Since readers of the blog don’t live near us I wanted to share our caroling with you. I hope it brings you some holiday cheer.

Yes, I know it looks like Annie isn’t listening but she is one of *those kids who looks like they aren’t paying any attention but are somehow hearing and understanding everything. Crazy but true.

Kimberly with David and Merlin

Annie sweeping up Checkers poop.

The bunnies were all so cute. I mean look at this lion head and his buddy the dutch. I love dutch bunnies. Reminds me of my childhood rabbit.

We left the sanctuary better than we found it and made a difference in those 6 cages. The girls all loved it and I am scheduling them more volunteer hours there.

Mimi and Emma were on a team to spend $50 and buy gifts for a boy and a girl. They were such good shoppers. Here they are checking the prices.

I just love the part that Girl Scouts plays in our family.

The troop worked hard to sell nuts and chocolates in order to support those in need. I am proud of their efforts.

Last week we took a trip to the Cave Creek Regional Park to see them feed the snakes and gila monster. Some of the girls were a little squeamish when the snake lunged at the little frozen mouse, but overall the trip was a success.

I enjoy the influence that Girl Scouts has on our family. Hopefully the Girls will continue to be interested in it for a good long time.

To move all of those people from point A to point B, we took a stretch Hummer limo. And what a stretch job it was: we ten fathers sat along a three-sided couch while our daughters sat in captain’s chairs watching Tangled and Toy Story 3 on a flatscreen TV bigger than the one we have at home. I had never been in a limousine before and this was bigger than almost any other one I’ve seen before.

Our first stop—after the first ten stops, that is—was for dinner at the Olive Garden. Picture if you will: massive Hummer limo pulls up in front of your local Olive Garden, ten sharp-dressed men file out one after another, and then… 13 little girls between the ages of 5 and 8. Everyone was agape. Unfortunately, we were five minutes late and so they gave our table away to another large party. (Side note: what kind of restaurant turns away 23 people who have a reservation because they’re slightly late. Crazy!) We ended up going to the mall food court. Nothing eventful about that other than the spectacle of it all.

The dance was wonderful. I found myself actually asking The Girls to dance because they were so busy hanging out with their friends, playing around, and talking to a lady dressed up like Giselle from Enchanted. (Madeline could hardly tear herself away from the lady, relating all manner of stories and anecdotes the entire night.) Annie was a wild dancer; Kimberly loved to spin; and Madeline wanted to be dipped over and over. It was great fun.

After the dance, we went to the Sugar Bowl for dessert. I know what you’re thinking, “Why on earth would anyone take fatigued little girls to get sugared up late at night right before bed?” In retrospect, that’s a very good question. We didn’t get back home until 11:30 PM—fully four hours past their normal bedtimes. The conclusion of the evening was, let’s just say, a little dicey.

They took showers and I started working one by one on each girl. I was taking their suggestions on how they wanted their hair fixed, this is not how it generally works when they are getting dressed up it is usually my choice for pictures or a family event. Each girl had a particular desire that they had thought about and decided on. It was up to me to create their dream hairdo. Thankfully I pulled it off and everyone was pleased.

While I was curling one girl’s hair another was looking through my jewelry box hoping to find something I would allow them to wear. There was something very intimate about all four of us in the bathroom/closet area.

Annie loves earrings and really wanted to be able to wear some of mine. She asked about a lot of the bigger options but was told no. She finally settled on pearl earrings. Those pearl earrings were a gift from Bill when we were first married. I pulled out two pearl necklaces to match the earrings. She decided on the pearl necklace my Grandmother gave me for my high school graduation.

Kimberly was wearing her blue velvet dress and paired it with sapphire earrings and my sapphire pendant necklace that my parents gave me when I was 16. She really enjoyed wearing them and relishing in the fact that they were mine when I was younger.

Madeline chose to wear a necklace that Grammy gave her for Christmas. It has an angel and Madeline believes that when she wears it Papa can see her. She wanted to make sure he was with her tonight.

Seeing my girls wearing pieces of my jewelry that I adored when I was younger was very sentimental for me. I can’t really explain the emotions I felt as I was putting the earrings through their ears and placing my necklaces around their necks. It was as though things have come full circle.

They looked gorgeous. Each one was so excited for their night out. The Hummer limo arrived at 4:30 to pick them up and they went off on their adventure. I can’t wait to hear how it was for them.

The Girls were so gracious and kind to the firemen. It was wonderful for them to get to experience this. They got to tour the firehouse, check out the engine, run the hose, and sit on the Firemen’s chairs, and even hold their hat. Each one of those items made their day! It was great to experience the fire house through their eyes.

As always, I am thankful for Girl Scouts for providing my daughters and I with these wonderful experiences.

Love being the Daisy Girl Scout Leader and I really enjoy this group of girls.

We saw so many friends from our troops and had a great time at each station. We played bubbles, did a ring toss on ducks, had our faces painted, colored a pot to plant seeds in, made a frame, ran a three legged race, made a friendship pin, and other crafts. The kids loved it.

Mommy was in a team with Annie and Kimmie was in a team with Grammy. I think we tied the race but it didn’t matter since we had so much fun!

We had a great time. Big thanks go out to the older Girl Scout troop that put on this wonderful picnic for us.

She had been asking her sisters to teach her the Girl Scout Promise and I think she may know it completely. It is so neat to have her as a Girl Scout as well. Now all the Girls can share in the wonderful experience that Girl Scouts provides.

She was so adorable when we arrived home after her meeting. She still had her uniform on and Grammy was at the house. She jumped out of the van exclaiming to Grammy, “I’m a Girl Scout!” She modeled her smock for Grammy. She can’t wait to fill it up with patches.

We have a great bunch of girls and I am so excited to continue to grow with them.

Poor Annie said, “I’m so sorry Mom!” when we downloaded these pictures at home. I really feel so bad for her. Once a camera is turned on her she has a very hard time looking natural. I told her it was okay and tried to reassure her that it was still a good picture because it would remind me of the first day of Girl Scouts for this year.

After the bears we went to the co-leaders home to give out the badges and incentives for selling cookies. We had a wonderful gathering.

This year we focused on learning the Girl Scout Law and doing crafts. I hope that next year we can do more field trips and get the girls more personally involved in the journey. Hopefully we can get together with some of the girls over the summer. They really were a pleasure to lead.

Over half the cookies have been picked up and I hope to get the remaining families over here soon to pick up their portions. Hopefully one day soon my dining room can be reclaimed.

It was nice to go with just Annie and Kimberly. We rode over in the Mini Cooper with the top down and got checked in. We then proceeded to get the Girls faces painted.

When we went over to the photo station I found that the Girl Scout who was taking our picture was one of my former students. She is now a senior in high school. It was such an interesting moment to see her so grown up and me now with my children.

We had a nice morning at the park with our fellow Daisy Girl scouts. It was fun for Annie and Kimberly to see just how many Daisy Scouts there are. (Of course there are many more than were just at the picnic but the amount there amazed them.)

There were a lot of fun stations for us to enjoy. Kimberly’s favorite thing was the playground. Annie’s favorite thing at the picnic was the bubble station.