scientist or chef?

I hope that one "gift" we give to our children is the notion that they will truly believe that if they put their mind to it...they can be anything that they want to be one day. So, with that ideal in mind...I think it is our job now to give them all of the experiences that we can...so someday they can decide what they want to be (or don't want to be).
So....they might be a scientist (playing with worms) or a chef (baking with mommy in the kitchen)...these little guys like to try it all out!

 (just happened to get more pictures from our baking extravaganza today....They LOVE cracking the eggs!)

 

 

Phones.

I know that technology can be a distraction. I know that there are times when I should not be on my phone (aka talking, emailing, texting, pinterest, facebook, etc.) and instead should be spending time with my family. I am trying to be very aware of the time I spend and really make sure that I am "with" my boys when I am with them- for (as so many people told us would happen) they really are growing up too fast!!!!

 

But.....amidst all of the negative things that a "smart" phone can bring....I can definitely find a positive: I can take lots of pictures and capture memories of our daily lives.  So...to that I will choose to be grateful! Thank you, smart phone, for helping me to caputure memories!!!!

 



Some pictures over the last few weeks. 

 

 

We started having "game time" while we wait for dinner to be ready or after naps. Playing "connect four" (Cars theme of course!)

 

 The month of October was birthday month around here! What a sweet hubby...and a great way to wake up!

 

 

Cold(er) weather sometimes brings snuggly mornings! Cam decided to snuggle in and enjoy some cartoons.

 

It was fun to celebrate with some friends. Love ya, Brit! (sorry I dont have any others to post right now...eek!)

 

 ...and another new game. Hungry Hungry "farm animals". They loved it!

 What could be better than blue-bubblegum icecream? YUM!

 And pumpkin carving time!

 (I just love this one! It was a great night! We carved pumpkins and lit a fire in the backyard.)

 

 

I love a nice fire in the fireplace!!!! 



 And...lastly...how cute is this? He loves to wear his fireman hat.....especially when we go to the "man store" (aka HomeDepot). 

Chores.

I recently had a conversation with a good friend who has a great family rule/system. Her girls must each do a chore because they are part of a family (aka they dont get rewarded for doing it. They just do it as a way to learn responsibility and team work). Then, they have other chores that they can do to earn stickers.  I loved this concept.

Saturday morning, Cam was doing his chores...just because he wanted to be just like daddy.
So cute!

 

My heart.

....went on the swings today.

 

 

(I  love how you can see their personalitites here!)
So happy fall is around the corner!

Baking with the Butlers

I love to bake.
I am so thankful that my mom gave me this love.
She did such a great job of letting us help in the kitchen when she was baking-whether it was helping to roll out pie dough, or scooping out chocolate chip cookie dough- she always let us help.
 
So, tonight was the first time I can say that the boys actually helped me bake something.
 
I will remember this always.

Camden helps me smoosh the bananas for the bread. He really it when I cut the corner off of the bag and he got to sqeeze it in the bowl (too messy for a picture though..I wasn't about to touch my camera/phone..)

 

 Sully decided to smoosh his with a spatula.

 After the bread was put in the oven, Sullivan kept saying "chactor" (tractor). So, I let them play in the flour with their tractors. They had so much fun! (and yes...my kitchen was covered. Totally worth it though!)

 

 

 

 

Lately.

Life lately.

 



 

We love our neighbors!

 

Daddy snuggle time before church.

 

Well, since everyone else got to go "back to school", we thought we would try it out... (Cam actually holds a pen the way he is supposed to. Good job buddy!)

 

Stickers! (and crayons that they think are "markers" like mommy uses")

 

Thank you to our other neighbor who brought over her pet turtles. The boys loved them!

 

 

 

 

Not sure what we were talking about??

 So sweet.

 

Milestone.

The boys had their first "real" (as in we paid someone else to do it and actually do it well..ha!) haircut last week.

They weren't really fond of the idea of sitting in the chair by themselves. Daddy saved the day. (what a trooper too, because by the time it was all said and done he was covered in sticky lolipop "mess" and hair. I was glad to be the one behind the camera :).