Crazy hair

Sydney has crazy hair. There is just no getting around it. It's growing and it's curly and thus, it's crazy. We all laugh about it.

So when my mom, my aunt, my grandma and I went shopping in Shipshewana we found this doll. It looked just like my Sydney. We called it the "Sydney crazy hair doll". She got it for Christmas from my mom. Here's the pic, tell me if you can see the resemblance!

Sneaky

I promised myself I wouldn't let it happen. No matter what, I wouldn't allow them to worm their way into my heart.

Then it happened. Matt came to bed at around 10 PM last night and said that he thinks Larry got out. I sat upright. "He can't go out, he's too little, it's too cold." Matt quick threw on a coat and went out calling for him. Meanwhile, I was worrying....What if some other big mean cat got him? Or what if he's lost and looking for home? Matt came back and couldn't find him. Now I'm panicked.....What will the kids say? I'm on the verge of tears as Matt renenters the house with a very cold Larry in his arms. I ran to them and scooped up Larry showering him with kisses and rubbing his favorite spot by his ears. I quick ran and got him some treats all the while murmuring loving things to him. I looked up and Matt was standing in the doorway with a huge smirk on his face. "These are the kids cats????" he asked smugly. Well they are....as far as the kids know :)

Sigh

I've just had about enough Christmas, thus I had to change my template, what can I say? The tree goes out to the curb tomorrow. You just get to that point, you know....When you are ready for the holidays to be OVER!

We had a blessed Christmas. It occurred to me sitting there watching the chaos that I am so blessed. Not only do I have 4 beautiful children and a husband who loves me, but I have two godly parents, 4 terrific siblings, two loving grandparents, an aunt who would fly to the moon for me if I asked and a fairly fantastic cousin. We were all together that morning.....It was great. Here are some highlights....(more to come as most of my pics I had to dump on my mom's computer!)


Sydney in her Dora chair with her Dora doll wrapped in her new blanket (thanks Mom Kurtz!) and watching Dora. Have I mentioned that I now hate Dora??!?!?!








Here's Emma with her Dora talking house.....Yes, more Dora....









Here's Molli and Aunt Kimmie looking at the Disney book she got...Thank the Lord, no Dora!








And last but not least, here they all are playing Elefun...a truly fun game for kids, but a nightmare for parents and vacuum cleaners alike :)

Countdown

Oh Christmas is so close I can almost taste it! Tomorrow morning Matt and I head out to finish up the rest of our shopping. We are firm believers in waiting till the last minute :)

Christmas Eve is always the highlight for me. We always dress up. I love the darkened sanctuary, the carols, my dad reading a Christmas story, taking communion with my family and finally lighting our candles and singing Silent Night. This year I have been asked to sing, which just heightens it for me. Not only that, but this is the first time that my Jonah will be able to participate in communion...... I can't wait.

Till then of course, there's cleaning and cooking to be done....So off I go! Merry Christmas everyone!!

One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn't belong......can you tell which one??

This is my friend's son....peeking at the kitties or, as he likes to call them, meow meows :)

An amazing day!

Today was...incredible. You wouldn't know, the way it started....

Sundays are always chaos at our house. Why this is, I'm not quite sure. but, by the time I got to church, I was flustered. Then we blew through the music for this morning. (I'm on the worship team) After that was over, I felt stressed and not particularly worshipful at all. Made it through most of the service. I went to sit down after we were done singing and Jonah was crying. I let it go because this is the norm on a communion Sunday. Jonah always gets upset that we won't allow him to take communion yet. I sensed however that he needed to talk so I motioned to him to follow me. We went downstairs and had a talk. I asked him why he was upset. "Dad won't let me take the bread and juice," he replied. "Do you know why you aren't allowed?" I asked. He shrugged. "It's because we don't want you to take communion until we know that you have decided to ask Jesus into your heart." I explained. He paused for a minute and then said, "What does that mean?" So i explained it to him. He paused again and then said, "Mom, do you think you could come with me after church to talk to Grandpa about asking Jesus into my heart?" My heart almost exploded. So after service, we sought out my dad. My mom was standing there too. "Grandpa", Jonah said. "Could you help me ask Jesus into my heart?" My mom started bawling. It was so awesome. And so, my precious oldest child accepted the Lord today....and the angels are singing!

Whew! Not that I can top that but here's some pictures from decorating cookies at my mom's house yesterday!

This is me before....man, my face looks fat :) And here's me now.....

My face still looks fat...oh well! :)

I am so excited

I am so excited I can hardly stand it! Today I got my Christmas present. A digital camera. I can't believe it!! I'm looking at it charging right now, counting the seconds until I can use it!!!!! I AM SO EXCITED!!!

Tomorrow is the day. I'm going to get my hair cut. I haven't totally decided what to do. If it's disatrous, I will not post pictures!!! But it is just hair and it will grow.

Congrats to Mindy and Jayson and their new beautiful boy!! I'm so glad he's finally here, can't wait to meet him!

My camera is done...pics to follow!

How about this???

http://gallery.hairboutique.com/details.asp?ID=7228

Advice and congratualtions

I dreamt a lot last night. I spent the majority of the day yesterday reading a book. This always happens to me, I start reading something and I can do nothing else until I've finished. I did stop to feed my family, but I ate mine at the computer. This story captivated me. I related to the characters all in different ways, on different levels. The author is just beginning what I think will be a fantastic career. She paints word pictures that flowed through my brain all night long. I fell asleep retelling the story in my head and woke up the same way. So, in a word, bravo!

I'm going out on Saturday. My girlfriend Mindy convinced me to go with her and her mom to this place. It 's a beauty college where you can go and get special things done for cheap because the people doing are students. I'm have a spa manicure and getting my hair cut. I've never had a manicure before. Guess it's about time. I am getting my hiar cut. I haven't had it cut by anyone but Matt for a few years. I really want something different. Do you think this style would look good on me??? Check it out and let me know what you think...
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/4/46/180px-Mariska_Hargitay.jpg

I love this new template! I've been searching and searching for a Christmas one.....Thanks to Caz a million times over!!!

Nothing much new to report. The kittens are settling in well. The kids adore them, sometimes too much. Molli is sporting quite the collection of scratches due to her "enthusiasm". They've taken over my computer chair however. This makes being on the computer slightly more complicated! I had a whole conversation with my sister-in-law on IM yesterday standing next to the computer! So we are going to have a serious talk about my chair!

Well off to have coffee, hope you all have a good day!

Announcement

Alright, it's confession time. I knew that once it happened to most of you, it was bound to happen to us. I just can't control myself. What can I say? So here it is.....

There is a new member of our family. Actually two.....







Everyone...Meet our new kittens.



That's right, when the Kurtz's get a pet, we go all out. One kitten was not enough you see. " Mom, they're twins.....They can't be apart..." Of course I wasn't a tough sell, I fell in love with them instantly. And I'm usually not a cat person. So into our home they came. The kids are thrilled. These poor cats are sleeping now because the kids are all outside and it's quiet. No one chasing them or trying to keep them in one spot. Last night, I swear one of them was talking to me telepathically. He looked at me and I swear I heard him say, "How much longer till these children go to bed???" I looked back and replied, "I'm asking myself the same thing!" They are both boys, much to Molli's dismay. She was all ready to call one, Sleeping Beauty! Alas, we had to think of boy names. I left this soley up to the kids. Wanna know what they came up with? Bob and Larry. That's right, we have Bob the cat and his brother, Larry. The only way to tell them apart is that Bob has a extra toe on one paw. They are cuddlers and will make an excellent addition to our home! Sorry about the picture, some of us have yet to receive a digital camera! I took this shot with my web cam!

Now how many of you assumed I was pregnant?????????

Pics

Just because I can, here's some shots of the kids..thanks to Grandpa McGlynn for these!!

Whirlwind

Man, my head is spinning. Whew! Crazy, crazy, crazy! We are snowed in, literally. The kids have their first snow day of the year (Jonah and Molli cried!). I remember when we had snow days in High school and I wanted to go out with my friends. My dad always told me that if the roads were bad enough to close for school than for sure I wasn't going anywhere. Party pooper :)

Other news, Princess has found a new home. I decided, as I was cleaning 0ut her cage the other day, that the kids really have little to do with her and I do it all and she just sits there. The final straw was yesterday when Emma let her escape and we spent an hour trying to get her back into her cage from underneath Jonah's bed! So I listed her on our local Freecycle network. Last night, a very nice woman and her two sons came and picked up Princess. They have another rat so Princess will have a friend. Plus they like to train them/play with them constantly so that's good. My kids were very nonchalant about the whole thing, which I suppose was a good thing.....Now they're asking for a cat.....heaven help me!

Well what to do with my day? Maybe getting dressed would be a good place to start...or maybe not!

Roses

So this is my roses blog. Have you ever seen those roses to things in newspapres? A way to say thanks...so here it is.....

A rose to: Mindy Hubbard. Our van died so we were down to one vehicle. Which meant that we were getting our kids up at 2:30 AM and loading them into Matt's little car that has no heat and taking Matt to work because we needed the car to gets kids to school, etc. So Mindy Hubbard is now picking up my kids and taking them to school, EVERY DAY! What a blessing she is, so she gets my first rose.

