This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. Thanks for your support! My sons don't always have those goofy looks on their faces! They are holding up a photo of brother/Eagle Scout #1 and mimicking his expression so that I could have a photo of all tree of my Eagle Scout sons together! Since son #1 was in another state taking the Bar Exam, he couldn't be at son #3's Eagle Court of Honor. Back in January, I posted about my 3rd son earning his Eagle Scout Award here. (I also gave you a recipe for a delicious chocolate cake that I made for him.) I warned you then that I would probably brag about him more when we had his Court of Honor and his Eagle was actually awarded to him. That is Eagle Scout Son #2 pinning his award on him. I am so proud of my sons! They are all good men. Scouting has helped them to become who they are. Here are some of the benefits I have seen throughout the years of being involved in Boy Scouting with my boys:
To achieve the rank of Eagle Scout, a young man must earn 21 merit badges, 13 of them are required badges, the 8 remaining are elective, to be chosen by the Scout from the over 100 badges available. My son, Jacob, earned 28. You can see them on the sash he is wearing in this photo as he waits for the program to start. The emblem behind him is a picture of what the Eagle patch looks like. The young man on the right is a 10 year old Weebelo Scout who led the flag ceremony. They did such a great job! The young man to the left was the Master of Ceremonies and ran the program! Scouts teaches public speaking skills as well! Because this was my last son to achieve Eagle Scout, and because this award really means a lot to him and because I am so proud of him, I wanted to decorate nicely and make the evening memorable for him, because getting your Eagle IS a big deal! Here are some of the things I did! If you are decorating for an Eagle Court of Honor or another Scout program, just click on the image and it will take you to a printable page. I printed them on 4 x 6 photo paper and then cut them out. I used them in the centerpieces with old photos of Jacob from the time he was in Cubs until now. Here are some photos: These were taken while we were decorating. We also used a smaller vase filled with red and blue marbles to hold flags. Thanks to my friend Rhonda who had the little vases and flags! The Sparkly stars came from Hobby Lobby's after July 4th sale. Later, we placed red bowls filled with red, white and blue Hershey Kisses in front of these vases to round things out. This was the Eagle's Nest, where anyone who has earned their Eagle is invited to sit during the program. We hung a few of the Eagle's Nest signs pictured above on it, but didn't get a picture of the actual event (sorry). At the end of the program, my older son stood and invited my youngest son to come and join them in the Eagle's Nest, where they all shook hands and welcomed him. Some of the other things we had on display were two frames that I made for him with all of his awards and patches from Cubs-Scouts from scouts and other events and his rank patches through the years mounted in them. He also received letters of recognition from the Governor, the Army, the Air Force, the Parks Service and NASA that we displayed, along with his Eagle Project binder.
Everything looked really nice, and I think my son was pleased with the result. But, I said that I wanted it to be memorable and I think the most memorable moments were made by my son when he handed out Mentor Pins to two men who had been his leaders and helped him along his trail to Eagle. One of them had been his Bishop in our ward of our church, which is the charter organization of our troop . He had been so helpful and supportive of the boys in Scouting and Jacob gave him his pin and told him and all of us that, "We could always tell that he loved us." Well, that choked us all up and filled me with gratitude that my sons all had leaders who were truly good men that they could look up to and who cared about them. As a parent, that help is golden.
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Yessirree! This is our Eagle Scout #3, who just passed his Eagle Board of Review! We are very proud of him. He has put in a lot of work throughout the years since he joined scouting as a Cub Scout. As a Boy Scout, he has completed 28 merit badges and he did a great service project for the Parks Service in Maricopa County, painting and cleaning ramadas, picnic tables and clearing trash and debris. I can't say enough good things about the BSA. They have helped to shape my boys into fine young men, along with our church teachings and fine leaders that have been in their lives. I am one proud mom.
Becoming an Eagle Scout is a major accomplishment. Only 3 or 4% boys who join Scouts achieves this award. It shows that they have learned responsibility, stick-to-itiveness, and many other leadership qualities. You may not realize that being an Eagle Scout is highly valued by businesses and even the government. When Eagle Scouts join the military, they are given one paygrade higher as an enlisted man. That means a little extra money! One of our sons was told when he was hired for a job that being a Eagle Scout is what made him stand out to his employer. Eagle Scouts are also eligible for College and Trade School Scholarships.
Jacob hasn't been awarded his Eagle yet. The box he is holding is just a prop. When he has his Court of Honor, then I will probably brag about him even more, so hold onto your hats.
In the meantime, having another Eagle Scout Son gives us something to celebrate! What is a celebration without a cake? Luckily, I have my new KitchenAid at the ready to whip up The Perfect Chocolate Cake!
When I was in college, my roommate, Dana gave me this recipe. She had gotten it from a co-worker and had fallen in love with it. It is a dense, rich chocolate cake that takes 1 full cup of cocoa to make, and 4 eggs! You can make it as a triple layer cake, but I made mine as a sheet cake.
After you take it out of the pan and cool it, you have to decide if you want chocolate or vanilla frosting. I like both, and I let Jacob decide since the cake is for him. He chose vanilla. You can find my recipe for buttercream frostinghere. But, just plain buttercream was boring. I don't know if you have ever seen what the Eagle patch looks like, but it has a lot of red.
I decided to chop up some chocolate in my chopper, as well as some red M & Ms to decorate the top. I added a few whole M & Ms as well. It came out looking and tasting delicious!
So, the take away from this is, if you have a young boy, get him into Scouting! And, there is always a reason to celebrate life's moments with chocolate cake!
Below you will see the same Tupperware rectangular cake taker that I have been using for over 37 years! You can still get it on Amazon!
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Creators of Hot Cocoa Bombs! (copyrighted)
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Helen Reynolds: Mother of six children , grandmother to eleven! I love to cook, craft and create things and I especially love doing that with my family, So, when my lawyer daughter, Lindsey, my artist daughter, Madalynn, and I came up with the idea of Hot Cocoa Bombs, this blog was born. Then, one more daughter, with her technical and science skills, plus creativity has joined in to round us out! Read more about us here! Archives
March 2024
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