Happy DECEMBER!

Okay, so it is already the 9th and my first post this month. Time just slips away from me.

I have spent TOO much time trying to re-do my blog picture. It still doesn't fit. When I have it auto-fit it is too small. ARGH! I am done. So it hangs over a little. So do I! Heck, I hang over a lot.

We are HOPING for snow today! They have been forecasting snow since Saturday night and yet we have NO snow. COME ON!! It IS December afterall.

I will post again later on. I just wanted to say HI! I am still out here and I wanted to get a new wintry scene posted.

My college girl comes home this week!! WAHOOOOO!!! We are all soooo excited about that.

If you haven't been over to Freda's Hive what are you waiting for??? BIG Blogiversary Giveaway going on over there. www.fredashive.blogspot.com.

Prayers for SAFE train travels Thursday night. That is how my college girl will be coming home. I think that will be exciting for her. Prayers that my son would be diligent with his college classes that go a week after his sister arrives home (and is lounging around). Praise - our house is on the market and it has already been shown AND the guy was pretty excited about it! He needs to bring some others to look at it - so prayers for that.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The pie is on the cooling rack, I am going to start peeling potatoes soon and then I will put the dressing in the crockpot. I have a small turkey to cook so it doesn't have to go in the oven quite yet. The sparkling cider is chilled and the crescent rolls are just waiting their turn in the oven.

Missing my girl but I am so thankful that she has a wonderful family to spend the day with. We will be seeing her VERY soon and we can hardly wait. When hubby and my son return home from hunting we will have our dinner.



I hope that you spend today thanking God for every good and perfect gift. That is what I will be doing.

But I still have so much to be thankful for

The plan was for our friends to come over for Thanksgiving. They have come maybe 5 or 6 of the 8 years we have been here. They were going to bring our daughter with them.

Plans have changed. My friend's brother in law in GA has been told he has 3-4 days to live. They are in a holding pattern, trying to decide to fly to GA now or to wait. There was so much indecision. They wanted to come here, they wanted to bring our daughter home, if they had to fly out then what....they would have their dog and our daughter to get back to the big city. The thought was that my daughter could drive their car back home but....they only have cars with stick shift and she has never learned that. She has also never made the 6 hour trip alone and there is a big pass in the way. A big pass that could get snow at any minute.

We are ALL sad! Our friend's youngest boy was very disappointed. He loves to come here during hunting season.

When all is said and done though...in 3-4 days, God willing, we will still all be alive. We aren't losing a beloved family member. The sick man, who is about 48 years old, has two very young children. He has a wife who is scared of what lies ahead. There is a big family that is going to be attending a funeral very soon unless there is some miraculous healing.

So yes, our plans have changed and we are disappointed but at the same time we are also so very thankful for what we do have. AND our daughter will be heading home for her Christmas break in a couple of weeks. She has already made arrangements to spend Thanksgiving and the day after with her best friend and their family.

Praise - God is in control. Nothing takes him by surprise.
Prayers - for that young man in Georgia, for a miraculous healing if it is God's will. For all of the family members, for comfort and strength to get through this.

This has GOT to give me more sewing time

So it has been 11 days or so since I blogged. That can't be good. I miss being on the computer. I really miss sewing! My craft room is a disaster. Oh I have sewing that I SHOULD be doing. The thing is I am STILL waiting for the previous owner to fix a hole in the ceiling in here. He did have some dude come by to patch it, but no one has come by to tape it and mud it and paint it. It is directly under where my sewing table should go. Of course it is. The first dude that cut some dry wall made a huge mess that he didn't' clean up. I am NOT setting my machine up under there and then letting dude #2 show up to make another mess. I can't set up my table until it is in place because it has these BIG and HEAVY drawers which are full of fabric and patterns. This situation does not make me happy.

We went away this past weekend, to see my daughter for her 19th birthday. We took a couple of her friends from here along. We stayed with friends, took them shopping, ate, partied, caught up. The adults went to a semi-formal event for Families Northwest where John Tesh was the entertainment. That was a lovely evening.

The day we took all the girls shopping hubby and I went to Costco and got this;

I have it on the charger right now. I can't wait to let it do its thing! I figure it is one less thing I will have to do. I am going to schedule it to clean every single day. Otherwise the dark wood floors that show everything are going to be the end of me. Anything to create more sewing time is a good thing...RIGHT??? :D

My son and the guys we visited all made a music video this past weekend. It was so much fun to watch. Any chance my son gets to make a movie he jumps on it. This is what he wants to do after all. Good thing his friends are all hams and enjoy being in the movies.

