Fall in Oregon

This past weekend I got to take a girl weekend to visit my sister, Mindy, and her family who recently moved to the Portland area, and attend Time Out for Women while I was there.  Fall had just fallen, so it was chilly, wet, and the leaves were fuchsia, yellow, and orange.  It was spectacular!  What a treat for this poor desert rat.

Though Mindy lives it town, just beyond her door is the country.  Every drive is beautiful with pretty little farms dotting the landscape.  I wish I would have taken more pictures, but with the recent passing of my dear camera, I was at the mercy of my Dad's camera.  Thanks for sharing, Dad.

Fir Point Farms was a great little farm not far from Mindy's. In fact, it was so great, we visited it twice.  Here we are standing in front of a giant pumpkin weighing in at over 1,300 lbs.!  At this farm they have a yearly pumpkin smashing where they get a crane and drop a giant pumpkin like this on a donated vehicle.  Sorry we missed that!

Mindy's baby Zach, myself, and Mindy on a pile of almost red Cinderella pumpkins.

Zach in a maze of pumpkins.

Pumpkins weren't the only giant produce at Fir Point Farms.  Check out these HUGE cabbages.  Zach is in there for size comparison.

Dad is about to take on a giant apple that they call the "one apple for a pie" apple.  That will keep the doctor away, for sure!

Here is a really cool old building we saw.  There was grass growing on the roof and it was tangled with old dead vines.  I love cool old stuff like this! 

We visited another local farm, Lee Farm.  It wasn't as fun the last farm, but they did have incredible homemade apple cider doughnuts and these darling little chicks!  

They also had a TON of pumpkins!

These bootiful witch hats were on sale at Fir Point Farms.  They are glitzy, frilly, curl at the top and have sequined spiders hanging off the rim.  Hazel, Hilda, and I, being the wicked witches we are, just couldn't resist.  We each bought one.  Don't we looking spooktacular, darling?

After our TOFW event at the convention center, the rest of the family met us downtown for dinner at Kenny & Zukes, a place known for it's pastrami, with a real downtown Portland feel.  Here I am drinking Birch Beer, a red homemade root beer.  So good.  Look out the window behind me.  There were a whole group of people waiting outside a hotel for the trolley.  They were a bunch of drag queens dressed like royalty with crowns, etc- a pretty sight.  Mindy's 5 year old Avery was so excited and said, "Look at all those princesses!"  Boy, they would have loved to have heard that, wouldn't they?

Portland is an interesting place.

Here we all are a Kenny & Zukes.  Of course I had the Reuben sandwich - what else would you get in a pastrami joint?  It was tasty, and the potato salad was off-the-charts great.

As evening came we took a walk along the river.  There are so many bridges in Portland, kind of reminding me of the Arno River in Florence - except totally different.  The reflection of lights in the river was beautiful.

Mindy, Me, Mom

Here is Mindy's beautiful family in their beautiful new hometown.

The next day Mindy drove us up the Colombia River to Multnomah Falls, a tall, double waterfall spilling though the forest and fall foliage.  This is a dry season, so the falls usually have much more water, but it was lovely to us.

To get to the falls you have to walk under a train track.  There happened to be a train going by at the moment.  You could look up and see the underside of the train as it sped over just inches above your head.  It was violent and loud.  Really wild!  Here my parents and Mindy are looking up at the sight of the train whizzing by.

Zach and his Momma

Here I am at the bottom of the falls.

There was a short hike up the hill to the bridge.  Everything was so mossy.  No wonder those Portlanders are so into "green."  Its everywhere.

Cool pic looking down from the bridge.

Here's a cute picture of Mom and Dad on the bridge.  I had to hike back down and take it with the telephoto.

We traveled down the beautiful Columbia River Gorge.  What a lovely drive!  We stop at a scenic area and Mom reads the historical marker.  Cute hair mom, even with all this moisture.

The Gorge at dusk.

