Christmas This Year

I am feeling good about this year's Christmas gifts for the girls.

We have a few traditional gifts we do and I made sure to get them early this year.

Tom's family tradition includes getting a chocolate orange in their stocking, and we continue that with our girls.

The first moment I saw them, I bought them.  Last year I waited and had to get all dark chocolate.  I love dark chocolate, but Tom doesn't and Evelyn didn't take all that well to it.

Another tradition we do, is Christmas Eve pajamas sent by our family's elf.  We don't do Elf on the Shelf, we have an elf that sends letters to us when Christmas get's closer.

This year, I bought them now, and got them matching slippers.

We live in South Texas and slippers are not all that necessary.  Especially this year.  It's a nice day if the temperature stays below 80゜Fahrenheit.

I did something this Christmas Holiday, that I hadn't really done before, I made a list of all the gifts I wanted to buy the girls, and kept to that list.

When you are preparing to buy, order, and make Christmas gifts, or any holiday's gifts, make a check list of the gifts.  If you have older kids that can read, put it in your phone, email it to yourself.  You can hide it.  My kids can't read, or at least not enough that I must hide my list, but I know that I will need to be a little more vigilant next year.  Stick to your list with a dying passion and you will save yourself from over spending, as long as your make your list reasonable to start with.  Don't put impossible to get gifts, or project gifts you might not finish; that will only add to the holiday stress many of us suffer through.  I kept my list on a notes page in my planner.  If you use a planner, this is a great place to put your list.  Another way, is write your list on index cards and keep them in your wallet, then you will have it when you shop for sure!

Evelyn believes wholeheartedly in Santa, and I don't want to taint that.  Oh me, I'm tearing up just thinking about it.  Last year, she asked if Santa is real.  Before we could say anything, she said in a firm and assured voice, "I think he's real.  In fact, I know he's real."
And in turn we answered, "We think so, too."
A geek at heart, both Tom and I, we'd like to believe in that kind of magic, and we are so happy to hear Evelyn wants that, too.
What ever you celebrate this time of year, be sure you remember that it's about family, love, finding peace within yourself, and letting go of hateful things.  Even if you don't believe in a deity, the dead of winter has always been a time for giving to your fellow man.  It's sometimes when you need someone the most.  Most of us don't have to worry about our animals or crops freezing over, leaving us with little to eat, but we do have many who worry about giving their kids a 'proper' Christmas, with a feast and toys they want.  We can't always give our kids everything they want, as parents we should not let that happen for the most part, but we still want them to be happy.  We have so much to give thanks for and so much to share.  Make sure, each of your children's letter to Santa has a gift for someone else on it.  Evelyn put something for Raven, and she was very excited about what she asked Santa to bring her little sister.  I have a feeling Santa already got that one.

Hope y'all have a Merry Christmas!
And I'd love to hear from y'all!

How We Did Our Invesiture

It all started with searching on Pinterest.

I had not heard of a Girl Scout Investiture before I was reading blogs and posts about Girl Scout Daisies.  I hope this post helps you with any questions you've been having about what an investiture is, and how to have one.

 

First, we had to decided when to have it.

We made it our second "meeting" with the girls.  Our first meeting was an intro and we didn't require anyone to have their memberships.  Some parents were still unsure if they wanted to do Girl Scouts, and the first meeting was a preview of what the girls would do.  We ended up having all but one pay their membership fee at the parent meeting.  That one paid when dropped off at the intro meeting.

We allowed parents to stay if they wanted, to see how things would be done, but only one stayed.  We were fine with that.

 

We made these invites for the parents and gave them out at the intro meeting.

 

 

Next thing, from deciding when, was to decide how.

 

My leaders and I held a meeting together to decide how we would do the investiture.

I told them to come with ideas, and you can see mine below.

(The 'Daisy Poem,' is not the poem, but what would be said to the girls after reading it.)

 

We did my ideas I had, and also the few things my co-leaders brought in.

