Good-Bye 2009

Only a matter of minutes until 2009 is gone and we usher 2010 in.  This past year has been a mixture of happiness and sadness which of course is just part of life. Looking back on this past year I just want to mention a few of the highlights. We have seen many improvements in Brad and Nick’s behavior.   Our oldest son continues to keep making improvements in his life (praise the Lord), and our adopted son, Chris is making some huge improvements in his life…..being  a new daddy is having a good effect on him…he has certainly matured (Praise the Lord).    Our children are all healthy and reasonably happy and it has been wonderful seeing how excited our kids are over the birth of the twins….they all love being Aunties and Uncles.  Nick likes being an Uncle as long as he does not have to change diapers (his words)…LOL I WISH ALL MY BLOG READERS A VERY HEALTHY AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!  :o)

I Love Facebook

My kids convinced me a while ago to set up a profile on Facebook.  I wasn’t really very thrilled about it, but they thought it would be a good way to promote my Etsy business.  I can’t really say whether being on Facebook has really been a boost for my business, but I am having a blast reconnecting with friends and family I haven’t  seen in years.  I have been pleased to see that I am not the only person in my graduating class that has aged..LOL  Isn’t it funny how  real life is not as it seems in high school. THANK GOODNESS!!!

Our family had a wonderful Christmas.  It was wonderful being together…I was sad that our oldest son, Steven couldn’t be here with us, but I know that is how life is when your kids grow up and have lives of their own.  Our adopted son Christopher  seems to be adapting to parenthood very well.  Chris, Heather and baby Morgan spent Christmas Eve with all of us and it was so nice having him back in the family fold.  I can not even begin to tell you all how beautiful our little granddaughter is, and what a joy it was to hold her and see how each of her Aunts and Uncles adored her.  We are all anxious for Emma to be able to come home.

Grandma and Morgan

Tomorrow is my step-dad’s 82nd birthday.  Dad has always been very active and it saddens me to see how much pain he is in and how it discourages him.  His joints are really bothering him and have hindered his normal activities.  I hope it is just a passing thing and he will start feeling better soon. 

I just read a wonderful book called “Shades of Blue” by Karen Kingsbury.  It is a beautiful, heart wrenching book on past choices and forgiveness.  I cried through a good share of it, but it was truly beautiful.  If you get a chance to read it, you won’t be sorry.  Just keep the tissues handy.  :o)

Christmas is Fast Approaching

I have a list and I am checking it twice.  Will we ever have everything ready for Christmas??  Actually we accomplished a lot today.  We finished up our shopping, plus I packed a box to ship to Steven.  The box had some Christmas gifts as well as all the different kinds of cookies and candies we have made.  We had his big gift sent to him directly from the store, so he is going to wrap it and put it under his tree.  I also made a set of dog booties that were ordered yesterday along with a an order for pumpkin peanut butter dog treats.  Steve baked up the dog treats as that is his department, while I sewed.  Steve took Steven’s package and this order and shipped them out.  I have one more order to ship tomorrow and I would think that would be it as far as Christmas orders.

Rachel made Scottish shortbread today and Steve, Rachel and I  all made cherry snowballs (Mexican Wedding Cake dough without the nits, wrapped around a maraschino cherry and baked then rolled in confectionary sugar a couple of times).  We also packed up gifts of all of our goodies for our two favorite neighbors and Bradly and Rachel delivered those.  I managed to check quite a few items off our to-do list today…..sure wish the gifts were wrapped…LOL   :o)

Huge Snowstorm

The big snowstorm that was forecast for Thursday hit all around us, but we missed it (and that was after our school system announced the night before that school would be closed due to the weather predictions.  I am sure the powers that be were not pleased when we didn’t even get the storm.  We got hit with it beginning Thursday night and all day Friday.  Of course the school had to be closed again.  We got about 2 feet of snow from Thurs. night through Friday night.  There was some lovely wind from this system also.  The boys loved having two days off from school and had fun outside (until I couldn’t stand the fighting and bickering anymore). 

