Thursday, December 31, 2009

Starting to Spread Those Wings...

It seems like only yesterday that Kyle was a little Tiger Cub Scout, basically showing up for the end-of-the-meeting treats and crawling around on the floor more than anything else. Since Mr.4444 is an Eagle Scout (once an Eagle, always an Eagle) and grew up with a dad who stood for the ideals of scouting, he knew the value of the lessons taught in scouting, and we wanted Kyle to have the same kind of experience. He's been involved ever since grade school.

Kyle has fond memories of (working on his Pinewood Derby cars with Grandpa 4444 (more fun than fast), and every nearly every summer, he's spent a week at Bear Paw Scout Camp. He got his first pocketknife from Grandpa 4444 and worked hard to earn his "Totin' Chip," giving him the privilege of carrying that knife at camp. At Bear Paw, Kyle developed skills, made new friends, and got eaten alive by mosquitoes, but he also had a lot of fun and reached some memorable milestones, including swimming a mile for a swimming Merit Badge (I would have drowned) and earning the Order of the Arrow honor.

As anyone who's had a scout knows, Boy Scouting requires personal sacrifice and hard work, but also that of parents and other adult leaders. I took my turn as Den Mother when Kyle was a Wolf Cub, helped with badges and service projects, and for the past few years, coordinated candy bar sales to help scouts pay for camp. Mr.4444 was also involved, of course, helping with badges and even chaperoning a couple of week-long summer camping trips to the Sylvania Wilderness Area. We've had a lot of fun as a scouting family.


Today, Kyle is 17 and a Life Scout, soon to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout. Among other requirements for earning this highest rank, the scout has to organize, lead, and manage a service project This week, Kyle wrapped up a big chunk of that project, and we're very proud of him.

For his service project, Kyle chose to help his school's student council organization get, well...better organized, taking this....




And turning it into this:






with the help of fellow scouts, some of his swim team members, and of course, Mr.4444. The project took many hours of planning: phone calls, raising of funds (Thanks, Grandma 4444, Home Depot, and Figaro's Pizza!!), organizing and directing volunteers, gathering materials, and (of course) building the shelves.

Yes, I did have to light a fire under Kyle to get him going on choosing his project and writing the lengthy proposal (he is a normal kid!) but once the spark ignited, that kid took off! Throughout this whole week-long process of the project itself, I've asked a few questions (prompts, truthfully), but have been increasingly surprised disappointed impressed by the fact that he did not need my help; he had it all under control. This kid knows what he's doing!

He's going to be an Eagle Scout, which is good,

because he's going to need those wings soon.

26 comments:

  1. What a great job Kyle did on that storage room! Getting to the rank of Eagle Scout is quite impressive! That is awesome! You should be very proud of him! Seems like a real nice kid and smart too!

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  2. Ooooo, that Kyle is my kinda' kid. With those organizational skills he's bound to go far in life! Kudos to Kyle!!!

    Enjoy the day and Happy New Year!!!

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  3. That's awesome. Congratulations, Kyle!!

    My 6yo son started as at Tiger Scout this year, and my 8yo daughter is in her 3rd year of Brownies, after starting her scouting career off as a Daisy in Kinder. We love scouting, too! :D

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  4. Yay for Kyle.
    Congrats on raising such a great kid.

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  5. Congrats to him, that is an awesome feat! Have a Happy New year!

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  6. Congrats Kyle! Good job and GREAT project!

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  7. My brothers are both Eagles. While I was dishonorably discharged from the Brownies... and while I don't support the Boy Scouts for personal, value based reasons... I am very very proud of my brothers and the hard work that went into the great accomplishment of becoming Eagle Scouts. So kudos to your son! And a job well done!

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  8. Okay, so could he come over and help me organize my mess? What a great job! Congrats to him!

    Happy new year to you girlfriend!

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  9. This post brought tears to my eyes...you must be so very proud barb!

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  10. How tremendously proud you must be. My son is in kindergarten this year and he was disappointed that he had another year to wait before becoming a Tiger Scout. I hope that he stays with it as your son did.

    I am new to your blog via KarenMEG and I love it. The name is fabulous and so meaningful. How blessed you are to have had such a fun lady to guide you through life.

    Happy 2010. I will be back.

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  11. Congrats and bravo on a great project.

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  12. Wow...that apple definitely didn't fall far from the tree! Awesome!!

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  13. Congrats to him! Reaching Eagle Scout is a big achievement. He picked an original service project too! Very nice!

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  14. Awesome work Kyle, and mom too! I love organizing and wish I coulda helped. :) David is an Eagle scout too, and look how successful he turned out to be!

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  15. What a wonderful accomplishment! You have much to be proud about.

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  16. Wow! What an awesome job he did! Makes a Mama proud, doesn't it? :)

    Happy New Year! :)

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  17. Oh that is so cool. I can't wait for Mister Man to be able to start in scouting (next year). I really hope he'll be an Eagle Scout. And so cool that you can learn the next steps from Melisa, no?

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  18. Love it!!! I really like the project he chose. Great job!

    I am a Cub Scout leader and my boys love scouts. I grew up in an Eagle Scout family and couldn't wait to get my boys involved....I hope they continue to enjoy it all the way through to make Eagle Scout.

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  19. Great Job Kyle - congrats!

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  20. My brother and nephew are both eagle scouts and my husband and I wanted our son to learn the skills and self-confidence that they had. Evan mailed in his eagle project on Monday for district approval. He is hoping to complete it before the end of February.

    Congrats to Kyle - and to the rest of the family. I know that scouting truly is a family affair.

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  21. Congrats! Being freshly off the Eagle trail ourselves over here, I know exactly how much pride you're feeling right now. Congrats to Kyle and the whole family!

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  22. Very nice, good luck to him as he closes in on such a major accomplishment. As an Eagle Scout I know how hard it is to make it all the way through. He's obviously had wonderful support from his family to get where he is.

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  23. AWESOME! We're a scout family, too. Thing 1 just got his First Class.

    Congrats to Kyle! And put that bumper sticker proudly on your car. :)

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  24. That's so great, I bet you're just beaming with pride (and hopefully HE is too)!

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  25. Keep posting stuff like this i really like it.

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