In the meeting, we decided whom what do what.  One of my co-leaders has a friend that started doing photography and she was able to do the photos for us for free.  It was great!

Over the next few days, I wrote a script for us.  I also wrote a script for the photographer, mapping out when there would be special moments we wanted photographed.

 

The script; I know it's a lot to read, but it should help you plan your own Investiture.  It did take up all the time we wanted it to.

We leaders also received membership pins, a surprise for us from one of our co-leaders.  I had planned to, but she had surprised us.  I was fine with that, I just wanted us to be separated and recognized in our positions.  It was fun, we pinned each other!

The cut out parts were when we had the girls' names.

How you call them: "Susan Q, as a Girl Scout Daisy, would you come forward?"

She walks up.

As you pin her: "Welcome Susie, here is your Daisy pin."

[Girl Scout hand shake]

You can find the "I'm a Girl Scout Daisy" song here with lyrics.

We played it for the girls over and over again at the end of our first meeting and the girls knew it by the Investiture.

 

I added motions:

point to self "I'm a Girl Scout Daisy"

waving hands "Take a look at me" 

point to self "I'm a Girl Scout Daisy"

cheek poking "Happy as can be"

march "We're having fun and sharing each and every day" 

point to self "I'm a Girl Scout Daisy"

clap "Hip!"

 clap "Hip!"

 throw up hands "Hurray!" 

point to self "I'm a Girl Scout Daisy"

waving hands "Take a look at me" 

point to self "I'm a Girl Scout Daisy"

cheek poking "Happy as can be"

march "I'm going on a journey with friends along the way" 

point to self "I'm a Girl Scout Daisy"

clap "Hip!"

 clap "Hip!"

 throw up hands "Hurray!" 

 We ended with a blessing of our refreshments.  You may ask, why we scripted our prayers, but doing so made sure we didn't get flustered by our nervousness.  We are a new group working together, and sometimes it can be greatly intimidating, standing in front of all the parents and family, watching you, questioning how you are doing things.  It's best to be ready for it all.

 

You can see here on this post, what our Investiture looked like.

 

Our layout of our Investiture

 

 

 

 I think I've learned a lot already, and I know I haven't come close to learn half. 

Girl Scouts has so much for us, and as leaders, we need to know all of it, parents expect us to.

That's why I am showing you all this.  It's scary to not be prepared and to have a mass of parents judge you for it, but it's alright.  You don't have to be perfect and know it all at once, even if the parents say you should.  Take your time and have fun, include your parents, and let the girls make their own way.

 

I am completely fine with you using any of my ideas, especially about Girl Scouts.

All I ask, is you come back here and tell me how it went for y'all.  Tell me what you used, what you didn't use, and what you changed.  I'm always open to new ideas; that's how we become better.

 

Thanks so much!

Excited to hear from y'all!

Daisy Investiture

Myself and two co-troop leaders worked so hard to make this Girl Scout Daisy Investiture the best it could be.  The Investiture is the official welcome to new members into Girl Scouts.  New members receive their membership pins and we celebrate the joining of new 'sisters' into Girl Scouts.

This post is just a quick view of what our Investiture looked like.

I will go into details of our process and script at another time.  Soon.

We printed up Beginning Certificates, I wrote each girls' name and signed them, then they were laminated.  Each person's name plate housed their membership pin and was set onto of their certificate.

Saw this on Pinterest and we had to do it.

The set up was the parents were on either side of the 'stem,' at an angle, and the girls were set in the back, in two rows.

View from the girls' seats.  When they would be called to be pinned...

 ...they would walk up the stem...

...and stand in the center of the colorful daisy as they are pinned.

We ended up switching the candle table and certificate table.

Each candle stick represents a petal, which come from the Girl Scout Law.  The large white candle represents the Girl Scout Promise.  As we said them, we lit them.  It's one of the candle ceremonies of Girl Scouts. 

