It's Monday. That should mean something, right? Although I am already finding that the days of summer are blurring together and I find myself asking,"What day is today?" I find it hard to believe that the Fourth of July is this week. Time for cookouts and fireworks!!
Matt has Wednesdays off so we have been taking those days to do fun stuff with our family. We've gone to the bird Sanctuary, and just this past Wednesday we went to the Air Zoo. It was really fun and this has been a great way to mark the summer. Since Matt doesn't get any vacation time in the summer, this is our way to do cool things. This coming Wednesday we are heading to the balloon festival. Our kids have never been to a carnival, not sure how that's possible. All they can talk about is the Ferris wheel and cotton candy. If that's not summer, I'm not sure what is!

Since I received no comments on my paginas post :), I decided to fill one of these out today...Aren't you all thrilled....

Do you sleep with socks on or off:
Most of the time, no...unless my feet are REALLY cold

Do you flip your pillow to the cold side?
No

Do you like to hold or be held?
Be held

Do you want a small or big wedding?
I had a small wedding, but I'd love to do it all again and have a blow out party

Have you ever churned Butter?
Yes, when we did re-enactments at Cedar Bend Farms...my kids and I make butter a lot by shaking cream in jars

Are you trusting of new people?
Not with personal stuff, no

What is the most money you would spend on a pair of shoes?
I can't stand to spend more than $20 for shoes...can't imagine how people can spend hundreds of dollars on shoes

If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
I HATE this question....

Would you rather help someone out or be helped out?
Depends on what they are helping me with :) But mostly I like to help other's out


If you found out you couldn't have kids, would you adopt?
LOL, well we all know this is NOT a problem for me...but I'd still like to adopt

What woke you up this morning?
Emma asking me to buckle her bike helmet (it was 6:45)

Where are you?
On the computer duh

How was your weekend?
Good, it's almost the weekend again!

Did you kiss or hug anyone today?
Several people, most of them under 4 ft. tall

When was the last time you cried?
Yesterday when there was so much whining in this house that I could have opened a vineyard

What is on your mind RIGHT NOW?
That tomorrow is our family trip day!

Where would you like to live?
Exactly where I am

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Good question, well I've always wanted to be a checker girl at Meijer..such lofty goals

Are you good friends with anyone?
A few people

How often do you log in to myspace?
every day

Do you like candy necklaces?
Gross, no

What was the last thing you drank?
Diet Pepsi Max...my downfall in life

Who do you miss?
My brother and his family

What are you doing this weekend?
Swimming, eating, playing cards, being with the fam

Whats your favorite kind of soda?
Diet Pepsi Max

Last hug?
Two seconds ago when Syd came over to tell me she loved me

How many times have you eaten sushi?
NONE...gross

What do you want to do right now?
Be cool!!!!

Are you listening to music right now?
no, listening to Tom and Jerry on TV

last time u got flowers?
um...Valentine's Day....no Mother's Day

What time is it now?
11:41

Do you think anyone will repost this?
Nah, it's not that good

What pisses you off?
Whining children who cannot get along for two seconds together

What song has alot of meaning to you?
Here I am to worship

What are you wearing?
Shorts and a Doritos t-shirt...wonder where that came from?

This post brought to you by the things children say when they think parents aren't listening....

Sydney (to her sisters): I saw Thomas's bagina today
Girls(in unison): EWWWWWW
Molli(ever the know it all):It's not a bagina Syd, it's called a PENIS.
Moment of silence as Sydney ponders this
Sydney wanders into where I am sitting
Sydney: Mom, did you know Thomas had a Paginas?

This post is lovingly dedicated to my Sydney. I am quickly discovering that this is going to be the "summer of Syd". While I don't think she'll be murdering anyone, it is going to be interesting.

We started with the pool incident which resulted in 5 stitches. She is the first of my children to receive stitches. (Some of you are going, how on EARTH is that possible??) The stitches were removed and we moved on. Then, two days ago, while riding our bikes to my mom's to swim, she hit something with her bike tire and went flying, very supermanish, over her handlebars. I saw all of this in slow motion of course. I rapidly hurried to get my bike with Thomas in the trailer on it off the road and ran back to get her out of the street. I looked over her body rapidly looking for the telltale scrapes I was sure she had. Seeing none, I scooped up her helmet from the street and walked her to the side. I breathed a sigh of relief that she wasn't seriously hurt. Until I saw her head. She had slammed the front of her head into the pavement. There was a rather large welt accompanied by road burn. It looked awful! I rapidly tried to decide what to do. I asked her if she thought she could make it to Grandma's or if we should go home. She sniffed and told me we were going to Grandma's. So my trooper girl got back on her little bike and away we went. As we turned the corner to get to my mom's, over she went AGAIN! This time she ripped most of the skin off her right knee. I carried her into my mother's house looking like she'd been in a losing battle. She maintained composure though and got her suit on to swim. We were in the pool for 30 minutes when she was running around the corner and slipped and scraped more skin off of her left thigh and ankle. At this point, I was convinced that she was not going to survive the day, let alone the summer. We have been incident free until last night when she received an accidental elbow to the nose which we had to pinch for 15 minutes to get it to stop bleeding.

