AHG Pet Care Badge

Rachel's American Heritage Girls Explorer group has been working on earning the Pet Care Badge.  To meet one of the requirements they had to take a tour of an animal shelter.  What a fun visit that was!  Of course, Rachel was drawn to the pets up for adoption and immediately started begging me (unsuccessfully) to take this sweet kitty home with us.

We learned about role of the Animal Services department.  We also learned about different types of wildlife that could be seen in our town and how to identify various animal tracks.

We learned about the vehicles and tools that Animal Services uses when they have to capture wildlife.

Animal Services has a lot of laundry to do.  Look at all of those towels and blankets to make the pets feel comfortable in their temporary home.

We got to see a real microchip that they put in animals that are adopted.  It's just that little dark bar and it goes right under the animal's skin.  Both of our dogs have microchips like these.

If the animal is found, it can be taken to a veterinarian or Animal Services and they will use their scanner to read the identifying information on the microchip.  Most importantly they will get the owner's information so they can get the animal back to their home.

The girls were so excited to meet and pet this gentle giant.  His name is Magnum and he is such a sweet dog.

We all enjoyed looking at the wall of pictures of the various animals that had found their forever homes through Animal Services.  

Random facts that we learned about cats:

• Cats can rotate their ears 180 degrees.
• The hearing of the average cat is at least 5 times keener than that of a human adult.
• Domestic cats spend about 705 of the day sleeping and 15% of the day grooming.

Register to Ring for the Salvation Army

It just wouldn't be Christmas without hearing that iconic jingle of the Salvation Army bell ringer outside of your neighborhood store.  Did you know that just a one day of bell ringing at one location can generate enough donations for your local Salvation Army to provide a homeless person with one night of shelter and hot meals for an entire day?  

Rachel and I volunteered last year as Salvation Army bell ringers.  It was a lot of fun and it was a blessing in so many ways.  It was wonderful to help raise donations for such a great organization but it also warmed our hearts to see the smiles on people's faces as they donated and to hear their stories of how the Salvation Army has personally touched their lives during difficult times.  

This year, I mentioned to some of the other moms in Rachel's American Heritage Girls troop that we could get a group of girls to volunteer together as bell ringers.  One of the moms seemed surprised that just anyone could volunteer for this.  She thought the bell ringers were all employees of the Salvation Army.  Nothing could be further from the truth!  Bell ringers are regular people from your community, just like you and me!  And the Salvation Army NEEDS volunteers right now.  If bell ringers aren't out there then all of those potential donations are missed.  

I hope you are asking yourself now, "How can I sign up?"

Just go to the Register to Ring website!  When I go to the site, we have several store locations right around our home to choose from.  We personally always like to go to Hobby Lobby because Rachel and I just love that store.  There are shifts available throughout the day to choose from.  You can sign up for hourly shifts but the Salvation Army requests that you at least sign up for a minimum of a 2 hour shift.  Shifts are available to serve from now until Christmas Eve.

What does a Salvation Army bell ringer have to do?

You arrive at your designated location and time about 10 minutes early.  You might be relieving another volunteer who already has the red kettle and sign set up or you may have to do a little set up on your own.  I imagine each store has different policies and different Salvation Army locations might each do things a little differently.  For our location, if the kettle and sign isn't already in place we have specific instructions on where to find the sign and tripod to hold the sign inside our Hobby Lobby store.  Rachel and I simply carried that out of the store and set it up and the designated side of the store.  If the red kettle isn't already out from a previous volunteer's shift then a Salvation Army person will show up at the start of your shift to deliver the kettle to you.  They also provide a bag with two bells and two red aprons.  At the end of the shift, if another volunteer is signed up after you, they will just show up and take over your spot.  If no one else is signed up after you then a Salvation Army person will arrive to pick up the red kettle, bells, and aprons and you will return the sign and tripod to the designated place inside the store.

We usually try to wear something a little Christmas-y like red and green clothes, a Santa hat, etc.  The Salvation Army encourages bell ringers to greet the store customers with a smile or by saying, "Merry Christmas!".  You can even sing Christmas carols or play an instrument to bring some extra holiday cheer.  You don't ask for donations.  Just let the customers know that you are there and they will come.

