Joel and I have had a tradition the past few years of going to a farmer's market between the Saturday sessions of October General Conference. This year, we changed it up a little and went to an orchard.
Dane enjoyed picking the apples, and we enjoyed picking him up to help him reach.
We had to teach Dane to pull really hard. Here he is being strong:
Then, we'd tell him to put the apple in the bag, but its resemblance to a ball was too overpowering, and he ended up always throwing them into the bag. Or out of the bag.
Hey, look! It's Kenji! I took a picture of him! He's on the blog! He exists!
Happy Apple Day
All in all, our palates aren't sophisticated enough to tell the difference between fresh-picked-from-the-orchard and store-bought fruit. But the fresh, unpasteurized apple cider was so amazing. I am not one to use excessive capitalization, italicization, exclamation points, or exaggerated letter usage, but the apple cider was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO delicious!!!!!!! You should look up a local apple orchard and get some for yourself now. You will not regret it. At ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!
Now for the whining.
I am in charge of Super Saturday in our ward. I realize that the concept of "Super Saturday" has many iterations throughout the church. In our area, it is a mega-fancy craft extravaganza. Forget the fact that the purpose of Relief Society is to give charity or save souls or uplift or something. This momentous day is solely for creating cutesy decor and little gifts. I am a little bitter about it. Don't get me wrong; I have always enjoyed attending Super Saturday. But being in charge of it has been so time-consuming, stressful, and expensive. I do not exaggerate when I say that it has consumed my life for the better part of the past two months. Joel can attest. Where is my committee, you may ask. Some of them are no help; several of them are very helpful, but my person-formally-known-as-Enrichment leader just had a baby, and another person will have a baby right on Super Saturday day, so she is unable to help teach/make crafts. Anyway, it is not happening until November 21, but I had to have everything ready to display last Sunday so everyone could sign up. I will present to you the fruits of my labors. Pretty much all the crafts seem hideous and tiresome to me now since I've spent so much time on them, so if you could just do me a favor and tell me that at least one of them is cute and worth making, I'd appreciate it. And if my personal cynicism has not poisoned you and you would like to know how to make one, I'd be happy to let you know.
Stenciled Table Linens
Family Home Evening Board
Handmade Christmas Cards
Beaded Watches
(This is actually one that I have had no part in. My fellow counselor has made millions of these to match every outfit she owns, so she is spearheading the watches. Whew.)
Pierceware Ornaments
Fabric Covered Magnets
Mini Matchbox Advent Calendar (with a Christmas scene that appears as you turn each drawer around!)
Felt Advent Garland
So that's it. A few people have signed up for stuff so far. I need to keep setting up the display for the next few weeks to give people ample time to decide what they'd like to make. To assuage my bitterness, I added a food drive to the event. Take that, over-the-top Super Saturday.
14 comments:
OK, isn't it sad how dependent we've become on the internet? I'd feel isolated too without it. Maybe that's a sign I need to cut back anyway. :)
Good idea on the orchard. What a fun thing to do between sessions! And I did notice Kenji in one of the early photos - good job for documenting that he was actually there! :)
On the Super Saturday - I completely understand your bitterness. I'm sorry you've had to deal with this! As frustrated as I’ve been on the other side (not getting things done), I know it’s even more time-intensive and challenging on your side. The ideas do look pretty cute, though. If I were in your ward, I'd be enticed by the stenciled table linens, the Christmas cards, and the fabric magnets and pierceware ornaments. If I were feeling especially brave right now, I'd even sign up for the latter two (and I really wouldn't mind hearing about how to make them, just in case I decide I have a little time to do something cute like that). :) The FHE board looks pretty sleek, too. And the advent calendars are really cute. I would probably be tempted on those, and in my early RS days would sign up for one or both. But time has made me more aware of my own abilities and lack of time, so I'd pass now. But they are definitely cute. And the "turn the box around for a picture" - a very good idea.
