Pumpkinville

Tuesday night Atley had Flag Football, piano and violin practice, an hour and half of homework and then Cub Scouts. His day literally lasted about 14 hours. Way too much for a 9 year old.  It was no surprise that Wednesday morning none of the kids woke up until well after 8AM. My thought, this is a perfect day for playing hookie. We headed to the Leesburg Animal Park and the Pumpkinville Festival.  Of all the fall festivals around Washington D.C. this is my favorite. It is smaller, less crowded plus you get lots of close encounters with the furry kind.

 

 

Busy Time

I learned the hard way with my oldest that some kids need lots of practice using their fine motor skills. I try to create small activities for Harley to work on while I am busy making dinner or cleaning the kitchen.  One of her favorites involves Cheerios/Fruit Loops, Spaghetti Noodles and an Egg Carton.  It may seem a little bizarre but it is much easier to string noodles than thread and it really hones in on those specific fine motor skills we are trying to further develop.

National Book Festival

Each September the Library of Congress hosts the National Book Festival. Luckily for us it was a couple weeks before the wonderful government shut down that we are all enjoying so much.  It takes place on the National Mall and features lots of author book signing's, story time for kids, free books and tons of other activities.  We had a fabulous time except for the 10 minutes that Nash disappeared in a crowd of a least 10,000. I guess it shouldn't surprise me. He is not one bit interested in reading, which is practically blasphemous to his mother. This year, as is usually the case, PBS Kids had a huge booth where the children participated in Sid's Stinky Smelling Challenge and met some of their favorite characters. They even wrote and illustrated their own little books.

All three of them chose a monster theme for their books, Here is the text Harley made me write in her book next to her illustrations:

 

"Monsters! Help!  It's going to bite us.

I'm going to die.

I need a drink of Mountain Dew. Help! Help!

I want to make a ladybug.

Oh no! There is another monster. We have to fight it.

We fighted the monster and now it's dead.

We have to write now.

Let's play checkers and with sparkles.

That's All!"

 

I am fairly certain I am raising a young Jane Austen.

Dulles Plane Pull

What is a plane pull you ask?  It is just that, a bunch of people see how far and how fast they can pull a plane while competing against other teams.  We try to go every year.  There are always lots of cool planes on display and plenty taking off and landing at the airport, plus there are moon bounces and airport tours. 

Still Alive

I always tease my friends whose every blog entry begins with, "I know it has been a while since I blogged but..."  and there is a month or more between each entry.  Apparently, that is the pot calling the kettle black.  Things have been crazy busy, as each fall seems to be, back to school nights, PTA meetings, Primary Programs, soccer, scouts, homework, violin, piano, flag football, preschool; not to mention football is now officially on 5 days a week plus all my other shows are coming back for the new season.  Pathetic right? I will attempt to catch up and stay on track for the rest of the school year, but I can't make any promises.  

We had one last swim party before the weather turned autumn like and we closed the pool for winter, as I type that I realize it is officially 86 degrees outside right now. The party included a sleepover with three other little boys, beside my own. To say that it was one of the longest nights of my life, would not be an exaggeration. It doesn't help matters that Harley thinks she is a 9 year old boy that can flip into the deep end and fart with reckless abandon.  It wasn't until days later that we realized that during the wild party the toilet in the basement some how got cracked and flooded the guest room!

 

Harley and I have spent some nice days at the park. We are both finding it difficult to entertain her without the help of her brothers though. Even the park seems a little dull without our traveling comedy troop in tow. She has told me on more than one occasion that I was boring. She also told me that my ears were getting way to big to pull off the short hair any longer. I love her candor. She is such a diva.  She gives me a tea party just about every afternoon and forces me to eat all of whatever she provides.  So, if you think I may have gained a few pounds, it's all Harley's fault, in more ways than one.

 Nash is playing soccer and once again his dad is coaching.  He scored a whopping 12 goals last Saturday. Granted he has learned the art of Cherry Picking or camping out by his own goal refusing to play defense. We are always so happy when he plays well and wins or we have a truly devastated child as witnessed above. Hopefully, one day his overly competitive nature will serve him well.

We took in one more Nat's game before the season came to a heartbreaking end just shy of the hunt for October.  We even ran into some of our dearest friends at the game and hitched a ride back to our car with them.  I am not sure what I like more about a night at the ball park-Bryce Harper or Shake Shack! 

