Cool News For Scrappers

It's been a really long time ... A lot has happened in the world ... Even more in our personal lfe ... But I just had to share this for any readers who scrap:

You know when people look at your scrap book pages and then comment on how they would "love a copy" of that photo that's been glued/adhered down?

Now at Archivers (check their website for your nearest location) you can get full sized 12 inch copies ... Yes you can get a copy of the entire page! You can even get it shrunk down to a smaller 8 inch size if you want to make a sort of "souvenir" album.

I called my local store and they said that copies start at $3.49 a sheet ... I would assume (but I could very well be wrong) that to shrink it might cost a tad more.

I can see where this would come in handy for weddings - one main album for the bride/groom, and copies for the parents and the people who stood up - maybe even the officiate if they are a personal friend ...

Maybe that favorite aunt who couldn't make it ...
One for each of the kids later in your life ...
Or grandiose ...

How about baby books? Make the main one for your family and copies for each set of grandparents ...
Ones for the Godparents ...

What about bridal/ baby showers? Same thing ... Main one for mom/dad/baby ... Some for the grandparents .... Maybe a book that not only has pictures of things like baby's sonogram but also photos of mom &dad as kids thru the years for comparison ... What a precious gift this would be! Just make copies of the parents baby pictures so that the grandparents can get their photos back ... Most grandparents will have them either loose, in some of those albums where the photos just slide in, or in one of those albums that had the tiny sticky dot pages ...

HINT: if you do have photos on those old photo books with the sticky dots,be very careful removing them ... after being there for 20-30 years we found that they will be PERMENATELY stck and maybe damaged while trying to remove them from the page.

Check at Archivers (sorry but they are the experts on this one) and see if they have a product to dissolve the glue without damaging the photos.

I mean I know there is something out there - it's like Goop-Off or lighter fluid ( BUT DON'T USE THOSE) but it's a liquid that comes in a nozzle bottle that you squeeze on and it will gently eat the glue but the photo has minimum damage to it.

Any how ...

Just wanted to share about the copies ...

I think it's a wonderful idea ... Even if it is expensive - you are probably only to need/want this type of service so price will be a smaller factor in the long run.

Happy Birthday To You, Happy Birthday To You ...

Happy Birthday Boy Scouts of America!!

No word as to how President Obama celebrated ... actually I haven't heard much about him and the BSA in the news, even though he is the Honorary Head of the Boy Scouts ....

it would have been totally cool if they had been given a free tour of the White House while they were there (I'm pretty sure it costs something) ... maybe even gotten to see Obama wave at them ...

How about a mention during the Weekly Presidential address? I will have to check -- but I'm guessing he hasn't said "Boo" about it so far this year ....

He was supposed to have been a Cub Scout - so it really surprises me that he doesn't seem to be making a bigger deal out of this ....

must be because he has girls instead of boys ....

of course ...

I don't think his girls are in Scouting either .... wonder why?

SHAME ON YOU

**shame on Fox News too for making it sound like this was all set up and ready to go and then was cancelled -- naughty naughty!
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So there was a proposal before the CA State Assembly to honor the work done by the Boy Scouts of America, in particular the local councils in CA ....

It was to mark the Boy Scouts 100th anniversary of the good deeds thay have done in America (around the world its been even longer) ....

But ALONG PARTY LINES the resolution was voted down ...

now in all fairness, there are only 10 members in the state Assembly - 3 Republicans, 7 Democrats - and by the sounds of it, this happens a LOT.

But the thing that got me was the statement as to why they turned it down:

"As with similar resolutions introduced in the past, the resolution raises once again the sincere and troubling concerns expressed historically by many members of this Committee and a host of groups and individuals committed to equality and nondiscrimination, because the proposed resolution seeks to put the California Legislature on record commemorating an organization that has long discriminated against individuals because of their sexual orientation or religious views."

From L.A. Times, "Assembly Kills Resolution Honoring Boy Scouts"

Okay - first, it has already been ruled on by the Supreme Court of the United States .... you know that one that they love to use as the Final Word on Abortion Rights? ... has said that since the Boy Scouts are a private group, they can set their own policies.

second, the Boy Scouts do NOT discriminate based on religion -- if they do then that is a local problem not a National one.

