Cub Scout/Boy Scout Crossover

Our youngest son crossed over from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts last night. My husband also crossed over from 8 years as a Cubmaster to full-time assistant Scoutmaster.

I started off the day by making a cake, which was an excellent distraction. Moms of little boys who are about to cross over get very weepy. Especially when they once looked like this:

Duncan as a Tiger Cub

 So, yep. I made a cake for the 9 boys who are crossing over. I was extremely proud of my craftiness 'cause this is really not my thing. I put the Webelos symbol on one side and the Scout symbol and their names on the other, and of course divided the cake into half blue and half green. 

I gave all the little signs to the moms after we cut the cake, so they have something for their son's scrapbook. (Or for the Big Box of Memorabilia, in our case.)

We prayed fervently for the rain to hold off for our evening, outside ceremony. We felt a few drops while Randy cooked hot dogs and a few more while the boys played their traditional games (including tug o'war Cub Scouts vs. Boy Scouts—notice which group is doing the victory cheer).

 

The rain held off while the younger boys got their awards, and Randy was presented with a plaque in appreciation of his many years as Cubmaster and den leader.

 

And then when it was time to go down to the bridge for the actual crossover ceremony, the skies were totally clear. 

Our Pack 442 boys almost always go straight into Troop 442, so many of the boys from the troop, as well as the Scoutmaster, come to the ceremony to greet the boys and put on their new epaulets and neckerchief. Our older son, Jesse, is an Eagle Scout. Although he has just finished his sophomore year in college, he was sweet enough to agree to come and help Duncan cross over.

Randy always asks the local Order of the Arrow group to come and do the actual crossover ceremony. The boys call for Akela, who then asks each of them a question before allowing them to receive their Arrow of Light awards.

 

After all the boys have spoken with Akela, they light their candles and receive their Arrows of Light.

 

Then they blow out their candles and their den leaders remove their Cub Scout insignia. When their name is called, they make the journey over the bridge from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts, where the Boy Scouts put on their new neckerchief and epaulets and welcome them into the troop.

 

After all the boys crossed over, Randy crossed over. I just about started bawling then, when he said how incredibly awesome it was to be the Cubmaster and how much he loved all the boys. He really has been such an incredible leader to these boys. The families have all been so supportive and encouraging to him throughout these year. We could not ask for a better Cub Scout pack! But without anymore Cubs in our family, it is time for him to hand over the reins to someone else. He has been an Assistant Scoutmaster for many years, so he'll continue in that capacity.

And then the ceremony was over. Duncan was so very excited. When he arrived home, the first thing he did was hug the dog and say, "Well, Autumn, your boy is a Boy Scout now." So sweet.

But of course we had to get a few more pictures before we cleaned up and came home. 

 

 

These are sweet, sweet days.

Linked up with Wordless Wednesday, 5 Minutes for Mom, and Seven Clown Circus

Last Pinewood Derby

Last night was our 10th and final Pinewood Derby, at least with our own kids: 5 with Jesse and 5 with Duncan. Here is Duncan as a Tiger Cub at his first derby:

And here he is at his final one, last night:

Awww. He's such a sweet, energetic, friendly guy. He was so sad last night because his car didn't do very well. He's been accustomed to getting in the top 10, but something just wasn't right with his car. He held himself together absolutely fine while we were there, but he just melted down with sadness when we got home. Poor little guy.

But joy does come in the morning, and I'm sure he'll wake up cheerful and smiling, ready for a sunny day. And he is more than ready to leave Cub Scouts behind and start his years in Boy Scouts!

Linked up with Wordless Wednesday, 5 Minutes for Mom, and Seven Clown Circus

Pie in the Face

This is just one of the hundreds of reasons that I love my husband.


Last night at the pack meeting, he let 20 Cub Scouts throw whipped cream pies in his face. Of course, 6-10 year old boys don't just throw: they smear, rub, and wallop. He had a pie down his back and two down his front.
And he smiled the whole time.

