We Can Do It!! Can YOU?!?

Grace finally learned to do it. Anne came by it naturally. Can you roll your tongue too?

Little Chatter Box

We love to wake up and talk to each other in mom's bed every morning. We have a good chat every night before he goes to sleep all night. He's charming, witty, and simply adorable.

Diary Queen

When the box arrived and the clothes were on we heard the following: Grace: I can't believe it! I'm finally a fairy queen. I always wanted to be a fairy queen. Anne: I'm a Dairy Queen! I'm a Dairy Queen! Look me....I'm a Dairy Queen!

All Eyes

The Data is colleted...here are the eye color results for our family

BLUE EYES: 25

Anne, Great-Grandma Butler, Grandma Butler, Grandpa Butler, Susan, Rachel, Ben, Joe, Daniel, Richard, Bill, Scott, Porter, Gabe, Loran, Grant, Tucker, Linden, Anton, Zackary, Ethan, Jackson, Kaylee, Jessica, Don

GREEN EYES: 13

Edwin, Leonora, Maria, David, Karen, Grandma Peggy, Great-Grandma Evie, Jessica, Evan, Ali, Josh, Amber, Kevin

BROWN EYES: 14 Grace, Jennifer, Grandpa Dave, Tim, Great-Grandpa Ray (Uncles Steve, Brian, and Christopher), Paul, Suzanne, Makala, Tana, Brenan, Brittanie

Our New Pet....KEVIN

We enjoy reading Shel Silverstein poems and there is one is particular that makes me laugh because I'm the kind of parent that doesn't want a pet in the house. Hot Dog by Shel Silverstein I have a hot dog for a pet, The only kind my folks would let Me get. He does smell sort of bad And yet, He absolutely never gets The sofa wet. We have a butcher for a vet, The strangest vet you ever met. Guess we're the weirdest family yet, To have a hot dog for a pet. The girls really want a pet. Edwin and I are glad we rent and our lease prohibits pets. So we had to come up with some kind of solution since Anne is adamant that she will clean up the bunny poop and Grace will pick up the doggie poop. After watching the Pixar movie UP! the girls wanted to have a big Kevin for a pet. KEVIN is a pet I can manage. Kevin is approximately 4 1/2 feet tall. He lives on the living room wall. Grace and Anne both drew pictures of Kevin with Doug, Mr. Fredrickson, Russell and the mean man. We greet Kevin every morning and feed him chocolate for breakfast. Occasionally we are caught patting his tummy. He is a wonderful addition to our family and our home decor.

The happy artists/new pet owners!

We love Kevin!

We might be weird, but Kevin is no Shel Silverstein hot dog.

2 Months

James is two months old and still growing at a tremendous rate. We went to the doctor yesterday for his check-up and found some outstanding numbers. Weight: 14 lbs 1 oz Height: 25 in Head: 16 1/3 in The comparison between James and the girls follows Anne (2mo check-up) Weight: 11 lbs 3oz Height: 24 in Head: 15 1/8 in Grace (2mo check-up) Weight: 11lbs 9 oz Height: 24 1/4 in Head: 15 in So there's our little man in comparison to his sisters. He's a growing boy, but no match to his sisters at this time. (Hat and booties were knitted by Grandma Butler. Thanks Grandma!)

This is James with our friend Jackson. James was born two weeks before Jackson and was three pounds heavier at birth. Ah, we love babies!! In every size!

Pioneer Children

Family Photo

Pinatas for the Crafty

The best part about making a pinata is making it of course!! Grace and Anne liked helping (they even got messy which is becoming a big taboo at our house lately). We enjoyed the week preparing and anticipating this fabulous party tradition. Here is Princess Leia's head mummified and baking in the oven. Han Solo was frozen in carbonate so we baked Leia in the oven!!! We found instructions, 50 years of experience, and phenomenal inspiration at http://www.ultimatepapermache.com

Final product included happy kids, pleased parents, and a great afternoon pre-party activity.

Birthday Grace

Sunday evening I set the table for birthday breakfast and put out a few decorations. First thing Monday morning Edwin and I heard Grace and Anne running around looking at everything.

Grace: Balloons! Look Anne, that says "Happy Birthday!" It's my birthday!

Anne: Where Princess Leia Cake? There no Princess Leia Cake anywhere.

Soon the girls were jumping on me and Edwin with delight as we pretended we would rather be sleeping. The first thing Grace asked us was, "When do I turn four?" Edwin told her she was already four and then she delightedly screeched "I'm four! I'm four!"

We took family photos with a friend that morning (hopefully we get copies soon). Then we had the neighbors over to break the pinata!

Grace was the birthday girl and took the first swings at Princess Leia.

Anne gave it a try too.

When all the kids were sadly unsuccessful it was mom's turn. (I was afraid Edwin was going to capture me striking out, but thankfully I made contact.)

Grace and Anne were super excited about storm troopers and an Emperial Walker on the Ice Planet Hoth cake!

We topped the evening off with LEGOS!! What more can a girl want!

All in all it was a great day! Thanks for the presents, phone calls, and love!

