Christmas 2010

Christmas..... one of my favorite times and this is why you will see my counter until Christmas stay on my blog year around. I love seeing the tree decorated, the kid's excitement as the day draws near, hearing from friends and loved ones and spending time reminiscing of Christmases past.

This was the first Christmas since my Mom's passing that I have even felt remotely excited about my favorite season. Christmas 2008 was spent in Washington Heart Center hoping she would make it to 2009; and Christmas 2009 was spent facing the stark reality that there was no more Christmas Seaons to be spent with her.

However, as it is said ~ time heals all wounds and while a scar may be left behind, life goes on. So this year the tree was decorated (even bought a new 7 1/2 foot tree to mark the occasion), Christmas cards were sent to friends and loved ones and presents were bought and wrapped. Even the kids realized that this year marked a turning point in our family and that we were going to make it the very best Christmas in a long time. We spent the weekend before celebrating with my extended Zepp family (cousins, my Mom's sister, nieces, nephew, sister-in-law and brother) by having a family dinner and present exchange. The 18 of us spent the day together and long into the night talking and laughing.

Christmas Eve we saw Santa go by on the firetruck at Aunt Bern's house and then spent time with George's family. His cousins from North Carolina had made their way North to spend Christmas Eve with us and then were heading to Delaware to spend time with their son who had to work. We enjoyed watching White Christmas (a favorite of mine) and Miracle on 34th Street before calling it a night. Christmas arrived with a flourish the next morning and the kids were so excited as they gazed in awe at the presents that awaited them. Both received the Nintendo DS XL gaming systems and since has been rarely seen without them. Becky received books on mythology and Ray received Bakugan toys and both received art supplies.

Stitching

Stitching is coming along very well; I think I have managed to get out of the stitching blues because I am looking for time to stitch almost everyday. Of course that doesn't mean that life doesn't get in the way but it seems like I'm finding more time for crafting time. Maybe I'm managing to prioritize and organize a little more (hopefully) and I'm planning on making this one of my goals for 2011.

The Prairie Schooler Autumn piece is coming along very nicely, I think. I am looking forward to finishing this piece and the other 2 seasons, Winter and Spring, next year. Sue is also stitching these pieces so we are doing a stitch-a-long together on these. If you are interested in joining us, let me know!Unfortunately the frog came to visit me on Christmas Day but after attacking him with the dreaded seam ripper (some guests aren't welcome no matter what the day), he saw fit to leave the premises and hasn't been seen since.

Of course, I have realized that my poor sewing bag is starting to gasp for room and when I looked into the bottom of the bag I found lots of UFO's lying there waiting for their day to be brought back out and lovingly worked on again. Some of these pieces have shamefully been in storage for years and I have decided that 2011 will be devoted to finishing some of these designs and finally displaying them in their completed glory. I have been utilizing past blog entries to come up with an approximate date when they were surreptitiously pushed to the darker bottom of my sewing bag. This sometimes take quite a bit of research as I realize that some hasn't been stitched on for over 2 years but New Years Day is going to be spent cataloging and prioritizing them for completion. Wish me luck. Right now, I am debating against these two poor souls, my Lizzie Kate Monthly Flip series which lost steam last year or even worse the Little House Needleworks Starlight sampler which hasn't seen the light of day since September 2008. Some of these pieces were from the period when Mom had started having heart problems and then were never brought out when I finally decided to pick up the needle again.

Knitting

Knitting has been worked on as well. I attended my first Christmas party with my knitting buddies earlier this month at the Macaroni Grill in Annapolis. We had a wonderful time and I received a knitting project bag in the secret Santa gift exchange. I absolutely love this bag!!!! As you can see, I have a project in the works (a scarf for Raymond) inside and it is so convenient to take along. When we were at the mall for a photo session of the kids and also they decided to pose with Santa too. The nice part of this bag is with a clip, I was able to connect it to my purse and my hands were free for knitting. I stood in line for 40 minutes and really made progress on the scarf I have been working on for Becky. I am almost done but need to figure out a small dropped stitch before I can say it is complete. Hopefully I will have a finished picture next update.

So here is the Santa picture of Becky and Ray. I love the fact that they were willing to take this picture for Mom. I know that eventually I won't be able to drag them for a picture with Ole St. Nick no matter how much I try to wheedle, beg or threaten them soon so every picture is precious. The portraits are to be ready by the 30th of December and I can tell you from seeing the proofs that the pictures turned out wonderful! Will plan on sharing these as well.