The Adventures of Billy and JJ....and the pulled tooth!

JJ finally lost is tooth!

And, here is a heart warming story as to how: His tooth has been quite loose for awhile. He came to me this morning and said it was ready to come out. I told him that was a 'daddy duty' and we could wait until tonight when Mickey got home from work. Two minutes later, Billy comes in, wearing latex gloves from our first aid kit, holding the bloody tooth. JJ follows....with a bloody napkin in his mouth. Billy, our budding EMT pulled JJ's tooth. What brotherly love:)

Yeah for Dutch!

Dutch got inducted into the HHS Athletic Hall of Fame this weekend. At the football game on Friday night, JJ yelled (as Dutch was being introducted), "Hey Dutch, you are in the hall of fame....aren't ya happy!" I think that sums it up, pretty much.

The Mothman Fesitval, Rio and the 50th Wedding Anniversay

We took a quick trip to Rio Grande this past weekend to celebrate Uncle C and Aunt R's 50th wedding anniversary. And to coincidentally (brace yourselves)go to the MOTHMAN Festival in Point Pleasant, WV. It was a good time, a real whirlwind. There is much to say, but we will just sum it up with our top 5:

JJ:

5) Setting off Fireworks
4) My face paint at the Mothman Festival
3) The Barn
2) Smalley, Tail and No Tail
1) Mothman Pancakes!

Billy:
5) Playing corn hole at the party
4) Red bull on the drive to and from
3) Tail, no tail, Sophie, Rex
2) The Mothman Festival
1) Setting off fireworks in the barn with Smalley

Minnie:
I don't really have a full list....I just loved spending time with family, and having Billy and JJ spend time with family. I think it is fabulous that Mom Mom and Pa hit the 50th wedding anniversary mark last summer, and now Uncle C and Aunt A did it this summer. They are great role models for all of us! And, of course, I loved attending the Mothman Festival. It was all that I expected it to be:) I am not sure why that legend is of such interest to me - but every since Billy got interested in it a few years ago, it has really intrigued me. Attending the festival was a real hoot!

Scenes from the Bus Stop....

Every morning, Henry and Max follow us to the bus stop. Sit patiently with us until the bus arrives....then head back home. I said one day they will get on the bus (Henry probably would) and they will sing a song similar to Mary had a Little Lamb - but this one will be about William and Jake and two black cats following them to school one day.....anybody want to write the lyrics?


We have the best cats.....we only wish Mickey would like them!

Update on Billy.....

Well, he did not win Bookstore Manager. A 4th grade girl won - bummer. But we were all proud that he ran for office as a 3rd grader, and did his speech in front of the school.

And, when one door closes...another opens.....he found out the next day he was elected as his class representative to the SCA. Yay for Billy!

And, more good news.....he got his picture in the local paper. A photographer from the local paper was taking pictures at the Rocktown Trails last week when we were there. And Billy's made it in.

Funny JJ story (are there always some of these!): He was the one who actually saw the photographer taking pictures, and he said, "Take my picture....and starting showing off for him. At one point, he crashed on a hill....jumped up and yelled, 'I'm okay, I'm a daredevil. Print that....I am okay!" So, when he found out that it was Billy in the paper.....he first tried to karate kick him, and then he went to throw a pillow at his head! Billy stole JJ's thunder. But, life works out that way sometimes!

Run Billy, Run!

Billy has decided to run for a student government office this year at school: Bookstore Manager. He had to write a speech and will deliver it to all the 2nd, 3rd and 4th graders today! Here is it:

"My name is Billy and I am running for bookstore manager. I am in Mrs' E's third grade class. I want to be the bookstore manager because I go there a lot and I want it to be well run. If you vote for me, I promise to make sure someone is there to help you on time, every morning. So, please vote for me. Thank you!"

He also made signs to hang around the school, and stickers! He is bummed because JJ is not old enough to vote....so neither are his friends. And lots of the other kids running have siblings that can vote, and campaign. Win or lose, we are proud of him for setting a goal and giving it his all!

