Andrea and Kellen Butler

Happy New Year

2008-12-30T20:06:00.005-06:00

Happy Holidays! I have two weeks "off" from school but Kellen has been in preschool yesterday and today so that I could get caught up at work and so that he doesn't get too much out of his routine. I didn't really get that much done. But I was able to put some things away and clean up my room a little, which is important to me. I still have about 4 hours of grading left and I have no idea what I'm teaching when I get back, but I will make it work-I always do!

My sister Shelly and her family from Oregon visited us before Christmas. It was really good to see them. Kellen had a ton of fun playing "hallway hockey" with Nathan and Sean. They stayed with us for a couple of days and then went down to La Crosse. Every time they visit in the winter it seems like it is 40 degrees below zero! At least we didn't leave the garage door open this time.

We also spent a few days in La Crosse-from Christmas eve until Sunday the 28th. Christmas eve was at my Dad's house. Everyone was there-all 7 kids and spouses and 13 grandkids! Santa and Mrs. Claus made an appearance and then we opened gifts. Judy, my Dad's wife, made a CD with pictures of my Dad's life-his parents and grandparents all the way down to his grandchildren. They also gave us a family tree that goes pretty far back. It was really neat.

Of course Santa brought Kellen a ton of presents that we have no room for (you'd think I'd take that into consideration when shopping!). Oh well-it just means I have to clean things out and get stuff ready for a rummage sale this summer. We got to spend some more time with some of my family at my sister Beth's house on Christmas day. It was nice and relaxed. The kids played games and the adults just hung out. Then we went out for some drinks on Friday night. Living away from home makes the time that I'm able to spend with my family so much more precious. I never realize how homesick I am until I get there.

We stayed with Ted's parents and we able to visit with his sister Shannon and her two girls, Lauren and Emily after their terrible 16 hour Amtrak experience. Kellen had a blast playing with them and seeing Grandma and Grandpa Butler. We also got to see his great aunts Pat and Elisabeth. They drove up from Madison on Sunday and we were able to have a nice roast dinner before heading back up here. As nice as it is to spend time with family, it's always nice to get back home!

I'm still not unpacked but I've got a few more days to get that done.

On another note, Mia is doing really well. We have her on prednisone and she has been eating a ton. I would say that she's gained back almost all of the weight that she had lost. Our friend Chris took care of the cats while we were gone. She is a life saver!

We don't have big plans for New Year's Eve. We plan on watching gopher basketball on TV and then the bowl game. Other than that, it will be a pretty uneventful night, which I'm not upset about! 2008 has been quite a year for us. I am looking forward to a safe, and less challenging 2009. Here's wishing you a wonderful 2009!

It's been a while!

2008-12-03T12:37:00.003-06:00

Yikes! I can't believe it's been well over two months since that last message. A lot has happened in that time.

Kellen switched from daycare to preschool. The election (UGH! Need I say more??) And our kitty Mia was diagnosed with cancer. She is hanging in there although she's lost almost 5 pounds since June of 2007. She is teeny-tiny now. We put her on prednisone this week and she seems to be feeling a bit better. She's eating like she used to-which is good, but she still isn't grooming herself like she used to. Ted and I know that her time with us is limited and Kellen knows that she has "a really bad tummy ache" but I'm not sure he's picked up on anything else. Breaking the news to him is going to be hard to deal with because he's so sensitive. And Wrigley, well, I have no idea how he will react. I would assume that he would miss her but sometimes I wonder if he even knows there is another cat in the house (he's not the brightest bulb!)

We were able to spend much needed time with our families this Thanksgiving. It was great to see everyone! I'm looking forward to Christmas.

After Thanksgiving, we spent two nights at Great Wolf Lodge in Wisconsin Dells. It was a blast! Kellen absolutely loved it! He was so well behaved at the restaurants and when we told him it was time to leave the swimming area, he was entirely fine with it. We spent some time in Wiley's Woods, which is a huge play area that is part of the hotel complex. He had a lot of fun throwing balls around and filling up a big hopper that would dump the balls all over the place-including on top of us!

The waterpark was really nice. Some of my students said that Kalahari was better, but I think that's because they are older and Great Wolf has a lot of stuff for younger kids to do . There were three huge swimming areas, a couple of gift shops, a bar and a couple of food areas right in the waterpark.
I tell you, this is the only waterpark that I've ever seen where you can have a beer with you in the kiddy pool, put it down on the edge so that you can get your kid off the water slide and then pick it back up to drink it again. Only in Wisconsin!! I would definitely go back to Great Wolf. We are actually thinking about going back and also doing Noah's Ark next summer.

Now that I have some extra time, I should be able to post more often. I'm posting during my prep hour so I better wrap it up. Back to work!

Things are changing...

2008-09-18T15:45:00.007-05:00

It's funny how some things stay constant and others are constantly changing. We have some changes going on in our lives...the most obvious one being Ted's campaign. We've really had to juggle and let some things go in order to maintain a mostly sane life the last few weeks. I've given up dusting...and there are literally cobwebs between the picture fames in the lower level to prove it! And I haven't been to the grocery store in a few weeks...although we were really well stocked before the school year started. Somehow I got on an insurance committee for our teachers' union. I guess it's because I've been so vocal about what I consider a negative direction our leadership has been following. I cut my hair! It is at about chin level. I'm getting used to it and I think I kind of like it. It definitely makes me look older :-(

The biggest change, and the hardest decision I've ever had to make was moving Kellen from his current daycare setting to a Montessori School. I know it is a good change, he will be getting a wonderful education and it will even save us about $1500. But the teachers he is leaving are wonderful and they love him so much. He's been with them for the entire time he's been at Tutor Time-three years now. Everyone knows him by name, he has quite a few friends and he really, truly enjoys being there. But there are some significant issues with the administration that we aren't comfortable with and felt the time to make a change was now. Miss Liz, Miss Tanya, Miss Danielle, and Nette, please know how very much you mean to us and keep checking back to the blog. I will keep putting pictures up and hope that you will stay in touch.

