Rebel In Ontario

First TUSAL 2012 and Week three - ICM SAL

2012-01-15T06:42:00.001-05:00

I think I'm a day late for the SAL....better late than never! My ort jar is pretty low, stitching with one thread does not create a lot of orts!
And I got a little bit done on spring while I was waiting in airports last week.

Week one - ICM SAL

2012-01-08T21:44:00.001-05:00

So a week into stitching and I think I've done well. The next two weeks are action packed, one getting ready to go to a conference for work and the next, travelling to San Antonio Texas for the conference.

So, happy stitching everyone...I'll see you on the flip side.

Day One - ICM SAL

2012-01-01T21:49:00.001-05:00

A group of stitchers started a new stitching project today, Ink Circles Four Seasons Mandala. I started in the center of "spring" and here is where I got to today. These are stitching up faster than I thought. This is my first attempt at 40 count linen and so far I'm enjoying it. My friend Clare (no blog) thinks I should attempt 55 count next!

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T22:35:00.001-05:00

All the best to you and yours for 2012! Here is the last post of 2011. My orts as of now...tomorrow starts off with a fresh container and a new start!

Night all!

Getting a leg up on 2012

2011-12-28T09:29:00.001-05:00

Every year I wish I had stitched more ornaments, so I have gotten one stitched, which is one more than I had for 2011 in advance.

I stitched this one on 18 count ivory aida, with The Thread Gatherer Silk 'N Colors in Christmas Carol. The pattern is from Kell Smurthwaite at Kincavel Krosses and is the Assisi Circle.

Thank you to Dani for introducing me to the site, they have some lovely freebies!

TUSAL

2011-12-24T21:16:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone. The kids are in bed but I'm sure sleep will take a little while yet.

Here is my last TUSAL for this year.

Holidays

2011-12-23T17:50:00.001-05:00

Today was supposed to be my last day of work until the 3rd of January...yesterday ended up being my last! DH and I were busy today. All wrapping done. Trip to town for a few last groceries. To the school to deliver teacher gifts and pick up skates from the field trip yesterday. Clean most of the house and put two "Santa Presents" together.
Lasagna in the oven for supper and we are a pair of tired parents!

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season, I know we will.

A tiny happy dance

2011-12-15T22:01:00.001-05:00

I stitched an ornament for my one fulltime staff. Tomorrow is her last day until the New Year so I was working under a deadline tonight.

Stitch Santa
2010 The Prairie Schooler
Ivory, 32 ct, lugana with DMC

Happy dance!

2011-12-09T22:13:00.001-05:00

I've been working away on this as it is a gift for someone this Christmas...now just to finish it and tuck it under the tree.

Texas in January?

2011-12-07T10:17:00.006-05:00

After reading Dani's Post Today I decided I need to bite the bullet and let the world know that I am headed to ...

(The Alamo) San Antonio TEXAS in January.

I will be arriving late on the 15th and staying until midday on the 20th. Work is sending me to the INTIX Conference so my days are pretty much taken but evenings are still open. If you are a stitcher or know a stitcher in San Antonio, then please get in touch with me by leaving a comment here or emailing me at rebelinont at gmail dot com. See you in January!

TUSAL November

2011-11-25T20:31:00.001-05:00

That time again...time to show off the ORTS from the stitching of the past month. Most are from the last of the baby (who I heard thru the grapevine arrived early this morning but nothing confirmed as of yet) as well as Dog Rules for People by Lizzie Kate.

Getting there...

2011-11-20T21:36:00.001-05:00

Headed to bed...here is where I ended tonight. Nite everyone!

Don't stitch and watch...

2011-11-20T15:14:00.001-05:00

See anything wrong with this? This is what happens when I stitch and get into a movie at the same time. I see some frogging in my future.

Sunday stitching.

2011-11-20T10:47:00.001-05:00

Just working away on this...I'll post again on how far I get later today!

Thank you Erika!

2011-11-12T15:52:00.001-05:00

Way back in April, my dear friend Erika thought I sounded a little down. She surprised me with a gift certificate to my favourite cross stitch shop - Knowledge and Needles! Today was my first chance to go as part of the November retreat at the Timberhouse...here is what I bought! Thank you Erika!

I will remember...

2011-11-11T10:29:00.001-05:00

11/11/11. Happy veteran's day...today I will remember all the past men and women who have fought to keep my country free...and those that are serving today, thank you.

Pie vs Cake

2011-11-09T12:27:00.002-05:00

So, at work we have been discussing the fact that my nine year old would rather have pie over cake any day...so a co-worker found the following and if you can get past the slight swearing it is a great post by another blogger. http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/03/pie-verus-cake-scientific-approach.html

9 to 92

2011-11-06T20:50:00.001-05:00

No pictures but today, we helped my grandfather celebrate his 92nd birthday! He drove to my parents with my grandmother and in general is doing VERY well, we see such a difference since they moved in July to a retirement residence. So just a short post to wish my Grandpa Nash a wonderful year ahead...born November 7th, 1919

Birthday Pie - Happy 9th Cameron

2011-11-06T08:03:00.001-05:00

Cameron was over the moon Friday night...his Nanna made him a birthday pie! I don't think he enjoyed it...do you?

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T19:02:00.001-05:00

The boys are home with a bag of candy each...and now they are off to bed.

End of October...TUSAL

2011-10-26T12:10:00.001-05:00

Not much to report other than I completed a long post only to gave Blogger eat it. It may still surface so for now I will you with pictures of my ort jar.

Two happy dances on one day!

2011-10-15T22:47:00.001-05:00

Well, I finally gave birth...to a to a finished baby!

I hope the mom to be loves it as much as the first one I stitched for her. Can't wait to meet the real baby soon, they are due the beginning of November.

A finish!

2011-10-15T13:25:00.001-05:00

Here are the four squares I stitched for Dani... Just finished the last one.

Stitching weekend

2011-10-15T12:46:00.001-05:00

Here we are, doing what we love...stitching!

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-10-10T08:08:00.001-05:00

We had our big meal on Saturday with our friends whom were visiting from Australia, and our immediate family. We had 15 for dinner. We had a lot of "FIRSTS" on Saturday for our friends who do not have a Thanksgiving and the price of their turkey just about gave me a heart attack! Curt bought our turkey for $17.93, it was close to 20 pounds. Joanna told us she priced a whole turkey once and she would have paid close to $100.00 for the same turkey there and she wasn't willing to risk it not turning out. So a whole turkey cooked in the garbage can outside was a first. First time making and eating bread stuffing. My mother in law made pumpkin pie, another first. Cranberry sauce was another one.

It was a wonderful meal with the best company anyone could ask for.

I hope your Thanksgiving was as lovely as ours.

Today we have no plans, at the moment I'm enjoying a tea with my honey, listening to the boys play together - without fighting for the moment.

Rebel

And for anyone who is not on Facebook or did not receive an earlier email from myself or Madame Secretary, I am hosting my annual October stitching weekend next weekend (Oct 15/16). If you plan to attend or would like more details, you can send me an email. RebelInOnt at gmail dot com

Just wondering

2011-10-09T15:49:00.001-05:00

I added something to my new phone and tried it while away but I didn't see the post, so I'm trying it again!

Here is my youngest "turkey" with his turkey creation from school for Thanksgiving.

Hope everyone in Canada is having a wonderful Thanksgiving

September's TUSAL

2011-09-27T20:15:00.002-05:00

Crazy busy (what's new...) with work and getting ready for our company whom are coming from "down under" for a visit. I hope to take lots of pictures while they are here and we are travelling around Ontario with them. Stay tuned....

TUSAL and stitching

2011-08-29T18:55:00.006-05:00

All my lovely ORTS from this month...as crazy as life has been, I have been stitching...here are my threads...