One of my co-troop leaders made this and each girl took a picture with it, as well as their families.

We plan to make photo book, and we will use the picture with this as the start of each of their books.

We barely got the Fall Product under the wire, we started late since we just became a new troop.

We put an order form on the front table.

Front table.  We had our programs and fall product on it.

Raven fell asleep, and stayed asleep (Heavenly Father always knows how to help me!), while we decorated for the event!

As the girls file in.

 Family!

The completed certificate table after it had been switched.

Cake table.

I made the cake.  The 'patches' are printed from the computer, I taped them to foil and cut them to shape, the council ID, insignia tab, and the troop spot was flattened banana Laffy Taffy.

This didn't turn out as good as I wanted it to be, but I didn't plan my time well enough to make it better.  Learn from my mistake, if you make a cake for an event, do it the night before, and just refrigerate it.  Don't worry about it drying out, that always puts me off for doing it the night before, but don't fear that.  If you do it the night before, you will save yourself time and stress.

Sign in table just before we start.

My co-troop leaders and me!

They are such great ladies!  They work hard for our troop and I am lucky to have two women that are such supporters.  I know other have, and others are, struggling to have reliable help in their troops.  I am blessed to have them with me!

I didn't mean to stick out my tongue.  This was about our fifth selfie, and I was trying so hard to make it a good one.

How did your Investiture look?

Want more info on how we made this look?

Comment!

Happy to hear from y'all!

See here how we planned and scripted our Investiture.

Update: Over last Christmas holiday sales, we purchased battery operated candle sticks as opposed to wax candles that need to be lit by a flame.  We hope this will make it easier and quicker during our Rededication this year.  Look for that next month!

Girl Scout Parent Folder

The first thing I did as a Girl Scout troop leader was start a new board on my Pinterest account, secondly, I made the Troop Leader binders. 

The third thing I did as a troop leader, was make a parent folder.

This is where I tried to answer all the questions a parent would have, that way, when a parent needed to reference what we spoke about during our parent meeting, they would have it on hand.

Left pocket and front page.

In the left pocket is the 'About Me' page; allergy, medical, and family information are on these pages we collected from each Girl Scout.

The first page was an intro with a little Girl Scout history, the Promise, the Law, the Mission, the Motto, and the Slogan of the Girl Scouts.

Page 2 started with my information (name, cell, email, and address), as well as my two assistant troop leaders' information.  We also put our Facebook page information.

The folder then went into when and what time our meetings would be held.  The place was TBA at the time of printing, but then became confirmed by the weekend.  I explained membership fees, troop fees, and when they are all due.  We made clear, also, who is allowed at meetings.

Page 3, we covered the uniform, at this stage is Daisy, and where they could purchase it.  We also covered the adult volunteer uniform and when the uniforms should be worn. 

You can see we also put the Girl Scout sign, Girl Scout hand shake, and the Girl Scout quiet sign so the parents could see what their girls need to learn and practice.  

Page 4 started with a summation of our meetings, an explanation of activity supplies, how snacks would be organized, and a quick list of Special Meetings and Events, which poured into page 5, giving the parents a view of what to expect this coming year.

Page 6 covered field trips, parent/adult volunteers, and social media.  I included, in the social media section, a clear statement for parents to not post negative comments and to contact a troop leader directly if they have concerns.  We had not had an issue, but we put it in so we, hopefully, wouldn't in the future.

Thought these Thank You Girl Scouts cookies were a cute touch.

 I made a short list of where we got our numbers for the troop fees.

I made a much shorter version of the program guide.

I add only the council events our Daisies could attend.

The last page was our tentative troop meeting dates, and in the right pocket in the back was a color page for our Daisies with the Girl Scouts Promise.

Thanks so much for checking out my Girl Scout Parent Folder!

Update: I no longer have these files to share, but I give permission to copy the Girl Scout Parent Folder ideas I have in this post.

