It's that time again

when I don't know if we should "celebrate" that date or not. Six years ago today, our world was turned upside down: Pierre was at the hospital with leukemia. I wrote about it last year: the story of a boy . You can click on the story of a boy if you are not familiar with his story. He finished his treatment in febuary 2006. It still feel like it was yesterday. I still get scared from time to time, especially if he gets weird bruises on his body or if he's more tired than usually. I do try rationality to explain why he's feeling tired or why he has bruises but my brain is not very friend with reationality. My brain best friend is fear and it's hard to control fear ... very hard. That's a date I can't forget and like he got sick during a holiday, it's even easier to remember ... but I don't need a special date to remember don't I ?

Even though he's fine now, he still struggles at school. This year, we also " celebrate" 10 years of speech therapy. Imagine 10 years ! I never imagined he will still go to speech therapy at 13 years old. He just finished some testing with the neuro psychologist in order to see if there are any progress with the therapy. It will take a while to get the results but she said she already saw some progress which is positive.

2004

2009

I am having lots of fun stitching my Lanarte !!! Why am I feeling I am making so much progress with it while I was stitching so slow on the banner?

I want to thank you for your birthday wishes and for having happily danced with me for my latest finish !!! You always make me smile !!! Thank you!

I did it again !

Yep, I finished my banner on saturday ! It's so nice to have another happy dance. It's not hard to have a happy dance so soon after the last one when you choose a small project AND when you don't correct your mistakes !!! So here it is:

Stitched on a 32 count blue Diamonds by Silkweaver. Too bad, I don't know how to finish it as a banner ...

So you may wonder (because we all know how curious you are !!! ), what's next ? I hesitated between three projects ( all Lanarte's) :

The kiss by Lanarte but that one is huge and I didn't want a big one this time.

The three bird houses: I like the hand dye fabric.

and Nesting box: I want to stitch that one but without the little birdies on the bottom. The only problem was the fabric: it's a linen and I hate linen. I didn't want to dig into my stash to find the right fabric (and yes there were lots of greens ... )

So what made me decide to stitch the three bird houses? My working copies were made a long time ago !!!

Here is the first pic of the first bird house I'm stitching on. As you can see, even though I ironed my fabric prior to stitch on it, we can still see the line in the middle ! If you know how to get rid of those lines, please let me know! Thanks !!! It's a Lanarte so it's a great pleasure to stitch !!! Large chart, barely any back stitches: after a Dimensions, it feels like heaven !!! And it makes me feel I stitch very fast as well.

On that picture, you can see the hand dye in the middle of the fabric.

Sunday was my birthday: I look terrible on the pictures so here is Emma bringing me my cake. I strawberry cake !!!

and the winner is .........

Once again we used the red bowl to serve as a bowl of destiny. Twenty six stitchers decided the last issue of the magazine de fil en aiguille was worth it and they decided to enter this giveaway. Emma was spending two days at a friend's so I had to find another innoncent hand and I pick: Steb!

So he tossed and tossed more (he could have gone for hours !!! ) He took his job very serioulsy !

Then I told him he needed to pick a paper (because I was ready to shoot a picture and also because I wanted to know where in the world the mag will go !!! ) And the innoncent boy picked ............

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . K A R E N !

She doesn't have a blog but now, she has to start one so we can see the picture once she receives the magazine, right? !!! Karen is from Mexico and I'll remind you that's a half mexican boy who picked her so I wonder if there is not a secret connection between the two ??? ( Ahora dame tu direcion senorita )

I'm not done with my banner and I even added another mistake on the lower green leaf on the left ... oh well .. it's only the 5 th one ...

Halloween report

I hope you all had a great Halloween; ours went very well thanks to some good friends who came with us to celebrate it. One of Emma's friend stayed with us and she helped preparing the party. I had a total of 9 kids (one couldn't come). Unfortuntely, Halloween is less and less popular here but we decided to do it anyway because Pierre and Emma always celebrated it.

