The house is empty now and quiet, very quiet. Christmas decorations are packed away, my husband has returned to work and the boys are back to school. It almost feels like the first day of school all over again!
Our Christmas was enjoyed by all this year. On Christmas Eve, our neighborhood places luminaries in front of every house. It's beautiful. I could not seem to get a good picture, but here are a couple I took that night while the boys were lighting the candles:
And here are the boys once we came back inside:
We had a touch of snow on Christmas day and were spared the brunt of the storm that snarled much of the East coast. We ended up with only a couple of inches and many gusts of wind. There were hours of Lego building and game playing. Fun had by all.
During the week between Christmas and New Year's, not much stitching was accomplished. We did however take the boys to Baltimore for a day at the B&O Train Museum.
My boys have always enjoyed trains, so we have spent many an hour visiting such places and riding the rails. Once we were finished, it was time to eat! Being fans of "Man vs. Food" on the Travel Channel, my men decided they wanted to try out this place as seen on the show:
Can you read the sign? Chap's Pit Beef. Sorry about the angle of the picture, but what they fail to tell you on the Travel Channel, is that this establishment shares its parking lot with the Gentleman's Club and across the street is the adult video store! Yep...close your eyes boys, get inside and let's eat! Luckily, they paid the surroundings no mind as they were starving! We never would have stopped here had we not seen the show, but it was well worth it!
We rang in the New Year with our neighbors. It was a nice mix of about 7 families from the neighborhood. All 14 kids stayed up to see the ball drop - however, all the boys ran for cover when we told them they were supposed to kiss a girl to ring in the New Year! I was able to get this stitched to give to the hostess (I need to practice on a few more of these so the toes and heels are more rounded):
New Year's day we had our traditional pork and sauerkraut dinner for good luck, shared with friends. A nice way to wrap up the holidays.
After everyone was in bed Saturday night, I was finally able to stitch. I decided to start a little something new and chose this by The Goode Huswife:
When finished, it will read Live Simply. Something I am going to try and remember in 2011.
Yesterday, I worked on this piece by Prairie Schooler, started a couple of years ago and then set aside. I am so close to finishing!
That about wraps it up for now. 2010 was a memorable year. I wish each and everyone of you the best for 2011. May it be filled with much love, happiness and stitching!
