Again - another long absence, but this time I have a good reason - honest! You see, I had my daily hs log on the pc, and was logging in the day's work like normal. DH was down in the basement doing "stuff" and the next thing I know is the electricity was going off and on. Ahhh - nice guy that he is, forgot to mention he'd be playing around with the electricity. Well, my log was destroyed beyond repair, and guess who didn't do a back up?! UGH!

So for the past month, I've been digging through all our work, papers, notes, and everything else I can find and trying to piece an accurate log back together. And being the smart and advanced person that I am, I saw in a homeschool magazine that there was a wonderful record keeper called Homeschool Pro. I went and downloaded a trial copy and used that instead of my old one, as there were things it didn't do that this new one was supposed to do. Mistake #2!! I've been fighting and pulling my hair out with this one. I think it's a POS - and as soon as I finished using it, it was deinstalled. And they want $40 for it! HA!!! Whoever said it was the best one out there had better look at a few others - because even the one I used was better than HSP!

Rule #1 - Back up, back up, back up!!!
Rule #2 - Never believe the reviews without first trying.
Rule #3 - NEVER work on important things with DH in the house :-)

So with this stress going on, I haven't done much for stitching. I am working on LK's May Flip-It from her first series. That was my reward after finishing up on the schedule. I haven't had much time to work on it, but it's so nice to have a needle back in hand again!

I received my DMC Mentor package, and we've already used it. I have taught both children how to XS. They both worked diligently on the kits and had them done in 2 days. Way cool! I tried teaching DS a few years ago, but he didn't want to sit and work on it. Now, he is scouring my stash and has decided he wants to work on a kit of the Titanic. I'm hoping it's not too hard or discouraging for him, but he is set on it. We shall see....

DD is already doing a second beginner pattern from the Mentor package. This one is larger and of a blue flower. She's doing very well on it, and has not had to frog any of it yet. I must say I'm very proud of them both for being so diligent and working so hard on their first pieces. DS had the hardest time and wanted to quit right after starting, because he had to keep ripping out stitches, but after he got going, he wouldn't stop. The first day he sat more than 3 hours working on it. :-) I have been trying for the last 2 days to print their certificates, but haven't been successful. So far, all I get is a message that the site can't be reached.

Well, I probably should get back to work around here - )and hopefully will get back on a blogging schedule as well)