I'm so very proud of my tough girl. Now if I could just get her to sleep in her bed all night long.....

1. I've come to realize that my boobs...
have breast fed 5 children and will never be the same


2. I've come to realize that this weekend...
holds family time and swimming


3. I've come to realize that when I'm driving...
I can have 3 different conversations at once and sing along with the radio


4. I've come to realize that I need...
at least 3 kid free hours in my day


5. I've come to realize that I have lost...
my ability to do it all....crap


6. I've come to realize that I hate it when...
people can only talk about themselves forever and ever


7. I've come to realize that if I'm drunk...
something bad has happened

8. I've come to realize that money...
dictates my life more than I'd like


9. I've come to realize that certain people...
rub me the wrong way


10. I've come to realize that I'll always be...
noisy and nosy :)


11. I've come to realize that I have a crush on...
not telling...


12. I've come to realize that my mom...
is not perfect, but is always there when I need her


13. I've come to realize that when I woke up this morning...
I didn't know where Thomas was


14. I've come to realize that last night before I went to sleep...
My mind wouldn't stop moving


15. I've come to realize that right now I am thinking about...
that Matt better drive fast on his way home because we are ready for the pool!


16. I've come to realize that my dad...
is an amazing man...who again, is not perfect


17. I've come to realize that when I get on myspace...
I read the friend update thing first


18. I've come to realize that today...
is Friday baby! Although that doesn't mean much in the summer :)



19. I've come to realize that tonight...
is pizza and movie night!



20. I've come to realize that tomorrow I will...
get up and start all over again!



21. I've come to realize that I really want to...
learn how to cut hair

Greetings from the land of Kurtz! We are fully entrenched in summer including later bedtimes (sigh) no set schedule and swimming our brains out.

We had a total blast with Tigger and his family. The cousins swam and swam and swam some more. We dodged tornadoes and thunderstorms. My grandma had a huge limb come down on her house, but it did no damage, thank the Lord! During all the swimming escapades, this happened.....










This is my Sydney. She got pushed into the pool before she was quite ready and smashed her chin on the side. Thus she became the very first McGlynn pool injury and the very first Kurtz child to receive stitches. That deserves an award! We took her for stitches where she proceeded to fall asleep during the procedure!! She was a trooper. However, the "no swimming" edict she received from the Dr. was tough. How in the world do you keep an AVID 4 year swimmer from being in the pool???? You don't, is the answer. But no jumping in or swimming underwater. She was content to float around on a tube and jump out from time to time to dry her chin. The stitches were removed yesterday by Aunt Amber, the nurse. So she's good to go again, although now it's 70 degrees and not quite warm enough to swim! There's the rub...

Among other things we have a new member of our family.....






This is Tank, Jonah's new turtle. He was told that he could get a pet at the end of the school year if he dramatically increased his school scores. Well, he did. We thought the choice would be a puppy, but a turtle was chosen instead. I must admit he's very cool and we enjoy sitting and watching him swim around.

Well off to chase children outside while I do dishes!

I'm awake early this morning. Way too early for not having slept well and getting to bed rather late. But as I heard the rain falling outside and I laid there awake, my mind began to turn.

All throughout my house at the moment, there are sleeping children. Nine of them to be exact. The boys are in the living room, all spread out and draped over couches. The girls are upstairs, all the beds have been pushed together to make one large pile of girls. Only tops of heads and miscellaneous hands and feet are visible. As I traveled through these places just now, my eyes filled with tears. How blessed we are to have this family. My children have cousins, cousins that I hope we can make lots of memories with. My mind flies back to my childhood when I spent summers with my cousins. What joy, what angst, what frustration, what memories we made.


Last night, we crowded around my mom's dining room table. I looked around at this "Walton" like clan of mine. Some things never change. My father and Tigger are ever the jokesters, picking on anyone within earshot. Josh is quietly funny and endearing. My mom is observant and beautiful, ready to defend the weak. Grandma seems older, somewhat sad without Grandpa. But her smile is still ever ready. Now there are new characters in our story, all of us are married now, Tigs and I have 10 children between us. So some things do change. But how blessed I am, to be able to sit back and look at these people, my family. God knows they aren't perfect. I wouldn't want them to be.

I've had quite a few of these sappy family posts this spring. I guess with Tigger returning home safely and all of the cousins making forever memories it's made me somewhat nostalgic and sentimental. I am just extremely thankful for all of them.