This & That

Carving Adventures

There are pluses and minuses to only having 2 of my six children at home.  On plus is that pumpkin carving nights tend to be a little less frantic....at least until the child of the female persuasion finds out that the "perfect" pumpkin she picked out at the store (darn the squash beetles that ate anything squash related in our garden) is somewhat squishy in the middle.  When that happens, she must don a pair of latex gloves just so she can get through the evening, because while the inside may be a bit questionable, the outside is as normal-looking  as can be and the meanest parents in the world weren't going back to the store yet again to get her another 30 lb. pumpkin.  Slightly sad pumpkin day but somehow she survived. 
Preemie Boy, on the other hand, wanted to carve an Elvis pumpkin.  Unfortunately, neither of his parents possess the ability to even remotely make that happen, so he was stuck with what he could produce.  Those lines down the side of his pumpkin's "face" are mutton chop sideburns...just in case you were wondering. 
There was also carving of another sort going on in the kitchen.  That was the last of the wild beasts that needed to be cut up and put in the freezer. My only question is why he's doing it on my kitchen counter instead of in that spot in his gun room that has a counter and sink expressly for this purpose?  While his answer would be, "It's lonely out there." and while that might be true, the real reason is that it's so stacked with stuff he can't get at it.

More Color

For this week's "Real World Color" assignment, we were given a photo of a building in a strip mall which is going to become some kind of restaurant.  The colors were red, mustard, green and brown.  The green on my layout scanned way bright....I'm not sure how that happened, but I tried it twice and it's not changing its mind.  Just keep in mind that it's much more mellow IRL.  The journaling for this came straight from the blog here...love cut and paste journaling.  I will now have to hide this layout, because she will look at me like an injured party for documenting this.  She won't think it's amusing for several years at least, so this is going into hiding with the mowing layout.

Repetition to the Nth Degree

The last big assignment for the Repetition unit in the BPS class was to create a mini album.  The idea being that if we used the same format over and over on the pages, it would be the ultimate in repetition.   Lucky me, I happened to have the exact papers Cathy Zielske used for hers left from an older SA kit.  Love these Scenic Route papers.  They are some of my favorite colors.  Our assignment was to have members of our family complete the phrase "I am...." with 5 different words or phrases and then put them together in a little album called "Gimme 5".   It was really interesting for me to see the ideas that my family came up with.  I enjoyed seeing the deep and not-so-deep thoughts.   I've included my title page, DDIL #2's page, College Boy's and San Diego Boy's.  The templates for the pages were all provided by the class.

[SA kit, SR papers, Hero Arts letter stamps, Zig marker, ColorBox chestnut chalk ink, circle punch]

"Repetition Aids Learning"

This is a phrase that I remember from my childhood.  I can't remember who said it, whether it was my dad or a teacher at school, but it's stuck with me ever since.  We are spending a second week on repetition for the BPS class I'm taking.   We have a mini album assignment this week, too, all reinforcing the repetition concept.  So here's my first layout for the week.  I actually had accumulated the supplies to do this up at the cabin.  I even remembered my photos and my adhesive and everything.  I just didn't have time to do anything with it while we were there.  I adapted the design just a little.  There were supposed to be three photos across the bottom.  The journaling template was provided by the class and you'll remember the recent rare photo of my DD's smiling face.  And you'll have to excuse the stitching line in my scan.  I don't have a large bed scanner so I have to deal with the line.

Rhino Riding

Let me introduce you to College Boy.   Most of you are already familiar with his face, but in case you aren't....he's my DS #3.  He came home for the weekend cabin jaunt and was very helpful hauling wood around.
 I took this photo for a couple of reasons.  First, he got a haircut this week and I think it's the shortest it's been since he got summer buzz cuts as a child.  Secondly, he was the photographer for this next set of pictures.
I am rarely in front of the camera.  But here I am in the front seat of the Rhino with my 13 year old at the wheel.  Am I crazy or what?  Not really crazy.  I wanted a turn to drive the thing, as I haven't had the chance yet, but DH had already told DD she could have a shot at it.  We were driving around the property looking for fallen wood for the wood pile.  DD has not had the opportunity to be behind the wheel of much.   As you may remember, we don't own a riding mower and has to use a push mower in her quest to get ALL the work done. So her spacing judgment is a little off, as I found out in this series of pictures.  "Sweetie, you're a little close on my side..." Yeah, I got a nice pine needle massage there.
Finally I was able to get behind the wheel and what I told my kids as I drove back to the cabin with DH? 
"Eat my dust."
  

