November 2011

November has been busy. We took awesome family photos.

Tim is an avid duck hunter. This is how I get to see him...in photos. He's 3rd from the left.
Ben Butler, John Butler, Tim Butler and Johnny Hess.


The girls had a wreck and pretty much totaled Mary Margaret's truck. MM was airlifted to the MED in Memphis. She ended up with a compressed fracture in her #1 Lumbar, neck sprain and a bunch of bruises and sore muscles. Taylor has a broken collar bone and a bruise that matched her seat belt. We spent 27 hours at the MED and a week at home. So Thankful for God and Seat Belts.


Glorious Gift of Christmas at Wynne Baptist Church, this was my table!
Thanksgiving was blah as far as the holiday itself. I have so many things to be Thankful for and I really don't have to wait for the holidays to say it.

We got snow for my birthday on December 6. I ate lunch with my BFF Dianna Moore, went to the 5th grade Christmas Play, and then went home and chilled (MM's favorite word). Tim and I were up at 12:30 AM just in time to watch it snow. (oh how romantic). Wednesday Sandy took me to lunch for my birthday!

Getting in the Christmas mood is hard work! We've started with the decorating of the Funeral Home and its looking pretty darn good! At home, the kitchen is ready for Christmas and that is it!

I've ordered Christmast cards that I am totally pumped about!

Hopefully, December will be Glorious and quiet!

JPC's

Sunday, the JPC's are donating food to the Good Shepard Center. The good Shepard Center feeds, clothes, and pay utilities and much more for people in our community that are having hard times. You never know who you are helping, there were many times when my brothers and I were growing up that the Good Shepard Center fed us and kept the electricty on. Many times.

The feeling of worrying about where your next meal is coming from, if your electricity will be on when you get home from school is not a good feeling. I spent many nights in the cold and the heat. Been there and done that. Children should not have that burden. I'm not looking for a pitty party, I've risen above those hard times.

I just think we need to support our community and the people who are trying to help.

So, I would like to ask my friends to... help the JPC's by donating just one item. Let's help them make this year be the JPC's biggest donation ever. If you want to donate, bring your item to Kernodle Funeral Home, where I work. They turn their items in on Sunday. This is one of the hardest statuses for me so far to post. So, go me. I am thankful for the the Good Shepard Center and the sweet people who donate their time to run it, Mrs Lula Settlemire, Mae Teague, Judy Pufahl, and many others.

At The End Of My Short Rope

I am at the end of a very short rope. It makes me want to run around in a sing song voice singing: Boys are stupid nanner nanner boo boo. Kids are mean nanner nanner boo boo.

Taylor is now single.

Taylor said the boy that invited her to the bonfire because he was going to ask her to be his girlfriend. She says he asked. She says that she said yes. He kissed her twice. He has another girlfriend. The thing with Taylor was all done for a dare. THAT is so wrong. She skipped her JPC Barn Dance for this bonfire. I can't believe I let her. No, wait a minute. I can believe that I let her because I was excited for her. She was excited. She was WAY excited. Stupid boys. Stupid Kids.

I even talked with his mom when I dropped her off at the bonfire. I told her that Taylor said they might be boyfriend and girlfriend by the end of the night. I told her that I thought her son was a good kid. I had asked around about him. She agreed that she would love for Taylor to be his girlfriend. The mom knew about the other girlfriend. That is WRONG.

What's even more wrong than that? Taylor thinks all of this was OKAY!!!! She had the nerve to ask me could she still go to Bingo at the Catholic Church with him last night!! She was upset with me because I told her to stop texting him. She was upset this morning when I said they weren't going to school early so she could stand with him before school.

What do I do to make her understand this is not cool without hurting her feelings.

I will be snooping in her phone tonight. I want to see if she was part of this plan or really knew nothing.

The Hall Monitor in me is coming out...

Watch out.

Spooking Up Butler Manor

Saturday a plan was hatched. The teenagers at Butler Manor needed to be scared. Payback for a horrible summer and for the numerous scaring that I have gotten over the years. My cousin, Ashley is married to Pete who loves to scare people. He does a good job. He got both girls. Taylor was scared at the Funeral Home warehouse and Mary Margaret and her boyfriend were scared at our house.

We were able to record Taylor's video because there were lights. Mary Margarets was too dark. :(
Taylor is still a little mad at me!




