Cross Stitching: I Forgot How Fun It Was

I have been working on getting Christmas presents cross stitched.  I finished one Care Bear picture with two more to go.

I'm currently working on a Heroes of Star Wars Sampler.  It's coming along and looking really good. 

I have 4 more characters to stitch and then the backstitching between them.  I have one more Star Wars picture to stitch after I'm done with this.

I used to cross stitch a lot when I was in high school and college.  After college I kind of let it go.  This spring I started doing it again and have been going to town with it.  For our craft sale, I made simple little ornaments. 

Then I did these dolphins for James.



Then I made a picture for my nephew Sawyer that was a teddy bear and had his name and birthday on it.  That's when I decided to make the Christmas presents for my neices and nephews.  I had the Care Bear patterns and James said that Sienna and Sylvie would like that.  I knew that Gabe and Chi would love Star Wars so I went in search of some patterns.  I found them too!  Ebay can be wonderful for finding things like that.  Then James said the Sawyer will need a Care Bear too.  So he picked out a blue one for him.  I'm alternating between Care Bears and Star Wars right now. 

I did take a brief side trip after the first Care Bear to make a present for my parent's 40th anniversary.

I hope to have the Star Wars Sampler done by the end of the week and will start on the Care Bear this weekend.  I may have to go to Micheal's to get the two Star Wars and the one Care Bear framed, but I've been saving my coupons to save the money.

I have really enjoy seeing how a mess of colors and symbols turn into a wonderful picture when stitched.

Now I haven't been sleeping so this has been helping.  Tonight I will be taking a Unisom to help me get back on schedule as well as getting a run in later on today.  Then I can enjoy my stitching without messing up my sleep.  I can't wait to figure out what else I can stitch when these are all done!

The Chocolate Race

Today I ran the Chocolate Race and was pretty happy with how I did.  It was windy and cool, but I love running in that kind of weather.  I felt really good the entire race.  There was one part where my knee started to twinge a bit so I slowed up for about 30 seconds and then it was fine.  I know I will do this race again next year as the course is just so pretty and I loved the chocolate afterwards.  LOL.

Here I am at the starting line.

Crossing the finish line.

With my medal after the race.

I haven't been training as much as I should and if I want to reach my goal I have to get my rear in gear.  I have 27 days until the zoo run and I need to be training my butt off.  I am working out a schedule tonight and then off I go.

I have been really busy canning for the past few weeks.  I've made 61 jars of jam, 20 jars of salsa, 12 jars of bruschetta, and 17 jars of tomato sauce.  This coming week I'm doing pickles and zucchini relish.  Then I get a break until we go apple picking and I make applesauce.  I think I'm ready for winter.  I can tell you that I don't want to see another tomato for a long time.

Tomorrow it's up for a recovery run, get some thinks done for swimming, register for a zumba class, and do some light cleaning around the house.  Oh and laundry.  I've been putting that off so it needs to get done.  My week is going to be busy and it's my last week before the swim season starts up again.  I need to get a lot of stuff done before I'm back at it!  I need to enjoy tonight and then get ready for tomorrow.  Here we go!

That felt good!

After taking last week off and just giving myself a mental and physical break I got up and went for a run today.  It felt so good!  I was keeping a good pace and didn't even realize how long I'd been running.  It was nice.  I'm going out again tomorrow morning and then on Friday morning.  I have a plan for the next two weeks and that will get me to my race on the 28th.  Then I'll make a plan for my next race.  I'm just going to take it two weeks at a time and enjoy what I'm doing.

I used today's run to process some things.  Yesterday I found out that a friend passed away from cancer on Sunday night.  He had been battling it for awhile.  This friend really helped both Mike and I before we had even really met.  He was a kind and giving soul.  He will be missed, but his life will never be forgotten.  I was able to just really think about everything while I was running and that is one of the reasons I started running again.  It gives me time to process things and work through them both emotionally and physically.  If you can spare a prayer for Ron and his family it would be appreciated.

I finished Sienna's Christmas present on Saturday.  It turned out really nice.  I found a great frame for it and it really made look even better.  Here is what I made her.

I was supposed to be working on a Star Wars one, but I cut the cloth too small and I was missing one of the floss colors.  I like to have everything there and ready to go when I start.  I will be starting the Star Wars sampler tonight or tomorrow afternoon.  I can't wait!!!!!!

Today I'm heading out to the market for the first time in awhile.  I'm going to make some jam today.  I will probably go again on Thursday to get more fruit.  I love making jam and Mike and James love eating it.  I just wish I liked jam.  Oh well, I guess I have to make thumbprint cookies so I can enjoy the jam.  Darn it...the sacrafices I make.

Hiking and Rock Climbing

Yesterday was so much fun!!!!!!  We got a picnic lunch and set out on a hike.  James was so excited!  He loves to take walks with us and the picnic was an added bonus.

We started out hiking up a ski hill.

When we got to the top the view was so pretty.  James was impressed with how high we were, but Mike said just wait!  We started on our hike.  This involved a lot of rock climbing.  We all I loved it!!!!!!!

When we got to a trail we found lots and lots of wild blueberries!!!!!  They were so tasty!  We all had to eat our fill.

The we continued on.  It started to rain a bit, but we were protected by the trees so we didn't get too wet.  James finally asked if we could climb up on a high rock for our picnic.  We found a good one and had our lunch.

After that we started to head back to the car.  The wind was starting to get chilly and we had awhile to hike back.  So off we went!

Then it was back down the ski hill.

We walked along a path near the car and found wild raspberries.  Once again we all had to eat our fill.

James picked me a lovely bouquet of wildflowers along our hike.  We brought them back to the room and put them in water.  It brightened up the hotel room and created a wonderful memory for me.

Today we are going to have lunch with Mike's grandmother then we have to head back home.  Our visit to Sudbury was fun and we will be coming back again.  James said he loves it here and he has decided that he wants to be a miner when he grows up because you get to find all sorts of rocks and maybe even gold.  Its been a wonderful family vacation.

Science North

Yesterday we continued our vacation by going to Science North.  It is a wonderful wonderful wonderful science museum.  Everything is hands on and great for kids.  James had a ball!

We started by learning about animal conservation.  It tied in with the Imax movie we saw on Monday called Born To Be Wild.  It was about how 2 women are helping orphaned elephants and orangatuans.

Then we went to the butterfly area.  James loves butterflies and they were really moving around when we were in there.  While we were there he got to feed the milipedes.

When they built Science North they discovered a fault line in Sudbury right where they were building the science center.  So they altered the design and made it part of the museum.

Then it was off to where the animals are.  They had some small animals that live in the Sudbury area.  We got to see beaver, skunk, snakes, frogs, and we even got to pet a flying squirrel and a porcupine.

We also got to see a rare spieces of moose.

There were all sorts of fun hands-on stuff that taught you about physics, your body, energy, computers, space, and so much more!

After the museum we went outside to burn off some energy before we saw a movie about the sun, moon and Earth.  We put James to work chasing sea gulls.  He did a good job too.

We had a good time yesterday.  We all came back to the hotel and crashed after dinner.  Today we are going hiking.  I can't wait because I LOVE hiking!!!!!!!  Only one more day here and we head back tomorrow.