Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. We sure did. This is my Thanksgiving Cactus in full bloom. Most people have Christmas Cacti, but mine is too rebellious. We ran out of bandwidth so I have been unable to post for awhile. I also made the mistake of asking my children to take pictures. They did...but on their cameras. I will share the few pictures I took.

My brothers enjoyed Thanksgiving with their babies...Mike with his daughter Kathryn and Floyd with his granddaughter Zoe. Both Mike and Floyd have sons, so everyone is enjoying girl babies.

In October, we had 25 people for a baby shower for baby Kathryn. It was so much fun. Kathryn was an angel and let us all hold her. We called our shower a Roy Rogers Shower because the parties on the Roy Rogers movies always have crepe paper streamers and a homemade cake. Anna and Sarah strung pink crepe paper across the living room, and I made a pink sourdough cherry cake.

Sarah crocheted these booties and hat for baby Kathryn. Leslie sent the picture. I love Kathryn's expression!

Sarah enjoying Kat.

My sister in law, Cecilia, was in charge of games. She did a fantastic job. Thanks, Cecilia! For this game, we had to print our name on the top of the plate. Then we turned the plates upside down on our heads like hats. We had to draw a baby on the hat. Here's my mom (r) and her friend Roberta (l).

Here's Mom's sister, Marilyn (l) and Anna (r). It was so hilarious!

Mom won. Cute baby.

The Sunday before Thanksgiving, our friends, the B---- family, came over to make Southern Maryland Stuffed Hams, northern county style. I did a post on that three years ago, here. Nothing has changed, still the same recipe as when the African slaves brought it with them when they came to America.

The only difference is that we have food processors. What a blessing.

Here's Mike wrapping up the ham. Gotta be careful the green juice doesn't spill onto the floor.

And the race is on! Mike and I had a 23 lb ham, while Alexa and Rick had a half ham. It was so much fun doing it with someone else. This was the B's first stuffed ham. This was also our first (and last!) time that we bought our corned ham at Walmart. It was totally tasteless. And all that work! Always buy your hams (deboned!) at McKays. Lesson learned. The B---- family came back for Thanksgiving to enjoy the ham and turkey.

Anna is proud to have her tree fort totally framed in. Now for some plywood! We're checking freecycle and craigslist daily!

Here's a fun picture. Lizzie was having a rough day, so we snuggled on the recliner. My favorite part of mothering!

Last month we went to Walmart and found an 8x8 bin full of fabrics!!!! Most of them were junk, but still...it's the thought of fabric! The fabric was $5 per bolt, with each bolt having 5 yards. We could only find one good fabric, the above denim. Isn't it pretty? I will sew some denim jumpers next spring.

I read a few quilting forums online, and the general feeling is that Walmart is nasty for trying to get rid of their junk fabrics in the stores with no fabric department. D'accord.

Well, I have lots of projects going for Christmas gifts...but of course I can't show you. I did have fun with this project. I bought this sewing stand at the thrift shop (Vintage Values) in Prince Frederick for $8. I love it...but it was missing two screws and washers. When I went to several places to find replacements, the screw were shiny brass, not antique looking.

So I googled "how to quickly antique brass screws" and learned I wasn't the only person who wanted to know! First you take off the finish by using steel wool. Then you suspend the screws and washers over vinegar. Yes, over the vinegar. The next morning they are antiqued!

Here's before and after. I am so pleased.

It has been wonderful hearing everyone practice their Christmas songs for upcoming specials.

I'm sorry I took such a long blogging break. It surely wasn't intentional. But I have to say, once I stop blogging, it's so hard to start up again. I am going to slowly find the other cameras and try to find more pictures.

On Friday we have the old folks from church coming over for dinner. We have a possible 26 people coming, so we're busy cleaning. I hope to bake the cheesecake tonight.

Enjoy this season. Many blessings ~ Kathie