December Update!

A BIG THANK YOU for all those who braved the cold weather last Thursday during our Tiny Tim Caroling event last week.  Who knew spreading holiday cheer through fun singing could make such a difference?  We were able to collect a total of $185.85 to to contribute to the Tiny Tim Fund, which provides financial assistance to children in Fanwood and Scotch Plains who are in need of medical care and cannot afford it.

Troop Meeting - THIS THURSDAY, 12/13 at 3:15pm - 4:45pm

We'll be doing a special holiday craft this Thursday, so be sure to include a note for your daughters' teachers and aftercare personnel.  Pick up will be in the front of the school.  Be sure to drop us a note if anyone will need to return to aftercare.

And a big and special thanks to everyone's participation in our fall nut sale.  Through the sales, we were able to raise nearly $300!  Our top magazine seller was Mackenzie followed by Olivia.  Our top nut seller was Melania followed by Riley and Sarah.  And our top "thank you" nut and magazine donor was Sarah.  Our troop was the 4th highest seller in the council, so thanks again for your efforts and support!!!

TD Bank Trip

Post-Sandy Update!

Wow!  What a wild and crazy few weeks it's been.  I hope this post finds you all safe, healthy, and warm.  We have our next troop meeting this THURSDAY, 11/15 after school.  It will definitely be nice to see everyone's smiley faces to help bring back a sense of "normal" after our long "hurrication" and all the disruption we have all experienced.

Our fall nut sale orders are IN!  The council is asking for volunteers to help sort all the orders WEDNESDAY, 11/14 (TOMORROW) from 8:00am-12:00pm.  We will be meeting at the LaGrande Park Building in Fanwood.  If you can help even just a part of the time, I know it will be of great help.

We will be distributing our nut orders after our meeting this Thursday.  If you are not able to receive your orders at this time, please let us know so we can make other arrangements.  If you have not submitted the pink permission slip that accompanied your nut packet, please do so by this Thursday.  There is still a remaining balance on a few of the orders, so if you know you still need to submit payments, please also do so by Thursday.  If this applies to you, Maila will be contacting you individually in a separate e-mail.

And just a friendly reminder to include a note for your daughter's teacher and aftercare personnel and the brown sash!  On Thursday, please meet us at the front of the building from 4:45pm-5:00pm to pick up your daughter along with your nut orders.  If your daughter needs to return to aftercare, please also drop one of us a text or e-mail just so we know.

Fall Nut Sale Due Back THIS MONDAY!

Just a reminder that fall nut sale orders, payments and permissions slips (pink) are due back on Monday, October 22nd.  Maila will be outside of School One Monday morning at drop off if you'd like to hand it to her then.  Otherwise, please make arrangements to drop it off at her home before then!  Any checks should be made out to Troop 40982.

October News

Hello!

I hope everyone is healthy and well with the change of seasons. I really feel like the flu/cold season has made an early entrance this year. I'm just recovering from the flu and bronchitis, and it's barely October!

I just want to send few notes and reminders before the holiday weekend is over:

We will be welcoming a new Brownie to our troop, Bianca Valente, who will be joining us for our first troop meeting on...

Thursday, October 11th - Troop Meeting, 3:15pm-4:45pm
Please remember to include a note for your daughter's teacher and aftercare staff to inform them of our Brownie meeting and that she will be dismissed with Maila Acampora and Erica Kang. Please also drop us a note on Thursday via e-mail or text to let us know if your daughter will need to return to aftercare or if someone will be picking her up at the end of our meeting. We will dismiss the troop in the front of the school.

Fall Nut/Magazine Sale is in full swing! This is a great way to get an early start on those Christmas teacher gifts! Please have all orders, payments, and permission slip returned by Monday, October 22. This is a great way to help our troop raise money to help offset the start-up fees for each girl scout, which we use throughout the year for patches, pins, craft supplies and snacks.

On Thursday, October 25th, we will be having our trip to the Scotch Plains TD Bank. We will meet the girls in the School One lobby. The girls will need to bring the bank we crafted together in June with coins they may have saved up or any jar of coins to use in the penny arcade. We will be having a snack in the bank. Parents can pick up the girls in the bank at approximately 5:30pm. If there are any girls that need to return to aftercare, we will arrange to have them back at School One. If anyone is available to chaperone or provide transportation to and from this event, please let us know. If your daughter is attending this trip, please sign and return the permission slip by our next troop meeting on Thursday, October 11. (You will need to be signed into your e-mail account for the link to work properly. You should also be receiving a separate e-mail with a link to view and print the permission slip. Let me know if you have any trouble!)

