New Year's Eve

Today I am wishing you this sort of celebration...

Pages scanned from a sweet little falling-apart children's book taken from my bookshelf.

Here's to a Grand New Year... see you on the other side.

How My Kids Felt About Christmas Morning

Need a closer look?







One celebration down, two more to go...

Christmas Day

Good Christmas morning to you All... I don't know about your house, but its about to get crazy around here. Stockings, stuffed crepes, bacon and coffee, lots of presents, then lots of playing and just being together.

May your day be Merry and Bright... and full of Love.

Christmas Eve

As I sit here, in the stillness of a Christmas Eve afternoon, there are things both heavy and light on my heart. The song "Winter Snow", written by Audrey Assad is on repeat via iTunes, fueling my contemplation. A soothing, encouraging, reminder of the Peace brought to earth that day so long ago.

Could’ve come like a mighty storm
with all the strength of a hurricane
You could’ve come like a forest fire
with the power of heaven in your flame

But you came like a winter snow
quiet and soft and slow
Falling from the sky in the night
to the earth below

Could’ve swept in like a tidal wave
or an ocean to ravish our hearts
You could have come through like a roaring flood
to wipe away the things we’ve scarred

But you came like a winter snow
quiet and soft and slow
Falling from the sky in the night
to the earth below

No, your voice wasn’t in a bush burning
No, your voice wasn’t in a rushing wind
It was still, it was small, it was hidden

But you came like a winter snow
quiet and soft and slow
Falling from the sky in the night
to the earth below

Snuggly Morning

Its after 9 now, and I still haven't brewed a pot of coffee.

You can't blame me though, can you?

Snuggly PJ girl, sock creature, cozy armchair placed between the fire and the Christmas tree...

doesn't get much better than this.

Folk Angel Applique Quilt

As promised, a photo of my newly finished creation, hanging over our nativity scene...

I got desperate and used my yard stick, whose ends are sticking out, but at least its up!

Why Fifth Birthdays are Awesome

Banners (mysteriously appearing in your room in the middle of the night)

Presents (LEGOs! The Big-Kid kind!)

Presents (even when they sit under the tree all day and you aren't allowed to open them until Daddy gets home)

Presents (a McQueen Set!)

Presents (a Game!)

Even hand-me-down presents are exciting when they are right up your alley (a Thomas backpack full of trains!)

Parties with cousins (mmmm... pizza)

Especially baby cousins who share your love of trains.

The end.

The Birthday Boy's Cake

Once again, Thomas was the desired theme, and in particular, a scene from Hero of the Rails, a recent feature-length movie favorite.

A scene in which Thomas finds a broken down engine that has been stuck, hidden in the bushes for years.

Trying to make the cake as easy for me as possible, and yet still exciting for the kiddo, I made a hill out of a sideways sawed-off 6 inch round cake, bushes out of frosted waffle cones, and tracks out of pretzels.

After baking all morning (of course he wanted a striped cake), I was super happy that I only needed two colors of frosting, and the duration of naptime to get it finished.

I think he was pretty happy with the results... although he told me this morning that he was hoping Thomas would be hiding in the bushes too. Guess I could have just covered the top with bushes and called it good, eh?

Click here to see previous years' cakes.

5 Years? Good Grief.

He started his life as a very small 5 pound 5 ounce almost-preemie, who had to lay on a light blanket for 48 hours to help him overcome a severe case of jaundice.

Now he is an off-the-charts big, tall, and healthy 5 year old (47 inches! 60 pounds!) who rarely gets sick or injured.

This boy has not taken a single day of Preschool classes, but has taught himself to read. He loves to tell jokes, play with his Thomas trains, talk on the phone, and actually seems to enjoy spending every waking hour with his little sister.

My little Man is... Charming, Loving, Compassionate

Persistent, Smart, Resourceful

FUNNY

a budding Farmer/Gardener/Chef/Explorer/Stitcher/Photographer/Artist

Careful & Helpful (and sticks his tongue out when he's concentrating)

Likely to become an Analyst, Architect, or High School Shop Teacher.

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you will not be surprised to hear that I absolutely adore this kid.

He would delight my heart even if he wasn't mine.

Happy Birthday to my Baby (you know I will always call you that, even if I have to whisper it under my breath to avoid embarrassing you).

What I've Been Working On

The last few weeks I haven't been cross-stitching, but my needle has still been busy. I started this project last December, then set it aside for nearly a year.

Getting back into the spirit of the holiday, I dug it back out of my workbasket and got busy finishing this folky little hand appliqued and quilted wall hanging.

Now before you go and get all impressed, I'll have you know that I have only dabbled in applique quilting, and was able to figure this out all by myself. If I can do it, so can you!

Anyway, I had this idea last year, for a "something" to hang over my nativity set. A "something" that would depict the night sky and the star and the angels, as told in the Bible in Luke chapter 2 (the version that was read in my family every Christmas Eve as far back as I can remember).

Inspired by some circular motifs on an old fraktur certificate and an old wooden weathervane in the shape of an angel blowing a horn, my design was born.

My quilting stitches are large and primitive on purpose, because its much quicker and suits my impatient nature, and I like how they look.

I can't say that it is exactly how I would like it to be... the colors are looking too bright to my eyes, so I might tea-stain it to help marry them... but for a first attempt at designing a quilt, I would say that I did pretty darn well.

Once I get some dowel and hang it over my nativity, I'll snap some photos so you can see the set-up as I imagined it.

Ghost Deer

This series of trail cam photos has been sitting in my "for blog" folder for a really long time.

Know how I know?

This time of year, Blacktail Deer don't have antlers, because they have already fallen off. And this ghostly fellow is still in velvet, which is the first stage of yearly antler growth.

But you're not going to get too upset with me, because they are just silly trail cam pictures anyway, not like I've been keeping you in the dark over a design release or something, right?

I just love how the early morning light shows up all pale grey and white and downright ghostly, and I love how this deer just stood there for a very long time and let his photo be taken over and over. Thought you might agree.