33 Weeks Today...

Good Morning Friends...

 

I hope you all had a terrific Easter!! We spent the weekend up at our cottage...it was our 1 year anniversary of  purchasing it and we had hoped to spend it with both of our children, but with Hannah not being able to travel that far, and our son being busy with work, it ended up being just me, John and Cooper.

 

We drove up very early on Friday and it was absolutely gorgeous out...sunny and high 40's. John did a little ice fishing since there was still over three feet of ice on the lake!! I stayed inside the cottage with the fire roaring and worked on a couple of new cross stitch designs. It was very relaxing, just what the two of us needed!!

 

We had intended on staying until Monday, but it turned pretty cold so we decided to head back home on Sunday. We stopped on the way back to spend a little time with Hannah and (her) John's family and had a wonderful time and a delicious Easter dinner.

 

You will be happy to hear that Hannah is doing GREAT!!! She is 33 weeks today and at her appointment last week Friday they finally got some wonderful news!! Her test results came back negative, which means at least two weeks more without delivering...that means that she will be at 34 weeks and 2 days at her next appointment and almost to that crucial 35 week mark!!! YAHOOOOO!!!!! Her DR. also told her that if she were very careful, she could get out on nice days and walk ONCE around the block if she wanted to...and of course she is!!! She is still on bed rest other than her daily walk, but we couldn't be happier with the way things are progressing for her! Thank you again...EVERYONE...for your thoughts and prayers, emails, etc. It has helped us all get through a very difficult time and I am truly grateful to all of you!!

 

On the 23rd we had Hannah's baby shower. What a fun time!! Hannah got permission from her DR. to attend and everything turned out beautifully. Baby's other Grandma did most of the work since the shower was up there, but I did what I could in between running back and forth to help Hannah and all of my work here. I did however manage to get a couple of cute projects done for the shower...here are a couple of photos for you...

 

This was taken before any guests arrived...we were still decorating...notice they brought down a nice, soft chair for Hannah to sit in.

We chose a mint green and pale yellow color scheme and I found some great white and green table cloths. See those cute little "diaper" favors??? I got that idea from Pinterest. I am sorry that I don't have a close up for you, but I purchased three pieces of flannel (a pale yellow print, mint green print, and a solid white) and cut them into a shape that when folded, looked like a little diaper. I fused the back side of the fabric with fusible interfacing to make them easier to cut out, and it also gave them a little stiffness so they wouldn't lose their shape and then pinned them together with little one inch long safety pins. I even painted the heads of the pins with yellow and white nail polish to give them the look of actual "old fashioned diaper pins" with the colored plastic heads...I popped one of those paper cupcake cups into each diaper and filled them with pastel mints and they turned out very cute! Thank you again Pinterest!!

My baby posing in front of the cake. (Just long enough for me to snap a shot) Poor little thing was hesitant to be in any pictures because she is so puffy from bed rest and has dark circles under eyes from lack of any good sleep, but I thought she looked BEAUTIFUL and I am so proud of how she has done everything her DR. has asked of her these past months.

Grandma Jeanne came up with this idea...she brought in some wonderful old books...some that belonged to John when he was little...some Teddy Bears (old and new) and we did a drawing for $25.00 gift cards. Anyone who brought a pack of diapers to the shower could get in on it. This table was so full by the time everyone arrived that we had to pile the overflow on the floor!

She found the little buggy at a thrift store... how cute!

These belonged to John when he was little.

For the center pieces on the tables, I filled baby bottles with pastel colored candies and tied balloons to them then we placed a teddy by each bottle. I wish I had a better picture of this...they were just darling.

More ideas from Pinterest on the cake table...I made "Cake Pops" for the first time and even though I was very skeptical while making them as to whether or not they would turn out (I am NOT a baker)...everyone loved them. I also made the "Fruity Pebbles" lolly pop treats (another Pinterest idea) and Jeanne made the white chocolate dipped strawberries.

Here is the cake that I designed especially for Hannah. It was made by Manderfield's Bakery in Appleton, WI. I chose a lemon cake with raspberry swirl center and white cream frosting...I can honestly say that I have NEVER had a more delicious cake in my entire life!

