M, N, and Strawberries

Finished another round on the afghans. Only one more on Katie's blanket (the pink one) to go! So next time I'll be able to Happy Dance that one.

I plan to spend the rest of my stitching time this weekend on Angi's Mira RR. Probably will stitch on that exculusively until it is done as I want to be sure it is done in time to mail before we go on our trip. :)

Spring Exchange Revealed

I sent my Spring Exchange item to Marjean. Click on her name to visit her blog where she posted some pictures of the needlebook I stitched for her. It is the needlebook design included in the "Silkwood Manor" pattern designed by Just Nan. I think it came out really nicely if I do say so myself even though I was sort of nervous about the finishing.

In other news I found out our cabin assignment on the ship for our trip is room 8092! This is awesome because it is a Category 4 cabin and we booked a Catagory 6 - seems we scored a free upgrade. Woo Hoo! Not an incredible difference in the rooms really, just a bit bigger room and an extra pull-down murphy bed - so we won't have to use the upper bunk for one of the kids if we don't want to. We're excited anyway.

I also have almost finished another square on Katie's blanket - just the backstitching left, then it'll be onto 2 more letters on the Alphabet blanket. Those go by quick, so I'm hoping to get going on Angi's Mira RR sometime over the weekend. :) I only have one more square to do for Katie's blanket after this one, so I'll be really glad to have that whole thing done! I've decided to replace it with Silkwood Manor in the small rotation I have going.

Disney Anticipation

We are now less than 30 days away from our trip, and my planning obsession has shifted into high gear! The kids are full throttle into it too - most of our dinner conversation is now about the trip and what we will do on the trip, what it will be like to fly on the airplane, and be on a cruise ship. We are doing a Disney Land & Sea trip which means the first half is at Disney World in Florida, and then we take a 3-day Bahamas cruise before returning home.

It doesn't help that at work I really have nothing to do right now. I ended my last consulting assignment as a technical editor on March 30 - and I'm benched at the moment. My next assignment is already waiting in the wings - I'll be writing some online coursework for a financial/banking company - but my firm hasn't worked out my start date yet. So I have to come in to the office everyday (since I'm salaried) but there is NOTHING for me to be doing. Except obsess over Disney of course!

I have each day planned out, with breaks in the middle of each afternoon to avoid Katie meltdowns and DH meltdowns. Sean gets a little grumpy and stressed in crowded or overstimulating situations, so I tried to plan breaks for him too. We are spending the half day after we arrive at MGM Disney studios, since it is one of the smaller parks and we aren't interested in doing the big scarey rides there - so we can probably finish it that day. We are going to eat at Sci-Fi theater there for dinner that night and if Katie hold up (we'll see), we are going to stay for the Fantasmic! fireworks show. Alex and DH are really excited about the theming at the Sci Fi - you eat in "cars" and watch old drive in flicks and have burgers and milkshakes. :) Exactly our kind of restaurant! :)

I also have planned to do the Hoop-Dee-Do review, 2 days at Magic Kingdom, 2 days at Epcot, and an evening and a morning at Animal Kingdom. If we can do all I have "scheduled" with no major meltdowns it will be a miracle, so I'm just hoping we get to do most of it and I'm going to try to go with the flow if we have to detour from our plans. I know it will be a lot to take in, and it will be better to take a time out and miss out on something than to have a complete meltdown that will be harder to recover from.

Right now I'm anxiously awaiting our cabin assignment on the ship. We booked a guarantee room (really had no choice as the category we wanted didn't have the option to pick our stateroom at the time that I booked). If you book a guarentee you are guaranteed a stateroom in that category or one above it, but they get to pick which one. I'll be happy no matter what room we get, I just want to know where we are going to be so I can start mapping out in my head where we are in relation to the pool, the kids clubs, and everything else. I know, it is an obsession!

Anyway, guess I've bored you all long enough with all the details. I will be posting a detailed trip report when we return, so you might want to avoid my blog for a week or two after we return May 13! :)

Last Just Nan RR finish!

This one is Kari's. I stitched the last three bands, all taken from "With My Needle". I'm all done with this Round Robin now, which is good cause I just received the first package for the Mirabilia RR. Over the next week or so I'll be stitching 3 more afghan squares, then probably the Mira RR piece after that. :) I think I found a cute design to put on Katie's blanket - it is a freebie from Vermillion Stitchery. The March freebie is a cute little strawberry patch that I'm going to try stitching on the afghan. Just one more square after that one and I'll finally have that blanket done. I'll be doing letters M and N on the baby blanket. Off to get started on the strawberries now~

Just Nan RR Christmas Theme

This is Angi's piece. Obviously, it is a Christmas theme, and I think it is turning out very nicely. :) I picked bands from the 1999 JCS Just Nan Christmas ornament stocking and from Sweet Remembrance. I'll be stitching on Kari's over the next few days and should have a pic of that one up over the weekend barring any catastrophic events. ;)

Afghan Progress

I've been stitching on my afghans again. I finished a sun and moon design that was designed as a clock face onto Katie's blanket and finished the K and L blocks on the baby blanket. I only have two more squares to stitch for Katie's blanket, but I'm running out of cute designs to do - which is surprising considering my magazine collection! If you know of any cute small designs that would look good on a little kids blanket, let me know! I'm looking for designs about 70 x 70 or less.

