The Past Month or So

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.