Making Connections in a New Town

Moving to a new place can seem overwhelming - you are essentially starting life over, needing to figure out where to shop, eat, buy gas, go for entertainment, and meet people!  We moved from a city of about 250,000 people to a town with around 6,000 people.  We have been here a little more than 6 months and we are still finding our way around in some aspects, but all in all we are feeling quite at home which is a great feeling!  We had a few things in our favor -- we moved to a place where we have some family connections.  My mom's family is from New Hampshire, and I have an aunt and uncle about 90 minutes north of us, another aunt about 60 minutes to the east, a cousin and his family about 90 minutes south, and another cousin about 40 minutes away.  Already, we have seen all of them more this year than we have in the past few years combined -- this has been a real blessing for us!

The other thing that we have in our favor, is that we have two school-aged children -- when you have children in school, you have so many opportunities to make connections and meet new people.  Over the winter when I was in hibernation mode, one of the only times I braved the cold each week was to take my daughters to Sunday school and to church (another great place to connect with people!).  Through my daughters' Sunday school I was asked to help out with this coming year's youth ministry (much to my eldest daughter's chagrin...) which will help me get more involved in our new community and meet some people.

Our eldest daughter, Olivia, has made some wonderful friends through school and I have had some very nice conversations with a couple of her friends' parents either while exchanging our kids for sleepovers or while attending school functions.  One of the moms and I have a lot in common from working in the same field and we are looking forward to planning a girls night out for dinner! 

While Olivia has made a number of great friends and absolutely loves school, it's harder to tell if our youngest, Mackenzie, is making connections.  She keeps things more closely to the vest than her older sister, who will have filled you in on her whole life each day by bedtime (not complaining -- LOVE that about her and pray that she always feels that comfortable talking to us!).  The little one tells us things more on a need to know basis, so I've been worrying about how to get her connected and making friends.  My eldest plays an instrument and was able to join the school band right away -- that was a wonderful way for her to connect right away with kids who shared a common interest.  Most of her very close friends are in band with her and that has also given the rest of us a connection to the town because we go to the school concerts and also enjoyed seeing her march with her marching band in our town's Memorial Day parade. 

Our little one does not play an instrument -- she's in 2nd grade and the school does not offer music until 5th (not to mention she is adamant about NOT wanting to play an instrument!  We'll see...).  As I've mentioned before, I was a Girl Scout leader back in NY and I was looking forward to getting my little girlie involved in Girl Scouts -- another great instant way to connect!  When we first arrived, she was finding it to be enough of a change to go to a new school -- was not interested in getting back into Girl Scouts right away.  That was ok with me at that point because we were living in a sea of boxes and just getting acclimated to a new house, town, etc.  One day at Sunday school, I overheard a mom talking about her daughter being in Girl Scouts -- another tip for making connections in a new town, keep your ears open and don't be afraid to join in (politely, of course!) on other people's conversations!  ;)  I asked about her daughter's troop but found out that it is in another town (our church encompasses 3 towns) so I decided to keep looking for something more close to home.  At some point after that, I sent an e-mail through the Girl Scout website, expressing interest.  They responded about a week later and someone was supposed to call me, but I never heard from anyone.  At that point we had missed the cookie sale and I decided to wait and get her enrolled for next year.  Enter last week's science fair at my eldest daughter's school!  While talking to one of her friend's mothers (who I had met at Medieval Night at her school a few months ago), she was asking about how my girls were transitioning and somehow I mentioned Mackenzie and wanting to get her into Girl Scouts.  This mom has an older daughter who is not in Girl Scouts and two young sons (also, obviously, not in Girl Scouts...), and yet she happens to be friends with the leader of a troop of 2nd graders who happen to meet at my youngest's school!  (I know, note to self, next time just call the school and ask directly!)  We exchanged e-mail addresses and she e-mailed me her friend's contact info. 

