I managed to get myself out the door without Ken today to do my Christmas shopping for him. Due to a lucky coincidence I had over 20.00 of survey cheques make their way to our mailbox before today. This increased my budget to 40.00 which turned out to be just enough to get him some rather interesting and fun things (of course no hints here since a certain hubby DOES read the blog – mainly to make sure I don’t bash him or tell personal embarrassing secrets I think!).

While at THE Mall I also got my first glimpse of a tazer gun in action! We were on the upper level and chanced to see (by we I mean She Chris and I) a bunch of people standing around one of the railings. Thinking it was some sort of performance or something we went to take a peek. 3 cops on some man who was flailing around… until he got tazered! And then he yelled “I am NOT resisting”… yeah – NOW. Definitely a good reinforcement that I do NOT want to ever experience that. I didn’t stick around long, just long enough to see what was going on and move on since we were planning on using the escalator right there to get to the lower level (we continued on).

The kids kept themselves busy with beading and playing in the basement and of course – colouring. Don’t forget the Connect 4 game – Trinity’s personal favourite!

Connect 4! (Zander)

ABC's (Gavin)

Sewing has been a bit delayed with my unplanned trip out and about and Ken’s being over-run with small children but I have managed some more work on the Santa ornament. I also just started a 3rd version of the pea-pod baby while I await my next larger pattern. (man is the clock running down!)

Pea-pods #4

Santa So Far!

There is some news in regards  to the pattern page – the freebie link to the Harley Davidson piece, our Chemist piece is up and the Homer Simpson one I thought was up SHOULD be up by tonight!! Feels good to have some new stuff up there! Oh and last night I got some beading done too!

Beaded!

Since it is Thursday it is – of course – gaming night… without Ted tonight but still a crowd in my living-room. So now tv for me until later tonight… but plenty of time to sew… which is what I SHOULD be doing right now!

Day 10 of Advent... lovely colours! Thank You!

Cousin David and Trinity

Gamerz

Life is full of tests… I guess in my naivety I thought that once you finished school they would stop… or at least decrease. No such luck. You have to take tests to drive (which I have not), there are blood  tests… pregnancy tests… physicals (which are really one big battery of tests)… tests of strength, of memory, of courage… tests of worth… of morality… and then there are the silly tests in magazines… on the internet… our world is full of “measuring up” and it is exhausting. I wonder at the validity of most of these tests… are they truly necessary or even relevant when it comes to what matters or are we always in some sort of tug of war where we are trying to create our self worth from the externals instead of creating ourselves from the inside out? I wonder if I can figure out a better way to go about these tests? Or avoid them maybe? Or is it just too integral to our living within society to thwart?

Puzzling the Questions of Life in a Sailor Style Dress!

Well anyway… today we added our 3rd piece to our Advent tree and the boys painted their 3rd page for their Advent colouring book. Then there was the Christmas worksheets that have to be corrected. Whenever the boys run out of room on a line and are copying words out they seem to loop around so that the next word or series of letters are actually written from right to left. Their letters are formed pretty wonderfully at this point just sometimes in the wrong order! But we are working on it.

Emanuel built his very own Christmas village today out of the nativity sets. Sadly he and Trinity cannot seem to compromise well enough to play with it TOGETHER but they are each enjoying the sets on their own to the fullest extent. Ken and I are already getting rather tired of the two songs they play but watching Trinity dance along makes it all worth it!

Emanuel and His Nativity Village

Sewing wise I have worked my fingers off on the Harley Davidson piece and am quite happy with the results. I am debating between flames around it and the wording Harley above and Davidson below on a slight curve… the final design will really be up to Ken but at least I still have the second version of the Chibi Dragon to complete… in green!

Skull is Done Now for Flames or Lettering!

Tonight, of course, being Thursday is the guys’ gaming night! D&D for the win and in the middle of the living-room AGAIN. So no tv for Lisa tonight. I am debating between trying a new BigFish game or watching the newest episodes of Gintama that are subbed. Hard choice since I am not sure I am 100% in the mood for either. Funny how dependant I get on tv to be that distraction while I sew!

Note the Dragon ... it Roars Too!

I am determined to get in some baking this weekend. We have a busy Saturday with a free crafting thing at Michaels in the morning and a puppet show at the library for the boys in the afternoon. Sunday is the long practice for the twins for their Christmas pageant so no church for the munchkins and I… BUT my cousin Elizabeth should be coming over for a visit. Company is always wonderful! So much to look forward to, especially Michaels – there are THREE activities for the boys to do! Not sure how that will go but we will give it a try. Hopefully we will get there at the beginning around 10 am.

I am a little excited – Ken got the Tardis pattern up and working on freebies! The text is not there but I am sure something can be sent out if people are interested. Again we are not able to sell these due to licensing BUT are accepting donations if you really enjoy them. I would love it is people DO stitch them if they send me out a picture so I can see other people’s interpretations on our patterns!

I have also almost gotten out family gallery up to date! So be sure to take a peek... Ken is weeding out the earlier stuff and I am trying to post fewer pieces but there is a nice selection of the Halloween pics up now.

My 3rd Advent Gift! Lotions... I love the Cherry Blossom smell... Thank You!

Well the long wait is over for the boys – tomorrow we head a little over an hour away to spend an overnighter with Grandma Anna, Mike and Harley! That knowledge led to a hectic and unfocused Thursday! The boys spent some time on numbers, beading and playing with paper dominoes I had printed off the computer with a Halloween theme. They are most proud of their finished Halloween themed bracelets!

Orange, Green and Black!

Trinity is doing quite well after her shots, a little tired and cranky and a small bump at the injection site on one arm but otherwise fine! Thank goodness!!!

So Big Climbing Everywhere!

I have gotten in my baking time with apple loaf and applesauce muffins. Ken and Ted made the promised double batch of sugar cookies though with the help of my cousin David and Fydo many cookies worth of dough have been sacrificed to feed the hungry masses. Oh and of course a few cooked ones went the same way. Add to that a loaf or two of bread from the bread maker and the house smells divine!

Ted and Fydo!

Sewing has actually been rather productive today – I finished my newest Ada Inspired. Crazy in Cantonese. I am very pleased with the smile though if I do it again I may mix the lovely yellow blending filament with a darker DMC floss. Hopefully this weekend I will have a couple more projects to focus on.

Crazy in Cantonese

In the meantime I have started the beading on my Santa. Time consuming but the effect is absolutely lovely!

Beading Stage!

I am planning on getting to work finishing Nathan’s dragon gift (I will post a picture AFTER Christmas sadly). I picked up the beautiful blending filament I was missing – Confetti Gold – 045. As much as they are a pain to work with I LOVE  the look of metallics!

So tonight I have to work on tidying my threads and prepping my patterns for travel… just overnight but with 4 kids, a hubby and an addiction like cross stitching – well it is a bit of work! Can’t say I hate it though with the friends we have, the beloved extended family, my babies and my soul mate… I may be short in material riches but spiritual, emotional and psychological… I am blessed!

Apparently in THIS Hat He Looks JUST Like Daddy in His Mind!