Silent Saturday: From the Grandparents

Merry First Round of Christmas!

Pre-Christmas cookie party

We had a blast with Me-maw and Papa, but their trip was too short!

Me-maw receives the first clue to her scavenger hunt.

Hunt's been chomping at the bit for years for Archie to have his first science kit.
This is even better - an engineering kit!

I've wanted to get Hunt a Superman shirt so he and Archie could match forever.
Glad I finally did!

Grace has had a Minnie themed Christmas so far. Archie got her the dress and Me-maw and Papa gave her the Minnie and Daisy tea set and wedding cake.

Archie couldn't wait to build his fort. He loves it!

We've had a great Christmas so far and are thankful that Jesus IS the Reason for the season!

Frogs Are Green

Archie has been working hard for several weeks to prepare this little guy for the Frogs Are Green kids' art contest. Isn't he a cutie? I never really realized just how tricky a frog is to draw.

Double Trouble and Other Funny Pictures

One of the many things the kids like to do on the Ipad is make funny pictures with the photo booth app. Here comes double trouble!

These are funny in a different way! We were at some friends' playing games and put the kids to bed. Archie fell right asleep, but Grace got scared and came out to sit on the sofa. She fell asleep looking over the edge, watching us play but eventually shifted into a seated position.

I think these look pretty cool!

Archie is pretty fond of this scary monster pic!

Jesus Is the Reason for the Season and Archie Knows It :)

So proud of Archie for the drawing that he's submitting to the Virginia-Pilot art contest. I really hope he gets published. He made two drafts of this picture and spent nearly an hour drawing it. I am so happy that picked Jesus' birthday as the topic of his drawing.

Archie loves art of all kinds and is obsessed with entering contests. If you know of any, let me know and we'll probably submit an entry. Lots of local papers have them this time of year.

Christmas Preview 2012

Turkey Dash Through the Park 2K FUN!!! The First Race for Grace (and Archie)

It's been awhile since I've run a race, ummmm.ok...before kids. I guess 2K was the right distance to re-start with. I ran with Archie, and Hunt ran with Grace. So proud of them both! Archie got off to a rough start with is shoe flying off and a cramp in his side, but he walked a minute, and then we went slow and steady to the finish. (Well, Archie took off on a mad sprint when the finish line was in sight.) We were definitely middle-of-the-pack finishers, but all the kids got medals. Meanwhile, Grace and Hunt were going great until we got near, Grace fell, and she was (in the words of Hunt) demoralized when we passed them. Nevertheless, I'm super proud of her for going on her own steam all the way. Hunt said she ran a lot of it.

Grace upon entering the trail portion of the run: "What if we get lost in these big woods? How will we ever get back to Maryland?" Hunt said it drew quite a few giggles.