It's Turkey Time!!

It's turkey time AND happy dancing time!!!  :)   I finished this  just under the wire for Thanksgiving 2013.  Of course, it's not framed this year, but stick a fork in me, 'cause I'm done!  The design called for a colorful border along the top and a couple of extra leaves, but my hubby (who is also my favorite framer with "fringe benefits") says that he really likes it the way it is.  Who am I to argue??   :)

I have absolutely loved stitching this piece.  The colors just wowed me!  I can't wait to see it hanging next year.

Now I'm off to decide what will be next to jump into my stitching basket.  I have a few fun contenders - I'll just have to see what tickles my nose and warms my toes.  (Although I think hubby would say that NOTHING warms my toes.  He's always complaining of my cold feet when we snuggle. LOL)

Hugs and Grace,
*Sharon

(Design:  Thanksgiving Comes Again by Prairie Schooler)  I just LOVE  Prairie Schooler!!)

Not quite turkey time

I'm getting closer to finishing this Thanksgiving piece, but the pop-up thermometer hasn't quite popped on the butterball just yet.  I still have a few leaves here and there, the border and a lot of ground fill to cover until this design is ready for it's close-up.  :)    With all the things that are happening around here (the health issues of our not-so-little guy) and (the health/financial/care issues of my mom), this piece may or may not be finished in time for it's "appropriate" holiday.  And you know what?  I'm okay with that.  Stitching is a journey - a marathon at times, a sprint at others and on occasion, a "plod-along".  Whether I display this design this year or have to wait until next year, I'll find happiness seeing it in it's "proper place" of honor in our home.   I must be getting more chill in my old age because I am  finding peace on my journey and FINALLY trying not to sweat the small stuff.  (I'm definitely a "type a" personality, so this is a HUGE deal for me!)    :)  My stitching is a passion - something I do that brings joy to my fingers and joy to my heart. I don't want to miss the joy of the moment by stitching on an "imposed only by me" deadline.  Wow - does this mean I'm finding "grace" for myself???????    Yeehaw and Wa-hoo!!!  I'm still shooting for a Thanksgiving 2013 finish, but if not, remind me to show you my Thanksgiving 2014 finish!!!    :)

Hugs and Grace,
*Sharon
(Thanksgiving Comes Again - Prairie Schooler)

The Race is On!

I am REALLY loving this piece - "Thanksgiving" by Prairie Schooler.  I also would REALLLLLY like to have it finished by Thanksgiving!  (I know; such a radical concept!)

So I am making today a curl up in my corner and stitch day.  :)

Here's hoping FORWARD progress will be made!

Hugs and Grace,
*Sharon

Hello Again....

Yes, there's been some stitching and yes, there's been some Florida fun going on...however, most of our time lately, unfortunately, has been spent here:

                                         
                                            (Nemours Children's Hospital - Orlando)

Ian has been having some health issues again.  The poor kid is manufacturing way too many red blood cells (as opposed to his chronically anemic mother, who can't seem to manufacture enough red blood cells).  Yes, I promise, we ARE related!!!  If we could just combine our issues, we'd have one PERFECT person!  LOL  We've spent so much time at this hospital, we know our way around backwards, forwards and every other way.  I have to say that if you have to experience a child who is ill, this is a great place to be.  We've been treated with respect and kindness by everyone from housekeeping to surgeons. We're hoping that our visits here will become less and less frequent and that the answers will bring relief not stress.  Please pray with us?

While visiting Nemours, I have to say, we've had a lot of fun playing with the dancing fountains (hey, you're never too old to have fun pressing a button and making water jump!!!!) and enjoying some of the nice artwork.  I love cardinals, so I just had to take a pic of this little mama, who hangs out in the Nemours outdoor area.

 I have lots more pictures to post of some happy adventures we've had lately (that DON'T involve hospitals!!!) and I'll be back to share them with you soon!