A rose to: My husband, some days......man, I'm thankful for him!

A rose to: My mom. She never ceases to amaze me with her unconditional love and support.

A rose to: My blogging friends. Every day I write things on here and you all are so faithful to always take my side and give encouragement...roses to you all!

A rose to: Mindy Schoeberlein who I think just needs one :)

A rose to: Whoever invented the automatic coffe maker....God Bless you!

A rose to: Jonah's teacher, Ms. Mary. What a wonderfully perceptive woman she is. And she is just so perfect and just what my Jonah needs.

A rose to: my friend, Shannon Schauer who always keeps intouch with me, even though we never see each other

There it is, all my roses have been delivered for the day :)

From here to................................................here

My Molli,

Five years ago tonight you came into our lives. Our first little girl. It's been an adventure from the moment you arrived, looking all around and not making a sound, to now where it's all I can do to keep you quiet! What a beautiful and wonderful journey it has been so far. You are such a vibrant, exciting girl and I love you so much. Here's to another 5! (hopefully!)

My last post was such a downer that I decided we needed a little Christmas spirit. So here is our family photo. The only one, I must point out, with Sydney. It turned out pretty nicely, if I do say so myself. No smile from Syd, but at least she's not crying or sucking her finger!!! Click on the picture to see it bigger!

I've been up since 3:30 AM. Why are there just some things that we cannot push from our minds no matter how hard we try??

Some of you have written of struggles you have with family stuff. Why is it that family issues wound us so deeply?? We expect our families to love us uncondtionally, to uphold and support us, to rejoice with us, to grieve with us.....to help us. When we are met with condemnation and anger, it destroys us, more so than any other relationship I think. There is saddness in our house today. I feel heavy, burdened. Say a little prayer for us today, if you think of it.

On a brighter note, tomorrow is my Molli's birthday (it's also Zoe's...Happy Birthday Zoe!!) Parties always help lighten the mood, right??

Success

We did it! We made it! My mom braved her awful back and we went to the concert. It was so good....I am so glad we went. My mom handled it beautifully and we have a fabulous time together. Thanks to those of you who I know were praying that she would be able to make it through the concert!

Life continues to chug along at the Kurtz's. We have the tree up and decorated and the kids are getting excited about Christmas. It sure does have a different feel this year, because it's on Sunday. But cool too.

So last night (back to the concert because it was awesome and it's my blog) We were sitting, enjoying the music. Well in the Van Andel arena there are suites at the very top of the stadium where the rich people get to watch events. Well the suite above where we were sitting was full of rich teenage girls. They talked THE WHOLE SHOW!!!! Even when it was quiet, we could hardly hear SCC because they were talking and laughing. Finally, near the end of the show, someone got up and climbed up there and told them to be quiet, that just because they were in a box didn't mean that we couldn't hear them. They sort of quieted down. THAT IS SO ANNOYING!!! It happened to us when we went to see.........Well, a movie. This girl would laugh about every 5 minutes. Even when the movie was serious, she was laughing. I thought my mom was going to throw something at her! But how do you deal with something like that? I was like, I have paid good money to be here and I WANT TO HEAR WHAT'S GOING ON!!!! Either whisper or GO AWAY!

*deep breath* Sorry, that was just vastly frustrating! Anyway, just wanted to tell y'all about the concert! IT WAS AWESOME!

Disaster

It was going to be perfect. I had had it planned out for months. As soon as I had heard about it, I had formed a plan. But now....

I love Steven Curtis Chapman. I love his music, him as a person. Matt and I went to his All things New concert and it was amazing. So when I heard that he was touring with Mercy Me doing a Christmas concert, I just knew I had to go. Matt wasn't too thrilled with the last concert so I decided that I would give my mom tickets for her birthday in October. Then we planned it all out. We would leave right after I dropped the kids at school. We would spend the day in Grand Rapids, just the two of us. Christmas shopping and eating out. It was going to be great. The concert is tomorrow. I was so excited.

Then my mom went to the ER. She really hurt her back and can hardly move. So no concert. Although, I have the tickets! I have to go! I already spent the money and everything. I am so bummed......

Anyone feel like to going to Grand rapids tomorrow???

Next...

Thanksgiving was a wonderful day. We ate, talked, ate, watched parades, ate, did dishes, ate, played games, and ate. All in all a good day. Ken and Robin (my brother and sister-in-law) stayed the night which was way fun. Then I subjected my sister-in-law to the madness of Wal-Mart at 4:30 AM on Friday. I know those "Wal-Mart boycotters" are cringing right now, but I've never had a bad experience there. Anyway, it was insanity. People were pushing and shoving, not where I was of course. We were in and out and home by 6 AM. The trick?? Team shopping. Robin quick got into the layaway line while I went and got the stuff I wanted.That was great because while there were only 10 people in the line when Robin got in it, by the time I got there, there were 80 people in it! It worked beautifully. Uncle Kenny was brilliant with the kids who were up early as well. (Matt had to work, as if anyone is buying chips the morning after Thanksgiving!!) So we had donuts and chocolate milk for breakfast. Then we all got dressed and braved the crowds one more time to get a Christmas tree. So yesterday we decorated our tree and the house. It really feels festive now.

Anyone else have a good Thanksgiving story???

Thanksgiving

Well I thought I should post something very meaningful to celebrate this holiday. What can I say...hmmm? I could say something about the five kernels that the pilgrims put by their plates every year to remind themselves of how they had nothing and to be thankful. Nah, let me just tell you about yesterday instead.

Alright so just with our family alone we have 15 people for Thanksgiving. The Walton's remember?? We have two little old ladies at church who have absolutely no family so we're having them over as well. Then there's another gal who's a few years older than me and she's divorced. Her daughter is going to be with her dad all day so we invited her too. Then there's my brother and sister-in-law who don't have anywhere to be, so add them. That's 20 people.... So there I was, feeling so good about myself that we had included others on this holiday.

Then my mom calls. Here's the deal....

She was at work yesterday (she's the secretary at our church). A woman and her young daughter come into the church. They look somewhat dirty and lost. She tells my mom her story. They've been living in a cheap motel for the last three months. She has a four year old daughter and an 8 year old son who it turns out goes my brother's Noah's school and he has epilepsy. She was at her wits end. They couldn't pay for the hotel this week and the place they're moving into won't be ready until the end of next week. So they were staying in the car. All she wanted was a few dollars to do some laundry so her son could have some clean clothes for school. Now people come into the church all the time asking for money. There was just something about this family that struck my mom. Now a sidenote on my mother, she is an amazing woman, the most giving person I know. She also has an amazing gift of discernment. And she knew this woman was the real deal. So tomorrow we will have another three people for dinner. This family. When she called and told me, she thought I might be shocked. I thought I might be too . But the more she told me about them, the more I knew that this is EXACLTY what this holiday is about. My grandma has bought enough food to feed all the homeless shelters in the city, so it's not like there isn't enough. But if we aren't willing to leave the comfort of our families and friends and share the blessings that we have been given, than how can be truly be thankful? Sometimes we have to see what other's DON'T have to realize how blessed we are with the things we DO have. Jesus said, "What you do for the least of these brothers, you do for ME."

So my thanksgiving lesson is for myself. Bless others with what you've been blessed with and you'll both share in the blessing.

Nothingness

I haven't posted for a few days. But truly, there has been nothing worthy of blogging about. I'm so excited for Thanksgiving....tons of food and people. I love it.

Then of course we slam right into the holidays. Molli's birthday is first and then Christmas. Wow, can it really almost be the end of the year?!?!?!?!

WHEW

Matt's mom and dad are coming today. Now I don't know about you but on a daily basis my house is not clean. Not "dirty" just extremely messy. Well I knew they were coming today. So when Matt left for work this morning I got up and starting cleaning.

Something strange happened as I was cleaning the living room. "hmmmm", I thought to myself. "I think I'll rearrange a few pieces of furniture." Well that bloody thought snow balled and I rearranged the WHOLE room. Not only that, but I dug out the shop vac and cleaned the edges of the room, scrubbed the walls, vacuumed out the couch and dusted. Yes, I know....You're in shock. So a project that should have taken 2 hours maybe ended up taking me 7 hours.....Ugh. I HATE cleaning. But my house now looks awesome and feels clean. Matt thought maybe he had the wrong house when he came home!!!!

On a sidenote, I must say this. Mr. Clean's Magic Eraser is the most fantastic invention ever made. I'm convinced that it was made by a group of mothers. Never have I found a product that removes pen, crayon, marker..Anything from the walls, cabinets, doors, etc. It is so awesome. I even went so far today as to go to their website and left them a message thanking them for their wonderful product. So cool.

Well my cleaning is done (before you think I am superwoman you must know that my cleaning did NOT include my bedroom or the entire upstairs...We're just not granting access to those places!) I must some appropriate visiting clothes.

