Rachel Ray....WATCH OUT!

Today was my onscreen interview with our local news. BITV. I was nervous, but it was great.
The whole interview took just over an hour and the reporter was so excited about our interview, that she asked me if I would be interested in hosting my OWN craft show once a week on BITV!

The rest that I announced earlier, I deleted because, I am superstitious and don't want to count my chickens before they hatch.
Just know...I am excited about all the new possibilities.
xo

We're the Butlers and we're.........CUTE!

Available for guest appearances at birthday parties, weddings, special events etc.

Mae turns 3....a while back...

Yay Mae....My sweet girl. So much pink! It was definitely a special day for her. She woke up at 5am and said "it's time to open my presents"! So..we did. She came to work with me and all day, people were telling her Happy Birthday and asking her age. She got very upset if I answered that she was 3. She wants to be 2. Isn't that a typical woman? Always wanting to be younger. :) So, I bought a new laptop..this time it is a MAC! It has been difficult to figure things out. Photos included. Funny thing is....last night I found my camera cord! I may have to do the rest of the uploading at the store on my PC.

xo

Baby Knoebel is here~!

"Baby Knoebel: Born at 7:14 am on July 11 2010 after a long 24 hours in the hospital. She is 7 lbs 15 ounces and is pretty cute. There is no agreement on a name yet, Regen has to take a nap before she can think about it."

Welcome soon to baby Knoebel.....we hope!

Today was a busy day. I worked until 5, the boys came home from scout camp, we went with the Tophams to Cades championship baseball game ( they lost by 1 because the opposite teams catcher was obstructing the base), and then I went by the hospital to sit with Regen while she is in labor. The plan was to be there the whole time, but her labor has been so slow, it will be an all nighter for sure. In the morning, i'll call to see how she is doing and see if she wants me to come back, but I am pretty sure she will have had the baby. She is doing great and beautiful as ever. Just being in the hospital room brought back so many anxious, happy, scary feelings. I don't know if I will ever have another baby again, but for now, I am so glad that it is her and not myself in that place tonight although the spirit was very strong in that room.
Sweet dreams to my dear sister Regen. We have been friends since we were 7 years old and I love her dearly. I cannot wait to see the new little spirit they are getting ready to welcome into their family. xo

Happy 4th of July!

Happy Independence day to everyone! The above photo is all I am going to see of fireworks this year. Some brilliant person planned the boys scout camp the day after the 4th so...that means, the kids have to be in bed, well, now so that they can get up at 4:30am to leave. I haven't heard any complaints yet. That might be because we have been downtown for three straight days celebrating. The perks of owning a business downtown really make themselves known during holidays such as the 4th. Friday, many people were clamoring to find red white and blue items. I was thankful to have many bright felt colorful flowers for the women and little flags for the kids. Saturday, the street fair began at 5pm and I stayed open until 10pm. I held hula hoop contests and gave out prizes. It was pretty fun. Our little Island is so safe, that the kids were able to go off on their own with their friends and come back to check in from time to time. Today, we headed into town around noon and hung out in front of the store (right on main street) to watch the parade and join in the festivities. I have spent maybe 3 (out of 22)years attending the parade and 0 years attending the street dance and other events. We are always in Idaho at my dads and it never really feels the same without my family around. Our favorite 4th by far was the one that we thought would be ruined by the approaching lightning storm. The Idaho skies were deep black and wide open so that we could see the lightning touching down all across the valley. My dad lives in a canyon, so we could see it up on the ridge as well. I was totally freaked out, but my little sisters and kids ran around on my dads big lawn, dancing and seemingly "electrified" by all the energy. It truly was beautiful although very frightening for me. My dad assured me we were safe.
The above photo, is obviously over water, but these were the kinds of strike downs were witnessed for over 2 hours. Natures fireworks if you will.
So, there you have it. Happy 4th to all of you and happy summer....(fingers crossed for good weather). Next week, camping trip with friends.....stay tuned.

Text again.....blah blah #4

Okay, this not having photos to share kind of thing is really starting to get to me for a couple of reasons. 1, so many amazing things to share via photos and 2...the amount of catch up that I am going to have to do because let's face it..this blog has replaced my daily journal and I plan on printing up this blog into books someday. Don't worry, I haven't just been sitting here, taking it!
I went into the photomat today to print them all up so that I could scan them. Cost to print them all up? 185.00. Why? Because I have over 1500 photos on my little memory card. Why oh WHY do they make memory cards so ginormous?? And I have to have them all because, well...they need to be released someday right? If I want to just get a cd, well, I can't. I have to buy 6! Anyhow...I am still on the hunt for the cord(s) or other camera to upload my photos. Have one?
I was able to copy a photo from facebook to show my little Nathan on his pioneer trek(back left with hat and red bandana). I was so excited to see him afterwards, that we drove straight from the Port Townsend show (more on that later) to Silverdale, two hours early even to see him in what I expected to be dire straits. Dirty, crying and oh so happy to see his mama. Weylll....it didn't exactly go that way. Does it ever? My awnry teenager came back...hm....awnry. I ran up to him, expecting a hug and he of course obliged half heartedly and then announced that it was terribly easy and proceeded to get upset with his brothers. Right where he left off. So, he is a trooper and a special guy and made it through alive even though he did wander off with a friend and find a black widow..shock!
As for the PT show...hm.....it was interesting. I have many wonderful photos to share....trust me...no I do! PT is a sleepy town and I wont be leaving the Island anytime soon to do another show. No real shoppers came until after noon. The hall was very dark and it was so beautiful outside that about 10 of the artists decided to move onto the lawn outside. Sad fact....the customers started coming and didn't shop at the outside booths. I was lucky and pulled in over 300.00, but some artists didn't even make a sale. It was their choice to move outside. So be it.
I did run into a friend I hadn't seen since I was 18 in Idaho. I was up at the farmers market (amazing) passing out flyers and he turned around. It took a minute, but we just kept hugging, happy to have run into each other again. I have been very blessed to have so many close relationships. Relationships that have lasted since elementary school. Redge and I were very good friends right after my mom died and he really helped me through a lot of boyfriend issues (his best friend) and family issues. Anyhow...interesting weekend.

Happy summer to everyone!