Life with Dylan

Category: Cub Scouts

  • Raingutter Regatta

    Well, the boat was much easier to make the car for the Pinewood Derby, but the race itself was more work for Dylan. How do these boats race? With hot air blown through a straw … how else? Dylan was so excited to race in his first Raingutter Regatta and he did very well, winning the first three heats. However, at the final heat he did not fare so well and some tears were shed. All in all, Dylan had a great time and learned a valuable lesson in sportsmanship. As the Cub Scout motto says … Do Your Best!

    Getting ready for the first race and practicing his technique.

    Go Dylan Go … 

    Careful not to touch the boat.

    Good form and the sail is staying up!

    And Dylan’s boat SEA DOGS wins again!

    The final race against a Webelo. Dylan did his best and that’s all that matters.

  • Disabilities Awareness

    So this month’s theme is Disabilities Awareness. After visiting the Braille Institute, the Wolf Den was told that they would be teaching the Cub Scout Promise to the entire pack at the next Pack Meeting … in sign language!

    Dylan really enjoyed learning about sign language and he was the first in his den to memorize the entire Cub Scout Promise in sign language. Actually, he had it memorized after only two tries. I swear this kid has a photographic memory or something.

    The leaders were so impressed that they asked Dylan to lead the Wolf Den during the Pack Meeting. So proud of him. Way to go Dylan!

  • The Braille Institute

    What an amazing experience for Dylan and myself to have the opportunity to visit the Orange County Braille Institute in Anaheim as field trip for Cub Scouts. The kids had so much fun learning how blind people read, watch movies, tell time (talking watches), and even play games. My favorite was the Monopoly board all in braille. Also, we got to watch part of a movie, the Lion King, which had been formatted for the blind. The movies are narrated so that even in a scene where there is no talking the descriptive narration allows a blind person to see the Savannah in a way that I found almost better than watching the movie.

    We got to meet Wayne, a man who slowly starting losing his sight in his late 20’s, and is now almost completely blind. Wayne also brought his sight dog, Tuesday, who was the highlight for the boys.

    The large braille board was very cool too. We learned about how each letter is made up of six positions. The positions that do not have bumps are just as important as the ones that do.

  • The Blue and Gold That Was!

    Since I posted about the Blue and Gold that wasn’t, I thought it only appropriate to post about the Blue and Gold that was. Last night we attended our first official pack meeting with Dylan’s new Cub Scout Pack 744 and it was amazing! Such a difference from the old pack. Words cannot begin to describe the level of organization, loving families without the gossip, everyone helping and supporting each other, and the simple task of following the Cub Scout guidelines. Dylan was not only asked to stand up as he was welcomed into the new Pack, but his name was printed in the program, and the Den Leader presented him with all of his achievements he earned in the old pack.

    Receiving his achievements

    His bag full of belt loops, pins, and patches!

    Also, there was a leader leaving and all the boys gave her a rose. On the ribbon of the rose was something nice she had done for the boys and each boy read it as he handed her the rose. Dylan’s rose read, “Although I didn’t get the chance to learn from you I am happy to meet you and wish you luck” … now that was cool! They took the time to make Dylan feel like part of the Den from the get go.

    Dylan’s new Cub Scout friends

    The Pack even decorated a chalkboard so that Dylan would have a place to display his posters he made.

    Guess he couldn’t stop eating the cake long enough for a picture

    This poster had to explain the food chain of an endangered animal.

    The 6 elements of the Leave No Trace Pledge

    We LOVE our new Cub Scout Pack 744

  • God and Me

    “A Scout is Reverent.” All Scouts show this by being faithful in their duty to God. Some go further and give special service. This can qualify them for a religious emblem. Such an emblem is not a Scouting award. It is conferred on a Scout by his religious leader. Each faith has its own requirements for earning its emblem. (taken from usscouts.org)

    Universal Religious Emblem Square Knot



    Over the past two months, Dylan has been taking classes at our church, St. Andrews Presbyterian, with his Grandpa. During this time, Dylan has learned how to pray, what God does for him, and how he can live a life alongside of God. He even memorized the Lord’s Prayer. Each week Dylan had homework to do for the class and projects to work on to fulfill the requirements to earn his God and Me Religious Emblem. Last week Dylan and Grandpa completed the course and tonight was the official ceremony, complete with pizza and cake.




    After answering a few questions about what he had learned, Dylan along with the other scouts who completed the program were presented with their religious emblems.



    When asked why he took these classes, Dylan responded, “So I could learn more about God.” My heart just about melted. Then Brienna (the woman who taught the class) said that she was told Dylan had learned the Lord’s Prayer and asked if he could say it. At first he was shy and said no, but then he stood front and center on the stage and said the entire prayer with such confidence in front of about 30 people. I have never been so proud of my son. Not a dry eye from our family. 

    Religious Emblem earned in 2nd year of Scouting

    Pardon the glare … 

    Dylan and Grandpa



    Thank you Grandpa, for taking the time to teach and lead Dylan how to follow the right path.  

  • I Pledge Allegiance …

    Lowering the flag

    To complete Achievement #2, Your Flag, Dylan needed to lower and raise the U.S. flag from a flag pole and learn how to fold the U.S. Flag. Lucky for us, my parents have a full size flag pole in front of their house and Grandpa was more than happy to teach Dylan what he needed to know.

