I need some rocks!

To put in my pockets so I don't blow away! It's SO windy out there! We've been under a wind advisory all day. We even had a few snow flurries earlier. We're having dinner with some friends tonight and I have the curling iron plugged in but I'm thinking it'll be useless. As soon as I step outside the wind will just blow the curls right out.



We had a really great Christmas at my parent's house! I was really holding out hope for a white Christmas since they get so much snow up there, but nothing. It waited until we left town to start snowing. That happened every single time we went last year. I'm also holding out hope that we'll have a really good snow here this year. We have the snow suits & the sled. We just need the fluffy white stuff. We all came back with loads and loads of Christmas goodies. I must've been a really good girl this year because I made out like a bandit! I came back with loads of things but a few of my favorite things was a new set of stainless steal flatware (a service for 12! YAY!), a bottle of Diamonds from Georgio Armani...have you ever gotten a whiff of that?! It smells SO good! I also got a huge makeup set from Estee Lauder and a set of 4 Estee Lauder perfume minis. My brother gave me a gift card for this little primitive outlet village close to my parents house that I like to shop at. I spent it on some things for my little sewing/crafting room.



One of the gifts I gave my mom was a fairy I stitched for her. I made it in to a wall hanging. I think it turned out really well!



















So as for me, I've been feverishly stitching on a project that I hope to enter in a needlework exhibition in March. The entry dates are mid February so that leaves me about a month and a half to have it completed and framed. Perfectly do-able, I think. I started it about a week and a half ago and have gotten a very nice start on it. My plan is to have to finished by about the 20th of January and then see about getting it framed. I'll know in about the next week if I'll be able to have it done. I think I will! The finished size of the piece is about 11x14, I think. I'll show you a picture when I'm done :). I should have started something far before now but I kept busy stitching other things for gifts. I had actually planned on stitching something else and bought the fabric and everything for it the beginning of last Summer. There's no way I'd get it done if I started now. It's rather large. Maybe next year.





There are no signs of Christmas left here. Every year I look forward to putting my Christmas decorations out but the second Christmas is over, everything comes down. I'm funny that way. I'm really looking forward to this next year! I have lots of things planned! Part of this past year was still really hard since we had moved here the end of 2007. I totally feel like this is home now and really couldn't imagine being somewhere else. 2008 was good and I know 2009 will be even better. I'm hoping to go on some of Mike's business trips with him this year. He's already asked me if I want to go somewhere with him in Feb, but I'm still thinking on it. I'll probably definately go on his trips with him next Summer. He's mentioned one place but I'm holding out home for Hawaii, California, Florida, New York, or Chicago. I know I said last year I didn't like NYC but I need to give it another chance. Going with a 10 year old in mid December wasn't the best of circumstances, I don't think.




Tomorrow we're spending the day in D.C. We're going to some of the Smithsonian Museums. We went early on the first last year and it was great! We got right in to the city, got a parking spot right on the National Mall, and got in and out of the museums with no problem. I presume everyone else was still in bed. Our first stop is the Museum of American History. I wanna have another peak at that Star Spangled Banner. I wanna see all of those gowns the First Ladies of the US wore too...

I'm off to finish getting ready for our night out!



Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas!

We're loading up and getting ready to head to my parent's house! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday!

Popping In

To catch my breath! I can't believe how busy I've been the past few weeks! Most of it seems like a blur, it's gone by so fast. Let me try to catch up....

I had a nice visit with my BFF. Time seemed to fly by. We didn't get to do nearly as much as I had planned. Maybe next time. We did go on a quick tour of Fredericksburg and spent one day in Washington. Since we went on a work day, we parked in Springfield and took the metro in. That's always one of Joshua's favorite things to do. And chew gum. Big big wads of it.

When we went to the White House we got to see them building the platform for the Presidential Inauguration. I have to wonder how much that costs. You would think they could use an existing structure for that.