The Christmas baking has been going well.  We have made 2 kinds of cutout sugar cookies…one with sour cream and one with cream cheese.  Molasses cookies are finished as well as peanut blossoms.  Yesterday I made penuche and peanut butter balls which have been a family favorite since my younger brother was in 2nd or 3rd grade and brought the recipe home from school.  It is easy for kids to make and delicious.  The only ingredients are 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk,  1/4 cup 10x sugar,  1 cup peanut butter and 1 cup mini chocolate chips.  This is mixed together and rolled into small balls and place on waxed paper.  When finished, they go into an air tight container and are stored in the fridge.  I swirl a bit of melted milk chocolate on the top of mine to fancy them up a bit, but that is not part of the original recipe.  Today we are hoping to make Mexican wedding cakes….some with a maraschino cherry in the middle. 

We took the boys to the village park sledding hill yesterday.  They had a great time and we only had one major incident…Nick got mad an bopped Bradly with his saucer.  I was amazed at how many times they went up and down that hill.  Of course today is warmer and it is going to rain so it is a mess outside.  Nick is not happy about not playing out today.  He did go out and played in the snow on the front porch for a little bit….he made a small snow sculpture of his grandma..I was afraid to ask which one it was…LOL

Here is a pic I took at the sledding hill.  Brad is in the blue coat and Nick in the red one.  :o)

Baby Update

Baby Morgan and Heather (mommy) are scheduled to come home Sat.  Emma has to weigh over 4 pounds before she will come home.  We got a picture of Morgan tonight while we were at Brad’s Christmas Chorus concert.  Brad did a great job.

I am so busy keeping up with orders and trying to add new items to the shops that my head is spinning.  Believe me, I am not complaining..I love it.

So here is the pic of Morgan….the girls look so much like their dad.o)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chris and Heather on Thanksgiving Day.

We Are Grandparents

Steve and I became grandparents to an adorable set of little identical twin girls this afternoon.  They are Emma Marie and Morgan Lynn.  Emma only weighs 2 pounds 13 oz.  Morgan weighs 5 pounds.  Our adopted son Christopher is the proud daddy.  Chris ended up in the E.R. as he fainted in the operating room just after Heather had a c-section.  He thought he was doing fine and that he sat in a chair, but came to on the floor.  Evidently he was trying to walk out the door and passed out cold.  He is a little embarrassed, but hey, it will be a fun story to tell the girls..LOL  We have our first pic which we received via the cell phone.  So far we only have a pic of Emma..the tiny one.  I wouldn’t be a grandma if I didn’t share…LOL :o)

Happy Dance

Whoo whoo….we are so ready for Thanksgiving vacation to be over with.  We had a very nice Thanksgiving, but Steve and I are about at the end of our rope with bickering and arguing by the boys.  Oh, and let us not forget the lying..I am sick of that too!!  LOL

We just got back from a trip to JoAnn Fabrics where I purchased some thread, some fleece and the non-skid stuff that goes on the bottom of my dog booties.  Now it is time to finish decorating the tree.  It is  up, but three strands of lights did not work when Steve went to put them on the tree last night.  We just bought them last year so that was quite annoying.  He bought more today, so now we can proceed.  All the other decorations are out..even the outside lights.  :o)

Yesterday we had to have our cat, McGreggor, put down at the vet’s office.  He was sick and getting worse.  Megan got him from a rescue about 7 years ago and then she moved and he became our cat.  He was well loved and had a good life, but we shall all miss him.

Cleaning Day

I have declared that today is going to be our “deep” cleaning day in the living room.  All furniture will be moved out, vacuuming done and the curtains washed.  By getting this done today, the living room will look nice for Thanksgiving and will be all set  to put up our Christmas tree this weekend.  I sure hope I muster up a little more energy than I have right now..LOL

On Sunday I  got very nervous while I was looking at the store ads.  I had put on my reading glasses, but everything was a bit blurry…not as bad as when I don’t wear my glasses, but I couldn’t see very well.  I asked my hubby if he thought I was due for an eye exam, because I thought my eyes had gotten much worse.  I have to admit I was rather nervous as I am diabetic and have been eating some sweets I shouldn’t be…so I thought it was effecting my eyes.  Well, when I took off my glasses and went to set them down, I saw that one of my lenses had fallen out….Steve and I really had a good laugh over that one..LOL  :o)

Where Has The Week Gone???