Of course, we decorated the house. Chuy put a bucket next to the bulb in order to have an orange atmosphere to the livivng room. I don't have lots of decorations to display but it was nice anyway.

We found the two garlands the morning of the party and Chuy put a giant spider web in the entrance .

A good friend greeted the guests:

We installed a new ring ( excuse the spider web - the maid had a week off! )

And we decorated the outside as well: I made the girls inflate the balloons . Our neighbors must have thought we are crazy but it was fun !!!

Then it was time to carve the pumpkin and I made my slaves the girls do it. As you can see on Emma's face: she enjoyed every minute of it !!! Her friend on the other end loved it !

Have you ever seen some bunny ears on a pumpkin?

Then I couldn't resist taking some pictures of my cuties outside:

And our guest arrived: we didn't mean to do it but all the costumes were a nice mix of black and orange. They were all very cute.

My friend did get a costume for herself and I took a picture of them on my stairs:

Then my neighbor ( you know the one who has a nice girlfriend ... ) was leaving and the kids rushed to his door to grab some candies:

Esteban did his own make-up: too cute !!!

We finally went trick or treating and the kids were very, I mean VERY excited !

I think I didn't feed those kids enough during snack time because they were so desesperate to have some candies ... We did get some odd stuffs: an old lady gave some coins (not enough for the 9 kids though) and a Hello kitty key chain ...

And a last picture with nine almost exhausted likds (why almost? because minutes later they were dancing in my living room ... )

And don't forget today is your last day to enter the giveaway !!!

Happy Halloween !!!

Don't forget that tomorrow is your last day to enter my giveaway for the french magazine! Enter here !!!

Here is my latest progress on my banner: I finished to stitch the two birdies at the bottom: I now have all the white and blue left and then I'll have to stitch the message inside the sign. I hope my mistake is not going to be a problem ... We'll see!!!

Tomorrow, I'll show you my Halloween pictures !!! Lots of fun !!!

it's time for ... a giveaway !!!!!!!!!!

As I promised you a while ago, here is the giveaway for the last issue of the magazine De Fil En Aiguille. You can see some pictures of the charts here. The rules are very simple: it's open to EVERYBODY, you have until sunday (my time) to enter and Emma will draw a name on Monday. Just enter your name on this post ONLY and please, add your email if your email is not linked to your blog or if you don't have a blog. You don't have to put a link on your blog but if you want to do it, feel free.

Good luck everybody !!!

Update !!!

On saturday, we celebrated Pierre and Chuy's birthdays (two october babies). Pierre turned 13 on october 7 th that makes him an official member of the teenager club. Already 13 yo ... Time flies ...

Steb was so happy when Pierre was opening his gifts. Mickey is not really apropriate for a 13 yo but I didn't have another wrapping paper. He got a MP3 player and now feels he belongs to the world !!! (then he took forever to figure out how to download some music to his player but this is a totally different story ... )

In this portrait, Pierre looks so grown up: I think that's what he could look like in some years from now. The kids are on vacations for a week and a half so we have to find some things to do. I bought two little clay items to paint. Emma got a little lady to paint and was very happy to paint it but almost at the end, the little lady fell off and broke. She was very disapointed and it was hard to stop her tears ...

Steb got a little car and he loved painting it (in blue and only in blue !!! )

So Halloween is around the corner and my kids are pretty excited. Emma decided it was time to have a Haloween snack time so she dressed the table all by herself (note that we don't have any table cloth yet: she used some of her blankets !) Will you believe I was crazy enough to invite some kids over for a Halloween party on saturday? ... I should have 9 kids (mine included ................... )

Mid october, we got our christmas toys catalogs. (this is soooooooo crazy) Pierre and Emma love to circle what they want so Steb had to do the same. He was so funny to watch.

I have three big mistakes in my stitching now but I won't frog it ... I only hope it won't be a problem when i'll have to stitch the Wecome message on the middle. Before my Facebook life, it would have been already finished ... I'm working on the second bird. The design is so cute but it's a Dimensions and those designs are often very pretty but a pain to stitch.

it's friday !!!

