The Butterfields

Oh my November

2011-12-08T13:35:00.000-08:00

As you can see, I only made it through half of the month with my thankful posts. Be assured there is a ton of things I am thankful for, they just didn't make on the blog and here goes why....

That sweet little goal keeper you see,well he had a rough month. We finished up soccer season. He was sick(strep throat kind of sick) for almost a week and a half before the last game. Missed church, school and cub scouts. Well towards the end of the week he was feeling better so I let him play. Probably shouldn't have but oh well. He played and they finished off there season with another win! He went back to school the following Monday. I get a call from the nurse. Parker twisted his ankle during recess. So home he came. At the end of the week was his trophy night and the Turkey tournament. So he rested that foot, even voluntarily stayed in during recess. He played awesome that weekend! He's back to feeling better, hopefully for a long time.

So in the midst of Parker being sick, David gets viral pink eye! Doctor says he can't go to work for the rest of the week. He stays home, tries to get his eye to heal. Drops weren't working and the cream the eye doctor gave him was making the skin surrounding his eye scaly, think like a snake molting and that was him. GROSS! Just when we think life is getting better, I come home Saturday night to a very sick David. His ear was swollen 3 times the size it normally is. Crazy! I didn't give him a choice, into urgent care we went. Thankfully Justine was able to come over and hang out at the house while the kids slept. Oh I didn't mention it was 10pm! They check him out, don't have a clue whats wrong with his ear. They decide to check his blood sugar. He is diabetic ya know. Ya that was out of control and didn't register on there machine. Automatic hospital admit for David. After a couple of days there, IV antibiotics(crazy infection in a gland in his neck) insulin shots and new oral meds. He came home. He still was super sick. The new meds made his stomach hurt. Thanksgiving was a blur, he did eat but not much.

Oh and what I didn't tell you is I got strep throat in the middle of all this! But as Moms do I kept on truckin. Madi and Cole made it out of November pretty healthy. Hopefully December is uneventful. Although today Madi has quite the couch and green gunk so I doubt we make it through the holidays sick free.

Day 13-Antibiotics

2011-11-13T21:14:00.000-08:00

Well Parker passed his strep throat on to me this week. Lovely! I made it in to urgent care and sure enough my test came back positive too! I've got a heavy duty(2 pills 4 times a day) antibiotic to knock this crud out of me. Hopefully it happens soon because this house doesn't function well when I am down.

Day 10,11,12

2011-11-13T21:12:00.000-08:00

Day 10- Good books. Not any in particular, I am just thankful that I can read what I want when I want. There's nothing better then getting lost in a good book.

Day 11- Today is Veterans day. I am thankful to all those men and women who served our country so that we can enjoy the freedoms we have.

Day 12- Soccer- We have had a great soccer season with Parker this year. His team has gone 9-1-1. I'm thankful for the friends that not only Parker has made but the friends David and I have made as well. We've got one tournament left for 2011 and then there is no soccer in Parker's future till late spring. We'll miss our weekly friends.

Day 9 - Pampered Chef

2011-11-09T08:32:00.000-08:00

I joined Pampered Chef again. I love it just as much as the first time I sold it. Its not just the products I love. Its the social aspect of it for me. I am a pretty shy stay in my own corner of the world type of person. Selling Pampered Chef forces me to go outside of my comfort zone and for that I am grateful.

Day 8- Pumpkin

2011-11-09T08:30:00.000-08:00

Fall is my favorite time of year to bake. I love to bake all things pumpkin or apple. There is just something in those flavors/smells that screams comfort to me.
Here's a link to my favorite pumpkin recipe

Day 7-Antibiotics

2011-11-09T08:28:00.000-08:00

Parker has strep throat. He is feeling so much better though with two days of antibiotics in him. Yay! Now lets hope that he doesn't pass it on to anyone.

Day 6-Primary Children

2011-11-07T08:34:00.000-08:00

This is my most hated and most loved time of year having a calling in Primary. We have one week till our primary program, its stressful! Making sure everyone has a part and they know where they are sitting. However, the joy that fills my heart when you hear those innocent voices sing the songs that they have worked so hard all year to learn is priceless. This next Sunday I have to sit on the stand with them while they do there parts. I sit with my back to the congregation so that I can help the kids when they need it. Its all a ruse though, I really sit with my back to them so they can't see the buckets of happy tears that want to fall through the entire program. If you want to learn more about my beliefs and the beliefs that these children will be sharing on Sunday, just click that little picture of Christ. You know the one, its up there on the right side of your screen.

Day 5- Dates with my boy

2011-11-07T08:30:00.000-08:00

I got a chance to spend some good quality one on one time with Parker on Saturday night. We went to Ivars and then did a little shopping together. We were able to talk about all sorts of things that we don't normally get a chance to with his siblings around. I think he and I both had a really good time. He reminds me so much of myself. We love to talk books. After Saturday he has me thinking he needs his own e-reader. He read for about an hour and a half on my nook earlier in the day and raved about how nice and handy it was. I think he gets the sales men part of him from his Dad. The video above is one from when he was a few years younger. He went through a stage that instead of yes he would say fo-sho! We would LOL every time. Love you Parker!

Day 4- The School Bus

2011-11-04T13:00:00.000-07:00

I love the school bus. Yes I get a tad annoyed when it shows up late in the afternoon or a few minutes late in the morning. However, the last two days I have really appreciated it. Parker has been sick and I haven't felt to hot either. Knowing that the bus will be there to pick up and take Cole to school is so so nice. I don't have to drag sick kids out of the house to take the healthy ones to school or to pick them up.

Day 3- Christmas Music

2011-11-03T08:42:00.000-07:00

It seems funny to be talking about Christmas music during November. However, Christmas music stirs up all sorts of memories for me. Especially of my Mom. It was every thanksgiving that we would plot out our shopping trip for black Friday. We'd wake up at the crack of dawn(sometimes before dawn) blare the Christmas music and hit the stores running. Thats a picture of one of my sweet nieces with my Mom. Its one of my favorite pictures.

24 Days of Thankfullness Day 1 & 2

2011-11-02T08:22:00.000-07:00

I forgot to blog yesterday so here are Days 1 & 2

Day 1- I am thankful for crisp fall days. Yesterday was a beautiful WA fall day. There's something about crisp cool fall air on a bright sunny blue skied day that just can't be beat in my book. Not even nice warm summer days beat a day like yesterday.

Day 2- Fog and its mystery. While walking to the bus with Cole just now we had a great talk about fog and frost. We laughed and joked about what things could be hiding just in front of us in the fogginess. He was in one of his wild and crazy hard to rein in moods this morning. Walking him (Parker's sick) to the bus and having a fun conversation with just he and I changed the day for both of us I think.

Bitter sweet time of year

2011-09-01T11:42:00.000-07:00

Its the most bitter sweet time of year for me. On the one hand I love having my boys home everyday, doing fun things together,sleeping late, chilling out together,exploring new places together on the other hand its time for schedule for normalcy. That's right its back to school time.

Our school district is in major turmoil right now, the teachers are back at work today with no contract. A strike still looming on the horizon. There only fighting for whats fair and well deserved for not only themselves but for our kids as well. I stand behind our teachers 100%. I trust my children with them for 6.5 hours every day. I don't think any profession deserves more then those that teach our children. That being said, my boys went back to school today. They have fabulous teachers this year. I am pretty sure Parker's teacher is going to pull him out of his quiet little shell he tends to hide in. Cole's teacher is experienced and deals well with kids that need that little extra helping hand. I can't wait to volunteer in there rooms, to get to know these teachers and for my boys to make new friends. 4 more hours and they'll be back with me, telling me all about there first day over chocolate cupcakes and milk.

