Someone asked me the other day to name the top 12 moments of 2007, one from every
month. Since it took me a while, I decided to post it, with pictures, so I wouldn't forget.




January - this one took the longest as it was a long time ago!! Thomas rolling over!


February - Starting my diet











March - Getting Chunky (our dog!)














April - Marked one year without Grandpa














May - Jonah jumping into the pool at 52 degrees, haven't laughed that hard since!














June - moving into OUR FIRST HOME!!! (with the best yard ever!)


















July - Watching my beautiful Molli walk down the aisle (as a flower girl, but still!)


















August - Celebrating nine years with Matt and turning 28















September - Thomas turning 1








October - The women's retreat, what a God weekend! (Sorry, no pic for this one!)















November - Going to see the Polar Express in IMAX 3-d, what a magical experience!

















December - Another family filled holiday with so many blessings!

For the first time in my life, I have hair that I adore! They cut off nine inches and that nine inches changed me. I no longer feel like a frumpy housewife, I feel like I can hold my own with the fancy SUV driving moms at school! The cut is just perfect and the highlights are great! Tell me what you think!

From here....
to here.....
A very happy birthday to my 7 year old girl, Molli Louise.
Molli,
You are such a light in my life. I see so much of myself in you (which is good and not so good). I love watching you grow and change and learn new things. Your love of reading is so cool to see and watching you devour books makes me smile. I pray that God will grow you this year, not only in stature, but also in realizing your place in this world and how you can live for Him. I love you Molli bug!

I saw this on Kelli's blog and thought it was somewhat cute. So I decided to add my kids faces and I haven't laughed this hard in a long time...check it out!



http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1127816716

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1127922332

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1128306980

THE CHRISTMAS SURVEY!!!

1. Hot chocolate or apple cider?
Hot chocolate all the way baby

2. Turkey or Ham?
I like both.

3. Do you get a Fake or Real Christmas tree?
REAL, I HATED when we had to have a fake one, although Matt never had a real one growing up and it made him nervous at first :)

4. Decorations on the outside of your house?
This is the first year we have put lights up on the outside of a house, it looks so beautiful.

5. Snowball fights or sledding?
I adore sledding, I always get hurt in snowball fights.

6. Do you like hanging around the fireplace because it's warm?
No, it's just so homey and cozy.

7. Do you enjoy going downtown shopping?
Absolutely

8. Favorite Christmas song?
O little town of Bethlehem

9. How do you feel about Christmas movies?
I enjoy most of them

10. When is it too early to start listening to Christmas music?
Never, I do it year round

11. Stockings before or after presents?
Stockings are always first, have to eat breakfast before we are allowed to open presents

12. Carolers?
Slightly cheesy

13. Go to someone else's house or they come to you?
We always spend the night at my mom's house. It's so magical and I'm 28!

14. Do you read the Christmas Story the night before christmas?
No, Christmas Day

15. What do you do after presents and dinner?
Play with gifts and eat some more

16. What is your favorite holiday smell?
My real tree, Christmas cookies baking

17. Ice skating or walking around the mall?
I enjoy both although there's less risk of injury if I walk the mall

18.Favorite christmas tradition?
Christmas Eve service, getting all dressed up and walking into the darkened sanctuary and lighting candles and singing carols

19. Favorite Part about winter?
THe very first snow where everything sparkles and is all white

20. Ever Been Kissed Under The Mistletoe?
Actually no, I never seen real misteltoe

Ok, had a really icky parent situation last night and I need some feedback.

Molli is in Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. So on Monday night, we were at practice. Molli and some of her girlfriends were sitting about three seats down from me. I glanced over and noticed one of the girls was crying. The music teacher swooped in and whisked her out of the room. I leaned over and asked Molli what had happened. "She got hurt," was Molli's reply. I let it go. Fast forward to Tuesday night...