In Their Natural Habitat

We had a wonderful day at the cabin yesterday.  The weather was beautiful, although I wasn't out in it much. DD and I spent quite a bit of it organizing actual possessions...mostly in the kitchen and bathrooms.  Each time we go, we see changes.  The stair railing is up, the washer is hooked up....too bad we don't have any hot water, and the beds did arrive on schedule.  Here is a photo of where I will be sleeping.  I'm loving the big gnarly piece on the end there.
More photos to show....
--the concrete work around one of the wood stoves
--the wood pile that the men worked on
--this piece of ironwork serves a double purpose.  It can be used as a hitching post and is also keeps people from driving over the septic tank and busting pipes.  This is a good thing.

More mountainous photos tomorrow and they will feature something you rarely see in my photos....namely, moi.

These Aren't the Droids You're Looking For....

You remember how Obi Wan Kenobi used that mind trick on the guards?  Picture me waving my hand in front of your face and saying, "Catherine is really here...she really typed this post this very morning."  I'm lying through my teeth, but you don't know that because The Force is with me.

I'm actually at the cabin for the day.  We are starting to haul up actual possessions.  I went to Target the other day and bought things like little trash cans for the bathrooms and silverware holders for the drawers and pot holders.  Very cool.  We should have actual, not virtual beds by the end of the day.  I'm hoping for pictures of them in their natural habitat.  I'll try not to scare them.  The men are also supposed to cut, split and haul some wood closer to the building for the coming winter.  That would be a good thing, since the dead wood gets buried by the snow during the winter season, and we heat the building with wood stoves.

I'm leaving you with a photo that shows repetition.  One of our assignments each week is to go take a picture in the "real world" that shows the concept we're studying each week in the BPS class.  So here's repetition.  It's actually my neighbor's driveway.  I love this driveway in the fall.  There are 20 mature maple trees that line it and they are gorgeous this time of year.  I wish I had a driveway like this when I see this picture....but not when it snows.  It would be a pain in the butt to shovel.

Sketch #2

Although I have two sets of photos that work with the sketch, I've only managed to get one layout done with it this week.  Real life sometimes creeps in and takes over, and while that's annoying where my free time is concerned, it's unavoidable.   I actually thought this week would be quieter than last.  Hmmmm.
In any case, this is a layout about my niece's wedding.  She got married about a year and a half ago on a bake-your-brains summer day.  I remember vividly cutting cheesecake slices in the kitchen for the reception.  It was toasty. But she was an absolutely gorgeous bride.  The other kidlets here are three of my brother's children. 
This is another for our repetition unit.

And since I can't figure out how to embed the actual video in a blog post, I'll have to just give you the link for "Here, Fishy, Fishy!" This is a blast from the past for me and my kids.

Anyone Know How....

....to embed a You Tube video in a blog post?  So you can watch the video from my blog?
And wow!  "Atta Girl, Joyce"!  :)

Repetition

That has been the goal in this week's lesson from my BPS class.   I've done pretty with the first sketch.  I found two sets of photos that worked with it.  I still have one more sketch to go and even though it's a one-pager, I'm finding it a little harder to work with.  So here are the first examples of repetition for this week.  I like them both, but the "smile" one seems to sit better with me for some reason...I'm not sure why.

Now, big Atta Girl (or Boy) for anyone who can tell me who said the words for the fishy title.  I'm quoting someone famous and we're reaching into the realm of pop culture here.  There's a very specific voice associated with the words and I can guarantee you that if my DDIL #2 showed it to Astro-Physics boy, he'd get it in one guess.