On the Sticks, In the Sticks

Merry Christmas to All!

I meant to have a post up for Christmas wishing you all a very Merry one, but things got pretty busy around here.

One scary thing that happened Christmas Eve morning was that my sister got in a bad accident -slipped on ice, lost control of her car, and hit another vehicle - an oil truck. She is so very lucky to be alive, and we are so very grateful she is, and so grateful to the truck driver, who took evasive action and lessened the impact for my sister. The newspaper has called him a hero, and I wholeheartedly agree.

So, my sister is alive, and recovering in the hospital. I went down on Christmas Day with my mom and Tom to see her. It was so good to see her and know she'll be okay, and I know it made her day to have us come.

In spite of this, I was able to have a really good Christmas with my family. At times I was pretty distracted calling other family members and the hospital trying to find out what was going on. And I at other times I was able to just be in the moment, enjoy the preparations, and enjoy the excitement on Christmas morning.

The kids and I went to church Christmas Eve for a really nice service, while Daddy fit in his last minute stealth shopping!

After everyone was finally able to fall asleep (I think it must have been around 10:45!) I snoozed for a bit. I think Santa must have come around midnight or so (hehe!) and I was awakened around 3am by my husband saying, "What are you guys doing?" I guess he woke up, heard something, and went out to find the kids in the livingroom sitting in a circle near the tree, just taking in the scene. We coaxed them back to bed. (I don't actually get up - just coaxed in my best sleepy, gentle voice) My daughter claimed she'd been trying to fall asleep for an hour, but couldn't :) But they finally feel back to sleep and stayed that way till 7:30...when they present opening commenced.

I love all the excited oooo's and ohhhhh's and "this is just what I wanted!". Makes it all worthwhile just to see their delight!

So, we've been up to our ears in Lego building, coloring, playing board games and video games, and Webkinz. As well as sledding and skating! It's been great fun and very relaxing.

I hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas too. I'm feeling so inspired by all the gifties I see that you all have made. I'm feeling very inspired to start my giftmaking early this year!

Wasn't able to get many good pictures of the unwrapping. This was the best one. The camera was left in the car and was too cold for taking good pictures. But you can get the idea - kids up to their ankles in paper and gifties. Yay!

Valentines and Finished Objects

It's little things like this that make my day...

a homemade Valentine from my honey.

That's Cupid there on the front...aiming his arrow straight for my love's heart.

Even back in the days when we were "courting", he used to draw cute little stick figure pictures for me, and poetry from the heart. There's not so much time for poetry these days, but it's definitely the little things like this that make my day.

Elisa had some really sweet and down to earth words to share about Valentine's Day, and true love and marriage.

And finally some FO pics:

I've finished four knitting bags. Here are two of them, so as not to overwhelm you with bag picturage.

And some finished needle cases. I may have shown you these before, but it was just the other day that I finished them with a tab abd button closure. I am so excited with how these came out, and I especially love the unique touch of using tabs cut from felted wool sweaters. A friend of mine gave me two huge bags of felted sweater scraps that she had picked up for free, and thought would be perfect for me to use for something. Thanks, Janet.

Happy New Year!

Well, Happy New Year to all!

Yesterday, in 2007, we got about 8" of new snow...Today, in 2008, we may get another 8-10"! Get out those shovels! Fire up the snowblower! It's life in New England! I love it really...the snow is so beautiful. As long as I can get up the driveway (vroom vroom), I'm fine. I think my mom's boyfriend, Tom, who was a native Marylander all his life, and moved up here over the summer, is having snow shock! :) Welcome to winter, Tom!

We had a really nice new year together. Winter went to her friend's house for a New Year's Eve birthday sleepover. I left her happily sledding with her friends yesterday afternoon. When i go thome, Daddy had already set out a spread for us...cheese, crackers, chips and dip, carrots and Ranch, and he even cooked up the stuffed mushrooms I'd made before I left.

