I also ordered some lovely threads from Carrie's Creations to make at least one more of these.  While I like the stars, I think you could put in Rhode's Hearts or Butterflies so I want to give that a try.  I love the flower motif and the simple yet elegant corners so there are more coming I am sure.  It was also quick to work off.

Other than that, the count down until I hit the half century mark is under 30 days now.  Mark's graduation is 6 weeks away.  Izzy is growing so fast I can't keep up.

I love this face!!

 I have times when I wish time would just stand still for one moment...let me catch my breath and absorb everything that it going on but if it did, THEN what would we miss?
OK, off to the dentist for me to replace my temporary crown for the permanent one!  One less issue!!

and is hopefully now passed on by!

It had some good points though because I got to wake up to this little face

We have done a lot of snuggling in the last week while her parents were staying here with us.  I will miss having her around!

I also dug out an old Crossed Wing Collection piece from the North American Collection. I love this little Goldfinch on a thistle. It reminds me so much of my grandparent's farm.  Thistle and finches were all over.  I had a finch feeder at our house and I really miss it.  There are no trees or bushes around here in this development where we are now so you don't see many pretty birds!   I have had this stitched and in a box for years.  I found a cute little wooden box at the craft store the other day and this is how I finished it up!  I don't know what I will do with it. 







I also counted up my Project Linus blankets and have 3 large and 11 infant sized blankets completed and another large size one almost finished.  Here are the newest ones:

My mom said she had read my Brigadoon post and was sorry that there were no pictures of this little face on there. Thought maybe it was too hard to capture him as he doesn't sit still for very long.

It is very true, he sure doesn't sit still but he was absolutely the highlight of my vacation, or vacations as it were. This is my nephew. He is almost 3.

I am no stranger to nephews since I have 8 of them, and I love each of them. This will be the last one though so he is special. He reminds me of my own boys where they were little, but that is not it. As my brother says, being with James is like having your own Comedy Central Show. He is funny as hell. He is smart too. I find it fascintating that a child that young has such a sharp sense of humor.

He is tough as nails too. I have seen him fall flat on his face and never whimper. I won't tell my diaper rash story but suffice it to say, I was crying and he never shed a tear.

So there you are mom. I was just saving those memories. I bring them our and they make me smile. Just like this face. Aunt Ria loves her James. I wish I could take him home!

Do you remember the story of Brigadoon? In case you don't, it is about an enchanted Scottish village that appears once every hundred years for just one day. To the villagers the hundred years seem to pass in the span of one day so things never really change for them.

I have a Brigadoon too. Since 1920, my mother's family has had a family reunion. Imagine something that has occurred every year for 90 years! There were a few years that they missed, wars, scattered family events things like that but they have almost always managed to get at least a part of the family together every year. For the last 10 years, a group of us have been meeting at my uncle's house in beautiful upstate NY. My uncle's family consists of 4 children the same ages as my brothers and I and we were all close growing up even though we lived several hundred miles apart. Guess what? Nothing has changed.


We now start arriving at my uncle and aunt's place on Friday (or in the case of people who are date challenged this year Thursday) and the fun never stops. We camp out in their yard and as the weekend progresses people come and go, campers come and go and food just multiplies until we begin to believe we are eating every 20 minutes or so. We usually have somewhere around 15 kids (although some of them are in their 20's) and somehow we almost always manage to have a baby somewhere to snuggle and rock. We take hundreds of pictures, put together a Power Point slide show which makes us laugh until we are wetting ourselves, drink some (although no one EVER gets stupid or staggering) have a wonderful campfire and an overall lovefest.


My siblings, cousins and I are all in our 40's and for some of us are damn close to 50, but nothing ever changes. For this one miraculous weekend, we are all children again. We physically get together one time a year but to us it is if only one day has passed. Monday morning comes and the most depressing picture appears when the campers are closed up and gone, the pop-up awnings are all gone, tables and chairs are all packed away, garbage picked up and hauled away, no kids, no flamingos (another story trust me), no laughter. Brigadoon has passed away for another year.


There is nothing in the world I would trade those few days for. I dread the day when we start to find ourselves making other plans, when it begins to seem like too much work or too much travel. I can't actually see that day coming but it may. Our older generating is dwindling faster than our younger generation is maturing and I worry that their bond is not as strong as ours is. I pray the enchantment of our Brigadoon is never broken.

is my nephew James.

It has been a year since I have seen him and this picture makes me so sad. he has grown so much and I have not been around to kiss those cute little round cheeks of his. I have not been around to admire those grown-up little jeans he is wearing or hear him giggle or read him a book. I love getting pictures of my family but sometimes they just make me sad.

What makes me really glad is that a week from today I will be able to wrap my arms around him and kiss him silly if he will sit still that long (which I know he will not). It's ok, I can still hear him giggle!