11.30.2010

ta-da!

after some malfunctions with the garland hanging of the garland, it finally is secured and up.  it still needs some finishing "fluffing" but our entry way is mostly completed.  (i added a little bit more hot glue to the C on our wreath.  you can never have too much hot glue when it comes to crafts!)

11.27.2010

getting in the spirit

i thought the blog could use a little holly and jolly.  and i thought the picture was a delightful blast from the past.  (that is from the first Christmas we lived in NC.)  barley was only 10 months old!  enjoy!

11.24.2010

planning the perfect picture.

you can very rarely get the perfect picture for your Christmas card without planning it.  i mean, really, how often does that happen?  i have a picture in mind for this year's card but i am planning to try to stage one as well.  and then i know i'll at least have a back up.  we have been sending out photo cards since we got married and especially since we moved.  i love the personalization of photo cards.  i love getting photo cards, too.  i love watching families grow and change year after year.


shutterfly has some great choices for holiday cards this year.  i really love all the Christmas card choices and i am having a hard time choosing what sort of card i want this year.  


we could do something fun and cute...




...or something a little more formal...



...or even something a bit more classic, with room for more than one perfectly planned picture.



there are so many options!  there are plenty to match everyone's personal style.  they even have great ideas for gifts, too, like these wall calendars.  

i don't know about you, but i plan to hop back over to shutterfly and start trying to decide on what our Christmas cards will be this year.  if you are a blogger too, check out how you can win 50 free cards this season.  http://bit.ly/sfly2010  they have "holiday" cards and cards to wish joy to those in the new year.  so if Christmas isn't quite your thing, follow the holiday card link above to see if there's something out there to fit your needs.  i can almost guarantee there is.  happy shopping!


breaking my own rule.

i hate when people decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving.  usually.  growing up, we would decorate Thanksgiving night or the days after but never before.  i have tried to do the same... i even complained earlier this month when i was driving home and passed a house with full lights and decor out.  it was the 3rd.  houses were still decorated for halloween.  seriously?

but this year my work schedule prevents me from having much time available for decorating this weekend.  we're taking a one day trip to knoxville for Thanksgiving and then i work the entire weekend.  i would rather be decorating.  or napping.  or, you know, not working!

so i started a little early this year.  just a day, really.  i made a new wreath today as last year's cute yarn wreath fell apart after the wind from one of our blizzards shook it all to pieces.  i knew there was no way to get it back together so i decided to start fresh.  i have also started getting the mantle decorated and even hung the stockings.  but there's still a lot of work to be done.

i did get this year's (and hopefully more to come) wreath idea from another blog.  you can see their picture here.
but here is what i came up with.  i even made the bow- i did not get any bow-making skills from my mother.  (it's most unfortunate.)




showering Maggie.

part of our most recent visit to franklin involved me helping to host a baby shower for my best friend, rachel.  rachel is the "original" best friend, though, i like to call 3 of my closest friends my bests.  i met rachel the summer before kindergarten.  26 years later, here we are, waiting to welcome her first baby, maggie, into this world.



we had a lovely turn out for maggie's shower and it also happened to be a beautiful, sunny fall day.  my cousin, angel, helped us again by providing us with pictures from our afternoon.  we enjoyed meeting sweet baby vince (who is also in another post from recent with his knitted hats on).  we enjoyed good food, fun games, good friends, and great gifts for maggie, rachel, and mark, to help make her arrival a little bit easier and a little bit sweeter.

diaper cake made by becca (rachel's sister, another best, and hannah grace's mama)

sweet petit fours

all the hostesses with the honorees



fun guessing games- how big is the belly? and how many qtips fit in the jar?



sweet gifts- i knitted the blanket in the above picture for sweet maggie

one sweet family

maggie danielle stooksbury is due november 28th.  she's seems to be happy where she is for now but i know everyone is ready for her arrival.  i'll be sure to let you know when this little bundle of joy makes her entrance into the world.  

11.11.2010

you are my sunshine.

these fur babies love them some sunshine.  barley and dave, especially, have been so glad the seasons have changed because it means the sunlight filters in the windows again.  most afternoons you can find them soaking up the rays.  every now and then cotton will join in, but she mostly keeps herself to the shady parts of the room.  here, you can see for yourselves...

can you see dave's head by cotton's back foot?

enjoying some non-sunny relaxation.

dave loves his sunny corner of the living room.

barley will start here by the door and end up in the middle of the room as the sun moves today.

11.07.2010

oh, this blog is about knitting...

so who knew life would get in the way of my knitting?  i have been knitting a lot this summer but i must say that i forget to take pictures of what i make.  so now when i give gifts i make sure that they send/post pictures of them in use.

my friend mandy recently had her 3rd baby boy.  i thought she might want a blanket, but she said she has more than enough blankets.  so she requested cute/crazy baby hats instead.  i made sweet baby vince 3 hats.  one is still too big for him (which was the plan since winter is on its way) but the other 2 fit.  i stole pictures from her facebook (with her permission, of course) so you could see super cute vince in his hats i made for him.

the baby jester hat


sweet little pumpkin



not loving the pumpkin patch.  i ♥ this picture!