Hannah has always loved elephants and she doesn't like a lot of fru-fru, so I wanted the cake to be simple. Isn't it just ADORABLE? Everyone loved it!! I couldn't have been happier with the end result. They made it exactly like I had envisioned it. :) It looks small, but we had almost forty guests show up and everyone had a piece...we even had enough left over for the "guys" when they came back to help us clean up.

 

It was a really fun day, but very tiring for Hannah. They got so many wonderful gifts and are now completely set for our little "Nugget" (as they are calling baby) to arrive IN MAY...when baby is actually due. :)

 

Well everyone, I have to get going, so as always, thanks so much for stopping by!! Now that Hannah is doing better and I am able to stay home more, I hope to get back into the swing of things around here and will try to post a little more often.

 

Before I sign off though...I have had numerous emails from folks asking about my new Christmas book...I will be posting a few "sneak peek" photos late this month, so please be a little more patient with me, OK? I will also be posting ordering info at that time...as of right now, I am not yet taking orders or reserving copies...so very sorry...but I truly appreciate your patience in this matter. :)

 

Enjoy your day everyone!!

 

Until next time...Tina



Good Morning Friends...

I want to begin this post by thanking you all for being so thoughtful and caring!!

 

I was overwhelmed by the out-poor of kindness you all showed regarding our daughter Hannah and our little unborn grand baby. Your comments, emails, phone calls, hand written letters and cards...and especially your thoughts and prayers were so much appreciated!!

 

I also want to thank those of you who wrote to share with me your own personal stories and experiences about premature deliveries....I read every one of them to Hannah over the phone. Your words gave us hope and as sad as it is to know that so many others out there have gone through (and are currently going through) similar situations it is very comforting to us to know that we are not alone.

 

I guess I had better not keep you all wondering any longer...Shortly after my last post, Hannah was admitted to the hospital for a second time due to a decline in her condition. She spent eight days and nights there before things stabilized and they released her to go back home. She is still on complete bed rest, and sadly quite miserable a lot of the time. She has really bad heartburn, back pain and lots of swelling and stiffness due to the bed rest...but...I am happy to report a little good news...yesterday she hit the 30 week mark and she and baby are both doing very well considering everything they have had to go through in the past couple of months. Her DR. says that "when" she gets to 32 weeks we can all breath a BIG sigh of relief, so that is what we are focusing on now....and then...if she makes it to 35 weeks, she can actually go off of bed rest until the baby is born!!! :) :) :) Wouldn't that be WONDERFUL?!!!

 

So...what else is going on???

 

Quite a lot actually...I have been trying to make a couple of trips up north to help out each week...it's such a helpless feeling to be a parent and so far away from your children in times like this...it is a two hour drive from here one-way...soooo...quite a bit of my time lately has been spent away from home and driving back and forth. Worth every minute of my time though! 

 

I am also working on my next book (a sneak peek coming sometime in April) and trying to squeeze in a little time in the early mornings and evenings to work on a few things for another up-date, as well as some new cross-stitch designs for Summer and Fall that I "hope" to put into pattern form by sometime next month or early May. What is it they say..."No rest for the Weary"!!!

 

Hannah's baby shower is in a couple of weeks also...so I have been busy with that as well. Thankfully "Baby's" other grandma is doing a lot of the work for it because I don't think I could do it all by myself! I just got home this morning from spending a couple of days with both of our kids and I ordered the cutest cake for the shower. I designed it myself, and can't wait to see how it looks when I go to pick it up from the bakery....I hope it looks in person how it looks in my mind, it is so hard to get another person to envision what we see sometimes, but knowing this bakery, it will probably look even better than I am hoping for!!

 

Well, the day is starting to get away from me, so I have to get going for now. I will be sure to let you all know how Hannah's next appointment goes...hopefully ALL good news this time!! :)

 

I'll leave you now with a little touch of SPRING...wondering if it will ever get here this year...it was nice and sunny early this morning, but overcast now and still pretty cold!!! BRRRRRR!

 



 

Take care and enjoy your day,

Tina

Where Do I Begin...

Hello Friends!!!!!!!

 

I have missed you all so much!

 

I know that it has been forever since my last post, but so much has been going on that I don't even know where to begin!!!

