Me Day

I have been needing a Me Day for too long :) Some time to finish up a few things without a time crunch for a change.

DD#1's countdown to Christmas Album had been sitting around 90% done for over a month.

It's good to get some finishes in. Sign, sealed, and delivered!

Another need to finish up was this table runner. I dreaded working with clear threat to attach the appliques. What a pain!!!! My machine does not like clear thread no matter what settings I used.

Still have the wreath to applique on, quilt, and bind but a little done is better than none done don't you think?

Moving on.....Whipped up a nice pile of felt paper dolls as well. Hopefully stitching faces and hair on will be a nice easy project to work on after dinner in the evenings.

And...The start of some houses for the felt dolls to live in.

The fronts came together pretty easily, hope this inside will go as smoothly :)

 

It is amazing how much can be completed when I ground myself to our HOME!! The old me would have been upset at the end of the day for not finishing everything I started yesterday. The new me is just happy to have made some progress :)

 

After a good nites sleep I think I am ready to finish up the clear thread stitching on the table runner this morning. Sandwiching, quilting, and binding....who knows. Nobody likes a high achiever right? :)

 

We have an action packed day with DD#1's toddlers beginning with their Thanksgiving feast and  pre school program today. They will hang out with us for the afternoon helping with Thanksgiving day baking and merry making. The little girls have requested a sleepover tonight......Maybe they will forget :) I am not sure I am up to an all nighter to kick off the holiday weekend. Oh well.

 

The evening will bring hubby's family in from FL and NJ, a pot of soup in the crock pot along with a few loaves of bread seems to be the most realistic meal I can pull off with the little ones in and out all day. Our temperature of 75 from yesterday should drop like a rock as the day goes on to the 30's by evening, soup it is :)

 

Time to shower and get this day started. I hear hubby moving around upstairs he is sure to be ready for his morning feeding.

Life in the Fast Lane

 One of the many To Do's on my weekend list was to get a cake made for SIL#2's Birthday. I am thankful our SIL's are like me when it comes to store bought cakes, home made is the only way to go for us! Kara was so excited to be able to make her "Best Daddy" a real cake.

 No Birthday cake would be complete without sprinkles so I let her have at it.

 It turned out quite festive don't you think? As I was taking this photo she did a sneaky taste test. Results..."Delicious"

 Saturday was Mason Man's early 3rd Birthday as they will be out of town over Thanksgiving this year.

 DD#1 and hubby decided to do a neighborhood hot dog cook out party including the big and little kids

 What party would be complete without a bit of entertainment! This bouncy house was HUGE!!!! Can you see Kara standing on the left by the slide? Even the adults could have gotten in on the fun :)

 

Between all the parties, diapers, and yard work hubby and I tag teamed the carpets and area rugs in the entire house. Talk about a JOB!!!! I had planned on having everything professionally cleaned but by the time I got around to making an appointment I couldn't have it done until after Thanksgiving, sigh....For just under $60.00 we now have 5 rooms of carpet/area rugs spic and span clean.

And our living room sofa's and ottoman are also fresh and clean!!!!! This was a back breaking savings of over $400.00. Gotta love that :)

Hubby and I both were glad to hit the bed last night!! We have had and action packed weekend. This week will be about the same, go, go, go. I hope to get some baking and sewing finished up today before our family arrives tomorrow. Pre school Thanksgiving feast with Mason man and Karsyn as well tomorrow followed by a play date at Nanny's. If that's not enough for one day the little girls want a sleepover Tuesday night before Karsyn has to leave town for Thanksgiving which should add to the exhaustion :)


Hubby and I both took some time to ourselves for just play yesterday morning. He in his garage, me at the sewing machine before Sunday dinner/Birthday with the family. I gave working with clear thread a try, UGH!!!!! My fancy machine does not like clear thread! I also got started on felt paper dolls....the jury is still out on that project. I wasn't in much of a mood to sew such tiny little bitty things :)

It's off to the races for me. I need to get the house back in order so they can once again make a mess :)

Christmas Deals

 With Christmas list in hand I worked a few deals yesterday morning. I had a leftover balance on a GC for $50.00 along with 2 - 10% off coupons on one book, and our regular 10% off membership card. Bottom line $92.00 in books cost me $21.23 out of pocket for 5 gifts. Yaaa.

