American Heritage Girls

This blog post is in response to never end questions about what AHG is, why we left GSUSA, and what we think of AHG.

1) I am going to answer the Girl Scout question first.  Why did we leave?

• We had many reasons for leaving.  GSUSA has become all about girl empowerment.  If you have ever met my daughters you will realize that they are empowered enough! They need to learn humility.  
• We left because we moved away from our troop, and comfort zone. I figured if we had to meet all new people, we may as well try out a Catholic troop.
• We left because of a connection between GSUSA, WAGGGS, and Planned Parenthood.  Once my girls knew that PP performed abortions, and that GSUSA has been associated with them, my girls were done with GS.
• I could have mostly ignored ALL of those reasons.  The REAL reason we left GSUSA is because they insulted Catholics when they released the Junior Journey called aMUSE.  In that book they reference a play called "Simply Maria."  Yes, they only mention the name of the play and the author.  Yes, they use the author as a role model for girls.  Simply Maria sounds like a wonderful play.  I could see Diva asking to find it and read it. When she sees a play she wants to do, we try to read an excerpt to find out what it is about before pursuing it.  This is what I found as an excerpt from it.
• PRIEST. Dearly beloved, we are gathered here, under the Catholic church, in the holy house of God, to unite these two people in holy matrimony. Marriage is sacred. It is the unification of a man and a woman, their love and commitment, forever, and ever, and ever, no matter what! Well, then let's begin.María, do you accept José Juan Gonzalez García López as your lawfully wedded husband to love cherish, serve, cook for, clean for, sacrifice for, have his children, keep house, love him, even if he beats you, commits adultery, gets drunk, rapes you, lawfully, denies your identity, money, and in return ask for nothing? (MARIA thinks about it and then turns to her parents who mouth to her "I do.")
• I do not want my CATHOLIC girl to read that.  She is gentle, sheltered, loving, and so much more.  I do not want her to read a play that makes fun of one of the most sacred aspects of my life.

2) What is AHG? To me, AHG is a Christian, our troop is Catholic, scouting program for girls.  We do all the things that you would expect a scout troop to do.  We perform service. Our troop, collectively, performed over 400 hours of service this year. (I will update with an exact total later, the paper is in the van, it is midnight, and I am in my PJs).  Our troop changes the missals at the sponsoring church as needed, we make and deliver cards and gifts to a local nursing home, we make layered cookies in a joy for the firefighters  The girls can earn patches!  Not for talking about our feelings like  you do in the Daisy Journeys.  Nope, my girls earned many patches, for Theater, Dance, Music Appreciation, Cooking, Outdoor Skills, World Heritage, Travel, Sewing, Computer Fun, and more.  We also take field trips.  We have seen the inner working of a bank and an airport.  We have toured Sinsinawa Mound and learned about Fr. Mazzuchelli.  All in all, AHG to me, is an organization that encourages service to others, learning new things, going new places, and making new friends.

3) Do we love it?  YES!  All 4 girls and myself love it.  We have so much fun.  I am the new Outdoor Coordinator.  I am planning 3 day camps.  Each camp is 2 days long.  The girls will learn about birds, insects, fire safety, how to build a fire, how to cook on the fire, how to use a pocket knife.  They will go on hikes, whittle a bar of soap, feed the troop, dissect owl pellets, make a nature journal, and start a bird life list. But most of all, they will have fun, make friends, and learn new things.

 NEW FRIENDS

BEST FRIENDS, SERVING TOGETHER

at the Right to Life Chili Luncheon

SINSINAWA MOUND

FIELD TRIP!

 learning so much about Fr. Mazzuchelli

Our Irish Dancing Beauties :-)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!


As you can imagine, St. Patrick's Day can be crazy for Irish Dancers and their Mom and Dad.  We had a lot of fun, but came home tired!  I am so thankful that we we to Mass last night.


It took a very long time getting everyone ready.  Only 3 wigs were put on, Curly Girl would not wear hers because it hurt her head.  She wore a bun instead.


The girls danced 4 dances at the fest: light jig, slip jig, and 2 different 2 hand reels.  My twins were partners. Identical 2 hand reel partners is just too cute to resist.  Also, the older 2 did a fabulous job.

Wondertwin A, Curly Girl, Wondertwin B, Diva

 

I guess you need to turn you head sideways until I figure out how to rotate this!

