AHG Court of Honor

May 20, 2014: Today was officially the last day of the Year for the American Heritage Girls of Troop 1508 as we celebrated the girls achievements in Court of Honor. Each level group was recognized with the awards they earned. Kaylee received a multiple of awards she worked so hard for throughout the year. The girls moving up to the next level crossed the bridge and received the new uniform. The pride and happiness in the girls faces was difficult to hide.

The Young Meteorologist Award

Kaylee decided to work on the AHG Young Meteorologist Award. How fun!

(Let me apologize right now to all the teachers out there for probably making a mess out of this project.)

Here is what Kaylee (with the help of mom) accomplished:

Defined weather, made a windsock (more like wind ribbons), made a water gauge, and created a tornado in a jar. Kaylee (with Dylan as a volunteer assistant) observed and recorded the findings in Kaylee's AHG Journal.

WINDSOCK: (or wind ribbons) an "instrument" to determine which direction (with the help of a compass) the wind comes from in our area. To make the windsock Kaylee covered an empty tape roll with electrical tape to make it waterproof. She then made a handle with pipe-cleaners; and tied ribbon to the tape dispenser. We found the ideal spot in our yard to hang the windsock and observed for two weeks. Actually, we hung three windsocks - Dylan and I also made our own.

RAIN GAUGE: an instrument to keep record of the rainfall in our backyard (also for two (2) weeks). The rain gauge was very simple to make. This is how we did it:

• Taped a funnel to an empty tennis ball container (with the smaller opening to the inside of the container) 
• Drew the inch markers using a ruler as a guide (we made the markings on masking tape for better visibility)
• Taped skewers to the container to allow it to stay put in the ground even when wind was determined to pay us a visit.  
• Set the container in an area where it would get rain (only from the sky and not our roof top), was stable enough, and not at all disturbed by any of our wildlife friends and pet. Combining all those was a challenge but we managed. 

Side Note: We probably would have been just as fine leaving it under our roof since the rain did not cooperate and Kaylee collected 0 inches of water... She is determined to collect whatever comes down, so the rain gauge has now taken a permanent spot on our yard until it does it's job.

TORNADO IN A JAR: a fun project to simulate a tornado. Here is how we made it:

• Filled a jar 3/4 with water 
• Added 1 teaspoon of liquid soap 
• Added 1 teaspoon of vinegar 
• Covered the jar and swirl around to see the magic happen.

Another Side Note: Actually, no magic happened, in fact nothing happened and the kids were disappointed, so we tried again, and again, and again ... Until we just used a spoon to swirl the water and the fierce tornado made its appearance.

So, what did we conclude?

• During this time of year in our area the wind comes pretty consistently from the SW
• During this time of year in our area we had 0 inches of rain. We did have some moisture and a few gloomy days
• The temperatures change drastically from cold to warm from one day to another
• Recording findings in a journal is actually fun
• Tornado in a jar is pretty cool (even if it takes many tries to make it work)
• Kaylee is "officially" a young meteorologist - at least she likes to think so

Puppetry, Money Management, Ancestor Detector

March 18, 2014 - It was a meeting packed with fun activities. To culminate the Puppetry Award the girls brought a common object from home to use for making noise that would represent a specific kind of sound in a show . They shared their object, made a sound (or a few) with them and discussed what the sound may represent. The girls were very creative with their choice of objects and coming up with what each sound could have been used for. It was loud, it was musical, it was fun! Can you guess what Kaylee's objects were?

To continue to work on their Money Management Award, they each brought a stuffed animal friend to trade with each other. They were responsible for taking care of it during the meeting. Through this, they learned stewardship. The girls discussed what makes each one of them a good manager, the things God entrust them with, and how they felt when entrusting their things to others.

With clear skies and a great temperature of just a little above 80, the girls had the opportunity to go outside to work on their Ancestor Detector Award. After learning the official rules of hopscotch, the girls made three groups and played hopscotch until their hearts were content. Later they discussed other games their ancestors may have played. Lastly, they enjoyed the playground, fun that our ancestors passed on.

April 29, 2014: Today the girls continued working on another part of the Ancestor Detector badge. They made their own kites and flew them in the play ground. It was a beautiful site to see the many girls running around as they made their kites fly as high as they could. It was a very exciting time for us all.  After flying their kites, they learned the rules of the game Kick the Can and enjoyed playing that for a while before returning inside to take part in the closing ceremony. This was another day full of excitement for the American Heritage Girls.

AHG Work on the Toys & Games Badge

February 25th, 2014 - Each meeting the AHG start with a flag ceremony and a prayer. Today was no different. At the culmination of the ceremony, the girls gathered up and started to work on a step for the Toys and Games Badge. Sadly, the girls had already started this badge by the time Kaylee joined this group, and she may not be able to finish all previous steps for the badge; but nonetheless, she enjoyed participating. The girls followed origami steps to have a very adorable waterproof boat. If you will like to make one too, follow this link. Thanks Zoe from Captain Crafty!

After the girls were finished with their paper boat, they played a game with conversation heart candies and chopsticks. This game consists of the girls using chopsticks to pick up as many candies as they can in a 25 second time frame. The girls that waited their turn cheered the girls playing. This game had been planned for the Valentine's Day Party but with so many other activities planned, there was no time for this one. The leaders brought it back to get the girls engaged in this challenging game. The girls enjoyed it so much that they requested it was brought back the next meeting for another moment of loud fun.

After the closing ceremony, Kaylee had the opportunity to meet with the group leader for a conference about her Joining Award. Kaylee has officially completed all the steps to get this award; and she was one happy girl. Congratulations Miss. Kaylee!

Our Scouts Visit the Zoo

Sunday February 17, 2014 was just the perfect day to be outside. And that is exactly what we did. We packed a few snacks, filled two of our water bottles with iced cold water, and headed to the zoo. I don't know about you, but we just don't get tired of the zoo. Even when you see the same animals, they are making new faces or swinging around a different way for you to admire them. We visited our wild friends, talked to them, talked about them, and photographed them to capture their beauty and unique features. We were delighted to see two new babies this time around. These were large babies, but nonetheless babies. The Fort Worth Zoo had two proud parents to two oh so very cute elephant babies. On our zoo adventure we completed an elective for Dylan (Visit a zoo or aquarium) and Kaylee completed step 3 of the AHG Nature and Wildlife badge. My Angel took some photographs of which some go on my list of favorites, and I was just grateful to be enjoying the beautiful weather with my most favorite people in the world.

 
 

American Heritage Girls - A New Begining

A very exciting way to start the New Year this 2014; Kaylee joins the American Heritage Girls Tendehearts. Thumbs up to starting new adventures with this Christ Centered Scouting Group.

Our Scouting Adventure Begins

Scouting is not just exciting, adventurous, and fun;  it is a place to build men and women of VALUE and INTEGRITY. And that is exactly what I wish for my children. Let's SCOUT on!

Introduction: These are my Pair of Scouts!


Dylan is a proud 7 year old TIGER Cub Scout who is part of Den 1 Pack 1993. He started his scouting adventure early October of 2013. We have been blessed with a magnificent group of boys, and supporting parents that make our Den a pleasure to be a part of.

Kaylee is an ecstatic 8 year old Tenderheart who is an American Heritage Girls and a Girl Scout. Kaylee's scouting adventure started in 2011 with the Girl Scouts. Just recently, Kaylee became part of the American Heritage Girls. She enjoys every bit of it.

I hope you follow us on our ADVENTURE and share our EXCITEMENT as we move FORWARD.