A new post....and more posting!

Hello all! Wow, so it's been a reallllly long time since my last post! I just haven't felt like I have that much to write about, so I don't. But, I've been reading our friend Lisa Block's post since the arrival of Sydney, and I love how she writes almost everyday, and has even before the birth, and she just basically jots a few words down about the goings on in her life. And it's so interesting! So, Lisa, if you read this, I want you to know you've inspired me!

So, now that that's out of the way, I suppose I should update you all on life at the McNutzes! LOL. (McNutz, by the way, is a combination of McNamara and Lutz, for those who don't know).

Let's see. Everyone is doing well, for the most part. Brandon is doing great! He's been growing stronger and stronger in his walk with Christ, and the probation officer is looking at removing his 10:00 pm curfew permanently from his probation rules. He is helping out at youth group every Wednesday, and making many friends there. He is even building a relationship with one of the boys who has been walking down the same road Brandon went down for a while.

Kaleb is working at Boyne Mountain now, as a boot fitter in the ski rental. He works weekends. He misses church on Sundays now because of it, but still attends Youth Group on Wednesdays. He is training for ski team which starts in January, so there will be lots of races to attend. That's his passion, skiing,and he's very good at it, so it should be an exciting year! Just pray he keeps his grades up. He has always hated school, and struggles in the important classes. However, he loves history, which was always one of the classes I did not like.

Karlie is your typical 15 year old girl. She is doing pretty well in school, except for History...hmmmmm (sound familiar?). But, she certainly has the capability, and is working on getting caught up. She just got 100% on two of her homework assignments...so, it will come, it will come.

Trisha, Ben and Ethan. They are doing great! Ben is working at North Country Aviation as a mechanic now, since September. He loves it!!! Music is his number 1 passion, but mechanics is his 2nd, so he's doing awesome. Trisha is at Old Navy still, part time in the evenings. It's an income. She does a fantastic job, but her passion of course is Ethan. She's rather be home with him, and I don't blame her! He's the cutest ever! Okay, okay, I know if you have kids or grandkids, your's are the cutest ever!

Speaking of Ethan, Jeff and I met at Trisha and Ben's after work the other day to pick Ethan up and watch him because Ben had to work late. We went out to dinner at Applebee's and then shopping! It was so much fun! Ethan really loves people and notices people around him. He is a flirt of course and the ladies love to flirt with him! And he likes other kids too. A family had come in with a couple of kids and a small baby. Ethan kept squirming in his seat, while keeping an eye on that baby, and we couldn't figure out what was wrong. We thought he just wanted to get down and play. But then Jeff, my brilliant husband, realized that he wanted that baby's bottle! Ha! So, we got his out, and he was all better.

After dinner, we went to Wal-Mart. Oh what fun! It truly was. Ethan loves babies, and by babies, I mean baby-dolls. He has one or two at home, one I think, and when we passed by them, he was just staring at all of them in the boxes on the shelf. I think he could have been wondering why they were all in boxes and stuck on a shelf. Then we came upon some that were not in boxes and they were fairly small, so we picked one out for him and he carried that baby all through the store. He didn't try to bite her head or anything, which he does with his baby at home sometimes. (We did get the baby for him, and I will put it in his stocking for Christmas.)

We strolled around Wal-Mart some more since I needed to get some things for my new great niece that's due to be born near the end of the month. My niece Kara moved up here from New Mexico this summer, and is expecting her first baby Dec. 22. It's a girl! Yeah. It will be so fun to have a girl around the houses (the other house being my moms). There are 3 little boys there (my nephews). So a girl will be a nice addition for us. It's been fun shopping for a girl too! Except Kara doesn't like pink. She prefers purple, although she has awed and oohed over some of the pink stuff that is really cute. Anyway, as Ethan and I were shopping for some baby toys for Annalyssa (I think that's how she is going to spell it-but she is going to call her Alyssa) Ethan was the determinant (is that right?) whether to get the toy or not. If he liked it, then I was sure Alyssa will...lol. Okay, maybe not the best science since he's a boy, but I used it anyway. As we strolled along, I think Ethan was getting tired of sitting. He hadn't gotten anytime to run around since we picked him up. So, as I finished picking out the last few items, we started playing a "game". All I had to do was make a goofy sound, like a growl, or a boo, or a bark, and he would laugh his cute little deep belly laugh! He was delirious I think, and I think everyone else in the store thought I was! LOL. But, it was fun and kept his mind off the fact that he was still stuck in a cart for a little while longer.

Well, how's that for an update? I promise, I promise, I will blog more. Probably not everyday, since I'm not supposed to blog at work, and it's hard to get to the computer at home with 4 kids using it, sometimes 5, if you count Chelsea, Brandon's girlfriend. But, I will definitely try to get a paragraph or two in as often as possible!

Time to get ready for church!

God bless!