Visitors at my door!

I had the most wonderful visitors at my door this afternoon! I was so excited!!
Our dear friends and neighbors arrived back home from their trip to China. They are now the proud parents of their second child, a son!! He is absolutely ADORABLE!! How lucky I was to get to hold him, cuddle him, kiss him and squeeze him! he didn't seem to mind, and he even ran to me with big smiles, arms open, ready and willing to give me hugs!! (I must have a way with kids)..after all..I did work for years in an elementary school...so I guess that helped some ;)
I enjoyed every MINUTE being with him , and of course his "big" sister who is now 5 years old.
What a beautiful family they are! We are all so delighted for them with the new addition to their beautiful family!
I had been working on a secret gift for the little man..but couldn't post it till now...here it is..a special blanket for him..I chose darker blue colors, being that he is 20 months old:

It is a granny square design crochet blanket. I like making these, they work up fairly easily and are fun to make. Before they left to go back home, I had my hubby snap a picture of me and the little angels!
:)

It was a very happy day indeed!
Louise

Oh The Places I Will Go!................

I have a new toy.....

Do you know what it is?
Now, I have mentioned I have started walking...
I am using my little ipod for listening to music..oh what fun it is!..but I am sure people are wondering who that lady is singing tunes from the movie Flashdance, like "What a Feeling" as I walk down the street! hee hee
Oh, I just had a thought..I sure hope nobody is making a video and I wind up on youtube? perhaps..you think? AHA! That would be quite funny though. :P

Anyways...this is my new toy opened up:

Yes, I am now the proud owner of a pedometer! Now I can track how many steps I take, and how many miles I walk! GO ME!!

My husband has been joining me with the healthy eating..and he has been exercising too! What a great man, I LOVE HIM TO PIECES!!!
I am down 25 pounds now since August!!! WOOHOO!!

I don't think there is any stopping me now..just about a month now and haven't had any chocolate. I can't believe that!
Wonderful broiled fish tonight with lemon for dinner, brown rice and LOTS of broccoli steamed on the side.

See you soon!
Louise

Christmas Surprise!

I received the most wonderful surprise in the mail from my forever friend Jackie!! "Hi Jackie"!!!!
I was so excited when I received her box. When I opened it up, I found some pretty pink tissue inside...then, as I opened up what was inside the tissue, I was in complete, absolute, AWE!
Look what was inside:

I sat there in SHOCK! These are the most BEAUTIFUL gifts I have ever seen!! She had made these on her embroidery machine just for ME!! Aren't they BEAUTIFUL!!
She also included the rotary cutter, and the embroidery scissors. The biscornu is just too pretty to stick a pin into! All I want to do is display these items and look at them. :) Oh Jackie, you have spoiled me rotten!!
And this is not all....there was more in the box! Jackie knows how much I love tea and candles...she also included this:

A pretty red teapot..red, one of my favorite colors! Mugs to go along with it, tea, and yummie cookies, and an apple scented candle!

What a wonderful Christmas surprise from someone so dear to me!
Jackie, you are so very special to me, you always will be. I thank you again from the bottom of my heart. You are always so kind and you always do everything with with so much love and it shows!
I am so glad I have a blog to show everyone just how talented you are!
:)

Louise

REJOICE!

For unto us a Savior is born!
I want to wish everyone a very Blessed Christmas and a New Year filled with health, happiness, and all good things.
MERRY CHRISTMAS! :)
Louise

Unorganized

One little word with one big meaning. :) This word just about sums it up for me! I try so hard to be organized..but it just never seems to happen for me. I am one of those people that put a pile of papers aside (or cross stitch charts or WIP's) to be gone through another time, or for a later date, but it never seems to happen.
I have so many good intentions and I know what I want, and how I would like things to be..but *sigh*...oh well.
The worst is noticed when I have to wrap gifts...especially at Christmas time!!
Am I the only one that lays everything out on the bed to wrap, and in the mix, lose the scissors or tape that I had JUST had in my hand and placed down somewhere?
How can this be??
Then I go back into the kitchen drawer to grab another tape roll, or another pair of scissors only to lose it again in a big jumbled mess of paper in a big pile that I Have made.
RUSH. Yes, another word that describes me...first is unorganized..another is RUSH.
I usually rush with everything. I like everything done yesterday. If it isn't done yesterday, well then...it just doesn't get done! LOL!
It should have been done yesterday, you do realize that don't you ?
A project should take THIS LONG? really?...really, it shouldn't.
If it takes THIS long..then it was not meant to be started at all, the excitement is gone. Time to start something new.

