Why I don't support Girl Scouts

This is a very hard post for me to write as I have friends and relatives who are involved with Girl Scouts.  But after reading the latest headlines, I am compelled to say my piece.  I know many of you will disagree with me and I respect your ability to make your own judgement.  I am not trying to sway anyone, but make my case why my family chooses to not support Girl Scouts of America or it's international program Girl Guides.  If this post makes you angry, please reflect on it and make your own opinion but my family has made it's choice.

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"Marty" Evans, Executive Director of GS of USA between 1998 - 2002, has been quoted as saying, "We're not your mother's Girl Scout Troop."  If there is one thing I can agree on, it is her statement.  When I was in Girl Scouts it was all about flower arranging, planting trees, learning about famous women, arts and crafts and respect for women of all ages and vocations.  Apparently I was in scouts during the beginning of the turning of the tides and while it had not reached me, it had reached those who continued long after I left.  I went to high school with Juliet, not her real name, who continued in Girl Scouts reaching the top ranks.  She was not in my classes but in my grade.  Juliet always seemed in a rush and did her own thing.  In the booklet from my 15 year reunion where people submitted bios of their life since graduation, mind you I went to an all girls Catholic School, Juliet commented that she had no desire to be settled down with a man, said some pretty offensive words about children, and listed a short term goal was being one of the first to get their hands on the latest Dungeons and Dragons saga.  Why is this sad?  I do not think everyone is called to be a wife or mother, but her phrasing revealed a very unhappy person with little respect for life, a major belief in Christianity. 

Today's Girl Scouts has evolved, but not in a good way.  I do think there is more to life than flowers and crafts. Incorporating out doors and science activities is a good thing.  However, I have problems with their progressive and moral relativism agenda as it goes directly against my faith and moral beliefs.  I knew there was a problem back in CT when friends of ours started talking about starting an American Heritage Group instead of joining Girl Scouts.  I began to do my own research and was overwhelmed by the findings.  If Isabella were to join GS, she would first be taught that in some way, I wasted my life being a stay-at-home mother instead of making a name for myself.  Why is this bad?  It begins to promote the moral relativism idea that it is all about "me".  This goes in direct opposition to my faith that teaches me to love my neighbor as myself.  This is so deep that I just can not go into too much detail at this time, so I must move on.

One aspect of the "me" movement is not wanting to be burdened by others.  This means both marriage and babies.  But my faith and my conscience define marriage as between one man and one woman.  In 2000, GS had a busy year linking up with Gay and Lesbian Youth Support in Massachusetts to mentor the girls on ways to overcome barriers.  That same year, GS was invited to the White House for the viewing of it's film "That's a Family".  http://www.honestgirlscouts.com/discover_pp_history.htmlI use to have the exact funding amount from the LGBT for the film, but I can not find it.  It promotes the progressive view of types of families from single parents, through homosexual couples.  Sorry, but this is an attack on the family.  As for the abortion issue and the links to Planned Parenthood, they are numerous.  It use to be hush hush, but now it is very much known if not bragged about.  In many districts girls have to attend a sexual health class at PP in order to receive a health badge.  Many board members and Woman of the Year awards are given to directors of Planned Parenthood or they are asked to be guest speakers at conventions.http://www.lifenews.com/2011/10/28/girl-scouts-convention-features-pro-abortion-speakers/.

Then it comes to it's progressive agenda.  This has recently come in many forms from telling girls in their handbooks to question their faith and moral beliefs with what they are discovering about the world, to promoting progressive/marxist role models.  Just a few months ago, GS decided that transgender boys could join Girl Scouts.  http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/transgender-boy-attempt-join-girl-scouts-initially-rejected-boy-parts-article-1.968179  In the new "Journeys" Curriculum, in the Grade 4-5 book, "aMuse", GS states on their site, "Juniors gain an understanding of just how limitless their potential can be as they combine storytelling with the many roles--real and creative--that the world has to offer. Girls will have fun trying on roles and learning about people and the power of real-life action and leadership."  Well, how do they do this, I mean showing girls how to write short plays.  Well, by example, one of the role models listed on pg 50 - 51 is playwright Josephina Lopez who wrote Simply Maria, a slap in the face to Catholic Women.  The play infers the misguided belief that the church condones treating women as puppy mills.  http://www.girlscoutswhynot.com/GS%20Resources.html  Knowing that Theology is not what I post, I will state the Catholic Church with two Papal writings in the last 40 years specifically talks about the importance and dignity of women. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_15081988_mulieris-dignitatem_en.html.  Now we come to today's headlines focusing on the book MEdia, GS has this write up about their book, "Cadettes put the "me" in MEdia as this journey encourages them to explore the great big multi-media world around them and then remake media to better match the reality they know. Along the way, Cadettes become aware of the value of media, its limitations and effect and the power they have to lead and inspire others."  It later cites the following websites,

I copied this picture of sites from www.honestgirlscouts.com; this is their work, I just want to point you to their work.  It is a group of former and current GS leaders who are troubled by the changes that are happening to the GS program.

