We Have Another Eagle Scout!!!!

 Wow, so much has happened in 2023.  In our Girls Scouts BSA troop we celebrated our second, third and fourth eagles.  The fourth Eagle Scout in our troop was my daughter Keziah.  Not only was she the fourth eagle for our troop but the fourth Eagle Scout in our family.  She followed in the foot steps of three of her older brothers.  Her eagle project was collecting pet products for a local rescues pet pantry and doing an adoption event with them.  

This was part of the collections for the pet pantry. 

This is a photo of one of the dogs that was up for adoption and the event.

In between Keziah's project and when she earned Eagle Scout she finishes up a couple merit badges and worked at summer camp.  When Keziah earned her Eagle Scout she had also earned seven Eagle Palms, meaning she had earned 35 more merit badges more than what she needed.  

Keziah's Eagle Court of Honor was in early November.  We had so  much fun putting it all together.  Her menu was soups and chili, salads, meat and cheese board, and different topping for the soups and chili. 

 We did the Scout Law candle ceremony with Bible verses that go with the Law.  The candle holder is made from a fallen tree from the Little Sioux Scout Ranch after the tornado that ripped through the Scout Ranch in June of 2008.  It was made by one of the former Scoutmasters from the boy's troop. 

 Her Eagle Court of Honor was such a fun day.  She had friends for all over the area come.  Friends from all stages of her life came to celebrate.  This is one of my favorite photos from her ECOH.  Keziah with all of her brothers.  They intended for this photo to be silly but I love it.   

Some have asked if her scouting time has come to an end.  No, it has not, she is only 15! She is currently the Senior Patrol Leader for the troop, and she also holds a leadership position in Order of the Arrow.  She plans on staying involved with the troop even after she turns 18 in a few years.  We have so many more adventures in scouts.

Until Next Time,

Pitters

Two Eagles in One Year!!!!

 I am going to have a mom brag moment, so please bare with me.  So in April of 2021 my third oldest son earned his Eagle Scout Rank.  As of last night October 5, 2021 my fourth oldest son earned his Eagle Scout Rank.  My boys have worked so hard for this accomplishment.  Of my five kids so far we have one Life Scout, three Eagles Scouts and my daughter is a Tenderfoot working on her goal to one day be an Eagle.  Only about 4% of Scouts earn the rank of Eagle Scout.  

Our 3rd oldest son the night of his Eagle Board of Review

Our 4th oldest son the night of his Eagle Board of Review

Packing for IOLS Training

     As I am writing this I am packing for an adult leader training for Scouts BSA.  The training is called Introduction to Outdoor Leadership Skills.  I am super excited to be camping again soon.  I have not been camping since February.  That is right my friends I said February.  I camped with our girls and our boys troops at a winter camp.  We slept in 9 degree weather over night.  But that is a different story for another time.  

     So for this weekend camp out I will be learning outdoor leadership skills, to help me be a more effective leader to my girls troop.  So as I sit here getting things together I thought I would take a moment at write something up for all of you. In this blog I will share with you what you need to pack for a camp out with scouts.  Many of these this are essential for camping just with your family as well.  

    You are going to want to have a backpack a sturdy one. Clothing for every day you will be camping, depending on how many days I am camping depends on how many pants or shorts I take.  If it is a two night trip I take one plus the one I am wearing.  Most jeans or shorts you can wear twice.   I do pack one shirt for each day plus and one extra. I pack one set of pajamas, usually sweat pant and t-shirt.  Socks and under clothing for everyday plus one.  A hat, two pairs of shoes, I like one pair of tennis shoes and a pair of hiking boots, you never know if it is going to rain, rain gear, jacket or hoodie, any other seasonal clothing.  So when we winter camped I had a winter coat, gloves, stocking camp, snow boots.  I do sometimes sleep in a stocking camp at night if we are camping in early spring or in the fall.  You loose heat off your head.  I also have socks to sleep in for spring, fall and winter camping.  You want a good sleeping bag for all seasons, a mess kit for eating, water bottle, fist aide kit, flash light or head light, toothbrush and tooth paste, brush or comb, soap and wash cloth, I like having dry shampoo, small fire starting kit, sun screen, bug spray and a small pocket knife.  This is a good personal list of gear for camping.  

    I like to pack my clothing in gallon zip lock bags. I also put personal care items in a baggie.  This helps you to find what you need in your backpack and keeps them dry if it rains and your tent gets wet.  I like to wrap my extra shoes in a plastic bag like for the store or if your car is close by I keep them in the car to stay dry.  I also pack a large trash bag or by a backpack rain cover to try help keep the contents of my backpack dry incase of a large rain storm. 

Our family loves camping and I can do more blogs about camping. I can do one on cooking, how to set up camp, how to plan a camping trip, setting up camp, to name a few.   If you have any you would like me to focused on let me know. 

Until Next Time,

Pitters

Starting a New Adventure!!

     In May of 2019 I started feeling pulled of deciding what extra curricular activity my daughter would be doing in the fall.  She has been in American Heritage Girls for 6 years and we enjoyed the program.  We felt that she had gotten out of the program what she could. So we started praying about if she should continue.
   
     So in June we got our answer,  we found out that the Cub Scout Pack our boys had been apart of for many years was changing to a family pack.  What that means is that they were welcoming girls into the pack. We found us being pulled to help start a girls troop, a linked troop with our current boy troop.   In 2018 Boy Scouts of America announced they adding girls to all the programs.  Girls have been apart of BSA since the 1970's in Venturing Crews and Sea Scouts.  In Fall 2018 the Cub Scout Program added girls and in February of 2019 the program welcomed girls into the older scouting program, know as Boy Scouts.  With this new addition to the program the name changed to Scouts BSA.

     Now let me explain the program how it looks.  A family pack has both boys and girls.  They do opening flags, announcements, Pack meetings, and "field trips" together.  During regular meeting nights the boys dens and girls dens meet separately.  The older Scouts BSA program is different in that boys troops and girls troops are two separate troops.  We have linked troops in our group.  What that means is, we share the same charter organzation.  We can share some adult leadership, except for Scoutmaster.

     So back to June of 2019, I talked with my husband and told him what I felt we were being pulled to do.  We decided that we would talk with our daughter and our boys to see what they thought.  We also prayed for away to bring up what we thought to the troop families.  Many of the Cub Scout families already voted to add the girls to the pack and many had daughters that could not wait to start.  Later the same day I received a text from one of the scout moms.  She did not intend for me to recive the text.  This was because a year earlier we had expressed we did not like the fact that girls were being added to Boy Scouts, mostly from lack of information of how the program would look.  The text was about the fact they had reviced names of families  that would like to know if we would be starting a girls troop.  So in July we started the process of getting the approval to start a girls troop.  By mid July we had enough girls to start a troop.  The first week in August we had all our paperwork in and started meeting.

     Our girls troop has eight girls in it.  Since starting we have camped 3 times, done a handful of service projects, and gone on a 5 mile hike.  The girls have all earned a rank and are working hard for their next one.  The girls have taught me so much and have pushed me to challenge myself.  They inspire me to better myself every day, and I hope that I can in turn inspire them to reach their full potential.  I am looking forward to all the adventures I am going to have with our troop.  I am glad I can help my daughter and the other girls forge new paths for girls in Scouts BSA.

Ushering at the Nebraska Cornhusker Football Game, with Scouts BSA