I just loved this sweet little "Frog Pond Chapel" just around the corner from Mindy's house.  The old steeple was so great peeking up above the flaming foliage.  I took a lot of pics, but I wish the sun was shining.

Here I am on the morning before we came home, painting some of the stunning leaves I collected in my watercolor travel journal.  I couldn't do it plein air since it was raining outside, so in the dining room next to a huge picture window was the next best thing.

Portland was beautiful and we had a lovely time.    Thanks Ben and Mindy!  Mindy's kids thought Aunt Shelly was just super fun.  They couldn't get enough of me.  I don't think I am as popular at home, but I was on vacation, right?  I didn't have to be the mean mom the whole time.  I sure missed my guys though, and I KNOW that Dennis, and the boys, missed me.  They sure were happy to see me back home.

Puttin' Up My Mom Dukes

I got home late Monday night from my trip, and Alex and Nathan we very upset.  

I love the middle school my boys attend, except for the whole parking lot, drop off, pick up nightmare.  I have to turn left onto the busy street that the school is on.  A stream of cars zip by in both directions and there are no stop signs or lights, making it nearly impossible to turn.  Then, once I manage to get to the parking lot, I have to turn left again on the same busy street to exit the lot.  Nightmare!  So we have developed another system.  There is an alternative high school just across the street from the middle school. The boys cross the busy street at the crosswalk, then wait at that parking lot.  I just slip into that parking lot before I get to the busy street, they jump in, and we exit the parking lot, turning right and avoiding the busy street all together.  It works out nicely for us, and for several other parents that we know who come from that direction that do the same thing.  Hey, fewer cars on that busy street - better for everyone right?  We have been doing this for a year and a half.

Well, on Monday, since I was gone, Dennis had to pick them up.  He told the boys to wait by the sign of the alternative school in the corner of the parking lot.  That is not where they usually stand, but whatever.  So while they are just sitting there waiting, the security guard came up to them and started yelling at them and accusing them of vandalism, trespassing, and on and on!  He told them that they had no right to be there, that they had been warned before, and that if they ever stepped foot on that property again he'd have them expelled. At then end of reaming them he said, "This warning is not for you.  It is for your parents."  Excuse me?  He was just mean, and he scared them to death.  He called the security guard of the middle school to escort them back to the middle school.   They was upset and confused, and worried that if they weren't at the sign, their dad wouldn't know where to find them.  Well, he found them of course, but when they told me about it I was furious!

I didn't sleep much that night.  How dare he!  Those are young boys, 11 & 12, and he scarred them to death.  If there is one thing I hate, it is people who treat all juveniles as if they are delinquents - people who assume that all young people are trouble.  My boys were confused.  They didn't really know what they had done wrong and were so afraid of what tomorrow would bring.  Alex doesn't deal with change well, and he was worried about how and where I would pick them up.  

The next day when  went to pick them up I found them trudging down the street toward home.  It was 99 degrees and Nathan was schlepping his heavy saxophone.  I picked them up and headed right into the infamous parking lot looking for that rotten security guard.  I had HAD it.  He was no where to be found, so I marched into the alternative school and demanded to talk to the principal.  He was in a meeting so I left my cell phone number, and marched across the street to the middle school where I talked to a counselor, so that they could be aware of what was going on.  I explained to her the whole situation with the busy street and pick up.  She agreed that it is a nightmare, and that the principal has been fighting with the City for two years to get some sort of traffic signal installed.  She agreed with me that yelling at those kids was uncalled for, and that there were much better ways for the security guard to handle this, and he was out of line.  She agreed to have the principal talk to the other principal.  I was so grateful that she was so nice.