Molli and I were sitting in the front row, waiting for practice to start. I notice the hurt girl from the night before (we'll call her Claudia) pointing towards us. Here comes her and her mother. Without any warning this mom gets right into Molli's face and says, "Molli did you hurt Claudia last night????" Molli's eyes get very big. The mom continued. "She says you gave her a snake bite, that is worng Molli, do you hear me??" By now Molli's eyes are welling up with tears. I finally caught my breath, it had all happened so fast. I stood up and said, "Excuse me what is going on here??" She shifted her gaze to me and asked if I was her mother. I replied yes. "Well you need to keep a better watch on your daughter because she is mean and hurt my daughter. I expect that when Claudia comes here she'll be safe and respected but I can see that all parents don't care as much as I do." I was so completely taken aback. I apologized, and had Molli apologized as well. She didn't stop. "I wasn't even here last night, my husband was and I can't believe this happened." This whole time Claudia is standing there with her arms across her chest with this huge smirk on her face, clearly enjoying this whole thing. I apologized again. "Where were you when all this was going on," she demanded. I replied that I was sitting three seats away. I thought back to the previous evening and remembered that Claudia's dad was sitting in the balcony with his hat over his eyes the entire time. I didn't mention this however.I also tried to remember hearing Claudia cry out or anything to suggest that she was in pain, I never heard anything. At this point the director came over and asked if everything was alright. I answered her that everything was fine. "Well not really, but I guess it'll have to do," the evil mother replied. I scooped Molli up, who is now sobbing, and we went out into the hall. I had Molli recount the whole story to me. It turns out that they were all taking turns giving each other snake bites and Claudia was last and cried. I was embarrassed because Molli had clearly been involved and needed to apologize but she was so crushed at having been attacked like that. I was so furious that this mom had done this. She could have waited until the children were on stage and out of earshot and came up to me and said, "I wasn't here last night, but I heard there may have been an altercation between our daughters..." Instead she verbally attacked my six year old. I wish I had responded better. Even though Molli needed to apologize (come to find out Claudia should have apologized as well as she was involved too), there was NO excuse for the mother to do that. I got Molli calmed down and sent her back in to practice. After practice was over, we headed to the door. Claudia and her mom were standing near a teenage girl who is in the show. "That's the girl who hurt me," Claudia said loudly as we passed by. I was so furious. I walked faster knowing that if I even paused for a moment, I'd slug her mom.

So what would you all have done????

We have switched internet providers....AGAIN! Long stpry and I don't want to talk about it as we have been "internet less" for the last week! AHHHHHHHHH!!

So what have you missed?

- Molli tried out for and got into the Battle Creek Community Theater's production of Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. She LOVES it and is so excited about it. Her mom however is second guessing the three rehearsals a week :)

- We had Noah for a week while my parents were away. It was a great week full of laughs and good times. We culminated it by taking him and Jonah, Molli and Emma to see the Polar Express in the IMAX 3-d. I just have to tell you all that this was one of the best experiences in my life. It was......magical. I just can't think of another word. It took my breath away. And watching my kids ( and Noah) try to catch the falling snow and touch Santa....gives my goosebumps. It was great!

- Matt and I did some more demo in our new place and ripped out cabinets and countertop opening up our back breezeway to make room for coats and boots (yes, winter is coming...) Demo is fun....cleaning up is not!

- Tomorrow night is our big holiday parade..the official kick off to the holidays in Battle Creek, they light all the lights at the end. It's festive and fun.

I'm having a hard time getting ready for Thanksgiving with this mild weather....feels like spring, not Thanksgiving. But I guess it could be worse! Well having been offline for a week, I have a LOT of catching up to do! Till next time!

-

Tonight I am feeling thankful. And, since you decided to stop here, you must read the list...

1. That today was so productive, clean house, tons of leaves raked....

2. That we are able to burn our leaves and not have to bag them all, thank you Lord!

3. That tomorrow is Sunday

4. That my big little brother comes home from Iraq in a few weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5. That my mom's party is over....no more details!

