2011 Finishes

Looking at my blog I have noticed that I haven't posted anything in almost a year. I would love to say something big and wonderful happened, like we won the lottery, but that didn't happen and reality is I got lazy. Plain and simple. Good thing is I just got lazy in posting and not stitching! :) However I haven't stitched a whole bunch but I did have a few finishes from last year.

1.) Sunflower Fairy-Nora Corbett

2.) QS Fairy Tales-Heaven and Earth Designs

4.) Boo Moon-Blackberry Lane Designs

3.) My Baby Duck-Cross Stitch and Country Crafts

Like I said a few finishes. Nothing impressive.

So for 2012 I have a couple UFO's, and a couple of WIP's and my goal is to finish all of them this year.....if not all at least all my UFO's. I know one of them I started back in 2007.

UFO's

1.) Topaz Fairie

2,) Fairy Roses

3.) Moonlight's Visit

WIP'S

1.) The Biggest Stash

2.) Spring Fairy

I had 4 finishes last year, I think I should be able to do 5 this year.

Valentine's Gift

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! I hope you have a fantastic day!! Sweet hubby gave me my gift a day early. :) I love, love, love it!!

What a Week!

All I can say is what a crazy messed up week it has been for me! It all started last Friday (Jan 7) when Krissy got sent home from school with Pink Eye. I quickly got her an appointment to be seen at the doctor's to get some medicine so she wouldn't miss too much school or work. Well, Dr. R came in the room and looked at her and said that it was Pink Eye (which I already knew!) and that he wasn't going to give her any medicine because it would go away on its own. I was not a very happy person because this now meant Krissy would miss some school. Her grades are very good but I still don't like my kids to miss school unless necessary. Before we left the doctor's office I had to make her another appointment as she has something going on with her wrist. You can look and see there is a very prominent bump and it is causing her pain. (And no the Dr would not even look at while we were there on Friday!) The Townsend luck kicked in over the weekend and we got 9 inches of snow by Monday so school was called off and the doctor's office called to reschedule Krissy's appointment because they were closing the office down early on Monday.

Meanwhile, Krissy's eye was getting worse and I know that I was going to have to take her back in to the doctor's office. Wednesday morning I call the school to get Krissy's make up work because I know she wasn't going to be back to school that week. HA!!! Who knew that you HAVE to miss 3 days before they will let you pick up homework! I tried to explain to them over the phone that she wasn't going to be at school because she still has pink eye. They said nope she has to be absent for 3 days before they will get it for her. Needless to say as I hung up the phone I was slightly cussing the school. Anyways, I take her to her appointment and the first thing Dr. R says to her when he sees her is her eye isn't getting better and she needs meds. Duh!!! So he writes her a prescription and gives her a note to be excused from work and school for the rest of the week. He then starts to leave the room when I thank him for looking at her eye, but that wasn't the reason for our appointment today, her wrist is the reason! He looks at her wrist and x-rays it and says that they wasn't any fractures (again Duh!!) and he couldn't see anything wrong with her wrist....even though when he would press on it she would nearly jump off of the table in pain. Again, I am frustrated but thankful we at least got some meds for her eye to get better.

I take her doctor's note up to the school showing that she was going to be absent more than 3 days so I could get her homework! And they still gave me grief over getting it for her!! It was not till Friday (almost a week later!) before I got her make up work and then it still wasn't all of it. When I got home from getting Krissy's homework I was greeted at the door with hubby saying we had a problem. Krissy now had white spots all of her throat! Ugghhh!!! Back to the doctor's because I thought it looked like Strep throat. We are in our little room when the doctor walks in and looks at Krissy and says her eye looks a lot better. I said yes it was but we were there because she has white spots on her throat! He looked at it and the Strep test came back negative but she definitely had some sort of infection going on so he wanted to due a throat culture and see what it said. So we got more prescriptions and headed home and I thought that was the end of doctor visits. LOL....I was wrong!!!

