My handmade Christmas gift list total

Crocheted---

8 scarves
2 large candle cozies

1 doll blanket

1 hat

4 edged hankies

2 doilies

Quilted---

1 potholder
3 wall hangings
dolly diaper bag

1 twin size quilt (Michelle quilted/bound it for me as her gift to Heather .)

Misc. crafts and small quilty pressies for various swaps and exchanges also.

I haved started a list of ideas for next year. Never too early to start. Having goals really helps me. Looking at the calendar and marking birthdays and adding them to my "gift list" really helps alot. This next year is starting off busy. I will be having surgery end of January/first of February. Surgeon consult on the 4th. Penny and I are also planning on doing some Fibre Shows next year. And I am hostessing 2 quilt retreats. See I have goals. :o))

Feeling so blessed

To have had another Christmas with all of us here together. Seems so many of us in our family are not feeling well and I do not take any time we spend together for granted, especially as I watch my sweet parents age so quickly before my eyes. Both my in-laws have health issues also and not near my parents age. Baby Jaidyn so enjoyed opening her (and our) gifts. At age 2, she can say "more" and her version of "open" quite plainly. :o) Little Shayla was blessed with so many goodies and said "thank you Baby Jesus for sharing your birthday with us". I LOVED hearing that. Thankful at 6, she understands why we are celebrating. And WHAT we are celebrating. My sisters and I went together and got our mom a digital photo frame with a 4GB memory card. After loading over 300 pictures on it, it can easly hold 3,000 more! Penny called it Granny TV. Bittersweet memories of our grandparents and family passed away were added. Sad but loving at the same time. Even current and past furbabies. We do love our furbabies. Cannot wait to load more pics for her.

Hope you are staying warm and whatever your circumstances, can still say with me...I am blessed.

Christmas Bells

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I heard the bells on Christmas Day

Their old, familiar carols play,

And wild and sweet

The words repeat

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,

The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along

The unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,

The world revolved from night to day,

A voice, a chime,

A chant sublime

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth

The cannon thundered in the South,

And with the sound

The carols drowned

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent

The hearth-stones of a continent,

And made forlorn

The households born

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;

"There is no peace on earth," I said;

"For hate is strong,

And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;

The Wrong shall fail,

The Right prevail,

With peace on earth, good-will to men."

Shameless begging....

Hey ladies. Here is my begging. If you order off Amazon, would you do it through the link on my blog? I get a tiny bit and it all adds up.after a long time. It is in the sidebar. I want soooo many books and a couple of crafting tools and simply cannot afford them. They have tons of quilting and crafting books and you can order your groceries even. Crazy!

 So that is my shameless begging. Pitiful huh?

And about that give-a-way.....it is coming! I need to take some pictures of the goody. The lighting was good today, but I was gone most of the day. Have had to have a CAT scan of my neck. I have a wonky thing going on with a lymph node. A biopsy is scheduled for next week pending the results of today's test. Blech.

The temp right now, this very minute (3am), is 15 degrees. That is nuts. It is so gonna be a doozie of a cold winter. I am wearing double socks all day long here at home. Hope you are staying warm! :o)

Have you heard this phrase??

A mouse in the house is not as fun as a cat in a hat? Maybe it is just an Indiana thang. Or maybe I just made it up. Whatever the case...thank you to my sister Penny who dumped (We threw it allllll away!) my visitor into the trash and then took it alllllll to the outside trashcan. I simply could not take it in the furnace closet laying there another second. Then she took me to see Heather's outside Christmas lights. And then after the memory of the aforementioned visitor had passed, we ate turkey rice soup from the leftover TDay feast. I added zucchini from my freezer and sliced carrots. Add to that Mark's homemade yeast rolls. Pretty tastie I thought.

Sending out some love to the birthday girl Penny too! :o) Tomorrow is her day. Well this weekend is actually party wise :o)

I am thankful for today...
parchment paper
peanutbutter and milk chocolate chips
heat
twinkle lights
sisters
loving parents
Casting Crowns newest cd

I won, so YOU win

I won a give-a-way at Tatting Tales last month. An original watercolor and 2 skeins of her hand dyed #20 thread. Both quite yummy! Thank you so much.

In the spirit of winning, I will be hosting a give-a-way this month. Details to come. Don't worry, it will be easy, no hoops or loop-de-loos to go through :o) Who has time for that?

I found a recipe in my late night blog surfer, and forgot where of course. After eating only bland food for what seems like FOREVER, I am wanting a bit of flavor to cross my palette. This seems harmless and easy enough. Brown ground beef with diced onion. Drain well. Add taco seasoning and one can of undrained diced tomatoes. Cook for 5 minutes or until liquid is gone. Soften a large block of cream cheese. Spread into bottom of a pie plate. Evenly spread meat mixture over cream cheese. Sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese on top. Microwave or heat in oven until cheese is slightly melted. Serve with tortilla chips. I am thinking all the cheese will help my tummy with any kick of the meat. You could also add a layer of refried beans and black olives. Yummy. But I am not pushing my luck this time.

With all my resting I have been doing a lot of crocheting. Charity gifts. Several small bags and coasters have been felted. Hankies trimmed. Scarfs made. Hat for Baby Jaidy. Working on a doll blankie to go with Shayla's Christmas doll, Baby Alive. Man she has all the bells and whistles. Mark has insisted she is the one. I prefer the soft, cuddly dolls. But since Uncle Mark is dropping the big bucks, happy Shayla! LOL I need to get to my playhouse to do some quilting, maybe later in the week.

Are you watching The Biggest Looser? Penny and I have gotten hooked. I have never watched it from start to finish. Only give Survivor that much tv loving. hahaha But I have really gotten involved in TBL. Allen was from our area, 2 counties over. I was sad he didn't make it to the final 4. I am for Danny out of the 4 that are left. He has such a good heart. You can just see it.

Thank you for all the sweet emails of encouragement I have received. They have meant a lot to me.

PS: As Penny and I was watching TBL I was telling her about my post. And then it hit me. Hey I am making this medium calorie recipe tomorrow night/watching TBL. And I didn't even CATCH it when I wrote it. Not until I watched these people on their journey. Sigh....The cream cheese is not low fat. The meat is ground chuck. The cheese is a mozzarella blend. Myself, I will use saltines cause the chips are too salty (blood pressure). Hmmm....No matter that it has been several months since I have had anything with zing and flavor to it. I just WANT it. And that is what is wrong with America me. Just want it all no matter if it isn't the best for us.