Later I got a phone call from the principal of the alternative school, and I explained the whole situation to him.  I told him that if they had some kind of policy not to pick my kids up there, we had NEVER heard it before, and that the security guard was completely out of line.  If he had a "message for the parents" he could have politely and respectfully explained to the kids that they needed to tell their parents to pick them up somewhere else from now on, OR he could have passed out a letter to each of them to give to their parents explaining their policy, OR BETTER YET, he could have waited until the parents drove up to pick up the kids, and then talked to the parents about the problem.  The principle absolutely agreed with me and explained that in fact, it wasn't a policy, and that he had absolutely no problem with parents avoiding the fray of the busy street by picking up the kids in his parking lot, and that is was just that they had been having problem lately of kids vandalizing their sign, and the security guard was just taking it out on my boys.  I said that if my kids had been causing trouble then, by all means, scare them to death!  I am not one of these parents who defends their brats.  But these were good kids who where obediently doing just what their parents told them - to stay right there and wait.  The principal agreed with me.

I also told him that I have always tried to teach my children that we respect cops because they are there to help us, and at this age, my kids really don't understand the difference between a security guard and a cop.  They all wear a badge.  What this guy was doing was flying in the face of everything that I had been trying to teach them.  The principal was very nice and agreed to talk to the security guard.  He assured me that as long as the kids stayed away from the sign, it was perfectly fine to continue picking them up in his parking lot, and that as long as they stood there nicely nobody would ever give them any more trouble about it.

Wonderful!  I was so relieved, and it felt so good to report to my kids that everyone had agreed that they had done nothing wrong.  I was so glad I didn't just let this one slide. They are good boys, and I am so grateful for that.  It felt so good to put up mu dukes and defend my kids, and it was good for them to see me do it, too.

A Joyful Life

My Mom and I are in Portland Oregon right now, visiting my sister Mindy and her family. About a week ago, I received an email from the organizers of Time Out for Women in Portland. They sent out some random emails to some of the people who registered, asking if there was someone who would be attending this Time Out with us who knew how to live a Joyful Life (their theme this year.) They asked that we submit an essay to nominate this person and that they would surprise them with recognition at the event. I was attending with my mom, and of course, she would have been my first pick for that topic anyway, so I was very excited for the opportunity to honor the remarkable woman who happens to be my mom. Here is a copy of the essay I submitted.

My mother, Zola Signs, knows that a joyful life comes from emulating the life of our Savior, Jesus Christ - our source of all light and joy.

My mother finds great joy as a gospel scholar and teacher. She literally delights in the scriptures. She often calls me up, all excited. "Guess what I just learned?" She can't wait to tell me about something she had discovered in the "meat" of the gospel. And she joys in teaching the gospel to others. She was a seminary teacher for many years, and spent hours every day preparing her lessons. Those lucky kids in her class caught her excitement for and joy in the scriptures, even at that early hour. She was just recently released from one of her favorite callings ever - primary teacher. She found so much joy in teaching those children the gospel in it's pure, sweet simplicity.

 My mother finds great joy in loving others. As a child she told me over and over again that to be a friend, you show interest in others' lives. My mother knows how to be a friend. She has always been a faithful visiting teacher, and has changed lives in magnifying this calling. My testimony of visiting teaching has come from her example. Currently, she is stake Relief Society president. Her philosophy is to just love the sisters. She spends most Sundays visiting the various wards in an attempt to get to know and love all the sisters in the stake. For her "serving" in a calling means just that. As Christ had, she knows that loving and serving go hand in hand.

My mother finds great joy in her family. Five children, five children-in-law, and 17 grandchildren. She finds time for all of them. We all rely on her for her wisdom and assurance. It is not unusual for all five of us, and a few grandchildren as well, to all call her on the same day seeking her advice or listening ear. She might spend the entire day on the phone, but as busy as she is, she never considers it a wasted day. I have six boys, and she is such a help to us almost daily. She is one of those angels among us that Elder Holland spoke of in conference last week. Strangely, she also finds joy in math, and tutors my boys several times a week, for which I feel untold amounts of joy!