Friday evening when hubby got home from work he sat down in the recliner when "something" in his back popped really loud. By bedtime he could hardly even walk. He didn't get any sleep that night so Saturday morning we were back at the doctors. They are open on Saturdays but our regular doctor wasn't there so we had to see another doctor. After the doctor poked, prodded, and took x-rays we were delivered with the news that hubby has a herniated disk, bone spurs, and the disk is deteriorating. Lovely. The next step is to have a MRI done to pinpoint exactly which disk(s) are affected. However, he did warn us that Mike may have to have shots directly into the spine to reduce pain and swelling but until he can have the MRI done Mike has to take medicine to try to bring the swelling down and major pain pills to help with the pain. Actually this diagnosis doesn't really surprise either one of us too much. Hubby has been hit by 4 cars and struck by lightening so something had to give eventually.

So, you can see why this week I haven't been able to get any stitching done! I am hoping next week isn't quite so busy with Dr. appointments.

Snow Day

Late Saturday night it started snowing and hasn't stopped yet! So far we have about 7.5 inches of snow. What does that mean? Yep, no school for the kids today and tomorrow. :( Krissy and Allie weren't brave enough to go outside...but Megan and I were!

Megan loved the snow. She kept picking up handfuls of snow and saying "ready, set, go!" and then tossing it up in the air. She didn't like the idea of making a snow angel.....maybe next year. I did take her on Mac's sled 2 times.....she laughed the whole time but didn't want to do it again. Another thing she really liked was catching snowflakes on her tongue. :) After about 45 minutes I was ready to go in and get warm (I didn't have snow pants like her!) but Megan didn't want to go inside! I was such a mean Mommy and scooped her up and made her come inside to get warm. She was pretty mad until she realized that I had hot chocolate ready for us, then everything was okay. lol

Since tomorrow is another snow day for the kids AND hubby has the day off I might to get to do some stitching! :D

My Baby Duck

It's not much but here is my progress on my current WIP. It is called My Baby Duck and it is from the May/June 1989 issue of Cross Stitch and Country Crafts. This is a pretty simple pattern. No specialty stitches, no metallics, and no beads! However, there is a lot of back stitching in the hair. Plus side of that is it is all one color! :)

Things have been a little crazy trying to get back into the school routine but I think they are settling down now. I had better enjoy this while it lasts because the kids' school district is going to year round school soon. None of my kids have ever attended a school that went year round. They have always had a traditional school year. I'm sure once I have more information about it I will have an opinion but as of right now I don't.

One thing that did happen this week that really opens your eyes. There was a school shooting where a student went to a local high school and shot 2 principals, (killing one and the other is in serious condition) and then killed himself. Thankfully it wasn't any of my kids' schools but still it could have been! It is such a scary thought.

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year to everyone who is still reading my blog! My blog....I have to laugh at that! It is almost non existent! However, this is one of my New Year resolutions....to get back to blogging! At least for now on a weekly basis. I have to say since I started blogging 5 years ago I was a daily blogger but things have changed so much for me in the last 5 years that something had to give. Sadly, I slowly became a sporadic blogger which isn't a bad thing but I realized I miss those few moments when I get to sit down and reflect back on the day. So please bear with me for the next few weeks as I get back into the swing of blogging.

As far as stitching goes, I really haven't stitched a whole lot since my last finish. I did start on a small piece out of an old cross stitching magazine. (Sorry, I can't think of the magazine or title of it right now.) I haven't made much progress but now the kiddos are back in school and back to somewhat of a routine maybe I can sneak in a few extra minutes to get some stitching done. :) I didn't set any stitching goals for myself this year because it is an All For Me Year! All my stitching will be done for me or patterns that I just like. Of course, I hope to squeeze some gift stitching in but that is not a priority for me this year. I am not buying any extra stash this year unless needed for the pattern I am working on at that time. That doesn't mean I might splurge here and there but for the most part I won't be purchasing patterns.

