I'm ready....ho ho ho

I LOVE Christmas. I really can't bring it to just one or two

things I love about it. I do think the top of the list is the

way it fills my heart. I am overflowing with memories

of family gatherings, smells of baking & coffee brewing,

little fingers sneaking candies, laying under the xmas

tree for that special view of the ornaments and tinsel.

And as the years go by, new memories join the old and

as I browse photos both old and new, my throat constricts

with love and unshed tears.

I know there are hundreds of other memories made

throughout a year, but I admit, my fav is Christmas.

And I was so surprised a few days ago, when I got

up and realized, HEY, its November 1st. The holiday

season is practically here. I was sooo excited! I was

practically doing a jig taking down halloween goodies

and planning what I was going to hang where this year!

Silly me!

And I just can't wait to dig these treasures out of the

box and hang them just right on our tree....

and to make sure the tree skirt is centered just right *so the dogs

can't do any doggie damage to it*

And to get the beads draped just so around and around the tree....
I'm one of those thats starts shopping early. I don't buy an

over abundance of presents *Bob might beg to differ on

that point*. But I am always on the look out for just the right thing

for every one. Last year I sewed up all the kids warm robes and

they were a hit. So now I am off to my sewing maching to get

this years treats sewed up just right!

I hope you all are finding the special little joys of Christmas a

little early this year too....ho ho ho

just a little busy

Got my new iron a few days ago. Filled it up,

plugged it in, picked my setting. Waited patiently

and finally got to ironing, for a few minutes.

ARGGGHHH No steam. Water leaked outta

the resevoir *sp?* at an alarming rate. Sigh...

Got it returned and spent the last 2 afternoons

catching up. Finally am all finished with the piles

of ironing! Yippee! NOW I am ready to start

matching fabric to patterns....oh How I Have

Missed Sewing! I'm still really missing my

sewing room, but thats ok, I'm making due

using a hospital tray table for my machine.

Work great, when I'm done for the day sewing,

I just wheel it out of the way. and the little drawer

it has is perfect for scissors and pins and all

the other odds and ends you need to keep

at hand.

Hope you are are having wonderful days too!

my iron died....OH NO!

This morning was just a typical day. Wash my hair.

Dry my hair. Curl my hair. Get dressed. Make

a cup of tea and plug the iron in to finish up a few

things and press out some fabric for some aprons

I am going to make. Couldn't wait to get started!

After I waited a few minutes, thinking the iron

would be hot, walked over and saw the light was

out on it. Huh? Checked to be sure it was plugged

in. Checked to see if I really did turn it on.

Hmmmm. I picked the iron up and the on light

flashed on. Oh! Then off. Sigh.

Sooo I wiggled the cord and it flashed on and

stayed that way. Not for long. Started ironing

when it warmed up and then, snap crackle

pop.....a lick of flame up my wrist.... a quick

scream ....EEK! It was snapping and a popping

when I unplugged it, then it just stopped and

smoked a little. Of course thats when I started

laughing. And you should have seen the ash on

my ironing board! wow! Thats a first!

Anyways, now I am going to have to QUICKLY

get a new iron. I feel lost with out it. I use my

iron every day even when I am not sewing. I

love ironing. I love crisp pleats. Tidy collars.

Freshly ironed pillowcases on my pillows. That

puff of steam. Smell of spray starch. It goes on.

I cannot go long without an iron in my hand.

Hi, my name is Melissa, I am addicted to ironing.

Ultimate Fighter ~ Landon Style

Round 1:

Poppa has Landon in the 'Upside Down Ankle Hold'

Round 2:

OH NO! Landon is caught in an 'Arm Bar'

Round 3:

Landon escapes the Arm Bar and goes for the 'Ground and Pound'

Round 4:

Poppa taps out...Landon Wins! And its Bottoms Up for the New UFC Champ!

Red is my favorite color!

Why you ask?

No, not because I try to keep my hair

red to keep the gray away.

Its

because

of

this

little

guy.

Grandson Robby!

And yes, his personality matches his hair!

A baby on the go, lots to say, see and do.

And he is just perfect!

Still lovin Texas

We are still in Texas. Not in Abilene anymore though.
We are staying in Lewisville just above Dallas. Visiting
Bob's daughters and grandkids! Fun fun fun!

Wyatt and Olivia come and stay at the hotel with
us every night. Love it! They have been so good
for us. Makes it even easier to spoil them.

Tomorrow Bob and I are going out looking
for property again. We go every time we come
to Texas. But I think its getting serious now.
We have actually been pre-approved already!
Yikes! So we have an appt. in the am to go
looking! Wish us luck!