In other stitching news I finished my piece for the Spring exchange, and I'm very pleased with how it came out. Can't show pictures yet though. I'll share once I've mailed it and the other person has received it. :)

For the next few days/week I'll be finishing up two Just Nan RR pieces, so I'll have those to post soon. :)

Mira RR ready to go!

Well, almost ready, I'm still waiting on 2 spools of Kreinik braid I want to send along so that everyone will have what they need, but otherwise I'm ready to mail. I think Deepest Love turned out great, and I'm going to love watching this develop as everyone gets a chance to stitch on it. :)

The 3 Yr Old Room!

Katie has been potty-trained all day at daycare now since the beginning of February. Right around that time I was surprised to find Katie in the 3 year old room at her daycare when I picked her up one day. The teacher in that room informed me that they would be transitioning her into that room over the next two weeks. I did a bit of a double take cause Katie's birthday isn't until the END of MAY. I was sort of concerned because on Feb. 1 she was almost a full four months shy of the start of the age range for that room. So I went to her usual 2 year old room and talked to one of her usual teachers in there. Unfortunately the lead teacher was subbing for the school age kids that day and I didn't get to talk with her, but I did talk to her asst. teacher and they again reiterated about her transitioning spending more and more time in the 3 yr old room over the next two weeks. I told them, like I told the other teacher that she was almost 4 months too young, but she didn't seem phased by that. They just kept saying since she was potty-trained, and they had the spot open, it would be cheaper for us, etc. I was concerned, big time, cause she is really comfortable with the teacher she has now, and lets face it - that is a GOOD thing to have. (a daycare provider you really trust!) Also, would being with a bunch of kids that are ahead of her developmentally and socially intimidate her?



Well, I got home that day feeling really awful about it, and the lead teacher had heard that the others told me and that I was concerned and she called me at home. She reassured me that it was totally up to me whether to move her or not, that she understood my concerns and that it is fine if I want to wait. (I really like her!) We decided to revisit the question in the first part of April. Since this I've noticed that at least 3 of the kids in her current room are older than she is - one turned three in early Feb. and two are due to turn 3 at the end of March. Sooo I probably won't be able to move her in early April anyway cause these three might be moving - except that they still aren't potty-trained which is a requirement for the 3-yr old room and seems to be the big reason they are pushing Katie. I dunno where I'm goinig with all of this except that it has been rolling around in my brain what I want to do about it.



I don't want to be a total PITA and insist she have her birthday before she moves to the new room, but we pay our bill every week on time and she really loves her current room and teacher. She has gained so much confidence in there. I've met the 3 yr old teacher and she seems nice too, so it isn't that I don't trust her - I'm just not sure Katie is ready to be with a bunch of older kids just yet. A month or two age difference now is a much bigger deal than it will be in a few years. And no one seems to be putting any pressure on the other families to hurry up and get their kids trained so they can be the ones to move up. Not so much that I want anyone else's kid to be pressured, but geesh they are way older than Katie - shy should she suffer just cause she potty-trained earlier than they did.



On the other hand, maybe the stimulation of all the early preschool stuff they do in that room will be good for her too. *sigh* I don't know.



In stitching news, here is a pic of the latest afghan squares I completed. I'll be finishing up the stitching on Deepest Love for the Mira RR for the next few days and I'll post a pic of that next time probably. :)

Mira RR and 33!

Yep, today is my birthday. I'm 33, which has to be about the most ho-hum number yet. Not doing too much for my birthday this year - we went to TGIFridays for dinner last night and Katie did NOT have a meltdown, so that was a pretty good present! :) I had the fajitas, which despite the slightly stale tortillas were actually quite good. hrm, I am sooo boring.



Since it was my birthday weekend, and the first weekend of the month, which is Mirabilia Stitch-a-long, and March is mermaid month and all, I decided to spend the whole weekend stitching just what I wanted to stitch - which was my Mermaid themed Mira Round Robin. I would have liked to finish her face, but I ran out of 948. That wouldn't have been so terrible except that the first two craft stores I stopped at to get some more were out! Finally snagged some at an out-of-the-way craft store next to Alex's dentist today when I took him for his appointment. So she will have a chin shortly. :) I'm going to spend the rest of my birthday stitching time continuing with her before I have to go back to those wretched baby blankets!

Another Sweetheart Tree RR

This is Autumn's RR. I'm a sucker for pink and rose colors, so I'm absolutely in love with how this one is looking - so pretty! I think I only have 2 more to do for this RR, it is going by fast!

Afghans

3 more squares done! Now I'm stitching on Autumn's RR that came in the mail on Friday. We have had a ton of snow and there is more to come, so shoveling has really eaten up a lot of my stitching time this weekend. Still hope to have a pic of Autumn's RR complete sometime early in the week. :)

6th Grade Basketball!

Since this is what has been eating a lot of my stitching time lately, I thought I'd post a pic. :) I was never much into sports, and hate sitting through Seans sports. For the most part, it makes no difference to me whether it is on TV, or watching in the stands. I just have no interest.

Until now! Alex - the kid on the far left in the photo - is on a YMCA league 6th grade basketball team. He has practice every Wed. and a game every Thurs. They only have two more practices and one more game, so it'll be over soon. BUT I have enjoyed it so much. And so has Alex. Oh yeah, it was for him, right!