Wow, this week has just flown by.  Hard to believe it is almost Friday.  We have to run to JoAnn Fabrics tomorrow.  I have an order for a set of dog booties made out of tie dye fleece.  Hopefully the store has some…they have so much fleece, it would seem there should be some tie dye there somewhere. 

Bradly had a great birthday despite the fact that he was not feeling well.  We kept him home from school on Monday and took him to the Dr.  Thankfully he did not have the flu, but he did have an ear infection.  He is feeling much better thanks to the antibiotics.

I was blessed today to sell 10 sets of dishcloths from my shop.  That was a total of 20 dishcloths.  I am thrilled that they sold as I have had them awhile and it seemed like they were never going to sell. 

My Arelel Designs shop has some new girls purses made from various children’s fabrics.  I also made a drawstring backpack for a preschool aged child out of Dora the Explorer fabric.  I thought I would post some of the pics.  I don’t know about all of you, but I love seeing pictures when I read blogs.  :o) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bradly’s Birthday

Bradly turns 12 years old today.  He came to us in foster care almost 8 years ago when he was 4 years old.  Wow, time does go quicker the older you get…LOL  Despite a few ongoing problems, Brad is doing great and has come so far and worked so hard to achieve the gains he has made.  Brad’s report card came in the mail yesterday, and I just have to share his grades.  This is without a doubt the best report card he has ever received.  English/Language/Arts-88, Spelling-75, Social Studies- 86, Math-80, Science –85, Art- 99, Chorus -95, Health-100 and Phys. Ed. – 98.  We are so proud of him.

Bradly requested steak, potato salad, broccoli with cheese sauce and fried mushrooms for his birthday dinner.  He requested blueberry pie for his “cake”.  My parents and Chris and Heather (our oldest adopted son) and his girlfriend , (the one having twins in a month or so) are coming for pie and to share the gift opening.  Rachel came home yesterday so that she could be here too.

I got the pics taken and listed Bradly’s new ornaments yesterday as well as the baby mittens my mom made.  I also completed another purse I had an order for and cut out 5 little girl purses.  I must say, yesterday was quite a productive day.  Here is a pic of the adorable mittens my mom made and one of Brad’s new ornaments.  :o)

Confidence

I have decided that as enjoyable as it is to sleep in, that I am often more tired during the day if I have slept later.  Yesterday I slept in and was tired the rest of the day.  I even fell asleep and had a nap in the afternoon. (Maybe I am just getting old.  LOL)  Anyway, I need to get lots done today, so I guess it is a good thing it was my day to get up at 6:15 am.

We have to take Bradly to Warsaw for his Therapeutic counseling session tonight which means we have to leave as soon as Nick gets home from school and won’t get home until about 6:45 pm.  Tomorrow night the boys have their last Therapeutic Horseback riding class.  They are going to miss it.  I think Nick has managed to amaze the instructor.  This little boy was scared of so many aspects of horseback riding when he started these classes.  Judy (the instructor) just kept encouraging him to try new things and eased him into not being afraid.  He now gets on and off the horse by himself, and he sits right up like a professional, holds the reigns, and rides.  He even trots now and rides the obstacle course by himself.  Judy was starting to lead him last week and when she saw how confident he was, she threw the lead rope up over the horses neck and let Nick do the obstacle course himself.  He has gained so much self confidence through participating in these classes.  The number one rule is that you have to respect the horse, the other participants as well as yourself.  It has been a great experience for both boys, and I hope they get this opportunity again.