I love cranky red headed 18mo olds
Olivia dancing
watching Wyatt and his poppa together
crafting with Lisa
fabric shopping with Amanda
collapsing exhausted in a comfy bed feeling
blessed

I love....

I love city fairs
petting zoos
bouncy houses full of jumpin' toddlers
big slides with screamin for joy toddlers
toddlers with a newly won scooby doo
funnel cakes and lemonade
the roar of the engines at the tractor pull
Texas thunder and lightening
watching my favorite toddler dance along with scooby doo
hearing him sing the accompanying song
hearing my daughter putter in her kitchen while whipping up
her delicous goulash
hearing my daughter and her husband talk via skype in the
morning while he is in Iraq
waking up in the morning happy that we are still in Texas!

Back in Texas!

We arrived in Dallas yesterday, got our rental car
and took off for Abilene! Thats where my daughter
and her family live!

I am soooo soooo happy to be here. have not seen
them since last Christmas...way to long for me.
I am so enjoying our visit! We will be here until
Wednesday and then we take off back to the Dallas
area to Lake Dallas to visit our other 2 daughters
and there famlies!....Can it get any better!
I have missed the grandkids sooo much.
Seeing these little faces makes all the troubles
and worries and aches and pains all just disappear.

I have already been given a sewing demand,
scooby doo jammies and pillow case! Of course!
Anything for Landon!

Hope your all having a good of weekend as I am!

A quick hello

No I have not fallen off the face of the earth, nor am I hiding,

am just still working on that scrapbook. It seems to be

consuming ALL of my time. It has taken me weeks to get

through all the photos, but at long last, I am finally getting

to do some serious scrapping and get the pics in the book!

Thats been fun. I love playing with the colors of paper.

And the paper, oh there is such wonderful paper available.

I have found that there is some already stitched! LOVE IT!

I gotta find a pic of it to share. Its beautiful.

We are getting ready for our trip to Texas.

We usually go twice a year to go dote on grandbabies

and visit with the kids. But the costs this year are

keeping our visits down to just one. I am just happy

that we do get to go! Two whole weeks! I Cannot Wait!

As I'm sitting here scrapping I'm daydreaming of

making a christmas quilt. Have always wanted to

make one. I'm going to try hard to do it this year.

The fabrics. Oh the fabrics. Just lucious! Thats

gonna be the hard part, trying to pick fabrics

to make it with!

I hope this finds you all well and happy and creative!

I'm still reading all your posts, loving each and every

one. Your all just so talented!

Summer fun and missing blogging

I have missed blogging so much. And not just the

blogging, but reading all your wonderful blogs.

I have not had time to spend browsing,

reading about all the fun things you have

made, want to make, pretty fabric,

summer bountys from gardens,

summer fun with kids.

I Have Missed You All!

I admit there is one blog I do not miss.

My daughters. Will not miss a day cuz

they always make me smile. They live

so far away and I miss them so much. I feel

much closer having her blog to read.

My fav's are the ones of Landons

fun and games.

The boy does have a good time.....

I think I shall keep my distance when we see

them next month and he is watering for mama!

All is going well with me and Bob.

In fact, we are heading to Vegas this

weekend! Yippeee! We always

have such fun. Not big gamblers but there is

so much to see and do there, I love it!

My stepdaughter Amanda will be there too

celebrating her birthday. We never get

much time with just her so we are really

looking forward to seeing her!

Will be so much fun!

Hope your all having a wonderful summer!

scrapbooking and photos

Have put sewing on the backburner for now. A

very good friend has asked me to do a scrapbook

for her mother. And as I love scrapping I

said yep, be glad to!

She has send boxes of supplies to me and

occassional odds and ends. An album,

lots of refill pages, embellishments galore,

gorgeous papers....oh its been like Christmas!

And I get to play with it all and when I'm done,

send it away!

She picked an absolute yummy album

by K and Company. They have such beautiful

scrapping items. Hard to not buy it all!

No thats not her pic in it, its just the one

included for the sale. Pretty isn't it!

*the album, not the picture* And

I get to fill it with lots of wonderful old family

photos. Alot which I get to touch up and repair.

And as my friend knows how much I love playing

with damaged photos, she threw a

HUGE challenge at me,

Can You Belive That Picture? The damage, YIKES!

So I said, oh hey, no problem, bit my lip and dove

in. And I think I did pretty good! *its still not

quite finished*
Yeah, not bad huh?

