rentz blog

Awesome God

2012-01-27T11:01:00.001-06:00

God is so big.
So, so big.

God has been showing me how limited
my view of Him really is.

I think for the rest of my life
and then, for all of eternity,
God will continually reveal
something new about Himself.

Can you imagine?
I know I can't.
That's how awesome He is.

His Word doesn't even begin
to touch just how big He is.

Even all of the works of Jesus,
while He was on earth,
cannot be contained.John 21:25
Jesus did many other things as well.
If every one of them were written down,
I suppose that even the whole world
would not have room
for the books
that would be written.

How amazing is that verse?
Brings me to tears
everytime I read it.

God is so big.
Yet He loves me.
And died for me.
And desires a relationship with me.

Amazingly awesome.

Each week Beki at therustedchain hosts Fingerprint Friday and uses a song by Steven Curtis Chapman as a springboard. Join in. It's a great way to be reminded of God's presence.

Blah, Blah, Blah

2012-01-25T14:27:00.002-06:00

So.
Yah.
Hello.

Wanna see some pictures?
Rejects from our Christmas card.

Ryan designs our card.
Have I told you that?
He's amazing.
But.
Then.
I am biased.

The picture he actually used for the card.
Was taken with his phone.
His phone takes better pics than my camera.
Pretty pathetic.Those are some cute kids.

Cute kids that are always hungry.
Wow.
I'm constantly cooking.
Baking.
Grocery shopping.

Tried making crackers today.
Didn't roll them out near thin enough.
And the recipe needs tweaking.
Not salty enough.
I like salty.
Yummy.

Cute kids that are dirty.
Two loads of laundry down today.
Infinity to go.

So.
Yah.
Good-bye.

Ezra

2012-01-23T10:57:00.001-06:00

Ezra came along after a miscarriage.
2 D&C's.
Several visits to specialists.
And lots of tears.

He is so much like his daddy.
In looks.
And personality.

He is super sensitive.
(Which has its good and bad points.)
Many days he comes home from school
telling me about one of his classmates
who got their feelings hurt
and how he feels bad for them.

He is a sweetie.He's become such a good reader.
So we decided it was time to get him a Bible.He was super excited.
He especially loved that his name was on it.

We had a hard time picking Ezra's name before he was born.
But here's the verse that sealed it for us.

Ezra 7:10
For Ezra had devoted himself
to the study and observance
of the Law of the LORD,
and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel.

I pray he continues to love Scripture.
I pray he continues to have a tender heart.

He is a treasure.

Confessions

2012-01-20T11:06:00.001-06:00

Confession #1
No baking happened on Tuesday.
Even though I said it would.
I didn't actually bake at all this week.
Until yesterday.

Instead of baking Tuesday
I organized our junk drawer.
(That makes it sound like we only have one.
I wish.)
I organized ONE of our junk drawers.
Took me 3 hours.
That's silly.
But now I hear angelic music in my head.
Every time the drawer gets opened.
It's lovely.
Brookie says it will stay that way for a week.
I am determined it will stay nice for 8 days.
Just to prove her wrong.

Confession #2
I want my hair to be long again.
Right now.

Confession #3
I've only been on pinterest once.
Months ago.
And I didn't get it.
And I still don't.

Confession #4
Here's probably the real reason
I haven't tried too hard with pinterest:
I'm afraid I'll see all this amazing stuff.
That all these amazing people are making/doing.
And I'll get dissatisfied.
With myself.
With my crafty skills or lack thereof.
With my decorating skills or lack thereof.

Confession #5
The other morning I figured out the year
each of my kids would graduate.
And now I'm on the verge of tears
everytime I think about that.
I love that they are growing up.
And hate it.

Confession #6
I am wasting time writing confessions.
Because I'm putting off cleaning my house.
Friday is cleaning day.
And I don't want to get busy.
But it's gotta be done.

So I'm off...

Oh...
But first...
This.Jobie loves to help his daddy get ready in the morning.

And now.
I'm really off.
To dust.
Vacuum.
Scrub sinks.
And toilets.
My glamorous life.

Is there something on pinterest
about how to scrub toilets?
Or
How to scrub toilets
AND look good at the same time?
Or something like that.
Maybe that would get my interest.
Ha!

Me Jabbering

2012-01-17T11:27:00.000-06:00

I have no plans for this post.
None.
There will be rambling.

Our weekend was good.
Only a basketball game in town Saturday morning.
Then nothing the rest of the day.
Weird.
I didn't quite know what to do with myself.
We are so used to going 100mph.

Brookie and I did a little shopping in town.
We all watched basketball.
And football.
Watched my Broncos go down.
Badly.
Oh, and just so you know.
I've been a Broncos fan since I was 8.
That's...well...I'm not going to say how long.
But it's a long time.Church Sunday.
Morning and evening.
We are having a Bible conference.
Good speaker.
Easy to listen too.
Practical.Yesterday was still our weekend.
No school or work.
We finally had a chance to get Christmas gifts exchanged.
All Ryan's stuff.
Wrong size jeans.
And undies.
(We get undies for Christmas.
Always.
From my parents.
Best. Gift. Ever.)

So we went shopping
All six of us.
It's been awhile since we've all gone.
Interesting.
And noisy.

Brookie thinks she's the parent.
Jakie thinks he's the entertainment for the little boys.
Ezzie thinks he's the unlucky one.
Jobie thinks he's the baby that can whine and be held.
Fun. (The skate park was one of Jobie's gifts for Christmas.
Our bargain find.
He and Ez like to set it up.
And take pictures.)

Today.
Laundry.
Washing dishes.
Laundry.
Sweeping.
Laundry.
Baking.
Laundry.
Back to "normal".Jobe's normal.
Sucking his thumb.
More than usual it seems.
Sunday we told him we would buy him a new toy.
If he quits.

With his thumb in his mouth,
he looked at us,
and said:
When I'm five.Ha!

Make a Joyful Noise

2012-01-13T10:07:00.002-06:00

Jobie sang this at every family Christmas we had.
It was his song for our church Christmas program.

My boy,
who doesn't want to leave me
to go to kindergarten next year,
got right up on that stage with the rest of his class
and sang his heart out.

He told me before the program:
Mommy, we have to sing weawy woud.
And he did.
I hope he always has such enthusiasm for the Lord.

This is the only time we got a video of him singing.
Before we opened presents at home.

I'm having difficulties loading it to blogger.
I've been trying for a week.
Really wish I was more tech savvy.
So, anyway, enough about my ineptitude.
Here's a link for it:
http://vimeo.com/34992754
Psalm 100:1-2
Shout for joy to the LORD,
all the earth.
Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before Him with joyful songs.

Each week Beki at therustedchain hosts Fingerprint Friday and uses a song by Steven Curtis Chapman as a springboard. Join in. It's a great way to be reminded of God's presence.

Idea for Supper

2012-01-11T10:56:00.000-06:00

This is a good one.
So easy to adapt for the size of your family.
And super, super easy.
My momma has made it for years.

1) Cut boneless pork ribs into chunks.
(A little pricey, but so worth it.
I always wait until it's on sale.
Buy enough for several meals.
And freeze it.)
Put in a pan with enough water to cover pork.
Salt and pepper, if desired.
Bring to a boil.
Then cover and simmer for 1 hr.2) Drain and transfer meat to baking pan.
(I made about 2 1/2 lbs. this time.)3) Get your favorite bbq sauce and pour over meat.
(I used only one of these bottles.)We think the original KC Masterpiece is the yummiest.
It's a little spicy for little kids.
But I just rinsed the meat off for Jobe.
And he gobbled it right up.
The other kids thought that was really gross.

Oh, and I got a great deal on the bbq sauce.
We have a little grocery store in town.
They have out of date things.
Or damaged goods.
Often half the price or less than normal.
I saw nothing wrong with the bbq sauce.
It didn't even have an expired date.
So I snatched up several bottles.
Score!4) Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hr.
(I think the most important part is to cover it.)Watch your family gobble it up.
I even had enough left over for Ryan's lunch the next day.
Bonus!We always eat a cheesy potato casserole with this.
Can't ever go wrong with that.
Throw it together while the pork is simmering.
Then put the meat and potatoes in the oven at the same time.
And tada!
In another hour your meal is done.Corn on the cob is super good with this too.
Especially in the summer.
But this time we had frozen corn.

I called my parents after I got this in the oven.
My mom had just put their supper in the oven too.
The same thing.
Scary how we think alike sometimes.

Our Christmases and Hoodies

2012-01-09T11:33:00.001-06:00

I'm sorry.
I am so behind.
But here's a little look at most of our Christmases.

December 23.
Christmas at my parents.
Christmas Eve morning.
There's always plenty of new things to do
after a Christmas with Grandpa and Grandma.

Christmas Eve evening.
It seems to have become a tradition
to wear pj's all day on Christmas Eve.
Except for when you get new Under Amour hoodies.
Those must be worn with the pjs.Shouldn't it be easier to get a decent picture
as they get older?I cannot look at this picture
without laughing at Ezzie.And...we gave up.After these pictures, Brookie stood up.
And the chair was stuck to her rear.
I guess she's getting older.
It's tradition to take their pictures with their chairs.
May have to come up with something new next year...

Apparently, if you divide the kids in 2's
pictures turn out much better.
Christmas morning.
Jake's already dressed for church.
Way to go, Jakie!
Christmas Evening.
Christmas at Ryan's parents.Jobe's hair is awful.
I finally cut it this weekend.
Looks like a brand new boy now.
And for some reason,
Jobie thought he needed to show us how old he is.

December 27.
Christmas at Ryan's aunt's.
Always lots of family.
And great food.
Our first stop at her house on Christmas is the den.
For a family picture.
The kids love that tradition.
Ha!See the hoodies again?
Yah...
They have harldy been off the kids.
Especially the older two.
They did not wear them to Ryan's parents.
Only because we fry latkes.
Lots and lots of latkes.
And you come home smelling greasy.
EVERYTHING smells greasy.
And I told them I would not be washing them the next day.
I was on strike for a day or two over Christmas.

There are a couple of plusses to these hoodies.

1) They are never lying on the floor.
Because:
a) They are always on the kids.
or
b) They are on my washer.
As a "subtle" hint that they need washed.

And 2) I now get thank you's for doing the laundry.

Pretty cool, huh?

Time Flies

2012-01-04T12:30:00.001-06:00

How does it happen?

In the blink of an eye.
Your baby girl is 13.And you have a teenager.And you think,
there is no way I'm old enough
to have a teenager.
Yet, somehow, you are.
And, somehow, you do.And that teenager suddenly seems so grown up.

Until she invites 13 friends over for a sleepover.And they watch...
A Barbie movie.
Really.
Barbie Charm School.
Or something like that.
(Her dad always threatens to send her to charm school.
Hope she took notes.)
And they stay up giggling.
All night.And so begins a new chapter.
A chapter I am so excited about.
To see her love for Jesus grow.
To see the heights that she soars to.
To see how much I can embarrass her.

Fun times ahead.
I'm going to enjoy the ride.

Happy 13th (on Dec 28) to my one and only girl.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T08:30:00.002-06:00

from the Entz's.

Let the Unwrapping Begin

2011-12-23T10:05:00.000-06:00

Our Christmases begin tonight.
And every night is full until New Year's Eve.
We're popular people.
Except on New Year's Eve apparently.
No one wants to party with us.
Boo.

The little boys are bouncing off the walls this morning.
Christmas is just too exciting.
But they sure are cute.

Ezzie has been busy making gifts.
And wrapping them.
He uses about twice as much paper as he needs.
Which is just fine.
We have 30,000 rolls of Christmas wrapping paper.
I seem to have turned into my grandma.

And now some pics.
That have absolutely nothing to do with this post.
And are nearly a month old.Before we know it, we will be taking the tree down.
And packing up all the decorations.
I'm going to try to soak up every moment.

Fingerprint Friday

2011-12-16T12:23:00.002-06:00

Well, I popped over to Beki's blog before posting this.
And wouldn't you know it.
She has verses from the same passage.

Pretty cool how God can lay the same scripture
on the hearts of different people.

These verses are from Mary's prayer.
Before Jesus was born.

I made a little gift for my Bible study gals.
With these verses.
(I was finally a tiny bit crafty.
But then forgot to take pictures of the final product.)

You know what I just realized as I'm typing this?
I put the wrong reference.
Argghhhh!
It should be Luke 1:49-50.
Oh my goodness.
So irritated with myself right now.
Wondering where exactly my brain was.
How did I get both the chapter and the verses wrong?

Hmmm.
Now you all know I'm not perfect.
Ha!

Hoping I take time
during this last busy week
before Christmas,
to stop and remember what great things
the MIGHTY ONE has done for me.Each week Beki at therustedchain hosts Fingerprint Friday and uses a song by Steven Curtis Chapman as a springboard. Join in. It's a great way to be reminded of God's presence.

On Christmas Music

2011-12-15T10:09:00.001-06:00

And poo.
And Christmas past.

On Christmas music:
I like Justin Bieber's Christmas song.
Under the Mistletoe.

I also suddenly like Last Christmas.
Wham's version.
I've never liked that song.

Something odd is happening to me.

On poo:
Jobie while sitting on the commode the other day:
Mommy, I bet Everett is pooping right now too.
(Everett is a friend of his from church)
Who thinks things like that?
Pretty sure I've never had that thought.

Although...
one of my friends and I
would weigh ourselves before and after
we did our business.

Is that too much information?

On Christmas past:
Our first Christmas at this house.
We just wanted one picture.
Without Jobe sucking his thumb...or crying...or sucking his thumb...or crying...I remember at the time getting so frustrated with him.
Now these pictures make me laugh.

Funny how in the moment I can get so irritated.
Seems stupid now.
But then, so does my poo story.