My dear friend Peggy, makes amazing greeting cards.  She has donated tons of them to a lady who sends them overseas to the soldiers.  She has so many still left, that she brought a box full up to me and I convinced her to let me sell some of them for her in one of my Etsy shops.  It took some convincing, but finally she agreed to let me try it.  I decided to sell the cards in groups of three or four and keep the cost very reasonable.  Peggy will be happy to just make enough from the sales to purchase more card stock and other supplies so she can keep on creating her cards.  I am sharing some of the card pics today. :o)

 

 

 

 

 

White Velvet Cutout Cookies

I almost forgot that I promised to share a wonderful new Christmas sugar cookie recipe my hubby discovered last year.  These cookies have replaced the cookies my mom made all the years I was growing up and were so enjoyed.  Steve found this recipe in an old “Taste of Home” publication from 1997.  It only took us over ten years to finds this recipe, but we are so glad we did...LOL  Enjoy!  :o)

WHITE VELVET CUTOUT COOKIES

2 cups butter or margarine (softened)                                              

1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened

2 cups sugar

2 egg yolks

1 teas. vanilla extract

4 1/2 cups all purpose flour

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy.  Add sugar, egg yolks and vanilla; mix well.  Gradually add flour.  Cover and chill 2 hours or until firm.  Roll on a floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness.  Cut into 3 inch shapes; place 1 inch apart on greased baking sheets.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until set (NOT BROWNED).  Cool 5 minutes; remove to wire wracks to cool.

BUTTER CREAM FROSTING

3 1/2 cups confectionary sugar, divided

3 TBSP. softened butter or margarine

1 TBSP. shortening

1/2 teas. vanilla extract

3-4 TBSP. milk, divided

food color (optional)

Combine 1 1/2 confectionary sugar, butter, shortening, vanilla and three TBSP. milk in a mixing bowl; beat until smooth.  Gradually add remaining sugar; beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add enough remaining milk and food color until frosting reaches desired consistency.  Frost cookies. 

YIELD: 7 dozen

I Finished the Backpack

I was so nervous about the order I got for one of my “Doggie Travel Bags”, because she wanted me to make hers into a backpack, rather than a bag with two straps.  I said yes, although I had never made a backpack and I was so scared I couldn’t do it.  I made a practice one that took me 2 days to make, but by doing that, I figured ways to make the bag sturdier and a bit easier.  Sometimes I think pattern companies make their patterns too hard when in fact the same thing could be accomplished in an easier fashion.  I much prefer creating my own patterns to using a store bought one, but sometimes I have to bite the bullet and use one that came from the store.  Anyway, I finished the ordered bag yesterday and I am very pleased with how it turned out.  I may never make another one though..LOL  The customer stopped by this morning to pick up her backpack and she was thrilled.  It was just what she wanted.  I love the great feeling I get when I create something for someone and have it turn out just as they envisioned.  I took a couple of pics last night, so I could post it for you all to see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One last thing…we are so happy for Bradly because as a member of this year’s “Chess Club” at school, he is going to his first beginners tournament tomorrow for most of the day.  We have to have him at school at 8:30 am where the kids will be picked up and driven to Belmont Central School for the tournament.  Brad will be back around 4:30 pm.  Brad is very excited and this is huge for him because it is a privilege he has earned by working on his honesty issues and becoming more trustworthy.  We are so proud of his accomplishments.  :o)

Working Hard

Ugh…I am feeling a bit stressed (but happy) with the orders I need to get done.  I am showered, dressed and ready for the day and it is only a little after 9 am….so as soon as I finish with my blog, I am off to my studio….hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to work I go..LOL

My hubby has been doing such a great job of keeping up with the laundry and the cooking while I am working.  He is a peach.  :o)  Yesterday he baked oatmeal scotchies and an apple pie.  He finished up the last of our 2 bushel of apples and made more apple sauce for the freezer.  He roasted a delicious chicken, made stuffing from scratch, mashed potatoes and he cooked up two winter squash.  Am I one lucky women or what??  It does help to marry a bakery manager..LOL  **  In case you can’t tell, our diet is not going well.  **

Speaking of baking, tomorrow I want to share an awesome sugar cookie recipe that Steve found in a country magazine.  He made them last year and they were so good and easy that we traded that recipe for our old family recipe I have been eating since I was a kid.  These have cream cheese in them!!  MMmmm  :o)

