Creative people!

On Thanksgiving evening, we went over to my Aunt and Uncle's house for desserts and a Christmas tree lighting ceremony (they have trees down their winding driveway that light up).

It was fun. The kids played and laughed and we sang Christmas carols. Good stuff.

One thing that really stood out to me was that my aunt did a fabulous job decorating with lots of good, shiny stuff. She put little Christmas lights in colored bottles of different shapes and grouped them together to make a festive display. Mostly made from throw away items. Some even had some little bottle drapes made of chain and beads. Very cute, very festive, very classy.

I laughed with hubby when I got home that if I did it, it would look like lights thrown in a bottle. When she does it, it looks like a million bucks. But, it's a good, frugal idea, only a different look from the one with the potpourri in it that I posted about before. If you want to see how it is made, check out my original blog post and look for the comments. Bev Qualheim (whose original pattern this is) put a link to the original location of the post on her blog. Love that!

The Latest Project...

Here it is. I started a new project for younger son's Christmas. Of course, he was looking over my shoulder while I was trying to find an appropriate colorway and informed me that if he ever received such a wonderful gift that his would just have to be all in greens. As a matter of fact, he pointed out a 3-toned white to green ripple afghan that he really liked.

Nothing like a challenge, huh? I have never crocheted anything that really needed a written pattern before. Plus, this is an unknown entity and I have a hard deadline of Christmas. Wonderful. Ugh. I had to slip off to Wally World with my Mom on Thanksgiving Day to buy yarn in the appropriate greens. Specifically, greens that would go well together, look similar to the picture he fell in love with, and that wouldn't break the bank. Sounds easy, right--NOT!

I settled on a light sage green, a medium sea green, and a creamy winter white. The stripe pattern was born of necessity. The original picture showed a very regular, dark, medium, light pattern which repeated. In this case, I chose not to do that since the light and the medium greens are a little too close in tone, so they needed the white to be between them in order to keep them distinct. Also, the creamy white and the light green are about half the cost of the darker green yarn. Since this entire afghan is being crocheted with two strands of worsted weight yarn, this is going to take a lot of yarn. I am going to make it to be a blanket on his twin bed. So, I decided to alter the stripes up to use the cheaper yarns at a ratio of about 2 to 1 with the darker green. I think this shows up pretty well in the picture.

I took the picture this morning and kept working on it quite a bit. Right now it measures about 58-60 inches wide and about 26 inches long. I have quite a way to go and I am sweating it since I am back to school tomorrow and I won't have nearly as much time to work on it as I have these last few days.

Well, I need to take a shower and go grade papers for school that I have been putting off all week~

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope that you and yours have had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

Have you considered what you are thankful for this year?
Is it your freedom?
Is it your family?
Your health?
God?

It's worth thinking about. And since you are so grateful, what are you going to do to express it?
Hmmm.

$20 saved!

Ugh! I have just finished giving the boys their Thanksgiving haircuts. I won't say that it is an easy way to save $10 per head, but it does add up to $20 saved!

Apparently, the easiest way to make a child squirm is to ask them to sit still. It really tests my manual dexterity (of which I have very little) to get this done without making my darling children look like side show freaks, but I have managed fairly well thus far.

I am exhausted.

Thank God for the What-Not!

Every other Sunday is Dinner after church at my house. Alternating weeks, we eat at my parent's home. Being a lazy bum today we had sandwiches and chips (in my own defense, last time, I fixed chicken and dumplings, mashed potatoes, green beans, biscuits, and a cake).

Today, we sat down to eat and younger son said the blessing, "Dear God, thank you for Cheetos and what-not on the table. Oh, and help us be good. In Jesus' name, amen."

Hmmm. I bet you can guess what his favorite food on the table was. It was all we adults could do to keep from bursting out laughing.

But, isn't there a lesson in it? We get excited about the Cheetos, but God provides the "what-not" as well. Aren't we to be grateful for the parts we are less excited about, too?

Out of the mouth of babes....

Yay! Thanksgiving Break~!!!

Wow! The last week has been an absolute whirlwind around here. At school, we had our first basketball games and pep rally. This included the infamous "slime a senior" and "slime a staff member" game. The kids and staff bought tickets to have someone in either category slimed.

