Washington

The kids and I went to Washington for a week and a half to see my parents. It was a great trip, I very much enjoyed it. It is also good to be home with my hubby again. I think he missed us. :) Emily came running to him when she saw him in the airport and I swear I saw tears in his eyes. Kimmie broke into the biggest grin ever when she saw him, and even Calvin dropped everything and started yelling, "Daddy, dada-dada-daddy!!" and gave him a huge hug. So did I, by the way.

Anyway, I did enjoy seeing my parents and the ocean and believe it or not, the rain (which there was plenty of, and snow too!). In this case pictures definitely speak louder than words, so... here's a bunch.

Dancing with grandma

Participating in the little girls class--for a little while anyway

A video of dancing with Grandma. They loved the one on one time, but the whole class together was a little more than they could handle. I don't think they are used to that much chaos... 8 4-5 year olds in tap shoes on a wood floor. Though it actually went really well. I am a little worried about Em in kindergarten, she doesn't like loud noise at all. I guess we'll see.

At the ocean: Grandma, Kimmie and Grandpa

Calvin found a shell!

Me and the kids (it was windy, bright, and a little cold)

Calvin and I playing in the water

Kimmie was having fun digging her shoes into the mud

Grandpa and Emily watching a flock of birds on the water

Calvin had fun just tromping around on the wet sand. He looked like a little old man out on a walk. :)

Emily stayed pretty close to Grandpa the whole time. She wasn't feeling good and Grandpa was only too glad to hold her. Thanks for taking some time off to come with us, Dad!

Much to Mom's chagrin, we had a little get-together (NOT a party) to celebrate her birthday. Doesn't she look thrilled to be the center of attention? ;) Love ya Mom. The black forest cheesecake was yummy, too.

Can you hear Calvin saying, "See Coby doggie?" Grandpa earned Calvin's affection by being willing to take Calvin to see the dog whenever he asked. It worked so well that at the airport Calvin went to Grandpa and waved good-bye to me!!

Kimmie plays hide and seek

Calvin, Em and Grandpa watching the dog. You can just see the top of Coby's head at the bottom of the window. He loved watching the dog, but refused to go within three feet of him, even through the window. He prefers to love dogs from afar. He got jumped on and licked once by a dog, and that ended that.

This one is after we got home. I thought it was funny because this is where Calvin settled himself in after I told him it was time for bed.

Sidenote: I saw this blog background and thought it was perfect. I have three little monkeys who love to jump on beds, the youngest of which is the biggest monkey of all! Fitting that it's also his favorite animal.

house update

So here's the progress on the house:

John and I are both frustrated with how slow it is going, but John really is putting a lot of time in and working hard, with the Butler work crew pitching in when they can (thanks a billion guys!!). It's just slow-going right now. So far, he's ripped out the nasty calcified-pet-urine-stained subflooring in the family room and replaced it with new plywood (just a couple of large spots, not the whole floor), sealed it with primer, and painted it quite a few times. They've scraped all the old popcorn off of the ceiling, patched it in places upstairs, and as of this weekend have sprayed the new texture on the upstairs. There's a couple spots to go over again, but over all I am thrilled with it. It looks so so SO much better!! Next up, the downstairs. And then the painting begins.

I believe I have decided to paint the kitchen cabinets white. I just think they will look a lot better. I am going to try to go for a french countryside effect, or at least that's what I call it in my head. A sophisticated cottage style, with white beadboard-ish cabinets, bronze or wrought-iron hardware, and hopefully someday a dark wood floor. With plum and sage accents and beige walls. Hopefully some darker brown accents in a backsplash as well, if I can figure that out. Anyway, that's the idea right now. I am a bit worried about having white cabinets and a white countertop (though the counter has a wood border to separate it a bit) since we're not going to be replacing it for a while, but hopefully it will look all right it the meantime. Someday I'm hoping it will be a light brown marble look. We'll see.

So... pictures!

Before picture: Nasty floor

Middle picture: hole in the floor

After picture: painted floor (we haven't decided what to put there yet)

Before picture: scraping the popcorn (go Richard!)

Evil popcorn, say goodbye!

Middle picture: the drywall exposed

Middle picture dos: spraying the texture (go John!!)

After picture (sort of, it's not painted yet): the finished texture--you can sort of see it...

Tulips!! I'm so excited to have tulips! John says there's a lilac too...

One of my favorite parts of the yard: the giant willow tree in the back corner (if you can see the red shed in the background, that is the yard of the big noisy evil dogs--one's a doberman. We will be putting in a higher fence.)

In like a lamb...