On Sunday evening I went on the Fredericksburg Candlelight Tour with another friend of mine. She goes every year and asked me to go with her. I'm so glad I went, we had the best time! I was on a natural high the rest of the night from walking through those houses. Not only did I love walking through those gorgeous historic homes, I LOVED LOVED LOVED hearing the stories the guides had to tell. Some of those houses were there before the Civil War and many contained Civil War items that were found on the land. Not only that, a lot of the houses had the original flooring. One that really intrigued me had bullet holes in the floor. Another had a piece of the original roof that had Civil War bullets in it. Pictures weren't allowed on the inside of the homes but I did snap some outside pics of a few of my favorite ones. This first house wasn't on tour but I took a pic anyway because it beautiful. These houses are in downtown Fredericksburg right down the street from the needlework shop and all of those other little shops I like to go to. These houses might not seem that large from looking at the front but they're all quite huge. The Rappahannock River sits right behind them. You can see George Washington's boyhood home from the back of these houses. They said that light green house is almost 15,000 SQ. Ft.!

I especially loved this house! It's a historic home called The Sentry Box and you can read a little bit about it here.

I'll definately be making this a yearly event, I had such a good time!

I've spent the first few days of this week finishing up Christmas shopping, filling out Christmas cards, and getting Christmas packages ready to be mailed. I'm planning to find time this week to cook/bake up some Christmas yummies.

I went to my stitching guild's little Christmas party yesterday and had a really good time. I found a new free chart online a few days ago and kitted it up for everyone with the fabric, thread, and needle. The chart only called for 3 colors of DMC and I already had the fabric so putting them together was a piece of cake and everyone loved them. Most of them stitch on aida you see, so I put linen in there in hopes that they'd at least try it...lol.

I did the finishing on 3 ornaments I stitched for my friends at HE for Christmas and will be packing them up and delivering them tomorrow. The piece is called Candy Cane Heart from the Sweetheart Tree. It calls for a sterling silver candy cane charm but I was so not down with paying $10 x 3 for a candy cane charm. Instead I used Mill Hill heart glass treasures....1 red and 2 white. I think they turned out really pretty. I did wish though after they were finished that I would have made the cording red instead of green.

Away I go. I need to wrap some more gifts and get my load ready to haul to the post office.

Cookies & Presents

I didn't think I'd be posting again for another week or so but I've managed to find about 2 free minutes to hop on here. I've spent most of the day getting ready for my best friend's visit. I'm so darn excited!! Not as much though to be driving to Baltimore. Only because I've never been to Baltimore. I've heard it's pretty easy to get to the airport there. Here's to hoping my GPS gets me there the easiest way and doesn't send me on a wild goose chase. She's done that a time or two, you see.

I participated in a Christmas exchange in my little yahoo group. I sent to Angela and she posted today that she received the package I sent to her so now I can post pics. I made I stitched JBW's Christmas Motif Sampler and made it in to a pretty flat fold for her. I also stitched an ornament for her from Scandinavian Stitches called Norwegian Reindeer. This piece was in this year's JCS Christmas ornament issue I love the way they both turned out! Here are pics of the pieces and a pic of everything I sent together.

I was in a baking mood today, so while I had the laundry going and in between doing my other chores I baked up a bunch of cookies. Aren't they pretty?

I'm off...so much to do, so little time. Wish me luck on that drive to Baltimore tomorrow, would ya?

My Little Space

A couple of posts ago I mentioned painting a little room that I was going to turn in to a little space for me. I had finished painting it and then Mike put a wallpaper border up in there for me yesterday. I told him that I wanted a little table and chair to put in there to put my sewing machine on. I was going to wait until after Christmas to shop for one. Earlier when I was doing some cleaning I stumbled across a little computer desk that was in an extra room we have and wasn't being used. We pulled it out along with a spare little chair I have. Here's a picture of part of my little space. I still have a lot of decorating to do. I want to get a little primitive looking cabinet to put on the wall above my sewing machine. Preferably a darker red like the red in the wallpaper border. I love that border! Isn't it great?! Here's a close up of it and of a hand blown glass bubble that my friend Cheryl sent me for my birthday.

