Butler Family Fun Day

Tuesday Nov. 20th was Butler family fun day. At our house we have a marble jar that we use to reward the girls. When the girls do something good or use good manners or show some act of true kindness, then we reward them with a marble or 3 in the jar. When the jar gets full, then we get to have Butler Family Fun day. There really aren't any 'rules' or 'criteria' for what we get to do, its just supposed to be a fun day together.

As the day got closer, we talked with the girls about what they wanted to do and we settled on seeing the Bee Movie. We took that and built on it. We headed to Grapevine Mills to fulfill our day. Our first stop was Santa Claus. It has long been a tradition in our family to go see Santa the week of Thanksgiving. We've had pretty good luck of not having to wait in line (at least not too long). Today was one of those days. We walked right up at 12:45p and got to spend at least 5 minutes with St. Nick... long enough for me to snap 10 pics with my camera before getting the one above. It only cost us 1 5x7 (only slightly expensive compared to all the pics I got).

For being the first time ever that we didn't have at least 1 kid crying / fighting to see Santa, we stopped next door to get a cookie. What a rip off (theme of the day). Anyway, the Santa trip went so well we were able to head to a 1:15p movie (we had targetted a 2p show). 4 tickets and a combo meal later (more rip-off) we were ready. I brought a couple of sack lunch bags with me and was able to divide up the popcorn for everyone.

Then, 20 minutes into the movie, Abigail acts scared and says that she doesn't like the movie anymore. This has been a problem for her over the last 6 months or so. She doesn't want to see the bee get smashed (which of course he doesn't). It gets really frustrating dealing with what she calls 'scary movies'. I hope its something that she grows out of soon. Then, with about 20 minutes left in the movie, Emma starts doing the same thing (monkey see, monkey do). Guess we won't be going to the movies again any time soon. We survive to the end of the show and move along.

Next, its off to Build-a-Bear. We had a gift card from Emma's birthday along with a couple of coupons to use (finally, somewhat of a bargain!). Abigail ended up with a Rudolph (the nose even glows) and Emma went with her favorite color, pink! We made it out of there with minimal out of pocket expense. Next up was the merry go-round in the food court. As you can see from the pics, the girls had a lot of fun, with a big 'yee-haw' at the end. The walk there and then across the mall gave jen enough time to make a short shopping stop of her own.

Finally, we had a 'surprise gift' to get for the girls. We headed over to Bed, Bath and Beyond to get a 4ft pre-lit tree that they had on sale to put into the gameroom. Another coupon later (I love it) and we head home with a tree that the girls can decorate and use in the gameroom.

After heading home for dinner, Abigail and I headed out with my Dad and nephew to the Mavericks game. The 2 first graders had a grand ole time chanting 'Lets Go Mavs' and 'De-Fence' as it was shown on the screens throughout the game. Abigail was always more of a cheerleader then a player when she was on her soccer team, so she was completely in her element. Add that the Mavs won the game with the second largest come from behind victory in franchise history and the night was a success (along with a free Taco Bueno taco coupon in hand - ahhh, my FAVORITE fast food restaurant).

As you can tell, I'm a coupon fan. Its not that I dislike spending money, I just dislike paying full price for stuff.

Black Friday

It has long been a tradition to go shopping on the Friday after Thanksgiving. I started doing it even before Jen and I got married. To understand the passion, you have to realize that both of us are bargain shoppers. I spend at least a good hour each Sunday searching through all the ADs that come in the paper looking for a good deal. I sometimes will wait months looking for the exact price that I want for an item before I buy it.

This year is the first year that we have both gotten to be out shopping at the same time since Abigail was a little baby. We went to have Thanksgiving over at Jen's parents house in Mesquite and left the girls to spend the night over there. We came home, plotted our course, and off to early bed we went.

At 3:45a, we jumped up, took 2 cars and ran off to Kohls. Kohls has been a standard for the last few years for whomever was first out. In addition to at least some of their toys being 50% off, there is usually some other items from the AD that we like. Add in our additional 15% off coupon and $10 for every $50 bucks you spend, and its a given we will go there first. Next was a detour to JC Penneys, where I went ahead and picked up a few items while Jen waited in the Kohls line. Kohls was its usual packed self, with a good 15-20 minute checkout line... but Penneys was tame in comparison. Once Jen arrived, I handed off the items and was off to start my important part of the shopping day, the great tecno-geek shopping spree.