I can't believe it's March. No, I'll rephrase that: I can't believe it's March and we are still not moved into a house of our own. What the heck were we thinking in buying a house that we'd have to spend a month+ fixing up?!? Oh yeah, we got a good deal... d: Meanwhile, John is trying to spend evenings over at the house ripping out disgusting subflooring and putting in new stuff, continuing the popcorn battle, and hopefully having the family room ready to move all our stuff out of storage and into that room on Saturday (yeah, that's the one that currently has holes in the floor and views down to the basement). I'd like to be up helping, but hauling three kids up there just incapacitates someone so they are watched over, so I may as well stay home with them. Meanwhile, Calvin has a cold that developed into croup and after a couple of days nervously watching him I took him into the doctor and got some meds. He's breathing much better, though still has a cold, which I have now caught. Probably because he hasn't let me out of his sight for a week. Meanwhile, we're enjoying 75 degree weather and the kids spent all day yesterday outside... hallelujah. Weird to be worried about sunburns in March.

Here are some random pics of the kids, just for kicks:

The girls at the lake in Feb.

This one really was taken in January, we've had a weird winter.

new old home

We finally closed on our house!! Yay, hooray, and all that stuff! It as a very long, very weird closing with a mountain of paperwork, a selling agent who was a no-show, and walking out at the end without the keys... but we did get them eventually. So we own a home. Today John is spending the day ripping out carpet, spraying stuff to kill pet urine odor (yuck), and getting started on taking off the popcorn ceilings that are all through the house. Fun, fun. Hopefully in two or three weeks we can get it to where we can move in.

Here's the pictures, finally...

Here's the front of the house, up close. The bushes are majorly overgrown, but the yard will probably have to wait until spring to get fixed up... I really like the brick on the house, and the large porch. The two upstairs windows you see will be the kids' rooms.

Here's the family room, this is the nasty smelling room--it's carpet will be the first thing to go. We'll also be taking out the weird half walls. The picture is being taken from the eat-in kitchen area.

And the kitchen... I have big dreams for this area that involve ripping out cheapo old wood cabinets and redoing the whole thing, but we'll have to see how feasible that will be. The fake wood floor will also be coming out at some point--anybody have input as far as tile vs. laminate flooring?
Ok, that's all. Au revoir.

ps..

John just told me that the real estate agent called and we are not closing on our house now until next Friday. The reason? Who knows. I'm ready to just walk away, this is getting ridiculous.

talkin' the talk...

So what's the point of a blog if you can't brag about your kids a little? Since this is kind of a family journal I'll justify it by saying I'm documenting Calvin's growth and progress. I wanted to post a picture of him but it's not letting me, so we'll have to be pictureless. Calvin will be going into nursery beginning next month and I can't believe that he's already a year and a half. I know John is probably thinking, "Finally!" since he is the one who has to entertain him all during church while I'm playing piano. To me, it's gone fast. He's so big already, at least tall.. though I don't know how he is in the percentiles since we haven't been to the dr. in a long time. He's losing his baby fat, darn it, the thunder thighs are slimming down, but he still has the adorable cheeks that jiggle when he runs. Which he does a lot. He has this funny little jumping run so he moves almost as much vertically as he does horizontally. He is a good jumper too, and clears two inches off the floor. I don't think my girls cleared the floor at all until after they were two. Maybe later. I wondered, with Calvin being male, if he would not be as verbally strong as the girls were. I don't think he was talking quite as soon as they were, but the past couple months he has really taken off. He has been learning new words every day and can verbally communicate what he wants now, in so many words. Just now he came up to me and said "where's gon-kie?" (donkey), I stood up and he ran back to the bedroom, making sure I followed, and pointed into his crib, where he had dropped it into. I got it out for him and he took it, saying "Gake-oo!!" (thank you) and took off running. At dinner he asks for a spoon "poon!" and bowl "Boh!" and "wah-tee" (water). He's learned "no!" and "ess!" (yes) and "book" and "sooz" (shoes) and "beh-kess" (breakfast--blasted kid wakes up every morning at 6am ready to eat); and surprises us sometimes by saying new words spontaneously like "stop!" and "Let go!" and "my hair?" (actually pointed to his hair and wanted a hair clip in it like the girls...) He will repeat every word you give him, especially animal names (even attempts "elephant" though it kind of comes out in a jumble), of which his favorite (and mine) is "mon-key!" "Mah-mah" is grandma and pa-pa is grandpa and Mommy and Daddy he has down pretty good. Kimmie is "Mimmie" and Emily is "Eh-lee" (he really does the L sound!) and uncle Richard is "Rich-ee" and we can't for the live of us get him to say uncle Gary's name. Not sure why. He answers my questions, usually with an "mm-mmm" (foreshadowing of things to come I'm sure), though if the answer is yes he will usually repeat the last word or two of my question.
He loves to play chase with the girls, and today the three of them were wrestling on the floor and giggling hysterically. It was really cute to watch. Then for a minute or so he was just standing there watching the girls run, and I was watching him and then he turned those big brown eyes on me and gave me his most impish grin, and my heart was just full. Do you ever get those moments where you are watching your kids and you see for am instant into their souls? And you think, "they are so beautiful, how can I possibly be the parent that they deserve?" Do you ever think of the path of life that is stretched before them, of the pain and sorrow that is just inherent in growing up and a part of life, and want to wrap them up in your arms and never let go? Do you ever think, "what would I give to keep them from hurting, to save them from all the things that are out there waiting to destroy the precious light they hold?" And then, is it any wonder that the great plan of happiness' central feature is the family, is the potential for each of us to become a parent, that we may come a little closer to understanding the love of a Savior who gave Himself for us? Could God possibly love me even more than I love these little people that have been placed in my care? Somehow, in some incomprehensible way, the answer is Yes.