Back

Well, I'm back. In case you hadn't noticed :) SBC has proven yet again that the sqeaky wheel gets the oil.....grrrr.

We finished Lost. I HAVE A MILLION QUESTIONS!!! What's in the hatch?? Who are the others??? WHERE'S WALT?????? All of these questions are rhetorical....please don't answer them. Guess we'll just have to wait for the stinking next season. AHHHHHH!!!!!

Felicity is still awesome though....

Here's Emma's pictures that I had taken...they turned out so nice. More blogging later....

Totally random

Well it's been a while. I am yet again convinced that SBC is the anti-Christ. But I must not harbor ill will, hopefully we will have internet back again soon. In the mean time, I'll share this and that.

We're still making our way through Lost. I'm still LOVING it. It's so frustrating as we finish a disc to RUN it to the mailbox and wait another 2-3 days to get the next one. Ah well. In between Lost discs, I have discovered felicity. I vaguely remember when it was on TV, but I saw it at the library and decided to try it. I LOVE IT! Matt is truly sick of it, but I'm hooked.

On from my viewing habits......We went and had family Christmas pictures taken on Sunday. Ok, please remind me next year to do this in SEPTEMBER!!! It was total insanity. My kids looked gorgeous however and we finally managed to get them done. I'll post one when we get them back next week. Matt was not happy about getting them taken, but we haven't had a family picture taken since Sydney was born so it was high time. He survived!

Everything else is well. It blows my mind that Thanksgiving is next week, where in the world is this year going?!?!??! I'm so excited for the holiday though. Matt's brother and his wife are coming to stay with us and doing Thanksgiving with the Waltons at mom's house. It's too fun. Lots of noise, food, game, noise, people, noise......You get the idea! And then we launch in to Christmas starting with the highlight for me, the Steven Curtis Chapman/Mercy Me Christmas concert!!! WOO HOO!!!! So big stuff happening.

Well I think that's it for now, if you don't hear from me soon...Someone plan an assassination attempt for SBC....

Jail

It's finally happened.....I knew it would happen one day. I just wasn't prepared. I'm so careful, but it happened anyway.

I got pulled over.

I saw the lights and my whole stomach started churning. By the time I pulled over and rolled down my window, I was crying. Not just a gentle tear mind you, but full blown crying. "Matt is going to kill me!!", I'm thinking to myself as I dig for my insurance and license. I watched him get out of his squad car and walk towards us. As he walks up to the side of the car, Emma starts to cry. I turned to tell her it was ok, but of course I'm hysterical. "Ma'am do you know how fast you were going?" More tears.... "No, sir," I sob. Of course, I really didn't know, who watches their speedometer?!

Then it starts. Emma starts screaming at the top of her lungs...."I DON'T WANT TO GO TO JAIL!!!!!! I AM WEARING MY SEATBELT! PLEASE DON"T LET HIM TAKE US MOMMY!!!!!" The policeman gets very flustered by this. He leans in to reassure her that he is not going to take us anywhere. She cries harder, "NOT JAIL!" He mumbled some things under his breath and sent me on my way with a warning....Wonderful policeman. Emma finally calmed down as she watched him drive away, now secure in the fact that she would not be going to jail today.

My husband was furious :)

56 Questions

56 Questions that have no meaning or relevance to anything but they are fun.
UNIQUE
1. Nervous habits - I rub my eyebrows, saves money for getting them waxed!
2. Are you double jointed - No.
3. Can you roll your tongue - no
4. Can you raise one eyebrow at a time - Yes
5. Can you blow spit bubbles - Yes.
6. Can you cross your eyes - Yes.
7. Tattoos - No.
8. Piercing - Just my ears.
9. Do you make your bed daily - Yes

CLOTHES
10. Which shoe goes on first? Right, even though I'm left handed
11. Speaking of shoes, have you ever thrown one at anyone? Yes
12. On the average, how much money do you carry? - $0- I have a debit card - who needs cash?
13. What jewelry do you wear 24/7 - Wedding Rings, my manatee ring that Matt got me and my silver cross necklace
14. Favorite piece of clothing - anything comfortable, jeans

FOOD
15. Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it? Twirl it
16. Have you ever eaten Spam? I'd have to be starving
17. Do you use extra salt on your food - depends on the food
18. How many cereals in your cabinet - Had to go count...9!!
19. What's your favorite beverage -Pepsi
20. What's your favorite fast food restaurant -Arbys or Taco Bell
21. Do you cook - Yes

GROOMING
22. How often do you brush your teeth -At least once a day
23. Hair drying method - air dry
24. Have you ever colored/highlighted your hair -A couple of times, I went red, it was fuN!

MANNERS
25. Do you swear - No, oddly enough I still feel like crap and fart are swear words!
26. Do you ever spit - Only when I have a cold and lots of flem

FAVORITE
27. Animal - Manatees!
28. Food - Steak
29. Month - December
30. Day - Saturday
31. Cartoon -I detest cartoons
32. Shoe brand - anything cute!
33. Subject in school - English
34. Color - Purple
35. Sport - Football
36. TV shows - House
37. Thing to do in the spring - open windows, go to the park
38. Thing to do in the summer - Swim at mom's,go for walks
39. Thing to do in the autumn - put on a sweatshirt!
40. Thing to do in the winter - Shopping
41. In the CD player - lol, Christmas music, (don't tell my dad!)
42. Person you talk most on the phone with - Mindy :)
43. Reading - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, brushing up before the movie!
44. Do you regularly check yourself out in store windows/mirrors - nope.
45. What color is your bedroom - Casual blue, very nice if I do say so myself!
46. Do you use an alarm clock - No, but I have to have the clock on my side so I always know what time it is!
47. Window seat or aisle - Window
48. What's your sleeping position - My side while Matt is in bed, when he leaves, my tummy
49. Even in hot weather do you use a blanket - Yes
50. Do you snore - Matt says yes :)
51. Do you sleepwalk - No.
52. Do you talk in your sleep - No.
53. Do you sleep with stuffed animals -um, no
54. How about with the light on - No.
55. Do you fall asleep with the TV or radio on - I love to fall asleep with the TV on, Matt hates it though
56. Last interesting person you met - Misty and Sandy!

Sorry for subjecting y'all to another one of these, but I just love them!!

15 questions with Molli

I wondered just what my very intelligent daughter thought about some things...here are her answers!

1. Who is the president? mommy
2. Who is stronger Superman or Spiderman? Superman
3. Does our get good gas mileage? Nope
4. How much money does Daddy make? 18 dollars
5. How many years do you have to go to school? 18 years
6. How old do people live to be? 43
7. What is the best color to wear to an evening wedding? White, I mean pink
8. What is college? you go to school and do homework and stuff and projects
9. What is a republican?president of the country (????)
10. What do you think of stem cell research? I don't know what that is Mom.....
11. If you had one wish, what would it be? I'd be a princess, Sleeping Beauty
12. What is in a museum? books and makeup and letters and drink stuff and phones
13. What is rugby? college
14. Can Barbie beat up Ken? NOOO because Barbies are not real
15. What are the little blue buttons that you push to make doors open? they're for the wheelchair people like Noah

Molli's view of the world.....

Weekend update

We had a great weekend!! What a fun visit with the in-laws and it was so great to see Matt's grandparents. The kids enjoyed being away and speding time with family. Add to that my fun getaway and it was a terrific weekend!!!

Alas we are back to real life. Although I must admit that it feels good to be home. The kids seemed to slump back into themselves as we walked in the door. And I am looking forward to seeing everyone at church tonight.....

But the absolute highlight of my weekend.....FINDING MAPLE SUGAR CANDY AT CRACKER BARREL!!!! I was so thrilled. I thought the only place in the world to find that stuff was in Frankenmuth!!! So very awesome!

Here they are, the picture of my room. The color is called Classic Blue. I worked till midnight last night and all day today to get it done. My poor wrists were so bad (I have carpal tunnel) but now that my pain meds are kicking in, it's way better! I really like it. Depending on how the light hits it, it looks gray. Very cool. I'm rather pleased although I hate painting. Now Matt wants to know when I'm doing the rest of the house! :)














































So there you have it, my attempt at beautifying my home!

Tomorrow we head to Detroit to visit Matt's family. The kids are so excited about getting away. Please say a prayer for our poor van.....it's taken so many trips!! But the weekend promises to hold many fun times. Details when we return or even while we're there, they have a nice computer!!

Camping out

We're at Mom's again. For Pastor's appreciation this year, the church decided, in lew of giving my dad cash(he's the pastor of our church in case you didn't already know that), of getting them a trip. My parents got to pick the place and the congregation all helped send them. Really great idea, I thought. So they're gone and we're camped out at Mom's taking care of Noah. I was having flashbacks last night of our year in the attic as Matt and I slept in my parent's room with all three girls! Memories....Like the corner of my mind.....

I was so thrilled that House was back last night. Man, I love that show. And a brief update on Lost.....IT'S AWESOME!!! I'm so hooked. I told Matt last night that I want it for Christmas. It's one of those that I could watch repeatedly and not get tired of it. So cool.