Ok..enough of that little bit of rambling...which probably didn't make sense to any of you reading it!! ha ha
On to other things.

Our family met up with my husbands family yesterday and we had a really nice time. It was a little hard to remain on my eating plan..but I am so proud I did it! I brought my food along that I need to be eating, and I am still doing well. No headaches thus far. YAY!
My dear sweet MIL gave us a fantastic gift!
a wonderful waffle maker:

I will be doing some research, and I am thinking of some type of whole grain ones for me..and traditional for the rest of the family.
My SIL's are always so much fun to get together with, they gave me surprises too!
One gave me a fantastic snowman mug that will keep my sugar free cocoa or tea warm with his top hat!

My other SIL gave me The Peanuts Gang ornaments (snoopy and woodstock!)..she knows how much I LOVE snoopy!

She also gave me this cute set of Ann and Andy!!!! Look at the blue ticking fabric!!! FANTASTIC!! I nearly fainted when I pulled it out of that bag..this is SO ME!!! Love, love, LOVE THIS!

I am very blessed with my husbands family, they are so wonderful to me!!
My husband is on vacation till after New Years. It is nice to have him home while the kids are also home. I am so looking forward to Christmas!

Raggedystitches,
Louise

Saturday

I am feeling great!! Not sure if it is the medicine the doctor has put me on, or the change of diet, but it has been over a week and no migraine so far. I have decided that I will start going for walks. I think that will help me even more. I went with my son the other day to a big outlet center and it was huge!! He tracked how far we went, and we had walked about two miles briskly..I did it without any trouble, and it was good exercise for me. I know how much I need exercise. I went out last night and picked up a pair of those new sneakers called Sketchers Shape-ups. They sure do feel funny at first on your feet..I am hoping they will put a spring in my step . :)
I may fancy them up with purple laces, or another pretty color.
Since August I am down 20 pounds!
I didn't think at this age you could lose weight, but obviously so.
There is hope!
I hope you all have a beautiful blessed weekend!
Louise

The Love of Parents

We are so very excited for our very dear friends. They are on their way to China to adopt their second child, a son! What a blessing!!! Please pray for them for safe travels, and for their health, they are all under the weather at the moment. I do hope they feel better quickly and everything goes smoothly for them. I know that God is with them. They are a beautiful family who always give of themselves to help others in time of need, whether it be with words, hugs, or a phone call, or an act of kindness. They have truly blessed our lives greatly. Their daughter is precious! I just want to squeeze her every time I see her (oh and believe me I do, I love her so much! She gets plenty of hugs and kisses from me!) :)
I cannot wait to meet their son and get to know him.
Our friends are so special. Giving of themselves for children who need a home. They are surely doing God's work here on earth. They are so loving, caring, and such a blessing in the children's lives!!
I saw this quote some time ago on adoption and thought it was absolutely beautiful :)
"Not flesh of my flesh, Nor bone of my bone, But still miraculously my own. Never forget for a single minute, You didn't grow under my heart - but in it"
Please stop over and see the beautiful video my sweet friend made from when they first went to China to get their daughter...now they are on their way to get their handsome son! :)
Grace To Infinity

Louise

Edible Snowflakes!

I have completed my cookie baking for today. Hooray! I have not baked for my daughter's teachers yet, and may not get to that. But I am glad I have made my traditional orange peel cookie recipe that I make every year for my family. It just wouldn't be Christmas without this tradition!
First up..is my usual Christmas cookie cutouts. I use many different cookie cutters. Christmas trees, a church, Santa, Heart, Star, Dove, Angel, Rocking horse, Stocking, and many others, Oh, and of course a Bunny too!!
Not all of them are pictured:

Next...the snowflake cookies. I am thrilled with how they turned out!! Remember not too long ago I purchased snowflake cookie cutters from King Arthur Flour? Well, I am so glad I did! I knew I could make such pretty cookies with them! I made a sugar icing that turns hard and then I decorated the cookies with round jimmies and big sugar crystals..I tinted the icing with blue paste food coloring, oh, just a touch of the blue, not too much! What do you think?
They are very dainty ...