I love family photos. They are family treasures.

I cringe when I see photos that have not been

taken care of, or worse yet stored in those

horrible sticky albums. You know the ones,

you lift the page, and its sticky, so you put your

beloved picture on that page and drop the top

back on it. Then the page proceeds to discolor

and do terrible things to that picture.

So this is what I am spending my time doing.

Touching up, resizing, reprinting, scanning

and having fun!

In a few days I will start putting the pics

to paper and adding all the fun

embellishements! I can't wait!

The Cute Book

I finally got my latest book order in the

mail. I'm so happy it arrived, cuz like

it says, its just toooo cute!

I found a few pics on line I could share, This shows the patterns

and directions. Complete and easy. They are all for felt which

makes it all pretty easy.

This picture cracked me up, one of the figures sewing up another one!

Here is that whole page which describes the book.

Isn't it just the cutest ever? I will have to see if I

can find more pictures to share. They are adorable.

And have great names,one is called 'Liar',

another Pinkie, Bad Guy, White Sheep Black

sheep. It goes on.

Wish I wasn't in the middle of a huge project so

I could get started sewing some up. I picture

making a little drawstring bag and filling it up

with these little guys for miss o, my grandaughter.

She LOVES the little goodies like these. Perfect!

The Great Gazo

I'm sure you all remember a few months ago

when I was jumping up and down with the

purchase of my new car! Well I have stopped

jumping up and down, but still LOVE it!

And I'm finally getting used to the size.

Its just so small! I'm used to driving a

mini van with a long nose, so for weeks

when I would park, I would be nowhere

near being all the way pulled in! ha!

I am still loving the color, alien green. Yes

its what it says on the paper work. Don't

you love it! Well, Bob was washing it for

me over the weekend, and when he was

finished he comes in and says, 'The Gazoo

is all clean and ready to go now'. Huh?

And then I remember! The Flintstones! The

alien called 'The Great Gazoo'!!

So I guess thats the official name of my little car.

Now, we really dont name our cars. Well, we

did call one car I had 'the mom car' if that counts.

Bob has ordered me a small sticker to put in the

corner of the back window, which I think is

pretty cute. And as soon as it gets here

I will take a picture!

Tomorrow some pics of a

Cute Little Book that I just got!

I am thankful I'm feeling so much better

I am thankful for cool summer evenings

I am thankful for diet caffeine free coke

I am thankful for Kathy trusting me with

her family history

I am thankful for all my sewing books

I am thankful my daughter is a loving

strong wife and mother

I am thankful all my ink was in stock

I am thankful Dawber finally got a haircut

I am thankful for you!

busy busy busy

I've been a terrible blogger lately. I have not even

done my fav's and lov's when I do blog! And that

was one thing that I was always going to do.

Shame on me.

Things around here are as busy as ever. My

son finally made it here from So. Calif 2 weeks

after his wife and the little guy. And of course

he brought another car full of stuff with him

so we are about at the crammed to the rafters

level now! Our garage is crazy...hard to get

to my sewing stuff now and that makes me

not too happy.

So guess what I am having the guys do this

weekend? Give up...ha, clean out the garage

so I can get to my sewing stuff and stay in a

good mood. Its like withdrawels or something.

I need fabric piled around me, thread and trims

within reach, patterns handy to browse through.

Just my little addiction I guess!

A bit of good news. For almost two years I

have been suffering horrible, dibilitating

nausea. It would strike so fast. Last for

days. And the docs did not know why.

I was scoped. Poked. Prodded and

questioned. Nothing. But I figured it out.

It was an oh my god moment. I have

been having a reaction to my muscle

relaxer I take nearly daily. Its amazing,

I have not taken it in over a week and

I feel sooo good. I had forgotten what

its like to be able to eat and not have

nausea accompany all meals. Its

amazing and I am so grateful its

finally been figured out!

I am thankful for my prayers being answered

I am thankful for my friends trust

I am thankful we are able to help our kids

when they need us.

I love Bob's cucumbers fresh off the vine

I love making salsa with sunshine warm tomatoes

I love 'repairing' vintage photos

I love quesedillas

I love cherry coke

I love you

some a this and some a that

Finally finshed something for myself!

And I LOVE it! Just a big tote bag,

but its perfect in my eyes.

And I managed to get the flower

centered on at least one side! yay!

Isn't it cute!

Nice and roomy and didn't

droop and hang when I filled it up

with all the things I find important

to haul around! That was a big

big plus in my book!