I've done Black Friday shopping at best buy before (or sent my poor wife one time) but the lines there are just horribly long and horribly slow, so I try my best to skip it if I can. My First stop was Fry's in Irving. After parking half way into the home depot parking lot at 5:15a, I was still able to retrieve my desired free 2GB SD card along with a couple of other things and headed for the check out. Despite the terribly long line (I was past the magazines and into the major appliances section), it took only 15 minutes because they had like 50 checkout lines.

I was a little off schedule and took a detour to the Staples in Irving. My original plan was to head up toward vista ridge then to the Staples in Lewisville... but one must be flexible. This was not a good choice. I got there at 5:55a, with a bit of a line waiting to go in. There were a couple of employees handing out tickets for some items. I jumped in line and waited. 6a came and the line move a bit but then it stopped. In case you don't remember it was in the upper 30s that morning, so it was cold. For some reason the manager was only allowing a small number of people into the store and wouldn't let anyone else in until someone left. Needless to say, those of us in line were not happy. 45 minutes later, I finally get to go in to find out they were out of the 2 things I really wanted. I went to look for my third item and just gave up. I was not happy.

There was one good thing for sitting out in the cold for 30 minutes... Jen called to say that Target was already out of one item and I was able to stop in Irving to look. They didn't have it, but Walmart was able to price match without a problem. Needless to say, my schedule is shot. I made a stop a sports authority, of which one item was already gone but they had a couple of other ones. Its now 8a and I give a call to the Staples in Lewisville on the off chance that they might have my item... and they do! A quick trip up 35 and I was able to get what I wanted. A stop at 2 Radio Shacks on the way home to find the one item I wanted from them and I was done. All in all a good days' work, all before 9:30a.

BTW, Jen was at Target in Flower Mound at 6a (after stopping at the new Walmart in Highland Village for a couple of items) and the line was just nuts... out the electronics side and all the way around the side of the building all the way to the back. She waited on the grocery side entrance, which they didn't open until all the people on the electronics side went in first. After her few discount items (as mentioned above, one was gone), she went on to do the weeks' grocery shopping. If you ever wanted to find the perfect time to go grocery shopping, its on Black Friday at Target. There is not a sole on that side of the building (I'm sure Walmart is the same way, but we are Target folks).

Until the next great shopping day (the day after Christmas of course).

All I want for Christmas...

Well, I'm a bit behind in blogging for the holidays, so I'll be posting in bunches. Today, Abigail finally got her loose tooth to fall out. So, she can be just like the famous song during the holiday season (we can already see both teeth coming in, so who knows how long the 'gap' will last)...


Speaking of Christmas, Abigail decided that today she wanted to have a 'Silent Night' by the Christmas tree. Since part of her desire was to have a dark room, we waited until after dinner. She had it all planned out... we would have some praise and worship, followed by some bible time, small group time of drawing a picture of our best part, then reunion and finally a song to finish it off. It took 1/2 dozen times to make her realize it was communion (and not reunion). Anyway, after a little preparation, off we went.

We sang some songs together (I was tasked with finding music to play on the computer), then I was tasked to read from the bible (of course, it was related to the Christmas story), the small group time got post-poned because of time constraints, followed by Abigail with help from mom handing out communion and we finished with me playing a special song (Silent Night of course). Who needs an organized family bible study when you have a 6 year old to put it together for ya.


It was a wonderful time together and it showed so many things. It showed how Abigail's imagination just keeps going as she gets older. It showed not only how much she loves Valley Creek, but also all the wonderful volunteers that work each week in pre-school, high 5 and now adventure zone and the great caring hearts that they have to nurture a young Christian. But it also showed just how strong her faith is. During our 'silent night', Abigail gave the blessing for our communion and you could just see the growth in her since she was baptized earlier this year. God truly is faithful and good.

A father (me and I assume Him too) couldn't have been more proud.

My (getting) Big Girls...

Where does the time go? You always hear it from your parents or aunts and uncles, "You have gotten soooo big, I can't believe it." We had a few occasions to admire how much our girls have grown and wonder where the time had gone.

