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.

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.

I'll Be Home For Christmas...

Mr. & Mrs. Claus, our elves, and 1 very old reindog. No, actually, it's my husband, children, new son-in-law, and dog. Yep. That's us. Remind me in January to lose some weight for goodness sakes!My two sons (Oldest is in the Army and only home for 2 weeks). We had a wonderful Christmas this year. I hope your families had sweet memories also. Here's a few more photos...
This is our tree before the angel was placed at the top (and before the gifts were added!)

This is a 5-Minute Fudge Wreath I made after hearing from my aunt that it was a great recipe from Rachael Ray. It's very easy! You may have seen her make it on Oprah.Please remember to pray for our troops!

Progessing on "Gathering Honey"

I finally took another progress photo of "Gathering Honey". I haven't backstitched the border of flowers I stitched yet. I usually wait until I get a section completed, then I go back and backstitch the area.

I got a phone call from me son, who is in Basic Combat Training at Ft. Benning, GA. He sounded great. He actually was outside, in the tornado weather that whipped through Alabama and Georgia last week. His "company" was on a survival mission with 1 meal per day and no shelter from the tornado, rain, and wind, except for a poncho. He said it was a muddy mess. They were in the elements for 2 days and 1 night. Tough guys! I'm glad he is safe, though.

We had an outing in the woods last night with out Bible Fellowship Class. We had a great time. Every family brought a crockpot of soup. There was a big bonfire and even the movie, "Cars", was showing on a tarp tied to two trees! It was just like being at the drive-in, only way better!!!
(They used a laptop with DVD, powered by a van that had a power cord in the lighter, and a cable that connected to a Epson projector on top of the van. Is that cool or what?!!!!! All the guys were saying they were doing it again for the ball (games, etc. What have we started?

And, back to the soup. Here's the recipe for the White Rotel Chicken Chili that I made. (The original recipe was passed on to me by my DD/25, but I changed it a little.

White Rotel Chicken Chili (serves about 10-12)

2 pkgs. McCormicks White Chili seasoning Mix
2 cans Rotel (mild) drained
4 cans white beans undrained
3 cans premium white chicken breast drained
salt and pepper

Using a large stock pot, mix beans, rotel, chicken, and seasoning mixes together. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil covered, stirring occasionally. Then, turn to low and simmer. You can also make this in a crockpot. Top it with sour cream and shredded cheese. (My daughter uses fresh chicken breast, cooked in oil in a skillet, then cubed.) It's even better the next day.

Easy recipe for a crowd.