What's getting me through!

We have made it through the first week of school with minimal drama. Atley has only had one item confiscated by his teacher and he was only a little embarrassed when his strings teacher measured his arm declaring him only suitable to play the world's tiniest violin. It really is adorable though. He also informed some of his classmates that they were in fact, wrong to believe that most people would end up in heaven. According to a phone call I received from a disgruntled parent, Atley then began a discourse on the various degrees of heaven and hell. Apparently, one child was in tears in fear for his evil little brother who he is convinced is destined for an eternity in outer darkness. This little brother happens to be Nash's best friend and I am also fearful for his eternal welfare as I am for Nash's. He has taught Nash a few very choice words. One of which he said in the school cafeteria. I happened to be on lunch duty that morning and discovered him standing in an isolated corner with his arms folded and head bowed in quiet communion. I approached when his praying ceased and asked him what was wrong, "I had to repent mom. I keep dropping the F-Bomb!"  Well, what can I say at least he is repentant. Nash has also created a Cage Fighting Club under the new dome on the playground and yes, I have received some feedback about this behavior as well. Might I add he is also the grouchiest most exhausted child I have ever been around and I am already crossing off the days until Christmas Break.  Harley is completely lost without her brothers. In fact, as I type she is sitting on my shoulders MOOING as loud as she can until she once again has my undivided attention. She enjoys sharing bizarre and mostly untrue stories with all of the bus stop parents while we wait each morning and afternoon.  For example she has told them that she is in love with her dad whom she plans to marry some day. She continued by explaining that she has to sleep with him each night because her mother frequently poops the bed. She also told them that her Granny is a dairy farmer and that her house if full of mouse and rat feces.  Another story included me going to prison for stealing jewelry in New York City.  She is also attempting to "HIPPOMIZE"  AKA hypnotize,  all those around her by saying, "Look into my eyes, give up your mind to me!"

 

 Anyway, sometimes I just need a little something to enjoy while I try to relax and regroup at the end of each very eventful day and since my religion discourages anything stronger, (which is probably a good thing, because I am pretty sure I would be a drunk by now) here is something that I am loving at the moment: 

Safeway ReFreshe Flavored Sparkling Water in it's many fruity flavors!

 Sometimes it is the little things that mean the most!

And They're Off-1st Day of School

Favorite Part of Summer:  Going to Granny's & Swimming in the Pool everyday.

Excited about School Because:  My Classroom is right next to Nash's this year and I get to see my friends.

Favorite Part of Summer:  Swimming and playing with Atley.

Excited about School Because:  I get to see my friend Matthew and it means only 3 more weeks until Star Wars Telepods come out.

Favorite Part of Summer:  Jumping in the pool and getting in the hot tub.

Excited about School Because:  I get to see my preschool friends.

 

 

Foul-Weather Fans

After last weekend no one could ever accuse the Butler Family of being Fair-Weather Fans.  We traveled with Atley and some good friends to Charlottesville to watch the BYU Cougars take on the UVa Cavaliers on Saturday.  When we arrived there was a heat-index of about 103. We sneaked into the Cougar Club Tailgate party where Atley got up close and personal with the BYU cheerleaders and Cosmo.

We opted to sit on the hill with the UVa student section so that we could be close to the field.  We were hot but we were ready for some football. It was fantastic for about a quarter.

But then the announcer let us know that the stadium had to be evacuated because of an approaching thunder storm. We were told to get in our vehicles or the closest open building. Well, our truck was about 2 miles away and it was starting to rain so we spent almost 2 and half hours in a parking garage with hundreds of other people, melting in the humidity. 

Scott was just about ready to give up when they finally allowed us back into the stadium. The "hill" was too wet and muddy so we sat in our seats. We were there for about 5 minutes when lightening started again and there was a torrential down pour of epic proportions. We were all forced into the tunnels to watch the game on the little TVs.  Finally, around the 4th quarter, the rain let up enough for us to sit back in our seats.  We felt that we definitely deserved a win for all of the pain and suffering we had endured, but the Cougars failed us once again.  But, we will undoubtedly be back for more next week. After all was said and done the game was almost 7 hours long. I am afraid we have ruined football for Atley forever.