6. That my mom and dad leave tomorrow for their vacation, it's such a refreshing time for them.

7. That Noah gets to stay with us while they are gone.

8. That tonight is game night with friends, which means I don't have to put the children to bed!!!

9. That almost all the Halloween candy is almost gone.

10. That I have a DVR....how did I survive before??

11. That it's almost the official "holiday season"!

12. For Josh Groban's new Christmas album

13. For my children, who sometimes amaze me with their thoughtfulness

14. For my other big little brother who is the most amazing babysitter

15. For my wonderful home, what a blessing.

There's so much more....but I'll spare you the 100 list


For now.... :)

FINALLY!!!! I can finally blog about this...I have been waiting and waiting, dying to share with all of you. And now, I finally can. Ok, how many of you still think I'm pregnant?!??!

Last night I threw my mom a surprise party for her 50th birthday. I started planning this back in the beginning of August. I wrote to her friends from all over and some of them traveled long distances to be here. I plotted and planned. I snuck into her house while she was a t work and spirited away pictures for a video. I e-mailed and made invitations. It was so much fun. There were a couple of times I was pretty sure she was onto me. Then came yesterday. I had asked if my brother Noah could come and spend the night with us on Friday night. Mom readily agreed (we do that a lot anyway). So Saturday morning, my sister showed up and we went and got all the food while my other brother Josh babysat the troops. We had it at our church so we got all set up. There's a business across the street from our church that gave us permission to park all the cars there. The guests were all there and we were waiting. At 4, my dad's friend Jimmy called him on his cell phone and told him that he was at the church and the boiler had exploded and we needed as many people here as possible. So Dad somehow got Mom into the car (she was SOO mad at having to go to church!) and got her to the church. They walked into the dark fellowship hall where the lights went on and 60+ people screamed, "Suprise!!!" She almost fainted! She had NO idea!!! She was so surprised...I can't believe we pulled it off!! It was so great. We all laughed and ate. It was such a wonderful time to celebrate the wonderful woman that I am privledged to call my mom. An event planner, I am not. This much was made clear to me. But I had such a blast with this. I'm going to try and post the video that I made for her party. It was great!

Something's coming, I don't know what it is, but it is, gonna be great...............

This is my theme song for tomorrow....more to come....and NO I AM NOT PREGNANT!

Time for a real post...enough with the pictures already :)

Things seems very busy here, although I'm not sure why. Sydney is loving preschool and I love that she loves it. It chops my days up more than they already are, but what can you do? She goes at 8:15 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, so I put Jonah and Molli on the bus at 7:40, get everyone else ready, take Syd to school, go back to pick her up at 10:15, rush home to get Emma on the bus at 11:15....by lunch time, I am ready for a nap! That all sounded like I was complaining, I'm not really. I love the preschool, it's less than 1/8 of a mile down the road, and it gives Sydney the social outlet we were looking for. Jonah survived the MEAP test, thanks to all of you who were praying for him on that one. He seems unscathed so we'll breathe easy now till 5th grade! He decided to give up three lunch recesses a week to join the third grade choir. I was shocked at first although I'm beginning to sense that perhaps it's a girl...but he seems to enjoy it. Molli is auditioning for Joseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat next week. I've tried to prepare her for the possibility that they may not choose her. She says, it doesn't matter. We'll see :) Emma is kicking butt in kindergarten, or as much as you can kick butt in kindergarten. She comes home almost every day telling me it was a "fantabulous" day. And my Thomas man...oh Thomas. He brings a smile to my face, always. Even when he's in trouble. The other day he climbed onto and fell off of the couch twice, fell off of the coffee table, fell off his window perch and fell down three stairs.....all in the span of 10 minutes!!! My hair is getting grayer by the day. We have the living room completely sealed off with baby gates and the stairs are supposed to be, however, I do forget from time to time and off he goes in a flash. He LOVES to play in the girl's room with them...they are slightly less enthusiastic about it :) He's not walking yet, not because he cannot. He puts his arms in the air and yells and all his siblings come running. Ah, the little prince. At this rate, he'll be crawling into kindergarten. But I find myself somewhat glad that he's not rushing into it. Since he is most likely my last, I'm glad he's staying in the baby stage a little longer!