And now brace yourselves..................I'm going to paint my bedroom. I got a gift certificate to do just that back when we moved in and there it still sits. So I'm biting the bullet while it's 65 outside and I can have all the windows open. I'll take pictures when I'm done. Pray for me, I hope I like the color I picked!!!

Here they are! 

Weekend stuff

Well we had a good weekend despite various illnesses. Sydney and I are quickly improving although my antibiotics are now causing me bowel troubles. Grrr... I still don't feel quite up to par, but I'm hoping that I will continue to improve a little each day.

Tomorrow is Halloween and the kids are so excited. I'm sort of nonplused about the whole thing. It was exciting when we did the Zoo Boo and now it's sort of old hat. But we'll don the makeshift costumes once more tomorrow night and head out. I am completely shocked that October is over!!! Where did it go??? Did I accomplish anything??? Man, the year will be over before we know it!

Other than that, our weekend was fairly low key. Saturday was Matt's only day off and I stayed in my pajamas till 10:30! Now that's a good Saturday. Then it was off to Grandma and Grandpa's for closing the pool and raking. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and perfect for playing in the leaves. And the perfect way to end a good day?? AN EXTRA HOUR OF SLEEP!!!!!

Well the bathroom calls again......ugh.

En mass

UGH, UGH, AND DOUBLE UGH!!!!!!

Well I am sick, which stinks. Thank the Lord though I can still function. However, I was up for most of the night with all four of my children. So I kept Jonah and Molli home from school and off we went to the doctor. I should have known it was going to be interesting when the receptionist burst into laughter when I told her I needed four children seen."Are you serious?" she asked. "yes" So off we go to the doctor. Strep tests all around, yeah right. Molli is convinced she is going to throw up. So we survive the strep tests, survive the exams and I quick said thank you Lord that this is going so quickly. Sydney has strep but the rest are good. Whew. Then, we sat. And sat. And sat some more. ALL WE WERE WAITING FOR WAS THE PRESCRIPTIONS!!!! We sat in that tiny room for 30 minutes waiting for her to write on a piece of paper. AAAHHHH!!!

Ok, so I lived as did the children. Then we went to the pharmacy. 10 minutes they tell me. Ok, we can make it for 10 minutes. AN HOUR LATER.......I am ripping out my hair, Sydney is crying, Jonah is having a fit because I won't buy him a toy.......UGH!

I need a drink.....

10 things

Here are 10 random things that will never cease to amaze me.....

1. That God loves and forgives me no matter what I do
2. That my children will always "get into" things, the things just change as they get older!
3. That I could be on my death bed and my husband would still expect me to do everything!
4. That no matter how many times I tell them, telemarketers continue to call my house
5. That some people have no concept of having young children and all that that entails
6. That people are weirded (my own word) out by my brother in his wheelchair
7. That the sun rises every day
8. That when I tell my children no, they suddenly don't understand English
9. How the seasons change and how that correlates to our relationship with Jesus
10. How early they put out the Christmas stuff, before we know it, it'll be out in July!

There it is...Things that will never cease to amaze me!

huh?

My grandpa's surgery went well, thanks to all of you who prayed. Actually it was miraculous. The surgery went an hour longer than scheduled so we were all a little on edge. When the doctor came out, this is what she said, "Mrs. Destefano (my grandma) I do not know how your husband has been getting blood to his brain. (This surgery was to scrape his carotid artery, that's the one that takes blood to the brain, his was 80% blocked) She went on to tell us that Grandpa's artery was almost completely blocked and that it had been throwing clots for a while. Big clots. She said, "By all rights he should have stroked out and died weeks ago." Wow. So yet again the Lord has spared my grandpa.

For lack of better things to blog about (laundry, exercising, etc.) I'll do this list that some of you have already tried......

10 things Mandi needs

1. Mandi needs to be mentioned (um yeah)
2.Mandi needs a help button (heck yeah)
3. Mandi needs to investigate
4. Mandi needs only her pencil ??
5. Mandi needs more doctors (do they know something I don't???)
6. Mandi highway needs repair ( I have my own highway???)
7. Mandi needs professional management (I've been saying this for years)
8. Mandi needs to give blood (no way, that involves needles!)
9. Mandi needs to redye (well if you say so)
10. Mandi needs her hooves trimmed (They are a little long but hooves is a bit much!)

There you are!

Apprehensive

Another day, another gloomy, cold day. I had to pry my two oldest kids out of their beds this morning. They just wanted to stay buried in their covers, well so did I!

Yesterday I totally moved our room around. Well, that's not totally accurate. I moved our bed! We have this teeny tiny room so there are not many options. But I love the way it looks now. Plus, by default, the clock is on my side of the bed!!!!! I have to know what time it is, always. I'm one of those people who when asked what I would bring if stranded on a desert island, it would be my watch! Anyway, I really want to paint my room. I abhor painting but it needs something in the worst way. So thanks a lot Christina for inspiring us all to paint and be productive :)

Today is my mom's birthday and my grandpa is having surgery. Everyone is a little on edge about the surgery. Of course with the way my grandpa's heart is anytime he goes under anesthetic is dangerous. So if you think about it, would you all just say a prayer?? Thanks!

Well laundry beckons!

Absence

It's so true that absence makes the heart grow fonder. After a brief absence (did anyone notice I was gone?? *sniff sniff*) I was hard put to catch up on everyone's lives. Everyone is so busy!

Not much going on here. School, cleaning, laundry, church......pretty boring actually now that I write it all down! It's getting colder, winter is coming. Can you believe that there are only 8 more Sundays until Christmas??!?!!?!?!?

Her name is.....

So we had a very nice funeral yesterday. I dug the little hole and Jonah asked if he should put him in there. I said "Don't touch him!!! Just tip the box." Then I instructed the neighbor boy to cover him with dirt once he was in the hole, I couldn't do it! The kids then said goodbye to Mr. Whiskers. And that was that. On the way back to the house the kids are rather quiet. Then Jonah says quietly, "Mom?" "Yes?, " I answered, waiting for some deep question about life and death. " Can I get another rat?" Oh brother.

So off to the pet store we went. Jonah found one he loved (a girl one because then she can have babies Jonah said. Yeah well I wasn't about to go into why a girl rat can't have babies without a boy rat!!!! Just keep thinking that sweetie!) So there is yet another member of the Kurtz clan...and her name is.......Princess. One guess who picked that name out. Well thankfully Jonah liked it as well so Princess it is. She's very cute. Much smaller than Mr. Whiskers though. She's brown with the cutest eyes. She's very skittish though so I'm hoping that will change as she gets used to all the chaos here.

Well I just finished exercising and I'm sitting here all sweaty so off to the shower I go!

Moving on

I think of myself as tough. I can handle vomit and feces with the best of them. But today I reached my limit. Matt asked me to put Mr. Whiskers in a box and set it outside so we can have a funeral later today. I tried....Really I did. I put on gloves and opened the cage door. Then I threw up! I couldn't handle it. So of course I did what anyone would do, I called my daddy!!! (He's the pastor of our church which is right behind our house so he was close by!) He came right over and put Mr. Whiskers into his coffin, a small brown box. Of course Emma had to watch the whole thing. I had to hide in my bedroom until it was over. Ugh.

I took Emma to get her pictures taken this morning. Since I had recent shots of Jonah and Molli, I figured it was her turn. I need to get Sydney in too, I have never had her picture taken by herself!! I'm an awful mom. By the time number 4 rolls around you just can't remember who has had their picture taken and who hasn't!! And I am overwhelmed every time I go there by the immense pressure to buy more. Of course the extra ones they took of Emma were so much cuter than the package one. But I stuck to my guns and just got the $6 package. It's cute. But they took this one right at the end when Emma had had enough. The background is Shrek and Donkey and Emma is cracking up. So cute....

Thanks for all the comments on my new blog. I found this guy totally by accident last night as I was browsing blogs. His designs are free and SOOO cool. I'm so cheap, I didn't want to pay for a new one! His site is www.bloggertemplatesbycaz.blogspot.com or there's a link on my sidebar. I just realized that maybe it's not a man....I don't really know. Either way the templates are awesome! Check it out!

Now I must go and clean out Mr. Whiskers cage....Sigh.

Death

Mr. Whiskers died last night. He was my son's pet rat. We told the kids this morning. Jonah cried. Matt told me to get him out of his cage and put him in a box. I couldn't do it. I loved that little rat. I should have waited until they got home from school.....Jonah is really sad. Emma says, "we can get another one. They have them at the store." She heals quickly. So can we please have a moment of silence for Mr. Whiskers our dear pet and friend........