Officially Brownies!

Thanks so much to everyone who attended and helped to make the Bridging Ceremony such a success.    It was so nice to see the you all there.  It's hard to believe how much the girls have grown.  The Brownie sashes somehow magically make them them look so much older and more mature!

Photo Credit:  Gina Berry

Bridging Ceremony

Hello!

Just a few notes to help prepare for the bridging ceremony THIS SATURDAY at 10:30am at the SP LDS church, located at 1781 Raritan Road, Scotch Plains.  I plan to have balloons near the entrance to indicate where we will be gathering.

- Please have your girl bring her Daisy Tunic with all patches affixed.
- We have prepared the Brownie sashes to give the girls during the ceremony.
- I will be sending out the words via e-mail to a song that Maila composed to the tune of "I Love Candy."  So be on the lookout for that by the end of the day.  We rehearsed it back in June, but I'm sure a review of the words and tune will help.
- And lastly, it would be wonderful if any of you could help out by bringing the following to the event:

• Box of Joe (Coffee) for the adults
• Donuts and/or munchkins or some kind of treat
• Fruit platter or fruit salad
• Paper plates, cups, utensils, napkins
• Bagels and cream cheese/butter
• Muffins
• Juice for the kids

Whatever you decide to bring, it doesn't have to be much.  There are ten girls in our troop to consider and whichever adults will be accompanying.  Please post what you plan to bring by commenting below (or send me an e-mail if you are unsuccessful).  

Thanks again!  Looking forward to bridging with everyone!

We all scream for ice cream!

Just a reminder of the ice cream social I'll be hosting this Thursday evening from 6:30-7:30pm.  Feel free to drop in and get your ice cream during this time.  Please let me (Erica) know via e-mail or comment below know if you are planning to come so I have enough ice cream and toppings for everyone!  My address is:

175 William Street, SP
Behind Grille Stone restaurant on Rt. 22 West, after Bowcraft and BP station.  If you miss William street, you can make the right on Harding and loop behind to William Street.  It will be the second to last house on the right (white house with red door).

This will be a great chance to catch up and collect the latest patches to complete your Daisy tunic before our bridging ceremony/parent meeting on Saturday, Sept. 22.

See you Thursday!

School Starts This Week!

I don't know about you, but I can hardly believe that school will be starting in just three days!  I hope everyone enjoys their Labor Day weekend as we close out the summer.

I thought I'd send out a few reminders and events to add to your calendar before the onslaught of back-to-school forms and flyers begins:

- This Tuesday, September 4th is the Party in the Park at La Grande Park from 3pm-5pm.  For those who are planning to attend, you should have already purchased your wristband.  They will NOT be sold at the event!

- I'll be hosting an Ice Cream Social on Thursday, September 13th from 6:30-7:30pm at my home.  This will be a relaxing hour to reunite our troop and share about all that we did during the summer and what we'd like to accomplish for the 2012-2013 school year.

- Bridging Ceremony / Parent Meeting is planned for Saturday, September 22nd at 10:30-11:30am.  Please have your girls bring their Daisy tunics to this event.  We will be using the money raised from our cookie sales to purchase the Brownie sashes for all the girls, so there is NO NEED to purchase it yourself prior to the ceremony.

- Troop meetings will take place once a month on THURSDAYS (pending School One's approval for room availability) after school.  I know this is different from the Wednesdays we used to meet.  I hope this isn't a huge inconvenience for any of the girls and doesn't conflict with any other commitments.  Our first troop meeting is planned for Thursday, October 11th at 3:20-5:00pm.

- In addition to our monthly troop meetings, we will be participating in various events/trips/activities throughout the year.  Our first activity will be visiting the Scotch Plains TD Bank on Thursday, October 25th after school.  We will need some chaperones and drivers for this event, so if you can help out please let us know!

**For those who are interested, a copy of our financial report for the previous year will be available at the Bridging Ceremony / Parent Meeting.

If you would like to be removed from these updates, please e-mail me and I will remove your address from the distribution list.

Summer's Almost Over!