The following religions are listed as recognized for the Religious Medal scouts can earn (and yes, not every religion is offered but that does not equal discrimination ... Visit the P.R.A.Y site for all the religions offered):

African Methodist Episcopal
Armenian Church - Eastern Diosese
Amenian Church - Western Prelacy
Association of Unity Churches
Baha'i
Baptist
Buddhist
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (Mormon)
Churches of Christ
Eastern Catholic
Eastern Orthodox
Episcopal
First Church of Christ, Scientist
General Church of New Jerusalem
Hindu
Islamic
Jewish
Lutheran
Meher Baba
Moravian
Polish National Catholic
Presbyterian Church
Protestant/Independant Christian/Non-Denominational
Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
Reorganized Church of the Latter Day Saints
Roman Catholic
Salvation Army
United Church of Christ
United Methodist
Zoroastrian

This is So Sad!!!

A Boy Scout leader died on a troop rafting trip on a popular whitewater stretch of the Snake River.
Craig McCuistion of Rexburg, Idaho, drowned Friday after being thrown from his raft when it hit a rapid known as Three Oar Deal. McCuistion was leading a Boy Scout rafting trip with other adults.
Lincoln County Coroner Michael Richins says McCuistion was wearing a life jacket but was sucked under by a whirlpool.
Another trip leader was thrown from the raft but was able to swim away, Richins said. All of the Boy Scouts stayed in the raft and were unhurt. Richins said he did not know how may Scouts were on the trip.
McCuistion was 50, according to an obituary in the Idaho Falls Post Register.

Sorry I lost the link to the original story -- I will try to find it and update this post

This is especially sad for the kids as they look upon these leaders not just as authority figures but as extended members of their families ... like an uncle or in some cases a grandfather. Members of the troop are more than just friends they are like brothers in many cases.

My prayers and thoughts go out to each member of the troop and to the leaders family.

++now on a totally curiosity note++

what is with all these deaths at age 50 this week?? First its Michael Jackson, then its the Pitchman guy (so sorry, I know who it is, I'm just totally blanking out on his name at the moment) and now its this troop leader ... what gives??

Camp out Luck out

Well we are back from Boy Scout camp ... it was only the weekend (2 nights, 2 days) and we carpooled with the other mom from son's cubpack that moved up with him...we took our van and she bumped in $20 for gas and supper! She didn't need to do that ... we only got gut-bombs (for those who don't know, that's a local term for White Castle burgers...other places call them 'sinkers'...but that has always been used for a term for dumplings around here), and well the camp was just over 1/2 hr away so it wasn't that much gas -- but it was nice of her. Okay it was incredibly nice of her - and way more than she should have considering she was doing all the driving. I will have to pay her back somehow with out her feeling I'm giving a 'refund' to her, don't want to embarrass her.

It was interesting to say the least -- it was a dangerous balancing act. The boys are boyscouts now and are supposed to do a lot of stuff on their own, yet they are still in that 'got to be told or it doesn't get done' stage of their developement --- you know the stage....when you send them in to wash up you have to specify step by step what to do or else they forget that yes they must use soap until there's bubbles, and yes the water does have to be on, and yes they must dry off their hands on a CLEAN TOWEL and not the one in the hamper or their shirt/pants which are also filthy...you know that stage.

And then there are us parents...there were three mothers - me, the other cub mom, and a new mom who transferred in from another city and so her son is very new and doesn't know a soul - and the other parents (like 5 or 6) were guys who know each other thru the city youth sport system so they all hung out together and left us ladies alone ... it was pretty interesting to watch.

When we sat at a table, mother's would be at one table with the kids (usually ours would sit as close to us as they could) and the father's seemed to gather around one table with only a few scouts around them. Interesting. The fathers disappeared quite a bit and I recall hearing something being whispered amongst them about going into town for a couple of beers, although nothing was really mentioned to us. The new mom had mentioned going in for some wine, but neither the other cub-mom or I are drinkers so I have to admit we kind of laughed it off.

