Stitching Update

I am so fortunate to have a daughter, Jessica, and a DIL, Janel who love to cross stitch as much as I do. In addition to the pleasure of seeing this craft embraced by a younger generation, I have the luxury of sharing patterns with them. We try to go through each others' stash when we get the opportunity, but it's hard when two of us are in Arizona and one of us is in Kansas!

I think we've come up with a solution. We created a secret board on Pinterest and are putting the patterns, magazines, and kits that we own on it. We put our name on the stash that belongs to us. We've even added some additional info such as not yet stitched, stitched for (name), available, etc.

So far the only down side to this plan is that I am forced to confront just how many patterns I own! It's quite fun to see what the other girls have in their stash and we've even left a comment stating we want to stitch a pattern in the future on some of the pins.

I have been stitching away on a baby sampler for one of Katie's friends. Her due date is April 4th, plenty of time, right?! However, she had the baby last Friday. Now I'm stitching frantically on the baby sampler!

I have a finish to share. I completed the stitching on this a few weeks ago, but I finally got around to framing it yesterday. Can I just say here that I love Hobby Lobby? I take my stitched pieces into them and they help me choose the matting and then cut it for me while I wait. The guys at my Hobby Lobby are so helpful and patient when I'm trying to choose just the right shade of color to compliment my piece.

Katie was happy with how this turned out, so I'm happy too! The photo doesn't do the fabric justice. She wanted a grey fabric, and this is a beautiful grey tone from Picture This Plus. The matte is not as red as it looks in this photo, it's a darker shade. Oh well...

Always Kiss Me Goodnight

Morning Glory Needleworks

16 ct. "Echo" - Picture This Plus

Three!

Skye is three! Her birthday party was this past Saturday. A great time was had by all. I just love to watch Skye, Sunny, and Thunder play together. They call to each other with a "come'ere, come'ere" and race off to tackle a new adventure together. Happy Birthday, sweet Skye!

"Let's get this party started!"

She shoots...

She scores!

Skye, Grandma Debbie, Uncle Tyler

Madison, Skye, Sunny, Katie, Thunder, Shelby

Shelby, Jessica, Katie, me, Ashley

We were all hoping we didn't have pizza in our teeth!

Grandpa Bob helps with the presents

Shelby, Matt, Jessica

Making a wish...

and blowing out the candles!

Gramps and Grammy love you, Skye!

Grand-Pets!

Not only are we blessed to have three grandchildren with a fourth arriving soon, but we are also blessed with several grand-pets! We currently have four grand-cats: Shadow, Twilight, Marley, & Nym, and three grand-dogs: Coco, Buster and a brand new puppy. The newest grand-dog arrived on Friday. She is a Boxer named Brownie. Actually her full name is Brownie Sparkle Princess Butterfly. This is what happens when you let the two-year-old and four-year-old choose the name! She's a little sweetie... welcome to the family, Brownie!

Brownie checking out Thunder

She has now moved on to Sunny

Buster sniffing his new baby sister

45 minutes into it and she falls asleep!

Weekend at Grammy's

Sunny and Thunder came to stay this past weekend. We were on the go from the time they got here on Friday night until they left Sunday afternoon. It is such a blessing that they feel so comfortable in our home. Although they miss Mommy and Papi, they don't really get homesick because they consider our house their home, too.

During their stay we managed to enjoy animal pancakes, playing outside, lunch at Freddy's with Tia Jessica, more playing outside, helping Gramps move rocks in the backyard, Skyping with Tio JD and Tia Janel, dinner with Gigi and Papa, donuts from Dunkin' Donuts, a trip to the park, a walk around the lake to see the dogs in the dog park, and more. Thank you, Katie and Gabe, for being so generous in giving us time with your children!

Waiting for animal pancakes on Saturday morning

Thunder got Mickey and a horse

Sunny chose Pluto and Minnie

I guess Thunder thought the Pool Deck needed cleaning

(Yes, there is an adult standing within arm's length)

Sunny wanted to scoop the leaves out of the pool

Carrying a load of stuffed animals into the "fortress"

Setting up house

Thunder was listening to see if he could hear the baby

My three "donut monsters"

They started out going down one at a time,

and then advanced to double sliding...

... which led to sliding on their tummies!

There's nothing like a good swing!

Thunder preferred the hands-on activities

Gramps and Sunny practicing their pumping

After Gramps showed him how - he kept climbing 

on his own - over and over and...

One last slide before we head home

A Visit with Skye

Last weekend, Zach and Ashley invited us down for dinner. We had a great time with all of them, especially Skye, and dinner was delicious!

When we knocked on the door, we could hear Skye calling, "they're here, they're here!" It was so precious. She immediately grabbed my hand and said "Grammy, will you play with me?" As you can imagine, my heart just melted. We played, we colored, we took pictures, we danced, we totally enjoyed each other.

When we sat down for dinner, she asked me to sit by her. Once we were all seated, Skye announced, "we're all eating dinner together!"

Not only did we enjoy Skye, but Ashley and I had a chance for some great conversation (not always easy with a two-year-old around!) All in all we had a fantastic time and here's the proof:

Say "cheese" Grammy!

Gramps and Skye

Showing off her camera

My precious Skye

Dancing Queen

Cooking dinner

Feeding Gramps

VNSA Book Sale

On Saturday we attended the annual VNSA Book Sale here in Phoenix. It is the largest two-day book sale in the country. If you are a reader, this is book heaven. We got there around 7:20 am and got in with the first group when the doors opened at 8:00 am. The weather here is absolutely gorgeous right now and it was not cold at all waiting in line.

Dan and I both found some books we wanted. Jessica purchased quite a few books, too. I found a couple of items on JD and Janel's list, as well. I also managed to add to my stitching stash!

This is everything Dan & I purchased at the low cost of less than $65!