I signed Rachel's AHG Explorer troop up for two shifts of two hours each and we had a total of six ringers.  It was so much fun watching the girls greet customers and sing Christmas carols together.  I know they attracted more donations because of their cuteness.  But it was also a great experience for them and taught them how they can do even small things to serve those in their community.

Fall 2018 Family Campout

We go on a family campout with our American Heritage Girls and Trail Life USA friends every fall and spring.  We have usually done tent camping with sleeping bags and all.  However, when they moved the campout location from Bonham State Park to Possum Kingdom State Park and we discovered that there are cabins for rent at this location we had to try it out.

Call it "Glamping" if you must but we like it!  No more worries about wind blowing over our tent in the middle of the night.

There is a kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and an extra bed with trundle in the living area.  There is a lot of space which is great when the kids have friends come over and hang out with them.

Or sometimes they just hang out on the porch!

But usually they are too busy running around playing games or going hiking to hang out at our site.

I love our campouts because it lets me spend the weekend with my family without the need to do laundry, school planning, etc.  I get to hang out in nature which is just good for my spirit and my soul.  This was the view of the lake by our cabin.

Stuart and I went on a short hike along the trails. What beautiful weather we had!

I love going on adventures with this man!  We wandered off the trail a little way and found some huge boulders and some interesting plant life under the canopy of the trees that was very different from what we saw out on the open trails.

Back at the cabin, this beautiful monarch butterfly enjoyed hanging out on our window screen for a while.

Rachel and her Explorer troop found this mama wolf spider with an egg sac.

They also found a fish skeleton!

This interesting guy was found on the outer wall of our cabin.  He was beautiful but we didn't know what it was so we researched it.  He is a plume moth.  They roll up their wings while they are resting during the day.  I would have loved to have seen his wings spread out.

Of course, there are always creepy crawlies to be found at a campout!

Nicholas has been studying fungi in his biology class so we got excited to find this fungus growing on the side of an old tree stump....

And this crazy looking puffball fungi that had already burst open to release its spores into the air.

This weekend was Rachel's birthday so she asked to have shrimp for dinner.  She got a big bowl all for herself.  She loves all kinds of seafood.

The rest of us had a more traditional camping meal of burgers cooked on the outdoor grill.

There is always a dutch oven dessert contest after dinner.  Everyone gets a sample of each dessert and then we get to vote on the best one!  

We always look forward to nightfall at campouts because the moms and dads gather around the campfire to listen to music and visit with each other while they kids run around like banshees in the dark.

Valentine's Day Party on a Budget

I planned the Valentine's Day party for Rachel's AHG Explorers group.  We have a budget but I wanted to make things nice for the girls so I shopped at my favorite resource, Dollar Tree!  This place has some neat things that you can use creatively for all kinds of projects.  And everything in the store is just $1.00 each!

I got 2 red plastic table covers to make it festive...and to keep the markers from the art project from staining the church's tables ($2.00).  

I also got 2 bouquets of fake pink and white roses.  Each bouquet had 5 flowers on it ($2.00).  I pulled the flowers off the stems and just placed them in the center of each table as a centerpiece and then scattered some glitter hearts around the table ($1.00). 

Each of the girls were bringing Valentine's Day cards to share with their friends.  I thought about making little mail boxes for each of them but time was short so I just bought each of them a Valentine's Day gift bag.  They were $1.00 each and they were colorful and glittery.

I found lots of options for free Valentine's Day themed bingo games to print at home.  But we were going to have 17 girls playing so I needed 17 different bingo cards.  I ended up having to purchase a classroom set from Rosie's Superstars on the Teachers Pay Teachers site.  I love finding school resources there!  I printed the cards at home and then bought boxes of candy conversation hearts at Dollar Tree for the girls to use as bingo markers.  They loved snacking on their bingo markers!

We played several rounds on bingo.  The girls were then given a challenge to see how high they could stack their candy hearts.  Some made single file towers.  Others made pyramids like this one and other crazy creations.

Rachel was happy to just eat hers.

Of course candy hearts weren't the only snack.  The girls brought plenty of sweet treats to share with their friends.  What is a party without lots of sweets???

I also had the girls make a service project.  They made a May Basket paper craft that they could share with an elderly neighbor or anyone who needed cheering up.  I found the template at AlphaMom and used a few sheets of scrapbook paper that I already had.

The party was for 17 girls.  It included decorations, games, a craft, a service project, Valentine's Day goody bags, and treats for less than $30 out of our budget.  I do love Dollar Tree!