Candy, Candy and a “French Maids” Costume

Brad and Nick both managed to gather quite a bit of candy while trick-or-treating last night.  Rachel came home for the night and took them out.  Rachel’s friend Kelly went with them  I guess they were out about an hour and a half and quite cold by the time they got home.  So now begins the battle of them wanting to eat candy 10x a day (Nick started today by grabbing his candy bag and asking if he could eat some candy out of it.) .  Of course I told him that he was not eating candy for breakfast…so he had two granola bars and a drinkable yogurt.  Now, he is eating a tiny sucker (yup, I caved in, but at least he had something healthy first).  LOL

Yesterday my neighbor’s hubby asked me if I could whip up a “French Maids” apron for his wife.  Evidently she bought a costume at Walmart, but he didn’t care for it.  I made one and if I do say so myself, it turned out very well.  When her hubby saw it, he was thrilled (I have a feeling he was thinking of maybe getting more use out of it after Halloween if you know what I mean…LOL).  Anyway, his wife called me later and thanked me for my contribution to making her look even cheaper than she was already going to look.  She said no way she was going to wear it to hand out candy, but she would wear it to the Halloween party they were going to later last night.  Turns out she had no idea her Hubby was having me make this “French Maid” apron.  He surprised her.  Ha ha.  I assured her I thought she wanted this apron made…..she wasn’t mad but it was rather funny.

  These pics of the boys and then the boys with Rachel before they went out last night aren’t very good, but I thought I would post them anyway. Nick was a robber…he came up with his outfit and Brad was a Ninja.  :o)

Are You Ready for Halloween??

When you live in town on a busy street, it is a must to be ready for Halloween.  We have to plan on between 200-300 trick-or-treaters.  They start to converge upon us beginning at 5:00 pm and they keep coming even after curfews sometimes and we have to tell them we are out of candy.  The boys are quite excited about going trick-or-treating, especially Nicholas.  Bless her heart, but Rachel called to say she would be home tomorrow and take the boys trick-or-treating.  What a peach!!!  :o)

Bradly returned to school yesterday after staying home for three days as he had the flu.  Wouldn’t you know that about 10 am yesterday, the school nurse at Nick’s school called to say that he was in her office sick, could we come pick him up.  When Steve got there he was all covered up and anxious to go home because he didn’t feel good.  We were afraid he would have a cow about coming home early since they were dressing in their costumes and having their Halloween party and a parade in the afternoon.   He was fine about leaving, but when they go home he was in tears and wanting to wear his costume.  He has a clown costume and I saw no reason that he couldn’t wear it, so he did and was happier than a pig in mud.   By 11:30 am he was feeling great and asking for a piece of pizza.  He has been fine ever since and was actually quite hyper and irritating for the rest of the day.   He had almost vomited 2x in school so everyone assumed he had the flu also.  Evidently something just hadn’t agreed with his tummy.  We are very glad that he doesn’t have the flu.

The kids have no school today as our school district is having a staff development day.  I have a teacher book/tote bag almost finished and am hoping to finish it and list it in my shop today.  I also have two men’s barbeque aprons finished and I am hoping our buddy Robert next door, who is a senior in high school, will come over and model them so I can take some pics and then list them also.  Bradly has some more ornaments  ready to list also, we just need to take pics of those too.  Anyway, I think I have a busy day ahead of me and hopefully it will be a good one.  Here is a pic of my newest listing…a zippered teacher pouch.   I also just listed a cute little “Dora the Explorer” purse for a little girl.  :o)

Recycling Newspaper

I am frequently impressed with the ingenuity of the crafty people that sell items on Etsy.  I have seen so many creative products made from recycled materials.  I ran across this shop today called “reuse2recycle”  .  Even the name of the shop is a clever play on words, and leaves no doubt in your mind that they use recycled products to create new products.   This seller is looking for some feedback on her shop as sales are not going well.  Take a look at her products and if you have an opinion, please let her know.  Here is her addy and I will add a couple of pics.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=8278996

Flu

Yes, it happened…Bradly has the flu.  His school has been inundated with it for the past two weeks, so I guess it was inevitable.  He went to the Dr. Sat. and the diagnosis of “flu” was confirmed.  He will be home for most of the week according to the Dr.  He is definitely feeling better today than he did Saturday, so that is good.  We have been cancelling appointments for this week and I still have one more to cancel for tomorrow.  We are hoping and praying that the rest of us do not contract it.