Good for you for adding a food drive. That's a wonderful idea!
Ami, those are all some very fun looking crafts! We just had our Super Saturday today and I'll tell you we had probably half as many things to choose from and I didn't end up doing any of them. (Although I still went and had a great time). I however would have done several of yours! They're very creative. Way to choose some good ones. Hope lots of people sign up for them and make the trouble worth it.
Finally, the mythical Kenji creature emerges. Always wondered where he was.
Super Saturday sounds very Utah for some reason. Maybe we'll just stick around in Oklahoma to avoid any chance of having anything like that happen if we end up in Arizona as the probability of it happening will most likely spike incredibly there. Massachusetts, well, my guess is everyone will be too busy for anything there. We'll see I suppose.
Everything you made was pretty impressive. I thought they looked very well made. Hopefully you'll be able to use them for things around the house.
Love the strong man look. Also, I know have a LARGE box of clothing for you to go through, so you guys should come over...
I love those watches. I have been begging our formerly enrichment, now relief society meeting leaders to do them. I love the FHE board; however, our family is a little small for it at this time. The advent boxes are so cute and so are the cards. I wish that I could go. Maybe, I'll just make you teach me how to do them. We really should have come over for Conference and I would have helped you.
On a brighter note, I think that you are probably done with the hardest part of making all those crafts...right?
i like the advent things and the ornaments turned out really nice looking.
Mostly, I just can't believe you made all of those. My mind is exploding. If this had been my responsibility, I would've been curled up in the fetal position, biting my knuckles and humming tunelessly.
I agree with Laurie Jayne-I am very impressed that you made all those things. I love the FHE board. Of course, such an item would be useless to me, but it is still very cute and classy. I would also make the Christmas cards. Ask Melanee sometime about the year we had to make all of our mom's Christmas cards that she sent to people. I think she's repressed that.
Wow, Ami! To say that I'm impressed is inadequate. I would be happy to display any of your projects in my house, but if I were actually going to have to make them I think I would probably limit myself to the table linens, one of the advents (it would be hard to decide which one, though), ornaments, and if I was feeling really ambitious maybe an FHE board.
I also like that you added a food drive. Way to stick it to the man!
Ami- those are AMAZING!! WOW!! You should be in charge of super Saturday every year. I LOVE the matchbox calandar- how clever. Everything is so cute and adorable- how do you fit all your ideas in your head. Glad you got some fresh apples and juice- my parents squeeze their own every year and I got to try some when I went home. It was delish! My brother made the best thing- he used frozen fresh apple juice to make a slush and added gingerale- it..was..so..dang..good. Try it sometime.
Ami, I love that last picture of Dane at the orchard! And I would definitely do some of your crafts. I love the family home evening board and the magnets. Good luck with your super saturday.
Ami, your creations are cute for super saturday and may you never do another one! Apple picking is way funner with two pix of Kenji! and it makes me happy I've seen blog pix of Joel and Adam in their BSU birthday sweatshirts! I would choose the stenciled table linens but anything you do is really well done. I have to tell you that I finally sent about 10 unfinished Rel. Soc. craft projects including macrame to DI after storing them in a cupboard for 10 years! Mom F
Wow Ami! I am thoroughly impressed and pretty overwhelmed just looking at all the projects. Being a crafter myself, I know how much effort goes into all those projects. The little advent envelopes alone make my head spin. I'm in charge of one project for our SS this year and just that is stressing me out. I hope you get A LOT of credit for all the work you've done! Good work and I hope you survive it all!
Cute orchard pics too. My kids still insist that Dane and Addie are going to get married :)
Hi Ami - You have done a really good job with these! They all look fabulous! I know you'll have a very successful activity. I have never seen peirced ornaments before - what are they made of?
Echo your sentiments on the Super Saturday. My ward growing up and our stake in MD always did a big service project with our SS. Here we just do cutsie crafts, and I didn't even like anything they picked this year. I would have done yours, though!
Post a Comment