Nicole videoed this for me. Taylor begging Pete to not hurt her. Please don't hurt her. Pete said she offered him the Pepsi she had in her hand to not hurt her. Nicole could not catch up to Taylor after she ran. Taylor ran to our truck locked the front doors...
forgot to lock the back doors....
Pete grabs the doors and jiggles them and then gets in the backseat of the truck. Taylor by this time was swinging at Pete. He takes his mask off and it's still a few mintues before Taylor realizes that it's Pete.

We all head out to our house where Pete plans to scare Mary Margaret and her boyfriend. It's real dark at our house. He gets Mary Margaret and her boyfriend at the front door. He slips around from under our crepe myrtles and gets them. Mary Margare claimed she wasn't scare the whole time.

WHATEVER.
Keeping it rolling at Butler Manor

This is how I roll...

Painted the house today.
Before>>>

During...This is How I roll

After. Almost Completed. Trim and one side needs to be finished! See Beth...no bathtubs, four wheelers, toilets in the yard!

Bloopers and Family Photos

I finally hog tied Tim and made him do family pictures. It's been 2 years since we actually dressed up and did our pictures. These photos ROCK!

Bloopers first.
I have no clue what we were looking at. Apparently all I could see was cleveage. We may have been looking at the random flip flop between our feet. That flip flop would be mine. I can't walk in the heels on the (undisclosed location) railroad track.

Tim did not want to behave. Taylor was in the pose mode and Mary Margaret was sticking her tounge out.

There are no words to describe this one.

How Sweet. You must know...he was complaing and said he better not see this on facebook. I win!

He said. I am not doing a kissing picture. I win again!

Getting Better

My absolute favorite! Tim making us laugh. I love this.

Dianne Update

My sisterinlaw Dianne has been in the hospital for an infection in her port and kidneys. She described her symptoms to her doctors and they told her it was the flu. Not so much. She was admited Thursday and if all goes well, may get to come home on Saturday accoring to her husband.

Much love to my BFF Sister-in-law...

To Be A Fly On The Walls of Butler Family Diaries

My friend at 2nd Cup of Coffee wants to be a fly on the Walls of Butler Family Diaries and my sister-in-law just wants to come sit in our yard and watch. Foolish wish my friend. First, the walls, they are dusty. Your flying days would be over. So much dust would collect on your cute little fly feet and end your flying, buzzing, days. Second, Taylor is a maniac with a fly swatter, newspaper, shoe, hairbrush, book. I'm afraid your fly days would be short lived. Last, Tim's silly copy cat, drama starter, antagonizing, pot stirring ways would cause you to die from laughter. Dianne...she spins out and throws gravel when she's mad. You may want to rethink the coming over part...

Side Note: This summer was probably the most stressful summer ever. It even beat out the summer's my mother decided to not pay the electric bill, phone bill, water bill, buy groceries, etc. I thought that was rough, but I survived. I survived this summer, but just barely. Driver's license, cars, boys, girls...they make teenagers crazy and that makes responsible adults loose their minds. Just saying...

Last week I left my truck at work and rode home with the girls because I was tired and even more honestly, to save gas. This was fine until the next morning. Picture this. It's 7:22 AM. I am putting on my clothes. Mary Margaret comes to my bedroom and inquires (with attitude) how am I going to get to work. I calmly (trying not to start a fight cause she doesn't fight fairly) tell her that I'm going to ride into town with them because Tim has already left for work. Steam. I made steam come out of her ears. She flips her hair, turns on her heal, and goes and sits in her truck, waiting. I can read her mind. She's mad and I'm going to make her late for school (translation: to late to stand for 30 minutes and talk to boyfriend late). Long story short, a crazy, mad as a wet hen, drivin' teenager and a tree trimming truck almost caused a MAJOR auto accident. I grounded her and drove them to school. I drove them in her truck. I drove them with curlers in my hair so as to not make them late. And...I facebooked about it.