It's so hard to believe that the first day of school is just over two weeks away!  I hope you all get to soak up every last bit of summer vacation.  And while you're doing that, I just want to update everyone on some exciting events and dates coming up for our first year as a BROWNIES!

If you girl is going to continue on as a Brownie, please let us know by renewing your membership ASAP!  You can also find the link is in the upper right hand corner of this blog.  You'll need to click under Current and Past Members to create a login name for your daughter.  It helps to use the first email you provided when you first registered your daughter as a new member; that will help find your daughter's name that is already stored in the system.  If you're not sure what e-mail that is, let me know and I can look it up for you.

This is also a great chance for parents to register or renew their membership as adult members if you plan to volunteer with any troop activities.  This registration is mandatory if you want to chaperone any troop events and meetings.  YOUR INVOLVEMENT IS GREATLY WELCOMED!  Specifically, we are looking to add TWO Assistant Troop Leaders.  Maila and Erica are not disappearing, but the more help we have, the better experience we can make for our girls.  If being a leader is not up your alley, there are tons more ways to get involved.  We are going to need a Cookie Mom, a Finance Manager, Drivers and Chaperones, so please consider some ways you would like to be involved this year!  If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact Maila or Erica.

PARTY IN THE PARK
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
La Grande Park
3:00PM - 5:00PM

This is going to be a fun party to kick off the GS year for all of the SP-F members.  It's not a troop event, but all registered girl scouts are invited to attend.  It's also a great chance for us all to participate in a mass bridging to the Brownie level.  If you plan to be there, you can purchase your wristband for $2 by contacting Angie Voorhees.  They will only be available through her until August 28th!  The cost of the wristband includes a patch.  Everyone attending is asked to bring a non-perishable food item to donate to a local food pantry.  Let us know if you can come with a comment below so we can look out for you.  I can also pick up and drop off a few girls to the event if that helps!

Bridging to Brownie Ceremony POSTPONED!

Upon some further consideration, the Bridging to Brownie ceremony that we originally planned to have this Saturday, 6/23 has been postponed to the fall. We know this may come as a disappointment to some of your girls, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. But we actually think holding off the ceremony until the fall will be best for a couple of reasons:

1 - We'd like to bridge the girls who are definitely going to continue as Brownies in the fall. There are a number of materials such as the sash that will be required for this new chapter in our troop, and we want to be sensitive to those who may not want to spend the money on materials they may not need.

2 - It's looking like a fair number of the girls won't be able to make the ceremony due to soccer matches, travel, and other commitments, and it's really more worthwhile to have all the girls be there for this transitional ceremony. Postponing the event to the fall will be a better way to reunite and regroup for the upcoming school year. We've set a tentative date for the morning of Saturday, September 15, 2012.

If your girl is certain she wants to continue as a Brownie, don't hesitate to register and renew your daughter's membership for the 2012-2013 year. (Information about this is on the previous post.) This will help us plan our meeting dates, reserve rooms and dates at the school, and schedule other fun events for the year. Remember that GSHNJ has made it a lot easier to renew and register our troop members online, so be sure to take advantage of this great new portal.  See the links on the upper right hand corner of the blog.

Maila will be distributing the remainder of your Daisy's patches after school this Tuesday, so look out for little baggies with their new patches. Maila will also follow up with a progress report to help you complete your girl's tunic. Keep those tunics in a safe place this summer as we'll need them for the Bridging to Brownie ceremony in the fall. If you have any questions about the patches or have any other suggestions for the new year, be sure to let us know. We welcome your help and your input!

And lastly, we're not disappearing this summer! We'd love to schedule some informal get-togethers at the park, so stay in touch!!!

Important June Announcements and Updates!

Next troop meeting (final one for this school year) is this WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13 after school.  Remember to include a note and pack your girl's tunic!

Please have your girl bring in a small plastic jar with a lid (about the size of a peanut butter jar) along with a handful of assorted coins for a craft we will be doing.

Our Bridging to Brownie Ceremony will be next SATURDAY, JUNE 23 at 10:30am-11:30am.
Details TBA.

And lastly, you may have received information via snail mail and/or e-mail announcing the launch of the new GSHNJ online membership registration and management site (finally!).  It's crucial that you re-register and renew your adult membership and/or your girl scout's membership before the start of the new school year.   I know it seems premature, but it would help out your troop leaders tremendously to take care of this by the end of this June.  It will be one less expense and thing to do in September, and your troop leaders can spend the summer organizing to make our first year as a brownie troop the best one yet!

