Bun In The Oven

My response to my expectant daughter's concern over going past her due date....
"The longer they cook, the better they look!" She seemed to like that. Tomorrow is the inducement day!! We will finally see our granddaughter!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! We are still waiting on our new granddaughter to arrive. Christmas Eve was fun (but just not the same without my DS/22 who is in Iraq). We are a Wii family now. Yay!!

Happy Thanksgiving and Tag You're It!

We had our Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. I was sad to not have my soldier home. Otherwise, we had a pleasant dinner. Happy Thanksgiving to all my blogging friends!

Lucy at Folk-N-Fancy tagged me to share 6 random things about myself! Here are the rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.

2. Post the rules on your blog.

3. Write six random things about yourself.

4. Tag six people at the end of your post.

5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

6. Let the tagger know your entry is up.

1. I love reading the dictionary! Nerd-o-fied, I know...I know. I love playing Scrabble, but can't always find an opponent.

2. I enjoy making someone laugh, even if it makes me look silly doing it. It's totally worth it. (e.g. {Gasping} "I got a red straw!") If you would have been there, you would have laughed. Trust me. Not funny in print, but in real life it was a pretty good one.

3. I cry at the drop of a hat. A friend recently told me she is a "free-crier". I had never heard of that before, but I suppose I am one.

4. I am married to a very talented musician. Translation: I've been a roadie and a groupie "with benefits" ;^)

5. I am totally blind in one eye, but most people don't even know it. It doesn't keep me from cross stitching or sewing...but I can't play tennis!

6. I feel like I'm being frivolous when I don't use coupons when buying groceries. I'm the lady who brings her own bags to the grocery which earns .03cents off per bag on the total.

I'm tagging RuthAnn, mimpinmom, Kim, Beth, Tobie, and Andrea.

Now let's see what's random with you!

4 Year Blog Anniversary

My 4 year blog anniversary! Wow! Now if I can just blog more consistently!

Free Quilt Giveaway...but hurry!

I have entered a free quilt giveaway over at Old Red Barn Co. What awesome quilts! The giveaway ends soon, so hurry if you want a chance to win. You can also click on the sidebar button to go to total quilt awesomeness.

Baby Shower for My Daughter

Today I hosted a baby shower (my first ever) for my daughter. I used some of the items I had kept of my daughter's when she was born. I had saved some of her dresses and a couple of crocheted items my mother had made, so I used those for decorating. Here are some of the photos.


I used pink fabric (from my fabric stash) underneath a Battenberg lace tablecloth I already owned. I found the doll and teddy bear for the centerpiece at T. J. Maxx. The Petit Fours were made by Brown Baguette. They were delicious!

Menu:

Petit Fours
Brownie Bites
Fruit & Dip
Spinach Dip & Hawaiian Bread
Chicken Salad on Croissants
Beef Ball with Crackers
Broccoli Bacon Salad
Punch
Tea/Coffee/Diet Coke
The baby will be named Presley Ruth and I just happened to have the letters to spell her name. The punch table was covered in a white floor-length tablecoth with a "bed canopy" draped over it. The canopy was $10 at Tuesday Morning. I bunched the top half under the punch bowl. It worked great!

I used some of my daughter's own baby dresses for decorating. I displayed some of my son-in-law's and my daughter's baby pics around, also.

My mother had made me the crocheted bag and vest for my daughter when she was born 27 years ago. The bag has a heart pocket and a patch that says "Angel". I used it on her crib for small toys, etc., but it can be used several ways. The afghans were also treasures I had kept of my daughter's. I am sooo glad I held onto them.




We had so much fun! She got lots of precious gifts, too. Here's the whole bunch and my daughter with my sister-in-law (who loaned me the glass plates, etc.) It was great just to see the ladies in our family since we don't get many opportunities to get together.

Halloween Baby Shower

DD's bible study group gave her a Halloween Baby Shower.
Everything was wonderful! Check out the cake!













I am giving her a shower for our side of the family. I have no clue what I'm doing. Wish me luck.
The theme will be "pink".

Future Mom!

Here's my beautiful daughter! She is simply glowing! She has a fairly new blog, Mom's the Word.



She's expecting our first grandchild, a baby girl!!
We are so excited! I'll be giving her a shower in November.

Praying like never before

My son has deployed to Iraq. He is on the right. I can't imagine what the next 12 months will be like. Lots of praying, that I do know for sure....

Where Did I Go?

Well....I didn't really go anywhere, but my DS/22, who is in the army, was in town for his leave before deploying to Iraq. It was so wonderful to see his face again!! I've missed him terribly!

While he was home, he wrecked his bike and broke his foot in several places. He had burns to his side, shoulder and back. After his accident, he spent most of the remaining time at home, trying to heal. I tried to be a good nurse, but anyone who knows me knows I am not a good one. I did the best I could and we had a few laughs at my ineptness.

Here's his bike (his pride and joy). He rebuilt and painted it himself. This was before the accident.

