A Baker's Dozen: Daily Life in a Large Family

Scouts and Honduras

I sent Judah off yesterday on his first high adventure trip with the Boy Scouts. They are headed off for a week or so of canoeing up in British Columbia. Judah has worked any and every chance he got this summer to earn the $300 plus for the trip and all of the gear he needed. Thankfully, my friend Bridget is a Scout leader on this trip and took her camera along. Last night they stayed in hotel and she was able to post about day one of their trip here.

And Adalia has posted part one of her summer in Honduras here. 

Happy Friday!

Girls Scouts...

This is Tilly post-Girl Scout meeting.

Don't ask me...I have no idea. 

Now, I'm not big on makeup myself, but I can appreciate other people's desire to use it.

But I think maybe, just maybe, the girls were a bit heavy handed this day.

And a moody black and white...just for fun.

Merit Badge Extravaganza 2011

Chuck took our three handsome Boy Scouts to the Merit Badge Extravaganza yesterday. This was Enoch's first year as a Boy Scout and first year to attend. 

Judah took: Emergency Preparedness and Citizenship in the Community, and came home with two partials (meaning he still has work to do to earn the badge). 

Boaz took: First Aid and Environmental Science and also received partials.

Enoch took: Leatherworking, Space Exploration and Wood Carving. He completed everything but his  Wood Carving...

I was gently warned by others about letting Enoch sign up for Space Exploration. It's very in-depth, requires plenty of research and a good amount of writing. It's a hard one for a first MBE. It's a much more difficult merit badge to earn than a lot of the hands on ones...Chuck and I discussed it and decided, so what if he doesn't actually earn the badge? Let him go, have fun...he'll certainly learn from it. Life simply isn't all about earning badges. So after letting him know it would be a lot of hard work, we let him follow his passion, not an "easier" badge.

You probably won't be surprised (given this is Enoch) to know that he worked hard on this badge. The first MBE session was several weeks ago and he came home with a whole lot of homework. He worked on it every day (remember, this is my kid who I can barely get to  do his daily school work). He built his rocket, spent time on the computer researching, did his writing, his drawings. Everything. He loved it and came through earning the badge. He's one of those kids who often rises to  a challenge, even if he won't do his "regular" work...much like both his parents were.

All three boys (and one father) had a splendid time this weekend. And once again, I am so thankful to have a husband so committed to our boys. 

 

Girl Scouts Can Be Fun(ny)

Bellingham's Premiere Girl Scouts: Adalia, Jubilee, Tilly and Kalina!

{Photo courtesy of my beloved iPhone}

Ah, we are done, done, done selling Girl Scout cookies for the year. And I might just be a little bit happy about it. Maybe.

So, aside from crazy inebriated women intimidating my daughters and taking their money, there were a few funny happenings.

Kalina, who is outgoing and a friend to everyone, gave the whole spiel: "We have all of our original plus two new ones from last year!" she'd say, gesturing with he hand. If the person was deliberating, she would sometimes point to the Trefoils and say, "These were first Girl Scout cookies!" to which one distracted woman answered, "Hmm...I think so too..."

We had several older women comment on how she was a Girl Scout or leader and tell us how much she sold cookies for back in the day. One woman was telling us that when she sold them  they cost $.50 a box. "But that was along time ago" she said with a smile. To which one daughter, who shall remain nameless commented, "Oh, that must be why they're called 'Old Fashioned Shortbread'. Thankfully the nice woman didn't here that...

The girls have sold in rain and snow and biting winds. And now we're done.

Till next year...

Girl Scout Cookies and the Police

Chuck and Apollo

My girls have been busy selling Girl Scout cookies this week. If you live locally, you may have seen them (in fact, Adalia was apparently recognized by a blog reader!) Our community isn't a big one and my girls certainly never dreamed of the excitement they had selling cookies yesterday...

I loaded my van with cookies, kids and posters and was dropping my Girl Scouts off with Brian, Hilary's husband. He was going to supervise his girls and mine while they sold during their time block. Immediately as I pulled up, we noticed an older woman, who started talk a bit too loud. My girls unloaded the table and this woman immediately yelled, "Hey, I need that table!" Weird, but perhaps she was trying to make a joke?. Next she noticed the cookies and started talking about Girl Scouts...we finished unloading and I left my girls with Brian, so I could run a few errands. When I returned about a half an hour later, there was not one but two police cars parked near our Girl Scout cookie table. 

This woman it seems, became louder and more aggressive after I left. She was yelling for people to come and "give them money". At one point she snatched a twenty dollar bill from someone trying to buy cookies and Brian had to tell her to give the money back, it wasn't hers...then he let the store employees know about this woman. They called the police. The woman it seems, has several warrants out on her. The police talked to her and told her to "stay right here" and instead she took off running into the store. Apparently before they left, she ended up being tackled by the police because she was trying to run away...it eventually ended with her being arrested. 

