Week 16 - Stitching Update and Goodies from L*K!

What an exciting week! I received an email on Tuesday from Linda at Lizzie*Kate informing me that my name was drawn in  the "Makin' the Bacon Blog Contest". Wow! Yesterday my winnings arrived in the mail. Thank you, Linda! I can't wait to get started on my new L*K patterns.

What fun to discover these inside of the box

Lizzie*Kate Snippets are among my faves

The new Bacon patterns!

Boss Hog's Maple Bacon Popcorn - what fun!

I didn't get as much stitching in as I had planned this week. I was too distracted with grandkids, and errands, and housework, and reading a new Tom Clancy novel. But I did manage to make some progress on Katie's Christmas Stocking. I doubt if I'll even get this much done next week; Thunder and Sunny are spending eight days (AND nights) at our house. Pray for us to have energy...

 

Week 15 - Stitching Update and TUSAL

Early last year I started reading blogs that referred to "TUSAL". They all showed containers of cut thread pieces. I could not for the life of me figure out what TUSAL meant. And why did they all show these photos once a month? Thank goodness late last year I finally came across an explanation!

 TUSAL stands for Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long. It is a fun way to participate with other stitchers during the course of the year. To join, check out Daffycat's blog. She explains TUSAL and gives you an opportunity to join.

This week I got bored with "What Cancer Cannot Do", so I picked up a stocking that was in progress. I think I'll alternate working on both of these pieces for the rest of April. Katie's MIL had a stack of stitching magazines that she gave me. Only one book in the stack was a duplicate! These are old magazines from the 90s but they're new to me. I didn't subscribe to xstitch magazines or do much stitching in the 90s. I was busy with four kids who were born within six years of each other! I'm keeping about half the stack, and have the other half ready for Jessica and Janel to go through.

Skye

On Monday we had to drive to Gilbert for an appraisal. We took the opportunity to meet Zach, Ashley, and Skye at IKEA for a few hours together. She enjoyed lunch and surprised me by eating lots of veggies. She's in the "I want to walk by myself" stage and amused us with her wanderings. All in all, it was one of the best appraisal trips we've had!

Week 14 - Stitching Update

I didn't post an update last week. Too busy with Easter activities. This week I've been stitching on one of my 2012 Crazy January Challenge pieces. I also managed to frame several pieces. I also purchased Lizzie Kate's ABC's of Artfully Aging. I've been wanting to stitch it for some time now. I hope I get my current WIP completed this week. I'm ready to move on to something else!

I stitched this as part of the 2011 Crazy January Challenge

I can't remember who the designer is, it may be Bent Creek

Finally got around to framing it this weekend.

Lizzie Kate "Think Summer"

Stitched as part of 2011 CJC

Lizzie Kate "Think Autumn"

2012 CJC

Lizzie Kate "Think Spring"

2011 CJC

Lizzie Kate "Think Winter"

2012 CJC

Spring Door

This was a series in the Cross-Stitch and Needlework Magazine, probably in 2009 or 2008 since I stitched them in 2010. Finally, finally framed this weekend. I really love this series!

Patriotic Door

Halloween Door

Winter Door

Thanksgiving Door

This week's progress on: "What Cancer Cannot Do"

part of my 2012 CJC

Animal Pancakes

Wow, Thunder is finally old enough to eat Gramps' Animal Pancakes. He and Sunny spent the night last night and this morning Gramps got up and prepared the dish he is most famous for. Thunder enjoyed his little Mickey Mouse, eating the whole thing (except for the pieces he dropped to Duke and Rascal). Sunny enjoyed her Mickey Mouse, Nemo, and Pluto pancakes. Another rite of passage in Thunder's life... animal pancakes!

"Wait til you taste Animal Pancakes... you'll love them!"

Waiting patiently

The chef with his creation

"Mmmm, these are good!"

Mickey Mouse and Nemo about to be devoured

Ice Cream

The Vasquez family came over for dinner last night. We had ice cream for desert. Katie grabbed my camera and started shooting. She wanted to capture Thunder's first ice cream cone experience. He ate the whole thing! Sunny enjoyed her chocolate cone too. We found these little cones at Walmart. They only have 3 grams of carbs so I can eat them. But man, are they tiny!