Thanks again for your help, involvement, and participation and taking the time from your busy schedules this past year.  We look forward to growing with your girls as brownies!

Spring Lambing Pix

Spring Lambing Event: TOMORROW!!!

Hope this update finds everyone well rested and staying cool after the long Memorial Day weekend.  Or if you're like me, maybe you're still recovering and trying to catch up!  I apologize for sending this reminder out a little later than I would have liked.

Our troop's visit to the Valley Shepherd Creamery for our Spring Lambing tour will take place TOMORROW after school.  I'm sure you all know by now that the girls will also be coming back from their field trip to Alstede Farms in Chester, so please pack them plenty of snacks and perhaps freeze some water bottles as tomorrow promises to be another scorcher!  Thanks in advance to those who will be chaperoning the trip with Maila and myself.  The plan is to have the girls back at School One by 6:00 PM.

It would be helpful if everyone could respond and confirm if your daughter will be coming tomorrow by commenting on this post or by e-mail!  Thanks!

Highlights from our K-9 event

We learned about respecting authority and police dogs last Thursday at the Fanwood Library.  Here are a couple pictures and some video from the event.

Next Meeting: This Wednesday, 5/16/12

We'll be meeting this Wednesday after school to learn about what it will be like to be a Brownie and prepare for our bridging ceremony in June, so this is one meeting your Daisy will not want to miss!  Please remember to pack a note for your child's teacher and/or after-care staff.

REMINDER:  Spring Lambing trip to the Valley Shepherd Creamery on Wednesday, May 30th after school.

UPDATE:  Our scheduled trip to TD BANK on June 13th due to a scheduling conflict of the bank.  We plan to make a trip there as a troop later this fall.

Vote for a good cause!

(Thanks for passing this along Vikki!)

The Girl Scouts of NJ / Camp Lou Henry Hoover (where our Daisy Day event took place) has been chosen by the BoatUS Foundation to be eligible to receive low cost life jackets to replace the ones they have now.  Please vote for Camp Hoover every day until May 15th so they can be this year's Teens Afloat recipients!

Reminders for May

Just sending out a reminder of our K-9 event this THURSDAY, May 10th at the Fanwood Public Library from 6pm-7pm.  This is chance for your Daisy to earn her "respect authority" petal.  There will be a visit from a local police officer with a real K-9 giving a talk to our troop as well as other area local troops.  Hope to see you all there!

We've decided NOT to participate in the MEMORIAL DAY PARADE due to the few number of girls able to make it.  Thanks to those of you who submitted the permission slips anyway.  Hope you enjoy the unofficial kickoff of summer with some good BBQ!

Daisy Day Fun!

There were so many fun memories made during our Daisy Day outing.  Here are just a few snapshots and a video clip from the day.  The icky-sticky, ooey-gooey glue on the bug jars... the epic hikes from station to station... learning to sew a running stitch... mastering the art of marshmallow roasting and s'more making... singing about becoming shark bait, turning into a paraplegic and swallowing worms... and I'm sure there were even more stories from the car rides there and back!  Most notably, there was me (Erica) trying to ask for directions from some horses, deer, vultures, cows, and wild turkey and Riley's talented ability to snack, share her snack and give herself a makeover in the car all at the same time.  What was your fun memory from the day?

Upcoming Dates to Remember

Hope everyone had a wonderful spring break and is enjoying the preview of this summer weather!

Below you'll find a list of the upcoming events we have planned through the end of the school year.  Please mark your calendars and let us know if there are days your Daisy will not be able to attend.

Wednesday, April 25th, 3:10pm-5:00pm
Next troop meeting

Saturday, May 5th, 10:00am-5:00pm
Daisy Day at Camp Hoover

Thursday, May 10th at 6:00pm-7:00pm
K-9 / Respect Authority Event at Fanwood Public Library

Wednesday, May 16th, 3:10pm-5:00pm
Troop Meeting - Preparing to bridge to Brownie

Monday, May 28th, (Times TBA)
SPF Memorial Day Parade

Wednesday, May 30th, 3:20pm-6:00pm
Spring Lambing at Valley Shepherd Creamery

Wednesday, June 13th, 3:10pm-5:00pm
Troop Meeting
Trip to TD BANK

Saturday, June 23rd at 10:30am-12:00pm
Bridge to Brownie Ceremony

Being a Sister to Every Girl Scout - This Wednesday!

