Grape Nuts = Growing Up

I just had to hurry and post this funny story. I haven't done much in the line of keeping up with Mia's baby/scrapbook so I thought I should document this little occasion.

Mia likes to eat cereal EVERY morning. I offer her good warm things to eat and she just chooses to eat cereal. Not just any cereal she is very specific. She wants Rice Crispies! I buy the big bulk bag to use for Rice Crispy Treats so I never thought that this would end up being Mia's personal fav. She does like me to put one teaspoon of sugar on them however. Well moving on... She told me "Mom I am hungry." I then replied in the most loving voice "What would you like to eat my little darling?" She opens up the pantry and says, "Mom, I growed up so I need some of Dad's cereal." Referring to the grape nuts. Well knowing how they taste, I try to tell her that I am sure she won't like them. (A mother always knows.) In her attempt to reiterate to me how grown up she is, she gets the box herself. I poor the smallest amount in her bowl and add the milk. One crunchy bite later...."Mom, I'm still a little kid. Can I have my own cereal?" I just smiled and poured the grape nuts down the garbage disposal and got out the Rice Crispies!

While I am updating, I had these pictures to throw in. We didn't get to go anywhere for UEA for many reasons, so we braved the CROWDS of people at Gardner Village and then went with the Gunners to Chuck E. Cheese for Noah's pre-celebration. I stood in the face painting line for 45 minutes while the kids went to the petting zoo. Ok let's just say, the kids could go to Great-Grandpa Bisel's and pet as many animals as they did there and I could pull out the face painting kit and do the butterflies myself BUT it was the time together that counts RIGHT. The things we do for our kids. NEXT year Disneyland MARK MY WORDS!!!!

Just for Aunt Giselle

So to say we all have had a hard time with Aunt Giselle moving would be a slight understatement. Mia seems to have it the worst. I think the reason maybe that Giselle has brain-washed her to believing that she is her mother. Don't get me wrong, I love that they want their Aunt Giselle to be such a part of their lives. We send video footage and pictures on the cell phone bi-weekly to her. (I am so grateful for technology.) Last week Ellie got her back handspring down. First person we call...Giselle. Plus the cell phone video of it. Every morning Mia tells me "I can't wait til Christmas. Then I can see Giselle." Apparently I just need to wrap Giselle up and put her under the tree. So these pictures are for Giselle. I hope that the rest of you enjoy them and please note the time. 4:05 AM! That is the only time I have to blog. I couldn't sleep so I started some laundry and now I have one second for an update.

Where on earth does the time go? My big girl will be 9 in just one week. I am seriously freaked out with the notion. You know me the leader of the drama queens! Needles to say they keep me on the move! Gotta go...time to put in the next batch of clothes!

It's October...My favorite month!

I can hardly believe that it is October. This is one if not my single favorite month. It isn't because of all the birthdays or Halloween. It means we start wearing cute sweaters, eating soup A LOT, having pumpkin this and pumpkin that and most of all we gain one hour of sleep with daylight savings!!! Let's be honest it really is because of the birthdays!

We had a great time celebrating Jack's first birthday. I would love to show you the pictures of it but I forgot to grab my camera and so far no one has posted their pictures that I can steal. Chelsea made the absolute cutest cake EVER. I pride myself of being "Monica" but move over "Martha". One of the highlights was the three legged race. Tim prides himself on NOT being competitive...this does not bout well with his overly competitive wife. Therefore I have set the stage. Chelsea and Allen held the current three legged world record for YEARS back when they were both in their athletic prime(BTW Happy Birthday today, CHELSEA). The competition was tight and due to a certain spill that Chelsea and Max took, Tim and I were able to walk away with bragging rights. Thanks for the memories family!

I will just give shout out to the rest of my October B-day Babes!

Robbin-11th Happy Birthday to the best friend and neighbors I have ever had!

Noah (baby)20th- We can't really call you baby Noah anymore. Happy Birthday big 3 year old!

Patrice 28th-I am so glad we get to share our special day together, you are just like one of my sisters! My birthday wish for you is a crib for your baby, wait that should be Evan's birthday wish. Maybe by the time he is one he will get it!

Ellie 28th- You were the best birthday present I have ever gotten. I can't believe what a beautiful young lady you are becoming!

Grandpa Butikofer 31st-We hope you have a great day! And Happy Halloween!





I just wanted to cover what we have been up to the past few weeks.

#1 Field Trip with Mia: Her "BearHig" preschool fall Teddy Bear Picnic. We went to Nobbletts. It was great to watch Mia in action and she pretty much ran up the trail. One of the other mothers commented to me, in between her child's sobbing sessions, that Mia seems so comfortable being outside and playing in the dirt and picking leaves. REALLY- this child playing in the dirt and being crazy, go figure. Which bring me to my next item.




#2 Swimming Lessons: I enrolled all the girls in swim lessons. We didn't do them over the summer and I felt pretty guilty. I put Mia in Child B class. This class is designed to "acquaint" children with the water and make them feel comfortable. I was worried that I should put her in the level one BUT Tess is in that class. Needless to say after one class the teacher told me that they should move her up a class but I still felt like Tess needed her "own" class. It is so funny to watch her. The teacher is constantly telling her to get up on the side with the other kids and she dives into the water and holds her breath as long as she can. The girls are doing great and I am so glad that we have the rec center so close.

MIA UNDER THE WATER WHILE THE REST OF THE CLASS WALKS TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE POOL!

MIA AGAIN UNDER THE WATER WHILE THE REST OF THE CLASS IS STANDING WAITING FOR THEIR TURN!












