the day before...the night before...christmas...when

all my kids were causing me stress and having fun while doing so. Nah!!! I'm just kidding...well sort of (hee-hee). I wanted to share my day with whomever is left STILL blogging so close to Christmas Day.

In the morning I baked banana bread...and it was really really yummy. DH was jealous bc I started baking and making before he scooted off to work. He actually thought me and the boys were going to eat this whole thing. Now mind you, that is a possibility, but we wouldn't do that to dear ole' Daddy. Unfortunately, I'm not Better Crocker so this was from the home of Pillsbury. But we still enjoyed it!

I stitched Jose and Cameron's first initials on their stockings. Turned out kinda primitive and cute. Hard to see the letters in the picture, but they are quite visible in-person. Cameron's is red against the black of Frosty's hat and Jose's is green against the red rim.

The boys playing under the table. Our chairs have to be put down because Cameron climbs in them and won't leave them alone...EVER! So the boys thought it would be cool to play "fort" and then Jose thought it was cool to tickle the spit and snot out of Cameron (literally)...which Cameron had no problem doing.

Jose and Mama enjoyed some stitchin' time together today. We sat on my bed, watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (real Christmasy ugh?), giggled and stitched while Cameron took a nap. He stitched on his Soggy Froggy by Janlynn and I my Primitive Deer by The Prairie Schooler.

I took a photo of my Grandma's Santa head. I have two of these Santa door knob covers. My Grandmother was always crocheting and knitting; always crafting something. She made several of these and I was blessed with owning two.

I found another angel to adorn my tree. So precious indeed!

Cameron still doesn't know what to think of Christmas, Santa or this tree. But what I do know is that he's out to destroy it. Every chance he gets, he shakes the table so ALL the ornaments will make some noise and sometimes fall...and boy do they ever.

this and that...and then some

I've been neglecting my blog lately, and not by choice. Since December 2nd someone in this household has had some kind of sickness. The entire month has been spent at doctor appointments and in doors. I feel utterly cooped up and I am. The month of December didn't start off well and its only prolonged what has been needing to get done...Christmas shopping and decorative transformation. Only in the last few days have I felt "Christmasy" and that's treading lightly around that word. I'm still getting Christmas decorations in order and the place is a mess. Anyway, onto bigger and brighter things...

First, I finished the first book of the Twilight saga, Twilight. Can I say "O-M-G!!" This book was truly fascinating. I took it everywhere ~ I even read it at traffic lights. Any chance I got, I read it. All I can say is that I would love to be bitten by Edward Cullen! Ugh!!! I just finished this book Friday and already picked up the second book New Moon. Can't say too much about it yet...just started it the other night.

I finally finished a cross stitch piece. I started this the week of Thanksgiving but since I got sick I lost focus and put it down. I'm embarrassed to admit that it is rather small and it should have been done sooner. However, I did finish stitching it a week ago and finally got around to putting the finishing touches on it late last night. It's a Heart In Hand design called Pine Tree. I stitched it on 32 ct Lambswool and the instruction was to chose any pine green and I choose DMC 520. I hand sewed a piece of deep red fabric on the back and attached jute cording so I could hang it on my tree. I lightly stuffed it with fiber-fill. It's a cute little thing. I'm just happy I have another handmade ornament on my tree. :o)

Here is a sneak peek on my progress of The Sampler Girl's design Be Still and Know That I Am God freebie that Tanya was gracious enough to dream up. I can't wait to finish this and I have a couple of finishing ideas in the works. I really want this one to be special because it comes from a very special heart.

I have some really cool and exciting news!! Well, for me anyway. LOL I won a Blog Giveaway from Suzann!!! I am so excited about winning as I've never won anything before besides a gold fish in the 5th grade. I would like to add though that my gold fish, Bubba, lived for 5 years so he was a wonderful prize after all. Of course, I have no idea what I've won from Suzann. According to her blog it is a box full of goodies! I cannot wait to receive it! Thanks Suzann and Merry Christmas to YOU!!!