It can't possibly be that Christmas is around the corner and snow will soon fly. We are having a hay day with all the leaves in our new yard...well let me clarify that. The kids are having a hay day, I am developing arthritis from all the raking!! But we are in full fall mode having completed the annual trip to the pumpkin patch and gathering items for Halloween costumes. and now I'm off to make hot cocoa and apple crisp...ahhhhh...fall!

We have returned from vacation! A great trip, minus the weather! It was cloudy and rainy the whole trip, but we were determined the make the most of it! Our hotel was lovely and the kids loved it! Enjoy the pics below and a real post will follow once I have found my house under the "vacation" stuff!

Golly, where has this month gone?? I looked at the date on my last post and gasped....time flies!

Not much going on in the Kurtz home. I leave early tomorrow morning for an all weekend Women's Retreat. I am so excited about this...it promises to be an amazing time of reconnection with our great God. I return on Sunday morning in time to run the media for church and then, immediately after church is over, we leave to head up to Mackinaw for four days. Matt has the week off and so we are out of here. The forecast looks awful,but we are determined to have a fabulous time, despite it :) I'm sure there will be a plethora of pictures once we return home.

The kids are progressing in school. I volunteered to be a "room parent" for the kid's school parties. This new school district is extremely different than the other we had been in. It's much more upscale and trendy. So I'm struggling with finding my place in the world of trendy mom with their snazzy SUV's and perfectly groomed children :) No offense to anyone who washes their children or drives an SUV :)

Well time for the bus to arrive....more updates soon.

Happy Birthday my beautiful boy!!!

Ok, so for all my spouting about how I couldn't wait for the kids to go back to school...I was a MESS this morning! I held it together until they left but then I lost it! I was so worried about them finding friends and not knowing where to go once they got to school....so I kissed them good-bye and put them in my Father's hands. Thanks goodness they are so much bigger than mine. Now I am counting the minutes till they come home!!! Here are some pictures from this morning!

So talk about feeling guilty...
Last night we decided to put up the camper, invite some friends over, have a bonfire and then all the kids and I would sleep in the camper for one last hurrah before school. Everything was going great. Our friends brought over their two motorbikes and the kids were taking turns getting rides all over our huge yard. Then the trio (Molli, and her friends Tristan and Cody) decided to take a break and play on the swingset. I saw them standing on the swings and I thought to say something but didn't. Seconds later, Cody is on the ground crying. His mom went over and then asked me to come take a look. His arm was very obviously broken!!!!!!!!!! So she rushed him to the ER where they told her his wrist was broken in two places and he would have to put under for them to set it. I feel so incredibly guilty about this. I should have told them to sit down...if I hadn't had the idea of the sleepover/campfire, he never would have been there.....

So my question is this...has this ever happened to someone else????

I remember when we were attending Jonah's school concert and the fifth graders did a set from a movie called "High School Musical". I remember thinking, "Gag me, another lame Disney original movie!" But then it was all the hype so we rented it and watched it. And I was vindicated, "Totally lame", I thought to myself. But then I watched it again, and again, and again (Thanh you Noah!!!) ANd not only did I love it, but my children and my parents as well!! So when we heard there was a second one...we were geeked! We counted down the days and planned a "HSM 2" party. It was a blast. And now we've watched it at least a dozen times and I love it more every time. Now, don't get me wrong....Lord of the Rings it is NOT..but there's just something about it. And I can't tell you what that thing is....but I just love these movies!

4 adults, 8 children under the age of 8, one camper, one tent.....one BIG adventure!!!!