We played hide and seek, tried plating a new game we got for Christmas called Skullduggery. (Arrrr, mateys...it be great fun, with lots of different things to do! We only just started it, but it's one of those ones that will take a while to learn, and be good for a long time to come),  watched some funny old cartoons for a while. That got us to about nine o'clock. By ten o'clock, we were mixing up banana muffins, while Daddy watched a movie in the bedroom. By eleven, we were munching on muffins and playing a rousing game of BrainQuest. At 11:30 we tuned in to Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve and counted down to the New Year.

So  Happy New Year Everybody!

I hope this New Year is a good one for all of us, rich with blessings, inspiration, peace and lots of knitting (and all the other crafts we love to do!)

PS Have you seen that Norma has started Blog 365? A challenge to blog every day of 2008 (or hey...should it be Blog 366 for this year? I just realized it's a leap year!)   It's tempting ( what am I , crazy?!)...but reality is, I often find it challenging to post every couple of days, or even once a week!

Merry Christmas To All!

Merry Christmas Everyone! I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday, whether it was Christmas or Hannukah.

On Friday evening we went to my sister's house to celebrate together with some of my family. It's always lots of fun. Billy came later than us, as Santa! He came around to the back door when he arrived and scared the heck out of my sister as she opened the door to get some fresh air. It was funny! She screamed, then started laughing!

Later, after dinner, the kids did a show for us. It was really neat, because Winter had this idea before we had left home that afternoon. All I knew was what she told me...that she had an idea for a present for the grownups (we pick names and exchange kid presents, but not the grownups really). So, after dinner, we all got called to be the audience in the livingroom, and the kids put on a Christmas performance that Winter had put together with them before dinner. It was the neatest thing, with dancing and acting involved!

One of the neatest things to see this Christmas was how Winter is changing, growing up. This is not the first time she has made something for Billy and I, but she was more into it this year. She made a Mrs Claus for me from pipe cleaners, and a Santa Claus for Billy, wrapped them, and tucked them in our stockings on Christmas Eve. Even more, this was the first year she thought of getting something for her brothers. Winter and Shane decided to buy each other a Webkinz with their own money. I helped them buy one to give to Morgan, too.

On Sunday, at church, our family had been asked to light the advent wreath. It felt really special to do this. Then the kids were in the Christmas pageant. As always the whole thing was just adorable! (Morgan was a shepherd, but he's not in this picture.)

The kids were up by 7:15  yesterday morning, which was actually not so bad...I heard my niece and nephew were up at 5:30! They were so excited...and loved everything they got. They played all day with their new stuff. We played a couple games in the evening, like Kerplunk! (remember Kerplunk?!) and and American Girl card game. It was just a nice, relaxing day all around. Unfortunately for Daddy, he didn't feel so good, coming down with a cold or something, but it was a good day for resting too.

So that's the excitement around here. Not much knitting has gotten done here in the last few weeks. I mentioned the hats and bags I've been sewing, as well as sewing a few hats on my own to sell. It's been tricky trying to find time to knit. I have limited time to do either, and I've been concentrating on the source that's been bringing in a little income.  The other things that's happened is that it turns out to be a conflict of interest to have my pastor as a pastor and a boss. Not a problem really for her or I, but she's been told it's a conflict of interest. Therefore, in order for me to continue to do this sewing for income, I'm going to have to do it on my own...something I'm struggling with.  I really go back and forth about whether I want to do that. Given the choice, honestly, I don't right now. It's much more manageable for me to just do it for someone. The material is bought and all cut out. All I have to do is sew, which I can do early in the morning, or after the kids have gone to bed at night, and sometimes a little in between. With my own business, I have to buy, cut, sew, design and find places to sell. I don't feel like much of a designer or a seller, and it's overwhelming to think about doing all of this and taking care of the kids as well.  Having said all this...I'm definitely thinking about it, because it's not like I'd never want to have my own business doing this.   And as I'm thinking about it,  I'm sewing. (Did I say I do enjoy the sewing?)

The great thing, though, is that my friend Caitlin has taken a few hats, both adult size and a few doll size (18", like American Girl dolls) to sell in her store Neighborgoods Local Creations in Sheffield, MA. Thanks Caitlin!

So anyway...

I'll leave you with a really cute picture of Morgan Clause! Merry Christmas Everyone!