Monday, April 1, 2013

Blue and Gold Banquet

Unless we get a midlife surprise baby, we have just had our very last Blue and Gold Banquet with our Cub Scout boys.  Hallelujah  Ummm....I mean I am so sad that these Cub Scout years are coming to a close in our family.  Next month we will have our very last Pinewood Derby and then in July, Carson will be moving up into big boy scouts. 

He has worked hard to earn his Webelos rank and will be earning his Arrow of Light in a few months.  Doing scouts with a child with special needs is a lesson in patience, determination, and creativity because he doesn't have the ability to speak very well and memorize words.  It took awhile for me to realize that it was okay that he was not able to say the Cub Scout oath, promise and motto.  We started saying one line at a time and then he would repeat, the best that he could, each line as we said it.  We realized that he was following the Cub Scout motto perfectly...he was doing his best!  Luckily, Carson forgives easily and taught his perfectionist Mom a few lessons along the way in the process.  He has also been blessed with great leaders that are patient with him, adapt the activities to his needs and level and most importantly love him.

I would love to tell you what the theme for the night was but I don't think I was paying attention well enough to remember.  It was decorated with stars and planets that were awesome and I think I heard the word "resources" or "resourcefulness".  Yeah, I know...I'm awesome at being observant and painting a detailed picture.  There were also water bottles on the table that the kids could decorate as spaceships which was the best idea in the world!  All of my kids went to town making their own spaceship (except Kinsey who was being a great big sister and helping Carson with his awesome spaceship).  I, of course, did not get any pictures of the spaceships or the great robot that Carson drew and then had me cut out after he cut the arm off.  He was pretty mad at me for not being able to save the arm so I cut it out separately and glued it back on.  I'm so sad we didn't get a picture of it because it was a great robot!!

Like I said, he earned his Webelos rank.  When they called his name he marched right up to the front dragging his mom with him.  The Cubmaster started listing off his awards so he stuck out his hand to accept them.  I looked down and saw a giant...ummm...how do I say this delicately?...booger on his finger.  He looked down saw that prize from his nose excursion, muttered something to himself about getting rid of that and just shook his finger at his side until it fell to the floor.  I hope that one day I achieve his greatness!  That I can get the boogers of life on my finger, shake them off, and just go on to accept my awards without a hint of embarrassment and be proud of the things I have achieved!!  I'm getting better because with my older boys I would have been dying of embarrassment but I just stood there in front of a crowd of people and laughed!  This is what I love about this child of mine.  He makes me a better person!



Don't mind that booger, Mom! 
 Here's your award, Mom...you can pin it on yourself!


He also earned his Fitness, Outdoorsman, Artist, Readyman, Compass Point and Religious Knot!
He helped his den do a skit that told the story of Betsy Ross.  He was George Washington.  I, of course, did not get a picture of that so just picture him with a Revolutionary War hat watching a pregnant Betsy Ross sewing the American Flag.  I never realized that Betsy Ross was pregnant when she made the flag.  Thank goodness the Cub Scouts told the REAL story! :)

He was pretty excited to be able to decorate a cake for the cake decorating contest.  He chose a Blue and Gold theme that depicted an epic battle.
He wanted to put every single soldier on the battlefield!

Kinsey helped him out!

Trying to solve their creative differences!

Kinsey...are you doing that right?
He won the award for the Bravest Cake.  When they called his name, he did two fist-pumps over the head and said "YES!!!"  He was pretty proud of this accomplishment.


This is what we found when we went to pick up our dish.

There were many casualties in this battle!
 
Good job Carson!  We are so proud of all of your hard work!!