It is just so much more fun to watch a game when you are invested in one of the players. As the season has gone on I've gotten to know all the kids on his team too - and I cheer for them all! Ha!! Don't worry, I'm not one of those parents that yells at the kids from the stands. I get into the game, but only yell positive comments of encouragement. Heck, I even clap when the other team makes a basket. I really like that it is such a positive team, learning type atmosphere for all the kids. Now, it is competitive too - but everyone is really encouraging. I've watched all the kids really develop some skills too. While I don't think there are any Michael Jordan's on the team, it has been really neat to watch the coach take these kids from a group that had never played a 'real' game before to some pick setting, zone defensive, stay-on-your-man, spin into the lay-up, basketball savy kids. Alex has even made a few baskets in a two games - and watching his confidence build after that was so great.

I'm so glad we convinced him to start getting involved in some extra-curriculars. He is a bit shy and has a few close friends, but with him starting middle school next year I'm glad he is branching out a bit. :)

Just Nan RR finish

This is Michelle's RR. I stitched Primrose Path in the bottom right corner. It was a fun stitch but took a bit longer than I had wanted. I spent the first half hour or so cursing cause Michelle wanted us to stitch in the same direction she does, and I stitch the opposite direction. I kept forgetting and having to frog. Then it dawned on me to simply turn the pattern and fabric both 90 degrees and I was able to stitch in my normal way and still keep the stitches going in the correct direction. Whew! :) I think this one is shaping up to be quite pretty.

Hardanger Exchange

Melanie sent me this great ornament for the Hardanger Exchange on the Rotation Stitchers Board. :) I hung it up in Katie's room as the colors match the decor in her room perfectly.

She was also kind enough to send some yummy chocolates and some lovely varigated threads. Thanks Melanie! :)

Weekend Stitching

Okay, I know it is Wednesday, but I just didn't get around to taking the pic and uploading it to the computer til this afternoon. Here are the blanket squares I completed over the weekend. So far I'm managing to stick to the rotation and keep working on these. Just 5 more blocks to complete on the pink (Katie's) blanket and then it will be done - I cannot wait!

I also started the layout for my Mira RR, but right now it is just one and a half outlined sections, so I'll spare you the boredom of that pic til I have a bit more to show! I also just received another Just Nan RR in the mail today, so I'll be stitching on that for the next few nights - hopefully I'll finish before the weekend so that I can knock out another block on the pink blanket over the weekend.

In other news, I also finished doing our tax returns last night - and we are actually getting a refund! A nice sized one too - we were worried since we made much more money this year than any other year that we would have to pay in, but apparently we overcompensated for that when we filled out our deduction forms when we started our new jobs early last year. Sooo now I should probably make an adjustment so we don't overpay so much again this year. Don't want to be giving the govt. an interest free loan - although I have to admit the windfall is quite nice. I think we will use it to get a new front door and put a down payment on some new windows - the ones in Alex's room especially are really in need of being replaced. With this recent cold snap I've seen just how bad they are - they are all iced up and his room is so cold. Both our front door and the door that leads to the garage also leak a lot of warm/cold air - so they should also be replaced. Might just do the whole house if we can afford it cause all the windows are about 25 yrs old and could stand to be replaced.

Oh - and speaking of extra money - I just got a BIG raise! I am so happy about it cause I really felt I was underpaid in comparison to some of my coworkers who just had the nerve to ask for a higher number when they were hired. My naivete about what people were making worked against me when I was hired, and even though I negotiated a higher salary than what was offered, I was still earning less than my peers. BUT I did bring it to the attention of my manager when they had to bump my salary mid-year to meet the minimum for the new salary range for my position. I was not happy that I have 7 yrs experience and they were giving me what someone would make fresh out of school. My boss had lots of nice things to say about my work at my review and even outlined steps he wants me to take so that I can be promoted to the next level by my review next year which is a whole other (higher) salary range. DH is happy for me, but admitted to a bit of jealousy because I am again making more than he is - and he is now doing better than he ever used to as well. Life is good - I cannot complain!

Another Sweetheart Tree RR

This one is Kathy's and is obviously a band sampler. I stitched the flowers and date band and the bands beneath that. It was fun and quick to stitch.

Now to finish the square I was working on for Katie's blanket, and then another two letters on the new baby afghan and then I can get to something else fun!

I think I will likely start on my layout for my new Mira RR. I think I finally managed to work out a feasible layout for what I want to do with it. I've decided to outline 10 sections even though we are only doing 9 mailings. It just layed out better that way, and I'll just fill in the last section on my own sometime. I've also decided not to use Enchanted Mermaid in my RR. Her head seems much larger than the other mermaids and I think she would look disproportiante - also you wouldn't get enough of her body to tell she is a mermaid. She is a gorgeous design, but really fits better with the queens for a project like this. I still have the pattern and may do her on her own some day. After all the other 50 zillion other patterns I want to get around to! There are only 9 mermaid patterns though - 10 total mermaids since I'll be splitting up MOTDB as two, and without Enchanted Mermaid that takes it back to 9. Soooo... I gotta hope that Nora designs another mermaid for me to fill that 10th section someday! She seems to like mermaids, so hopefully she has at least one more in that head of hers. :)

Sweetheart Tree RR

Over the weekend I finished stitching another section for the Sweetheart Tree RR I'm involved in. Shannon decided to send individual pieces of fabric for everyone to stitch on and she is going to make all the individual hearts into ornaments when she gets the piece back. I did the pink heart on the bottom left - it is called Mayflower hearts, I think.

