Wordless Wednesday: Branded Bobcat!

Pictures from Monday Night's Cub Scout Pack Meeting - Josh getting "Branded!"

He told me he was a bit nervous!

Special thanks to Sandra O'Reilly for taking the photos!


For more Wordless Wednesday visit WW HQ and Five Minutes for Mom.

Pumpkin Patch and Bobcat Badge

Man, things have been busy here! Yesterday we had two fun things going on.

In the morning, Sam had his "Happy Harvest Day" celebration at school. They used to take a field trip out to the YMCA Camp nearby, but apparently it got too expensive so now the school hosts an in-house field trip.

The kids ride a train around the parking lot...



Then got to go out to a "pumpkin patch" (which was really the church's baseball field with pumpkins in it) and they got to pick out their pumpkin. Sam was the first one in and the last one to find his - but he got the perfect pumpkin, don't you agree?



And here is (most) of his class modeling their pumpkins.



They listened to the Story Teller...



And did some Crafts! It was a fun day for all!!



Then in the evening, Josh had a Cub Scout Pack Meeting. He got his Bobcat Badge (which really is his "initiation" into scouting). He was even branded!



I had a friend take some pictures of Josh getting "branded" and hers turned out better than the ones from my camera. I'll post them on Flickr or here once I get copies of them.


And he earned his whittling chip - which allows him to carry a pocket knife to all scouting functions - except those at school. He's got Grampa's old knife so he's very excited to bring it to the Den Meeting on Monday and show it off.

This week we're just a busy -- Halloween is coming up and it seems we have all sorts of activities surrounding Halloween and then Sam's Birthday... before we know it Thanksgiving will be here!

Future Scientist in the Making!

I'm not sure if I mentioned it or not, but Josh entered his schools 1st Annual Science Fair.

His project was titled "What's Your Angle?" He wanted to know what the optimum angle for shooting a rubber band the furthest was. His hypothesis was 45degrees is the optimum angle and will make a rubber band go furthest.

We all went outside one day and had fun experimenting. We took a box and a protractor and made measurements at 15degree angles. Then, Rich made a rubber band shooting contraption and we started shooting rubber bands!

After a few tries, and some unexpected results -- it was showing that 30degrees went furthest, we decided that the wind that day must have played a part in corrupting our data. So we went out back and tried it in the grass by the fence. There we got the expected results!

The organizers had given Josh a list of questions that must be answered to fulfill the Science Fair Requirements - that came in very handy when he was putting his data together! It made the whole project fall into place. He answered the questions, we made a simple graph of the results and then decorated the rest of the project board with pictures and the items he used for his experiment.

The finished project....



Last week Josh had to bring the project to school. There were judges lined up from local businesses around town... "real scientists!"

Last night was the night of the science fair. We went and thought we knew where Josh's was set up as he had brought it to the cafeteria that afternoon and put it where he was told. Well when we got there, his project had been moved to the "Table of Merit" and had a little blue sticker on it that said 3-3.

Naturally we assumed this meant he got 3rd place for Third Grade. Nope. Apparently it was just a code of some sort because Josh actually got FIRST PLACE for Third Grade!

There were some really great projects there too - but Josh answered all the questions, kept his experiment simple and had a great idea and he ended up winning!

Of course there was an awards ceremony and he got to go up on stage and get his award. But as luck would have it, the battery in my camera died and I didn't get any pictures. I have some from my cell phone, but they turned out horrible. There was someone from the school taking pictures and if they post them I'll be sure to post a link here.

Reading Together

I came upstairs one day to get the boys ready for bed and Josh was reading to Sam.

My Little Cub Scout!

Who wouldn't want to buy popcorn from this cute Cub Scout?



I know it's a bit blurry... here's another one...