When I had the straps all pinned

and ready to be sewed I realized

the way they were you could not see

the flower! So I swapped them from

being back to front straps to

front to front and back to back

straps. It worked. I'm happy.

The flower is in full view.

I had a docs. appt. this morning.

It was my paint management doc.

Great doc, always listens to what I

have to say, ready always with a

positive word or thought and

keeps me comfortable in my

everyday life.

We have a few trips in the works and

I am so happy. Texas in Sept. to play

with grandbabies, Reno in Oct.

to go eat ribs at a cookoff,

Vegas in August to celebrate

middle daughters birthday! All

fun stuff and I cant wait.

I also have a genealogical scrapbook

in the works for a good friend.

Have lots to do on that as I am

just getting started. But as I love

genealogy and I love scrapping,

I am not worried about getting

it done. Its great, two of my

favorite things all in one!

Cool Beans!

School Pictures

I LOVE getting new school pics of the

grandkids. Its my favorite snail mail.

And yesterday new pictures arrived!

After I quit doing my happy dance,

I ran to the scanner to get them

on line. Us Grammies have to brag

you know!

This is Landon.

He is one happy boy!

Don't you just love school pictures?

I did not know they took school pictures

for preschool! I found out at the beginning

of the year when I received another set

of Landon. Just as cute.

We don't get to see him often. He lives

in Texas and his daddy is in the A.F.

We would like your prayers for his

daddy right now because he is doing

yet another tour in Iraq. He has

three long months left. So we would

appreciate all prayers sent his

way!

The happy Little Guy

Here he is. Our grandson, the little guy.

Sportin' a big smile

and his new robe...

He is doing really good now. All settled in

and used to the new Poppa and Grammie.

I have a new project in the works. Just a new

bag for me. I'm not sure if its considered a

tote or what. I cut the pattern thinner so

I could center the pattern on at least one

side. I of course did not think of cutting

the sides seperately so the pattern

would be centered on both sides.

I guess I just can't think that far ahead

of myself! ha! Anyways, its all

cutout and ready to be sewn up.

Its tomorrows what I wanna do!

stay tuned! ha......

A robe for the Little Guy

Since little guy has been here I've wanted

to make him something. Of course, what

I make all the 'little guys' in my life, is a

new cozy robe

Thomas the Tank is his absolute fav so

Thomas it was! I found a nice piece of

flannel on ebay that was perfect! I LOVE

little guys in red for some reason.

And here is the result:

And the back...

I will have to get a picture of him wearing it.

Its too cute.He always wears it right

after his bath and until bedtime.

And with the hood up which is even cuter.

The momma ties it with a bow which for

some reason just tickles me.

Next, maybe some Thomas the Tank Jammies...

Cute little sewing kit

When we were living in Japan I was able to get

several fun items. This is one of my favorites.

A cute little sewing kit.

It is 3 1/4 inch long, 2 inches wide. Pretty small!

And look at all it holds! It is

so sweet. I haven't ever used. Just couldn't!

Too cute! And I love the little horn shaped

button that holds it closed. I don't know if

you can tell, maybe enlarge pic you can,

but there are 2 spaces for the goodies.

I'm wondering if I would be able to make one~

I think so, it does not look toooo difficult.

Ya think? I do have a nice scarf, that is

of the same fabric, wonderful pattern.

It is doing nothing but sitting in a drawer

for the last 10yrs. I'm thinking its time to

get creative with it. And this is the

perfect little craft I think!

Thursday

Have been so busy! Been a long long while since

I have to care for a 3 almost 4 yr. old full time!

I think the difficult part is getting to know this

little guy, getting him used to us while he is

missing momma and dad. He is doing good

considering it all. WE do see a bit of acting

out which is centered towards the dogs. So

we do have to be extra viligant in that aspect.

Our dogs are all sweet hearts, but even they

can be pushed to their limits.

The kids should be back in town by the middle

of next week. I hope. As I don't seem to be the

healthiest person, this has really taken its toll

on me. Bob is a HUGE help and just dotes

completely on the little guy and is always

scooping him up and away so I can get some

rest. I love my husband.

Even with the sewing room packed up, I'm

not letting that stop me. We were very

careful with the packing, its soooo organized

so I know right where everything is. Today

I cute out a cute Thomas the Tank robe for

little guy. Will hopefully sew it up tomorrow.

These robes are so easy to sew up. I love making

them too.

I, for some reason, like the little ones to have

and use bathrobes. I love robes. I have 5.

ha! I use them all too. Well, year round different

ones. I am planning on making some summer

ones too.

