Border Stitching

Here is my progress on "Gathering Honey". I haven't backstitched the border flowers or bees yet. You can see that one of the bees on the left border only has wings and no body. I may not back stitch any of the border until I get all the cross stitching done. The photo doesn't do justice to the colors. I am itching to stitch a few other projects, but I'd like to finish this large one first! So much stash...so little time.

Changing the subject entirely....
Our team, Univ. of Memphis, won last night...again! Go Tigers!! What an exciting game! I can't begin to tell you how funny the "happy dance" was that my DH and DS/10 did as we scored the winning point in the final 2 seconds of the game.

Check out the funny photo of my DH with the band he is in. This was taken in the Green Room, before they opened up for Jason Aldean. There were about 2,500 people there! Our son said he wondered if they had a button that said, "Son of the Keyboard Player" he could wear. I almost cracked up! ; )

DS/20 is now assigned to Ft. Carson, CO, in the Army Infantry. If anyone knows anything about Ft. Carson, I would like to hear from you.

I'm Still Here... Really

I know I've been a neglectful blogger. I just haven't been able to "express" myself very well lately. I hope to do better.

My soldier son has gotten his orders to be stationed over 16 hours from home. He may possibly be deployed soon. I can't bear to think about that now. It makes my stomach knot up.

This week was spring break for DS/10. He was sick the whole week. We did get to play UNO Attack a few times. It's a fun variation of the card game we enjoy as a family. We've been busy this past month with Pinewood Derby, Science Fair, Scouts, DH's music gigs, VBS decorations, etc.

I have been stitching off and on. I will share a pic shortly.

Long Ways Down

My Army son called me to tell me he jumped from a 250 ft. tower (with a parachute, of course). He said it was "very interesting". Next week, he will parachute from a plane. The jump next week will complete his Airborne training. Then, I'll find out what's next on his plate.

DS/10 had a birthday in January, entered Pinewood Derby (won a trophy), and had a ceremony to become a Webelo 2 in Scouts. He also completed his first science fair project. He won 2nd place at his school level! He is so excited!

Sorry, it's been so long since I blogged....life just got in the way.

My Hero "Turned Blue" & Graduated From Infantry

Our 20 year old son, a private in the US Army Infantry, "turned blue" last Thursday. The following day, we attended his graduation from Basic Infantry Training. Both ceremonies were very emotional. We also saw 3 different units being deployed to Iraq from the Atlanta airport while we were there, also. They are all sons or daughters. Some are moms, dads, brothers, and sisters of someone who loves them. I kept a lump in my throat both trips to the airport and throughout both ceremonies. Our freedom is being protected by these heroes.

Now, he is in a holding unit until a spot opens in Airborne training. Here's my hero.

Thanks, everyone, for all the comments! I've actually stitched some on Gathering Honey. I just need to take an updated pic. I'll share that soon.

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!

Bunco Night

It was my turn to host Bunco this past Tuesday, so I gave out these ornaments from Old Time Pottery. We had a great time! I served a huge salad, rolls, chicken vegetable lasagna, and cheesecake. I had never tried Stouffer's chicken vegetable lasagna before, but it was really yummy!

I still haven't gotten all my Christmas decorations out yet. I'm still looking for my treetop angel and the stockings. My son who's in the Army, is returning home, on Sunday. He will be here for Christmas Exodus (2 weeks), before returning to Fort Benning. I'm looking forward to seeing him!

My aunt came and helped me clean and prepare for Bunco and Christmas. What a lifesaver!! She's a doll! I haven't stitched any in over a week. We had to rearrange my stitching spot, too, so the tree could stand in the corner.

I will try not to go so long between posts!

Thanks for the comments/compliments!

Thanks to all of you who commented on my DS/20! I appreciate it so much!

I actually stitched a little bit while we were out of town for
Thanksgiving. I worked on a Christmas ornament, Cross Country
Magazine's "Jesus, Author of Faith". I'll share a photo soon. The
progress I made was in white DMC thread on white Aida fabric. So it's
hard to see the stitching, for now. I've been stitching another small
area of Gathering Honey, also.

Check out Trish's blog, Just Another Stitch in Paradise, to see the companion piece to Gathering Honey, called Rose Garden: top and bottom. Her stitching is awesome!

Proud Army Mom

I am so proud of my DS/20. He's my hero. He's in the Army. Please pray for him and his safety. (Currently, he's in the Infantry.)

2 Year Blog Anniversary

Today I have been a blogger for 2 years. Thanks to all of you who have taken the time to stop by and comment and take a look at my stitching. Your encouragement has kept me motivated to finish a few UFO's. I always look forward to reading some of my favorite blogs when I can steal a moment. Obviously, according to my blogroll, I have quite a few favorites!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wish all of you have a Happy Thanksgiving!
I have so much to be thankful for.
I'm thankful... for my husband, my daughter and son-in-law, and my 2 sons.
... for my faith.
... for my extended family.
... for our health.
... for our friends.
... for our home.
... for our country, USA.
There are so many more things I'm grateful for, too many to list.
What are you thankful for?

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.

SBQ of the Week

This week’s SBQ was suggested by Jan and is:

How many different brands of “complete” embroidery floss sets do you own? How do you keep track of it? (i.e., spread sheet program, index cards, palm pilot, etc.)

I have a complete set of DMC , ordered as a complete set years ago. The set includes a yard or two of each color, not near what a individual skein contains. It has been, however, a big help to use for a reference to see the actual color of a number looks like. Also, I do use some of it, if I only need a very small amount of that color.

I also have a nearly complete set of DMC, wrapped on bobbins. I have multiples of some numbers and none of a few others.

I also have a lot of whole skeins or bobbins, pulled from the storage boxes, kitted with several charts.

