SparkDad

Oh my goodness! Today was absolutely crazy. As most of you may know I am the Committee Chair for a local Cub Scout Pack. Our Pack has grown quite a bit this year. We have added somewhere between 25-30 Scouts since May. There is a huge difference between 60 and 30 kids.

 

We had our first official Pack meeting tonight and I would guess that we had about 35 kids and their families there. It makes for quite a bit of chaos. It is very hard to get people and Scouts quiet. But the meeting was a success!

 

Pork Chop, now in 1st grade, received his Bobcat badge which is the first rank in Cub Scouts. He got his face painted in yellow, red, white and blue paint and seemed to have a great time.

 

We sent these kids through the Bobcat Trails, which I dreamed up with Skeeter’s help. The kids had to go to 4 “value” stations such as trustworthy, clean, kind and brave. They did small things such as walk through a dark area with trees or help another Scout up that fell down. The young men seemed to have a great time and took it seriously. I hope that he remembers the ceremony and the things he learned.

 

On other news Chevy Truck month is about to start. I am very excited that I will be participating in the advertising campaign with Chevy by driving a truck for the month. I will be going on “missions” and talking about the truck a lot that month. Hopefully there will be some interesting things to talk about. 

 

The arrival of truck month is just in time. Cool weather is hitting and we have our first Cub Scout camp out this weekend. So I will get to use the truck to load up camping gear!

 

- Spark Dad

Yesterday Pork Chop decided that he wanted to ride his bike without training wheels. So I went to the garage and got the tools out.

 

I did a couple of things.

 

1. Removed the training wheels

2. Tightened up the handle bars

3. Adjusted the seat to the proper height

4. Tightened up the brake lines

 

After 30 minutes of tools work and adjustment I felt that the bike was worthy of an attempt to ride without training wheels.

 

We set out on the street and showed Pork Chop how to get on to the bike, how to balance himself and how to put his leg down to support himself.

 

Then we were off! Of course for 10-15 minutes it was shaky business. He was scared. Wobbly and nervous do not mix well.

 

Finally after that he took off! Mama and I were running along side him while he rode for support and to help him stop.

 

He did it! How exciting. I am so proud of him! Within two weeks he should be riding on his own!

 

- Spark Dad

Yesterday Pork Chop and I made a Valentines box for his classroom. We took a shoe box, wrapped it in brown paper and colored on it. Well when Mama came home and saw it she said, “You are not as good as the best Stay At Home Mom!!!!!, I can’t believe…” Well you can imagine the rest. So Pork Chop and I will be redoing the box this afternoon. We will be making a cool alligator that opens up and has teeth! Much better. While looking for ideas I saw this awesome idea.

 

 

Here is the link to the site where I found it.

 

http://www.dana-made-it.com/2008/07/tutorial-heartbreaker-valentines.html

 

I will send a picture of the Valentine Eating Alligator once we are done this afternoon!

 

Great idea!

 

- Spark Dad

 

For those of us who were in Cub Scouts in our youth the Pinewood Derby brings to fond  memories of fun and speed. If you are not familiar with the derby, I will explain. Every year Cub Scout Packs around the country pass out pine wood kits. The kit consists of 1 wood block, 4 plastic wheels and 4 nail axels. The Cub Scout and his parent must then transform said block into a car that weighs five ounces or less. All of the scouts in the Pack will then race their cars down a 36 – 42 foot race track on the day of the derby.

 

The hard part is making the car. Making the car fast, stylish and fun! Skeeter has been a scout for three years now. The first year we made a spectacular car. We worked on it for a month. It was very shapely and looked good. It did not win the race, but Skeeter and I were both proud.

 

Then year two we procrastinated. I made a kit car and it showed. We won nothing!

 

This year we spent a week working on the car and it was a nice blend. It did not win the race but did come in 9th overall. So it was a good car.

 

This year we also made a car for Pork Chop. It looked a lot like a Chevrolet Camaro. Mama  designed it from a model of a Trans Am that is on our book shelf. The car was 10th over all in speed but won 5th place in the finals because it was the fastest of the siblings.

 

Skeeter was mad. Pork Chop was happy.

 

All in all our Pinewood Derby was a success, kids had fun and Skeeter and Porkchop had fun!

 

The derby is a great experience of competition and sportsmanship and is a wonderful tradition.

 

For more information about the pinewood derby see the following links below:

 

Pinewood Derby Speed Secrets: Design and Build the Ultimate Car

 

How to Book: Formula for Building & Racing PineCars

 

Maximum Velocity

 

Wikipedia Page on the Pinewood Derby

 

- Spark Dad

 

Piñata’s are a fun craft to undertake and can save you a tremendous amount of money! 

We started a couple of years ago making piñata’s for our kids birthday parties and now have a bit of reputation with our group of friends for making great piñatas.

 

In this post I will discuss how to make a skull piñata which would be perfect for a pirate birthday party or a Halloween party.

 

 

What you will need:

• Large Paint Brush or Foam Brush
• Masking Tape
• Punch Balloon
• Newspaper (Cut into 1” strips)
• 1-2 cups flour
• 5-10 cups water
• Medium Pain
• Scissors
• Black Paper
• Large Cardboard box
• 10 yards of yarn (any color)
• White crepe paper
• Plastic Container with lid ( large enough to hold 6 cups of water )
• White printer paper (cut into 1” strips)

 

Steps:

1. Blow up large balloon to skull size desired. Set aside.

2. Place 4 cups of water to boil at medium heat

3. Once water is at a rolling boil pour cold flour into boiling water, boil about 1 minute stirring constantly and then remove from heat. Let cool about 5 minutes.

4. Begin brushing a thin layer of paste about 3” wide and about 10” long

5. Apply newspaper strips over the layer of paste. The newspaper should stick to the layer. Brush on another thin layer on top of the newspaper.

6. Continue until the entire balloon is covered with newspaper. Let dry for at least 6 hours.

7. While balloon is drying cut a jawbone shape from the cardboard. Make sure the jawbone is long enough to wrap around the bottom of the balloon to form a skull jaw and nose piece.

8. Once balloon is dry. Take yarn and wrap around the balloon creating a reinforced layer of yard. The yarn should create a loop at the top of the balloon “skull” for tying the rope to the piñata.

9. Repeat step 5 and 6 until entire balloon skull is covered in a second layer. Let dry at least 6 hours.

10. Once the balloon is dry, use the masking tape to attach the jawbone to the bottom of the skull.

11. Repeat step 5 and 6, covering the entire piñata including the jawbone in another layer of paste and white printer paper. This helps cover the newspaper print for the next layer. Dry at least 6 hours.

12. Using white crepe paper cover the entire piñata in overlapping layers of paper to create the fancy outer layer.

13. Cut out eyes, nose and mouth from the black paper and use left over past to attach to the piñata.

14. Use left over paste and crepe paper to wrap around a broom stick for the party goers to beat the skull senseless!

15. Cut a small hole in the top back of the skull to put candy in. The balloon will pop but the skull should maintain it’s shape.

 

Tips:

 

Be sure to allow plenty of time for drying between steps. Humid climates require more time. If you do not allow proper dry times then the piñata will be weak and break very easy.

 

You can also read this article at eHow.com using the following link.

 

http://www.ehow.com/how_5830808_make-skull-pi_ata.html

 

- Spark Dad