The perfect gifts

Christmas is not my favorite holiday. I like Advent. I like the excitement and anticipation that comes with preparing for the coming of my savior. Christmas always seems anticlimactic.



Even so, who doesn't like good gifts. I got some wonderful ones from my family and friends.



Benta wins the prize for most flabbergasting gift. I had no idea it was coming and was totally tickled by her thoughtfulness. Thank you Ms. Benta.



Santa did a great job of stuffing my stocking.



Fun fat quarters...what should I make with these?




Some replacement blades for my rotary cutter, and seam ripper. New pins and a box cutter.




Duck tape! Bwahahahah. He also stuffed some pre-wound bobbins and spools of thread in there.



One of my son's gave me this great book. I can't wait to get out my 10 lb box of selvages (yes, I have that many) and make a bag for my new camera.




And my dear husband gave me this Jaybird block of the month program from the Fat Quarter Shop. How cool is that?!




My mom made this mini for me. She called it an "attempt by an old lady". Looks like a mini to me...so obviously NOT an attempt. As to the old lady part...she will never seem like that to me. I love this mini. I love that she went out of her usual creative box for me. I LOVE my mom.



Mom also gave me this. She decided to pare down her collection of Christmas needle work. I liked this one the best, closely followed by .... another that she told me I could take as I was leaving. No picture of that one yet...I left it with her for her to enjoy until she takes the decorations down.

So...that is my holiday in a nut shell, minus the noise, and family....



Here is some family for you....my sons, nieces and nephews. The oldest is 25, the youngest is 11. My boys are all dressed in solid black or red.




And here is me and mine....wishing you a most wondrous new year. (I'm the short one.) may it be filled with good things.

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Merry Christmas!

"... I proclaim to you good news that brings great joy to all the people: Today your Savior is born in the city of David. He is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:10-11


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Flour Fling 2012

Every year my Mom hosts a "Flour Fling" at which her grandsons (of which there are 8 between the ages of 25 and 12) and daughters (only 2... One 23 and one 15) gather together to make cookies for our families Christmas dinner.




Today my three, two of my little brothers, and one of my older brothers boys converged on Grandma's kitchen.




Noah and Aaron made "No-cal" cookies and brownies.




Ben, Ethan, and Aaron made molasses sugar cookies. They are great big cake-like cookies that my grandma used to make.




John worked on peanut butter cup cookies.




Ben and Grandma working on Turkish Hats, also known as Peanut butter blossoms.




Even Gilbert and Pete (my little brother) got in the action....
QUALITY CONTROL!
I took pictures of men cooking and Mom's decorations. I thought of all of you and how you would love her home. It is filled with needle work of all sorts.
I wish I lived further away so I could stay in her pretty guest room.












Or sit in the quiet and watch her tree lights twinkle. She had some special glasses that I took this picture through. Cool huh. It turns all the points of lights into rainbowy snowflakes.




Or be an imp and move her nativity pieces around. She has many....












This one is made from corn husks. (The big packages are embroidery that hang there year 'round. At Christmas time she "wraps" them in fabric to change the look.)




























I think this one is my favorite...it makes me laugh every time. And yes, those are rubber duckies!




Or maybe it is this one. It has sat atop Jesus's birthday cake for as many years as I can remember. (Anyone know where I can purchase one like it...actually....I need several. I think they would make awesome gifts for my brothers someday.)




At the end of the day the boys all reverted to themselves....back to football and video games....with great ease.




I hope your preparations are going smoothly.
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHNNY!

This is John Nicholas Sharp.  He is the second best Christmas gift I have ever been given!!  (Jesus in a manger is the only thing ahead of him on the list.)  He was born 17 years ago today!!!!  at 2:00 in the morning after a day and a half of labor.
 

This is the stocking that I made for him years and years ago.  It looks so much like my sweet Christmas boy.  His first word was "HUG".  Go ahead and say it......"Awwwwwww"  That is how this boy has effected me since the day I discovered that I was pregnant.
 