That's all for now, but very proud of myself, a great accomplishment for me today. When I feel good, I feel good, and it shows in all I do!!
I hope I have many more days like this, it makes me happy and smile. I wish I could share my cookies with all of you that care so much for me, for you deserve my cookies and so much more. Blessings to you!

Louise

Yes, I am!!

Today is Saturday, and today I feel great, and YES, I AM baking today!! I made the orange peel Christmas sugar cookie dough this morning. It has chilled in the refrigerator and now I am going to roll it out and use all my cookie cutters old and new. I cannot wait to decorate my cookies! I want to get them done while I am feeling well.
Thank you so much for those of you who are always so kind and posting such sweet sentiments to me. I feel so loved and it is nice knowing there are such wonderful friends that care so much about me all the time. I appreciate each and every one of you. I know that I do have a bunch of stress going on right now..with my son joining the military, and other big life events...some I have not mentioned, and can't just yet. I know that it is more than likely affecting me greatly. It is nothing bad, but it is something great and will impact our family. Being the worrier that I am..I am thinking that this is bringing on the migraines even more.
Anyways, I know I am blessed regardless, and I plan on making this a fantastic Christmas with my family. Not sure if our son will be with us next year or not. I sure hope he will be. We will make the most of it!!
Here is the start of the baking process! :)
Oh, and if you want the recipe I use for my delicious cookies, you can find them HERE!

Louise

Changes

Hello fellow bloggers.
It is me again.
I had a bad day again yesterday. It seems I am getting worse.
The night before the headache was so severe, but managed to get to sleep. I woke up at 3:30am with unmanageable head pain.
I almost woke my husband to take me to the hospital the pain was that bad!
I just laid there and waited till the morning very scared.
I went to the doctor in the morning and they gave me a shot for pain. I am waiting on another doctor to call for scheduling of another appointment for further testing. :(
I don't know how I will get this under control. The medication doesn't seem to be working.
I am a bit worried now with the pain becoming more frequent. I had plans of making all of my daughters teachers hand stitched ornaments for Christmas, but now I will not be able to do that. This makes me feel so terribly sad. I had such hopes of accomplishing so much for this Christmas season.So much I wanted to do for so many people and I just am not able to do it. I hope I feel well enough this weekend to do the Christmas cookie baking. It will be a great feat if I do get it done.
I hope I can still have the family over for the Christmas holiday dinner.
I was speaking with a dear friend about diet and how I can make my diet even better than I have been doing. I am eating pretty well and have been making good changes with cutting out sweets and things I used to love eating.
I have now incorporated flax seed, egg beaters , and whole grain brown rice too...
Along with double grain fiber breads.
I am trying to eat all the right things to encourage weight loss even more and to ward off migraines and help my health.
Thank you to those who continue to keep me in your thoughts and prayers.
I am so tired of being in pain and going to the doctors!
Louise

hello again

Hello dear friends.
Thank you so much for keeping me in your prayers. I have been feeling a bit better. I have seen the doctor and I have gone through some tests with more doctor visits on the way. I am now on medications which hopefully will help.
I have so much to do with the arrival of Christmas on the way! I do not have the time to be sick. I have just done some errands and dropped off our Christmas cards to the post office. I am glad to have them out so early! :)
Purchased our beautiful Christmas tree which is waiting to be decorated, along with the house. My dear sweet husband is working on our house with painting and making things as beautiful as ever. I have just invited the family over for the holidays and will make preparations soon for the meal and goings on with that.
We noticed that we have visitors in our backyard every night! Our son captured them with his camera last night!
He saw three of them...Look how fat they are!!
OH MY!!