Matt -

9 years ago today we stood inside that little white chapel, sweating like mad and promised to remain faithful, love each other always, defend each other, and stay together till death. Looking back I remember so much about that day. But most of all I remember the look on your face as I came down the aisle with my daddy. I knew there was no turning back. I loved you so completely that day.

As the years have passed, so much has happened. We've moved 7 times, added 5 beautiful children to our family, cried, suffered, laughed, danced, kissed, fought, and held each other tight. There is not one moment that I would trade. And yet seeing that one moment where you placed a ring on my finger seems to be the most poignant today. We were so young, so thin! And God was there. One of the reasons we are here today is Him. He has always been near. And, more than once, you have helped me to Him. Helped me find Him when I feared that He had left. You are an amazing man.

Some would think that 9 years would make love fade or dim somewhat. Yet, I love you more completely this day than that day 9 years ago. My love has deepened, aged and grown with every passing moment. I love you dear husband....here's to the rest of our lives.

Things I am loving right now:

- My mom's pool, what a blessing!

- The last Harry Potter book, I don't want it to end!

- Hawaiian Tropic's Lime Coolada lotion, it's amazing!!!!!

- Thomas learning to crawl

- Not having to mow our huge yard because it's all dried up!

- Watching my arms get muscular, who knew I'd have muscles???

- Finding tons of people I knew on Facebook, and I barely go there!

- Friends to share things with

- My window air conditioners, who knew they'd be so effective

- Papa Murphy's Cinnamon wheels, a dieters nightmare (and delight!)

- my new wonderful house which I just adore!

Ah yes, the long awaited post...I know, you were all holding your breath for it!

Two unbelievable things have happened to me in the last week....

1. I, Mandi Kurtz, went garage saleing. Now, don't get me wrong...you can find AWESOME things at garage sales. It's just not something I have ever done before. The thought of taking my children from place to place, in and out fo the car, hearing them cry hysterically when they can't have every toy that is for sale....yeah. Just didn't sound appealing. But. for whatever reason, we went this past Saturday. I headed out with my girfriend, Mindy (the garage sale guru I call her) and we garage saled. THe kids had each earned $2 doing some chores the day before so they were equipped and ready to spend. They found lots of treasures (junk in my estimation) but they were THRILLED! We came home from lunch and Matt came home from work and we headed out AGAIN! Can you believe it???!!! By that time, it was around 3 PM and most people were closing up shop. We saw something though as we were driving by the last one....something I had secretly hoped we'd find. So Matt hopped out and ran up to see how much it was....and $20 and 2 minutes later he was loading it into our van. Which leads me to the next extraordinary thing...

2. I am a bike rider. I know, another thing you'd never think about me. I hadn't ridden a bike in over 10 years, but our friends let me use a bike that they had lying around. We were still unable to go as a family as Sydney and, obviously, Thomas are not bike riders yet. So that's what we found at the last garage sale...a bike trailer!!! $20 for a bike trailer that was used one time...it was practically new...they paid $145 for it!!!! We took our first trip, just me and Emma, with Syd and Thomas in the trailer. Thomas loved it! And it wasn't as hard to pull as I thought it would be. we're planning our first family bike trip to the park tomorrow which should be so fun. I'll take some pics and post them.

So a new week full of new things and exciting new horizons!

Ok I know, I know...all I've been posting lately is pics and slide shows. But we're home now for a while so the regular posting will begin shortly but here's the latest pics of our camping/wedding trip to Matt's sister's wedding....

So here it is, a video of camping pictures. We had a great time and more details will follow....

..

Well, we are off! We are headed out this morning for a week of camping, memories, sunburn, and mosquito bites! My family, my parents, brother, grandma, and Aunt are taking two campers and heading off into the horizon. We have big plans for the week, Jonah will finally go fishing with the pole he got for his birthday, Molli will get to see a live raccoon(like one in the woods Mom, Emma will get to roast her marshmallows, Sydney gets to sleep in the camper(all night) and Thomas will explore the new sensation of dirt at the campground. As for me, I'm looking forward to trooping to the bathrooms in the middle of the night with children, hearing "Mom, isn't there anything to do???", making sweet memories that we will talk about forever, and of course documenting every moment with pictures to share with you all when we return! See you when we get back!