This week...
Tim Butler's Drama Starting day No. 1.
The girls now can not leave the house before I do. They have to follow me to school because Mary Margaret is going to kill them with her driving. Tim asks why they are still at the house. Mary Margaret says...I have to follow Kaye to school every day now, what do you think about that? (trying to win him over)
He says....
I love it. I think that's a wonderful idea.
(he says this in his drama voice)
Steam. She produces a lot of steam.
He walks out into the yard as we are leaving for school, waves his arms like a giant dinosaur winged thing, and gets their attention. In his dramatic pitched voice he tells them to have fun following me to school. Again with the steam out of the ears and this time fire flames from the eyes. He waves them down again, tells them he hopes they are not late. He hops on my tail gate and rides to the bottom of the hill giving them all kind of "I'm making fun of the grounded kid" gestures as he rides. This kind of behavior from Tim, really, really, sets her on fire.

Tim Butler's Drama Starting day No. 2.
This week is homecoming at school. The day before with all the drama was twinkie day. Wednesday, Drama Starting day No. 2 is Pajama day. They have on the same pajamas, shoes, and watches. Tim says to Taylor (yes I think he knew what he was doing)...What is today, twinkie day? That started 10 kinds of drama. Taylor wanted different pj's, different shoes, wanted to know could we stop by Wal-Mart and buy new pj's, decided to not even do pj day, etc.
He walked around sing-song...ohhh I'm looking like my sister, ohh I'm a twinkie with my sister...

Today...
Payback.
Taylor put on Mary Margaret's jeans. They fit. Tight. She tells Taylor she can not fit into her jeans. She tells Taylor she is much smaller than her. She yells at me that Taylor has on her jeans that she wears to work. I pretend to be deaf and dumb. They take the fight to my bedroom where Tim has begged for 5 more minutes of sleep.
Take that mister drama starter.

We left before he got out of the shower...he had to start drama alone in a lonely, cold house.

More interesting news...
I brushed my teeth with mascara on Tuesday. That incident had nothing to do with me be stressed.

Ostrich Races

As promised more from the Delta Fair. The girls were on their own at the Fair. The video is not professional!
Ostrich Races

The girls are both selling cookies for JPC. Taylor sold some to my boss and they wrote her a check. She puts it in her envelope and notices that she spelled something wrong on the outside of the envelope...shreds it and the check.

Mary Margaret came home from work smelling like she'd taken a bath in french fry grease. I mentioned it to her and her response: Did you notice that I ate the peanut butter and jelly cookies at home? I said...um we do not have peanut butter and jelly cookies at home, we have offbrand nutter butters.

wait for it

wait for it

she says...I know that. I have allusioinal taste buds, I allusioned the jelly.

Allusion: a passing reference; oblique or obscure mention
She clearly does not know what Allusion means and I know from personal experience she does not know what sarcasim is.

Its how I Roll...

Mary Margaret's New Boyfriend

Mary Margaret has been single for a while. Well, to be exact, all summer. That's what getting grounded and hanging out with the wrong crowd will do for you. I try to be a good mom, so, how I roll is...take erthang away. She is doing better, or so I thought. She had two new boyfriends all in one day. Should I ground her again?
The first new boyfriend she kicked to the curb after about 30 minutes. I thought they made a cute couple, reference their picture below.

She kicked him to the curb because he took her Mt. Dew and ran around the Alpaca stall with it putting his slimy tongue all in her drink and he brought it back empty. MM said that when he came back to her, there was a woman standing next to her with an open beer. MM told the lady to put her beer up while hanging out with the animal cause the Alpaca likes to steal drinks and we do not need drunk alpacas at the fair.

Second boyfriend was a real looker too. She said he loved cameras and posed whenever he could. That's my kind of alpaca.

Tomorrow I promise Ostrich race videos and electronic bull riding videos. (if blogger coperates).

Rolling the FFA way at Butler Manor!

Kaye

Hugs and Stuff to Dianne

Some of you know and some of you don't know, that, my sister-in-law Dianne has breast cancer for the 2nd time. I know! How do you get breast cancer a second time and you've had them romoved? Cancer no matter where it comes back at is always called where it orginiated from. Make sense? I didn't know until Dianne told me.

So, she had lunch with me today at Colby's, we had a great lunch. I learned a little more on her blog than I did at lunch...shame on you Dianne...it's okay though...

Want to send you out some blog hugs and stuff cause you ROCK Dianne.

What a difficult conversation we had the other day, probably the most difficult one in 21 years I've known you. I promised to stay strong and I will, you know I will, and I'll shoot you the truth when you want it...(lol)

Dianne.
You.
Rock. (and glow)

And These Are The Days of Our Lives...