Click on the pictures to see bigger

Happy 1st Grader Handsome 3rd Grader

Madi wanted in on the picture action and had to strike a pose with her brothers at the bus stop.

Mothers Day

2011-05-08T21:26:00.000-07:00

or the day of the year that I would just like to do away with. This year it seems that its harder then the last 5 mothers days. Not sure why or what changed. Well actually I do know what changed. I did. I've come to understand the gospel just a bit more in the last few months. Not because I was doing some major scripture/soul searching. It just happened and for me it happened at the perfect time. I'm not the emotional type. Never have been really. However, I found myself crying at the drop of a hat on Easter Sunday. It started as one of those really horrible no good, you just ought to go back to bed and start over days. We've all had our far share of those days I am sure. After yelling and I mean yelling at not just the kids but David too, we left for church. Was I in the right attitude to be at church, absolutely not. I sat through sacrament till just after the young men sat down. I just couldn't sit in the chapel any longer. I deserted David and the kids. I found myself wallowing in self pity and having a wo/poor as me party. I walked back and forth through the halls. Catching tidbits here and there of the speakers. Not really paying attention. If you have ever been in one of our church buildings you know that we have some beautiful artwork. If you haven't been in one, find one. The missionaries give church tours and will gladly tell you all about this amazing art. I started to look at them a little more closely. I stopped and started at one in particular for the longest time. I realized right then for the first time in a very long while that my heavenly father loves me. Not because I try to be perfect(because I am far from) but because I am ME. Shocked me out of that pity party a little. I had sharing time that day. Had I prepared one, nope. Not a good thing when you have children counting on some fun Easter sharing time. I decided to show a video instead. Cop out, YES. It had to be though. I was in no way shape or form to try and convey the wonderful messages of the atonement to children. I picked a video out of the library and went with it. That video just happened to be what I needed, even more so then the picture in the hallway. It depicted Christs life and all he went through for US. Reminded me of why I chose to go to the church that I do. Reminded me that I am a child of god, that he loves me and everyone for that matter. Reminded me that even if I let go of that Iron rod for awhile I can find my way back. It also reminded me that I have a mother who loves me and I know that one day I will see her again. Do you know how great that knowledge is? I do! I wanted to be bitter today, I tried to be bitter. Then I decided to pop onto facebook. I read all the wonderful messages about my mother and other mothers. I thought back on why I do what I do, day in and day out. Its monotonous, its underpaid, sometimes very emotional draining. However the rewards are HUGE. I wouldn't trade any member of my family for anything. They all play an integral part in my life. I love being a mother, I love knowing that one day I will see mine again and most of all I love knowing that I am part of one great big eternal family.

Cole's Antics

2011-04-28T09:51:00.000-07:00

So I used to think Parker was the mischievous one in our family, boy was I wrong! For no other reason then I want to remember these things happened is why there is a blog post today.

Begining of Febuary, Davids extra work laptop went missing. Just dissapeared. Kids claimed they hadn't seen it, didn't take it etc. Well on laundry day I found it, next to Cole's bed. Along with that lap top I found various screw drivers. You can already see this isn't going to end well right? Pulled out the lap top from its hiding spot and opened it up. Only to find that 90% of the keyboard was missing! He had taken the screw driver to it and popped all the keys off! Oh and not only the keys but there very specific they only fit in a certain spot plastic key holder thingy. UGH! I had to make that phone call to David and tell him I found it and what happened. Thank goodness for accidental warranties!

About a week ago I walked into the same child's bedroom to find all the electrical outlet covers taken off. Light switch and every plug in there. I think there are around 4 outlets. Apparently he didn't like those child proof outlets! Thankfully he didn't mess with the actual electrical outlet and didn't get hurt. That would have been BAD!

Oh and lets not forget the time he took his DS on the bus because he wanted to let one of his friends borrow it! Just trying to be a nice friend I guess. That same week I got a call from his teacher saying he had 2 wii games and 2 DVD's at school. Another kids DAD and Cole were trading movies and games unbeknownst to me. Ya that didn't go over well with me or his teacher.

Just yesterday he got onto my facebook page and proceeded to change my status and post self portraits of himself!

He keeps us hopping thats for sure and I wouldn't trade him for anything in this world!

Parkers Baptism

2011-04-05T09:41:00.000-07:00

In our church children are baptized at 8ys old. Parker was very excited for his 8th birthday to come.He had his interview with the bishop the Sunday before his baptism. He went in alone, no parents. He won't tell us much of what they talked about other then prayer and scripture study. He received his very own scriptures and a real CTR ring for his baptism. He also was able to pick put everything that had to do with his baptism program. He chose Aunt Susan for the baptism talk and Trisha for the Holy ghost talk. Uncle Fred and Uncle Tim for prayers and the Grandpas for the witness's. He chose the opening and closing song. Sage played the piano and Genne led the music. We were amazed at the number of people that showed up to support Parker in making this wonderful decision in his life. The relief society room was full, so we moved to the chapel. It was fairly full as well. Thanks to all those that came!

Warning! One very long very picture heavy December-April catch up post.

2011-04-05T09:28:00.000-07:00

December
December was a not so good but good still month. Our Chevy Venture decided to call it quits. We ended up buying a Toyota Sienna that we think is fabulous! Of course December ended with Christmas. The kids were very excited for not only the gifts but the time that we get to spend with family on Christmas eve.A few days after Christmas it snowed making our winter vacation from school that much more fun! Here are just a few pictures of the month of December in our neck of the woods.

January

The start of a new year is always a good thing. We started the year off well.David finally got a raise at work, which in turn keeps us where we are. Close to friends and family. Just the way we like it.

15th-My Mom has been gone 5yrs. Seems like yesterday still. However each year gets just a teeny bit easier as I realize more and more what our Heavenly Fathers Plan really is all about. No worries that I won't ever see her again, because I will and it will be a joyous reunion.

24th- Cole's Birthday. He was really excited this year for his birthday. He got a Cabellas hunting game for the wii and loves it. He also asked for a baseball birthday cake. I had a lot of fun making this one. It was a double layer Chocolate cake with a chocolate cream cheese filling. A little on the heavy side but still good.

Cole's favorite gift was from Aunt Joanne. He got some Pokemon Cards of his very own! He has since added a lot to those and the obsession is even stronger now.

Febuary

Not much happened in Febuary. We celebrated Danica's birthday with her family at Red Robin. Parker completed his first ever science project. He chose to see which color candle burns the fastest. Turns out it didn't really matter the color.

The other two things that happened in Feb. were that we bought a new bed and a new couch! We have wanted a king size bed for awhile now. We finally did it. David insisted on tying it to the top of the van in the rain to get it home. It was quite the experience. To top off the bed, David slammed his finger in the van door. Now his finger matches his very ugly big toe that a trailer hitch fell on.

We also bought a sectional couch, which David also transported in the van. We love both pieces of our new furniture!

March

2nd: Madi;s birthday. Lots of fun. We pierced her ears for her birthday. She loves them. She sat unbelievably still and didn't even make a peep through the whole process. Strange girl! She also is way into Disney favorite moments dolls. She takes them every where!

Classic Madi, very opinionated and moody!

She loves to pose lately. Just like a model she changes the pose with every snap of the camera.

15th- Parkers 8th Birthday. He asked for a MP3 player this year. More specific an MP3 player that had a FM tuner. His favorite station- LA Grande 99.3- Otherwise known in our house as the Mariachi music station. Thanks to my Dad, he has a love of Mexican music. Not because we are mexican but because apparently Grandpa listens to that in his Honda. :) He also started Cub scouts this month. He loves it! The other important thing for Parker was his Baptism. Thats a whole blog post by its self. Its coming up soon!

