It's been awhile...

So, so sorry...I have let myself get swept up in other things lately and my blogging, stitching, and even reading have suffered.. I know I keep saying it but I really need to set a timer when I get online. I think there is a timer on my cell phone; I need to start using it!  I'm hoping to do some stitching when I get done with this post- just have to do a bit more cleaning in the living room and I'll be ready. 

I have been stitching on "The Alamo" at least a bit each week.  I will post a pic at the end of this post, as it is on my phone.

The fall leaves are nearly gone now, but here are a few photos of them while they were here-

 

The week before Thanksgiving was kind of crazy. One night Rob and I were getting ready to go to bed and Rob's heart started beating very fast, and he started having chest and arm pain.  We took him to the ER and they tried to get his heart rate slowed down and stabilized.. it slowed down a little but was still beating fast, so they admitted him to run some more tests.  He was in for 3 days and they found out he has atrial fibrillation.. so he will have to stay on medicine now to regulate his heartbeat as well as medicine for cholesterol and high blood pressure.  He is doing well since. He is back to work and feeling better, thank the Lord.

 

Every year our town has a little celebration downtown to officially turn on all the Christmas lights on the downtown streets.  I took David(Hanna had judo) and we went for a little while. It's always so neat to see all the lights turn on at the same time. I have videotaped it before but I forgot to this year.  Here are a few pics though. Ok, well, more than a few.

The quilt shoppe in their new location- see all the fabric inside?

The magnolia tree in the traffic circle/roundabout

This gives you an idea of how big the tree is!

City Hall

 

a downtown view

 

As you can tell by my son's hat, Krispy Kreme was there. We were a little disappointed because they usually give out a doughnut to each person who wants one but this year they only gave a donut hole to each person. Sign of the economy I guess. But they did hand out coupons for $2 off a dozen doughnuts.  Which reminds me, I have to use that before it expires.

 

I had been wanting to get Ginger a "Mr. Bill" toy for quite some time.. I hit the jackpot when I found one on clearance at Target for $2.  She loved him, but as always he didn't last long.. he was made pretty sturdy overall but she still managed to get the stuffing out of a foot. And the foot was not sewn off from the rest of his body so I couldn't just take the stuffing out of the foot and let her keep playing with him.  :( But here she is with him while she had him.

 

 

We got our Christmas tree up, not as early as usual but up nonetheless.. the kids helped me decorate it. In fact they ended up doing most of it cause Rob and I ended up going grocery shopping. :/

 

 

There is an angel on top of it now, her wings were broken and I had to glue them back on.

 

I have some other big news (no I am not pregnant. lol) .We are trying to get pre-qualified to buy a house.  I had a couple of errors on my credit report that we are trying to get fixed.. I am really so impatient to get moving (no pun intended). Now that I have house fever I just can't stand waiting to get out there and find one.  We have rented our current place for probably about 15 or 16 years. It is entirely too small for our family  now and I am so anxious for some more space, and to do some of the things with our living space I have not been able to do here due to lack of room.  So please say prayers for us, that we will get approved for enough to get our family a nice home and find the perfect one for us.  It has been a long time coming.  Thank you. ♥  And that is one of the more recent reasons I have not blogged.. lunch breaks are spent making phone calls trying to get this credit issue worked out, and when I am online I am scouring realty websites looking for that perfect place. 

 

And last but not least, here is the Alamo - I think I have done a bit more since I took this, I can't remember.

 

I really appreciate you all sticking with me even though I am so sporadic in posting sometimes!! I will try (again) to post more often!

 

 

 

 

Stitching progress and our Christmas tree..

I think I forgot to mention last time that we got our Christmas tree up.  :) This was a bit interesting as Ro has gotten a recliner since last Christmas and we have a small living room- it required a bit of rearranging and putting our rocking chair in another room for now.  Anyway, here it is!

And here is my progress on Beach Cottage and Autumn Side- hoping to finish Autumn Side this weekend. :)

Sorry the snaps aren't that good- for some reason my flash wouldn't go off when I took the one of Beach Cottage!

Only two more weeks til we get Ginger--- it is so hard waiting! I am so excited. We have pretty much gotten everything we need- just need to get a baby gate to keep her in the kitchen while we're at work(just until she is fully house-trained), and her harness and leash- but we want to wait til we get her to do that so we can get the right size.  I know she will be a bit bigger than when we saw her last! :)

Merry Christmas!!

I am just chillin' at home with my family- kids are playing Lego Batman on the Wii, Rob is working on Hanna's new ipod, getting it ready to roll.. thought I would check in with my blog friends and see how everyone's Christmas is going! I am wearing a warm snuggly poncho my mom made for me- I will have Hanna take a picture later so you can see. :) I did get two stitchy gifts- an Ott-Lite (Michael's had them 1/2 price, woo hoo!) and a beautiful hardcover book "A Cross Stitch Christmas" from my FIL and his wife.  All kinds of designers are featured including Donna Vermillion Giampa, Ursula Michael, Gail Bussi, Nora Corbett, and a lot more!! There are some beautiful winter scenes and a gorgeous stained glass window pattern.   Dh also go me a new camera- a Canon Power Shot(thanks Edgar! I love it!) so maybe now that I have a camera that's a little more portable I will have more pictures to share with you all. 
Rob helped me finish my ornaments the other night-he is better with a sewing machine than me-and they were sent out yesterday. I only have one to finish yet and get out, which I will hopefully take care of this weekend. I am just trying to decide how to finish it because it's a rectangular shape with a rounded top.  I never did finish stitching the Tinkerbell design for dd, I think she has forgotten about it- so I will continue to plug away at that and my Dec. flip-it. I have joined the Brooke's Books Stitcher's Alphabet SAL- I am hoping to get the fabric I  need this weekend also.  I have never started a project from the corner before, always the middle- but since all the letters aren't done yet I'll be starting in the top left corner- any tips?
Dh and I watched "The Accidental Husband" the other night- the reviews I had heard were not so good but Colin Firth was in it so I gave it a try anyway.. it was predictable but still cute, I thought.  Don't know that I'd buy it for my DVD collection but it wasn't so bad. I mean we rented it from a Redbox and it was not a waste of 1.00. lol  We've also rented "All About Steve"- hope to watch it soon. I would like to watch at least one version of "A Christmas Carol" this weekend - I have two tivoed. 
I don't think I have shared a picture of our Christmas tree yet- this was taken with the old camera-

It was taken right after we put it up.  The kids and I made Christmas cookies yesterday- this year I opted for the Toll House pre-made dough- it is delicious and so much more convenient!  Here is the finished product- the one with fewer cookies was decorated by Hanna and I decorated most of the larger plate- there are a few decorated by David- those would be the ones with the piles of icing. lol

I also got a great deal on a gingerbread house kit at Michael's so the kids and I will hopefully do that this weekend as well.

Well, I am sure chatty today aren't I? That's about it for now- hope I will have some stitchy pics soon- but in the meantime here are my attempts at taking the kids' pic for the Christmas card- they would not sit still- I finally gave up and chose the one in the middle.

This bottom one would have been perfect if David didn't have the goofy look on his face!

Merry Christmas and as Tiny Tim said -"God bless us every one!"