Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Fire, Arrow of Light...and vomit!

Not necessarily in that order!

May 5th was our Cub Scout Pack's Bridging/Arrow of Light Ceremony.

I should preface all of this with my Dad's retirement party in Amarillo the previous Friday [note blog entry below]. The Faust Five headed to Amarillo Friday for the big event. We stayed with my brother, his wife [my awesome sister-in-law], and their 2 kids [ages 15 and 7]. Upon picking up the 7 year old from school, his mom learns that his stomach didn't feel too good. She brushed it off to the excitement of the Faust cousins to stay and play...until...

Several hours later at "The Hoffbrau" steak place, he pukes all over the floor and all over his nice pink shirt [again...see pic below of the pink cousins].

His mom, Georjane, takes him (and the Faust kids) immediately home.

Fast forward to Saturday morning. After several hours of playing the Wii, wrestling all over each other, jumping on the trampoline, and eating THE most delicious donuts in the world [Donut Stop], The Faust Five pile into the van and head back to Tulsa. Granpa is going to Tulsa with us to see the Arrow of Light cermony and watch his grandsons play some baseball.

Sunday is a "normal" day...nothing unusual...no complaints about body aches...until 3:30 A.M....

creak, creak, pitter, patter....

William (touching Mom's side where she lies peacefully asleep): Mom...

me (startled awake): What?

William: I think I'm going to throw up.

ok...now I'm thinking if this were any of my other kids, I'd be covered in puke right now...but this is William ;)

me (crawling out of bed): OK, let's go to the bathroom.

I follow William to the bathroom where he calmly turns on the light, puts up the toilet seat, leans over and hurls. It was all very clean...he hit his target!

William: Mom, I feel a lot better now.

me: I'm sure you do...let's get you back to bed.

Fast forward to 6:15 a.m....I get up to begin the day and grab a shower before Anne does. At 6:25 I hear a knock on the bathroom door. In comes Anne (I'm assuming to take her shower before school). She informs me that William puked again. This time in the trash can that I had remembered to place beside his bed at 3:30 that morning. She also informs me that her stomach doesn't feel too great either. Selfishly, I think this is not going to be a good day.

So, Anne stays home from school, William is on the couch watching "The Incredibles" while napping, and John is reluctantly doing his school work.

I call my sister-in-law to ask for medical advice (she's an RN). She says she hasn't felt very good all day either. I quickly go wash my hands with anti-bacterial soap!

Fast forward to 4:00 Monday afternoon. It's John's big night...the culmination of Cub Scouts...where he'll be formally recognized and "bridge over" to Boy Scouts. It's also the night the other boys get to move up in rank. William will be promoting from Tigers to Wolves. It's a big deal! Plus, John is one of only 2 boys who have perservered all the way from Tigers to Webelos...AND...he earned all 20 of his Webelos Activitiy Pins...a HUGE accomplishment.

It's time to go...I load up the sick kids (with the healthy mom and granpa) and head to the camp. Rich and John left earlier to set up.

I'm prepared...I'm a Cub Scout Mom for peat's sake...I've got crackers, gatorades, an empty trash can, and Granpa's protable DVD player for Anne and William to watch during the ceremony. They are not allowed to mingle with the healthy as they now have fevers of 102!

The evening begins...the Scouts are bridged over...then it's time to start the Arrow of Light Ceremony.

The 12 boys are taken up a small hill, blindfolded, and led to their parents. A Scout dressed as a Native American (have to be PC, you know) takes the blinddfolds off and welcomes them to Boy Scouts. Part of the ceremony includes the application of face paint to the boys...with each color representing something about scouting. After John gets his first color, he turns to look at me (I'm standing right behind him). He looks like the ash from the fire. He says, "Mom, I think I'm going to get sick." Thank goodness we were on the far right...we walked up the short hill...he half-ran...and then it came...PUKE! Yes, it was obvious to everyone what happened.

When he's done I ask him if he wants to go to the car or back to the ceremony. He says, "Back to the ceremony." He was able to finish, receive a "way cool" arrow, cross the bridge and be welcomed into his new Troop. Several people told him he was very brave and courageous for finishing. That's what makes a good Scout, huh?

Here are some pictures [sorry, no puking photos]...we're still recovering today, but I think we're on the mend!