Family Christmas 2013

What joy there is in family gatherings!! We eat too much, spend too much, but there is never too much love!

Our family is blessed beyond measure and so thankful to our Heavenly Father for all his mercy and love! Our children and grandchildren give us more happiness than words could ever express.

Photos are hard to get these days with Klaire twisting out of our laps, and LMW being too busy playing to stop and smile for the camera, but we persevered and got a few nice ones I think.

Great grandparents were excited to get a little sugar from both of the kids.

And three generations of Winston men.

One with LeLe too.

Camera hiccuped on this one, but I edited as best I could.

These photos are precious because Pappaw has Alzheimer's. He may not even remember who the kids are by next Christmas, but we pray and rely on God.

I pray God's blessing on you and your families on Christmas and for the coming year.

Merry Christmas!!

Sharing a Story of Survival

I was approached by a beautiful young woman, asking if I would be so kind as to share her story of cancer survival. After watching her video, and learning her story, I am very glad to do so. Her name is Heather, and she is a survivor of Mesothelioma.

I've seen the commercials about it, and somehow got the idea that it is always fatal. Heather proved that wrong! Please take a moment to view her video. It's not long, but it is informative and inspirational.
The link is here. I thank you and I'm sure Heather does too.

God bless.
B

Got Milk?

This time of year, every time the weather man mentions the word snow (or ice) the whole state begins to panic and make a bread and milk run to Walmart. When I lived in the north, people barely noticed the snow. Here, they freak out at the mention of it. It's so hilarious.

My husband was getting things together last night, in case it really did happen, and LMW grabbed one of the flashlights to play with. He insisted on getting inside my closet and closing the door.

Before I knew what was happening, all my shoes were scattered and the shelves taken apart and re-positioned.

I sat on the floor, with the doors closed and watched as he continued to move things around to suit him. He repeatedly mentioned, "Getting comfterbul", but I don't see how he could be in this mess. The child is definitely entertaining!

As for the snow and ice apocalypse....well, it seems to have arrived north of me. I'm still ok for the time being.  As a facebook friend mentioned, in my mind's eye, I can see people sitting around their fireplace with a glass of milk and a slice of bread, totally content. Got milk?

Thanksgiving 2013

I know...I've been MIA for some time now. Can't help it. Life is busy and full, and no time to actually blog about it. I do have a few pictures of our family Thanksgiving gathering. We had it early to accommodate in-laws and out-laws.

Me, LeLe, my mother-in-law, K and Little Miss Klaire.

The whole gang.
I'm bummed that my camera malfunctioned on several of our takes. I hope to have a new one by Christmas. Gotta get those family times on record you know!!

Have a great thanksgiving everyone! Praise be to God! The giver of all good gifts!!

Last of the Season

Tonight and tomorrow night a freeze is expected. So, this is the last hurrah for my little blooming flowers. I thought I'd take a shot of them before they fall prey to the biting temperatures.
I cut the last two bloomers of my hydrangea bush and added two that are just a tad older but still beautiful. It's so sad to see them dry up and become brown blobs.

Here are my pretty petunias and some mums. The mums may survive, but I doubt the others do. You can see all the dead leaves that have been blowing up.

And finally, my geraniums and ivy.

 Geraniums always remind me of when I was a child. When I was about 10 years old, my father was stationed at Camp Pendleton in California. We lived in base housing and there were geraniums everywhere. Every time I see and smell them, it takes me back to that time. I can't say it was a great memory, as that particular phase in our lives did not inspire fond memories for the most part, but it does remind me of that time and my mother's love for flowers. I often wish I had her green thumb!

Being on my front porch, these may hold out a little longer, but I didn't want to take any chances and miss an opportunity to capture them.

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da....

Life goes on bra.... La La how the life goes on.  Anyone remember that Beatles song?? That's what I thought of when I realized I haven't posted here in a month. Life just goes on and on and gets in the way of sitting down to type something out. It's much easier to just post what I'm doing on The Seam Rippers.  Let's see....

I have some of the items on my to-do list marked off.
Cute clothes for Klaire, a few shirts for LMW, paintings done.
(These can be seen on the other blog)

Class reunion organized and implemented. We won't mention what year....

Grandkids are growing too fast!

Having fun in the cool crisp fall air with chalk.

Beginning to use Santa as a behavioral tool. (wink)

Deer season approaching and the men in my family being totally distracted.

Family gatherings to be planned.

Fall parties and friendly visits to look forward to.

The folks in Washington are playing nice for the time being, so my daughter was able to go back to work. Yee Haw!!

God is good. Life is good.

Rant (Edited)

Ok, Debbie Downer here. Gonna rant a bit...

Ever have one of those months when you had plans of getting things accomplished and things just kept getting in the way? Well, that's me. Right. Now.

First, I took on more than I should have as projects and set myself up for major stress.
Then, after having done so, my sewing machine died.
Mother-in-law gave me hers and it needed repair.
Had it fixed, and it broke somewhere else.
Bought a vintage Kenmore and it won't work without special needles.
Bought a vintage Mid-State and it's so gunked up, I'm afraid to use it until I have time to clean it up.
Bought brand spanking new Janome. Big bucks that we really didn't have to spend. Nothing. But. Trouble. With. It.
Tension is wacky. Tried and tried to figure it out. Moved dials, cleaned out bobbin area, even tightened the little tiny screw in the bobbin housing. Still jacked up.

I really wanted to love my new fancy machine. Truth is, I don't like it near as well as the cheap Brother that just died. Only got three years out of it, but the first two years were awesome. I expected to be so in love with the Janome, that I'm terribly disappointed.

Called the supplier and told them everything and now I have to take it back and let them look at it. I expect them to tell me nothing is wrong. Operator error. Must be your thread. Must have some link or thread fiber in there. You messed it up when you tightened the screw. You have the wrong foot on. You have it on the wrong settings. I mean, there are countless things they could say. But bottom line is, I'm not happy with it.

Sooo, here's hoping that tomorrow by this time, I will have a fixed and well working machine. Of some kind.

I had such high hopes. Now I'm soooo behind that I'm beginning to fret that I will have to go back on my word. I don't like doing that! I've always heard that life is what happens while you are making other plans. I do believe God is in control. I'm just having a hard time relinquishing it to Him.

Ok, I'm done. I'll keep you posted.

Edited:
I traded the Janome for a Brother SB7500. They were pretty nice about the whole thing even though they wouldn't refund my money. The 7500 will also embroider and monogram, so I am pumped about that. I hope and pray I made a good choice and time will tell. Thanks for suffering through this wailing and gnashing of teeth. :P