Girl Scouts Leader Binder

A couple weeks ago, Evelyn and I attended a Girl Scouts recruitment meeting.  They told us all the troops were full and anyone that would join that day would need new troop leaders.  Tom and I had talked about the possibility of me becoming a troop leader, but we never solidified our decision.  Not a single person raised their hand and people were avoiding eye contact.  I raised my hand, still a little iffy, but she accepted me quickly.

The representative said I would need helpers and two women from the front immediately raised their hands; and so it begun.

The first thing I did when I got home, was create a new board in my Pinterest account, the second thing was start my leader binder.

I took out some health sheets from a half inch binder and started filling it up with Girl Scout things.  I started planning, then once I had the money, I bought three 1.5 inch binders, two packages of reenforced notebook paper, plastic sheet protectors, and three pencil pouches.  I also bought 15 folders with brads and pockets for the parent folders.

I made a simple front with our troop number, name, and a watermark of the daisy petals the girls earn.

Opened up, the pencil pouch housed two pens and three gold arrow paper clips.  As you can see, the front pouch has changed.

I had a second pouch that house different notes and such and now have the pens for parents.

The first thing I had printed up was the program guide for our Girl Scout Council.  This is the start of my binders.

I inserted a few things from the recruitment night into the Program Guide.

I went through all the events, highlighted the events Daisy could attend, and struck out all events they couldn't or already passed.

Next, was the sign in list from the recruitment meeting with the girls that would be in my troop.  (Update: I made a new roster, we just got one more girl, and I made it vertical; it makes it much easier to read and use.)

A large print of the layout of the Daisy tunic and vest, and beside it a page I made of the patches and pins the troop fees would pay for.  (Update: I put in a different print out of this left page, that now has our Council ID.)

I couldn't find a simple list of the petals, name, and color, so I made my own.

Printed version of the brainstormed activities separated into their respective petal categories.

Holding onto the Daisy membership pins for the Investiture.
(Update: This is no longer in in my binder.  We had an amazing Investiture!)

Notebook paper, with reenforced holes.

Membership forms for both adults and girls.

A copy of the about me page; "I'm a Daisy Girl Scout!"

Copy of Volunteer sign up.

(Update: 'Application for Day Trip/Tours' has been added to my forms category.  I actually fill those forms out on the computer and email them immediately; I keep this, and soon others like it, to keep on hand as a reference and incase of urgencies.)

Plastic sheet protectors in the very back for future print outs and such.

UPDATE:
Since I posted this, I have changed a few things in my binder as our Troop has developed.
I separated my binder in to categories: Roll, Petals, Activities, & Future Ideas, Most Recent Activity Coming Up, Completed Activities, Notes, and Forms.

As I was shopping for science project stuff at The Dollar Tree and saw these vertical dividers.

I really did need these.  I had added dividers, but since I had plastic page protectors, they were mostly blocked.  These vertical dividers helped me find what I need quickly.  I still have my regular dividers also.

'Completed Activities' are the notes and plannings of each activity we've already done.  This category will periodically be emptied and put into a separate folder so my binder isn't over packed with old news.  You may ask, "Why keep them?"  I am new to the council and we are getting many new troops this year.  I've been chatting with other leaders about what we do and how we do it; keeping our notes can help me help another person.  Another reason, we plan to make photo books to the girls at the end of the membership year, and our memories are not the best, notes help us remember what happened.

I got a new pouch, on sale at Walmart for just $1, and it has two pouches.  The slightly bigger, lower zipped pocket now houses paper clips, binder clips, and small sticky notes.  Those white tabs are extra labels for my vertical dividers.

We just had our first Cookie Training!  I have my notes right up front in my left binder pocket.
Cookie selling starts on January 14th!

Having a binder is a must as a troop leader, as any leader, and I hope this helped you start yours.

What do you have in your leader binder?


Update: I no longer have these files to share.  I give permission to copy/mimic my ideas from this Girl Scout Leader Binder in this post.