WHAT WERE YOU DOING 10 YEARS AGO?
10 years ago, wow. So that would have been 1997...I was living with an elderly woman, taking care of her, making her meals, etc. I was also working at McDonald's. Highly exciting. I was preparing to head to Cornerstone in the fall.

FIVE SNACKS YOU ENJOY
Papa Murphy's dessert Cinnamon wheel
Ice cream
Chips and dip
choclate covered pretzels
Muskox morsels

FIVE SONGS YOU KNOW ALL THE LYRICS TO
"There's a Choclate Moose on the loose" Yeah, don't ask!
"Holy is the Lord" Chris Tomlin
"Be with you" Mr. Big
"I will be here" Steven Curtis Chapman
"Potter's Hand" Darlene Zschech

FIVE THINGS YOU WOULD DO IF YOU WERE A MILLIONAIRE
Pay off my parent's mortgage
Buy Noah the computer he needs to communicate
Buy a Sprinter to fit my family
Add on to our new house
Get a carpet cleaner

FIVE BAD HABITS
Rubbing my eyebrows
Not being consistant with discipline
Being lazy about cleaning my house
Not thanking people for gifts, etc.
Spending too much time online :)

FIVE THINGS YOU LIKE TO DO
Be with my family
Read
Kiss my kids good night
play cards with my parents
Eat


FIVE THINGS YOU'D NEVER WEAR AGAIN
A side Ponytail
My bangs straight up
rolled socks
a bikini
A thong

FIVE FAVORITE TOYS
My Camera
my cell phone
movie making software
Dora cash register (hey, I play with kids all day!)
The trampoline

FIVE PEOPLE TO TAG
Amy
Becky
Felecia
Holly K.
Matt k.

Here's my moving day video journal, better late than never! Make sure you read the "catch up" post below!

Thanks be, we 're back. After many tears, despreation, and begging, we have cable internet. It would have been helpful if they had told me that it was available TWO WEEKS AGO!!!!!!!!! *deep breath* but all is well that ends well...

It has been really hot here so we've been swimming a lot. The kids are already brown as can be. Sydney is almost ready to get rid of her tube and swim for real..a few more weeks and she'll become a fish like her siblings. Thomas has made his debut into the pool. We got him a floater things and he bops around in it. He thinks it's fabulous...I'll post pics soon. We are all settled into the new house and have finished most of the major projects. So this week I decided to work on some of the gardens around the house. Right outside the front door is a huge flower bed that was mostly full of Lily of the Valley. I like LOV, but I decided this bed would be beautiful full of other perineals. So I decided to pull out all the LOV. YEAH RIGHT! There were millions of them!!! It took me two hours to just get the leaves out! Then I tried to put a shovel in and turn over the soil. I couldn't even get the pointy end of the shovel into the dirt!!!! It turns out that LOV roots are like cement. Luckily, my girlfriend owns a garden Claw. Even with that, it took 4 hours, 6 blisters and 2 garden refuse bags to get all the roots out! And then, I really could get ALL of them. I have a feeling that I will be fighting with the LOV for a while. In the back I moved some rocks and hostas that my children were trampling and that looks nice. Matt made the comment that I am much more motivated to do things with the yard here than I was at the rental house. I guess it just means more that it's mine. Does that seem silly?? We've moved the trampoline from Mom's house and it's all set up. The kids are thrilled. Papa and GG gave us a great surprise of buying the kids a swingset that will be here next week. OUr yard is starting to look like a theme park, not that I'm complaining!

I'm working on a slide show of pics and video of the move and some recent pics. Stay tuned for those!!!

