Halloween

Ok, so I'm back.
And It's good to be back.
Really good.
But, if it's OK with you, I think I'll just jump right in and act as if the last 6+ months never happened.
Although, in actuality SO MUCH has happened.
And I want to update you on all (or most) of it.
But I think I'll take my time and just post as we go.
Otherwise, blogging is just overwhelming.
And not fun.
And that's the last thing I want from my beloved blog.
Alrighty then... so, here we go!

Halloween 2012

This year the kids decided to bring one of my all time favorite childhood stories to life...

Little Red Riding Hood and The Big Bad Wolf

Normally, I'd be all about ladies first and such, but I really want to start with the Big Bad Wolf.

Originally, Sam was all about those scary, bloody wolf masks you find in the stores. But I struggled with it because, well, he's 4 years old! No way!!! So I decided to go a different route... my mom and I actually made his costume. Yep, we sure did! We bought the fabric and the materials and got really busy to meet our tight deadline. And I still have the hot glue gun burn marks on my fingertips to prove it.

Whataya think? 

Pretty awesome, huh?

Unfortunately, I can't take all the credit. I did find a tutorial for this costume on Pinterest. But my mom and I had the best time making it and changing a few things to simplify the process.

And the best part? Sam looked like a 4 year old. And he absolutely loved it! He got to wear it to school for a costume parade. He got to wear it for a photo shoot with mom at Shelby Farms. And he got to wear it to go trick-or-treating on halloween night, which kept him nice and warm. I'd say that's a win-win situation!

Now, let's move on to our Little Red Riding Hood. 

As much as I'd love to tell you that I painstakingly slaved and made her costume, that is just not the case. I did however order it from the internet. And considering all the hoochie choices you get when you enter Little Red Riding Hood into Google Images search box, I was delighted with how sweet and demure her costume was.

 She was thrilled with her costume, and looked dreamy in it!

And together they had a great time.

Posing for me when I asked (read begged) and playing and climbing and running all over the place.

I've been so busy with client sessions these last few months, that I've neglected taking the time to take pictures of my own kids. I'm so happy we took a quick break from our hectic schedules to go and shoot these photos.

And I especially love that we were able to have a whole lot of fun in the process.

Saying goodbye is hard to do

I realize it's been incredibly quiet around these parts, being that it's been almost 7 weeks since my last blog post. And I really miss blogging. A lot! But truth be told, I've sat down to write this post a minimum of 10 times. But every time I open the blog, and read the first few lines of my previous post, my heart breaks and I have to physically walk away.

You see, the day after my last post, where I wrote about how my dad was stable and slowly recovering, he passed away. And even though he had been very sick, and we had lived an incredibly emotional roller coaster ride for the prior 2 months, and some might even think we should have seen it coming, it hurt. Really, really bad.

And even though we thank God for the fact that we were told it would happen within 24 hours, giving us the opportunity to spend every second up until his last breath with him, it still hurts. And it seems surreal to not have him around to talk to and to hug and I miss him terribly!

But being that we have the most amazing matriarch in our family (and the support of exceptional family members and friends), we said our good byes, rallied together as a family, and organized the most beautiful Memorial Service in celebration of my Dad's life.

We all spoke about him and the impact he had in our lives and how much we love him. We laughed and we cried. We had a wonderful photo slide show. We had inspiring music. We had beautiful flowers. We all met back at my house, where we were surrounded by the most amazing friends and family anyone could ever ask for, and delicious food. And we will forever remember that day as a very happy one!

Anyway, the reason I'm writing about all of this is because I feel like once this is actually posted, I will be able to face the blog again and continue business "as usual", or something close to it anyway.

Daddy, I love you and I miss you and I think about you every single day!

Happy New Year!

source

Wishing you a 2012 filled with lots of 

health, love, prosperity and happiness!

There are a few of my favorite things...

Is it just me, or did Christmas 2011 come and go entirely too quickly? I don't know if it was that our new business endeavor kept me quite busy right up until Christmas, or that we took what turned out to be an awesome family vacation at the beginning of the month, but I honestly feel like I missed so much of what I love about the Christmas season. And as 2012 rears it's head around the corner, I would be remiss not to mention a few of my favorite Christmas memories.

Christmas Eve Service at Hope Church:

Austin Carroll singing Let There Be Light ~ Amazing!

My family singing Silent Night by candlelight ~ Beautiful!