I'm currently stitching another section for Kathy's Sweetheart Tree RR - the two were sent to me at once, so I figured I'd get a jump start and get them both done right away. I'll probably have pics to share of that one in the next few days. :)

Katie Asleep again

Some of you might remember this from a few weeks back. This is one crazy child, I think. She was walking around the house acting goofy yesterday wearing Alex's winter hat and I just let her play with it. I didn't think much of it, but she must have left it in her bedroom cause later in the evening last night when I went in to check on her before I went to bed she was sleeping in it. Crazy kid, huh? Well, at least she keeps the rest of us entertained, right?

In potty training news, I am so glad I went to the underwear and stopped using the pull-ups. I am <> this close to saying she is completely trained, but she still has an accident about 1 out of 3 times she has to do a #2. She hasn't had a #1 accident in almost a week now. I'm so relieved to have the bulk of it over. She is even keeping the pull-up she wears to bed at night dry, so I'll likely stop doing that too. Woo Hoo we are going to be able to go to Disney without worrying about bringing diapers. Sad to say it, but this was my biggest motivation of all.

In stitching news, I got a package today with two Sweetheart Tree RRs in it, so I'll be stitching on those for the next few days to a week. I'll post some pics when I finish. :)

Angel of Summer progress

After I finished the 'D' on the baby afghan I pulled out my Angel of Summer for the rest of the weekend. This time I worked on the pink and yellow below where the flowery garland will go. Not a whole lot of progress, but I don't think I posted a pic of her the last few times I worked on her, so there is still quite a difference from the last time I posted a pic. I think the garland is going to be a PITA! I remember the last time I worked on her for three days over a long weekend and all I got done was finish up one sleeve and that stupid start of the garland you see there - too much stopping and starting! UGH. If it wouldn't be just as much trouble to rechart around it, I'd just leave it off. I like the pink color anyway, very nice to stitch in these cold icky months.

Tonight it is back to Katie's afghan since I'm determined to finish up those two afghans as soon as possible! I'm starting a new rotation where I do one block on Katie's afghan, two letters on the alphabet afghan and then pick a project to work on for a break. I'll have to fit in my RR pieces as they come, but whenever I'm not working on a RR piece, I'll revert back to that. And no new starts until something is finished! HA!

Baby Afghans

My sister is pregnant again and since I started stitching baby afghans for all the kids in the family back when I was young and stupid 12 years ago, I'm busily trying to finish another one. The baby isn't due til August, and I picked a relatively easy and quick pattern, so I'm hoping it won't eat up too much of my already limited stitching time. This is of course the first four letters of an alphabet pattern. I changed the "C" because the pattern is really old - like from the 70s - and the C was done in really yucky orange shades. Also there was a clown instead of the cow. All the blankets I've done for all the kids have had a cow in them since my dad is a dairy farmer, so I had to change out the clown anyway - but it was a rather disturbing looking clown to boot!

So far the only baby blankets that weren't done on time were the two I did for my own kids - but then I did much more elaborate things for them. Katie's is still in progress and she is more than 2 1/2! I'm still trying to finish that one up, so I have two of these nasty things on the go at once! I'm determined to finish them both though so that I can focus on more enjoyable stitching! :)

A Good Day :)

I had today off for MLK day. I kept Katie home from daycare to work on the potty training. This way we had a whole 3-day weekend to be in underwear at home. I think we made good progress - she's not totally trained or anything yet, but she will definitely stay dry if I keep after her to use the potty. She won't really be trained until she is the one telling me when she has to go, but I see this as good practice and the more time she spends in underwear, the more that is going to be the norm for her. I do feel we've hit the point of no return to the diapers/pullups except for night time. I expect she will continue to have accidents for awhile, but we'll just deal - I'm not going back to the pullups when she is only averaging 1 - 2 accidents a day. Tomorrow will be the real test when she goes back to daycare. Her teacher is fine with her coming in underwear with several changes of clothes for accidents. So no more pullups except for bedtime at night. She even stays dry during her nap, and as long as we go to the bathroom immediately when she wakes up naptime in underwear is not a problem.

Anyway, since I was home and not working today I took Katie with me to two LNSs, I got a bunch of errands done, we ate lunch at Burger King, and I got a quiet couple of hours while she napped to stitch. It really made me wish for the days when I was a Stay at Home mom. I was relatively busy most of the day, but with stuff that I was invested in doing - not some dumb thing the company I work for decided I should do. I'd really like to quit my job, but not financially feasible, at least not right now. Possible for the future though - we'll see - and today gave me some motivation to do what we can to make that happen. I felt more content today stressing about her pulling something off the shelf at the LNS or possibly having an accident in the restaurant than I *ever* feel at work.

Another Mirabilia Round Robin

I've decided to moderate another Mirabilia Round Robin. I'm going to do mine all mermaids this time. I'm thinking of stitching a portion of Mermaids of the Deep Blue in the center, and then having the other stitchers do portions of several of the other Mira mermaids in sections outlined around the perimeter. We'll see, I'm still firming up the idea in my head. If you know of a good "under the sea" type fabric please feel free to recommend one as I'll definitely be buying a hand-dyed especially for this piece. I usually buy from Silkweaver, but I'm open to trying out others too.

