A Late Valentine's

I had big plans for a fun Valentine's Day celebration with the kids but unfortunately ended up with a pretty bad migraine that day. So, I bided my time and was finally able to at least have a special dinner with them at the end of February. As you can see Noah was ecstatic about my efforts!

At least the other two were all smiles.

A Great Falls Day!

Why we should have reconsidered going to Great Falls Park on President's Day? The traffic was horrible and we had to wait about 45 minutes just to get into the park. The bonus? Due to the holiday, the entrance fee was waived. And truly, once we got in, it was awesome and well worth the wait!

Ready for a fun family day!

I love when my kids get along.

Noah always has to blaze his own trail.

My little monkey.

Xander doing a duck call.

Enjoying a picnic lunch. Well, some of us are.

We then headed over to check out the falls. They were absolutely beautiful!

Of course we all had to take a ton of pictures with each other.

The boys got a little goofy toward the end.

It was so amazing to see this pole that marked how high the water had reached in certain years!

We had such a wonderful time and I'm so glad we decided to spend the day here.

Everyone was tuckered out on the ride home.

The temple is always a beautiful sight to see!

Noah's turn!

Noah also had a lot of basketball games this season and, unlike Xander's team, and despite his newbie coach, his team did really well and actually ended up being one of the best teams in their age division!

Noah was always a hustler and, although he didn't make a lot of baskets, he had some great defensive plays and always tried his hardest.

Instruction from the coach.

The sport he's most excited to play is football and somehow he convinced David to sign him up a year earlier than as parents we had originally decided. I can't believe my little No will be playing football in the fall!

Noah and I started a tradition of early morning cuddles; the mornings I don't work, I would come cuddle with him in bed for about 15 minutes before it was time for him to get up. I must admit there were a few mornings I fell back asleep!

He also gets lots of cuddles from Princess who absolutely adores him!

Thank goodness Ernest was there to keep Noah entertained during the high school basketball game we attended; otherwise he would have been bored out of him mind.

Strangely enough, Noah does not find shopping boring and loves to tag along and even helps me work on my decorating ideas. Truth be told it's probably the hope that I'll buy him a toy rather than the joy of shopping that keeps him going with me.

The scout activities were super fun this winter! In January was Human Hungry Hippos! Noah's team was pumped!

And with good reason - the boys had a blast!

A short break to play with the balloons...

and then they were back at it!

Time to switch gears.

Ready to do some human tic tac toe!

In February was the Blue and Gold Banquet and each year the boys are asked to prepare a dozen cupcakes designed with the theme for that year.

This year's theme - BUGS!!!

I found a few ideas on Pinterest for inspiration and Noah did a great job covering his cupcakes with ants, ladybugs, and centipedes!

The delightful poster showing our very own bugs of Pack 292.

First up were the skits! Noah performed well with his fellow Bears.

The raisin whose true identity was a fly...

and the invisible bench. Noah is such a ham!!

Hangin' with his bud Ben.

Hangin' with friends is a necessity at pack meetings!!

Enjoying his very own tasty cupcake! His cupcakes ended up being one of the winners for the evening!

Receiving his Bear.

We're so proud of this little guy!

And I got an award as well for my photo taking at every pack meeting - camera earrings and a soda of my choice.

One of my favorite dates of the year is the Mother/Son dance at the elementary school. We are all ready to head off to the big dance!

Noah and his neighbor buds.

Noah hung out with me a little bit and I even got a few dances this year.

We always spend some of the dance hanging out with Sheri and Ben. Unfortunately this is their last year going as Ben is moving up to middle school next year.

Some dabbing...

a final picture...

and it's off to Menchies for some frozen yogurt despite the freezing temps outside!