Coincidentally, the same day that I received the contact info for the troop leader, my husband and I took Mackenzie to the town playground (her sister was recovering from a sleepover) and she ran into a little girl that recognized her from school.  They had a wonderful time playing together - for 2 hours! - and I ended up talking to the girl's mother and it turns out her daughter is in the same Girl Scout troop!  Now Mackenzie, who had been hesitant to go back to Girl Scouts, is super excited about it!  While the other mom and I were chatting, she also filled me in on things like where to go for 4th of July fireworks, a referral for a good pediatrician, ideas for birthday party entertainment, and we exchanged contact info so that our girls can get together for a play date.  I e-mailed the troop leader and while the troop is wrapping up for the year (not a surprise, I just wanted to get her in for next year), she invited my daughter and I to join them for their last meeting which is this Weds.  I also volunteered to help out with the troop, which will give me something fun to do with my daughter and also help me to connect with some other parents. 

We've really been enjoying making connections here and establishing roots in our new town, and I'm so excited that my little Mackenzie has the opportunity to make some connections and meet new friends like her sister Olivia has!  And the fact that my husband and I are meeting people through our girls -- all the better!  It's great to be friendly with the parents of your children's friends -- not only does it give you peace of mind when your child is hanging out at their home, but it gives you something in common to talk about when you see them! 

Girl Scout Daisy to Brownie Bridging Ceremony

Tonight was the last meeting for my Daisy Girl Scout troop!  Tonight the girls (and myself and my co-leader) all bridged from Daisy Scouts to Brownie Scouts!  It's been a great year and it was wonderful to celebrate with the girls and their families.  I told my co-leader the other day that all year I find that I stress and worry getting ready for every meeting, trying to get loose ends tied up, make sure everyone knows about the meeting, what they need to bring, what I need to bring...  And then I get there and the girls are so much fun and things happen the way the happen -- either smoothly or not, but we always have fun and enjoy ourselves, and I always leave feeling so thankful that I have had this opportunity to share Girl Scouting with my daughters and their friends.  I highly recommend it, if you have the chance -- go for it!  Even if you aren't up for being a leader, leaders always love to have parent helpers and your daughter will love to have you help out her troop!  I've been particularly blessed this year with a wonderful co-leader, some really helpful parents, a great troop of girls, and also my 12-year-old daughter who helps at my troop meetings.  What a truly lovely thing for my two girls and I to get to do together!

For our bridging ceremony, I typed up the "inside" of an invitation on the computer and then printed copies out for the girls to decorate the outside covers.  They took these home to invite their families to our big ceremony.  We worked on learning two songs to sing to the parents -- "Amazing Daisies" an adorable little song we found on iTunes -- and "Make New Friends" a Girl Scout classic that I remember from when I was a Girl Scout (about 100 years ago...).  My little one made up a few hand movements to go along with "Make New Friends" so she taught them to the rest of the troop and they performed this little dance while singing.

We were able to borrow an actual little bridge for the girls to walk over to symbolize their journey from Daisies to Brownies.  We read a story -- another Girl Scout classic -- "The Brownie Story" and we had the girls cross the bridge and peek over to see their reflection in the "pond" (full-length mirror on the floor).  We handed them each a bag with an adorable certificate that we found on Etsy.com, the badges they earned this year, and a sweet dvd that my 12-year-old made on Windows Movie Maker.  It starts with a video clip of the girls singing "Amazing Daisies" (so cute!!) then there are still pictures from throughout the year and video clips of the girls individually telling what Girl Scouts means to them, all set to the Selena Gomez song, "Fly to Your Heart" from the first Tinker Bell movie.  At the end of the dvd she listed all of the girls names, the troop # and the year -- it's about 4-1/2 minutes long, but something I know I would (and will) definitely cherish as a parent!  I briefly thought about borrowing my dad's screen, projector and laptop to be able to show the dvd at the ceremony, but I decided simpler was better for a one hour meeting!  Aside from that we had certificates to thank our volunteer parents and everyone brought a snack to share. 

All in all, a really nice end to a really nice year of Scouting!  Now we can rest up and gear up our energy for next year!

Busy Bees!

