girl scouts » Four Against Two

Mandy Grab Her Bow

Camping, girl scouts, NaBloPoMo, Stuff 2 Responses »

Jun 282012

Here are some shots from my adventures in archery from Girl Scout Day Camp this week. I taught archery for 2 days to over 120 girls (a few boys) and I have the sunburn to prove it! It was very hot and I was only able to do it because my big girl Meg helped me like a trooper. She didn’t complain and worked very hard getting a lot of first time archers a fun start. Thank you Miss Meg.

My goal was to do a Brave theme for the little ones and Hunger Games for the older ones. I was so busy I didn’t get too much into the theme, but the little ones did pose for pics with a Brave backdrop and the older ones stood in the weeds/trees and took some Katniss shots.

It is fun to watch the girl power pump up as they learn to aim and shoot the targets. A few school around her offer archery with compound bows, so the girls got to learn a bit about shooting with a recurve bow. I like the recurve myself as it has an oldfashioned feel to it.

If you have never tried archery I recommend it highly. It’s fun and empowering and not super competitive, unless you want it to be!

Getting My Craft On

girl scouts, Moments with Elle, Moments with Enu, Moments With Meg, Moments with Mita, Stuff, Summer Fun 2 Responses »

Jun 212012

I know you have heard me say (or read me write?) that I hate crafts. Well, I have been up to my ears in crafting of late. The girls were making things for the county fair.

All four of them made re-usable bags from old T-shirts and duct tape. Very cute and very handy. We are giving them out as gifts for friends with birthdays also and that saves some dough as well as being green. I saw the following video and got the idea. The duct tape makes the bag strong and you can put wet bathing suits in the bag as well. Very handy.

The girls also made pillows out of T-shirts, that were no-sew, just tying knots. Very easy and helped Elle especially learn how to tie good knots.

Meg printed out her blog to enter and took her iPad to show the judge her live blog. Mita also made wallet out of duct tape.

My favorite was Enu’s Puppy Chow project. She made chex mix puppy chow and put it in a dog bowl and we ate it as a snack when we toured the local Animal Shelter and then gave the staff the snack and the bowl along with our other donations. As the fair doesn’t let you take real food, she made a poster of her making the chow. She then made some more puppy chow for the judge to taste.

Needless to say, my talented girls are the owners of several new blue ribbons and I am done with crafts for a while. Especially after our Angry Birds game that we also made this week!

Earth Day 2012 – It Rained. We Picked Up Trash Anyway

A Mom's Job, Earth Friendly Ideas, girl scouts, Moments with Mita No Responses »

Apr 222012

Our Team's Zone Of Clean Up

Yesterday our local community organization had a pick up some trash day. Of course it was 40 degrees and raining! We had 11 braved souls, kids and adults, show up from a few local Girl Scout troops. They were indeed troopers and we had a lot of fun in the wet and cold!

Here is a short video we did for a contest: Girl Scouts Earth Day 2012 Check it out!

Mita wrote up a little something for this special day:

Earth day is not just another day. It’s a day that we think about the earth and how fragile the earth is and how we can make it better or improve more. Here are some ways you could make the environment better below:

* Recycle cans, papers, plastic, glass,
* Reduce the amount of water you use like taking, shorter showers take a shower instead of a bath.
* Reuse paper on the back instead of throwing it away and getting a new one. * Conserve the amount of light you use ( turn off the lights you have on when you leave your home or room.
* Turn off your car when you’re in a long line at a fast food place.
* Turn off your TV when you’re not watching
* unplug a cord when you’re not using it

Countdown To Earth Day: A Billion Acts Of Green

Earth Friendly Ideas, Education, Family, girl scouts, Stuff No Responses »

Apr 182012

While it can sometimes be annoying to have certain days, weeks and months named for something (National Ice Cream Day is great and all, but what about National Taco Day?), it really does serve a purpose to have time set aside to think more deeply on a subject. Black History Month gives our schools the perfect chance add some colorful history to the normal curriculum (yeah, I know the curriculum should already have it…) and World Breastfeeding Week is great at bringing the amazing thing that is breast milk to the forefront of people’s thoughts. Earth Day is a great time to step back and evaluate our daily practices in helping sustain our Earth for the future generations.

This week I want to write about simple and more in-depth ways that I, as a mom, wife, nurse and Girl Scout leader am trying to put a dent in my wasteful ways. This is my Earth Day Pledge, or act, at least a part of it. We are also cleaning up our local reservoir with Girl Scouts on Saturday.

Today I will congratulate myself on what I have accomplished:

As a household we have been recycling (by carting to a local center or curbside pick up) our trash for five years.
I have been reusing my favorite two water bottles for over two years now. I rarely drink from a disposable water bottle and when I do it is normally because it is at someone elses place.
I don’t forget my reusable bags anymore when I grocery shop! I forgot them for a very long time and it has finally become habit now. I also carry bags in my purse and use them for everyday purchases or clothes shopping. It is amazing what you can get in a little bag!
I recently bought the cutest re-usable containers for my girls’ lunch drinks to replace the chocolate milk/apple juice cartoons. This saves me money (buying a gallon is more cost-effective than buying six individual boxes) and waste. You have to get good ones or the leaking frustrates you!
I have been using re-usable sandwich and snack bags for about four years now. I still do use some plastic baggies when I am not caught up on laundry but give myself a B+ in ditching the plastic baggies.
I keep the heat down lower in the winter months. I admit that I used to crank it up a bit high at times, but now I am better at just putting socks or a sweatshirt on to stay warm. I also did this when I heard that families stay healthier when the heat isn’t used as much. I think this is true as it keeps the dust down and the rotation of germs!
We talk about recycling and being Earth Friendly a lot in Girl Scouts. It is so much easier for this generation as they are growing up knowing that it is important to not be wasteful. As an eighties child, it seemed all about more and what was convenient than anything else.
I love to shop consignment or second-hand stores. You never know what a good deal you may get. I scored a beautiful, like new dress for Enu the other day for $1.09! She looks great in it, it saved me money and it didn’t end up in a landfill. Win, Win, Win I say.
I also congratulate myself on nursing my two bio babies and am pleased that my other girls were most likely breastfed as well. Great for the Earth not to have formula containers or plastic liners :)