In the meantime, I just have to share one of my favorite "personal works of art" that hasn't involved stitching.... what's  a trip to the beach if I can't write my wonderful grandbaby's name in the sand and surround it with shells?  :)

 My little cutey-cute-cute is getting bigger everyday and Gigi couldn't be any more in love if I tried!!!

Hugs and Grace,
*Sharon

What I did on my summer vacation....

Warning - Picture heavy!

Remember back in the "good old days" when you always had to write the silly paper detailing what you did on summer vacation?  Wouldn't it have been MUCH more fun just to load up the paper with pictures?
Well, that's my goal for this post.   :)  This will be a multi-day post.  We didn't do everything in one day, so I'm not going to try and share all the pictures on one day!

First, there was some of this....

I'm one of those who "like" Star Wars, but I don't necessarily "love" Star Wars.  However, I am married to one of those people who fall into the second category.  My hubby LOVES Star Wars.  So, since Star Wars Weekends at Disney fell right during his birthday, we made the pilgrimage to the land where EVERYTHING is Star Wars!!!!  Now again, keeping in mind that I'm  not the one who is the "super-fan", I, of course, was the one singled out by the storm trooper during the show!  I am such a noodle-head...the storm trooper was talking to me during the show and I just assumed he was talking to the person behind me, so I'm snapping photo's like crazy and then realize that it's me he's talking to and that I should best pay attention to avoid any further humiliation. (Why he couldn't have spoken to the hubby-fan right next to me, I have no idea...but my embarrassment did allow me to grab a pretty nifty pic!!)    :)

Star Wars week-ends is held in the "Hollywood Studios" park.  There are lots of fun things to do there besides Star Wars....

Aerosmith's Rockin' Roller Coaster.  (I don't know any of the people who "photo-bombed" my pic)  It's Disney - it happens a lot!  LOL

Tower of Terror (Due to my knee, I can't ride that one)...but I've heard good things....

The Pixar Studios Area -

This area includes the Toy Story Midway Ride, (one of my favorite rides - we love trying to beat each others' scores!) and in close proximity, the Muppets Adventure.

This guy is more fun than a barrel of monkeys!!!!!   :)    (Heaven help me if he ever sees this blog post!!!)  LOL

Another ride at Hollywood Studios that I like is the "Great Movie Ride".  I love going back in time and seeing how the film industry has changed over the years.  It has a nice mix of the "golden oldies" and the more current movies of today.  I'm not sure the "littles" would be enthralled, but the adults I know seem to enjoy it.  The outside of the ride is decorated to mimic Graumans Chinese Theater.  Footprints/Handprints of the stars, the "grand" red-carpet entrance and even a statue or two for "authenticity".

 And of course, just like any Disney Park, there's always going to be plenty of this guy!!!

Another really fun thing we did at Hollywood Studios was to take a free "Art of Animation" Class.  I am SO NOT artistically gifted....I seriously cannot draw a circle with a compass nor a straight line with a ruler, but....I did walk out of the class with a pretty rad-lookin' drawing of Dopey (one of my favorite Dwarves!)
The class literally takes you step-by-step in a fun, up-beat, positive way.  I recommend it for older kids and adults.   :)

(Being honest, Hollywood Studios isn't my favorite Disney park (I'm an EPCOT kinda gal!) but there is a lot to be found here for all different tastes....and there is no other place in the world like the Osbourne Family Christmas lights display in December that is put on in this park each year!!!  Awe-Mazing!!)

And that my friends, is how we started our summer vacation!  Lots more pics to come....  :)

There's been a wee bit of stitching too - I'll share that in another post.

Hugs and Grace,
Sharon

I've Missed You!!!

Oh dear friends, I've missed you and I've missed blogging!  It feels like every time I have had five free minutes to blog, something has always come up.  Such a busy summer....most of it wonderful:  loved ones who came for a nice long visit, tennis and a tournament for Ian, and BEACH time.Then, there's some not so fun stuff as well;  continually working to make sure my mom has the best possible care available and an unexpected, painful stay in the hospital for kidney stones, infection and anemia.