All this was happening with in ten feet of our poor daughters who were just trying to sell their cookies...talk about an education!

So next time you see my girls standing in the cold selling cookies, give them an extra smile, would you?

Snow Caving

Three of my men are crazy enough to consider snow caving with the Boy Scouts to be fun. And exciting. And worth days of preparation. 

There are very few things I can think of that appeal to me less than snow caving. Such as...well, I honestly can't think of any at the moment. I hate being cold and although my boys patiently explained to me how the snow insulates and snow caves are actually warm inside, etc, etc they haven't convinced me. I get it, in theory, I really do.  The thing is, if it were warm enough for me, the snow would melt and I would no longer be snow caving. But they just don't get it...

Thankfully I have a husband who thinks snow caving is a marvelous adventure and he's thrilled to take his boys!

This is the third year Judah has signed up for the snow caving trip. Year one the snow was too dense and they couldn't build snow caves, so they ended up just camping in tents up on Mt. Baker (Ezra and Boaz went along that year). Last year they weren't able to build snow caves either, so when snow began to fall days before the trip this year, Judah was thrilled. Three years of waiting and now he would finally get to sleep in a snow cave he built himself.

Enoch has only been a Boy Scout for a week or two. What a great way to start out his scouting years! The troop doesn't normally allow the brand new scouts to go snow caving. It involves quite a bit of special training and it is very intense. Enoch got to go along because Chuck has winter camped before and did all the training with Enoch. 

These photos were taken in our front yard after the trip, and you can tired Enoch is. Despite that, he's ready to go again next year.

As I sat through Enoch's Arrow of Light ceremony a couple weeks ago, I was struck my how very committed and invested in their families that other scout parents of our pack and troop are. That, I think, is one of the greatest blessings of our involvement with this incredible group. These are not parents who just drop their boys off for every meeting, these are parents who love spending time with their boys and with their families. Chuck has said more than once that what he loves about Boy Scouts is the opportunities it gives him to have adventures with his boys. 

Investiture

That's the fancy name for movin' on up in Girl Scouts.

Our troop is very loosely run by a few mothers and plenty daughters who just enjoy each other's company (and hey, don't we all love the cookies???)

Young ladies and cute babies...the perfect mix!

Handsome men and spitfire-daisies.

Little girls who dress themselves.

Medium size girls who love to be on stage.

And big girls who plan the ceremony.

Hurray for our troop and the awesome moms and girls who make it work.

Off to Work They Go

Ezra and Boaz are both working at (different) Boy Scout camps this year. Ezra has already had his week of training and is working in the kitchen.

Ezra said he is enjoying getting to know the other guys, and the work is hard. This is such a great "first job" oppurtunity for both boys. Ezra has looked into Job Corps, and decided he wants to do it, but plans on completing another year of High School first. 

Boaz just left this morning for his week of training. He will be working at the "shooting sports" part of the camp, I believe. He's sleeping in a little cabin (no electricity) with a roommate. It will be a (fun) challenge for him to make new friends, listen carefully, and follow directions. Both boys struggle more with American English than Keziah (probably because she gets more practice talking!)

The boys stay at the camp from Sunday evening to Saturday afternoon for five weeks this summer! We'll miss them, but are so proud of their effort. 

Cookie Sales

Aren't they adorable? Please excuse the photo quality, I took this on my iphone. 

The girls have reached goal #1, which was to sell 750 boxes of cookies. They are now over 800 (including 89 donated to soldiers)! These girls have worked hard. They did five site sales, pounded the pavement, made phone calls. I hate to wax poetic here, but they have learned so much. It's hard work for a 7 year old to stand out in the cold for three hours straight, keeping a smile on her face and talking to strangers. It's hard to go door to door selling cookies. Hard to count the money, inventory the boxes- day after day. These girls have earned their prize ($200 Apple card) literally and figuratively. Thanks to all of you who helped support them. 

 

Tucker enjoys a Girl Scout cookie sandwich for lunch!

Speaking of Girl Scouts, it's time for our meeting. Have great day :)

 

Scout Sunday

 
Our boys participated in Scout Sunday yesterday for the first time. They greeted people at the doors and passed out bulletins. Since I had all five (six including Chuck) Scouts in uniform, I decided it was time for new pictures. 

 
Ezra (17) First Class Scout                         

 Boaz (15) Second Class Scout

 
Judah (12) First Class Scout                       

Enoch (10) Webelos Scout

Mordecai (7) Wolf

And speaking of scouts, I'm in charge of the craft and snack in Mordecai's Wolf Den today, so I'm off to start my week.