Dear Friends and Family and especially my Identical Cousin Tracie! Guess What?! I'm going to be a "Brownie!" If you read my post HERE about when I got to meet the rest of the family, and when my sweet Auntie Peggy gave me this cute little Brownie uniform as a gift, then you will already know why I am wearing this outfit today.
But guess what else? My Mommie used to be a REAL Brownie Scout and a Girl Scout too, when she was a little girl like me! And today she found some special things that she has saved for many, many years (she won't say how many, but it's a LOT!) that prove she was a Brownie and a Girl Scout! If you look at my vest in the picture above, you will see a special pin with the emblem of a Brownie on it, with a little chain attached to another little pin with the number 5 on it. Mommie said that meant she was a Brownie for five years. She said I could pin it on my vest to make me an "official" Brownie!
Then she found this green sash that she had when she was a Girl Scout, and it has all those badges on it that she earned. She thinks there may be a few that are missing because one of my brothers wanted to use them one time to put on a jacket when he was playing like a soldier.
But then guess what else? Mommie found her original Brownie Scout Handbook!
This was given to her by her Mommy, my Grandma Dorothea, way way back when Mommie was a little girl!!
It tells all about what it means to be a Brownie.
The man who named the Brownies was Robert Baden-Powell. He is called the "founder of Scouting".
The book says that he "knew many stories about the brownies or 'little people of old England.' They would come into a house at night and help while the family was asleep. The Founder thought Brownies would be a good name for girls who like to be useful as well as to play."
Mommie said that Brownies learn many helpful and useful things to do both outdoors and inside and at home. They learn about nature, which I already love, and about cooking, which I also love, and about music and dancing, which of course you already know I love music!!
Brownies learn games to play together, and they can read books and put on plays for people to watch, and they can learn to plant things in a garden and learn about animals and how to take care of them. They also learn about health and safety and the right kinds of foods to eat.
Mommie said that when she was a Girl Scout they got to go camping a lot, and also learned how to swim and paddle a canoe! Mommie has a kayak that she paddles on Still Waters Pond, and when the weather is nice enough she says we will go out in the kayak together and paddle around the pond!
Won't that be lots of fun? And we can take pictures of everything we see so I can share them with you!
I can't wait to do that!!!
Mommie said that the Brownies have some special things they say and promise to do. The most important one is called "The Brownie Scout Promise"
It says:
"I promise to do my best to love God and my country, to help other people every day,
especially those at home."
Then there is a special "Brownie Scout Salute", a Greeting Sign, a Handshake, and the Girl Scout motto also applies to Brownies, and it is "Be Prepared".
Mommie says that perhaps some things in the Brownies and Girls Scouts have changed since she was a little girl, but that these are all still good things to learn and do, and they would be fun things for us to do for our little adventures. She said maybe you, Tracie, and your new beautiful friend Amybelle, might want to do some of these things too and we could kind of have our own little "Brownie Troop" here in our blogs. We could share what we do with everyone and maybe we will all learn some good things by doing this. Maybe there are some other friends out there who are reading this who might want to join us in this "adventure", or maybe you can share some special things that you are doing wherever you live that help other people every day.
I like the part that says that we should "love God and our country". Mommie says that it is very important for us to love God first of all, and then we should also love our country and do our part to keep it safe and happy for other people to live in.
And I already love learning about nature and God's beautiful creation all around us. We have been watching the bluebirds come and go from that bluebird house above every day now.
And we are watching the wild plum blossoms on the trees as they change into little baby plums...
And I love to pick "fairy flowers" and make pretty arrangements with them to enjoy in the house.
Mommie said when she was a Girl Scout she learned how to make beautiful flower arrangements and they entered them in the county fair and she won a ribbon on one of her arrangements, but she doesn't remember now what color of ribbon. Blue is for the best (or First Place), Red is for 2nd place, and then there are yellow and white ribbons for 3rd place and honorable mention, or something like that. Wouldn't it be fun to put something on display at the county fair and maybe win a ribbon?
Do you think my little teapot full of fairy flowers and those beautiful Carolina Jessamine might win a ribbon?
I want to be a good helper and learn how to do so many things to help my Mommie and Daddy at our house, and also to be a good friend and neighbor to everyone I meet. Mommie said if I learn to do those things, I will grow up to be a very kind and helpful person, and that will make everyone happy, including God and me!!