Parker requested Hostess Cupcakes for dessert for his joint family party with Ryan. They were a lot of fun to make and really yummy too.

For Parkers first pack meeting it happened to be the Pinewood derby race. He had a ton of fun designing,painting and racing his car. He came in 3rd place! Not to bad for a first timer!

The end of March wrapped up with Spring Break. I usually dread this time of year. The weather is cruddy, not a good time for vacation etc. However this year I was determined to have a good time with the kids. And that we did! We spent a couple of hours at the library checking out books and taking a really fun class on Paper Airplane making. Lots of lunch dates. When it stopped raining we headed to the park. We decided to check out Ft. Nisqually. That was a pretty cool day. We learned a lot about pioneers and fur traders. To end the week off right we went to Charlie Safari with Liz and the gang. Oh how we love that place. The kids play hard and have a fabulous time. Liz and I get to enjoy visiting and watching the very quick little feet of Cooper. Sadly I didn't take any pictures of our adventures. We were to busy having fun!

Has it been that long really?

2011-02-12T23:24:00.000-08:00

I am amazed at how long it has been since I blogged even the most minute thing. Major holidays have come and gone, the first of the year, birthdays have started in our family and all sorts of other fun stuff. I am sure I will get back to it at some point just not sure when yet. You all can look forward to one heavily laden post filled with pictures from all of our fun things. Coming soon to your computer screen!

And Thirty Days is done!

2010-11-30T22:01:00.000-08:00

Day 29: South Tacoma Honda. We unexpectedly had to buy a new vehicle today. Not what you want to be doing the month before christmas. Our van decided to quit on us, lovely right. Well in the midst of talking and looking and test driving. A good family friend called to tell us about a van that hadn't hit the lot yet. Fabulous we said, we'll be down at lunch to take a look. It was a bit over the budget for what we wanted to spend. However it was by far nicer and had lower miles then any of the ones we had been looking at. We took it for a drive, it drove and rode great. Thankfully and in true David fashion we get a good deal which includes him doing some computer work for them at a later date. To say the least, I am thankful that we have a reliable van that David can go to and from work with and I can drive to the places I need to be.

Day 30: Wow what long month! I am thankful for my life, everything in it and everything about it. This month (I know I have said this already) I have really taken a look at those small and simple things to be thankful for. Its been great. I want to continue looking for those things, I just won't post about all of them.

thirty Days- Day 25,26,27 & 28

2010-11-28T20:03:00.000-08:00

Day 28: Today I am thankful for family. For family that are willing to help us look for cars through text messages, for family that are willing to loan us funds with out asking to buy a van, and for family that are willing to loan us a van to have transportation.

Day 27: Nintendo DS Systems: In the car for 12 hours is long enough. Our trip home last night was 15 hours in snow and rain. The DS kept each of my children entertained for various amounts of time and made our trip that much more enjoyable.

Day 26: The thrill of a good deal. Black Friday is my favorite day of the year. I love the crowds and the deals. Getting a good deal makes me feel good. Its my own personal retail therapy.

Day 25:Thanksgiving Day and all that it entails. Not just the food but the chance that it gives me to truly think of those things that I am thankful for. This month has been great, its given me the opportunity to think daily of the things that I am grateful for. Its easier to go about my daily ho hums with an attitude of gratitude that's for sure.

Thirty Days- Day 23 & 24

2010-11-25T15:21:00.000-08:00

Day 23- Cole, he is by far one of the most trying children around. However he is also one of the most sweet caring boys around. He loves his brother and sister and we love him. He is way into baseball and all things sports related, it makes it easier to watch sports on TV when he enjoys them as well.

Day 24- Madilyn, what a crazy precocious little girl to have in our house. She keeps us on our toes thats for sure. She makes us laugh. She isn't like most kids who cry and whine when they are tired. She gets giggly and silly. You can't help but laugh thats for sure!

Thirty Days- Day 22

2010-11-22T09:00:00.000-08:00

Parker, he is such a sweet sweet boy. I'm thankful he likes to read as much as I do. He is a hard worker, gets his school work and homework done usually with out much of a fuss. He is kind to his siblings and friends. He is a fabulous defender for his soccer team. These days you can find him kicking a ball over and over again in the yard. Our family wouldn't be complete with out him thats for sure.

Thirty Days-Day 21

2010-11-21T09:00:00.000-08:00

I am pretty thankful to the crazy lady above. She is one of my older sisters. She is also the only one that lives out of state and we don't see but once or twice a year. This year we decided to crash her house for Thanksgiving. There are certain things that my sister and I share a love of. One of the biggest being shopping. We love to shop and if we find a super good deal, well thats even better. She is one of the few people I know that can shop all day. This year I won't have to drag David along on the day after Thanksgiving. I'll be heading out the door with Pam instead. Yay!

Thirty Days- Day 20

2010-11-20T09:00:00.000-08:00

This marks a special week. This week I am going to be thankful not for things but for people in my life. Starting with my family. We got together this summer for the first time since my Mom's funeral. All 8 of us siblings were in one spot at the very same time. It was great seeing everyone. It happened to be Debs wedding so it was one great big party. We took some pictures with each other. The one above is from Oldest to Youngest with my Dad in the middle. How thankful I am that the majority of them live close by and we get together often. My kids know and love there aunts and uncles. They also have close relationships with there cousins as well. I'm even more thankful that thanks to the gospel of Jesus Christ I can see the lady that started this whole group again someday.

Thirty days-Day 19

2010-11-19T09:00:00.000-08:00

Blankets, warm soft cuddly blankets. They make being sick or cold just a little bit easier. I love to curl up in blankets and read a good book. Blankets also remind me of my niece Sage. She would bring me a blanket and a book to get all warm and "tozzy" One of my favorite memories of her.

Thirty Days-Day 18

2010-11-18T07:00:00.000-08:00

Washing Machines and Dryers
I'm thankful we have these. I don't know what I would do with out them. I can't imagine living in the past and washing things by hand. I get annoyed if something says hang dry or hand wash. Modern convinces really do make life easier and me happier.

Thirty Days-Day 17

2010-11-17T08:44:00.000-08:00

Car top carriers! With out it, we wouldn't have room to go to Idaho next week. Our van is broke, so we are taking my Dads van that has little to no room in it. Thanks to Davids sister Karen we are no longer worried about where things will go. She let us borrow her car top carrier to stow all of our things away. It will be pretty nice not feeling like we are stuffed into a can of sardines with all our luggage.

Thirty Days- Day 16

2010-11-16T22:11:00.000-08:00

I'm about half way through the month with my Thirty day challenge. Today I am thankful for whoever in cyber space came up with the idea of blogging,tweeting, face booking or whatever it is you do to say your thankful. Its really opened my eyes and made me appreciate the world around me in ways I never did before. Everyday life now reminds me to have an attitude of gratitude. If you want to read more about having that type of attitude read here.

Thirty Days-Day 15

2010-11-15T09:54:00.000-08:00

Modern Medicine. I woke up feeling a bit under the weather to say the least today. I'm thankful that we have such things as dayquil and Motrin to help me make it through the day today. Hopefully this sore throat, head ache and body ache crud will go away by Friday!

Thrity Days-Day 14

2010-11-15T09:52:00.000-08:00

A good nights sleep. Last night as I crawled into bed after a very long Sunday, I was thankful for my blankets and praying that my children would all sleep in there own beds. Thankfully they all slept and slept soundly. I was able to get a good nights rest.

Thirty Days-Day 13

2010-11-15T09:47:00.000-08:00

Soccer Coaches: My boys(and I may be biased) have the best soccer coach. She's been there coach now for 3 years. The boys absolutely love her. She takes the time to work with and teach the boys the game and how to play it. She doesn't just throw them all out and say go get the ball. They each have positions and know how to play those positions. What ever Coach Stacy says goes. There's no question that she loves the sport and more importantly loves the boys she works with.