Happy birthday beautiful Grace.

Baby Blessing

We blessed James this Sunday, and it was a wonderful event. Edwin performed the blessing with our home teacher, Troy, and two members from the bishopric standing in with them. Our neighbors attended church with their two children so it made for a lively front row. We are grateful for the friendships we are building here and the opportunity to participate in missionary work. James is seven weeks old and he is HUGE! I call him "Giant Baby" when we are at church around all those little babies born around the same time. He is starting to smile and laugh and we are enjoying his fine company.

Anne and Grace were happy to wear their new winter/Christmas dresses sewn by Grandma Peggy. What a beautiful group of children if I do say so myself.

We love you and miss you all. Wish we could be with you during all our great events, but all in due time.

From children but not FOR CHILDREN!!!

Sunday afternoon we finished lunch and Edwin was making some frosting for our leftover sugar cookies. Then came an unforgettable Gracism! Grace: I don't really like the cookie part, but frosting................is delicious. Edwin (snickering from the kitchen): Butt frosting. Grace: (pondering for a moment) Poop is icky butt frosting. Thankfully Edwin had to explain why he and Grace needed to apologize for their dinner comments because I was doubled over in laughter hiding under the table!! Changing diapers is finally humorous!

October Activities

The Ingall girls with their little baby pumpkin boy and our neighbors Claire and Jacob enjoyed a night at the ward Halloween carnival. It was a great evening.

Cute little man has a smile!!!!

Halloween crafts...

Jacob and Claire enjoyed the afternoon at our house doing crafts and playing games.

Dead Brides Grace and Anne

Dead brides must wear a dress....yes that includes mommy too! Wouldn't you like to see my dead bride outfit!?!

Laura And Mary Ingalls

Laura Ingalls (Grace..because she has brown eyes) and Mary Ingalls (Anne...because she has blue eyes) are happy to wear their dresses, aprons and bonnets. We love pioneers. The girls chose their own fabrics and I did all the sewing.

Star Wars Fan Club

We have joined the ranks. We are "one with the universe." We are members of the Star Wars Fan Club. Here is Grace sporting her newest fashion craze....Princess Leia braids. The other day Grace kept referring to herself as Queen Leia while Anne was Princess Leia. I thought they created new pretend characters to role play, but then the familiar names like Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader started to sound in my ears. Puzzled to know where the girls learned of Luke Skywalker and other Star Wars characters I asked Grace. She simply said, "Daddy tells us Star Wars stories at bedtime!" Princess Leia (Grace) ran after Luke Skywalker (Anne because "she wears pants") to escape the evil Darth Vader.

The girls can't wait to get the movies from the library! Ah, Friday Night Movie Night is going to be a Star Wars Megathon! This is what I get for watching Star Wars with John and Andrea as I waited to go into labor with both the girls!

***I'm not even a fan of Star Wars...Maybe by the end of this fad I'll be a die hard Star Wars Enthusiast too...we will see.

Beautiful Days at Home

It was our first week with James home and we LOVE having him home!! Our days are spent cuddling on the sofa, reading books...lots of books, playing games, baking bread, visiting the doctor, and painting, gluing, cutting, coloring or anything else crafty Grace and Anne create.

My beautiful boy!

We enjoy watching James smile and laugh while he dreams.

It's a JAMES SANDWICH!

The snow came this weekend, the cold is here, and I'm ready to settle in for a long winter in the house with the girls. Baking, indexing, and cuddling are on the top of the "to do list" as we spend our days snuggled in the house. Here's to winter, hot chocolate, warm blankets, good books and movies, soup and home made bread.

It is good to be home!

James had a tough time the first couple of days.

He liked visits from his sisters.

His sisters liked visiting him.

Grace and Anne liked putting on the "teddy bear" masks and blue gloves.

But we're most excited about him coming home!

James Edwin Butler

Born 9/25/09 at 01:57 in the morning. 9lbs, 8 ounces. 21.5 inches long. He had a hard time breathing when he first came out and then after he feeds his oxygen goes down a little. He'll be staying in the intensive care unit for a couple of days at least. Mom is recovering well. Please include James in your prayers.

Posting Projects

These are the aprons I designed and sewed for the girls the first week we arrived in Iowa. Grace asked me to add a ruffle to her apron because it wasn't "long enough." Both aprons are reversible and the girls enjoy wearing them. Aunt Susan is the queen of repurposing! So with a little inspiration from her and some great ideas from the library we came home and created some of our recycled art! We used cardboard from cereal boxes to cut the template we wanted to decorate. Using food coloring and Elmer's glue we painted aluminum foil, let it dry for a day or two (the more food coloring you use the more vibrant the color because the glue dries clear and the color is muted.) Then we cut the foil into squares and decorated the templates. Next step is to decorate them with ribbons, trim, and other random things we find....but all in good time. When we emptied the last cereal box, Grace looked at me and said, "I know, we can cut that into a cardboard dinosaur!" Dinosaurs, people, dogs, turtles, and spiders are on the list for recycled cardboard collages. We will be some crafty girls this winter...I'm super excited and can hardly wait to get started.