Every year I wonder how in the world Hope's going to be able to top last year's Christmas Eve service, and somehow every year they mange to do so. I love God. I love Jesus. And I love Hope Presbyterian Church. If you do not happen to have a home church, I urge to give them a visit. You won't regret it!

Christmas Eve Dinner with the Family:

After Christmas Eve Service, we always host dinner at our house. We always have yummy Puerto Rican food. And good wine. We talk and eat and laugh, a lot! And I love every second of it!

Christmas Eve PJs:

This is one of my favorite traditions. Every Christmas Eve the kids open a box which contains matching PJs and a book or a movie about the true meaning of Christmas.

This year I got them "The Little Drummer Boy" Veggie Tales movie, which we all watched right before bed time.

The Christmas Tree and Presents:

I love looking at our Christmas tree. Love it! But to me it looks especially happy on Christmas morning when it's loaded with colorful presents.

Their Joyful Faces:

I can't lie, these faces make my heart burst with joy!

Seeing Them Open the Perfect Gift:

After days of agonizing for days over what to get him, it finally hit me like a ton of bricks. I got him a metalsmithing class offered by the same art school Isabella attends. A class he's been talking about wanting to take for the last couple of years. A class I knew he would not sign up for on his own. It was a HUGE surprise!

As I was walking through LifeWay, I came across this canvas. If this doesn't describe my Mother's role as a Grandmother to a tee, I don't know what does. She is an amazing example of love, patience, guidance and grace. I aspire to be just like her when I have grandchildren of my own.

Watching Them Play:

Both kids got a musical instrument this Christmas. Sam got a drum set (Heaven help us!), and Isabella got a guitar. Together they make what we'll refer to as "joyful sounds".

And then this one decided to join the band, and things got, um, interesting?

The #1 gift this year, per the kids, were the Nintendo DS we got them. We decided to give them to the kids right before our Disney trip (which I promise to blog about before 2012, no pressure!), so that they could play with them during our road trip. Santa brought more games, so they were quite the hot item on Christmas morning.

And there you have it,... our Christmas in a nut shell!

No, we didn't have time to make our annual gingerbread house. And no, we didn't fill our Advent calendar with fun activities. And no, we didn't go to Alpine Village. But we had a wonderful Christmas, staying focused on the true reason for the season.

I hope your Christmas was merry and bright and joyful and fun and magical and everything else Christmas is supposed to be!

Merry Christmas!

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and goodwill towards men." Luke 2: 8-14

From our house to yours, 

Merry Christmas! 

Ten on Thursday

Being that it's been oh, I don't know, almost a month since my last blog post, I thought I'd update you on all the fun happenings at Casa de Butler with a Ten on Thursday-type post. So, here we go...

1. I have been very busy lately with client meetings and photo sessions and editing and all the other fun that comes along with being a photographer and owning my own business. (I'm still getting used to that!) I'm so blessed! I'll be sharing some images from some of my recent sessions here on the blog soon. Stay tuned!

2. I know this is SO last month, but I have to share some of our Halloween photos from this year. It was SUPER, to say the least. This year we had "Gooperman" (aka Superman) complete with muscles and super saggy pants and boots.

This super hero was oozing some serious attitude!

But out of all of his super powers, I'm pretty sure his super cuteness is the one that'll get the crimes solved.

And then we've got his sidekick, the adorable bedazzled Super Girl!

This super diva can fight fashion crimes like no other.

And she too can solve any mystery with her super cuteness.

The kids had a great time trick or treating this year. I love that we go out early, we come back early, hand out some candy and call it a night by 8:00pm.  And by 8:45ish Scott and I are sitting on the couch watching TV and eating some yummy candy, compliments of the kiddos ;)

3. A couple weekends ago Scott and I got a chance to get away for a few days. My mom and dad kept the kids (I'm pretty sure I have the best parents in the whole world!) and Scott and I went off to Las Vegas. It was a much needed break, which did wonders for both of us. I've got one word for you: Serendipity. YUM! I'll share some stories and post some pictures of our little getaway soon.

4. After much consideration, I declared yesterday a pajama day. Yes, I had a number of places I should have gone to and a number of things I should have done, but I opted to play hookie and stay home with my baby boy in our PJs ALL. DAY. LONG! We watched TV, played hide and seek, played tic-tac-toe, played chess and spent most of the day just hanging out. Together. It was glorious!

5. The countdown is currently at T minus 15 days until we pack up the family and spend a week in the most magical place on Earth. EEK!!!

