We Are Grandparents

Steve and I became grandparents to an adorable set of little identical twin girls this afternoon.  They are Emma Marie and Morgan Lynn.  Emma only weighs 2 pounds 13 oz.  Morgan weighs 5 pounds.  Our adopted son Christopher is the proud daddy.  Chris ended up in the E.R. as he fainted in the operating room just after Heather had a c-section.  He thought he was doing fine and that he sat in a chair, but came to on the floor.  Evidently he was trying to walk out the door and passed out cold.  He is a little embarrassed, but hey, it will be a fun story to tell the girls..LOL  We have our first pic which we received via the cell phone.  So far we only have a pic of Emma..the tiny one.  I wouldn’t be a grandma if I didn’t share…LOL :o)

Happy Dance

Whoo whoo….we are so ready for Thanksgiving vacation to be over with.  We had a very nice Thanksgiving, but Steve and I are about at the end of our rope with bickering and arguing by the boys.  Oh, and let us not forget the lying..I am sick of that too!!  LOL

We just got back from a trip to JoAnn Fabrics where I purchased some thread, some fleece and the non-skid stuff that goes on the bottom of my dog booties.  Now it is time to finish decorating the tree.  It is  up, but three strands of lights did not work when Steve went to put them on the tree last night.  We just bought them last year so that was quite annoying.  He bought more today, so now we can proceed.  All the other decorations are out..even the outside lights.  :o)

Yesterday we had to have our cat, McGreggor, put down at the vet’s office.  He was sick and getting worse.  Megan got him from a rescue about 7 years ago and then she moved and he became our cat.  He was well loved and had a good life, but we shall all miss him.

Cleaning Day

I have declared that today is going to be our “deep” cleaning day in the living room.  All furniture will be moved out, vacuuming done and the curtains washed.  By getting this done today, the living room will look nice for Thanksgiving and will be all set  to put up our Christmas tree this weekend.  I sure hope I muster up a little more energy than I have right now..LOL

On Sunday I  got very nervous while I was looking at the store ads.  I had put on my reading glasses, but everything was a bit blurry…not as bad as when I don’t wear my glasses, but I couldn’t see very well.  I asked my hubby if he thought I was due for an eye exam, because I thought my eyes had gotten much worse.  I have to admit I was rather nervous as I am diabetic and have been eating some sweets I shouldn’t be…so I thought it was effecting my eyes.  Well, when I took off my glasses and went to set them down, I saw that one of my lenses had fallen out….Steve and I really had a good laugh over that one..LOL  :o)

Where Has The Week Gone???

Wow, this week has just flown by.  Hard to believe it is almost Friday.  We have to run to JoAnn Fabrics tomorrow.  I have an order for a set of dog booties made out of tie dye fleece.  Hopefully the store has some…they have so much fleece, it would seem there should be some tie dye there somewhere. 

Bradly had a great birthday despite the fact that he was not feeling well.  We kept him home from school on Monday and took him to the Dr.  Thankfully he did not have the flu, but he did have an ear infection.  He is feeling much better thanks to the antibiotics.

I was blessed today to sell 10 sets of dishcloths from my shop.  That was a total of 20 dishcloths.  I am thrilled that they sold as I have had them awhile and it seemed like they were never going to sell. 

My Arelel Designs shop has some new girls purses made from various children’s fabrics.  I also made a drawstring backpack for a preschool aged child out of Dora the Explorer fabric.  I thought I would post some of the pics.  I don’t know about all of you, but I love seeing pictures when I read blogs.  :o) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bradly’s Birthday

Bradly turns 12 years old today.  He came to us in foster care almost 8 years ago when he was 4 years old.  Wow, time does go quicker the older you get…LOL  Despite a few ongoing problems, Brad is doing great and has come so far and worked so hard to achieve the gains he has made.  Brad’s report card came in the mail yesterday, and I just have to share his grades.  This is without a doubt the best report card he has ever received.  English/Language/Arts-88, Spelling-75, Social Studies- 86, Math-80, Science –85, Art- 99, Chorus -95, Health-100 and Phys. Ed. – 98.  We are so proud of him.