If I had to give an exact number of sets of DMC, I'd have to say 2 1/2, give or take a few numbers I'm missing.

I plan to use Microsoft Excel to keep track of all my thread stash, but so far, I haven't taken time to do it.

(I have about 20 - 25 spools of metallic Kreinik threads, too.)

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week

This week'’s SBQ was suggested by Lee and is:

How did you decide on the title of your stitching blog? Was it random, or does it have a special meaning to you or about you?

(I finally joined this yahoo group, so this is my very first question to answer.) Before I started a blog, I seached for cross stitchers and the blog world opened up to me. Through other cross stitching blogs, I learned what it meant to "frog" stitches. I had been doing it for years in sewing and needlework, but had not called it "frogging". Ironically, one of my uncles, who is only 4 years older than me, has called me "Froggie" since I was a teenager. He is the only one that has ever called me that and never calls me by my real name. I frog out stitches often, and it's my nickname, so it fit perfectly.

Ornament Index and "Gathering Honey" Hunt

Julie asked where to find the ornaments and Gathering Honey....

Jeremiah Junction's magazine, Cross Country Stitching, is where I have gotten all the Names of Jesus ornaments. On their site, they have an index for each and every design, including the Names of Jesus Ornaments. It saves SO much time when I'm looking for a design that has a particular verse. When you click on the design, it even displays the photo, colors of thread needed, etc. which is very helpful, too.

I just found this on their site, too. It's a specialty stitch diagram chart. How cool is that?! I plan to renew my subscription when I go back to work. It's one of my favorite stitching magazines.

The Gathering Honey chart and it's companion, Rose Garden, can be found online.

Take-Along Project

I actually stitched on a small, take-along project while we were away this past weekend. It will be finished as an ornament for my "Names of Jesus" tree. It's kind of difficult to see in this photo, but it is a design from Cross Country Stitching Magazine. It is Jesus - author of our faith. I'm stitching it on plain white 14 count aida, which I already have on hand in my stash. (I had more than enough for 4 ornaments, so I've already kitted 4 designs as take-alongs.) Here is the design finished , but I won't be framing it.

Little Cabin in the Woods

We are back from our weekend with our Bible Fellowship Class (aka Sunday School). The colors of autumn were spectacular! See for yourself....
We all had potluck dinner together Saturday night and again for breakfast at the lodge. The food was out of this world! We have some outstanding cooks in our class, that's for sure. Each family stayed in their own rented cabins. Each cabin had 1 bedroom with a sleeper sofa in the living area. They all had gas log fireplaces, which were converted during renovations a couple of years ago. My DS/9 kept asking where the T.V. was...there wasn't one (on purpose!). If we stay there again, in the future, I will take a radio. There is such a thing as too quiet.

Of course, there was the obligatory "Snipe Hunt" for the uninitiated children. DS/9 was in bed before that took place though. This year's snipe looked uncannily like a mop head!

Busy Month!

We are on are way to the great outdoors tomorrow. A little cabin in the woods awaits us. Our Bible Fellowship group (aka Sunday School class) will be there. Lots of eating and hiking will take place.

We've been busy this month with activities. DS/9 and DH went on a camping trip to Scout Base for Boy Scouts. They had a great time, although the wind almost blew their tent away! The goal was to earn badges for extreme sports. They did! It involved a lot of jumping. They had 26 inflatables to jump on, slide through, and climb. That's heaven for a 9 year old.

Yesterday was DH's birthday, so we ate out to celebrate. Great food, and great company.

And speaking of company, my friend from Grand Rapids, MI, stayed with me overnight (while the boys were camping). We visited with some of her family. She also gave us tickets to a one-night-only production of Memphis Messiah, which she helped coordinate for a non-profit organization called Orphanos. It's a very worthwhile organization that helps orphans. Check it out.

I've actually done some stitching, just not enough progress to share yet.

DS/20 is hanging in there with basic combat training. I've gotten more mail from him. He's homesick, but that's to be expected.

Gotta go shop and pack for trip!

Mail Call

I got another letter from my DS/20. (He's still in basic training for the Army). He has passed the gas chamber test, rappelled from a tower, and scaled a 30 foot wall, just to name a few things he's done so far. I've written him daily so he will know we're thinking about him, praying for him, and missing him.

I have only stitched a little on Gathering Honey in the last week, so the progress isn't obvious enough to share a progress pic just yet.

Yippee!

I finally received a letter from my DS/20 who is in Basic Combat Training for the Army!! He's been there since Sept. 18th. He's doing okay. I'm sure he'll be fine, but it was still a relief to hear from him.

I have stitched on Gathering Honey a bit, and have made some progress.

Also, my Bunko night was last night. We dressed in costumes. I was a tiger. The best costume winner was actually a tie between two ladies who had the same costume. They were designed and made by one of the two ladies. Instead of the Spice Girls, they were "The Dice Girls"! They had on black tops and pants with large dice appliqued on them. They had square hats that were also dice. All the costumes were great, but these were especially original and creative. Hopefully, I can share some pics soon.

DH will be performing at the National Shrimpfest in Gulf Shores, AL, this Thursday and Friday. You can get more info here....

Last, but certainly not least, today my husband and I have been married 15 years. I look forward to the rest of our lives together.

I Can't Breathe

My DS/20 has joined the ARMY and leaves for Basic Combat Training on Monday. It was a shock to us, since he hasn't mentioned doing it for several years, and now, he's in for over 4 years. I catch myself not breathing. I think it's called Stress! I am proud of him, though. He will be at Basic for 9 weeks, plus 6 1/2 weeks of AIT , so we won't see him again until right before Christmas. Then he'll go to Airborne training and Ranger training. I have been, and will be, doing a lot of praying.