6. It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is a week from today. I am so looking forward to it, especially since it'll be the first time in forever that we won't be hosting it at our place. It's all about being grateful for the little things, people!

7. I'm planning on starting the Christmas decorating extravaganza this weekend. This is most definitely my favorite time of year!

8. Yesterday, on the way home, Sam was singing a song he'll be performing at his preschool's Christmas program. I asked him what the song was about, to which he replied: "It's a song about how much God woves us and how He sent us His gun. You know God has a gun, wight?" Yeah,... Gun = Son. I SO LOVE THIS BOY!!!

9. I had a great meeting with some clients this morning. Afterward, I ran some errands, made some phone calls and had lunch at my parent's place. (Have I told you I have the BEST parents?) Since I had such a productive morning, I came home looking forward to spending some time on the couch, reading, until it was time to go pick up the kids. I had so not anticipated walking in and finding the huge stinky mess I found in Rocky's crate. So, instead of the relaxing 90 minutes I had envisioned, I spent the time hosing down the crate, cleaning the floor and "washing" Rocky. Ugh!

10. After a couple of months without really reading, I've made it a point to make the time to read again. And this makes me so happy!

An Arsty Fartsy Affair

So, as many of you know, I live for planning my kids' birthday parties. 

I spend months thinking/planning/shopping/preparing... 

OBSESSING, really! 

And I love every single second of it. 

This year, for her 6th birthday, Isabella asked for an art-themed party. 

In our family ART=FUN! 

So I wasted no time and quickly got to work researching ideas and projects. 

I finally settled on a party at home (crazy, right?) with five different art stations: 

Marble Art, Art Studio, Scratch Art, Bubble Art and  Freestyle Art.

The invitations were sent, RSVPs received and the fun began!

Upon arrival, everyone walked in through our huge frame (you can kind of see it behind the kids).

It was kind of like walking into a painting. 

Immediately to the right was the laundry line with all of the kids' personalized aprons.

I got the aprons at the dollar store.

Pink and purple for the girls, orange and green for the boys.

My Mom and I paid Jo Ann's a visit to buy a variety of fabric.

I cut out the circles and the letters, and she got to work sewing them on.

I love how they turned out. 

They were a HUGE hit with the kids (and the parents).

Here is the birthday girl with most of her guests:

I just love how they all look with their little aprons!

Right after this photo was taken, we counted down and off they ran to get their art on!

Marble Art:

 I bought two big containers of oatmeal and covered them with paper.

Filled the divided tray with 7 different paint colors.

Dropped the marbles in the paint.

Placed a sheet of white construction paper inside the containers.

The kids used the spoons to scoop the marbles inside the container.

Secure the lid.

And shake it to your little heart's desire.

Open container, remove paper and you have marble art!

Needless to say, marble art was a VERY popular station.

The Art Studio:

I purchased three tabletop easels, lots of 8x10 canvases, a bunch of brushes, paint trays, and paint in every color available. 

 The kids enjoyed the freedom of painting whatever they wanted.

We had some amazing masterpieces come out of this station

;)

Scratch Art

All the supplies for this station came from Dick Blick Art Materials.

Have you ever shopped them?

They have everything you've ever thought of (and everything you haven't) related to art.

Heaven!

Bubble Art

It kills me that I didn't take a picture of the Bubble Art station before the party started. 

It was SO colorful! 

And SO fun!

So fun in fact, that some of the kids got a bit carried away when blowing...

Exhibit A:

HA! Just look at that face!

She's so proud of herself and her HUMONGOUS bubbles!

Love it!

Freestyle Art:

 I bought a good size poster board and nailed to the fence.

Then I picked up a bunch of cleaning tools at the dollar store that would add different textures.

And let them go CRAZY!

Unfortunately, once it was all said and done, the entire thing was covered in brown.

But Isabella has decided that she will use that as a background for a painting of her own.

We will then frame it (with the blue frame you've seen floating around this post) and place it in her bedroom.

That way she'll have something that all her little friends contributed toward.

Cute, isn't it?

Throughout the party, kids were constantly going up to 

the makeshift laundry line to hang up their art work.

Here are just a few fun random photos...

Then it was time to go inside and sing Happy Birthday.

Cake maker extraordinaire, Karen, made the cake, as usual.

 And as usual, it was adorable AND delicious!

When everyone was leaving, each child got an 8x10 frame to put their favorite art piece in.
Apparently I forgot to take pictures of those as well...