My BF, Peggy is coming back to NY today with her hubby…they live in Virginia.  Due to the flu, she won’t be able to drop in for a visit.  Peg’s mom  was diagnosed a few months ago with Leukemia, and she is finally home .  Peg will be staying there, and the last thing she would want to do is take the flu bug to her mom who of course has a much lowered immune system due to the chemo she has endured these last months. Her mom will be going back into Roswell every other day for treatment.

I got an order for one of my “Doggie Travel Bags”, but made into a back pack.  I have never made a back pack so I am a bit nervous about it, but I think I know how I want to do it.  I also have an order for a leash I need to get made before Thursday.  :o)

Let’s Encourage

I met an Etsy seller yesterday who is really discouraged and thinking of giving up her shop.  I knew if I mentioned her on my blog, that some of my wonderful followers would give her some encouragement.  Being a seller right now is tough with the economy the way it is, but customers still enjoy having the option of buying something hand made as opposed to something bought in a store.  I am hoping this fellow Etsian will hang in there and see if she doesn’t get a few sales with Christmas on the horizon.  Here is her shop…take a look and if you are of the mindset, please give her some encouragement.  The shop name is hisjamilynn.  :o)

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7913881

Agility Training Snack Pouches

I have been busy making 10 agility training snack pouches.  My niece Elizabeth had the idea that these might be a good item to add to our Mutt Mania Etsy shop.  I talked to our dog groomer who has our collars and dog booties ect. on sale in her shop.  She is actually an agility dog trainer as well as a groomer and she thought the pouches would probably sell well.  I make adult and kid sizes.  Two have already sold and I do enjoy making them.  I need to place another order for hardware as I have used all that I had.  Here are a couple of pics

 

 

 

 

 

 

I took a pair of Camo shorts that Nick has outgrown and repurposed them into a cute purse.  I don’t think I want to tell him that the bag used to be his shorts or he will want it to play with and pack his toys into it.  He loves bags and packs them full of toys and hauls them around the house or into the car.  Here is how the purse turned out. :o)

 

Snow

Unfortunately we got up to snow yesterday morning and it is still here today.  In my opinion it is way to early for snow.  I think if we had snow from Dec. 15th until Jan. 2nd that would be just enough..LOL  Living in western NY does have its drawbacks.  Of course Nick wants to go out and play in the “snow” and trying to make him understand that under that thin layer of snow is mud just isn’t cutting it.  I am sure I will hear about it all day.  :o)

I want to congratulate my niece  Nicole and her hubby out in South Dakota on the birth of their baby girl very early this morning.  I am still waiting for all the details, but I received a pic. a little before 3 am today and of course she is just beautiful.  This makes my brother and sister-in-law grandparents for the second time and I bet they are thrilled beyond words.  :o)

I wanted to share an awesome shop I found on Etsy this morning.  The shop is called “Oddsandends4u”, and they have recycled so many items into awesome products.  This would be a great shop to pick up some teacher gifts or stocking stuffers for Christmas…gifts too.  This is the link…  and here are a few pics of my favorite items.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7041847&page=1

 

 

 

Divide and Conquer

I finished four trivets yesterday, plus I made three eyelet mop caps for a friends mom going through chemo.  I made the three way leash attachment that Mindy (our groomer) had ordered.  I felt like I actually accomplished something yesterday.  Anyway, the trivets smell amazing as they are filled with raw rice, whole all spice, whole cloves and a few drops of cinnamon oil.  I am thinking these would make great teacher gifts too.  I have included the pic today as I promised.

Well tonight we are going to divide and conquer.  Brad has an appointment in Warsaw at 6 pm and Nick has an open house at school that he has been talking about all week.  We never received a note from school at all, so we thought he might be confused.  After calling the school this morning, we discovered that he did indeed know what he was talking about.  This is the first time that he has cared about an open house so there is no way we can miss it. 

