Holiday Projects

As Eloise would say:
"I'm Rawther Proud of Myself!"

I've been cross-stitching the better part of 20 years, but I've never
actually finished an entire project. I have box full of projects
I've started but never finished for one reason or another.

In November, I found a sampler I really liked and started
working on it in hopes that I could gift it to my older
sister, Allison, for Christmas. If truth to be told, I never
actually thought I'd finish. I kept waiting for my trusty old ADD to
kick in and lure me away to some other 1/2 finished project. But eachnight I put away the project just a little nearer to completion.

And then, to my (and everyone's) surprise,
all I had left were the french knots.
Ah, French knots, my old nemesis.
Many, many projects have been abandoned over french knots.

Thank Aida for Youtube!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uUjGJvVx2I

As I sat watching Poor Little Rich Girl on TCM I tied off another knot
and sat scanning the pattern trying to figure out what needed to be
done next when it occured to me that I was done!
An entire pattern, finished, with the right colors, the right stitches
and even the right name!

Betsy Ross, I ain't!
But I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I
was prouder than a peacock at a pagaent!

The finished product:

Merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS from our family to yours.

Every holiday season, about a week before Christmas,
I sit down and decide how I can better avoid the Christmas
Eve all-nighter I'd pulled the year before.
I resolve myself to have as many gifts as I can
manage wrapped ahead of time, have the stocking
stuffers seperated and organized ready to be dropped
at a moments notice. And I remind myself to buy extra tape
(as not to have to relive the duct tape disaster of '04)!
But most importantly, I want to be in bed at a relatively decent hour.

Yeah, it's never happened. Ever.

Every single year I am up until at least 4am, scrambling around
the house hunting down hidden gifts, more tape, more bows and generally
chugging enough coffee to keep Folgers in business for a good 6 months.

But the outcome is always worth the effort!
Watching the kids faces as they descend the stairs
and make their way to their stockings is as exciting
for me as I'm sure it is for them. And unlike christmas
mornings past, the kids did me a generous favor by staying
in bed until 8am. (I think Ed might have bribed
them in order to give me a few more zzz's,) Even more
surprising than being able to sleep in a bit, was the fact that
they made Christmas morning last into the afternoon.
There was no crazy sprint style gift opening,
but they kept a nice, slow pace which allowed them to
actually SEE what they were getting and from whom before
moving on. (I suppose this is one of the perks as the kids get older!)

Here are some pictures from our Christmas morning:
Enjoy!

Diana's excited expression after opening Dominick's gift to her: A Salon Stylin' chair

Brooke opening her gift from Ed and I: A purple silk Kimono


Dominick opening his gift from Brooke:
The Fast Lane Parking Garage (for matchbox cars)


Diana using her new Karaoke microphone


Brookie on Christmas morning!


Dominick taking his gift from Santa for it's first spin!

The tree be trimmed...

The tree is trimmed!
As much as I gripe about having to decorate the tree,
I really do love the finished product.

There is something so magical about a Christmas tree.
The way the lights twinkle...
The ornaments that remind you of Christmases past....
The gold and the glitter...

It really is a testimament that this is the most wonderful time of the year!

How to decorate a 10ft tree in 50 seconds....

OK, not really.

This bad boy took me about 3 hours!
And I'm not bragging ... I wish it had taken 50 seconds, or even 50 minutes!
But, apparently, I have ornament OCD and constantly placed, removed, replaced, stepped-back, removed, replaced, and approved each and every item...multiple times!!!

I like to think the finished product is worth it though!

Gobble, Gobble.... Sob, Sob.

Before you begin this post, I'm going to ask that you push the
"play" button found below.

( This is definitely one of my more melancholy-
homesicky-will-only-feel-better-by-
torturing-myself-with-sappy-songs posts,
and it needed a fitting soundtrack.
It was written with a heavy heart and under such circumstances
I thought it only fair that I engage in some musical warfare:
You know, so that you can feel kinda crappy too! )
….

If there is, or has even been,
such a thing as familial starvation,
I'd be the first to admit that I am
suffering through it's pangs.

In other words: I miss home.
I miss my Parents, my siblings, my nieces and nephews,
and I even kinda miss the holiday chaos.
There is something to be said for spending time with
people who feel obligated to laugh at your jokes and tolerate
your children simply because you share a similar genetic makeup.