Bradly requested steak, potato salad, broccoli with cheese sauce and fried mushrooms for his birthday dinner.  He requested blueberry pie for his “cake”.  My parents and Chris and Heather (our oldest adopted son) and his girlfriend , (the one having twins in a month or so) are coming for pie and to share the gift opening.  Rachel came home yesterday so that she could be here too.

I got the pics taken and listed Bradly’s new ornaments yesterday as well as the baby mittens my mom made.  I also completed another purse I had an order for and cut out 5 little girl purses.  I must say, yesterday was quite a productive day.  Here is a pic of the adorable mittens my mom made and one of Brad’s new ornaments.  :o)

Confidence

I have decided that as enjoyable as it is to sleep in, that I am often more tired during the day if I have slept later.  Yesterday I slept in and was tired the rest of the day.  I even fell asleep and had a nap in the afternoon. (Maybe I am just getting old.  LOL)  Anyway, I need to get lots done today, so I guess it is a good thing it was my day to get up at 6:15 am.

We have to take Bradly to Warsaw for his Therapeutic counseling session tonight which means we have to leave as soon as Nick gets home from school and won’t get home until about 6:45 pm.  Tomorrow night the boys have their last Therapeutic Horseback riding class.  They are going to miss it.  I think Nick has managed to amaze the instructor.  This little boy was scared of so many aspects of horseback riding when he started these classes.  Judy (the instructor) just kept encouraging him to try new things and eased him into not being afraid.  He now gets on and off the horse by himself, and he sits right up like a professional, holds the reigns, and rides.  He even trots now and rides the obstacle course by himself.  Judy was starting to lead him last week and when she saw how confident he was, she threw the lead rope up over the horses neck and let Nick do the obstacle course himself.  He has gained so much self confidence through participating in these classes.  The number one rule is that you have to respect the horse, the other participants as well as yourself.  It has been a great experience for both boys, and I hope they get this opportunity again.

My dear friend Peggy, makes amazing greeting cards.  She has donated tons of them to a lady who sends them overseas to the soldiers.  She has so many still left, that she brought a box full up to me and I convinced her to let me sell some of them for her in one of my Etsy shops.  It took some convincing, but finally she agreed to let me try it.  I decided to sell the cards in groups of three or four and keep the cost very reasonable.  Peggy will be happy to just make enough from the sales to purchase more card stock and other supplies so she can keep on creating her cards.  I am sharing some of the card pics today. :o)

 

 

 

 

 

White Velvet Cutout Cookies

I almost forgot that I promised to share a wonderful new Christmas sugar cookie recipe my hubby discovered last year.  These cookies have replaced the cookies my mom made all the years I was growing up and were so enjoyed.  Steve found this recipe in an old “Taste of Home” publication from 1997.  It only took us over ten years to finds this recipe, but we are so glad we did...LOL  Enjoy!  :o)

WHITE VELVET CUTOUT COOKIES

2 cups butter or margarine (softened)                                              

1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened

2 cups sugar

2 egg yolks

1 teas. vanilla extract

4 1/2 cups all purpose flour

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy.  Add sugar, egg yolks and vanilla; mix well.  Gradually add flour.  Cover and chill 2 hours or until firm.  Roll on a floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness.  Cut into 3 inch shapes; place 1 inch apart on greased baking sheets.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until set (NOT BROWNED).  Cool 5 minutes; remove to wire wracks to cool.

BUTTER CREAM FROSTING

3 1/2 cups confectionary sugar, divided

3 TBSP. softened butter or margarine

1 TBSP. shortening

1/2 teas. vanilla extract

3-4 TBSP. milk, divided

food color (optional)

Combine 1 1/2 confectionary sugar, butter, shortening, vanilla and three TBSP. milk in a mixing bowl; beat until smooth.  Gradually add remaining sugar; beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add enough remaining milk and food color until frosting reaches desired consistency.  Frost cookies. 

YIELD: 7 dozen