My mother finds great joy in obedience. In our home, the law was that we always follow the prophet, always, and that we never consider ourselves the exception to the rule. She does all that is asked of her. Period. And she does it with a joyful heart. Perhaps most telling is something she said just this week when I came to her with my concerns about the dismal economy. My mother ended the conversation with these words, "I am just SO GRATEFUL that I GET to pay tithing in times like this. Otherwise it would be so scary." Even in troubled times, my mother lives a joyful life, because of her obedience.

I am so grateful that her Joyful, Christlike life is so entwined with my own life and the lives of my family. So many lives are more joyful because of hers.

So I submitted it and never heard back from them. Today at Time Out for Women in Portland, they said there were some women among us who knew how to live a joyful life, and they started announcing names of people from different cities in Oregon and asked them to stand, then Washington state. There we about 20 names in a group of almost 2,000 women. At the very end of the list was "Zola Signs" from California! Mom was shocked. She thought at first that there was another Zola Signs in the room. I had to nudge her and tell it it was her. What a surprise to have Mary Ellen Edmunds call your name. She stood up. She deserved it. What a treat for both of us! I was so grateful for the chance to honor her this way.

If you know my mom, even a little bit, please leave a comment about her. I would really appreciate it!

Harvest Time

On Saturday we dug out our sweaters, dusted them off, and headed up to Oak Glen to visit Riley's Farm.  It was a perfectly beautiful fall day, in the 50s, and the sun was shining.  It's pumpkin pickin' time.  It didn't take long for Dylan to pick the perfect pumpkin.  Unfortunately, he couldn't pick it up.

Caleb and Luke inspect this pumpkin carefully. Caleb likes it but Luke is critical - too pale. 

Kids in the corn.

Caleb finds the perfect pumpkin.

Pumpkin Patch Kids

To each his own

Sweet Luke was having so much fun running around the farm.

Caleb picks mommy a bunch of daisies.

So many pumpkins, but only one perfect pick.

Mommy picks these two little punkins.

 Hi ho hi ho its off to pick we go...

The twinners

Dennis's new trick - spinning a pumpkin on his finger like a basketball.  Watch out Globetrotters!  Just don't dunk it, Hon.

Boys watch goats and goats watch boys.  Those goats are probably glad there was a fence between them and that wild pack of boys.

"Hi Heep! Hi Doats!"  (that's sheep and goats to you and me)

Cutie Cabes!

Workin' in the coal mine

I wish the boys would work this hard to do the dishes at home.

 Look at that big fat orange pumpkin - oh wait, that is my sweater.  I can't believe how huge that sweater makes me look.  But the fact that it was cool enough to wear a sweater is wonderful!  (BTW, I just love that man there!)

Maybe I love him because of his skills... pumpkin spinning skills, pumpkin balancing skills...

My Little Pumpkin Head!

 Just look at all those happy fall faces, well except for Luke.  Naptime.

OK right here at this point something horrible happened.  I went to take the picture, and my nice camera just stopped.  It will do everything but take a picture, and when I try it just says "error 99"  I looked it up in the troubleshooter  the instructions.  It had the meaning of the various codes.  But error 99 said " a problem other than those above".  So not helpful.  Luckily, I still had my point and shoot in the car, but the pictures aren't as good.  The really bad part is that I am leaving for Oregon on Thursday.  Oregon, fall colors, awesome pictures.  A broken camera is disastrous!  BIGGIE BUMMER. And maybe cha-ching!  I was pretty upset, but I tried not to let it ruin my day.

Luke watches the chickens being fed.

Forget leapfrog - how about leappumpkin?
Luke was working so hard on his construction project , huffing and puffing.

He was so excited when it was finished - The Leaning Tower of Pumpkins.

Nate checks out the Indian corn.  The sun was just so pretty shining through the corn.

Decisions, decisions, decisions at the candy counter.

Caleb had no problems deciding what candy he wanted - the huge jawbreaker.  Thank you Grandma V, who gave the boys jawbreaker money when we visited them on our way up to Oak Glen. 