Well, I have a problem with most of those websites listed.  I would not consider them fair and balanced. 

Many people say, "Well that is not what my troop does?"  They might be right, but if you go to site I just listed, it will show you that the majority of every box of cookies and dues goes into the national organization and then filtered to the International group.  The National and International levels are the ones paying guest speakers to speak at the annual conventions, the pinnacle place for the girls to attend each year.  This year's list includes three prominent Planned Parenthood advocates, Annise Parker, Swanee Hunt, and Sylvia Garcia.  To round it out they also have a Taoist and a member from the UN Population Fund, http://speaknowgirlscouts.com/index.php?p=1_21_2011-GSUSA-Convention.

So what to do?  There are alternatives, American Heritage Girls is the new partner with the Boy Scouts of America.  The Boy Scouts dropped Girl Scouts a few years ago and decided to go with the more conservative group that mirrored their organization a bit better.  Check out this link to understand more about them; http://www.girlscoutswhynot.com/Comparison%20Chart.pdf, or their home page; http://www.ahgonline.org/

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Please find peace with your choice, it is your choice, just as our choice is ours.

Magic Kingdom and Downtown Disney

Early in the morning, we drove off to Our Lady Queen of the Universe Catholic church about 15 minutes from our resort.  It was the feast of the Immaculate Conception.  This was a perfect excuse to stop by Downtown Disney on the return.  Since it was just before 9 am, we got front row parking near the Fresh-A-Peel Building.  Why is that important, the wonderful Babycakes of NY has a Vegan Gluten Free Bakery in this building.  Can we say Donuts!!!  Isabella drooled over the case.  When the counter person asked what she could get her, Isabella squealed with excitement, "The biggest box you have!"  We filled it with all sorts of goodies for her and I.  OK, we shared with the boys, and they were GOOD donuts.  I just sat there in a coffee and donut bliss for about 20 minutes.  Then the kiddos drug us to the Lego store where they created Lego People before we went to Magic Kingdom.

We got a picture with the biggest goof of all with my favorite Wise Guys!  I said we got them swords in a previous post, so here they are in action at the Haunted Mansion.

Off to Buzz's Space Ranger Ride so I can kick all their bottoms in high scores!  Karl and Anton took the car in front of us so he could get a shot of us in action!  I see he is trying to distract me from whoping him again!

More beautiful lights!

More crazy antics from those three most dear to my heart!

And I love these wooden soldiers that were placed all over main street.

I forgot to mention we had a table meal at The Liberty Tavern.  The chef came out and talked over menu options he could alter.  He ended up making special mashed potatoes for Isabella and I and our own gravy which he hand delivered to our table.  We had ordered a cake from the Disney Cake line, unfortunately it was horrible.  But Disney staff took it off our bill.  We had also had a quick meal at the Cosmic place in Tomorrowland, during the Very Merry Christmas Party, the manager prepared our meal, Isabella was thrilled with GF chicken Nuggets and I had a simple chicken salad. 

Disney Hollywood, formerly MGM

We told the kiddos to sleep in since we were up late the night before.  We were all rested but it caused us to miss something I knew they would love to do!  I told them this might happen, and here they are intently watching!

Jedi Training Academy!  You have to be there in the first hour to sign up for one of the shows.  Here young Padawans get a chance to lean a few tricks and fight Darth Vader for a few minutes.  They so wanted to do it, but they were all filled up.

So we went to the build your own light saber station in the store,

 oh conveniently located,

 at the exit of the Star Wars ride!

Then it was off for a roller coaster, some ice cream, yes they had Dairy Free ice cream!, and then a trip on the back lots excursion.

At the end of this ride, they have a sort of Hall of Fame/Infamy.  I noticed that on the board of top 50 villains of all time, Jack Nicolson played three of the parts.  Well, it did create a photo op for the kiddos favorite villain with their newly acquired weapons!

Outside, we where surrounded with a set remake of New York some 50 years ago.  The stuff behind Karl is all Trompe l'oeil, that is French for fooling the eye.  It is a painting!

I couldn't resist taking this picture to show that right in the middle of secular Disney, they had a Nativity and a later on the same street a Menorah.  Karl said it is because it was representative of 50 years ago.