Yesterday I felt like it was already friday maybe because today was the last day before the kids are off from school for a week end a half. That also means I won't be doing my wednesday taxi chores for three weeks because we'll have a holiday on november 11 th (not a happy date for us but I'll take it !!! ) I love vacations !!!!

Yesterday I got a text message (yes, stores don't call you anymore, they text message you ... ) that our table was ready for pick up ! Great news as we were supposed to get it only on november 22 nd. Now I have two boxes in my living room. We checked the instructions sheets: four sheets, no words, funny pictograms (yes, I'll show you so we can share a good laugh !!!), should be lots of fun, right? Did I mention the assembling requires NO drill at all? Wonder if Chuy has noticed it yet ...

I'm still stitching on my banner but unfortunately, I made a mistake when I stitched the white frame. I don't know how I could made such a mistake but I did it and I'm not going to frog ! I think I can work around that mistake. I know the picture is not that great but the light was not the best today. I love the bow: backstitch make such a difference. I feel my progress is slow (I could blame all on jeweled Blitz on facebook ) but I noticed once again that I make slower progress on small pieces. You know how it is: you stitch 5 or 6 crosses and you have to change the color. That design is really pretty !!!

Have a great week end !!! Ours should be quiet (if nobody get kill during our assembling time ... ), we have two birthdays to celebrate though. Emma is at a friend house until sunday morning. Talking about Emma; we got her report card today: she's a straight A student !!! (but you know what I love the most about her? She actually does her homework willingly AND with a smile ! Priceless (if only Pierre could do the same ... )

New project

Our lastest project was to assemble ou armoire/wardrobe. Oh what the fun it is to assemble a piece of furniture with your spouse ... The joy of getting frustated, yelling at each others, getting arrested for attempting murder ( I swear: it was an accident : the screwdriver just flew to his head all by itself ... )

This is a before picture ( I didn't take a pic with the suitcases with our clothes inside: I want you keep a good image of myself !!! ) So here is the empty space:

And this is the kit we had. It felt like a Dimensions kit: lots of stuffs and us trying to figure out what was going to be with what...

Then we checked the manual: 26 pages: felt like a HAED chart suddendly ... And to make things easier (understand get the client crazy) , they decided to mix the instructions for the armoire with 2,3,4 or 5 doors ... So each time, you do something you have to make sure you are assembling what you bought and not another armoire ... ( that you didn't buy and could not complete anyway ... ) And of course, no a written words !!! That would be too easy: you have to guess looking at the pictograms ...

Here are two examples: First we had to put the rails for the drawers and literally guess where to put some screws ...

And I love that one:

Be careful caveman handyman, take your screwdriver, use your brain strenght BUT not a lot and please, please, put down the drill that is in your hand ! The engineers who create that manual know their customers: cavemen who are just waiting to play with their drills !!! Must be something with the sound ?

Of course, we made some mistakes like putting the rails the wrong way Could it be that the manual was not easy enough to understand ???

Anyway, the next day we realized our mistake

Look after some hours, we got some results !!! You may wonder: why an armoire? Easy: we don't have a walk in closet ( ) so we had to buy this armoire to store our clothes but look: you can also store your kids if they misbehave:

AND ... it also works for your husband !!! He bothers you? Store him in the armoire !!! ( perfect fit I shall say !!! )

We had another mistake that made my hubby quite happy deep down inside him.

One door had a problem: the little mechanism to close the door was not built the right way so someone had to use his drill special little toy !!!!

And miracle : tadaaaaaaaa

Assembling time : 2 days (we had to wait for the drawers glu to dry)

Yelling at each others: few

Nails broken : 2 (mine)

Happiness at the end: lots !!! I have an armoire !!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah !!!!!!!!!

Despite my facebook addiction, I do stitch a little bit (but less than before ... ) So I started a Dimensions banner that I find very cute. I have only the chart so I use a conversion to be able to use my DMC threads.