And this is what I have been stitching...

Quilt squares for Dani (three done, one to go)

My sepia tones baby....getting there...

And last but not least the wedding piece for the upcoming nupitals on the weekend. Just the names and date to add.

So stitching is happening...slowly but surely.

August TUSAL and a small non-stitchy update

2011-08-13T07:29:00.006-05:00

I'm on the ball this month! I totally remembered to post this...all on my own, something that hasn't happened the last few months. Here is my ORT jar as of this morning... This is my craziest time of year. I work for the Grand Theatre and we are in the midst of getting everyone their subscription seats for the upcoming season. Crazy I tell ya, CRAZY! Yesterday was the only day I've taken off in July/August and DH and I did that to take the kids to the beach. It was a beautiful day, but alas, my sunscreen wasn't all it was cracked up to be and I'm sporting a lovely burn on my chest, with bonus "new" swimsuit lines. See...isn't it pretty? Oh well, it was a small price to pay to see my kids laughing, swimming and digging in the sand. Here is the only picture I took all day, Cameron is running towards me from the water, and Caleb is the one crouched down, to the right of him....digging in the sand. The bonus was that one of my best friends was able to join us (from the other direction) for the majority of the day with her kids. Not sure what is happening today, we have grass to mow at home but if the weather is nice, the cottage is aways calling....

July Tusal...

2011-07-31T07:42:00.003-05:00

Good Sunday morning to you all! Beautiful day here in SE Ontario...perfect day for just about anything really, me, I have stitchy day planned with a friend! Here is my ort jar as of early this morning (note the beautiful, clear blue sky) sitting pretty on my front railing soaking up some sun.

All the lovely blue and brown are from the wedding piece I'm working on and if today is half as production as I'm hoping it will be, I may have a finish to post later today.

I hope wherever you may be, the sun is shining on your stitching!

July TUSAL and....life

2011-07-12T19:19:00.006-05:00

I was "gently" reminded by text today from a friend (Dani) that my blog was VERY out of date. So, I thought tonight was a good time to do a little update as well as get the TUSAL for this month in, even if it is close to two weeks late - better late than never!

Lots of brown in there from "the baby" and I started a new wedding piece in which I changed the colours, I'm stitching a Dimensions Happily Ever After for a wedding in September and the wedding colours are turquoise and chocolate brown, so I've converted the colours to DMC 801, 898,938 for the brown and 3844, 3845, 3846 for the turquoise - thus all the turquoise on the top of the pile.

Since school got out at the end of June - life has been busy. Working full time and trying to fit as much in a week as we can leads to very busy lives.

We decided to start the kids summer vacation off with a "BANG" - literally. We took the boys to Fort Henry to their opening Sunset Ceremony. We really enjoyed it as did the boys. I snapped a picture if them at the end of the evening with our friend Mark, who happens to be "head guard" of the Fort Henry Guard!

Cameron thought he might like to work there are a "teenager", which wouldn't be a bad job for the summer!

Then we have been spending as much time as we can at my grandparents cottage on Gananoque Lake with everyone catching Large Mouth Bass, including the boys.

All three of them with one of the "big ones"...

Caleb with his very first fish ever, which he reeled in all by himself!

Cameron's first fish of the year (2.2 lbs!)

And just for fun....my two cone heads :-)

I hope everyone is having a great summer thus far and I will try to keep everyone in the loop a little more often.

A Baby Update

2011-06-13T12:17:00.004-05:00

No one get the wrong idea ... I'm not having another baby, my best friend is having her second child in November.

I'm stitching a baby!

Here is where baby is now:

This past weekend I was away with a wonderful group of ladies in Georgian Bay and I was able to stitch up a storm! In the photo below, all the yellow highlighter is from Friday afternoon until noon on Sunday! Not bad for a weekend of stitching!

This is a Maria Diaz Design, the second design that I have done by her and I'm loving this one as much as the last one.

Here is a link to the first one I stitched (same Mom) so I've stitching this as a companion piece. Completed baby #1

TUSAL

2011-06-01T20:02:00.004-05:00

Now that the mystery stitch has been revealed (see here) I have been working on a couple of things...My Lizzie Kate Christmas piece, the "new" baby piece as well as some squares for Dani. And here is my ORT jar...some lovely colours in there - the baby piece is a sepia tones so you will get to see lots of browns in the jar over the summer...my friends baby is due the first week of November.

The mystery stitch...REVEALED

2011-05-09T18:01:00.005-05:00

My MIL started this piece...awhile ago. Last spring they sold their house, moved all they could into our basement and began building their dream home. While her "stash" was being moved into the basement, this project jumped out of her stitching and right into my stitching! So I've been working away on it for almost a year. I washed, ironed and stretched it for her, and gave it to her this past weekend with a card that it was both her "new home" present and her "retirement" present all in one. She was shocked and at first was talking about how she had a similiar one in her stitching but she hadn't seen it since moving into the new house. DH let her in on our little secret.

I hope you enjoy it in your new home Mom!

TUSAL for April *edited - CR@P I meant MAY!!

2011-05-03T19:43:00.003-05:00

April's ...*I MEAN MAY's new moon is here so ... you get pictures of the ORT jar.. And, I will shortly have pictures of the "mystery" stitch I've COMPLETED! As soon as it is gifted, I will post pictures. Off to work on my Lizzie * Kate Merry Christmas By the Letter...

Please tell me May will be better?

2011-05-02T20:47:00.002-05:00

April was terrible. I got very little stitching done and I do not want to repeat for anything. It was my birthday at the start of the month, we really didn't celebrate. Cameron came down with the flu, down and out for a week...lost 10 pounds. Then he complained of a sore throat, so in we go - strep throat. Started his meds and he wasn't getting better...down another 5 pounds. Back into the doctors and he is allergic to the "cillin" family...in total he missed school for three weeks and three days and lost 15 pounds. Now, he is a big boy to start but when you can see the weightloss in his wrists...too much. I do not want to do that again. Alright, my pity party is over now. Back to stitching.

Everyone loves a deal...right?

2011-04-13T11:40:00.002-05:00

So I've found a new love...I have gotten so many deals here that I just have to share. If anyone has never heard of "Groupon" it is basically a coupon that is offered as long as enough people in your area are willing to pay for the coupon. I'm using one to buy my lunch today, I paid $6.00 for it, and I can get up to $12 worth of food at the local deli. Can't get sweeter than that (other than free maybe).

So here is a link, and if you go to this one specifially, and enough of you signup - I get $10 bucks!

Happy shopping....

http://www.groupon.com/r/uu15185809

TUSAL for April

2011-04-03T13:11:00.004-05:00

Another month, and still stitching on the same mystery piece...I got a HUGE amount accomplished while I was away at the Timberhouse Retreat earlier in March and I was hoping for this weekend to be another time where I could get a good chunk of time in on the mystery piece but I've been dealing with a puking 8 year old so no such luck....yet. Here is my ORT jar as of about three minutes ago...

See everyone soon! I'm so happy that the warmer weather will be happening, that means I can travel a little more to visit my stitching friends!

and where did March go?

2011-04-02T10:12:00.007-05:00

Wow, hard to believe that March is gone and April is here already! March was very busy - as you can see from my lack of blogging (insert sheepish grin) but we did do lots! The weekend before March Break, Ann of Knowledge and Needles held her open house with all her Nashville finds...there was lots there but I was a good girl and only left my order for fabric and floss to start the Lizzie *Kate Christmas by The Letter ((c)2009). While we (myself, my Mother-in-law, Trista and her Mom Susan, and Beth) were there shopping, my husband and father-in-law whipped up this litte treat to have after supper... Mile High Peanut Butter Pie....you can find the receipe HERE.