 

Next deal was at Kholes with a 20% off total order coupon. The BD gift I ordered for Mason man over a week ago had sill NOT shipped from Amazon, grrrr. I also had $30.00 in Kholes bucks. The regular price on this "bad guy" ship was $54.00, can't remember the sale price but it was a whole heck of a lot cheaper!! Also picked up a pair of slacks for my Sister that were on sale. Once the discount for Kholes rewards program, coupon, and Kholes bucks were figured in my out of pocket was $11.98. I do so love a deal any time of the year, it is especially sweet when Christmas shopping :)

 Here is a deal from last year :) I need/want a few snacks around for when our family gets in next week before Thanksgiving. These white chocolate peanut butter treats are always a hit and easy to make. I use 1/2 a bag of white chocolate chips the rest I use white candy melts. Candy melts were in the clearance area after Christmas last year for $.25 a package!! Now is the time to stock the pantry for baking supplies, the specialty stuff is dirt cheap after Christmas :)

We ended the day with our girls and Tater Tot at the Southern Christmas Show. This little guy has the best disposition all of the time, always laughing and smiling, what a joy :) DD#1 found a cute shaw sorta thing she wanted. Bingo another Christmas gift!!

I was super excited to find a vendor at the Christmas show that carried a ton of Melissa and Doug toys. We picked up Mason Mans toy that Amazon had still not shipped for $10.00 less plus no shipping charges. DEAL!

I do so hope I can keep scoring some deals on Christmas gifts this year as we/I have not stayed on budget for most of the year :( The big girls gave me their wish lists last night, I have high hopes I can continue finding some rock bottom prices :)

OK for all you new Nanny's/Mommy's here is a toy tip. Take some time to check out the Melissa and Doug brand of toys this year for gifts. The quality is always great, they are well made and don't need batteries!!! What!!!!! a toy that doesn't DO stuff? Yep, the kiddo's have to DO the stuff o their own. love that :) We have lots of their puzzles from years and years ago, play kitchen food and equipment, and some of the cute Fold and Go sets. The kiddo's play for hours and hours using their imagination just like the good old days :) We saw the Nativity Fold and Go set they carry last night set up, it is a must have if you don't already have a child friendly Nativity.

Off to the races as we have 2 family Birthday parties this weekend, carpet cleaning, yard work and two little ones to keep up with, never a dull moment!

BURRRRRR

 Hubby has decided he is going to have the best garden in town next spring, we will see how that works out once July's temperatures come roaring in :) My part of the new and improved garden preps was to mail off his dirt sample yesterday. Nothing better than running around when it's 22 degree's outside, BURRRR

 Check out my new winter wardrobe :) I was really and truly out of winter shirts that didn't have all sorts of nasty stains on them from the last few years of keeping the grands full and part time. Our Belk store had an additional 40% off clearance items sale going on. Scored nine shirts for $125.00!!! Total saved $232.00.

 Between running the roads, organizing, and listing Christmas gifts I have purchased during the year I got a head start on some holiday goodies for Thanksgiving. Chocolate covered nuts are one of hubby's many favorites.

And some granola bars mostly for me, seems hubby thinks they are a little to healthy for him, the grands...they can take them or leave them.

It is still so darn cold here I don't want to be out and about doing anything :) Staying at home working on 101 Christmas projects and trying to figure out how the heck to get the sewing room back in shape is where I want to be. I DO NOT miss upstate NY where we lived may years ago, holy cow batman!!! I will never forget the look on my Southern boys face when he read in our lease we were required to do snow removal on the roof. :)

Sew let me ask you, have you ever thought you had lost a handmade Christmas item or two? Let me tell you turning your already messy sewing room upside down in search of two Christmas gifts you thought all you need was a day or two to finish up is not a pretty sight. Low and behold I found the missing objects....to my surprise I wasn't nearly as far along on those gifts as I have imagined. Crapola, I have some work to do. Sigh. All of our gifts this year are Christmas related. The plan was to have them in the mail the first week of December so the recipients could enjoy them this season. Now...who knows.

Our schedule has already started to get crazy for the holiday season. Tonight is our annual "Southern Christmas Show" evening out with the big girls. Saturday Mason mans 3rd Birthday, Sunday SIL Birthday dinner, Tuesday Thanksgiving feast with the toddlers at Pre School, Sister in Law and her family arrive that same day, followed by 5 days of family time (lots of cooking) So far the big girls have not started sending me Pintrest posts of "Mom can you make" ideas they want for their homes but I know it's coming :)

Ahh the joys of having a big family!! I wouldn't want it any other way :)

Catch Up Time

 Warning, this post is photo HEAVY :) Remember this wall hanging from 1990? I wasn't going to let up until it was completed this past weekend!!!!

 It took only 24 years. Ya, they are that time consuming if you bury them far enough back in your craft closet :)

 The kiddo's take one of the hand made toys each day then place them in Santa's sack. On the 24th the last item is a tiny Nativity scene. Love that!!