And here is my first progress picture: The birdie is so cute !!! (I'm stitching the backstitch along the way because they are lots of it ... )

Thanks for your warm response to my latest finish : you made my day ladies !!! And don't forget I'll have a giveaway very soon !!! So stay tuned !!!

It's getting cold so let's dance !!!!!!

You didn't think you'll have to get your disco ball out of your special closet so early, did you? Started on november 9 th 2008, I stitched on it everyday for 3 months then I gave up when the one over two light pink was almost all I had left to stitch ... Then I stitched other pieces (and finished them, yes I did ) and went back on the fucshia just recently then a miracle happened: I finished it in F I V E days. I know, I know what you think but I really couldn't get myself to pick up the needle and stitch on it ... Please, clik to enlarge

Details:


I decided that my floss had to be better organized because I used to keep my full set of DMC threads sorted by colors (because it's so beautiful that way ) but it's a pain each time you want to kit a new project )

So now, it looks like that: not so yummy, not beautiful anymore but it should make kitting a project much more easily !!!

I didn't stitch much those past days because I got addicted to a facebook game but that should change today !!!

Let's dance now !!! (it's really getting cold )

Harley Davidson and Lori

Saturday was the annual Harley Davidson free rides for the children with cancer. Usually it's in september but this year, they decided to do in october but they got lucky: the weather was fine even though it was a little bit overcast.

Emma was spending the week end at a friend's house and Pierre said: if Emma doesn't go, I won't go ... (even though he did ride last year ... ) Well, well, well ... We decided to give it a try but right away, he was not in the mood ... and when Pierre is not in the mood, well, he's not in the mood ... But we had fun ANYWAY !!!!

I have some pictures to share with you:

Steb pretended to be a very quiet boy :

Why ? Easy: Lori's husband was there and he knows how to keep little boy quiet (see his right hand? ) Better be the quietest boy in the world, right?

Chuy tried to calm down Lori's husband : NOOOOOO, don't shoot, he's only 4 !!!!!!!! But it was time for the rides so we promised he'll be a good boy and we fled the scene !!!

Pierre still didn't want to ride but Chuy decided he'll take advantage of the day! Steb loved the helmet !!!

As you can see, Chuy had lots of fun !!!

You may wonder: but where in the world was Pierre during all of that? easy, in the red car (see the above pic !!!) We don't understand that boy (at all) but sometimes, he has some sensory issues (when there are a lot od people) and when he suddendly lackes of self esteem .... So he spent his afternoon in the car with Chuy's MP3 player listening to old songs (read the previous post). I tried another time to persuade Pierre to have a ride but he didn't want ... Anyway, I took a pic of my two boys: the blue eyes and the brown eyes, ... in the car ... :

Steb stayed close to the snack table and when Chuy came back he wanted to wear his helmet so I snapped some pictures:

And he even went on a motorcycle but not for a ride ...

Bikers rock !!!!

Hope you all had a great week end

What a week ....

My friend Pumpkin has created a special chart for the breast cancer awareness month: check it out on her blog . You should follow her blog: she's very funny (especially when she does laundry ) and she's a great stitcher !!!

I now have 101 followers! Thanks to the 5 persons who decided to follow my blog. Who is the 100 th follower?

I am now on Facebook : Yvonne made me do it !!! (I swear !!! ) If you want to follow me there, my name is Chiloe Mu (I sound chinese that way but I'm not !!! I just didn't want to give my real name on the internet .) So far, I have resisted to ALL the facebook games ... (even though Cindy is trying to get me addicted ) but for how long?

Don't you like when you try to upload some pictures and a message from Blogger pops up telling you: Bad request ! What do you mean bad request? It's only cross stitch !!!

This week, we learned that the magazine De Fil en Aiguille that was loved by many stitchers is going bankrupt. The last issue was the one I showed you last week. I hope another publisher will buy the magazine because it is one of the best. My favorite designer, Veronique Enginger, was a regular contributor to the magazine. This is so sad. I bought an extra copy of the last issue with the botanic studies to do a give away one of these days!!! Do you like that idea? So stay tuned !!!