Then another table meal at the Sci-Fi Drive in Theater.  The chef again came out and talked us through the menu and made suggestions.  For ease, we sat the two allergy people together.  Sorry to my friend's restaurant, but I think it was one of the best burgers I ate.  Karl got his beloved Ruben, while Isabella went all out with steak.  It was fun and the kiddos got to see some B movies, previews and old sci-fi cartoons.  Our server was fabulous!

We ended up walking out just in time to see the Osborne Light Display light up.

Hundreds of thousands of lights blinking to music in the NY section.  It was really cool and the fake snow, dense bubbles the same as in Magic were being blown out also.

It was very impressive.  Then we headed across the park for a last go on the Rockin' Roller coaster before sneaking out before the crowds.

Very Merry Christmas Party

We bought the tickets for the Very Merry Christmas Party, one of the reasons why I wanted to go at this time of year.  It was all decorated for Christmas but not so close to Christmas as to be crowded.

It was beautiful!

All over the park Disney had Cookie and Cocoa stations.  They had Gluten Free Cookies for Isabella, dairy in them so none for me, but also some really good apple slices or grapes for those trying to avoid the sweets.  Since it was a special party, it ride line waits were basically how long it took you to run from the entrance till you got on the ride.  This was fun in getting on the ride, but we noticed all the additive Disney put for people to do while waiting to ride.  For example, at Space Mountain, while waiting you and three others can play Asteroids at varying spots through the turn stiles.  At the Pooh, there are these huge touch screens with falling honey so one could draw in honey as they wait.  This was more so in Magic than any other place.

Who can resist dressing up as a pirate when the ride drops you off right at their store.  Also to note, since Disney has had great success with their Bibbity Bobbity Boo Boutique to transform little girls into fully decked out princesses, they decided to have something for the boys.  Enter in the Pirate School where they will transform your little men into ferociously adorable pirates.  Neither of my kiddos par took of this as they are at an age where this is not top on their list.  Plus, I saw the price of the dresses in the Boutique (sorry the seamstress in me was too curious), $70 for the base scratchy dress, then add in the crowns, shoes, etc.  I made Isabella's Aurora dress 5 years ago for about $30 and it was all satin and no scratchy netting near the body.  I digress, we did end up buying some swords later in our trip because, well, we have want a be sword fighters.

Then it was to the stocks with 'em!

We left the park around midnight but ended up riding nearly all the rides we wanted to before our dedicated day at Magic Kingdom.

Animal Kingdom

With no one waiting, we got an updated shot of a beloved friend!

Then it was off to the long awaited Everest!  Isabella had been looking forward to this since last time we were here, she was too short to ride.

If you look closely at the second and third from the back of the train you will see Karl, and two heads that resemble our kiddos as they go down the final drop.  Since my bad time of motion sickness from the day before, I sat this one out.

Anton wanted to practice his photography skills with Everest in the background.

For some reason our kiddos were obsessed with getting photos of the white ibis we saw all over Disney.  I think I have at least 20 pictures of this bird.

Having rode once and not liking the idea of walking around in wet jeans, Karl decided to sit out a turn on the rapids.  The kiddos really wanted to go again, so I did.  My capri pants dried quickly and I kept my feet up, because I hate wet feet.  I also said no more after 2 in the afternoon as the temp would surely be dropping and I wanted our clothes to dry.

Here the two are contemplating how to best spend the remaining hours in Animal Kingdom before we return to the hotel to prep for the Very Merry Christmas Party.

We ate a quick meal at the Flame Tree BBQ.  I remembered the aroma from this place from last time we were here (5 years ago!).  We told the register person we had food allergies and they called for a special staff member who was assigned to prep all food allergy meals.  He was very nice and showed us all the ingredients for what we wanted to try.  Then told us to not accept any food from anyone other than him.  Isabella and Anton had ribs, Karl the chicken, and I had a pulled pork sandwich on a GF/DF bun.  We all enjoyed the fries, cooked in a dedicated fryer for only fries that were free of the five major food allergies.  Karl said mine was the best.  I got to pick which sauce I wanted with two varying temperatures with the spices.  Isabella got to have a chocolate brownie, gluten Free.  Disney had sent me info before our trip on where to find all the Dairy Free and Gluten Free food all over each of their parks.  Unfortunately for me, they changed their brownies the week we were there to the gluten free ones and not the dairy free and gluten free ones I was hoping to get.  But Disney is really bending over backwards to try to calm people with Food allergies so they will come to the parks.

And the answer is...

It involved some rail time.

I little wandering through some countries. 

 Here the kiddos are chasing our clues with the Kim Possible transmitter

(aka, programmed cell phone) to find things in each country. 

 At this picture it is Germany.

Getting a bite to eat at an outdoor English Pub. 

We got to meet the chef to take care of any of our dietary issues. 

