidays, I take down my regular S&P's and decorate with halloween/fall and then Christmas stuff .. I have a wonderful collection of Christmas S&P shakers .. I'll share pictures later of those ..

Justa little decoration on the kitchen table ...

and this is the window over my kitchen sink ...


Boo!

I'm grateful for Halloween memories ...

Sunday and a few more pictures

Hope everyone had a good weekend .. I finally finished unpacking and got most of my stash put away, did the usual laundry/house stuff .. got to stitch quite a bit on Sunday .. finished my F&S squares but can't show you until they arrive at Pam's house. We went and got our pumpkins saturday, Terry and Robert carved them tonight. I'll have to put candles in them and take pictures .. they are pretty cute, and a bit scary! lol

I have some more pictures from Pals Fall Fling .. I think I've called it 3 or 4 different names so far lol ... anyway, there was an ornament exchange Saturday night. For every ornament you brought, you got a raffle ticket and got to pick from all the lovely ornaments on the table when your number was called .. here's pictures of all the ornaments .. aren't they wonderful!!





Here are the ornaments I picked .. can't wait to have them hanging on my Christmas Tree :) The first two were stitched by Ruth Ann, I knew Ruth Ann before she started blogging .. and she is as wicked funny as she is in her blog .. and a wonderful stitcher and I'm soo happy to have received two of her ornaments .. of course she stitched enough to give each and every one of us one! lol ...



This was stitched by Rosalie .. isn't it pretty :)

And this was stitched by Debbie .. This was the first Fall Fling that Rosalie and Debbie attended .. but I don't think it will be their last .. at least I hope it won't be. I really enjoyed meeting both of them.

Thanks for stopping by .. I really enjoy hearing from everyone :)
I'm grateful for new stitched ornament for my tree ...

Strawberries ...

Ahhhh Friday .. I do love Friday! lol .. I've been stitching this week, inbetween unpacking and laundry, but can't show you pictures yet. But I can show you pictures of what Pam sent me .. she was my Fair and Square partner this round. Look at these cute strawberries! I love these sqaures. The colors are deep and yummy. Pam said the design is called Russian Khokhloma-berries; designed by Barbara Sestok. She found the design in a mazagine that is no longer in business.

Pam also sent me some goodies along with the squares she stitched .. isn't the heart adorable?! She made it and it's just sooo sweet. She also sent me some fabric squares that look really nice with the strawberries .. and she included a Canada keyring and two postcards showing me pictures of Skatchwan where she lives. I've really enjoyed these F&S exchanges. Thanks Pam for stitching for me .. and thanks Vonna and Annemarie for organizing this great group!

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for the comments .. I really enjoy reading them. Hope everyone has a great weekend! I should have some more picturs from MB soon :)
I'm grateful for stitching exchanges ..