You mean this old thing?

Someone Small was baptized last Sunday. I wanted to share because, as textile artists, I thought you might enjoy seeing her in her great-grandfather's christening gown. It is at least 106 years old, maybe older, and was worn by Left-brain's grandfather, his mother, him and all his siblings and cousins, and our niece and nephews. Think of all the beautiful ceremonies it has seen. It was sewn by my MIL's grandmother, out of beautiful batiste, embroidered (if it's not broiderie anglaise, it's something very close) and edged with hand-made lace, truly a work of art. She also wore her paternal great-grandmother's crucifix, tucked against her skin, and a crucifix her godmother gave her. My mom had a bib and slippers for her, so that she wouldn't ruin the pretty dress. I probably should have made something, but I made her, so maybe that was enough?

It was a beautiful service. I teared up, but managed not to start openly crying. Babygirl took it in stride, she had her pacifier in while she was being anointed with oil, and sucked quite contentedly on it as she was carried down the aisle by the same priest who married her father and I, to be introduced and the newest member of God's Church.

She did want to eat the food at her party, though. She was eyeballing everything, especially her baptism cake. Which had purple flowers on it, since purple is her signature color. It was a nice day, all in all.

The lost

has now been found. Rossana got her ornament last night.  You can not imagine how ecstatic I am. I was at the point of planning a re-stitch, and that alone inspired me with great dread, since I do not get much stitching time, and having to redo an ornament, let alone a design I already did, I was a little upset. At least now I can stitch for myself!

I have been going through the old freebie charts I have and pulled out a few to kit up and do, now that I am determined the sewing machine is coming out of the box. I am going to try something new, at least for me. I have so many pretty things, have been blessed to be able to have them, and it's ridiculous that so many of them end up in boxes, usused and underappreciated. All that sewing fabric that I have, I am going to try to match it up, color-blind, to the designs I have, then tweak the colors to match the fabric. They may not look good here for a while til I find my way, but what is the point of having things if they bring me no pleasure and are never used?

I have a recipe to share with you today, an easy one! Best friend Brea came up for Babygirl's baptism this past weekend (yes, Mummy got teary), and she said this is one of her family's favorites, perfect for a cold winter day! We told Left-brain it was chili, because he doesn't eat soup. He ate two bowls.

Southwestern Soup
1 can Rotel tomatoes (or diced tomatoes with chilis)
1 can regular diced tomatoes.
(Note on these: Brea used small cans, she said the recipe calls for two cans of Ro-tel, but she substituted regular tomatoes for the second can. I will check definite sizes when I go to Safeway next, but they were smaller. If you want bigger cans and can find them, use them, or if you want spicy, use two Ro-tels)
1 regular can tomato paste
1 can chili beans
1 can black beans
1 can shoepeg corn (you can probably substitute if your store doesn't have, we don't tattle in Crazyville)
1 pack mild taco seasoning (you can always add heat, but you can not replace a burned tongue)
1 pack dry ranch dressing mix
2 lbs ground beef
1 onion, diced (if you have a food processor attachment for the blender, use it. Much easier)
1 bag tortilla chips
1 bag Mexican-style cheese blend
a container of sour cream (optional)


Brown the ground beef in a pan. Saute the onions in a large pot with a little oil til they are somewhat translucent. Drain the ground beef, put it in the pot, add the canned stuff, the taco seasoning, and the ranch dressing, along with a can of water.

Let simmer for a while, until you're hungry. It should look a lot like chili, but it is not.

Serve with the tortilla chips and the cheese.

It made enough for us to eat, and I still froze some for another meal. I love low-effort recipes that make enough for two meals. It's like a little food bank account!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas one and all.

Hope your Christmas was full of light and love and smiles. Of course mine was, how could it not have been when I have my own personal elf?  Her little suit is going in our memory box, since it gave such joy when she wore it. Maybe if she has a baby sister one day, she can wear it, but it's going away til then.

I worked all month at the theatre. I'm not complaining, if I hadn't, Christmas would have been quite lean for us. But it was hard to be away from Babygirl so much. I am so blessed that her father takes care of her without complaint--I know fathers are supposed to do this without hesitation, but I live in the real world and not all men are willing or able to deal with a small child for large amounts of time, and not all moms are willing to give them the chance to do it.  We just make the best of the situation we've been handed and it works beautifully.

I tried to do a photo session with her on Christmas Eve. This is the best photo we got. Yes, that's an ornament off my Christmas tree; it was that or the stitched Santa at the left of her. Next year, I think my tree will be decorated from the middle up. But she looks so pleased with herself. She was a good girl this year, Santa spoiled her and it was so wonderful to see Christmas through her eyes, knowing this is only the start.

