Happy New Year!!

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!!  Enjoying my last few days at home with the family before they return to school.  Making a few New Year's resolutions - hope I can stick to them. I definitely have a list of projects that I would like to complete in 2011, I want to blog more, I want to keep up with Project Life (I'll post more on this later :o) and maybe exercise if I find the time. The first three definitely take priority :o).  Anyways, wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2011!!  God Bless!


Christine

Christmas Rules Update...

Just a quick update on the Christmas Rules.  I was really cruisin' along with this piece - having a lot of fun.  Today, I had to rip almost an entire rule out.  I started to stitch the "Listen for Reindeer" rule and did not notice until I was well into it that the chart is blocked a little different.  I counted it as I have all my others - big mistake.  Why does it take so long to rip stitches out????  Oh, well.  The deed is done and I am working on it again.  Here is a look at the piece to date.

Halloween is over and I have taken all of the decorations down.  My mom is a very talented quilter.  My love of fabric and all things stitchy comes from her.  I have been lucky enough to receive a few gifts for Halloween from her (I love to decorate for Halloween).  It's always so sad to put them away.  I do wish I could display them longer - they really are beautiful.  Pictures do not do them justice.

Ghost Table Runner

This year's gift - a beautiful wall hanging or table runner with Halloween scene. 

Love it!!  :o)

Well, I must be going.  Just taking a quick break.  My youngest woke up last night with the stomach flu.  It was a long night.  Things are better now, but he still needs his mom.  I anticipate a busy week with turkey day quickly approaching.  Happy Thanksgiving!!



Christine

Seriously.....

Seriously, where has the time gone????  I really don't know.  The past few weeks have been so hectic in our household.  I finally feel like I can take a breath - like things are going to slow down a bit.  Wait - I was just on eBay and it say there are only 51 DAYS until Christmas.  Surely this must be a mistake, but it's not and things will not be slowing down anytime soon.  Oh well - I felt like I was caught up with everything for a few minutes :o)

Here's a little recap of our busy life the past few weeks...

My son is in first grade and I was selected to be a chaperone on his field trip.  Super fun - this is a really great age (and also a very loud age on the bus.  They were very excited!!!)

Pittsburgh Zoo

First Grade Field Trip

Here's a photo of the entire class - we actually got them to stand together and pose for the shot.  It was getting cool outside, but we had a lot of fun.  We even got to see the new baby seal.  It was 10 days old when we were there and just too cute!!

Pittsburgh Zoo - Baby Seal (10 days old)

I also got the opportunity to help with my son's Halloween party.  (I do have 2 boys - it just happens I was selected for everything in my first grader's class for the fall .... so, I hope to help with my other son in the spring.)  The Halloween party was  a lot of fun.  Here's a shot of the kids bowling with pumpkins in the hall.  The boys were definitely rougher than the girls. 

Pumpkin Bowling

I love Halloween - so we had friends over and the boys all enjoyed trick or treat together.  Here they are in their costumes before trick or treating .... who doesn't love a holiday when you can get TONS of free candy :o)

2 Soldiers, 1 Cowboy & 1 Hockey Player

So, seriously - - - there is no doubt that I am the mother of two boys.  I was doing laundry yesterday and after I pulled all of the clothes out of the washing machine, I found this.

Surely, you are asking yourself what in the world that is ... I know that I was.  It just happens to be bird feet from a real live pheasant.  My husband is a hunter.  We are raising 2 boys who will be hunters.  AND, we have a bird dog.  So, I guess it is inevitable that I will come across such grossness.  I personally don't understand it, but they love it.  So, I had to carefully remove these from my washing machine.  Even though I knew they were clean as they had just gone through an entire cycle, I had to pick up with something.  Eew!!!

So, here are all the boys in my house - right after the hunt.  Little did I know when I snapped this shot that I would later find legs from these birds in my washer.  Boys ...

Finally, I just want to share a little glance at some stitching that I have completed this past year.  I'll try to post this monthly.  I stitched this angel earlier in the year - love that I can change her apron monthly.  Some of the aprons are really adorable.  She wasn't the funnest to stitch as her entire dress is white.  You can't see most of it because it is covered by the aprons, but trust me - it was a lot of white.  The aprons, however, were a lot of fun to stitch.  I look forward to changing them each month. 

All thru the Year

Heart to Hand Designs

Isn't she adorable - I used twigs from the yard for her arms and legs.  The hair was difficult.  I just couldn't seem to find the perfect fiber, but I'm pleased with the final outcome.

Wishing you all a Happy November!!  Next time, I hope to post an update on my Christmas Rules stitching.  After such a hectic month, I hope to have a little more stitching time!!

Happy Stitching!

Christine



Christmas Rules...

Well, I just couldn't resist the Lizzie Kate Christmas Rules series.  I first spied this on a.stitch.in.time where Natalie is showcasing her wonderful work.  I knew this looked like a great project for me ... I just wasn't sure if I could finish it before the holidays.  I now think that I can.  It is so much fun to stitch and it is coming along quickly.  Here is my progress so far....

The lighting was not cooperating, but I hope you can appreciate how dang cute this really is.  Last night, I had to step out of my comfort zone and substitute a color that I could not find in my stash.  I just did not want to leave a portion unstitched as I worked my way down.  I usually like to follow directions - it's the OCD in me - but, my local CS store still does not have the particular color of Weeks that I need - so I got adventurous.  I know - pretty LAME :o)  Anyways, it was a relief to see that all was well - even with a color that was substituted.  I bet you can't even pick out which thing has a different color.  Well, I must be signing off for the night - the next Christmas Rule is calling my name. 

Christine

Under Construction...

Blogging is definitely new for me ...  I'm sure that it will take a few days for me to figure everything out.   But, I have recently stumbled across a few fellow stitchers' blogs and I am hooked.  I love to see what others are working on - it is truly inspiring.  So, like my stitching pieces, this blog is a work in process.  Hope to be posting something real soon.   Have a great weekend!!

Christine