Just Nan RR finish

Finished up my part of this RR on Friday evening. :) Michelle is having us stitch the 12 days of Christmas - I stitched the 7 and the 12 since she said we could do two if we wanted. :)

New Years

I finally started Mother's Tree on New Years day. I've been wanting to do it forever and New Years is the only day of the year I allow myself to start something new without finishing something else unless I have to start an obligation piece. :) I'm doing it on Peaceful Waters Classic Edinbourogh 36ct linen from Silkweaver and I'm using Dinky Dyes Emerald for the tree. I'm going to do it in all Dinky Dyes silks. I really like how it looks so far - the pic doesn't really do it justice.

We didn't really do too much for New Years, just went out to eat at a local sport bar and then watched a rental before watching the ball drop. We watched MI - 3 which was okay. We were looking for something Alex could watch with us, but would still hold our attention and this fit the bill. Like I said it was okay, but nothing great. We also played Monopoly - and let me put it in writing right here - I WILL NEVER PLAY MONOPOLY AGAIN with my husband. He is just too cut throat, and the game is too long. I can take losing and all, but he is so ruthless and gloats so much and the game just goes on and on and that is no fun and frustrating and causes me to just bicker and b*tch the whole time. Alex had fun though even though he didn't win, so I guess I have less sportsmanship than my 11 yr old son. *sigh*

I should probably take an inventory of what I did in 2006 and what I want to accomplish in 2007 - but I don't really feel like it and to be honest - I don't really find reading everyone else's little year end sum up all that interesting. Mine would be slightly more interesting to me - but probably more boring to everyone else - so I'll skip it. I will list what I have going now though just to have a record for myself to look back on next year - feel free to skip reading it if you choose. :)

Sweetheart Tree RR
Just Nan RR
Chatalaine's Alhambra Garden
Waiting for Ships
Hardanger Table Runner
Silkwood Manor
Katie's blanket
baby blanket for Aug 2007 baby
Hardanger exchange piece
Angel of Summer
Mother's Tree

Christmas

It was a good Christmas for me. This year I pretty much shopped for myself and gave Sean the presents to wrap and put under the tree with my name on them. The stitching stuff I wanted was too specific to trust him to get on his own, and he probably would have bought the wrong size pjs I wanted. He did surprise me by buying me a new crockpot - one I had admired in the store when he was with me a few weeks back. The one I had was really old and didn't have a lift out container, so it was nice to have it replaced. :) I also had to laugh when DH gave me the gift in my stocking - I always say it isn't Christmas without a little chocolate and he bought me a box of assorted chocolates in WHITE chocolate. Now, I like white chocolate okay, but it isn't REALLY chocolate, ya know? But with everything else being so nice - I couldn't complain. :) My grandmother gave us a box of assorted caramels in milk and dark chocolates, so I got my chocolate anyway.

I also got new silverware from my mom - I've never had a new matching set all my own before - just have always used an old mismatched set that Sean and I had put together from cast offs from both our families.

My dad just gave us cash - which was nice cause we'll just use the money to offset our Christmas spending - hey who can't use less bills!

My sister went above and beyond - she had DH's name in our family exchange and went to his favorite restaurant - which is local to where she lives, but not to where we do - and bought him an entire pie (14 pieces!) of his favorite dessert from that restaurant. Her BF has connections with the owner, cause they don't usually sell desserts except to sit down dinners and certainly don't ever sell an entire pie. She also gave him some tickets to a ball game. WOW! If I didn't know better (don't worry I DO know better!) I would think sis is trying to steal my man. ;) It was really nice cause Sean really felt part of the family having someone know him well enought to give a personal gift like that. Even though we have been married almost 12 years, he has always been sort of shy with my family and although I think they are welcoming enough, it hasn't been until recently that he's felt more "a part of the family". I'm probably not explaining that right - but I just got the feeling it really meant something to him - and not just oodles of calories!

We were able to give the kids a really nice Christmas this year too. And we didn't spend that much more than we have other years. The last two years before this were kinda skimpy cause I wasn't working and DH was trying to work a job that basically only paid a skimpy commission. This year we are both gainfully employed and there was enough to buy much more than we did, but we didn't want to spoil them too much, while still providing a bit of a WOW factor.

Katie got lots of gifts, but her favorite thing was a $15 Playdoh table from Walmart. She played at that thing most of Christmas day and has been harrassing me every spare moment since to play with her playdoh. I set it up in the kitchen corner so that any stray playdoh lands on the linoleum and not on carpeting. It came with some markers that she used to mark up all 10 pages of paper that came with the table in addition to marking up her clothes! Luckily the markers seem to be washable, or at least running the stains under hot water and using a bit of detergent removed the marks. She also got a singing Dora from Grandpa, a Barbie and clothes from Grandma, and a plastic play cellphone from Aunt Karen. She is always talking into that phone too!

Alex got an Air Hockey table for the basement, several transformers, an RC airplane that I found on clearance back in October for $20!, and an mp3 player. He was most excited about the mp3 player. It is a cheap starter version and not anything fancy, but he is excited to be able to put his CD collection onto it and be cool listening to his player.