So now that I am full of myself I will focus on my goals to improve my efforts and become more natural with using less, re-using more and in general being a better steward of my Earth.

That, my friend, is for tomorrow! Check out this site and make your own pledge.

They Are Listening

girl scouts, Stuff No Responses »

Mar 212011

At my Girl Scout Cadette meeting last Friday I brought up the crisis in Japan. We are doing a Journey (A new Girl Scout badge book) named Breathe this year and are learning about the aspects of air. Radiation leaks seemed to fit in nicely(okay, that sentence is weird) so I thought we would discuss it.

First off I asked them “What is going on in Japan?” Several girls ( I had about 14 girls there) shout out “Earthquake, Tsunami, Flooding, It is flattened”. Then after some time someone says “Radiation”. Bingo.

What is radiation? ” Um, bad for you.” “Gives you Diarrhea.”

Where does radiation come from? “Bombs from war.” “Nuclear power.” Bingo.

What is Nuclear Power? “Bad.”For War.” “Dangerous”

Is there anything good about Nuclear Power? ” No.” “No.” No.” “Well, it does give us power.”

So Nuclear Power can be useful and dangerous? “Yeah.” “You have to be careful with it.” Bingo.

So in about five minutes fourteen girls were able to concentrate, after school no less, on a current event. They knew what was going on, even though they wanted to act as if they didn’t. They are listening to what we talk about, they are catching some of the news we watching. They can figure out problems and solutions even though they act like they cannot. We need to realize that and make sure we are talking things out with our kids so they are getting the full side of the story and are able to verbalize thoughts and fears.

I am editing out the diarrhea conversation that happened between the above comments. Once the word diarrhea entered the subject matter they all got silly and talk of atomic toilets and nuclear flushers went rampant. Fourteen 11, 12 and 13 year-old-girls silly. Who would have thought?

To end out the lessons we wrote Haiku to send to the Girl Scouts in Japan. They wrote two. On silly diarrhea one and one serious one. Here are some samples, don’t pay to close attention to the 5-7-5 rule please!

Were sorry about

What happened things will turn out

Do not lose your hope.

DH age 11

Did you hear the news

Japan is having problems

Our prayers are with you

LT age 13

Your flag is still

Waving white and red

Haiku is for you

EN age 11

White flying Japan

Stand proud honor repeat yeah

You’re in our thoughts yeah

RS age 12

This one is great, though not quite a Haiku

True-fully I am

Sad to see your destruction

Your arches, once so beautiful

Are tearfully torn apart

Rain is before the rainbow

Your luck is to start.

JGK age 12

Some things are not good

What’s happening is not good

Good things are coming

MM age 11

I love these girls!

Our Week In Pictures

Family Pictures, girl scouts, Moments with Elle, Moments with Enu, Moments With Meg, Moments with Mita 2 Responses »

May 202010

This has been a bit of a busy week. Most of our weeks entail me running around, mind you, but we had some major events this week. Major for us, anyway, the world didn’t stop spinning and CNN didn’t call. We did however, have two girls Fly Up from Brownies to Junior Girl Scouts and it was Elle’s last day of pre-school today. Definitely a time for pictures!

Meg later helped Enu get into her new Junior (green sash).

Mita wouldn't put on her sash, but liked the flowers!

The Flying Upceremony in Girl Scouts can be a simple affair or a major ceremony. The leaders for Mita and Enu planned this ceremony perfectly. There was food, goodie bags, some official ceremony of the pledge, the promise and a song and of course the girls walking across the stage (pretend bridge) receiving their badges and pins they earned over the last year.

Elle attended her last day of pre-school. Last day EVER! She starts Kindergarten in August and will be a full-time student for about two decades. She is excited of course, but I will miss our days at home with just the two of us. Don’t tell the other girls, but sometimes Elle and I would just watch TV or eat popcorn after the kids went to school. It was like having our own little Neverland, where she didn’t have to share with her sisters and I didn’t have to make her share! Here Elle is after I picked her up today. They did clown face-painting as a last day of school activity.

Not to leave Meg out…she had to decorate a potato as a book character this week. She choose to make a Hermione Grainger potato (big surprise there!). Hermione Potato Head was dressed in purple netting for the Yule Ball. I failed as a mother and didn’t get a picture taking of said potato before Meg took it to school. No big deal you say? Just take one when she brings it home from school? I would if some potato mashing bully hadn’t wrecked poor Potato Hermione at school! Ruffians. Anyway, Meg is confident she can repair her creation, so I may have a photo in the next few days!

How was your week?

Photo Credits Mandy W. 2010