Proud Mom Moment

Last night was court of honor for the scouts and it was a big night for Joe.

He spent the summer working really hard on his scouting and went to two different scout camps to get a jump on all his scouting requirements.

Well...all his hard work paid off.

Joe not only earned his Star Scout Award, he also earned 21 different merit badges this summer.

21!!!!

Joe has earned enough award to advance to Life Scout in just five more months, and is only 3 merit badges and a project away from earning his eagle. Not bad for a 12 year old!

We are so proud of him and all his hard work.

Summer - What's Up With Josh?

Josh had cub camp this summer...and I am pretty sure he asked every day between the day that school let out and the first day of scout camp if today was the day.

I was able to go to scout camp this year and had a lot of fun being a camp helper and a walker.

Josh had a blast and they did all kinds of crazy cool things at camp, including making a catapult, making a marshmallow gun...and swimming every day.

I was glad that Jared and Josh got to do a couple of activities together at camp.  I am a firm believer that these two were actually twins in heaven who decided one family couldn't handle them both.

It was really hot during camp, so swimming was a much anticipated activity.

Marshmallow guns.

Josh also had the chance to try out a slingshot. These are super hard to use! Thank goodness the ammo was just marshmallows.

Summer -- What's Up With Joe?

Joe spent two weeks this summer at Scout Camp.

He went the first time with the ward and then a second time with Brother Kunz and Brother Harris.

He had some really great experiences and has done all that he needs to earn his Star (including 18 merit badges!).

Joe is such a hard worker, I am so proud of all that he accomplished.

He especially enjoyed earning his rifling badge (apparently he is a very good shot) and his rocket badge.

Rob was nice enough to take some photos during Joe's 2nd week at camp.

Boys are such clean creatures.

Bottle rockets.

More rockets.

Camping, scout style. Nick, Tyler and Joe all wanted to cram into one tent.

Joe needed a mirror for camp. So he borrowed one from his dad. He was telling the boys how his dad uses this mirror to check his bald spot...so Joe did a little demonstration.

Joe was able to do a little sailing.

 And just a little bit of sleeping.

I am so grateful for really good scout leaders and super good friends who have done so much to help Joe have such a good time this summer.

Typecasting?

We had cub pack meeting last night and I have to say it was wonderful!

We had picnic and the scouts put on skits for us.

Josh was a squirrel. I think there may have been some typecasting going on here.

oh, there you are perry.

Josh had his pinewood derby tonight and I am so proud of him!

He made a snazzy little car, he was a good sport, and he had a great time.

What more could we ask for?

Josh won the award for best mammal. I thought his car was awesome!

One Last Time

My Josh is a scout.

Oy.

With his baptism fast approaching, Josh was invited to join the cub scouts at church this week.

He had a blast.

I am excited that he is excited. But not excited to do scouts again.

Luckily...for the last time.

Yep....this is me doing my happy dance.

Speed Racer

We had the blue and gold dinner last night and our pinewood derby.

It was really great. The boys worked so hard, I'm so proud of them.



Joe did such a great job on his car..other than having his dad cut it out, Joe did all the rest of the work.

As soon as it was cut out we realized how much it looked like the hover craft from Star Wars...so here was have the Tatootine Special, complete with Anakin and R2D2.


And...how happy was Josh when he found out that some of the scouts had not come...and he would get to race the car he had made.



The Silver Dragon:



Even Mikayla, Emma, Becky and Katie made cars.

Who knew scouts really could be family thing? lol!

On His Honor

Today was a big night....Joe earned his Webelos Badge as well as his Arrow of Light.

Now...for those of you who have never done scouts...this might not sound impressive. But let me tell you...It IS impressive!

And I am so proud of him.

Some of you may know, I'm not a huge fan of scouts. I would just as soon the boys focus on faith in God awards and do what they can to make sure they earn it.

But...having said that, this is what Joe wanted, so it was my goal to help him accomplish it. And Joe worked really hard -- REALLY hard.

Look at the awards he won tonight:



And...even with that huge pile...he had 3 more they had to fix.
To put it in context, Joe completed over 100 different tasks to earn these awards...from a service project, to a campout, to making his own rocket.

It's amazing and I could not be prouder.

Sweet!

Joe had Blue and Gold Banquet and the Pinewood Derby last night...it was a really nice event, and Joe's derby car turned out so nicely.

He poured over cars on the Internet, trying to decide what he wanted to do. And when he came across this "sweet" design, he couldn't resist.


He drew out the car, including the bite mark, and he and his dad cut it out.

Then Joe painted the car, and we found a real Hershey bar wrapper and glued it to the car.


Then, he and his dad attached the weights.


This was his second derby, and it was much more successful than last year...but, I just have to say, this is a tough group of boys...every one of their cars was phenomenal. We were just glad that Joe had such a good time and he even got a few first place finishes with his car!



And, finally a little 365 catch up.

21/365 Speed Scrap



So tonight was a speed scrap, and I have to say that I look forward to this all week. Once a week ScrapMatters, a scrap site I love, hosts a scrap night. It is online, and you get a new instruction every 10 minutes for an hour. At the end of the hour you post your layout online and everyone gets to see what you have done. It is so much fun. A little girl's night out, right in my own home.

22/365 The Dread Book Report



The kids really love school, and for the most part, they even enjoy all the projects and assignments that come with it. But the one assignment that I really dread is the book report. It is just a glorified art project, and one more thing that doesn't seem essential to learning. But, no matter how I feel about it, the kids all work really hard and always turn out something really great.

23/365 Brother Bear



In addition to the pinewood derby, Joe earned his bear badge tonight. He also earned three arrow points (that's 10 achievements per arrow point). Let me just tell you, that's a dang lot of work! I am proud of him and his success!

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

So, Joe is getting ready to turn nine...and still enjoying scouts.

(Which is WAY MORE than his mother can say about it! But that's another post all together.)

Anyway. We had pack meeting last night (where the give out awards) and Joe received his Wolf badge and 4 arrow points. For those of you who are unfamiliar with scouts, this means that to earn his wolf he completed 12 achievements, which required him to do 58 individual tasks. And each arrow point required 10 additional tasks.

He is amazing!

And when he actually turns nine he will begin to work on his bear...new achievements, new tasks...oh joy.

Rite of Passage

So Joseph has officially entered the ranks of boyhood...as has his father. They, together, completed their very first pinewood derby car, and raced in a their first pinewood derby.

It was a very interesting endeavor, as neither had ever built a pinewood derby car, and as a mother, it was just one more aspect of scouts that I don't get!

But, I think it was fun for Joe to build something himself, and I think for Troy too, who never did the pinewood derby as a boy. They built a stylish little car and made a presentable showing in their first derby.

Knowing what they know now, and seeing how competitive the other boys and fathers were, all I can say is, look out derby 2009, here come the Beatty boys!