Updates ...

I started my book yesterday for the Winter Classics Challenge.
I am beginning with Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. So far to me, it's a good book. I guess I don't get the whole amazingly wonderful classic that all should read ... but maybe I'm not as "deep" as those people who say that are! We'll see what happens when I get to the end =)

I received some fabric in the mail today for what will become my Dear Jane quilt...



Well, I like it enough - but I think from now on, I will be shopping in store. Some of it just isn't "me" but I think all of it, except maybe 2 of the fat quarters will blend in the quilt nicely, and really that is the point of it, right? But had I been picking these fat quarters in person, well, maybe half would not have made it home with me :0

I also had a chance to get some knitting done today. Which is good since 2 Christmas gifts aren't done. Yeah, just a slight problem, dontcha think? One will be bumped for a Christmas gift to a first birthday gift and the other will just be given late if I can finish it while the one it is intended for is still in the same size clothes! LOL!

And now I am off to make a dress for my oldest, who needs it for a play. We've only known about this for, oh, geeze, 2 months now? Of course the play is in 1.5 weeks. Nothing like waiting for the last minute, huh?

Z

is for Zest for life ...
my kids are so excited just to be here each and every day. It's amazing ... and it's contagious!
So for the new year, I hope that they keep their zest for life, well that they keep it always, and that 2007 is full of wonderment, merriment, joy and love - for them, for my entire family, and also for all of you!

Happy New Year! =)

Y

is for my younger days ...

These are all me - from random points in life ...
Starting at 2, moving to around 4ish maybe, then to 5 or 6 (the white dress is one of my favorites!), then off to jr. high - maybe 8th grade?, then on my 16th birthday, New Year's Eve in 97 (so Dec. 31, 1997), my wedding in June of 99, the birth of my first dd in Oct. 99, then college graduation May 03!
I admit these are all photos of photos so the quality might not be the best. But I have to say, it was fun to go through the photos and pull some out! The pictures of me from birth to the start of college fill up roughly one album, and then there is an explosion of pictures! It seemed once I started taking the pictures, there were a ton of them!
Maybe that's why I photograph my children so much ... I have so very few of me, especially really little - I think I have about 20 pictures total of me from newborn to age 5? Pictures were just few and far between then ... now with the digital age, I can take too many! Now watch, my kids will be so sick of pictures that when they have children, they'll take the fewest amount possible LOL!

X

x is for my
XL-6000 Embroidery/Sewing machine that was a Christmas present! And I love it!! =)

Phew ...

Okay, as you can see, I added large amounts of posts lately - mostly the 25 Days of Christmas Project and the ABC Along!

I have to say, despite mass postings right at the end here, I really enjoyed doing both of them and would love to do them both again in 2007!
The ABC Along was a great way to just have a few posts each month even if there was nothing else to show, and the 25 Days of Christmas was fun as I love the holidays. Christmas next year will be even more fabulous since we will be in our very own home! I can not wait to get there (1-2 months to go until then!) and to decorate and celebrate with the kids in some ways that I dream of celebrating but have been unable to in this house.

Anyway, speaking of Christmas, this year was the best one ever - declared so by my 7 and 4 year old! I think so as well. The holidays brought me several more opportunities to make things ... I recieved a breadmaker from my darling dh.


Now, I've been asking for one for, oh, roughly, forever! As we speak I have a 2 pound loaf of wheat bread baking - well, it's probably in the rising stage, but none-the-less, it's there, it's working, and I LOVE it! We have made 2 loaves on it already - so I'm going for one a day apparently!
I did a 1 pound wheat bread first and yesterday we did a 2 pound cheesey bread. Oh, I must say I am in love with this machine =) I can also do jams in it, so I think later today I am going to try a rasberry jam. Yum. Fresh jam for my fresh bread, does it get any better?

I also recieved the Dear Jane book for Christmas.

         
I have already bought some fabric for it - not enough to finish it, but enough to get started!
And last night I cut pieces to make my first block. Hopefully there will be a picture to show sooner, rather than later! I'm excited to start this project ... it will take me a long time for sure (at just 2 blocks a week, and then 2 triangles a week, I figure I will finish it in roughly 3-4 years.) But I am up for the challenge and can't wait to tackle it!

W

Wall of artwork (and other misc. items in there) all done by my children.
This is in our basement. I love hanging things up there ...
somewhere in the new house I will have to recreate this ... not sure where though. Kind of bummed about losing this spot!

V

is for Very Tiny Cake ... made by my darling 7 year old with her brand new Easy Bake Oven!
She is in love with her oven =) and has made several very tiny treats in it! =)
Maybe she'll be a grand chef one day!

U

This is my brand new, just for Christmas, Ultimate Plus Breadmaker by Breadman!
I am in love with it. I have already made 2 loaves of bread ... with one planned for tomorrow morning and some homemade jam in it tomorrow afternoon! Yummmy!