My sisters know how much of an issue I have with good-byes...so these last couple of weeks have been really hard for me. I've cried quite a bit and Kellen has been so sweet about it..."Mommy, do you have tears??" and then he would get me a kleenex and try to make me laugh. He is really a very sweet little boy and I am so lucky to have him in my life.

Gotta go to another one of those insurance committee meetings. Hope you are all doing well!

An

Starting School

2008-08-26T18:23:00.003-05:00

Monday was the first day back to school. It was bittersweet because I miss my time with Kellen but I do enjoy my job and my colleagues. Kellen hasn't had any problems transitioning back to day care. His teacher, Ms. Liz, is just great. He absolutely loves her. When I picked him up on Monday, she said to me, "Okay mom, don't be mad!" and then she handed me a picture of Kellen. He really likes playing with the girls in his class!

We attended the Senate District 49 pig roast on Saturday night. Ted gave a speech and captivated the crowd. Kellen was really well behaved. He now says, "I'm a democrat" and "Is that Joe Biden?" Ted was drinking a beer with dinner tonight...it was a Rolling Rock and it had a figure of a horse on the label. Kellen asked if that was a "campaign beer" and "is it a democrat?". I am absolutely amazed at how much he picks up, retains and connects information.

We plan on going to the MN state fair on Friday and then having a relatively relaxing weekend, although it will contain some campaigning.

Take care!

Summertime!

2008-08-15T22:37:00.005-05:00

Well, I haven't exactly been updating this as much as I thought I might. A lot has happened in the last month. Our biggest accomplishment is that Kellen is basically potty trained! He sometimes has some "ascidents" but has been doing pretty well as of late.

Our road and driveway are finished (finally!) Kellen has really enjoyed watching all of the different equipment-from the bulldozers to the water tank trucks. I have taken quite a few pictures and plan on making him a photo book to help him remember how much fun he had.

He had two weeks of preschool from 9-12 each morning. The first week was Dinosaurs and this past week was Creepy Crawlers. On Friday of each week, the kids were supposed to dress up as their favorite animal. He was a triceratops and a ladybug. We had a lot of fun making the triceratops costume. I actually surprised myself a bit that I was able to make the tail (my sewing skills are definitely considered emerging!)

He finished swimming lessons and will be taking them again starting September 8. He loves being in the pool but gets so cold so quickly. We all went to Bunker Beach today (it's a small water park with a wave pool) and his poor body was just shivering even though it was about 80 degrees.

Oddly, he really enjoys going to campaign events! There was a working families picnic on Monday night and he had a blast singing the ABC song into the microphone after most everyone had left. Some teenagers who were in the area mockingly sang along with him but he thought it was great. He sits really quietly and plays with toys or else hands out stickers or crayons to people during meetings. I guess he doesn't realize that most other three year olds aren't doing the same things.

Some of his cute phrases:
"I don't want to have any consequences"
"Spiders are arachnids"
"I'm so skinny like Obama"

He will start a 10 week learning to ice skate program in October... don't worry Grandma Butler-he will be required to wear a helmet! He has enjoyed being able to roller blade with his hockey stick and puck on the new road and we will be going to open ice skating next week to get him a little more familiar with the ice.

School is getting closer and closer and I'm not sure who will have a harder time with it. With Ted spending so much time with the campaign, Kellen and I have spent a lot of time together just the two of us. So we are pretty attached to one another.

It is going to be a very interesting two months between the time I start back at school and the election. My motto for the school year is "Efficient and Effective" and that is going to have to be true at work and at home!

I hope you are all doing well. Take care!

Our Tuesday

2008-07-15T22:21:00.004-05:00

Welcome to my/our blog! Stephanie Brandt has inspired me to try this since she has done such a great job with hers! Thanks, Steph! It seems like a really easy way for me to help my family watch Kellen grow up-even though we are miles apart! I am going to try to keep campaign "stuff" out of here since you can read Ted's blog on his website-www.butlerforhouse.com but I'm sure that it will occasionally slip in.

Tuesdays are always exciting at our house-it's garbage day! And today was especially exciting since the recycle truck also stops by! So, we started our day getting ready to go to tumbling and being able to watch the recycle truck visit just before we left. We went to tumbling with Ms. Kathy and had a lot of fun. When we got home, the "big-uns" were on 139th Street leveling out the road getting it ready for the new pavement. We walked down to the corner and were able to watch a steam roller, grater and a front-end loader. The driver of the grater waved to us and the front-end loader actually dumped a load right next to us (I was a little nervous about a very large vehicle carrying a big load of dirt whipping around the corner right next to us!) and then it honked!

A little while later, we went to Bunker Hills Activity Center and learned all about snakes, lizards and other critters. Kellen was even able to pet a snake! We came home, had lunch and a good nap and then swam in Kellen's pool. He loves going down his slide into the pool. Daddy came home from work and we watched a little bit of an old Gopher Hockey game and then had dinner. Kellen and Mommy went to story time at the library and then came home and took a bath.
We all watched some of the MLB All-Star game and then he fell asleep in my arms. One thing that I am really grateful for is that Kellen really likes to cuddle with me! I know that some day he won't, so I'm treasuring every minute of it!

The summer is going fast-all of the stores have their back-to-school stuff out and it's a little depressing, but we have a lot of fun stuff planned for the rest of July and August!

Feel free to comment if you would like-I hope to get better at this the more I do it!

Take Care,
Andrea