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???