Maybe TMI?

Ok, I am giving you fair warning. This post could be filed under the Too Much Information category. So, if you don't want to read any further, I understand.

You can probably tell that I have been a little lackluster in the posting category lately. It's actually a combination of things, including a bit of post-holiday letdown. In addition to that.....

*Things have been a little, shall we say, overwhelming in the extended family situation. Some family members are just plain difficult to deal with sometimes. We will leave it at that in case said person(s) happen to read this blog. Highly unlikely, but not worth the risk.

*In the knitting category, I am a little burned out. After crunching out the Christmas gifts, well, I need a little break. I am waiting til the overwhelming urge to knit like a madwoman hits me again. So far, it hasn't. Sigh..... I feel uninspired and highly unmotivated. All is not lost however, as yarn, books, and browsing still tempt me bunches. I have been filing away all sorts of good knitting ideas for when the urge returns. I wish it would hurry though.....

*Health has also been an issue. Due to a new medication I am taking (which I will be calling the Dr. about very soon), I have been having frequent and annoying headaches. Quite frankly, they are really wearing on me. I am hoping to be off the medication soon, which will probably result in a small outpatient surgery, but hopefully it will alleviate both the headaches and the need for the meds. Enough said.

Sorry if I bored you with way too much info. I hope to be feeling better, getting the knitting urge back, and posting some great stuff again soon. Does anyone have anything really inspiring to share with me? Maybe it will help!

I love surprises!!!!

One of my favorite parts of Christmas is the surprises. My sis, my Dad and I all chipped in this year to get my mom the best gift!

Do you think she will like it?



Is she not the cutest? We picked her up this afternoon and the party is tomorrow. I am almost bursting with the anticipation!



We love her already! She really likes Parker too. She is the sweetest little thing ever! Ooooh, I can't wait til tomorrow!

Ready to wrap!

Well, I have some gifts finished. Now I just need to wrap them.



I put the button on my niece's purse and felted the slippers. I am sure she will really like them. Aren't they just super cute!?



I also felted the slippers for my mom and her friend. I actually like the ones with the pink stripe better. The contrast is better between colors. Lesson learned. But I know my mom won't care, and if she doesn't like them, I will just make her another pair.

Now I just need to felt two more pairs and I am done with the Christmas knitting. Next year I am definitely starting earlier. I had hoped to get a pair for each of my girls done too, but I don't think I will keep trying. I will just make them after the holidays.

Next year I think I will vary my gifts a little bit more too, so I don't have slipper burn-out! They have been a really great project to take along to volleyball games though. DD Al is playing, and it has been fun getting some gifts done while watching. Yay for multi-tasking.

How about all of you? Got all your holiday knitting done?

Christmas Fun!

A Christmas meme (found various places in blogland)

I had so much fun reading the answers to these questions on other blogs, I hope more people do it!

1. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Um, he is the big kahuna, he has his elves do it.
2. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
Well I prefer white lights, but I like the colored ones if they are tastefully done. My pet peeve is when people have all sorts of mismatched lights randomly scattered around their trees and yard. I especially hate it when all the lights on a tree match except for one strand. Gah!
3. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
Well that is hard, because I am a huge holiday baker. I can't pick just one either, because my favorite food besides sweets during the holidays, is appetizers. I just love them! Meatballs, shrimp, those little bacon-wrapped water chestnuts, cheese balls, you name it, I probably like it!
4. What is your favorite Holiday memory as a child?
That would be opening up my Ballerina Barbie. She was just so beautiful with her little gold crown and her fluffly white tutu with gold trim. I just loved her. (just a little bit more than my Baby Alive)
5. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Actually this depends on the year at our house. We schedule our own family gifts around all the other parties, so sometimes yes, sometimes no.
6. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?
Our tree has all white lights, and ornaments to match my family room. Lots of gold, crystal, and shades of rusty red, and a big gold scrolly star on top.
7. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
I actually like it until the end of January or so. After that it can just go away.
8. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
My favorite would have to be all the goodies I make, especially my grandma's toffee recipe, peanut brittle, and fudge!
9. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
Oh how hard to pick just one. Maybe O Holy Night, I really love that one.
10. Candy canes! yuck or yum?
Eh, I could take them or leave eating them. But they are such a part of Christmas, I would never want them to disappear.
11. Favorite Christmas tradition growing up:
Being together as a family. I loved it when I would get to see my cousins from out of state, being with a really big group, and
12. Breakfast or presents first?
Breakfast. A girl's gotta eat!