I think I finally have the ship righted and ready to sail again!  :)

I haven't had much time to stitch, but hopefully by tomorrow, I'll have a small progress pic to share.  I'm working on Prairie Schoolers "Thanksgiving".

I also have lots of pictures to share from the "vacation" we took to different parts of Florida while our guests were here.  be warned, boring vacation pictures coming soon!   :)

I also (of course!) have a couple of new pictures of my cutie, cute-cute grandson to show as well!

I'm so glad my groove is back!  I really have missed being part of the bloggy world.     :)

Hugs and Grace,
Sharon

Chart Give-a-Way Winners

I'm happy to announce that all names of those who wanted to be entered in the drawings for the charts were put into a hat and my not-so-little guy drew the winner(s).       Rose of http://christmascitystitcher.blogspot.com/ won the La-D-Da chart and Faith of http://faithnchls.blogspot.com/ won the My Big Toe design.  Congrats to both!!!

I am going to be giving away more charts and maybe a couple more "just for fun" non-stitching give-always over the next few weeks, so stay tuned.     :)

Things are still up in the air with my mom but the attorney is helping us "buy time" as we search for a new home that will be a good fit for her.

I promise I'll be back soon with some pretty cool pics from the flower show at Epcot.  :)

Hugs and Grace,

Sharon

Drumroll, Please....

The winner of the first Seaside Stitcher give-a-away is Calamity Jr.  As you can see, my first give-a-way was a humble one,  but I hope Calamity enjoys some of the same things that I like.  Included are a "chunky pen" (I always lose the Bic Stick ones), cupcake liners that say "time for tea" (Luv me some tea and cupcakes!), a couple of fun spring "bath bombs" shaped like tulips (I LOVE tulips!), some lip balms and hand cream that I always  have tucked  in my tennis bag, a cute lil flower tote and representing my love of Florida:  Key Lime Cookies (Yum-O!),  a travel cup and a hat w/ a flip flop design.

I had fun picking out these things - I think give-a-ways will be a much more frequent occurrence on this here lil blog!  :)

Next week, I'm going to be giving away three patterns from my stash.  Stay tuned!

Thanks to all who entered -

Hugs and Grace,
Sharon

Let's Have a Give-A-Way!

I hope you each had a lovely Easter!  We were very blessed:   We enjoyed  lovely spring weather - we had a wonderful dinner - the "Easter Flamingo" paid us a visit, (since we've moved to Florida, there have been no more visits from the "Easter Bunny", the "Easter Flamingo" leaves treats - lol), we talked about the REAL meaning of "Easter" - we were together -  it was a wonderful day!

I'm in the mood for a give-a-way.  How 'bout you?   Please note: there is NO stitching nor anything stitching-related in this give-a-way.  This is a simple give-a-way....just some of my favorite things that I love.  (I love, love, love stitching but that will be a give-a-way for another time).  :)

Let me say right up-front that I LOVE my husband and my sons.  I am NOT giving them away.  :)  I also love my phone and my IPad.  I'm not giving them away either.  This is more of a "I love baths, I love tea, I love Florida" give-a-way.  It's very simple....but I hope one of you will enjoy my little "gathering of goodies".

No rules to enter.  Just leave a comment on this post stating that you'd like your name thrown in the hat.  (Hmmm....hat....that "might" be a clue about one of the things in my goodie box)  :)
The winner will be announced on Saturday.  Good luck!

Hugs and Grace,
Sharon

The Travelling Pattern is on the move!

The traveling pattern is now headed to:

Cucki in South Africa!!!  I feel so bad I can't send the pattern to everyone...I hope each of you will continue to follow the pattern on it's journey...it's been amazing to see all the places this sweet little beauty has already been.  I will be posting my own gift-a-way next week, so please come back and visit.  :)

Thanks to all for the sweet comments.  I truly am grateful for each one.  I read them and feel hugged...bless you! 

Hugs and Grace,
Sharon

Travelling Pattern - Count Your Blessings - Who's Next???

