Priceless

It's Beginning to Look a Little Like Christmas

It's been a loooong time since I've participated in Kelli's Show & Tell, but in the midst of the mess of fixing yet another water problem, I've decided to spend a few minutes contemplating some lovely things.

We have some sweet Christmas ornaments and my youngest son still enjoys decorating the tree with me and reminiscing over each one as it's unwrapped. Here are just some of my favorite ornaments (some are hand-made, some old and precious - and some are both!)


This star ornament is from Greg's childhood. Waaay back when those big lights were all anyone had, this ornament was to be hung just above one of them and the heat rising from the bulb would cause the whirly-gig inside to turn. Cute.




And this beaded ornament is also from Greg's childhood. It honestly looks like something someone might make today.





This Victorian-looking ornament was made by yours truly nearly 20 years ago.




I needle pointed this bird many, many years ago -- probably 25 or more. Memory fades.





This was stitched up (along with several others) in the early 80's -- when candlewicking made a come-back. Does anyone do candlewicking anymore?  Does anyone know why it's called candlewicking?




And here is a sample of some crewel work that I used to love to do. Again, over 20 years ago. I'm not sure I have the eyesight or the patience to do this kind of work today, but I do love it.




And I made a number of these sweet little cross-stitched, sampler ornaments...oh, about 15 years ago, I'd guess.



I stitched up a bunch of these bears almost 20 years ago (using a variety of Christmas prints) when a friend and I decided to sell some hand-made goodies at a craft show. I've given so many of these away -- I wonder where they have all ended up. ;^)




This was one of the first ornaments the boys and I did together (it's older than it looks).  We made several.  We simply took an old jigsaw puzzle, glued the pieces together, spray painted it green, added a bell and a bow and voila! A cute little wreath.




And the boys and I made these a couple years ago. Just a white feather and some white/clear sparkles in a glass ball. Very simple.  Kind of elegant.


And I've saved my favorites for last:


These two store-bought balls are probably from the 60's. I'm amazed they have been preserved so well.
 





And this geo-ball (below) was ahead of its time. It was made lovingly by Greg's mother many years ago out of old Christmas cards - and I'm glad she passed a couple of these along to us. I want to try my hand at making one someday. I found this tutorial on-line and it doesn't look too hard, but I like ours better. I think the different-textured gold cards make this one look beautiful.




Hope you enjoyed a small sampling of ornaments from our tree. Visit Kelli at There's No Place Like Home to see what others have decided to show and tell this time around.

Taking Stock

Ben has one 4-H project for next year done already! I think that might just be a record - for this family. This stock car model with many, many decals is the hardest model he's worked on to date.

That little guy is Tony Stewart, in case you wondered (or if you're like me and didn't have a clue who #20 was.)

The big guy is Ben - who's pretty pleased with a job well done!

The Older I Get, The Harder I Hurt

Here's the owie I got recently:

A displaced complete radial collateral ligament avulsion with associated injury to the sagittal band of the metacarpophalangeal joint of the small finger, if left untreated, may result in chronic pain, instability, weakness, and deformity. A case of a displaced radial collateral ligament that ruptured through the radial sagittal band of the small finger, with resultant injury to the extensor mechanism, is described and discussed with a review of the literature. Proper identification of this injury by physical exam and imaging studies along with surgical repair is associated with good outcome. Keywords Metacarpophalangeal - Collateral ligament - Avulsion

Translation: I hurt my pinky.

Actually, the worst part of my injury was between the joints of my third and fourth fingers.  I pulled a ligament and with the ligament came a bone fragment. I saw it with my own eyes - on the x-ray.  I know....it makes me a bit queasy too. Amazingly, though, the treatment is to tape the two fingers together like so:



It's not very dainty, but it works and I am so glad the doc expects it to heal up on its own --- eventually.


Greg was really hoping the doctor was going to tell me to lay off the computer for a while. Imagine his surprise when she said typing on a keyboard shouldn't hurt it a bit - as long as I'm not causing strain to the injured area on my hand.


It took me a week or so, but I eventually learned to type with this minor limitation. When I get really impatient, I untape the top of the fingers, but most of the time I keep them faithfully snugged together. And I sleep in a custom made splint that keeps my hand bent at a 90 degree angle (or that's the idea, anyway). I shudder at the thought of what that little baby is going to cost.
Meanwhile, ring man and tall man are getting real cozy and familiar with each other and my pinky is as free as a bird -- even if it does get a little cold from time to time.
And I've learned to never try to stop my fall (up the stairs) by flinging my hand wildly at the door frame. The door frame is not going to help me.

Soccer

Joel played on a co-ed homeschool soccer team this fall. It was a great season for this team's first. They won half their games and the last game was a tie.

It's hard to get really great pictures on our little digital, but here are a few highlights:

Tell me that boy is not getting ready to elbow my son!

Run Joel!

Run!

This is why co-ed soccer shouldn't be. Joel insists she was shoving. The girls on any co-ed teams we played were notorious for shoving.

And of course, our boys were perfect gentlemen.

A season well played, Soutside Thunder! Looking forward to next year!