I'm sure any of you that have children can relate to this being one of the busiest times of the year!  School is winding down and so are some of the kids activities, while some others are just gearing up! 

We are done with religion classes for the school year, there was an end-of-the-year bike drive that my eldest participated in with her class -- in one hour they received over 35 bikes for a wonderful local organization that collects bikes, fixes them up and gives them to people in need in the community.  She had a great time with that project! 

Early morning runs to drive my eldest to school in the morning for band is also done for the year - yay!  Her school band season ended with a concert for a week ago last Weds for the 5th and 6th grade bands and then this past Weds we were back for the 4th grade band and jazz band concert (my girl plays clarinet in the 6th grade band and the jazz band).  Oh!  And I almost forgot about our trip to the ball park to watch our girl play "The Star Spangled Banner" with her school's bands!  And thus we come to the end of band for this year.  While we were at her concerts, I was struck by the thought that this is it for her at this school -- next year she'll be in junior high at another school -- my how time flies!!

Girl Scouts is wrapping up for the year and as a leader of my little one's Daisy Girl Scout troop, I feel like I've been running a lot to wrap up the year for the girls.  Literally running last week when I had a GS troop meeting from 6:15 - 7:15 and then my other daughter's last jazz concert that started at 7:00 at a different school -- my little one and I ran in during their first song, a couple of minutes late, but thrilled that I had made it and that my daughter saw me and knew I was there.  It's hard to make it to everything all the time, but we do our best not to disappoint our girls!

This week I have a chicken bbq for over 300 people at work and we're getting my eldest ready for her 6th grade camp-out -- I still remember mine -- doesn't seem THAT long ago...  Next week is my last GS meeting for the year -- we're planning a bridging ceremony for the girls to bridge from Daisies to Brownies.  Lots of little details to plan! 

Looking forward to the week of 4th of July -- I'll be home with the girls, hopefully relaxing in the pool a little!  Whew...

A Very "Pinterest" Holiday Season

I know I am late to the party, but I have been on Pinterest for about a month or so -- LOVE IT!!  I have been finding all sorts of wonderful ideas on there, and I have actually used some of them this holiday season (I drive my husband crazy when I buy cookbook after cookbook and never try any recipes...  But Pinterest is free and I've actually been putting it to good use!)  Here's what I've tried:

Waffle Cone Cornucopia

 These were great -- you take a waffle cone, dip the tip in water for 20 seconds, microwave for 20 seconds, and then carefully twist the tip to curl it.  We filled them with candy and nuts and out of foam paper, I cut acorns and leaves and we used them as place cards too!  This will be a new twist on my Nana's traditional candy & nut cups -- we'll definitely do this again!

Hand-print Snowmen Ornaments

 I did this one with my Daisy Girl Scout troop -- we had a production line and it worked out great!  My co-leader painted one of the girls' hands, then placed a blue ornament on the open palm, had the girl close her hand around the ornament for a few seconds, and then she took the ornament and voila -- 5 little finger-shaped snowmen!  We placed them hook-side down into an empty ornament box (could also use an empty egg carton).  We had written the girls' names on the ornament box so that we could keep track of whose hand-print was whose...  When they were dry, we had the girls write their first name and the year on the bottom (palm print) and then with Sharpie markers they decorated their snowmen.  Everyone loved this craft!  The kids had fun making it, the parents who were there loved the idea - a few (including me) and planning to do this for presents - and we sent the girls home with their dried ornaments wrapped in tissue and placed carefully into gift bags -- already to give to Mom and Dad for Christmas!

Toilet Paper Roll Snow People

 While the Daisies were working on the hand-print snowmen ornaments, we kept the other girls busy working on toilet paper snow people.  We collected empty toilet paper rolls and wrapped them with a wide strip of white paper (we used glue sticks to adhere it, you could also use tape).  Then we used other pieces of construction paper to "dress" our snow people -- I used black with the bottom folded over to look like a top hat.  My 6 year old made a little yellow tiara - as all snow princesses wear!  We also used construction paper to make scarves -- one girl in the troop came up with the idea of cutting the edges for fringe.  Another girl came up with the idea of cutting stick arms out of brown construction paper.  Honestly -- give a child an empty toilet paper roll, some glue, paper, scissors & markers and they will take it from there! 

