Day 8 of the Advent Calendar Blog Hop

It's that time of year again for Jo @ Serendipitous Stitching to host her Online Advent Calendar! 

This is an oldie, but a goodie.  I made this for my parents many years ago, it was one of my first "big" ones.  

This was a quick stitch I made last year, but I'm not quite sure I like the framing for it.  It's not entirely finished, so I can still change it.

As for my best present ever?  I don't really recall having one specific present, but growing up I couldn't wait to get my annuals from Britain.  I went from the little kids books, up to the "big" girl books - Bunty, Judy, misc others, and then My Guy.  I also got to read my brother's Beano and Dandy books.  Christmas day was spending doing a lot of reading!

And now, my boys read the Beano and Dandy so the tradition continues.

And for fun, the misfit toys have found a home!

Be sure to head over to Gracie @ Needles Pins and Dragonflies for tomorrow's door.

I'm not a turkey...

Last year, Nathan and friends in 1st grade made these - I am not a turkey...

Here's this year's 1st grade turkeys and they are just as cute!

 I am not a turkey, I am a Washington Redskin.  I do not say, "Gobble, Gobble", I shout, "Hike, Hike!"

  I am not a turkey, I am a ballerina.  I can dance all over the floor.  I go to dance class.  I go to church.  Since I am not a turkey please do not eat me.

I did it, I broke down...

 ...I've been listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving!

It's been so cold and windy here, even without snow, that it just seemed appropriate.  Anyone else guilty?

Last Friday the gmen had a playoff football game and boy was it cold!  I had on my long johns, lined jeans, and a blanket along with my super warm coat. The foot warmers were a big help too.  It was a "little" breezy, as you can see the flags look a slightly wind blown!

They won that game and so they have another one tonight.  This time I'm sitting in a sleeping bag to keep warm as suggested by another team mom. 

Whoa, it's November?

Even though we had some snow flurries last week, I still can't grasp that it's November already.  When did that happen?  I didn't even get to decorate for Halloween the way I like to, bummer.

Moving was a priority over decorating - what a mess!  

One of the first areas I organized was the coffee/tea "station".  Morning refreshments were a must!

Just before we moved, the boys had their high school homecoming to attend with their girlfriends.  I thought they all looked great and they had a good time.

Since one of the girls went to another school, there was another one to go to.  Nathan didn't want to miss out!

Isn't this awesome?!  My chosen sister, Karen, came to visit and help me organize and made me this.  I LOVE it!  Her Mom helped her finish it and I think it looks great.

It went beautifully with what I did find to decorate with.

And hey, here's the little ceramic spider I made with Nathan!

Karen also made this for Nathan.  He loves the colour orange - and an alien, even better!

Karen loving Max.

Ming's turn.

Karen with the gmen.

My craft room, what a disaster and it's not all mine!
"Where does this box belong? I don't know, put it in Astrid's room."

Before I knew it, it was Halloween!  Nathan was originally supposed to be a ninja, but we couldn't find his costume in the move.  Luckily, we did have a box with old costumes and so he was Darth Vader instead.

Star Wars buddies everywhere!

I really think our friends need to feed their dogs a little more.

So now you know where to find me, still sorting out the stitching, card making, knitting, jewelry and other misc crafts... I keep finding more!

But thanks to Karen and DJ who helped me through this mess, I'm almost ready to have a stitching date in there.

Busy and some hodgepodge

Did you know that I actually have triplets?  At least when the boys are playing football I do! #3 looks just like them from the back.  Even the gmen's girlfriends get them confused until they look at their numbers!

I think they're all pretty cute!

They were feeling very generous, we even got a family photo.

Now it's Nathan's turn for them to support him at his flag football game.

Taking a moon break by the flag.

This was taken this evening during football practice.

It was just a little chilly, but nothing a blankie couldn't handle.  I even got to do some stitching on my pumpkin.

Nathan found a super power and superhero name for me...

Fast fingers is my power and you can call me Super Stitcher, I wish!  He is the Iron Kid, what a guy.

In house news, we could be moving in next week.  I can't even believe it.

A few weeks ago I came to see the kitchen counter tops and had a surprise.  The blue you see was actually supposed to be white and the white on the island was supposed to be blue.  Well, thank goodness they messed up!  The white is really bright and would have been way too much.  Divine intervention I say. 

