How Time Flies!

I just rediscovered my blog.  OK I know that sounds crazy.  But it has been an absolutely wild year around here!  Yes I promised pictures of the duke costume from last year.  Do I have any pictures to show from it?  Hmmmm that's a loaded question.  I'm sure I took them--after all, it was my son-in-law I made the costume for.  Do I know where the pictures are?  Now that's a totally different story.

Yes, those are real shells that have been painted, glittered and hand stitched to the "tunic" (or as we teased him, his dress).  There were over 50 shells on it.  Between the multiple layers of fabric, the two bolts of sequins, and the shells that were on this, I'm REALLY glad I'm not the none that had to wear it!  It was HEAVY!

Austin just loved it when Uncle Mike tried on his costume.  He was totally enthralled with it.

They represented the god Poseidon and goddess Athena.

All in all, they turned out GREAT!

 

This year, my hubby and I have been elected King and Queen of this Mardi Gras krewe.  We have been working what feels like non stop to  make not only our trains, collars, and costumes.  We have also been working on the costumes, capes, collars and headpieces of our court members.  Unfortunately, you'll have to wait until after Mardi Gras to see any of it--as we're not revealing what they'll look like until then.  If you're lucky though, I'll remember to come back and show you! 

I really am not the best blogger!  I get side tracked too easily and just don't remember to come back to it.  And because I don't log into my Google account very often, I don't even see the blog to remind me.  I just seem to have too many distractions in my life.

 

Of course 2 of those distractions are my beautiful grandsons that live with us.  Watching them grow and develop is such a joy.  They are joined by 5 other distractions--their cousins and the remaining grandchildren.  We recently were told that there will be an 8th distraction added to the family.  I haven't been told of when the proposed due date will be, but maybe we'll have more of an idea by Christmas when grandbaby number 8 will make its presence known.

 

Speaking of Christmas, can you believe that it will be upon us so soon?  It is so hard to believe that stores are already fully stocked with Christmas decorations and some are even playing Christmas carols already.  Really???? Whatever happened to November?  Thanksgiving?  Are people really no longer thankful for what they have?  It's a shame that people just take everything they have for granted.  Although, I have to add myself to that mix.  I get so involved with activities or just the daily run of the mill things we all do, that I forget to be thankful.

 

The roof over our head, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, we just take for granted that they'll be there.  We all tend to forget or turn a blind eye to the fact that people around us do not have homes, do not have food to eat, do not have new (or sometimes even clean) clothes to wear.  Our subconscious mind tends to hide that fact from us on a daily basis.  If we don't see it, then it doesn't exist.  But it DOES exist and people all around us are not blessed with the comforts we're all comfortable with.  I'm not just talking about those in third world countries or in foreign lands, I'm talking about the people that walk the same streets, go to the same schools or businesses, live near us.  There is a bridge that is less than 1/2 a mile from my house that is known to "house" people.  Some of them are quite content to live there and chose a life without all the personal comforts that a materialistic society brings upon itself.  But most that come and go from under the bridge are those that were forced out of their homes for one reason or another.  WE, as a society need to learn not to turn a blind eye towards them; to be thankful for what we have; to not take for granted that we'll always live in a house that is furnished with comfortable furniture; we may not always have the ability to have electricity, water, and gas for our comfort; we may not always have a loving friend, spouse, family member who will help us and love us unconditionally that will stand by you no matter what.  Wow, there are so many things that we can be and SHOULD be thankful for.  We just don't think of all that we have that we could lose in an instant.  Someone on facebook started the 30 days of thanks--that each day during the month of November, you write what you're thankful for.  We should be thankful EVERYDAY of the year.  We should remember to not just ask God to help with everything, but to THANK HIM for all that he's given us.

Has It Really Been a Year?

Hello one and all followers--and any lurkers as well!

Has it really been a year since I was last on this blog? I don't know how time flies--and not always when you're having fun. But seems like the older I get the faster time flies by. But what a year it has been! I went great guns on the website--that is until the server would no longer let me in! There were so many new designs that I digitized and put on the site. But alas life got in the way and I have yet to figure out the balancing act of business owner, Mom, Gramma, cook & bottle washer. LOL But that is neither here nor there. I guess the biggest thing I forgot was ME time and this blog is part of that ME time! I will say that I'll be dilligent about getting this back to normal postings. However, I can't say that that will necessarily be the case--no matter how much I want it to be so. I just forget to get to the computer. I can't even claim to have been a loyal follower of the blogs that I follow--can't even claim that I've been lurking! I can honestly say that I haven't looked at anyone's blogs--and for that I apologize. I know that all of you put hard work into your blogs!

All of that being said, let me say that this has been a busy year! My dearest hubby and my best friend went to Walt Disney World for a week then followed that week with a week long cruise on the Disney Fantasy! Oh what a wonderful 2 weeks those were! We had so much fun and met some amazing people--not to mention the wonderful characters that we love to see in the wonderful world of the mouse! Being able to spend those 2 weeks in the fantatiscal world of Walt Disney's visions was awesome. Coming home from such a great trip was rather depressing getting back into the "real world" of having to cook and clean for ourselves!

However that feeling didn't last too long as 3 weeks later we were back on the road again to Myrtle Beach, SC for my All Class Reunion. Now most people would wonder what kind of school would not have a specific class reunion, but an All Class one instead. Well, I am proud to say that I'm a military brat! And our school, Zweibruecken American High School does not limit its class reunions to just one class or to just those that actually physically graduated from there. Every 3 years there is an All Class Reunion held in which anyone that attended the school during its existence is considered an alumni! It was wonderful to meet so many old and new friends that I haven't seen in almost 30 years (or has it been 30 years already?)!! What an amazing weekend with amazing people!

I returned home to prepare myself for yet another back surgery--this time on the upper portion of the spine as opposed to the lower portion. I must say that all has gone exceedingly well with this last surgery and I'm quite pleased with the result. Although I am starting to feel like one of Star Trek's Borg units! :) But so far I have to say it has all been worth it.

In the interim time between the surgery (which was in July) and now our house has felt like a revolving door! One of dear hubby's best bud's and a dear close family friend has retired from the military and has joined our household. We also have had one daughter move in with her 1 year old daughter for a few months until her job was able to be transferred closer to where her she and her husband now live. I have had the joy of welcoming 2 more grandchildren into the world--let's see that makes the grandchild count up to 6 and number 7 is due in July 2013! When the one daughter was moving out with her one year old, we were welcoming our other daughter with her 3 year old and 1 week old sons into the house. I was blessed to be in the room when the 1 week old (he's now almost 2 months old) was born and then helped her drive home from Virginia back to the sunny Gulf Coast! It was so much fun here at Christmas with 3 little ones who are still so much fun to watch open gifts and discover all the surprises that were left for them under the tree.

Since then, the household has been in construction mode! Not consruction on the house; but construction of a duke's costume for Mardi Gras. Our ball is tomorrow night and all the finishing touches have been done (I hope). The centerpieces and table decorations are ready to take with us so that we can have a night of fun and merriment! Our son-in-law is one of the dukes this year in the court for our Mardi Gras Krewe's ball this year. Hence why we have been in total construction mode. Unfortunately, I can't give you any sneak peek pictures of the costume until the ball is over. If I can manage to get back to the computer and remember to get back here to give you an update--I'll be sure to post pictures of our finished handiwork! I'm so blessed that my husband can be part of the creative team that works on things and can help with the cutting and detail work!







That being said, I will close this for now. But I did want to let you know that I haven't forgotten y'all and I'm still alive and kicking!