Thirty Days-Day 12

2010-11-12T12:58:00.000-08:00

Music- especially calming peaceful music. Whenever I am in a bad/stressed mood, I think of certain pieces of music that just immediately calm my nerves.Then there's the flip side of this. Some songs my children and I love so much that we belt them out at the top of our lungs and dance. It makes my children and I extremely happy.

Thirty Days-Day 11

2010-11-12T12:54:00.000-08:00

Sunshine- Its a classic bright crisp fall day here in WA. The sunshine make me happy. I can't help but be in a good mood when its beautiful rays stream through my windows and brighten up the house.

Thirty Days-Day 9 & 10

2010-11-10T16:41:00.000-08:00

Day 9- Canned fruit and Jams. Its hard work but I am thankful for it come winter. My kids love having it to eat. I am thankful that I know how to can it and store it.

Day 10- Books. I love a good read. Its my form of escape. Many time my house has gone to waste while I was engrossed in whatever it was that I was reading. Thankfully Parker has joined me in the I love reading club. It makes my heart burst with joy to see him enjoying a good book.

Thirty Days-Day 8

2010-11-08T08:09:00.000-08:00

David, thats who I am thankful for today and everyday really. I can truly say that he's my best friend. He's

someone I can depend on. He's a great dad and husband. His number one best thing, he doesn't argue. I look up to that because I do argue and think its a horrible thing! He has studied hard the last few months in order to apply for some new jobs. He's passed all his tests and now has two interviews today. Cross your fingers that either one of them work out. It would be a huge blessing for our family.

We love him even if he does wear flip flops in snow!

Thirty Days- Day 7

2010-11-07T19:40:00.000-08:00

Primary Children

For weeks we have worried and stressed over our primary children knowing there parts and the music. We practiced and practiced. Today was our final practice, the one where we do a dry run through everything to make sure it all flows. I am happy to say that they sounded great. They knew parts and they knew the songs. They sounded like a heavenly choir. I may be biased but I think our primary is fantabulous! Now I don't have any worries that things will go well next week. Before I was called to work in primary, there was one song that would bring me to tears. Well now half the children's hymn book does. There is just something about those sweet children's spirits that can't help but invite the holy spirit in.

thirty days-Day 6

2010-11-06T22:24:00.000-07:00

Finding something to be thankful for tonight is going to be hard. Our furnace quit working today again and our van door decided to fall off tonight. I'm just waiting for that infamous third thing to happen. However, in an attempt to find something positive out of tonight I will be thankful for my father in law. With out him we probably wouldn't have been able to get the van door back on. Its not fixed but its closed and keeping the rain out and those of us that ride in the van dry.

Thirty Days-Day 4 & 5

2010-11-05T15:50:00.000-07:00

Day 4- Salt
I know that seems kind of silly. I'm not one of those give me the chocolate and no one gets hurt kind of gals. However you better not touch the chips,fries,etc.Salt reminds me that things are full of flavor. With out it things would be boring and plain.

Day 5- heat, the weather has turned very fall-ish around here. Our furnace has been acting up and wasn't working right. We called the furnace man, he came with in an hour and we had heat. It was a simple no cost fix. Yay! But it also reminded me how thankful I am for it because with out it things get pretty cold.

Thirty Days Day 3

2010-11-03T09:50:00.000-07:00

I'm thankful today and everyday for that old guy there mowing the yard. He's cantankerous, ornery,hard headed, and stubborn. However he is also wise, loving, caring, honest,strong,hard working,patient,intuitive and well my favorite old guy on our block. Its a treasure for my kids to live next door to Grandpa. We take for granted sometimes that he lives next door. My boys love to hang out with him. He takes them for hours at a time to pick up uniforms for the uniform bank. He takes them to lunch, to places I generally don't take them. He reads to them when ever they ask. Where's Waldo and I spy books are a favorite of his and theirs. Right now in life I wouldn't want to be anywhere else except for living next door to my Dad. He's getting older in years and we just might not have him around forever so we treasure the moments and time we spend with him.

If you could keep this guy in your prayers tomorrow. He go's in for some minor surgery as he put it. Well I don't think any surgery is minor. I'll take him in and sit and wait while he is in the operating room. Yep thats how I am spending my Thursday because there is no better way to spend it then waiting,caring and saying a prayer here and there for my Dad.

Soccer 2010

2010-11-02T11:55:00.000-07:00

We were lucky enough again this year to have Parker and Cole on the same soccer team. They have a great coach whom we love dearly. She does an amazing job with the boys. We can tell because our boys have improved greatly because of her. Here's a few photos of the boys in there uniforms.

Notice thier new do's? Thanks to Aunt Beckie we have spiking glue in our house now. Cole loves to have a mohawk on game days. Parker's isn't long enough for a Mohawk so his is just spiky all over.

Thirty Days Day 2

2010-11-02T09:54:00.000-07:00

Today I am thankful for good friends. Those friends that I can email or call and just vent. They understand me and don't judge. Then there's that friend that I don't see but once a year or less and every time we get together its like no time at all has passed. Thanks for being there friends, there have been days that I seriously couldn't have made it through with out you!

30 days of Thankfulness

2010-11-01T11:48:00.000-07:00

I stumbled upon a blog last year that did 30 days of thankfulness. I thought wow what a great idea. So this year I am going to try and do it.

Day 1: Today I'm thankful for stove/oven. It allows me to bake and cook. Baking is probably my most favorite things to do. I especially bake a lot when ever I am stressed. It just relieves it for me. This time of year especially you can find me in the kitchen 2-3 times a week baking up some yummy treat. The fall and christmas time is my most favorite time of year. I love the smells, the decorations and especially the baking. I haven't made it yet this year, but this is probably my favorite thing to bake during the fall...

Look for it soon on http://krystencooks.blogspot.com

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T20:46:00.000-07:00

Parker decided this year that he wanted to be something scary. So he chose Dracula. Madi and Cole on the other hand chose something a little more fun and playful. Cole was a rodeo clown and Madi was a tutu clown.

Thanks to Aunt Beckie I didn't have to paint faces. She's a pro according to Cole. She really is, there is no way I would have come up with something this great.

Madi loves her tutu. While it was a lot of wotk it was also a lot of fun to make for her.

Happy Halloween Everyone! Hope yours was as good as ours.

Diet Coke and Fast Food

2010-10-20T11:45:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, I decided that I was going to give up something, just wasn't sure what. Well I settled on Diet Coke after realizing that David and I could go through a case of diet Coke in about 3-4 days. That adds up and fast! So we gave it up. Its been twenty days so far and I can now say I don't miss it. The first week yes, but now not so much. We've replaced it with water and crystal light. I even drank a glass of MILK! Now any one that knows me, also knows that I despise milk. It actually wasn't that bad. Oh and at the same time we also gave up fast food, not just one place but any place that has a drive thru! We are reaping the benefits of eating better and feeling better with not so much crap and carbonation running through our veins.

First day of school

2010-09-02T11:59:00.000-07:00

So excited for the first day!


Kindergarten

Second Grade

The boys started school this morning. After meet and greet last night, they were super excited to go back to school. Even better, they get to ride the bus to school this year! It picks them up at the corner of our block! Neither one of them wanted me to drive them to school today. I let them ride the bus and then met them at the school to make sure they got in and in the right classroom. I am sure they are both doing great and having a good time. I can't wait till they step off the bus to tell me about all the fun things they do at school!

Bus driver Mr. Tim. Should be pretty easy for the boys to remember his name. Parker was so excited that all I caught was his shoe hopping on the bus.

