The Pierce Family: Scouting Activities

I love that my boys love scouting! There is so much good that comes from involvement in this wonderful program. For Xander, being an 11 year old scout is a whole lot more fun because he gets to go on campouts!! This picture is from the Icicle Campout he attended in February that had been postponed from January due to the blizzard. Icicle Campout it was - those poor boys were sure bundled up but still had a fabulous time. I think Xander's grin is frozen on his face!

Xander was also able to earn his first advancement - his scout badge.

We are proud parents!

For Noah in cub scouts the first few months of the year are always filled with fun pack meetings - in January was his first Pinewood Derby and in February was the Blue and Gold Banquet! Every year the boys are responsible for making a cake for the Blue and Gold that in some way reflects the theme of the event. This year's theme was "That's Entertainment" and the boys were asked to make a dozen cupcakes decorated to show their favorite movie. Noah was so excited to make his Batman cupcakes! (We had just let the kids watch the Christian Bale Batman movie and Noah was obsessed!)

By the time we got to the actual decorating the cupcakes, however, Noah had lost his enthusiasm...

Yeah, not his best work. We definitely don't have a budding Martha Stewart in the house. But they were done.

I have tried to take more of an interest in the boys' scouting since Noah joined because I wasn't too involved with Xander when he was in cub scouts. One thing I have been doing is volunteering to help with the pack meetings in multiple ways, whether it be planning, set up, or clean up. I also am the designated photographer which I have really enjoyed. As I sat in the planning meeting for the Blue and Gold, the Cub Master turned to me toward the end and assigned me to decorations. Uhhhh...what? I slowly nodded my head, wondering how I had gotten chosen for this. Really, I had no idea what I had actually just gotten myself into. I was given no list of parents to help me - I would be flying solo on this - just handed the theme with a few ideas to get me started. Well, thank goodness for Pinterest because it saved me! It was very stressful putting everything together and setting it all up but when it was all done I must admit I was quite pleased with how it turned out. And the thank you message I got from the Cub Master when he saw the decorated gym really made me feel good. So, because I worked so hard on it, I've included a few pictures.
Everyone got to walk the red carpet as they arrived!

Each table had an entertainment theme - Hollywood, Broadway, Rock n Roll, etc.

I hung movie posters as well as playbills on the walls.

My favorite thing I made was our very own Hollywood Walk of Fame. Each of the boys got a star with his name as well as his rank on it and they were spread throughout the gym.

Noah's with his wolf emblem.

Unfortunately, after all the hard work I put into the decorations, I did not even get to go to the Blue and Gold. That same night Xander and I went on a date to the Mother/Son dance at his school. Thank goodness David as well as a few other moms took lots of pictures for me. Noah got to lead the scouts in the pledge...

and also earned a few awards.

And then the evening of entertainment began! Each pack was responsible for "entertaining" the parents with various skits and jokes. The wolves did the always hilarious face-on-the-chin lip sync. Noah was second from the left, with the blue hankie, and I was told that he was the most animated of all the boys, moving his head back and forth in time with the music and opening that mouth of his wide with the lyrics. That doesn't surprise me - in all ways Noah is an entertainer!