It was so hard to say good-bye to my daughter again. She didn't want to go back to school. She wanted to hang out with us, not have studying to do. I suggested she drop out, move back home and get a job in this podunk town. She figured she'd better go back to school after all. Thanksgiving break is coming up soon and then after that she has a couple weeks and then she is home for her winter break and Christmas!!!!

I had minimal time to spend in TWO Super JoAnns. They were having a huge sale but having just about 20 minutes in the one store and seeing the very long lines, and not much longer in the second store and having three bored young ladies trailing me....wahhhhh!!! I saw so many things I would have liked to get. Did any of you get to their sale??

I am still not totally out of the other house, or unpacked of the boxes and boxes that are now in this house. I'd best get a move on. I just wanted you to know that yes, I am still alive. I did get two aprons off in the mail last week! Those were the final items to be sewn in the old house and then my room could be packed up.

Praise for safe travel to and from the big city and for my awesome hubby who makes the drive basically alone while the rest of us sleep. Prayers for my daughter as she hangs in there for a few more weeks until the end of the first quarter. Prayers that my son would continue to be diligent with his schoolwork too.

Sewing for Christmas

Yes, you read that correctly. I am sewing for Christmas. The thing is, these are not gifts for me to give to my loved ones. Nope. I am sewing these to auction off. This is the third or fourth year that I have participated in this auction. The funds raised go to help parents give their children some Christmas presents that they would not otherwise be able to afford. There is always so much participation and it is great fun. Everything must be handmade and there are so many talented contributors.

So yesterday afternoon and today, this is what I made;
from BHG Quilts and More Fall 2008, the Pick-a-Pocket Tote. I made the matching checkbook cover using the directions found at Amandajean's site.


This little Halloween purse was made using Amy Butler's In Town Bags pattern. I spent some time making sure the little kids would be centered but then...argh! As you can see I should have put that print at the bottom and the dots at the top. I had no clue until it was time to cinch up the drawstring. Yeah, I know. It was the first time I used beads too. I need some pointers on that procedure. If you have any tips please share. The ribbon that says 'Happy Halloween' is just fine in real life, the flash makes it look smudged.


Another bag using that Amy Butler pattern. Again I have to admit I have no vision. I was just happy to make a candy corn colored purse. It made me smile. I planned to enter it into the Candy Corn Contest held here. When I cinched it up. OH.MY. Now it REALLY looked like candy corn!!! Someone else, you know someone that had already made one of these purses (yeah, that would be ME) should have figured what the shape was going to be. I think all the head shaking and eye rolling has done some serious brain damage.


I also submitted this Metro Blue checkbook cover that I made and posted awhile back.

I feel like I could make a few more things but of course I waited until the last minute and I won't be home tomorrow. Where am I going you ask??? Well to the BIG, held at the fairgrounds, Quilt Show!! I love this quilt show and I can't wait. I have my camera ready to go. I am going to make a list of yardages needed for some of the patterns I have on hand and carry a little spiral notebook. This year a friend is going with me. I hope she 'gets' it. I hope she isn't ready to leave thirty minutes after we arrive. I hope she doesn't have to walk home. I hope she is still my friend on Sunday.

Fortunately for you I did NOT take a picture of my sewing room. It is insanely messy (and I am not talkin' 'Nanette' messy ;) ).

Prayers - for my daughter. She has a dorm retreat this weekend. I pray she can relax, have FUN, make some connections. Prayers for the big decision she needs to make. Also prayers for our house buying situation. It has not all been approved yet and it is really causing a lot of tension in this house. Praise - That we are in the situation to buy a house at all, that we have a roof over our head and food to eat and that we have good health. My son has an opportunity to help on a film shoot tomorrow and he is excited.

I didn't like it ONE bit!

That was THE most difficult thing I have done in my life to date. I would rather give birth every day. And trust me, that girl was no easy labor! 18 + hours!! So this was like a birth of sorts. 18 years and a few month later and she is pushed out. Out of the nest this time. Or maybe she jumped. I am pretty sure that I was not pushing. Here she is in her dorm room, well in a portion of it. She has a double and anyone that came by commented that they had the biggest room in the dorm and that they should ENJOY IT! I think they will.