Primary chuckles

2010-08-19T10:11:00.000-07:00

Its been awhile since I have blogged. We have been super busy this summer doing all sorts of fun things. Lots of family time, a wedding and lots of camping. Before I get to all that though, I have to write down these two stories so that I can remember them.

After being gone from church for 3 weeks, Parkers primary teacher shows up at our door. She had missed Parker and wanted to make sure he knew that. However she had a blue Book of Mormon in her hand with a note on it to him. Apparently Parker told her that we don't own any scriptures in our house! Totally not true by the way! He now has his own book of Mormon that he has promised his teacher to read nightly.

Cole's primary teacher let me in on a little secret as well. They were talking about treasures and how the gospel is a treasure etc. Well she asked the kids if they had any treasures, my sweet child piped up with "I have one! Its diet coke!"

The working boy

2010-06-15T10:40:00.000-07:00

Cole loves to work outside with Grandpa. Thankfully my Dad is very patient and indulges his grandson just about any time he wants to "help". Today's particular chore was mowing the lawn. Cole now knows how to start the lawn mower, take the bag on and off and empty the bag in the yard waste bin.

The Stolen Fishing Report

2010-06-15T10:34:00.000-07:00

Little does David know that I know how to find his reports on all of his fishing forums. He took the boys down to Rife Lake this last weekend. Heres what he has to say about it...

"I took my boys and my dad and headed to Riffe Lake to chase these landlocked coho. We have never been here, but heard of the crazy bite that has been going on and I thought we should partake. We got to the lake at 6:30 and headed to the spot I was told to fish. Thank you Kokanee Kid!

The name of the game was 5.5 dodgers and pink hootchies. I was using the bahama mama and the watermelon flavors. Bait used was cocatail shrimp or maggots (Gulp)

We ended the day with over 50 fish on, we caught our limit of 20 fish. The big news of the day was my two boys (5,7) reeled up the fish by themselves after I released them from the downriggers. They were so excited for accomplishing this."

The boys have a fabulous time fishing with there Dad and Grandpa. Its nice to see the memories they are creating that I am sure they will remember the rest of there life. After they all got back David and I set about filleting about 14 fish. It took forever! We then had to scale them. ICK! The next day we soaked them in a brine and then yesterday I smoked them all. They turned out great! Now what do I do with all of it is the question.

Here are all the fish after we cut and filetted them.

Here they are after they are smoked.

Cole and his missing teeth

2010-06-15T10:26:00.000-07:00

Cole is losing teeth pretty quick these days. He lost one bottom tooth and two others quickly followed. He has three more loose at the current moment. I wonder how he will eat if he loses those before the others come all the way in.

Clear Lake 5.15.2010

2010-05-17T21:46:00.000-07:00

I decided to try another lake instead of the normal American. I have talked with several people that said there are a lot of fish to be caught at Clear Lake. We got into the van @ 4:40 am and headed south. The lake is 45 minutes south of our house. We were able to watch the sunrise as we started fishing.

It wasn't even 10 minutes into fishing and we started catching fish. We ended up with 14 fish, but had on a lot more than that! The kids were having a blast guessing what pole was going to have the next fish on. The boys did a great job!

This is what we ended up with.

I think that we are going to come to this lake a lot more. There are a lot of fish for the kids to catch and have a lot of fun. The view is great and there were a lot of nice people out there. The kids actually told me that they would want to come to Clear and not American anymore. I am just enjoying that the kids love going out! The only downside is that the kids are beat the rest of Saturday and it runs into Sunday. Krysten is starting mandatory naps Saturday afternoon. I think that will help out a lot!

Here is the view from the lake...

Just for Aunt Susan!

2010-05-16T09:53:00.000-07:00

We got a special package in the mail on Saturday. It was from Aunt Susan! Davids little sister has been in Tawaiin for almost 6 months teaching English to some very adorable children. We have missed her dearly and can't wait to see her in July when she is back home. She sent the kids each a short letter on the back of a 100 quai bill, some yummy candy,a coin and some very cool pencils for each of them. They had a great time trying out the candy and can't wait to use there pencils to draw during church today. Thanks Susan! The kids loved it!
Sorry the last videos are dark, not sure what happened to the camera!

American Lake 5.8.2010

2010-05-08T13:55:00.001-07:00

The weather was a lot better this week than last. No wind, rain or even a cloud!

We were fishing for Kokanee again today (land locked salmon) and didn't have any luck catching them. We did catch a few trout and that was fun for the kids so I consider that a success. Here is a picture of a fish Parker caught, (sorry for the finger in the lens)

The kids were so excited to go again today, they had a hard time sleeping. I can relate, that is the way I am. I am happy that they like to to go fishing and be on the water. They are already asking about going out next week. We may try another lake..

Enjoy the pictures!

You'll cry I can almost guarantee it

2010-05-05T12:01:00.000-07:00

I have read NieNie for awhile. This is another great video from our church. It reaches to so many tender spots of your heart.

In my pretty garden the flowers are nodding and lots of wind!

2010-05-04T10:40:00.000-07:00

Well sort of. They were for sure in yesterdays wind storm. Those are the blooms on my chive plant.

My green onions are ready to be used. I have regular onions right next to these.

These are my potato plants in my huge water barrel that I cut the top off of.

There was so much wind yesterday that it tore our back gate clear off the fence post. Guess we know what we will be doing this weekend.

Sick so so sick

2010-05-04T10:33:00.000-07:00

I've been sick for about three weeks now.(the doctor thinks its mono)Not the usual for me. Moms can't get sick.Isn't there a rule somewhere that says that.I've got far to many things to do and far to many places to be. It was particularity bad one night. I was up at 3am with an ear ache so incredibly horrid that I couldn't sleep,sit, lay down or anything else. I tried a warm blow dryer, I tried Motrin, I even tried some numbing ear drops that the doctor had given us for Madi. Still two hours and one call to the consulting nurse later, no relief. Its not often that I ask for a blessing(to learn what that is in our church click here)from David. Matter of fact in the almost 9 years of our marriage, I can count on one hand the number of blessing I have had. I woke him up and told him what I needed. He agreed, minutes(probably 10-15) later I was able to relax enough against David and fall asleep for a few hours. It wasn't until days later that I asked David how long he sat holding me up so I could rest. "About 2 hours was his reply. Your kidding right? No, I am pretty sure it was that long." 2 hours of him sitting up against a not so comfy couch to help me heal. He then lovingly took our three kids up to his parents house for the day so I could have a whole day on uninterrupted rest and sleep. The day after he took all three kids to church on his own. Not an easy task even when we are both there. And again on Monday he stayed home from work to do the school run/drop off/pick up. I don't get mushy very often, but what an amazing guy I am married too. I really don't give him enough credit for how well he takes care of our family. Now almost 4 weeks later, I just have an annoying cough and some hearing loss(due to a plugged ear). There's no picture to go with this post. Believe me you wouldn't have wanted to see what I have looked like the last few weeks. Its been scary!

American Lake 5.1.2010

2010-05-03T00:07:00.000-07:00

I am going to use this blog to write about our weekly fishing trips and adventures. Enjoy!!

We took the boat out for the first time since we have bought it. We bought this boat for 200 dollars from a lady at work. It was too good of a deal to pass up. Actually, we named the boat "UnReel"

We took the boat out to fish for Kokanee at American Lake. The weather wasn't the best for fishing but we went anyways. The wind wasn't working with us too well. The boys had fun and were able to catch a couple fish. They were too small so we released them. It was fun for me to see them get excited as they were reeling in the fish. Hopefully next week will be better "catching".

April Fools Day Dinner

2010-04-01T17:07:00.000-07:00

Every year the boys and I come up with something to trick David with last year is was meatloaf cupcakes this year it was Grilled Cheese and Tomato soup.

