It's a Girl Scout Thing

We have recently learned more about a Girl Scout tradition called SWAPS (Special Whatchamacallit Affectionately Pinned Somewhere).  They are simply little somethings, often symbolic of an event, with a small identifying tag that Girl Scouts swap with each other and pin on a hat, t-shirt, rope, etc. 

Coming up in February is a special Girl Scout holiday called World Thinking Day.  It's a day when scouts and guides around the world get together to learn and think more about their sister scouts in different countries.  Our county's service unit is having a special day where each troop picks a country to represent.  Our troop chose China/Hong Kong!  We are responsible for making a display, 150 SWAPS, and a snack.  Our SWAPS are a combination of little pictures (dragons, Wall of China, etc.) and fortune cookies that we've made.  Here are some pictures of how to make the fortune cookie SWAPS (I think they're adorable!).

Cut out a circle of paper (I used a scrapbooking circle punch tool).  Pinch it in half (colored side out) - do not crease the fold.  I had to use my other hand to take the photo, but usually my other hand is holding that left side closed while my right hand is pushing in middle and pulling the ends down and together.  I used little glue dots (Zots) to put in the crease to keep the fold together permanently.  You could use regular glue, but you have to hold it closed for a bit. 

We printed out tags for the "fortune," which we glued into the cookie.

After adding the ubiquitous safety pin, we'll display our SWAPS in Chinese take-out containers (bought at Walmart in the party supplies section) on our table for the other Girl Scout troops to visit and swap. 

3rd Day of Christmas

On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me . . . a trip to West Virginia . . .

Yah, this is where blogging seems a bit, well, boring.  Not for me - I love to write about whatever - but for you, poor reader.  Alas, all we really did today was go out as a family (for once), eat, do an errand, and then grocery shop at Walmart, of all godforsaken places.  And then we came home, put away the groceries, made drinks (because we're on vacation - duh!), made dinner, and attempted to entertain our kids without too much effort on our parts . . .

So, the eating part -- we ate at Martinsburg's La Trattoria - the highest rated restaurant for that fair city on Tripadvisor.  Our young waiter Sebastian was a gracious gentleman, who catered to our every need -- want a meatball instead of meat sauce?  Sure, kid - not a problem.  Want french fries instead of salad or the yummy house Italian Marriage Soup?  Sure, sir - I'd be happy to.  Want me to heat up half that cake to make your girls happy while you get your cold cake and eat it, too?  No problem.  Seriously, the best little before-dinner rolls EVER.  We threw down two baskets-full before our steak-n-cheese paninis and spaghettis came.  The decor was - um, very peachy and Kelly green - but its location (on Rt. 9 just off Rt. 81 around the corner from the Girl Scout shop) and easy parking made up for that.  I think we'll do that joint again.

And the shopping part -- I thought G had made a wrong turn toward Hagerstown's Walmart instead of Martinsburg's, but, no, he was headed to Spring Mills.  I know - Walmart-talk on a blog.  Geez.  But seriously, of all Walmarts, this one is worth the chatter.  It's very new and very convenient and I always forget about it.  Apparently, so do a lot of people because it's never busy.  Love it.

And, finally, the child entertainment part:

They are making their "goal posters" -- SG hopes to sell at least 175 boxes and Sylvie hopes to sell 250 boxes . . . eeek!  Want to help??  Just let me know - Go, Girl Scout Cookies!  :)  (Latch hook work can be seen in the background . . . no, we haven't finished yet!)