Friday wrap-up....one day late

I hope everyone's had a great week!

Last weekend we drove to Austin so our oldest son could spend some time with his brothers before he moves to Denmark.  It was an eclectic weekend....we spent some time all together, the boys spent some time together while Lou and I did some shopping, and 3 of us watched both the UT (although that game had a very long rain delay so we just watched the first part) and OSU game at a sports bar, while our youngest "hung out" with his friends and our oldest played the part of a wedding crasher.   (His friend was attending a wedding in Houston and invited Mike to be his "plus one" at the reception.)  It would have been nice if our DD could have joined us but she lives in San Francisco.

Mike is leaving us next Wednesday.  It's been nice to have him with us these past weeks although I know it's boring for him to be here in our small town.  Luckily he has some friends in Houston so he's spent some time up there with them.  You'd think I'd be the one over-parenting him while he's here but surprisingly it's been DH.  (I've had to remind him several times that Mike's been on his own for 10 years.)  It's hard to break those old habits.  lol!

The HS marching band for whom I volunteered for many years is participating in their final marching competition.  They had a full run-through Tuesday night.  They encouraged as many parents and other interested parties to come watch so they could perform in front of an audience.  DH and I went and it was great to see the stands so full with cheering spectators.  I hope it was a nice send-off for the kids who have worked so hard since the summer.

On Halloween we had very few trick or treaters.  We live on a cul de sac and there aren't any young kids here anymore.  Also, I know many parents take their small children to organized trick or treating at the mall, churches, etc. which I think is a good idea.  Still, I miss seeing the little ones in their costumes.

On the stitching front....I joined in a LHN ornament sal on a yahoo group and stitched this from the 2013 JCS ornament issues.  There's an ornament sal on another group where they require a button so I may add a tiny cardinal button and use it for both sals.

Here's my latest progress picture on my 4th and final PS Woodland Santa:

Happy stitching!

Bittersweet time

Marching season has come to a close for another year.  While I welcome my "normal life" back, I'm already missing seeing the kids every day.  What an incredible group of young people!

I'm back to stitching in between trying to get the house back in order and finished a small freebie from The Drawn Thread for a block exchange in one of my groups.

Just checking in

DS's band's last marching contest is this Sat. in San Antonio, TX.  Our last regular season football game is tonight but we have the possiblity of "making" playoffs so there might be at least another game.

After that, my life will be back to "normal" (my version, anyway) and I should be back to having my regular stitching time.  I DID manage to finish a small model for CCN and am working on some ornaments now whenever I have the time and energy.

Also, DS had his Eagle Board of Review and is now offically an Eagle Scout.  We haven't even decided on a date for his Court of Honor let alone start preparing for it.  I'm thinking maybe this spring....

All band all the time

We're in the middle of marching competition season so when I'm not at practice, a game, or a competition, I'm out running band errands.  (I'm in charge of procuring their food and beverages.)  It's exhausting but the kids and directors are great.

Here are a few pics from last Saturday's competition.

Ta-Da!! A Finish

I put the final stitches on LHN's Virtue Sampler on Saturday.  This is my first project mostly stitched on my new StitchMate floor frame.  I can say I've fallen in love with this frame and wonder what took me so long to get one.  lol!

Next up is an older Lizzie Kate...I think it's called Harvest Blessings.  With it so hot, I'm thinking maybe thinking of fall might cool me off.  It's worth a try, anyway.

We had our first football game Friday and the band did well.  The football team won the game too.  GO BUCS!  It was so hot that day that we really worried how the kids would tolerate the heat...esp. since they wore those hot uniforms.  Only a couple had problems but we were able to cool them down.  Today the high will be 104 (I don't even want to know the "feels like" temp today as humid as it is.)  UGH!

Update

I see it's been a while since I've updated this. It's been busy around here for January but since I don't think I'd like being bored (not sure what it feels like, lol!), it's all good.

I have some finishes since I last posted. BOAF Love (with some color changes thanks to my friend, Renee), a Casey B. freebie for a chocolate themed block exchange, an old PS freebie for another block exchange, and a snowman freebie I received in a snowman themed kit exchange.

I'm currently working on a model so I have to be hush hush about it until after its release.

As for non stitching life, this will be a busy weekend with DS's band's solo ensemble competition, working the consession stand during the contest, the band's chili supper fundraiser, with the concert to follow. (DS will play his solo on vibes while people are coming into the auditorium before the concert.) I'll be baking some stuff to donate to both the concession stand and chili supper tomorrow. I'll use the Big Game (Go, Steelers!) for my excuse to be a couch potato on Sunday.

It's been a while........

Same story...busy with band. The show is coming along nicely. I'm always amazed at what these kids can accomplish with all their and the directors' hard work.

I feel like this week has been a cheater week for my stitching. I had some almost finished wips that I finished up this week: sewed a button on Trilogy's Friendship, finished some leaves, tendrils, and lettering on a CEC piece from the Gentle Harvest leaflet, did some French knots and straight stitches on CCN's Season of Love Ornament, and finished the bat's ear and face, some spiders, and over one lettering on a piece from Hillside Samplings called "Come in for a Bite". For having so little stitching time, it sure feels good to have some finishes.

We have the weekend off (no football game) so I'm looking forward to getting some catching up done around home and also more quality stitching time. Everyone have a great weekend!

Not much stitching time this week

DS's high school marching band camp started Monday. Since I volunteer there every day, my stitching time has been much impacted. lol!

It's been unbearably hot and humid but the kids have been tolerating it as well as expected. Part of my "job" is to help them cool down, make sure they have plenty of replacement water for their camelbacks (which we've required this year...I think they're being able to nearly constantly sip water has made a big difference in how they tolerate the heat.)

To add to my decreased stitching time, a woman backed out of her parking place and hit my minivan on the driver's side. I clearly had the right of way and she's not trying to deflect blame but it will be a hassle (and consume more of my time) getting the repairs done. We're blessed that nobody was hurt so I'm trying to stay positive about it.

I managed to finish stitching a LHN ornament called Red House in Winter. I love the color of the house on this design.

Did I mention that it's really hot here? lol!