(Its actually toasted pound cake with frosting and a bowl of strawberry puree)

Creme Brulee Success!

2010-03-26T10:21:00.000-07:00

I have wanted to try this for a long time. I love to order this at restaurants but hate paying so much when I know it consists of very simple ingredients. Here's the Creme Brelee Recipe that I used. So so so incredibly easy. I didn't have a vanilla bean however so I just used about 2tsp of my pure vanilla. The best part of it all, I got to use my torch again!

This is before the burnt sugar

This is after I torched the sugar!

So Yummy!

Because I bake

2010-03-23T19:16:00.000-07:00

Because I bake and because I have a nice fancy camera that doesn't get near enough use, I thought that I would blog today about cupcakes. Not just any cupcakes either, these are probably the best most eye appealing cupcakes I have ever made. Spurred something in me too, I have lots of cupcakes bookmarked now and waiting in the wing to try out.

They started out like this. Pretty ugly if you ask me. That's graham cracker cake,with graham cracker crumbs and then chocolate cake with more graham cracker crumbs. I then topped those with some yummy dark chocolate genache. I still wasn't done though. My next step made them look like this...

That is one pretty cupcake if I do say so myself.

That's homemade marshmallow frosting! So yummy!
Oh and the best part about these, I had to buy a culinary torch to toast that marshmallow frosting! Creme Brulee here I come!

A day late but oh well...

2010-03-16T20:04:00.000-07:00

Parker is our lovable,quiet,inquisitive, bookworm of a boy. He has always been very very active. He finally has mellowed out some this year. He has a passion for learning and it shows in all he does. He is doing great in school all S+'s and O's. S's and O's are good things in a 1st graders life. He loves books, almost as much as I do. Its a good thing there is a library because if I tried to keep up with his reading we would go broke. His favorite sport is still soccer. He doesn't want to play baseball this year. He would rather take swim lessons. Those will probably start up next month. He loves bike riding and being outside. He currently weighs in at 55lbs(thats 4lbs lighter then Cole) and I am not sure how tall he is. Its been awhile since we measured. He eats us out of house and home. You would never know it though to look at him. His brother adores him, although it doesn't always come across that way. Madi has him wrapped around her finger. He will do anything for his little sister. We love him dearly and know that our lives wouldn't be complete with out him.

Happy 7th Birthday Parker!

Happy Birthday Madilyn Jean!

2010-03-02T08:01:00.000-08:00

Just Days old

1st Birthday

2nd Birthday

Happy Birthday to our lovable spunky 3 year old! She really completes our family. Her favorite things are all things pink and purple. She loves to pretend play. She cooks in her kitchen all day long and drags a baby just about every where she goes. She is weighing in right now at just about 24 pounds. She is a tiny little thing. But what she lacks in size she makes up in attitude and spunk!

I am going to be out of town today through Friday. She doesn't even know its her birthday. We will celebrate when I get back for sure.

Madi's new hair cut

2010-02-24T09:36:00.000-08:00

The last few months have been horrible with Madi and her hair. Its a constant fight to brush it in the morning, she won't let me pull it out of her face with rubber bands or hairbands. She will however leave a clip in for the most part. She always seems to have crunchy ends to her hair from dragging it through the latest meal or snack. ICK! Well last night I had had enough and decided to cut it all off. She wiggled a fair amount so its not as even and as nice as it should be. I guess thats what you get when she isn't used to having her hair cut and she is two(almost three!) I think it fits her spunky little self quite nice and it was so much easier this morning to run a comb through it and put a clip in.

Lost tooth

2010-02-20T11:19:00.000-08:00

Cole told us a week ago that he had a loose tooth. It was still pretty tight and not anywhere ready to come out. That boy however is very determined, we would catch him playing and wiggling it every chance he could get. Last night it was hanging by a thread and I popped it out for him. He was so worried the tooth fairy wouldn't find him in his new room(he sleeps by himself now) I assured him she would find him just fine. He came running upstairs at 3am telling me to look at what the tooth fairy brought him. He got a dollar and a 3-D I spy Book. He was so so happy about those. In our house the tooth fairy brings money for the first tooth and a book for every tooth after that. His other bottom tooth is loose now as well. Wonder how long it will take for him to get that one out.

Some of the coolest kids ever

2010-01-28T11:36:00.000-08:00

These boys LOVE there track suits. I think Cole has worn his at least twice a week since Christmas. If not more. All they need now is a cool Run DMC shirt and they would be set.

Happy Birthday Cole

2010-01-24T08:36:00.000-08:00

I can't believe Cole is five today. It seems like just yesterday that we brought home a very jaundiced baby. He was born 8lbs 12oz and 22" long. He has kept that trend up for five years now. He hasn't fallen below 95 percentile for height or weight ever. He is weighing in at just over 60lbs these days and only a hair shorter then Parker. They are so close in size that they wear the same size everything right down to there shoes. Makes clothes buying super easy. I just grab two of the same size in everything. His favorite things right now are trucks and music. He went to the Monster truck show last week. Its the only thing he really asks for this time of year. He is getting his own MP3 player today so that he will quit stealing mine. We found a super cool kid friendly one just for him. Pictures of that to come I am sure. While he is trying at times he is a joy to have in our family. He is by far the most cuddly of the three. I can't imagine what are family who do with out his silly crazy side either.

Its been 4 years

2010-01-15T11:06:00.000-08:00

This is the last Family Picture we have before my Mom passed away. We've added 5 more grandkids and a new soon to be husband since this was taken. It was four years ago today that my Mom passed away. Seems like just yesterday really.

Just one little peek into heaven,
Is all I'm asking for today.
I just want to know how she's doing,
And heaven seems so far away.

Is she playing on the clouds with angels?
Is she laughing and running today?
Does she miss me?
I guess only she knows.
Oh why does heaven seem so far away?

If you just let me look for a moment,
To catch a glimpse of her sweet smiling face,
I promise I won't try to take her,
I know, she's in a better place.

Just one little peek into heaven,
Is all I'm asking for today.
I just want to know how she's doing,
And heaven seems so far away...

Then and Now

2010-01-13T15:47:00.000-08:00

My Mom made this dress for me when my adoption was final and I was able to be sealed to them. She saved it in a ceder chest all these years. I came across it about a year ago when my Dad was going through things. He said I could take it if I wanted it. Really who would not want something like that? I managed to find a Polaroid of me in the dress. I haven't seen any others of me in this dress at all. I imagine there might be more in my parents ten million boxes of pictures. I don't have very much of a memory of the day I was sealed to my parents other then I was dressed in all white and somewhere in the back of my mind I remember playing with my brothers in the temple nursery. It's times like these that I wish my Mom was here to see Madi in the dress and to tell me about what was obviously a very special day. Its that special sacred day that makes it possible for me to see her again someday.

2010-01-04T14:29:00.001-08:00

Check out this very cool very girly giveaway

Oh and by the way,Yours truly won this giveaway!

Christmas in Photos

2010-01-04T13:36:00.000-08:00

Before the kids came downstairs. Thats Madi's kitchen there on the right. She loves it!

This isn't a great picture of what I wanted but it is a fabulous picture of Madi's blue eyes. I had rolled her hair in curlers earlier in the day and it looked fantastic! Too bad I don't have a great picture of it.

Parker learned a song to sing all by himself on Christmas eve.

The Butterfield Grandkids performing on Christmas eve.

Madi checking out the gifts.

Two very excited boys opening there Nintendo DS's that Santa brought them.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-22T13:44:00.000-08:00

Have you ever had real good intentions to order or make really pretty christmas cards that you personally write, address and mail out? I had those intentions this year, it so didn't happen. So grab a cup of cocoa,settle in and catch up on what the Butterfield 5 have been doing all year.Lets see we will start with Parker...

