Four New Eagles

On May 3, 2026 we attended an Eagle Court of Honor for four Scouts from our troop: Bryan, Spencer, Logan, and Brandon. All Eagle Courts of Honor are special, but this one was particularly meaningful for me. I was there when each boy joined our troop for the first time. I watched all four progress through all seven ranks and I sat on at least one Board of Review for each of them. I taught them skills as a merit badge counselor and camped with them. And, perhaps most significantly, Steve and I planned the 2021 COVID-replacement summer camp at Sugarloaf Ridge State Park, which all four loved so much that they chose that location for their Eagle ceremony. 

Four New Eagles (affiliate link)

As if this Court of Honor weren't already so meaningful, the new Eagles chose Trevor to be the Master of Ceremonies. Trevor was the Senior Patrol Leader when three of the four joined the troop, so from the beginning they saw him as a role model. Trevor is 2 years older than Bryan, Spencer, and Logan, and 3 years older than Brandon, so it's no surprise that they relied on him for guidance during their paths to Eagle. And it was a huge compliment that they selected him as MC. 

The whole day was full of Proud Mom moments, but none so much as when Logan and Bryan each named Trevor as a mentor and awarded him a mentor pin. And then I had a Proud Wife moment, when Logan and Spencer each named Steve as a mentor! What a day. Huge congrats to Bryan, Spencer, Logan, and Brandon for their accomplishment. We're all so proud of you. 

Poutine and Babka

Trevor and Logan enjoy cooking elevated dishes together. They're excellent cooks, but their time management skills need some work. We normally eat dinner around 6:00 pm, so we were pretty hungry when they served short rib poutine at 10:15. The chocolate and peanut butter babka was ready at 10:30. Despite it being past my bedtime (I normally go to bed at 9:00), the wait was worth it. Both dishes were excellent. 

Poutine and Babka (affiliate link)

Not only do I love that this layout is now in the album, I love the layout itself! It's totally my aesthetic, with the simple design, clean lines, and pop of color with the neutrals. I like that I fit in four photos and that I gave myself plenty of room for journaling. I really like the title work and polka dots make me happy.  

Picnic Day 2025

I always have a great time at Picnic Day, the annual open house at UC Davis. This year was extra fun, as our Scout friends Logan, Avery, and Bobby joined us. They'd never been before, so we were able to introduce them to maggot art, popcorn shelling, and all of our other favorite Picnic Day traditions. And Trevor showed us something that even Steve and I hadn't seen before -  the third-floor greenhouse in the Sciences Laboratory Building where he'd had for BioSci classes. It was a great day. 

Picnic Day 2025 (affiliate link)

For this challenge, we had to use one of four sketches for our layout design. This is the one I chose: 

As you can see, I increased the size of the photo block in order to include five pictures. There isn't a spot for journaling on the sketch, so I swapped out the flowers for circles that could hold my journaling. 

This is a very rare layotu of mine that has absolutely no white. I almost always mat photos with white and I frequently use white to house my journaling. I like this color combination and I'm happy with the completed page. 

A Taste of New Orleans

For the past few years, Trevor and Logan have been making increasingly fancy desserts every time their Scout troop goes camping. They've made all sorts of things, from scratch, that one would not normally associate with A) camping; or B) teenage boys. But they outdid themselves in December. They had access to the professional kitchen in the lodge at Camp Herms, so they cooked a New Orleans-inspired dinner for the whole troop. Jambalaya. Sweet potato fries. Beignets. All from scratch. To say it was a hit is an understatement. 

A Taste of New Orleans (affiliate link)

I wasn't on the trip, so I am very grateful to Steve for taking photos. Not only of the boys, but of his bowl of jambalaya as well. And I'm doubly appreciative that Steve packed home leftovers so I could try it too. Trevor and Logan are great cooks - the food was delicious! 

Speaking of Steve, today is his birthday. The first time I celebrated his birthday with him, he was turning 27 and we'd been dating for about five months. This year, he's 48 and we've been married for 19 years. Time flies when you're having fun! Happy birthday, Steve. I love you!

Family Camp 2023

Back in March, Trevor's Scout troop had a weekend campout for families. It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun too. I could have done without the heavy rain starting Saturday night, but I'm thankful for a dry Friday night and Saturday. 