After that we were treated to this amazing sunset....this was taken from the side of our house....

The kids had March Break at home, our teenager sitter Rhonda came for the majority of the week. We spent the day on Thursday at the family sugar bush, making some lovely sweet maple syrup.

The Sugar Shack

Tapped tree...the sap was barely running that day

And the pan full...boiling away

Then the boys spent the end of the week with their Grandparents. I worked (of course) and then spent the Thursday evening before the Timberhouse Retreat with Beatrice...stitching up a storm and teasing Kathy A. that I was sitting in her chair and drinking from her lighthouse mug :-) All in good humour and that evening was the start of the mini-vacation that I so needed. I didn't take one picture, but others did...Dani did for sure and she even snapped one of me! Since then work has been busy and the boys have been going a little stir crazy waiting for the warmer weather to arrive. That should be in the very near future...I think a walk is in order this afternoon. The only other thing that I had the pleasure of doing this past week was taking a day off work to spend with a friend from my childhood and her little man. I spent Thursday with Tracy and Kenton which was a wonderful way to kick off my birthday on Friday. I'll be back soon, I think I have to post for TUSAL tomorrow...I've been stitching a secret piece so there are lots of orts, I just can't show you what I'm stitching - SORRY!

A day late: TUSAL for March

2011-03-05T19:52:00.005-05:00

I just realised that I hadn't posted my ORT jar for the March TUSAL...here it is. Still not getting as much stitching done as I would like but life goes on and I'm sure at some point things will have to slow down.

We went to Great Wolf Lodge last week - didn't take one single picture. But here is a picture of the dogs hanging out before we left. Trista came and stayed at the house while we were gone and looked after Tasha for us, she brought Gwen and Charlie with her.

Charlie...

Tasha...Charlie and Gwen...

Boys...

2011-02-20T11:52:00.004-05:00

After a whole week of the "battle of wills" between Cameron and I, and having to work late on Friday night. I called in the backup team - Nannie and Poppie to come and get the boys off the bus Friday afternoon and take them for a sleepover so Mom could gain her sanity back...of course, that all ended at 10:15am, just as I was getting to work with a call from the school. Caleb decided to tangle with a toy truck and the pavement at morning recess and the pavement won...he tried to stop himself from falling, with his face...

So, he and I came home, called Daddy at work to tell him what was happening, called Nannie and Poppie and told them and then he and I had a cuddle and a popsicle together on the couch. Nannie and Poppie decide to come anyways - to "see the damages" and give little man a hug. And for everyone's sanity, took Cameron home with them anyways.

So, Caleb and I have been home this weekend nursing his wounds...as of this morning, things are looking much better.

So some housework, laundry, packing (because this is our Family Vacation week coming up at Great Wolf Lodge) some work to get done because I haven't been there since Thursday and then maybe this afternoon I'll relax with some stitching. Next post, I'll include some stitching pictures, even thought there isn't much to report.

Food?

2011-02-05T19:55:00.003-05:00

I used to post recipes all the time when I was home with the boys. I love to cook but find that time is not always on my side. But, today I had time. I made the following quiche (thanks for the idea Beth) for lunch today...

Impossibly Easy Chicken 'n Broccoli Pie (from the Bisquick Box)

1 1/2 cups frozen broccoli (I pre-cooked fresh)

1 1/3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

2 cups diced cooked chicken

2/3 cup chopped onion

1 1/3 cups milk

3 eggs

3/4 cup Bisquick mix

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch pie plate or square pan. Rinse broccoli in cold water to thaw; drain thoroughly. Mix broccoli, cheese, chicken and onion in plate/pan. Beat milk, eggs, Bisquick mix, salt and pepper until smooth. Pour on top of chicken mixture. (I doubled the recipe and made a 9 X 13 so we would have lots of leftovers).

Bake 30-35 minutes or until knife inserted in centre comes out clean. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

ENJOY!

February TUSAL

2011-02-03T20:33:00.003-05:00

Well, I didn't get piles of stitching done in January but I got enough done to have something in my ORT jar...

So other than that and the snow lately there isn't much else to report. I'll post picture of the snow later.

Nighty night all.

THANK YOU!

2011-01-30T09:20:00.003-05:00

A huge Thank You to Erica and Christine for keeping me entertained on Wednesday evening while I was in Brampton for work. We have a lovely evening at Williams...and I hate to say but Erica and I got asked at leave at midnight as they were closing up.

I had a fabulous time and can't wait for the next time that work ships me back to do more modifications to the ticketing system!

Erica spoiled me as well and handed me a little present as I got in her van....these beautiful project bags.

It was a lovely evening.

I feel terrible at the same time, my friend Clare (no blog) lives REALLY close and she didn't see my post until I was headed home on the train on Friday. Next time - I'm gonna drive Clare crazy! I'll take her up on her offer for a place to sleep and a seat to stitch in each evening.

Brampton anyone?

2011-01-19T08:38:00.003-05:00

I'm putting this out there...I will be in Brampton the evenings of January 25th thru 27th, if anyone is in the area and wants to join me for a few hours of stitching and chatting let me know!

A, B, C's of me

2011-01-18T12:21:00.003-05:00

always following the information from my friends...

A - Age: 33
B - Bed size: Queen
C - Chore you hate: laundry
D - Dog's name: Tasha
E - Essential start of the day item: thyroid and blood pressure meds, brushing my teeth
F - Favorite color: purple and red
G - Gold or Silver: gold
H - Height: 5'5"
I - Instruments you play: radio?
J - Job: Box Office Coordinator
K - Kids: 2 boys
L - Living arrangements: me, DH and "the boys" in the country, second last house on a dead-end road.
M - Music you love: pretty much everything (hazard of the job :-))
N - Nicknames: Reb, Rebel, Becca
O - Overnight hospital stay at hospital: tonsils and giving birth - twice
P - Pet Peeve: people who don't read anything all the way thru and then ask questions that would have been answered if they had read the information in the first place!
Q - Quote from a movie: can't think of any - and I'm sure they would be from a kids show if I could!
R - Right handed or left: right
S - Siblings: one younger brother
T - Time you wake up: 6:30am
U - Underwear: always
V - Vegetable you dislike: peppers (red, green, yellow, blue, purple - ALL OF THEM)
W - Workout Style: mostly walking.
Y - Yummy food you make: kids love my banana chocolate chip muffins
Z - The best place to visit: love the cottage and anywhere I can find a comfy spot to put needle and thread in fabric!

Crazy hair

2011-01-17T14:35:00.004-05:00

So what do you do when it is CRAZY HAIR DAY at school and you have two boys at home that like to have very short hair? Well, you shave one and dye the other! Here is a top shot of Cameron's 1/2 shaved head which won him the whole contest and made him VERY estatic... And for the one that is very blond, you put blue and red finger paint in it and dye it blue and red - he LOVED it.

Oh the joys of motherhood...

For Mrs. Mommy

2011-01-11T15:04:00.004-05:00

My friend Erikka (Mrs. Mommy) asked on my last post what an ORT was...so according to Wikipedia, an ort is "the snippet of thread left over in the needle after finishing a section of embroidery." According to Dictionary.com, an ort is "a scrap; a bit" usually (but not necessarily) of food. Does that help? Basically it is the bits of thread you have no use for. And if you want to see how many I can create in a year - check out this post - http://rebelinontario.blogspot.com/2010/12/i-almost-forgot.html

Start and finish

2011-01-08T19:54:00.008-05:00

I started and finished something today. Which is more than can be said for the rest of this week as I've been down and out with the flu (even lost track of two days somehow) and this is what I was greated with this morning...

Yup, that would be my kitchen that looks like no one else loves it, so I started cleaning and here is where it ended up.

Much better.

