National Book Fair

Well, we finally did something fun and exciting. The truth is life has been boring and completely devoid of fun since Atley started school. I feel trapped and tied down and the whole school thing is totally cramping my style. In fact, I expressed those exact words to a woman at the bus stop last week and she said, "Cramping your style-I haven't heard that phrase since 1975." Okay so now my life is not only boring but I am a big nerd in some sort of 70's time warp.
However, Saturday was the National Book Festival on the National Mall in D.C. and we had an adventurous day with the boys, our friends Dan and Jill and their kids. The National Book Fair is pretty self-explanatory. It is a celebration of books and reading for all age-groups and literary genres. It is sponsored by the Library of Congress. The fair hosts many authors who give lectures and sign books. Some notable authors this year included John Grisham, Judy Blume, Sue Monk Kidd, Jodi Picoult, James Patterson, David Shannon, and Jeff Kinney. The kids had a great time gathering free books, bags, stickers, and tons of other goodies, not to mention meeting some of their favorite story book characters.

I love my Kindergartner

Today might have been the hardest day of my mothering experience. Today was Atley's first day of Kindergarten. And while he is only gone for 3 and 1/2 hours, the thought of him being old enough to be an elementary student is a little sad for me. It is the end of an era. I haven't even been inside of a public school since the day I quit teaching for his impending birth. Now I guess we have come full circle. He seems to have a great teacher and the class is small, so I am sure he is going to have a great experience. He told me it was way "more funner" than preschool. (Let's hope they work on his grammar) He even won an award for being respectful! Wow, where did that come from? Way to go Atley.



I was crying when we took him and then when I saw the picture of him walking with his daddy and making new friends I cried some more. I know it won't be long until he won't let us hold his hand while we walk him into the school building. But I also know how important this step is in his young life and how much fun he will have making new friends and learning new things. It was a bitter sweet day!

Tourists in our own Town!

Grandpa and Grandma Butler came to town this weekend so, we gladly became tourists in our own hometown. Here are some of the highlights of our weekend.


We started day one at the National Postal Museum, which sounds really boring but is actually pretty interesting and just the right size for kids. My boys enjoyed testing out an 18-Wheeler the best!

Atley has been dying to try out the DCDUCKS! They are these amphibious vehicles from WWII that travel on land and water and have been turned into tourmobiles!

Next, we went to the Library of Congress. Not really sure why after two years in D.C. we had never been there but the art and architecture alone is well-worth the visit.

Of course the highlight of the weekend was the intense BYU victory over Oklahoma. I am not sure if my heart and nerves can handle another football season, but here we go!

Monday we spent in the American Museum and the Museum of Natural History. We took the boys to an IMAX show about Dinosaurs. Isn't Nash cute in his 3D glasses?

Giveaway

My friend Sarah just wrote, what I am sure will be an amazing book about quilting. She is very talented and super creative and she is giving away the above-pictured diaper clutch on her quilting website. To enter the drawing just visit her website and leave a comment telling her your favorite movie. Never fear if you do not win Sarah gives an easy-to-follow tutorial on how to make the diaper clutch yourself.

http://milkandhoneydesigns.blogspot.com

Baby Nash

A few weeks ago I mentioned to someone that my baby was sick. She said, "You have a baby? I thought you only had Atley and Nash." I am not quite ready to consider my Nash a big boy. He is my baby and he likes it that way. Sometimes Nash gets a little overshadowed by his big brother's super-duper-out-going personality so I am writing to give Nash some credit! Notice in the picture below Nash is with his five favorite things-his daddy, wearing his "digger" shirt, wolfie-his toy wolf, a tape measure (he measures everything, including me all while exclaiming how huge I am), and being lazy.

We love our baby! He is very special, very smart, and very funny! He can almost name every commercial airliner that flies over our house and sometimes he can even identify the type of aircraft-like Boeing 737 or MD-88. Here are some recent Nash quotables!

*He loves chocolate! The other day in the car he said, "Mom, I tired!" I told him that he could take a nap when he got home. He said, "No thanks! If I eat some chocolate I'll feel better."

*When having a family home evening about gratitude Nash told us he was thankful for his SPEED! He thinks he is a super fast runner!

*He woke up the other morning and asked where his dad was and before I could answer he says, "Oh no, did he die?"

*In church he yelled, "I see a naked man on a flying horse!" Who knows where he comes up with these things.

*He accidentally hit Atley in the private parts the other day. Of course Nash's solution to any problem he causes is to kiss what ever or whomever is hurt. Atley freaked out when Nash tried to kiss the offended body part to make it better. We tried to explain to Nash why this was inappropriate while keeping a straight face.

*He calls me his little fluffy one! And tells me that he loves his dad more than me, because I am too squishy.

*He loves to pick out shoes for me to wear and turns violent if I refuse to wear fluorescent green flip-flops with a red dress. Last Sunday this was the case and he yelled, "You are so mean, I am going to attack you!" He did just that with a green flip-flop.

So just to be fair I will also add a few of Atley's recent embarrassing/funny remarks.

*Yesterday he says, "Mom, I wish we lived on a cruise ship." I say, "Why buddy?" And he says, "Don't you think they are romantic?"

*We went to Olive Garden and after serving our dishes the waitress began to walk away, Atley yells, "Hey lady, I would like some freshly grated AMAZON cheese on my spaghetti, please!" Of course he meant Parmesan cheese.

*At a baptism Atley turned to the lady next to us and said, "Did you take a shower today?" I immediately squeezed his arm hoping it would deter him from whatever he was about to say. The lady replied, "Yes, I did. Did you take a shower today?" Atley tells her, "You sure don't smell like you took a shower today. Maybe you need another one." Hence, the reason my friends are few and far between!

Summer's Last Swim

Last week we had our last swim party of the season and it is a good thing because this week feels like fall is approaching quickly. Here are some pictures. Please notice that my children chose playing in the mud alone rather than playing with about 40 friends in the pool. Go figure!