Eagle Project

Attention! Attention! Chad is officially an Eagle Scout! Okay, not officially. He still needs to have his board of review, but still - he's just about there. Yahoo! For his Eagle project, Chad chose to paint firehydrants in our area. Our neighbor Charlie gave us the idea. Thanks Charlie! Chad stressed out about this project more than I thought possible. (If only he would stress out this much about school projects!)  But he did a fabulous job. Here are some pictures to document Chad's triumphant journey into the ranks of Eagle.
Chad planning out the routes.  We had eight groups of painters who painted a total of 50 fire hydrants.

Chad cutting out the card board guards that we put around the hydrants to keep paint from dripping on the ground.

Garrett prepping a hydrant for painting.  We had to wash & dry the hydrants and then brush off the rust before painting.
 

Ty and Miguel with one of their finished products.  Doesn't it look shiny and pretty? Ty risked having yellow hair and skin for his homecoming date later that evening.  He is a trooper!

 Aunt Emily, Aunt Becca and mom working hard.  We got so messy.  The paint we used was terribly sticky and got stickier as time went on.  I think the clean up of the cars/skin/clothes was harder than the actual painting. 

Steven & Sue.  What a great mother/son team.
 
Nate, Chris, Aaron & Larry.  True friends and skilled artists. :)

Ryan, John & Chase looking quite official as they tackle one of the more weathered looking hydrants.

And here is the payoff at last.  Chad finally has his long-awaited cell phone.  He claims it is his treasure and vows that he will not lose it, get it confiscated at school, or get it taken away at home because his grades are not up to par.  We'll see.  For now, though, you have never seen a boy so excited with a new toy.  He has probably sent 100 text messages in the day and a half that he has had it.  Thanks everyone for helping with Chad's project.  He has the best and most loyal friends in the world.  We love you guys!