The only thing we got I didn't want is a nasty cold! Katie brought it home from daycare and was sick all Christmas Eve and Christmas Day - she was slightly better yesterday, but still tired and congested and as usual she doesn't eat much when she is sick. I came down with it yesterday, and am pretty wiped out today. I only came to work because no one else is here for me to give it too, and I don't have the vacation day to take it off (all our vacation and sick days come out of the same pool). Alex is home today, and when I called him for lunch he is coming down with it too. Sean was complaining of a scratchy throat when I left this morning, so I suspect we'll all have taken our round by the time it is through. *sigh*

Katie Asleep

Recently I've had trouble getting Katie to go to sleep at her assigned bedtime of 8pm. Rather than pull my hair out in frustration I've allowed her to play in her room with only the nightlight on and a gate up so that she has to stay in bed for awhile before she falls asleep. She still goes to bed at 8pm, but I usually hear her playing in there for at least 30 min., sometimes an hour before it goes quiet.

Often I find a toy or two in her bed with her when I check on her before I head to bed around 10:30p, but this is what I found last night. :)

Some Finished Ornies

These are the ornies I've finished so far. I have two maybe three more to do, we'll see whether I run out of steam on that one. I'm really pleased with how they all came out. All the ornies are from issues of JCS Ornaments. From the top we have a hardanger ornament by Nordic Needle, the two tree ornaments are from Elizabeth Foster, the mittens are from Calico Crossroads, the NOEL design is by Sue Hillis, and the Nutcracker is by Just Nan.

The mittens are my favorite - I've put off doing them for years because the finishing looked hard. If you've been intimidated by the finishing for these - don't be - it was much easier than it looked and seemed to just fall together just fine. However, the stitching itself was very time consuming. Seemed that those four mittens I stitched to make the front and back of each mitten took a lifetime to complete! I'm keeping that ornie for myself - the rest will be given away as teacher gifts or to family members with their bigger gifts.

Katie - Silly Girl

Conversation #1
Katie: “Mama, I play boys and girls today.”
Me: “You did, that sounds like fun. What did you do?”
Katie: “We play boys and girls!”
Me: “Katie is a girl, and Alex is a boy.”
Katie: “No mama, I’m a Princess!”

Conversation #2
Katie is pretending to talk on the phone holding her hand to her ear – meanwhile I’m trying to get her to go potty and change into her pajamas for bed.
Katie (into the “phone”): “Yeah, put my jammies on, take my shirt off.”
Me: “Sit on the potty and try to go pee pee.”
Katie: “Shhh, Mama! I’m on the phone.” Exasperated sigh
Me: “You are? Who are you talking to?”
Katie (sounding even more exasperated): “Mama, its my hand!”

Ornaments!

They aren't finished and I'm hoping to do some more before Christmas, but here is what I have so far. Thanks to the snow day I was able to finish one of the little Christmas trees and the Hardanger ornament. :) The Little Christmas trees are by Elizabeth Foster, and the Hardanger ornament is Nordic Needle, The mitten is Calico Crossroads and I cannot remember who designed the NOEL offhand. Will have to look that up and post later when I finish the ornaments. I have been wanting to do the mitten ornament for 5 years now since it came out in the 2001 JCS ornament issue, but have always been intimidated by the finishing. Decided to just do it this year finally. I really like how it is coming out so far - only I have to stitch 3 more of those mittens to make front and back of a matching pair to hang on the tree! It is time consuming, but I really like this ornament, so I'll plug on. Hope to show some more pics when these and any others I get to are all done and finished! :) The little trees are for Katie's teachers at daycare, the mitten is for me (with all that work!) and I haven't decided what to do with the others yet. Likely one will go to my SIL in VA and one to my sister whose name I drew in our family exchange. I like to include a hand stitched ornament on the package for our Christmas exchange.

SNOW DAY!!

These are the views out my front window and back patio door this morning. All the area schools have been cancelled and there is a blizzard warning in effect until 3pm. So all four of us are staying home. Since I have the vacation day to take - I'm not risking it on the highways. I plan to spend the whole day watching movies and stitching Christmas ornaments!! :)

Band Sampler RR is home :) and Christmas pondering

My Any Designer Band Sampler came home in today's mail. :) I chose a Peaches and Cream theme for it and I'm really pleased with how it came out. Everyone stitched really beautiful bands. The last bit was done by Rose - but she was in an accident that hurt her wrist and wasn't able to sign it. I'll put in her name for her, plus an ending band or two and finish it off. :) Now to figure out where to hang it. I'm going to finish it into a bellpull, but not sure what to do with it after that.

With Christmas approaching I'm trying to get all my ducks in row for all my shopping. I hate the crowds, but love trying to find the elusive perfect gift for each person. I've already purchased some stuff for Alex, and I'm hoping to score a Wii for him before the big day - but we'll see. I'm not going to any extreme measures to get one. If I can aquire one by going to the store and walking up to buy it - he'll get it - if not he'll have to wait until the demand subsides. I hope it works out though - cause he will be so surprised! He talks about how much he'd like to have one, but has expressed (without me having to say anything) that he knows its a lot of money and that he'll probably have to wait a while for the price to go down or to save up his money. He's such a good kid and never gives us any trouble really - I'd love to give him a great Christmas. Especially when you consider that the last two years were kinda skimpy cause I wasn't working.

Katie's big gift this year is probably going to be a play plastic kitchen for her room. She loves to play like she is doing what mom is doing. She also loves playing with her little people castle she got for her birthday, so we might get her a few more accessories for that - or some more toys along that vein. She loves playing pretend. She'll be easy to buy for - they always are when they are little.

