Mataguay Scout Ranch

Well, three of the VanBuskirk men got to go to Boy Scout Camp last week for a week fun, hard work, and a lot of dirt!  Troop 104 had a great time time the wilderness together.

They got to sleep on cots in Army tents.  Ahh, the good life!

Dennis, and the other dads and scout leaders, Doug, Ron, Ty,and Polo, worked so hard, as You can see from these pictures.  I heard they managed to run off to the local casino... to get some apple cobbler. (Isn't that why most people go to casinos?)

One activity my guys really enjoyed was fishing.  They caught some pretty big ones.  They were catch and release, so nobody knows just how tasty they might have been.  But Dennis cam home all excited about his new-found hobby.  He has fished a few time before, but never actually caught anything.  Now he is a pro, and the guys will be doing a lot more of this I think.  Fine with me, as long as I get to eat the fish, and not clean it.

Mataguay Scout Ranch offered a lot of great merit badge classes that let the kids not only learn a lot, but also have some fun experiences.  Alex had a great time getting his canoeing merit badge where they had to practice rescuing an overturned boat, among other things.  

Alex also got to do a special overnighter where they did stargazing and had s'mores.  He really loved it!

Alex came home with 5 merit badges - Canoeing,  Indian Lore, Outdoor Cooking, Geology, and Weather.  That is awesome to get so many badges in one trip!

Nate got to do something very cool for his Aviation merit badge - he got to fly in a glider!  it was very exciting!  He spent 25 minutes up high in the air, and even got to experience zero gravity, just like the astronauts!  He said that zero gravity was so cool because the dirt on the floor of the cabin was just floating in the air in front of them.  Lucky kids!

Nathan also had an overnight adventure that didn't involve s'mores.  It was called wilderness survival.  They had to go out in the wilderness, build a shelter, and spend the night with nothing but what they carried in their survival kits.

Beside his merit badges in Fishing, Aviation, and Wilderness Survival , Nate also earned badges in Nature and Environmental Science.

There were a lot of other activities as well, like swimming, hiking, shooting, and just hanging out.  

Alex LOVES to hike, and he hiked all over the place.  It is tough keeping up with that kid on the trail.  He certainly wore in his new hiking boots.

Nate discovered he is quite the marksman, doing very well in both rifle shooting and archery.  Dennis was really impressed with Nate's accuracy.

The guys all had a great time.  What a great experience it was for them.  We love scouting.

Next year the twins will join them - that means five at camp, and only the two youngest and mom at home.  That will be strange.

Oh, and by the way, by boys have started their own blog, and Alex had documented this camp adventure himself.  Check out their blog, The BoyZone, at www.vbboyzone.blogspot.com, to get their perspective of life with 5 brothers.

A Scout Is..

On Wednesday the Boy Scouts had a Court of Honor.  Unfortunately, I couldn't attend, since I was having a Laurel activity that night at my home.  It is my new calling.  What's a mom to do?  I felt so bad that I had to miss it, so I sent the camera with orders to Dennis that he take pictures of everything.  Well, I should have had him make a scout promise, "on my honor..." with hand over his heart, because when the camera was returned to me, the above picture was the only one in it.  It is a nice picture, though.  Unfortunately, Alex wasn't the only of my boys to get any awards that night.  Poor Nathan also got some awards, but alas, no pictures of him.  Sorry Nate.

It was a big night.  Nathan got his Tenderfoot award, as well as merit badges in Swimming and Woodcarving that he earned this summer at camp.  Alex received merit badges in Space Exploration, First Aid, Wood Carving, and Wilderness Survival.  He's been busy.  He also got his Star Scout.  Dennis just realized that Alex has done everything to qualify for Life Scout, except that he has to wait 6 months.  He is still only 12.  We are so proud of both of our scouts, and so grateful to their Dad for all the help and support he gives them.  Scouts help make great men (like Dad) out of good boys (like Alex and Nate).  Now if I could just get them to capture this stuff on film.  Wonder if they have a photography merit badge?

Who We Are

When people ask about our children we can say that we have three of each, three blonds and three brunettes, that is. But in the gender department we have chosen to specialize in boys ( and we make them pretty good too.) Yes, we do boys, that's what we do. All boys, all the time. Alex, Nathan, Derek, Dylan, Caleb, and Luke. It has a nice rhythm to it, don't you think. (You should hear how it sounds being yelled!)

In her book "The Parenting Breakthrough", Merilee Boyak suggested families specialize in about three activities, and that becomes part of the family's identity. Well we are the taekwondo, scouting, piano family.

Several years ago we did all the sports in season - everybody does - soccer, basketball, baseball, etc. But we got to the point when we had kids on 4 different teams, with Dad coaching two of them. We were at the park every weeknight, and all day on Saturday, waiting for one child at a time to practice or play. We never ate dinner together anymore or got to spend time together on weekends. And the older our kids got, the longer the seasons lasted, and started flowing into one another. It was chaos, and it wasn't working for our family. We began to realize how crazy it was to split up and play on different teams when we have our own team right here. We needed something to bring our family together instead of pulling us apart. So I am a soccer mom no longer - now I am taekwondo mom. How cool is that! We discovered martial arts, and it has been such a great blessing for our family and our family-ness. We can do it all together-Dad, Mom, and brothers. The schedule is completely flexible, we can skip on busy days, and double up classes on days when we have more time. And there are never classes on Saturday, so our weekends are always ours! It turned out to be just what our family needs. We practice together, help each other grow at their own pace, learn about respect, self-control, and character development. Oh yeah, and the boys love all that kicking and screaming!


Scouting is a given, of course. We currently have 2 cubs (bears both), 2 scouts (star & tenderfoot), and a scout leader (eagle). In fact Dad, Alex, and Nathan left for scout camp on Fiesta Island, San Diego yesterday. (In just nine short years they can all go to camp, and I can have the week to myself - I am already making plans!) The whole scouting thing was crazy and confusing at first, and every year of cubs is different, but now we've got it down. This is where gender specialization comes in handy. Mom does cubs. Dad does scouts. The boys love it, and are learning and trying so many exciting and interesting new things, and accomplishing something at the same time. Whenever that boys complain of being bored, I say, "pull out your scout book."



Piano is on mom's insistence. They whine about it sometimes, but Shari Thatcher is the best teacher in the world and when they get to play song from Star Wars or Sponge Bob, they love it. After so many years is it just so nice to spontaneously hear real and lovely music being played in our home. It makes it all worthwhile!


Of course, the boys have a few individual things that they like too do, but these three activities pull us together as a family, and give us an identity and common purpose. Of course our only true common purpose is to work together to serve our Lord, Jesus Christ. We have a 10 foot long saying on our family room wall -"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15." We consider our home a F.M.T.C. (Future Missionary Training Center) and are working very hard to prepare these boys for the service they will give the Lord on their missions and throughout their lives. VanBuskirks always follow the prophet. Always.

That is who we are. We are the taekwondo, scouting, piano family that always follows the prophet.