He loves baseball!

 

 

I love his laugh...



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 And his curls....

 

 

and his silly sense of humor...

 

 

but then I love everything about this guy.  Named after Jesus's best friend and St. Nick, discovered on Easter morning and introduced to his family on Christmas Eve,  just a few days after being born , this boy is a blessing beyond measure.  I can't wait to see what wonderful things lie ahead for him.

 

 

Landlocked is on the Bake Shop!

 

I am on Moda Bakeshop.  Today I'm sharing a pattern to make a giant disappearing 4 patch featuring Deb Strain's Seascape.

 

The pattern is very easy...you could probably knock it out in time for Christmas...if you have the fabrics on hand.
 

Capt'n Jack had to help me sew on the label.

If you have wandered over here from Moda Bake Shop, I am thrilled to have you visit.  Welcome!!

 

Deb Strain's Seascape is just as wonderful as it looks.

 

Feel free to nose around a bit, sit a spell and read while the last batch of cookies are in the oven.

Merry Christmas from my home to yours...& and may the final stretch into 2013 be nothing but calm seas and smooth sailing!

Wachet Auf! pt 2

So now that I am awake, now what?!

 

I think this clip says it best.  I go ahead, sing along.

 

I am off to wrap some Christmas packages.  Maybe I will bake some cookies too.  I might even eat one.



 

Wachet Auf! pt 1

Sleepers Awake!

 

I can't remember the music...but I remember the title, and the urgency of the message.  Years ago I studied this beautiful Cantata by J. S. Bach.  Lately the words seem to be resonating in my head...nudging my hands to write...even though my soul is reluctant.

  

 



 

 

A little over ten years ago my daddy died of a sudden heart attach.  Not long after his 68th birthday, I got a call in the middle of the night telling me to come quickly, not that it mattered.  He was gone long before I got there. 

 

People play,"what were you doing when."   I honestly don't remember what I was doing when I first heard about 9-11.    I'm pretty sure that my first thought was to my then small children.  Life had to stay "normal" for them.  However, I still remember what I was doing when I got the call about my dad.  Nothing has been normal since.

 

 

Not long after that I started taking anti-depressants.  In those first days it was all I could do to knit a child's sock.  My hands trembled.  I cried all the time.  I don't think I did much except knit that sock and watch old movies.   At one point I was taking as much as 350 mg of Ephexor, as well as Ambien to keep me from grinding my teeth at night.  It was then that I quit taking pictures of my kids and keeping photo albums for them.  I didn't want to think about what I had lost.

 

A few months later my husband left.  Those were dark, dark days.  I was filled with the terror of an abandoned mom with three little ones to look after, a house full of pets, and no job.  I hadn't worked in years...my job then was to take care of my boys.  He left on a Sunday in May....told me to have a nice life and forget about him. 

 

BUT

 



God is good.  Even then He was taking care of me.

The dogs got loose one day.  Just as I was mustering the boys to go look for them I got a phone call.  A stranger had gone to their car to run some errands and no sooner had the door opened than my dogs jumped in.  Honest.  She wanted to know if I was home because she wanted to drop them off for me.  How amazing is that?!

My dear one headed to the mountains to have it out with God.  I am sure I will never know the whole story but he did tell me about ranting on the top of the mountain.  Screaming at our Father and begging for the pending lightning storm to rid him of this life.  All I can think of is Captain Dan in Forrest Gump, tied to the mast of a shrimp trawler during a hurricane.  In short, God won.  Gilbert came home.  Last March we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary.

 

All of that to say....last week I finally got off of all the drugs.  You'd think it would be as easy as not taking them, but it isn't.  Ephexor has horrible withdrawal issues.    I feel like I am awakening from a long dream....like Scrooge on Christmas morning....although I don't think I was ever as bad as Ol' Ebeneezer.

I am awake at last, and it is Christmas.

 

Made for me by my friend Kay Moulder!

 

What a wonderful, wonderful thing.