My 8 year old and I have been feeling pretty crummy since the Saturday after Thanksgiving...his cold seems to be fading while my seems to be getting worse, I've even lost my voice which isn't any fun at all. Here are some things I've been working on in between naps(although the progress has been very very slow!)...
A blue knitted bear for Sebastian...all I have left are the legs but I think I'm going to attempt to knit the clothes that the bear is wearing since those patterns are also in
this fantastic book. 
A Christmas album for all the "Pictures with Santa" my kids have taken over the years...I'm making this from an old vintage file folder that I found in the "free" bin at a garage sale...
and this mini album showing pictures of Christmases past...these pictures include the ones from when my grandparents were young children, when my mother and uncles were young and when my siblings and I were very young. I love these pictures because it's so fun to see all the old decorations, the trees that were just swimming in tinsel and how my mother used to hang the stockings on the wall...with a nail...just pounded in the middle of the wall...it's so funny.
With all the concentration on getting rid of this awful cold I have I almost forgot to begin my "25 Days of Christmas" album but I remembered just in time. I'll post pictures of how that's coming along next week...Tom and I are off for a little weekend getaway, just the two of us. Hopefully I'm feeling better tomorrow!
I was all set to have most of the day to myself to do some junking and some crafting and oh, I was so excited...Matthew had to take the ACT at 8:00, Tom (and his BFF Joe) are attempting to sell some of Tom's sports collectibles at a show so they had to leave at 8:00, Shelby had to work at 10:00 and Sebastian had a birthday party at 10:00..but I got an email from my uncle on Thursday who was tattling on my bed-ridden father who always claims he's "ok" and insists that he doesn't need me to do anything for him. He knew right away someone tattled on him...must have been my "I'm-not-taking-no-for-an-answer" voice? So instead of my original plan I spent the morning running errands, grocery shopping, making my nearly emaciated dad "breakfast in bed" (at noon) and cleaning his kitchen. I was so worried about him last night that I had a little break-down (especially when he said something like "don't be alarmed when you see me laying here" but after seeing him this morning I know he'll be okay. He's scheduled for surgery on Thursday and will have to be in recovery for about 4 weeks...then I can work on fattening him back up! After doing my daughterly duties I hit an estate sale...WOW were the prices low! Here's my haul (I won't even tell you what I spent...you wouldn't believe me if I did!)
Don't ask what I'll do with the sign and three boxes of those little plastic letters because I don't have an answer...maybe it'll look good with "ALICE AND ELSIE" on it for my booth?
And I can NEVER NEVER pass up a cute religious piece...if the sun was anywhere to be found my pictures would be much better (I know, I know...nothing can help with my poor skills)
And just for the record (in case my dad does read this): I'd rather take care of him than sit here in my messy studio ANY day of the week!
...this is what we woke up to this morning. It was a much heavier snowfall than Saturday and it was perfect for snowballs (Sebastian and I threw a few before he caught the bus to school). This morning the meteorologists were claiming we'd get back up in the 60's by the weekend but this afternoon they were saying we'd remain in the low 40's or high 30's through the week and into the weekend. So much for the corn maze at the apple orchard!
All this snow puts me in the Christmas mood and that means crafting...it's been REALLY slow in my Etsy store for the past month or two but things may be picking up...I listed this little album Sunday morning and it sold (along with two others) by Sunday evening.
I also listed this one earlier this afternoon...
I got some more great news Friday, I already knew one of my albums is going to be featured in the November/December issue of Sew Somerset (on sale early November) but I also found out that some more of my "artwork" will be featured in the November issue of Somerset Studio, not sure what item it is and I can't explain why I don't know which item it is without this post ending up being 6 pages long, but I'll definitely post it all when I get my issues in the mail! Can't wait!