Crazy Busy Day

Today is going to keep us on the run all day long.  At 12:30, Steve and I have our “Crisis Management” class, then Nick’s skill builder will be here working with him.  At 5:30 the boys have “Horse Therapy”.  When we leave there it will be 6:30, so we will stop and buy a pizza, come home and eat, do homework,then showers and bedtime.  Whew…I am pooped out before we ever start..LOL

We shipped out the order for two different kinds of dog treats to a man in Oregon yesterday.  I also finally got the dog collar made and got that order sent to Canada. Mindy called this morning to say that she had sold another collar too.  Rachel called last night to ask me to take the peace sign purse off because her room mate when on my shop to buy a purse for a gift and fell in love with this purse and bought it for herself.  Rachel is coming home this weekend, so she can take it to her and save her the shipping charges.  We have certainly been blessed with sales lately and we hope it keeps right on…LOL  :o) I am working on some scented trivets now, and do they ever smell fantastic.  I mixed raw rice with whole cloves and whole allspice…added a few drops of cinnamon oil and this mixture goes into the fabric trivets I have sewed. The cool part is that when you use one and set a warm pot on it, it makes the smell come alive.  Plus, if anyone is like us, we keep our hot mats in a drawer in our hutch.  These would also act like a sachet.  I will take some pics when I am finished and post them. 

Our little great nephew is already going to be a year old tomorrow.  He is so cute and has been such a blessing to my brothers family.  I just want to say “Happy Birthday Elijah”.  :o)

Columbus Day

Today is our Columbus Day and Canada is celebrating their Thanksgiving.  It is rather interesting that the powers that be made it so that two countries that bordered one another got a holiday and no work or school on the same day.  Works out good for our family since we have  a daughter and son-in-law who live in Canada

We now have almost half of our 2 bushels of apples made into apple sauce.  Maybe we can get the rest made and in the freezer today.  Steve has worked on applesauce for the past two days while I was doing other things.  Yesterday I mixed up a double batch of “snickerdoodles”.  Bradly rolled the cookie balls in cinnamon and sugar for me which was a big help.  I must say though, it felt like I was never going to get them all baked.  They are so yummy though, that I have decided it was well worth the effort.  :o) 

While visiting another blog yesterday I came across a promotion for a really cool shop which is geared around animals and animal rescue as well as the promotion for getting your animals spayed or neutered .  The shop has pages and pages of buttons, key chains and magnets dealing with these subjects.  I thought I would give their shop a feature today.  Here is the addy and a couple of my favorites.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=21445

 

 

 

 

 

Finally Friday

It feels good to have the weekend upon us and it is a three day weekend at that.  Of course, by Monday, I will probably be ready for the weekend to be over and the kids back in school.  LOL 

Rachel is going to the Keith Urban/Sugarland concert tonight, and then she is heading up to Megan and Scott’s tomorrow to help them celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving.  We wanted to get up to see them before the winter weather sets in, but we haven’t gotten our enhanced licenses yet. 

I wanted to let everyone know that Brad is doing very well.  We cried together over his loss of Grandma Nancy and then we talked about the good memories and ways we can remember her since there isn’t going to be a cemetery plot  for the boys to go to.  Brad is thinking of what kind of shrub, tree or plant his grandma liked and we will plant one in the spring in her memory.  Today his skill builder worked with him and she had a small bottle with a cork.  She had him write what he would like to say to his grandma and then he put it in the bottle.  He was very excited about that and showed me what he wrote.  I appreciate all the prayers, and I know that is what has made the difference.

I finished four purses today…all out of recycled clothing.  I will post them so you can see what you think.  Enjoy your long weekend.  :o)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sadness

We have been on a bit of an emotional roller coaster.  We found out yesterday that our dear friend had lost her battle with cancer.  She had been doing great after beating breast cancer in 2008 and then that went into brain cancer this past spring.  She was doing great and then started feeling dizzy and ill.  A spinal tap showed that the cancer was all through her body and her body just could not handle any more treatment.  This beautiful, generous and loving women came into our life when Bradly and Nicholas did.  She is Bradly’s paternal birth grandmother.  She became part of our family and all of our kids called her Grandma Nancy. As well as becoming a grandma to all of our children, she became a very good friend to Steve and I. She was only 9 years older than my hubby and she was so good to all of us.  She always treated Nicholas as her grandchild too and he doesn’t have any idea she was really just Brad’s grandma.  The hardest part is yet to come.  After school today, we have to tell the boys.  We are so concerned about how Bradly is going to take this news.  Grandma Nancy has been the one constant person in his life through all the upheavals and trauma he has endured in his life. It will hurt him terribly and my heart just breaks for him.  Any of you who believe in the power of prayer could pray for wisdom for us and comfort for Bradly. Your prayers would mean so much.

