T's on the Move: Court of Honor

This week the boys had a special Court of Honor. It was the first time they have ever been to one that was held in the chapel. So we all got dressed up for this special event!

Silly girls playing with brother's sashes.

Of course, we couldn't take pictures in the chapel when they received their awards, but I didn't really mind. All the scouts looked pretty handsome in their uniforms with slacks. Ken and I were super impressed with their attitudes and the reverence too.

I'm on the scout committee. My main job is planning the camps (which is a lot more work then I thought:) and helping out with whatever. Since the committee wanted to hold it in the chapel we wanted to make sure that the event felt extra special so I made invitations.

I also rounded up volunteers to do refreshments, the mom's in our ward Rock! I'm not sure if this was a new thing or not but I seem to remember that we always took our boys out to Blizzard's afterwards because we didn't have any treats.

I saw such super cute ideas on Pinterest for dessert tables. Most of them were for Eagle Court of Honors. But, I copied a few that I liked.

Trail (Mix) to Eagle.

Then there were cupcake toppers that started with the Scout Rank Badge and ended with Eagle. The Varsity Crew (14 and 15 yr olds) did a super great job cutting out the cupcake toppers. How lucky we are to be in a ward with such great Young Men!

I made the Red, White, and Blue Strawberries. Anything Flag related makes it scout-ish right?!?

We are so proud of our boys! Darin earned two Eagle required Merit Badges: Camping and Citizenship in the Nation. If you look at his sash, Darin has reserved the top part for his Eagle required Merit Badges and then the bottom patches are just all of the ones he thought would be fun to take. There is a big discrepancy between the two different kinds. His Scoutmaster jokes with him about how he cannot enter in anymore of his partial merit badges because Darin has started so many. He'll probably earn a ton of Palm Leaves after he earns his Eagle.

Darin also earned his Life! That's one rank under Eagle. Personally, I think the Mother's pin for Life is the best. It's a little red heart!

Darin and Nathan were also awarded the Den Chief Service Award. That is the braided rope that loops around their left shoulder. The Red, White, and Blue one. Den Chief's get the Blue and Yellow one. Darin is wearing both.

It's a big deal for them to earn the Service Award. They had to serve as Den Chiefs for 1 full year and complete something like 8 other requirements. In all I would estimate they spent about 80-100 hours serving the Cub Scouts over the course of a year. In reality though Darin and Nathan have been doing it for the past 18 months and serving with me in my Den. I didn't even know about the award when we first started but since I was called to teach the Wolves I would just bring them along and they would help me. It wasn't until I was like "Hey, shouldn't this count for some type of service hours or leadership thing?" That the Scout Master told me how there was a whole award.

We didn't know that the Scout Master was going to ask us to talk about our experience in front of everyone at the Court of Honor. The boys did a great job and said how much they fun they had with the Cub Scouts and how the Cub Scouts do really cool things. They talked about a few of the fun projects and how they liked to serve.

I did okay, but now that I have my thoughts together a little more this is what I wish I would have said.

I am so proud of my boys! They have been such a help and support to me and my partner Sister Purdue over the last year and a half. The have taught lots of mini-lessons from a variety of topics like Respecting the Flag, Caring for your Body, Cooking, Bike Safety, Tools and Woodworking, Sports, and Duty to God. The boys in my Den listen to Darin and Nathan when they are teaching a lot better then when I am. They think the older scouts are Rock Stars and love all the attention that they give them. It is always nice to have an extra pair of hands helping us with the younger boys but what I have appreciated the most over the past year was their positive attitude. There were many times when as a Leader I have felt overwhelmed or a younger boy has given me a hard time during an activity and to watch Darin and Nathan step in and be a positive leader and work with the Cub Scouts and help them to learn has been such a blessing. They are kind, patient, and always smiling and I think our Den has thrived with their help.

As a Mother I have been proud of them as I see the sacrifices that they make to serve in capacity that they weren't even ever really officially called to. I joke around in our family that when I'm called to something, then the whole family is called to it. And I am grateful for the sacrifices my family makes to support each other. Quite often our boys get picked up straight from school because they have an after school tutorial, practice, or club on most activity nights. They are usually busy eating whatever dinner was thrown together in the car, changing, and preparing to teach the Cub Scouts. After Cub Scouts meets then they go to their usual Mutual Night Activity and often don't get home until 9pm. After a full day of having every single hour preplanned and directed they come home and get started on their homework. But they are still smiling! And so willing to take time out of their jam-packed day to serve me and the 8 yr old Cub Scouts for about an hour and a half without any complaints. There have been so many times when I knew that they really, really could have used the extra time at home to do schoolwork or to have some downtime in a crazy busy week and I have tried to give them an out and say it's okay to not come. But, even then Darin and Nathan still would come and help out even if it meant finishing their homework in the foyer for 15 minutes. Nathan especially has tried to plan his day so that he can make it to Cub Scouts without schoolwork interfering. He has worked on his homework during lunchtime or Catapult instead of doing fun things with his friends because he felt like he had made a commitment to serve and he needed to make that a priority.

I love my boys and I am so very grateful for the opportunity I have had to serve with them!