This face

Hello Stitchy friends 

This face is why I haven't been able to pick up a needle to stitch all week!

He is a handful for sure. It has been a long time since there's been a puppy in the house.  The last time both kids were around 9 to 12 years old and were helping keep that particular puppy busy with lots of playtime.  Now that it's just Mike and myself here, it's a different story!

It will be worth it and I know the crazy puppy stuff doesn't last forever. 

I did manage to get caught up on reading blogs today. I was behind. 

Prior to Henry's arrival, I had been making good progress on getting ornaments stitched.  But it's not all his fault. This past week was extra busy... 

We had our Stitchers group Christmas party on Monday, followed by the Christmas party and meeting for the library board on Tuesday.  Then Wednesday I was at our sons house for dinner followed by a movie. But Henry went with for that. He had great fun playing with their dog. So that was great. It wore him out.

We exchanged ornaments at our Monday night party. I took the LHN ornament of the little red house with the arch of holly over it.

  I received this little beauty.

My friend Jane stitched it. I apologize for not having a picture of my finished ornament. I promise it did get finished.

It's hard to believe Christmas is less than 2 weeks away! Shopping is about all done, just waiting on that UPS truck.

If I don't make it back to post before, I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas and spend it with those you love.  

***Merry Christmas ***

Where does the time go??

David, Hello Stitchy Friends!

I can't believe I have not updated my blog since the end of September! Bad, bad me!

I've been stitching, working, decorating for Christmas, doing Christmas shopping just like all of you.  But obviously not blogging.  I have been reading your blogs though, and keeping up with your news, just a few days behind now.

Our family had a nice Thanksgiving together at our house.  We celebrated it on the Sunday after since Mike had to work.  This gave David and Lauren time to go have dinner with her family on Thursday.  Joe, Holly, Addy and I spent Thanksgiving day together since Joe's father had to work as well.  We had a nice meal together, but we all agreed it didn't feel like Thanksgiving. 

At our family dinner on Sunday I changed up my usual sweet potatoes to use the recipe Marly of Samplers and Santas fame shared.  Oh my, what a hit they were, even the family members that didn't usually like sweet potatoes like them!  Thank you for that, Marly. This has become a new family favorite.

Three weeks ago today Addy had surgery for hip displasia. She was placed in a cast following surgery to hold her pelvis in position for healing. The cast basically looks like a pair of shorts, with an opening for diaper placement. Since the issue was discovered at such a young age, her cast time was shortened to 4-6 weeks with time in a brace following.  When the problem isn't discovered until later, the recovery time is quite a bit longer.

She and her parents are handling everything well.  

I guess I don't have a photo that shows the cast well, but if you look where my daughter is holding Addy with her left hand, you can tell there's a cast there. Larger dresses that fit over the cast has been the easiest to wear. Then Holly puts leg warmers on her as well. 

We surprised Mike, my husband with his Christmas gift early, this Sunday.  

David, Lauren and I travelled to South Dakota on Saturday to meet a dog breeder to pick up this sweet puppy. He's a Lhasa apso like our previous dog was.  We had this operation in planning for a month or so. I'm happy to say it went well.  Mike was speechless with surprise. Believe me, this doesn't happen often. He is difficult to surprise. The new addition has been named Henry. He is busy, and is beginning to become acclimated to our house. So far, the cats are hoping if they ignore him, he will disappear.

If you've hung in here this long reading, I will share some stitching updates. I finished the Autumn piece by Cricket.

Sorry for the sideways photo.  Then I concentrated on doing some ornaments.

I liked this ornament so much I have stitched it twice so far. Both to give away.

I have managed to do finishing on these three, but have no pictures to prove it at this point. 

I will try to do another post soon about other news.

Until then, happy stitching!