I really wished I had taken the regular digi cam though...we did take a disposable camera (which my son used to take photos of trees-he was trying for birds...he loves birds) and I also had hubby's digicam binocs (which never did get taken out) but the disp. cam had a flash ... and the binocs would have been too close and I can't figure out exactly how to use them because the directions weren't in the box. but now I will have to wait til I finish the disp cam to develope it to get the photos for posting...sorry.

I would love to have taken some stealth photos of the boys working on there achievements - even if they didn't do that many this weekend - I got the feeling that they would have done more but the boys were just too new to stick to it, yet.

We also learned that the troop leader wasn't feeling the best but he stuck it thru - I've got to give him credit...he looked like shit the one day...but he trucked on.

We ate the cooking of the boys - and actually they didn't do bad at all! It was very good...the sanitation of the whole thing needs to be worked on though. They were not getting the dishes very clean - but maybe that's just the mother in me talking. Things like washing with cold, or at least tepid, water; not washing hands very well if at all (cookers had to wash hands); cutting food directly on the counter; kids leaving the cooking area and then coming back -- that sort of thing (oh and the 5 second rule too ... sends a shiver when you know where their feet had been).

By the time we got up there Friday night it was twilight and getting dark fast so we didn't see that there were three latrines (I will use the proper term) fairly close together along the path - well okay, we didn't pay that close attention to it, we were busy trying to get everything to the proper 'cabin' (can you say one large room with a partitioned section for mom's?)...so we had one scout leader point out to us in the morning that we had been using the wrong one - and that the one marked women (about 15 steps farther on the path, if we had only bothered to look - oh my words not his, he was very polite about it) would more than likely be much cleaner by the end of the first day...but he was wrong, it was cleaner by the end of the first NIGHT--boys do not aim well in the dark and I swear they try to gross out the next kid who will use it...it just sends shivers down my spine thinking about it and makes me want to stick my hands in bleach.

And the photos online of the cabins...lied. There were no bunks, but we thought ahead and brought a couple of airmats for the boy & I...which were the least comfy things I have ever slept on. I am a side sleeper (sorry if its TMI) and the air in the cushion kept going down to the feet instead of staying nicely distributed .... or at least somewhat distributed ... so my ilia (hip bone) was being ground into the wooden floor all night long. Needless to say - I did not sleep well, flip one side, flip to the other, flip to the back, repeat. I didn't think of it, I probably should have switched to my belly...I was a belly sleeper before I had babies and I could probably have done it and slept better although I think my back would have been hurting too.

I thought about taking the cots again like we did for Webelos Woods, but talked myself out of it -- never ever again!! Cots will be mandatory camping gear, now I just need to find a nice one that can support 300 lbs ( that should be enough for an adult plus camping gear), Cabelas had some nice ones with built-in mosquito netting which would be nice for the big Camporee & Tomahawk campouts - at least for the adults ... but I have to order them well before so we have time to test them out. And actually they would be really nice for using as a sick-cot around the house all year...we only have one hear now and if one gets sick usually another of the kids will get sick during the same time -- esp. during flu season. it will be a purchase.

I digress, not unusual, but bothersome.

So we had nice warm weather on Sat. not as warm as they thought ... the weather guys said ti was supposed to get into the 50's with rain changing to snow sat night/sun morning. That was pretty scary when we saw the hill we had to drive down to get to the campsite -- the thing had to be nearly a 75* grade and the side of the cliffs more so! And curvy -- holy cow -- anything over 2 mph and you could have lost control going down ... only thing would have been a single cable linked between some posts...that's it and in some places they didn't even have the cables ... very scary.

So the thought of the van having to drive up it when it was sloppy, wet, and muddy with a driver who didn't really know what it could do was pretty frickin' scary.

But we lucked out == in that it didn't get rainy or extremely cold ... in fact it got to about 46*F on Sat and got up to 50*F yesterday and no rain ... and since it didn't get below freezing Sat night the water on the road was able to drain well enough for the van not to have a problem -- otherwise the puddles on the walk paths were over the top of the foot .... so about 3-4 inches deep and that was with them draining well!

