Monday, February 13, 2012

Badge Magic or Sewing?

Here's a post from a Boy Scout Mom about her experiences with Badge Magic and hand/machine sewing badges. The comments are interesting, too.

http://thethinkingmother.blogspot.com/2006/09/why-i-will-no-longer-use-badge-magic.html

Sunday, January 8, 2012

I'd like to introduce myself....

My name is Kathy S.  I live in the Midwest and have for most of my life.  I have 6 children, 4 boys, 2 girls ages 9 years-18 months.

In the summer of 2011, a friend who was very invested in the Girl Scouts decided to quit and she and I simultaneously began a Little Flowers group and a Blue Knights group.  I had been sitting on the information for a couple of years and it was very helpful to have someone to work with and motivate me.

It has been a very busy and fruitful learning experience.  Our 12 Knights are mostly third grade and under.  It is a very energetic group.  We have been blessed with a great meeting location, that allows us use of a large parish hall, plenty of room to run for games.  There is a sign up sheet for dads to lead the virtue talk, but the moms are there for room management, craft, snack, etc.  We have also gotten volunteers from the community to talk to the Knights.  For example, we had a local attorney who is a Deacon speak about justice.

 When seeking a location we purposely contacted a parish that no longer had a school.  The school closed several years ago because of declining enrollment.  We thought that the parish may appreciate the presence of a youth group.  The space is easy to obtain because there is no parish school scheduling events in the facilities.  We plan to have a bake sale after Masses in February to increase our visibility.

One of the first things we did (after some local fundraising) was to contact the Archdiocese Vocation Office and ask for the name of a seminarian to 'spiritually adopt'.  In the Year of the Priest, my family and several others did this and it was a nice way to put vocation in front of the children and provide support to someone seeking theirs.  Our seminarian is in Rome and we correspond with him via letters and pray for him always.  If the Knights write to him, it is part of a medal project.

I am looking forward to contributing to the Blue Knights Blog!
Blessings,

Kathy