I was 10.
And 10 year olds are weird.
And immature.

I am nothing like that now.

The Halls Are Decked

2011-12-07T11:05:00.001-06:00

A little taste of Christmas at our house.Our real tree.
Bought it at the grocery store.
It's one of the prettiest trees we've ever had.The reason we celebrate.
Amazed at the love of God.
To send His only Son.
To be the Savior of the world.
To be my Savior.We have lots of Christmas books.And music.
Pandora.
itunes.
CD's.
Radio.
You name it.
I listen to it.Christmas pictures for the fridge.
Jobe's.Ezra's.Ornament from Germany.
(Someday I'm going to commit myself to getting a new camera.
And becoming a better photographer.
Someday.) Entzville.Are you bored yet?
Just a bit more.The mantle.I love the little tin.
A birthday present from a dear friend.
Thanks, Danielle!
(And Amy for giving her the idea.
And another Amy for making it.)Our white tree.There's lots more.
But I'll spare you the rest.

We bought a cheap 6 foot tree for the basement.
And some purple and gold ornaments.
(The colors of the college Ryan works for.)
Brookie and Jakie stayed up until 1:00AM or so.
Setting it up and decorating it.
They maybe can get along sometimes.
There's hope!
Ha!

Ok.
I gotta go.
I really shouldn't be blogging even.
But I miss everyone.
Haven't even been reading blogs lately.
I don't know how I can be so busy.
It's ridiculous really.

I'm going now to clean the little boys' room.
Blah.
It's...there's really no word for how bad it is.
But we're having a party here Sunday evening.
50-60 people.
Good motivation to get some cleaning done.

Go me!
(Sometimes you have to be your own cheerleader.)

Beautiful

2011-11-26T08:41:00.000-06:00

Yesterday did not go as I had pictured it.
But then again.
When does it ever?

It all started out great.
We got the Christmas decorations down from the attic.
We found a great tree.
Really quickly.

Jake told me the other day:
Mom, you know what the worst thing is
about the day after Thanksgiving?
Picking out the Christmas tree.
It always takes us too long.

Well, it didn't this year.
I was thinking things were going to be beautiful.
All day.

We got home.
Took some pictures.
Got the tree in the house.
And then things weren't so beautiful anymore.

The kids fought.
Especially the little boys.
Jobie cried a thousand times.
Ryan and I might have gotten a little upset.

One brand new strand of lights.
That worked when we tested them.
Did not work when we got them on the tree.
In the middle of the tree.

I got one of my lights stuck in a village house.
Ryan couldn't find his needle nose pliers to get it out.

Two ornaments were broken.
By me.
One snow globe was broken.
By the little boys.
One ceramic tree was broken.
By Jobe.

I cannot get my mantle right this year.
(I am decorationally challenged.)
Wanted to do something different.
It just isn't working.
Brookie told me to give up.
No way.
I will get it.
Haven't yet.
But I will.

In spite of all that.
As I looked at pictures from yesterday.
All I could do was smile.
And be grateful.Our life may look and feel like a mess sometimes.
But it is beautiful.

Because God is good.

He has richly blessed us.
And it's only the tip of the iceberg.
He has so much more.

Some of it may not seem beautiful initially.
We may not even see the beauty
in some things
until we reach heaven.
But we will.
In its time.

Because God has promised.Ecclesiastes 3:11
He has made everything beautiful in its time.
He has also set eternity in the human heart;
yet no one can fathom
what God has done
from beginning to end.

Wings Soccer

2011-11-22T11:26:00.002-06:00

We took Brookie to a Wings soccer game this weekend.
She was super excited to go.
I was too.

When I was her age.
We went to at least a couple games a year.
Always fun.
Especially when I went with my best friend.
We would argue over who was the ~~cutest~~ best player.
(It was Chico, right Sarah?)

Then suddenly the Wings were no more.
Sad day.

But.
They have returned.

The game was so much fun.
Even though we lost.
Boo.

So adorable when she stuffs her face.Retro Wings shirt.That was mine.
How it stayed that white, I have no idea.
Either my mom was amazing at getting stains out.
Or I was the perfect child.

Pretty sure it was the latter.

And the Culprit Is...

2011-11-21T10:19:00.001-06:00

So glad it wasn't a coon.
Or a skunk.
Or a possum.

Although.
Last week we heard a scratchy noise.
Right outside our sliding glass doors.
The sliding glass doors that go into our family room.
Were we spend nearly every evening.
So I go over.
Stick my head up to the glass.
And...
See a little possum.
Peeking at me.
Ewww!

I kicked at the door.
And yelled at it.
That was effective.
It moved about 2 feet from the door.
Turned.
And looked at me.
Kinda' like: you gonna do something?

Of course Jake jumped up:
I'm getting my pellet gun!

I don't think so son.
That possum is on my front patio.
I don't want possum blood all over.
(Sorry for those of you that are squeamish.)

Hi.
Welcome to our house.
Oh.
Pardon the crime scene.
We killed a possum.
No.
Really.
It was a possum.
Come on in!
What's that smell, you ask?
It's just possum stew.
Been simmering all day.
Want some?

A lovely welcome to our home.

Are we hicks?
The kicking at doors.
Yelling at wild animals.
Grabbing guns.
Sounds like we are on our way at least.

By the way.
The house next door is for sale.
Any one want to buy it?
It's been on the market for over a year now.

Can't imagine why...

A Recipe

2011-11-17T14:17:00.001-06:00

But you know me.
Since when has it ever just been a recipe?

Yesterday was my sweet nephew's 1st birthday.
I take care of him on Wednesdays.
Jobie was super excited to be with him on his birthday.
And thought we needed a picture of the birthday boy.
So I gave Jobe the camera.Why is it impossible for them not to take a picture
of themselves when they have a camera?
Have you ever read Hints from Heloise?
Her column is in our local paper.
I like to at least skim it.
And have picked up a few helpful tips.
However.
I'm not sure we will use this one:

"Have a scratch or cut
larger than a typical adhesive bandage?
Try using a panty liner.
Tape it to the area using an adhesive bandage."

Ewwww.
Brookie and I got the giggles over that one.
Seriously?

Ok.
Finally.
Getting to the recipe.
A yummy after school snack.
My kids loved it.
Brookie ate 3.
Then said:
I don't know.
They're not really that great.

Sometimes I don't get her.

Ezra's friend was over.
He said:
Ezra, next time we have a party.
I'm inviting you.
And your mom is going to make these.

He's my new favorite of the kids' friends.

Crunchy Caramel Balls
1 large pkg. jumbo marshmallows
1-12oz. pkg. caramels
1-14oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 stick butter or margarine
Rice Krispies

In a large saucepan over low heat, melt together the caramels, milk and butter. Stir until creamy. Cool. Using tongs, dip each marshmallow in the caramel mixture, then roll in Rice Krispies. Set on waxed paper. Make 3 dozen plus. My variation:
I used Cocoa Krispies instead.

Next time, I want to dip them in the caramel.
And then a dark chocolate.
Maybe even add some red and/or green sprinkles.
Christmas treats!

Actually, I prefer salty treats to sweet treats.
In case you were thinking.
About what to bring to my house during the holidays.
But I will accept anything, really.

I hate to be picky.

Bubbles and Jobe

2011-11-14T11:02:00.001-06:00

I'm beginning to understand.
Why the baby in the family is spoiled.

I didn't intend to spoil him.
Really, I didn't.
It just happens.

All of the kids' friends don't help.
Especially Brookelynn and Jake's.
They carry him around.
Tell him how cute he is.He's still so tiny.
But at least he's growing.
He finally outgrew most of his 3T pants.
But 4T shirts still swim on him.I'm trying to get him ready for kindergarten.
Learning all those important things.
Letters and numbers.
Writing his name.
Cutting with scissors.
Wiping his own bottom.
(He's been stubborn on this one.
But I'm certain his teacher next year
will thank me for teaching him this skill.)
He told me today:
My voice is changing.
Don't you think Momma?
Doesn't it sound different?Walking home hand-in-hand this morning.
After taking Ezra to school.
Me: Jobie, how much do you love your mommy?
Jobie (in a loud voice and with a big hop):
A bunch!Then I asked him:
How much does Mommy love you?
He answered:
Forever!No wonder I spoil him.
He always has the perfect answer.

Mr. Moosey Takes a Trip

2011-11-10T22:35:00.001-06:00

Ryan headed to Chicago Saturday.
I was jealous.
Really jealous.
He got to stay one night with his cousin's family.
I love them.
He got to stay at a hotel on Michigan Ave for 3 nights.
I love Michigan Ave.
He got to eat Chicago-style pizza.
I love Chicago-style pizza.
Did I mention I was jealous?

Ok.
Moving on...

Ryan took one of the little boys' finger puppets.
And sent us texts.
Documenting Mr. Moosey's stay in Chicago.

Day 1:
Buckled in and ready for the flight.
Waiting for his luggage.
Mr. Moosey at Libby's.
Day 2:
Mr. Moosey worshipping.
Mr. Moosey catching a nap at the hotel.
Day 3:
Mr. Moosey a little scared of heights.
Day 4:
Mr. Moosey helping daddy update facebook between meetings.
Mr. Moosey feels small with all these tall buildings.
Day 5:
Mr. Moosey misses everyone.
He even had to shave this morning
so he would look his best for you.
Mr. Moosey getting ready to board the plane.
He's happy!
Mr. Moosey wanted the window seat.
We were all very glad to pick Mr. Moosey up last night.
Well...and Daddy too.
None of us more than me.
(I might have been getting a bit crabby.)

The Past Month or So

2011-11-09T11:57:00.001-06:00

Since I've been so awful at posting.
I'm throwing some photos all together.
Just to give you a small glimpse of what's been happening.

Butler football games with friends.This picture is creepy.
Is there a ghost walking thru it?
Creepier yet...I did not underline this text.
Or change the text color.
And nothing is showing up in html.
Spooky!
A trip to KU.Jake was pretty excited.So were the little boys.Brookelynn and Jake snuck onto the soccer field.
(Shhhh.)
Jake snapped a pic of Brookie.
She was mad that she left her soccer ball in the car.
The girl really loves soccer.
We carved and painted pumpkins.
Ezzie was so proud of himself.
He carved this all on his own.Except I carved the top off.
And cleaned it all out.
That was a HUGE sacrifice on my part.
I hate cleaning out pumpkins.

The pumpkins are on our front porch.
Now his pumpkin is 1/4 gone.
Something is eating it.
That has never happened before.
Either we're not feeding the cat enough.
Or those coons are getting WAY too close to our house.

Jobie painted his.
With a little help from his big sis.Brookie's creation.Looks dangerous, doesn't it?Have you ever heard of rubbing the inside of your pumpkin with Vaseline?
I read somewhere that it keeps it from rotting as fast.
We tried it.
Not sure if it really helped...

We went to a ground breaking.
For a new football stadium at the community college Ryan works at.
My hair is still short.I forgot to wear deodorant to church a few weeks ago.
Realized it on our way.
Hope I didn't smell...

I'm doing two Bible studies.Leading the yellow one.
Sitting in on the other.

Learning that I have bigger problems than forgetting to put deodorant on.
Grateful that God loves me anyway.
Trusting that the Holy Spirit will continue His work in my heart.
Praying that I will be faithful to follow His Word.

I John 2:5-6
But if anyone obeys His Word,
love for God is truly made complete in them.
This is how we know we are in Him:
Whoever claims to live in Him
must live as Jesus did.

October 31

2011-11-03T14:20:00.000-05:00

Halloween was different this year.

Somehow we managed to get no pictures of the kids together.

Jake took awhile to decide if he was even going.
So we threw together a "costume" at the last minute.

Our daughter.
Our oldest.
Our most...ahem...mature.
Decided to have a major and ridiculous meltdown.

She composed herself enough for a pic with her cousin.They were little girls.
My husband might have asked her.
In the middle of her meltdown.
If she was just acting out her costume character.
As you can imagine, that was well-received.
Good times with the Entz's.

Our boys and nephew.Jake was a KU fan.
Real clever, huh?
Ha!
It was the best I could come up with in 10 minutes.

Ezra was a pirate.
The wig did not stay on too long.
Jobie saw his costume at a consignment sale.
And had to have it.
It was $4.
I indulged.
He calls it: Monster Cookie.Oh, my heart.
I don't want him to grow up.

Try to Keep Up

2011-10-12T11:12:00.001-05:00

This post starts with nothing.
Ends with nothing.
With a whole lot of nothing in between.

There's no school the rest of this week.
When I got out of the shower this morning,
this is how my little boys were.They love each other.
Sometimes.

I'm still getting used to my hair.
Jobie often says:
Mommy, you're different on top.
Cracks me up.

I'm letting it dry natural today.
See what happens with that.
So if you see me at church tonight.
And my hair looks like poo-poo.
That will be why.

We've been super busy with soccer.
Jobe had a clinic.
This picture makes me laugh.His hair is so bouffant.
Have you ever watched Toddlers and Tiaras?
For some reason this picture reminds me of that show.
He's posing.
Fake smile.
Big hair.

That show is a train wreck.
One mom said: we're no different than soccer moms.
What??
Yah.
Cuz I make my kids play.
And put them in pretty makeup.
And ridiculous dresses.
And fake tans.
And fake boobs.
And fake teeth.
And fake eyelashes.
Mmmm, hmmm.
That's what I put Brookie thru before every game.
Oh, my.
Would I like to have a word with that mom.

Stepping off of my soap box now.Glad the rec center can get small enough shirts to fit the kids.
Nice.

Apparently, I'm in a snippy mood today.

Ezra's also playing soccer.
But I haven't taken any pictures.
Poor Ez and Jake.
The poor neglected middle children.