Family Camp (affiliate link)

Between us, Steve and I took a ton of photos (no surprise). I wanted to include as many as possible on this layout. I think 11 is pretty good! Together, they tell much of the story of the weekend. You can see our troop flag and sign, plus some of the boys' tents, the creek (flowing much higher than the last time we camped at that location!), me serving Sunday breakfast under the pop-up tent, a good-sized banana slug, Trevor cooking in the dark, some pioneering, the sunrise, morning flags, and a group photo. And my favorite photo, the one of Trevor and Logan rolling out homemade puff pastry for an apple dessert. In the dark. On a camping trip. Homemade, from scratch, puff pastry. Those two love taking on a crazy cooking challenge while camping.

BYSS World Series 2023: Shopping Trip

I'm happy to report that my team, the Scrappin' Banshees, won Game 1 of the BYSS World Series 2023! This is my contribution for Game 2:

Shopping Trip (affiliate link)

This page tells the story of a shopping trip with Trevor and his friend and fellow Scout, Logan. As a bit of background: In our Scout troop, each patrol (6-8 kids) typically plans their own menus for each campout based on a budget of $5/person/meal. A designated Scout does the shopping, then everyone in the patrol helps with meal preparation and cleanup during the trip. I've taken Trevor shopping for campouts many times over the years. The first time, when Trevor was 11, was rough. I had to show him where everything was located, teach him about unit pricing, demonstrate how to keep a running total of his expenses, help him estimate the quantities needed for his patrol, teach him how to judge produce quality, coach him through his interaction with the cashier.... and a million other skills that I take for granted when I go shopping alone. Supervising Trevor's Scout shopping is still an exercise in patience for me, but he gets faster every time. 

Once in a while, the whole troop shares meals. This happens when the total group size is relatively small, or when the logistics of the camping location make it tough for 5 separate cooking stations (4 patrols of Scouts, plus 1 adult patrol). For the June 50-mile bike ride, all the Scouts ate together. Trevor and Logan agreed to do the shopping. Which meant I agreed to take them. It would have taken me about 40 minutes to go to the store, get everything on the list, load it up, and get back home. I figured it would take Trevor and Logan double that. It actually took two hours, and that was with me telling them where to find everything and gently pushing them to make decisions and move on. I had to keep reminding myself that they were learning important life skills, and that their friendly bickering and ongoing negotiations were good practice for when Trevor will potentially be shopping with/for college roommates. 

As I said, this layout was for the BYSS World Series. Here are the requirements for Game 2:

I'd actually printed four photos of Trevor and Logan shopping, but it was easy enough to drop one of them to meet the three-photo requirement. For the connected word, I snipped sentiment stickers to change them from uplifting phrases to the more blunt ones I needed. For specialty paper, I used vellum across the top and a metallic paper for my journaling. Speaking of metal, I groaned when I saw it on the requirement list. It showed up last year too. I really wish we could use metallic items rather than actual metal, but that's against the rules. Metal letters to the rescue! Last time, I colored them black with a Sharpie. This time, I left them plain. To get the grand slam, I distressed the brown edges. Grand slam for the Banshees!

Trevor's 17th Birthday

Trevor's 17th birthday fell the day after finals and the end of his 11th grade year. He had a big Scout trip that weekend and then we left for 16 days in New England. With all that was going on, Trevor didn't want to have a party. Instead, he opted to have two friends over for pizza and games. They had a great time and it was just what Trevor wanted. 

17th Birthday (affiliate link)

I only took one picture of Trevor and his friends. I used that, along with pictures of his birthday cheesecake and new t-shirt, to make this page. It was fun using so many different elements in the spaces that would normally be filled with photos.  

Magic the Gathering

Like many teens, Trevor enjoys playing video games. He is also a big fan of board games and card games. When he was 12, one of his fellow Scouts introduced him to Magic the Gathering (MTG) and he was instantly hooked. 

Magic the Gathering (affiliate link)

I had a lot of fun making this layout. The background paper is actually a sheet of white cardstock; you can't see it because I pieced the brick paper to cover it completely. (The brick paper had rooftops along the bottom that I didn't want on my finished layout.) For my title, I printed the MTG logo onto the cardstock I've been using for colored pencils. I journaled on metallic silver paper; I was pleasantly surprised how well the Micron pen worked on it. The final touch was adhering two very inexpensive Magic cards to the layout as an embellishment. 

If you have a tween or teen in your life who might be interested in MTG, I asked Trevor to put together this list of ideas for a beginner. Thanks, Trevor!