Learn to Stamp and Scrap with Lynn Larson

Happy Labor Day Weekend & Garlic Festival, Bennington, VT

I hope you are all enjoying your Labor Day weekend!  It was a great day to be outside.  A little windy from what is left of Hurricane Earl, but a nicer weekend than everyone first thought it would be.

I spent the day with my hubby.  We went over to the Garlic Festival in Bennington, VT which is about 45 minutes away from us.  We got there early and did lots of tasting at the vendor booths.  There were things like garlic pickles, garlic dips, pickled garlic, garlic fudge, homemade breads, whole wheat garlic pockets, garlic nuggets, garlic jellies, garlic chocolate chip cookies and different varieties of pestos.

 

For garlic items, we bought some German White Garlic to grow in our garlic (and to cook with), some Garlic Pepper Jelly (yummy), organic dried garlic and some traditional pesto.  I always purchase some homemade soaps and lotions while there too.  I love the Oatmeal Almond soap and this time I also tried some Coconut soap along with some Almond Shea Butter Lotion and Almond Salt Scrub. 

I really love homemade items and this is the place to go to get them.  The prices are great and the quality of the items is even better.  LOVE going and glad we made it again this year. 

While we were out that far, we stopped at a couple little shops in the area we have been wanting to stop at that are just over the border in New York.  We had lunch at the Great Moose in Hoosick, NY.  Pulled pork, coleslaw with green tea to drink and then ice cream for dessert.  I even found some great crafting ideas while browsing around!

Great day, now back to reality.  I need to get some housework and laundry done:))

Have a great weekend!

Lynn Larson - www.learntostampandscrap.com

 

Parade for Division 3 State Champions - Leland and Gray!

The day after the Leland and Gray varsity boys baseball team won their second straight Division 3 State Championship, there was a parade on the common out in front of the high school.  The kids start off in the parking lot of Mary Meyer Stuffed Toys where they are paired up with fire trucks from their home towns. 

Before heading up to the common for the parade, we stopped by Mary Meyer and took this picture of Cody with the trophy.  You can see the fire trucks starting to line up behind him. 

 

Cody rode on the Wardsboro Fire Truck along with his long time buddy, Chris Marcucci and assistant coach Greg Marcucci.  Here they are coming down Route 30 heading toward the high school.

 

This is a close-up of Cody and Chris when the firetruck parked in front of the school.  Chris is holding the trophy.

 

Below is the cake (n green and white) celebrating the championship!

 

 

Here is a close-up of the seniors on the team along with the two coaches.  From left to right in the photo are assistant coach Greg Marcucci, Chris Marcucci, my son Cody in the middle, Paul Symanski and the coach Tom Russell on the right.

 

 

 

Great way to end a season guys!

Lynn

Leland and Gray Clinch Division 3 Championship Title

As most of you know, my son, Cody has been in the baseball finals the last couple weeks.  I have been a "Leland and Gray Groupie" following the team around and cheering them all on.  Last night I even lost my voice by the 5th inning (most people I know can't believe it, but it's true!).  I woke up this morning with a scratchy, sore throat and I couldn't talk.  I certainly did my share of screaming last night!

So let me tell you about last night's game held at the University of Vermont's Centennial Field in Burlington, Vermont.  We were there for our final game of the season and looking to defend our title of Division 3 Vermont State Champions.  

Cody played an awesome game.  He made an incredible catch in the 6th inning and scored the winning run in the bottom of the 7th (both of which you can hear about and see on the TV news video link below!).  His name is in all of the papers and he was even featured on two of our local news channels.

The above picture was taken at the end of the game last night after the trophies were presented to the team.  Cody is the one up on the shoulders on the left with his baseball hat on.  Woo hoo Rebels!

You can check out the articles and videos here:

WNNE-TV 31 News and WPTZ-TV 5 News Video (Cody happens to be the one with the sunglasses holding the trophy at the start of this video too!)

WCAX-TV 3 Article and Video (you need to click on the link next to the video camera)

Burlington Free Press Newspaper

Rutland Herald Newspaper

Brattleboro Reformer Newspaper

Times Argus - Barre Newspaper

Way to end the season Leland and Gray and what a way for Cody to end his senior year!!  Our sports banquet is being held Monday night.  I can't wait!

Thanks for stopping by!

Lynn Larson (proud mom of Cody Larson #7) - www.learntostampandscrap.com

Leland and Gray Rebels are Heading for the Division Championships

I told you that the end of the school year is a little hectic.  Not only is this Cody's senior year with graduation coming up in a couple of weeks, but he had two proms to attend, applied for college at the last minute and plays varsity baseball for Leland and Gray.  His baseball team has a 13-2 record and placed #1 in the state and in their league for the regular baseball season.

 

The team is heading off to the playoffs for their division this week with 2-3 games each week for the next two weeks.  The team won the division championships last year and is looking to defend their title this year.  The final game of the playoffs is taking place at the University of Vermont's field in Burlington, Vermont.  That field is HUGE and equipped with stadium lights.  It is like watching a major league baseball game when you go there to watch a game.  it is great fun watching the game "up north".  The only downfall is that game is 3 hours travel time each way from us!

Wish us luck the next two weeks.  The Rebels are looking to clench the division championship title again this year.  It would be an awesome way for Cody to finish off his senior year!

Take care,

Lynn Larson - www.learntostampandscrap.com

Prom #2

I have certainly been among the missing this past week.  The end of the school year always seems crazy and I don't manage to get on the computer much. 

About two weeks ago I shared photos of Cody's senior prom at Leland and Gray.  This weekend, Cody had another prom to attend.  This time it was for his girlfriend, Ginny's prom for Twin Valley High School in Wilmington, VT.