Doctor Visit

I have not been feeling well the past month and it seems I am getting worse. I have tried so hard to stay away from the doctors office..but the time has come. Please won't you keep me in your prayers. Life has been a bit difficult for me with the pain and I am trying to cope with these weekly migraines, visual disturbances, and feeling very run down. The migraines are weekly now and this past weekend was the worst. It started on Friday, and as of today (Monday) I was still feeling a bit ill with the headache. The migraines have never lasted this long for me. I am praying that the doctors can help me. I have tried so many medications in the past with not great relief, except for less frequency due to the help of some medications. I felt so helpless this weekend..with so much to do, but stayed in bed for three days. This is not the "ME" that I like to see. :(
I thought they would decrease with age, but it seems as though they are getting worse. Not everyone can understand what I feel unless they have had to deal with migraines themselves. It is debilitating! I absolutely broke down in tears this weekend feeling very sorry for myself. I know they pass with time..but now I fear looking forward to another before the week is out, as I have continuously had one starting every Friday for the past month. *sigh*
I have tried many of the triptans with no help.
A preventative has helped in the past, but only worked for so long then they didn't seem strong enough to keep the migraines at bay. I have had MRI's years ago which come up fine.There is a family history..but it seems I have gotten the worst of it. :(

Please, keep me in your prayers for guidance and help from the doctor when I go for my appointment. I think the next stop up will be a neurologist. I am very blessed with an understanding husband who serves my every need, a son who brings me tea, and a daughter who forever snuggles with me! I also thank God for my very dear friends!

Louise

Thanksgiving Baking!

The Thanksgiving baking has begun! I made a new favorite, Apple Crunch Pie. It sure is delicious!

If you would like the recipe, it is on my recipe blog HERE!

Of course we are having traditional apple pie, which I made use of my new snowflake cookie cutters to decorate the pie crust:

I made pumpkin pie and used a cookie stencil to make a turkey on top with confectioners sugar. Too CUTE!

These are the cookie stencils I use..I found them at the beginning of the autumn season at Hobby Lobby:

I also made a new recipe, chocolate snowball cookies. This is a recipe by Betty Crocker and can be found HERE!

The cookies are delicious, I omitted the almonds..and would suggest not using the full teaspoon of almond extract in the recipe. Almond extract is very strong in flavor! Next time I will probably just put a half teaspoon. They are yummie cookies though :)
I am so looking forward to Thanksgiving, being with family and thanking God for all our many blessings!

Make sure you head on over to Plum Street Samplers Blog for her new Freebie cross stitch design, it is Gorgeous, and perfect for Thanksgiving! You can find the freebie HERE!

The Primitive Hare has a cute Christmas freebie! You will have to scroll down to see it. Love it! CLICK HERE!

Happy Thanksgiving!
Louise

Beautiful Saying

I saw this on the internet and had to share it with you!
LOVE THIS!

Muddy Buddies!!

Well, I have gone and done it now...I think I totally wrecked my diet again!
I came across this recipe that I saw on the box of corn chex cereal...well, the picture had me craving this sweet treat. Problem is..it makes a pretty hefty batch indeed! I made it today, put it into a big gallon ziploc bag in the freezer..Oh, it tastes so yummie all cold, sweet, salty, handfuls of goodness!!!
Although I love it so much, I am wishing I didn't make it..I see a midnight snack on the way tonight..
Grrrrrrrrrrrr.................. :)

Now, I will be a sweet sort of friend and give you the recipe..I would never steer you wrong..this is really good stuff!!
You are very welcome..(hee hee!)
Chex Mix Muddy Buddies

Louise

Renewal of Vows

Today was a most Blessed and Glorious day in our lives! This past April we celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary. Today we renewed our Vows in the Catholic Church. Our children were present with us, along with our Sister Erin. It was a beautiful ceremony with Bishop Estevez presiding over the mass. We received a certificate honoring this milestone for keeping!
God has truly blessed us with 25 wonderful years of Love and Friendship.
Looking forward to the next 25!

Granny Scarf

I put all my granny squares together last night and this morning with a single crochet. Then I added a scallop edge.
This was a fairly easy project, but time consuming. I do like the final results! The colors of purple and green look so pretty together.
A pretty scarf is the final outcome. Thick, warm, and perfect for chilly nights to snuggle around your neck.