 All 4 girls with Fr. Dan

 A quick jig at St. Patrick's Church before heading to the Irish Fest

Schooling made fun

Lately we have been in a rut with school.  Therefore today Wondertwin C decided to read to the dog rather than to me.  Apparently, Tosha really likes Green Eggs and Ham.  Also, Wondertwin A has been struggling with motivation to do her Math.  Today and yesterday, I added an activity to each answer.  She is reviewing one digit subtraction, so 9-7=2, do 2 jumping jacks, or tell 2 sisters that you love them.

American Heritage Girls

As many of you know, when we moved we decided to not put the girls in Girl Scouts.  There are many reasons for this, one being that GSUSA chose to use an anti-Catholic play as an example in one of Journeys.  This was not okay with me!

In our new home we discovered American Heritage Girls.  AHG is a wonderful Christian scouting program for girls, with a strong service component.  Our troop is sponsored by a local Catholic church, therefore there is a strong Catholic feeling to it.  Our girls pray Catholic prayers and learn about Catholic customs.  They also perform service for others (and are rewarded with stars), work on various badges (Curly Girls has earn many already, including ones for: sewing, stamp collecting, home decorating, money management, and more!).  All of the girls have earned multiple patches and service stars.

If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments and I will update this post with the answers.

Some picture from our local Right to Life March Chili luncheon, the AHG troop helped to serve the chilli.

Wondertwin C and A

Curly Girl on the right

Diva on the right

Music and dance

If you are from a non-musical family, like I am, and marry a musician, you might want to consider putting earplugs' and music or dance lessons on your baby registry.

Don't ever ever ever name a child Cecilia if music makes you crazy. It seems that St.Cecilia has blessed our wonder twin C with a love of music and uncanny musical abilities. Sadly, she did not bless me with the necessary love of music to parent this child. LOL

My house is very loud,and yes the girls talk a lot, which adds to the noise, but most of it is music. At this moment, there are 3 violins playing, not the same songs, not together, and one drum pad. Thank goodness we did not buy a drum lol. I may send a thank you card to the man at the music store that mentioned that children usually do not play an actual drum until middle school.

After violin practice,the girls are supposed to practice Irish Dancing, but I think they may have to wait. I cannot handle anymore music right now! I am thrilled that they will be able to go outside and ride scooters at lunch, hopefully some of the energy will decrease.

In the dream house,that I would to build someday, there will be a sound proof music room, with a dance floor...and a bathroom that has a door to the backyard. My friend has a bathroom that opens outdoors (and indoors), best idea ever!

On a related note....anyone know of a good pair of ear plugs...

A little funny for you...

Today the Wondertwins have decided that their room is off limits to everyone except themselves. The way they announced it was, "Hear Me, Hear Me..."

I just cannot bring myself to correct them LOL.

Unrelated note - I ran my very first 5K yesterday with a time of 37:32. I was thrilled with my time, I wanted to be under 40 minutes.

Also, Friday it seems that I fed Wondertwin A something that is should not have - she has been in pain ever since - poor baby.

Allergist update

Our allergist is leaving OSF. Sad, sad, sad day. Luckily, she may be going into practice closer to us.

Today - Wondertwin A was put on inhaled steroids to get her "Reactive Airway Disease" aka asthma under control. We also have put in for this nebulizer. It is super tiny, smaller than my digital camera and silent. Since A will be using it daily, silent would be a big help. Please pray that insurance agrees with us.

Wondertwin C will be doing a pear food challange once our allergist gets settled. We are not confident that she will pass, but we want to be 100% sure that the reactions to unknowns are actually hidden pear.

Curly Girl - starting Nasocort tomorrow. She is pretty gunky, so hopefully this will help.

The girls at Rock City in Chattanooga TN.

Slugs

Just so you do not think that A's medical takes up my entire life, though it nearly does, I thought I would share how we spent Mother's Day.

We went on a slug hunt.

Yep, it seems that my little "ladies" love slugs. They are keeping them in a covered bowl outside. They have 5 or 6 I think. I personally am quite disgusted!

Allergist and GI update

We saw the allergist and GI nurse on Thursday.

Curly Girl and Wondertwin C had their regular 6 mos allergy appointment. Nothing new was determined, no testing done.

Wondertwin A - a different story....

So, A had her scope, and it was visually clean, and the 1 biopsy taken (from her stomach) was also clear. Her GI said that she does not have EE or Celiac based on this one scope and one biopsy. You really do need more than 1 biopsy, more like 15-20 to rule out EE.