I wonder how many of you were ever Brownies or Girl Scouts? Did you have fun doing that? Maybe you can share some of your experiences with us. I am so excited to get to be a special Brownie here and make new friends. Hey, Mommie, may I sell some Girl Scout cookies? Well, Mommie said maybe not yet, but perhaps we will buy some from some Brownies or Girl Scouts if we see them out selling them. Oh! That would be great!!
I hope you have enjoyed this exciting new adventure with me!
Now it is time for little girls to get ready for bed. Mommie says we will post this tomorrow morning when everyone is awake and ready to read again!
So for now I will say Good Night!
God bless you all!
Love,
Lily Grace
Your little "Brownie"
xoxoxoxo
You make the cutest little Brownie, Miss Lily! And yes, your flower arrangement is simply lovely. Looking forward to hearing more about your future adventures, little one.
ReplyDeleteBlessings!
Oh Thank YOU, Miss Martha Jane! I think it is going to be a lot of fun being a Brownie. Already this morning I've been doing some special little things that Brownies do, and I will tell about them later in my next post. Thank you for liking my flowers. I wish I could send them to you! Do you have any "fairy flowers" growing in your yard yet? Maybe it is still too cold where you live, but Mommie said spring is coming and soon there will be lots fo pretty flowers growing everywhere! I can't wait to see them!! Bye bye for now, Love, Lily Grace xoxoxo
DeleteCongratulations, Lily Grace! I was a Brownie for a couple years when I was a little girl. I had that Brownie Hand Book and a little doll dressed up like a Brownie but they are long gone. I never was able to be a Girl Scout.
ReplyDeleteOh, Thank you, Miss Melanie! I am happy that you were a Brownie too, and you had a little doll dressed up like a Brownie like ME? Wow! I wish you had a picture of her. I would love to see her. I am sorry you never got to be a Girl Scout, but I don't know yet if I will ever be one either. That's for bigger girls, and I don't know when I will ever be a "bigger girl" than I am now. But I like being a Brownie, and I can imagine up all kinds of fun adventures that I will be having as a Brownie. I wish you could come and teach me how to play that pretty instrument that you play. What's it called? A dul-see-mer? Mommie says it is spelled Dulcimer. Oh, I would love to meet your nice kitty named Baxter too. Mommie says he is very special because he is blind, and you have to take good care of him and he takes good care of you. I know he is happy he found you for his "Mama". I hope you will come back and visit again soon. Have a nice day. Love, Lily Grace xoxoxo
DeleteYour little Brownie outfit is adorable! I was a Brownie when I was little but don't think I ever moved on to be a Girl Scout. I was too afraid I would have to go camping, and that scared a city girl like me lol.
ReplyDeleteOh, Thank you Miss Martha! I am so happy that I get to be a Brownie. I don't know if I will ever get to be a Girl Scout or not, because that is for bigger girls than me. But I am very happy being a Brownie Scout. I am sorry you never got to be a Girl Scout either. Mommie said it's sad you didn't get to go camping, because she said it was a LOT of fun sleeping in a tent and cooking food over a campfire. But she said she understands how it could be frightening to someone who was used to living in the city and not so much in the country. New experiences can be scary for any of us when it is something we aren't used to. I think I would like to go camping, but I want my mommie and daddy to go with me. There might be bears and coyotes in these woods! So, I might not ever go camping either, but I can still have lots of other fun adventures. Every day is a new adventure for me! Thank you for visiting me here today. I hope you have a happy day! Love, Lily Grace xoxoxo
Deleteyou look beautiful as a brownie. :) I was a bluebird and a campfire girl, your mommie can tell you similar to the girlscouts. Your beautiful. I never got to go camping, because of the 3 girl scouts killed near me in 1976 (maybe your mom remembers this awful tragedy) hope you have a blessed day
ReplyDeleteOh Miss Gina Gator, I am SO sad to hear about those three Girl Scouts who died back when you were a young girl. That had to be very scary for everyone. That is so sad. I guess that would make it difficult to go camping after something like that happened. We are thankful that God watches over us and keeps us safe so that we can go out and do nice things. But sometimes bad people do bad things and many people are hurt because of it. I pray for those girls' families, who I am sure were very very sad. I hope you have a blessed and happy rest of your week. Love, Lily Grace xoxoxo
Deletethank you!!!! They shut down all the extra camping activities for even the cub/boy scouts as well. Here it is going on 45 yrs later and the case is still unsolved. I hope you have a great week, sorry for the delay in replying been hectic here
