Oh yeah, we have a blog

It's been awhile since I've posted anything, so I thought I'd update you on life in the Butts house...

Steve is still doing very well at the police academy. He has about 6 weeks left...time has flown! Graduation is on October 21st, and after that he has 6-8 weeks of classes/ride alongs/I don't know what else before he starts doing patrol. I'm looking forward to his 4-tens schedule...I realized over Labor day how nice it is to have him home for 3 days in a row every week. A two day weekend just seems to fly by so quickly. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago his class went through their pepper spray test thing, and a couple of our friends (one of whom is a police officer and has been through it himself) went up and taped it. For those of you who haven't seen it yet and would like to, here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cg2KFy642aQ. I'd tell you to "enjoy", but it's not exactly enjoyable (or at least it wasn't for me). But it will make you proud of him!

I have been busy, with the kids, of course, but also with MOPS. For those unaware, MOPS is Mothers of Preschoolers. We have one at our church, and I am one of two co-coordinators. However, my partner recently had a beautiful baby girl, and naturally, needed a break from MOPS stuff. I was more than happy to give that to her...that newborn stage is gone in a flash! This means, however, that I've had a TON of work to do in order to get the year started. Our first meeting happens on Sept. 16th, and I'll be glad to get past that point. You'll hear more about MOPS later...I'm so excited that the first weekend of October, I get to go to the MOPS national convention in Texas. Yee-haw!

Travis and Jayna are doing well. As September is now here (and almost half over) and we go back to certain activities/routines that only happen during the school year, we're starting to think about what things we want to be involved in as a family, as well as what our daily routine should look like. Travis has always been young enough that besides mealtimes and sleep times, we didn't need a ton of structure. Now, however, he's getting old enough - preschool age, really - that there are certain things that I want to be a part of our every day (or most days) routine...namely, "school" time, small chores, and Bible time (I'm talking 5 minute story/question time, here). But we also have to be pretty flexible, as every day seems to require it. So that's been on my mind...trying to think about how to make those things fun, and how/when to incorporate them into our schedule. As far as our weekly schedule...which Bible study to join, whether to start Travis in Awana, etc....it's hard to figure that stuff out right now because we have no idea what shift/days Steve will have once he starts patrolling.

We had a great summer, and I'm sad for it to end. It seems like everyone loves fall, but I'm not one of them. It means we have 9+ months of cold coming. Though there are certain things I do love...reading a book with a blanket by the fire (even if it is a fake fire), the colors of fall and playing in the leaves, visiting the pumpkin patch, Thanksgiving....I really don't like being cold.

I do have a short list of things to blog, so I won't be absent for so long this time around!