    I just happen to have my camera with me yesterday when the impromptu flag ceremony took place. I only wish Dylan had been in his uniform, or at least something nicer looking than sweats! Watching my Dad teach Dylan how to fold a flag was great. I was so proud of him.

    Since this week is President’s Week, Dylan is off school and we have decided to spend time working on Cub Scout Achievements. Art projects, cooking projects, nature hikes, all sorts of fun activities together.

    Learning to fold the flag
    Almost done
    See Mom, told you I could do it.
    Raising the flag
    Long may she wave
      

  • The Blue and Gold That Wasn’t

    It has taken me a while to post this because I did not want to post from anger. February 16th was the Blue and Gold Banquet for Dylan’s Cub Scout Pack 312. This is an annual banquet to celebrate the birthday of Scouting where boys are recognized for all of their achievements thus far and usually get presented with some sort of insignia to represent what level of Cub Scouts they are working toward. Dylan was very excited about this night and he had worked hard to earn a special patch, the Leave No Trace Awareness Award. He has also earned about 6 Belt Loops through the Academics and Sports Program and has completed 8 of the 12 achievements needed to earn his Wolf Cub badge.

    There have been issues with some of the adults and boys in this pack over the past year, but we tried our best to stick it out. Needless to say, at this particular event, the Den Leader went to far and we left. Of course I took Dylan’s patches and awards before leaving. We were there about 15 minutes, just long enough to snap a few pictures.

    Dylan and Grandpa
    Dylan and the posters he made

    We have been invited by some neighbors to join their pack, Pack 744 and will be attending their Blue and Gold Banquet on March 1st where Dylan can be officially recognized for his achievements. It amazes me how some adults can be so rude and have no regard for what Scouting is meant to be. Dylan and I will be much happier once we join the new pack.
    Oh, and since we didn’t stay, we missed the dinner. So Grandma and Grandpa took us out to dinner. Dylan ordered off the adult menu because he said he’s not a kid anymore. Here is a great picture of his reaction when the food arrived. And yes, he ate almost all of it!

  • MomAgenda Rocks!

    Life with Dylan can be quite chaotic at times and on top of all his activities, I have my schooling and a business to run. I tried using my phone to organize everything, but I’m old fashioned and love my paper. Give me some post-it notes, colored pens, page tabs, and anything else to keep all the balls in the air at one time and I am a happy mom. I have been using my MomAgenda for almost 5 years now and would never switch to anything else. Day Runners and Day Planners are so ordinary. I want something designed for a mom who lives a crazy life.

    My personal MomAgenda

    If you have not heard of MomAgenda or tried their products, I encourage you to check them out. Recently, MomAgenda launched a factory outlet and the prices are unbelievable!

  • How Much Is Too Much?

    After school sports and clubs, Cub Scouts, homework, reading, chores … when do you say enough is enough? Do mom’s really have time for all this, or is it just because I am a single mom who works full time that I find this all a little crazy? Sure, we want our kids to be well rounded and participate in a variety of activities to find out what they really like, but when do they actually have time to be a kid? Dylan has tennis on Wednesday after school, Science Club on Thursday after school, Cub Scout activities and badges to earn, and about 40 minutes of homework plus a minimum 30 minutes of reading each night. I feel bad making him do chores and clean up his toys all the time because then he would have no time to play outside, watch TV, or play his video games. Now I know that TV and video games are not a priority, but the poor kid has been in school all day and then comes home to do more work. Kids need an outlet just like adults do.

    Almost every time he asks the kids next door to play they say they can’t play. Their mom has them in so many different activities (Art class, Music lessons, Singing lessons, Soccer, Running Club, and who knows what else) that these kids have no time to just PLAY. Is playing a thing of the past? Am I a bad mom because I don’t sign Dylan up for everything under the sun?

    I let him choose what he wants to do and he likes the activities he does. Cub Scouts is something that he enjoys with me and his Grandpa and the after school activities are teaching him new things and sportsmanship. We spend time on weekends doing art projects at home, puzzles, and he enjoys cooking and baking with me. So why sign him up for another class to learn art when I can do it with him and spend quality time together?

  • Something Had To Give …

    There come a point in time when you have many so many things going on, deadlines to meet, papers to write, laundry to wash, and as hard as you try to keep all the balls in the air sometimes something has to give. Unfortunately, the ball that I just couldn’t keep in the air was our blog. So, finally someone told me that they have been checking our blog and it still shows Dylan’s birthday from July 2010.

    Once again, I will do a quick recap and try my best to keep up. I promise once school is done in May I will have more time. At least I hope so! In a nutshell, here is what we have been doing:
    DYLAN – excelling at school (2nd grade now), advanced to Wolf Cub Scout, started after-school tennis and science classes, loves reading and of course playing his video games!
    MICHELLE – still working for the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, still attending University of Phoenix (BS in Psychology), running a successful business (Shel Cosmetics), single handedly keeping Starbucks in business so I can stay awake on a mere 4 1/2 hours sleep, and of course raising the most wonderful child on God’s planet!

    OK, now for the pictures to get you all caught up …

    Dylan caught a fish!
    Just another summer day at Disneyland …
    First day of school, not a happy camper to get up at 6:30am after sleeping til 9 all summer

    The cutest Anakin Skywalker for Halloween
    Mommy and Dylan self-portrait after Aunt Stephie’s Engagement Party!
    2nd Grade School Picture