 Kara has been working hard getting Nanny and Papaws house ready for Thanksgiving.

 She had a great time helping pick out a pumpkin from the leftovers at our local farm 1/2 price BTW :) Our Turkey pumpkin is by far her favorite decoration.

 Only in the South can you go from 76 degrees down to 40 overnight. Last nights low was 22, burrrr
Our wood stove is the perfect place to hang out at the end of the day.

 Of course lots of home cooking has been going on :) I made a triple batch of Paula Deens Stuffed Peppers yesterday to share with the big girls families, our supper, and 3 freezer meals. This is a must try recipe

 Everything taste's better with some home made yeast rolls don't you think :)

 I have been working and running around like a crazy lady this past week. Last night we ran over to DD#1's home to deliver dinner and get some grand hugs. My tennis shoes were still drying at the wood stove so I just threw on a pair of flip flops before heading out the door. We made a quick stop at the store on the way out. Wonder if anyone noticed my unmatched flip flops? I need to slow down!

 Kara loves to decorate, really and truly the kid is nuts for fluffing the house at holiday's. We took her out Saturday to pick up a few things for her own home, we found NOTHING. Why the heck are stores skipping Thanksgiving? It seems like every year is getting worse :( I had to make a run to Hobby Lobby this morning, getting in on some early black Friday sales!!! I was tickled to death to find they still had a pretty good selection of Thanksgiving decor left. As a bonus everything was 80% off!!! All this loot cost under $22.00, I couldn't buy the fabric for the place mates at that price. Can't wait to see the wild child's face when she sees the bag of Thanksgiving goodies I found for her.

 I had thought putting this new table runner together would be easy as pie. Not so much! I took forever to cut out and iron on all of the appliques.

I am going to give clear thread a try on this one. There are just too darn many colored leaves and letters. This will be a new experience for me, that is as soon as I can find the time to set down at the machine.

Today I am feeling overwhelmed......There are just so many 1/2 done projects going on around the house I don't know where to start. What should have been just a few run in and out errands turned into hours this morning. I didn't expect that so many stores already had their Black Friday sales going on, how could I pass them up sine we NEVER EVER go out on Black Friday? I will have to share the clothing super deals I picked up on tomorrow's post, holy cow!!!! I knocked out close to a dozen Christmas gifts at 50%-80% off!!! Go me!!!

The other thing that is on my mind/heart is Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday. Food, Family, Fun, Football, The overwhelming Feeling of Gratefulness for all we have. The world seems to be just skipping over this special family time of the year. Thanksgiving is being taken over by what I consider the greed of business that think they MUST be open on Thanksgiving day, don't get me started on Black Friday, GRRRRRRRR

Can we not take just one day off a year to just BE........Be thankful, Be happy, Be Grateful, Be together, Be in our homes, Be so full of yummy food we can't get off the sofa? Is it really so important to purchase more stuff that most people don't even need that we can't take one day to join together with family and friends to bow our heads and  give thanks?

That's my rant for the day :) Now I need to figure out where I am going to hide all these Christmas gifts before the big and little kiddo's find them

Ta Da

 After only 4 years the little girls stockings are complete :)

 Mason Mans as well :)

What a relief to have then all done way before its time to hang them this year!!!

 

 I can't ever seem to have one project finished before I run into something else that is just too cute to pass up. Wonder if that is the reason the sewing/scrap room is such a mess? While hanging out on the back deck while on our family vacation enjoying the fall weather (getting away from the noise and craziness in the cabin) I ran into this cute felt paper doll set. Hummm, I wonder if the little girls had something like this to play with would they find a corner to play quietly in?

 

I knew I had more fabric than I would need to whip up a ton of pint size dresses. Embroidery floss..check, buttons, and bows...Oh ya!

My mind started spinning. These would be great to take to Church to keep little ones busy, Dr. office, car rides, heck Ya. They are a must do!!!! You can find the pattern ordering info HERE

 

 

I would love to jump right in on these felt paper dolls this morning for our little girls but...I need to stay on task. I WILL finish the Christmas calendar kit this year!!!!! With any luck I can knock it out in the evenings this week. In my excitement I did pulled together the fabric and notions that I think I will need so I will be ready to rock the felt dolls soon :)

 

I spent 2 hours in the sewing room yesterday trying to make a dent in the messes I have piled up on every surface. I must say I can tell NO difference :( I clearly need to complete a whole heck of a lot of UFO's. I also need to stay the heck off line trolling for cute things :)

 

Today I hope to come up with a plan of sewing/crafting action. I figure I have part of next week to complete some tasks, then maybe the week after Thanksgiving could be the next catch up week before we get in full swing with Christmas going on's. 