I baked a loaf of bread in the breadmaker, did about 8 loads of laundry and now I'm ready to crash.

But I did get some stitching done this week, when I had the energy I was working on this little beauty.

Started Jan 2 - finished Jan 8, 2011

Lizzie * Kate - Time for God

stitched with recommended overdyed threads on a silkweaver solo 32ct belfast linen.

I'll leave you with a shot of the beautiful flowers that Dani and Todd brought on Dec 31st...so 9 days ago and still going strong!

TUSAL: January 4th

2011-01-04T19:14:00.002-05:00

So Dani assumed that I would never join a SAL...well, I finally found one I can actually participate in! I blogged about it earlier today but here is my new moon post for January 4th - because I realized after my last post that being sick has caused to me lose a day somewhere. I cleaned my ORTS out of my lighthouse jar mid-morning on January 1st. So here is all I've got for the first few days of the year.

Happy Stitching! See you again on February 3rd for the next installment of TUSAL! And you still have time to sign up if you like - go see It's Daffycat for details.

I jumped on board as well....

2011-01-04T09:21:00.003-05:00

So lots of my friends have been talking about a "totally useless stitch-a-long" so I decided that this is one stitch-a-long that I can actually do! All the details can be found here: Daffycat: A Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long so I will be posting again tomorrow with an updated photo of what is in my ort jar to date!

I almost forgot...

2010-12-31T20:38:00.004-05:00

Actually, I did forget until I read Bonnie's post....but here are all my orts from 2010, an impressive collection over previous years!

one last happy dance....

2010-12-31T20:28:00.004-05:00

Dani and Todd arrived late this afternoon...we have been stitching, eating and stitching. With actually stitching, I can get some done. Here is my FINISHED ICK Growth Rings! Something I started in 2010 - and finished in 2010 (it is 8:30pm here).

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE...ALL THE BEST TO YOU AND YOURS FOR 2011

Christmas has come and gone

2010-12-29T20:21:00.006-05:00

I hope that everyone reading had a wonderful holiday season with family and friends. We started the season on the evening of the 23rd, my last day of work until the 4th of January (a much needed break on my part....) when I stopped for the last minute items we were missing and a run to the LCBO. Christmas Eve was spent with my inlaws, we all attended the family service at St Luke's Church (a video in the church from 2010 for the Silent Night Project) - Cameron had a part in the service as the "older" angel and Caleb was a giraffe in the manager scene. Then DH treated us to a wonderful roast beef dinner including the Reverend and his wife and children. Rev. John is a huge part of why Cameron LOVES going to church - he is young (37) and when the minister wears jeans to service it really puts the younger generations at ease. John had another service to attend in a nearby community so he was only able to eat and run but his wife and children stayed until just after 9pm - watching Santa on NORAD Santa Tracker and just enjoying the season with us.

Our Christmas Tree 2010

Christmas morning, we had some excited boys...

We were home most of the morning and then spent the rest of Christmas Day with the inlaws.

Boxing Day and the 27th were with my family.

Today we took down the tree and tried to get the house "back in order". We have friends coming tomorrow for a visit as well as Dani and Todd coming for our traditional New Years Celebration on Friday. I did get a litte baking done before the holidays....here are my "christmas trees" before they were devoured.

If you are looking for the cookie cutters that I used, you can find them here....Page 48 of the Regal Christmas Catalogue - next time I will bake twice as many cookies for one tree.

So, our time has been very busy but wonderful to be with our family and friends, we feel truly blessed and look forward to wonderful things in 2011.

And stayed tuned, I'm working on a final happy dance for 2010!

Is this day over?

2010-12-22T13:04:00.002-05:00

Not because work is terrible (actually just the opposite - getting lots done) but because I am REALLY looking forward to driving home... IN MY "NEW TO ME" CAR!!!!! A 2007 Cadillac CTS

We picked it up this morning and all I've gotten to drive it (other than the test drive) is about 6 minutes downtown to work and then I parked it. I've been driving my 1999 Pontiac Grand AM for 12 years, and have over 300,000 km on it. This one was a great deal and never in a million years if someone had said to me that I would be driving a Cadillac would I have believed them!

Come on 6pm!

and here we go...

2010-12-20T19:42:00.007-05:00

So the highspeed is in....the poor old computer (bought it before I went on maternity leave for Cameron and he just turned 8 in November) on the other hand isn't as happy. At the moment we do have it online and the kids are loving it to go on all the kiddie sites to play games etc (coolmath4kids is wonderful). But hubby and I feel something is lacking....at the moment I am posting from my hubby's work laptop but with the lovely cheque that Dalton McGuinty sent this week - I think we are going to upgrade to a laptop for home as well! Keeping the old desktop for the kids and the laptop will be for DH and I.

But on to stitching - I have been doing some, not a lot but a little. I had two mystery stitchy pieces that I had hoped to get done for Christmas this year but that isn't going to happen so they have a real great start on them for 2011!

Here is something that I started and finished and have gifted to Charlene, whom rides to and from work with me most days...

It is a JBW design on black using ...thread! I have no clue what I stitched it with!

So Christmas is almost here, the boys had their Christmas concert last week....

Here is Caleb with Tasha already to go...

and Cameron in a similar pose....

They did a fantastic job and to top it off - I won the "Let's get baking" raffle basket so I now have more Christmas baking stuff than I know what to do with! And with me working until the end of the day on the 23rd and still with shopping to get done, I can't see much baking in my future.

If I don't make it back to here before Christmas, I wish you a wonderful holiday with family and friends....and before I forget...

Hang on to your hats...

2010-11-30T14:20:00.004-05:00

Today we have a tech coming to the house to install high speed....so I might actually get to update here more often as work is WAY TOO BUSY lately to even get close to blogger. Hope to catch up with everyone soon! Keep on stitchin'

October?

2010-10-04T16:19:00.005-05:00

So, as always I find myself working behind the eight ball - always behind and never getting ahead. After the loss of Freddie, and our family working our way back from the loss, both boys ended up down and out with Strep throat. We had the opening night at the theatre (Canadian Brass) which was a fantastic show and now we are gearing up for the next show which is Ailey II. I have been stitching... This is a scan of my "done" Kaleidoscope by Ink Circles! I finished up the backstitching on Friday evening. I didn't have the camera close and I brought it to work so I thought I would just scan it and post it. I'm working away on a couple of other projects that I will show at a later time. I'm hosting a weekend at my house for stitching, and eating, and stitching, and sleeping...October 15 - 16 - 17th. If you are interested in coming, for a day or more, let me know! email : rbrown at cityofkingston dot ca

so sad...

2010-09-16T15:45:00.004-05:00

Our family lost a very special member yesterday. I haven't been on here much, life has been busy. But I had to post today as our hearts are sad with the passing of Greg (Freddie), who is my husbands cousin. My husband and Greg grew up together and our photo albums are full of pictures of the two of them. He is below with his beautiful wife Roseanne and he leaves behind three wonderful children Ethan (7), and twins William and Lyndsay (4). May you rest in peace Freddie.

August?

2010-08-06T10:43:00.006-05:00

How did that happen? I mean, it was July wasn't it? I can't believe how fast the summer is going by and how much I am really looking forward to the routine that fall will bring. Summer is the craziest time for me at work so I rarely take time off, but I made an exception this week as my friend Tracy (who I went to visit in Feb/Mar) and her family were here in Ontario to attend a wedding, a retirement party and a little vacation thrown in for fun. So I took the day off work on Wednesday, loaded my crew, plus Rhonda the babysitter in the truck and headed out to her parents cottage for the day. It was wonderful...here are a few pictures to prove it! Tracy and Kenton at the water Tracy and her Mom, Chris relaxing after supper Cameron, Rhonda (on the ladder), Colin and Caleb enjoying the lake

Tracy and Kenton

Don (Tracy's Dad) and Cameron out for a paddleboat ride

Cool dude Kenton with Mom's glasses

Colin, Kenton and Caleb, relaxing after supper

And I have been putting stitches in, I have two secret projects on the go which I can't show here but have been putting about 45 minutes a day in each and when I get sick of those then I seem to be turning to ICK....here are some process pictures I took this morning before leaving for work.