The basket on the right of the table holds most of my treasured little stitching smalls that I've received as gifts. The little basket on the left holds a little pillow that was a gift and all of my stitching scissors. Here's a closer look.

Down the street from us there are some really nice horse stables. I notice often that they hold big equestrian events there. Thursday morning on the way to take the kids to school we noticed the Budweiser Clydesdales out in the field grazing and Joshua also noticed the big Budweiser semis. After I dropped them off at school I had several errands to run. On my way back home I noticed that traffic was stopped and the Budweiser trucks had a police escort (6 motorcycle cops and 3 other cop cars..1 stopping traffic, one in the other lane, and one behind them). I thought they were leaving permanently, but when I took them to school again on Friday, we noticed the Bud horsies out grazing again and the trucks were there again. I had more errands to run but on my way back home I noticed they were still there so I pulled in to the stables. I rolled down the window and asked a very nice man decked out in Bud gear if it would be ok if I brought the kids by after school to see them. He told me they'd be leaving before I picked them up but told me that I was more than welcome to come spend some time with them. Shoot yeah! Ok! So here I give you pictures of the prettiest horses (and biggest!) I've ever seen. There were 10 total but I didn't take pictures of all of them.

I probably won't be blogging again for at least another week. My best friend and her kiddies are coming for a visit, YAY! I'm picking them up at the airport in Baltimore on Tuesday and then taking them back next Saturday. I'm so excited!! On Sunday I've got plans to go on the Fredericksburg Candlelight tour with another friend and her sister. A busy bee, I am :).

Many Thanks to the Oysters

Many many thanks to the oysters who gave up their pearls so they could be my anniversary present! Look at these! Aren't they pretty?! I love pearls and always have. I've wanted real ones for a long time and alas, they're mine! Today's our 15th anniversary, you see. Mike worked from home today and got up earlier than I did. When I went upstairs, I found this on the kitchen table.

Pretty clever wrapping, huh? I know I was impressed. The cake plate was a gift too. I love making double layered round cakes and have wanted one of these forever. The pearls and my card were inside under the tissue. Too sweet. I don't know why but it reminded me of a time about 9 months after we got married. I had gone to Los Angeles for 2 weeks and when I got home he had a bunch of little presents wrapped up and scattered throughout the house. I had to go on a scavenger hunt of sorts to find them. I don't remember everything he gave me...I mean it was over 14 years ago for Pete's sake. I do remember though that during my hunt I found some flowers, a necklace, a bracelet, lingerie, and a purse. I'm pretty sure there must've been some chocolate too. Not that this gift had anything to do with that. The wrapping just somehow reminded me of it. I got him and ipod to keep him entertained on his commutes. He had been wanting one for a while. We also got him a wool topcoat but he got that a little while back when it started getting cold. He didn't have a warm one last year. I made lasagna for dinner and a cheesecake for dessert. Tomorrow night I'm taking the kids over to Cassie's BF house for a few hours so we can go out to dinner. Outback Steakhouse has been calling my name. That's one of the places we only go when we're alone. Too expensive for kids, me thinks. I decided I needed something new to wear for the occasion so picked something up at New York & Co. today. I was in search of a little just over the knee plaid skirt that I could wear with a sweater, tights, and black boots but had no luck in the skirt search so got something else. I like skirts. I always have. I don't do dresses though. I just don't like them.