Hello all....bad news from the Kurtz home. WE CANNOT HAVE INTERNET!!!!!!!!!! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! We are in some sort of dead zone where they do not cable or DSL....I cannot believe this. I feel so out of touch and find myself missing the outside world. Ugh, so we are looking into dial up whih makes me want to wretch, but I must have some sort of contact. So bear with us....grrrrrr!

I apologize for my lack of blogging....things are just crazy!

We closed on the house on Friday the 25th! When the keys hit my hand, I was speechless. I never thought we would own a home, I sure never thought it would be the house of my dreams. God is so good, so faithful, so loving, and so giving. This whole house thing was His idea.....so cool.

So, as to avoid paying another month's rent, we are moving this week. AAAAHHHHH!!! I HATE MOVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So now I am cleaning and hauling and packing and fixing and I might just lose my mind. But the end is in sight and we will be in our new home and that keeps me moving even when my body is ready to give out!

More pics and updates to come....

Watch this one, then watch the one below it for some big news from the Kurtzs!!!




Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

Change of Plans

I had it all planned out. We made the phone calls everyone was coming around 6. Matt and I spent two hours getting the house clean, brownies and coffee made, and everything set up. We were getting ready for our new small group, one that I am SOO excited about. Us and two other couples, both with kids around the same ages. We have prayed and waited for a group like this for so long. Fast forward to 5:35.

I was wrapping up some dishes so the kitchen was clean when Molli told met there was a woman at my door. Sure enough, it was a woman and her two children. They had been in church this morning so I recognized them. Come to find out, they were homeless. We spent the next half an hour trying to get her into the woman and children shelter here in town. Our friends show up with all their children and I think," ok we got her set and now we can go about our meeting." My dad then showed up and asked the three guys if they can go with the dad and help him move out of where they had been living. Now my plan was starting to unravel. I started to get frustrated. These people were messing it all up! Didn't they know that we needed to have our little comfortable meeting and learn about Jesus??!! After all was said and done (suffice to say, we never got to have our first meeting) and everyone went home and the kids are in bed, I'm sitting here. I confess that as I started typing it was to vent about poor little me and how my meeting and best laid plans got messed up by a needy family. But clearly, this was a God thing. He needed me to see that tonight we needed to BE the church, not just talk about it or learn about it. This family needed us, needed our hands, feet, vans and love. Looking back I am glad for the interruption. As I tucked the kids in tonight, I was crying. Sydney wiped my tear away and said, "Mommy, what's wrong?" I kissed her and just told her that I was so thankful to Jesus that we have a home, beds to sleep in, food to eat, clothes to wear, and family to surround us with love. How often we take those small things for granted. So I am thankful tonight for my change of plans!

This past Sunday marked a year that my grandpa died. The day was heavy, full of memories and tears. I went into his bedroom, gathered his pillow to my face and I could still smell him. I walk into their house a couple of times I week and sometimes I still think I will see him in his big chair. This man meant so much to me. We saw them so much growing up. And then they moved next door. He was a part of almost every Christmas and Thanksgiving since I was 12. All through my teenage years he was there, doing weekly room inspections, yelling at me for various things. He taught me to drive in their big white station wagon. I almost killed both of us while he was teaching me to pass. He and Grandma had dinner with our family at least once a week followed by games. He was there when Noah was born and we knew that something wasn't right. He was holding my hand when mom and dad told us that Noah had Cerebral Palsy. He drove down with me to college, exclaiming how glad he was that I was now far away. He was one of the first people to know that I was pregnant with Jonah. He took me aside on my wedding day and told me to feed Matt well and love him always. He drove our getaway car. He held each of my children when they were days old, but was quick to hand them back, claiming they were too small yet, he'd play with them when they were bigger. He wept when we left to move to Nebraska, he urged me to hurry and bring his kids back to him when we moved home. He was there for most of the kids birthday parties, always making sure no one was eating too much. He played hard with the kids, throwing them into the pool, driving them around on his cart, loving on them always.