So I hope that everyone is having a fabulous summer, getting lots of sun, fun and stitching done!

Going, Going ... GONE!

2010-07-19T12:48:00.004-05:00

That seems to be how my time is lately, never here long enough! Summer is in full swing and that creates all new fun at my house! The boys are busy wanting to go here and there and I really want to be taking them - but I also would like a couple of days to create a numb bum in my stitching chair! So I left off my last post that I had a few ladies stitching during the long weekend at the start of July...here is where my Growth Rings were when I slipped them away after the weekend.

And one of the ladies Beth (of no blog - yet) decided that Caleb really had to show her how one of his toys worked...so here they are on the floor together -

and this is how it works Beth -

And my closing shot is the lovely flower that my oldest picked out himself to give his teacher at the end of the year - the sign was my idea :-)

So, I've been working on ICK - I'll try to get a shot soon to show you how far I've come, I have 1/4 left to fill in with colour and it can be added to the "completed" pile.

As for right now, life is busy at work, and at home. Cameron and Caleb just spent the last week with my parents. Cameron got his first taste of day camp which he loved and I've signed him up for another week at the end of August - and between now and then we have our "teenager" as the boys call her living with us. Rhonda is a lifesaver and makes my days go much smoother.

Until next time, stay cool!

July...how did that happen?

2010-07-05T14:52:00.003-05:00

Dani and Bonnie were both at mine this past weekend to celebrate Canada Day and of course to stitch. They both reminded me that I have not blogged since May 31st - before we went to Georgian Bay for a weekend at Sheila's. So where does the time go...let's see. I'm not sure! So I'm still here, pictures are stuck at home on the camera at the moment so there are none to show but I stitched up a storm this past weekend and got a huge portion of Growth Rings completed. Our live-in babysitter has arrived for the summer so my life should get a little less hectic soon, but it is summer so things seem to move along MUCH faster than they should. I'll be back soon, with photos (I have a good one of one of my stitching friends on the floor with Caleb yesterday and it wasn't Dani or Bonnie....stay tuned). *edit to change to WASN'T Dani or Bonnie...sorry

Quick Growth Rings updated

2010-05-31T16:34:00.003-05:00

I've been working on Growth Rings this week and here is where I was the last time I worked on it... And after stitching for the last week here is where I am (sorry the photos are in different orientations). Hope all is well with you, I work a short week this week (Mon -Thurs) and then I have a long weekend (Fri-Mon) so hopefully in there somewhere I will find some time to stitch!

ICK and Tulips....

2010-05-22T13:39:00.002-05:00

Before I left the house this morning (because I'm working the Saturday of a long weekend....yuck) I took pictures of the two WIPs that have seen some face time in the last couple of weeks. Two tulips, I realized that I did not measure correctly and will not have enough fabric to do all four so now I have to figure out of the last two, which one I want to stitch....decisions, decisions. And ICK, I finished up the last of the black last night before bed, so here is where it currently stands.

I hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful weather, not too bad for a 2-4 weekend, normally it is cold and rainy. Oh well, when I'm done work tonight I have two whole days to get out and enjoy some of it.

Just for Judie M (of no blog)

2010-05-20T10:08:00.007-05:00

My friend Judie emailed me the other day to ask if everything was alright because it had been a month since I blogged...yes, everything is alright, just a normal week/month in the life of me...work is crazy, the kids are crazy, I'm crazy, DH is crazy!

I've been so occupied with everyday life that I haven't had a chance to tell anyone about anything! DH started a new position with his employer, so he went from a swing shift to straight days. In the 12+ years we have been together we have only ever done straight days for him a week here and there so this is a new ballgame for all of us. Don't get me wrong, having him home each evening and weekend is great - most of the time. I know he finds it a huge change as there were days during the week before when I was at work, our oldest was at school and he and the little one could get lots of things done around the house or out and about in town. Now he has to try to get everything home related done in the evenings and on the weekends...a learning curve for sure (and cuts into his fishing/hunting/golf time).

Cameron (our oldest) is needing the help of a chiropractor and that has meant three trips a week into Kingston (25 minutes each way) for the last three weeks and that creates a logistical nightmare for Mom. On top of that, our regular babysitter had baby # 5 almost a month ago and the little guy has been very sick so I had to find another sitter for Caleb in a hurry (because DH wasn't home at all during the week now) and get someone lined up for Cameron for after school. It all worked out and now we are set until the end of the school year.

We have been thinking about what we were going to do this summer with both DH and I working straight days and knowing that we could not afford to have both boys at a sitter each and every week day all summer long. So we have acquired a "teenager" as the boys call her to come and spend the majority of the summer with us and stay with the kids while we are at work. This will help us financially and relieve some of the shuffling around stress that summer brings as well as she gets some cash to spend for back to school stuff as she heads off to high school next year.

I have been stitching (I need to relieve stress somehow right?) and I even got away on Mother's Day weekend with Bonnie to Dani's for Friday night thru to Sunday morning. We had a wonderful, relaxing weekend and saw some friends I haven't seen in awhile - Lynn J, Beatrice, Kathy A, Christin and a new friend (with no blog) Lori. I got lots of stitching done before Bonnie and I had to head for home. We went to my parents first, Mom feed us lunch and then Bonnie left me in care of my DH and kids. Bonnie continued on her travels and my family packed up and did a quick trip home to drop our stuff before we went to the inlaws for supper and the evening.

Work is busy....last night we launched our 2010-2011 season information, everything is now listed on the website if you want to take a peek at the wonderful season to come. This of course means lots of work for me, renewals for subscribers, setting up the shows for sales in the ticketing system and on and on and on.

So, I'm here, I'm alive and looking forward to some time off this coming weekend, I do have to work on Saturday but with Sunday and Monday off I might get to sneek some stitching time in.

Until next time, and I will try to update a little more often than once every couple of months.

I'll leave you with a couple of pictures from this past weekend.

Here are the boys with their Poppa Brown learning how to "whistle with grass" which was too funny and my FIL was cracking up at both of them.

And then two photos of the boys in the front yard - I really do need to start taking more pictures of them...

Tulips

2010-04-12T15:50:00.003-05:00

Here is where I was at on Friday evening when Trista and I sat down to stitch... I ripped alot of it out while we were working away Friday night.

Here is where I got to before I packed them away last night and pulled ICK out for this week.

I've been trying to do a weekly rotation with my projects and as long as I stop ADDING a new project each week I should see some of these actually completed in 2010!

And my little man was sick at the end of the week so it was the only time he actually sat still long enough for me to snap a couple of pictures of him...

And with his best friend - Tasha

OMG! News that I was not expecting!

2010-04-07T15:46:00.003-05:00

But I'm excited about it...take a peek at my friend Christine's latest entry and see if you can spot what made me so excited... New Things and Pretties...

A new start....just for me.

2010-04-03T07:25:00.003-05:00

Thank you to everyone who sent me a little note for my birthday (April Fools Day) via Facebook or email. It was a pretty low-key day seeings that I had to work and then come home and be a single Mom for the evening while DH worked 4pm until midnight. And with Easter starting things just didn't seem to be going in the "birthday route" so I've just let it slid. But I did start another new project, very spring like and just for me :-)

I was looking for something very spring like and I could look at this all day....it is a freebie from the DMC website. And before I forget.....HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

Lots of stitching....