Sadly though, the housekeeping has been put aside while I work on things such as my crochet. I think I shall start dinner for later and clean a little bit now!
:) I think more granny squares are in my future..they are so much fun to do!
Ta Ta for now!
Louise

Flurries of Snowflakes Have Arrived!

Not real ones of course..remember I live in Florida!
But...still received snowflakes, by post that is! My order came in from King Arthur Flour
Aren't they just absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!
Oh, My head is spinning...imagine all the possibilities!
Such pretty colors of white, blue and lavender.

I am soooo looking forward to baking this Christmas season!

Also just snapped a photo of our son..isn't he a cutie! :)

:)
Louise

Grannies!

I did absolutely nothing today, well, besides making granny squares that is! I am hoping to put them together and make a scarf. I purchased the yarn at Hobby Lobby, it is a multi colored yarn in colors that are so pretty together..purples, blues, greens.

I am thinking I will have to use perhaps 28 squares to make a nice sized scarf. I am not sure of my crochet hook size, as it doesn't say..but it is a chunky hook. Love the chunky ones, so much easier to handle!

Hope you are all having a splendid evening,
Raggedystitches,
Louise

Just ME!

As I was getting ready this morning for my church class, I looked in the mirror. I am noticing more lines and wrinkles around my eyes than I used to have before. Some may not like the lines they notice..but I am learning to appreciate them, each and every one. I know to have these lines, many events have brought me thus far. Each one could tell a story..not only sad lines, but happy lines. I asked my husband to take a picture of me before I left the house today. I looked at the picture and felt confident in knowing who I am, how blessed I am, and how confident I have grown in myself and the Lord over the years. It has not always been easy, and sometimes there were difficult roads..but I have walked down every road presented to me, even if unexpected. I am who I am, just ME.
I am fortunate to be my age, and be blessed with lines and wrinkles!

:) Louise

Weekend Vacation

 My husband and I took a three day vacation, just the two of us! We went a bit further north, and enjoyed every minute of it. I surely did not want our time away to end. We visited with dear friends I met through a stitching board, (Hi Bonnie and Mike!). They had the most fabulous lunch for us with homemade chili. It was nice to chat, eat, and enjoy each others company.

 I had brought along homemade peanut butter cookies to share, with a special stitched pincushion for Bonnie:

We stayed at a beautiful hotel that accommodated our every need.

Breakfast was a wonderful treat each morning, with homemade waffles, fresh fruits, cereals, bagels, pastries, juices, coffee and teas of all sorts. A wonderfully great start to each day! YUM!!

We drove around each day, looking at different homes. Starting to think about our retirement and where we will finally land one day..perhaps sooner than later! We saw many beautiful homes...this one looked nice, but needed some work:

Not sure if a house like this would work for us (ha ha) :)...we searched a little further, and then we found a castle!:

When they say "absence makes the heart grow fonder"...I guess it might work in this house..how could spouses even find each other? LOL!~ A beautiful castle indeed.
The weather was absolutely fantastic! The Fall foliage was outstanding:

 We saw Cows peacefully resting:

And we saw Birds:

 Not really sure what type of birds they were...but they were big and interesting looking!

A cemetary we passed along the way:

We stopped at a Taco place for some yummie lunch one day..I decided to get the taco salad. It was delicious!

We attended an elegant party for a close friend of my husband. Many people turned out and it was a big hit. A great Saturday night! We had many laughs and enjoyed ourselves immensely. On the way home Hubby wanted to stop for Dairy Queen...when he looked at his chocolate dipped cone, this is what he saw! 

We were so happy the whole weekend long, it even showed in the ice cream cone! :)

We looked forward to spending this time together and it was even better than we have ever imagined. Enjoying every minute, just the two of us!

It was lots of fun looking at different homes and spending time in such beautiful weather, along with special friends!

We spotted a stitch shop along the way, and of course my husband (the sweet man he is!) stopped and waited in the car while I shopped. This is the lot I came home with. Many charts on clearance!

Bonnie was so sweet and offered up this beautiful Linda Meyers chart to me when she found out that I love Amish Designs.

We will be traveling again soon, until then, I wish you all a Blessed Week!

Louise