I have to say, doing those two crafts REALLY kept the girls busy and entertained!  That was the quietest I've heard them so far this year!

Holiday Stove Top Potpourri Mix

 I head a committee at work that meets once a month and there are 6 of us, all women, who are in a conference room from 9:00am - 4:00pm meeting with individuals with developmental disabilities who are in need of services.  We have lunch together, we take breaks together, we chat, we bond -- it's a great group!  We had our holiday lunch this past Thursday, in between meetings, and on a whim I thought I'd whip up bags of this Holiday Stove Top Potpourri Mix.  It was so easy, it smelled great, and everyone loved it!  I'm definitely putting some of this on my stove (or in a crock pot on low!) this holiday season, and this is going to be my go-to hostess gift! 

 I may have another Pinterest trick up my sleeve for someone as a holiday gift -- I'll have to keep that under my hat for now!  If you haven't been on Pinterest, check it out!!

Happy 100th Anniversary, Girl Scouts!

Happy 100th Anniversary to the Girl Scouts! My girls and I are proud to be a part of such an amazing organization and this year, in particular, is an incredible time to be a Girl Scout! I was a Girl Scout growing up -- from Brownies all the way through Seniors! (I'm so old that they added two new levels -- now it's Daisies through Ambassadors!) And I was a Girl Scout during their 75th anniversary, but I don't remember if I realized the significance of that anniversary, and I'm sure, although I loved being a Scout, I realized how much Scouting did for me. My mother enrolled me as a Brownie when I was in the first grade -- we were cleaning the basement out this weekend and I found a box of things from my childhood, including my first Girl Scout handbook with my mother's neat handwriting spelling out my name on the front cover. I loved that book and was so excited to be able to share it with my 11-year-old daughter who is a Junior Girl Scout.

On Sunday, I had a meeting for the Daisy Girl Scout troop that another mom and I started for our daughters. My sweet 5-year-old is in that troop, and her older sister helps out as a Junior Aide. Since our meeting was yesterday, and the official 100th Anniversary of the Girl Scouts is today, we had our own little celebration. At the Girl Scout store (which I just love!) I had purchased green and white "100 Anniversary" balloons -- enough for each girl and our two Junior Aides to take one home. Yesterday morning, I went to the party store and asked if I could pay them to fill my balloons with helium. They charged me the regular price, as if I had purchased their latex balloons -- this was perfect -- MUCH cheaper than my back-up plan, which was to buy a helium tank! The balloons looked very festive on our table! Also at the Girl Scout store, I purchased the limited edition Girl Scout insignia pins with "100" on them, and we gave each girl a pin to wear on her uniform. In addition to our anniversary (or birthday) party theme, we worked on a badge that was all about being considerate and caring and we read a story out of the Daisy handbook about "The Art of Sharing." In keeping with the sharing and birthday themes, I had asked each of the girls to bring one craft item (children's scissors, crayons, glue stick, etc.) wrapped as a birthday gift to share with the troop and to help us replenish our craft supplies. For snack, one of our girls brought in Shamrock cookies to share (since we are so close to St. Patty's Day -- bonus, they were green and matched the balloons -- I love when a theme works out!) and before our snack we sang "Happy Birthday" to the Girl Scouts.

Finally, we followed one of the ideas in our Daisy book for earning our badge, and to (literally!) illustrate the theme of sharing, we passed out a piece of paper to each girl and we set out markers and crayons. Each girl started to make a picture and after a couple of minutes, we passed them all to the left and then that girl would continue working on the picture. That was slightly chaotic the first time, but we did it again and again so they got to put their mark on a number of their friends' drawings. Each girl took home a picture that was a combination of their friends' artwork -- they did a great job sharing their pictures and their art supplies, and it ended up being a really cute and fun idea!