Weekend Update with Mandi

This weekend was a hoot. Grams and Gramps rolled into town on Friday and we promptly went to the Zoo Boo. I will get pictures up some time today. It was.....Ok. The kids had fun getting their costumes on and going, though it was nothing to brag about. We went to the one in Lincoln, Nebraska at their children's zoo and that one was amazing. So this one slightly paled in comparison. But we did get some free chocolate out of the deal. And that always marks a good time in my book. Saturday the Waltons (my nickname for all of us because we do everything as a massive clump of people) headed to the apple orchard. I'm fairly disgusted with apple orchards. They've become so trendy. You can't just go and quietly pick apples anymore. We stood in line for 20 minutes just to find out that the apples we wanted to pick weren't ripe yet. Then they have this huge thing for kids called Pumpkin Lane. IT WAS 5 DOLLARS PER CHILD!!!!!! I know for some people that's a good price but when you have four and you're broke......Then my kids REALLY wanted to ride the hay wagon. That too cost money. Remember when it was free????? My mom decided that the kids needed something so off she went on the tractor ride. So we headed out slightly disappointed in the apple orchard scene. We did however go home and have an amazing dinner and card night together. All's well that ends well.

Now however, my home was apparently the target of some nuclear testing this weekend so I must dig through the rubble and see if there were any survivors.....If I don't blog soon, please send help.

My little Jonah man. He's not so little anymore....*sniff sniff*

Ok, so I'm going to tell y'all about our plans for the evening knowing very well that this could yet again open another proverbial can of worms. But this is my blog and my life so there. We are heading to the Zoo Boo. For those of you who don't know what this is it's a super fun thing to do. You dress your kids up in their Halloween costumes and take them to the zoo where there are trails all set up through the animals and they get to trick or treat. It's a blast! I'll post pictures soon of how the kids look. I can't wait.

My grandma and grandpa from New York are coming into town today and they are doing the Zoo Boo with us. Then tomorrow we get to load up and head to the orchard. So big plans this weekend!

This was fun!

Does anyone else worry that if they post things too close together that someone will miss the previous post?? Or is that just my neurosis??

Christina had this on her blog this morning and I was just playing around with it and it was so fun that I decided to post it!

The town where I grew up: It's like a podunk nowhere, couldn't believe there was a picture!





Town where I live now: Duh!














My name: Ok at first I was shocked and appalled...Then, it was strangely appropriate!!!










My grandma's name: There were many disturbing images there, but this one was the best. Isn't my Grandma hot???





















My favorite food: Makes my mouth water just looking at it







My favorite smell: Flowers any and all kinds












My favorite drink: That's kind of a no brainer











My favorite song:













This was so fun! Try it!

Molli's first picture and getting LOST

My school girl

Isn't she so very cute?!?!?! Her first school picture!

Well I was sick and tired of hearing y'all talk about Lost. So we sent away to Netflix to get the first season on DVD. I'M SO HOOKED!!!! I devour each CD and send it back the same day!! But NO ONE and I mean NO ONE must tell me anything! I want to discover everything new. I'm already behind on season 2 so I will wait for that one as well. No hints.....

Speaking of which it's time for the mail to come.....

blah Tuesday

Ugh. It's gray and cloudy and cold here this morning and that is exactly how I feel. I woke up yesterday with the tell tale sign of fall, my horrible sinuses. And alas, no Advil Cold and Sinus. So yesterday was foggy to say the least. By the time Matt got home I was wrapped in blankets on our bed watching TV.

Ok, here's something I need to vent about. Why are men so clueless????? Perfect example. Matt comes home yesterday from work and I feel like someone is slamming a wrecking ball into my face and the front of my head. So of course he asks what he can do for me, rubs my feet, makes dinner and takes care of the children so I can rest. NOT!!!! He stretches out and takes a nap!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHH!!! So I finally pull myself together briefly as it's 6:15 and the kids haven't eaten dinner yet. Then he gets mad at me. Am I totally alone on this one??? When he is sick, the whole universe revolves around him. I let him rest making sure the children don't bother him and making sure he's drinking fluids, etc. Apparently when I'm sick I just need to suck it up and still accomplish everything else on my plate. *deep breath* I love my husband, adore him actually. But this kind of one sided stuff makes me crazy.

I'm feeling slightly better this morning. Let's see if I can accomplish anything!

Today is Molli's very first ever field trip. They're headed to the apple orchard and I can't be there. This is so hard! One of the down sides of having lots of kids is that you don't always get to be there for the firsts. She was so excited.

Amazing

My weekend away....where to even begin? People asked me when we got back if it was good. At first I hesitated. Good? Hmmm. Then I answered, "It was life altering." People were stunned. I think they expected me to say, 'Oh it was good." Simple, pat answer. But it wasn't that simple. If you have never experienced Beth Moore, she is an amazing servant of God. God uses her is such a mighty way. And God used her this weekend to minister to me. Awesome, inspiring, life changing.

Of course shopping in Shipshewana was very fun. God just used such a wonderful time to minister in my life. Just awesome.

Getaways and Prejudice

Only 16 hours until I get to leave!!! Yee haw! I am so stinking excited. I love Beth Moore and shopping and a hotel??? Heck yeah!

So here's something that happened to my girlfriend and I need some feedback from you other moms. She is walking into the school the other day to drop off her son at Pre-K. She has a total of three kids ages 4, 2, and 7 months. As she's walking by a group of teachers she hears them say, "I can't believe she has three kids! I would never do that these days. And man, all three boys! (sidenote: the baby is girl and was dressed all in pink!!!)" So she feels absolutely mortified and then angry. This has happened to me once or twice where people will randomly say (another sidenote, when these people make these comments do they just think that they're talking softly????) "Good grief, do you think those are ALL her children??" Or my favorite, "Wow, you have your hands full." So here's my rant, brace yourselves.....IT'S MY LIFE! I'm the one who has to take care of them, feed them, dress them, punish them, put them to bed, and make sure they look like orphans everytime we leave the house. So what difference does it make to you how many children I have??????? This totally makes me want to have 5 more. Why does society think that if you have more than 2.5 children there's something wrong with you?!?!?!?!?!?!?

*deep breath* Ok, I'm calming down. I'd like to hear what y'all have to say about this. And if you think that 2.5 children is the acceptable number of children that's ok. Just like to hear some honest opinions.

Crazy week

WHEW! I have to catch my breath....this has been one crazy week. We moved back into my mom's to take care of my little brother while my parents were away. Kind of weird being there full time again. Man, I thought getting four kids up and moving in the morning was crazy!! Add in a brother who has Cerbral Palsy who has braces to put on his leg and has to be dressed and put into his wheelchair........oy vey. Really testing my limits. I love being available to take care of him.

This Friday I get to escape. The ladies at our church are going to a church in Sturgis for a telecast of the Beth Moore conference in NYC. We're leaving early Friday morning and spending the day shopping in Shipshewana. Then I get to sleep at a hotel (!!!!!!) and finish the conference on Saturday. I am so excited!!!

Well I don't really have time to sit here and blog so I better get moving!

Ok, I'm guilty. I stole....again. I was lying in bed this morning answering these questions to myself and decided, what the heck? (Forgive me Misty!)



FIRSTS
First best friend: Michelle Rimshas from South Lyon....wonder where she is
First kiss: Phil Blankenbaker under the apple trees at Fairlane Assembly of God
First true love: Traver Goodrich, man I was crazy about him
First piercing/tatto: I had to wait until I was 14 to get my ears pierced and tatoos?? Needles, enough said.
First big trip: My brother and I flew alone to Arizona when I was 10
First flight: To Disney World for the infamous family trip there, I was 3
First time Skiing/Snowboarding: LOL, at Shanty Creek, the bunny hill. I got stuck on the ski lift, rode it around four times before I got off and crashed into he ski rack.
First concert: Phil Driscol when I was 6
First Alcoholic Drink: My cousin Kari and I snuck a drink of my grandpa's vodka, it was so disgusting, haven't touched it since!
First ticket violation: none
First job: Delievering newspapers
First date: Never really dated...had lots of boyfriends though

LASTS
Last car ride: Taking Jonah to school
Last time you cried: Last night watching Extreme Home Makeover
Last movie watched: "Don't tell mom the babysitters dead" I know......
Last food you ate: Nachos
Last love: Like before marriage? Um, Mike Leach
Last temptation: Chocolate, always chocolate
Last item bought: chocolate
Last annoyance: That my laundry seems never ending
Last alcoholic drink: Wine
Last Concert: SCC with Casting Crowns and Chris Tomlin
Last phone call: me calling? Mindy. calling me? Mindy lol
Last time at the mall: Last week, Mindy and I escaped there early one morning after we dropped the kiddies at Pre-K, great time to play at the playland, no one is there besides the granny mallwalkers

NOW
Current Best Friend: That's a tough one, Jocelyn will always be my best friend. However, she is in Bosnia so that makes best friend stuff a little harder to pull off. I'm always with and or talking to Mindy, so she's my "live here" best friend.
Current Car: A white Pontiac Transport
Current love: Sydney, I mean I always love her, but she's jsut at that age where she is just so stinking cute
Current drink: Pepsi, I've tried so hard to quit, I jsut can't
Current activity: laundry, always laundry
Current annoyance: Go Diego Go
Current mood: Good, ready for the week

So there you have it, even more useless information about me. As if there could ever be enough.....

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

We have entered a new phase. Here's the story...

