Just in case you were jealous....

Don't Be!

Here's just a hint of what I've been doing on this lovely Saturday night... what a partyin' life I lead! The lovely pile is my graded and in the computer pile. The picture below is what I still have left to do. YUCK! Why do I assign so much work?!
The time spent grading papers is having an effect on the Peej- I don't think she is getting much love from us lately. I peeked out at her the other day and saw her cuddling with a huge tree limb. Sad....
In much more adorable news, the SKAGGS came to stay with us Friday Night and it made me so happy! Please come back every weekend! That little booger Jones is such a cutie. A big cutie:) His thigh rolls go on for days. Sweet Family.
On the agenda for this next week? Pictures galore! A wedding tomorrow, then 3 family sessions and a bridal portrait session. I might need to find more tree limbs for PJ Joey to cuddle with because it may be a long week....

Lame things I said today,

Overheard by me in the hall: "I worked my @$$ off yesterday!"
Me (whipping around to see the student who had cursed in my presence): "Excuse me? Do you see me here? I am a LADY and my LADY EARS do not like to hear such words."

WHAT? "Lady Ears?" WHO SAYS STUFF LIKE THAT? L.A.M.E.

Later on.... When I caught a kid running around the library when he was supposed to be doing something else for my class, I told him to go sit in a random chair away from his friend:

Bad Kid: "What do I do when I get there?"
Me: "I don't know, but nothing fun!"
(wow- what a strong disciplinarian....)

Katie our 4-year old neighbor to me: "Did you know that PJ Joey ate my toy?"
Me, but in the voice of PJ Joey to Katie: "Oh Katie, my friend, ruff, sorry, ruff!"
(yep... I used my own dog in a ventriloquist act.... LAME!)

Someone help me!

Travellin'....

Sunday morning after Sunday School was over, we decided to skip church and go to the beach.

It was AWESOME! We did listen to a sermon on the drive down:) The weather was perfect, the crowd was minimal, and the water was oil-free. I love living close to Gulf Shores!

Monday morning at 4am, I was up and getting ready for my flight to Greenville, NC for this year's PowerPlant Coordinator's Retreat. It's that time of year again! Thank goodness, because I have been missing my PowerPlant Buds! I took zero pictures, but did gank these from Facebook:

This is a super boring picture of me eating Lunch. I have no idea why I put this on here, except that blog posts without pictures are BORE-ing.
And here is a group shot of some of us during the City Tour. Two church planters in Greenville took us on a tour of Downtown (it is awesome by the way- go there for a peaceful vacay). In this picture, they are sharing with us about the diversity of the city (95 different people groups in the downtown zip code), and also about the percentage of unchurched people... a staggering 90%! And this is in the Bible Belt!

I flew back to Mobile on Tuesday, so I only had to work at school for three days. I think 3-day work weeks are totally the way to go. By the time you're starting to get tired of the students, it's Friday!

And don't forget....

to click here to see more pictures from the Family Photo Sessions last weekend!

I love the Benjamins!

Treasure Found and other updates...

I actually took pictures of our life today and thought I would blog about what's been going on at the Casa de Butts. I will go in order of how the pictures uploaded.....

First up- I received a shopping tip from a HS girl which led me to Hudson's Treasure Hunt. HUGE SUCCESS.
Purchases are as follows:

BCBG Top.
Retail Price: $58
I Paid: $1.80

Yes, that's right. I bought a very nice shirt for one dollar and eighty cents. Didn't try it on. If it doesn't fit, I will cut it into squares and use the pieces to wipe my kitchen counters because you can't even by kitchen rags for that cheap!

Next Item.... BCBG skirt.
Retail Price: I don't know. There was no tag.
I Paid: $7
You can't tell in the picture, but it's a super nice skirt, and it fits which is awesome!

And now for the moment in which I nearly fainted. This little lovely is the greatest treasure of them all.....

It's Retail Price? Hold on to your computer chairs.... A whopping $586!!!!!
I Paid: $7
SEVEN DOLLARS!
Here's a close-up of the tag.


