Things have been clicking right along here at the Brace home.  The kids are off again to their own endeavors and it is quiet here...except for Julietti (Yetti for short)  barking once in awhile.  Sometimes her sister Muna comes to visit.  Muna is much more of a barker than Yetti.  Muna's owner, Kimmie, is now living in the area permanently.  We are glad when she brings over Muna...to play with Yetti.  We put them in the closed in yard out back.  They rustle and tustle for a good long time. It's fun to watch them.  It's part of our entertainment. 

When they are tied out on the runs they bark back and forth to each other and to every sound imaginable.  One time a Blue Heron was driving them crazy.  The Heron didn't care a bit. We looked through our gun scope (It's just the scope.  It's on our window sill. We use it often to check out the movements on the mountain or hill as they call it here in KY) and saw that Blue Heron just resting on the bank on the far side of the creek. 

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I've been very busy "clicking along" on a knitting project.  My niece Amber had her baby.  I looked through my supply of yarns and chose to do a sweater and pants set.  It's almost finished and will be out in the mail this week.  I have a few buttons to put on the sweater.  Some string elastic also needs to be threaded through the waistband of the little pants.  It took time, but I'm happy to say the knitting is complete.  

I used the garter stitch for the whole outfit.  It's a straight knit on every row.  I chose the garter stitch because my pearls are extremely tight.  I have to practice making my pearls loose.  They are much tighter than my knits.  A stockinette piece (knit one row, pearl one row) that I've completed in the past looks ripply because of my inconsistent tension.  So...it's a garter stitch for me...easy and with consistent tension.  

I've come to the conclusion that my knit and crochet pieces are for gifts only.  To sell a piece would put me in a financial hole.  Think about it:  Just a small crochet item like a hat will need a skein of yarn.  That will cost from 2.50 - 8:00  a skein or more depending on quality and type of yarn.  How long does it take to make a hat?  An hour?  It takes me about two hours for a simple knit hat. If I sold the hat for $10.00, I would probably end up with $2/hour for my time.  In my opinion and in my case, I can do other things that are more profitable.

I take time to knit and crochet. I think. I pray. It's what I do while riding in the car or waiting in an office.  Now days you get lots of looks when you knit or crochet in public.  I kind of feel sad for people who don't know how.  I see people of all ages sitting in a waiting room glued to a TV or staring (at me) and twiddling their thumbs.  I often wonder if it's a stress related reason that they are seeing the doctor.  (I'm going to see the dentist. It's a huge office with ma For me knitting is a stress reliever and a satisfying past time.  It may take a little time and patience to learn, but it's well worth the effort.  

It was great to have all of the family home in early January. Ethan came home for his birthday. Of course we had to get a picture.  We took a bunch, but it's hard to get a good picture of my family.  (Look at the end of this just see my choices.) I chose the above, but it needed some attention.  My glasses have a shine, the picture behind Shalisha had an annoying glare and the wrinkles in Ethan's shirt are distracting.  

We have adobe photoshop elements 7 on our computer.  It's been there for over a year waiting to be used and since our prayer supporters are asking for a new picture, I decided to try to touch it up.  I had some time today because of bad weather and no school. Nate has always told me that the way you learn on the computer is to play and figure it out.  There is a cancel button, an undo button or a go back arrow, and a "save as" button so you don't ruin your original picture.  The work I did was in no way perfect, but at first glance or to the untrained eye it will pass.  Maybe it will be an encouragement to others that want to give photo shop a try.  

The buttons I used on photo shop were the cloning tool, the crop, auto enhance, and the spot healing brush tool.  It isn't perfect but I like it much better than the original...and our family is happy not to have to pose for another half hour trying to get the perfect shot...Our family?  Haha.  It wouldn't happen.  We would be very frustrated with each other.  

It's a quiet evening.  The family  is lounging around.  The girls are giggling about something down the hall.  We gave a call to Ethan who is in Michigan and talked to him awhile.  It's hard when all the family isn't with us.  He said he had a nice Christmas and has spent time with Grandma and relatives that came by.  

All of sudden Shalisha runs through the front room.  Now we know what the giggling is all about.  Nate had picked about some red footie pajamas with a drop seat for her for Christmas.  She was trying them on.  She says they are the best and will wear them often.  Love family!  

Hope your Christmas is special...and take time to read the Christmas story from Matthew chapter 1 and Luke 2.  Take time to remember the special gift that God gave to us.  

As I look at the things around me that are decorating our halls this Christmas, I see symbols everywhere:
The Presents - of the greatest gift that God gave to us...Jesus.
The Wreath - the circle of the wreath reminds me that God's love never ceases.
The Angel Table Runner - reminds me of the angels who give good news and help in the story of Jesus.  Telling virgin Mary she is going to have baby Jesus, telling Joseph it's okay too take Mary as his wife, telling the shepherds of Jesus' birth and to go to the stable, telling Joseph to flee with Mary and child  to Egypt, and telling Joseph when to come back.
The candy cane - of the shepherds who listened to the angels and went to see the child
The candle - that Jesus is the light of the world and guides our way through life and to heaven.
The  holly - reminds us of the crown that was placed on Jesus and the berries remind us of the blood that He shed.
The Christmas Tree- The evergreen tree that always stays green reminds us of hope.  Having hope in Jesus...that He will be with us each day and will be coming again is a wonderful thing.  

Now  it is time to leave this place.  I have been asked if I could please make some cookies, so I am off to the kitchen.  

Merry Christmas!

It's mid afternoon and Nate is still not home from the board meeting at camp.  I can only assume there are very important things being discussed and we need to pray for their wise and good decisions. 

