She's potty-trained!

I suspected that Jayna was ready to make the switch from diaper to underwear, and I was right! As with Travis, it was way too easy (seriously...a day and a half), and again, I'm soooo thankful! I hear lots of potty-training horror stories, and so far we have been spared any real difficulties. New underwear and M & M's did the trick. She even does underwear during naps, but not at night. Of course we're super proud of her, but we're also happy to only be buying diapers for one now! Way to go, big girl!!

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Hunter's Farm Pumpkin Patch

My favorite outing of the year...the pumpkin patch! Pictures speak for themselves...we all had a blast!

Fall leaves

Travis is a little bit obsessed lately with seasons, and what each season brings. I told him one time that in the fall, a fun thing to do is make a big pile of leaves and jump in it. Well, once I told him that, he asked us EVERY single day when we would get to do that. As much as I love fall, it seems like the leaves fall off the tree as soon as they turn color, and then of course since we live where we do, it rains...so it can be tough to find a window of time to do this. Fortunately, we found a day when Steve was off, it wasn't raining, and even though most leaves were still on trees, we improvised and had our fun. We ended up going to Point Defiance Park where Steve, who had thought to bring the rake, gathered a bunch of leaves and let the kids at it (that is, after first going to Owen Beach to throw rocks, of course). Free fun while enjoying nature - what could be better?!

How do YOU keep your house clean?

That's it. I give up. I am a no-good housekeeper! And so I need to hear from you all...how do YOU keep your house clean?!

Ever since I became a stay-at-home mom, I put it in my mind that part of my "job" was to maintain an orderly household, and I still hold myself to that standard. Theoretically, anyway. But if this were a "real" job, I'd so be fired! Maintaining a clean house with little ones seriously has become what seems like an impossible task to me. It's weird, because I don't like messiness and chaos. It kind of drives me nuts. Yet it obviously doesn't drive me so nuts that I do what I need to do to keep things looking halfway decent around here.

Now, I know that a perfectly clean house is NOT the most important thing in the world. I spend a whole lot of time every day just playing with the kids and enjoying them, and I know time spent in that way is much more valuable than time spent cleaning. I won't give that time up. On the other hand, I think I would enjoy that time with them more if I didn't have this huge housework to-do list hanging over my head. That, and I do think it's important for kids to grow up surrounded by more peace and order than disorder, and for them to learn lessons in daily responsibilities.

So, I guess I'm looking for the most effective ways of doing things. I know that work is involved, even with shortcuts. But the less time we can all spend on cleaning and chores, the more we can spend doing the things we love! Let's talk specifics...

Here are some problem areas for me:

1. Just keeping stuff picked up. I feel like 98% of the time I have to clean every day goes simply to picking things up and emptying/reloading the dishwasher. Which leaves virtually no time for any other chores. I know this will become less of an issue as the kids get older and can do more of this kind of thing, but for now, I feel like all I do is pick up after others. I will say that I recently dubbed 7:00pm as "clean-up time", with great success. And that way I don't spend the first half-hour of the kids' bedtime cleaning up their toys. (still other clean-up to do, but at least not that). Any other ideas in this department?

2. Laundry!!! Does anyone else feel like they are constantly drowning in laundry? My current system - to let it pile up until it really needs to be done - is not working. Because then it becomes too overwhelming of a task. It worked when there were just two, and even three of us, but not now. So I'd like to know if there's anyone out there who has a system that works for them. Do you do a little every day? All of it on one specific day every week? Twice a week? Any other thoughts?

3. I consider picking stuff up and laundry to be the two biggies. Then there's everything else...bathrooms, changing sheets, scrubbing bathtubs, dusting, organizing closets...you all know how endless this list is. Do you all just do these things randomly as needed? That's what I've always done, but then again, I can't tell you the last time I changed all of our sheets....(I know, that's gross). Dusting...I'm not kidding when I tell you I dust MAYBE twice a year. And our closets make me cringe. Does anyone out there have a cleaning schedule for these kinds of things? I'm considering starting one, but kind of afraid that would mean setting myself up for failure:) But I think I need to discipline myself somehow in order to keep things nicer/cleaner than they are now.

So those are the things I'd like to ask you all about. Solutions that have worked for me...like I said, 7:00 clean-up time. Also, there are some great products out there that make cleaning easier (love my toilet wand, and also anti-bacterial cleaning wipes for counters and bathrooms).

I do know that part of the solution is for me to just buckle down and get it done. But again, I'm looking for effectiveness...to spend the least possible amount of time necessary while still accomplishing what I need to. There are a few of you out there - even moms with young kids - who DO somehow manage to maintain incredible order in your home...I want to hear from you!

Fall fun, part one

We've been having a whole lot of fall-type fun here in the Butts household in the last month! Unfortunately, I left our camera at my sister's house in Bellingham the last time we were there, and most of our pictures are still on it (and not on the computer), so I'll have to wait to share most of it. I do, however, have pictures of a recent trip to the park. That sounds like kind of a lame thing to be documenting (especially when it's just the park across the street!), but hey, the everyday stuff is important, too! These were taken on the kind of fall day I love...chilly air mixed with warm sun. Pretty soon winter will be here and trips to the park will be infrequent, so we took advantage of the beautiful weather!

On the "dizzy fing", as Travis calls it. They like to be pushed, but not too fast! The Engmans gave Jayna this tutu for her birthday in June. She forgot about it for awhile, but lately loves to wear it all the time. :)

On "the fing that goes round and round". This park really is geared more toward older kids, but these kids find ways to make it fun!Rock jumping/counting!

Together, we named our front porch scarecrow Tiny Tim. They now refer to him casually, as if he is a real person.

