Tre triumphs in the costume contest

We have just returned from the contest at the mall, and Tre pulled off another 1st place victory! He has won either first or second place 4 out of 5 entries. That is pretty amazing. He burned it up as a campfire.

Halloween Festivities

Okay, so tomorrow begins our 2008 Halloween festivities. Tomorrow night is the costume contest at the mall. I put the finishing touches on the costumes tonight. I invested way less time this year, and the costumes definitely have the homemade feel to them. I cannot really gauge how the judging might go, so I hope for the best. Tre will be a campfire, and Julienne will be his accompanying S'more. They will enter the contest as one costume entry...what's gonna work...teamwork! (Thanks Wonderpets!)

Friday, the kids will wear their Walmart chosen costumes for Trick-or-Treating. Tre has chosen an evil wizard, and Julienne has chosen a fairy. Her fairy skirt has fiber optic wire in it, and blinks when you turn it on. It is pretty cool.

Finally on Saturday is our second annual Halloween party. I have decided to be broccoli, as my costume. TJ has reverted to his old favorite..a pimp. I will post pictures after the slated events.

Oh, how I love Halloween!

Obama

Barack Obama is holding a rally at the JMU convocation center on Tuesday. "This one" is planning on going!

Pumpkins

One of the magazines that we get in our house is Family Fun. This is a great magazine that has fun crafts, and activities for families. So often, the kids and I look through the magazine and say "Oh that's cool, we should do that!" But rarely do we actually follow through. The October edition of Family Fun had tie-dye t-shirts with pumpkins for Halloween. The kids fell in love with the idea and begged to make the shirts. yesterday was rainy and boring, so we decided it would be a great day to tie-dye.

We ventured off to Walmart to get orange dye and rubber bands for tie-dying. Then it was back home to create our fun shirts. We tied a bunch of rubber bands on our white shirts and then dyed the three shirts orange in our kitchen sink. We lied them to dry in the bath tub, before we could add faces to our tie-dyed pumpkins.

By today the shirt were dry, so I gave both kids some Sharpie markers, half expecting it to be a disaster. However, the kids worked so carefully and added adorable faces to the pumpkins on their shirts. They turned out great, and I am so glad we "got around" to this craft!

The ups and downs of marriage

TJ and I have been married for seven years now, and have known each other for 13 years. Lord knows we have had our ups and downs. And I tend to do a lot more complaining about the things he doesn't do, or do well enough, than I do complimenting the good things. And there are many good things to compliment. At the end of the day, I know I have a great husband and he proved himself today.

TJ had a training to go to today and tomorrow. So, he had the morning off. I got up, got myself and the kids ready, and it was off to daycare/school/work. At about 9:15, I got a text message from TJ asking what time my lunch was. I told him, and he said he would come to school and bring me Subway for lunch! I was so excited.



Well, my husband is certainly the type of person who draws attention, for sheer size alone. My kids were in complete awe of him. And of course, he and his charismatic nature, made friends all over the building. I envy his ability to do this so easily, and am so glad that he does. People are just drawn to TJ.



After enjoying a special lunch with TJ, and introducing him to my new co-workers, it was time for recess. At my school, four square is a favorite activity of the kids. TJ stayed during our recess time, and played four square with my kids. At the end of recess, they said, "Mrs. Butler, can your husband come back every day?" I wish he could.....

TJ and Tanya plus six!

Oh what fun a sleepover is!

I had an idea last weekend as I watched my children bored of our house, bored of each other, and bored of us, that perhaps it would be fun to invite one of Tre's friends over to play and perhaps have a sleepover. There is one child in his class who we saw at a PTA event for Tre's school, and Tre has talked about him quite a bit. So, I sent a note to his parents to ask if Tre's buddy could come over on Saturday.

This week has been so busy, that TJ and I had barely has a moment to speak. He saw the friends' family at the football game on Friday while I was enjoying my wonderful book club dinner. The parents said Tre's friend could come to play. Well, as is often the case in families, you cannot invite just one child, and tell the other children in the family that they are not welcome. And TJ, being of the belief that the more the merrier, agreed to host Tre's buddy, his older brother, and younger sister who is Julienne's age, all without me.

