End of Year Banquet

This year we headed to Randy's Restaurant for dinner and dessert to celebrate our fantastic year coming to an end.

Unfortunately, I walked out of the house without my camera, so I have no  photos to share from our fun evening. :(  At least I remembered the badges! :)

The girls and moms had a good evening talking and eating.  Before dessert, I presented the girls with a purse that had a notepad and pen as well as their badges they earned for the year.  As I presented the badges, I shared a little bit about each girl and how I've seen them grow and mature over these last few years we've been meeting.  Such a tremendous group of young girls.  I am so honored and blessed to have been a part of your lives these last three years.

While the girls were eating their dessert, they wrote notes to each other using their new notepads and pens.  It was very cute when they all decided they needed to get each others autographs. :)  The moms discussed next year and the potential changes we'll be making to our Keepers group.  Change is hard, but sometimes is essential.  I'm looking forward to next year and working with you all again.

Thanks for a great year!

Ecology

Jen led us in our last badge for the year, Ecology.

She first discussed recycling.  The girls learned why we should recycle and what is considered acceptable to recycle here in our area. Jen had three boxes sitting there, one filled w/ various items and two empty boxes, one representing recyclable goods and the other represented trash.  The girls had to sort through the box of stuff and put the items in the correct box.  After they were finished, Jen went through each item and told the girls whether they were correct or not in regards to where they placed the item.  The girls learned a lot through this lesson and, from what I've heard and observed here at home, have taken the lesson and are applying it at home. :)

After learning about recycling, Jen moved on to biomes and conservation.  The girls broke into groups and worked together w/ their specific biome putting together a poster explaining what their biome was, what type of vegetation and animals you'd find there and what the climate was like.  The girls had a lot of fun working together and putting this together.

Thanks Jen, for a fun and informative evening!

Food Preservation

March had us exploring the world of food preservation.  Terri had the girls hopping all evening long preserving both fruits and vegetables.  They made strawberry freezer jam as well as freezing some veggies and fruit.  We also had two dehydrators that were used to preserve more fruits and veggies.  The girls did all their own cutting and mixing.  It was a very busy, fun evening.

Opening hymn

Talking about food preservation

Preparing red peppers

cutting cantaloupe

carrots

Strawberries

Cooking is fun!

What was your favorite food to preserve? Have you enjoyed any of the goodies you packed away?  Did it taste the way you thought it would?

Sewing

"She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple." Proverbs 31:22

This month we took on the challenge of the sewing badge!  Jenni did a fabulous job leading the girls in sewing their own pajama bottoms using, gasp,sewing machines as well as hand sewing pin cushions.  The girls were busy, busy, busy the entire evening and all of them completed their projects, eventually. 

I have no pictures of this evening.  If someone who took pictures wants to send them my way, I’ll add them in.

Now that you all have learned to sew, have you sewn anything else?  Share with us what you’ve been doing.  If you have a picture, send that to me through email and I’ll add it in.  

Geneaology

This month we focused on where we came from.  Lori led us in a discussion on why it’s important know where we come from.  Learning about our ancestors can be interesting and fun endeavor that leads us to many discoveries about ourselves. 

The girls each gathered information about their families and created a brief synopsis about their family.

Neighbors

"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself…" Mark 12:31

December’s meeting was all about being a good neighbor.  After our opening,

 which included an impromptu piano playing of our hymn by Emily, 

Megan led the girls in a discussion of what God says about how we should treat others and how in particular we should treat our neighbors.  

We are to be a light and shinning example of Christ’s love to everyone we come in contact with, even when it’s hard. 

After discussing what it is to be a good neighbor, the girls got busy decorating Christmas Cookies to take around to their neighbors.

The girls were challenged to be extra friendly to those who haven’t been nice to them as well as to those who are friendly back.  Not always an easy task to follow.  Share how you did with your challenge!  Was it easy or hard?  How did the person react?  Did it make a difference in your relationship?

Croquet

What a fun night we had tonight.  Those of you who weren’t able to come, you were missed and we hope you all feel better soon.

We started off our meeting going over our verse, purpose, goal and we even got part of the song in.  We then talked about our hymn, It is Well with My Soul.  We went through each stanza, line by line, talking about what it means and what a wonderful gift Christ has given us, he will never leave us.  No matter what life throws our way, It is Well with Our Souls!  Sammie shared with us what the author, Horatio Spafford, experienced that prompted him to write the hymn.  Such a tragic accident to lose all his children on what was supposed to be a fun trip.

After talking about our hymn Mrs. McDaniel took over and shared about the history of croquet.  We all learned it is a really old sport, dating back to the 14th Century and was originally called Pall Mall.  When the french took over the game they changed the name,  Paille Maille, to Croquet and that name has stuck ever since.  We also learned that the shopping center "malls" come from the original Pall Mall which were the covered courts in which they played.  Really fascinating history.  Thanks Diane for sharing with us.

After the history and a brief run down on what to do, the girls hit the yard to learn how to play croquet, as they played.    The girls did great and were cheering each other on.  So proud of their sportsmanship.  The eventual winners were Tessa and Emily.  Anna and Peter were second.  Hannah came in third.  Sammie and Elizabeth were fourth with Rebecca coming in right behind them.  Great job to everyone and a big thanks to Diane for teaching us how to play.