This Wednesday, March 28th, we'll be having an additional meeting as we learn about being a sister to every girl scout.  This will be a chance for the girls to earn their violet petal.  We'll be hosting another Daisy troop and spend time doing crafts and making more SWAPS to exchange with them.  Please remember to include a note for your child's teacher and remind your daughter to pack her tunic Wednesday morning.  We will dismiss the girls at the front of the school at 5pm unless we hear from you that they need to be released into aftercare.

We had a lot of fun at Bingo Bash last Friday... the tension and adrenaline in the air was so thick with every call, you could cut it with a knife!  Thanks to the moms who came out to help.  (I hope your ears have stopped ringing from all the high-pitched screams.)  Here's a picture of our table!

Bingo Bash Reminder!

Hello!

Just a friendly reminder that tomorrow is Bingo Bash!  There are a total of ten girls attending this event.  If anyone needs rides, I can fit three to four more in my car.  Just let me know via e-mail, and I'd be happy to help.

Thanks!

COOKIES!

...as Cookie Monster would enthusiastically say.

They are sorted and ready for pickup!  Thanks to Luisa Bianco, our cookie mom, who has sorted through the 744 boxes!

Please plan to pick up your orders at Luisa's home, 407 STOUT AVE, at one of the following times:

Wednesday, March 21 - 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
OR
Thursday, March 22 - 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

***Please submit the money for the cookies NO LATER than April 12.  If you have collected all the money by our next meeting on Wednesday, March 28, you may also submit it at that time.

 We have some extra boxes that need to be sold, so be sure to let Luisa know if you'd like some extra to sell from the following:

3 Thin Mints
3 Tagalongs
2 Do-Si-Does
1 Samoa
1 Savannah Smiles (Lemon)
1 Trefoils

Respect Relay & Fruit Kabobs!

Ready, Set, Brush!

Fruit Kabobs - Our Healthy Snack

March Update!

Our next meeting will be Wednesday, March 14 from 3:20 pm to 5:00 pm.  The girls will be earning their "Respect Myself and Others" petal patch (purple).  We're going to try things a little differently at dismissal starting the next meeting:  We will dismiss all the girls in the front lobby of the school instead of the back of the school by the art and music rooms;  caregivers and parents can wait outside until we open the doors.  And don't forget to include a note for the teachers and aftercare staff stating that your daughter will be dismissed with their Daisy leaders for our monthly meeting.

Spots for Daisy Day are filling up quickly!  To guarantee spots for all our girls for this very fun and cool event on Saturday, May 5th, we will need permission slips and fees NO LATER than our next meeting on 3/14.  If you cannot locate the permission slip, we will be happy to e-mail you another copy.

Permission slips for the rescheduled Spring Lambing trips are also due by the next meeting.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS for additional upcoming events::

Friday, March 23:  Bingo Bash at St. Bartholemew from 4pm-6pm.  Ten of our girls will be participating. Thanks in advance to Gina and Vikki for volunteering to help chaperone our troop for this!

Wednesday, March 28:  We will be adding an additional meeting to earn our "Be a Sister to Every Girl Scout" petal.  At this time, we will host the School One's Kindergarten Daisies and have some fun together!

Thursday, April 12:  We will be adding an extra meeting this day from 6:00pm-7:30 (Location TBA).  This will be a chance for your Daisy to earn the petal "Respect Authority."  There will also be a fun patch to earn for this event for those who have already earned this petal.  There will also be a police K-9 present, so this one is not to be missed!

Saturday, April 28:  United for a Cause 5K / FSP YMCA Fun Run/Walk at 8:30 am - One of our troop moms, Vikki C., has graciously offered to oversee this event.  Permission slips and more information will follow shortly.

Whew!  I think that's all for now!  March is certainly roaring in like a lion!  Let us know if you have any other questions!

Happy Leap Day!

Just sending out a LAST CALL reminder to those of you who are still interested in having your girl participate in the BINGO BASH on March 23rd at St. Bart's.  I'm going to be outside of School One at dismissal tomorrow afternoon if you'd like to hand me the permission slip and $13 fee.  If your girl is in aftercare and wants to attend, please send the stuff with her to school and let me know via e-mail so I'll know to look for her; I will look for her in aftercare to collect the stuff.