Jonah got invited to a birthday party yesterday. It was a family from church whose son just turned 10. So Jonah went to the party. When he got home he was sporting a marshmallow gun. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a gun made out of PVC pipe that you can shoot little marshmallows out of. Great fun for boys.....:) Anyway, I was standing outside talking to our neighbor shortly after Jonah got home. He was loading his gun when he dropped some of the marshmallows on the ground. Without skipping a beat he said, "Sh*t". I reeled around, completely shocked. "WHAT DID YOU SAY??!?!?!?!?" " Sh*t" he answered, totally nonplussed. I ushered him into the house, sat him down and explained why we do NOT use that word. He had this blank look on his face. I suspect that he picked up that little word at the party with the 10 year old boys. Oh man, kids really do the darndest things.

Now it's Sunday afternoon and I really want to take a nap......zzzzzzz.........

Oh and I need some help, there was a sitcom in the 80's about a family and their daughter was a robot. Anyone remember the name of the show???

Celebrate

Just a quick update, JONAH GOT 100% ON HIS SPELLING TEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I stole this from Christina's blog. I'm such a sucker for these things...sorry to subject you to more useless information about myself!



What I was doing 5 years ago : We were living up north in Mancelona, I was very pregnant with Molli and Jonah was 1 1/2
What I was doing one year ago : Living with my mom and dad, sending Jonah to school for the first time
What I did yesterday (Wed) : Took the kids to school, fought with Molli to take a nap, cleaned house, made dinner, taught at AllStars
Five songs I know all the words too :
1. Any Steven Curtis Chapman song
2. All of our allstar songs
3. All of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals
4. Summer of 69 by Bryan Adams
5.All of the songs from the new show Go Diego Go

Five snacks I enjoy
1.candy
2.Pepsi
3.Chocolate
4.Doritos with mild cheddar dip
5.My aunt Carol's taco dip

Five things I would do with 100 million dollars
1.Tithe
2.Pay off my parent's mortgages
3.Pay for my kids to go to college
4.Buy a Honda Odyssey
5.Give random money away to people I love

Five places I would run away too
1.Mackinaw Island
2.Paris
3.any place in Hawiaii
4.Alaska
5. Disneyworld

Five things I would never wear
1. a bikini (AMEN!)
2. a thong
3. any shirt that shows my belly
4. Any shirt where my bra straps show
5. a nose ring

Five favorite tv shows
1.House
2.Extreme Home Makeover home edition
3. Ellen
4.Amercian Idol
5. Judging Amy

Five great joys
1.My kids
2.Family night where we play cards
3.Waking up all warm and snuggly under covers
4.Kid's bedtime
5.Watching others have joy

Five favorite toys
1.My computer
2. DSL
3. All my Pampered Chef stuff
4. my cell phone
5. My hubby :)

Five currnet reads
1. An Echo in the Darkness
2. Harry Potter (I'm re-reading them)
3. The Mitford books, (I'm re-reading them as well)
4. the bible :)
5. Our Foundations book for Sunday nights

Breakthrough

This morning it happened. A break through. I've been praying and praying for this day. And it finally arrived.

As we were headed out the door this morning for school, I grabbed Jonah's spelling list to work with him on the way to school. Last week, he failed it. He still just isn't getting it. So this past week we have been spending time every night on his letters and his spelling words. Back to this morning, I decided to ask him how to spell my. He looked at me and said, "m...y". My heart leapt.
"Ok," I said, trying to keep calm. "How do you spell can?" Again the brief pause..."C.....a.....n". Now I was ecstatic. He spelled all 5 words correctly. Then I started to worry. Just because he can spell them orally doesn't mean he knows what letters to write down. So I asked him to use his finger to write the letters as he spelled them. HE DID IT ALL RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you Lord for this awesome thing that you did. Maybe he will learn to read at some point!!!!

Today

Well the remainder of my Sunday went very well. Matt got home and I went and worked out. I took out all the frustration of the day on myself working out. I felt so much better after that. And evening church was awesome. Once again, the fear thing has dissapated, very weird.

I feel so accomplished. Yesterday, I went to the store, rearranged and cleaned the girls room, did 12 loads of laundry (dry and out away), cleaned the kitchen, cleaned my bedroom, made dinner, did homework with Jonah, and exercised again. A very busy but successful day. Now I'm sitting here thinking I should indulge myself in a movie or something else frivolous. Probably not though, guess I should clean the rest of the house. It never ends :)

Fear and Sundays

How to begin? Last night I was up late. Matt had to get up at 1:30 so he was in bed by 8 as were the children. So I spent some time on the computer chatting and then watched a movie. It wasn't a scary movie, actually it was a really cheesy ABC Family movie. It was 11:30 when I headed to bed. I don't know what happened. As I was lying there, I was drenched with sweat while this fear overtook me. I was convinced that if I looked at the doorway of my bedroom there would be someone standing there waiting to hurt us. I haven't felt this way since we lived in Nebraska. I felt that almost every night there. But since we moved into this house, I have slept soundly every night, except when I am catching barf that it. But last night it consumed me. I woke Matt up and we prayed. Yet it lingered. Could there have been evil lurking? There's an empty house one down from us and it always gives me the creeps. So I did not sleep well. Then Matt left in the middle of the night and it was even worse. Satan really had my number last night. So I was dead tired when I woke up this morning.

Why do Sundays seem to be the most hectic, chaotic days??? You'd think on a day when you are going to worship our awesome God it would just be an awesome experience. Well I was super tired this morning, we got a late start and Matt wasn't home. When Matt works on Sundays, it always increases my stress level. With minimal stress, I got everyone showered dressed and out the door in 45 minutes. Then we had to run to the store. Stress level increasing as children are clamoring for things. Then we got to church and I was setting up Kafe Koinonia (coffee and doughnuts) and Sydney dumps strawberry milk all over the carpet. Stress level mounting. Then Emma dumps all her sprinkles from her donut all over the carpet. Stress level climbing. Then Sydney pulls over a plant and the water and foamy green stuff go everywhere. I lost it. Once I found my sanity, it was time to go into the sanctuary for worship team practice. The children were running/screaming through the sanctuary. AHHHHHHHHHHH! So my Sunday morning was stressful and not very worshipful at all. Ugh.

*deep breath* I am however going to relax this afternoon and prepare my heart for this evening and we'll try it again :)

Roses will bloom again

We survived the funeral. I wasn't sure I could even go with Emma and Sydney (3 and 1 respectively), but we sat in the balcony and they did great. They didn't even start getting fussy until 1 1/2 hours into the service. It was a 2 1/2 hour serivce. It was beautiful. The flowers were respelndent.

This morning as Emma was taking a shower and getting ready, I remembered something. This lady had always told me that she wanted Emma's curls. So I pulled out my scissors and cut Emma's hair. I had been planning on it anyway. I took the fallen curls and put them in a little bag. As we entered the church, I sought out her husband. "These are for her, " I said with tears welling up. He looked at me and replied, "She always wanted them." He hugged me and went up to the coffin and tucked them into her hands. It was perfect.

I quick ran home and got Molli off the bus and we headed back to the church. Then we went to the cemetery. Thus began the questions, "Mom, where is Mrs. Del? "Why is she in that box?" "THEY'RE GOING TO PUT HER IN THE GROUND?!?!?!?" Why, Mom?" "Why did she die?" So MAtt and I spent the good part of the graveside service answering Molli's questions. Of course nothing seemed right in her four year old mind.

It was a beautiful day and I know she was smiling and singing.

Moving on

I've learned that, despite grieving, life moves on. Last night we were at worship team practice and it was as if nothing had happened. Dad said, "Mandi, time can't come to a stand still. We miss her and it's sad. But there's a time for mourning and and time for dancing." So we danced. Friday we will grieve once more as we say good-bye. but life moves on.

Ok is there ANYONE who blogs on here who is not pregnant?????I swear if it's catching through the comment boxes, I'm outta here.

Not too much else going on. I'm puzzled on today the first day of fall as to why it's still 85! I'm ready for jeans and sweat shirts!! Of course that means socks and shoes which I loathe. But I am ready.

Tears

She died last night......

And now my emotions are so divided. I'm heartbroken for her family and for those of us who will never hear her laugh again. She used to be a singer, a good one at that. Then she had this surgery and it damaged her vocal chords. She could sing no more. But you know what? Today, she is singing in heaven with Jesus. How can that be a sad thing???? We sang on Sunday... "You give and take away." His decision to take her home. "Though there's pain in the offering, blessed be Your name..." I can just see her walking with Jesus, using her Puerto Rican accent. No more pain....

Deep saddness

As I sit here typing, I'm trying to gather my thoughts. Trying to sort out my feelings...

I just got a phone call. A lady from our church is dying......

I'm remembering when we first moved here. She is the sweetest little woman. She's Puerto Rican and has the most darling little accent. She's not old....about 55. She got sick.....they weren't sure why. Come to find out that it was a reaction to the gastric bypass surgery she had had. So they reversed the surgery. She went home only to be readmitted later that week. She hasn't left the hospital since. Now we (our church) are on the brink of something big. One of our very own dying......