HAED Finish

After nearly 2 years and over 60,000 stitches, QS Fairy Tales is finished!! I am so happy to have this one done as it was my first HAED. :) Now, the question is will I stitch another one? Yes! Only the next time I think I will try the tent stitch seeing as how long it took me to stitch this one with full stitches. As for what is up next to stitch......I have no clue! I will have to go stash diving tomorrow and see what catches my eye.

QS Fairy Tales from Heaven and Earth Designs

Started January 1, 2008

Finished December 6, 2010

Update on QS Fairy Tales

School starts back in three days! Whoo-hoo!! It is hard to believe that Krissy is in grade 11, Allie is in grade 10, and Mac is in grade 7. That makes me feel old!

I have been able to get a little bit of stitching done on QS Fairy Tales. I managed to finish page 5 (of 12)finished. :)

Have a great weekend!

Busy, Busy

I'm sorry for the lack of post but with the hustle and bustle of summer break I really haven't had a lot of time for stitching. On my last post I was working on Collecting Shells......not anymore. After almost having it 50 percent stitched I noticed that my whites weren't matching. There was just way to much for me to rip out and restitch and it was too big to try and fudge it. So I cut it up. Yep, cut it up into tiny pieces. Oh, eventually, I will get around to restitching her just not anytime soon. Since then I have been working on QS Fairy Tales from HAED. I have gotten some nice progress on it and then it was damped by having to rip and restitch about 150 stitches....yuck.

Since I don't have any stitching to show I will just have to share some cute pictures of Megan.


She loves her "blankie"....it is a quilt I made for her before she was born and was one of the few things she could have with her while she was in the NICU.



This one is from when Renee came for a visit. We had a hard time getting her to sit still for a picture. Notice the dog leash that we had to bribe her with just to stay sat for 10 seconds!

Collecting Shells Update

I have managed to get some good stitching time in here and there lately. I have the rest of the girl to stitch and then the back ground which is half stitches and stitching in with one thread over 2.

Collecting Shells

Another day goes by that I didn't get to stitch on anything *sigh* but I AM going to stitch tomorrow! Krissy is at my Mom's house for a week, Allie is going to the Zoo and CWS tomorrow and Mike has to work. So it will be just Mac, Megan and Me for most of the day. We might venture down to the park for a bit before it gets too hot. However, I am not sure how long that will last. When it comes to play areas Megan wants nothing to do with them. I'm talking about as soon as her feet hit the play area she starts crying with real tears! This is one phase I really hope she outgrows fast.

Collecting Shells

Moonlight Visit Progress

During my abscense I did work on Moonlight Visit and made some nice progress. I have a couple of Kreiniks and beads to purchase and then I will have it finished. :)

Today was another non stitching day for me....boo. :( However, I am planning on a stitching weekend for me this weekend.

Home of a Needleworker

In roughly the last 6 months this is my one and only finish. That is the direct result from having a 21 month old running around!

Home of a Needleworker

by LHN Designs

Well, I didn't get to any stitching today but I did get progress pictures taken of Moonlight Visit and Collecting Shells.

Stitching Mojo Found!

It has been a long time since I have posted to my blog because I lost my stitching mojo. Believe me, I know the horror! Of course, the harder I tried to get back into stitching the more frustrated I got with myself. Then once I started to get back to stitching I (temporarily) lost 2 of my UFO's (Toapz Fairie and Fairy Roses). It took about a week of searching for them I gave up and considered them lost in the move. Of couse, this is when they turned up mixed in with my FWIP'S.

I have been working on Moonlight Visit and pretty close to finishing. I just need to buy some BF and a package of beads. I also have been working on Collecting Shells a little. I have only been working on my bigger pieces and trying to get them all finished. I have a couple of pieces that are 1/1....but I don't think I will attempt those just yet. I did just get my mojo back and I really would hate for 1/1 stitching to mess it up. LOL

Overall, things are finally seeming to get back to normal. :)

Week 2 of The Moon SAL

I didn't get much stitching done last week again. It seems to becoming a regular thing. :( I did manage to work some on The Moon SAL. Although I did discover a BIG mistake in it over the weekend. I ended up having to rip out about 100 stitches and restitching them. It is winter aren't the frog supposed to be hibernating or something?! I managed to put in 1,532 stitches this week for a grand total of 3,466 stitches so far. Sounds like a lot, huh? Looks are quite deceiving!