Ok, enough bragging about my power buys. I will say this though, I felt like I was high on something- it really did give me a natural rush. I smell Hudson's Addiction!

On to other things, Caleb spent a small part of last week in Starkville at the Social Science Research Center's 60th Anniversary Celebration. He worked there for 2 years after we married and all the people he worked with have made such a big impact on our lives! He was asked to give a 10 minute speech about the work/research they did when he was there. Go Caleb!

The guy on the cover is Ty, who is also visiting Mobile this weekend. We had a great dinner with him and his lady Dory. We egged Ty into ordering a 12 inch burrito and it was amazing.


Here's a pic of the flowers Caleb had waiting for me when I got back from my weekend trip to Starkville. So nice!


Gardening Alert! We quite possibly could harvest ONE bell pepper! For some reason bugs didn't chew this one up. If it survives, I already have the meal planned for it. We will have ONE stuffed pepper. Bah ha!


Further proof that old ladies love Caleb. Nearly two months ago he did a Family Medicine rotation in Saraland and a little old lady is STILL making him goodies. I am not complaining. They called from the office and said she had brought in a cake for him and he drove out there to pick it up. It's a homeade lemon poundcake. We got it yesterday and half of it has already been eaten. I am the only one who has been eating it. Hmmmm.....

Ole PJ Joey yearning to frolic carefree in the open wilderness of Pinehurst. Sorry Peej- it's fence-yard for you, my dear.

Here's a pic of my ever-dying ferns. So sad.

Our pumpkin that will be carved soon.

I know it's not time for Thanksgiving decor yet, but I just bought that door turkey and decided to go ahead and hang it. Sorry for passing you over, Halloween.

This is the greatest dog toy in the world. You fill it with treats, and PJJ plays with it for HOURS trying to knock the treats out. Thank you to whoever invented this.

And finally, this sums up our peaceful, relaxing weekend. She's about to have to move, though, because I'm about to vaccuum!

Two posts in one day... WHAT?

I don't want to be the bad friend who announces someone else's baby birth, so I just want to say... Get Ready Pike Class of 2028!

Also, the first set of pics from Starkville Family Photo Day is up on the photography blog. Thanks for clicking here! It was such a fun day!

An update of sorts

Long time, no blog! Here are a few tidbits from the world 'o' Butts:

Caleb has now completed a family medicine rotation, ob/gyn rotation, and is now working on an internal medicine rotation. He has a few interesting stories to tell already. From my point of view, this year is WAY BETTER than the first two years. He still has to study at night, but it's no where near as bad. Yay!

At school, we just finished the 1st quarter and I really can't believe how fast this school year is going! In the past, it has seemed like the year drags, but it is flying by for now. My students are all really good- I'm super lucky- there are just a ton of kids in each class.

My garden that I planted way back in the spring yielded NOTHING. Big shocker there. I quit watering and tending to it mid-summer out of anger/frustration. About four months ago, I did throw out an avocado pit and it amazingly has rooted, so it's possible I will bear a lone avocado. I love a good harvest! Bah ha!

In other news, I've had PJ Joey on a choke collar (complete with spikes that dig into her neck when she lurches) for about two weeks now, and it was the best $16 we've ever spent. This purchase was made after she lunged at another dog while on one of our walks. Usually, I just yank her back, but that particular day, when I went to lug her back, I tripped and fell on the ground. She continued lunging toward the other dog with me still attached to her leash, so she ended up dragging me on the ground all the way across the street. Four cars had to stop while I was pulled across the pavement. We got the dogs untangled, and PJ Joey and I walked home bloody and I cried the entire way. It was bad at the time, but now I think the whole scene was probably pretty hilarious. For the entire week after "The Incident" I put PJJ in my version of a Boot Camp, which basically means I didn't smile at her. Let's face it- I'm a terrible disciplinarian. My children will be wild, I'm sure of it.

Other than those brief updates, we are staying busy and just really content with how life is going. Hope everything is going spectacularly for you as well!