He received a promotion to "Specialist" before he returned home, and may be a corporal very soon. I am so proud of him! I am also terrified for him, but I know he has been trained well. I know God will look over him no matter where he is (because I keep reminding God about it : } ).

Other Breaking News.......

We found out last week that our first grandchild is a G-I-R-L!!!!! We are overjoyed! It wouldn't have mattered either way, boy or girl, they are both awesome!

I have a couple of other things that have kept me from blogging, but hopefully I'll be able to get back on track soon.

We've been busy with guerilla shopping for school supplies and clothes. There was also a tax-free weekend last weekend, so people who never shop were out shopping. There was craziness on the roads (who turns left from the far right-hand lane??) and even more craziness in the stores. Waiting in line for over 15 minutes to get into a dressing room stall, then another 15 minutes in a checkout line, is not my idea of a fun day.

The Rockstar and I even made a few midnight runs to Walmart to get 5 cent spiral notebooks (aka themebooks, composition books). My DS/11 always corrects me if I don't refer to them as "spirals". I am giving away my age here, but I'm just happy to be alive...at any age!

School is starting for DS/11 next week. I am picking up more hours with my job, also. I will still be busy-busy, but I'll try to get in some stitching time. I miss it. I miss the way it relaxes me. It gives me time to think.

Hopefully, I'll have a stitching update soon. We shall see...

Music is playing inside my head, could it be Blue Hawaii?

We've had a busy few weeks, so no blogging, but I've been trying to keep up with some of my favorite blogs. DH played keys with the awesome Fried Glass Onions band for the Shannon Street Blues Festival in Jackson, TN. It was packed. I had no idea so many people would attend. The crowd seemed to really enjoy the music. Here he is (far left) along with the horn section and the fabulous Jackie Johnson. She has an outstanding voice, so it was a joy to hear her sing again.


You can read more about who's who here, if you're interested.





On Tuesday, I hosted my Bunco group at my house. We had a luau and I made the tissue paper pompoms that are so popular lately. (I made mine own instead of buying Martha's kits). There are a couple of tips I found after searching online. One is the tissue should be 1/3 longer than it is wider. These are very addictive once you get the hang of it. I hate to take them down now that our party is over. I served fresh fruit, fruit dip, chips with cheese dip, deli sandwiches, pineapple with cheese squares, potato salad and assorted cheese cakes for dessert. The table cloth is actually a vintage sheet that I had in my linens for just this type of occasion.

Memorial Day

Having a son in the military makes this day even more emotional for me. This holiday many wives, moms, sisters, fathers, and brothers are paying respect to their loved one who gave their lives for our freedom. It is the ultimate sacrifice. My son is deploying very soon. I can hardly bear to think about it, however, I know God is watching over him, as well as the other men and women serving in the armed forces.

This weekend, DS/11 and I went with his scout troop to Veterans' Cemetery for a ceremony and placed flags on the graves of soldiers.

Mothers Day

I had a very nice Mothers' Day this year. I received a storage box for my stash of scrapbooking paper from DS/11 and an OTT light from my DH. My DD/26 gave me the beautiful white roses. I took her and my mom to lunch. I didn't hear from DS/22 (he was at Ft. Irwin, CA, for combined training with the other battalions that are deploying in August). He was, however, able to call me this past Sunday and wish me a late Happy M'day! I was so thankful to hear from him. He will be coming home for a brief visit and then deploying to Iraq (at least, as far as we know).

It's hard to wrap my brain around becoming a grandmother for the first time and seeing my son go off to war within the same 4 months. Needless to say, God has a bigger plan than I can see. I just can't quite grasp it all yet.

Showing some Pink Love

Stitch Pink blog is having a contest to win some pink threads . Check it out...quick. It ends tomorrow!

Estates Sale Bargains

Just take a look at the "loot" from the estate sale DS/11 and I found today! I could hardly believe it! I recently had to throw away my pattern cutting board because it was falling apart. The new ones are $6 to $9, and I just haven't replaced it...until now. The last sewing project, a Harry Potter robe for DS/11, was a pain to cut out without a cutting board. I'm so glad to have replaced it without having to pay full price for a new one.

Also, The "hot dog" looking thing is a Dritz seam roll. It's for ironing seams in sleeves and tight areas of clothes. I was so excited when I saw all the thread, I could hardly believe it!! There are over 100 spools and some are wooden (which is a bonus since I use the empty ones for small bits of lace, ric-rac, and trims. I paid $17 for everything. Almost all of the thread I have (prior to this "new" find) is thread from a yard sale I scored about 20 years ago. Any time I can buy second hand, I get more satisfaction knowing I'm being "green". Thrifting is much kinder to our planet, don't you think? It's definitely easier on my budget!!

Stitching Goodies in the Mail!!!

Becky sent me a grab bag of stitching goodies in the mail. She had a giveaway, but I didn't know I was picked!! Look at all the lovely designs. I'm going to have a blast stitching on these! You must check out her blog. Her stitching is awesome!

This is the very first time anyone has ever sent me cross stitching in the mail. Thanks Becky, you are too sweet for words!

