Come on in - I'll introduce you to the herd!

Hey! It's a party! A great big blog party!

Had this party been In Real Life I would have spent days poring through my cookbooks and magazines to come up with just the right menu.

I love cooking and all, but now that I think about it, I'm glad this was a virtual party, lol.

Not that I wouldn't have served you some nice party food. Because I seriously would have.

And really enjoyed doing it.

It's just all those dishes to wash, ya know?

Anyway... welcome to Buffaloes & Butterfly Wings!

Named that because of the 3 males that live here with me. You can read more specifically about that name here. Or you may have some males at your house that do rough, tough buffaloish things and then you know exactly what I mean by that.

Here's our herd, starting from the bottom up:
Alan - 16 months. Loves to eat cheese, dance to any kind of music, really loves his bathtime with his big brother, knows how to use a cell-phone and a remote control.

10 weeks ago Alan had a liver transplant.

8 weeks ago we almost had to say goodbye.

God was with us that day, carrying us just like He always has. We never have to worry what the future holds, because no matter how unbearable or uncertain it may seem, He walks ahead of us. He holds us and all our circumstances in the palm of His hand. And most importantly, we have trusted Him with our eternity. He has taught us so much through Alan, and we are so blessed, and so thankful for each day with have with him AND WITH....

Dale - 4 1/2. Dale began pushing toy cars and making motor noises at 6 months and hasn't stopped since! He loves everything with wheels, some of his favorites being Thomas the Train and the characters from Cars. And all the NASCAR folks too. :)

Not only is he a fan of wheels, he is also:
clever
funny
smart

Dale also:
talks all the time
loves chatting w/family on instant messenger

We are easing into homeschooling with a little preschool stuff here and there and will begin kindergarten in the fall.

Daddy Buffalo - Who I normally refer to as "Greg" but "Daddy Buffalo" is so fun to see in writing that I may just have to start calling him that all the time. At least here at the blog. :)

I won't embarrass him by going on and on about his good qualities. But he's mine, and I love 'im. :)

And he is very musical and a great daddy and cracks.me.up.

And I'll quit there. Because I said I would. :)

And then there's me. The dainty (ha!) butterfly cleaning up the mess of it all.

Feeding the buffaloes, washing their clothes, scrubbing their tub...

and loving (almost) every minute of it.

I really really really intended for my party post to be short. Oops.

So if you are still reading, I thank you. Can I squeeze in just a coupla more things about me?

I like to:
cook
read
blog

I'm learning to:
scrapbook
homeschool
do stuff in Photoshop

Someday I want to:
knit and/or crochet and/or make a quilt
sew
learn html-ish type stuff so I can design my own blogs, etc

So if you are STILL reading (and I really, really thank you) I'm giving something away!

A butterfly would have been really cool, but I have dragonflies. So you get a choice! Of the sparkly blue-green one or the also sparkly rosy one.

Please leave a comment and tell everyone:
- Does your house have more buffaloes or butterflies?
- What are you currently learning or what is on your wish-list of things you want to do?
- Which dragonfly is your favorite?

On Saturday, March 14 the Baby Buffaloes will help me randomly choose a commenter. Please be sure and leave an email or a blog address.... any way for me to get in touch with you if you are the big winner. :)

Thanks again for stopping by... and for sticking with me all the way to the end of this very loooooong post. I hope you will come again!

And now I'm going to spend the next week Blog Partying with everyone at 5 Minutes for Mom! :)

All creatures great and small

Ta-da! The major part of my blog overhaul is done! What do you think!? I'm pretty excited. And now that it is done, hopefully I can get back to pretty regular posting. :)

I figure for the most part my new title and tag-line are self-explanatory, but I thought I'd give a little more background, and give some credit where credit is due.

The whole buffalo/butterfly concept has been with us for a couple of years now. It originally came from the 'woman' book out of a pair of marriage books Greg and I were reading by Gary Smalley. Here is an excerpt from For Better or For Best, by Gary Smalley. He was talking about all the differences between men and women:

The best example I can think of to illustrate these differences is to compare the butterfly with the buffalo. The butterfly has a keen sensitivity. It is sensitive even to the slightest breeze. It flutters above the ground where it can get a panoramic awareness of its surroundings. It notices the beauty of even the tiniest of flowers. Because of its sensitivity, it is constantly aware of all of the changes going on around it and is able to react to the slightest variation in its environment....

The buffalo is another story. It is rough and calloused. It doesn't react to a breeze. It's not even affected by a thirty-mile-an-hour wind. It just goes right on doing whatever it was doing. It's not aware of the smallest of flowers, nor does it appear to be sensitive to slight changes in its environment... The buffalo isn't 'rotten to the core' just because he goes around stepping on pretty flowers. In fact, the buffalo's toughness is a tremendous asset. His strength, when harnessed, can pull a plow that four grown men can't pull.

We immediately loved the idea, and it has stuck with us ever since, and in some ways we've even taken the analogy further. It's been really helpful as one son started being less of a baby and more of a, well...buffalo, to teach him how to be gentle with the women in his life. Dale knows that Mama is a butterfly. :) And once another baby buffalo came along, it's been nice to know that in a house full of maleness, the delicate sensitivity of a woman can be appreciated and respected. :)

Now that you know our creature counterparts, what best describes those in your house? Let us all know in the comments section, and the best one will win...uh...a big virtual smooch from me. :) Because I don't know how those big-time blog sites are doing all that freebie stuff. :)