First Award Ceremony

Troop 44554 did their first official Awards Ceremony last night!  The girls received the majority of their badges last night.  We will continue to have monthly award presentations to give out awards as they are earned.  We did the award ceremony for the last half hour of the meeting. 

With my son's Cub Scout Pack, they hold Pack Meetings once a month and the first part is used for the award ceremony.  The parents also attend the meetings, however.  The scouts give their parents the badges and belt loops right after they are given them. 

With our Girl Scout troop, the parents have chose not to attend the meetings, as it is my neighbor girls and they just walk to my house.  So, I decided to use a small amount of hot glue to glue the awards to a section of poster board.  I wanted to make sure that the badges make it home in one piece, as well.

The girls were all really proud of all of the work that they have put in this year.

Thanks for reading!

 ~Vanessa

Brownies WOW! Wonders of Water & Daisies Make the World a Better Place TAP

At last night's meeting, we wrapped up the Brownies' WOW! Wonders of Water Take Action Project and combined that activity with the Daisy petal Make the World a Better Place.  For this service project, they decided to clean up litter at the drainage field in our neighborhood that the kids call a pond.  It really is a cool wetland/drainage field.

I had the girls carry three bags:  one for recycling, one for garbage, and one to cover their hands to pick up icky stuff.  Some neighbor boys came down to the pond as we were almost done, as they were curious what we were doing.  The girls educated them about what we were doing and why.  We came back to reflect on what we did and who would benefit from beautifying our local "wetland."

In two years, when the Daisies are Brownies, I would like to do water quality testing on the pond, if we can afford it.  I think that taking care of this local example of a wetland brings home the ideas that they learned about this year while completing this journey.  I will also price Earth Day badges, as the whole troop participated and they discussed other things that they learned about taking care of the environment from learning about it at school.

Thanks for reading!

 ~Vanessa

Funeral Potatoes

I decided to try out Funeral Potatoes today to go along with our Easter lunch.  I usually just make mashed potatoes, but wanted to try something new.  I grew up with many Mormon friends and heard about this recipe from them.  It's common at potlucks as well as wakes/funerals, hence the name.

I tried this recipe for it: http://www.ourbestbites.com/2011/04/funeral-potatoes/, only I didn't use onions and added bacon.  I also shredded potatoes myself instead of buying frozen ones.  The only thing that I will do differently next time is to use diced potatoes, but that's just a personal preference.

I hope everyone has a great Easter!

 ~Vanessa

Relative's Ungrateful Birthday Girl

Yesterday was my mom's youngest child's 5th birthday.  (In case I haven't mentioned it before, my mom had a 2-part mid-life crisis about 10 years ago.  She divorced my dad, then re-married a year later and had kids that are the same age as my kids.)  They had the party today.  It was pouring down rain all day, so I didn't really want to go, but it's family and these kids are the only people in our family that are close to their age.

As soon as we walk in (dripping wet), I hand the birthday girl her present and she immediately sets it down and says, "ewww, it's wet," and drops it like it has cooties.  Our mother is standing right there and says nothing.

The older child had a birthday in January, but they decided that they couldn't afford to have a party for her.  I felt bad for her, even if her own parents didn't, so I got the two girls Disney Princess Ballerina Barbies.  The oldest got Cinderella and the youngest got Belle.

When they opened them, the oldest mumbled something.  Maybe a "thank you?"  And went off and played video games.  The birthday girl shoved it away and announced that she didn't like it.  I told our mom that I'd just return it and I am done buying her kids presents.  They never show any appreciation.  I especially don't understand it as they live in a single wide trailer from the '70s that is falling apart.  They don't have electricity in half of their house.  I wouldn't be surprised if it gets condemned someday.  These kids are lucky when my mom and step dad choose to celebrate their birthdays, so it blows my mind that they act like stuck up snobs!

The birthday girl said that she'd only like the present if she got both of them, so our mom gave away the oldest's present to pacify her.  She should have paddled her butt right then and there!  Or at least corrected the ungrateful brat!  She is doing them no favors in life.  I don't know if it's my mom's age or if she really thinks that this is acceptable behavior.  I just can't believe that this is how these kids are being raised.  I'm so embarrassed of them and embarrassed for them.