 

Hmmmm, how about if I just start at the beginning...the beginning of December that is! :)

 

As you all know, we sold our saltbox home and moved closer to my husband's company. It was a very sad departure for us but we did it and now we are starting a new chapter of our lives here in southeastern WI. After many disappointments and several months of searching, we finally found and purchased a house. It isn't anything like what we were hoping to find, but we purchased it anyways because we very badly wanted (and needed) to be in a house by Christmas. We settled on a nice, but somewhat smaller Colonial home with a big back yard in a very nice country neighborhood. We absolutely love the area and so far have met some very nice neighbors. I really think we are going to like living here. :)

 

The house itself is nice, but not early looking at all, and it needs some up-dating both inside and out. I am, however, having a really hard time liking it without always comparing it to our saltbox. All of the trim and woodwork is solid OAK...a very pretty wood in it's own right, but very orange in color and...JUST NOT ME!!! The flooring is a combination of oak hardwood, carpet and tile...again, all beautiful, just NOT ME! The exterior is also very dated in color and appearance, so we are going to be up-dating that for sure...as well as the overgrown landscaping.

 

I was hoping to be able to paint the trim and cabinetry, pull up and replace some of the flooring, etc...but...my husband is fighting me every step of the way. You see...this is only a temporary home for us and he keeps thinking "resale-resale-resale" so to him, putting a ton of money into this place would be a big mistake...I guess I agree with him to a point, but decorating is sort of "my thing" if you know what I mean, and it sure would make little old me a lot happier if I could "early things up a little" and at least take the home's appearance back a couple of hundred years!

 

Maybe if I whine enough he will get sick of listening to me and give in...notice I said MAYBE...time will tell, but I am going to be making a few changes, so I will be sure to take you all with me as I make those changes in the months to come.

 

December was not only busy with the moving, but I also did most of my traveling for the new Christmas book I have coming out this Fall. I actually finished up my travels in mid January, so with moving, traveling, and Christmas thrown in the mix...not to mention tax time...I HAVE BEEN VERY BUSY!!!

 

I have also been working on a few new cross stitch patterns and I just released the new ones on Tuesday. If interested, you can click on the link in the top left corner of this page to go to my PT to check them out. I have had a wonderful response to my pattern line and there are so many of you who have contributed in making this such a successful venture for me  that I have decided to give you all a little thank-you for all of your orders and the kindness you have all showed over the past several months.

 

I have had numerous requests for this design, so I thought that it would be a good choice for my first give-a-way.

©2013 Tina Woltman

The wonderful dolly in the picture was made by my friend Lori Rippey of www.picturetrail.com/homespunprimsbylori and she is holding a little pin-keep that I designed for her called "For My Friend". ...because Lori is such a good one...friend that is...but now that I think about it, she is real doll too! :)

Here is the chart...I have never posted a pattern before, so I hope that you will all be able to save and/or copy it.

Now on to some very sad news....

Back in October I announced some WONDERFUL news about our daughter Hannah expecting our first little grand baby. About a month ago we got the news that she was having some trouble with her pregnancy and we recently got more bad news. I won't go into all of the details of her complications, but she is only 25 weeks along, which is far too early to deliver. She is on complete bed rest due to these complications and there will most likely be a premature delivery. She has already been hospitalized once and we are all doing everything we can to help her both physically and emotionally, and her doctor has been amazing, but I think that prayers are what we need most right now, so can I ask that you all please take a moment to say a prayer for both Hannah and our sweet little baby? As anxious as we all are to meet this little darling, baby needs to be patient and stay put for several more weeks!!

Well my friends, on that note I think that I need to sign off before I start crying all over again :(

Thank you all so much for stopping by...your visits, emails and kind words are always so much appreciated!!

Enjoy Your Day...Tina

Temporarily Closing...

Good Morning Friends...

 

I wanted to post a quick note to let you all know that I am temporarily closing down for about a week, possibly up to two weeks due to moving.

 

If you happen to email me during that time, and don't get a response, I will get back to you as soon as I possibly can. I have a VERY busy December, with moving and some traveling, but I will do my best to check emails as often as time allows.

 

Also...I will not be taking any more "Early Workings" cross stitch pattern orders until after January 1st. And...for those of you who have been inquiring about more new designs...I will be offering a few new patterns for "Everyday", "Valentine's Day" and "Spring" sometime in January!!

 

Oh, just one more thing before I forget, I wanted to tell you all that I thoroughly enjoyed your comments and emails about my last post...Christmas Classics.