T

T is for Tree .... Cards the children and I made .... the upper left corner is my 4 year olds, the upper left is my 7 year olds, and the bottom one is mine.
We made these Monday at a card thingy and i have to say, I'm hooked! I want to make cards, lots and lots of cards! LOL!

S

S is for
Super Monkey Ball
My family and I love playing this game together! It's got a funny name (well, at least I think so) but it has provided lots and lots of laughs and good times around this house!

R

R is for resting.
I wish I could rest in this position! OMG! I think my back and face hurt just looking at him!

Q

Q is for Quilting Stash ....
It's the smallest of all my stashes (and my dh is probably extremely thankful for that LOL!). Maybe someday it will get larger, but for now, it will do =)

P

100_9976
Originally uploaded by brandie160.

P is for purple blanket (as seen wrapped up with my babyboy).
This is by far my most favoritist blanket ever. It would not be uncommon to find me curled up with this blanket. I am just in love with it.
It is made with wonderfully soft and comfortable fleece.
We purchased it in New Hampshire from a store called Chuck Roast while we were on vacation. When I saw it, I knew it was coming home with me.
I just love my purple blanket ... and even though it's hard, as you can tell, I do share it with others, at least sometimes!

O

Outdoor education ....
we sometimes school outside if the weather is good enough and the fancy strikes us. We mostly do this, well, simply because we can =)

N

is for naptime =)

We get about 2-3 naps a day here - mostly about 20 minutes long. But at least I get a few breaks a day. Don't get me wrong, I love my children dearly but at the same time, I love and appreciate a few breaks from them every now and again.

M

is for my darling daughter M!


She makes life more fun and sometimes a little more crazy! She has her unique quirks (i.e. she won't walk in rain without crying about it), still loves to suck on her thumb, turns 4 next month and wants a Thomas the Tank party. She loves to wear dresses and would probably wear the same exact dress every single day if we let her! She loves Disney Princesses and baby dolls of any kind. She is a true joy and we love her!

L

L is for my

laptop.
Dh gave this to me for Christmas 2 years ago. It's where I blog, surf the internet for patterns, ideas, how-to's, do embroidery designs, lesson plans, record keeping, and all sorts of fun stuff through out the day! And as a bonus it's wireless and I can do these things pretty much anywhere in my house I want to! LOL!

K

K is for knitting ...

For lack of a picture of myself, I insert my babyboy "knitting" instead LOL!
and also for my kiddos ...

My crew
(Standing: my 3 year old, my 6 year old. Sitting: my youngest sis, babyboy and me)

J is for ...

jigsaw!


how I get them done LOL!!!
Hey, a momma's gotta do what a momma's gotta do to have some fun ;-)

I

For the ABC along there is a contest for the best I picture .... I read about it awhile ago and have been racking my brain for a great I picture - the prize of yarn looked fabulous and I wanted it.
So I racked my brain of I words. I knew I needed to have an ingenuous idea. I need to be imaginative and an innovative thinker.
So I thought about things that are me and could be photographed.
Maybe an I-cord to show my knitting ... nah, too boring.
Sometimes I feel like an idiot ... nah, how do you take a picture of that?
I suffer from insomnia ... maybe a picture of a clock showing 2 am. But no, that's not what I want.
How about inspiration I thought? I could take a picture of my inspiration to craft! But truth be told ... I usually get inspired in the heat of the moment because I see something I like and want to create it myself. So it's hard to pin down one thing for inspiration.
I asked my husband ... he said I was intelligent. That's arguable so I passed LOL!
He then suggested I scan the I section of the dictionary to find a word to win.
Yes, I admit it .. I did. I pulled out the dictionary.
Then I thought I am completely irrational sometimes. I suppose looking through the dictionary to find a great I-word to enter the ABC-along contest shows just how irrational I can be. Or when I go to the store and buy more fabric when I have 2, okay 3, boxes of fabric downstairs. I am irrational when I buy stuff just in case I ever want to make something when I really deep down know I won't really make it LOL! I am irrational when I decide I have to learn yet another craft but in order to do it properly I must go out and spend lots of money to get every tool I might need and buy more supplies than I can probably use over the course of a year. I am irrational when I have to have another diaper bag just in case the other 4 somehow won't work. Or when I have to get another purse because it's cute, bring it home, use it once, and decide it's not so cute afterall. I am irrational some days when I secretly hope babyboy will stay up later than the rest of the family because I know I can lay him down and knit for about 10 minutes without interruption. I am irrational when I stay awake late at night to finish that really great book even though I know I will be dead tired the next day and I have three kids who will need me. I am irrational for thinking about I words for so long to get some more yarn (becuase the 3 boxes and 2 bags full of yarn downstairs just aren't enough) and goind to far as to look up words in the dictionary! Yes, I am irrational at times, okay maybe a lot of the time! But that's who I am and I like me this way! And even my dh would admit he likes me this way (although he probably wishes my irrational ways didn't usually mean spending money LOL!)
So here is my picture: my irrational self perusing the I section of the dictionary trying to find the perfect word!

I is for irrational!