In case you don't get to read this reminder before school tomorrow, feel free to drop by my home or Maila's home tomorrow evening.

Thanks!

Volunteers, Bingo, and More...

Our last meeting with GS Troop 40751 was so much fun.  Special thanks to Dawn Mattos and Nicole Virga for hosting our troop!  It was a great time getting to bond with the other girls and share SWAPs.  Pictures will be posted shortly!

Some of you might have received a flyer about another event we'd like to participate in.  BINGO BASH will take place on Friday, March 23rd  at St. Bart's from 4:00pm -6:00pm.  Space is very limited for this very popular and fun event, so we'll need to act fast to hold our spot.  It's $13 per Daisy, and from what I've heard it's lots of fun with great prizes for everyone.  Click on the link above to download the form and submit it to Maila or myself NO LATER THAN Wednesday, February 29th if you'd like your girl to participate.  Depending on how many girls attend, we'll also need some volunteers to accompany us; if you are available to help us that evening, please let us know!  (Adding a comment below is probably the easiest way to do that!)

Also, we'll need some chaperones and drivers to attend the Spring Lambing event on Wednesday, April 18th.  It's at the Long Valley Creamery in Long Valley, NJ.  We'll be leaving right after school and returning by 6:00pm.  Please let us know if you'd be available to attend this event as well.  We already have 12 girls signed up, so we'll definitely need some help!

And finally, thanks to all of you who participated in our cookie sales!  Our troop has collected orders for a grand total of 918 boxes!  That's a lot of cookies!  =D  Special props to Jenai B., who accounted for nearly a quarter of those sales!

And lastly, if you have any questions about this or anything else, don't hesitate to let us know!

Reminders

I hope everyone is enjoying their extra long weekend!  I just want to remind you that we will be meeting this Wednesday, 2/22/12, so don't forget to pack a note informing your child's teacher that she will be attending a Daisy/Girl Scout meeting after school.  Here are a few other things she'll need to bring to the meeting:

- Two "Marshmallow on a Stick" SWAPS
- Spring Lambing Permission Slips and Fee (if you haven't already submitted this yet)
- Girl Scout Cookie orders

Thanks for your help!  See everyone Wednesday!

SWAP update

Good morning everyone! The other Daisy troop recently informed us that they prefer us to exchange one type of SWAP with their troop. To comply with their request and in preparation for our next joint meeting on 2/22, we will need every Daisy to make the SWAP pictured below. We call this the "roasting marshmallow" SWAP. It's very simple to make; the only thing you will need for this SWAP is a glue gun.

Maila will be in front of the school today after dismissal distributing a very simple kit your girl will need to complete this SWAP. Let us know if you have any questions! Thanks in advance for your help and cooperation in this activity!

SWAPS

Here are some pictures of a few kinds of SWAPS that the girls made on Saturday.  You'll see that they are cute little trinkets that each girl can attach to their tunic and "swap" with another girl scout.  If you're not the creative type, I know that Michael's sells a kit that makes it easy to make these SWAPs.  Here's a link to a product on their site, but I know I've seen them available in the Watchung location.  If you have any others to share to inspire any of us who are creatively challenged, send them my way!

February Update!

Hello!

We are postponing our originally scheduled meeting from February 15 to NEXT WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22.  The joint meeting we originally planned to have last month with the other School One Daisy Troop is now set for that date; that is the reason for the change.

In preparation for this joint meeting, we are trying to gather ahead of time to make additional SWAPS (Special Watchamacallits Affectionately Pinned Somewhere).  If your girl was NOT able to attend the SWAP event last Saturday, she will need to make at least THREE (or more) SWAPs to trade with the girls in the other troop.  I will follow up with another blog post with some more detailed guidelines and suggestions to help your Daisy along in this.

How are your cookie sales going?  Please feel free to comment below with your progress or questions.  It would probably be an encouragement to us all to see everyone's progress so far!

Petal Patches

Here's n a photo of how the petal patches should look on your Daisy's tunic.  You should have received a progress report from Maila to help you along in knowing which patches should be affixed to the tunic.  Don't fret if your daughter is missing some!  There will be an opportunity for her to make those up before the summer!

Online Cookie Promise Website

The online cookie promise website is now available for our troop!  PRIOR to allowing the use of this site, Luisa will need an additional permission slip (click on the link) completed and signed from each girl's parents.  She will then forward an ID and password for each girl.  The permission slip for the cookie promise website is a separate one from the regular permission slip needed to sell the cookies, which most of you have already submitted so thank you!  Remember that the taking orders via the cookie promise website is completely optional.  