As far as next year's stitching goals, I am not sure how well I'll accomplish them. I didn't even manage to finish my Little Bitty Kitty Quilt this year, that will bleed into the new year. I just didn't have the time. It's starting to increase, bit by bit, since she started sleeping through the night, but I am no where near where I was before, and this is a child who will grab some fabric if I stitch by her. I did sign up for the LHN Sheep SAL Vonna of the Twisted Stitcher is hosting, and an ornament SAL. And I vow to do Babygirl's Christmas stocking for her this year. It just kills me that I didn't have that for her, but then again, I don't have MINE done.  My mom gifted me with gift certificates to 123Stitch--she's realized if she gives me gift cards to Walmart or Sears, I don't spend them on myself--so that is paying for the fabric and the sheep charts. I also printed off the Dragon Dreams freebies she has been posting on Facebook, and think I may do those this year as tuck ornaments. They'll be quick stitches, and will be really cute on my tree next year.

So that's it from Crazyville for now. Left-brain, Babygirl and I wish you and yours a very happy New Year. May 2013 be the start of good things for all of us, may we all be healthy and happy, and may we gather together next year--via cyberspace--and reflect on a wonderful year.

Desperately Seeking Stitching

The ornament I stitched for Rossana has gone AWOL. I mailed it on November 13th and it has not gotten to her yet.  This has never happened with me, and I always choose ornament exchange partners outside the US.  The organizer said to give it some more time, but I feel like throwing up. It makes me sick to think that my ornament is out floating in the void, somewhere, when I tried so hard to make a pretty thing for her.  And that she won't have a pretty for her Christmas tree--arrghhh.  And of course it does pop into my head, when will I have time to stitch a replacement--other than that, I managed to finish one other small chart since November 1st, I'm just too busy with everything else.

I HATE WHEN THINGS LIKE THIS HAPPEN.

Busy like a little elf

Another week has passed without a post. Last week was a catch-up week, lots of nights at the part-time job, making up for two days off at my full-time job. No stitching getting done at all. I picked up my needle for the first time last night and put a few stitches in.

We did have a pretty busy Mommy and Babygirl weekend. Saturday, she and I went to a party in my hometown. She just celebrated her 5 month birthday and is now very alert and aware of her world. She loves to "shimmy" for people, that is her dancing. And so smily. She dressed appropriately to bring joy to seniors, some of whom don't get a lot of interaction with babies anymore. She was a huge hit.

We took her to see Santa on Saturday night, after the party. She wore the same little elf suit. Last week, she discovered the magic of her own voice, and so she practiced telling Santa she wanted a pony in every color quite loudly the whole time we were in line (which she would later repeat in church yesterday morning--she is little, but she's loud, she wants a pony and she don't care who knows it), but when she got up to him, it was just quiet.  We did get quite a bit of her shopping done. Mom told me she was not wrapping her clothes. I explained that Santa doesn't wrap gifts, but he also doesn't bring clothes, because to kids, clothes suck, and that Mom could put them in a gift bag. Mom has forgotten how Santa works apparently.

One thing that did happen was pretty cute. She doesn't laugh at me. She belly laughs at everyone else, not Mummy. I've gotten used to it--my child doesn't think I'm funny. It's OK. But I took her in the bathroom and had to change her. When we were done, I buckled her back into her seat. I need to admit, I'm still scared at times of how fragile she is. I always worry I am going to hurt her buckling her into the seat, and the little suit is thick, so I was trying to be very careful. I must have made a face and sucked in my breath, because she BURST OUT LAUGHING. I swear, I thought she was crying. I looked at her and said, "What's wrong!????!!" And she belly-laughed at me. I started laughing right there in the bathroom at Target. I couldn't help it. She is so funny.  

A new finish

I took part in a Christmas ornament exchange. It's been a while since I had a finish--I do try to stitch, but it doesn't seem like I get much accomplished. But I did make the time to get this done for Rossanna, a nice lady from Italy.

I do love this chart. I have no idea who it is by, it was from a site that had a bunch of cat charts, but the site is no longer there. It had no guidance for the colors, so I chose to make it a black cat, like my Lily, who loves to hide under the Christmas tree. Lily is one of the three reasons we had to replace all the glass ornaments on the tree; their first Christmas, the three kittens LOVED to climb into the tree, then would wrap their arms around the tree branches, making it difficult to extract them without breaking ornaments. I like to send a little bit of our holidays to other countries, and Lily is my pretty little Christmas kitty.  I did mail it out late, but I totally forgot when we had to mail. I hope it gets to her quickly.


I haven't posted since Halloween, but wanted to share a couple pictures of how we celebrated. It was a lot more low-key than we've had in the past. But I still wanted to make  some memories with Babyirl.

Her granny bought her the Pooh punkin inserts. I love him, much cuter than anything our terrible carving skills could create. 

 Mom bought her this little dress so she'd be pretty on Halloween. I don't know why Carter's made a Halloween dress with short sleeves and just a diaper cover, but we put it over jeans and she was in deep like!  She kept looking at the punkins on it. Maybe I have a Halloween fan in the making?

If I don't post between now and Thanksgiving, I hope you have a blessed holiday.

Happy Halloween

May your Halloween be full of fun, your Trick or Treat bag full of full-size candy bars, and your night a reminder that it's always better to err on the side of whimsy.