Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet

On Feb. 29th we had our Blue and Gold Banquet.  It has been since Nathan was a cub about 6 years ago that we got to participate in one of these.  Very fun. We chose to do a magic theme and each of the boys and several ward members did a magic tricks.  We ate good food and had a lot of fun.  Here are some photos from the evening.

The tables were very festive!!

We came up with magical names for each of our chosen foods like "ham out of a hat", "abra cadabra corn" and "disappearing dessert".

Evan received his Wolf badge during the awards ceremony at the banquet.  Great job!!!

He also got to keep all the balloons that were left over after the clean up...BONUS!!!

Boston Snow Fun

We had a great trip to Boston just a week after the "big snow" that dumped 2 feet on Boston.  There was still a foot left when we got there and we made the most of it.  We got lots of great time with the boys and loved every minute of it.

We  built a really cool slide down their back deck stairs, complete with steps.   

Here are Megan and James trying out the slide.  

Alan playing in the snow

Evan making snowballs 

Alan sliding down without the sled

We made a cool fort featuring this nifty "slide in" entry

"Watch out...here I come!!"

James liked the water and mud under the deck almost as much as the snow.

We also visited the Boston Children's Museum.  Here is Evan in the net maze near the entrance.

Alan was brave enough to go clear to the top....Wow!!

Meg trying the climbing challenge

Alan and Megan in the "fun with water" area

Alan driving the bus

Watching VeggieTales...Alan, James, and Aunt Megan

We went to a park near Scott and Janelle's home to do some sledding.  There were only a few collisions and crashes.  Overall.....a great day!!!

"Can somebody help me up?"

Even the big guys had fun...look at those smiles (nice one, Nathan)

Evan and Alan getting ready for the big race

"Bye Grandma....I'm heading down with Grandpa"

Such a happy boy

Since Janelle's birthday was the following week, we did a little early celebration in her honor while we were there.

As you can tell, James thought the cake was SO GOOD!!!

Thanks everybody for such a fun time!

Happy Valentine's Day

Another yummy Valentine's breakfast

We tried some new variations this year.

Somebody looks pretty happy  :)

The Big Snow Storm

A major nor'easter was forecast in early February for the New England states.  Areas north of New York, especially Boston, were hit hard.  Janelle and Scott had over two feet of snow at their home.  We in New Jersey only got a few inches, but we were still able to have some fun in the snow.  Here are some photos from our little snowfall.

Out our alcove door

Ginny 

Evan busy building his fort 

Getting ready for the snowball fight

Not bad for a few inches of snow, huh?

Family Goals

Each year we try to spend some time in a Family Home Evening to set some goals for the year.  We try to remember to check in on them quarterly to evaluate how we are doing.  Even though some of them tend to go by the wayside (bedtimes comes to mind), we have also found great success with others.   Some years we have set a goal to invite people over for game nights or dinner.  Some years we have had a "learn about the apostles" night monthly where we learned some interesting facts about the men we sustain each General Conference.   Here are the ones we came up with this year.

Foulk Family Goals – 2013

Bedtimes Set -

Evan – 9:00

Nathan – 10:30 (probationary)

Megan – no later than midnight or mom and dad

Family Book Reading -

Chronicles of Narnia – Starting with The Magician's Nephew

Family Game or Movie Night – twice monthly

Family Scripture Study Plan

Finish Book of Mormon Reader/Book of Mormon

Read Old Testament Reader/Old Testament

Start Reading just Book of Mormon

Review Goals Quarterly

Individual Goals

Steve- Read a book

Jill – Read a book every two months

Megan – Read, "Team of Rivals"

Nathan- Get straight "A's"

Evan - Keep my room clean

By the looks of this stack of just some of our books, it is a good thing we are setting some reading goals.  These were moved off our family room shelves while the room was being carpeted.  

A Few Changes

While most of the kids were still home on New Year's Day, we took advantage of the muscle power present and moved the furniture in our family room down to the basement.  Even though the couches have been great for the last 10 years, Steve has never really been able to sit comfortably on them.  So we decided they would serve us well for a viewing area downstairs.  We moved some of the even older furniture upstairs (you can see it in the previous "Mr. Creativity" post) to use temporarily and set out to look for a new couch.  We also added a couple of chairs that are good for the back.  Then yesterday, we got the new carpet that we had decided upon and finally put the room together.  It is a way different look with the darker furniture and darker, thick, shag carpet.  Steve and I both agree that it reminds us a little of carpet back in the 70's except much more cushiony and soft.  So, here are some photos of the process and of our new room.


There goes the old carpet....


...and the padding


New carpet going in... I have to admit as I watched the process, I had real second thoughts about our choice of carpet.  I felt a little like I was in a time warp.  But once it was all done.....


...I thought it looked great!!!  And it is soooo soft!!!


Here's Megan trying out the room after the boys and I got most of the stuff moved back in.


A view from the center hall....


.....and from the living room


The finished product has a much warmer feel to it.

Since we had some left over paint from when we painted the family room a few years ago, we painted just the TV area in the basement with that paint and it made a big difference.  We still need to paint the hall/stair/computer area, but the viewing area looks great.

One view of the new TV area (ok... not that new)

A view showing the line where the paint ends

So, it's kind of a blue/tan motif now and feels a little more like a room.

Sometimes little changes make a big difference!!

Mr. Creativity

So Evan came up to me one day and showed me how he had hung several hangers together to make a pretty cool mobile.  I suggested he might want to hang it from the "pinata hanger" in the family room and see if he could make it even bigger.  He did that and then some.  Here is the proud artist with his creation.

Close up

And farther away for perspective

Pretty cool, Ev!!!