New Beginnings Hunger Games Style

We had the absolute best New Beginnings this year! The girls had picked The Hunger Games as their theme and we were able to get some fabulous decorating and food ideas off of Pinterest.

One of the Mia Maids made our very own "Girl on Fire" Young Women torch girl silhouette which was the perfect touch for our backdrop.

Our tasty refreshments included Nightlock Berry Punch,

"Peeta" chips,

and Cinna-rolls! There are truly some creative people out there!

Of course the evening just would have not been complete without our very own Caesar Flickerman...

and Effie Trinket! At first I couldn't believe they had talked me into dressing up but it turns out that Melissa and I had the most fun of anybody that night as we rocked our characters!

The only problem with the idea we found off Pinterest was that they left us hanging on the skit idea. We had to have a major brainstorming session to decide how we wanted the evening to go and all I can say is SUCCESS!
After the opening song and prayer I got up to welcome everyone to the Winters Run 17th Annual New Beginnings. I had memorized Effie's opening speech to District 12 from the movie and I did my best to use her style of speech. Obviously I had to make a few adjustments to it, like the video "came to us all the way from Salt Lake City", and it was a perfect video to show - "I'm a Young Women and I Believe!" that included a concluding message from our very own president, Thomas S. Monson. Before I could even call up the new "tributes", we had a volunteer! Emma Hardy was a fabulous volunteer though she did hit my table as she walked by me causing me to shout, "It's mahogany!"

After calling up our "tributes", or what we would refer to as those cute girls entering Young Women this year, I concluded my speech with "May your choices be ever in your favor!"
Our new tributes joined the tributes from the other districts in a parade through the gym, showing off their district poster and color.

Unfortunately that cute tribute from District Choice and Accountability moved so fast without even a glance my way.

All the "districts" or values.

Each tribute got a chance to be interviewed by Caesar Flickerman who asked each young women how she kept her spiritual flame burning. Melissa was AMAZING as Caesar...she had us all laughing!

Once Caesar was done the girls participated in "the games". After naming temples, quoting Articles of Faith, and looking up particular scriptures, the tributes were all still alive, thank goodness.

We then called on previous Victors, or young women who have earned their Young Women medallion - Savannah, Elizabeth, and Carolyn -

to present the new tributes with a Young Women Girl on Fire necklace.

Savannah with Madison.

David was our concluding speaker and we joked that he should have worn a white rose in his lapel.

We ended with a closing prayer and then it was time to dive into those refreshments!

Our parting gift to each girl was styled after the gifts a tribute's district could send them during the games. Inside each package were hot balls, a candle, and a scripture about keeping your testimony burning.

My cute Victor!

My partner in crime, Melissa!

It was such a fabulous evening with these super cute tributes!

Our Community's Tragedy

In February our community was rocked by the tragic shooting of two policemen at a local Panera where David and I eat lunch several times a month. A woman noticed her abusive ex-husband at the restaurant, called the police, and when one of the policeman approached the man in a very friendly manner, the man pulled out a gun and shot the officer.  This happened right in the restaurant which was filled with families and children out of school for a snow day.  In the ensuing foot chase that occurred, another policeman was shot and killed before the man himself was killed.  In the weeks following this incident there was an outpouring of love and support for our local police officers.  It was definitely hard the first time we went back to Panera to have lunch and see all the little tokens and flowers and signs of support that had been left there.

Flags were flown at half mast throughout the county...

and there were huge memorial services for the fallen officers.

During the second weekend in March, the Panera where the shooting took place held a fundraiser where 100% of sales earned over the three days were given to the families of the fallen officers. The kids and I made sure we supported it.

It's still so hard to believe that such a tragedy occurred in our little community.

Date Night with X

On February 19th Xander and I had a very special date at his school's Mother/Son Dance. Noah was pretty bummed that he couldn't go as well but I reminded him that he had already committed to performing in the skits with his pack at the Blue and Gold Banquet that same night. Noah still has two more years of elementary school; for Xander this would be his last Mother/Son Dance so we made sure we were there.

We're looking good!