Just a Wee Bit Behind

Ok, so I should've posted over a week ago. Life got in my way and every time I *really* wanted to post something better came along that grabbed my attention. Since I last posted say what's it been...12 days ago I:

1. Had a birthday

2. Went to my parents house for Thanksgiving in WV

3. Went Christmas shopping the day after Thanksgiving and at least 4-5 other times before and after.

4. Finished stitching a couple of Christmas gifts

5. Painted a large portion of the rooms downstairs...by myself, yay me!

So for my birthday I did pretty much nothing but entertain myself Christmas shopping most of the day. I was going to go to Mount Vernon...you know...George's house. I've not been there yet and mostly wanted to go to the gift shops to go Christmas shopping. I also wanted to stop by In Stitches if I went but I nixed the road trip all together for 2 reasons:

1. I decided I didn't feel like going by myself and all of my friends here work.

2. This is the good one....My BFF from Texas, Nealy and her 2 kiddos are coming for a visit next week! Yipppppppppppeeeeeeee!!! So I'm saving my money for our excursions. I could spend a small fortune at both Mount Vernon and In Stitches, you see.

I'm just too too excited about that!! They're flying in to Baltimore on Tuesday and I'm going to go pick them up. I'm taking the kids out of school on Thursday and Friday so we can go pal around D.C. They've never been and I'm just way to excited that I get to be their tour guide! Yippeeee!! I don't think I need to remind you how much I love going to Washington. The National Museum of American History just reopened and that Star Spangled Banner is just waiting for me to see it! And her too LOL!

I'm in a birthday exchange in one of my groups and got a really great box of b-day goodies from Cheryl! Look what she stitched for me! Isn't it pretty?!

I also got another stitched gift from my friend Lavon. She made this really cute Christmas bag for me and that cute little Santa. Isn't he cute? Her birthday is on the same day as mine. I stitched this little ornament for her.

Rachel, another friend of mine made this really great bracelet with matching earrings for me. I love the little crab in the center of the bracelet! Cassie does too and has already tried to talk me out of it..lol. The pic didn't come out very well. They're very pretty in person!

That does it for handmade gifts. I got lots of other gifties from other people too :).

And here's a Prairie Schooler Santa that I stitched and made in to an ornament for Mo for an exchange.



For some reason every year either right before or right after Christmas I get bitten by a decorating bug or something. The very first house we bought, I got new carpet right before Christmas. The second house we bought I got new furniture right before. When we moved here last year we got new carpet downstairs right after Christmas. This year I decided I need to paint which is really not like me because I don't like to paint. When we moved in to this house the walls downstairs were black. We were desperate to get rid of that so Mike painted them white. He painted every room except for this small room right off the rec room and by the laundry room. It's very small and has a door that goes outside. 2 of the dogs sleep in this room at night. I decided the other day that I'm making this my little room and I plan to get a little table and chair to put in there along with my sewing machine and some of my other crafting things. I'm going to make it in to a little primitive looking room. I bought a really great wallpaper border for it and a can of paint in a nice shade called camel. I spent last night painting my little room and love the camel so much that I've spent the entire day today painting most of the rest of the downstairs minus our bedroom. Of course it may end up being camel too. In fact, the kitchen might end up in camel. I've always had a hard time choosing paint colors but I do believe I've found the perfect one this time. It's amazing what paint can do for a place. I might kick everyone out and make the whole downstairs mine. Wouldn't that be nice?! I really don't like white walls. If I would've known how much better the place would look in camel I would've painted a long time ago. It's getting late though so I've cleaned my roller and brushes and have put everything away. Now my needle is calling my name. Nightie night.

LOTS & LOTS of Girly Fun!