American Heritage Girls Mid-Year Awards Ceremony

Rachel is a first year Explorer in American Heritage Girls this year.  She loves spending time with her AHG friends and she is excited about all of the fun things they are learning together.  We had our mid-year award ceremony last night and Rachel earned quite a few awards.

She earned the following badges which she is excited to sew onto her Explorer vest all by herself.

• Archery
• Camping
• Climb On! (rock climbing)
• Family Campout
• Fundraiser Achiever
• Insect-a Inspect-a
• Living in the USA
• National Day of Service
• Needle Arts
• Sewing

She also earned the Skating pin for her work this semester in ice hockey.

In addition to these she also earned a special award and got called up on stage by herself to receive it.  She earned the P.R.A.Y. God and Me award.  For this she got a medallion to pin on her vest and a little certificate.  She worked hard on this award for a couple of months so she is very proud of it.

We are proud of her too.  Since she has moved up to the Explorer level it has become more challenging to earn awards but she enjoys the activities much more than she did at the Tenderheart level so she is motivated to do them.

Salvation Army Bell Ringer {Volunteer Opportunities for Kids}

There are always a lot of volunteer opportunities for kids around the Christmas holidays.  One of the most recognizable ones is The Salvation Army Bell Ringers!  The money raised in the little red kettles goes to help local needs such as providing food and clothing to people in the community.  Rachel and I volunteered for a three hours time slot in front of Hobby Lobby in Lewisville.  

The Lewisville office of the Salvation Army is desperate for more volunteers and it it's not too late to sign up.  Just click HERE and find a time slot and location that works for you.  If you are outside of the Lewisville, TX area then click HERE and search for other bell ringer opportunities around the country.

Someone from the Salvation Army main office brought the kettle, aprons, and bells to us.  The sign stays stored just inside the Hobby Lobby for the next bell ringer.  The work was easy so it a great volunteer opportunity to do with your kids and family.  You just ring the bell, smile, and greet people as they enter and leave the store.  Usually people smile back and drop money in the bucket.  One person said that The Salvation Army had been a great help to her mom and she was happy to donate.  I was sad to see how many people looked rushed and stressed as they were out shopping so we tried really hard to be cheerful and wish them a Merry Christmas.  It was fun and we even got to let a few little kids ring the bell for us!

If you have a few hours before Christmas, please consider signing up to be a Salvation Army Bell Ringer.  Just click HERE and be a blessing to others in our community.

Basket Case Game at AHG

Each week, Rachel looks forward to getting together with her American Heritage Girls group.  They get to visit with their friends, work on badges together, maybe have a snack, and usually play a game or two to help get the wiggles out. Their newest game is Basket Case.  

One of the leaders found it locally but you can also get it at Amazon (affiliate link).  The idea is simple.  One girl wears the basket headband while another girl throws ping pong balls into the basket.  There are a set of white balls and red balls so you can divide up into two teams and have a fun little competition.

The headbands were slightly too big for the girls' heads so they had to hold them on but they had so much fun playing this game!

Note: This post contains an affiliate link which means that if you purchase the item through this link then I will receive a small percentage of the purchase price.  This does not affect the price you pay for the product in any way.

American Heritage Girls: Love God

Rachel received a white rose tonight for starting her first year in American Heritage Girls. 

 

She is 6 years old so she is in the Pathfinder program.  Melissa and I are Pathfinder co-leaders (although Melissa does most of it and plans amazing activities).

Melissa gave Rachel a birthday present.  A pink frog from the movie Rio.  As you can see, Rachel LOVES her new friend :)

Melissa planned a fun activity to teach the second Pathfinder Stepping Stone which is "Love God".  She had 7 paper bags and each bag had something inside it to represent one of the Days of Creation.  For the first day, there was a flashlight in the bag because God divided the light from the dark.  On the second day, God created the atmosphere and separated it from the waters...so there was a water bottle in the bag.  How cute!

We talked about each day and Rachel colored a corresponding coloring page. 

Of course, on the sixth day, God created man and woman.  We also talked about how God created another wonderful blessing.  Melissa pulled out a mirror and said, "God created you!"  Rachel had fun looking in the mirror!

Pathfinder girls have a big sister mentor.  Rachel's big sister is so sweet with her and Rachel loves her dearly.