Today I am giving myself a break and I am going to work on Home of a Needleworker. :) That is is if the terror on 2 feet (aka Megan!) will let me sit still for more than 5 seconds!

Have a great day!

Little Stitching

I didn't get anywhere close to the amount of stitching I had planned on doing this weekend. :( I had grand dreams of getting much needed progress on QS Fairy Tales but those dreams were dashed by a mean, ugly, green frog! *Sigh* C'est la vie. However, I did manage to get a few more stitches in Home of a Needleworker from LHN. I like this design because it is a simple one to stitch and after the attack of the frogs I needed an easy pattern to stitch! :)

Today was a glorious day! The kids went back to school.....and so far no threat of bad weather to keep them home! :D Also today, we received letters from Devin. :) He graduates from boot camp in a little less than a month (26 days from the date he sent the letter...LOL) and then he goes to Oklahoma for more training.

I have recently started using a new way to search with Swagbucks. So far, it doesn't seem like a bad thing. I do my normal searches and I earn Swagbucks to spend on prizes. I haven't redeemed any Swagbucks for prizes yet but I plan to in the near future. :) It's free so why not give it a try....plus I will get Swagbucks for any referrals. :)

My Week

So this is how my week was.....Mac went back to school Monday and the girls went back on Tuesday. What happens? We get a snowstorm with unbelievably cold winds Tuesday night that school was cold off for the rest of the week! I don't know who it frustrated more....me or the kids! The girls were bored of vacation so they were ready to be back with their friends. Mac on the other hand was absolutely thrilled because he doesn't have homework. Mix that combination together and you got a couple of irritable and cranky teenagers that were ready to put their little brother up for adoption because he is annoying them. Meanwhile there is a tired 15 month running around because everyone is here and if she falls asleep, even for 5 minutes, she just might miss something important.

As for stitching, it hasn't been to nice to me. I tried 3 different times to stitch on QS Fairy Tales and 3 times yesterday and I ended up frogging. 3 strikes and you are out......I could take a hint and put her away for another time to stitch! I didn't get to stitch today because the girls had me busy running them to and from the mall. :(

I hope everyone has a great week! I know mine will be better than last week as long as the kids go back to school! lol

1,934

One thousand, nine hundred, and thirty four is the exact amount of stitches I stitched this week on The Moon SAL. It may sound like a lot but that is only about 20 percent of page 1 of the SAL! What did I get myself into?!

This weekend I will be working on QS Fairy Tales for a monthly SAL. I'm looking forward to working on her since it has been ages since I stitched on her. :) I have had plenty of stitching time this weekend due to the extremely the snow and cold weather this week. Which means the kids only had one day of school this week They are enjoying it now but just wait and see their attitudes about that when school will get out in June instead of May!

Have a great night!

Townsend Family

A family picture of the whole family together. :)

Go Ahead.....Call Me Crazy

I must be crazy. In fact I know I am crazy! I am participating in a SAL on Facebook and the design size is 447 wide by 728 tall!! If that isn't crazy enough it is being stitched over one! The only part of this project that isn't crazy is I am stitching it on 22 count Aida cloth. My kids bought me Aida cloth for Christmas so I figured I would put it to use. Oh, and it is a mystery SAL, too, so I have no idea what it is other than what the title of the project is.....The Moon SAL from Xstitch Cross Stitch Patterns. Go ahead and tell me I am one crazy lady! LOL

I did manage to have one last finish before 2010. :) I finished Mike's stocking. Mine All Mine is done! Whoo-hoo!! No more stockings for me until next Christmas. :)

Looking back over my 2009 finishes I was surprised at how much I got done with a baby around the house. I had 19 finishes that I finished and 6 finishes that I haven't finished for a grand total of 25 stitching finishes. Not too bad. :)

Happy New Year to everyone!!