Etowah Indian Mounds

This week is James' turn at camp. Chris dropped him off at Boy Scout camp on Sunday. Before James went to camp, he had to complete some pre-requisites for the Citzenship in the Nation merit badge. One of the requirements that he had to do was:

Visit a place that is listed as a National Historic Landmark or that is on the National Register of Historic Places. Tell your counselor what you learned about the landmark or site and what you found interesting about it.

We went on-line and searched for some place nearby that met one of those two requirements and found the Etowah Indiana Mounds in Cartersville, Georgia, less than an hour away. Plus, it sounded interesting.


Some pictures from our outing. We noticed that our camera lens needed to be cleaning afterwards, so our pictures are a bit hazy.

James and Hannah standing by a sign that says that the Etowah Mounds is on the National Register of Historical Places.

An example of one of the homes that the Native Americans lived in at this site.

This is the borrow pit. The Native Americans took the dirt from here to create thier mounds.

Approaching the largest of the mounds.

We climbed the approximate 130 steps up to the top of the mound. The homes of the priests were originally built on top of the mounds.

This picture was taken at the top of one mound, looking down at another mound.

The family at the top of the mound.

We only spent an hour because we had a lot left to do that day since James was heading to camp the next morning. James thought it was pretty cool and was glad that we chose that for his historic site.

Christmas Caroling with the Boy Scouts

James' Boy Scout troop went caroling at a nearby nursing home this week. It's something they do every December. Hannah missed the Girl Scout caroling that took place earlier in December, so she was happy to join this one.


James looks so cute in his Santa hat!

 Hannah wore her sparkly purple Santa hat.

Hannah & Chris singing some Christmas songs.

The group walked around the halls of the nursing home singing songs for over an hour.

Here I am with my babies.

Christmas in the Woods

James' Boy Scout troop held their annual Christmas in the Woods this past weekend. They decorated their shelters with Christmas lights.

The lining up of the troops.

James

The scouts have a feast for Saturday night dinner. Family members are invited to come and join them. Hannah & I went up for that. The boys cooked many of the dishes in dutch ovens over hot coals.

Those potatoes were yummy!

A photographic sampling of some of the desserts.

The leaders got up early on Saturday morning to smoke beef, pork, and turkey for the feast.

After dinner, we went down to the campfire.

Representatives from the Sons of the American Legion helped with the flag retiring ceremony.

A truck full of old flags waiting to be properly retired.

The camp fire was huge! It kept getting hotter and hotter as they put more flags in the fire. We had to keep moving our chairs away from the heat.

Feeling Sew Stupid

I hate to sew. I took 7 years of sewing in 4-H when I was a kid, plus I took a few sewing classes in Home Ec back then, too. I still don't like to sew.  A few years ago I hired a friend to sew James' Halloween costume. The few times we've needed alterations, we've paid to have it done. I will sew buttons on, eventually. And patches on to scout uniforms. But I don't like it.

Recently I posted that James made the rank of Star in Boy Scouts. With that rank, he received a new patch. He wasn't in any hurry for me to sew it on because during the summer months the boys are permitted to wear Class B instead of Class A uniforms. But after Labor Day the boys would be required to wear Class A again.

I sewed his Star rank patch onto his uniform in plenty of time for his meeting. The following weekend James was dressed to help fold flags from the 9/11 Field of Flags. I noticed his patch was gone. I'm not a great seamstress, but surely the patch wouldn't have come off so soon.

Here is James' shirt the week after I sewed his new patch on. The patch should be on the pocket. As you can see, it's not there.

Here is the sleeve of his shirt. And lo and behold, there is his patch. I had sewn it onto the wrong pocket.

No problem. I carefully removed the patch with a seam ripper and sewed it to the front pocket. Here it is now in the correct place.

When James got home from folding flags, he pointed out to me that I had sewn it upside down!!!And as you can see in the picture above, it is indeed upside down. I had to sew it on a third time. Needless to say, this didn't help change my feelings about sewing.

Folding Flags

The Kiwanis Club of Marietta had a "Field of Flags" this month in memory of the 9/11 victims. James' Boy Scout Troop helped out by folding the flags the week after so they could be picked up by those who sponsored the flags.


Folding the flags.

There were almost 3,000 flags and over half of them had to be folded into a triangle.

Folded flags waiting to be picked up.

James posing with one of his friends.

We bought a flag for our family and James was given one as a "thank you" for his help. 

Boy Scout Court of Honor

Twice a year, the Boy Scouts have their Court of Honor Ceremony. James was on the planning committee for the most recent Court of Honor. The 4 boys who were on the planning committee were the "hosts" for the evening.


Here James is at the microphone waiting for his next turn to speak.

James did a wonderful job! 

 James received the rank of Star. After Star rank is Life, then Eagle Scout. Parents are called to stand up with their sons. As his mom, I received a star pin which James pinned to my shirt.

 

 

 

In addition to the achievement of Star Rank, James earned 3 merit badges. Two of these badges are Eagle required. He earned Citizenship in the Community, Astronomy, and Emergency Preparedness.

At the January Court of Honor, James didn't receive any recognitions. This motivated him to complete some of his unfinished merit badges over the summer. He set some goals and did a really good job of completely them with little direction from us. I would ask him "What have you done toward completing your goals this week?" every couple of days. He had to decide what actions to take. We are very proud of our Star Scout!

Back from Boy Scout Camp

James returned from Boy Scout camp on Saturday. We got a call sometime on Saturday, early afternoon, telling us that the troop would arrive at the American Legion around 2:30 that afternoon. At 2 pm, Hannah decided to make some signs to hold up as the bus pulled into the parking lot.


Here she is with her signs.


And here is my tired and grimy boy!

It rained a lot while they were at camp. All of his belongings were damp and smelly. I had to throw out his pillow - I washed it a couple of times and it still smelled pretty bad. I bought him a nice, new down one to replace it. He said he showered once while at camp. He said that he thought he received the most letters in his troop. (Thanks to everyone who sent him one!) He had a great time, but missed his family. (and his x-box!)

Boy Scout Camp

My baby boy is at Boy Scout camp this week. He left early Sunday morning. It hasn't been as quiet around the house as I thought it might be. My 10 year old daughter has been more than making up for it.



Gathering the troop together.


Boarding the bus. Usually, the parents drive their own kids to camp, or they carpool together. But this year, the troop chose to go to summer camp in Tennessee. It's about a 3 hour drive, which would make for a long day just to drop off a kid at camp. The American Legion that sponsors James' troop, paid for the coach bus transportation, which was no small fee.


The boys getting ready for the comfortable 3 hour ride to camp.

My baby comes home tomorrow! I've missed him.

Boy Scouts Flag Placement

On Saturday, James' Boy Scout troop participated in the Flag Placement at the Marietta National Cemetery. It's an annual event held on the Saturday before Memorial Day where flags are placed at the soldiers' tombstones. This was James' 4th or 5th time participating in the event. I had never attended, so I decided to join them this year.


After placing a flag, the scout is supposed to salute. Some scouts even say a few words.





My husband - oh, how I love a man in uniform!!




It's pretty impressive seeing all the white tombstones with an American flag by each one. Unfortunately the camera battery died and I wasn't able to play around with other shots of the whole cemetery.