I was pretty good during the two days of meet and greets and various functions we had to attend. A few tears were shed but I expected that. When it was time to say good-bye I still thought I was going to be able to hold it together. We hugged and hugged and hugged. She got teary before I did but then that was my undoing. I cried as my hubby and I drove away. I woke really early the next morning and could not control the tears, so I just let them flow. I tear up when I think of her not getting daily hugs. How sad for all college kids. NO HUGS! My friends that live nearby to her have orders to give her hugs on my behalf. It won't be the same but it is better than nothing. I miss her hugs too.

She says she is doing pretty good. A video sent by phone from her brother set her off a bit. Seeing him AND hearing him was too much I guess. Her roommate is very homesick. Her family is back home now too. Many more miles and hours away than we are. My daughter says she feels like she is just at camp and the reality hasn't set in yet. I told her by the time that it does it will be time to come home for the holidays. She will be pretty busy since the school is on the quarter system.

After seeing the survival kit that was posted at Covered Porches and Screen Doors a few weeks back, I decided that I needed to do something similar. Into a big ol' popcorn tin that I had, I put in these items. I gave it to her before we left but told her she couldn't open it until Sunday or Monday sometime.

Two different devotionals, if and when she has time for them;



Some of her favorite candies;


This set of Sharpies that she would fondly look at in the store;


She loves canned chicken noodle soup and doesn't get it at home;



and just in case she might forget...

The shoes are teeny, made for a little, little girl. But a perfect size to have as a little reminder, on a shelf or in a keepsake box.

I miss her lots. She is going to do GREAT and I am so excited for her. I will really be looking forward to her birthday in November. We are going to see her then. I have told my son he is not allowed to leave home. He just rolls his eyes and says "Whatever, Mom".

So we came home late Saturday and hit the ground running. We had a wedding reception/potluck at church on Sunday. We had 'guests' move into the guest house on Sunday night. Family of church friends that are getting married THIS week. The only sewing I have done is adding some netting pouf to the bride's slip. What a job that was! So much netting, slippery fabric. I ended up having to HAND SEW the netting to the slip. Ya KNOW how I love me some hand sewing...NOT! I ended up sewing it to my jeans TWICE! I finally quit for the night and finished this morning. I was able to secure it all with a machine zig zag this morning. Reminder to self: do NOT go into the wedding dress alteration business.

The weather was GORGEOUS here today! I made a list of things to do today and I think I have gotten them all done! Oh yeah! That's a great feeling. Sewing will be on my list for later this week. A little packing or organizing each day too.

Praise - our travels to and from college were safe. Our daughter is happily moved into her dorm and underway with her classes. Prayers - that we would be an encouragement to her, although we all miss her terribly. For the weddings this weekend. Our daughter will attend one there and we will attend one here. That the young people getting married would truly strive to have Godly marriages. Also praying that the weather would cooperate for the Idaho OUTDOOR wedding.

This is it

The day that I never really thought would arrive. The day when my oldest, my daughter, leaves home. We will all drive to the big city today, spend the night with friends and then move her into her dorm room tomorrow. I had trouble sleeping last night. Her life was flashing before my eyes, running through my mind. Little images of her through the years. I couldn't turn it off. Sweet memories.

She is a beautiful, Godly, young lady. I know that HE loves her even more than I do. I know that she belongs to HIM. But, but, but this day arrived too quickly! I can't even write this without getting teary eyed. I am going to be a wreck on Friday afternoon when we finally say our good-byes. I am already looking forward to early November when we go see her for her birthday, and then Thanksgiving when she will be home. Not long after that, just a couple of weeks and it will be time for Christmas break.

I am so thankful the technology that we have today. The dorm doesn't have one phone in the hall to be used by dozens of girls. My daughter has a cell phone and she can call or text and she can take pictures! She can contact us via messenger and email and even with Facebook. She has a webcam on her computer so that we can see her lovely face. Using some of that technology my daughter has already gotten to know her roommate.

The suburban is packed to the gills. I am not sure what we would have done if we had just a car. I sure hope there is room for everything she is taking. Well I guess we will just bring the overflow home. To her almost empty room. :(

She is ready and excited. A new chapter in the story of her life. I'm excited for her. It is going to be a great adventure.

I will post some pictures when we get back home.

Praying for safe travel today. That we would show each other love and patience as we get my daughter all moved in. Prayers for the adjustments that need to be made - those that my daughter has to make and those that my hubby, son and I need to make. Prayers being said for her school year. That she would do her best, have fun but most importantly honor God with her life. Praise to God for giving my daughter the skills and talents that HE did. That we are able to send her to the college of her choice.