He's scooting now, so he scooted over

to the newspaper laying on the floor

and proceeded to rip it to shreds. How fun!

Our Family Easter Celebration

We celebrated Easter on Saturday with the family. It was such fun! With Skye up and walking, the energy level has risen substantially. The noise level has risen too. I'll let the photos tell the story of a great day together...

The Easter Baskets are ready

Silly cousins

Thunder, Jessica, Sunny, Skye, Katie

Sunny was so excited that Skye could sit with her at the picnic table

I know I'm biased, but isn't he gorgeous?!

Playtime

Skye inspecting Gramps as he puts the water/sand table together

More big girl play time

Ashley helps with the Easter Baskets

Skye's first Easter Egg hunt

Inspecting their bounty

My baby Zach with his baby Skye

Skye was totally into Thunder!

She kept kissing him whenever his face got near.

Of course, after this we think she bit him because he

started screaming and crying!

Thunder inspecting the contents of his Easter Basket

He's Alive!

(To enjoy the video below, please turn the sound off on the playlist located at the bottom of the blog)

Was it a morning like this
When the Son still hid from Jerusalem?
And Mary rose from her bed
To tend the Lord she thought was dead

Was it a morning like this
When Mary walked down from Jerusalem?
And two angels stood at the tomb
Bearers of news she would hear soon

Did the grass sing?
Did the earth rejoice to feel You again?

Over and over like a trumpet underground
Did the earth seem to pound "He is risen!"
Over and over in a never-ending round
"He is risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!"

Was it a morning like this
When Peter and John ran from Jerusalem?
And as they raced toward the tomb
Beneath their feet was there a tune?

Did the grass sing?
Did the earth rejoice to feel You again?

Over and over like a trumpet underground
Did the earth seem to pound "He is risen!"
Over and over in a never-ending round
"He is risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!" 

Was it a morning like this
When my Lord looked out on Jerusalem?
He is risen!
Alleluia!
Alleluia!
Alleluia!

Thirty One Years Ago Today...

I told my husband this morning that 31 years ago today I was excited, full of joy, with plans and dreams for the future. Today I am excited, full of joy, with plans and dreams for the future, and with many of my original plans and dreams fulfilled. Who knew life was going to be so adventurous?! I love you, Dan.

Be Bold!

If you grew up going to church as I did, you've heard the phrase "Be bold in your faith" hundreds of times. Somehow, hearing that as a child, it conjured up a picture of me with wild hair and wild eyes waving my Bible in the faces of strangers on the street telling them how much they need Jesus. Um yeah, I don't know where that came from either. Of course, that's NOT what being bold in your faith is about.

Faith is a personal thing. For me, faith is having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. So, being bold in my faith means being bold in my personal relationship. It means believing that all the promises of God are meant for me personally. It means knowing that God loves me, sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross bearing the weight of my sins. It means believing that Christ rose on the third day and is living now, preparing to return. It means being bold when I pray. Knowing that God hears every request, every praise, every concern. Knowing that God answers every prayer, although sometimes the answer is no, or wait.

Being bold means that I know that my prayers matter. That I can pray for those in my family or those I will never meet with the same urgency and love. It means that when I hear a praise report for an issue I've been praying for, I know that I played a small part. It means that I can talk about my faith and what God has done for me in casual conversation without feeling radical. Being bold in my faith means that I don't have to stop and think about what someone will think of me, I just have to share the facts and truths of my life.

As Easter approaches, it is easier to talk about things of faith. Although the bunnies, chicks, baby ducks, Easter eggs, and candy are fun, they are not the meaning of Easter. In this Holy Week, my prayer is if given the opportunity I will be bold in sharing the love of Christ.

Week 13 - Stitching Update

I've accomplished a lot this week. Some finishes. Some framing. A WIP restart. I feel like I'm on a roll!

This is part of the January Crazy Challenge.

I hope to finish it this week.

I completed this project a few weeks ago

and finally framed it today.

It's also part of the CJC.

Sunny asked me to stitch her a Minnie Mouse, so I did!

I completed the Winter, Spring, Autumn patterns last year

as part of last year's Crazy January Challenge.

I finally framed them today because I finished Summer this week.

Completed this year as part of the 2012 CJC.

I really like Lizzie Kate patterns and I have a thing for 

projects that comprise all four seasons!