As this Thanksgiving Day approaches I can't help
but wish that I'd be one of the sets of many
hands helping to prepare my Mom's amazing
multi-course meal. The menu hasn’t changed
much in my 32 years and my favorite dish continues
to be our family's sweet potato casserole.
(A dish that up until our move to Tennessee
had always been my contribution.)
And I regret that, once again,
I can't be there to place it on the table.

It's been a long 5 years since I've been able to
share a Thanksgiving dinner with my parents.
I've been a trooper thus far, but for some reason,
this year, the separation is hitting me harder
than usual. What's worse is that my heart
seems to be experiencing some navigational malfunctions.
The reality is that my family will gather for dinner
some 1900 miles away in Saratoga Springs; at my
Parent’s current home. But my heart longs
for everyone to find their way back to the yellow
house on Marlberry Lane; their former home.
The home where our last complete family
gathering took place. I could rattle on and on
about all of the reasons why I hold
such a tender place in my heart
for the Yellow House, but I'll digress.
Suffice it to say, it was awesome, tangled
with happy memories and I miss it dearly.

In closing, I can only ask that, this year, as you sit down
to dinner together, please know that I wish with
every fiber of my being, that I could be there
with you!! And after dinner, when you play
"Hoowheat" and Balderdash, place an honorary
glass of eggnog and bowl of candy on the table in my place!
In exchange, I’ll remember all of you as
I’m scarfing down my sweet potato casserole!

The Nina, the Pinta and the my wild imagination.

In Fourteen hundred and Ninety two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue...
in some REALLY dinky boats.

Betcha didn't know that part did ya?

Well, if you did, pat yourself on the back. because I, for one, did not.
For all of the talk about Columbus, I just supposed he'd have been
the type to stand on the deck of a massive, imposing Spanish war ship,
the wind whipping him the face as he clung to the helm! Admittedly,
that sounds a bit more like Jack Sparrow than Columbus, but you get my drift.

Turns out, Columbus, like most men, craved speed.
And big, massive war ships of his age, weren't big on speed,
but small agile ships like the Nina and Pinta WERE.
(The Santa Maria was the largest of the trio and was a cargo ship.
A big, heavy, slow cargo ship.
No suprise that Columbus always hated her.)
And to even further debunk my Columbus preconceptions,
there were no helms. Just a giant rudder type thingy t
hat the crew would have to maneuver to keep the ship on track!

For all of my initial shock-and-awe,
I can't deny that our homemade field trip was so incredibly fun!
Knoxville graced us with blue skies and cool breezes,
and naturally, Kellie and her kids were the best company!

Two of my sailors:
(Brooke did not want to wear a hat. Imagine that!)

The entire crew: Brooke, Dominick, Memphis, Samantha & Diana
Brooke and Dominick listening to me rattle on about Columbus.
Don't let their expressions fool you, they were captivated!
Diana and Samanta on board the Pinta.

Brooke watching the ducks swim past. (shudder...)

Ropes, Riggings & Other cool stuff:

The kids in front of the Pinta:
After our tour of the ships, the kids played in the waterfalls:


Brooke standing on the Volunteer Landing tile:

We ended our field trip with a picnic right on the water.
And of course, because we were in Knoxville, Kellie and I took full advantage
of the great shopping and bribed the kids into submission with some good ol' Krispy Kreme:

Happy Ha..lll...ooo..weee...nnnn!!!!

Happy Halloween from our Ghastly Ghouls!!

Officer Dominick:

Starship Enterprise crew Member, Brooke

And our resident witch, Diana

MANY, MANY thanks to Sandra, Pete and little Brooklyn for hosting a most spook-tacular Halloween party!

The kids and I agreed that it was the best Halloween we've spent since moving here!
The food was great, the company better, and trick-or-treating in the haunted-mansion-mobile will be a VERY hard act to follow next year!!

And last, but not least, our jack-o-lanterns!!!

You are cordially invited...

The invitations were sent:

The table was set!

The hostess was ready...

And at long last, the guests arrived!

Brooke, the young servant girl, did a delightful job of serving the "tea"!

And so, they drank and snacked and chatted:

Her friends were generous and the Princess was spoiled with many gifts:

To show her thanks, she served them cake and ice cream!

The day wore on, and the girls played, and laughed until they had to set off for their own kingdoms.

The Princess was sad to see them go...

It was a wonderful day and ended just as it should:
Happily Ever After!