Today was my first day of NOT taking the girls to school. Mary Margaret drove them to school. I was and still am a ball of wadded up nerves.

What did I do to make myself feel better?

I stalked them all the way to school and took their picture in the parking lot. I am that much of a stalker.

Today is Taylor's first day of High School. 9th grade. She is extremely nervous. Mary Margaret's first day of 10th grade.

Last night Tim was in rare form. (I secretly think he was nervous for the girls, that's the only explanation for the way he behaved)

I called to see if he wanted to ride home with me after I picked Mary Margaret up from work. He said he needed to stay in town, he wasn't finished with his work. I told him I was picking up Chinese and he was asking a million questions about where I was at.

We get home, get the junk out of the truck, all 3 of us walk up to the tiny front porch, I get my house key ready....and this wild man runs from behind the house screaming like a bear on crack, waving his arms. I ran to the end of the porch with no railing...I could have broken my neck falling, Taylor ran down the steps and to the middle of the yard screaming..."no no no no" Mary Margaret was standing sandwiched between the screen door and house door crying that she had peed in her pants. Tim said it looked like I was running place screaming at the top of my lungs. I think we woke up Dianne and Clayton's roosters and maybe all of Parkin, Arkansas which is about 15 miles down the road. Tim. Is. Not. Funny.

He had been at home the whole time waiting outside in the mosquitoes for 20 minutes just to scare us, which I assume was the reason for all the questioning.

His pay back? Mary Margaret came to me wanting to talk about her "monthly"...I told her Tim said that the next time she wanted to do that, he wanted to hear everything.

So she did.

Meet Christina...my little cousin

Christin is a senior this year! Yesterday we did a quick Senior Session and she rocks!!!! I loved taking her pictures and can't wait for the next two sessions!!!

Best Rip Off?

This little girl/gypsies knows a good deal when she sees one! How do you like her hair do? She was trying her best to annoy us and it did not work.

Now back to her good deal...
While we were on vacation in the Smokey Mountains, we stopped in Cherokee, North Carolina. Mary Margaret saw these Indians dressed and getting ready for the Native American Dances. She begs for us to stop and get her picture with a real live Indian. Tim gives in. The first was dawg drunk and spilling his beer everywhere. He told her he would be glad to take his picture with her and he did. For free. Good deal right?

The second one is sober and smarter.
She asks for a picture.
He says, you'll have to take it with your own camera.
She says ok.
I get my cell phone out and take the picture.
She asks him if he can dance.
He says yes and the rest is muffled to me. She's all happy and runs back to the truck real fast and runs back and hands him a $10.00 and walks off really fast, almost a run. She looks stunned.
I asked what happened.
She says he told me he'd do a picture and a dance and that he works for tips. So I went and got some of my money, a $10 and asked him for change and he ran.
This would be the part where she got the BAD DEAL.

The next day, we rode the train for the 2nd time, and she tells the story to one of the train workers. He laughs and says...Was it the dude in Cherokee? She says yes and shows him the picture. He says....
He's not even Indian.
He's Mexican.
Me and Tim say...Thumbs up Mary Margaret.

I LOVE IT

My friend Joanna left this comment on my blog...

and

I

Loved

It!

You know that whole saying raising teenagers is like nailing jello to the wall, right? I say we throw the jello at their faces and yell, "Nailed it!" :)

Dolly Wood, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

Dolly Wood, to me, was just another amusement park.

Was I amused that Tim would NOT ride the scary roller coaster? Yes.
Was I amused that Tim found the camera while I rode the scary roller coaster and took pictures? NO.
He is amazing with the camera.

Tim totally rocks at getting just the right shot.

Of course he was waiting at the exit for me. Did I say that the roller coaster was scary? IT. WAS. SCARY. My hair got a little messed up and I was hot. How sweet was it of Tim to capture this moment.

I want one of these skillets...

Tim's parents rocked the scooters. I would like to point out that Tim's mom was guarding my camera. Tim must have tied her up and got the camera or maybe he flashed those baby blues at his mommy and she was mush.

We have no clue who these characters are, but what the heck, the girls were smiling so I snapped the shot.