Once you receive the ID and password, you can take requests online via this link:
https://cookieclub.littlebrownie.com

Cookies!

I don't know about you, but the mere mention of Girl Scout Cookies makes me so giddy inside, and I know I'm not the only one! I hope your cookie selling is off to a good start. There are a few things I wanted to bring to your attention:

Online Order Taking

A few of you may have tried accessing this site to help you with your cookie sales with no success. We're in the process of trying to resolve this issue with the Cookie Club Support Team, so we'll be sure to let you know more information as we get it! I know I am very eager to implement this medium to help along with our cookie sales, so we appreciate your patience in this matter.

Just a reminder that if and when this tool becomes available to our troop, it's only a way for patrons to send email requests and obtain "promises" as far as what they will actually order. You can't actually place online orders, perform any transactions, or arrange any deliveries of the cookies themselves.

Permission Slips

There are still a few girls in the troop that haven't yet submitted their permission slips yet. If you need another copy of the permission slip, just click on the link above or download the Word version of the permission slip here. If it's convenient, you can send a scanned copy to our cookie mom, Luisa Bianco (luisabianco@comcast.net). Otherwise, you can drop it off at Maila's house or even pass it along at the "Me and My Guy" dance this Saturday 1/28.

PJ Party / Movie Night

Here are a few images from our PJ Party / Movie Night on Friday 1/20/12.  Thanks to Maila for hosting and for cooking dinner.  Thanks also to Barbara (Nancy's mom) for providing some chicken nuggets and Stefanie (Annie's mom) for the cupcakes!  We practiced a little democracy by voting on a movie and High School Musical won with six votes.  Elf was not far behind with five votes, and there was even one boycott.  We didn't get to finish the movie, but we ended the night by cuddling with Melania's pet bunnies; I'm sure many of your girls are asking for their own by now.

Enjoy the photos!

January Update

Happy New Year!

Now that the holidays are already behind us, I hope this e-mail finds everyone's new year off to a great start. I'm just writing a friendly reminder that we'll be meeting NEXT Wednesday, January 18, 2012 from 3:10pm-4:30pm.  If you haven't already marked your calendars, here are a few dates to note: 

FRIDAY, January 20, 2012 
Movie Night / Pajama Party at the Acampora Residence
170 Glenside Ave, Scotch Plains, NJ
3:30pm-6:30pm
*PLEASE e-mail us to let us know if your girls plan to attend this event. Also let us know if any of your girls need a ride after school as Maila or I will be able to take them.
**Please send the girls to school with their PJs if they are leaving straight from school

SATURDAY, January 28, 2012
Me and My Guy Dance St. Bartholomew School (off Westfield Ave)
*Unfortunately this event is now closed so no more participants are being accepted.
**However if you have not paid the $25 yet, please do so by our next meeting.

FEES for the "All About Swaps" event (Sat 2/4 - $20), but $12 for those who attended the Pumpkin Picking Trip) and "Spring Lambing" (Wed 4/18 - $12) are also needed by our next meeting on January 18th.

Daisy Day permission slips will be distributed at our next meeting, so keep an eye out for those after our next meeting.

We'll also begin selling Girl Scout Cookies after January 23rd. More details will follow. Thanks in advance to our Cookie Mom, Luisa Bianco!!

Here is the list of permission slips we have received. Be sure to let us know if you think anything below is inaccurate.
1. Melania - Dance, All About Swaps, Spring Lambing
2. Jenai - Dance, All About Swaps, Spring Lambing
3. Elisa - Dance, All About Swaps, Spring Lambing
4. Orencia - All about Swaps, Spring lambing
5. MacKenzie - Dance, Spring Lambing
6. Aly - Dance, All About Swaps, Spring Lambing
7. Paige - Dance, All About Swaps,
8. Annie - Dance, All About Swaps,
9. Nancy - Dance
10. Olivia - Dance, All About Swaps, Spring Lambing
11. Riley - Dance, Spring Lambing
12. Sarah- dance, all about swaps, spring lambing
13. Jessica - All About Swaps
14. Ivana - Dance Thanks again for your continued support! Looking forward to spending time with your girls next week!

 Maila & Erica