Last night Cassie and her best friend had their makeover party at Club Libby Lu for Cassie's birthday. They had SO much fun! I had just as much fun watching them. They had a super deal going on when we got there so they got to do all of the packages for the same price that I was going to pay for the one package we picked out, which was way too cool! They got to do so many fun things and at first they looked a little overwhelmed at the choices they had to make. First they each had to pick a hairstyle. They got their hair fixed and all glittered up. We opted to leave off the makeup part of the makeover but they did get lip gloss. They also got their fingernails painted. The got to go over to the accessory wall and pick out 1 item. They both chose sparkly heart necklaces. After that they went over to the pooch parlor where they each got to pick a dog. After they picked one out they also got to pick out a collar, shirt, and bag for it. After they finished that they got to create their own bracelets. Cassie chose a pink band and her friend chose a black one. They each got to pick 5 things from the case to slide on to the bracelet. They each chose to put their initials and a couple of hearts on them. Very blingy little bracelets! After they made their bracelets they were given a backpack and got to pick out 5 items from the goodie bar. So many choices! I wish you could have seen their faces! They had the best time! And I had so much fun watching them! I'll be cleaning glitter out of the car and off the floor for quite some time I'm sure, but it was so worth watching how much fun they had. After we left they pranced around the mall for a bit so they could show off their new "do's". We had to stop by the grocery store to pick up some icing so they could decorate a cookie cake I made for them and they loved prancing around there too. They got lots of comments from a lot of people and were loving every second of it. After we got home they decorated their cookie and then spent the rest of the night playing with their new goodies. I'm glad we got to do this because I just found out that all of the Club Libby Lu shops are closing :(.

Birthday Girls

Cassie turned 11 today! We've been celebrating for a couple of days and I think she's had a really good time. Mike had to go on a last minute business trip to Chicago that was unavoidable at dark thirty this morning so she didn't get to see him. He pretended like yesterday was her birthday. We had cupcakes waiting for her when she got home from school along with our present and the things that I had been saving for her that came in the mail. She made out like a bandit! We got her a really nice bright pink digital camera. She loves taking pictures....almost as much as her mama. We also got her the cutest Hannah Montana studded camera bag. It looks like a little purse, so cute! From grandparents she got money, a subscription to American Girl magazine which thrilled her, the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus concert DVD, earrings, a stuffed crab (she loves crabs...collects them even...living and not), and she has a couple of other gifts on the way that are supposed to be here on Saturday. I know she loves what she's already gotten...especially that camera. Today I took the goods up to her class so they could make ice cream sundaes. I was supposed to take her shopping after to school to spend her birthday money but about a half hour before I was supposed to do that, the nurse called and told me that Joshua had a fever and couldn't go back to class. She told me I could bring him some medicine, go do the ice cream thing with Cassie's class, and then come back for him. Alas, no birthday shopping after school today. She and her BFF have a reservation for a birthday Libby Du makeover at Club Libby Lu and they're really excited about that. It's planned for Friday night but the BFF has been recovering from pneumonia so we might be rescheduling for the next Friday. If that happens I told her I'd take her to see High School Musical 3 this Friday. She's gonna have fun Friday one way or another...

MY BFF in Texas is having a birthday tomorrow. I sent a b-day package and she got it today. One of the things I sent was this cute pillow I made. It's simple but I really like it. I love that purple fabric. I used it for another pillow I sent in an exchange a few months back. Happy b-day, BFF! I miss you SO much!

I brought the little guy downstairs to sleep. Poor little thing still has a fever.

Catching Leaves

I caught the kids on the deck this afternoon trying to catch the leaves that were falling and thought you might enjoy the show. The trees in our forest are starting to look quite naked. I don't think it'll be too much longer before they're all bare.

Fun Day!