#3 The new addition to our family! Three little kittens have come to live with us. Mia has wanted a kitty for such a long time and I keep putting it off and putting it off. It had gotten to the point where she asks me 15 times in a day (I truly counted). So with the help of my mom letting me know where I could get some, each girl decided they needed to have their own. Welcome Aleena (I think it really is AL), Gabriella, and Chloe! Seriously they take as much time as my own kids. They are barely 6 weeks old and still miss their mommy. Mia is in seventh heaven and I am so proud of Tess and Ellie for also holding and petting them. Tess request that I bring Gabriella up to the bus stop to greet her when she gets off the bus!

They are outside cats but we just had to bring them in to snuggle them a bit. They really miss their mom!

This maybe the only update this month here is a list of things I have to do:

Swim lessons every Saturday

Super Saturday

Have a HSM3 birthday bash for Ellie!

Dance Concert (Super Spooktacular)

Make a Halloween treat for Mia's preschool class

Halloween Party in Ellie's class , (your right Robbin I got myself back into helping the Room Mother)

Primary Program

Raise 3 kittens

Raise 3 daughters

Try to keep up with the laundry

Fix nutritious and delicious meals

Clean, Clean, Clean!!!

It may be Thanksgiving before I update!

My goal for the month.

I expressed earlier in the month I want to be a better photographer and now it is almost the end of the month and I have to follow through. I only have one muse but I kidnapped another. See what you think!

For some reason this one turned out to be my favorite.

Working at the perfect light.

If we only really knew what these eyes were saying?!?!


Still working on the prefect light.

And still working! He loves to avoid the camera!


I wish this one was a little more focused.

I can't decided if I like color or sepia!

I promise I will find other people and things to take pictures of-It is just the beginning!

Enough already...here are my quirks.

I don't feel like I have to list 6 quirks since Billie Jo has previously listed 2 quirks:

1)I know and have watched every episode of Little House on the Prairie. I feel like if I were able to be reincarnated I would come back as Charles Ingles.

2)I shower two to three times a day. Enough said, I like clean.

3)I always turn the radio down to zero before I turn off my truck in case the on/off button ever breaks I will not be stuck with a radio that never works again; as well as turning the fan setting in the control panel to low. Same reasoning, if it ever breaks I do not want to be left with air blasting in my face.

4)After drinking a cold beverage I always click my tongue on the top of my mouth and make a refreshing sigh to signify my satisfaction.

5)I sleep with my hands above my head clasped together as well as making a steam engine whistling noise while exhaling, (so I have been told).

6)I despise things that do not work properly. I would rather throw it away then put up with something that only semi works.

I re-re tag Allen and Max.

Random Ramblings!

As I have stocked many other blogs, I have realized that I don't take enough random or spontaneous pictures. I want to have all these images of my beautiful girls just "living" life. I think I may have to invest in a better camera or do some studying to capture the perfect photos. So in an attempt to catch some moments here we go:






This is my little bed bug! She manages to sneak into my bed 5 out of the 7 days of the week. She is so snuggly that I don't care and since I try to let her sleep in while Tess and Ellie get ready for school it is much more quiet in my room. Her eyes tell so much about who she is. She can melt your heart just with one flash of those baby blues. As you can see by the clock. She managed to sleep until 8:21. This is a miracle for my children, she can sometimes pull it off. Bless her!

Our big attempt at being self reliant. Well let's just say that if we had to live of our harvest, we would starve. Not entirely all my fault. I get lots of help from the deer and the frost. We planted zucchini, squash, carrots, peas, strawberries, raspberries, and tomatoes. Then of course there are the apple trees. Those tend to be the deer favorite. I will say that we ate zucchini this and zucchini that for several weeks and devoured several zucchini cakes. I have learned a lot and will give it another shot next year. (It would help if I built a ten foot fence and invested in green house.)

Noah tagged all the guys in the family and so far none of them have answered. Mom did a great job filling in dad's information. I however will fill you in on one little "quirk" about Tim. He LOVES and I emphasis L-O-V-E-S to clean. I try and try every day to have the house clean but there is always something that he can one up me on. The latest being steam cleaning. He found this gadget from someone who comes in to clean their office. He was bound and determined to steam clean our shower and anything else he could get a hold of. He just kept going and going (energizer bunny). I love this "quirk" he has but someday I would like to feel like I am not the worst house keeper in America. (I know, I know, Olivia and Robbin you don't have to tell me you would take it any day.) One other little quirk. Tim spends A LOT of time primping. He once was a hair model FOR REAL and I think he picked up some habits of spending time in front of the mirror.


So here is my best effort at casual photography. I love to watch these two walk to the bus in the morning. I often wonder what they talk about or say to each other. When they were younger, (ok two years ago) I would try to dress them the same. Now they try to plan out what they wear the night before and there are some outfits they have that match. Then they want me to do their hair the same. The are both getting way to big and it was really evident this weekend with Evan around.


Yeah Evan came to see us. We LOVE to have house guest. I feel like Evan is really a special little nephew since I was the first one there after his birth. I got to go into the special NICU and hold him. Boy has he come a long way from that little isolete. We are excited that we will be spending a lot more time with this little guy in the near future.

Well duty calls. Someone needs me to clean up their mess!

Pre-school Princess

As hard as I thought it would be to have Tess go to kindergarten, it was even more difficult to let my baby go to pre-school. Mia had her first day of pre-school on Wednesday, September 3rd. (This picture is really from Thursday because when we got to pre-school yesterday my batteries were dead!AHHH!) She had been so excited for her BIG day.

She looked so small compared to all the other kids and I wondered is she would be ok. After all the bookbag is as big as she is!!!However, she fared pretty well and talked for at least an hour about all the other kids in her class and who sat by her, who scribbled on their paper instead of staying in the lines, and of course the hello song that they learned. Apparently she is ready and able. Now I am just wondering what I am to do with 2 1/2 hours. Let's see update my blog, clean my house, and do the endless amounts of laundry!!!