I wake each morning with the thrill of expectation

and the joy of being alive.

And I am thankful for this day.

~Angela L. Wozniak

I finally got around to snapping a photo of Family Sampler to show you my progress. As you see both trees now have leaves, the vine above the house is complete and the box where the letter "D" will go has been stitched as well. Before I move to another row, I will need to finish off a few more little things in the "house row".

Do you see the beginnings of the little birds in the trees? Red was not the original color called for in the pattern - that was a personal choice. I thought that Cardinals would be the perfect birds to have perched in my trees, looking over my house. Cardinals are the birds of St. Louis, Missouri - the city my grandparents use to live before they moved to South Carolina (my grandfather, who past away 2 years ago, is buried back in good ol' St. Louis while my spunky 92 year old grandmother still carries on in South Carolina); St. Louis Cardinals baseball team was my grandfather's favorite team and...St. Louis is where I went to college and where DH & I met over 24 years ago. So, I thought the red Cardinal would be the perfect bird to grace my trees on the my Family Sampler. It is fun to take something like this and add personal touches to make it your own, isn't it?

Yesterday, after taking Robert (older son) to his early morning practice at 6am, after my 2 hour nap and a spin on the bike....but before a 3.4 mile jog with my two boys...I planted my bottom down on the couch and just about finished the Lori's ornament for the Ornament Swap. Today, sometime, I plan to take the stitched piece and ornamentatize  (that is a word, right?) it so that I can get it in the mail ASAP. It is only 7 days late. However, I am so glad that I started a new design for her...I like the way that this one stitched up and looks...and proud to send it to her (although it would look good on my Christmas tree next year...mmm, might have to stitch it again, I guess).

Hope you all have a great Sunday...oh, yea it is Superbowl Sunday for those of you who are watching the "Big Game"; we typically turn it on to watch the interesting commercials and pull out the stitching :) Anyway, have a great day and remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often!

Lisa

Oh, Lord, I thank you for the privilege and gift of living in a world filled with beauty and excitement and variety.

I thank you for the gift of loving and being loved, for the friendliness and understanding and beauty of the animals on the farm and in the forest and marshes, for the green of the trees, the sound of the waterfall, the darting beauty of the trout in the brook.

I thank you for the delights of music and children, of other people's thoughts and conversation and their books to read by the fireside or in bed with the rain falling on the roof or the snow blowing past outside the window.

~ Louis Bromfield