Our 'September 11' Jar

So, we have a jar that we keep on the TV and fill it up with loose change. When it is filled, we decide upon a charity or person to give our money to. Our tradition is based on the book, The Christmas Jar. We really had no intention for it to be donated on September 11th, but it works out quite nice that we filled the jar on this day of remembrance.

The contents of the jar this time go to Swim Across America. One of Minnie's college swimming teammates has cancer. She also has two little girls. She thought she was free and clear of the battle last spring, but now has to face another round of chemo because it is back. Another group of Minnie's teammates decided to form a group on the west coast, Team Shelly and raise money by doing a 2 mile open water swim. After telling Billy and JJ about her former teammate and friend, they agreed her cause would be a good recipient of our savings.

The boys have already decided on who to send our next round of savings to....Firefirghters. And hopefully, we can fill the jar just around the time of Christmas, so it really will be a Christmas Jar.

Protective brother....and the daredevil...

We were leaving the parking lot from Chick-Fil-A tonight for dinner and I started backing out. Billy yelled to JJ, 'Hey, you are not buckled all the way'. To which JJ responded, "When you are a daredevil like me, you do not have to buckle all the way!"

Goodbye Summer!

We got in three of our favorite summer activites right before tropical storm Lee set in...for the entire next week!

We said goodbye to summer with a cookout, the waterslide and SMORES!

Monticello

We had a great day at Monticello! We took the family friendly house tour which was fabulous. Billy was appointed 'Mr. Jefferson' of our tour and JJ represented Lewis and Clarke and the mastodon remains they found out west. Since Mickey is such a big fan, we splurged a bit and did the 'Behind the Scenes' tour which took us up to the 2nd and 3rd floor - and the famed Dome Room.

We also spent time at the new welcome center which was fabulous. The boys got to play architect and design their own house and they both really like the polygraph which was an invention of one of Thomas Jefferson's friends that used two pens attached by a device that enabled you to make a direct copy of anything you wrote.

After the day on 'the little mountain', it was off to Crozet Pizza. YUM! Where I am proud to report, I did not burn either of my kids.

We all had a great time, and I crossed another thing of my list! JJ might have been a little toured out, however, because when we started the discussion of going to Jefferson's other home, Poplar Forest sometime soon, JJ responded...."I would rather eat a squash than go there!"

RIP Smokey!

Our fabulous fish, Smokey was found floating in his bowl this afternoon. We are all sad because he really was a great fish. We buried him in the fairy garden, and JJ volunteered to give the 'honors' (as he called them). This is what he said: "Smokey was the best fish a boy could have, and I am going to miss him....and if I say anymore, I am going to start crying!"

Speaking of JJ, and crying, and words of wisdom: Because of a late night last night, JJ had a mini-meltdown and when I asked him why in the world he was crying, he replied: "I guess the tears just wanted to get out of my eyes"!

Our summer banner

Tomorrow is the official end of summer - and boy, did we have a good one. We made a memory banner of all the highlights (it was actually inspired by the Tibetan prayer flags hanging at Disney's Animal Kingdom)

Here is what is remembered:

Harry Potter
Cookouts
The Quarry
Smurfs
Biking
10th Wedding Anniversary
Camping
BBC / Lemonade Stand
Eeyore
Evelyn (The Buxton Inn Ghost)
ERRA Swim Team
Hiking

Labor day weekend....so far!

The forecast of threatening rain has kept us from our original plan of camping this weekend, so we too the opportunity to LABOR around the house and clean out closets! Whew, a lot of work! Mickey took the boys to the firehouse this morning to satisfied their current obsession with firefighting while I put the finishing touches on cleaning. Then we celebrated by going to Riven Rock Park.....and who was there, none other than JJ's new BFF Sir Lancealot. Good times!

Now we are going to finish our summer banner project...and then tomorrow we are headed to Monticello.