Will people be angry? Why would God let this happen to her and her family? I'm so saddened and I've only known her for a year. I can't imagine how the rest of the people feel who have known her since she was young.

Death is never easy. She's a believer so I know where she's headed. Somehow that doesn't make it any easier right now. God could do a miracle, He could heal her. Will He?

Sorry for the heavy entry. that's just how I'm feeling right this second.

Weekend Stuff

Well Molli survived her first day at school. She LOVED it, or at least she told me that about one hundred times! When I went to get her up for school on Friday morning, she complained, "I don't wanna go to school!" I quickly informed her that pre-school was optional and I would pull her out if she continued to fight me on it. Well, that did the trick! She had an equally good time the second day. My only complaints are these:I drop Jonah off at school at 8AM. Molli is in a different school. Her door doesn't open until 8:30AM. So we drop Jonah off and sit in the parking lot of her school for about 20 minutes. Big pain! My next complaint is that we have to park in kingdom come and hike all the way through the school to drop her off. Me, with all my little quails in a row behind me. Dodging the bigger kids as they run to get to class. HUGE pain. Other than that, I think school is great.

This morning I woke up feeling very queasy. The first thing that came to my mind? "OH NO!!! I'M PREGNANT!!" No, I'm really not. But that was the first thing I thought. Actually I believe it is the bug that has been plaguing our family this week. I, however, will NOT vomit. I would rather give birth 8 times in a row than get sick to my stomach. So basically, I'm just miserable. I'm praying it passes soon. Well time to get kiddies cleaned up for bed!

Nice hair kid

I meant to get a shot BEFORE she left for school...her hair looked SOO cute! Ah well. Here she is getting off the bus and she must have had fun if her hair is any indication! No tears or anything. Holy cow, I have two kids in school!!!!

A typical Molli pose, she loves the nametag. can you tell????
My littlev Molli

Yep, still

Matt kissed me at 3:30 AM as he was leaving for work. "By the way, honey, Jonah just threw up on his floor. Have a good day!" NNOOOOOOOOOO! So yet again I climbed out of bed in the middle of the night, scrubbed carpet and caught more puke. We better be done with this.

Molli went to school this morning, pics and stories to follow!

Again

Here we are again. A morning with no sleep. The reason? More puke. Molli came downstairs at 3 AM telling me that she couldnt' sleep. Immediately I knew why. Matt was just leaving for work so she snuggled in next to me. She told me she still couldn't sleep. So I put in Sleeping Beauty thinking that would help her fall asleep, all the while waiting for her to tell me that her stomach hurts. I got up and got a towel, just in case. In my head I'm thinking, "Great, another day of washing puke towels." Then, a light bulb goes off. My brother Noah gets all these "chucks" for medical reasons (he has CP). For those of you who don't know what they are, they're the things in the hospital that they put under you when you are having a baby, they absorb everything. Anyway, my mom had just given me a bunch for random uses. So I grabbed one of those instead of a towel. Brillant. They worked like a charm. Moments later Molli tells me she doesn't want to get sick and then proceeds to anyway. And all I had to do is throw it away. So we are DONE with towels! Bring on the chucks, appropriate name by the way :)

So here's my dilemma.... Molli is supposed to start school tomorrow. She has waited sinch March for this day. She asked me every day this summer if it was fall yet. And all week she has been crossing each day off on her little calendar. This is a quick bug. She hasn't gotten sick since 4 AM. Should I still send her to school tomorrow?? What do you guys think??

Gross

It's official. We have christened our new home. Matt was sick on Friday night, officially christening our bathroom. Last night, at every hour on the hour, Emma christened her bed, my bed, the couch and every towel in the house. At 5:30 AM, Sydney decided to help by christening her crib as well.

Can I just say for the record that I hate vomit. It's so nasty. I have been doing laundry ALL day, and nothing but what was used last night! UGH! It doesn't help that Matt is a sympathetic puker so he has to stay far away from the smell and appearance. So guess who gets to do all the cleaning up? Yep, me. So now I'm functioning on about 1 hour total sleep. The girls seem to feel better and are playing wonderfully. I am praying fiercely that Jonah and Molli stay puke free. I'm not sure I could take another night of this.

Well I better keep moving or I will fall asleep typing.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz........

Frustration

Why is it that christians get under my skin more than unbelievers? Probably because I have very little exposure to unbeleivers. MOst of the time the people I hang out with and am around are church people. I have very little patience for people who think they are all that.

Lately I've been struggling with an individual. I used to really look up to this person. I sought advice, bounced ideas off of them, and just shared things. Then some things changed. This person changed. Now I really am having a hard time being around this person. It's so awkward. And it just flat out sucks. Why do things change us? Why does power change us?

Is it me that has changed? I have asked myself this question over the last few weeks. And the answer I've come to is no. It truly is this other person. I am deeply saddened to lose this person. And I haven't really lost them. But I cannot stand to have this person around. Ugh.

I guess it all goes back to what my dad said this morning in his sermon.......relationships are messy. No one's life is tidy and neat. And when we get involved in relationship with people, it's bound to get messy. My problem? I hate cleaning.

Waiting for WIC

Ok, so we get WIC. Do you all know what that is? It has been a HUGE blessing to my family. However, there are a few kinks in the system.

At our last appointment, we were scheduled an appointment time of 4:30 PM. So we arrived and the palce was packed. Thank the Lord that Matt was with me. We didn't leave the office until 7:30 PM. Do the math. That is a heck of a long time to be in an office. I figured out the secret. They give you a time to come in, but they don't go by that. When you arrive, you get a number. So even if you have an appointment, if there are 50 people in front of you, too bad for you.

So today was another big appointment time. By that I mean that they have to weigh and measure the girls, prick their little fingers and do enough paperwork to sink the already sunk Titanic. Thank goodness we only have to do these big appointments every 6 months! Anyway, I was scheduled for 12:30. I got there at 10. Unfourtantely, they had a training seminar and were closed from 10-12. So I came back, at 11:55. I was the first one in the door. "Whew," I thought. "This is going to be fast." I got home at 1:35. Another almost two hour trip. Sydney had a meltdown near the end, she spent the last 20 minutes screaming hysterically while I am trying to listen to the lady explain the girls' growth patterns and how I need to feed them better. Ugh, ugh and double ugh.

Again, WIC is such a blessing to us. But, man, there's got to be an easier way!!!

101?!?!?!

Nothing new to post, life continues on. Jonah is back in school after a VERY long 4 day weekend. He is so excited about the school's first skate night tomorrow night. I must say, I'm looking for ward to it myself.

I;m going to try and do this 101 things about yourself thing. I have no idea if there are that many thing about myself...

1. My real name is Amanda. But NOONE calls me that except my Grandma.
2. I was born in New York.
3. I lived in Pittsburgh.
4. I've touched a whale (at Sea World)
5. And a dolphin, in the wild, it was awesome!
6. I have three brothers and one sister
7. My baby brother is 17 years younger than me
8. I had a baby under water
9. It was the most awesome experience ever
10. I had an epiduarl with my last baby
11. It was the most awesome experience ever
12. All of my children's middle names are family names
13. I ran away when I was 17
14. I too came back
15. I got pregnant before I got married
16. But God is so good, He used it all for His glory
17. I've seen an enormous feedlot, thousands and thousands of cows
18. It stinks
19. I secretly like teeny bopper movies ie. Ice Princess, What a girl wants, etc.
20. I wore a size 5 jean in college
21. Holy cow, I was skinny
22. I collect manatee stuff
23. I adore manatees
24. I love to bake really yummy stuff
25. I love Pampered Chef
26. My favorite part of the day is the evenings when the kids are in bed and the house is quiet
27. I love shoes
28. I would rather buy things for other people than for myself
29. I am never going to make it to 101
30. Both sets of my grandparents are still living
31. My kids adore them
32. I love to swim
33. I fell on top of Kevin Max (of DC Talk)
34. It was at Icthus, a Christian concert weekend thing
35. I was running , and boom!
36. There I was on top of him
37. He was really nice about the whole thing
38. I went to Cornerstone College (now university) in Grand Rapids
39. Matt and I waited until we were engaged to kiss
40. Granted, that was only two weeks, but still
41. I play the game Zuma every day
42. I talk to my friend Mindy every day at least once
43. How awesome to have a friend to do that with!
44. Thank you Lord!
45. I lead music for our children's Wednesday night program
46. I have four children, yes four
47. they are 6, 4, 3, and 18 months
48. We are talking about having another baby
49. Well I'm talking, Matt is ignoring :)
50. I'm only on 50?????
51. I'm on our church's worship team
52. I love to sing, especially worship.....just awesome
53. I like the word awesome
54. I am a P.K. (preacher's kid)
55. I had braces for four years
56. I used to think french kissing was evil
57. Used to think the same thing about tampons
58. I used to pull out my eyelashes and save them
59. Ok maybe that was too weird to share :)
60. My brother is in the Army
61. He jumps out of airplanes
62. They are stationed in Alaska
63. They have four kids too
64. Almost the same ages as mine
65. My maiden name is McGlynn
66. I have blood relatives in Ireland
67. My great grandma and grandpa came here from Ireland
68. I have never swam in an ocean
69. Too afraid of sharks
70. I cannot watch horror movies
71. Sometimes even the previews are too much
72. I love Christmas
73. My sister is going to college to be a police woman oh, excuse me police officer
74. My brother is going to college to be a photographer
75. He takes fabulous pictures
76. In my mind the two of them are still 8 and 9 as opposed to 18 and 19
77. I was a cheerleader (puke)
78. I played Lucy in the musical, You're a Good Man Charlie Brown
79. I also played a young Mary in the play, "Mary a Mother's Story"
80. I was in the play "The Best Christmas Pagent Ever" twice. Once as the mother and once as Beth
81. I also directed it, at a different time
82. I have a dramatic family :)
83. My parents both majored in theatre
84. Now my dad is a pastor
85. I worked at the front desk of a huge resort for a year
86.Now I'm a janitor of our church :0
87. I hate doing dishes
88. We have a pet rat
89. I like him
90. Never thought I'd see the day
91. I wish we could have a dog again
92. I miss Casper
93. She was our dog in Nebraska
94. We had to leave her there :(
95. Lisa Zinn is one of my favorite musical artists
96. I can knit
97. Almost there......
98. We used to have farm animals
99. I got to watch baby lambs being born
100. I had my own horse
101. Her name was Blondie


