Sad news

Last week on the 22th my father in law passed away at home. It had been such a long and difficult journey he had with many bouts of cancer that he fought each time, but this last battle was bigger than what he could fight. The months that had passed we knew we were on borrowed time and spent so much time at my inlaws, created new memories and kept reminiscing about old ones. The months that have passed were also difficult because as time wore on my father in law suffered greatly especially in the last three weeks. While it was hard to say goodbye I also know that now he is no longer in pain and suffering, but at peace now. I learned a lot this year and will continue to learn and hope that the lessons I learned I carry with me always. I realized greatly to love with all your heart and to not take for granted the moments in life, but to appreciate all that you have.  The calling hours and funeral last week was a testament to the man my father in law was. There were so many that came to pay their final respects to a great man that led a great life. May he rest in peace.

Been away as usual for a while

Hi to my fellow followers! It has been months since I have updated my blog, but as always once a week every week I log onto here to see what my fellow stitchers are up to! Thank you so much for the kind words and emails concerning my absence. It seems most of the time anymore there are long gaps in between the next time I post and this time will be no different either. Been a long bumpy road since November. My father in law has been battling cancer for the last few years. It came back for the third time in November, although this time it is terminal. He has brain cancer. We have been spending a lot of time over at my inlaws house to help out my husband's parents and be there for them as much as possible. It has been a very difficult time for our house these months that have passed with watching Mike's dad losing his battle little by little each day. In between all the sadness my son James has been having a year of positives. June 7th he graduates from high school. He has decided to go to college locally for a few years before looking into going to college out of state. A few weeks ago he finally got his driver's license! So he has been not home a lot of the time because he is enjoying his freedom and also spending a lot of time at his grandparents house. I have been stitching, since January I have been doing a lot here and there. I usually take my stitching with me when I go to my inlaws to pass the time away at times. I am hoping to post an update soon of what they look like finished up to my liking. Be back soon and of course I always love to see what everyone has been up to!

Finally back after a long absence

I had realized it has almost been a year since I have posted, but as my friends know even though I have not posted it does not mean I dropped off either because I have made sure to at least keep up to date with all my friends to see what everyone has been up to! Since my last post a lot has gone on that has kept me away for many reasons. Back in March my son got his drivers permit, he is in the process of taking driving school classes and then get his license! Back in the spring we also had to say goodbye to our beloved family dog Strider, He had been battling mouth cancer for months and despite all that we did the cancer was too aggressive for him to fight it so we decided with heavy hearts to say goodbye. That was a hard day for the family, our pets are our furry children, his absence is felt around here still. For some of my friends that had been inquiring, My husband's father is doing much better as well! He is currently cancer free and just taking each day as it comes. In August my son turned 16 and he started school about a month ago, He is a senior this year, so all of a sudden the reality of my first born baby graduating in the spring and starting his future is something that I think of a lot! But as a mom to me these are the moments that I live for as well, watching my son grow through the years into the young man he has become has been life's greatest reward for me! The thought of being an empty nester in the future is something I am slowly working on preparing myself for, but for now I am enjoying each day and keep encouraging my son to keep up the great work. In the time I have been away I have been stitching as well. Little by little in the months that have passed I have been stitching when I had the time to do so! My first finish I am so proud of and I got it done in time for Halloween!! It is called, Halloween, night of Revelry by the Primitive Needle. I love how this came out! My second finish is called Love, by Homespun Elegance, I did not think to take a picture but I also stitched this in mint green on a hand towel for a friend that got married. My third finish is by CCN, it is called season of love. My fourth finish is called Winter, but heart in hand. My last finish is called Tis Green by La D Da. The last picture I am sharing is of our beloved Strider. He was a great dog with a loving heart. Forgive the quality of the pictures, I took these on my phone. I currently do not have a working camera, I hope to get a new one in the winter! I am hoping to not be away as long as I have been. This year has been something else and I know that with my son graduating this year it will have many moments of being busy as well. Thanks for stopping by!