Grandma Nancy is the red head in the middle back behind Brad and Nick.  Nancy’s mother is in the pink shirt and she is lovingly called “Cookie Grandma” by all of her grandchildren.  My mom, Grandma Hubbard is in the blue slacks.  This photo was taken three years ago at the boy’s adoption.:o)

Davey

Nicholas and Bradly will be starting “Horseback Riding Therapy”  this coming week. This will be Nick’s third session and Bradly’s second session. Each session lasts for 6 weeks and they are quite excited about getting to ride again.  The hard part is that Nick’s horse “Davey” is being retired as he is old.  Davey will be going to live at the home of a girl with special needs whose horse passed away a while ago.  It will be a good life for Davey and this girl, but it this news left Nicholas devastated.  He cried so hard when we told him.  The head of the program had suggested we bring Nick up to say good bye before classes began and before Davey was moved.  In the midst of his tears Nick said he didn’t want to say good bye.  I told him he didn’t have to say those words, that he could say “hi” I will miss you.  He perked up and decided to go see Davey and take him a few carrots and an apple.  Judy, who heads up this program, is just wonderful with the kids and the horses.  Judy talked to Nick about her first horse when she was a kid and how, after all these years she has never forgotten that horse.  She told him he would never forget his first horse either.  Nick did very well and is wondering which horse he will be riding this week.  They match the kids with a horse…the horse chooses the child.  The really cool part is that these horses have all been rescued and some had been very abused.  If there is a child in the program that has suffered from abuse, those horses always pick one of those children, because they seem to be able to relate to the child.  I think that is so wonderful.  This is a pic of Nick when he went to say his good-byes.  :o)

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Yesterday kicked off the official “Breast Cancer Awareness Month”.  I was impressed to see that even the NFL jerseys as well as many other items have been made up in pink and that the players will be wearing  to show their support for this special month.  Of course, the way those football players are built, they would look masculine in pink or any other color.  :o) 

We are heading out for a fish fry lunch with my parents.  We have not had one in so long, I can’t even remember the last time we partook of a fish fry.  Our 29th wedding anniversary is on Sunday, Oct. 4th, so we figured this would be our only chance to go out to eat without kids, so we better take it.

Today is my brother James 47th birthday.  Wow, it is hard to believe he is that old, but then I remember that I am 4 years older than he is…ouch!!

I thought in the spirit of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I would put up the pics of the few items I carry in my shop that promotes this awareness. :o)

 

 

 

Zippered cosmetic bag

 

Patchwork Bag

 

 

 

 

zip change purse

Fall

Fall has been my favorite season for as long as I can remember.  I love the beautiful colors, the crisp air, apple cider, and pumpkins.  Of course once Fall arrives we all know what that means…snow will be following right behind…..and that I don’t like.  Actually, if we only had snow for the month of December, that wouldn’t be bad because I do love snow for Christmas.

My hubby made a fresh pumpkin pie yesterday (yes, it is great having a baker for a hubby).  It was so delicious. 

Tomorrow we have to keep both boys home from school as they both had dentist appointments.  We go all the way to Batavia (an hour away) because there is a wonderful pediatric dentist there.  We discovered him when we started doing foster care.  I wish we would have had someone like him when our older kids were young.  Megan had a very bad experience when she was 6 and has been very leery of dentists ever since.

I listed a new clutch purse that I designed.  I will tweak the design just a bit when I make another one, but overall I am very pleased with this one.  I like the first one I made, which didn’t have the fleece interface.  I know some women prefer a more relaxed purse…I like the fleece interface to give it a bit of shape and body.   One of my tooth fairy pillows sold last night, so that was encouraging.  I am hoping with the holidays ahead of us that business will start picking up soon.  :o)