Christmas on the Strip

Mike and I spent alot of Christmas Day wandering up and down the Strip. We went to the new opening of Wynn's newest casino - Encore. It is truly beautiful, but I am partial to the flagship Wynn Casino. From there we went to the Wynn, then across the street to the new Palazzo. It was quite nice, but again, I am partial to the flagstrip Venetian Hotel. Once we were done at the Venetian (where we had a delicious Sabrett hot dog and cream soda), we moved on to Ceasars Palace. We meandered around there a bit and sat and had a wonderful capaccino and cookie! One thing that we did notice is that there was a decided lack of Christmas decorations in the casinos. We were there last year, and there were many more elaborate decorations. Plus the crowds were down from last year. It looks like hard economic times until next year.

Finally we headed home, and as we were leaving Treasure Island (where we had parked) we had to head past a Pearl place. You pick an oyster, and open it to find a pearl! I picked a nice sized pearl and had it made into a ring! What fun it was!!! I was given another choice, and I picked a pearl of the same size! We did hoop and holler and attracted quite the crowd!

All in all, a great day was had by all! Poor Shari, Jamie and Audrey were all sitting home sick with a fever and sore throat.

We ended the evening by watching the new Indiana Jones movie. I sat and worked on the binding of my Women of Grace and Charm quilt. I watched the whole movie and only got one half of the quilt done! Pitiful!!!

Mike got me a beautiful mizpah (sp). It's a necklace that is broken in half - he wears one and I wear one. I love it and it was a beautiful thought on his part!

Merry Christmas 2008!

Audrey's Third Birthday

We had a blast this past weekend celebrating Audrey's third birthday. The best thing for her is that her daddy came home! There were tears of joy from both parties! Her Aunt Abby and Uncle Thatch also came to help celebrate and we had a wonderful weekend. Lots of quilting, shopping and eating for all of us! Thatch and Abby stayed in a beautiful suite at the Red Rock Casino complements of our host Manny. It was a beautiful room with a strip view. We had hor d'ourves there Saturday night.

Abby made Audrey a beautiful Tinkerbell nightgown. Audrey has worn it every night since it was done! Abby also brought some beautiful Christmas gifts for all that were hand made - she made little cupcake pin cushions that are adorable. I needed it because I lose pins all the time when I am sewing and take them off!

Here is a picture of the quilt that Abby made for me. Her quilting is getting better and better! She also finished Little Joey's quilt and Shari's quilt - both were really nice.
It's good to have Jamie home. He is taking care of Audrey and giving us all a much needed break. I forgot how hard 24/7 child care is!!!!

Hope to get alot of quilting done this week. I want to log my projects and make sure I work on at least one of them a little every day!

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas!

Snow Day!

It's a snow day today - snow is falling and songs are being sung. It's beginning to look alot like Christmas. I had to let Audrey play in the snow so I wrapped her up in a coat of mine and sent her out on her motocycle (tricycle). Look how cute!

Lots of cleaning to do to get ready for holiday company - so no quilting for a little while. The machine has been put away and all projects are on hold until after Christmas. We will be meeting up with Abby and Thatch in Phoenix to go visit the horse - then back here for Audrey's birthday party! Audrey's Dad Jamie will be home on Saturday and then LET THE PARTY BEGIN!

I think I will go down, put on Elvis Christmas and get to work!

Bright colors.

Today was an Audrey day so I didn't get near as much accomplished as I had hoped to. I pulled out my bright scrappy quilt to work on. The blocks are big and bright - they remind me of a day at the beach!

The block on the right is just one block and there are about 30 of them to do! I think I've gotten about 11 of them done. It will be a big quilt! The only problem is - I am SO not a bright person, give me blues, mauves, greens - I like the look of vintage florals much better than brights. So I guess I will need to find a home for this quilt when it is finished!

