Merry Christmas ! ! !

1957

Ornament Swap

I promised earlier when I wrote about the Puddle I received in the Teddy Talk ornament swap, that I'd post a photo of the ornament I made. My angel has completed her journey and has been received by Penney in Connecticut.

You CAN be there . . .

December 15th was the big day . . . Sullivan's first birthday. Since I had just been to visit Tracy, Tyson and Sullivan in November, I wasn't able to talk the hubster into springing for another plane ticket. Sigh . . . anyway . . . next best thing? . . . Skype ! ! !

Come party time I combed my hair, put on lipstick, a nice sweater to go with my pajama pants, booted up the computer and made my Skype call to the party. After greeting a few of the guests, Tracy and Tyson put me (their laptop) in the kitchen with a bird's eye view of the birthday boy so I could watch him dig into his smash cake. He could see and hear me as well.

After cake and refreshments, I was escorted into the livingroom to watch the birthday boy open his gifts.

Happy Birthday, Sullivan. Nana couldn't be there in person but via Skype, I saw and heard it all and Sullivan saw and heard me too. I even got to give Sullivan a hug and kiss by proxy. This one was from Nana. Thank you, Tracy!

I got a puddle ! ! !

On Teddy Talk (a teddy bear forum I belong to) we're having our 3rd annual Christmas Ornament swap. Today I received a package from Austrailia and to my delight, this is what was in my package. I'm so thrilled to have a puddle ornament made by Wendy Cheng of Matilda Huntington Beare. Wendy is famous for her puddles which are made of fur with bills perfectly needlefelted. Thank you, Wendy ! ! ! Check out Wendy's website at http://matildahuggington.webs.com/index.htm


I'm working on my ornament and I'll post a picture of it after my recipient receives it. Wouldn't want to spoil any surprises.

HAVE A HOLLY JOLLY CHRISTMAS

Kinda' speaks for itself . . .

Nana's Excellent Adventure

I'm back home from an excellent visit with Tracy and Tyson (TNT) in Tennessee. I spent 19 wonderful days with them and had a terrific time! (With the exception of the weekend that we all had the stomach flu.) It was so good to spend time lovin' on little Sullivan who turned 11 months old on November 15th. He is truly a delight. He's such a happy boy and, oh, what a sense of humor. Here are pictures of the sunshiny day we spent at the Nashville Zoo:

For my birthday, Tracy took me to a cake decorating class at Joann Fabrics. The class was a blast and we learned to decorate a cake to boot. Tracy proved to have a substantial talent at cake decorating. The birthday cake she made for me was delightful with teddy bear, balloons and all. Just look:

I finished my second quilt. I presented it to Sullivan for his first birthday, which will be December 15th. Here's a picture of Sullivan on his new quilt.

Oh yes, and here are some pictures of the boy, just because he is so darned cute!

A Success Story

My precious grandbaby, Sullivan, was diagnosed at three months with infant glaucoma. (Sullivan is now 9 months old .) This is a very rare disease affecting only 1 in 10,000. Sullivan has had two surgeries at Vanderbilt University by Dr. Karen Joos. All tests since the surgeries have been perfect.

Tracy and Tyson moved to the Nashville area 5 years ago just after they were married. Tracy has told me many time that she wasn't happy about the move, but knew God had a reason. She didn't know His reason but, maybe someday would find out. Well, the top specialist (one of only three in the country) just happened to be at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, a mere 20 minutes from their home. Now we know at least one reason God brought them to Nashville.

A couple months ago, Dr. Joos called Tracy. She was worried because Dr. Joos has never herself called Tracy. Tracy was relieved when Dr. Joos asked if she would be willing to be interviewed for an article in the Vanderbilt newspaper as a sucess story. Follow this link to read all about it: http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/reporter/index.html?ID=6731

A-quiltin' I will go . . .

This is Tracy on her wedding day in 2003. (Having her hair and make-up done, not in her dress yet, just in case you thought she got married in a cotton blouse). She's receiving a very special gift from my Auntie Sue . . . a gorgeous quilt Sue made especially for Tracy and Tyson. The reason I show you these pictures, is that when I decided I wanted to make a quilt of my own, of course the go-to girl had to be my Auntie Sue herself. She has made dozens, no, probably hundreds of quilts. She is the Queen of Quilting.

Not only have I finished my first quilt, I've had a blast with Aunt Sue! So much fun, that now I'm taking guitar lessons from Aunt Sue (don't know how well I'll do with that; I'm not very musically inclined). She is a multi-talented girl!

Here's a picture of my first quilt. I'm working on my second quilt now. I was making this quilt for Sullivan but decided that it wasn't good enough for him. I'll post a picture of the new quilt photographed with Sullivan. I'll be seeing them soon . . . YEA.

Stand up to be tall . . .

Sullivan's mommy reports that he is so proud of himself. In addition to crawling, he's now pulling himself up to stand which also gives him the ability to dance (just like his mommy when she was a wee one).