2010-03-30T14:03:00.006-05:00

So my weekend away was lovely...surprising Ann for her birthday was priceless and instead of boring you with the details I'll show you what I accomplished. First up are the three little ones that I started and finished over the course of the weekend... Upclose of the butterfly to show you the lovely colours in the varigated thread I used. This would have shown up better on white or black but I worked with what I had, the three little ones are all stitched on the same piece of fabric :-) "far out" shot of the butterfly... A Lizzie * Kate freebie from their website... And the three little spookies.... Since getting home I've been working on my Spirit of Christmas...the purple highlighter is where I was as of last night.

So life is busy, work is crazy and of course this weekend is Easter. Looks like I got voted as the host of Easter Sunday as the inlaws are coming over for church in the morning, Cameron will be getting his service cross and it is something they don't want to miss.

Stitching this week is on my Growth Rings and a little that is of tulips I picked up out of my stash last night so I should have more updates for you shortly.

A little white lie...

2010-03-22T16:05:00.003-05:00

So on my last post I told a little white lie - just to help keep a secret in place until after Thursday night. See, Ann of Knowledge and Needles was turning a certain age and I was attending her surprise birthday party on Thursday evening and didn't want to ruin the surprise if she read my blog in advance! If you want to get her first hand review, check out her blog entry GOTCHA! It was a wonderful evening and I had a ball of fun...it also meant I got to extend my retreat by an extra night at the Timber House! No cleaning happened on Thursday - my house is still a disaster but I stitched my butt off this weekend and will post the photos as soon as I can. The retreat was as wonderful as it has been twice a year for the last few years. I didn't take a lot of pictures (and no way of adding them at the moment) as we discussed that they all look the same from year to year, just different clothes! So pictures to follow, I had three starts and three finishes this weekend so I really do have some stitching to show!

Update before the big stitch-in!

2010-03-17T15:35:00.003-05:00

So this weekend I'm headed off to the Knowledge and Needles - Timberhouse Retreat and I wanted to have a post on here to show where I was at with both pieces - before I head off. And this way everyone can see how far I get this weekend. Up first is IC Kalidoscope....almost to the half way mark. And then IC Growth Rings....and I added in a copy of my pattern, the yellow highlighter is what I accomplised while I was in BC, and the blue is what I have gotten done since I returned home. This will be my last post until after the weekend. I took tomorrow off as well as Friday to be a domestic goddess, no kids at home and hubby is sleeping so I should be able to whirlwind my way around the house! To everyone that is attending as well, drive safe from near and far and I will see you on Friday afternoon! Everyone else - I'll be thinking of you while I'm sitting, stitching and bitching this weekend!

back to the grind....

2010-03-15T11:35:00.005-05:00

At work, lots to do and getting ready for my next adventure but I wanted to update everyone that reads that I am home, alive and I even have pictures to share:-)

Here are Tracy and Kenton watching the Olympics, something we did most days until they were over on the Sunday evening.

Just for some background, Tracy and I have been friends since 1977....the year we were born. We do not see each other as much now (other sides of the country limit our time together) but we talk and email when we get a chance.

Here is Kenton one morning, playing happily...

Here is the view from the front window of the house, I loved how the shadows/light were playing on the mountains....

The silt hills that surround Kamloops, makes it hard to built there as everything is always shifting. We climbed up this bluff one warm day and the views were spectacular, just wish my camera took nicer pictures.

So, that was my trip, nothing exciting, just how I like them. I've been home a little more than a week now and last weekend (March 6th) my DH and I went to our first concert together in years, we saw Blue Rodeo in concert when we first started dating and went again on the 6th.

It was great, I was tired but it was worth going to hear some of my old favourites like Try, Diamond Mine, Rose-coloured glasses, Til I Am Myself Again, all performed live is always so much better. Greg....

Jim and his son!

Anyways, lots to get done, I am off again this weekend to the March edition of the Knowledge and Needles Timberhouse Retreat!

On vacation

2010-02-28T16:28:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to update everyone that I made it safe and sound to my bff Tracy's on Thursday (left Ontario at 7:19am, spent 5 hours in the air and arrived in Kamloops at 10:15am). It has been cloudy/raining/fogging since I arrived which is funny because Kamloops receives the least amount of rain and most sun on anywhere in Canada!

I'm having a ball with her little man Kenton, he is almost 11 months and is playing his momma like a fiddle...I've called him on it and all he does is laugh at me but Tracy is blown away that he can play her at this age...it will only get worse, I promise as the Mom of two :-)

Anyways, the next period of Can vs US is about to get underway so I'm headed back in to see the rest.

I'll check in again later, maybe with some pictures!

p.s. ICK got lots of face time on the plane here and Growth Rings has gotten lots of face time since landing.

Feeling better

2010-02-16T16:50:00.002-05:00

Thank you to everyone who sent get-well-vibes, I'm feeling much more like myself. I didn't get to take pictures of all the stitching like I wanted, maybe tonight I will snap a few and post tomorrow but I thought I would post the two little finishes I got done over the weekend.

The first is my ornament for February....I'm not 100% sure of anything, it was loaned to me from a friend and she has all the details.

Isn't he a cutie!

And then I picked up a canvas tote at Michaels the last time I was there and I decided I needed something to start carting my stitching around in as the freebie I'm using from some cross stitch shop is on its last legs, so here is what I stitched on the tote....

Hope all is well where you are!

Slower than molasses in January!

2010-02-12T12:28:00.002-05:00

That is my current internet situation...slow, slow, slow. I would have posted earlier with pictures from our weekend away (which was wonderful but exhausting) but I'm home sick and the 'net here will not support uploading pictures at all. So, we have a wonderful weekend away with the kids, even though I wasn't feeling 100%, turns out I "probably" had strep throat and a fever - no wonder I was feeling under the weather. So yesterday I went to the non-urgent care at the local hospital and after waiting for 4 hours to be seen was told that my throat looks very red, raw and sore - no foolin' guess why I was there! But they took a swab and told me to get lots of rest, lots of fluid *which feels like swallowing broken glass currently* and advil for the swelling and pain. If the swab comes back in 2-3 days as positive, they will call in a script for some antibotics....thanks. I limped thru the day at work yesterday and took my boss up on her offer for me to stay home today. So Caleb and I are spending the day with movies, cool drinks and a couple of naps. I haven't stitched much, I will show my progress on Spirit of Christmas from last week and ICK from this week sometime at the start of next week when I return to work. Today I started my February ornament. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, a long one here in Ontario with Family Day on Monday. And HAPPY VALENTINE'S to everyone on Sunday.

I've been stitching...

2010-01-26T16:50:00.003-05:00

So here is where Growth Rings is after some weekend stitching, and Monday as well because I have to work this Saturday so no work yesterday... no blue yet.

And here is where ICK is at, blackwork for the second page is done, now I just have to fill in the colours.

And I thought I should share this picture of Caleb and his friend Erin watching a movie yesterday afternoon when they got home from playgroup, they are too cute for words...

Stay warm...I'm sitting and stitching again tonight so stay tuned for another update in the near future.

Another finish, and another start

2010-01-22T11:46:00.002-05:00

After our lovely evening with Beth, Trista and I decided late yesterday afternoon to have another session last night! So down we sat about 8pm until 11pm and we were stitching up a storm. Stay tuned to Trista's blog (My Life In Stitches) as I took pictures of what she was working on and I *KNOW* she will post...soon. But I finished up the JBW Snow Globe last night...if you look close the white "scattered" stitches are actually the word "SNOW" over and over again.

Which means I get to start my Ink Circles - Growth Rings! Here is the fabric and floss, 814 for the large parts with 336 complimenting that.

And here is my 20 minutes I got in before I had to head to bed.

