Last of the knitting for 2007

Last night I finished the twirly scarf for my sister (just a tab bit late for Christmas). It's cloudy today so the pictures aren't that great.

Below is the start of the the Keyhole Scarf (you can find many patterns on the web). I'm using one from Farmhouse Yarns, knit on Lumpy Bumpy in bold, bright colors (my favorite!).
I didn't get to knit as much as I wanted in 2007. I'll try to change that in 2008! Here's to a safe, happy, and healthy New Year to all of you.

Christmas in Kansas

We arrived to balmy 55 degrees at midnight. I was thinking this was the warmest Christmas we'd ever spent in Kansas (at least in recent memory). The next morning, my dd and I made our way to Lawrence to Allen Fieldhouse. She's a Senior this year and very excited about how well the football team has done and is crazy about roundball. This is the scene inside. Here we are, decked out in blue and red, rock chalking with the best of them.

Of course, KU won. All the while, the weather was changing rapidly. Here's the car when we got out.Here's me inside, sopping wet after walking through the ice and snow.

Here's Peyt cleaning off the car. I would have helped, but we only had one pair of gloves between us (they were mine).

We made it home safely by driving extremely slow and being patient. Thankfully, it didn't snow anymore while we were there. Basketball gifts were in big demand.
And KU Jayhawk items were very popular.

Merry Christmas!

Don't forget during this crazy, busy time to remember the true meaning of Christmas - the birth of our Lord Jesus. Below are more of the Christmas cards I sent out this year.

Cards from friends

I'm home sick with a virus (ugh!) but I've been receiving the most wonderful Christmas cards and letters in the mail. Today, I'm sharing the handmade ones with you (although I love all that I receive). Enjoy!

More Cards

I had great plans of uploading a card a day, but that didn't work out. Then I thought maybe I could upload several, but have them publish one a day, but I can't figure out how to do that with blogger. So, you're getting several a day now. Merry Christmas!

Another Card

My picture isn't all that great, but this is a nice pale green IRL. Now back to the busy-ness of the season! Hope you can find time to relax today.

Christmas Cards

This time of year is much too busy....we've already had 2 of our Christmas's. This weekend is my DIL's graduation from UT. We're hosting a party for her at our house. I still have a few presents to mail, plus finalize the presents for my work. Busy, busy, busy!

This year I did something a little different for my Christmas cards. Instead of one design, I made several. Since I'm too busy to blog, I'll be posting the cards for awhile. Enjoy....and take time to enjoy the season!

COTM and Pocket-FULL

This is my November COTM (Card of the Month) that I'm sending to my friend Jeanine in Cleveland, TN. The cardstock is from Club Scrap. Stamps are from Papertrey Ink.

This is the artwork inside Susie's pocketfull book. Her book is house shaped and she crackled all the pages. I went with a faith theme.

This is the front page with the artwork inserted into the pocket. Sorry for the glare on the photo.For the back, I used a piece of fabric from a slip, cut into the house shape. The angel image is layered on top. I used my handy Xyron to attach the vellum saying.

Card Making

Here are all my supplies for my Christmas cards. I've actually got them all done (well, 150 of them anyway). This is the first year I've had them done in October. Boy, it's a great feeling (since I love to PLAN ahead).

I'm also working on my project for the DRI next weekend. This is a get-together with other stampers in my local area. I finished the sample this morning. It's a slider card modeled after one shown on Papertrey Ink. This picture shows the slider part pulled out to reveal the inside image. I colored the flower with Prismacolor Pencil and used mineral spirits to blend them. I think it turned out pretty good, although I'm not a big fan of coloring. I like quick/easy and coloring sometimes takes too long. This is another card I made this morning, still using the mineral spirits to blend the pencils. I really like how this one turned out.

Fall is definitely here in East TN - the mornings are cooler and the leaves are turning such wonderful colors (and falling to the ground). I didn't think summer was ever going to end this year! When I was a kid, summer was my favorite time of the year (guess it was because school was out and we went swimming nearly every day). As I got older, Spring became my favorite, especially after moving to TN as the trees and flowers in the south are so gorgeous! But now, my favorite is Fall. I love the cooler weather, wearing jeans and sweaters, buying new boots, making chili and soups, snuggling with my hubby on the couch. It's all wonderful!

Celebrating 50 years

We had a family reunion (15 of us) last weekend in Branson, MO in honor of my parents 50th anniversary. It would be appropriate to post a picture of them, but I neglected to take one! We were having too much fun. The waterfall was at the entrance to the Lodges we stayed at.

This is Bob and Dad on the front porch of the lodge. It has 4 bedrooms, each with a private bath. My sisters Rene' and Roxi were both able to come, along with their families. My kids/spouses stayed in a 2 bedroom lodge just around the corner. It was really fun to all be together.

We all drove down on Friday morning and met in Springfield, MO to eat lunch at Lambert's Cafe - home of the throwed rolls. From there, we drove onto Branson and checked into the lodge. Once settled, we made a quick trip to the grocery store and bought all the fixin's for a big taco dinner! The next morning, Parker worked his magic chef abilities and turned much of the leftovers into a scrambled egg bake, along with sausage and toast. Then it was off to play!

Our first stop was The Track to ride go carts. There were several tracks and all 15 of us rode them (although not all at the same time). We REALLY are a competitive family! There was much bumping and rubbing, as well as a few spin outs (helped along by others!). After a quick lunch, most of us rode the Ducks. This is a fun way to see the sites of a location, both land and sea. We ate dinner at McFarlain's in the Imax theatre where all the waiters sang Happy Anniversary to Mom and Dad. Afterwards, we all attended the Jim Stafford Show. He's as funny as always (remember the song "I don't like spiders and snakes"). His son and daughter also performed. Then it was back to the lodge where we watched the ending to the UT/South Caroline football game (go VOLS!).

Early Sunday, we all went our separate ways. Bob and I, along with Parker/Amanda and Peyton/Mark, drove back to KC to catch our plane. We had a lively trip home, full of laughter and sharing. It was great that we could all be together to celebrate with Mom and Dad. Happy Anniversary!