Friday Night Sewing

My friend, Debbie, at Homemaking Dreams, has started doing her Christmas sewing on Friday nights. I was supposed to work Friday evening, but got a surprising phone call around 11:00 am, telling me they had overstaffed at work, and was wondering if I would like the day off. Well, Lord, YES!!!! So, since I recently gave up Facebook, I decided to spend my Friday evening sitting in the livingroom with my husband and sewing while we watched tv. I thought about Debbie and the others who have Friday Night Sew-in's all over blog country. The yo yo's I stitched up last night were created from my first charm swap that I posted a few posts down. (btw: I'm still looking for swappers if anyone is interested) I was so happy to look in the mailbox yesterday and find this sweet little package from Melissa, at Ardea's Nest. Thanks, Melissa... these yo yo's will add some terrific color to my currently dull collection! Friday night was a sweet night at my house. What did you do?

Longing....

This is an old photo of my patio shortly after we moved into our current home. Sad to say, it isn't this pretty anymore. However, I am longing for spring time... I am ready to get outside and enjoy the patio and make it pretty again. It's winter time now, and as usual, I am in my mid winter depression. This year it is so bad, it took me back to the doctor this week. Medication changes have been made and I'm looking forward to feeling like ME again!!! Number one on my mind is trying to get some things done: Motto: If you do stuff, stuff gets done. I'm off work all next week and I hope to get some stuff done. From cleaning, to organizing, to sewing, etc. My biggest distraction right now is this computer. I don't spend too much time on blogs, but I can't seem to pull myself away from facebook. You know, trying to keep up with family and friends. I've decided this is actually contributing to my anxiety and I think it's time to let it go. Have any of you had to let something go in order to get your sanity back? I would like to hear about it. Longing.... and looking forward to next week! :o)

It's not over... yet

Christmas was wonderful, finally having a little one to share it with again! This was Avery's first Christmas and even though it was very new to him, we all had a great time. We are now looking forward to next Christmas!!! Our Christmas celebrations are not over yet. I'll be packing up the dogs and heading to eastern NC today. My family will get together at my parents' house tomorrow evening for a good old fashioned eastern NC fish stew! Yum Yum!

Avery worked on his big cookie that grandma made for him. He made a nice mess, so I can hardly wait to see what he does with his first birthday cake in two more months. :o)

He's a big big boy now... growing up so quickly!

Santa was good to him and I think he just might like this thing called Christmas! We will definitely try it again next year. I hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Fun Dish Towels

I've always heard that you are supposed to give someone a gift that you would like to have yourself. So, I've embroidered a few cute dish towels to give away as Christmas gifts this year. I love these chickens! I'm having a hard time letting this one go!

The little cats were fun. I added the fabric and ric rac trim to dress them up a bit. My goal for next year: make myself some of these cuties!

From Sweet Pea

Merry Christmas from Sweet Pea! I bought Christmas outfits for my dogs last year when they were marked down for clearance. I had been looking forward to putting them on the dogs all year. Sweet Pea was the most photogenic, but as you can tell, she wasn't thrilled about me trying to turn her into a reindeer! Ho Ho Ho!

Christmas Cactus

A friend from work gave me a few pieces of her Christmas cactus some time last year. She told me she didn't know what color she had given me, because she had several colors she had pulled from. So, I stuck it in a pot and basically forgot about it.... watering it from time to time. Well, here it is... I've never seen one with such a peachy color and I've never had one bloom this close to Christmas! Thank God for the simple pleasures that make us smile.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all! I have so much to thank God for this year. I think the best blessing for me this year is this little guy! He is sitting in the rocking chair that belonged to his daddy when he was this small. It was given to his daddy on his first Christmas.... from his great grandmother. Now Avery has the chair from his great great grandmother.

He knew exactly what to do when I placed him in the chair. He grabbed those handles and started rocking the chair like a wild man.

Then he decided to pet the pig. ha ha Thank you, Lord, for all your blessings on me! They just keep getting better and better!

Happy Dinosaur... Happy Grandma!

I'm back! And l want to show you the happy little dinosaur that came to see us Saturday morning. Avery is now (almost) 9 months old and is so much fun!!! I love this baby so much!

Random:

*My husband's friend won the bet. I quit my full time job already. I think some people are made to work full time, others are not. I'm not. Period.

*I'm working two days a week again at the nursing home. My hip hurts this morning after working last night, but I LOVE BEING HOME!

*I'm working on an embroidery project with several more I want to complete before Christmas. Busy, busy, busy!

**Life is good** and **Jesus loves me***

Patriotic Pretty

Check out this neglected barn on the edge of our new little town in NC. This little town boasts that it has the biggest fireworks display in the area on July 4th. I find it hard to believe when I see the size of this town (a.k.a. community, crossroads, hole in the wall, speck on the map,etc). I'll be looking forward to next July 4th, just to see if they are honest! I love this barn!

Rolling Pins

So, how do collections "evolve"? I never started out to collect rolling pins, it just .... happened. I found this little wine rack at a thrift store this weekend and thought it would be perfect for phase one of the collection. :o) Below is another view of the rolling pins. I think I like them. :o)

What do you collect?

What 'ya doing?

Well, a looong time ago, I posted here to show you two new patterns. I finally got around to starting the laundry bag over the weekend. I am having so much fun with it, as I find embroidery to be so relaxing. It's easy to do while I watch t.v. at night and really goes pretty quickly.

The truth of the matter is: if I never buy another project to do, in my entire life, I have enough to keep me busy until I die. (and I'm assuming I will live a long time) I am such a sucker for buying something new to do, without even starting previous projects that I was so excited about when I purchased them. Especially if I find something at a bargain price! Does anyone else have this problem? I'm trying to stop doing this. The best thing to do is stay out of the stores, but that is impossible. I keep telling myself that it is okay... that I could have a much worse (and more expensive) habit... and this is okay. So... think I'll run to Hobby Lobby today. I might find something good. ;)

Sunday with "the girls"

If you attend my Sunday School class, you received an invitation to my house last Sunday for pizza and pedicures. I had 12 girls in my class this past Sunday (record number so far) and 9 of them came home with me and Mrs. April. I did the foot washes and massages. (my back and hip paid for it on Monday!)

Mrs. April and Mrs. Ashley did all the nail painting and all the fancy work!

It was a really good time! The girls are so much fun! If you look carefully, you will see two men in the picture.... my husband on the bottom right.... my son's leg on the bottom left. They couldn't take too much of the "girl party" and retreated to a bedroom to watch tv all afternoon! Wimps! If you didn't make it to the party, I hope you will visit my classroom soon, so that you can receive an invitation to the next party!

**I've started a new part time job with pediatric patients. Today I was with an adorable five year old who gave ME a manicure. You should see my pretty red painted nails... painted all the way to my first knuckle. Children are so precious! :o)