I just don't get it.  I wonder if it's because my family is also low income or even because of my weight.  Regardless of how much someone makes or what they look like, that is no way to treat someone.  These kids are going to be so screwed up.

Sorry for the rant.  I promise to have a more positive one tomorrow.

~Vanessa

Brownies Painting Badge - Step 4

The whole troop participated in an exploration of painting without the use of paintbrushes.  Each girl made two paintings.  They utilized:  tin cans, yard, Q-tips, and cotton balls in place of paintbrushes.

For the first painting, I had them them dot primary colors of paint on their paper and roll the tin can across to spread the paint along the paper.  I really wanted them to be able to see the ridges from the cans on the painting when it dried.  For the second painting, they could create anything they wanted using the other household objects.

Here are their masterpieces:

I think the paintings were supposed to be abstract for the most part.  One of the Daisies said that she was making an Easter egg (the third painting).  A Brownie said that her painting (the bottom one) was supposed to be the Truffula Tree forest from The Lorax.

I only had to spend $2.38 for the project!  I already had paint, most of the household objects, and construction paper.  I only had to buy the cotton balls and two pieces of poster board from Dollar Tree!

They liked the paint covered tin cans and intended to keep them as pencil holders.  However, the water color paint flaked off and made a mess all over the table where I was letting everything dry.  We will have to figure out another type of paint that would work better for sticking to tin cans another time.

Thanks for reading!

 ~Vanessa

St. Patrick's Day Traditions

My husband and I decided to start a St. Patrick's Day tradition about three years ago.  We wanted a tradition that is special to our family and won't interfere with other family traditions and plans.  His ancestry is:  Greek, Dutch, and Indonesian.  My ancestry is mostly Scotch-Irish, though my family just celebrates American holidays and traditions.

That first year, we decided to cut out green leprechaun footprints and make a trail through the house from the front door, though the living room, over the kitchen table, through the kitchen, and out the back door.  We sprinkled confetti and glitter over the trail of footprints.  Our leprechauns also leave a treat for the kids, usually a green candy and a juice.  The kids were 2 and 4 at the time, so we did this while they took a nap and they woke up to the leprechaun trail.

I almost forgot that it was St. Patrick's Day today!  The kids are next door at a birthday party right now, so I decided to make the leprechaun trail.  Since I almost forgot and I don't know how soon they'll be back, I used glittery shamrock table decorations and confetti.  I can't wait until they come home and find the leprechaun trail!

Do you have any special St. Patrick's Day traditions?

Thanks for reading!

 ~Vanessa

Clothing Swap Update

The kids and I had the opportunity last weekend to help out with their school's first Clothing Swap.  It was a great opportunity to go through my clothes and the kids' clothes.  I had gone through our clothes at the beginning of the school year, so there were only a few things that the kids had outgrown or I had missed.  I filled up a garbage bag with women's clothes, however.  I had gotten rid of the clothes that I wouldn't wear again due to the style.  I am tall and not at all into short shirts.  I had inherited clothes from my mother-in-law and one of my dad's friends.  They were all really nice, but I am nearly a foot taller than these ladies, so I donated these clothes.

I was there to donate my time and give back to their school (and my old one, as well) and my community.  I actually felt guilty taking a few items.  It was a rainy morning, so there wasn't a big turnout.  The leftover items were going to a local thrift store, so they really wanted to give as many items away for free as they could.  I got a few things for the kids.  I found one shirt that I liked, but I accidentally left it there.  Oh well.  I got a couple of items for my young half-sisters, also.

I hope that they try this again and I will be sure to save my kids' hand-me-downs.  I don't have friends with kids that are older than mine, so I never get a chance to get hand-me-downs.  I used to give my son's hand-me-downs to a neighbor boy that is three years older than him.  However, that boy is now nearly as tall as him and a little chubbier than mine, so they are in the same size of clothes.  I typically give my daughter's hand-me-downs to a local clothing bank.

Thanks for reading!

 ~Vanessa