But Caleb was justified it getting the extra-large jawbreaker, since he was planning to share it with all the farm animals.  How generous.

But he still got his fair share.  How did he get that thing in there?  Luckily, his jaw didn't actually break in the process.

Goodbye, Sir

This has been such a sad week for our family.  We just found out that our wonderful Martial Arts instructor, Mr. Muchenje, is leaving due to circumstances beyond his control.  I took these pictures at Caleb's last Tiny Tigers class with Mr. Muchenje.  Notice Caleb is the only one punching with his left hand.  Oh well.

 What a darling group of little boys these are.  Mr Muchenje, or Sir, as we call him, is so incredibly good with those little guys.  It is so fun to watch him work with them, and they have all come a long way.

As a special treat at the end of class, he let all the boys break a board.  Believe me, breaking boards is about as good as it gets!  (I'd rather break a board than eat chocolate, and that's saying something.)

Tough Guys!

The other boys had their last class with Mr. Muchenje on Friday, but the pics didn't come out.  This is not the end of Taekwondo for the VanBuskirks, but it is the end of an era.  A new teacher starts on Monday, and it will be interesting to see what that is like.  But the boys just love Mr. Muchenje, and are just sad about losing him.  

I am more devastated about this than the boys or Dennis are.  I have been through this before.  Mr. Muchenje's wife, Kylee was my original instructor.  I was so nervous and uncomfortable when I walked into my first women's only class, but she was amazing.  She built up my confidence and was an incredible teacher.  She just had a way of explaining things so you knew exactly what to do, and a way of making you feel like you could do it. She was MY instructor, and I trusted her completely.  She also became a dear friend in the process.  

Then, last spring, she was suddenly gone.  She got a job out of town, and she couldn't teach our class anymore. I was simply heartbroken, and so was she, I think.  I simply don't do well with change.  I wondered if I would continue on with martial arts, or if I should just quit.  I stayed.  Her husband, Farai, took over the class.  It was a woman's only class, and I think he was more nervous about taking it over than we were.  I had always liked him, but SHE was MY teacher, and this loyalty thing made it hard to jump over to a new teacher.  I am so glad I did though.  Although he has a different philosophy and teaching style than his wife, I found that I really liked his way too. He was really into self-defense, which I think is great.  I think it has been good for me to have been trained by both, because I have had balanced, well rounded instruction.   I consider them both MY instructors now.

So the news of his leaving has hit me just as hard.  The idea of a strange new teacher completely stresses me out, not to mention that I will REALLY miss them as friends.  I think that if I wasn't so far along in my training, I'd probably be calling it quits right now.  But Kylee and Farai had worked hard to convince me that a black belt really is attainable, and I finally started believing them.  Now that it seems like something I can really do, this happens. 

 I have been struggling with this question all week, and I have decided that I really do want to get my black belt - only I want to get it from MY instructors, the Muchenjes.  Period.  I just can't picture it any other way.  Who you get your belt from is really important in martial arts, both to the student and to the teacher.  If I get my black belt  from them I honor them.  They are thrilled with my decision, and I am honored that they are willing to work with me.  It will be tough.  It will mean long-distance, infrequent instruction with them, a lot of training on my own and with a few of the other gals who are almost there as well.  It will be a challenge, I know, but it will make it all the more rewarding in the end when Kylee or Farai (or both) ties that belt around my waist.  I love those guys, and I am determined to do this for them...and for myself, of course

Meanwhile, I think I'll mourn just a bit longer.  

General Conference - Saturday PM

The Saturday afternoon session, held just us much power and wealth of knowledge for me.  I love Elder Werthlin.  He is so sweet and this time he was really funny.  His talk was about something his mom told him when he was disappointed at the loss of a football game when his was young.  She said "Come what may...and love it"  We need to learn to  be happy and even laugh at whatever life throws at us.  Again, with the world in the state it is in, we are all going to be facing a few curveballs sooner or later.  He told the funniest story about his daughter who thought she was being picked up for her blind date, but the guy she got in the car with wasn't her date, but a dad coming to pick up her sister to babysit.  Pretty funny.  But his message was right on the mark.

