Rally ~ Band ~ Exciting!

WOW! Our band was just invited to perform at John McCain's rally tomorrow. When I say "just" I mean about 3 hours ago! I was asked to go along as a chaperone. I'm probably more excited than most of the band kids will be, but I hope they see it as a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing and appreciate the moment, regardless of their political beliefs. I just wish Sarah Palin was going to be there! I kinda like her.

Christmas Stamp-A-Stack ~ Last Chance!

Hey Stampers......... Thursday, October 23rd is your last chance to sign up (and pay) for the Christmas Stamp-A-Stack on Friday, November 7th. There is a morning session from 9:30-12:30 and an evening session from 6:30-9:30. We'll be making 25 cards. There will be 5 designs and we'll make a stack of 5 cards for each design.

Envelopes are included with this class. You must bring plenty of your own adhesive. If you need some ordered, let me know by Thursday. I need at least 5 people signed up to hold each class. I'll let you know by Friday if I don't have enough for your class. (Evening class is fine, morning isn't yet.)

A Few Pix

Cody is attending a school this year that helps focus on the police work he'd like to go in to, besides his regular high school curriculum. On Friday, they had a "Muffins for Moms & Dads" morning. We were invited to come and learn more about what goes on in their school and what they do in their lab.

The first thing he wanted to do to me was put on the "beer goggles" and have me "walk the line". WELL, if you know me, I struggle with balance anyway. I've never had a drink in my life, so I begged for the goggles with the least alcohol content (or whatever the terminology is) although he wanted me to try the highest ones! So I put them on and start out. He says "MOM - you're not even on the line!" I take them off, look down and my foot is 8" to the left of the line, but with them on, it really looked like I was right on the money. Another boy in his class told me to start on the line, then put the goggles on. I did that, took a couple of steps, and I felt completely sick. I didn't really feel right all day! No wonder our church teaches against drinking!

Anyway, Cody's instructor said "I just can't say enough good things about this young man!" That is always what a parent wants to hear!

Zach (middle of the picture) has his last soccer game on Saturday. The last few games has been amazing for him! He has played like he has been playing for all his life. It has been so fun to listen to all of the parents talking about him. (I get teary!) Most of the kids on his team have played for years and he is just starting his third year, so he has had a lot of catching up to do. He called me Saturday while I was at a meeting to tell me how his coach praised him as being the most improved for the season in front of the whole team. I cried again. So exciting for him!

Friday night was our last Band Festival. It was soooo good. Our band was awesome! Kyle met up with Ashley, a friend that lives within our stake. She is such a cutie and always so friendly. Their band is huge and did some really interesting things.

This is a shot of our entire band. Do you see Kyle over there towards the left???

I've had a fun year as a band mom. I've made some great new "band mom" friends and we have laughed WAY too much. I'll be driving down the road and just start laughing at things that have gone on. We've had a little too much fun this year!

5 Cards & a Recipe

These are the five cards we made at the class on Tuesday night. Everyone got to make two of each card. I'll just post the pictures, saving the tips and tricks just for the class participants. Unfortunately, you can't see the cute dry embossing we did on the pink and purple baby card.

Together Forever, page 57

Upsy Daisy, page 101

Wonderful You, page 96

Punches Three, page 17


Party Hearty, page 63 (on sale this month!)

Thanks to all of those who attended. It was a great night!

Sign up and pay for the Christmas Stamp-A-Stack by October 23rd!
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I made this carmel popcorn for a snack at the class and boy, was it a hit. I haven't made it for years. I'm hoping my sister-in-law won't mind me sharing her recipe.

WENDY'S CARMEL POPCORN

1 cup butter

2 1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup corn syrup

1 - 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Cook to soft ball stage (Kari cooks to 225 degrees only). Pour over about 8 quarts of popcorn. I like to put out some wax paper and drop pieces on it and let it cool this way before returning it to the bowl. This way, it is easy to get to in the bowl later. This recipe makes a BIG tupperware bowl full. It is best on the first day. The second day it goes a little sugary. It still tastes okay, but not quite as good.

Party Hearty

This card was made with a great set called "Party Hearty" and is part of Stampin' Up!'s 20th Birthday Promotion this month. There are seven birthday sets to choose from. We'll be using this set at the class this Tuesday! (I've been working on class preparations the last few days......I'm so excited!)

