Sewing with Girl Scouts--May Meeting

My heart swelled, yet broke slightly, at our monthly Girl Scout meeting tonight.  The girls have been discussing Bronze and Silver Award projects, and they decided to make blankets and pillows for local hospitals.  I could not come up with something "fun" for the meeting, so I decided we would start with the project.  I bought 4 pieces of light fleece to make tie blankets, and Mom found some pieces of material to sew and make pillow cases.  We realized we didn't have the stuffing, but we can do that later.  I showed the girls how to cut and tie the blankets while she showed them how to sew a simple stitch/hem with the sewing machine.  The first girl, who took to it quickly and easily, happens to have the same name as my niece.  All I could think was . . . this should be my niece and her grandmother sewing together.  Maybe some day it will be, but at the rate we are going, it won't.  My heart broke slightly at this sight and thought.  However, I was excited that both of us could share these skills with three (only three came tonight) beautiful young ladies.

1st Girl Scout Meeting of 2014-2015

Tonight, 6 of our 10 girls were able to meet.

 We began with a get-to-know you activity (to just catch-up b/c it has been a while since we've been together).  They chose a Skittle, and each color was assigned a memory--something more precious than gold, something that makes you feel warm, something that makes you cry, something that makes you laugh, etc.  The girls had a great time with this.

We then had them look through ceremonies for Bridging and Investiture and plan their Awards and Bridging Ceremonies, which we will do at the beginning of October.

Finally, they began planning their Bronze/Silver project.  With two levels, we are trying to kill two birds with one stone.  We will have them do one project to accomplish both Awards.

We filled our time together, they had great conversations, and we can't wait to see what this year holds.

What have you done to kick-off the new Girl Scout year?

Bronze Award Project--Finished!

With a little prodding and planning on my part, my niece finished the requirements for her Girl Scout Bronze Award.  Woohoo!  Finally!!

My nephew helped us too to earn volunteer hours for Boy Scouts.

We put two pieces of fleece together, cut slits around the edges, and then tied the two strips together, going all the way around.  The four blankets will be donated to a homeless shelter in the Metroplex.

Girl Scout Sunday 2013

Today is Girl Scout Sunday, the Sunday before Girl Scout Birthday, which is March 12th, when Girl Scouts will turn 101.  Three of our girls spent the morning at First Presbyterian Church of Rockwall, not only attending service, but they were greeters and ushers during the service.

After the service, the girls delivered their Be Prepared, Girl Scout themed, bags to a few memebers of the church who need a little extra TLC.  While visiting the different rehab facilities, they looked at flowers to help earn the Flowers Badge.

Happiness

Happiness is . . . having my niece and nephew for 6 days of Spring Break!
I can't want to spend time with them. They are setting the schedule for the week, and since Gram is still in rehab for her broken leg, we will include her in as much as we can, and when we can't, we will show up with dinner or ice cream to tell her all about our day.

We'll keep you posted on our adventures!

Today, we begin with our last Girl Scout Cookie Booth Sale of the season.  2 hours in front of our local Walmart before we spend some time getting the final items for their Be Prepared goodie bag of the church shut-ins.


Bronze Award and Girl Scout Meeting Update:
I missed the last Girl Scout meeting because of the Visitation, but the girls decorated bags for two themes--Be Prepared, in honor of Girl Scout Sunday, Girl Scout Birthday Week, and Girl Scout Birthday, and Easter.  Few items were donated for the bags, but the items that were donated were placed in their respective bag. Once we finished our shopping today and finalize the bags, I'll let you know what was placed inside.

We continue to hear "thank you" and what joy the Valentine's Day bags brought the church members.

World Thinking Day and Bronze Award Project Update

On Friday evening, our troop met to cover two major topics.  First, the girls who chose to participate, presented their World Thinking Day projects.  The girls were given the choices of Jordan, Malawi, Pakistan, Venezuela, Russia, Japan, and Ireland.  They were asked to tell us what Girl Scouting is like in the country, what the Girl Scout uniforms look like, and what life for a young girl is like in the country.  The girls did a great job!

The second part of our evening was spent on their Bronze Award project.  The girls decorated white coffee mugs with sharpies for Valentine's Day.  (I put them in the oven on 350 degrees for 30 minutes to set the color.)  They also decorated the gift bags.  We will fill the mugs/bags with sugar free hot chocolate, coffee, tea, chocolates or cookie, and a book of poems/quotes for women or a tie for men.  The bags will be taken to the church by the weekend and then delivered before Valentine's Day.

Bronze Award Project

Our January 25th meeting was all business.  We don't like to do an "all business" meeting, but we had to have discussions that needed to lead to a decision and then planning for the Bronze Aware project/award.  The girls had created a list of ideas a few months ago.  Last night, we broke them into two groups.  Each group was asked to narrow the choices down to their top three.  Once both groups had three, we discussed them and then narrowed them down to one.  Both groups chose two that were the same and then each had a different one.  After discussing projects other local troops have done and some future projects, the girls decided to make bags/baskets for church shut-ins for four holidays between now and the end of May.  They chose Valentine's Day, a Girl Scouts themed one to deliver on Girl Scout Sunday, Easter, and Spring.  Once they had their concept and four holidays, they brainstormed a list of items to give elderly church members for each theme.  J and I bought the items for the Valentine's gifts based on their lists and a few things we know about the church members.  The girls will spend the February 1st meeting putting things together.