Thanksgiving 2015

For the first time in seven years we actually stayed home and I cooked Thanksgiving Dinner. Much to my surprise it was actually pretty nice and relaxing. The kids made pilgrims and tee pees for our place settings. Never mind, Harley's Klan hood, we had a disagreement about pilgrim hats and she obviously won the argument.

The weather was beautiful so we spent an afternoon at George Washington's boyhood home, Ferry Farm, on the banks of the Rappahannock. We saw George's cherry tree, tobacco plants, and played with the cotton blossoms. By the way, the Ipad that appears to be permanently attached to Atley's arm is actually part of the tour.

At home the kids and Scott worked on the log chicken cabin that they have been building and had plenty of time on the tire swing Scott rigged for them in late September. 

And Harley taught us all about the first Thanksgiving by making a bracelet with  beads that represented all sorts of important things.

Happy Belated Thanksgiving

I had not been home for Thanksgiving in 16 years! Can you believe that?  That is a very long time and it was wonderful to be there this year.  It was so relaxing. We spent most of our time just "visiting" with family and friends.  "Visiting" seems to be a lost art. In fact, for the first few days, I always find the "visiting" awkward.  Why is that?  Have I just become CITY-FIED or is it a TECHNOLOGY-HAS-MADE-ME-WEIRD sort of thing?  Either way, "visiting" is a good thing. I wish people did it more often.  But, only when my house is clean please.

 We wandered the foothills around my hometown, something I spent a lot of time doing as a kid. Nash never without a football and his BB gun. Atley never without some sort of map. And Harley never without her enthusiasm for anything outside.  

Harley found a rattle-snake-skin that she was very proud to show off.  We ate our fill of Mexican food. Woke up to snow one morning which made everything look magical as the first snow always does.  We spent some time in the mountains with my uncle finding their perfect Christmas tree.  

We had Thanksgiving in the Cultural Hall of the church because the family has grown too big for anyone's house. The kids played basketball and lots of other games and of course they cried and cried when they had to say goodbye to Granny, their Great-Grandparent's, and their many cousins.  

I have so much to be thankful for.  I have a blessed life. I love my family. I love where I am and where I came from.  I am so thankful for the opportunities I have been given in my life.  I am especially grateful, for a Father-In-Heaven who is mindful of me and those I hold dear.

Pardon Me While I Ramble

Here is a post about a whole lot of nothing.  Consider it a blogger version of a Seinfeld episode, good for a few laughs but hard to explain later. Truth is, I really want to get to the posts about Christmas Crafts and Activities but I feel like I cannot move ahead until I share a little bit about what has been happening in our house the last couple of months. First, Scott and I dressed up for a costume party  on Dia de los Muertos.  Unfortunately, we went all out and nobody else did.  Slightly, embarrassing.

We had fun anyway.  We were in the company of several diplomats and an ambassador.  The very same weekend Atley spent Diwali (the Hindu Festival of Lights) with his friend.  I began the week thinking how cultured my children were.  How fantastic I was at exposing them to different traditions, languages and people.  It didn't take long for me to be humbled, as is generally the case.  I realized that perhaps I was missing something in their education because when they were asked what town they lived in by a tour guide later that week both boys immediately said Maryland, which is neither a town nor the state in which we live.  Atley couldn't tell his wrestling coach whether he was left or right handed and then at Sunday dinner, none of my children seemed capable of eating with their utensils as they shoveled mashed potatoes into their mouths with their hands.  This might not have bothered me too much until I looked out the window and discovered that even a mother squirrel is better at teaching her children table manners and the proper use of a fork than I am. Needless, to say we are going back to the basics at our house.

Speaking of wrestling, the boys started wrestling in early November.  It is adorable and frightening and wonderful for them.  Atley and Nash are in the same weight class which is interesting to say the least.  They get their singlets this week and I cannot wait to take pictures of them.  It is going to be awesome.

Atley competed in the Space Derby at Cub Scouts. His modified Boeing-747 was one of the only rockets that flew successfully.  He loved every minute of it, being an aspiring pilot and all! Atley is next to me at the moment. He really wants me to write about how he went on a field trip to Jamestown a few weeks ago. 

Before we could get the Christmas stuff out and head out of town for Thanksgiving we had to participate in our traditional destruction of the fall pumpkins.  Yes, some barely missed sister's head.

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving we loaded up the truck and drove to Florida.  Atley had an especially enjoyable 13 hour trip. We had a great Thanksgiving feast and a good visit with my dad. We went to the movies, played with Hoss the German Shepherd, did a lot of karaoke and the best part was Harley and Grandpa were in charge of dishes.

 The boys were surprised by a new motorcycle from their Grandpa.  We got it running, rode it, crashed it a few times, got it running again and  eventually got a visit from the police.  Apparently, the neighbors didn't appreciate the noise.  You know what they say, "It ain't a party if nobody calls the cops!"

 

After a few days in Florida we headed to Georgia to spend some time with Grandpa and Grandma Butler and the Donaldson cousins. No trip would be complete without a visit to The Varsity, (where they messed up my order and gave me two of everything) SCORE!! We went and saw Santa Claus on Peachtree City's main mode of transportation the golf cart, played a little dress up and caught a magic show where a silver dollar was put up Nash's nose never to be seen again.  Yeah, he is still examining his bowel movements for something shiny just in case.

 

We are home again and I cannot wait until Christmas break.  I have so many fun things planned but we never have time to do anything but homework, endless homework.  Ugh! I am so sick of school. But, that is a rant for another day.