January was a stitchy month for me

Life has been so very busy for some time now for me, but this month that had ended I have been finally having many down moments where I can just sit and stitch! Thank you to all for the well wishes for my husband's father. He is home now, still doing the physical therapy and starting chemotherapy on Monday for the skin cancer that he has been battling for a while now. I have 3 finishes to share! I am happy to say that I have been stitching this week, so I am hoping to have another update very soon as well! The taller finish is called Liberty Tree, it is supposed to be stitched in red white and blue, but I did not want to do that so instead I stitched it all in green. Of course any LHN fan will know that the gingerbread tree is from LHN, I am currently working on another LHN finish that is gingerbread themed as well. The last finish is the Prairie Schooler alphabet, I decided that I wanted to do this for everyone in my house and stitch name ornaments using the PS alphabet. I decided that when this year started I was going to try my hardest to stitch my presents for Christmas throughout the year so that way when the holidays came upon us I would not be so stressed trying to do it all in a small time frame. As always thanks for stopping by and for all of your kind words!

Happy New Year

I realized I have been a way for so long here, but I have been checking in with my fellow bloggers to see what they have been updating on their blogs. I have been stitching in the months that I have been away, but not so much. Life right now has gotten more in the way than anything. Our holiday season here was good, as always so much to do before the big day and then it comes and goes just like that! A lot of illness between myself and my husband's father has kept me away.  My husband's father has been battling cancer for almost a year and had surgery the day after Christmas, but a few days after the surgeries he had, he suffered a stroke. He is paralyzed on the left side and will have to live in a rehab facility for a while to learn the basics that come so easily to us. Needless to say the last year with all that we have been through it has been challenging and a huge struggle. With it being a new year though I am so very much hoping that this year is kinder to my family and household....

Before I forget I wanted to share photos of what I have been doing stitchy wise! The one finish is somewhat a Prairie Schooler finish. I used the pattern from Birdsong 1, but because I was on a time crunch to get this done, I had to shorten this up since it was a Christmas gift for my sister and I was truly working until the last minute! My second finish is by Brittercup designs. I love the cat designs that are always coming out for Christmas! My third finish is something that has importance to it.... on Thanksgiving eve at my local library I signed up to enter the annual cross stitch contest they have every year in December. For years I have wanted to enter, but held back out of fear of not being good enough, but this year I said to heck with it! It will be on display for a few more days before the top 3 entries will be chosen. The contest every year is sponsored by a little cross stitch shop here in town. The 3 winners will get a gift card to go shopping in her store. By the way this is called Gentle Harvest by cross eyed cricket. The last little finish was a little something that I made for my friend. With that said wish me luck! I had seen some entries at the cross stitch show that even took my breath away. I just am excited to see my finish on display, so if I do not win it will be ok! With that said Happy New Year! May this be the year that brings all we wish and so much more.

Summer is almost gone for another year..

It has been almost a few months since I have been here to post. I have been stitching and keeping busy. I have a lot of patterns off to the side that I want to work on, will see how successful I am on that one, I do a lot of wishful thinking! My son started school this week, he started grade 10. The years have gone by fast! I am sharing a picture of my son on his first day of school. I also have a few finishes to share. I had stitched up a few small cards as gifts for friends, they were quick and simple to stitch but cute as well! I have a Halloween finish as well by La D Da, I got it from the Just cross stitch Halloween edition that I got back in January at the library book sale. Thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone's summer has been a good one!

Finally a few finishes after being away for a while

I realized it has been a few months since I have been online to my blog. Not much going on really, just have been moving at a turtle's pace with my stitching. My oldest son James has been out of school for a month now. We got through the freshman year! Come next month when school starts again he will be in 10th grade, the years have been flying by with him it seems. This summer James has been doing practice driving in secluded areas as well. Other than that not too much else going on in my household really to speak of. In the last few months I have been stitching and I have 3 finishes to share. All of my finishes are from the Just cross stitch Halloween issue from 2011 that I checked out from the library. Since I realized my local library has sewing magazines to check out I have been checking magazines out left and right! My first finish is called Witch's hat by The Stitchworks, the second finish which I am quite fond of is Witchy Kitty by Brittercup designs and then my third finish is called a crow's pick by Knotted Tree Needleart. For every holiday and season I have a tree up that I put my ornaments on and these are all made to go on that tree when it is time to start decorating for Halloween! I hope everyone that stops by my blog has a lovely holiday and week ahead and thanks for stopping by!