I just wanted to sew....

Let me preface this story by saying...the Horn's can get into a mess.
And this is a long story but one I wanted to remember....
Picture it...
My house, the Thursday after Christmas. Mom, Dad, Josh and Stephie Lou had come up to do some exchanging and Mom was going to give me a sewing lesson. Jay was gone hauling gas with his Dad.
I should have known the day would be crazy because....
When they get to my house, Josh comes in first and tells me that Dad got a speeding ticket. My Dad has never had a ticket in his 60+ years until that day. He was so mad but it was kind of funny because he is always the one to tell you to watch for " the law".  His famous words, " Slow down.. I saw 10 cops here earlier." He has never been right about where the law is.

We eat and then Mom and I sit down to start our lesson. Daddy says, " I want to do something outside( he was mad). Can I cut grass- to cut up your leaves?"  Sure, have at it.
I thread the machine with the help of Mom and am getting ready to sew and she says, " Don't let that thing that bobs up and down hit your finger!!"
My foot got excited on the foot pedal and the first thing I did was hit my finger. I screamed and so did everyone else in the house.

Things are going pretty good- we are sewing away. Then Dad comes in about 35 minutes later and sits down with us. He is looking around and says, " I wish you had a pickup." I was confused. " We do Dad, but Jay is in it." 
" No, I wish there was one here." "Why?"
Dad, still sitting there nonchanantly, " I slid the lawnmower into the ditch on its side and it is stuck."
WHAT??????
Now, this lawnmower costs more money than I will ever admit to anyone- I jump up and run outside.
It is sideways in the ditch. Stuck in mud....

Dad, Mom and Josh are so afraid that Jay will be mad. I said, " No, but we are getting it out before he gets home."
Josh and I dug and pulled and pushed but it was not coming out.
I knew I would have to get the towing strap from Jay's truck to pull it out.
Off Mom and I go to the gas company to get the strap out of his truck. Men are everywhere. Looking at me like I am crazy and thinking I am stealing something. I didn't care.
We get back and I am trying to tell Dad and Josh how to hook it up. Well, we couldn't hook it up to Mom's car because Daddy said there was no metal on it. I still don't believe it but whateva.

So, I had to make the call...call Jay...dun dun duuunnnnnn.
Here is our conversation:
 Hey. I need your truck. Can I go pick it up?
Sure. Whatcha need it for?
Something..
Something for me.
Yep. It is a surprise.
Ok sounds good.
Ok, I didn't lie- it was his and it was a surprise.

I go back and get the truck. When I get back to the house, I pull it up with the front facing the lawnmower because the truck has " towing hooks". Daddy said, " You can't pull it that way. Let me turn it around."
By this point, I am mad because I know those are metal towing hooks- meant to pull something out but whateva.( By the way, whateva is my new word :))
He gets in the truck and starts to back up and the truck starts spinning. Mud is flying and the precious grass is turning into rutted out mud.
At this point, it is comical.
He finally backs it up, we hook it up and start to pull and the strap came apart.
Thankfully we fixed it and tried again.
Finally, it comes out, tearing up the yard along the way.

Immediately, we all wash the lawnmower and truck to cover up evidence.
Josh and Stephanie are raking leaves into the yard to cover up the tracks. It was a little scary how fast we covered up the scene of the crime but you know we have always have a mess to clean up.

You want to guess where Tiny Tim aka Mom was? Inside sewing herself a Santa Clause. She was..... lots of help during Operation Lawnmower Removal.

I called Jay when it was all over because the lawnmower was not injured and told him the story. He was offended that we all thought he would be mad.

Needless to say, I only got to sew for 35 minutes and the rest was Operation Lawnmower Removal!!

Like I said, we can get into a mess.

Christmas 2011

I cannot believe that another year has gone by- I feel really old.
December flew by. I feel like I never got done decorating for Christmas until it was almost over- but in my defense- I had something going on every weekend.
I didn't take many pictures this Christmas but here are some.

        Our Christmas Tree

       We went to the beach in December. I didn't take any pictures except for this one of the sunset- beautiful!!

         Our pitiful attempt at a pic of us in front of the tree. We all look like a hot mess and I love how my Swiffer mop is in the background. Jay thought it was great.........yeah right.

 This next picture could take your breath away because it is so cute or you may laugh but I LOVE it. I had this printed and gave it to hims grandparents.

 Scruff MaGruff had a great Christmas. His Aunt Linda gave him a chicken which he loves. He carries it around everywhere. He was like a kid. I sat the bag in front of him, he knocked it over so he could look inside and pulled out toys. It was cute.

 He played and played....

 Family picture

Do you see the white circles? They were all over our Christmas pictures. You may think they are reflections of light but I don't :)

 Jay threw a stocking on Scruff and he did not like it.

 After Christmas, Josh and I made this for Mom. She has been wanting us to make it for a while. It has some of our favorite childhood ornaments and a few new ones. It is on a turn table. It really turned out cute and Mom is really proud of it.

 I also made these picture frames. I thought they turned out pretty cute for my first time to make them.
I really enjoyed painting them. This one is kind of an antique white.

I got a sewing machine for Christmas from Jay's mom and I used it to sew the bows.

You may all know this but burlap will unravel if you don't sew it up or sew it with wire in it.

I had no idea burlap was like that.

I used the white picture frame for a dirty santa gift.

 For another dirty santa gift, I made this AU key holder. It turned out pretty good considering it was scrap wood. Jay and I had so much fun that day cutting wood and drilling. He even helped me sew but shhh don't tell anybody.

 Our last Christmas event was on New Years Day. The Mitchell christmas.
Lawd, what a crew!!!

Let me just brag on the Hubs for a minute. He got me 2, yes 2, Coach purses for Christmas. While were in Destin, we went to the Coach outlet because I have never been. I looked around and they were having a great sale. I found one I loved but decided to wait.

Jay somehow during the trip went back and got me two of them.

I was really surprised. He always does a great job at Christmas.

So that is it folks- Christmas 2011 in the books!!