Well knew I shouldn't have counted my chickens before they were hatched. Its the Spring Opener in Baseball (which really means nothing to me other than the irony) and tomorrow is April Fool's Day -- and the blizzard is here TODAY (see what I meant about irony?)

We are supposed to get 3-5" of new snow by 3pm today and then get 4-6 more after that when it starts to fall 1" per hour!!! They say it should take just a couple of days to melt but still...we were getting green coming and everything and now we are a dirty white again. No biggie to me - I LOVE the snow...prefer it to humidity, heat, bugs, sunburn, sweat, etc .... its just the wind that gets me -- I have found that if its cold I'm okay but the wind just slices thru me!

SO we did pretty good for the camping -- the boys earn their 'scout' moniker tonight at the meeting and from here they can start working on their 'Tenderfoot" badge and then onto earning some of those cool achievement badges that they wear on the sash.

Hopefully it won't get cancelled due to snow -- although I can't see it ... after all they don't cancel camping trips for it!

Yes they HAD to say it

Okay so I'm doing some looking for camping gear & pet gear ... since son is in reg. Boy Scouts now he will be doing tons of camping trips ... but thought perhaps the whole family would enjoy camping incl. the dog, but some precautions needed to be taken -- such as what happens if Addy decides to go for a swim for longer than she can keep up the energy (Newfs are known for that, they love the water so much) So I went looking for Doggie Life Vests -- yes they actually make them.

Well I stopped over at the Campmor.com website (my FIL has been getting their catalog for years now, even though he doesn't camp) and found an ad for a fairly nice one. It has neo-prene so it will keep puppy nice and warm in the water -- next to getting tired the next enemy of your dog in the water is cold -- and it comes in XXL which hopefully will fit a Newfie.
It only costs $20 .... but imagine my disappointment when I looked at the photo:
Yeah, that's right .... they don't supply the dog.

Can you believe they had to actually put on the photo 'Dog Not Included'? That probably means that at some point some single-toothed, beer-swigging, stick-for-a-family-tree person actually thought that they would get the dog!

Either that or they know that somewhere out there is a person who would look at the ad and truly think "hell, I can get a doggie life-vest AND a dog for only $20"

Tea and Sympathy

Well--I just got back from Coffee Clutch time with the other mothers from Cub Scouts--at least the ones I know & like--but I, of course, had some Earl Grey tea. Not too bad, less than $2 for a double cup of tea...took the oldest daughter along since she was meeting a friend to go over a presentation they are doing next week and she wanted a coffee....some fancy dansy thing that cost $4!
I told her I could remember when coffee was 25 cents a cup, and even then I thought it was too expensive--she's killing me here.

Well I packed up my iPod, my compendium of Jane Austen novels, a ball of Svale yarn and my dpns...just in case.

Well got caught up on all the latest gossip....learned my kids really aren't that unusual as far as kids go, and that most of the issues they have would be solved if teachers just took a more active role in letting parents know what's going on instead of expecting the kids to do it.

One mother had an issue with her kid thinking that he was failing a class when he in fact was doing really really well with it...just that the way the teacher had worded things and looked at the kids he thought he was one of the two failing kids in class. Now why the hell would let the entire class in on someone's grade? I don't care if he didn't mention a name, I don't care if he didn't feel he pointed anyone out---you don't do that! If you are having troubles with one of the kids getting their homework done then he should have a conference with that kid & his/her parents--not air it out in front of the whole class.

Another mother was telling how her kid has to take 'bullying classes' (kind of like 'anger management') because some kid accused her son of calling him a 'he-she'....which he claims he didn't do....but he was under the impression that unless he confessed that he would be suspended for 6weeks! now that's wrong! The teacher didn't hear it happen...and he is going on one child's word over another....and the accused is swearing up & down that he didn't do it...and there is no proof it happened....so why would they automatically lean on this kid? My guess is that there is more going on in this situation than the mother knows of---but the only way she is going to find out is to talk to the teacher and the vice-principal about it.