Brookelynn was in a tourney a couple weeks ago.
Took 2nd.Woohoo!

Ryan's two brothers' boys.
And Jobe.
The two blondes live about 2 hours away now.We're going to see them tomorrow.
Yippee!
And then headed to KC for the rest of the weekend.
Yessss!

I've done 8 loads of laundry in the past 2 days.
And all but one of them is folded and put away.
That's a major accomplishment for me.

I already know what I'm making for supper.
I've been having a hard time on supper menus lately.
So another huge accomplishment.

Let's see...
how else can I pat myself on the back?
Ha!

One last thing.
Since I know you all must be tired of reading my drivel.
(If you are still even reading this.)
I am having so much fun playing with my ipad.
Love it, Babe.
Thank you!

One funny thing about it.
When you type the word "Awww".
It auto-corrects to a naughty word.
Another word for rear.
Hind end.
Posterior.
Gluteus maximus.
Buttocks.
You get the point.

That has the potential to be embarrassing...

Observations by Jobe

2011-10-05T10:28:00.000-05:00

Mommy, there are two colors of pee.White.
You know like the color of the water in the toilet.And yellow.Thank you, son.
Your insight is astounding.

In a Puddle

2011-09-28T12:56:00.000-05:00

That's where my heart's been lately.
Thanks to my kids.

It's a good thing.Brookie.
Giving me a hug.
At her school.
In front of friends.
And other parents even.

That is BIG.Jakie.
Reaching for a tall light:
Hey, I'm growing!
I used to have to stand on my toes to turn this on.
Now I can do it flat-footed!

He wants to grow so BADLY.Jobie.
Standing up on the counter:
Wook Mommy.
I'm tawer than you.
Me: Yes, you are.
Some day you really will be taller than Mommy.
Jobie: But I don't want to be tawer than you!
Me: Why not?
Jobie: Because I want you to always be my Momma!

Oh, Jobie.
No worries there.
I could never stop being your momma.Ezzie.
Writing sweet, sweet things at school.I can't think of much that a momma would love to hear more.A puddle.
I'm tellin' ya.

New Toy, New Do

2011-09-26T12:10:00.001-05:00

Well, another birthday has come and gone.
Amazing how quickly they roll around anymore.
When you're a kid you can't wait for them.
When you're rapidly approaching 40, they can stay away.
But they come regardless.

So...
I am posting this from my new iPad!
Eeeeek!

I'm trying out the blogger app.
It's different.
And a little difficult.
But it was free.
So I'm giving it a shot.

I'm not even sure where exactly my picture will show up on this post.
I took it with the iPad.

I chopped my hair.
I'm not sure the last time it was this short.
Still deciding if I like it.
I've had this cut for 3 days.
And it's looked different each of those days.
Wonder how it will look tomorrow...

Jake doesn't like it.
I think the others are ok with it.
Either that or they have more tact.

I have to end this.
I'm anxious to see what this post looks like.
That and I'm feeling guilty.
Nothing has gotten done today.

So I'm really going to stop playing on this thing.
And get to work.

It's noon already.
So it's lunch time.
Then I'll get to work.

I'm going now.
For real.

Twenty-Two

2011-09-09T12:52:00.001-05:00

That's how old I'm going to turn this month.
Ha.
Not really.
I wouldn't want to go back that far.
Hmmm.
28 sounds good.
Even 34 sounds good at this point.

Here's really what 22 means to me today.
On this day.
Twenty-two years ago.
Ryan and I went on our first date.
To the state fair.

That is hard to wrap my brain around.
Twenty-two years ago?
Wow!

When he ask me out way back then,
I remember thinking to myself:
What can one date hurt?

We attended a small Christian school.
Where everyone knew everything.
A couple days after our date
one of our classmates said to me:
I suppose you'll be going to the Winter banquet with Ryan.
I remember looking at him and saying:
That's 3 months away!
I don't know who I'll be going with.

Well...turns out I went with Ryan.
To that banquet.
And every one after that the next 2 years.

We don't always celebrate this day.
Matter of fact, some years it's gone by without us noticing.
But the past few days
I've been thinking about that first date a lot.

How I twisted my ankle the day before.
But didn't want to miss the date.
So I hobbled all over the fair.

How cute he looked walking up the sidewalk.
To meet my parents for the first time.
Wearing a pink polo.
And jeans.
And high tops.
It was the late 80's, people.
I wore jeans with the waist band that rolled over.
Remember those?
Tapered leg.
Kinda' stonewashed.
Awesome.
And a bright green shirt.
With shoulder pads.
Yes!
Oh, wish I had a picture.

How I wanted him to hold my hand.
But he didn't until we got back that evening.
And went for a little walk around our neighborhood.

I may not have a picture of our first date.
But I do have one of our first banquet.That's my brother on the right.
He had to ride with us to the banquet.
He was a freshman.
It was horrible.
He played with the electric windows and locks on the car.
The entire way to the banquet.
He thought he was funny.
I was mortified.
Ryan thought he was funny too.
That did not help.

22 years ago.
A boy.
Asking a girl out.
A girl.
Saying yes.

The result.
A blessed marriage.
Four amazing kiddos on earth.
And one in heaven.
A family.

A fingerprint of God.

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,”
declares the LORD,
“plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.

Each week Beki at therustedchain hosts Fingerprint Friday and uses a song by Steven Curtis Chapman as a springboard. Join in. It's a great way to be reminded of God's presence.

The Confidence of Ezra

2011-09-06T11:18:00.000-05:00

Ezra loves to make mini pizzas.
Saturday we made them for lunch.Everyone made their own.
Except Brookie.
She wanted a frozen Totino's pizza.
As she was eating it, she said:
I could eat frozen pizza everyday.
Hmmm.
I've never heard her say:
I could eat mom's cooking everyday.

But really I shouldn't complain.
I can be an awesome mom.
Just by having Totino's pizzas in the freezer.
Simple enough.

Ezra worked on his pizzas the longest.
He wanted them to be just perfect.This was the discussion he and I had:
Ezra: I'm probably going to be a famous pizza maker some day.
Me: Sounds good.
But I thought you were going to be a baseball player.
Ezra: Yah, I want to be a baseball player too.
Me: Well, you can't play baseball when you get old.
You can open a pizza restuarant then.

Seven hours later (out of the clear blue)
Ezra: I don't know if I want to be a famous pizza maker.
I think I'll just play baseball.
You can play baseball until you are old.
Babe Ruth played baseball when he was old.
And he was the best baseball player ever.
Well...until he died.
I don't really know who is the best baseball player now.He has confidence in so many areas.
Then sometimes he surprises us.
And shows a super sensitive side.

I was playing with Ezzie's hair Sunday afternoon.
(I LOVE his hair.
So much bounce and life.
Just like him.
But it can tend to get a little poofy at times.)
Ezra says: Some kids at school call me "muffin".Before Ryan, Brookelynn, Jake and I could stop ourselves,
we laughed.
Out loud.
Loudly.
And Ezra cried.
Then we all felt bad.
But it was funny.
And kinda' true.
Which, of course, is why we laughed.

Would it be really cruel
to make muffins for breakfast tomorrow?
Suddenly I'm really wanting some...

A Peach Recipe

2011-09-02T22:27:00.003-05:00

This recipe is for moms.
It's not so much for kids.
And it's probably not so much for dads.

So if you are having some ladies over,
make it.
If you are having a family with kids over,
don't make it.
Apparently, I'm feeling bossy.
How 'bout I just let you make the call?

Peaches and Cream Coffeecake

Dough:
2/3 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
3 T butter, melted
1 quart canned or fresh peaches, drained, reserve the juice

Cream filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
3 T peach juice

Topping:
1 T sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt. Add egg, milk and butter and beat for 2 minutes. Pour into a well-greased 8-inch round pan. Drain peaches and arrange over batter. For the filling, cream together ingredients and spoon over peaches. For the topping mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle on top. Bake 30 to 35 minutes.
So, I'm bad about reading a recipe all the way through.
I made this in an 8X8 square pan.
It worked.
But next time I'll make it in the round pan.
Then I can cut it in triangles.
I like triangles.

This is not very sweet.
When I make it next,
I may add a little sugar to the bottom layer.
And a little cinnamon too.
And maybe some nutmeg.
I like nutmeg.

And I will make it again.
Possibly even if I'm not having ladies over.
It would be ok to eat the whole thing, right?
By myself.
All in one setting.
I'm kidding about that last part.
Maybe.
I like to eat.

I like to eat triangular nutmeg-y things.

Just Chattin'

2011-08-31T13:28:00.000-05:00

I'm going through the little boys closets.
They have a ridiculous amount of clothes.
Really.
It's embarrassing.
So many hand me downs when you're the littlest boys.
There were at least 20 pair of holey jeans.

You know why I kept them?
Because I just knew for sure
there was something I could make with them.
That makes me laugh just typing it.
Me?
Make something?
Hahaha!
Reality sunk in...finally.
And I threw them all away.
(Sorry to those of you who could have made amazing things with them.)

I found 3 shirts for Jobie.
On a shelf.
In his closet.
Neatly folded.
Just like I would fold them.
Really cute winter shirts.
No idea where they came from.
Maybe a consignment sale?
They are not brand new.
How do I forget these things?

I am so sick of hot weather and watering plants.
I could scream.
So I've been making my kids water.
They need chores.
I need a break.
Sounds like a win-win to me.

Last night as I was leaving the little boys room:
Jobie: I love you, Mommy.
Ezzie: I love you lots and lots.
You're the best momma ever.
How much longer do you think I can fool him?

Ezra has now lost 5 of his original fish.
Saturday we bought him 4 more.
(They were 13 cents each.
We really go all out for our kids.)
One of those 4 died yesterday.
Poor guy.
He always holds each one in his little hand.
And looks at it for a while.
Before he dumps it in the toilet.
And flushes it.

We got "new" dining room chairs.
I found them at a garage sale for $5 each.
4 matching chairs.

We were using 1 wood school chair.
Bought at an antique store.
1 off-white really cute chair.
Bought at an antique store.
1 chair from a pair of chairs that we had.
Once upon a time.
And a folding chair.
(I've said before we are classy people.
I wasn't joking.)

I texted Ryan and said:
For the first time in our marriage we have
4 chairs that match.
His reply: It's almost like we're adults.
Ha!
He's a funny guy.I like the white.
But I might paint them.
The white might not be quite right for our house.
What would you do?

Cute, But...

2011-08-30T11:13:00.001-05:00

We might have a problem...

234Ryan saw 6 in all.

The next morning I called animal control.
Remember me and animal control are tight.

Here's how part of the call went.
Me: Ummm. We saw 6 coons in our garage last night.
AC: That's a problem.
Me: Yes. Is there anything you can do about it?
AC: We can come set a trap.
Me: Great! They are eating our cat's food.
AC: Oh, well. Is your cat's food in the garage?
Me: We keep it locked in our shed, but yes, we feed her in the garage.
AC: We can't do anything about the coons then.
You have to remove the food source.
Me: Ok. Well then, how do I feed our cat?
AC: If you don't remove the food source they will keep coming.

Thank you for answering my question.
Trust me, it just got more confusing from there.

So, I called in my own personal animal control.
My 15 year old nephew.
So far he's caught a possum.
And 3 coons.

Two at once one night.
Brookie thought they were so cute.
She had to take pictures.Can't wait for our next conversation, animal control.
We have such ~~confusing~~ ~~frustrating~~ enlightening talks.

What Happens When You're the Baby

2011-08-26T12:50:00.001-05:00

Your shorts become lederhosen.

That's what the older kids call this.
I have no idea why.
But it's always a guaranteed laugh.
Especially when it rides up the rear.
(we are classy and dignified people) Even Jobe thinks it's funny.
For now anyway...

Fish, Spaghettios and a Soccer Ball

2011-08-25T11:31:00.001-05:00

Well.
The inevitable happened.
Two of Ezra's new fish met their demise.
(dead fish.
and our toilet.
this post is starting off well.)
We knew one was struggling last night.
Brookie asked Ezra:
If it dies will you cry.
Ezra:
Probably not...probably...well...maybe.
So sweet.Then we found not one but two dead this morning.
He didn't cry.
But came close, I think.
Daddy had a nice little ceremony before the "burial".

Moving on...

Princess Spaghettios.
And 6th grade boys.
A perfect combination.
Brookie did a little photo session with one of her soccer balls.The soccer ball has a name.
PK.
(penalty kick to the layperson)

Fish, Spaghettios and a soccer ball.
Oh.
And a toilet.
Funny what shows up in a blog post.

Party Time

2011-08-23T09:49:00.000-05:00

Yesterday after school.
I had a belated birthday party for Ezra.

An alien/space party.With black hole punch.We played games.Found moonrocks.
And painted them.Created space scenes.Opened and admired presents.
(A fight was brewing over the opening of presents.
Several of them wanted their present to be opened first.
Ezra was looking at me like: what do I do?
I put each kid's name in a hat.
And let Ezra draw names.
Everyone seemed ok with that.
Pheww!
Crisis averted.)And made alien slime.
Definitely the hit of the party.Last night putting the little boys to bed.
Me: You know Ezra, Jobie helped a lot with your party.
He put everything in the treat bags.
And got the craft bags for the space scene ready.

Ezra: So Jobe did pretty much everything then.

Jobe: Yep. That's why I'm so tired.

I can only imagine the conversation after I left the room.
Ezra: Seriously, what does mom do all day?
Jobe: I know!
What will she do next year without me home to help her?

Not sure what I will do.
But I get a little giddy if I think about it too long.

Brothers

2011-08-19T09:03:00.004-05:00

Zechariah 6:13c
And there will be harmony between the two.

Well.
For small moments anyway.

Each week Beki at therustedchain hosts Fingerprint Friday and uses a song by Steven Curtis Chapman as a springboard. Join in. It's a great way to be reminded of God's presence.