I wanted to share just a couple of photos from last night with you.  Here are the flowers that Cody got for Ginny.  Since she is so tiny, we ordered a petite wristlet with miniature white roses.

 

Here is a picture of the handsome young lad just as he finished dressing.  His hair is still wet and tossled but he still looks "stinkin' cute" - even if I must say so myself:))

 

Ok, I bet you want to see the cute couple together - don't you?  Here they are...

 

Proms are now over for the year - yeah!  It is awesome to see everyone all dressed up though!

Thanks for indulging in my prom sharing again this week:))

Lynn Larson - www.learntostampandscrap.com

Prom Night

Last night was my son Cody's senior prom.  I got a little trigger happy with the camera the minute he got his tuxedo on.  He didn't even have his shoes on in this photo:))

His grandmother was here waiting to see Prince Charming all dressed up so I grabbed the two of them to take a quick picture before Cody left to pick up his girlfriend, Ginny.

 

Doesn't he look so "stinkin' handsome"?  It's a little hard to see in this photo, but Cody's vest and tie are camo.  When he was walking out the door he grabbed one of his 5 or 6 camo baseball caps and said that he was going to tell Ginny that he was going to wear it with his tux (the goof ball that he is).

Here they are at the end of the prom.  I snuck in just before the Grand March and they were so kind to pose for three whole pictures...  Luckily the camo cap stayed in the truck!

 

Cody and Ginny also went to the junior prom together last year.  Here is what they looked like back then...

 

They do look a little older this year don't they?  Man, they grow up so quickly.  

Thanks for stopping by,

Lynn Larson - www.learntostampandscrap.com

Quick Trip to Maine

 

My hubby and I decided that we wanted to make a quick day trip to the beach.  We left Tuesday afternoon, spent the night and came home this evening.

Above is a picture of Darryl and I taken while we were out for a walk Wednesday morning on Wells Beach.  We walked for about 45 minutes before heading out to Kennebunkport to our favorite seafood restaurant - Cape Pier Chowder House on Pier 77 in Cape Porpoise.
 

 

After lunch we headed down to Ogunquit to Perkins Cove to walk the sea coast on Marginal Way.  (Thanks Arthur for recommending this side trip - it was fabulous!).

 

The picture above shows the view from part of the walking path.  It was absolutely gorgeous there!

 

This is the end of Marginal Way Walkway (on the Ogunquit Beach side).  I loved seeing the tulips in bloom with the ocean in the background.

 

Check out these beautiful tulips!  What a gorgeous day and incredible scenery!!

 

After the 3 mile round trip walk on Marginal Way, we walked around the little village at Perkins Cove.  The photo above shows the tulips in bloom with an outdoor patio seating area on the right and outdoor balcony seating area on the left - both are part of Barnacle Billy's restaurant.  Beautiful views, beautiful little village and cute little shops were there to visit as well.  If you haven't been to Perkins Cove or Ogunquit Beach before, I highly recommend it. 

We had a fabulous quick trip to Maine.  We couldn't ask for better weather.  It was the perfect little getaway and mini vacation.  We got to visit three fabulous towns, relax and do some of our favorite things all in one fabulous day.

Thanks for stopping by - be sure to stop back tomorrow for more stamping samples!

Lynn Larson - www.learntostampandscrap.com

Timber...

Some of you who have been reading my blog for awhile might remember the terrible ice storm we suffered here in the northeast.  We were without power for five days and trees were snapped all over the mountains around us by the hundreds.  If you missed that post, you can check it out here:

http://www.learntostampandscrap.com/learn_to_stamp_and_scrap_/2008/12/ice-storm-photos-west-wardsboro-stratton-dover-vermont.html

The pictures I took of the ice were actually kind of pretty with the sun shining on the ice.  However, now that spring is here and the snow is nearly gone, the devastation of the ice storm can be found and there is a lot of clean-up to be done.  Many people in our area lost branches, large chunks of trees and whole trees throughout their yards.

My son, Cody, is a tree climber and is helping neighbors in our area clean up their yard by climbing trees using his climbing gear (he does wear a harness) and cutting down the broken branches or trees that have been so severely damaged that he has to cut them all down.

Here are some photos of Cody working:

 

Do you notice all the tree tops next to the tree Cody is in?  He is pretty high up there even though you can't completely tell from this picture.

 

Below are a few more pictures from another day when Cody was working in our yard:

 

Yeah...he is high up there!

 

Cody was climbing to wrap a rope around the top of this tree so we could pull it with the four-wheeler since we had the barn just down the hill from the tree and our guest house to another side of the tree.

 

Back on the ground again.  Unhooking and getting ready to cut the tree down.  Oh, that is our barn right behind Cody:))

 

Cutting the tree down - the guest house is shown in the background of this picture.

 

Timber...the tree landed right where we wanted it!  Cody is cleaning up the tree by taking off the branches.  After that, he and Darryl bucked the tree up into chunks and stacked the tree in our wood pile for splitting.

Cody is actually graduating high school in June and wants to start his own property management business.  Cody will be doing things like tree climbing and cutting, tree clean-up, lawn care, spring and fall clean-up, plowing and supplying firewood among other things. 

If you are in the Southern Vermont; Colrain/Greenfield, Massachusetts;  Keene/Hinsdale, New Hampshire or other surrounding areas and need some help with tree clean-up after this winter or any of the other services Cody offers, please feel free to contact him at 802-896-6694. 

I will see you back her tomorrow with a BIG announcement!

Lynn Larson - www.learntostampandscrap.com