Splish Splash

Just a few bears

Like I said below, I'm taking a short break . . . but in the meantime . . . I have a few bears available on my website or directly from my Etsy shop.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5149736 or

http://www.swanvalleybears.com/

A Sweet Time with Tracy, Tyson and Sullivan

This month my Tracy and her little Sullivan came for a two week visit. We even got Tyson for a day too. What a wonderful, sweet time we had! Sullivan is the happiest, cutest baby EVER. Sullivan started to crawl during their visit so I got to witness a first ! ! !

LOOK AT THOSE BLUE EYES!!!

I was happy to be able to visit with Tracy's long time friends during her visit too. Nique and Kevin and their babe, Rosie; Natalie and Dries and their 4 adorable children came for a pool party/bbq. Heather and Alfonso and their sweet little ones, Spencer and Mia came for an overnighter; and Katie Knipp and her beau, Jeremy came for dinner. I really miss my girls' friends. It was so good to spend time with them again.

HE DID FINALLY FIT IN THE CARRY ON SO IT WASN'T NECESSARY TO CHECK LUGGAGE

Paige went home with Tracy for a Tennessee visit and was joined a couple days later by Thomas. They'll be home later this week. I so look forward to the time when I have both my girlies home to stay.

Takin' a break

I've decided to take a break from making bears for now. I'll probably get back to it some time after the holidays. The move just wore me out and my inspiraton and motivation just isn't there right now.

Not to mention that I've yet to set up my sewing room. It's awaiting a fresh coat of paint to cover up the planes, trains and automobiles that were painted on the walls for the prior occupant. Other than that, we're settled in to our new home. We just need to paint the entire inside of the house still (except the kitchen).

I do have several bears available still. I'll post them on my website, so take a look at http://www.swanvalleybears.com

Hyacinth

This is Hyacinth. She's my August bear of the month on "A Time for Primitives" website. She can be purchased from my website at http://www.swanvalleybears.com

Hyacinth is 11 inches tall standing and 8 inches sitting. As you can see, she can stand on her own with careful balancing but prefers to sit. She's made of the softest mohair and wears a shawl made of antique hand tatted lace and a silk bow on her head.

Barclay on A Time for Primitives

Meet Barclay. He is my July "Bear of the Month" on A Time For Primitives website. He's 12.5 inches tall, made from soft, pale gold, curly, dense mohair. He stands unassisted and has a soft, squishy tummy. You can check him out on my page at http://www.atimeforprimitives.com/ or my website at http://www.swanvalleybears.com/

Almost there . . .

Hello new home . . .

I think (I hope, I hope) it's OK now to reveal the new home. I waited until now so as not to jinx it. You never know what might happen into today's housing market. Escrows frequently fall out at the last minute. We're 9 days away from moving in. I'm exhausted from packing and only about two thirds of the way done. When we get there, I think I'll need a couple of days to lounge around before I start unpacking.

Admit it . . .

Ok, admit it. This is the cutest baby in all the world. He is so stinkin' cute, he couldn't be any cuter. (Written by proud Nana.)

The move is on . . .

Goodbye . . .
An "In Escrow" sign is hanging in our front yard and an "In Escrow" sign is hanging in the yard of our future home. Whew. For the next three weeks I'll be packing and deciding what color to paint after I remove wall paper. It will be a busy time for us in the next month.

Laundry Can Wait

This is one of my favorite bears, Fiona, who now lives in Reno, Nevada. I have entirely too much fun with my PhotoImpact program. It's like Photoshop but I like it better. And there are some fantastic digital scrapbooking graphics out there. So much fun. The laundry can wait.

Beau Harley of the Harley Clan

This is Beau Harley, who is the first member of the Harley Clan of bears.

Beau will be available on June 1st on my sales page at A Time For Primitives

I hope you'll take a peek at him.

Wide Eyed Wonder

Bear (the doggie)

With summer coming and temperatures in the 90's today, I decided that my little doggie, Bear would be much more comfortable with a "buzz". Not to mention the mess of shedding hair we would be avoiding. He was a perfect gentleman at the groomer's and doesn't seem to know he looks different. He hasn't looked at himself in the mirror yet though. So here are before and after pictures of Bear.

Happy Mother's Day

Tracy, Mom, Me and Paige 1995

Mom, my sister and me in 1955 (I'm the one with the all-day lollipop)

For everyone who is a mother, and everyone who has a mother (which I think is about everyone), Happy Mother's Day. I'm fortunate to live close to my mom and one of my two daughters. I spent the afternoon having dinner at a restaurant in Sacramento with mom and dad, the hubster, my Paigie and her beau. Mom received, from me, a digital picture frame which I pre-loaded with old and new family photos. I'm pretty sure she was thrilled with it. Miss Paigie gifted mom and me with gift bags full of delightful smelling stuffs for our bodies. Yummy shower gels, lotions, oils and all that kind of good stuff. Tracy and Tyson (daughter and her hubster in Tennessee) had their adorable baby son, Sullivan dedicated in church Mother's Day morning. I can't wait to see the video, the next best thing to being there.

The picture above is my mom, sister and me in 1955. I'm the little one with the all-day-sucker. Hmmm, no wonder I had so many fillings. I have a younger brother but he was born after my grandfather, the photographer, disassembled his darkroom. So, not so many pictures of him.