Smokies continued

We rode the Great Smokey Mountain Railroad in Bryson, North Carolina. The route we took followed Lake Fontanna. I think one of the most beautiful lakes I've seen.

The train we rode...I was not supposed to hang out the window, but, I just couldn't resist. Tim was my lookout...

This is us just before we hiked to the highest point in the Smokies. Notice the look on Mary Margarets face...we all looked like that by the time we made it to the top. She made that face in almost every photo that day because she was being a "little" difficult teenager.

Great Smokey Mountain Vacation

We headed for the mountains for our vacation this year. The Great Smokey Mountains. I thought Crowley's Ridge and the Ozarks were pretty, the Smokies take my breath away! They look like the go forever when you are at the top looking down. Yes, we hiked to the top. God's handi-work is amazing.

On our way to the top, we crossed into North Carolina.

Tim's sister, her husband, and their one year old granddaughter, Addison went with us. First night, Tim was messing with her head, she didn't want him touching her so she pulled away real hard, causing her face to smash into a bowl of mac and cheese. For days this is what she did when Tim looked at her...

Pink Toes!!!!

Butler Toes are PINK in honor of our sister-in-law Dianne Littlejohn Billings who is a cancer survivor and battling cancer a 2nd time and in memory of Tim's grandparents, Mr. & Mrs. Butler, his Uncle Wayne Butler and in memory of my Uncle George Brawner, my good friend Terri Jackson, and my Aunt Nannie Jane. Also in honor and memory of all who have fought and won and fought and lost. Let's help find a cure! Yes, that's Tim's toes you see painted pink!

Butler Family Diaries Take over Tennessee and North Carolina

We made it!!! Smokey Mountains are beautiful! We've walked trails, spent the day at Cades Cove, Riley's Aquarium, Cooter's - Dukes of Hazard Museum, and been to North Carolina where we hiked.
Tim goes to Church!

Angela wanted to go to Clingmans Dome, North Carolina to see what it was all about. It was described as an easy .5 up and .5 down hike to the top of the Smokey Mountains. We head out taking turns pushing Addison and a few breaks...ok...more than a few...and thought we were going to loose Angela and Garrie. Garrie, at one point, looked gray and coughed up a lung or 3. Tim took one for the team and power walked/pushed Addison and never breathed hard. He smokes cigars...whats up with that?

Apparently the .5 hike was a little long for someone.

We made it to the top to looke out over the beautiful look out and this is what we saw. Angela finally made it to the top after about 25,000 pit stops and was not excited about the view.

Then a park ranger showed up and gave us a warning about the signs of bears. He pointed out the wallered out spots in the grass and the droppings and told us they were close. At this point, none of us were happy, and we still had a .5 mile hike back down the mountain...

Clingmans Dome, North Carolina.

We've headed out! Vacation time ios here!

Shout out to my nephew Philip for taking care of the pool and the cats this week, I really appreciate it!

Tennis Funnies

I play Tennis...
Taylor plays Homerun Tennis...

I play Tennis...
Mary Margaret plays fence tennis...

I play Tennis...
Taylor and Mary Margaret take water breaks...

I play Tennis...
Taylor and Mary Margaret lay on the ground whinning about being tired.

Today while I played tennis, three little boys (2 black and one chinese) walked over and watched. Taylor hit a home run and I asked them to throw the ball back over the fence. I said, "Thank You very much kind sir." One said to his friend, "What'd she say?" Answer: "I don't know, do I look like I speak old white lady language dude?"


Old White Lady.
That's me.

Keeping it real at Butler Manor.

P.S. Our cat Pepper who is at least 4 years old had her first litter of kittens and she's not happy about it.

Teenage Driver...what are you gonna do with them..

My facebook post from Tuesday...

note to self: road to avoid letting Taylor drive, Killough (scary ditch), 64B (scary guard rail) turning lanes, red lights where u yield, and No 1 scary road Falls Blvd (turning left from the outside lane across all 4 lanes of traffic when I told her to turn right.) AND zero to 60 at the 64/64B split

Taylor pointed out that when I hold onto the "oh crap" handle when she's close to the scary guard rail...that it won't save me.

Great.

Thanks Taylor.

Keeping it real...

Laundry and Pedicures

I ran away for the weekend. I visited with my family in Harrison and then stopped in Newport to do pictures from my sister-in-laws family. I was pooped when I got home, but enjoyed every minute!