Next week I'll be stitching with Trista on Tuesday and Thursday nights if anyone else is interested!

A Lovely Evening...

2010-01-21T16:55:00.002-05:00

Last night after work I had a lovely evening with Trista, Beth (of no blog)and Heather (Beth's daughter). Heather and Beth had a beautiful lasagna, caesar salad and garlic bread all ready to hit the table when I arrived at 6:30pm, along with a lovely glass of Australian Shiraz. Beth's husband Doug joined us while we ate and we all had a lovely, lovely evening. We did some stitching and here is where I've gotten thus far on my Ink Circles piece... And here are a couple of pictures I snapped this morning when everything was covered in a beautfiful, thick layer of frost all around my house...this is my view from the front of my house looking West, using two different settings on my point and click camera, who knew there was a "snow" setting!

Have a wonderful evening everyone!

The Last One for 2009 and The First for 2010

2010-01-08T13:02:00.005-05:00

I have some stitching to show...here is the last thing I both started and finished in 2009...I started it on December 27th and finished it on the 28th...

And with my "model"...

It was a kit that was gifted to me by Lynn J when she came for the weekend in October.

And here is my first start and finish for 2010! Dani left me the pattern and I stitched it up in an evening...

And here is where ICK sits at the moment....

And here is where my JBW Snow Globe was before I stitched with Trista last night...

And here is where it is after... Just the 'snow' to finish around the globe! Tonight I will be working on ICK - or I "might" pull out my DH's fish, I'll let you know at the start of next week :-)

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend, stay warm and get lots of stitching done!

A New Year = New Start

2010-01-04T16:07:00.012-05:00

Wow, blogger was playing with my post, I've been in three times to edit it now... Anyhoo... Christmas Eve, our tree....

Christmas Eve, my FIL and boys enjoying Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaur

Cameron on Christmas morning...

Caleb on Christmas morning...

And Tasha, so excited on Christmas morning...NOT

Then we had Dani and Todd for New Years....here is where Caleb spent a lot of time :-)

The "boys" playing on the Wii... And here is my ort jar on January 2nd (because I forgot to dump it ...oops)

And my BRAND NEW start for 2010 - Ink Circles Kaleidoscope which I started in the morning of January 1st. Here is a picture as of last nights (Jan 3rd) stitching...

So I'm back at work today...no stitching all day in my jammies anymore...until the weekend.

I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas and New Years and I wish you nothing but great things for 2010.

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T09:25:00.002-05:00

As 2009 draws to a close I just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy New Year. Our house is planning on a low key event as always...Dani and Todd are coming from the Ottawa area, we are cooking up a feast fit for an army and then hanging out watching movies and stitching. With the stitching over the next two days Dani and I have stitched together EVERY month this year and have a jump start on 2010 with some stitching tomorrow morning!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

A quiet day...

2009-12-28T10:44:00.002-05:00

After all the crazy times around Christmas, the kids and I are home alone, enjoying some quiet time and time with the new toys! Christmas Eve was lovely, my inlaws were over and my MIL and I took the boys to the kids advent at church for 4pm and arrived home to a wonderful salmon supper prepared by FIL and DH. Then on to our tradition on new jammies and a new movie for the evening. Boys in jammies and we watched Ice Age - Dawn of the Dinosaur (well, they watched, I stitched). Then inlaws headed for home and the boys vibrated their way to their beds. Christmas morning started around 6:30am (not bad for a 7 and 3 year old in the house) with excitement that "SANTA CAME!!!!" and the gift opening that followed. Brunch on Christmas Day at the inlaws was lovely, gutbusting filling but very tasty and the rest of the day was spent just chatting and enjoying everyones company. The kids all received new movies so the DVD player was setup in the bedroom and the four kids (aged 13/9/7/3) took turns watching their movies and napping. For the first time since DH and I have been together we were able to come home on Christmas night, normally my Aunt or Mom have dinner on Christmas day but they changed the plans this year which we were fine with. So home to sleep and then up on Boxing Day and headed to my parents. Late lunch with my family and a sleepover. The morning of the 27th was just like Christmas all over again for my kids, with my parents and brother and sister-in-law in the morning. We opted to go out last night for Greek - which was FABULOUS and then home again. Today DH is playing in a couple of games of hockey with his workmates and then they are going out celebrating - he plans to stay in town at his friends so it is just the boys and I today. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and we are looking forward to ringing in the New Year with Dani and Todd again. All the best to your house from ours for 2010!

'tis the season to be...

2009-12-17T15:21:00.003-05:00

very busy :-)

It all started last Saturday (Dec 5th) with the movies with my boys (Planet 51) and it has continued on since then. Me, the one with no social life has done the following in the last couple of weeks...

Dec 5 - movies with the kids - Planet 51

Dec 6 - church with Cameron for Advent

Dec 8 - supper and then the movies with the work friends - New Moon

Dec 12 - Saw the comedian Derek Edwards live at the theatre with my DH

Dec 13 - Church with Cameron for Advent and surprised DH with tickets to see So You Think You Can Dance

Dec 15 - holiday luncheon with the "senior" staff members

Dec 16 - evening stitching with Trista

Dec 17 - another planned evening with Trista (gotta get those christmas things done!)

Dec 20 - Church with Cameron and then Cinderella at the Playhouse with boys, Tracy, Kenton and our Moms

And the list just seems to go on and on! So if I don't get a chance to be back here anytime soon I wanted to tell everyone to have a wonderful holiday season!

For my friends out in Western Canada....

2009-12-16T13:35:00.000-05:00

Tri-weekly stitching

2009-12-09T17:02:00.002-05:00

As miserable as it is out, tonight is my once-every-three-weeks stitching evening at home. So I'm actually skipping out of work a little early and getting home at a decent hour. I might even have a couple of completed projects to show for my extra effort tonight!

Wow - it has been awhile

2009-12-03T16:52:00.005-05:00

So life get busy and the first thing to slip seems to be blogging, but then when I get time there seems to be so much to tell everyone that it is overwhelming and I don't know where to start.

So I'll start with November retreat. I had a fabulous time as always and my Mom and I always love going together, it is our new tradition every year. So here are a few photos I took while we were there.

Marie Paul working away...

Debbie ...

Ann, Nan and Dani

Barb and Sheila

And the fireplace was a lovely addition...

And the other exciting news is that I went and picked the wolves up from the framers and they are now proudly hanging in our livingroom. DH has decided that they need more light and plans on installing a pot light above to give them more umph! And yes, my livingroom walls are really that green - LOL!

And I have been stitching on lots of other things as well, my L*K Living with Charm is done, just filling in a couple of spots here and there, my Little Green is almost done and ready to gift to my friend Patti, I re-started the bass for my DH, and I've started the Spirit of Christmas again.

And I almost forgot, I completed this little towel for someone for Christmas...

Hope everyone is gearing up for the holidays, we are just starting to get in the swing of things at our house.

Wednesday Night!

2009-11-09T13:37:00.001-05:00

I just realized that I am not working this coming Wednesday...{{heart}} love Remembrance Day so in turn I'm hoping that others are in the same boat and might like to come for the afternoon/supper/evening for some stitching! If so, drop me a line at curt underscore reb at hotmail dot com! Sorry this is so short and sweet, I'm at work and it is VERY crazy at the moment but I wanted to get it out there... p.s. I'll probably make homemade lasagna if that sweetens the pot any!

Late but - What a great weekend we had.