Looking ahead, you can sign up for the Christmas Stamp-A-Stack through October 23rd. It will be held on Friday, November 7th, with a morning and evening session. See the right sidebar for details.

3x3 Birthday

This is a real quick little 3x3 card that I made for my church group swap. The Designer Paper is actually from the Ski Slope package in the Holiday Mini Catalog. Yes - it's Christmas paper, but as you can see, it can easily double as other things. Most of the patterns in that package can do the same type of thing. The stamps I used are from the Voila stamp set. I don't have a tons of sets right now. I really need to re-stock, but Richard isn't going for the idea, so I had to get creative. If you don't know what the Voila set is, it is the "chef" set! It's all coming together for you if you're a stamper now, right?!?

I actually started on my Christmas cards yesterday during General Conference! That is a first for me (doing them this early, I mean). Last year I didn't even do any. That is also a first, since I became a stamper 14 years ago. I felt awful about it, and have gotten several lectures from people who usually receive them, but my body just couldn't do them. I figured if I start now, I'll be able to handle it!

Woollybear Festival

Today was the Woollybear Festival in our town. I guess it draws the biggest crowd in the state. It definitely isn't my favorite event of the year, but we always end up going, since the kids have to march with the band. I always have to wonder why they have to do it on a Sunday. That drives me crazy! We had great weather today. Last year was H-O-T!

This is Kyle waiting for the M.C. to show up so they can do the Star Spangled Banner. He is usually late each year, however this year he was right on the dot. He is a local weatherman. I'm not a fan, but apparently a lot of people are!

This is a shot of the band marching in. They do such a great job. I love hearing and seeing them!

Kyle is the one to the right of the tuba.

This is Zach's first year marching. Here you see the middle school kids. They are kind of squished together!

Zach is a little blurry. Oops! This is his first year doing percussion. He started on saxophone last year, but is liking this much better. His shoulders really hurt by the time he was done though! EDIT: 10-6-08 This morning Zach has bruises on this thighs from the snare!

Cody was on "official police business" with his police explorer group for the day. However, each time we saw him, there seemed to be nothing official or police-like about it. Hmmm.
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As Brandon and I were walking around trying to be everywhere we needed to be this afternoon, we were talking about last year's festival. It was very different because nearly my whole family was here visiting for Brandon's baptism the day before. I can't believe it has been a year since they were here! That was such a fun time. I hope they'll be able to come out again, but I know how hard that is with soooo many little ones. We'll be here when you're ready......or any other family that would like to visit for that matter! ;)

Fox News

If you're up early, turn on Fox News and you may see Kyle playing his saxophone with the marching band!

Another Busy Day

I think I could title just about every post in the same way! This morning Brandon and I made Peanut Butter Bars before he left for school in preparation for tonight's activity (more later).

Today it was our ward's turn to do the luncheon for the missionary's zone conference over in Westlake. I always enjoy getting to help out with that. One of the ladies in our ward always plans the meal and does all or the majority of the cooking. She does such a good job at it. I hope I never lose her! She had several of us make cookies for their dessert, but she made yummy beef stew and rolls, then had applesauce for them. The missionaries are always so appreciative. It is such a fun afternoon.

After that, I fought to stay awake driving home, took a quick nap and started getting ready for Richard to have the Young Men and Young Women (ages 12-18) from church over tonight for a BBQ and bonfire. I ran Brandon to soccer practice, ran home, got a few more things ready, ran back to get him, ran home, got everything else set up, just in time for everyone to arrive. We had a fun evening with around 25 people here. The rain stopped long enough for us to enjoy the entire activity. It was just great! We can't believe our big huge pile of branches would even light with all of the rain we've been getting, but it went up just fine. It was kind of a cool evening, so the fire felt awesome. Yes - I should've taken some pictures, but of course they'd still be sitting in the camera!

We've had lots of changes in our ward presidencies lately and even our bishopric a couple of weeks ago. It is exciting to have so many new things going on at once. I've served as the Relief Society President (for the women in our ward) for a little over 2 1/2 years now. I'm so excited about my new counselors and my secretary who has stayed on. They have been just wonderful and I'm so grateful for them.