Now mind you, that this is all my idea to begin with, but I was just not aware that it was happening. So, on Saturday morning, another friend of the family called to see if another child could spend the day with us. Of course we said yes, as we have had this child over before and he plays very well with our kids. So, as of noon on Saturday the kid count was three.

Julienne and I decided to go to the Autumn Festival in the neighboring town. We parked at the school, rode the shuttle into town, and got us a bag of Kettlecorn to munch. It was great fun. A very sweet lady even gave Julienne a little wooden house for free just because she thought that "she is sooo beautiful!". Julienne was delighted and it was nice to spend the day together.

While we were waiting for the shuttle, TJ calls to let us know that our kid count has risen. At this point, I had one child (Julienne), TJ had two (Tre and friend), and two more had come (buddy and buddy's brother). He asked if I thought it would be okay for buddy's sister, who is Julienne's age, to come over too. Ok......

So, we got home and I decide that if the parents are willing, we will order pizza, watch a movie and let all of the friends spend the night for a huge sleepover. ARE WE CRAZY?

No, not at all. The kids had a great time. They played hide and seek, raced through the house, rode bikes and scooters, danced in the garage, played the golf video game, air hockey, and many other games. We ordered the pizza, they ate and were polite and thankful for the food. There was very little conflict among the six kids and I could not believe how well it went.

Last was the movie. We blew up the air mattress for the living room, and TJ hung with all six kids to watch a movie, while I ran to Walmart for breakfast items. Nightime kid count: TJ and Tanya plus six!

By the time I got home, three of the children had fallen asleep. Well, that was easy! After the movie the remaining three went to sleep and I did not hear a word until almost 8:00 this morning.

I am so thankful that we are able to "host" the friends of our children, and provide fun activities for them in a safe environment. I want our house to be the meeting place for my own children and their friends. This weekend gave me a glimpse into what our lives will be like for the next 14 years (at least)!

Buona cucina con grandi donne (good food with great women!)

I have been looking forward to today all week. Our book club read the book, "The Reluctant Tuscan" by Phil Doran this month for our selection. It was witty and funny, and I enjoyed the book very much. It is the story of a couple who moves to Tuscany after buying a villa, and the daily happenings in the process of remodeling a house in Tuscany.



Normally I look forward to Book club, but this time, Annette decided that she would make us this huge Italian dinner. Well, food and friends is all it takes to get me excited! So I have been counting down the days anticipating the wonderful food I knew we would be eating. Annette is amazing! She is the most together person I know. She is an amazing mother, and her girls are a reflection of her hard work. They are polite and kind, and possess so many of their mother's traits. Annette is a great hostess. She pays attention to the small details when she has invited people over and it is delight to be her guest. And last of all, Annette is an amazing cook. I so look forward to eating anything she has cooked!



So at 6:30, we arrive to a dining room with fall inspired table cloths, pumpkin place holders, golden chargers and the smell of delicious Italian food wafting throughout the house. Annette prepared a menu of crostini appetizers, salad, and three pastas. It was heavenly. The pumpkin ravioli were my favorite and Annette even sent me home with my own to eat later. For dessert, we had raspberry tiramisu! I think I will never be able to eat again.



But even better than the food, were the wonderful women I got to share it with. Our book club has nine faithful members. We have been meeting every month for three years. Each month, one woman chooses a book for the group to read, and then chooses a meeting location. Sometimes we go to a restaurant, sometimes it is someone's house. Every time is filled with laughter and good company.



We are a group of women of different ages, but are mostly affiliated with the teaching profession. The night spent with book club make me laugh, open my mind, and establish continuing and growing friendships with these women. Who would have thought that we would be meeting for three years and still going strong? I am including a list of all the books I can remember reading over the past three years:

1. The Book Club

2. Sense and Sensibility

3. My Sister's Keeper

4. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

5. Atonement

6. The Last Lecture

7. Mudbound

8. One Thousand White Women

9. Run With the Horseman

10. The Audacity of Hope

11. The Thirteenth Tale

12. The City of Falling Angels

13. The Tipping Point

14. Three Cups of Tea

15. One Thousand Splendid Suns

16. The Glass Castle

17. The Other Boleyn Girl

18. The Kite Runner

19. The Secret Life of Bees

20. Memoirs of a Geisha

21. The Good Earth

22. Black and Blue

At this point, these are all the books I can remember. Please tell me if I have forgotten any!