My craft room is ready enough for me, it just needs to be touched up and cleaned.  I think I know what furniture is going in there, but it won't match and I don't care!  Bring on the stitching parties.

Firsts and a finish

First day of school for the gmen, their junior year.  Can you tell how excited they are?

 

First day of school for Nathan, he's in 2nd grade.  What a difference from his brothers!

 

First varsity game of the year, both boys played well and the team won!

First flag football practice for Nathan, not quite ready for tackle yet.

First pack meeting as a Wolf, checking out his belt loop achievements he earned over the summer.

 

First game, he played offense.

 

Even in the rain, he did well and his team won!

Love this picture of the gmen together!

I worked on this while driving to the lake.  I decided watching Doctor Who was more entertaining than listen to what DH had on the radio.

Finished - May!  The rest of the months will be put on hold since I'm trying to work on Halloween and Christmas. 

And I still have to finish Karen's fairy.  Is it just me, or does anyone else get so close to finishing a piece and then have to take a break?  All I have left is the beading and outlining.  I'm wondering if it's because I know once I'm done I know she'll be gone?!

Summer Blog Hop, Garden edition

Here's to another year of Jo @ Serendipitous Stitching hosting her Summer Blog Hop with Garden as the theme.  My beautifully stitched postcard is from Kaye @ Kitten Stitching.  Of course I love that she has cat in it! 

 And here are her garden thoughts...

 

"Here are my pics - "My cat Coco lives here" (actually High Hopes by Just Nan) and two pics of my winter garden - one very bare and the other of some jonquils.

I love gardens and flowers but unfortunately I hate the actual gardening and I am allergic to a lot of highly scented flowers!  However, I am lucky enough to live in a beautiful, leafy Melbourne suburb with some of the loveliest gardens to view as I go on my walks.  I do so enjoy seeing the change of seasons in the gardens which I pass and in my own, lovely garden which is looked after by a lovely man who comes by once a fortnight to maintain mine for me."

Please be sure to check back to Jo's blog at the end of summer to make sure you haven't missed any garden postcards!  I know I'm way behind on following it myself, so that's where I'm headed - mine is out there somewhere!

An early housewarming gift

Look what I received in the post from my chosen sister, Karen...

I LOVE IT!!!

She surprised me and made this for me to hang in my new craft room.  I love that the house is blue and it has two kitties - Ming and Max!

This is pretty close to the colour the room is going to be, sort of a creamy, very light yellow. 

Not quite sure where I'm going to put it yet.  I wish I could put it just before you enter the room, but that won't work.  No worries, I know I'll find the perfect spot.

So thank you, dear Karen, for making me this wonderful treasure.  Maybe I'll even wait until you come visit to hang it up, then I'll put you to work! 

We still don't know when we're moving in yet.  I'm hoping for the end of September, but realistically it will probably be mid October.  Not quite sure how I'm going to decorate for Halloween while trying to unpack - priorities!

At least we're one step closer inside.  The fireplace was finished this week, we just need the mantel.

I still haven't been reading blogs, but I will make that my down-time this week in the evening.  Please let me know if I'm missing following your blog, I haven't caught up with that either.

And thank you so much for your thoughts and kind words for my Mom.  She's at home and doing great.  On Monday she gets her staples out, all 32 of them!  

My Momma and some scenes from a car

Mom/Oma's "party" before her hip replacement surgery. 

 

Oma and Opa with 6 out of 9 grandkids.

Crazy bunch included Margo and Doug, who are hosting my parents while we are in our rental house which is not practical for Mom to stay in.

Arrived at the hospital, ready to get fixed up!

Pre-op, getting ready and getting drugged!

 

After surgery - she's talking to Margo and he's talking to my older brother.

The gmen came to visit.

 

Margo and Doug had brought some beautiful flowers when they came to visit.

Mom will finally be getting out tomorrow, she went to the rehab floor a couple days after surgery and she's doing great!  She had to get a special walker since she can't use her hands due to her rheumatoid arthritis and she's zooming around.  She gave us a scare when her heart rate was high and they didn't know why, but no problems now.

 

Driving into and around Baltimore every day wasn't really too bad, we seemed to find different ways of getting home every day!  These were some of our scenes.

 

 

Just in case you didn't know what colour it was!

And many thanks to Nana, who had Nathan stay with her so we could visit Mom every day.  He always has a good time with her.