We are helping out with Scouting for Food this weekend and we are also looking forward to our first camp-out this summer! The girls seem to have a great time together and I love being a troop leader. Girl Scouts offers so many opportunities for girls to make friends, learn great skills, build their confidence, and discover who they are -- it's been an experience that my girls and I will treasure always!

Do you have a daughter interested in becoming a Girl Scout? Or are you interested in volunteering? Go to the official Girl Scouts of the USA website at www.girlscouts.org to learn more!

Girl Scout Leader Supply Kit

So as I mentioned, I'm totally immersed in Girl Scouts right now, and I love it! We are having our second meeting tomorrow afternoon. The first meeting was at my house, because our troop was so new that we had not received confirmation for a meeting site. Now we are all approved to meet at one of the nearby elementary schools -- which is great -- they have a large "all-purpose room" (cafe-gym-atorium, is what my sister-in-law Susan calls them -- you know, lunch, gym and assemblies all occur in one place!), bathrooms, playground -- perfect! And, it's free! But, since it is not at my house where I am prepared for all sorts of activities and emergencies, I decided to make a travel kit for my Girl Scout supplies. I grabbed an empty Rubbermaid tub from the basement (practically everything we own is in Rubbermaid tubs in the basement -- my husband's record collection, mementos of my children's early years, pictures, clothes, holiday decorations, china...) and I gathered some things from around the house. We also stopped at the dollar store and I picked up a few other things that I might need. Here's what I have so far:

- paper towels
- plastic bags
- band-aids (I need to get a first aid kit)
- hand sanitizer
- scissors, tape, glue sticks, crayons
- pipe cleaners
- wooden craft sticks
- acrylic paints, paint brushes, paper plates for "palettes"
- wipes (I LOVE wipes -- my kids are both out of diapers, I will never stop buying wipes...)
- construction paper
- scrap paper
- coloring pages
- yarn
- brown paper lunch bags
- napkins

I need a couple more things from the store tomorrow -- I thought I would grab a box of small paper cups to keep in there for snack time. To help save the troop some money (and my co-leader and myself), we are going to have a sign-up sheet for snack. This way one person won't be in charge of it for the whole year, and as we learned from doing this in preschool, the kids seem to enjoy getting to have their own choice of what they want to share with their friends.

I also have to organize my binder -- I learned in training that I need to carry the girls' health forms with me to meetings, field trips, etc. I bought a binder to keep all of those forms in, my training info, a copy of the handbook (I'm buying one, but it's on back-order until December!), attendance forms, meeting schedule, etc. (Ask anyone I work with -- I am the binder queen of America -- love them...)

Trying to stay organized and being prepared will probably go a long way to helping me be a good leader. And, having everything in one place will make it easy to leave my kit in the back of my van and I'll be all ready for my Girl Scout meetings.

Girl Scouts - Cookie Crazy!

I'm still here! It's been a busy month and our home has been taken over - by Girl Scouts! My 10-year-old is a Junior and she has been involved in Girl Scouts for four years now. She loves being a Girl Scout, as I did when I was a girl. So, now that my littlest girl is in kindergarten and old enough to join a Daisy Girl Scout troop, I decided to start a troop for her! My friend Kristin and my brother-in-law Mark are both teasing me mercilessly for doing this after listening to me say I'd never sign up for anything after doing the preschool family events for the past two years. Well, let's see -- Girl Scout leader, check. Troop Cookie Manager for this year's cookie sale, um, check... Went to a Service Unit meeting last night and actually felt my volunteering arm starting to twitch when they put up the list of open positions -- like, "100 Year Anniversary Chair" and a few others... Seriously, it may be time for an intervention... But, I truly have some wonderful memories of being a Girl Scout when I was growing up -- I learned a lot, I tried tons of new things, made lots of friends and gained confidence in myself. I would love for my daughters and the girls in my troop to have some of those same experiences. And, I get to do all of this with my girls -- my youngest who is in the troop, and my eldest who will be helping out and earning her Junior Aide badge in the process. Now that makes it all worthwhile!