miscellaneous

So I've been thinking of many things lately, most of them stemming from frustrations with my female brain, and female hormones. I'm noticing a trend where one half of the month I'm miserable and crabby, and the other half I bounce back a lot better and am happier. I hate it. You'd think that once you know why your cranky it would be easier to just ignore it, but no. At least for me, it is not so easy. How do you just turn off your emotions?

The other thing that bugs me is my female mind, that just can't turn off that comparison litany that keeps going and going in my head. Why are we, as females (hopefully it's not just me) so darn quick to see where we are falling short and compare ourselves with others' strengths? This has been difficult for me lately living with my mother-in-law who's very very good at getting a lot done in a short amount of time. This is not a strength for me. I also compare myself with others who are good at home-decorating, gardening, deep thinking, and several other things. I know I am good at some things, and yet, somehow my mind drives me to conclude that I'm not good enough. I notice this trend more also during one half of the month. Blargh.

One thing I am learning is good to combat all this? Gratitude. I have a great many blessings, and would be a lot happier if I spent more time remembering them. I will work on that. I will think of something right now that I'm grateful for...

My kids. I am grateful for three bright spots in my life named Em, Kimmie and Calvin. As much as I get tired of cleaning up their messing and dealing with whining and constant demands, they give my life purpose and meaning. They make me laugh and make me see the joy in life. I love watching them learn new things, laugh together, chase each other through the house, and how they love me even when I'm not holding it together completely. They bring light to my life.

Also, what is a post without a picture? So I will post this pic that I stole from my sister-in-law's blog. The whole Butler clan, together at last at Christmas. If you can't tell from the kids' expressions, it was a bit cold...

update, if you can call it that

Well, the one bit of paperwork finally came through, so we got the inspection and appraisal done, and now we have another bit of paperwork we are waiting on. I'm developing a distinct dislike for Fannie Mae. So... we've made progress, but not much. Still waiting. Hopefully next week, but we've heard that one before. Other than colds and other such nonsense, we don't have much to contribute to the blogosphere.

Oh, here's a couple pictures, for grandparents' sake, of the kitchen they got our kids for Christmas without actually seeing. It's a big success!

My sympathies for friends in Kentucky dealing with nasty ice storms. My congrats to beloved cousins who just gave birth to twins!! And happy February to all as we strive to remain sane during the winter doldrums.

nothing

"Nothing is haa-a-a-ppening!!" I think Scuttle's words are a fairly accurate portrayal of the past couple weeks. We are in the process of buying a house, but it is being held up by some unknown force in the labyrinth of Fannie Mae since it is a bank-owned property. Soooo, we are waiting, waiting. We were supposed to close this week but I guess that won't happen. I'm not sure why I'm so anxious since we won't be able to move into it until we do some work on the ceilings and floors, but oh well. Soon I will have my own house!
Christmas was fun, it was great to have all of John's siblings together for the first time in a long time. Crazy, but fun. The girls had a blast with their cousins and were very sad when we left for Utah and again when they left for home after we came back. Does that make sense? I will have to post Christmas pics later since I'm not sure where the camera is at the moment. We had planned to leave the day after Christmas to go to Utah and see my family, but then this huge winter storm came in and ruined all my plans. I was extremely disappointed, but then the weather cleared up the next day and we decided to go for it (John was so great about going since he knew I really wanted to, and I think he was excited to drive in the snow). We actually didn't tell my parents we had decided to go, so we got to surprise them at my cousin's wedding reception that night (we missed the wedding, :( but made it for the reception!). It was a blast. I wish I had it recorded, from my brother-in-law Jason's cocked eyebrow and "What the..." to Mom's gasp of shock after looking at us three times and finally realizing it was her grandkids looking back at her! Very fun. It was so great to see my family and spend time with them, even if it wasn't as much as wehad originally planned. We got to see temple square, tour behind the scenes at the conference center (where Jason works) play a rousing game of twister, and had many more presents than expected (which the kids of course loved)! The pictures are kifed off of my sister and mom since I was lame and didn't take very many!