 

With winter at our doorstep literaly!!! I know how I will be spending my time this year. It was 76 degrees here yesterday...the high today...50 then dropping lower by tomorrow. Bring it on!!! I need to be grounded to the sewing room

 

 

 

 

 



 

Home Sweet Home

 We just returned home from 6 action packed days in this beautiful cabin with the whole family.

 The big and little kiddo's love picking out their family Christmas village piece along with a visit with Santa to kick off the upcoming holiday season at The Christmas Place.

 Tater Tot loved all of the lights and sounds.

 We surprised the grands with a trip to Dollywood one day. This was the best shot I could get with all of them together. As you can see they were a little wild :)

 I had read many reviews on line before we decided to lay down the cash for "Dollywood" most were not very good. Personally we had a great time. There was a good selection of rides for the big and little kiddo's without being overwhelming. The lines went pretty fast, the staff around the park and at rides were all over the top helpful. We were so busy running around we were not able to get into any of the shows which we had heard were great. The food....typical overpriced park food :) I would recommend this park to any family for some good old fashion fun.

There were very FEW quite moments during our stay but here is one sweet quite time with Mason Man and Tater Tot. Mason is fascinated with Tater Tot, he keeps asking us "when he gonna grow up?" To soon I am afraid Mason :(

Oh the joy of arriving home to our own bed with no little ones tucked between us :) Man oh man, it is not easy sleeping with the grands. Of course it was never just one at a time sleeping with us. Papaw and I had a heck of a time hanging on to our sides of the beds for dear life!!

Now its catch up time!!!!

Car unpacked and cleaned - Check
Mail sorted - Check
Bills paid - Check (ouch)
Laundry caught up - Check
Groceries in - Check
Meals planned - Check
Fridge and freezers cleaned - Check
Halloween decorations stored away - Check
Thanksgiving decorations ready to go - Check
Sewing projects lined up - Forget it!!!!

I was able to get some work done on the grands Christmas stockings while we were away, I am oh so close to being done!!!! As always before I have completed one project I find something else I MUST DO :) Now if I can remember where the heck I put that pile of felt I have all organized by color :)

I am such a home body. As much as I love being able to vacation with our big and little kiddo's there really is no place like home. While catching up on the weather this morning I couldn't help but wish for all that snow folks are getting up North.  I had dreams of being snowed in for a week while vacuuming this morning. There is a great possibility I won't have to leave the house for the next 2 days, ahh LOVE that!

Hope to have a few handmade things to share in the AM along with a cute Christmas gift idea for little girls.

Confessions of a Crafter

 The one and only thing I have packed for our family vacation is this basket of stocking kits :)

 As I was digging around in the sewing room yesterday I ran into this almost completed kit. I have been working on it off and on for years. It has been added to the stocking basket!

Can you see the date on the kit? 1990!!! Yep that's 24 years folks, I have been working on it off more than on for all these years :)

I wonder if I would win the "Who has the oldest ongoing craft project" award? Ha I know I lay my hands on this kit many times during the year and over the years but for the life of me something more important always comes up. NO MORE!!! This kit will be done, completed, finished, hanging proudly some place for the Grands to enjoy THIS YEAR!!!!

So I did a little reflecting regarding this kit and how it fit into our (my) life 24 years ago. DD#1 was 13 years old, DD#2 was 9 years old, DD#3 was 8 years old. Our girls "Believed" in Santa for a long, long time, however...... I am pretty sure they were past the Santa age by the time this kit landed in my shopping buggy!!!

Humm...maybe I was missing the old days when our girls did "Believe". Could it have been an intended gift for someone else with little ones?  I know I must have found it on a super after Christmas sale!! Maybe just maybe the stars and sale lined up just right and a little voice inside my Crafters brain said buy it now so it will be completed by the time you have a house full of Grand kids :)

Enough with the past I am moving on to the future :) This kit will no longer be moved to the back burner. I complete Karsyn's stocking last night other than adding her name. That's 2 stockings down 2 more to go!!! Mason man stocking only needs the hand and bead work completed. I have high hopes I can make a big dent in that work tonight :) Tater Tots stocking was next in the basket.....he just got bumped :) The Santa Countdown has been moved into its place.

I forewarned hubby last night that there is a great possibility I will be sneaking off to our room on vacation for some ME time. Wanna guess what will be in my hot crafters hands?

Does anyone else have an ongoing craft project or two tucked away in a deep dark closet? I have a bad feeling this is not the only long ago forgotten project that is hidden in the sewing room. Maybe, just maybe after Christmas I will dig around for more lost treasures :)