I decided to wait until yesterday afternoon to do laundry cause I was pooped from all the traveling. I thought while we were waiting for laundry to finish, I would run get a pedicure. My feet are awful, Tim says it's because I don't wear socks and tennis shoes (specifically Reebok tennis shoes) during the summer, I wear flip flops and heels.

So, we were rocking along, little dude doing my feet kept making funny faces. He looks up at me and asks how long has it been since I was in to have this done. I said about 3 weeks. He shook his head, spouted off some really fast Vietnamese and all the workers stopped what they were doing and stared at my feet and laughed.

I posted some stuff on facebook during all this...

"awkward...when the nail place is empty...guy working on my feet speaks real fast and all the workers stop what their doing and look at your feet, laugh and point..."

"I'm thinking it's not a good sign when the blender looking thing gets pulled out and used on your feet...just sayin"
"I think the blender thing almost burned up ...he made a face when it smoked a little bit..."

Then he spread this green warm gooey junk on my legs...
"ok, so now I want to take this little guy, his blender thingy and the green goop home with me..."

"well, now, this pink stuff is new...and HOT!"

He dipped my feet in hot wax 5 times each and then bagged 'em up. Man my feet must really be scary! My feet looked like feet from Planet of the Apes.

One of my friends said she had never seen the bag trick before. I must be special.

He's peeling off the wax now and...

"I would like to think these people are discussing what's for dinner...but they are still laughing and pointing at my feet..."

Now they are speaking turbo speed Vietnamese.

"ok, that's it...I'm learning Vietnamese!"

Finished. They look relieved that I'm leaving.

I make it to the laundry mat to pick up the dried clothes. A young couple is there, the dad is pushing the little kids around in the laundry carts and his wife is sitting on the folding table. The manager walks in and looks at me and says..."You need to get all your kids under control!" He tells the dad to stop pushing the kids and the mom to get down and then shoots me a dirty look. I said..."those people are not my kids!" I don't think he believed me.

I asked the young lady how old she was and she said 20. I was all...pah-leeeze, he really thought I was your mom! Wow.

Then I did the math.

I could have a 20 year old.

Depressing.

Keeping it real - Butler Manor in the City.

Misplaced Rednecks Part II - Lost In Bigger Spaces

We now own more rubber boots...


What happens when you put people in a house twice the size of what they are used to?

They get lost in the bigger spaces in the dark.

Monday night, I walked in a circles turning out all the lights for bedtime. I walked through a door and looked around. Panicked. Because I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT ROOM I WAS IN. I hollered for Tim.

ME: Tim, where are you?
TIM: Duh, on the floor in the bed waiting on you. Where are you?
(cause we have mattresses on the floor he's goofy)
ME: Lost.
TIM: (snickering) follow the sound of my voice.
ME: Not funny.
Girls to each other: Ha ha ha ha Kaye Kaye's lost in the HOUSE, what a ra-tard.

I finally make my way back to the bedroom. I fall into bed. Tim asks what happened. I told him I turned out all the lights and turned around into the laundry room (which I've been keeping closed off because I haven't cleaned it and we don't need it). I didn't recognize the room and kind of freaked out a little bit.

Tim laughs a little at me and tells me this little story about a man and an ironing board. The house we are staying in was built in the early 1940's. The other night Tim was walking around changing light bulbs so it was a little dark in the laundry room (the room I got lost in). He noticed this little door built into the wall, he twist the tiny polished silver knob, the door springs into action. It springs open, something falls out and whops Tim on the head and he screams (Taylor provided that tid bit cause she was helping him). The door hid this neat little built in ironing board. Tim tells me to be careful of the little door in the laundry room. It's scary. I tell him...been there, done that in the day light, ain't opening it again.



We all got settled in after all the hysterical events of the night. I hear a loud thump from the girls room (remember them laughing at me earlier). I asked who is up and what happened. Taylor says..."Um...I ran into the wall, cause I can't find the bathroom."
Taylor chillin' on the air mattress Sandy loaned her...


and they were laughing at me....

the one light I left on was the bathroom light...

thinking about going all "Little House On the Prarie" and tieing a rope to our respective rooms to find our way back...

Keeping it real at Butler Manor...in the city