Life Can be a Whirlwind...

I can't believe how long it has been since I have taken the time to sit down and connect with everyone.  Thanks to those that have emailed to check in and make sure all is okay, or to just let me know that I am still on your radar.  Life has just been a whirlwind...

 

Since September, the kids are back in school, I am back to work,  and our days have been crazy busy, leaving little time for myself or my stitching.  This Christmas break has given me the time to catch up on a few things:  downloading a ton of pictures and actually putting my needle and thread to fabric.  I have missed my stitching time and truly hope to remedy that problem in the new year!

 

Here's a picture walk of some of our adventures from this past fall:

The youngest had a blast playing paintball with his friends.

He ran cross country...finding that even though he did well, he prefers triathlons.  We'll be back to training for the upcoming series soon.

The middle guy still loves catching...

But is also realizing that he can hold his own on the mound, pitching a complete game.

The oldest continued to do his job...

And explored his options by playing a weekend tournament with a new team...This will be the team he has committed to for the following year...change can be scary, but in this case, after sitting down with him and the offers from both teams, I am comfortable that the decision was a good one. 

 

We were even able to catch one of my niece's soccer games...

 

 

My husband and I took a trip by ourselves to Disney.  Yes, Disney without the kids...needless to say, they were not happy...but we had a blast!  We were there during the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot and while the parks were decorated for Halloween.  The highlight of the trip was taking the Behind the Scenes Animal Trek Safari at the Animal Kingdom.  Amazing!!

Beautiful skies and no humidity the entire visit...

We got stuck in a "giraffic jam"

Our safari lunch...so delicious...

 Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party...

Hauntingly beautiful dancers during the parade... 

One of my favorites...

Another favorite...The Lion King...

Our home during the visit...The Wildnerness Lodge...

This was during the beginning of the trek...I have a fear of heights, so the smile is twofold...one, because walking directly over the crocodiles was amazing and two, because I made it across the bridges!

 

I also went on a little adventure of my own...a friend invited a few of us to celebrate her 40th birthday in Las Vegas.  I had never been...two words...sensory overload...

The lights and sights, the food and drink, the shows, and best of all, the friends, both old and new...

 

Some more random snaps...

Thanksgiving with cousins, grandma & pappy and uncle...

Bowling with the cousins...

An extremely warm December day, led to a hike..

Some football fun in the park...

Watching the games...

A boy and his dog...

A peaceful spot...

We traveled to Kloby's Smokehouse to meet up with the hubby's brother and family (minus my oldest niece, who is currently over in Asia having a grand adventure).

Kloby's is owned by my husband's cousin and his family...can you tell the men are related by blood?

And the food....omg....delicious...upon arriving home, the comfy stretchy pants went on...

 

For the Panzer followers...

 

Phew....are you still with me!?!

And the little stitching that I have done...

A baby sampler...

My start on His Eye is on the Sparrow by Heartstring Samplery...

I See Trees of Green, also by Heartstring Samplery...one of my favorite songs, so I had to stitch this one!

 

If you have made it this far, thank you.

So much time has come and gone..and in these oh so busy times, I have to remind myself of this...take the time to stop, breathe, take it all in...sometimes looking up brings beautiful rewards...

“When you do the things that you can do, you will find a way.”
― A.A. Milne

 

Celebrating!!

Can you believe what you are seeing!?!  Yes ~ a finish!!
Perhaps you heard a loud screech a few nights ago....that was just me celebrating!

This ended up taking way longer than it should have ~ that's just what happens when you keep misplacing your stitching time.

An easy stitch and very true words....

I tweaked the colors just a touch, including the fabric...

The bone after "Be loyal and faithful" was not charted to be encased in the blue, but after stitching the bone and the red, it just wasn't popping on my fabric choice....so, in went the blue.

The heart in "Forgive quickly" was charted green like the grass....couldn't do a green heart....presto, it's red....

And the dog, well, of course, changed to resemble Panzer....hubby says the tail is still too long....oh well....

I would really love to start something new, but I do have some wip's that are jumping back out at me. 

Perhaps I will work on them for now and allow myself a New Year's start.

 

Andrea over at The Craft Room hosted her 5th annual Christmas Random Act of Kindness.  She stitches as many ornaments as she can over the year and then hosts a giveaway draw....I was lucky enough to have my name chosen this year and was so excited when the package arrived....

The stitching and finishing are perfect!  It's hard to see from this picture I snapped with my phone, but the edges are beaded....love, love, love!!!  Thank you, Andrea!!  If you pop on over to her blog, she even has a tab at the top explaining her yearly event and showing some of the past ornaments.  What a sweet way to spread smiles for Christmas! 

 

Panzer says, "What?"

"I smell change in the air...."

"I need my boys to reassure me....my crate was taken down....something about making room for some sort of tree and holiday celebrations....I was thinking more along the lines of indoor plumbing for me perhaps...."

"While waiting for the tree....I'll just snuggle in and keep warm...it's gonna be bitter cold the next few days!"

 

Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving ~ in spite of all that 2013 has thrown at us this year, I am still lucky to have many blessings to be thankful for ~ including all of my stitching and blogging friends!

We are preparing for a houseful of guests for Thanksgiving....Grandma, Pappy, my brother and his girls....can't wait to have them all here!! 

“The more - the merrier.”
― A.A. Milne