2009-11-03T15:37:00.005-05:00

So my last post was about the weekend that was coming up in which I was hosting...it went fabulously...I had a wonderful time and I hope that the friends who made the journey did as well. I have pictures but here is what everyone else had to say about the weekend...and I know some will complain but they are so much better at telling how the weekend was, I spent a lot of time making tea :-) Dani - Long Awaited Stitchy Weekend Christin - Party til you drop Lynn - Friends and Fun Also in attendance were...Beatrice, Barb (no blog), Kathy A, Judi (no blog), Trista, Bonnie and my mother-in-law Bev (no blog) Unfortunately both Beth (no blog) and Ann (of Knowledge and Needles) were taken ill and not able to join us...we missed you both!

And Let the Stitching Begin!

2009-10-23T05:56:00.003-05:00

This weekend (starting tonight), I have the best group of stitching friends at my house FOR THE WHOLE WEEKEND to stitch! I can't wait. Other than DH throwing a wrench in things with coming home early from hunting (they got bullwinkle) it should be a fun, stitchy, chatting, eating frenzy kinda weekend! If you are in the area (Kingston-Napanee) send me a quick email for directions (curt underscore reb at hotmail dot com) and stop in for an hour (or more). I have the first of the stitchers arriving around suppertime tonight and then they will be coming off and on all weekend until late afternoon on Sunday. I'll post pictures on Monday probably... HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND - I know I will :-)

Free Fat Quarters of Fabric?

2009-10-21T11:14:00.002-05:00

I'm game!

Be sure to check out the Pumpkin Patch Primitive Giveaway!

The baby

2009-10-15T10:54:00.003-05:00

My friend in BC sent me some photos of the sepia tones baby that I stitched for her first born, she had it framed....thought I should share.

Nothing like a deadline to motivate!

2009-10-12T07:16:00.006-05:00

DH and I have had plans to paint our livingroom for most of the summer, and yes, it is now October. On Thursday night we decided to do Thanksgiving dinner with his family at our house to change things up since losing GG Hicks. Friday, when I arrived home from work at 7pm, he informed me that we were painting this weekend!

Off to Napanee we went to get ceiling paint as well as the last of the food that I would need in order to put the meal on the table for Saturday evening.

Then the boys were put to bed and DH and I moved everything out of the livingroom. I then made two pumpkin pies and the cranberry sauce while DH painted the ceiling. Here are a couple of "before pictures" with everything moved out of the room (and sorry, the one is not very flattering of my DH) and ready to paint.

Saturday morning we were up at 8am and "my job" of the day was to keep two active boys and the dog out of the livingroom while DH painted the walls. No easy task while making a turkey feast for 12 people! But all in all, I think it turned out well! Both the walls and the feast! We finished putting the furniture back and re-hanging the pictures at around 4:30pm and everyone started arriving at 5pm! (These two pictures were taken on Sunday morning - notice a boy on the couch and the cartoons on the TV ...)

Nothing like a deadline to motivate!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Just an update

2009-10-06T13:04:00.003-05:00

No stitching to show this time, I haven't put a stitch in anything for well over a week. It all started a little more than a week ago with my car deciding that is was no longer going to get me where I wanted to go. So DH and I have been car shopping without much luck. Lots out there, not what we are really wanting and some are way out of our price range. This weekend we were planning on finally finding something and then proceeding to do the financing etc so I could have something to drive (currently I'm driving my Dad's truck, thank you Dad). We unfortunately lost DH's Grandmother on Friday morning so this past weekend was spent getting clothes for Cameron, getting a sitter ready for the funeral on Monday and then doing the wake on Sunday and funeral on Monday. So, that is the update. Rest in peace, GG Hicks....we love you.

Nothing but backstitch...

2009-09-13T10:48:00.002-05:00

For those following the saga of the wolves, I've been stitching on these bad boys for about 6 years. I had set a goal of my anniversary (which was Friday) to have these done as they were picked out by my DH. So this is what he is getting from me for our tenth anniversary, but life has been busy and I did not meet my deadline, but I think I came close enough. Now on to the backstitching...

Ten Years Ago Today...

2009-09-11T07:47:00.002-05:00

I married my best friend.

Happy Anniversary Honey!

I FOUND THEM!

2009-09-04T10:31:00.017-05:00

Pictures from this summer that is! So here we go, in no particular order... AND ALL OVER THE PLACE BECAUSE I'M SICK OF FIGHTING WITH BLOGGER.... Caleb's new haircut, he found a razor in the bathroom and decided to modify his new do.

What happens when I get the playdo out to keep one kid happy...all the kids come out to play!

(l-r = Curt, Cameron, Frank, Siobhan and Caleb)

Caleb asleep on Frank one afternoon

The boys at Medieval Times

MARINELAND!!!

And they do REALLY cool things...the best description I found was here Siobhan and Frank with the beluga's

The show at Marineland...

Caleb and Cameron with my friend Tracy's little guy Kenton in June...

My boys and their THUMBS UP to summer....

And for those that have met my doggie, a really good picture of Tasha from this summer at the cottage....

Vacation and then back to the grind

2009-08-26T10:05:00.002-05:00

Well, I've been back to work now for over a week...man - time flies when you have too much to do and not enough time! We have a wonderful time with our friends from the UK...Frank and Siobhan. The boys loved every minute of it. Marineland was a hot day with lots of walking but the boys loved it...Frank and Shiv got to feed the whales which was really neat.

Of course I downloaded all my photos...an error occurred and all our holiday pictures vanished into cyberspace.

Oh well, life goes on.

What wonders a day will do.

2009-08-23T08:36:00.003-05:00

I've been feeling off kilter and frazzled and tired and....but today I feel alive, refreshed and ready to tackle anything! Yesterday was a lovely day spent at Ann's (Knowledge & Needles in Brighton ON) with as many stitching friends (both old and brand new - HI BONNIE!!) as you can fit in one house/garage/LNS! We believe the final count with those that came and went was 28 stitchers! I don't have any pictures, I didn't even take my camera out of my bag but I'm sure sometime in the near future you can see it all on Dani's blog. Thank you Ann, it was just what the doctor ordered. It also re-sparked my drive to get those blasted wolves finished!

Oh Vacation....

2009-08-05T09:03:00.002-05:00

Oh vacation - how I have been waiting for you! Our company arrrived safely from the UK on the 26th of July...and the first week was a blur. I worked Mon-Thurs and now I'm enjoying two full weeks off. Not much planned this week (DH is working 8am-4pm), went to the cottage for the day on Sunday, lazed around the house and stitched for a few days. With DH working, we have been doing little things in the evenings, he and Frank went golfing last night, we have friends coming over for dinner tonight, tomorrow is my Dad's birthday so we will probably go to my parents for supper and then Friday we will probably spend the day at the cottage again, as long as the weather holds out. Saturday we hope to go to Kingston and watch the big cigar boats launch for the Poker run, then to Costco to pick up the birthday cake for my grandmother-in-law (who will be 88) to head to my inlaws for supper. The following week we are planning on a little adventure, we booked a rental van (at the moment we have to take two vehicles everywhere) and will head to Toronto on Wednesday, Medival Times for lunch and then on to Grimsby for the night. Thursday is booked for Marineland, then back to Grimsby for supper with my brother and sister-in-law and her parents. Sleeping over one more night and then hitting Vaugh Mills and the Bass Pro Shop before heading for home. Sunday we unfortunately have to return our friends to the airport :-( So, if you don't see me around for the next couple of weeks, have no fear - I will be back....WITH PICTURES! Until then, have a lovely couple of weeks and I hope the sun shines on your stitching with just the right light.

No more ARM SQUEEZER!

2009-07-29T12:13:00.001-05:00

Well my blood pressure is elevated but not as much as we thought. So the course of action is that the results are headed to my family doctor and I will probably hear from him sometime next week. As my husband said, maybe those are the normals for me, everyone is different. The results were no where near as high as they were in the office so I will probably be diagnosed with White Coat Hypertension... I'll keep you updated.