Parker is a joy to have in our home. You can find him more often then not hunkered down somewhere reading a book. He loves to read, just like myself if its good he won't put it down till its done. He played T-Ball this spring and Soccer this fall. He loves Soccer. His skills really improved this year thanks to an awesome coach. His favorite place to be is on defense back by his goal. I am pretty sure we have a future goalie on our hands. He started wearing glasses this summer. He picked out a pair similar to what a couple of his favorite cousins have. Glassed all of a sudden became a cool thing when he realized his cousins wore them too. He is doing great in 1st grade this year. He is in advanced reading and doing well above grade level in all other areas.

Next up is Cole...
Cole is a great big ball of constent motion. He goes non stop from the time he wakes up(6am most days) to the time he goes to bed(7pm). He is in his second year of head start with our favorite teacher Ms. Trish. He adores her. Loves her to pieces and she loves him right back. He graduated from speech at Mary bridge this last year. He can say most everything correct with out a reminder from Mom or Dad. He broke his Thumb sucking habit this year. He insisted that sleeping with socks on his hands was how you went to sleep at night. One week of that and he wasn't sucking his thumb anymore. Yay! He played T-ball adn soccer this year on the same teams as Parker. Cole however loved T-ball more then Soccer. He would eat,sleep and drink baseball if he could. He also learned to ride his bike with out training wheels,just in time for our annual butterfield camping trip.

Miss Madi...
She keeps us on our toes! She tries really hard to keep up with the boys. Where ever they are you can usually find her as well. She discovered princess and all things girly this past year. She is the complete opposite of myself. Pink is her favorite color. I think she might eat better if everything was colored pink. She has made priends(as she calls them) this year. Who ever will play with her becomes her new best priend. She loves to play on the playground at the school and almost everyday protests when its time to leave.

David...
David is still working for the local indian tribe. He finally has someone above him that he can really learn from. He has gone back to the I enjoy my job David that we were starting to miss there for awhile. His biggest thing this year is that he got a BOAT. In true David style, he got one heck of a deal on it. One that even I couldn't protest and pass up. He also got a new calling at church, he is the ward clerk. Between work and church is life is pretty much always going somewhere.

Krysten...
I have been busy this year. In January I got a new calling to be one of the counselors in Primary. It has kept me busy and really pushed me out of my comfortable little bubble. I wouldn't change it for the world now though. I truelly have been able to work with some really wonderful women. I also have been busy playing taxi this year. The boys are on different school schedules and with sports. Well you could say I live in my car for 5 days of the week. Wouldn't change that either. I am thankful that David has a job that allows me to stay home with my kids. I also took up canning this year. I did more canning then ever before, we did peaches,pears,all sorts of Jam,green beans and cranberry sauce. It sure has been tasty having all that on hand.

Heres a few other highlights of this year in pictures...

Madi truly has her own style!

We took a Sunday afternoon drive over to Browns point. The kids had a blast throwing rocks in the water.

The boys at there first Soccer tournament Thanksgiving weekend.
Santa Train with all the Butterfield Cousins.

We hope this finds all our family and friends healthy and well this Christmas season. If you haven't read anything at all, thats fine but make sure you check out this video. Its only 4 minutes. Make sure you have plenty of tissue...

Love you all
The Butterfield 5

I apparently spend way to much time on facebook.

2009-12-21T21:52:00.000-08:00

Heres a look at what my year was like according to my status updates.

So Funny

2009-12-18T11:03:00.001-08:00

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

2009-11-23T10:53:00.001-08:00

I loved this and think its perfect for this week. I have pictures and posts to come, I just need to find time to do it. For now enjoy this short video.

Pumpkins and one very split household

2009-10-30T10:53:00.000-07:00

If you know David and I, you know we differ when it comes to Collage football teams. He likes the Huskies and I always pull for my underdog cougars. This year we carved pumpkins to go with our various sports teams. We did a UW Husky one for David,Cole and Madi. Try as I might she only wants to say GO HUSKIES whenever there is football one. We also did a New York Yankees one for me,since my team made it to the world series.

Soccer!!!!

2009-10-21T10:44:00.000-07:00

The boys are lucky enough to play on the same soccer team this year. Cole is playing up a year to be able to play with Parker. At first I was worried about him being so young but he is doing great. There coach works with them very well and we have seen major improvements in Parker since last year.

Canning and then some

2009-10-21T10:36:00.000-07:00

A few posts back I mentioned pears,apples and peaches. Well that fruit is now all nicely bottled up and sitting on my shelves. In the middle of all that I got 40lbs of green beans for free and at least 25 lbs of delicious dark purple concord grapes. The kids all helped out cleaning and snapping green beans. David even pitched in and helped when he got home from work. I had no idea how much work green beans could be. Those grapes got juiced in a steam juicer and turned into grape jelly. I thought for sure I wouldn't like grape jelly(I don't like store bought) but wow that stuff is amazing!

I'm on my way to Leavenworth this weekend and hope to bring back some apples to make sauce and apple pie filling.
There is a deep satisfaction to putting up your own fruits and vegetables. Its almost therapeutic for me. I loved standing for hours pealing and coring those pears. I got lots of thinking done and some how or another my house did not fall down around me while I took hours to put it all up. I am well on my way to our families food storage.

8 years ago today

2009-09-14T11:29:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary!

Just you wait

2009-08-24T14:35:00.001-07:00

and see what these turn into at my house by the end of this week.

one long random update on us

2009-08-06T10:31:00.000-07:00

We ended July and Started August with an insane heat wave here in WA. I mean it was just crazy. SeaTac airport hit 103*! Tacoma hit 105*. That is just to hot if you ask me. Our poor house just wouldn't cool off. I snaped this picture on one of the cooler days. We AC hopped on the hotter days from house to house trying to keep cool. We stayed at Dads house overnight and then headed to Tenino on another day. Thanks to Devin and Jordan, Cole now thinks its a cool thing to get his face wet in the pool and will even plug his nose and go under for a few seconds! David was lucky enough to have a few days off so we enjoyed the warm weather with him.

Parker got glasses! I noticed right before school let out that he was moving closer to the tv and moving books out and in to focus better. Thankfully he has friends at school and cousins with glasses so its a cool thing to him.

I had a whim today to make Madi a skirt and bandanna. I was insanely jealous of the twins bandanas at our family reunion that I had to make one for Madi as well.

I took the kids blackberry picking and we came home with 26cups of blackberries. Half of them ended up as jam, the other half will be split between a blackberry pie tonight and blackberry cobbler on our camping trip this weekend. The kids loved walking along the river and picking all the berries. I think they ate more then they picked but they were happy and having a good time. Sometimes that is all that matters.

We had our annual family reunion a few weeks back. It was a blast! Uncle Freddy(as most of the kids call him) was in charge this year. We had a family BBQ and movie night Friday night. We all slept down in Tenino between Freds house and Daves. Our Saturday was a fun filled pirate adventure out in Westport. Thanks to some great planning by Crazy Aunt Debbie the kids had a tresure hunt. Comnplete with pirate gear for all, clues that took them all over the beach and a massive dig for a treasure box filled with all sorts of goodies.

Cole wanted nothing to do with mustaches,bandannas, or eye patches. He was happy to have his shades and his camp chair. Parker & Madi on the other hand loved the get ups!

Primary Temple Trip

2009-07-16T08:26:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we took our primary children up to the temple. They had a great time getting to explore the temple grounds a little more then normal. We all met up for a BBQ afterward at a park down the street. It was a fantastic time for all and we look forward to next year.