Well, I didn't win, but I did have to sit out as a decoy so the chosen sucker wouldn't know for sure it would be them. An overzealous student ensured that I would get to experience some slime as well. Unfortunately, my new, expensive, ugly, orthopedic shoes were covered and I feared that they would be ruined. The good news is that they survived, although 2 days later, they are still soggy.

I went back into the school on Friday to catch up on some grading. I did, ultimately, bring some home, but got most of it done and loaded into the computer system.

Today, we are going to take a photo of a colleague of mine in a wedding dress with a llama. I think hubby said something about a black and white artsy print. It will be interesting to see how this will all turn out.

Business is picking up on the photography end with folks wanting pictures for Christmas cards and giving. It is great to see hubby so excited about it. He does such amazing work.

Anyway, I am left with a filthy house to clean and lots of Christmas projects that are in progress. But, a week off is a happy thing!

Rain! Glorious rain!

Well, for all of the jokes about Georgia's Governor, Sonny Perdue, praying for rain, we did receive the answer to the prayers of many Georgian's in the form of a storm with heavy rains during the night.

We have needed rain so terribly, it was truly a blessing--and a long awaited one at that.

Keep praying for rain. Clearly, our petitions are being heard!

Two more days...

It's the teacher's lament: two more days before break begins. I think we need it as much as the students do!

Actually, it hasn't been a bad week on the school front. Lots of activity, but no real problems to speak of. I had a major test in one class on Monday and I have another big test to administer on Thursday. Then a week off to rest up. I'll go in on Friday to catch up paperwork while we have no students, but then I am home free.

I can't wait. I would love to finish the giant granny square that I am making for my oldest son for Christmas so I can start on the one for the little one.

More soon.

Gifts finished and unfinished as of yet...

This is my current project, a bed sized blanket or bedspread for my oldest son. It is made of deep, rich colors. At first, I was calling it jewelled tones, but they are really deeper than that. The center is the deepest green chenille yarn. The next row is cobalt blue, followed by a rich burgundy, and amethyst purple. Each row is separated by a soft, winter white row. The colors ran together without the separation row. It looks much better than in the picture.

Right now, it is about 35 inches by 45 inches. I am hoping that I can get it finished in time for Christmas, but I will also have to make one for my youngest son (Rabbit Boy, in the post below) also. So, I have my work cut out for me! But, my kiddos get excited when I have made them something, so it makes it all worth while!
This is the completed big, blue, blob. It is a blanket crocheted from a single (HUGE) granny square. It was simple to complete, if not time consuming. It's around 5.5 feet square. It is made up entirely of acrylic yarns in blue colors, ranging from very pale to navy.
This is a closeup of the center section of the quilt.

My Very Own Super-Hero!

Introducing Rabbit Boy--the hottest thing to ever fight crime wearing green swim goggles and a camouflage cape, don't'cha think?

Out of Touch!

I wish I could relay that all has been quiet here in the Deep South and that is why I haven't posted much recently. But, life has been coming at us fast and furious here and the splatter factor is off the charts!

First off, we have had our first round a stomach viruses for the year. First my youngest got it, then my oldest, and then, of course, good ol' Mom gets a whopper of a case of it and has to take 2 days off from work. I hate being out of work because it seems like everything goes completely nuts in my classroom and it takes days to get it all back in sync.

My parents, took my boys to Albany, GA to see the new animal park and aquarium. They had the time of their little lives! My parents looked a little worse for wear, but the boys were happy!

I have been concerned about getting Christmas together this year and have prayed about it. Lo, and behold, I wandered into a warehouse sale that I hadn't even heard about and found wonderful deals. I think I am largely through with Christmas for everyone except hubby and my kiddos. It's a wonderful relief.

On the crafting front, I have completed a scarf and hat for my niece. I have made another niece a hat and still have to do a matching scarf. I have purchased yarn on closeout ($1 a skein at Dollar Tree) to make two scarves for two cousins who are Florida State fans.

I am working on a mega-granny square blanket in deep, jewel tones that hopefully will become a bedspread or blanket for my oldest son's twin bed. In order to give it to him for Christmas, I will have to make one in random green tones for his younger brother. We'll see if I can do it in time without re-awakening the tendonitis curse that I developed from obsessive knitting a few years back. Ridiculous, I know, but I have an awesome knitting tension now. It was worth it!