You know what else he did? As is well known in the scouting circle, it is always the Cubmaster/Scoutmaster's kid who doesn't have time to work on badges at home, or, in this case, who doesn't sell enough popcorn to get to throw a pie. So this time Randy bought extra popcorn so that Duncan could have the privilege of pie smearing.

I love this man.

Linked up with Amy's Finer Things Friday, 5 Minutes for Mom, Seven Clown Circus, and Wordless Wednesday

Weekly Wrap-Up

In the past few weeks, almost all our regular activities have resumed. Laurel's co-op classes started two weeks ago, and Duncan's begin Monday. (Our high school program starts 2 weeks before and ends 2 weeks later than the K-8 program.) She and one of her best friends got to actually spend their birthday (Aug. 29) in co-op classes all day. They actually really loved it.


Laurel is really enjoying her classes but is still figuring out how to balance her workload. This past week was especially challenging since we were away most of the four-day weekend. At our Monday co-op she is taking physical science, Excel and Powerpoint, health, art history, and drama. On Fridays she takes British literature and European history. The only subject she is actually learning at home is math (Teaching Textbooks). But her days are filled with balancing a week's worth of homework from all her co-op classes. She gets a little stressed out, but I think she really kind of enjoys it all.

Duncan and I are a few weeks into Sonlight Core 5 (now known as Core F). So far I've read aloud The Island of the Blue Dolphins and are halfway through The Master Puppeteer. On his own he's read Call It Courage and is halfway through The Big Wave. He was supposed to read Red Sand, Blue Sky, but just like his big brother, years ago, he saw the "for girls" sticker on the front and said, "This is a girl's book! I don't want to read it!" Dumb marketing.

We've been doing a lot of geography, which is one of the reasons I love Core 5 so much. Duncan absolutely loves learning about different cultures and labeling maps. We watched a fantastic series about the Sahara (out of Core 5 order, I know, but it's all good) by Michael Palin, of Monty Python fame. I so highly recommend this 4-part program! Michael Palin is wonderful. I would caution that on the second episode, there is a short discussion about female circumcision that is somewhat graphic but very short. I am looking forward to watching his Himalaya and New Europe journeys when we get to that point in our Sonlight.

Duncan's math is going well. He is doing Teaching Textbooks pre-algebra. He was doing great for the first several lessons, and then we got to a review of multiplication. Our conversation when something like this:
Duncan: "Huh?"
Me: "Remember when you memorized all your multiplication facts last year and I gave you 10 bucks?"
Duncan: "Yep. I don't remember any of them, though."

So he spent two weeks reviewing multiplication on HonorPoint. Really like this site. After getting to where he was getting 100% on the quizzes there, we moved back to Teaching Textbooks.

I still haven't resumed spelling and handwriting for Duncan. Again, that 4-day weekend kind of signals the end of summer for us, so I guess I really need to dig through cabinets and find those last couple of books.

We spent Labor Day weekend at our annual Scouting family camp. What an incredibly fun weekend! Here we are about to embark on a hike on Sunday.

The majority of the campers had already gone back home by Sunday afternoon, but a bunch of us took one last hike.

This week we also added American Heritage Girls and Cub Scouts back into our regimen. We started our 9th year in AHG, and Duncan is in his final year of Cub Scouts.

That's my little girl and me when we started our troop 9 years ago.

And here's my little guy when he was a Tiger Cub, four years ago.

And here they are now:




Yep. They do grow up, don't they?

Linked up at the Weekly Wrap-Up at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Pinewood Derby

With two boys, this is our ninth (and second-to-last) Pinewood Derby. We've moved from a homemade track and stopwatches back when Jesse was a little guy to a local fire station, which now hosts the Pinewood Derby on an amazing high-tech track with all the electronic gadgets to make a fast and error-free derby.

The excitement's always the same, from generation to generation, whether the derby is in someone's backyard or on a super-fast track. Boys and derby cars: thrill of the race and a secret hope of winning. (Duncan placed 5th out of 38 cars, less than 0.01 sec from getting a trophy.)