I DID IT! Ok now that you are vowing to never read my blog again.......

Baseball

Today was a good day. Church was good, worship was rich. Then we went to a baseball game.

I can't remember the last time I went to a baseball game. Now, granted, the Southwest Michigan Devil Rays (triple A team with the New York Yankees) are not too sepcial. Nevertheless, it was a good time. Matt stayed home with the youngest two and I took Jonah and Molli. It was so cool to see them be so excited about everything. Getting their very own ticket, meeting the mascot (an eagle mascot for the DevilRays??!!), finding our seats, and of course (my favorite part) getting snacks! They got to go out on the field and do the chicken dance. At the end of the game they got to run the bases. It was just a super fun experience. Everytime someone on the other team struck out, they would play the song "Hit the Road Jack". Jonah got really good at singing it!

Now tomorrow is Labor Day. Matt has to work but then we get to play a little. I hope all of your holiday weekends were restful and fun!

No school

HOw glorious to be sitting at the computer at 8:30 this morning still in my pajamas!!!! What a great feeling. And thanks for all the awesome encouragement on my exercise/weight loss. You guys are good for my self confidence!

I've decided that I cannot watch too much CNN, I just can't handle it. It was one thing when the disaster and people affected were on the other side of the world. This is here....on our turf. These are our family and friends. This will create ripple affects all throughout our country. I mean, what about their mail??? Where will it go? And those people, those people with nothing. No food, no clothes, no homes.....I cannot imagine. Sure puts things into perspective. Plus Molli is hysterical about water coming into our house. Everytime someone turns on the sink she starts screaming....

And oy vey, the cost of gas. Of course if we lived in Europe it would have been like this forever! But still, $60 to fill my van. Ugh.

Nothingness

Not too much to blog about.....

I'm still exercising three times a week. So far I've lost 6 pounds, not much to brag about. I wish I could wake up tomorrow and be thin....*sigh* Since that is not going to happen, I'll continue to sweat like crazy and drink water till I move into the bathroom to prevent running every five seconds.

Jonah continues to dread school. I got him out of the house this morning by telling him that he didn't have school tomorrow or Monday. I'm not above bribery.

I am counting the days till Molli goes to school....

That's all the excitement from here!

Color me stupid

I am an idiot. I feel like such a schmuck. Here's the update....

At lunch time I heard the crying again. Again it was heart wrenching. I hesitated but the officer had told me to call if I heard it again. So I called, "there's an officer on the way..." Meanwhile I'm pacing. The crying stops. Molli comes running into the house. "MOM, I FOUND THE CRYING BABY!!!" My heart surged. "Where Molls?" We went outside and she pointed down the street, she pointed at a house where a couple from our church live, with their two small girls. Now I'm panicing...what if something happened to her and the baby is alone?????? So I grabbed my girls and ran down the street. As I knock on the door, I'm praying that everything is ok. She answered the door and the girls are at the kitchen tabel, eating lunch. While being relieved that she was ok, I was still thinking about that baby. So I spill the story of the baby monitor to her. "It was probably her", pointing to her baby. "We found out she has a hernia this morning and she has been so upset." So now I feel so stupid, not to mention mortified that I had called the police about this. There was a very simple explanation to the baby crying. She laughed and promised to tease me about it in the future, me calling the police on her! I was relieved that it was her baby and not someone else's who was really being neglected! Meanwhile, I still had to talk to the officer when he arrived. For many reasons, I didn't want to tell him what I had found out for fear that they would go down there and question her. So I simply told him that they crying had stopped and that I was going to butt out. This was his response, "Well at least if the baby was crying, it's not dead." ?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!? Oh yeah, that makes it feel so much better.

So I have learned to NOT jump the gun and to butt out! No more being Nancy Drew......case closed.

The mystery

This is how is happened....

We came home from dropping Jonah off at school. As we are walking up to the house I hear a crying baby. "Odd," I think to myself while quickly counting my children to make sure I hadn't forgotten anyone. I dismissed it as the girls baby doll who cries. As we entered the house, I saw the doll and it was off. Now the crying was louder. I walked into my bedroom and there was no baby, but my baby monitor. And there was a screaming baby on the other end. I dashed up the stairs into the girl's room where the other end of the baby monitor is. No baby. I ran back downstairs. We were obviously picking up a signal from someone else's baby monitor. This baby was hysterical. I listened for over 20 minutes as this baby cried and cried. I went outside and walked around, hoping to hear something. My monitor isn't that great so I knew that it had to be a house close by. I didn't hear anything. I went back inside and listened to the baby cry for another 10 minutes. Then I called 911. "Um, hi. I'm not sure if this is an emergency or not......." I explained to the operator what was happening. He sent an officer. As the policeman entered, he heard the crying and then all of sudden the monitor went dead. He patroled the area and told me to leave the monitor on in case I heard it again. My heart is so heavy for this little one. Now, you must know that I really do not jump the gun on stuff. I do NOT get involved in things where I don't belong. There have been times when we have had to let our children cry themselves to sleep. But there was something in this baby's cry...my gut just told me that something was very wrong. So if you think about it, will you pray about this today? Pray that this little one is ok, that there was a perfectly good explanation. I'll update if anything changes.

My birthday

Well today is my birthday. All I can say is how I wish birthdays could always be the same as when you were little. They were so much more of a thing. Ah well. It was a good day. Our friends from Nebraska were here for dinner which was really great. And my girlfriend Mindy made me a manatee cake!!!! My first one ever! She rocks.

I really tried to not get all worked about it and it worked. I passed through the day without really worrying about whether or not it was all about me. So thank you Lord for helping me not to be so selfish. I got to have a wonderful steak and I didn't have to do dishes. That in itself makes it a good birthday!

So here's to me, 26 years old. Only four more years till 30.....

7 things

I stole this from Christina's blog, I'm a sucker for these things!


7 things to do before I die
1.watch my kids get married
2.Go to Hawaii with Matt
3. Swim with a manatee
4. Send my parents to Europe
5.Go to Europe myself
6. Go to Saddleback Church
7.lose 40 pounds

7 things I can do
1.Sing
2.Make people laugh
3. Watch lots of kids and not lose my mind (well not till later anyway!)
4.Bake really good desserts
5.Make sure my kids clothes match
6. Do four things at once
7. Be a good friend

7 things i can not do
1.kill bugs, or spiders or mice
2.diet
3. Survive without my husband
4.Go without talking to my friend Mindy for more than a day :)
5.Keep track of everything in my house
6.dance
7.cut hair

7 things that make me love my husband
1.he loves me!
2.he always knows when something is bothering me
3.he knows how to fix it
4.he defends me
5.he lets me sleep in
6.he watches the kids
7.he volunteers to help me with my cleaning job even if he has worked all day

7 things i say most
1. because I said so
2.Where's Sydney?
3.What did you say to me?
4.no
5. knock it off
6.holy catfish
7.who is your mother

7 celebrtiy crushes
1. Sean connery
2.Mel Gibson
3.Richard Gere
4.Hugh Grant
5.Colin Firth
6.hugh jackman
7. Howard Keel

7 people i want to take this quiz
1.whoever
2 i dont care
3.if u want to do it
4.you
5.whats your name agian
6.yeah..you
7.you there...

Days 3&4

Still here. Guess that's a good thing, right? Matt's day home was awesome. It helped break up the week. It was hard to let him go again, but not quite as hard knowing it would only be a few more days.

We had our kick off for AllStars which is our Wednesday program at church. It went really well. Lots of new kids!

Yesterday was all about laundry as I have been in denial about it all week. Then I got to go to a Pampered Chef party. I LOVE those. Thank you Tori for stepping in at the last moment to do child care!!!!

MATT COMES HOME TOMORROW AND THEN IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!