A Birthday and the First Days of School

2011-08-18T10:36:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was big for Ezzie.
It was his 7th birthday.
And the first day of school.
He could not sleep the night before.
Too much excitement for a little guy.

When he got to school,
his teacher asked if he wanted to wear the b-day sticker all day.
Or just when I brought his treats later..
He wanted to wear it all day.
Insuring him lots of attention, I'm sure.In the afternoon, his class sang "Happy Birthday" to him.
And he got to wear a special hat.
Doesn't he look excited about it?He could have worn the hat the last 1/2 hour of the day.
But he declined.
Sticker is one thing.
Hat is another, I guess.

Presents always make a kid smile big.
Jakie has two frogs and a mini turtle.
Ezzie has been wanting a pet for awhile now.

His last present was a box with fish food in it.
He looked at it.
And looked at it.
And finally said.
You got me a fish?
Were is it?
I will always remember how he said it.
One of those memories to treasure.They were waiting for him in his room.
7 fish.
Finally pets of his own.
Brookie helped him name them last night.
They wrote them all down.
He took the list to school this morning.
You need to share these things with your friends.

1st grade.
Yesterday was a big day for Brookie too.
First day in Junior High.
Can you hear my sigh?
She was nervous.
Very unlike her.
She didn't even eat breakfast.
Glad I went all out and bought Toaster Strudels.

7th grade.Jobie did not want to be left out.
I had to lay out clothes for him the night before too.
Yet he insists he is not going to school next year.
Today was Jake's 1st day.
He did not want his picture taken.
But mom wins.
Kinda.
The boy would not give me a good smile.

6th grade.His sister stepped in and tried to help.
Yah.
That always works.
Then his best friend showed up.
With the hot rod.
That was all it took to get a genuine smile.Sweet ride.
Great first day of school tradition.Another summer that flew by.
One more year with my baby.
Then off he goes too.

Scary thought.
Exciting thought.

Vacation

2011-08-16T08:44:00.000-05:00

The view.The kids.Us.
Morning walk on the beach.Lots of sand time.And relaxing.Searching for shells.Building sand castles.Pool time, with the floaty.Togetherness.New shades.Learning to dive.Posing for pictures.Pouting.Enjoying the waves.Taking directions.Our house...kinda.Daddy time.Tourist shopping.Smiles.There were lots of other things too.
Driving.
Around 2500 miles.

Eating.
Yummy steaks and seafood.

Loosing prescription sunglasses.
In the gulf.
(See the shades on Ryan in the pic with Brookie?
Bye-bye shades)

Boys.
Looking at our daughter.

So much fun.
(Except for that last part)

A New Day

2011-08-05T09:06:00.002-05:00

Last week we were on vacation.
And this week has just been full of getting caught up.
And dealing with my kids.
Blah.
Parenting is no fun sometimes.
(I think I may have said that before. Ha.)
It was rough yesterday.
And still heavy on my heart today.

You know what stinks?
When parenting your children
shows you the flaws in your own life.
And in your relationship with Jesus Christ.
Ouch.

But, oh how I love my children.Today we are going to clean.
And then we're heading out for a little back to school stuff.
I'm actually looking forward to the day.
Even after the yucky day yesterday.

Thankful for new mercies every day.
New mercies for me.
And new mercies for my kiddos.
God is so good to not give up on us.

Seventeen

2011-07-22T10:17:00.000-05:00

We were 17 years old in these pictures.Young and in love.Today we've been married for 17 years.
Not quite as young.
But definitely more in love.

Ironic

2011-07-21T12:12:00.000-05:00

Remember our summer project?
The word I wanted to use was refreshing.

This summer has been anything but refreshing.
As far as the weather goes anyway.

All these leaves.
Just fell yesterday.
I'm afraid we might be loosing our beautiful maple.It's been over 100 degrees.
25+ days so far this summer.
(or so I've heard)
Refreshing?
Not so much.

And what does Jobe decide to wear this morning?
A hoodie.Looks like fall.
Except the leaves are shrively browns.
Not beautiful oranges, yellows and reds.

The grass is crunchy.
We haven't mowed in a month.
I miss the smell of freshly cut grass.

My flowers are struggling to survive.
It's taking all their energy just to live.
They've got nothing left to produce pretty flowers.
And I water every day.We did quite a bit of new landscaping this spring.
Wrong year for that.
Our new plants are not looking so great.
And then there's my garden.Can't brag much about that, can I?
Beans.
Dead.
Cucumber.
Dead.
Zucchini.
Dead.
Everything else.
Looking...well...dry.
Refreshing, right?
That poor little tomato plant that's laying on the ground.
It was run over by a car.
Cars drive in our yard.
Not kidding.

There are a few plants that are doing ok.Not as big as usual.
But at least they are adding a little color.I'm going to plant A LOT more Vinca next year.
They seem to be surviving this heat the best.
Oh, and asparagus fern.
That's doing good too.

The hood?
Really?About 15 minutes after I took this picture.
Jobie comes inside and says:
Pheww! I'm all "fweaty".

Can't imagine why he would be sweaty.

But I guess our summer project wasn't about the weather being refreshing.
It was about our family being refreshing.
I'm going to try to stop complaining.
And start refreshing.
Go Coke!

Guess What!?

2011-07-11T08:43:00.000-05:00

We found the camera!
Woohoo!

I'm not going to lie.
I was starting to get a little excited.
We were beginning to talk about getting a new one.
We're going on vacation soon.
You need a camera on vacation.
I was looking forward to getting something a little nicer.
But dreading spending the money right now.

Saturday morning Ryan decided to REALLY look for it.
It involved taking the sectional apart.
Lifting it up.
Feeling all along the fabric at the bottom.
And vwah-la.
It's magic.
I felt that small little rectangular shape.

You all are so lucky.
Now you get to see more pictures like this:And this:And this:We all went shopping Saturday evening.
Target was our last stop.
Ryan, Brookie and I had clothes to try on.
The boys were parked in the dressing room area.
Jake on the floor.
Playing with my phone.
Ezra in the back of the cart.
Playing with the camera.
And Jobe in the front.
Trying to avoid getting his picture taken.
It was...entertaining.It looks like there is a another woman.
In the dressing room with Ryan.
I guess I shouldn't say another woman.
Since I wasn't in the dressing room with him either.
Had a seperate one.
Our kids were with us, you know.

Jobie spent a lot of time inspecting his new flip-flops.
He's never had any without the strap on the back.
It's adorable to watch him walk in these.
But he is so proud of them.Maybe someday I'll get a nicer camera.
(likely)
And be an amazing photographer.
(not likely)
But for now you all will have to put up with my witty writing
(ha! not true)
and my point and shoot's fuzzy photos.
(so true)

Coke

2011-07-08T11:27:00.001-05:00

Last summer we had project POF.
I loved it.
Any time the kids would do something nice for someone,
I would say:
That was a great POF!
And they would get really embarrassed.
Especially the two older ones.

This summer I wanted to find a new verse to focus on.
We found a verse the end of May.
I read it to the kids and said:
This will be our POF verse for the summer.

Brookie and Jakie groaned and said:
Don't call it POF!
That's sounds like a little kid word.

Ryan said:
How about the word "refresh".
I thought it was perfect.
The kids did not.

Then Ryan said:
How about "Coke"?
Coke is refreshing.

"Coke" it is.
Or "Coke is it"!
(Remember that slogan?)
Then I forgot all about the verse and the word.
Until this morning.
Over a month later.

I have problems.

So, for the rest of the summer,
we are going to be refreshing.
And instead of saying:
Good POF.
I will say:
Good Coke.And my kids will smile.
And be happy.
And get along.
And be refreshing.
The whole rest of the summer.

I like to dream.

Here's the verse we're going with:
Philemon 7
Your love has given me great joy and encouragement,
because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.

Honestly, this verse is more for me than my kids.
How wonderful would it be.
To bring great joy and encouragement.
To my family.
To my friends.
To any one I come in contact with.

Sounds...well...refreshing, doesn't it?

Now, I'm going to go Coke someone.
Hmmm...that sounds odd.

Each week Beki at therustedchain hosts Fingerprint Friday and uses a song by Steven Curtis Chapman as a springboard. Join in. It's a great way to be reminded of God's presence.

A Little Get Together

2011-07-06T13:46:00.000-05:00

The weekend before last was our class reunion.
Ryan and I graduated from a small Christian school.
With a class of 40.
20 years ago.
That doesn't seem right.
I'm sure I'm not that old.

I wanted a new dress for the occassion.
And had shopped a little.
But hadn't found what I wanted.
And ran out of time to shop anymore.
I was just going to wear something out of my closet.
Who needs something new, right?
It's silly to think you need a new outfit.
That's what I told myself anyway.

The day before the reunion.
My hubby texted me:
Got a little gift for you...
He came home with a super cute dress!
And it fit!
He's amazing.

I don't do it justice.
And the pic is fuzzy.
But here it is.Nearly half of our class made it.There's something pretty special about graduating from a small school.Apparenty I missed the memo to wear black shoes.
And I'm also the only one to not have my nails done.Don't ask.
It was late.
They are goofy girls.
There was no alcohol.
We graduated from a Christian school remember?Funny story:
About 10:00pm or so.
One of our classmates was talking to her mom on her phone.
Checking up on her son, I suppose.
I hear her say:
No mom, there is no alcohol here.
Felt like we were in high school again.

The next day we were at our house.
It was hot.
Our kids were all there.
And I think one of my classmates son's thought my daughter was cute.
And I think she might have thought he was cute too.
That's weird.

Rhonda, do you read this?
Do you agree?
Ryan was oblivious to it all.

And this is the only pic I took of the day.
Yeah me!Oh, and yes our carpet did get put in on time.
It looks so great downstairs.
Sadly, I can't show you.
I still can't find my camera.
(All the above pics were with my mom's camera.)
We have searched every where.
We know where it last was.
A certain daughter laid it on the floor.
On the floor?
In the family room.
It has not been seen since.
At least that's the story...

Another

2011-06-28T10:31:00.000-05:00

Another birthday.Another year older.Another wii game.Another smile.Another child who now must improvise to show how old they are.

This boy who was a surprise to us.
This boy who is so intelligent.
This boy who plays so well with his little brothers.
This boy who loves to laugh.

This boy.
Whom I love.

Just Ramblings

2011-06-23T08:12:00.001-05:00

Last week Ezra stepped on the toes of my left foot.
5 days in a row.
They finally were feeling normal again.
Then Monday Brookie and I were moving a dresser.
It slipped out of her hand.
And landed on top of my left foot.
That one still hurts.

I usually don't get mosquito bites.
And when I do they don't typically itch me.
They sure like me this summer.
I look polka dotty.
And I'm super itchy.
Guess I'm sweeter this year.

I wore a t-shirt half the day last week
with a dryer sheet stuck down the front of it.
Have you ever used dryer sheets to enhance your chest area?
Well, don't.
It doesn't really work.
And it's scratchy.
(Just to be clear,
this was unintentional.
Believe me if you want.)

We were up until 1:00 last night working in the basement.
And I worked most of the daylight hours outside.
Hauling rock for our driveway.
Wheelbarrow full, by wheelbarrow full.
Planting some more flowers.
Watering.
Pulling weeds.
Lots and lots of weeds.
This morning I feel like I met with Jillian Michaels.
Or what I imagine that must feel like anyway.
I should be meeting with Jillian everyday.
But I lack discipline.

Our carpet was supposed to be layed yesterday.
So it was delivered Tuesday.
Then the carpet dude called and said he couldn't come until Friday.
Maybe.
Maybe?
Not good.
We have a class reunion at our house Sunday.
And our rec room looks like a carpet store.
The plan was to have the food in there if there's a chance of rain.
I told him our predicament.
He said: why did they put it in the rec room and not the garage?
Ummm.
Because you said you would come Wednesday.
Silly us.

Here's my next problem.
I've been working so much outside.
(The plan is for the reunion to be in the yard.
I guess I alluded to that already.)
And in the basement.
That the rest of the house is a pit.
It's depressing when you get one area looking all nice.
Only to have the rest of your house looking like poo.

I did three loads of laundry yesterday.
Kinda.
One got folded and put away.
One is in the dryer.
The other is still in the washer.
Nice.

I can't find my camera.

I itch.

That's all.

Our Summer So Far

2011-06-20T08:40:00.000-05:00

Summer should be relaxing right?
Ha!
I laugh at that statement.

Ezra told me Saturday:
Mommy, you said this summer would be fun.
Well, it isn't.

Bad Mommy.

It's true.
So far.
For the kids.
Not so much fun.
Well, Brookie is having fun.
She's been going to soccer camp.
Then another soccer camp.
Then another soccer camp.
And training.
Her love for soccer has exploded this summer.We are finally getting our basement done.
We ordered carpet.
Which meant I had to start painting.
Been putting that one off.
Ryan and I painted all day last Saturday.
And I've painted at least a little most days since then.
Now I just have one more wall to put a second coat on.
Then done.Brookelynn and Jake are excited to have carpet.
But are dragging their feet at cleaning up their rooms.
Everything has to be moved out for the carpeting.
And they are slobs.
I am BAD at making them keep their rooms clean.We've been doing landscaping outside also.
Saturday Ryan got four pick-up loads of mulch.
There's a free mulch pile in town.
It saved us so much money.
But it was hard work.
It's looking great around our fire pit though.We also are redoing other areas outside.
The bush on a stick behind Brookie is a favorite of mine.
We had one at our old house.
I was so excited when Ryan bought another one a few weeks ago.The bird bath had been in an odd place.
We put it in a spot when we moved here 3 years ago.
And that was where it stayed.
I finally got this area all cleaned up.
And Ryan moved it for me.
I love that I can now look out my window.
And see birds enjoying it.Just to prove that the summer hasn't been all bad.
I did take the kids to a great waterpark one day.
They loved it.
And we are planning our vacation.
Can't wait for that!

