December 24, 2008

Pictures from Christmas Eve 2008

Snowfolks On A Big Ole Crow!

This is my latest creation listed on Ebay, ending Thursday night. While I'm very partial to Santa's, sometimes a doll maker may have to go off into a Winter Wonderland and make snow folks. I listed this as part of TDIPT's group launch.

Happy Birthday to my Babby!

That's right! My "babby" turned 20 yesterday. Time sure does fly! I hope he doesn't get upset with me for sharing an old nickname I had for him. It sure brings back some good memories. Joey is our youngest. He had colic as a baby and after that, he was pretty doggone good! He's attending the local Community College, part time and working part time. He's my neat-nick. He made me a hockey mom! LOL! Saturday morning he left at 4:30 a.m. to go hunting with his older brother. Then, he and his Dad went out and played on their bikes, and a friend's 4 wheeler. Its nice to see the guys get out and have fun together. We took him and his girlfriend to dinner last night and came home for some good ole cake & ice cream. Tomorrow, Joey and I have a date to go vote together. It will be his first presidential election, and I'm so honored to be with him. Happy Birthday, Babby! ;)

Our Backyard Guest

My hubby snapped a picture of this big guy early yesterday morning. He was in this old cedar tree directly out from our patio door. He was huge and kind of scary looking to me. We've got two little dogs now. Our biggest is a 15 lb silky terrier and the smallest was my Mom's dog who is about 11 lbs, a mixed Yorkie. I just pray he finds enough food to stay away from our dogs!!

Off to the Pumpkin Patch We Went!

We were blessed to have our grandson for 3 days and we were excited to take him to the local pumpkin patch. Although most of the fun things to do were geared towards older children, we still had fun. There were goats, lots of piglets, baby cows, chickens and turkeys to name a few animal that we could visit. We took a hayride and PaPa and Jackson even went down a few slides. We had a ball!

Loving the Change of Season

Although the past few days have climbed into summer-like temperatures, there are still signs of Fall. The mornings have been cool and some trees are changing colors. It seems as though this year the colors are changing later than normal. But since we had lots of good rain this summer, the colors will surely be beautiful. This year we had to pull out some bushes near the front porch. They had gotten so overgrown. We decided we wanted to be able to see the front door a little better. Thought I would share this view of my front porch.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today was always a day to remember in our family, and still is. The memories of my Dad’s Birthday and the many fun family celebrations that we had with him will be in my heart forever. He was fun, funny and loved his family. His family was everything to him and liked nothing more than an excuse for us all to get together and we did that as often as possible. I remember when he started the tradition of calling up the men in the family before Mother’s Day and asking them to bring a dish for dinner. I remember on my 40th Birthday he brought me 40 long stem red roses. Yep, there are many more where that came from. He loved each one of his 5 children and 13 grandchildren equally. I still miss him sorely after almost 5 years since his passing. So here’s to you Dad, Pop-Pop, Pop, D-Daddy -- Happy Birthday! This year, you have the love of your life with you to celebrate. XO

Fun in the Sand

Just can't resist posting this picture of my grandson at Ocean City, MD. They are at the ocean for some much need R&R. Probably not much rest to be had chasing after Jackson, but I'm sure they'll have lots of fun.

My Swap From Linda

Today I received a package in the mail from Linda, Simple Tresures. We're doing a fall secret swap in TDIPT. I was so excited when I got home this afternoon to see a package on my front porch. Thank you, Linda for your generosity and thoughtfulness that you put into this special package for me. I LOVE everything! :)

September 11

Today, my thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families, the brave firefighters and police officers of 9/11, and our Military who are serving our Country so this may never happen again.

Early American Life Magazine, Christmas Issue 2008

It is an honor that my work in Santa's, is one of 46 artists chosen to be published in the Early American Life Magazine's Christmas Issue 2008, Holiday Directory. It was something I never could have imagined, and only by the Grace of God, did it happen. Many of you know that my mother was ill for several months, even more so than anyone knew. I wasn't accomplishing much of my work and finally let go of my own expectations of working full time on my dolls. I decided to concentrate on a couple of Santa's allowing myself plenty of time to work on them before the application deadline, as well as spending time with my Mom, and dealing with health care professionals. As I was completing my last Santa, my Mom took a drastic turn for the worse and passed away. With the loving support and encouragement of my husband, I completed the last Santa who only needed his hair. I thank God for allowing me to work with my hands creating my dolls and for this opportunity as well as the time he allowed me with my Mom.

If you would like to learn more about the selection process into the Early American Life Directory, please visit http://www.ealonline.com/ and click on "Directory".

After the Storm

After Hannah rolled through our area, let's just say boys will be boys, and my grandson is no exception!

I would like to thank LaDonna Welter for giving me this wonderful award. I feel honored to receive this. Please visit the blog of this amazing paper cutting artist.
I also want to thank all of you who come to visit my blog. I feel very honored that you come to see what's happening in my part of the world.

Once an award is received, the rules are as follows:
*Put the logo on your blog.
*Add a link to the person who awarded you.
*Nominate at least seven other blogs.
*Add links to those blogs on your blog.
*Leave a message for your nominee on their blogs.

Here are my nominees:

Nancy Malay of Vintage Folk & Whimsey

Annie of Chickadee Primitives

Mandy of Fiddlestix Studios

Jenn of The Prairie House Primitives

Pam of Goldie Loo Woodworks

Belinda of Pond Creek Primitives

Jane Augenstein - My World in Pictures

A Reason to Celebrate

On this Labor Day weekend, when we celebrate the achievements and contributions of all workers across this great country of ours, our family has another reason to celebrate. I emailed my nephew to see if he had any requests for his next goodie box that I was preparing. He is in the United States Navy, serving in Iraq. His reply came faster than any I've received from him. He said he didn't have any needs, that they are getting ready to come HOME!!!! YiPPPEEEE! We are so grateful for his service and all of our brave troops serving both at home and abroad, but I can't wait to hug this sailor's neck!

I hope that all of you have an enjoyable and safe Labor Day weekend. God Bless America and all of our troops!

Special Times

Many moons ago, I took care of my best friend’s little girls on a daily basis. When they first started coming to my house, the oldest was 5 and the youngest was 3. Now they’re both close to 30 and they’ve both grown into beautiful adults. Saturday, I was honored to attend the youngest one’s bridal shower. It was a lovely shower and so much fun to see these girls, their friends and the bride-to-be’s future family-in-laws. The food was fantastic. My best friend is an awesome cook! I believe it was just before Jenny opened her gifts that we took turns introducing ourselves. If you know me, you know I’m very shy and hate speaking in front of people I don’t know. Well, I said my name and said that I used to baby-sit Jenny when she was 3 years old. All of the ladies said “awwwwe”, except Jenny (who by the way is now referred to as Jennifer). Jenny said “and I used to cry on the week ends because I wanted to go to her house”. Tears welled up in my eyes. I haven’t met the groom yet, but I know that he is a very fortunate man to be marrying Jenny and I pray that they will be blessed with a happy and healthy life together. Best Wishes and hugs to the Bride and Groom.

My First Entry

I love this picture of my Grandson Jackson and one of his dogs.