Happy Thanksgiving!

It's an absolutely gorgeous day here in Western Washington. Blue sky, no clouds, sunshine galore and white frost everywhere!!! BRRRR! It's very cold this Thanksgiving, but one of the very few I can remember where the weather has not been lousy or terrible!! I am thankful for good weather this day.

Baby Gracie spent a couple days in the hospital this week under the lights to treat her jaundice. Her biliruben levels were actually not that high, but she had lost so much weight post-birth (she is down to 5.5 pounds) that in ratio to her tiny body, the jaundice was making her very lethargic and she was eating poorly. She is home now, eating well and healthy. I am thankful for a new healthy granddaughter this day.

Alana turned two years old yesterday and received more presents than ought to be legal. It wasn't until bedtime last night that she fully accepted the fact that she really is two years old and would hold up two fingers to say how old she is. She is still the sunshine in our lives. I am thankful for a healthy and beautiful two year old granddaughter this day.

The whole family has been struggling with colds this last week, and John and I both feel miserable. I am thankful that colds are the extent of the illness in my family this day.

I took the whole week off in vacation this week, and have enjoyed it. I have been slowly moving my computer and stitching things (which are alot, by the way) back into my little room, and taking the time to purge deeply as I do it. Lots of stuff has gone in the recycle bin, more is destined for Goodwill. We have moved the granddaughters to the upstairs bedroom now that Alli and Chris have their own apartment. I am thankful that we had the foresight 9 years ago to buy a house big enough to shelter our whole family when there is a need. I am thankful to have my little room back this day.

The pumpkin and apple pies have been made and are enticing us from the kitchen counter. We will be taking them to my Mom and Dad's house for dinner today, joining about half of the extended family for the family feast. One sister and her family will spend the day with her hubby's family. It will be a special day showing off Gracie to the rest of the family, and enjoying each other's company. I am thankful for a wonderful extended family this day.

I am off now to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on TV, taking along my cup of coffee and a stitching project. I am thankful for modern technology that allows me to share Thanksgiving with the whole country at the same time this day. And I am thankful for stitching, for I think I would be slightly insane without it!!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. May you be as blessed as we are this day!!!

She's Here!!!

Announcing the arrival of

Gracie Lynn Rheinhardt


November 15, 2007


5:01 AM


6 lbs. 3 oz; 18 inches


Mother Amy Sue and Gracie are healthy and beautiful!!!




More later when I have had a chance to have some sleep!!! It's been a long 24 hours!

Quiet Weekend

I got hit by an organizing mood this weekend, so I decided to indulge myself by organizing something to do with my needlework instead of housework. I pulled out my large pile of fairly new patterns I have been collecting for the last couple of years, and set aside every single one that I wanted to do in the next year. I came up with about 8 patterns...several of them I had cut fabric for last spring. I decided to kit them all up and have them competely ready to go for when the mood hit to stitch them. It took several pleasant hours, but they are all done except to find a bit of fabric for one freebie Christmas ornament. So now my project basket is really full again, but most of them are completely new projects. Ahhh. I LIKE being organized!!!

Still no baby yet. Amy Sue felt pretty well Saturday, so we did some shopping for the baby, and she was happy with what we got accomplished. She thinks she has all the "needs" pretty well taken care of now, and everything left on her registry is just "wants" or "would be nice to haves".

I don't have any great new pictures this week. The weather has not been great, so we haven't been outside much. I've done some stitching, but not enough to warrant a picture. Maybe next week. I've decided to change the picture weekly in my sidebar, and I will probably be delving into my older nice pictures...show them off a little. This picture of Mt. St. Helens was captured from the Mt. St. Helens webcam last month...the sunrise over the mountain was spectacular that day, and I captured several of the images to keep.

November in all it's glory!

Just a few pictures of some of the trees outside my office building....absolutely gorgeous!!!!

Another week goes by

And we are still waiting for the new baby to make her appearance. Amazingly, she has held on longer than any of us expected. Amy Sue is at 36 weeks now, and her doctors have told her they will induce when and if she makes it to 38 weeks. So whatever happens, just two more weeks to go!!!

This week was Halloween. Here's a picture of Alana in her special outfit. The first trick or treater's came to the door, and Alana saw the costumes and freaked out. She ran crying from the room and refused to go near the door again all evening!!! So we drank hot cider, and ate candy and enjoyed our quiet evening at home.

I finished the last Shepherd's Bush ornament in the series this week. There were alot of thread changes so it seemed to take a long time to stitch, but I am happy with the way it turned out. I need to get busy now and figure out how to sew all these ornaments together into a banner. The hardest thing will be going to the fabric store and finding the right fabric to sew it together with. Time for such things is basically non-existent right now.

My next project, which I hope to start today, will be another smocked dress for Alana. I picked up a couple of ready made ones last March at the sewing expo, and I need to get going on them before she outgrows them. I want to do the pink one first, and will spend time with my smocking plates today to come up with a pleasing design. It's a bishop style dress, and I am thinking probably white or dark pink smocking.