Papa's 60?!

Happy 60th Birthday, Popskerdoodles! It's hard to believe that we fit 60 candles on the cake and didn't set any fire alarms off. Whew! For a 60 year old fella, he did a pretty good job of blowing out the candles too. It only took him 3 or 4 tries. We all had a good laugh to see our big Papa Bear blow out an inferno of candles. Happy Birthday, Papa Tim!

Check out the smoke! We could hardly see a thing and Kate had to cover her little mouth and nose.

Do We Want A Boy Or A Girl? Survey Says...

The new baby is healthy, growing at the correct rate, has all of it's body parts... and is extremely wiggly! The kids laughed when the baby kept giving the technician problems because it was so squirmy. Very cute to see it's personality already blooming.

We interviewed each child before the ultrasound was preformed. Here's their responses, desires and reactions...

BEFORE:

Parker: "Yes. I think it will be a boy. Definitely a boy. I also want a boy. I want it to be a boy so I'll have a friend to play video games with."

Grace: "I want a girl. I think it will be a girl, but I want a boy. Wait a minute. I don't know! I don't care which one. But having a girl would be nice because she would be a girl."

Kate: "I really want a dirl (girl). A dirl can play with my toys."

AND THE ULTRASOUND SAYS:

It's an "innie!" Definitely not an "outie." It was very obvious to the trained eye.

AFTER:

Kate: "A DIRL! I am happy!" (She also grinned and clapped her hands! When we went back to the car she cried because she thought we were leaving the baby at the Doctors office. Don't worry, Kate. She's in Mommies tummy.)

Grace: "I like that! It's a girl! It's a girl! It's a girl!"

Parker: "There are going to be too many girls in the house. Whew. It's going to be tough on me."

HERE'S SOME OTHER CUTE LITTLE DETAILS:

What Will #4 Look Like?, by Melissa

We are going into the Ultra-Sound office on Monday to see what gender little #4 will  be. While we are extremely excited to see if this baby is a boy or girl, we are even more excited to see what this little bundle will look like when the peanut is born . It seems like all of our childrens physical attributes are so different, but so alike at the same time. Maybe the "Look-Alike" meter will give us some insight on what the newest Butler bundle of joy will look like. So far we've hit a pretty even 50% for both Mom and Dad. Shucks! I thought I had the stronger DNA!

I knew Kate was the perfect combination of both Wing and I! I'm so smart.

Who Does Grace Look Like?

Grace's coloring just shouts Wing! But, looks like I get equal credit in her beauty too. Not too shabby.

Who Does Parker Look Like?

Here's the kicker! For all of you who secretly wonder who Parker's real father is... STOP WONDERING! He's got more Wing in him than Melissa, but not by much. Go figure.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween at the Butler house is always great fun. This year Halloween was on Nevada Day and the kids didn't have to attend school! No school was the best treat of the day. Everything after that was just plain sweet.

Once Wing got home from work, we started to "de-gut" our pumpkins. The kids each carved out the guts from their own pumpkins with slimy anticipation. Kate said, "I not like these pumpkin guts. They are GROSS!" (Wing ended up cleaning her pumpkin out.) Grace and Parker were very brave and did a great job cleaning out the guts. Grace enjoyed the slime while Parker kept a safe distance. Those two are so funny. Each child drew the faces on their pumpkins and Wing took to the carving like the Eagle Scout that he is. They looked great! Each child was very proud of their creation.

One of my favorite things to do on Halloween night is to participate in the triward trunk-or-treat at our church parking lot. It's just great fun to see our friends and their costumes as well as how they decorated their trunks. Some of the costumes and trunks get pretty creative. Kate's bag got so heavy that she started to drag it in the road. Despite her heavy load, she was very polite and said, "Tank you" to every trunk.

We are also very lucky to live on the best Halloween street this side of the strip. Our neighbors really go the extra mile for Halloween. It's a great way to get to know our neighbors and enjoy the holiday. But, it got a little spooky for Kate so she and I went inside early. Personally, I think that she just wanted an early start on her candy loot.

After all of the candy was sorted, counted, taste tested and traded.... (whew) ... We all ate my Mom's recipe for Captain's Chile with cornbread. It was a great way to end an exciting day. We all slept well that night despite the sugar high dancing in our veins.

We hope that you had a spooky and fun Halloween too!