Chuy got a MP3 player from one of his best friend from California. The guy recorded 580 songs from their chidhood/ young years. It took us a while to find out how it works but we mastered the beast and since then , I have a pretty silent husband (he is usually very talktative .... very rare among men but I did marry an exception !!! That's what happen when you marry exotic bird ! ) , a husband who shouts "what?" very loud (with the earphones on ! ) , who sings (very loud as well) mexican songs or Michael Jackson songs. Then he makes me listen to songs (sometimes old boring mexican songs because that's what he likes ... ( while I'm more a rock and roll girl who loves energetic songs !!! ) and tells me: "it's good, isn't it? " ... Me: "you mean for a retirement home? "

I noticed it's been a while since I haven't showed some stash so here it is (yes, there are some but I couldn't resist a good bargain: I'm sure you understand me, right? )

I always loved that snowman:

A cutie:

Some Lanarte:

Another Vera.

And some sunflowers with the exact same style as my fuchsias: watercolor ( = lots of 1/2 ... but only with yellows and ... greens )

I won't show you any pictures of the fuchsias because I didn't stitch last night ...

Thanks to everyone who take time to leave me a comment: you always make my day !!! Have a great week end !!!

Pink anyone?

Fucshias are still here:

I stitched some green!!! Imagine green on 1 over 2 ... Yes, I did leave a lot of green for the end ...

And some pinks:

I did think I had stitched all the pinks but nope ... I still have some pinks to stitch around here:

I noticed I have some new followers: I hope you'll enjoy your visit here ! Four more and I'll have 100 followers ! Woohoo !!!!!!!!!!! Who wants to sign up ?

Sunday

Today I have a special thought for my bogging friend Velda who is about to start the biggest fight of her life. Please, keep her and her family in your thoughts or in your prayers. Thanks.

Am I still stitching? Yes, I am and actually an old friend came back !!! I haven't touched it for a long time and have started it 10 months ago to tell you the truth ... I started it on november 9 th 2008 and stitched it every day until febuary 6 th 2009; then I got tired of all the one over two around the design. So this is how it was in febuary after 3 months of stitching: (click to enlarge)

And this is how it was yesterday after an 8 months break:

And here are some details of what I stitched (and honestly I wonder what I'm stitching it as we can barely see it from far ... ):

All the pink on the bottom (I'll have to stitch some long stitches at the end) I still need to add some very pale pink.

Some pink around that one:

Some yellow around here:

And don't think I'm done ... I did leave a lot of 1/2 at the end. Silly me !!!

Have you heard about the Janlynn contest?

Janlynn is having a Dolly mamas contest! (all underlined red words are clickable.) I'm sure you have already seen those ladies with funny sayings like: all I want for Christmas is a nap, who are these kids and why are they calling me mom? or Bite me !!! All you have to do is to buy a Dolly kit at the Janlynn's site and add a dollyism to the design. What does it mean? You get to write your OWN statement !!! I'm sure you have lots of ideas for those. I know the cross stitching world is full of creative ladies and let's be honest about it: our life is full of funny, edgy moments that makes us think things like: Holy crap, now I have to wrap ( always happens to me at christmas time because for an unknown reason I am the official wrapper in the family ... still wonder who gave this tittle ) or it's official, I've become my mother (the scariest of all !!! )

I don't know if you have been to the Janlynn's site lately but they added a Heart of the stitchers (HOTS) where you can buy all you need to complete a cross stitch project or just the charts if you have all you need (it's called : get it my way !!! I love that !). You can add the fabric and what is great is that they sell the Zweigart fabrics which are for me the best fabrics on the market. I just wish they could also add some luganas ( 28 or 32 ct) for the lugana lovers like me !!!

So let's the fun begin !!!!! Go to Janlynn's to get started !!! I can't wait to see all the funny sayings stitchers will create !!! And you know a great thing about it? You can win up to $1000 !!!!!!!!!!