Horses and Kitties

2011-06-13T08:07:00.008-05:00

A couple days before Lara left,
we took her to ride horse.
Ryan's brother Tim has two horses.
The Old Mare.
(Such a nice name.
Probably what he's going to call me someday.
Tim, not Ryan.
We're good buddies, Tim and I.)
And Fenway.

Lara rode the Old Mare first.
This horsey kinda' has a mind of it's own.Then she rode Fenway.
She enjoyed that much more.Jobie rode a little with Uncle Tim.
He was not too sure up there.Jake brought his buddy Eli.And our niece, my brother's girl, came too. Jakie.
Always smiling.Ezzie loved it.
And so did Brookie.
It had been a long time since she had last done this. Jobie mostly stood around.
With his cute little rubber boots on.
He loves to wear them.Oh, my.
Jake's hair looks like a mop.
It was at an awkward phase.
It looks much better now.While Ryan and Lara went riding around the farm,
the others did some exploring.
And found kitties.They named them all.
And wanted to bring them home.
Nope.
They like being on the farm.
Pretty sure that's what they meowed to me anyway.And Jobie did some more standing around.Look at Ryan looking all cool in the background. The motley crew.
A great day on the farm.

Good-Bye

2011-06-08T23:46:00.000-05:00

It's been an emotional last couple of weeks.
Lara went back to Germany Saturday.

We had a going away party for her the Wednesday before she left.
I stressed myself out.
Worrying about food.
Worrying about weather.
On and on and on.
We decorated with red, white and blue.
One last American fling before she returned.
To black, red and yellow.

Over 100 people were invited.
We had about 70 come maybe.
And there was sooo much food leftover.
And I took zero pictures.
That's awful.

Saturday came fast.
I knew it would be hard.
I did not anticipate how hard.

Either crying or close to tears.
ALL day long.
Puffy eyes for church the next day.
Lovely.
And strict instructions from Brookie:
Don't cry at church, Mom!

Anyway, back to Saturday.
We took a few pics before heading to the airport.
The little boys insisted on wearing their capes.
To the airport.
No idea why.
But I didn't fight them.
Brookie, of course was embarrassed.
I just thought it was adorable.The two hardest parts.
One.
Seeing the little boys say goodbye.
Ezzie has handled it all by being naughty.
Not so much fun.
Jobie was so sad.
I never saw tears.
But I could hear him kinda making a sobbing sound.
Two.
Not being able to walk all the way to the gate with Lara.
Watching her walk up to security by herself was difficult.
The momma in me wanted to make sure she made it to her gate.We miss her.
It's weird at the house now.
I have to think twice before setting the table.
I don't hear her coming up the stairs.
Something is missing.

Lara is missing.

Oh Boy

2011-05-26T08:28:00.003-05:00

First day of summer break.
Jake was up at 7:00.
What?
It usually takes 3 trips down to his room.
Every morning.
The first time a little shake and a good morning, buddy.
The second time a little harder shake and get up now, Jake!
The third time hollering, threatening, grounding.
Then, he might make it up the stairs by 7:25.
This morning he said his alarm woke him up.

Question #1: Why was your alarm on?
Question #2: Why did I hear it blaring yesterday morning
yet when I went down there
you were sleeping with your mouth hanging open?
Question #3: How is it possible for it to wake you when it shouldn't
and not wake you when it should?

Ezra was up shortly after Jake.
Then Jobe a few minutes later.
The three boys played together for maybe 30 minutes.
Before the fighting began.
Sigh.

Not sure I'm ready for summer break.
It is really noisy here.
They have yelled at each other.
Made each other cry.
Made themselves cry.
Insulted each other.
Fought over toys.
Fought over food.
Fought over the spoon they were using to eat the food.

Right now?
They are getting along again.
For the moment.
But it is still extremely loud.
There are fake guns being fired.
Fake swords being wielded.
Fake bombs being hurled.
With plenty of sound effects.
Loud sound effects.

Scratch that.
Jobie just got hurt.
More crying.

Who's jealous right now?
Who wants to spend some time here over summer break?

Come join the mayhem.
I'll make you something yummy.
And we can ~~yell~~ talk to each other.
While the kids ~~kill each other~~ play together.
It will be fun.

Lots.
And lots.
Of fun.

She Did It

2011-05-25T10:59:00.001-05:00

Lara went thru an American high school graduation Saturday.Apparently she was really excited about it.Ok. So now the excitement is building.We had to sit a mile away from the graduates.The other kids were really happy to be there.
Ha!
At least they looked happy here.
Probably because it was over.
And we were going out for ice cream.So proud of Miss Lara!
What an accomplishment.
A year of school in another country.
Not to mention putting up with our family.
That deserves another award all together!

Saturday

2011-05-21T09:21:00.000-05:00

Soccer season is over.I will miss it.
But now our Saturdays are a little more free.

We are going out to work in the yard.
Our hedge needs trimmed.
It's our kids most favorite job.
Ryan runs the clippers.
I rake together the clippings.
And the kids take the clippings to the brush pile.
There is never any complaining.
In my dreams, anyway.

Good times at the Entz house!
Hope you have good times this weekend too.

Jobe's Big Day

2011-05-19T09:29:00.000-05:00

With my other kids.
The twos were bad.
The threes were worse.
And the fours got better.

That's not proving to be true with Jobe.
So far, in the week that he has been 4,
he has gotten worse-r.
The formidable fours.
So.
Much.
Fun.

But I did have a good time with him on his big day.
It started off with a trip to the donut shop.That Nike shirt is a favorite of mine.
It was originally my now 15 year old nephew's.
So it's gone thru 5 boys.
Not sure how it made it this far...

While we were at the donut shop,
I took a picture of Jobie with my phone.
And sent it to Ryan.
He texted back: Yummy fun!
Jobie thought that was so funny.
He is still talking about it.
Just this morning he said:
Mommy let's send daddy a picture
so he can say, "yummy fun"!

Mac n' Cheese for lunch.
And Wendy's for supper.
We go all out.Jobie was the only one who got a Frosty.
The others didn't think that was fair.
Awwww.
That's just too bad!
I didn't get one either.

Well, not really.
If only they knew that I saved Jobie's.
He never eats all of it.
And ate it the next day.
After they got home from school even.
I would sneak a bite every time they were out of the kitchen.
Bwahahaha!
Jobie decided he wanted a "lightning k-king" birthday.
I am not a cake decorator.
I stress myself out each birthday.
Trying to figure out how to decorate a cake.
It's ridiculous really.

I searched the internet and found nothing.
Nothing I could make anyway.
A replica of Lightning McQueen?
Not happening if I'm the baker.
Super simple.
That's what this girl can handle.
So this was the best my brain
and limited talents could do.
I put frosting in a baggie and cut the corner to write "Lightyear".
Who needs those fancy Wilton decorator icing tips?
Ha!Look at Jakie.
Does he think Jobie's going to blow the fire on him?Funny stuff.

Monday, Monday

2011-05-16T10:20:00.001-05:00

Mondays are different.
I never seem to get much accomplished before lunch.
The house is quiet.
Well, for one more week anyway.
Then, SUMMER BREAK!
(Not sure if I'm excited or not.)
I just find it hard to get back into my routine on Mondays.

Busy weekend.
As always.
Soccer game.
Church.
Ryan's family over.
Band concert.
I took no pictures.
Of anything.

Parenting stinks sometimes.
Just getting that out there.
Brookie and I had a talk last night.
She's almost a teenager.
Fun times ahead.

It's getting to that point
where her friends can
do more/different things than she can.
We're much more conservative than most of her friends' families.

We're trying to raise her according to God's Word.
We want her friends.
And her friends' parents.
To see a difference in us.
We want to please the Lord.
We want her to be a godly young woman.

It's hard.

Hard for her.
She doesn't get some of our rules right now.
I told her she may not understand.
Until she has a daughter of her own.
It's not cool to be different in junior high.
(And I don't expect high school to be any easier.)
But she is different.
Our family is different.
(No comments from any of you on that one, thank you!
Ha!)

Hard for me.
I want my daughter to like me.
(That sounds silly and immature.
But it's true.)
But more importantly, I want her to love Jesus.
So sometimes she doesn't like me so much.
Because she doesn't get what I'm doing or saying.
It's hard to trust her to the Lord.
(I have control issues.)
It's hard to see her struggling.

I'm realizing even more I need to pray...hard.
So the harder it gets.
The harder I will pray.

Just some of my thougths.
Not put together well.
But I needed to write them out, I guess.

Ok.
Moving on to happier things.

How about a few pictures of Ezra?
Who's biggest worry is:
When can I have Lawson or Annie over again?

I went on a zoo field trip with Ezzie a couple weeks ago.
His two best friends were in our group.
They are hilarious together.Sleeping in the gorilla nest.
Although I think Lawson is playing dead.
His little tongue is hanging out.Love this one.Kindergarten recognition was last week.
They sang a bunch of songs.
And Ezzie's class did a retelling of
The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
It was super cute.I'm so proud of my little man.His teacher is a doll.
There's really no other word for her.
She is a bundle of energy.
And perfect for Ezzie.Lawson's momma, Amy, helped us out the night of recognition.
When I dropped him off at her house,
I told her how stressed out I was.
(Lara had something going on too.
I was worried about making it to recognition on time.)
About 15 minutes later I got this text:
So would it stress you out even more
to know that Ezra's flip-flop is on our roof?
Nice!
Yes, he wore flip-flops.
And a tie.
It all balances out.

Amy did manage to get Ezzie all put together.
Oh, and her hubby might have helped a little too.
Gotta give credit.
Then she took some really great pictures of the two boys.
Go check them out.
Two sweet, fun boys.

Ezzie and Annie.
They have tons of fun together also.
Brookelynn and Jake think it's funny.
That one of Ezra's best friends is a girl.
I think it's adorable.And the flip-flops?
Might not have been such a wise choice.
When Ezzie's class was in line.
Waiting to come in to the gym.
A little girl with her little heels.
Stepped on my little boy's little toe.

Ezzie told me on the way home:
Mommy, I'm never wearing flip-flops to recognition again.
Ok.
I can agree to that.

Hope you get lots accomplished on your Monday.
It took me so long to do this post,
that Jobie fell asleep beside me.
Must have been a rough weekend for him too!

Not Possible

2011-05-11T10:56:00.005-05:00

It is not possible that I had a 4th kid.It is not possible that he turned 1.It is not possible that he turned 2.It is not possible that he turned 3.And it is certainly not possible that today he is 4.My baby.
Who two weeks ago didn't want to turn 4.
Didn't want to have a party.
Didn't want cake.
Didn't want presents.

Today.
He wants me to text "everyone".
And tell them it's his birthday.Four years ago today.
Jobie and I were alone.
For a few moments after he was born.
I remember just looking at him.
Marveling that I had a third son.
A fourth child.
Fascinated by those tiny hands.
Those tiny toes.
Those tiny ankles.
(I've always loved my kids ankles.
Strange, but true.)
A nurse walks in.
Disturbing my pondering.
And says: It looks like you are in love.I was.
I am.

I Walk Funny

2011-05-03T10:23:00.003-05:00

It's true.
Look.My toes point WAY out.
Never thought about it too much.
Until the little boys started taking pictures from behind.
All those pics are not flattering.
For many reasons.

Anyway, I waddle.
There's no other word for it.
When I was pregnant my waddle was worse.

Pregnancy and I were not friends.
I hated nearly every moment of it.
Not because I was sick.
Sure there was a little nausea.
And all that fun stuff.
It just wasn't enjoyable to me.
I gained 50-60 pounds with each pregnancy.
That is ridiculous.

You know those husbands that say:
My wife was never more beautiful
than when she was pregnant.
Ha!
Ummm...
Yah...
That was NOT my husband.

I did not "glow".
But I definitely waddled.

Most women do look so cute when they're pregnant.
I was not one of them.
(Your gonna have to trust me on this one.
There will be no pictures here.)

Can we say: off track?

So, I'm working on walking properly.
When it crosses my mind.
Which doesn't really happen all that often.

Not sure why walking properly is important.
Not going to be on a catwalk or anything.
A model I am not.
It's just been bothering me.
But it's hard to break a habit.
That I've had for my whole life.
Likely, I'll still be walking this way 30 years from now.

An old granny.
Who walks funny.
It will give my grandkids something to talk about.

Happiness Is

2011-04-27T08:52:00.006-05:00

Ezzie grabbing my hand.
And holding it.
The whole way.
As we walk home from school.
Telling me all about his day.

An adorable picture of Jobe.
Taken by Lara.
Flowers Ryan brought home from an event.
The 182 flowers I bought yesterday.
Can't wait to get them planted.
Ezzie's first Jayhawk.
Rock Chalk!
A rainbow of Peeps.My grandma loved Peeps.
They used to only be available at Easter.
She would buy a whole bunch.
And eat one row a day.
Until they were gone.
And then wait for Easter to come again.

Now they are available most holidays.
But Easter Peeps are still the best.
And the chicks are my favorite.

Jobie calls them "Cheeps".

I eat the tail.
Then the little tiny beak.
Then the body.
The head is always last.
It's very orderly eating.

Yummy, yummy Peeps.

My Jesus, I Love Thee

2011-04-25T09:16:00.006-05:00

This song was on my mind and heart.
All last week.

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign;
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.I love Thee because Thou hast first loved me,
And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree;
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,
And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;
And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;
I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

Thank you, Jesus.
My gracious Redeemer.
My Saviour.

Hope your Easter was blessed!