Laura and I spent the day out together today and had the BEST time! First we started off at Homespun Elegance for Sandra's Holiday Gathering. This is the first time Laura has been to the shop so I was happy to introduce her to my friends, as well as my friends to her. We had a great time chatting and browsing through the shop and both left with some goodies. After we left the shop we headed over to downtown Fredericksburg to go gandering through all the shops. Our first stop was Everything Cross Stitch. We both left with another bag of goodies. Mine was filled with supplies for a couple of Christmas gifts. After that we crossed the street to have lunch at a little place called Soup & Taco where neither of us got either of those things lol. She had a yummy burrito lunch and I had chicken enchiladas. After lunch we went in to a few more shops and ended up landing at the Fudge Factory where we scored so really yummy coconut bon bons YUM! After we left the Fudge Factory we headed out of downtown to a place I've been to several times before Called Dottie's Den. It a really neat shop in a big 2 story house. Today was a Christmas open house and they put away all of their regular primitive wares that they usually have out and had the place filled with Christmas things. Tons and tons of beautiful decorated Christmas trees. We had a really nice time browsing. After that we headed back downtown to a part that I haven't gandered through before. We went to some shops that were new to me so that was really fun. Our last stop was at a really neat antique shop. To my complete horror they had samplers in that shop that were stitched in the 1800's that weren't properly being cared for. They were in direct sunlight and the glass was touching the stitching. The price tag on the first one I saw was $395.00. There were some others for nearly $300.00. And one that really made me sad to look at was one that was incomplete that was stitched in the 1800's. It was $185.00 and was not in a frame. In fact, it was sitting on the floor. Yes, you heard me right. A sampler that was stitched in the 1800's sitting on the floor for anyone to touch, step on, whatever. I told Laura that I was certain that whoever stitched those would want me to have them. I even suggested I snatch them and she drive the getaway car...lol. I really am saddened that these pieces are in that shop and not in a museum..or my house...lol. I told Laura that if I run in to a lot of money some day I would buy them. She requested that I put her in my will LOL! The weather was perfect today and we had the best time! I had a little present for her when I picked her up. I made this cute little snowman box ornament for her. He's a little freebie from the Prairie Schooler. He came out so cute! I'm gonna stitch a twinkie for me. Isn't he cute?!

Look what I made!

I've not been stitching, no sir-ree. That's because I've been doing some finishing like a mad woman! I have to admit that I've been feeling a little guilty lately stitching new things when I have a box of things waiting to be made in to something. I pulled them out along with all of my finishing supplies and got cracking a few days ago. First I finished a few things that I stitched recently that are gifts. I can't post pics until they get them but I will soon. One thing in particular, Mike and Cassie both really like and were pretty much disturbed when I told them it was for a friend. I told them I'd make another one. Good thing I have more of the fabric , cording, and ribbon I used. I'll admit, I love it too. You know what I really love though?! THIS! And it's mine! All mine!

How cool is that?! At first I planned to make 3 individual ornaments but then got to things, why do that when I can make this really cool 3 sided ornie! This is the first 3 sided ornie I've ever made and I think it turned out great! I still want to add something to the top. I'm not a good bow maker but I know a couple of people who are so I might beg them to make one for me...I'm not sure yet. I do have the perfect ribbon. It looks complicated doesn't it? It's not. It was A LOT easier than I thought it would be. The Santas come from the Prairie Schooler's Old World Santas chart. I love Santas and always have. Mike likes the shape of the ornie a lot but he doesn't care for the Santas. He actually doesn't like Santa at all. I have no idea why. I mean, who doesn't like Santa? That's like not liking the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, ect...He must've had a bad Santa experience at some time. Or maybe he had a no Santa experience....hmmm...

I took a few pictures a couple of days ago of some of our trees and some of our neighbor's trees. Aren't they beautiful? I've noticed they've changed a lot more since I took the pics on Tuesday.

Tomorrow Laura's coming up from Richmond and we're spending the day together. First we're starting off at Homespun Elegance. Laura' has not been there before and tomorrow and Saturday Sandra is having a Holiday Gathering we've been looking forward to. After that we're heading down town to Everything Cross Stitch and we're also planning to gander around in some of the other little shops down there. I'm really looking forward to it and I think the weather is supposed to be really nice. I've not seen the trees down there in about a week and am looking forward to seeing how much they've changed since I saw them last. I was far too busy last year to watch them turn and have really been enjoying the show this year. This is the first time I've ever been able to enjoy the colors of autumn. It's so pretty!