Um, this is not a park picture. Not sure it was even taken on the same day. But I have to include a picture of the cute baby:)

Happy birthday, Aunt Bonnie!

My sister's birthday isn't until the 11th, but in South Korea, the 11th comes tomorrow! Happy birthday, Bonnie! March can't come soon enough!

p.s. This is Jayna's version of the song...she sings that one line over and over again. I don't know why Travis went along with it - usually he corrects her by singing it the right way. Funny, in any case!

October update

Well, fall has arrived! While I don't have anything terribly exciting to report, we've had a lot going on, so I thought I'd post a general update.

The past month has been a month of establishing new routines, and I am so thankful that the transition went quite smoothly. We went from having basically no regular weekly activities in the summer to now having preschool (M/W/F am), MOPS (every other Tues.), Bible study (Thur.), and Cubbies (Wed. nights). It's funny how at the end of the school year I'm always ready for less structure, but by the end of the summer I'm ready for more! Sure enough, I think the newfound structure has been a great thing for us.

Travis has done so well with preschool!! I'm just so proud of this kid! I had the opportunity to go along with him and his class on their first field trip of the year this past week. We went to Build-A-Bear, where they worked together to build a class pet, which they will take turns taking home with them throughout the year. It was such a joy for me to be able to watch Travis in his interactions with his peers and teachers. His various teachers/leaders often tell us what a joy Travis is to have in class, and I'm not sure anything else could make me more proud of him. There is much that Travis may (or may not) accomplish in his life, in academics or athletics or music, etc., but nothing could make me more proud than to see him being respectful, kind-hearted, and caring toward others. I tell you all of this with the utmost level of humility - it is ALL by God's grace that Travis is growing in these ways and exhibiting these qualities. He is by no means perfect, and as I've written before, there are behaviors we're really working to correct. But what God is teaching me is that as wild of a ride as parenting can be, He does not want for us to parent in fear (fear that we're doing things wrong, that we're ruining our kids, that we should be doing more....I could go on and on). What God DOES want is for us to look to Him for all wisdom and guidance in raising these kids God has entrusted to each of us. And after we do that, to give our concerns to God rather than worry or fear. Anyway, I'm thankful for the ways we've seen God molding his little heart!

Jayna, it seems, has grown up SO much in the last couple of months. I think I've said it before, but she's talking more and more all the time. And the things she says so often take me by surprise! Today Travis was upset about something, and Jayna asked me "What's Travis' deal, Mommy?" I had to repeat her to make sure she really was saying what I thought...it just really surprised me to hear her use that phrase, and to use it correctly! We can now have basically full conversations with her. I still totally have to interpret for others, but at least I (and Steve most of the time, too) know what she's saying. So fun to hear how she processes things! Also, I think our time with Jayna - while Travis is at preschool - has been a great thing for her. She plays independently very well, but also loves to snuggle, read books, and help us...and eat. She loves to eat :) She frequently asks us to sing with her, her favorite songs being "ABC's", "Twinkle", and "Jesus Loves Me". The video below was taken a couple of weeks ago...she's much better at her ABC's at this point, but you get the idea. In the next couple of weeks, we're going to attempt potty-training her...hopefully it will only take one attempt!

Evan...seriously, if I could freeze him in time, I would. I just love this age. He's a happy, happy boy. In a nutshell...he has one tooth, is almost sitting, is almost a carry-on-your-hip baby, is pretty fascinated by his siblings, recently started rice cereal (the first time I gave it to him, he practically inhaled it off the spoon!), and LOVES his Jumparoo!! (as evidenced by the video below) I just love cuddling with him and kissing him and squeezing his baby fat! Hard to believe that he'll be 6 months in just 10 days.

Steve's still really enjoying his job (thankfully!). In about a month he'll be 100% done with his training and done with his probationary period. It seems like sooo long ago that he first started at the academy! Looking back, we're both convinced that the timing of him getting this job was perfect....Quadrant (his old job) has had several rounds of layoffs since he left, and there's a good chance he'd be among the unemployed at this point if he had stayed. And we're all still amazed by how much more time he now spends at home, with us!!

And me?... The kids keep me pretty darn busy! I backed way off my responsibilities within my church's MOPS ministry, though I still attend and lead a table. I've also started attending a new Beth Moore Bible study that I am just loving. It is a study of the life and ministry of Paul, and so far has been excellent. More on that later, I'm sure. I've also been running a lot in an attempt to shed some pounds. The weight hasn't come off as quickly as I'd like, but I have lost 11 lbs! More importanly, I'm learning to replace bad habits with good ones. And believe it or not, I enjoy running. It can be hard to find the time to do it, and I'm still super-slow (concentrating more on distance), but so good for me.

About a month ago, we had a few weeks of passing around a yucky illness (bad cold? flu? not sure). It was so not fun. Evan was waking up every couple of hours from not feeling well, which meant that I was hardly getting any sleep, and thus, not able to get better myself. It seems like there's been a ton of sickness going around already, so I'm praying now that we will be spared of anything too terrible this year!

That's it for now... maybe I'll actually post more than once in October...maybe:) Free time seems to be a thing of the past!

I made a few batches of applesauce this year, and Travis loved helping with the slicer-peeler-corer machine. He loves to help in the kitchen...maybe one day he'll be a better cook than I am? One can hope!

Daddy dogpile! I threatened to get on top and Travis freaked out :)

A recent visit with Grandpa and 5/6 grandkids. That's probably the best picture ever of all the kids together! There you go, Dad...save it to your desktop!
Evan after he finished his first ever bowl of rice cereal. "I'm not finished yet!"

After another feeding, much more content.


I love this picture!!
Apparently Evan makes a good pillow?