Sean is the hard one to buy for - he wants the Luther Vandros CD - "Dance with my Father" which will be easy to get, but other than that he doesn't really want anything. I suggest each year that we get something "big" for the family and then just get one small meaningful gift for each other. He never wants to do that though - he always wants to set a $$ limit and buy a bunch of stuff that we would have gotten anyway cause we needed it (like a new pair of dress pants), or useless junk we are just buying to fill a quota (like the neck massager I desparately bought him one year-ugh). ARGH!

Alhambra Garden progress!

New hat and Halloween pics

A friend at work was kind enough to knit this new hat for Katie. :) She really liked it and wore it around the house for the rest of the evening! Silly girl.

I meant to post this Halloween pic earlier in the week, but blogger was giving me issues. Here is a pic of Katie as Dorothy and Alex as a pirate.

Not much else going on right now. I spent last weekend really trying hard on the potty training with Katie, but I'm starting to think that is just going nowhere and despite the fact that she has been peeing on the potty since she was 16 months - she will never, ever be fully trained. She will generally cooperate and go if I can get her to sit on the potty, but she just never tells me when she has to go. I had her in underwear all weekend and we didn't have too many accidents, but it was mostly cause I was the one trained. I was taking her often enough to keep her dry, but if I slacked a bit she wouldn't tell me and then she'd wet herself. *sigh*

I guess I'm just going to keep at it, trying to encourage her to tell me when she has to go - I'm hoping that getting wet will start to be a bit unpleasant for her and motivate her to tell me when she has to go. If anyone has any tips - I'm all ears!

Treasure Island

On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, Alex's school was out for a teacher's convention. We decided to take the kids to Treasure Island in the Wisconsin Dells for a few days for a small vacation. :) Alex finally conquered his fear of the big water tube slides and rode several having a great time! (Yes, it is October in WI, It is an indoor waterpark.) You cannot really tell, but this is a pic of Alex as he lands in the pool of water beneath one of the larger slides.

Katie on the other hand was much harder to persuade. I didn't expect her to go on any of the larger slides, and she is too short to go on them anyway, but there were several "kiddie" slides no larger than the ones at any 2-5year old playground that she wouldn't go anywhere near either. She spent much of her time at the water park like this. :) On the last day she did spend a bit of time without holding onto Dad's hand, and did splash about a bit in the wading pool, but that was the best we were gonna get from her.

We all had fun in our room though and out at restaurants.

All in all it was a nice family get away even if it was only a few days long. :) And Katie was plain tuckered out by the time we left the last restaurant after a late lunch on the last day before returning home. I swear this last pic was taken just as she tried to put another mini corn dog from her child meal into her mouth and instead she slumped against mama fast asleep. She slept the whole 2 hour car ride home, which was wonderful because she often does not travel well!

Just Nan RR

Just finished up stitching on Allie's piece for the Just Nan RR. Her Round Robin has outlines for several "smalls" - little pieces she intends to put on a special table in remembrance of her grandmother. I decided to do the small card holder. I orignially thought of doing "Girls Night Out" which is Halloween themed, because of the time of year, but decided against it because I just didn't think it would dispay as nicely with the other pieces when they were finished. All the motifs in this piece are from "Common Ground". I think it turned out better than I expected it would. :)

In other news, Katie was actually pretty good in church today. Alleluia! She wasn't perfect, but for the most part she was quiet and didn't try to run into the aisle or slide into the family next to us, or generally cause any ruckus. I'll take it! Don't know what I did differently, just seemed her temperament was a little more calm this morning.

My mom was just recently diagnosed with viral spinal meningitis, and she was in the hospital for a few days. She was released yesterday, and it looks like she is going to recover just fine, but it was a little scary thinking of her having such a serious disease. I'm not really close with my mom, but I was still pretty shaken up over her being that sick. It surprised me how stressed and worried that made me feel. Not really that I was surprised that I care about her - I've always known that I do - just that I was that worked up when all the signs were clear that she was going to be just fine.

On Wednesday Sean and I are taking the kids to Wisconsin Dells for a few days (Alex's school is out for a teacher conference). The hotel we are staying at has an indoor water park with big slides and we are all really looking foward to a few days of fun. :)

Look Mom! I'm pretty!

That's what Katie said when she came out of her bedroom wearing this little ensemble. I was cooking dinner and not really paying much attention to what she might be getting into. Turns out she was digging in her closet and dragging out all the summer floats and clothes I had just put away! Silly girl. Pretty cute bag lady look she's got going on there though.

Here are some other pics I've taken of the kids recently. Not much to really write about lately, so thought I'd share a slice of my life this way instead. :) I discovered last week that I can do braids in Katie's hair and it is really cute. She is going to be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz this year, mostly cause she has the right look for it and I got the costume from my sister whose daughter has outgrown it. (My neice was a cute Dorothy too!) Anyway, I discovered the braids work well when I was dressing her in the costume for the family Halloween ball at Alex's school last week. It is now one of my favorite ways to do her hair.

Sweetheart Tree RR

The pic is a little blury because of the large beads in the center holding the fabric away from the scanner, but you get the idea. :) I really liked stitching this one as it was on Joblean - my favorite type of fabric.

Foldable Book RR Happy Dance!