The reception: post-surprise entrance, loving the cake.















Emily and her aunt Melissa

Laura, Kimmie, and Grandpa--Kimmie's

probably pointing the way to more cake.

Playing at Aunt Laura's house















Temple Square with Grandma and Grandpa!















Grandpa reading with the girls















Calvin inherits the John Deere, and loves it!















Emily with her new fav toy, Derby















Kimmie in heaven!!















A rousing game of twister, even Calvin got in on the action!




Happy Birthday John!!!!
John was so great about doing this trip, even when it took him away from his family on his birthday. I don't know if I would have been so self-sacrificing, if I am honest with myself. John, through good times and bad, I am so very grateful to have you by my side. Thank you for giving me all that makes my life meaningful. I love you. Happy Birthday, hun.


I'm also posting some pictures of making chocolate pretzels with the girls, lots of fun, and playing out on the ice on Lake Loveland over Christmas. It was so cold then, we had six inches of ice! John decided to give me more stress and worry by taking the girls out on the ice. But it was fine and they thought it was awesome. I didn't go, the pictures are bad enough. :)















Are they not the cutest girls EVER?















Emily is growing up so fast!!















Look at those eyes pop!!





Kimmie with an ice fisherman in the background. Looks like Kimmie's inherited her mother's (in)tolerance for cold. I don't even want to know how far out on the lake they are.






ps.... I realize my blog background is a bit outdated, but I guess I'm having a hard time letting go of Christmas. Plus, I've spent to long on this computer already. Time to go see what kind of mess the kids have gotten into this time.... sounds like cereal, everywhere.

officially employed!

So, a couple nights ago, we're getting ready for bed and John tells me that he brought home a benefits folder from work so we could pick out health insurance stuff. I stopped what I was doing, looked at him and said, "So, does that mean you are officially hired?"
He looks up, "Oh, yeah, it does."
"And you were going to tell me this, when?"
"I forgot."
Classic. So we have a job!!! They weren't supposed to really decide til next year, but they really like him and so they decided early. So we'll be official in January. Today he is doing assessments (where he goes to different businesses and checks out their facilities to figure out how they can save money on energy) by himself for the first time. So, big day. Congrats, John! I love you!
We have continued the house hunt but haven't been successful yet. Something to do with wanting to pay bottom dollar and also not finding a house that we are in love with and want to fight for yet.
We have had very cold temperatures here lately, the snow that fell a week ago is still here and really hasn't melted off much at all even with a week of sun because it's so cold. The other day we woke up to temps at twenty below! COLD! And we're supposed to do it again this weekend too. Why is it that in places that actually snow and it stays for extended periods of time, they never plow the roads?!? I've slid around more in the past couple days than I have in my whole life. Fortunately it was just little slides and no big deal, but still! I figure they don't coat the roads in salt here like they do in KY because the Colorado environmentally-conscious general public would have a collective cow; but really, you could plow at least the main neighborhood roads!! The snow has been relatively dry, but you get 5 days of traffic on it, warm sun, and frigid nights, and it will inevitably turn to ice.
The first snow that fell, John took Calvin sledding. I followed with the girls 20 minutes later after their tantrums about having to wear coats and boots and gloves finally died down. Yeesh. Calvin really didn't think too highly of sledding. Maybe John letting him biff it face down in the snow the first time had something to do with it. I'm not positive, but I'm guessing... Here's a couple pics of the fun in the snow, and the annual snowman with dad. Maybe it will be more than that since we live somewhere that snows enough for a snowman more than once a year now!

Uncle Richie and the girls

John "snowboarding"

It's a race!


Calvin, not thinking too highly of the cold

Fun times sledding!!

Uncle Matt came home this week and the noise level in the house increased drastically. :):) Em and Kimmie hardly know what to do with all of these great uncles who will play with them whenever they ask. We are looking forward to a fun Christmas with everyone here, and then a trip to Utah (weather permitting) to do it again with my family!! Yay for family!!!! After two Christmases in a row alone (well, we fortunately had some awesome friends) this is going to be a lot of fun.