It started on early Saturday morning when Abigail came downstairs at 4:45a to tell us that she had gotten sick... these are not the words you want to hear to start your day. We have fought the roto / stomach virus it seems at least once a year since Abigail first got it when she was 18 months old, and we had to drive 45 minutes home from Garland after she had gotten sick at Paula and Jason's house. By now, we are old pros, but it never gets easy. We got up stairs, and I was amazed to find out that Abigail had made it to her bathroom before she had gotten sick. Usually, it's everywhere in the room. And she was walking and talking like it was no big deal. No whining like our dear Bailey (see the blog below for details). She just asked for some pink medicine (chewable pepto), a prayer to feel better, and was ready to go back to sleep. I told her how big she and how proud I was of her for how she handled it.

Well, she got sick again around 7:15a (barely making it back to her bathroom) and that was it. Her going 2 1/2 hours between the first and second episode was a good sign that it wouldn't last long, but she still spent most of her day in her room watching DVDs, playing with her leapster, and reading. Eventually, I brought the laptop up to her to let her play games and offered her something to eat. She started with some pretzels, then wanted some more, and I gave her some toast with a hint of butter. I came back upstairs, and it was all gone, and she was ready for another piece of toast. She didn't fuss or complain about being stuck in her room all day (or eating nearly dry toast)... and she only ate small portions at dinner, stopping when her tummy was hurting. I told her again how proud I was of her and told her how big she was.

Today, we went out to do some family pictures in a part of our town that has a small creek next to one of the 30 miles of hike / bike trails. We've heard about it from others and had to check it out for ourselves. It was the 4 of us and my tripod. Overall, the girls did a good job of listening, smiling, and putting up with the 1/2 dozen different poses and locations. Emma was a bit tired, didn't really want to be there, but we were able to get her to be involved in the process.

Then tonight, while watching some video from this summer where the girls were singing VBS songs around the house, they wanted to watch Emma's 2nd birthday party. So, I found the tape, and we watched home movies for 1/2 an hour. Oh the memories... but mainly just looking back and trying to remember the moment. Trying to remember was it really like that?? Why haven't we realized how much Emma looks like Abby when she was that young?

It forced me to dig back further to find video of when Abigail was in her 3s (where Emma is now), and we'll probably sit down as a family and watch it tomorrow. Just previewing it a little bit, they look even more alike. I do remember how much of an "adventure" it was to try and take pictures with Abigail at 3...and how big Emma was being today during our photo shoot. Below is a pick from when Abigail was 3 at Christmas time.



This doesn't even begin to speak to trying to remember the early "baby"years... Maybe because we didn't sleep as much then and we just blocked it our of our minds???

Our little cone-head

Friday was a big day in the Butler household. Our dear little pup turned 6 months old. Below you can see her in her normal morning routine. It's amazing how she has gotten herself into a routine. It goes roughly as such:

• Run out of her crate with a little excitement / joy to be free.
• Walk with you right to the back door to go do her business.
• Come back inside and hop up on a few people.
• Sits patiently and waits to find out what's next (either on a kitchen mat or the living room carpet right by the kitchen.
• Follows someone off to a bedroom to say good morning or help wake them up (she loves to go upstairs and wake up the girls).
• Investigate the rest of the rooms and look for Dad (if I'm at work and not at home).
• Eat breakfast (unless she needs to go #2, then she usually waits to eat until after she has gone back outside to do that).
• Makes her way over to her toy bin by the kitchen and chew on / play with a few toys.
• Once every 3-4 minutes make a sweep of the kitchen floor for any food that has fallen there.
• Back to her toys.

And she seems to love every minute of it. Here she is with one of her toys (a toy phone that Emma thought she was getting for herself) on this Friday morning...



Well, today was a bit out of her routine as we had an appointment with the vet for her to be spaded. We had no desire to mess with being in heat, pups, and all that entails. My only fear was whether or not she would be the same pup afterwards. I took her at 7a to the vet and dropped her off. Right on cue as the technician came around to pick her up and take her back, she dropped a little happy water on the floor. Since she hadn't had anything to drink in 12 hours, it wasn't much (Does this ever stop???). And off she went. No goodbyes... No see ya soon... No it'll be ok.

