Brave Knights Blue & Gold Dinner

This year our Blue and Gold Dinner's theme was Brave Knights.  The boys loved it!  We had all finger foods.  No utensils anywhere in sight.  We had fried chicken, cubed cheeses, crackers, corn on the cob, grapes, and rolls.  So fun for eight and nine year olds.  

 They each made a shield with their coat of arms on it.

 One of the den leaders dressed up as the queen and knighted each boy and presented them with their shield as well as an inflatable sword.

 They also made mini catapults during their den meeting.  Each boy picked one person to try and catch marshmallows in their mouths when the boys launched the marshmallows.  Only one boy (a five year old) was able to catch a marshmallow out of the whole group.  It was pretty funny to watch.

 Sir Kade.  The boys were begging to have a sword fight so at the end of the night, they had a great battle.  Surprisingly, no one got hurt.  They loved sword fighting.  I asked Kade later what his favorite part of the night was, and he told me it was the battle.

Monticello

While we were in Virginia, we visited Monticello.  

 Kade and Grace loved the tree stump.  It was huge.

Look at Grace's hair.  It was a little windy up on that hill.

Christmas in Virginia 2011

We spent Christmas in Virginia this year.  Tom and the boys drove while I flew with the girls.  I'm not sure who had it better.  It was fun to spend time with Tom's family.  We haven't been back to Virginia in many years.

 Grace really wanted to sleep with her brothers.  Here she is waking them up.

 We always take a picture of the kids on Christmas morning before they see the tree and their presents.

 Here's Megan - happy as usual.  Scary picture of me - in my pjs, no shower, no makeup. Yikes!

 The mistletoe headband was a hit.  Megan looked cute in it.  Grace loved it.  Kade liked it too until his brothers told him that it was mistletoe on the end.

 Julie and Richard's girls.  They are so sweet.  It was fun to be with them.

 Terri and Terry.

We had a good time.  I can't believe that I didn't get a picture of the Christmas tree.  We also spent time at Julie and Richard's new house.  No pics of that either.

Gingerbread Houses

Okay, I know I am two months behind in my posts so I need to get on the ball and update my blog.  While we were in Virginia for Christmas, the kids had a lot of fun making gingerbread houses.  It was fun to watch how different they all are in their decorating styles.

 Grace definitely ate more candy than ended up on her house.  Luckily, her cousins were good helpers and put some candy on her house.  We kept catching Grace sneaking into the sunroom to eat more candy.  She didn't care whose house the candy came from either.

 Kade was an excellent taste tester.

 Josh loved the marshmallows.  It looks like a graveyard there.

 Kade's house had an avalanche problem and his roof caved in.  Luckily, he didn't mind too much.  It all tastes the same in the end.

 Nice and neat, Jack.  Perhaps there is an engineer in the making.

 Abigail and Grace showing off their houses.

 Sarah's house was cute as well.

 Rebecca is our other engineer.  Look how orderly that house is.

Love the thatched roof on Hannah's house.

Opening Presents

We spent Christmas in Virginia this year with Tom's family so we had the kids open their presents from Grandma Pam and Grandpa Greg before we left.  They loved opening gifts on multiple days.