I did take some pics of a tiny little sewing kit

I received as a gift when we were living in

Japan. Its adorable. I really want to try and

get a patter off of it and make a few others.

I have a few things, napkins and such, that

I got in Japan that I am going to use for

fabric for the sewing kit and a few other things.

Will have Bob load the pics up tomorrow. You

see, I have not yet learned how to load pics

yet! *hiding face in shame*....

I love cool summer evenings

I love Fairfields delta breeze

I love my husbands good soul

I'm thankful my daughters going

to be ok.

I'm thankful I get to go to bed early

tonight!

I'm thankful for you!

Fathers day is coming!

Well when did the middle of June

get here? I tell ya, time sure flies

when your keeping all kinds of

busy! *sigh* and none of it has

to do with sewing or scrapping.

OH well....

With fathers day looming, I've

been thinking so much of my

dad. All the fun things we did

as a family when I was a kid.

How hard he worked at 2 jobs

so we could do those fun things!

He was and is a really good dad.

1949

This is 1950, Dad and mom and my sister Teri

I've finally joined the family...huge head and all! ha!

I love the memories from when I was small.

Christmas hadsuch a magic, the trees seemed

bigger and brighter! Packages wrapped so

pretty with lots of ribbon! The cards I always

worked so hard on for fathers day. You knew

school was ending when we were making fathers

day cards! It seems they always had us make ones

with ties on them. I hated them. My dad

never wore a tie!But he sure didn't seem to

mind when I gave him the card. Made me so

proud I worked so hard on it.

I hope my kids have those same kinds of

memories. I tried so hard to pass on the love

I always felt with my family on holidays.

To make them feelspecial...

know they were loved.

ON a different note, I am busy

packing up my sewing room, hating

every minute of it. Finished putting away

allll my scrapbookingpaper and tools.

Will work on fabric and trims later today.

As I have been sorting

through stuff, actually goodwilling a few

things I know I will never ever use, I

realize just how blessed I am. I have so

much. And so much to share. I have to

keep this in my mind during this whole

family situation. I've put my big girl

panties on and decided I can get

through this with a smile.!

I love allllll my fabric!

I am thankful for allll my fabric!

I love all my family pics

I'm thankful I have so many of them!

I love scrapbooking

I'm thankful I have a huge rollalong storage

for all my scrapbooking papers and dodads.

I love pie ha!

I'm torn

As I said previoiusly my son and his family

are going to live with us which hopefully

will be just a short while. Yes, I said a short

while. something I never dreamed I

would ever say about one of my kids.

But this certain 'kid' , 36 yr.old kid,

has had a pretty terrible history of his

own making.

I used to feel so guilty for all of his

problems. If I only would have done

this, or that, or the other. But over

the years I have come to realize

I did all I could as a mother. I tried

to guide him, to teach him right

and wrong. That there were consequences for his actions.

Love him unconditionally and help him when he

needed help.

He made some very bad choices many times.

I was always there for him in one way or another.

So when do you as a parent say I'm tired?

Do you keep bailing them out at any age?

I really don't know if I can do this. My health

is not the best and I'm already stressing.

Its so difficult.

People who are close to us say oh its such

a wonderful thing to open your home. Your

warm loving people....giving. Well,

I do not feel it anymore with this kid. I feel

as we are again being used. When I showed

him the room they would be staying in,

which is now my sewing room, and all that

I had to pack up and store, I didn't even

get a 'we appreciate you doing this', or

I'm sorry you have to move this. Or ANYTHING.

They just looked in the room and said

ok. I don't get it.

I can't even pray I'm so upset. I know I

should, I would feel better. I guess I'm

to deep in my own little pity party.

My husband has worked hard to give us

this life we have. Its a simple life. We

have a nice little home. We are very

careful with our money so we can

take the occassional trip to visit kids,

or a weekend for ourselves. Am I

wrong to be hurt they don't care they

are disrupting our lives without a

second thought?

I know I am whining, but I had to get this

out. Put my thoughts down and be

able to read them to see if I am just

over reacting. So why did we say ok

come stay here. They had a 4 yr

old with them. Which makes it even

harder. Heck, mama hasn't even called

him in the 2 days they have been gone.

I know God never gives us more than

we can handle. What is he teaching me

with this one though?

I'm thankful for Bob's strength

I love lays potato chips

I'm thankful for the bright sun today

I love Bob's quickly growing cucumbers!

I love warm tomatoes off the vines

I'm thankful for my life

I love hearing the laughter of a toddler