DeleteWhat a treasure trove of Scouting memorabilia! Aren't you so fortunate (that) mommie kept that book and those badges? I remember being a Brownie, and later a Girl Scout, but I wouldn't have been able to remember that pledge. I just remember the good times, and hope YOU and your friends have many to come!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Miss Myra. Mommie said she couldn't remember the pledge either, so it was a good thing she found this book. Yes, Mommie remembers lots of happy times too, and we hope to have happy times together as we find new adventures every day! And you can have happy adventures too! Just tell us what you've been doing because we love to hear about it!! Say hi to your two sweet doggies for me. Did you say one is named Grace? And I forget what the other one's name is... Please pet them for me!! Love, Lily Grace xoxoxo
DeleteHi Lily Grace, I love your Brownie uniform, you look so so so cute in it! Mommie said she immmediately (BIG new word for me, ha ha) knew what that hat was on your head in the pictures from when you met all the new family people, that it was a Brownie hat!--because she wore one too and it's just like yours and GUESS WHAT? Mommie still has hers too, her clothes and the hat and yes, she has her pin too, she showed it to me and it's just like the one you are wearing, isn't that neat?! She told me stories about camping and how much fun it was, and cooking over big hot fires and cooking bacon early in the morning when it was still foggy and how good the bacon smelled and tasted. She said they sleeped (SLEPT!! hollers Tansy from the other room) in BAGS!! Now WHY in tarnation would our Mommies sleep in bags?? Mommie says they were "sleeping bags". Mommie remembers the "fly-up" ceremony where they walked across a beautiful bridge to become Girl Scouts when they got old enough. And she showed me her badges on the green sash and her pins. So Mommie and me (MOMMIE AND I!! hollers Tansy from the other room) really liked this post. And I liked seeing you meeting all the family from the birthday party too, it sure looked like fun and so many nice people! I can tell they sure liked you! And those deviled EGGS....that is one of our most favorite things TO EAT, YUM YUM!! Your Mommie makes them just like my Mommie makes them. Love, Tracie
ReplyDeletePS, Aunt Doris and Aunt Paula are Queens too! and I don't know why most people don't like SPAM....me and Mommie just love Spam, Mommie says she grew up eating Spam sandwiches. Fried spam, soft white Wonder bread, and a little mustard. Summertime lunch, almost every day. So I got to try it and yes I think it is delicious and I like it with scrambled eggs so please tell your Daddy for me ok. Love Tracie
ReplyDeleteHa Ha Tracie! I love your letter! Oh, Mommie forgot to tell me about sleeping in BAGS, but now she said that yes, she slept in sleeping bags many times, and also she had something called air mattresses that you had to blow up by mouth and it took forever and took all her breath away! But it made the hard ground feel a lot better! And yes, she loved cooking breakfast over a hot campfire too, and that is where she learned to make Hobo Stew that we made together a couple of weeks ago! Yes, Mommie also remembers the 'fly-up' ceremony to become a Girl Scout. She loved being a scout and she is happy that I get to be one now too. Maybe you and Amybelle can have your own Brownie troop there too! Mommie said that my Auntie Peggy ordered my uniform from that place called Amazon, not the river. Or maybe it was from the American Girl's clothes for their littler dolls like you and me. I don't know for sure, but she said she is sure Auntie Debbi and find them online if she wants to get them. Oh, Mommie and Daddy have been eating spam for breakfast with scrambled eggs and toast for the last couple of days, but today they are having blueberry bran muffins that we just made and they SMELL SO GOOD! Gotta go get one before they get cold! Love ya, Tracie and Amybelle and Auntie Debbi!! Thank you for visiting! And thank you, Tracie, for all those nice letters we got this morning on email, OH< and thank you Auntie Debbi for the beautiful card that Mommie got in the mail! It is SO pretty with the teacup and kittens. Mommie squealed with delight when she opened it! You really made her day, Auntie Debbi! We love you!! bye bye for now. Love, Lily Grace xoxoxoxo Oh, tell Tansi I send my love to her too.
DeleteLily Grace: Enjoy your time as a Brownie. Those are the precious times of growing up.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Miss Quietspirit. I am having a good time with this. It helps me to have more adventures, and I am learning so many new things! Love, Lily Grace xoxoxo
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