The kiddos enjoyed Fish-n-chips,

Karl had some hard cider with his meal

and I had the best pork I ever ate with a glass of wine.

Throw in a little face paint for the starring princess of our group!

She got hers at a station between Germany and China, I think. 

I know it was next to Germany!

Take a stroll through Italy and France!

And grab a picture with the Mouse himself!

OK, if you didn't get that we went to Disney, it has been a long time for you! 

Our first day was in Epcot!  This was not necessarily a flattering picture of us, but it was after Mission to Mars (Actually 1/2 the signs have it renamed Mission Space and the other say Mission to Mars!) where I literally had to force my cookies to stay down and it was near the end of our day there.  At this time, the little kids have begun their trek back to hotels so the line was not so long.  Plus, it just would not be Disney with at least one picture with a character!

Guess Where We Went?

The week following Thanksgiving, we took a little trip that occupied a large portion of my time, which resulted in less blogging.

Clue One: It has immaculate grounds and landscaping year round.

Clue 2: Very cute saluting soldiers!



Clue 3: Yes that is a wild turkey crossing the road.  Anton had to get a picture of it.

Clue 4: It was not a cold place as the water was not frozen!

Clue 5: Our military friends with young children have probably seen this place

but not necessarily at Christmas time!

Stay tuned for the answer when I blog again!

Thanksgiving 2011 - Highlights

As you know each year Thanksgiving tends to create some concern as I try to become more accustomed to our gluten free and dairy free lifestyle.  I search out recipes and try to make it a wonderful time for all of us.  This year we decided to have our main meal at home and join friends for dessert which would ease my dietary nerves.  Unfortunately our farmer was not doing turkeys this year, so I had to go with someone else.  It was still a local bird, but not a heritage breed.  I noticed the change in the bird shape that I never noticed before.  The bird had smaller drumsticks and wings.  I was unable to manipulate these into the formation I prefer to hold the breast side up higher (the wings) and pull the drumsticks together to hold extra stuffing.  It did have a lot of breast meat, but it just was not the same.

Once the stuffing and bird were in the oven, with breakfast and morning chores all completed, Karl and the kiddos decided to get some old wood chopped up and burned.  Since we did a huge garage cleaning recently, Karl had some scrap wood he wanted to get rid of, so the kiddos helped him out.

Several hours later, having basted and turned the turkey every 30 minutes, it was done.  Karl assumed his usual job of carver.

While the kiddos took great care to set the table very nicely!

The apparent effects of the meal were spotted in Isabella.

But then we needed to head out to visit with friends.  I made a peanut butter cake with chocolate frosting.  I decided to try a trick bakers use to make tortes to make the cake lighter as most gluten free cakes tend to be dense.  I whipped the egg white and folded them into the rest of the batter before baking.  The results were amazing. 

My only change to the recipe is to use dark cocoa next time in the icing instead of regular cocoa to really emphasize the chocolate flavor.  It was so wonderful!  I had to give a lot of it away to keep from eating too much of the cake.

Thanksgiving 2011 - Braised Brussel Sprouts

OK, so I have a unique daughter.  She loves broccoli and brussel sprouts.  So when I decided to make these for her for Thanksgiving, she was over joyed.  I highly recommend getting everything cut up, especially the sprouts early, or do not try to cook everything at the same time by yourself.  I ended up having to stop the cooking on the sprouts for a bit while I cut up the sprouts.

Here we go!

First, to be cut up and in the pot is the 1/4 lb of pancetta cut into 1/4 inch pieces(I used thick cut bacon, and just guessed while probably going over), and 1 tablespoon of olive oil.  You need to cook the bacon and render as much of the fat as possible.  This takes about 5 minutes, which gives you time to chop up about 1/2 cut of carrots (again I guessed and probably went over) and 2-3 shallots.  Once all cut up, add to the pot along with a pinch of red pepper.  WARNING: the house will begin to smell incredible!!!

Here is where I ran into trouble!  I needed to trim and cut into fourths 2 lbs of brussel sprouts!  OH, use the frozen ones as sprouts become sweeter when then have been frozen!  Once all these are trimmed up if you did not pre-trim them before, add to the pot and lightly brown them.

Now add about 2 cups of chicken stock and about 1/2 teaspoon of thyme.  Let the pot come to a high simmer with the lid slightly off the pot to allow some of the liquid to boil off.  You want the sprouts to get tender but not mushy.  While that is simmering, chop up about 1/4 cup of sun dried tomatoes and add to the pot.

Let everything get mixed up and then put into serving bowls.

It was a hit!  I even found myself eating the left overs the next day as a meal instead of a salad.  Oh, the glasses have cranberry juice in them as we were going to friend's house for dessert later.