Heather found me a quilting group to follow - I've signed up and do enjoy reading what people have to say. It is so easy just to sit in front of this computer all day - but then you get nothing done.

Thank goodness tomorrow is FRIDAY!

Pillowcases, pillowcases, pillowcases.....

Today was an Audrey day at daycare, which means that I was actually able to get something done! Spent the day cleaning the downstairs and then met my friend Mary at the Quilt Store. I made two pillowcases for my grandson, Joey, and one for my granddaughter Rebecca. They are so easy to make, but I always seem to need help when the time comes!

Went to the casino today and was able to put some money into the bank. I wouldn't be paying my bills lately if it wasn't for the Red Rock!

Business has slowed down so much - typical end of year stuff, but the downturn in the economy isn't helping the situation either.

Shari is downstairs working on her quilt - it's easy to work on things when the house is in order! I can't seem to do anything when the house is in disarray.

Heather is getting a fantastic travel spinner! With her work schedule as it is, she needs the relaxation the spinner provides! Good for her!

Lazy Sunday

It's been a lazy weekend. Spent most of the time either walking, crafting or cleaning. Shari and I made our Holiday cards - many an hour of creating, discarding, creating and discarding. My final version looks like this!

Today was such a lazy day. Mike and I walked about 3.5 miles this morning. Of course, we had to take a Starbucks break in the middle. Chewy went with us and he was mighty tired when we got home. Finished up the Holiday cards and put all the stuff away. We get SO much stuff out when we do crafts - the worse part is putting it all away again!

Did some Christmas shopping, wrapped some presents - then headed to the bedroom to clean up there. Mike hung my quilts on the wall and they look awesome! Shari is downstairs working on her quilt - she wants to have it ready for when she moves back to Indiana.

So here I sit, writing in my blog and getting ready to address all those Holiday cards I made. Lots go to my customers and the rest to family and friends. It is sad that you don't get many Christmas cards any more - especially handmade ones. People are cutting out extraordinary expenses and I guess the cards fall under that category. I'll bet when my grandkids are grown, most cards will be sent via the internet. What a shame.

More Projects!

Went to the Christmas Goose today to work on a new project. I am doing a small quilt for Abby that has lots of hand embroidery work in it. It will take me forever, but I know she will love it! It's hard to make a quilt for Abby because she is a better quilter than I am - but this little quilt is special and I know she will love it! I'll show the blocks as I progress....so far, I'm just cutting.

Shari and I have been working hard this evening on our quilts. I actually stopped and went to the store as Audrey and her motorcycle (tricycle) ran into the ironing board and spilled my wine! Alas, a new ironing board cover.

Trekked over to the library and took out ten books. I need something to keep me away from the food at night (and away from the casino). So between the books, the quilting and Audrey - hopefully that will do the trick! Lost four pounds so far - lots and lots more to go!

This is my monster - he's a twenty pound fat cat! Isn't he handsome!

New Sewing Machine!

A few months ago, I had a REAL lucky day at the casino. The end result was a NEW sewing machine! It's a Janome 6600 and is real snazzy! My friend Mary got one just like it a few days later. Now - she's been using hers alot and mine has sit in its case since then.

I finally decided to get it out and put it on the kitchen table. That way, I can use it whenever I feel like it and not have to worry about taking away Audrey's play space.

For the last few weeks, I have been working on my grandson's quilt! I finally got the quilt top pieced and it is ready to send to Abby for quilting. I hope to learn to quilt on this machine as my friend Mary uses hers to quilt some beautiful projects. Joey picked out the material he wanted for his quilt and I was lucky enough to find an easy pattern using the Stars and Stripes.

That's Mike's feet sticking out from under the quilt! Always good to have a helper.

Next I'm working on Audrey's small Christmas quilt. Won't be done for this year but should be ready for her next Christmas. It's got a Santa panel and quilting around the panel.

Lots of projects in the closet to do....hopefully I can stay out of the casino long enough to get them done......