As of Friday, Jose is off school and doesn't return until January 7th. Can you believe that? That's a looong time to be out of school for winter break. I remember we returned the day after New Year and it felt all too short a break. Jose complained because he didn't think the break was long enough. Ha-ah! I am somewhat relieved though. DH gets to have at least 2 weeks of sleeping in time bc normally he takes Jose to school. And I get a much needed break from picking up Jose after school. It'll be nice to not have to be somewhere everyday. During Jose's break he will get to spend a couple nights at his Nana and Papa's which he's looking forward to. He loves spending time with them and I'm so blessed that he does. They are fantastic grandparents! Cameron still hasn't had his chance to spend the night yet and that'll be interesting when it occurs. :o) Remember the movie 'Indian in the Cupboard?' Here's my version of 'Cameron in the Cupboard'...well niche really! He fits so perfectly in this little hide-out.

We are ALL finally getting over the crud. DH and I are still coughing, but we're much improved. However, I've been sick the longest and DH is recovering rather quickly compared to myself. I just know I'll be sick for Christmas ~ been sick since December 4th. Jose still has a runny, stuffy nose, and Cameron still has a very teeny-tiny cough that causes some gagging, but we haven't had vomit in days so this is looking good!

I can't believe Christmas is almost here! I met up with Mom today to do some last minute shopping. Oh who am I kidding??? I just went Christmas shopping for the first time yesterday. I am beating myself up over this. I do have a couple excuses though. For one, we've all been rather sick and this has delayed my wanting to go out into the world and shop. Being sick really can get depressing. I've been slowly getting Christmas decorations out and I'm not proud of myself with that either. It bothers me to no end that it is 4 days until Christmas and I'm still not done decorating the house. Not for me, but for my kids' sake, I should have had this done weeks ago. I feel like a terrible mother. BUT for the last couple days I've been trying to pull myself together and get to decorating. Here are photos of our decorations. Next year will be better, I just know it...I feel it!

These are Santa pants that my late MIL gave to us as a gift. The best part about this gift were the delicious jams and jellys she made that were tucked inside the legs. They fit perfectly and stood erect all on its own. It was such a cute gift! Unfortunately, my home doesn't come with a fireplace. If it did, I would hang Santa's pants off the mantle.

The picture on the far left is one of me, Jose and DH long before we were ever married. We were so cute the three of us! This is one of my favorite photos of us three together.

My garland of angels.

My Mom bought this angel for me a few years back. It's one of my favorite Christmas decorations. The angel needs a companion though. :o(

I'm sure most of you can guess where I bought my star and "hope" signage. :o)

Grandma's handmade poinsettia.

Santa holding two prim hearts. I love that old pillowcase fabric!

My little helpers. Aren't they cute?

My MIL gifted each of us an ornament several years ago. It really is cute! It's handmade but I'm not sure she made it...might have though. She was really creative.

I once was a figure skater so having an ice skate is essential to my tree. This is the more modern skate.

These are more rustic ice skates made from wood. I recently saw these at Kohl's and had to get them.

Jose made this ornament out of red pipe cleaner and a few plastic beads when he was in Kindergarten. I've held onto it ever since. Jose coiled it so it wraps around the tree branch just the way it should.

I love pigs! My cousin, Kari, gave this pig to me as a present a few years back. I have another pig on the tree, but this one is my favorite. It's very special to me.

This one is silly actually. My Mom stitched this. It is supposed to be a scissor fob. She gave it to me a really long time ago since I didn't have a fob and I decided to use it as an ornament. It's fitting, don't you think? LOL

Glad Tidings...simply put!

Ah...NOEL! This ornament used to belong to my Mom and naturally she gifted it to me. It's been on our tree forever. I remember it as a child ~ it's probably older than me! I love how the light shines through...like stained glass.

See the faded construction paper garland? Well, that was my little creation when I was teeny-tiny. My Mom usually puts this on her tree, but as of last year it re-belongs to me.