Linked to Wordless Wednesday, Parenting by Dummies, and 5 Minutes for Mom

Wordless Wednesday: Pledge of Allegiance

Last night was the first pack meeting of the first year. Duncan's a Webelo now, which means he's in the final level of Cub Scouts. I love the serious looks on their faces, and that the middle guy didn't quite get that right hand/left hand thing. But his intent is pure.

Linked up with Wordless Wednesday, 5 Minutes for Mom, and Seven Clown Circus

Crossing Over

Last night, my little girl crossed over from Explorer (4th-6th grades) to Pioneer (7th and 8th grades) at our American Heritage Girls ceremony. I don't have any pictures because that's one of the downfalls of being an emcee: you can't exactly whip out the camera in the middle of a solemn ceremony. Also, our sashes didn't come with the rest of our badge order, so our 9 new Pioneers didn't get to have their sashes presented to them. But still, it was a milestone for these girls, and I'm so proud of my daughter.

I do have photos from our very first awards ceremony in 2003, when all of our girls were given their Joining Awards and membership pins.

She's the third one from the left in this group of first-grade girls. Four of this first group of girls crossed over last night.

And here she is last year on the night of our ceremony. She's grown several inches since then. In the rush of things yesterday, I didn't even have the foresight to take a few photos of her before she traded in her blue vest.

Between Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, and American Heritage Girls, our weeks can be crazy twice each month. And with Randy's being Cubmaster and my being co-coordinator of our AHG troop, some weeks our heads our positively spinning. We wonder what possessed us to schedule both the Cub Scout end-of-the-year picnic and crossing over during the same week as the AHG spring awards ceremony, and both topped off with the Boy Scout camporee over the weekend. What were we thinking?

But Scouting is one of the finer things in life for our family. We have put so much energy and time into the programs because we clearly see the fantastic benefits and blessings that have come about as a result of our participation.

But I'm happy for just a little break.

(Check out more finer things in life at Amy's Finer Things Friday.)

Veterans' Day Parade

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.
~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Thank you, brave men and women,
from American Heritage Girls Troops TN 131, 215, and 413; Boy Scout Troop 442; and Cub Scout Pack 442.

Derby Day

March 4, 2008

The Pinewood Derby: it's the Pack Meeting of all Pack Meetings, the crowning event of Cub Scouts. After weeks of sanding, cutting and painting (or in some cases, in a frenzied rush the day before), the Dads the boys finally get to race their cars.

Twenty-eight cars are weighed, registered, and ready to go.



The race is on! And on, and on, and on. Six heats, 28 cars = nearly two hours of racing.



"My car won that heat!"



At the end of the evening, Duncan was excited. His car did well but didn't place in the top 8. He didn't care one bit. The fun was in the anticipation and the giddiness of the evening. "How many more years do I get to do this?" he asks. And the Cubmaster arrives home an hour later, tired, hungry, and incredibly optimistic. "I'm glad I get to do this for a few more years," he says. No wonder Duncan has such a happy outlook on life.

Why He Sold 11 Boxes of Popcorn in an Hour

November 3, 2007

Could anyone seriously resist this face and "Hi my name is Duncan would you like to by some pa'cone for my Cub Scouts?"

Post A Comment!.....

Comments

Saturday, November 3, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by anotherblogonthefire (206.132.59.82)

Does he ship to Canada?

Permanent Link Edit Delete

Saturday, November 3, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by TheMonkeyParade (65.6.32.18)

Tiger cubs always have the easiest time selling popcorn. They are just so cute. I think that the only year the boys broke 1200 was when Corbin was a tiger.

Congratulations D!

Permanent Link Edit Delete

Sunday, November 4, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by JenIG (67.142.130.20)

*R*o*F*L*
I say skip the boy scouts gig and get that kid selling door-to-door with donations going directly to the Small World Foundation