I really love Christmas. There is so much meaning behind it, it is such a wonderful season of family togetherness, and it is just so beautiful! The lights, trees, music, parties, food, surprises....I can't even decide what part is my favorite, because I love it all!

Sneaky knitting

Well, I am have been busy doing my sneaky Christmas knitting. (Hopefully the recipients of these gifts will not read my blog.) Now I am waiting for more wool, so I can finish my last few projects. So far I have 4 pairs of slippers done, and I am hoping to felt some of them this morning.



2 pairs of clogs, and 2 pairs of my thrown together slipper pattern.



I think some of my family and friends will have very toasty feet this winter. I can't wait to see how the stripey ones turn out. I think they're cute already, even though they are HUGE!!!

Well I am off to felt and do some holiday baking. I have at least 20 different cookie, bar, and candy recipes picked out. I just love baking at Christmas time. It is a huge tradition in our family to make tons of goodies. My mom and I have baked together for years. My sister is coming today, and hopefully my mom too. Mom can't eat much of it anymore due to health reasons, but I hope she still comes just to hang out and have fun baking with us. We give some away, take some to parties and eat the rest! Now to decide what to make first!!!! Yumm, I can't wait!

Let it snow!

Well we sure have winter here. It just keeps snowing and snowing and snowing. We did dodge a big storm last night though. Yay! I don't hate snow, but I don't love it either hehe. Last week the kids had a snowday. They loved it, until I made them do this...



You would think I asked them to give up all their worldly possessions. P fought me for about 10 minutes just because he doesn't like sweaters. He wanted a sweatshirt! Well all his sweatshirts have logos and stuff on them, so um, no. Wear the sweater already! I did manage to get a few very nice pics though. This is one of my favorites. I used it to make my Christmas cards. We are supposed to get more snow again tonight. Maybe I will get playing-in-the-snow pics next time!

I have been knitting, but I can't show most of it here. Sneaky Christmas gifts, ya know? Sorry.

Just ducky

This picture just makes me want to say "Quack!". (or possibly don a clown wig)



My good friend JT (currently known as the clog knitting maniac lol) sent me some wonderful clogs to felt. She even made them in my 2 favorite colors! Whoopee! I can't wait to felt them. They came just in time too!



Hehe, here is my old pair. Um, you could say they are well loved! With my gift knitting, I wouldn't have been able to knit myself a pair until after Christmas, but she surprised me with these. Yay, now I won't have to wait! Thanks J!!!!!!!

Oh, remember those wonderful pics from my last post? Well they are but a fading memory....



This is the view out my window this morning. Pretty sure I won't be too hot to knit anytime soon!

I'm back!

Well we got back a little ahead of schedule on Thurs. We were able to catch an earlier flight home, which saved us about 2 hours of airport waiting time - YAY! That is always the worst, getting stuck in airports when you just want to go home and smooch on your kids!

We had a really nice time. It was very relaxing, warm, and fun!



That is our ship anchored out a little. We took small tender boats off the ship to this private island in the Bahamas. The sand was so white and soft, just like baby powder. The water was so incredibly blue, and the weather was perfect that day. We just bummed on the beach for a few hours, and it was just wonderful!



I did just a little knitting on the beach, but most of the time, it just felt too hot. It was more fun to watch people and just relax!



The next day we were in Nassau. We took a ferry so we could see the giant Atlantis Hotel. That place is amazing! Huge. Beautiful. Unique. I have truly never seen anything like it. They are actually building another phase of the hotel right now, even though it is already MASSIVE! We saw their beautiful aquariums, the lobbies, casino, and some of the grounds. Those yachts parked outside were HUGE too. The whole place is truly indescribable.

All in all, it was a great trip. I really enjoyed just getting away with my wonderful hubby. :)