Awesome Mama, Hot Daddy

2011-04-19T09:31:00.001-05:00

I was an awesome mom yesterday.
During Brookie's soccer practice.
I took the boys to the playground.
I never do that.
They beg me everytime.
I'm selfish.
I would rather talk to the other parents.
But yesterday I took them over.
Better enjoy it boys.
It won't happen again for a long time.

What is so exciting about a playground?
You climb up.
Go down a slide.
Climb up.
Go down a slide.
Hang on the monkey bars.
Then start all over again.
For 45 minutes.

I was awesome for 45 minutes.
Then I told them it was time to go.
Not so awesome anymore.

And, is there anything hotter
than a hubby who grills?In a Superman shirt.
I think not.
Mmmmm.
Mmmmm.
Mmm.

Circus, Prom & the ER

2011-04-18T10:04:00.004-05:00

That was my weekend in a nutshell.
Circus, Prom and the ER.

The circus was not the best.
A few things were pretty cool.
The rest seemed a little...amateurish.

I asked Ezzie: What was your favorite part?
He said: EVERYTHING!
That made it worth it all.
Pretty sure Jobie liked the cotton candy best.
Lara looked beautiful for prom.
Friday morning I thought about a corsage for her.
Frantic, panic.
I called our local florist.
So nice to live in a small town.
Where people know you.
He said it would be no problem to get one.
Panic gone.

The corsage was perfect.
Really beautiful girl.With a gorgeous dress.
This is her "I'm so hot, I can't stand myself" pose.
Texting with fancy, fake nails proved to be difficult.And frustrating.
Then they were off.
The trip to the ER was courtesy of Jake.
He got home from an arena football game.
At about 10:30 in the evening or so.
Said his ear started hurting him at half-time.

Ryan and Brookelynn were gone in Oklahoma.
Lara's at prom.
The little boys were in bed.
So, I do what any girl would do.
And call my daddy and mommy.
They come over.
I take Jake to the crazy, busy ER.
Two hours later, we were back home.

We skip Sunday school in the morning.
But go to the church service.
Jakie has a little speaking part in the children's chior.
He did great!
And looked sooo cute!
Ear infection and all.

Whew!
I think I need a Monday morning nap.

Fingerprint Friday

2011-04-15T08:50:00.006-05:00

I've been nostalgic lately.
Another school year is almost gone.
My oldest will be in junior high next year.
My baby is a month away from turning 4.
Lara leaves in 50 days.
I even miss watching my brother's kids.
Ezra and my nephew Gage had so much fun together.
(They also fought like brothers sometimes.
But I'll choose to forget those moments.)
Somehow the following post came to mind yesterday.
I originally posted it just over two years ago.
It was my 5th post after I took-over this blog.
And it's perfect for fingerprint friday.

Two little boys.
Discussing God.
(And Larry.)
While watching VeggieTales.
Ezra: Larry is the awesomest.
Gage: I know who is the awesomest, God.
Ezra: I meant on VeggieTales. Larry is the awesomest on VeggieTales.
Gage: Oh, okay. Deuteronomy 10:17
For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords,
the great God,
mighty and awesome.

Each week Beki at therustedchain hosts Fingerprint Friday and uses a song by Steven Curtis Chapman as a springboard. Join in. It's a great way to be reminded of God's presence.

A Tutorial and Recipe

2011-04-14T09:42:00.006-05:00

So, I've got people hounding me to post.
Although said people NEVER leave comments...
But, I'm a people pleaser.
So whether or not anyone else is missing more frequent posts,
here it goes.

Jobie and I baked yesterday.
It's a super easy yummy recipe.
It only takes 4 or 5 ingredients.
5 if you like nuts or have them in your house.
4 if you forgot to buy some at the store.
This little cooking lesson is a tutorial on:
How not to cook with your child.

1)Let your child stir ingredients in a hot pan
with a short handled spoon.
I'm just kidding on that one.
The burner wasn't on yet.
And once I turned it on,
I moved him over to the side.
I promise.
2)Cut the cake mix open with big sharp scissors.
And then leave them out right next to your child for easy access.
3)Realize that you forgot to wash your child's hands
as they are touching each and every butterscotch chip.
And the only reason you realize this is because
the child's hands are filthy and have dirt all over them
since they had just been playing outside.
4)Be thankful no one was hurt in the making of this recipe.
Pray that no one gets sick from the germs.
Apologize to the sis-in-law who ate some of this yesterday,
since you forgot to warn her of the possible consequences.
And enjoy!Butterscotch Snack Cake

1 pkg. (3.5 oz) cook and serve butterscotch pudding
2 c. milk
1 pkg (18 1/2 oz) yellow cake mix
1 pkg. (11 0z) butterscotch chips
1/2 c. chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

In a large saucepan, combine pudding mix and milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in dry cake mix. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle with butterscotch chips and nuts. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool. Yield: 12-16 servings.

I've also tried this with all chocolate instead of butterscotch.
I thought it would be sooo yummy.
It wasn't.
How sad.
Normally chocolate is sooo much better than butterscotch.
Don't you think?

Fingerprint Friday

2011-04-08T11:11:00.004-05:00

Psalm 16:1
You make known to me the path of life;
You will fill me with joy in Your presence,
with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.

Each week Beki at therustedchain hosts Fingerprint Friday and uses a song by Steven Curtis Chapman as a springboard. Join in. It's a great way to be reminded of God's presence.

Chicago

2011-04-07T13:07:00.000-05:00

We really wanted Lara to see Chicago.
We knew spring break would be our last chance to take her.

Hancock building.It cost $95 to take our family up.
That is ridiculous!
But we did it. This is Jobie's favorite place to be.
He is going to miss her.
A lot. Favorite place to eat in Chicago.
Giordano's.
Yum!And, of course, we did lots of shopping.
At Niketown.And Apple.And LOTS of other places.

If Jobie wasn't on Lara's shoulders, he was with me.
Always way behind the others. Brookie's favorite sign in the city.
We have many pictures of it. No trip to Chicago would be complete without a stop at Wrigley.
Then we headed to Ryan's cousin's.
An hour west of the city.
For a couple days of fun and family.

And guess where I went for the first time?
IKEA!!
And guess how many pictures I took?
Zero!

I was too excited I guess.
But I loved it.
As if I ever doubted I would.

Just Stuff

2011-04-06T08:30:00.009-05:00

1. I had the theme to Gilligan's Island running thru my head yesterday.
Weird.
Haven't seen the show for years.
And I don't really like it.

2. I have two pairs of jeans that have ripped.
On my inner thigh.
In the last couple of months.
Weird.
Clearly there's some extra weight hanging around there.
I've been wanting to get the 30 Day Shred.
But just haven't gotten up the nerve yet.
I always think it sounds nice to excersice.
But when it comes right down to it...
I've also been having dreams.
That I've been wearing these jeans.
Out in public.
And I'm all self-conscious.
And wondering why I decided to wear them.
I rarely remember my dreams.
So it's odd that I've had this a few times.
And remembered it.
Is there some meaning or lesson I'm missing?

3. Although Stalker Cat is dead.
And I know he is.
There is another orange cat haunting our house now.
Creepy.
Not quite as stalkerish as the previous.
But still.
Creepy.

4. I bought a coat for Jobe at Target.
For next winter.
Got it on clearance a couple months ago.
Now I'm beginning to wonder if it is a girl' coat.
Oops.
In my defense.
It's brown.
A very neutral color, right?
And Target's clearance is all mixed together in the toddler section.
Also, I'm not even sure why I needed to buy a coat for him.
Didn't my other two boys have coats when they were 4?
Apparently I chose to let them freeze.
*
5. Our bug man came yesterday.
Jobie followed him all over the house.
Jabbering the whole time.
At one point I heard him ask the man if he wanted to play trains.
So cute.
And odd.
He's usually so shy.

6. Jake is working on a solar system project.
I hate school projects.
I'm terrible at helping with them.
Then I just feel like Loser Mom.
For hating it.
For not being helpful.
For not being creative.
So, I just defer it to his dad.

That's all.
Said in my best Miranda Priestly impersonation.

The Arch

2011-04-04T14:12:00.000-05:00

One of our stops during spring break.
Ezzie and Jobie play with my camera all the time.
Somehow they put it on panoramic.
We didn't notice it until we were leaving the arch.

The gangs all here.
Ryan placed them all for this photo.
No idea why Brookie is miles away from the others.
Jobie loves to make faces for pictures now.
This girlie will be leaving us two months from today.
Sniff, sniff.
And this might be my new favorite picture of this girlie.
She's looking so...teenager-ish.
Sniff, sniff.
Quick honey, take my picture! I got the ~~pyramid~~ arch in my hand!The kid cracks me up!

I Killed Stalker Cat

2011-03-31T16:32:00.003-05:00

I did.
(if you are a cat lover, you may want to quit reading now)

For the past few weeks we have had an extra cat.
Lurking around.
It has been eating Mia's food.
Hanging out in our garage.
Staring at me thru the windows.
Really.
Everytime I was in the living room/dining room area.
If I happened to look out the window.
There was that cat.
Orange, puffy and mangy looking.
Always sitting in the yard staring at me.
I named it "Stalker Cat".

This morning.
I killed it.

Backing out of the garage to take Ezzie to school.
Thunk, thunk.

For a split second I thought it was Mia.
Then I saw Stalker Cat running across the yard.
Kinda' sideways.
It's back-end looking a little smashed.
Not good.

It ran to our hedges and laid down.
10 minutes later.
Still there.
I call animal control.
Left a message.
They finally call back.

They ask: Is it dead?
I say: I don't know.
I'm not getting close enough to find out.
But it hasn't moved for the past hour.
So I'm guessing it is.

They came.
Stalker Cat was placed in a black bag.
Put in the back of the animal control pick-up.
And away it went.

Bye-bye kitty.
Mia will miss you.Or, maybe not.
Since you were eating all her food.

So, I've felt a little out of sorts all day.
I didn't really like the cat.
But I wasn't out to kill the poor thing either.
Now, I'm a cat killer.

I figured I'd better do something nice.
Chocolate waffle cookies.
A favorite.
We haven't had them for months.
And Brookie has soccer practice tonight.
Her team loves them.
I tripled the recipe.
And now they are ready to go.

I will deliver them to practice.
To absolve myself of the murder.

Poor Stalker Cat.
Poor, poor Stalker Cat.

Peek

2011-03-10T09:29:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to say hello.
It's a sunny day today.
Finally.
And another busy one.

I take Lara tonight to get her prom dress altered.
Who knew getting ready for prom was such a huge process?

I went to a Christian school.
We didn't have prom.
We had banquets.
We got dressed up.
Jessica McClintock dresses were my favorite.
Lots of florals.
Lots and lots of florals.
But I never got my hair done.
Or my nails.
(I've never had a manicure.
I may have mentioned that before.)
I did usually get new shoes and jewelry.
One year we sprayed painted some shoes I already had.
Pale pink.
To go with my dress.
Hmmm.
Have to look for all those pictures.

A couple weeks ago we went to shop for Lara's dress.
My mom, my sis-in-law, my niece and Brookie went too.
We were in a bridal shop.
Lots of high school girls and ladies.
Trying on prom dresses, bridesmaids dresses, wedding dresses.
My niece and Brookie were traumatized.
They saw parts of ladies they never wanted to see.
It was comical.

Well, this turned out to be a little more than a peek.
I often ramble.
You may have noticed that.

Does anyone wear Jessica McClintock anymore?
I think my mom might still have my dresses.
Anyone want to borrow one?

More Advice for My Daughter

2011-03-08T10:54:00.000-06:00

1. Don't fall into the tin basket
that you and your brothers use as a goal.
You will get stuck.
Your mom will take pictures to document this amazing feat.
And then post it on her blog.
All in a successful attempt to embarrass you.
(Yes, I am positive it will be successful)2. What not to call your mom.
Again.
Clearly, the first time I gave you this advice
you didn't get it.
Last night you said to me:
What's up, Dawg.

On second thought,
maybe I am getting somewhere.
After your comment I gave you "the mom" look.
And you said:
I mean Mommalicious.Much better.
Thank you.

Fingerprint Friday

2011-03-04T10:28:00.000-06:00

Every post this week has had a pic of Jobie.
Why stop now?

Jobe and I walked Ezzie to school this morning.
It was a little cool.
Jobie was in his pj's.
Hair a mess.

He didn't care.
On the way home.
He held my hand.
Jumped over every. single. crack.
And talked, talked, talked.

Today I'm thanking God for surprise blessings.My Jobie.

Psalm 21:6
Surely You have granted [me] unending blessings
and made [me] glad with the joy of Your presence.

(I personalized my pronouns a little this week)

Each week Beki at therustedchain hosts Fingerprint Friday and uses a song by Steven Curtis Chapman as a springboard. Join in. It's a great way to be reminded of God's presence.

Two Lists and Other Stuff

2011-03-02T11:02:00.008-06:00

Yesterday I made supper for 12
very hungry high school girls.
Lara's basketball team.
Let me tell ya.
Those girls can eat.

They ate:
40 rolls
60 meatballs
nearly 2 9x13 pans of potato casserole
2 bags of salad
12 chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches
(I only gave them one each of those,
I wanted something left for me my family to enjoy.)

So I was busy at our house.

But my other kids had things going on too.
All at the same time.
Except Jobie.
He's too little to have much of a social/activity calendar.
Yet.
So he got to spend time with Grandma.

I had everything arranged for the kids.
Until late Monday night.
Brookelynn, Jake and Ezra.
All three of their plans/activities changed a little.

It took:
4 emails
8 facebook messages
8 phone calls
25 text messages
To get things in order again.

That is crazy.
Ridiculous.

