Catching Up

Hello, Dear Friends!

Gosh time is flying by.  

Can you believe it?  The Triplets turned 3 on March 16!

They are all doing so well.  

 

I get to spend four days a week with Baby L and I LOVE every minute of it, even the toys and stuff everywhere! 

Every day, Little Man is exploring and imitating what he sees others do.  

"Helping" me work.

Organizing lids.

Figuring out how to slip lids through the crate bars.

Sharing breakfast.  

No stitching to show, but I crocheted some slippers for my sister

and made a few cards.

Sad news...

Dottie Dog 

2005-2021

Dottie loved Peeps

and roasted hotdogs.

She had the best and biggest smile and she knew how to use it to her advantage, lol.

Forever in our hearts.

Have you seen the banners some towns are putting up to honor a veteran or active duty military personnel?  My brother-in-law is very active with his local VFW.  His VFW has sponsored our youngest daughter as she serves our country.  The VFW recently had a large banner made honoring her.  In addition to the large banner they are displaying, the VFW had smaller banners made for us and her grandparents.

This is the last week our daughter will be in Texas.  She is being transferred to Tennessee and has purchased a new home near the base.  She closes on her home on April 1 and moves in right after.  

Remember over a year ago, when the Army loaded up all her stuff for her to move to Virginia for Captain's training and then the pandemic put all that on hold?  Well, the Army has had DD's belongings in storage since early March 2020.  DD is planning for her belongings to be delivered and moved in on April 4.  

We're excited to have her 9 hours closer to us!  As it's only a 7 hour drive now, she has invited us and our oldest daughter and family for Easter weekend.  It will be the first time we've been together since Christmas 2019 and Baby L will get to meet his aunt.    

Happy Easter!

Until next time,

Stay safe and happy stitchin'

Happy 2021!

Hello Friends!

I hope 2021 is off to a good start for you.  

We celebrated Christmas Eve quietly with our oldest daughter, son-in-law and Baby L.  It was so fun to watch Baby L try to open his presents.  He was more interested in the wrapping paper, bows and packaging than the actual gift.

Baby L got this bunny suit (similar to the one worn in the Christmas Story movie) from our youngest daughter.  He wasn't too excited about it on Christmas Eve, but it has been a nice, warm suit to wear when going for a winter ride around the block in his wagon. 

I stitched this for Baby L's first Christmas.  I plan on stitching a special ornament for him each year.

Prairie Schooler - Button Up
Stitched on Perforated Paper with DMC floss.

These are the Christmas ornaments I made for family this year.  The pattern is my adaptation of Christmas Joy by Stitchy Fish Designs from the 2019 Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue.  I stitched them on random sparkly fabrics from my stash with DMC floss.  The branches are stitched freehand and I added beads and a button.

I didn't have any trim for the edge and couldn't run out in the middle of the night to buy trim.  Palastrina stitch to the rescue!  I watched a couple tutorial videos, practiced on some scraps and away I went.  I used #8 crochet thread and a big, sharp needle.  I love how it turned out and plan to use it again.

On January 14, we celebrated Baby L's first birthday virtually with a cake smash.  It was mine and Hubby's first time using a virtual meeting site.  Hubby didn't have the settings quite right so we pretty much missed the whole thing.  I did manage to capture one, not very good, picture though.  

After losing my project bag in May, along with the baby sampler I had been working on for Baby L, I couldn't bring myself to restitch that baby sampler.  So instead, I used some of the critters and trees from Welcome to the Forest by Country Cottage Needleworks to create this baby sampler.

This is stitched on 36 count hand-dyed fabric I found in my stash.  The glass and reflection makes it difficult to see the true fabric color in the picture, but the color is light tan with slightly darker tan areas.  I used DMC floss and mounted the stitched piece in a shadowbox frame from Hobby Lobby.  This was given for his first birthday.

We had an ice and snow storm with strong winds over New Year's.  The ice, snow, and frost that coated everything lasted almost 2 weeks because we didn't see the sun for 17 days.  While it looked beautiful, it was very dangerous.  Many trees had been toppled, had limbs that had fallen or had broken limbs ready to fall.  We don't usually have anything like this for more than a day or two.

  

Here's a few photos from my days with Baby L.  

Watching the village backhoe working down the street.

Kicking Hazel's tennis ball from one end of the room to the other.

"Vacuuming" the floor with a toy from Grandpa's childhood.

Swiffering

Re-organizing the canned food cabinet.

"Bubble Guppies" is his favorite cartoon.

Dragging Grandpa's shoes and slippers everywhere.

Watching the dogs in the backyard.

I had a total grandma fail last week.  Baby L was getting into something he shouldn't and I firmly told him NO.  He looked at me with wide eyes and started to smile - just a little at the corners of his mouth.  I covered my mouth with my hand so he couldn't see me fighting to keep a straight face.  Oh! My! Goodness!  He figured it out and let me have his biggest smile with a giggle to go with it.  I couldn't stop myself from smiling and giggling too, which made him giggle even more.

Our youngest daughter graduates from Captain's training on February 5.  Due to COVID, we can't attend and she thinks they won't have a ceremony.  I'm hoping if they do have a ceremony they will either stream it or someone will take pictures.  She has about a week to travel from Virginia back to Texas.  DD was going to come home during that time, but she didn't want to possibly get exposed to the virus while traveling and then bring it here.  It's been over a year since we've seen her.

I hope and pray you are all healthy and safe!

Until next time,

Happy Stitchin' 

December

I hope you are all doing well.   Can you believe we are well in to December?  Are you prepared for the holidays?  We aren't getting together with the whole family this year and DD#2 isn't permitted to come home for Christmas.  

Although we didn't all gather together for Thanksgiving, we were able to prepare and provide a full dinner for my mom and my in-laws.  We packaged everything up and delivered it to their doorsteps.

I haven't been stitching or crafting much, so I have nothing to show.  I need to get in gear and get my annual ornaments stitched and mailed.  At least I've managed to get the Christmas cards mailed already.

Since I'm working from home 90% of the time, I've been watching Baby L several days a week.  What a blessing it has been to babysit him.   He is such a joy and a happy little man!  He turns 11 months old this month and is "almost" walking.  I say "almost" walking because he can and does walk, but he hasn't realized what he's doing yet.     

  

Baby L loves to get in the cabinets.  They all have locks on them now though.

Lunch time became play time when Baby L figured out how to "flick" food off the tray.  That is Hazel's nose in this picture.  The dogs loved catching the flying food and Little Man's giggles were adorable.  It was all I could do to keep from giggling too.

Hollie and Baby L are best friends.   She watches for him to come in the mornings and is always by his side during the day.  Hollie even lays outside the bedroom while Baby L naps.

Hubby spent October and November working on an outside house maintenance project.  It was one of those projects that was only supposed to take a weekend or two.  I had to take a photo of the grill because it became his temporary tool box while he was working on the project, lol.  

From our family to yours,  

Happy Holidays!