We went to our 4 week post scope appt, with the allergist first then the GI nurse. The allergist was confused about the scope. She referred us due to suspected EE and wanted more biopsies taken. A has lost weight in the last 4 weeks, therefore, we were advised to give her 3 servings per day of EO28 Splash or Neocate - these are Amino Acid formulas for children with severe GI issues or multiple food allergies. We have samples of each, and A likes the Splash.

At the GI appt, the doc was on vacation and therefore not available. The nurse was confused about why only 1 biopsy was taken. Based on A's history, she was expecting EE also. She gave us more Neocate and Splash samples.

We go back to the allergist in August for patch testing, with an appt with the GI nurse the same day.

A is currently self limiting amounts of food to about 1/3 of what she used to eat, so less than 1/2 of what she needs.

She is off:
allergies: chicken, turkey, fish, and seafood
sister's allergy: pear
reflux triggers (suspected): tomato, dairy, citrus, mint, chocolate

She also tests negative to all foods on RAST and SPT.

We will continue to call it "multiple food allergies with GERD" and treat her as if she has EE/Eos.

Lent 2009

Lent begins tomorrow. As a family we are preparing for this special time, mostly with discussions. Lent is the 40 days (excluding Sundays) that are between Ash Wednesday and Easter.

Preparing our home. We are preparing our home for Easter. I plan to complete my first ever Spring cleaning and purging before Easter.

Preparing our hearts. We are preparing our hearts for Jesus. Diva has requested reconcilliation tonight. So we will be going to that, followed by Mass.

What to Give Up? Traditionally Catholics fast from something they love during this time of preparation. As a family we are fasting from meat and eating out. Diva is fasting from candy and gum. Curly Girl is fasting from juice.

What to Add? As a family we will pray the rosary, at least 1 decade daily. We will attend Mass on Tuesdays as often as possible. We will "put away" the alleluia (as soon as I make one to put away).

With all of that, our regular life stuff, and medical appointments, I think that is all that I can handle as a Mommy.

Happy Birthday President Lincoln

Anyone who has read my blog knows that Diva loves history, and her favorite subject is Abe Lincoln.














Today we went to an Abe Lincoln Birthday Celebration here in town.















We gathered at the flagpole,















heard the story of his birth,















heard from his "dad,"















and even ate cake. Fun was had by all.


























Did you notice that Diva is dressed in her prairie dress and bonnet?

The Dentist

Pics at the dentist watching a video of how to brush your teeth. (L to R) - Curly Girl, A, Diva, and C.


My girls love going to the dentist. They actually get jealous if their sister gets to go and not them. Lately I have over heard them playing dentist. They even brush and floss each other's teeth. If you know how I feel about teeth, you will realize that they do not get that from me!

Too cute not to show you...

Wondertwins C on the left in pink, and A on the right. They are just a little crazy.

What color is yours?

Today Wondertwin A received her new MedicAlert bracelet. All 3 little girls had outgrown their bracelets and their allergies had changed, so replacements were ordered.

Today they were comparing colors. WT A said that hers was the same color as purple cabbage, which she then requested for snack. While, Curly Girl's is orange, her favorite color. WT C's is pink of course, because every princess needs a pink allergy bracelet.

Wondertwins

C to A: I am going to sing "Go My Own Way." Come on, there are 2 parts, for bof us.



Now - how on earth does my 3 year know that there are 2 parts, one for each of them?

3 year olds are overrated

C: Those are your 2 choices. Dairy Queen or let me watch tv.
Me: Neither
C: Mom, those are your choices. What do you want?

Caking with the kids

My friend Kris held a cake decorating class for the children. My girls had a ton of fun, and made a huge mess. Thanks Kris - let's do it again soon. Above is C enjoying her sprinkles, um, I mean cake.

If you let 3 year olds share a chair....

If you let 3 year old share a chair at a meal....they will spill something.
If they spill something...they will want to change clothes.
If you let them change clothes...they will come out of their room wearing shorts and a t-shirt in December.
If you let them wear the shorts and t-shirt...they will complain of being cold.
If they complain of being cold...they will convince you to snuggle in bed with them to get warm.
If you snuggle in bed with them...you will fall asleep.
If you fall asleep...the twins will climb on the cupboards and get into the cookies.
If they get into the cookies...they will spill on their clothes.

All because they shared a chair.

Just not normal

So the twins do everything in their own way and own time.

Overheard - C saying: The princess has go potty, make way....pause...ok, now all I need is paper, the princess NEEDS paper.

I look that direction, A is taking care of said princess.

Just thought you should know :P