My hair would have been sticking out.
If it had any body to it.
Instead Jobie's hair felt the strain I guess.But I was able to watch the last 45 minutes
of the Biggest Loser last night.
That show makes me cry every week.
3 of the 5 of us who were home were crying.

What show makes you cry?

What Jobie Learned This Weekend

2011-02-28T10:18:00.001-06:00

I can talk with my eyes closed!

That.
Is.
Amazing!

This boy is going to go far.

Fingerprint Friday

2011-02-25T09:12:00.000-06:00

Ready for color.
Ready for spring.
Ready for flowers.A God Who could create such beauty needs to be praised.In fact, demands to be praised.Psalm 147:1
Praise the LORD.
How good it is to sing praises to our God,
how pleasant and fitting to praise Him!

Psalm 150:6
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Prasie the LORD.

Each week Beki at therustedchain hosts Fingerprint Friday and uses a song by Steven Curtis Chapman as a springboard. Join in. It's a great way to be reminded of God's presence.

Does This Happen at Your House?

2011-02-23T23:14:00.000-06:00

So I was unloading my clothes washer
when I noticed that the cookies
I had made for the kids' class at church tonight
had fallen to the floor and some were broken.
Don't laugh
The laundry room is the perfect place to hide things.
My kids never want to go in there.
They might get put to work.
I had put the bag of cookies on the dryer earlier in the day.
To hide them.
(the kids are always hungry when they get home from school)
Then when I ran the dryer
they got shaken off.
I took them into the kitchen.
Replaced the broken ones.
Thinking I was lucky to have a enough left to do that.
Then decided to take them out to the van.
So I wouldn't forget them.
I have a tendency to do things like that.
Forget things.

While I was at van
I got disgusted by all the junk in it.
A winter's worth of junk.
Playing cards.
Books.
Pages of books.
Gloves.
Shoes.
Toy.
After toy.
After toy.
So I cleaned it out a little.
Brought all the junk in.
Found a home for everything.
Walked back thru the laundry room.
Only to see the washer lid still open.
With the wet clothes still in it.
I am on top of it.

Forgotten jobs.
Please tell me I'm not the only one.
Does this happen at your house?

While I was cleaning out the van,
I found this little guy:Tigger is a mystery to me.
I never see anyone play with him.
Yet he turns up all over the house.
All the time.
He will be in the living room.
Pick him up; put him away.
Next thing I know he is in the hallway.
Pick him up; put him away.
Then back in the living room.
He's never in the family room.
Or the little boys bedroom.
The two rooms where most toys are.
Now he's in the van?

So I set him on the living room couch.
Snapped a picture of him.
And left him there.
I'm going to see how long he stays there.
And where he shows up next.

Roaming toy that never gets played with.
Does this happen at your house?"

Just wondering...

Thinking

2011-02-22T15:11:00.001-06:00

I picked a Bible passage for 2011.
Romans 12:9-13.

But for a long time,
I wasn't able to get past
the first sentence of verse nine.
Love must be sincere.

Sincere means earnest; genuine; real.

Love must be earnest; genuine; real.

At first I was thinking only about my earthly relationships.
With Ryan.
With my kids.
With my extended family.
(on both sides)
With my friends.

I was saying over and over to myself:
Love must be sincere.
Getting asked to do something I really didn't want to do:
Love must be sincere.
Wiping up spilled milk for the umpteenth time:
Love must be sincere.
Cooking supper for the family:
Love must be sincere.
The list could go on.
And on.
And on.

Grit my teeth and say it:
Love must be sincere.
Which really doesn't make it so sincere, huh?

But then, God said:
What about Me?
Is your love for Me sincere?

Oh, dear.

The rest of verse nine:
Hate what is evil;
cling to what is good.

The best way to cling to good:
Love God sincerely.
Love God earnestly.
Love God genuinely.
Really love God.

Sincere love for God =
Sincere love for others.

This and That

2011-02-18T14:26:00.000-06:00

I swept the floor this morning.
Then Jobe sat at the bar for lunch.
After he ate, he looked down at the floor and said:
Mommy, it's still dirty.
Hmmmm.
Thanks, son.

Today the kids got out at 1:00.
This happens about 4 times a year.
I always have lots of extra munchkins at the house on these days.
Jobe and I baked before the herd got home.Hope we made enough.I created a new station on Pandora today.
I'm listening to it right now.
80's.
Can't Buy Me Love must have brought it on.
The first song.
Tone-Loc Funky Cold Medina.
Wow.
The song is nasty.
Did I not pay attention to the lyrics?
Or was I just naive?
Yuck.
It's been fun to listen to some of the others though.
Don Henley, The Cars, Survivor, Tears for Fears, OMD...

Jobe and I have been walking to school to get Ezzie.
It's been gorgeous here.
Nearly a 100 degree difference from last Thursday morning.
Crazy.
I let him take my little point and shoot.
And he snaps picture after picture.
He is usually behind me.
And apparently he is just the right height.
To get great pictures of my tush.
Nice.
Most people get to watch their kids grow in pictures.
I get to watch my tushy grow.
Scary.

Hope your weekend is fabulous.
We have fun plans.
A play with the little boys.
Prom dress shopping with the girls.
Church.
PF Changs date night with friends.

Oh, Peter Gabriel In Your Eyes just came on.
Love that song!
Maybe I will require that we listen to 80's music on our date night.
It's fun!
867-5309.
(Hope it's stuck in your head now.
Bwahahaha.)

Two Days Later

2011-02-16T10:41:00.000-06:00

Heart day was busy.It began with a trip to Wal-mart and Dillons.
I needed to get some gifts for the kids and my guy.
I like to plan ahead.

I got them each two things they love.
Ryan: lime tostitos and ding dongs.
Lara: soda water and oreos.
Brookie: a big jar of pickles and good n' plenty.
Jakie: slim jims and mt. dew.
Ezzie: 3 really big apples and fruit snacks.
Jobie: a big bag of dumdums and fruit snacks.

I came home and cleaned the bathrooms.
That's a fun valentine's day project.

Made a fancy dinner of Totinos pizza rolls.
And pb&j for the little boys.

Then I needed to get ready for the evening.
You're thinking hot date, right?
Ha.
Our school district took care of that for us.
A free date.
To a middle school band and orchestra concert.
How did they know that was exactly what we wanted to do?
So nice of them.
Both sets of grandparents came too.
So I had everyone over for dessert after.Put instant vanilla pudding to the dessert shells.Melt 1/2 bag or so of semi-sweet chips in 1 cup heavy whipping cream.
Pour over the shells.We topped it with freshly whipped cream and mixed berries.

We finished watching KU stink it up on the court.
All the kids finally went to bed.
Then Ryan brought this out for me.
Oh boy was it yummy.
(He also had surprised the kids with little treats.)

To finish off the evening,
we relived our high school days by watching Can't Buy Me Love.
Except it really wasn't anything like our high school days.
Other than the fashions.
And the fact that I'm the one that made Ryan cool.
Hahaha.
I make myself laugh.

LOVE

2011-02-14T09:05:00.003-06:00

Enough said.
(except I just showed Jobie the picture
and he went: Ewwww!)

Fingerprint Friday

2011-02-11T13:21:00.001-06:00

A cubic foot of snow can contain roughly one billion crystals.
This is according to some scientist in Japan.
Who has been studying snowflakes for 15 years.

God didn't have to study it for 15 years.
There's no counting snowflakes.
1...2...3...4...
No fancy calculations.
He just knows.
Without even thinking about it.
God created each snowflake.

Mind-boggling.
Beauty for us to enjoy.
(and be thankful when it's gone
and warmer weather returns)

Deuteronomy 3:24
O Sovereign LORD,
You have begun to show to your servant
Your greatness and
Your strong hand.
For what god is there
in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds
and mighty works You do?

Each week Beki at therustedchain hosts Fingerprint Friday and uses a song by Steven Curtis Chapman as a springboard. Join in. It's a great way to be reminded of God's presence.

Yesterday and Today

2011-02-10T21:33:00.000-06:00

So, I survived the snow day yesterday.I made the kids clean their rooms.
And they got to fold 4 BIG loads of laundry.
They thought it was punishment of the worst kind.
On a snow day?Ezra had a dentist appointment in the afternoon.
There is a reason I don't get out in these messes.
I'm the first to admit I'm not good with ice and snow.

I got stuck.
It took three men to push me out.
Not embarrassing.
At all.
Good thing I was rocking a cute little hat.
Ha.Seemed like I was cooking all day.
Waffles for breakfast.
(I tried a different recipe than my usual.
One from the cookbook I mentioned yesterday.
I will be making that one from now on.)
Reuben sandwiches for lunch.
Homemade pizza for supper.
It takes a whole lot of food to feed 7 people all day.This afternoon I went out and shoveled a bunch of snow.
Apparently delicate me can't handle too much.
I am shot.
My muscles all feel like jello.
And I think I could sleep for days.
Oh, yeah.
I'm rough and tough.Now, the kids are all in bed.
Even the 17 year old.
Ryan is playing some basketball.
I'm eating Cool Ranch Doritos.
Drinking root beer.
And getting ready to
answer some questions
for a Sunday School party on Saturday.
Here's a few examples:

What unusual fact do most people not know about you?
(That doesn't have the potential to get scary at all.)

Describe yourself in 4 words.
(I really hate those kinds of questions.
But since they asked
talented, beautiful, intelligent and humble are mine.)

What is one dream in life you've had fulfilled?
(I could go with the standard sappy answer and say:
Marrying Ryan.
I might have just thrown-up a little.)

Wow.
It's dangerous to start a post in the afternoon.
And then finish it in the evening.
It ends up completely different
than you originally imagined.

A Recipe and Plenty of Jabber

2011-02-09T13:33:00.002-06:00

I make this recipe A LOT.
It's simple.
Only uses one bowl.
It's chocolatey.
My mom made them for us when we were kids.
It's from one of my favorite cookbooks.
An old Holdeman Mennonite cookbook.
Good stuff in there.I timed how long it took me to throw it together.
15 minutes.
Probably would have been 10 minutes.
Except I had a phone call in the middle of it.
Poofed flour all over myself.
Then added 1/2 cup too much flour.
Had to try to scoop it out without getting other ingredients.
Then I forgot to spray the bottom of the pan.
I'm a mess.
Oh, and I was also a little short on cocoa.
So these aren't quite as chocolatey as usual.
What a pity.
And that is also how cooking usually goes at my house.
It's rarely a smooth event.
I almost always double this.
My kids don't appreciate nuts.
So those are typically left out.

I love the corners and edges.
The corners are the best.
I get that from my dad.I was taking care of a precious little girlie.
She didn't want any.
I asked her what kind of a girl doesn't like chocolate.
She didn't answer.
She's only 1.

I'm pretty sure her mommy has been telling her it's yucky.
Hording it all for herself.
That's a really smart thing to do, huh?
It's too late for me.
But maybe there's a young mom or two
out there who could give this a whirl.
Just tell them chocolate is yucky.
Then you can have it all.
Without having to hide it.
In the freezer.
Or the back of the tallest cupboard
where you have to climb onto the counter
to reach it.

That might happen at my house.

Snowhenge

2011-02-08T13:50:00.000-06:00

First it was a snowman.Imagine a little grunt with each roll.A pretty cute snowman.But by knocking the first one over.And building a tower-like snowman.Next to the fallen one.It becomes Snowhenge.It's snowing like crazy here again.
I am not looking forward to my kids coming home.
Wet, snowy feet.
Dumping all their coats and winter paraphernalia.
ALL over the living room.
Begging for hot cocoa.
And a snack.
I sound selfish.I've got one more hour to enjoy my nice quiet house.
With one super cute little boy.
Then...
The noise.
Oh the noise, noise, noise, noise.
And I'm guessing there will be plenty of it.
Since chances are we will have a snow day tomorrow.

Hope I don't become too Grinchy.

Chores.
Must think of lots of chores.
For the kids.
I have a couple good books to read.

Super Birthday

2011-02-07T15:02:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was Ryan's bday.
And Super Bowl Sunday.
Ryan thought it was so nice of everyone
to celebrate his birthday.
A national party in his honor.
Pretty cool.

We had some friends over.
I let him pick the menu.
Buffalo wings.
Brats.
That was pretty much all he said.
My guy the carnivore.

So I added to it.
Chips, pretzels and dips.
Veggies.
Desserts.
Can you believe it.
He wasn't worried about the dessert at all.
I was.

I made three pies.
And my sis-in-law made one.
Key lime.
Peanut butter chocolate.
Vanilla cheese.
Chocolate.
Yummy stuff.

But actually, this post is not about that.
It's about me.
Just kidding.
Kinda.
It's really about his present.

I wanted to make him something this year.
I've mentioned that I'm not the craftiest person in the world.
So this is always a big deal for me.
But I got a little idea in my head.
And it morphed into this:Helvetica is one of his favorite documentaries.
He's a geek.
I know.
In his defense, it's really not too bad.

So I spelled out "Helvetica" in that font.
Would have been funny if I would have used another font.
I almost had to.
Who knew our computers didn't have it?
Quick call to my mom at work:
Please tell me you have helvetica on your computer.
(I didn't put this off at all)
Mom saves the day again!Then I trimmed the letters all down.
And clothspinned them to cork board
that had also been trimmed down to size.This morning I threw some twine at Ryan.
And sent him off to work with his present.
In a Braums paper sack.
We are fancy people.
A few hours later he sent this from his phone:I think I'm going to use
this idea to do something for the little boys' room.
I've got some ideas rolling around
in this empty old head of mine.
We'll see how they turn out.

My Happy

2011-02-05T22:52:00.000-06:00

Just looking thru some old photos.
This picture makes me happy.My family.
My happy.

What Not to Call Your Mom

2011-02-03T15:40:00.000-06:00

A little advice for my daughter.1. Girlfriend.
As in:
You know that's right, girlfriend!