I love elder Holland!  I loved his talk on angels.  What a powerful idea, that there are Angels all around us helping us perform God's work and watching over us.  Some angels are the people we see everyday, people that we love that are given the errand of angels in this life.  I am so grateful for the angels in my life.

Elder Casse talked about seeking knowledge.

Favorite Talk of this session: from Elder Coatbridge.  I had to listen to this one several times.  It was about the Savior and his Atonement.  He used clear and powerful repetition of "He is..." and "He said..."  followed by lists of his titles and his teachings.  He taught that life is hard, but it is also very simple - we just have to follow the Savior.  I loved what he said about how we really are all capable of receiving exaltation - because of the Savior.  Even the simplest or otherwise incapable soul is fully capable of exaltation, because unlike everything else, success is not dependant on out abilities, but only on the ability of Christ, who is all-able.  All we have to do is never give up - don't quit, and the Lord will make up the rest.  There is only one way to happiness, and that is Jesus Christ.  All else is madness.  I loved this talk for the powerful message of what it is all about - Jesus Christ and the power of his infinite atonement.  For the message that we all have the distinct possibility of attaining salvation, because of His infinite gift.  All we have to do is hang on.  He will do the rest.

Elder Christofferson gave a great talk on Zion and what it means to be a Zion people.  We are the saints of Zion, but clearly we can do so much more to be the people of Zion that the Lord requires.

Finally, Elder Bednar's talk on prayer was really good - what it means exactly to "pray always" because our prayers are a narrative that are all connected.  I loved the story of being asked by a general authority to say a prayer only of thanksgiving, on a day when they had just learned of the death of a dear friend.  I tried this challenge a few times this week, and it is a lot harder than you would think to only say things you are grateful far.  I found it too hard because I know so many people who need my prayers right now, and it is too hard to not ask for blessings for them. I have to listen to that one a third time, I think.

General Conference - Saturday AM

Last weekend was general conference, and I know I am a bit late with this post, but I wanted to re-watch all the talks again before commenting on them.  They are all so good and so in-depth that I can get more out of them each time I watch/read them.  I am sure I will continue to find enlightenment see the pertinence as I review their messages again.  Since there is just so much to digest, this post is only about the Saturday morning session.

Alysa and I got home from 'saleing' just as the MoTab started singing.  Traditionally, garage sales are always good on conference Saturday.  This week was no exception.  But it was worth leaving all those great sales to get home in time, because the talks that were given, and the beautiful music proved to be exactly what I needed to hear, and what the church, and the world needed to hear for that matter.

President Monson started out by talking about temples and when he announced that Rome, Italy was getting a temple I thought that was very exciting (I am such an Italiophile!)  I thought of how wonderful that will be for the saints there.  I hope it is right across the street from the Vatican.  (When we went to Italy we saw water fountains flowing freely everywhere - except at the Vatican.  All fountains near St. Peters were broken or barely trickled.  The further away you got from the cathedral, the better the flow from the fountains.  You know, "fount of  living waters."  Just saying.  I bet our new temple will have abundantly flowing fountains.)  I asked Dennis if we could attend that dedication, but got no answer.  

Elder Perry's talk on living a simplified life was so good, and had many points I need to share with my YW- points on the word of wisdom, modesty, debt, and storing up spiritual fuel.  This talk is just so important for our day, and proof to me that the Lord speaks through our prophets the council that we need today.  There was so much of that in this conference.  

Sis. Allred's talk on missionary work was so good too.  This is something I definitely need to work on!  I loved the quote from Pres. Hinkley that "When we save a girl, we save generations."  How true is that.  That really made the weight on my calling seem that much heaver, but it is right on.  The work that we do with those girls has untold consequences or blessing for countless people.

