Colonial Williamsburg

This week we went to Colonial Williamsburg! I had been once, when I was 6. I was bored then. That certainly wasn't a problem this time! I love colonial history, so I was in heaven. It's amazing what you can learn in only two days! I don't know if any of you have ever been, but it's absolutely beautiful. It's amazing being in a building and thinking that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry were all there once. I can't decide which part was my favorite.



The Capitol Building



Happy criminals in the stocks. :)


Drilling with the militia.







Bruton Parish Church


Calf's head for dinner in the Governor's Palace. Yummy!


The ballroom in the Governor's Palace.


Our buddy Thomas Jefferson.


In "gaol". (jail)

Long Overdue..... Again

You may have noticed that things are slightly different. I've had the same look since I started blogging almost 2 years ago, and I decided it was time for a change! Here I am, once again, catching up on posting dishcloth pictures. I have no excuse, only that things are REALLY busy around here! Yesterday was the first day in weeks where I had nothing on the calendar. I need a day at home every now and then, to stay sane. I have been knitting, although some of the things I've been working on are larger projects that aren't finished yet. (I am, however, almost finished with a sock!) My days have been very full lately. Perhaps not as full as others', but for me I'm about as busy from day to day as I ever have been. It's hard to find time to work on all of my projects, and it's easy to get stressed. I'm the kind of person who is stressed if I'm not "getting things done", and at the end of the day I always feel like I could have done more. Through prayer, I'm changing, but it still makes for a frustrating day every now and then. What my Mom said is true though, at least I have things I enjoy..... Anyway, now that I have vented a little, here are my latest dishcloths. My photography isn't the best. I'm still trying to learn which setting on my new camera works best for dishcloths.

Ice Skate (January KAL)

This is the second January pattern from the dishcloth calendar. I love this pattern! Patterns that use multiple colors will always be my favorites.

January MM KAl.

This pattern is from Harvest Moon Designs. I love this pattern! I couldn't get both the color and the pattern to show well in a picture, so I gave up and decided to post one of each. The color is terrible in the second picture, but it should give you an idea of the pattern.

Snow!

For all practical purposes, it hasn't snowed here since early 2004, when Kirby was a puppy. On Monday they said it was supposed to snow 2-5 inches, and we got 7! Needless to say, we were pretty excited. We bundled up and went outside and stayed outside basically all day. It was so much fun!

Me with the boys.

Isn't he cute?

Sledding.

This was NOT supposed to happen!

Kirby and our snowman.

Kirby playing in the snow.

Christmas Projects

While I didn't get much knitting done during December, I had a reason. I was very busy with other projects. I made several felt ornaments, like my mom made when she was younger. (Those were so much fun, and so easy!) I made an apron from a pattern in a book my friend gave me for my birthday. It was my first big sewing project! (Not counting the quillow [quilt/pillow] I made several years ago. That was easy.) I had fun with it, and I just love how it turned out! I also made a tiny sweater for myself, and gave several as gifts. While I stayed with my grandparents for a week in November, we went ceramic painting. I painted an ornament, and it took me 4 1/2 hours! I adore ceramic painting. We don't have a good place close to us, so I only get to go a few times a year, but it's one of my very favorite things to do!Here are some pictures. I'm still learning how to use my new camera, so some of the coloring is not the best.

I finished the first pattern in the 2009 Dishcloth Hangups calendar. Patterns that use two colors are my favorites, and I love this one. The color combination is VERY different from anything I'd done before, but I had fun with it!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

All but three of my Christmas mornings have been spent at my grandparents' house. (If I have this right, we stayed home in 1995, 1999, and 2003.) I am very much a person who loves tradition. My vision of an ideal Christmas is being with family, drinking hot cider by the fireplace, and just hanging out. That (for the most part) is what this Christmas was. I love Christmas Eve almost as much as I love Christmas day! It's so cozy. The end of this Christmas Eve was bittersweet. My great grandmother, who has had Alzheimer's for many years, passed away that evening. Well miss her so much, but to quote my mom, we didn't lose her on Christmas Eve, we really lost her years ago. (She didn't recognize anyone anymore, hardly said a word, and spent her days just sitting in her chair.) She was just in time to celebrate Christmas with my great grandfather and the Birthday Boy in heaven! It was really a new look into the meaning of Christmas. Because God sent His Son, we'll all be together again someday. The funeral will be in a few days. On Christmas morning my brothers and I woke the adults up at 7, like we do every year. (Although this year my youngest brother and I had a hard time waking up my now 15 year old brother in time to wake the adults!) We looked in our stockings, and opened presents, just in time for my aunt, uncle and cousins to come for brunch. I got some wonderful gifts, including several new scrapbooking tools! I've been having so much fun with it all. Christmas evening we went to my dad's brother's house and had dinner with some of his family. Here are some pictures!

Merry Christmas from Kirby!

Making ambrosia, because it wouldn't be Christmas without it!

Me and Mom.

I spent a lot of time playing the piano this year.

With Reed and Will (my cousins) at the Christmas Eve service.

Handing out gifts.

Our gifts to each other!

Jamey was born on Christmas day! We usually have a cake, but this year we had pumpkin bread, and used the only candle we could find. :)

Playing with my cousin Seamus at my aunt and uncles house that night.

Dad and their dog, Greta.

All the cousins on December 26th!

Happy 2009 everybody!

Christmas Cookie Time!

About a month ago, my friend Parri moved in within bike riding distance of our house! It's been ages since I've had a friend so close by, and we've been having a lot of fun! Yesterday she came over and we decorated Christmas sugar cookies together. We went a little crazy, and we had a wonderful time.

While we were out....

While we were in South Dakota, friends from Mom and Dad's small group were in our house, doing an extreme home makeover on our living room! We had new sofas, and had planned on painting it, but they came in, painted, decorated, and it doesn't even look like the same living room anymore! It was such a wonderful surprise. Dad was the only one who knew about it. It's such an amazing blessing! I don't really have a good before picture, but you can kind of see here. This is how it looks now!