My newest ornament this year is the acorn and I stitched the star piece two years ago. It technically doesn't "belong" on the tree, but I wanted it there this year.

Jesus does save...and by the looks of it, he saves the purple Mickey Mouse head ornament too. Since my Dad works for Disney it's only appropriate to have Mickey on the tree. In fact, there are 12 of these bad-boys!

No tree is complete without Santa. He adorns the top near the angel, but she hasn't made it there yet. I'll post her portrait at a later time.

That's it for now. I know...overkill right?!?! Hey, it's Christmastime ~ tis the season to be sharing! I meant to post this Saturday night, but Cameron had another episode of vomiting, even after I said we hadn't had one of those in days, he goes and decides to have a Linda Blair moment so I had to tend to that and help put him back to sleep. He was rather upset. I was pooped and fell asleep with him. And now it's Sunday, we finished our breakfast of scrambled eggs and blueberry muffins and lunch is now upon us - a late lunch really. Now off to finish laundry, clean up, finish putting away decoration boxes, and get to some much needed stitching! It relaxes me so.

the family "spread"

I hope everyone had a Thanksgiving just as wonderful as mine. Our Thanksgiving was a low-key, no-nonsense celebration of thanks. One of our dearest friends, Dave, was able to join us. During dinner each family member shared one thing they were thankful for. Most of us were sentimental and put thought into our thankfulness-sharing. Of course there is always one person that can either make or break the deal. In this case, it was my DH. He ended things on a lighter funnier note. When asked what he was thankful for he blurted rather quickly while chewing, "firearms." We laughed. Thanks, Honey! I want to share some food photos and a few 'around-the-house' pics. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did taking them.

Gobble-Gobble!!

My late Grandmother made this turkey many, many years ago. I believe it is canvas and needlepoint. We weren't able to eat him though. Ha-Ha-Ha!!! Hardy-har-har!

Cranberries...unfortunately I don't eat them. I'm strictly a meat-n-potato girl. But they looked real pretty.

Called Yams of Fire ~ this is a family signature dish. It has been on the table as long as memory serves. If you want the recipe I can arrange it for you. :-)

The Spread. We tend to eat buffet style. We just find it easier to have everyone served this way.

Delicious stuffing. All my life I've claimed not to like stuffing and I have always believed that I did not like it. Maybe at some point I didn't like it. Anyway, I didn't help myself to stuffing Thanksgiving Day. However, the day after I ate some more Thanksgiving food for lunch at Mom's I decided to try stuffing and would you believe I LOVED IT!!! Ha-ha

That is it...I'm done! I'm not doing this anymore! (Mom is really giving a double wave for the camera-girl.) ;-)

Cameron is patiently waiting to eat...as he always does. He's so good at dinner, but not this time. He got his food. Took a couple bites and then decided to beat the crap out of his broccoli and turkey. He did eat though - mushy style.

My wonderful Dad lighting candles on the mantel. He loves a fireplace, but this evening it wasn't cold enough to have one lit. So, we opted for candles instead. It was so relaxing out in the woods with golden illumination in the house and the smell of baked pie and warm turkey. Hmmm...

My brother, Mark, getting ready to sit and chow down. He actually shaved. Ha-ha

Cameron was jamming to Papa's jukebox. He loves the song 'Sh-Boom'. Cameron loves to boogie and get down!

After dinner, clean up and dessert, I decided to look through Mom's heavenly stash of cross stitch galore! The Crafty Lady is a design my late Grandmother cross stitched and my Mom was blessed to have it after she passed. The verse is perfect for any stitcher. Crafty Lady is on the wall when you enter into my Mom's office/stitching den. (Click on the picture to enlarge so you can read the verse. It's excellent!)

Okay, Mom might kill me just a bit for posting this picture of her room. It looks messier than it really is and she is still organizing it since the renovation to this room. That stuff in the black leather chair is mine. I always bring a butt-load of stuff with me, but some of that is Cameron's, I'll have you know. The baskets are all cross stitch. This isn't all though. Out of view is more. I believe she may even have some things down in the finished basement. She's been stitching pretty much all her life and she's been collecting for at least 30 years (is that right Mom?). Anyway, this is my favorite room in the house. Most people gather in the kitchen, but we gather here (me and Mom anyway).

