We're home from a Thanksgiving journey to Florida to visit Mom and Dad.  My oldest son and his family went as well as my brother-in-law.  Except for my youngest son and his wife, all the Stewarts were in attendance.  Everyone had a good time, the weather was beautiful and the food was plentiful.  What more could one ask for!   We had a great visit with Mom and Dad and I think they got their fair share of Reagan and Raleigh time.  I believe the girls might have tired them out a bit.   Mom and Dad had a beautiful orange tree hanging over the fence in their backyard.  I believe the girls helped themselves to a few oranges!!

Mom and Dad, glad to see everyone but glad to see us all go too!! 

Reagan was very attached to her Great-Grandpa and looks like he was a little fond of her too.  Wish we all lived closer together so we could spend more time together.  The girls really love their great-grandparents. 

I had a little craft time planned for the girls on Thanksgiving Day.  We were making turkey name cards for everyone. 

Oh boy, I can juggle an orange! 

We took the girls to a close-by playground for a little running around time.  They did rock climbing, swinging, climbing and playing tag with lots of new friends.  We all had a fun time at this playground. 

Mark found these interesting birds walking around the park. 

And I found a little stitching time while the girls were playing.  Something new for January! 

Regan wanted me to hold up what I was working on.  She loves to take pictures of me and of course, I try and hide from the camera!

I got lots of stitching time in the car on the ten hour ride down and back.  Have a few new class projects finished and some other ideas to play with.  I will hopefully have new class schedules done by the middle of December and am looking forward to seeing you all soon.  Hope everyone had a peaceful Thanksgiving and ate lots of pumpkin pie! 

 Mark and I decided to pack away fall this weekend and get Christmas out of the attic since we're going to be away for Thanksgiving week.  After a morning of hauling fall to the attic and hauling Christmas down from the attic, we decided we needed a break.  I felt like my back was going to break and know when it's time to stop.  We hopped in the car and headed to Suzanna's Antiques on Durant Road.  They were all decked out for Christmas, with trees and decorations galore.  Definitely got us back in the mood to go home and work a little more on our own Christmas decorations.  Make sure you take the time to visit this fun group of shops.  There's something new everytime I go and I never know what I might need to bring home!

 

These little elves and Santas were so happy. 

On Monday afternoon, Raleigh's school had a pre-Thanksgiving feast.  Each class got up and did a song and presentation.  Raleigh's class were all dressed as beautiful fall leaves.  I think she just spotted us in the crowd.

Oh please help me get out of the leaf!!  I'm hungry.

Wishing all a wonderful, peaceful Thanksgiving.  Remember to be thankful for your blessings!

Overwhelmed..........did I say overwhelmed?  That's where I seem to be lately.  But it's all good doing things I love.  They just all seem to come at the same time.   The Santa recipe book classes have been fun.  I've taught that twice now but forgot to take pictures at the second class.  Sorry ladies.  Here are a few from the first class.  There were more but I decided to just show a few. 

And as I was downloading pictures I discovered some that my four year old granddaughter had apparently taken.  I remember her asking if she could borrow my camera last week.  Looks like she had fun snapping pictures of some of her toys.  Funny what a four year old finds photo worthy!  It actually looks like she was posing her characters for the pictures.  I'll have to ask her.

Mark and I had to go to the mall the other day for a few things and look who happened to be walking in front of us.  It's that time I'm afraid.  This is a very handsome Santa, one of my favorites.  I've never had a "behind" picture though!! 

The mall was all decorated for Christmas.  Very pretty and festive.

I, however, still love Thanksgiving and don't want to skip over that special holiday.  We have so much to be thankful for each and every day.  I'm especially thankful for all my turkey decorations!! 

Who can remember when a meal was this cheap?? 

Just thought I would share a few of my Thanksgiving decorations........there are more but I think you get the idea, I love Thanksgiving and al that goes with it.  I think it's the peacefulness before the rush of the hectic Christmas season.  Look at the sweet pillow my friend Evette gave me.  She knows I love turkeys too. 

I think it would be fun to design some Thanksgiving patterns for next year.  Add that to my list.  Find something to stitch on and enjoy the day..............

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!  I finished up working in the two local shops, getting them all set up for Christmas.  Even though it's too early for Christmas decorations, putting together the trees and displays this week sure got me in the mood for some holiday fun.  My husband and I actually went out Christmas shopping yesterday.  So even though it was lots of work, it was festive work.  Here are a few pictures I took at The Rusty Bucket, maybe to help get you in the holiday mood too.

Now, are you getting in the holiday mood?

This is what the floor in my workroom looks like right now.  I've been cutting up zillions of pieces of paper for the first Santa Recipe Book class which is tomorrow morning.  I think everyone is going to have a good time making this book.

Happy Sunday...................

Hard to believe Halloween has come and gone.  Time is just zipping by.  My past few weeks have been over the top busy and looks like November will be the same.  I am helping two different shops get set up for open houses/openings this week and trying to somehow fit in class preparation for an upcoming class.  So not much down time in my little world for awhile.  Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween and got lots of trick-or-treat goodies. 

Here are a few of our Halloween pictures.  I was working on class stuff and didn't take any of our actual trick-or-treaters.  Oh well, always next year.

All Raleigh wanted to be was a black cat, and a very cute black cat she was! 

I love Reagan's smile with the missing tooth.  She was Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, complete with Toto in a basket.  Funny thing is she was carrying around a dog all day but she's very afraid of "real" dogs. 

The girls were in a little parade in their neighborhood.  It was quite cute and lots of fun costumes. 

Loved the little shark walking ahead of us.   

After the parade the kids got to take turns swinging at a pinata, one for the older kids and one for the younger kids.  Reagan took a good t-ball swing. 

After several turns at trying to hit the pinata, Raleigh decided to hang around the edges to get the falling candy as it started coming out.  Smart girl.  

My neighbor Lou dropped by to show off her costume.  She was Wilma Flintstone.  I got the biggest kick out of the dog bone she put in her hair.  She used a real dog chew bone and said it was quite heavy.  She was adorable.  And don't you just love those styrofoam earrings!! 

My kooky husband trying out some new eyes. 

Say "Happy Halloween"!