What happened to me???

Well......I have been stitching again and I'll share an update soon. In the meantime, I got great news from my DD/26 and my SIL. On their second anniversary they found out they are expecting a baby! I am going to be a grandmother!!!! I'm so excited! I can't wait to start sewing for the baby, as soon as we know if it's a girl or boy.

I have been lurking around all the stitching, sewing, scrapbooking, and organizing blogs during my quiet moments. I will, however, try to do better (we've heard that before) and blog more often.

RIP Sawyer

Yesterday was a tough day for our family. Our pound puppy, Sawyer, went to "a happy place" (so DS/11 said) after 15 years of being a part of our family. It's been very sad, we've all been very teary-eyed, but we know he was in pain and had lived a very long life. We miss him and his loyalty, his trusting nature, and even his stubbornness.

Bunny Cake and Craft Eggs

Well, it's been too long between posts, so rather than try to backtrack too far, I'll just start with this past week. DS/11 and I made a bunny cake (without the coconut). He wanted chocolate icing, so we made a yellow cake with milk chocolate frosting. DS/21 called, while we were baking the cake, and told me he would most likely be deployed to Iraq on Aug. 15th. It's hard to believe he has been in the army for 1 1/2 years.

I made a some decorative eggs to use each year for Easter. I found an awesome tutorial at Inspireco. I used sheet music for these. They are a lot of fun to make and I'll be making more. I want to make some more from old pages from books and dictionaries and thrift bibles. I plan to put some of our family's favorite verses on some for a more personal touch.

I haven't been cross stitching lately. Unfortunately, my magnifying lamp broke. I did, however, sew up a quick "Harry Potter" robe recently for DS/11 who had to dress up like a favorite book character. I'm anxious to get back to my "Gathering Honey" sampler. Now I just need to find a new lamp on sale!

Baking Frenzy

Guess who's been baking like a crazy woman? Me! I had to bake a bunch of goodies for my son's scouts bake sale last Sunday.


















The bake sale was to raise money for their individual saving accounts. The accounts allow them to save money to be used to offset costs of camping trips, etc. Here are some of the goodies I baked (didn't get photos of the cookies - chocolate chip and sugar).







Here are 2 of the 3 tables of bake goods. Most everything sold!!










My DD/26 decided I needed my hair colored.....so she offered to do it for me. It's
not quite my best color for my skin, but we'll keep trying. At least my hair is all one color, which is an improvement.

What happened to January?

I can't believe how packed the month of January was for our family! Our calendar was full! Hopefully, things will settle down a bit. We had a birthday party for DS/11 at The Incredible Pizza Company. It is new to our area and made for a great party for the 8 boys, a few parents, and family members. The venue is set around the 50s era and there is a huge game room with bumper cars, go-carts, and such. Here's a few pics of the party.











The Pinewood Derby was exciting this year. DS/11's car was silver with a #1 MSU Tigers theme. He won 1st in his scout pack.












This month, DS/11 "crossed over" to become a Boy Scout. A ceremony and banquet marked the occasion. At the ceremony, he received a trophy for 1st place Webelos 2 Pinewood Derby, then another trophy for 1st place Overall in his pack! Now, he will participate in the district-wide derby later this month.












In the meantime, I will be baking for the scout bake sale this Sunday and help with a science project. Two fundraisers have been going for raising money for DS/11's chorus trip that is coming up in April. Oh my goodness, it just never ends.

DH played a gig at Higher Ground recently.
It was a fun "road trip" of sorts. In the first pic, DH is in the middle and in the bottom pic, he's on keys.













DS/21 is still stationed in Colorado. I miss him so much.

January is starting off with a Bang!

As I mentioned earlier, DS/21 came in town for a couple of weeks following Christmas. We got to see him a few times which was great! He had to rely on us and his friends to get around because the military said it was too high risk to drive his motorcycle home. He was disappointed, but managed to see some of his friends and family before flying back to Colorado today. Unfortunately, during his trip, he misplaced his cell phone twice, so he had more "down time" than he had planned, and to top it off, he lost his wallet! Here's a photo of my son-in-law, DS/21, and DS/10 the night we took him out for dinner.
Here's a photo of my son and me. Notice the cut and bump above his right eye. Yep! He got that while he was here, too! I'm just so thankful he got to come home for a visit. I was sad to have to tell him goodbye again. We have no idea when he'll be allowed to return home for a visit.





Today, while he was flying back, I was having minor surgery to remove a cyst on my wrist. I now have a huge wrap on my hand, but I can remove it Saturday. I don't think I will be cross stitching until I remove the wrap. It's bulky and besides, I'm on pain meds, so handling a needle may not be the best idea!!

I also got the results from my MRI on my neck. (2 bulging disc and 1 herniated disc in my neck). No wonder I'm in pain! I got some meds and will have a shot (in my neck) for pain relief in a few weeks. Hopefully, that will buy some time to watch and see if it will get any better (or worse).

That's all for now....it's a little tricky trying to type with this "extra padding" on my hand!