November This and That

What a super fast year this has been for me.... My kids will be here in two weeks for our Christmas celebration..... eeeek.... still a few things to get done!

I did finally put down the crochet hook and I've been busy doing a few other things.

Have you heard about the 70273 quilt project?  I had not either, but I learned about it from this blog post from my friend Janet at Rogue Quilter.

From the person behind the project:  (Jeanne Hewell-Chambers):

A brief overview:

Between January 1940 and August 1941, Nazis murdered 70,273 physically and mentally disabled people – men, women, teens, boys, and girls. Though they never even laid eyes on the disabled person they were evaluating, the Nazi doctors read the medical files and, if from the words on the page, the person was deemed “unfit” or an “economic burden on society”, the doctor placed a red X at the bottom of the form. Three doctors were to read each medical file, and when two of them made a red X on the page, the disabled person’s fate was sealed.

I will commemorate these 70,273 voiceless, powerless people who were so callously and casually murdered by gathering 70,273 blocks of white fabric (representing the paper the doctors read), each bearing two red X’s (representing one person), and I will stitch them together into quilts. 

HOW POWERFUL IS THIS?  

Some of my favorite patients would have fit into this category, as well as many other people that I have known and loved throughout my life.  I made my XX block in memory of one of my favorite patients :  Gene Gene.... who will forever hold a dear place in my heart.  He's been gone for three years now, but I still thank God for bringing him into my life!

Click on the links above if you are interested in contributing to this powerful display of a sad history.

This sweet little girl came to visit Grandma and Papa by herself for the first time ever.  She stayed a week with us and it was pure joy!  We look forward to doing it again soon.

Maybe I should have cropped Papa out of this pic.... LOL

Our other sweet grandchildren were here for a couple days and these two girls danced their hearts out while they were here together.

Sadly, these are the only pic's I got of the boys.....LOL.  We enjoyed playing with some phone filters and had a few good laughs doing this.

Our friend sent me a picture of her newborn "Morgan" using her quilt that I made for her.  I love it when a quilt gets used.

We celebrated Thanksgiving early, so it was a beautiful quiet day at home for the actual Thanksgiving day.  Hubby and I fried shrimp and fish and it was so delicious.  It was cold here that day, which is unusual for an eastern NC Thanksgiving.  We had a nice little fire and I began stitching a vintage stitchery I won on eBay.

I have almost completed the lady at this point. I have enjoyed sitting and doing a little "mindless" stitching here and there.

My little Christmas trees are up and I have candles in the windows.  My nativity set is out and I hope to make my final list for Christmas plans today.   

See you again soon!

***Linking to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching for the quilt block and the cross stitch project.***

Mr. and Mrs. Claus are Here

Look who is here to welcome everyone to our home!

This is a fabric panel I bought from ebay a couple years ago with the intention of somehow using this couple in the center of a Christmas quilt.   I couldn't see that happening anytime soon and I wanted my grandchildren to enjoy Mr. and Mrs. Claus now.

I pieced together some batting and used a blue striped sheet for the backing.   It didn't take long to sew it all together,  to do a little free motion quilting on some areas, and then pin them to the wall.  My brain is already thinking of some cute embellishments to make them  stand out even more, but that may have to wait until next Christmas.

The panel was meant to be turned into a door panel, so they are quite tall... I think they are taller than the grandchildren.  My dogs have barked at the new couple off and on all afternoon!  I'll be glad when they get used to our new house guests.

Mr. and Mrs. Claus hang on the wall in front of my little tree, which looks kind of skimpy in the picture.  I didn't dry quite as many orange slices to hang this year, but I do think it looks a little better in person.  The lights twinkle and I love the little glow in the foyer.

Avery, Chandler, and Brinley  (and mom and dad) were here for Thanksgiving and stayed a couple extra days with Grandma and Papa.  They colored these nativity scenes for me  while they were here and I am enjoying looking at them everyday.  Annabelle will be here next week and she will get to color her nativity.

She and her mommy will stay a couple of weeks with us and I am looking forward to their visit.

I don' t know how I managed to not get a picture of Avery during their visit, but  please pray for our little guy if you will, as he has hernia surgery  scheduled for next week.  This will be his second hernia repair.  He's a big boy and doesn't seem a bit worried about it.

This is Brinley Kate just before we left to go eat at my dad's house.  It was a great day... everyone was there except for April and her family, which was a huge accomplishment for us to get everyone else together at one time.

I'm sure you all are very busy too.  Take time to enjoy the little things and be 'present' in all that you do!

Life is STILL good.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

A lot has changed since my mom passed away in July.  Hubby and I packed up the house and moved the 3 hours away to be near my dad.  (and other family) 

We both got new jobs and we both love our jobs!  My new job is so much more relaxed than my nursing home job.  I have decided that nursing home jobs are the hardest....those people work hard!!

Daddy is doing well and we are happy that we are all together again.  We are living 7 miles from him and I see him almost every day.  He misses Mama a lot, but he is adapting well to life without her.  My heart is so full.

The grandbabies are growing up:

Chandler(3) Avery (5) Brinley (1)

 

I miss being able to see them anytime I want, but so far, we have all done well with the transition.  We are still traveling back and forth to get our home ready to sell, and we are  visiting regularly. 



Annabelle

Annabelle is 8 months old now (this pic is older).  Her mom sent me a message that she stood and took three steps yesterday towards her daddy.  She is a strong little girl and has been moving along for awhile now.  She's really growing up so quickly!

A more recent photo of Annabelle

I lost one of my 'best friends' shortly after my mama died.  This is my Gene Gene:

Gene and Butterbean

 

Gene was one of my special friends from the nursing home where I worked for almost 12 years.  We bonded right away after he was admitted years ago and he was like family to me.  He loved my doggies, especially Butterbean.  He called Butterbean 'MY dog'. 

Heaven got a whole LOT sweeter for me this year:  I have my Mama and my Gene Gene waiting for me there. 

On this Thanksgiving 2015, I am still very thankful.... we have so much to be thankful for.  One of the greatest things on my heart today is being thankful ..... not only did my parents care about my earthly life, but they have always cared about my SOUL.  Loving my life here, but longing for Heaven....

Happy Thanksgiving!