That is it! I'm done sharing Thanksgiving and ready to move onto Old Mother Winter and Christmas which is right around the bend. I do hope your Thanksgiving was a memorable and delicious one. I'm still eating the desserts. Yum!

Must go now. I have some stitching to tend to ~ I can hear my linen and needle calling me. Have a wonderful weekend!

thoughts on the matters

Movin' on up! Cameron officially met a major milestone over Thanksgiving and made it onto the dining room chair without assistance. Yay (complete sarcasim)! Me and DH were sitting at the dining table and Cameron was quietly pushing one chair around which is normal for him to do. I guess we were in la-la land, or our hearing impaired, but the next we knew Cameron was much louder and really close to my ear. I turned my head to the right and there he was 6" from my ear with the biggest most accomplished grin to date for him. I was surprised and happy for his triumph, but my mood fell immediately to dread. I said to DH that this wasn't good; we're going to have to start putting the chairs on the dining table. Ugghhh...so far we haven't had to do that, but give him time that Mr. Cameron...give him time!

Black Friday ~ we did not observe this day. Even though I initially wanted to do a little shopping I felt a little under the weather in the morning. I felt better as the mid-morning, afternoon kicked in but I had to get Jose from his Nana's house. While at Mom's I did get to eat Thanksdiving dinner for lunch...and it was GOOD!!! Afterwards, I spent about 2 hours going through all her charts while slamming down a brownie. Mom has soooooooooo many charts! It's heaven. Then Jose and I headed home.

Now my mind is focused (more like overwhelmed and flooded) on the Christmas/Winter season. It'll be here before we know it and I haven't even attempted to shop for gifts. This is my family's second year picking names from a hat. The kids are excluded of course, but us "big kids" pick a name and set a spending limit. Last year it was $25.00 which we thought was reasonable and we'll probably implement again this year.

We purchased a very small artificial tree from Home Depot for $4.99. I believe it is a 2-3 footer. Sad, I know. In fact, I think it is really intended to be a table-topper decor item. It isn't what I necessarily have in mind to take the place of a Christmas Tree, but with Cameron's monkey-ing ways we'll be miserable for a month with a 6-7 foot tree embellished with all the trimmings. It'll just be a complete mess and a disaster in our living room. Ornaments will get broke and torn, lights mangled and removed, and garland in places I don't want to imagine. We'll probably get a glimpse of Cameron dangling from tree branches if we're lucky. In the end, it just isn't worth all that chaos. Jose is disappointed but we all are. We figure though it is just a tree. The real blessing is each other...and presents! :-)

barn yard fun for little toddler

Cameron's 1st birthday was August 30. We had a fun little time with family and friends. My Cousin Kari lives in Ohio and wasn't able to get Cameron's present here in time. She just had her second child about 6-7 months ago and has been extremely busy adjusting to being a second time around mommy. Her plate is rather full at the moment. I know she had every intention of getting something for Cameron sooner rather than later, but it doesn't matter to ~ it's the thought that counts.

While my Mom was in Ohio she visited my Aunt and Cousin. Cousin Kari had a gift for Cameron and we couldn't be more appreciative of her thinking of Cameron and wanting him to have something from her family for his birthday. Cameron loves his Little People Barn Yard. It makes animal noises when you open the doors and it is just adorable ~ it's right up Cameron's alley. He loves putting the animals and the farmer and our telephone (ugghhh) into the silo. Here's some pictures of him opening his gift from Cousin Kari, Cousin Ray, and little-little cousins Austin and Alex.

Afterwards, Cameron chilled out and then played some more.

Thanks guys for thinking of Cameron on his birthday! I really appreciate your sending a gift down to us for him. He loves the barn yard! We love you!