At the end of the day, her apron looked like this:

and when I asked her if she had enjoyed her party, 

with a HUGE grin on her face, she replied:

"Mommy,thank you for giving us the BEST parties ever!"

And that, my friends, is exactly why I spend months thinking/planning/shopping/preparing... 

OBSESSING, really!

She now needs TWO hands!

Today is our sweet girl's birthday! 

Today she turns 6 years old.

And today she is SO excited, because she now needs both of her hands to tell us how old she is!

There is so much I can say about my sweet baby girl. 

I so love that she is developing into a person who is...

compassionate

fun

thoughtful

forgiving

happy
kind

adorable

thankful

funny

smart

independent

loving

courageous, yet cautious

sensitive

lively

honest
silly

talkative

joyful

affectionate

faithful

delicate, yet strong

conscientious

loyal

methodical

snugly

responsible

friendly

genuine

respectful

competitive, yet graceful

unselfish

creative

confident

beautiful

she loves God and Jesus

she loves her family

she loves her friends

she loves life

wholeheartedly and unconditionally

And that is EXACTLY how we love her!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY GIRL!!!

Thank you for 6 wonderful years!
May God continue to bless you each and every day of your amazing life!

Ten on Tuesday ~ Playing Catch up

Hello???

Is there anybody out there?!?!

I so would not blame you if you gave up on me and the ol' blog. 

I have been a terrible blogger lately.

But finding the time (and motivation) these days seems to be a HUGE challenge. 

Sooo, I'm using the Ten on Tuesday to play a little game of catching up.

So, here we go....

1. We had a lovely Father's Day. Scott got his Father's Day/Birthday present early this year (a Motorola Xoom tablet, which pretty much elevated me to best wife ever status, thankyouverymuch!), but we still gave him some pretty snazzy new work clothes. Being that we had his gift exchange early in the morning before going to church, I didn't take many pictures. But from the few that I did take, this one is by far my favorite:

2. The reason Daddy got some snazzy new work clothes, is because he will soon be starting a different job. We are SO very excited about this. Trust me when I say this is most definitely answered prayer!

3. Also, speaking about Father's Day, look who signed his name on daddy's card:

Arghhhhh!  This is painfully adorable!

4. Did I mention that Isabella lost her first tooth a couple of weeks ago while we were on vacation?

She did! She was lying down on the floor coloring, when suddenly a tooth that has been loose for oh I don't know, 6 months or so, fell and landed on her coloring book. Lucky for us the tooth fairy found us in the Arkansas mountains. And needless to say, she was one HAPPY girl!

5. Last week, the kids and I spent some time in Barnes & Noble looking for a birthday present for my nephew. While perusing the Bargains section, I came across these books:
Shhh... please don't tell my nook that I broke down and bought actual books, OK?
It's just that at $4.98 each, I couldn't pass them up.

6. Speaking of reading, I've been on a roll lately. Out of the 35 books I set up to read at the beginning of the year, I've already read 26. Woo Hoo! I will definitely have to up that number next year. And if any of you have a good book recommendation, please feel free to send it my way. I'm always looking for good reading material.

7. The kids recently discovered, and are totally obsessed with, a bunch of caterpillars hanging out and devouring some bushes in our front yard.

Needless to say, we check in on them every single day. These are some very hungry caterpillars!

8. I already started all the planning and preparations for Isabella's upcoming birthday party. The theme for this birthday is ART! Shocker, I know! I have so many fun projects and decorations planned, I can hardly stand it! So stay tuned...

9. The kids started VBS at my brother's church tonight. I won't lie, was a bit concerned about the 6-8:30pm time frame. But today I dropped them off, had dinner at Subway, walked next door for a pedicure (my toe nails are PURPLE and I ♥ them!), and then drove by the McDonald's drive thru for a $.75 low fat vanilla cone. And I did all of this before picking them up. It was a good night!

10. The kids started their swim lessons yesterday.

One of them loved it, the other didn't. 

Wanna venture a guess as to who it was??? 

Let me give you a hint:

 Yep, this is pretty much what he looked like during the duration of the lesson.

And like this.

And later in the day, when his Tata asked him about his swim lessons, his immediate response was: 

It was a NIGHTMARE! 

HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa! 

That boy of ours cracks me up!

Isabella, on the other hand, loved every minute of it!

It literally seems like she shed all her "water" fears overnight.

In fact, her teachers mentioned she might be ready to move up to the next level.

We are so proud of our cute little fishy!