We met up with some good friends of ours at the dance, Ben and his mom Sheri.

Group selfie!

Ben and Sheri didn't stick around long and not a lot of Xander's friends were there so it was a little bit of a bust. Still, Xander busted a few moves for me which proved quite entertaining.

And the conga line is always great fun, even when your mom forces you to join it just to get a picture!

After about an hour of watching all the little kids running around, Xander asked if we could go so we headed to Dunkin Donuts for the second part of our date - donuts and cocoa.

We had such a great evening together dancing, talking, and munching on donuts. Love spending time with my X-man!

Scouting Activities

I love that my boys love scouting! There is so much good that comes from involvement in this wonderful program. For Xander, being an 11 year old scout is a whole lot more fun because he gets to go on campouts!! This picture is from the Icicle Campout he attended in February that had been postponed from January due to the blizzard. Icicle Campout it was - those poor boys were sure bundled up but still had a fabulous time. I think Xander's grin is frozen on his face!

Xander was also able to earn his first advancement - his scout badge.

We are proud parents!

For Noah in cub scouts the first few months of the year are always filled with fun pack meetings - in January was his first Pinewood Derby and in February was the Blue and Gold Banquet! Every year the boys are responsible for making a cake for the Blue and Gold that in some way reflects the theme of the event. This year's theme was "That's Entertainment" and the boys were asked to make a dozen cupcakes decorated to show their favorite movie. Noah was so excited to make his Batman cupcakes! (We had just let the kids watch the Christian Bale Batman movie and Noah was obsessed!)

By the time we got to the actual decorating the cupcakes, however, Noah had lost his enthusiasm...

Yeah, not his best work. We definitely don't have a budding Martha Stewart in the house. But they were done.

I have tried to take more of an interest in the boys' scouting since Noah joined because I wasn't too involved with Xander when he was in cub scouts. One thing I have been doing is volunteering to help with the pack meetings in multiple ways, whether it be planning, set up, or clean up. I also am the designated photographer which I have really enjoyed. As I sat in the planning meeting for the Blue and Gold, the Cub Master turned to me toward the end and assigned me to decorations. Uhhhh...what? I slowly nodded my head, wondering how I had gotten chosen for this. Really, I had no idea what I had actually just gotten myself into. I was given no list of parents to help me - I would be flying solo on this - just handed the theme with a few ideas to get me started. Well, thank goodness for Pinterest because it saved me! It was very stressful putting everything together and setting it all up but when it was all done I must admit I was quite pleased with how it turned out. And the thank you message I got from the Cub Master when he saw the decorated gym really made me feel good. So, because I worked so hard on it, I've included a few pictures.
Everyone got to walk the red carpet as they arrived!
 

Each table had an entertainment theme - Hollywood, Broadway, Rock n Roll, etc.

I hung movie posters as well as playbills on the walls.

My favorite thing I made was our very own Hollywood Walk of Fame. Each of the boys got a star with his name as well as his rank on it and they were spread throughout the gym.

Noah's with his wolf emblem.

Unfortunately, after all the hard work I put into the decorations, I did not even get to go to the Blue and Gold. That same night Xander and I went on a date to the Mother/Son dance at his school. Thank goodness David as well as a few other moms took lots of pictures for me. Noah got to lead the scouts in the pledge...

and also earned a few awards.

And then the evening of entertainment began! Each pack was responsible for "entertaining" the parents with various skits and jokes. The wolves did the always hilarious face-on-the-chin lip sync. Noah was second from the left, with the blue hankie, and I was told that he was the most animated of all the boys, moving his head back and forth in time with the music and opening that mouth of his wide with the lyrics. That doesn't surprise me - in all ways Noah is an entertainer!

The boys also got to tell a joke.
Noah: "What do you call a baboon in a minefield?"
Audience: "I don't know!"
Noah:  "A Baboom!"

Noah and his buddies, Gabe and Jack, enthralled with one of the other skits.

My cute little wolf.

I had set up one corner of the gym as a photo op area complete with props and wigs. The scouts took full advantage of it!

Love these little rock stars!!