I was SO blessed to be chosen as the next stitcher to receive the travelling pattern "Count Your Blessings" from Shakespeare's Peddler.  The pattern came to me from March-Ann.  She has a lovely blog - please go pay her a visit, won't you?

I am nearly finished stitching this sweet design....so it's time to be passed along.  Please leave me a message and I'll choose someone and send it along.  :)

Here's a pic of my progress.  (I now have the house and fence finished, I just need to finish the vine w/ the cute lil bird.  (I was going to take a progress pic today but it was a bit overcast and my camera just wouldn't cooperate.)

Again, if you're interested in being the next stitcher along the way, leave me a comment.

Hugs and Grace,
Sharon

(PS - thanks for all the congrats and beautiful messages re: my precious grandson, Jackson.  I'll post an update tomorrow and let everyone know what I've been up to....let's just say, I've needed a LOT of grace lately!) 

A new kind of love.....

My heart has been filled to over-flowing with a new kind of love that I NEVER could have imagined!
Here are a couple of hints.....

"Hey Diddle Diddle,
Some new, Someone Little
My heart is over the moon"

"If I would've known how much fun grandchildren were, I would've had them first"

(Okay, that hint should have really given my news away!!)



Introducing....... my precious grandson,

Jackson

22 February 2013

5 lbs

18"

I have respected my older sons' wish for privacy on my blog (mainly because I know too much and would be a source of constant embarrassment - LOL) but with Jackson's arrival, I am allowed to share the love!!

Is there anything on earth sweeter than seeing your child hold HIS child?  This picture just bursts my heart every time I look at it.  ('Course right now, EVERY picture of Jackson just bursts my heart!!!)

Justin and Jane, his lovely wife (of 11 years! - not that I was counting or anxious to be a grandma or anything - ha ha) have blessed our family with Jackson.

We are so grateful to God that Jackson is here -  safe and sound and loved!  

I am going to be a "GiGi".  Because of divorce/blended families/etc...Poor Jackson would have so many different "grandma's", that we each decided to have our own names for "grandma".  We don't want to confuse the poor little guy...he's still. just a rookie.   :)

The only down-side is that Jackson and I live on different coasts...but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to do everything in my power to make sure that the little guy knows how loved he is.  I can spoil him from afar with snuggle visits in between.  Hey, Gigi lives not far from Disney World...Mickey and Minnie will be waiting!  :)    Come visit Gigi, Jackson...we'll share "firsts" of our own! 

We've already decided that we're all going to have to chip in for hair gel expenses for that little guy.  Isn't that one of the most beautiful heads of hair you've ever seen?  Jackson's - not Justin's.  LOL  Although I love every hair on Justin's head too.  :)

We love you, Jackson....forever, for always and no matter what.  Thank you for reminding us that the world is a wonderful place and full of joy.  We can't wait to watch you grow and find that out for yourself.

Be blessed, little one...

Hugs and Grace,

Sharon

A gift for a golfer...

This is the project that I'm currently working on.  This is to be a Christmas gift for 2013.  (Isn't it sad when your Christmas spirit for 2012 doesn't start kicking in until January 2013?)  Anyway, I'm loving this happy project.  I'm about 1/4 finished - this will eventually be surrounded by golf clubs, a border and the saying, "Golf isn't a matter of life or death, it's much more important than that."  Cute, huh?

It feels SO good to have the mojo back.  I've decided not to set stitching goals this year.  I'm just going to stitch my bliss.   :)

Hugs and Grace,
Sharon

(Design is from Stoney Creek Magazine)

TUSAL - Move along..Nothing to See Here

I'm taking part in Daffycat's TUSAL this year.  Today is SUPPOSED to be the day that I show you all the pretty, pretty orts that I have accumulated this month...

Cue the cricket chirping....

I got nuttin', not a single snippet.  I was actually thinking of making up just a few orts so that I'd have something to share.  But I kinda thought that the ORT police might show up and well....I'd rather spend bail money on stash.  So, here's hoping that next month, I'll have Orts to the left of me, Orts to the right of me...you get the idea.

Hugs and Grace,
Sharon