ARGH! Blogger isn't letting me upload any photos right now so here is a link to my latest RR finish.

This is my last finish for this Round Robin. :) I'm pretty happy with how this Round Robin went. It was my second time moderating a RR, and it went much better than the Mirabilia RR I moderated. That one is actually still not done - and I'll likely never see my piece again. Oh well, live and learn, I guess.

I have two new RRs starting and I just started working on Ruth's piece for the Sweetheart Tree RR. I really love her fabric - it is my favorite - Joblean. The design I picked is coming out really pretty, I think. I should be getting the Just Nan RR in the mail shortly. Looking forward to picking out something for that one too. :)

New Luggage!

Okay, I know to most this is incredibly boring - but I have never owned a suitcase that wasn't a cast off from some family member two generations ago! Look - I even have two pieces that MATCH! I've been watching sales on luggage for the last few months knowing I wanted to get new bags (I didn't really have any because the last cast off fell apart some time ago) before our Disney trip next spring. We are also going on a short two day trip to the Wisconsin Dells later this month when Alex has off from school - so I'll get to use them for a trial run. These aren't top of the line or anything - they are from Nine & Company and I got them from Kohl's. Some rude woman in line when I paid for them commented about how I won't have any trouble finding THOSE bags at the airport carousel - but I don't think they are very outrageous looking and I wanted something that wasnt' your classic black, but didn't have an old lady floral pattern either. I really liked this print - so sppppttt to her! And purple is a great color - don't ya think? :)

I still have to buy bags for DH and both kids before the big trip as DH has one beat up suitcase he got in high school 15 years ago that wasn't that high quality to begin with. The kids have no bags at all. I think though we'll be set for the short trip.

In other trip news I bought our airfare for the Disney trip today. Just a tip for anyone needing to buy airline tickets for the whole family: Price tickets as though you were going to buy only one when pricing online. Sometime a flight only has a certain number of "discounted" fares available. If there are only 3 left and you need 4 tickets, the system will quote you the higher price for all 4. Someone clued me in to this today and I was able to book 3 of our tickets at the discounted fare, and then go back and book 1 more ticket at the higher fare. Saved me $96, and made me feel a little better about paying a little more for the more convenient times and the nonstop flights.

Headless No More!

I've been stitching on my mermaid. :) She is on 40ct Tropical Breeze from Silkweaver, and I like how she is coming out so much more now that she has a head. I have such trouble liking a piece before it has a "face" or focal point sometimes.

The next few days I'll probably spend stitching on Wendy's Foldable Book for one of my Round Robins, and then soon after that the Sweetheart Tree and Just Nan RRs will be arriving and I'll do those. Then I have to do another square on the blanket I'm doing for Katie. I hate working on that project, by the way, but it is one of those things I HAVE to do since I did one for every other baby in our family. *sigh* Ah well, if I keep pounding out a square every now and then I have to finish sometime right?

At the risk of being flamed, I'm going to share how my morning went. Katie behaved just terribly in church. Which is to say that she was only slightly more ill-behaved than usual. :( I see all these mothers and kids about her age around me that seem to sit quietly and politely without a peep, and I wonder what I must be doing wrong... Katie has no concept of talking quietly, she wants to run in the aisle or slide down the pew into the family next to us, neither of which has she EVER been allowed to do even once. I always thought children who behaved like this had no discipline at home or their parents didn't do anything the first time, or second time, or third time, so the kid kept pushing the limit. I usually end up taking her out of mass 2 and 3 times for a stern talking to after which she agrees to be good and then procedes to act as before. Rinse and Repeat. Today when I took her out I was so fed up that I spanked her. I'm not against spanking when it is really warrented and I felt it was. She slapped and bit me in church because I pulled her back before she could run into the aisle. I took her right outside and gave her one quick swat on the backside. Once she calmed down from the swatting, I took her back in where she was better, but still not really what I'd call good. Maybe I should be swatting more and talking less, which is what my instinct is telling me to do. Course it doesn't help that I'm worried if I talk too sternly to her someone will think I'm a terrible mother or worse - report me to social services. Sometimes talking works, and I always try that first, but sometimes it just doesn't. All I know right now is that no matter what I do, I feel terrible. I cannot take that child anywhere without leaving in disgrace.

Sweetheart Tree RR

My Sweetheart Tree RR is now ready to go. :) I'm doing it in book format (like the Designing Ladies patterns). I stitched the thread curtain, the pin cushion, and got the widest binding piece ready for everyone to sign. I'm really happy with it so far. I'm pretty excited to see what everyone else stitches, I think it has great potential to turn out beautiful! :)

I really have been stitching!

Here is what I've been working on lately. Another square for Katie's blanket. It is a freebie from Passione Ricamo - Fairys Dwell Here. I have just nine more blocks to stitch on this blanket before it is done, so here's hoping I can dig deep and stick to it so that it will be done!

I've also managed to finish getting my Just Nan round robin piece ready to go. I've decided to make it into another book (like the Designing Ladies designs) and I did the two narrow bands to start off. I'm going to have everyone sign the middle wide band. Here are some pics of the two narrow bands I finished. Yes, the end pieces are supposed to be upside down in comparison to the mid-section. They will be folded over when the book is finished to form the inside of the connecting piece of the book. :) Now I just need to work on my getting my Sweetheart Tree RR ready to go!