This is really too bad...he's a sweet kid. I just can't see him doing anything like this...at least not on purpose...I don't even think he would know what it means. his mom did say one of the other kids in the class apologized to him after he got in trouble ~=~ so it must have happened in front of the whole class instead of keeping it private ~=~ so mom is thinking that perhaps the apologizer is the one who really said it.

I just hope this doesn't show up on his permanent record--I have known this boy for 3 1/2 yrs and I just can't see him doing it. Yes he will stand up for himself if he feels wrong/slighted, but I can't see him doing the bullying. I know he did have problems with a bully at the old school but that kid hasn't bothered him yet this year (that anyone knows of).

Well we chatted for a couple of hours. Daughter met one of her friends to work on their project and when the other mother's wanted to go she wanted to stay...good thing I packed up extra stuff.

Well the girls finished what they had to do, but her friend's mother wasn't going to get her until 4pm...so we decided to stay a bit longer since daughter was 'helping' her with her homework and I got to know the girl a little. A bit flaky, but then I suppose I was at her age too. Finally at 4pm I asked if her mom was coming to get her at 4 when she said, no she called and wouldn't be coming until after 5pm. Well we couldn't wait that long--besides I couldn't do any reading with those two chattering--but she was nice enough to let me use her cell phone to call hubby to get us. Actually it took two calls...one home to find out that hubby had gone into work...she was really nice about it.

So we left her there but she said she would be alright--I hope she is.

Well all is done for now---got two pages read (I just can't read in that kind of enviroment anymore) and absolutely no knitting (daughter discouraged it)---now I just have to wait for the cry of 'but we have to get together to put the project together' from her.

well....I wanted to do a review of the tea I had.

This is what happens when you have someone talk about what they don't know anything about!!

FOXNews.com - Boy Scouts Mandate Anti-Bully Tactics - Local News News Articles National News US News:

"Dorothy Espelage, a professor of educational psychology at the University of Illinois, credited the Boy Scouts for mandating the lessons. But she had hoped the material would also have some advice for Scouts who might sometimes bully others.

'You know that some of these Boy Scouts are bullies, and that they're ringleaders,' Espelage said. 'Why do we always put it on the victim to change their behavior?'"

HEY LADY before you start to speak....why don't you learn the Boy Scout law?

The Boy Scout Law
A boy scout is:

Trustworthy

Loyal

Helpful

Friendly

Courteous

Kind

Obedient

Cheerful

Thrifty

Brave

Clean

&

Reverent.

NOTICE THE FOUR TREATISES THAT WOULD DISSUADE A SCOUT FROM BULLYING!!!

I don't know where people get the idea that scouts are bullies....if you see scouts in movies think of how they are portrayed...they bully girl scouts....they are militant...they are....STOP!!!

Okay....MacGyver. Does anyone remember this show???
HE was a boy scout.
he was also one of the best friends you could ever make not just because he could save your life with a piece of string and a AA battery, but because he was kind, loyal, and avoided violence & bullying at all cost.

THAT is what a boy scout is.

Button crazy

Okay as you can see I have gone button happy now that I've figured it out. Two new buttons are for the BSA and the local GSA council...I highly recommend supporting these two groups in your area if nothing else. They have done more to keep kids out of trouble than any other organization in my mind.

Many brownie troops are teaching their girls to knit...why you may ask? Because they have a campaign going to make socks for the soldiers over seas and for people in elderly care centers. Locally we used to have a program called The Little Red Stocking which contained small gifts inside a red stocking (duh) along with a pair of hand knitted or crocheted mittens and maybe a matching hat if the crafter made one. Now it seems to be a "money only" type of thing, but several of the nursing homes/care centers still like to have the girls donate handmade items such as dishclothes for the residents...especially for those who don't usually get any visitors.

Well I see I have been getting long winded lately so I will cut this post short tonight and get working some more on my partners socks...I just got done translating the pattern to her Hufflepuff colors. I hope she likes it, I tried for a pattern that will take the bumblebee component out of the color scheme.