Elder Anderson spoke about spiritual storage now for moments of difficulty.  I have an idea that a lot of us are going to be facing times of difficulty real soon, if not already, and our testimonies might be the only thing we may have to get us through.  Oil for our lamps.

I loved Elder Aidiakaitus's talk about how his father joined the church, and the Book of Mormon.  He said that when we have a Book of Mormon, and don't read it we are like a child that receives a letter from his beloved and distant father, and doesn't even bother to open the envelope.  Or like a spoiled child who refuses to even take a bite of the lovely meal that was carefully prepared for his by his mother.  I really don't want to act like a spoiled child.  The Book of Mormon really is a personal letter sent just to us from our Father in Heaven.  As the world changes, I am amazed how the Book of Mormon addresses our needs more and more precisely.  I have never said "wow, that describes our world right now" as much of I have said it this last year.  Its all in there.

Elder Oaks' talk on sacrament meeting was great.  I kept asking my kids "Are you listening to this?", especially the stuff about the Aaronic Priesthood and the sacrament.

Favorite Talk: President Uchtdorf talking about the principle of hope.  We always hear so much of faith and charity, and not so much about hope.  But hope is the third leg on the three legged stool of the gospel.  Hope is critical to both faith and charity.  Hope is a simple trust in the  Lord's promises, that all things really will work together for our good.  It is manifest in our patience in optimism and patient perseverance.  He talked about things we hope for and things we hope in. He teaches that the things we hope for are future blessings, like eternal life.  Things we hope for lead us to faith.  Then there the things we hope in - the blessings the Lord that are more immediate.  The things we hope in lead us to charity.  Hope fulfilled leads to greater hope, and when we put hope into action, through good works, then our present circumstances give way to future blessings.  It was all pretty deep, and I will have to hear it several more times before I really get it.  Because of hope, we have a reason to rejoice when all seems dark.  Talk about pertinent to our day.  There are so many dark things looming on the horizon including the failing economy, that these are exactly the words we need to hear.  That there is hope, and that hope is Christ - the light in the darkness.  We have reason to REJOICE!  I have been in a funk all week and I have to keep listening to Pres. Uchtdorf's talk each time I feel that way.  With the way things are going, I'll have that talk committed to memory in no time.  Please read it if you haven't, and then read it again.

A Scout Is..

On Wednesday the Boy Scouts had a Court of Honor.  Unfortunately, I couldn't attend, since I was having a Laurel activity that night at my home.  It is my new calling.  What's a mom to do?  I felt so bad that I had to miss it, so I sent the camera with orders to Dennis that he take pictures of everything.  Well, I should have had him make a scout promise, "on my honor..." with hand over his heart, because when the camera was returned to me, the above picture was the only one in it.  It is a nice picture, though.  Unfortunately, Alex wasn't the only of my boys to get any awards that night.  Poor Nathan also got some awards, but alas, no pictures of him.  Sorry Nate.

It was a big night.  Nathan got his Tenderfoot award, as well as merit badges in Swimming and Woodcarving that he earned this summer at camp.  Alex received merit badges in Space Exploration, First Aid, Wood Carving, and Wilderness Survival.  He's been busy.  He also got his Star Scout.  Dennis just realized that Alex has done everything to qualify for Life Scout, except that he has to wait 6 months.  He is still only 12.  We are so proud of both of our scouts, and so grateful to their Dad for all the help and support he gives them.  Scouts help make great men (like Dad) out of good boys (like Alex and Nate).  Now if I could just get them to capture this stuff on film.  Wonder if they have a photography merit badge?

Stampin' Up! Party

On Thursday night Mom and I had a Stampin' Up! catalog unveiling party (yes, the catalog came out in August.  So what?  This was the best we could do.)  We worked really hard and I think those who came really had a good time.  For those of you who missed it, here are the highlights.

