Summer, days 8 and 9

Wow!  I've had a terrific couple of days!   

This week is JTTA (Journey Through the Arts) at our church.  This is the 17th year of kids entering Kindergarten through 5th grade coming and moving, singing, acting, making things, and performing.  This is the 6th year I've had the privledge of helping and interacting with the kids.  This year I have a group of kids entering 2nd and 3rd grades and they're a lot of fun!  Getting them from place to place around the church campus is a bit like herding cats but they're a kick in the pants!   It's a joyous thing.  :>)

Yesterday and this afternoons were absolutely amazing!  Aaron has "resisted" swimming lessons for the last 5 years.  That resistance has varied from screaming "I want my Mama!" continuously for 35 minutes to flatly refusing to to anything involving letting go of the side of the pool.  Frustrating?  Yes, but more frightning.   We want him to be as safe as possible in the water.

We FINALLY broke down and enrolled him at Marjean's Swimland for this and next week.  If you live in Ventura County and have kids you've probably heard of it.  They have the "Magic Water" 
By the end of yesterday's, lesson 1, he was willingly jumping into the pool off the wall on the side.

I could NOT believe it!!!!!

Today's lesson ended with him happily jumping in at 10' and wanting to do it more. 

UNBELIEVABLE!!!

Summer, day 7 -- Father's Day

Today was absolutely terrific!  I returned to church choir today after a several month hiatus and it was lovely to be back "home".  This was one of our choir intensive Sundays, so we sang a LOT. I normally only sing first service but today I stayed for both.  Roger worked on recording during the first service so Aaron was on his own in the pews.  Always a little dodgy but he did fine.  :>) 

After church we went to our friends' home to celebrate Father's Day with them.  What a nice afternoon!  The kids played together with a minimum of yelling (except the joyous kind...) and we ate, talked, and played games.  The competition was HOT!    :>)

The kids came up with a show they planned (I use the term loosely) for us.  There's nothing quite like a show created and performed by a group of 4 - 8 year-olds who are close as cousins.  They boss each other around and get mad at each other but they love each other just the same. We are truly blessed in our friends!  We ended up enjoying each other's company enough that we thought we'd better feed the kids again when we realized it was 7pm.  : > O          Dinner?  Leftovers it is!!!  :>)

We got home and cut the cake we made for Roger yesterday.  We had our little family celebration of Roger and his "Daddyhood" then sent Aaron off for a much needed shower.  I petted Pixley and put him to bed and now there's nothing to do but get my own shower and ponder the day a bit.

Father's Day is a wonderful time for us to get to celebrate Roger and his role in our lives but I always miss MY Daddy more that usual today.  He's been gone for  nearly 16 years now but that's SO hard to believe.  My dad's present every day when I make decisions about what I should do.  He's there when I consider how to raise Aaron.  He's there when I sing.   He's there when I make ethical decisions.  He's there when goofy stuff happens and when I can't spit my words out in the right order.  He's there when I write.  He's there when I tell Aaron about his grandpa because I CAN'T let Aaron not know who his grandpa was. 

My dad was a man who loved the written and spoken word; who was happy to play "Stump the Parents" (Pick a word from the dictionary and see if your parents know what it means) with us after dinner. 

He was a man who would tell us stories in Pig Latin and would pound out rhythms on the kitchen table to see who could, "Name that Tune," the most quickly. 

He was a man who, when a boy, would go out to the horse pasture to gather flowers for his mom.

He was a man who was a teacher.  I once had a former student of his tell me, "He was the best teacher I ever had!  He failed me, but he REALLY tried to teach me.  He cared."

He was a man who loved God and loved his religion enough to question it. 

He was a man who worked hard and loved to do so.   He took pleasure in pruning his trees.

He was a man with a absolutely TERRIBLE sense of spacial relations!  :>)

He was a man who loved the arts of Man an gloried in the arts of Nature.

He loved his family and they loved him.

He ADORED a good dirty joke!

There are so many things I want to teach Aaron about his grandpa but I think the most important one is, he was just a Good Man.  There are people our world will remember as being "great".  Aaron may have the potential to be "great " someday but my wish for him is to be  like his daddy, Roger, and like his grandpa, Don, and just be a Good Man. 


 

Cheers! for Friday's Card Buffet

Here's one made with a fun new set called, "Happy Hour".  I used one of the papers from the, "Summer Smooches" Designer Series Paper  set and the new "Fancy Fan," embossing folder with the Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine  to make the fun background texture. 

I added a little Daffodil Delight Taffeta Ribbon and some Dazzling Details (irridescent glitter glue) for some sparkle. 

Here's the quick and easy one for the buffet.  The image comes from, "Happy You," and is one of 8 cute stand-alone images in this Hostess Set.  I threw it onto some Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, and Pink Pirouette cardstock.  I used my 2 1/2" Circle Punch, 2 3/8" Scallop Circle Punch,  and my 3/16" Corner Punch to soften it and added a bit of Melon Mambo Scalloped Dot Ribbon just for fun.

Swapping out the colors for a boy would be SO easy. 

I hope you can come out to Oxnard on Friday night to make some of your own.  You only need to let me know you're coming and bring your double-sided tape.  Contact me for details.

Flowers for Friends

This card, scheduled for this Friday's Card buffet, features one of my favorites of the new stamps in the Stampin' Up! catalog.  It's called, "Pleasant Poppies," and you can see about 2/3 of the image here.  Those of you who have played with me before know how much I love my Color Spritzer Tool.  Normally I would have added the speckles you see in the background using it but I thought I'd try out a new tool from Stampin' Up!  I know some people have difficulty getting an even spray with the Color Spritzer (actually, I LIKE that about it), so I thought I'd try the new Stampin' Spritzer Bottles to see how they work.  You can see the lovely way it sprayed and I'm really pleased with it.  You just fill the Spritzer Bottle with water and use a few drops of ink from the refiller of your choice.  I used 3 drops and got this nice shade of the new In-Color, Primrose Petals. 

