The Yellow Rose of Texas

Adee had only been in dance for about 2 months before her first recital. I have to admit that I thought it was going to be a train wreck, but she totally proved me wrong. Everytime we went to dance I told Adee that she had to watch her teacher and do what she does because that is how she would learn the dance, and she rarely listened. Well recital time came and Adee blew me away. Let me describe for you the scene right before Adee went on stage. I was out in the hall with Shep and I see Adee, she has a huge goose egg on her head because even though Sam and I told her a million times NOT to run in her tap shoes she did anyway and fell, on her head, of course. She is getting a drink with one of the teachers and has water all down the front of her, not to mention the red from the licorice that the teacher has given her to help her stop crying. Her mascara (though waterproof) is running down her cheeks and blending with the red blush that she was required to wear - she was looking hot. She told me she was ready to go on stage. (SUPER!) :> I went back and sat next to Sam and informed him that Adee was in rare form and to get ready for who knows what. Well, Miss Adee came out on stage (they do not let you record the night of the performance, BUMMER) with a HUGE smile. The music starts and Adee steps forward from the line and zones in on her teacher who is down below doing the steps. She follows every step WITH the smile and at the end looks in the audience to find her dad and I and and gives us a big wave and HIIIII!! She totally pulled it together and amazed us. She really does listen to what we say, sometimes. :> What a good feeling.

Samuel Shepard Butler gets blessed

It only took us six months. ;> Before I start, no one get offended that we did not invite you, because we did not invite anyone. :> This was Sam's first blessing and he did not want anymore pressure then he already felt, so it was just our little fam. ;>. Sam did a great job, calm and cool. Shep was mellow as always. Adee was climbing all over the chairs in her dress, showing her bloomers, and I was crying - we all carried out our roles perfectly. It was very nice to have Sam holding our little boy and to hear him say we give you a name and that name is Samuel Shepard Butler, I love that his name is the same as Sam's but a little different. It was a very nice blessing and if I get too in-depth I will never get my blog up to date. :> We tried to get some family pictures beforehand, not alot you can do with one person taking the shots, but it works. Great husband, great kiddos. Love em. :>

Soccer, Cowboy Hats and Photographs.

So, Adee had her first soccer game last Saturday. I was stuck in the car with Shep while he slept, which was okay because it was cold! :> All I could do was laugh at Adee as she chased after the ball. She kept telling me before the game how fast she was and that she was going to get to the ball first so she could kick it. She did such a good job, and even though she is probably the youngest on the team she still keeps up with them all and does not give up. She had a lot of fun. She also found my "big cowboy hat" as she calls it, which is actually my hat from the Kentucky Derby (just wanted to clarify so that you all did not think I was wearing a hat like that to church or something. ;> It was hard enough to wear it to the Derby and not feel totally ridiculous :>) She loves to play dress up and has come up with some very interesting outfits. The pictures here are of her big cowboy hat (like Dora) and her wrappy thingy (like grandma B) - she was pretty impressed with how she looked in the mirror. :> And of course I have to add some pictures of Shep. I got a camera last summer and have yet to read the manual, someday I will take some really good pictures, but for now it is set to auto EVERYTHING. Shep is such a sweet little boy, and soooo charming. I know that is odd to say about a six month old, but trust me, he is. He knows just when to smile or whimper or laugh and he always works it to his advantage. The other day I was trying (again) to get him to take some food and he was refusing (again) and I looked at him and said "your stubborn" and he starting laughing like I had said the funniest thing in the world. Now everytime I tell him he is stubborn, he laughs, which gets him out of pretty much anything he does not want to do. I am such a sucker. ;>

The Big 3-0!!!!

Okay, so on Tuesday I turned 30, yes 30!!!! It was pretty emotional, which everything is these days due to my lack of sleep. I know I am not OLD, but let's face it 30 is on the other side of young. :> So, as I thought about my life and what I had done in 30 years I have to admit that I was VERY glad that I could count Adee and Shep as two of my major accomplishments. I am so glad that we have them and that they are healthy and happy. I can always count on one or both of them to make me smile, and that is a nice feeling. I am definitely realizing how important family is, and that in the end the memories that you have made with your friends and loved ones are the things that you will cherish most. Here's to the next 30 years! Wish me luck!

Shep's got a GIRLFRIEND!!!

I couldn't resist putting this picture on here, it is too cute! Shep is with his first girlfriend Mia, she is one of Becky's twins. Yes, Mia does look a little scared of Shep, but I am sure that will change as their relationship grows. :>

Ohhh.... chocolate, again.

The other day my little smarty tried to out smart me again. She ALMOST pulled it off. The Easter Bunny brought her some cadbury eggs and I kept forgetting to let her try them, well, she decided it was time. I was in feeding Shep and she was really quite (bad sign) I figured there was something going on and had already started to guess what it could be when Adee peeked her head in the room. Our conversation went a little like this.
"Hey Ad's" (me noticing the chocolate around her mouth)
"Hey mom." (sly smile)
"What ya been doing?"
"Nothing"
"What you been eating?"
"NOTHING!!!" (very shocked)
"Did you have some chocolate?'
Then she couldn't take it anymore, she HAD to tell me how good those chocolate egg things were and that they were the best treat she had ever had. I asked her if she ate the whole package (they come in a box of four) and she said "No, I saved one for tomorrow."
Yeah, three WHOLE cadbury eggs, no drips, no wrappers, no belly ache...... if only she would have looked in the mirror before she came to see what I was up to! :>
She really is soooo smart, she even pushed the wrappers way down in the trash. Funny girl.
So before we washed away the "evidence" with her bath I figured I better take some pics.
I had to have one of my not so little guy too, it is a good thing he is not old enough to learn from his sister, yet!

Happy Easter!

We had a fun Easter. I heard Adee wake up (as I always do) and waited for her to come into the room and get us like she does EVERY morning - bright and early. However, she ventured into the living room and saw that the easter bunny had left her some eggs to find. I figured she would be in to get us up for sure, but then I heard an egg crack open and Adee say "ooohhhh, chocolate!" and I knew that if we didn't get out there quickly we would miss the egg hunt. :>
She really loved her easter dress, and she kept moving from side to side to hear the "swooshing" sound as she called it. Grandma B got her a book about the real meaning of Easter and we have read it every night since, she really loves it.