Right now, I am your mom.
Someday I hope to be your momfriend.
That's the name I just made up for my mom.
She's pretty much my best friend.
But she's still my mom.
She's always the one I call when I'm sick.
I don't need to let all my other friends know when I'm barfing.
But my mom needs to know.
She's my momfriend.2. Dude
First of all, I usually associate dude with a guy.
Second of all, according to you kids,
the official definition of dude is:
an infected hair on an elephant's rear.
Since I am neither of these two,
I would prefer not to be called by that name.3. Mom Dog.
You tried this one on me just the other day.
I believe my response was:
Excuse me?
To which you just laughed.

You are not Randy Jackson.
And I am most definitely not a contestant on American Idol.

Keep trying, sweetie.
You'll eventually hit one I like.
Here's a couple suggestions:
Mombeautiful.
Mommaliscious.
Just thinking off the top of my head here...

Happy Birthday

2011-01-29T09:27:00.002-06:00

Kansans, enjoy the gorgeous day!

Fingerprint Friday

2011-01-28T08:11:00.004-06:00

I'm a proud momma.
In a good way.
I hope.

Last night Jakie told me:
I decided I was going to memorize 100 verses
before my birthday.
(which is the end of June)
But then I thought that would be too easy.
So I changed it to Jobie's birthday.
(which is the middle of May)
I decided this 5 days ago.
I'm on my second verse.

I'm so proud of him for doing this on his own.
Even if he doesn't get 100 verses done before Jobie's birthday.
Or his own.
He's been taking his Bible to school with him everyday.
I'm proud of him for that too.

He started with Psalm 1.
And is just going to work his way thru the Psalms.
I think I might join him.
I've got a jump start.
I've had Psalm 1 memorized since I was little.
We won't tell him that though.
Hehehe.

I did memorize it in King James.
Maybe I should rememorize it in NIV.
To be fair.
Can't decide if I want to be that nice.
Hmmmm.
But it would be fun to quote it with him.
So NIV it is.

What a sweet spirit my oldest son has.Psalm 119:11
I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.

Each week Beki at therustedchain hosts Fingerprint Friday and uses a song by Steven Curtis Chapman as a springboard. Join in. It's a great way to be reminded of God's presence.

A Book and a Story

2011-01-27T16:52:00.002-06:00

Ezra is writing a book.
This is the title.He has a compulsion to tell the truth.

This is what he has written so far.
(The first word is "deer".)He was having a rough day with his older siblings yesterday.
He sat down at his table.
And wrote out his feelings.
Glad he can express himself this way now.

Funny story.
Jobe and I were at Target the other day.
One of my favorite happy places.
We were in the girl's section.
Jobie pulls a bra off the rack and asks:
Mommy, are you going to get new boobs?

My first thought was:
Really?
My second thought was:
Did your dad put you up to this?
My third thought was:
Never mind...
I'm not gonna write that one for all of blogland.
My fourth thought was:
Where did you learn the word "boobs"?
And my fifth thought was:
Is it bad that my fourth thought wasn't my first thought?

A bit later we were across the aisle from the women's bras.
Jobie points over and very loudly says:
Mommy, those are big boobs.
The lady next to me got a good laugh.It's amazing what your fourth child learns.
Pretty sure that word was not
in Brookelynn or Jake's vocabulary at 3 years old.
Not gonna guarantee is wasn't in Ezra's though.
Here's to hoping it doesn't show up in his book.

Fingerprint Friday

2011-01-21T09:20:00.005-06:00

Yesterday we got an unexpected "snow day".
Last week, we had 5 inches of snow on the ground.
And the wind chill was crazy low.
I was prepared for a snow day.
Wanted one even.
Yesterday, I was not ready for one.
And we didn't really need one.

Instead of cleaning,
I coped by yelling at my kids.
Too much.
And getting frustrated.
Too much.
And frowning.
Too much.
(I had to put extra moisturizing cream on my face this morning.
To try to reduse those extra frown lines I'm sure I created.)

You know I love my kids.
But by the time Ryan got home at 7:30 last night,
I said: I want to be done being a mom for the day.
Then he left for his basketball game.
I couldn't be done until they all went to bed.
And I hollered at one kid.
For really no reason.
Right before bed.
Then had to apologize.
Nice.When I woke up this morning,
the Lord brought these verses to mind.
Thank you, Lord.

Lamentations 3:22-24
Because of the LORD’s great love
we are not consumed,
for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness.
I say to myself,
“The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for Him.”

Each week Beki at therustedchain hosts Fingerprint Friday and uses a song by Steven Curtis Chapman as a springboard. Join in. It's a great way to be reminded of God's presence.

How to Cope

2011-01-20T08:43:00.003-06:00

He didn't want to eat his food.
So he fell asleep. This is not the first time.

He falls asleep other times too.
Jobie: Can I have some gum?
Mommy: No, not now.
A few minutes later.
I find him in his bed.
Asleep.

Jobie: Can I play wii?
Mommy: No, not now.
A few minutes later.
I find him in bed.
Asleep.

It seems to be his coping mechanism.
Silly boy.This time I moved him to his bed.
He slept for 3 hours.
When he woke up he said he was hungry.
I can't imagine why...

Lucky for him.
I had his snack all ready.
The food he had refused to eat earlier.

He was not happy with me.
But I guess he wasn't tired enough to fall asleep again.
He ate it.

So, Jobe copes by sleeping.
I cope by cleaning.
How do you cope?

What I Learned This Morning

2011-01-18T10:18:00.002-06:00

I had grapefruit for breakfast.
Then took a drink of my coffee.
Laced with milk.

Bad idea.
Tasted like wet dog.

You know.
Things taste like they smell.
Wet dog does not smell good.
It does not taste good either.

Which reminds me.
Last summer.
One of those really hot days.
I was out during Sonic happy hour.
So, the rule is:
If you are out during that time,
stop and get a drink.

I was in the mood for something new, apparently.
Mango iced tea.
Hmmm.
I thought it might taste good.
Sounded good anyway.

Sorry Sonic.
You know I love your drinks.
But mango iced tea.
Tastes like b.o.
And in the summer,
we have plenty of that to go around.
I don't need to drink it too.

Seriously.
The older I get,
the more I sweat.
What in the world is that all about?
Blech.

I finished my grapefruit.
And took a sip of coffee.
Right before heading out the door.
To take Ezzie to school.
Had to taste it the whole time.
Pretty disgusting.

So, today I learned what wet dog tastes like.
Yeah for me.

Date Night

2011-01-17T08:01:00.004-06:00

Ryan and Brookelynn love sushi.
They eat it together on daddy-daughter dates.

Brookie has been wanting me to try it.
I am not a seafood lover.
Fried shrimp.
I can do that.
Occassional tuna.
That's doable too.
Long John Silver's fried fish.
Bring it on.

Friday night.
My mom and dad had the kids over.
For a sleep over.
Woohoo!

Ryan and I headed to the big city.
We had many stops.
Noodles & Company.
Target.
World Market.
Barnes and Noble.
Starbucks.

But our first stop was for appetizers.
Sushi.Didn't love it.
Didn't hate it either.
I told Ryan:
I will never crave it.
But I'd go eat it with you again sometime.
He said:
Really?
Thanks!Of course, I have a condition.
He must take me to Noodles after again.
Now that I crave.

A Lesson Learned

2011-01-12T10:55:00.001-06:00

It's ridiculously cold.I make coffee every morning.
For Ryan.
And me too, of course.
I don't make breakfast for my kids.

Sometimes on Saturdays I get real ambitious.
I'll make pancakes or waffles.
But most days they get good healthy stuff.
Lucky Charms.
Trix.
Captain Crunch.
Pop Tarts.
I'm naming the name brands.
But we use mostly off brands.
If I'm feeling extra nice I'll make cinnamon toast.
That's about my limit.So, last night.
I knew it was gonna be below zero in the morning.
That's too cold.
Who wants cold cereal on a morning like that?
I leafed through some recipes.
Found one for overnight crockpot oatmeal.
Now that's something I can do.
It doesn't require me to get up any earlier in the morning.
Perfect.
So I threw it all together.
And this morning, my kids had a good hot breakfast.Ryan, by the way, does not eat breakfast.
Only on vacation usually.
Or when I make him on Saturday morning.
Because I've worked so hard on those pancakes or waffles.
I do make them from scratch afterall.But I was pretty pleased with myself.
I even went the extra mile.
Dished up the oatmeal for each child.
AND put fresh blueberries on top.
I know.
Crazy.Ryan left for work.
Ten minutes later.
I realize something.
Forgot to make our coffee.
I sent my husband off to work.
On the coldest day of winter.
For his nearly 40 minute commute.
Without his coffee.
Good feeling gone.

Fifteen minutes later.
Hubby calls.
I answer:
I can't believe I forgot to make coffee.

He actually thought I had made it.
Had his travel mug full.
Waiting for him.
Like I do most mornings.
Shoot.
I should have said:
I can't believe you left your coffee here.So I got off the phone.
Made the normal amount of coffee.
And drank it all myself.
Feeling much better now.

Lesson learned:
On a school day,
I can either make coffee for my guy.
Or make breakfast for my kids.
Expecting myself to do both.
That's just too much.

What Mama Got For Christmas

2011-01-08T10:31:00.002-06:00

Let me explain something, first.
Years ago.
I quit teaching.
When kid numero dos came along.
Going from two incomes to one.
And then adding a kid.
That creates a little of a money crunch.
That year for Christmas,
Ryan and I agreed to only spend $40 on each other.
We've been doing it ever since.
Well, until this year.

I have to admit.
We have both "cheated" a little at times.
Like getting a mini torch buy one get one half off.
I gave the full price one to my brother.
And the half price one to Ryan.
Clever.
Very clever.

But this year.
Ryan really cheated.

When we went Christmas shopping for the kids.
(Which, by the way, is one of our few dates each year.
I look forward to it soooo much.)
I found something I really liked.
But they were very over-priced.
Even at 50% off.
So I admired them.
And walked away.

They showed up under our tree.I love them.
I'm spoiled.

Either that.
Or...
My hubby really wants something.
He also helped me clean the bathrooms last week.
Hmmm.
What is he up to?

Fingerprint Friday

2011-01-07T09:04:00.002-06:00

The last day of Christmas break.
My kids.
All 4 of them.
Actually playing together.And eating carrots.Then Jakie realized I was taking pictures.
And bolted.
Can't have people thinking he likes to play.
With his 3 year old brother's toys.
Brookie didn't care though.
Just kept on playing.Not much is sweeter to this mom,
than seeing my kids playing together.
Getting along.
Even after 2 weeks of togetherness.

I Peter 3:8
Finally, all of you,
live in harmony with one another;
be sympathetic,
love as brothers,
be compassionate and humble.

Each week Beki at therustedchain hosts Fingerprint Friday and uses a song by Steven Curtis Chapman as a springboard. Join in. It's a great way to be reminded of God's presence.

Three in a Row

2011-01-04T14:05:00.001-06:00

We woke up Christmas Eve to the pitter patter of little feet.
And Jobie saying:
Mommy, Ezzie is stuck behind the tree.We skyped with Lara's family.
And opened our packages to each other.
Our traditional Christmas Eve supper.
Hummus, grilled chicken, fattoush salad.Then the annual picture with the rocking chairs before gifts.
Brookelynn and Jake are beginning to get a little big for them.Ezzie could barely contain his excitement.He had everyone laughing.I have absolutely no idea what he is doing here.Christmas Day was with my parents.
Levi apparently had a hard time containing himself also.
You would think by now we could get a decent cousin picture.
Ridiculous.
Ezzie was pretty happy with his bike.The day after Christmas was spent with Ryan's family.
For some reason we only got a picture of these 3 together.And the two youngest.
Four weeks apart.
Amazing how much they change in that amount of time.
I think they look nothing alike.
Great memories once again.We are so blessed.

Twelve

2010-12-28T23:41:00.004-06:00

It's hard to believe that 12 years ago today
I was experiencing my first day as a mother.
My first day with my daughter.

My first time.
To see her adorable face.
To hear her tiny cry.
To touch her little hands and feet.
To hold her.
To kiss her.
To snuggle my nose against hers.

We did not know if we were having a boy or a girl.
But I REALLY wanted a girl.
REALLY, REALLY wanted a girl.

She made us wait 8 days past her due date.

She was worth the wait.She's never been girly.
And, even though she still prefers
hoodies, tees and "sports" pants or shorts,
she's a beauty.Now I've been a mother for many days.
I don't know if I'm any better now than I was then.
I still have so much to learn.
But one thing I'm sure of:
I REALLY love this girl.
REALLY, REALLY love her.Happy birthday, Brookie!
My prayer for you,
as the days and years inevitably pass,
is that you remain even more beautiful on the inside
than you are on the outside.

From Our House to Yours

2010-12-24T10:13:00.005-06:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Marshmallow Snowmen

2010-12-23T22:10:00.003-06:00

I have another new nephew.
That makes two in four weeks.
Meet Brody Zane.His big brother Tyson is all of 21 months old.
Jobie and I thought we would give their mommy a little break.
So we stole Tyson for a bit the other day.We took him with us to storytime.Then fed him lunch.And made a little craft.The hats look a bit like witch's hats.
But by the time Ezzie got home from school,
I had been to Dillon's and purchased some Rolos.
And some pretzels too.
I get all my good ideas after the fact.
Well, Rolos and pretzels aren't amazing ideas really.
I'm sure most of you would have thought of them much earlier.
Jobe and Tyson didn't miss them.
But Ezzie was glad I had them.
He even asked for pretzels before I pulled them out.Marshmallow snowman.
Good enough to eat.
Poor thing didn't make it to supper.