Madi loved and I mean loved them like they were real people. She wanted to stay on these statues forever.

my boys

2009-07-10T10:08:00.001-07:00

There is a cool thing about this picture,OK really two cool things. First that's a pretty real smile from Parker. Second, that tooth he knocked out when he was two, is FINALLY coming in. I don't know what my sweet boy will look like with a tooth in that spot.

Cole's two favorite things,posing for the camera and what ever piece of baseball equipment he can get his hands on.

Rare

2009-07-08T14:35:00.000-07:00

Its rare that I post a picture of myself on this blog. I am always behind the camera not in front of it. While on my trip to Texas, my good friend and also amazing photographer took head shots of all of us girls. This is one of the few pictures of myself that I can really say I love. There isn't one thing about it that I don't like.

Here's a short recap of my trip...
I met up with the most awesome group of women and one incredibly cute girl baby
I experienced heat like I have never felt before. It was so so hot!
I lounged kid free in a pool all day one day
I roomed with the craziest ladies of the bunch. I love you Katie and Grace!
I took the longest flight in my short lifes history
(really 4.5 hours isn't that long but it was for me)
I left my children for the first time since Parker was born. ( I missed them,really I did)
I stayed up later then I have in a long time. The last time I was up at 4am having a good time was when David and I were dating.
I came back more tired then when I left and needed a vacation to recoup from my vacation.

Taylor Swift meets Coldplay

2009-07-02T14:49:00.000-07:00

For all to know, I am not a fan of Taylor Swift especially when she sings. Now coldplay I dig them. One of my all time favs though is John Schmidt. Man can that guys fingers fly. I don't think there is one thing he has played that I haven't liked. This is my new all time fav piano piece. Love Story meets Viva la Vida....

Clippers vs. The Butterfield Boys

2009-06-17T15:31:00.000-07:00

The clippers won

80 plus degrees can only mean

2009-06-10T14:24:00.000-07:00

that it's the beginning of BBQ and Sprinkler season!

Parker's favorite meal lately,add some watermelon and he is set.

Grandpa in the brick house gave the boys this amazing sprinkler. It starts our just misting water out and then it all of a sudden shots a geyser of water strait up about 20 feet. The coolest thing is that Cole loves it. If you know my Cole you also know his love hate relationship with water. I was amazed at how much he played in this thing. They also figured out if they stuck a bucket on there it would shoot the bucket in the air pretty high. If you notice in the picture below, the pink bucket is above my Dads kitchen windows and on its way to the second story bedroom window level.

Yep there two years apart alright. In age only though. They wear the same size in everything but shoes. I am sure Cole will make up that one size difference soon though.

Safe or not Safe

2009-06-03T11:48:00.000-07:00

David and his Dad once again being a tad obsessive.

If you don't know what there doing, they are melting plastic coating off of a lead ball.
Sylvia and I suggested they score it and just peel the stuff off. Obviously we knew what we were talking about because see the extra one sitting there? When they finally figured out melting it off with a blow torch wasn't as easy as they thought they went with our idea. Wouldn't you know they had that plastic coating off in a quarter of the time they spent melting it off that other one.

Fancy Rubber Band Work

2009-06-03T11:44:00.000-07:00

Just one of Madi's fancy rubber band do's. We counted and I think there were 15 in total. Her hair sure did stay out of her face that day.

Mariners Game

2009-06-03T11:38:00.000-07:00

David took the boys to the Mariners game for a boys night out. It happened to be little league night and they were thrilled to go.

This is some crazy hanging sculpture of wooden bats. Interesting...I think.

This is what happens when Dad is in charge of the boys for the evening. They wear shorts and hooded sweat shirts to the game. The boys were freezing but had a good time anyway.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-05-20T08:59:00.000-07:00

his one true love

Its all worth it

2009-05-11T16:34:00.000-07:00

Life can be a bit overwhelming some times. I was blog hopping the other day and came across numerous blogs about moms and there jobs and how happy people were to be a mom,how they were thankful for there Mom etc. It really put me in quite a down mood to be honest till I happened upon a blog that just put things in perspective for me. It was exactly what I needed to hear at the time. It pulled me right up and out of that hole I was digging for myself. It made me remember that no matter the trial I am going through, its all worth it knowing that someday I will see my Mom again.

If my mom were still here with me she would absolutely kill me for posting this picture. She hated it. It is by far one of my favorites. It ranks right up there with a picture of her on Tim's Motorcycle.

T-Ball

2009-05-04T08:04:00.000-07:00

The boys started t-ball this last month. They are having a blast,especially Cole. Baseball is his thing. He lives and breathes it. He was so excited for real baseball pants and cleats and well just all things baseball. This year Parker and Cole can play on the same team along with there cousin Connor. I signed David up to be the assistant coach, thankfully he was okay with it because I didn't ask him first just told the head coach he would do it. I think he is having as much fun as the boys.

Madi loves to go to baseball practice as well. She calls it her team and gets very upset when we tell her its the boys team.

Madi's Easter Dress

2009-04-15T16:53:00.000-07:00

Truth be known I can sew if I have to. I just don't like to. That's what I loved about my Mom, I could cut it all out and she would sew it all up. Well this year at the sewing expo, my mother in law Sylvia and I found a cute pattern for a dress. So so cute, well she says to me "I'll buy the pattern if you sew it up." Drats, guess I was in for some sewing. After taking it apart three times, it finally came all together and I think it turned out pretty cute.

Easter Sunday

2009-04-13T11:08:00.001-07:00

My three favorite guys

I did it, don't know how and don't care but they are all happy and in one picture together. This ones going on the wall!

Spring Sunshiny Day

2009-04-07T11:35:00.000-07:00

This is what we do when the temps creep up a little and the sun comes out around here.

She's got Style

2009-04-07T07:54:00.001-07:00

This is the result when Madi finds her own clothes

2009-03-17T10:03:00.000-07:00

Everyday I watch you grow.
Learning more & more as the days, they go.
You are The Master of My Heart.
You owned the strings right from the start!

Parker has always amused us with his funny antics

Dads favorite fishing partner

Happy 6th Birthday Parker!
Not only was Parker sick on his birthday but he also woke up to this outside.
Yep snow in WA in the middle of March!

This Little Lady Turns Two

2009-03-05T18:42:00.000-08:00

A daughter is love in a bright pink bow
A bundle of happiness all aglow
A tomboy in jeans with a tear streaked face
Crying because she has just lost a race.
Then all of a sudden, no longer small,
She's a vision of loveliness dressed for a ball
A dreamer, a schemer, no two days the same
What is a daughter...It's more than a name
She's a pleasure, a treasure, a comfort each day
Loving and sweet in her own special way
She's a sense of contentment felt deep inside
Bringing a lifetime of pleasure and pride!

Random pictures

2009-03-05T12:34:00.000-08:00

Just watch, its worth your time.

2009-02-23T10:19:00.000-08:00

Spread the Love!

2009-02-16T21:27:00.000-08:00

I saw this on a good friends blog and it sounded like fun, so heres the deal...

{Lucky you!}
The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2- What I create will be just for you.
3- It'll be done this year.
4- You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be poetry or an article on properly cleaning your face before a masque. I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure! (Ha, I don't paint or write poetry or do masques so it will be something different)
5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!}

Feeding the Ducks

2009-02-13T14:20:00.001-08:00

I love the great state we live in. Well almost anyway. I really could do with out the rain but I will never get David to leave so I might as well get used to it. The boys are out of school today and were a little stir crazy in the house. We decided to hop in the car, go to Pt.Defiance and feed the ducks. They were so so excited and could barely contain themselves. It was cold but we had a great time and the boys are already asking to go again.
Yep this picture is why David will never leave, Green and water all year long 5 minutes from our house.

Parker thought he had found lost treasure when he found this feather.

Madi threw bread from the stroller, the seagulls were a bit overwhelming for her.