I used an Aqua Painter and the Watercolor Crayons to color the poppies and added a little Primrose Petals Stitched Satin Ribbon.  It's the kind of card which can be used for many different occasions depending on what you do inside. 

This one will be coming out the frieday night too.  It features the "Summer Silhouettes,"  stamp set.  I used some of our strong new In Colors this time, but I know I'm going to like doing the same kind of thing in softer colors too. 

Stayed tuned in the next few days, to see the other cards for the Card Buffet for this Friday, June 15th, in Oxnard.  Message or email me if you're interested in attending. 

Angry Birds at our house -- Punch Art

I'm finally getting around to posting the pictures of my son's birthday cake from last March.  We had a ball at his Angry Birds Birthday Party.  I spray painted a bunch of packing boxes for the kids to stack up and knock down with the rotten pigs (green balls on which I drew pig faces) on them.  We got a LOT of mileage out of those cardboard boxes. 

The kids had fun decorating egg-shaped cookies and little piggie banks.  They "killed" pig balloons and hunted for the egg with the special token in it.  The kids and adults (We played "Rock Band"!)had a really good time and I had fun decorating the cake with these punch art birds and pigs I made.  It gave me an excuse to buy chocolate rocks and Whoppers to put in the nest.

A couple of the kids wanted to take home some of the birds.  I was The Evil Mama and told them "No way, Kiddos.  I'm going to scrapbook them!"  ;>)

A color combo I hadn't considered before...

Here's one of the cards for my Card Buffet, next Friday night, June 15th. It features the new

Mixed Bunch Stamp set  as well as the Blossom Punch and the new Elegant Butterfly Punch and a little bit of Victoria Ribbon.  The Card Buffet will be in Oxnard.  Let me know if you're interested in coming. 

I haven't used the Always Artichoke color with the Baja Blue before.  Believe me, it's a lot more of a subtle combination in person.  :>)  I don't know why I rarely use Always Artichoke.  It's a nice green.  It just doesn't always come to my mind.  I have the same "Problem" with Wild Wasabi.  Maybe it's because they're the first and last in my paper holder and easier to overlook than most. 

What colors would YOU think of pairing with this green?  I won't ask about the blue because it "reads' brighter than it really is in this picture.  Let my know. 

Which would YOU start with?

     My favorite UPS driver came by today and left a few things for me.  WHEE!  Now comes the hard part.  SOMEHOW I have to figure out which ones I want to use for the Card Buffet coming up on Friday, June 15th.  I want to try the ALL and I want to try them NOW!  Too bad tomorrow's my son's last day of school. 

     Sooooooooooo, if all these sets were sitting at your house, which would you try first?  What colors would you choose? 

Last Class / Summer / New Goodies

I can't believe it's already been 8 weeks but my last class with the Conejo Valley Homeschoolers is tomorrow.  They really have been fun!  At the end of the week I get MY child back for the summer so I guess I have to give them up.  :>) 

Summer's going to be jam packed for our family and, hopefully, for my Stampin' Up! business.  I've got Aaron (my 8 year old) enrolled in a plethora of things this summer from Lego Green Engineering, to Musical Theatre Camp, to Cub Scout Camp, to swimming lessons, to the arts program through our church.  I'm helping with that last one along with being chief chauffer and playmate. 

Between that and getting the bathroom remodelled, life is going to be a bit crazy in the Yoshida household this summer.  Wish us luck.  Now I need to get my next class for adults scheduled at the Methodist Church here in Camarillo.  More about that soon.  I'm also hoping to have a Card Buffet on the 15th of June.  If you'd like to schedule a party of your own, just contact me here and we can set that up too. 

Now the exciting stuff!!!  I got a number of catalog orders at my Yard Sale last Saturday.  YEAH!  Thanks to ALL of you who came out and visited.  I know a bunch of you got great deals and I gained some much-needed space in our house.  Thanks to those of you who ordered, I got to pick out $130 worth of FREE STUFF from the new catalog!  During June and July, hostesses who have a party with sales over $450 get an EXTRA $50 worth of free hostess items!!!  Thanks again to all who ordered and made that possible for me!  It's a really help to my business and I know you'll enjoy getting to see what I come up with with the new stamps and embellishments.  I can hardly wait for the shipment to arrive.  For you who ordered, I'll be getting your items to you soon. 

If you had hoped to make it to the Yard Sale but weren't able to, let me know and I can send you a list of the stamp sets I still have available.  If you know the name of a particular set you'd like to have, you can let me know about it that way too.

I'm off to bed now.  Tomorrow's task: get Aaron to write his teacher a thank you letter.  I have her "desk" ready to go.  Yes, I made a desks out of paper for his main teacher and his speech pathologist.

I DO so enjoy playing with paper...  :>)

Ready?

182 stamp sets?  Check.
65 other types of Stampin' Up! products?  Check.
Multitude of other items I've dug out of my house and could find a new home?  Check.
New Catalogs and deals prepared for display?  Check.
Make and Take Projects?  Check.
Refreshments?  Check.

Sleep?  Soon.

I think I'm about as ready as I'm gonna be.

Come see me tomorrow, June 2nd, between 10 and 4.  Book your Stampin' Up! Party tomorrow or place a catalog order to get the NEW catalog FREE!!!  WHEEEEEEEEE!!!