Things have changed a bit since Nate left this morning.  There is now a 16 x 60 foot trailer in our side yard.  I've spent all morning supervising (if you can call it that) the move.  I kept in prayer for this transport company's safety and smooth transport of this heavy building on wheels.  They had a flat on the way to our house, but all is well and safe and sound. I helped haul some cement blocks and made sure the trim was handled carefully...and the copper wire was safely tucked away.  I also stopped traffic and talked to the people in their cars as the trailer was being backed into our driveway. I must have walked a half mile up the road slowing down cars so they wouldn't slam into the waiting car line up.  Oh. I paid the haulers too.  Whew.  Glad that is accomplished.  Now we must find some land to put this trailer on.  We've been looking for a long, long time.  We must continue to be diligent in looking and most importantly waiting on the Lord for the right place.  

There is still some clean up at the original site and I must decide if I want to go clean it up myself or wait for Nate.  Hmmm.  Maybe using the pick-up truck (which Nate has at camp) would be a better choice than the back of the van.  

So I am here at home working on my to-do list and waiting.  Yes there is much to do.  I love to write a few "to do" things in my journal everyday.  I can look back and see what has been accomplished and checked off.  Finished.  Unfortunately there are things that never really get finished...like laundry and dishes and feeding the horses, etc. It's on-going and sometimes hard when not feeling well (like having the sore throat that I am battling right now) or when something happens to cut into the daily routine. (Like a trailer being moved), but God gives the strength and the joy of the day.  To know that He is walking with me makes anything in life exciting - even the little "to do lists" of life....and even when they don't get done. God knows and He loves me.  I can think of all the things that He has accomplished for me...for us.

"Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures."  I Cor. 15:3

What a wonderful thing to dwell on.  It is the part in life that matters the most. 

  

I've set my timer for fifteen minutes and will write something on this blog.  It's been a good Thanksgiving and hope everyone reading this had a blessed one too. We had our neighbor Darlene over...and Simeon's girlfriend Kimmie S. so it was a full table, but we did miss Ethan being with us.  He spent time with his girlfriend Stacey and her family.  

We just arrived home a few hours ago. The girls and I had been in Lexington shopping.  It's nice to be able to spend the night at Shalisha's apartment and not take the whole trip in one day.  The girls will go back to college on Sunday so pray for good travels for them.  

There is a verse that came to mind today.  It's a simple verse and one probably well known: 

 "What can we say to these things?  If God be for us, who can be against us?"  Romans 8:31

No matter what comes our way we can trust that God will be there with us.  When we know Him as our Savior, our best friend, our counselor, our guide, we are blessed.  

...We have our share of little troubles and frustrations too.  We must call them little in the scheme of things.  They are things we work through with God's help.  

...the timer just went off.  Time to go hang out with the family and enjoy a piece of pumpkin pie.  

#1.  We used a pie pan, a tupperware bowl and a cup to make the rings.  (The ladies did not do this...was prepared ahead of time as were the rings blocks of material, and strips of cloth.).

#2.  We cut out the rings using a sharp knife.  Some committee members used a utility knife.  For one project foam board, we could make 20 project peices.  Six 9 1/2 inch rings, six 6 inch rings, and eight 3 1/2 inch circles.  Sizes vary depending on your measuring pans/bowls/cups/

#3. We bought various patterns of Christmas material and applied sticky foam. You can get it in the craft section.  It's a peal and stick foam.

#4. We cut out the blocks of  sticky foam and material.  Do you see the assortment of cookie cutters? We then placed the cookie cutters on the foam, traced, and cut out. Some material had designs perfect for the wreath.  We put that particular piece of material on a sticky sheet and cut that out individually.  (see gingerbread wreath below)


#5. We cut 2' strips of coordinating material (we used an old white sheet) to wrap around rings for background and for covering rough edges of foam ring.

#6. Use glue gun to affix cut outs to wreath.  (Doesn't take much glue...just a dab or two.)

#7 Add decorations if desired.  Suggestions - buttons, bells, ribbon...

#8  Don't forget to cut a thick piece of ribbon on back for hanging.  Make sure  it's centered.  

Happy crafting.  I think I'm going to go buy  a project board and make a few for Christmas presents.  Happy creating.

Any questions, feel free to contact me.

Below are some examples of our work:

It's a quiet Thursday night.  We were going to visit some friends, but that got cancelled.  So what have I been doing?  Writing.  
I've signed up for Nanowritmo-National Novel Write Month.  I was on the site just a few minutes ago.  I read that over 100,000 people were on the site at that time.  There must be a lot of people working on a novel.  

Yes, I'm working on a novel.  I'm not going to tell you what it's about.  I'm just going to say I've been working at it on and off for over ten years!  It's time to finish the last few chapters and pull it all together.  I thought nanowritmo would give me the push I needed to complete it. 

How did I get interested in a novel?  It was part of an assignment for a writing course with Children's Writing Institute that I had once taken.  Loved the course and finished everything they asked, just kept working bit by bit on a super long story.  I'm finding it interesting that time and experience with horses and slices of life ease into the pages.

My own little pep talk-.  :)  Write, write, and enjoy the quiet time.

Some character traits points that I've taught recently also come to mind and push me on:

Creativity:
I will use my talents for good.                                          (Hopefully for good!)
I will use principles to solve problems.                          (How to write a Novel books sit on the bedside stand.)
I will look for ways to be a person of character.           (Initiative, self control, diligence)
I will see things from more that one perspective.         (When I feel like I'm spinning my wheels)
I will learn all I can.                                                           (This makes life fun and interesting.)