P.S.  please forgive the bad pics, as I was using the point and shoot camera rather than my SRL.  Just lazy.

This is my Spooky Jar.  I LOVE it.  I bought the jar at Target, the lid was already black.  I used this cutest "spooky" spider, from SU's new Decor Elements line.  I love his long legs.  It was so easy.  Then I added some gloomy ribbon, and a fun tag that says "yum yum!"  I am thrilled about it, and so glad it is October so I can keep it out all month (though I know the candy won't last all month, or all weekend, for that matter.)  

Here are the table decorations I helped Mom make for the woman's broadcast dinner last weekend.  They turned out so absolutely terrific and colorful.  We displayed them again at our SU party.  They were pretty easy to do, once we figured them out, and so festive.

This is a get well soup can my mom made.  I thought it was so clever.  She took a soup can, and unsealed the bottom to get the soup out and washed it.  Had lunch.  Then she filled it with a tissue pack, cold medicine, chocolate, etc.  whatever you think you sick friend would like that you can fit into a can, and glue the bottom back on.  Then she decorated it to look like a soup can.  It says "making you feel better one can at a time."  Then, when your sick friend gets it, they have to open it with a can opener.  Good one mom!

This was a poster advertising my Stampin' Club.  These are just a sample of the fun hands-on cards we have made in the past at my stampin' clubs.  People sign up to be in Stampin' Club, 6 people per club.  They are basically a monthly class where I get to teach the latest techniques and ideas.  The classes are free and all hands-on.  The members usually take home 3 -4 cards and projects that they have made.  They are more advanced and intricate than one would normally make at a stamp workshop.  Each person commits to spending $25 each month for 6 months.  We do that because a party must total $150 to earn free hostess prizes, so each club member gets to take her turn being the hostess and getting all the free hostess stuff.  It works out great for everyone.  I get to stay home with my family and meet my minimum requirements, and the ladies in my clubs get stamping classes, hand-on projects, and get to earn free hostess stamps and merchandise without any work of throwing a stamp party or inviting people over to their house.  The gals in my clubs just love it, and it is fun to get together with them every month.  Just ask any of them.  Good times.  There are still a few more spaces open in my Stampin' Club if anyone is interested in joining us.

Here is a class I am going to be having in November, these little Christmas mini-notes that are all made from a simply scrappin' kit.  There is hardly any stamping at all - just a lot of assembling.  They came together really fast.  They are much like the Emergency Birthday Card kits we made a few months ago, only the cards are half the size, which means we can make 32 different cards with just half a kit.  Really really easy and very pretty little cards for Christmas packages.  The cost for all 32 cards, and little square envelopes is only $19.  Once again, they are much cuter in person than in this picture.

 I am also going to be teaching a Punches class, where we will try to make a sorts of pretty things using mostly punches.  Here are a few ideas.

I am SOOO excited about this super fun PARTY pennant banner I made with my new favorite toy, my Big Shot.  The picture is lousy, but it is such a fun banner to hang on birthdays or when ever you have cause to celebrate with all it's ribbons, glitter, pleated rosettes, and danglies.  Again, the cost is only $19 for a fun new family tradition.

A close up of the banner.

Here is a hands-on project Mom came up with for everyone to do.  It is done using the big grass stamp, with the bottom masked off.  Then using the ribbon slot punch she punched out some brown paper, and glued the punched pieces onto the blades of grass to look just like cattails.  Fun! 

Here is a card I demonstrated. The colors are blue and black, not brown.  Sorry.   The shapes were cut using the Big Shot.  I brayered the lighter blue onto glossy paper, then masked out the moon using a circle punched scrap of paper, then brayered again using the deeper blue, then stamped the black silhouette daises on top.  I thought it came out very striking.

It was a fun time, and because there were so many people who couldn't make it, we are thinking of doing it all again. Feel free to let me know if you'd like to come to that, or any other class or Stampin' Club.

Thanks for all those who came, and for Mom for all her hep an hard work!