Eagle Scout's Party

The after-party hosted 95 people, which proves that really is his lucky number.
The buffet had roast beef, barbecue brisket, rolls, cheesy potatoes, broccoli-rice casserole, sweet green beans, veggie tray, and fruit with dip. At least it was colorful, homemade, and warm!! Thanks to Constance and Lesa, who saved the day as kitchen servers. Plus there was a special cake...

The display boards mapped out his traveled routes between waterfalls, forests, lakes, and 10,000 foot peaks. Double rainbow, huge camp fire, wild animals...

and showed the best memories from time spent outdoors with friends.

His friend loaned us a mannequin for the hand-made costume.

A Salute to Our Scout

The ceremony for Eagle Scout is always impressive--and Dorito was over-the-top happy!!

At the entrance doors, we hung balloons and had a sign-in sheet for well wishers. Along the side walls, we set display boards of his four High Adventure trips along side his Mic-o-say costume on a mannequin. And the wooden centerpiece was an eagle candle-holder for the 12 points of the Scout Law. 

The twins were excited to give the welcome and presentation of the colors, Adam and Alexander were Eagle escorts, Jake and Josh spoke the obligations, Mr. Honeycutt explained the ranks, and Mr. Sisco conferred the award pins and neckerchief. Such a meaningful ceremony.

Best of all was a special commendation from Congressman Sam Graves, also an Eagle Scout. He presented our son with a flag flown over the Capitol, too. 

Dorito's acceptance speech was directly from the heart, and he even spoke impromtu through the middle of it. Captain surprised Dorito with the gift of a class ring, which had been ordered with the Eagle emblem on one side. It barely slid over the fourth knuckle of his injured hand.

Broken Finger - Mercy Me!

Dorito was reffing the JV game at Bode, and it got pretty rough. He broke up a fight by bear-hugging one player and pulling him out of the scrum. Shortly after that, another player on the same team took a slap shot that seemed aimed at the opposing coach! Unfortunately, it hit Dorito's bare hand along the boards and probably broke his finger. He finished the game though. And he had free tickets to the "Mercy Me" concert so he packed it in ice and left with Meggar, Hannah, Lucas, and Jake for a fun event at the Sprint Center.

Shakespeare with Meggar

Meggar is home for Thanksgiving break!! After yummy food, we went to the Schieber's for Shakespeare Out Loud. We finished up our reading of "Comedy of Errors" about the mix-up of twins. Very good fun!

Meteor Shower?!

Polar Bear and I laid on the ground for 25 minutes, wrapped in two quilts, to watch the Leonids meteor shower after (late) hockey practice. There were clear skies but we only saw two falling stars, and were quite chilled from the wind. It was disappointing, but we might try again tomorrow night.

Grand Finale with Homeschool Choir

The weekly co-op of classes for homeschoolers finished up their fall semester with a Grand Finale. The choir had 2 tenors and 1 bass from the Schmidling family!

Book Club with Japanese Food

For monthly book club tonight, I am making my favorite recipe from LABO camp: Yakisoban. I had travelled to Japan in the summer of 1983 to visit Akemi, who had been our family's 4-H exchange student. We are still pen pals to this day! Food is an important part of every culture and I love exploring new flavors and recipes. The women at book club will get a peek at my photos and souvenir umbrella, too. Our discussion is about "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet," and I like World War II stories of all types.