We went and picked her up around 4:30p and the vet came in to see us. This was to let us know how to take care of her... what to expect... etc. She said that the procedure went fine, but for some reason, Bailey was being really whiny. Her surgery didn't go any different then the other dogs there... so she said either Bailey has a low pain tolerance or is a drama queen. She gave some extra pain meds (which in turn cost us more) and sent us on our way.

On Friday night, she would barely walk, take 2 steps and then sit right back up, couldn't get her to go potty at all. We took the cone off of her head for most of the night thinking that it was bothering her (and she wasn't moving much), and we just sat next to her to make sure she didn't mess with her stitches. Amazingly, she slept through most of the night on Friday... until Abigail came walking in our room on at 4:45a saying she had "throwed up". Having known that the roto-virus / stomach bug was going around, we had wondered when it would be our turn. Anyway, that's for another blog... But getting Abigail back in bed did wake up Bailey, so I got to sit in the office with her, my cup of coffee and the Saturday newspaper. Below is a picture of her on Saturday morning looking all pathetic with her little cone around her head.


Bailey finally got better on Saturday afternoon, walking around a bit, even trying to play baseball with Emma in the back yard. She did whine from time to time all through Saturday, but for most of today (Sunday) we haven't heard her whine at all. You do feel for her though when she tries to scratch an itch on her head.

So, I vote for 25% low pain tolerance and 75% drama queen... fitting right in with the females of the Butler family.

The Mean Green?

My dad and I made the 20 minute trip up to Denton tonight to watch the OSU Cowboys play against North Texas. Expecting a convincing win by my 'boys, I was rudely introduced to what is going to be a long season. The team just doesn't have any type of inside presence at all. They got bullied around by a 6'9" guy that looked like a stiff at the beginning of the game but turned into quite a player.

Is it too early to say there is always next year?

82-73 Mean Green Eagles.

Backups, backups, backups...

As many of you know, I'm a computer maniac. I have been ever since the 6th grade when I got into my first 1 day a week advanced computer class and got my first computer, an IBM PC jr. I've moved on thru many computers since then, most of them put together by myself so that I can the exact specifications that I wanted (and reuse some parts from the previous one, etc).

As I moved on to college, I got my degree in computer science, and my only job post-graduation has been as a computer programmer for Sprint. As you can tell, it is my life. Well, I had my first almost catastrophe this weekend. I went to startup my computer and it gave me a windows error immediately. As much as I despise the evil empire that is Microsoft, there isn't much else out there. No biggie, I've worked around many an annoying windows error. After a couple of more reboots and the same error, I rested for the night and waited till Saturday to pull out my windows install CD to try and do a recover.

That's when panic set it. The windows recovery console couldn't read my C drive. It was giving me system failure. Next, being the technomaniac I am, I pulled the harddrive out and put it in an external USB case that I had to try and read the drive from my work laptop. The drive just clicked a few times over and over. I was not happy. Finally, it came up and it could read one section of my drive and not the other. The problem is it couldn't read the main section.... Not Good, but not horrible. At least I could read something so I know that the entire harddrive itself hadn't failed, just a small (but very important) part of it.

See, there are lots of things on that missing main section. Our recent digital pictures being the main thing (Once every 4-5 months we gather enough data to burn a DVD, and I also move them off to a spare drive). I hadn't backed up my pictures since July. Next, was my quicken and tax data... hadn't backed that up in about 15 months (been 4 years for my turbo tax files). Then there was some digital scrapbooking that jen had done, other various files, etc.

That hard drive casing I used above normally contained a fairly large harddrive that I used to back up data too... however, on Saturday I realized that I had been much more diligent in backing up stuff from my work PC then I had from my home PC. Life was not good. Emma and I packed up the harddrive and headed down to some local tech place called Data Doctors. I picked them because I figured they would specialize on this type of thing. They said they could see my data on my messed up portion of the drive and they could rebuild it, file by file, in a couple of days and get it back to me. The problem was a corrupt partition table which tells windows what section of the harddrive is the main part and what is the second part. It would be costly though...

I'm now impatiently waiting to find out the results. Hopefully, I will have a handful of burned DVDs with all my data on it from my messed up drive. The morale of this story is BACKUP YOUR PC but also do it often. It would've taken me hours to rebuild my quicken data, not to mention all the lost memories of pictures from the last 4 months.

It still looks like I get to re-install my PC with a new harddrive though, including Microsoft and all the needed apps. Oh well, life goes on.