This man was so much more than my grandfather, he was one of my closest confindants, my champion when life felt like just too much, ever the prankster, ever the hugger....just my grandpa.

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Spring has sprung in the Kurtz household. The kids broke out the bags of summer clothes even though there was ice on the car this morning! Bikes can be seen strewn all over the lawn at any given moment. We saw our first robin this morning. The temps are supposed to climb this week and all I can say is BRING IT ON!!!

I guess I might as well tell you all. It's not like I could keep it a secret much longer anyway. Sooner or later you all would discover it. Of course it was somewhat shocking at first. But now I couldn't be happier......

Happy birthday my Sydney girl!!! I can't believe you are three....you are such an energetic, creative, funny, sweet girl and I love being your mommmy!!

Alright alright...I guess I will blog. I can remember when I couldn't wait to blog, when I would post just a few sentences just so I would have something to post...what has my life come to???

Here's an update on the Kurtz clan....

Matt has a new route at work. They restructured the plant so now he officially has his own route. He's way excited about it. The hours are a little longer which I dislike but we're surviving. We just celebrated Jonah's eighth birthday...that was a rough one for me. How can my oldest be 8?!!?!?! He's doing well in school and I am allowing him to grow his hair out...god help me! Molli is well, flourishing at school and reading at a late first grade level. but not doing so hot in math, that's my girl!! She has tried to sneak one of my bras under her shirts for the last week because all of her girlfiends have bras already....anyone else let their six year old wear a bra???? I mean she barely has nipples for pity sake. Emma is loving school too....getting better everyday at her zoo phonics and over her shyness. Sydney turns 3 on Sunday and has grown up over night. Her vocabulary seems to have quadrupled. She's amazing. Thomas is our little chunker. At almost 6 months old he's weighing in at 18.7 pounds! He has such a sweet disposition, unless he's hungry of course and he only has eyes for Daddy. We've recently joined our local YMCA and I have been going every day. What a blessing that has been!!! they have free childcare so I go and check everyone in and off I go. So awesome. I've also joined Medical Weight Loss clinic and have lost 12 pounds in the last two weeks. It's such an amazing feeling!! Skinny here I come...well maybe not skinny persay, but thinner...heck yeah!

I think that's about it for now....I hate to erase my blogspot. So many things on here that I just can't bring myself to erase. I'll try and be better about posting. We'll see :)

Wow, it's been a while. I'm being wooed by Myspace.....I find myself going there more and more. In truth I've only been coming back here to check my friend's blogs...I feel like I'm having an affair...I will remain faithful to Blogspot. For now....

Not much new here....we joined the YMCA which has been revolutionary for me. People have asked me what made the difference and I really don't know. Maybe it's the availibility. But I really think it's the childcare. It comes free with the membership and I could leave all five kids there. I go in the mornings though so it's usually just Sydney and Thomas. Sydney just loves it. Thomas doesn't mind as long as there is someone to hold him constantly and give him bottles on demand :)Then I go and swim laps or use the treadmills and weights. It's so great. Never thought I would say that about exercising. But there it is. Hopefully I'll start to see some change.

Life trudges on...can't believe we're half way through January....golly where does time go?!?!?

Had my brother on my mind today and this song about did me in...what a beautiful song...




Letters From War

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Whew...well another holiday season has come and gone. Hard to believe...I spend so much time getting ready for Christmas that once it's over I feel like I blinked and missed it! We had a great Christmas. There were some rough spots as we stopped to remember Grandpa and I struggled much more than I thought I would. He's just been a part of our Christmases for as long as I can remember. There was no one to burst through the back door at 7 AM singing "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas", no one to cut the meat at meal time, and no one to complain about all the noise. But despite our tears, we had a blessed day. Here are some pics..

Us on Christmas Eve


Waiting on the stairs for the OK to come down


Jonah being Jonah


Sydney, really excited about the Diego toy she just opened!