 

Hearing about your favorite Christmas movies, (and your Christmas memories in general) were so much fun to read!!! Your stories were both funny and endearing to me and reading how much you enjoyed that post made my entire week and I appreciate you taking the time to contact me!!

 

Thank you all so much!!!

 

Well, my Friends...I have a lot to do in the next few days, so I really do have to run...wishing you all a wonderful day! :)

 

Tina



Christmas Classics...

Good Morning Friends...

 

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!!

 

Ours was such fun! We spent the day at my Mom's house and I got to see two of my siblings, a few nieces and nephews, and our son...we missed those who weren't there, but thoroughly enjoyed spending time with those who were able to make the trip. We feasted and laughed and relived some old childhood and family memories...feasted some more, and...well, I think you get the picture! :)

 

Now that we have all made it through the "season's" first big weekend...some of us a little "plumper" than others...I think that it's time to start talking "CHRISTMAS"!!!

 

One of the first things I do each year as the holidays approach us is to get out all of my Christmas movies!! For me, it just doesn't feel like Christmas without them!

 

If you are like me, and love watching holiday movies, then you might also have a collection of favorites. I have been collecting for many years and try to purchase at least one or two new ones every year. I usually start watching them in early November, and I try to watch every single one of them at least once. I watch some of my favorites over and over again...some of them up to a dozen times or more, and I never tire of them!

 

For today's post, I thought that I might share some of my favorites with you. Maybe you'll see one or two that you don't already have, or maybe it will start you collecting some for yourself...or maybe, just maybe, one very special movie that I share with you today will bring back a fond Christmas memory from your past.

 

Here are some of my favorites.....

 

I love to find these "Collector Sets". You get four movies for the price of one! I just found the set on the left last week. I purchased it because it had "Young Pioneers' Christmas" included. I have an old version of it that I taped off of the TV back in the 80's, but that old VHS tape was really starting to get worn. I was so excited to have found this one!! Two of my other favorites here are "Silent Night" and "A Christmas Visitor".

The three shown here may be geared towards a little younger viewing audience, but I just love them all!! "Prancer" will steal your heart...I know it did mine! "Samantha" and "Felicity" are both adapted from the "American Girl" doll book series and are simply fun, fun, fun!

Here are three of my "TV" favorites from the 70's and 80's. Of course we all love anything from the "Little House on the Prairie" series. This one features "Christmas at Plum Creek" and "A Christmas They Never Forgot". I also have "BLIZZARD", which is my favorite of all the Little House episodes. "The House Without a Christmas Tree" came out in 1972 and I can still remember watching this one with my oldest sister when we were young girls.  And...one of my very favorites, "Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus" starring Richard Thomas...I just LOVE this one!!!

 

Ahhhh, who could forget these?!!!!! Great old TV Classics from the 50's and early 60's. All but one were made before I was born, but I remember watching the re-runs of the "Lassie" episodes when I was a child. How about you...do you remember any of these?

More of the "Old Classics" I have to say, I just love the old ones!! And I especially love them if they are black-and-white...you can find many of these great old movies in the color versions...but like I said, I love them color or not! :)

"Little Women"!!! Who doesn't have at least one of these in their collection? I have three of the four versions that I know of. I think that the latest version, starring Winona Ryder, is my favorite of the three, but I have to say that the 1949 version starring June Allyson as Jo and Elizabeth Taylor as fussy little Amy is a close second for me. The version on the left came out in 1933 and the one that I am missing is one that came out sometime in the 70's and starred Susan Dey (Laurie from The Partridge Family) as Jo and Eve Plumb (Jan from The Brady Bunch) as Beth. Do any of you remember that one??? No one that I have ever mentioned it to seems to remember it...but I do!!

More "oldies, but goodies"!!! I love anything with Bing Crosby...Here he stars in "White Christmas" with Danny Kaye...so much fun...and how about  "Christmas in Connecticut" starring the late, GREAT Barbara Stanwyck?!!! This one is absolutely FAN-TAS-TIC!!!!!

And last, but not least..."HOLIDAY INN"...my favorite Bing Crosby movie. I just watched this one this morning. (For the fifth time now since Nov. 1st) and I will never tire of it!! I always watch the B&W version first, then I watch the color version...over and over again! I just love that it takes place in New England and the scenes when it is snowing, are simply magical!!! My favorite scenes are in the beginning and the end, when Bing Crosby and Marjore Reynolds sing "White Christmas"...one of my all-time favorite Christmas songs!!!

