I can't wait to.... Start our new year tomorrow!

It is not October 1st yet, so it is not our official start of our year, but it is our returning girls start. Last year we had a turbulent year. We lost a dad. A leader and child left. A girl came back. I am looking forward to the start of the new year to see where it will lead us.

This year, I said that I will take new girls. I said that I can take up to 10 girls in total. I have 4 coming back, so that would be 6 new girls. I don't think I will get a full troop. I am not even sure if I will get any new girls. 5th grade is a hard time to get girls interested. It seems like you have to hook them young. 5th grade is when they start to transition from girl to woman and numbers drop. I am hopeful but realistic.

Over the summer we did the "Not So Bummer Summer". I know that my own kid went crazy with it, and I am hoping the other girls did as well. I downloaded someone else's list and added a few that the girls wanted. We did a few at our end of the year party at the local amusement party, including riding the giant wheel and a silly string fight. The girls need 600 points to get the patch.

So what are we starting for the next year? I think we are going to start with the aMuse journey. I looked it over and I really like it. I think that I will be able to do the journey over a few months and also include the skill badges. We are going to start with role playing questions and either yarn dolls or paper dolls. Going to 5th grade I think I will do string dolls.

Wilton Girl Scout Icing Kit

I first found this patch program on a Girl Scout Facebook page. I thought for sure that this was something that my girls would love to do. And then when I asked them for input on their year and they said baking and science, I got giddy thinking about it. 

I ordered the kits last week, it took under 7 days for us to receive them. They cost 5.99 plus shipping. If you have a tax exempt number and order so many, you will get a discount on the kits. I tried to order them on line and had trouble so I had to call the 800 number. I explained what I wanted and what was wrong and I kid you not, I got transferred 4 times before someone was able to help me. When I finally got someone who could help me, the process was painless and quick. 

Wilton Girl Scout Icing Kit

I made a 8x8 inch cake for each girl. The weather here has been so cold that they are having delays in the morning. I let my daughter come with me to the store and pick out the cake that each girl would get. She wanted Blue Velvet for herself, picked out Pink Velvet, Marble and yellow for the other girls. We then went around to pick up the ingredients for icing. I debated on if I should get icing in a can or make my own. I thought with the sheer amount that I was going to need, it would be best to make my own. The recipe that came with the instructions seemed simple enough and with my big stand mixer, I figured it wouldn't take much time. 

It turned out to take most of my day. I ended up making 5 cakes and over 8 batches of icing. I quickly iced the tops of the cakes white, so the girls could just decorate them once they had practiced their skills. 

I went to color the icing and realized, I only had blue in the house. I texted a mom in the troop who is my new assistant leader and asked her if she had any color besides blue. Unfortunately her daughter was sick and would not be at the meeting that night. NO!!!!! I already made the cakes. 

I tried to think of a way that she could participate in the meeting with out actually being there. I thought we could skype the meeting. I knew that she had tried Skype when her father was in the hospital. I ran the cake and kit over for her to do.

When I got there, she asked me if I had the time to just show her how to do it. Well I can not say no to a scout. It took us about an hour to do it and she had a blast. She is going to save her cake decorating till she gets the all clear from the doctor, this way her family can eat it too. I felt so bad for her because her fever kept her hands so hot she was melting the icing. 

I got home from teaching Piper and did the finishing touches on the rest of it for the troop meeting. I got everything loaded into my car and headed over to the church. Unfortunately two weeks ago, my co-leader stepped back and decided that she needed a break and in the two weeks that followed, the doors to the meeting place have been locked when I got there. This week I was able to call the Pastor before any girl got there and I got my own key to the building. Now I will not be locked out again. Yay!! I think that moment when you know your meeting place is secure for the girls is a great moment for any leader.

One of the girl's mom works for a baker in town and agreed to help us with the kit. The girls were super excited to get started and get to work. They did so well, I was proud of them. 

This was a lot of fun and the girls really enjoyed themselves. I would recommend this patch program for any troop Junior and higher. 

Things have changed

In November I had touched a little bit on our troop situation where one of our girl's fathers was fighting a battle with cancer. Unfortunately he has lost that battle.

I knew that things were bad earlier in the day. He had a surgery and I was in daily contact with his wife. She had texted me to give me the update and said that she was taking her daughter to the hospital to visit and she would not be at scouts. We usually have meetings from 6-7pm and when my phone rang that night, my heart dropped. I knew what this call was, but that did not make it any easier. I knew that there were two ladies who I loved who were heart broken on the other end of the line.

The services for him were during our meeting time the next week, and I informed all the parents. Every girl and a parent were there for Piper. They sat behind her, rubbing her back and hugging her when she needed it. It was so touching to see how much these girls mean to each other. A sister scout was in pain and they were right there for her, no questions asked. The girls arrived at the start of the service and stayed with her until the end. For some of them, this was their first time at a funeral or memorial service.

That is what scouting is about. The bond fostered between girls, that is strong and supportive. It is not about cookies, chocolates or even camping. It is about girls and teaching them to love each other and building relationships that will last a life time.