My 1st Pack Meeting

Last night was pretty epic: I attended my first Pack Meeting as a leader. I'm pretty sure I've attended some in the past for my little brothers, but it's been years and I don't remember much about them. I wasn't really sure what to expect, what to where, or what I'd be doing. Fortunately, the other leaders are super nice and chill, so there was no need to feel out of place. I tried racing to a Savers after work to see if I could pick up a shirt...but couldn't find one. Seriously? Isn't this Utah where everyone is a Scout? Next time I'll try DI (since I'm not spending $45+ on a shirt) since I know THEY probably have a whole section (or at least a rack) of Scouting uniforms. I just wish there was one on my way home from work...

Every day since I've been involved in Scouting (I say that like it's been a while...it hasn't been, but still) I've learned something new. What I learned recently was that each month's Pack Meeting is given a theme from the BSA Council. This month's theme was "Clean - Cubservation." Silly, but cute little play on words. I'm still smiling about that. It's hard to not get caught up in the awesomeness of Scouting!

The Pack Meeting started with a little activity to help "decorate" the board.

The Scouts all traced their feet and wrote 1 way they can stay physically, mentally, or morally clean.

After learning what those 3 things meant, they cut out their feet...

And made a little path around their advancement bulletins.

Some of the things the Scouts (and siblings...this is totally a family affair) wrote on their "feet" were super cute - shower, say nice things, choose the right. It brought everything back to how young they really were. I had to remember really quick what I was like back when I was 8-10...Greek Dodgeball was the best, tetherball was my sport, the clarinet was my instrument, and play time was until mom whistled for us.

Reciting the Pledge of Allegiance

Cute little colorguard...I get to help my new Scouts learn to do this!

During the course of the meeting, we were divided up into 7 different groups to help with the story that our Cub Master read to us. Each group was assigned a different animal (well, I was a tree) and had to make a specific sound when our animal was mentioned in the story. It was pretty fun to hear the squirrels, rabbits, people, snakes, and other various sounds.

Most of the crew...what a fun, loud, and rambunctious bunch!

One of the things I learned was that Pack Meeting is a time for the Scouts to be presented with their advancements. As an adult, I can imagine thinking "how silly this must look to others." As a new Scout leader, I am so thrilled to see the boys advancing and learning new skills (even though I didn't have a hand in this month's presentations). It was cute to watch the Scouts pin little pins onto their mothers.

Arrow of Light Ceremony...my favorite part of the Meeting!

Of course, it wouldn't be a Pack Meeting without some fun games. Similar to the rigged games they have at carnivals and state fairs, the boys lined up behind a strip of tape and had to use a rubber band to shoot down some Solo Cups. It was fun to watch the little kids do this, as they hadn't mastered the "gun" configuration on their thumbs and index fingers.

Yup...I'm a Den Mother

I moved into a new area back in June, and with it, moved into a new ward. Unlike the YSA wards I had attended, I didn't need to fill out the standard white information sheet to request my records. It was one of many small changes that I needed to get adjusted to. Secretly, I was grateful. Whenever we fill out those sheets, our ward leaders lose that sense of discovery. I know, I know. The turnover rate in a YSA ward is so quick and the membership count is usually pretty high (at least in SLC), ward leaders don't usually have the luxury of finding out on their own. I'm not trying to knock the sheets...I've relied on them so many times as a music chair. I guess I'm just happy to have a new calling, having been in music for the last 4+ years!

I have a gift. I can usually tell when people are holding back dancing around something. So when I met with a member of my bishopric, I could tell that he was circling something. He asked me to speak in church later that month, but I knew that I was going to get a calling as well. He was my neighbor and from what I've heard, he will either stop by your house or call you to assign a talk. This was bigger. He was dancing. Finally he came out and said that they'd like to extend a calling, and it was something completely new and totally different from what I've been doing. At this point, I had a few thoughts running through my head:

1. They know I've worked in the Nursery, Primary, and taught Sunday School

2. Was this a library calling?

3. I don't know this guy well enough to know if he's being sarcastic and will ask me to do something musical (which I totally would, don't get me wrong)

4. Wouldn't it be funny if they called me to Scouts?

Oh yeah. It was #4. "We'd like you to serve as a Den Mother for our 8-9 year old cub scouts." What? I'm a 31 year old single woman. No kids. I was wearing glittery high heels...clearly not an "outdoorsy" person. I don't camp. Secretly...I was SO EXCITED. I finally get to play!

We had our first den meeting (is that what they're called?) this week and the topic (lesson?) was about laughter...and boy did we laugh!

We started out with a fun minute-to-win-it game: the boys had to place an Oreo on their forehead and try to get it into their mouth without using their hands. TONS of silly faces and laughter!

We were laughing the entire time...just look at those faces!

I wish I was able to get more pictures of their faces, but they kept laughing and dropping their Oreos! I got a few shots of these little guys...

We have a winner! Victory is sweet!

After the Oreo minute-to-win-it, we did some tongue-twisters and some mad libs. While we were doing the mad libs, we had one of the boys writing the words on a poster. About halfway through, he looks at us and is all like, "I'm not doing good spelling, kay?" Giggles ensued. Then we asked for an adjective. One of the boys said, "Purdy." What? "You know, like a purdy birdie!" Oh dear. Time to keep a book of quotes: Out of the Mouth of Scouts!

These guys are just too much! It didn't help that there was a pet bird who kept whistling at the boys, almost cat-calling them. So much laughter! And they all kept saying "I have Oreo still in my eyes!"

After all of our activities, it was time for Rootbeer floats. One of the kids asked if we could make "squishy balls." Huh? I've never heard of those before, and he kept saying he needed flour. I was amazed at these kids. They worked so well together and managed to keep the flying flour to a minimum.

Making squishy balls

Once they all had some, they started asking for "masks." This is where I came in. The other leader was helping make the 3rd ball and I started on the masks. Mad skills. We made a Ninja Turtle, Spider Man, and an...eye ball? I was talking to a friend about how much fun we had. I was asked how I could handle being around squirly little boys. My answer: I grew up with some and it feels natural to be surrounded by them again!

Love these goobers!!