 

Here you go folks...click on the link and you will see one of the reasons that I love this wonderful old movie so much!!

 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=fWfyaLESG84

 

 

Well Friends, I have many more that I would love to share with you, but I am running out of time and I have a very busy day ahead of me. Before I go though, I have to ask..."What's your favorite Christmas movie?"

 

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Tina

 

 



Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Greetings Friends...

 

 

From Our Home...

 

To Yours...

 

 

A Very Safe, Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving!!

 

I am so thankful to you all for your kindness, support and friendship!!

 

Your Friend...Tina



Holy Cow!!!!!

Hello Everyone!!!

 

It's a good thing you are sitting at your computer as you see this post or you'd probably faint from disbelief...the second one it a little over a week...what's going on here????

 

Well, I have been awake since about 2:45 this morning and I couldn't fall back to sleep so I thought I would do a little more catching up on emails...we were out of town on Thursday and Friday last week, then 2 1/2 days of Internet problems, so needless to say, I am a little behind on things. If you have emailed me in the past few days and have not received a response from me yet, either your email didn't come through or I haven't gotten to it yet. I still have a few from yesterday to answer but if you don't hear back from me, please email me again because it obviously never came through...and my apologies for the inconvenience!!

 

Also, for those of you who were planning on stopping by my up-date that was supposed to be on Monday, I have postponed it until "TONIGHT", so if all goes well with my Internet (so far no problems since late yesterday afternoon...fingers crossed!!) I will be opening the album up at 8:00 PM, CST. :) Just a smaller up-date...I wanted to finish a few things that I didn't get done in time for last week's up-date.

 

Since I was awake so early today, I decided to take a few minutes to snap a couple shots of some cute little pieces that I have recently acquired...

 

...I think you're gonna like this...

 

About three years ago, my son and daughter each got me some cute little antique cows as part of their Christmas gifts to me. I was amazed that they even thought to go to the antique mall to look for something for me, and even more amazed that they each did it without the other knowing (and neither told the other what they got), BUT...they did it, and "HOLY COW" look what they found for me....

My son found the little one on the right and my daughter found the other two. Can you imagine what fun it was to find these under the wrappings?!!! (Since they are still packed away, I took this picture from last year's album of Christmas photos.)

Well...that was all it took...an instant collection was started and now when ever I see an antique cow for sale, I think of my kids and how happy I was to receive those three little cows that Christmas. As you can see here, I have since added to the collection and I just purchased this big pull toy this past Saturday. She is a real BEAUTY and measures 14 inches long...I just love her to pieces!! 

She has a little wear, but all-in-all she is in really nice shape and to me, a little wear only means that she was very well loved and handled by many sweet little fingers and hands!! Her platform base has wonderful metal wheels and her head moves from side-to-side. She has carved wooden horns and utters with a worn black collar and her little glass eyes are missing, but they still look pretty to me...and just look at that sweet little nose of hers!! Other than a few little bumps and bruises, she has aged pretty well, don't you think? We purchased her from Mike at the "A Gathering on the Prairie" antique show in Arthur, IL and was thrilled to know that she had been a part of his own personal collection for quite some time. (Happy "early" Birthday to me from my Hubby) I haven't named her yet, but I'm thinking she looks like a "Bessy"!

I call this little girl "Blondie" after a cow that my grandparents had when I was a young child growing up in Northern WI. She was purchased about two months or so ago...I got her from Penelope's Past Antiques . She is flocked and has her original eyes, horns and utters...just a tiny little chip on her one front foot...Hmmm, wonder how she got that??? :)

 

It has been so much fun collecting them, only now I have to be careful not to grow the heard too much, too soon or I just may end up with a cupboard full of cows to go with my cupboard full of sheep! :)

 

Well, Friends, I think I will close for now...THANK YOU SO MUCH for stopping by...and I also want to thank you all for your kind comments, cards, and emails concerning our wonderful old boy Riley. It meant so much to know that so many of you out there care and even though most of your correspondence brought me to tears, they were happy tears and you really did make me feel better about things...you guys and gals are the BEST!!!

 

 

Have a WONDERFUL day everyone...Until next time,

 

Tina