A quick update on Noah...

The surgery went very well. He woke up very disoriented and scared. The doctors had to give him extra anesthesia to keep him under. He seemed to be really uncomfortable so they gave him morphine which made him fairly dopey. We got to see the front incision which is much larger than I had thought. It looks like Captain Hook took a swipe at his belly. He really didn't like the pulse ox thing he had to wear on his finger that was glowing. I told him he was E.T. and he seemed to like that. They haven't turned on the pump yet so now he's just dealing with the pain from the surgery. We're going to head back tomorrow with the kids and hope that he'll be feeling a little better then. Thanks for all your prayers and thoughts!!! I'll update when we know more!

Not sure how to start this post....

Most of you know that my little brother Noah has Cerebral Palsy. There has been much concern lately about his muscles because he is growing so fast. He's in much pain most of the time. So tomorrow morning he will go into surgery at Spectrum Health and will have a fairly complicated surgery to insert a Bacolofen pump. This pump will be put into his body cavity with a catheter winding around to his back and will enter his spinal column. This will mean that he will be able to get a continuous flow of medication to ease his discomfort. It also means that he will lose all of the tone that he has. He uses his tone to do everything now, crawl, play Wii.

I know in my head that this is absolutely the best thing for him. But I am afraid that he won't be the same Noah. He is such a special part of our lives. I want the very best thing for him. I don't want him to be in pain. The doctors can't give us any indication of what will happen after the surgery. Most likely he'll be limp, somewhat like a noodle, but we just don't know. My parents have gone back and forth about this decision for some time. I can't imagine having to make this kind of decision for one of my children.

So please be in prayer tomorrow. We will be in Grand Rapids for the day to be with them. I'll update as soon as I can.

WE went camping this past week at Fort Custer which was such ablast. The kids love camping! Here are some highlights!

We are home from camping....we had a blast....I love that my bathroom is so close....I love my own bed...I hate the smell of old campfire on my clothes...I will post pictures soon....when I can find the camera...

Once again, I am amazed by my brilliance. I'm sure you all remember when I smacked my legs into some glass and it got stuck there and had to be removed surgically. That was a brill ant moment. Today, my genius struck again. This time, I made sure that I set a fine example for my children.

Last night I had purchased some spoons, as they regularly disappear in this house. This morning, as the children were pouring cereal, I tried to open the package of spoons. There was a small piece of tape that was keeping them together. Looking around for the scissors, I spotted instead a large kitchen knife. (Now don't ruin the ending here....) I proceeded to open the spoons and, as the knife was facing me, proceeded to stab myself in the hand with the knife. The kids were waiting for said spoons so they were all watching. There was an audible gasp as I looked down at the knife sticking out of my hand. Then the panic began...not my panic of course, but rather my children's. Jonah ran for a towel, Molli ushered Sydney out of the room, and Emma sat there with big tears welling up in her eyes. I proceeded to pull the knife out of my hand and asses the damage. It went in about 1/2 an inch. But there was no cut and so no need for stitches or the ER. Thank goodness. However the knife was serrated so it hurt like crazy! My whole hand was throbbing. Jonah and Molli were watching me, waiting to see what I'd do. I calmly looked at them and said, "Children, this is why we do NOT play with knives." See, I will do whatever it takes to teach my children the proper way to handle things :)

P.S. I really am ok...it is sore and I have been informed by the medical profession that I must try not to use it (YEAH RIGHT) and that it will likely hurt for sometime. Gee thanks...here's your $50.

Dear Proprietors of Full Blast, the local water park:

We recently visited your park for the first time. We have lived in Battle Creek for 4 years now and have never crossed the threshold of your facility, although my children have long dreamed of coming. So finally today we arrived, tingling with excitement. The children ran to the pools, squealing with glee. My youngest daughter Sydney was unsure about the yellow water slide, but as we mounted the stairs, her confidence grew. She almost backed out as it was her turn, but a slight push and she was hooked. She spent the next two hours, going up and down, up and down.

Alas, the happiness was not to last as she went up to come down again. With the change of lifeguards, she was disallowed from going down with the claim that she was too short. I went up with her, sure there had been some mistake. The lifeguard assured me that she was too short, making her stand against "the stick". I know you must have standards but my daughter was 1/8 of an inch too short. AND SHE HAD BEEN GOING DOWN THE SLIDE FOR 2 HOURS! I would encourage you to hold fast to your standards. If an 1/8 of an inch is too short to ride the water slide then please make this apparent THE FIRST TIME she attempts to ride down. This makes for a very sad child and grumpy parents.

Sincerely,
A local mother of a very sad little girl

This weekend Matt's brother,his wife and their beautiful son Landon came for a sleepover. We had such a great time. It was a great time to catch up and play. Thomas was thrilled to have a play mate, Landon is just a week younger than he is. Sydney was also in her heaven with 2 little guys to boss around! Saturday we just hung out and played and Sunday we did church and went to the zoo. It was great! Here are some highlights....

I love cool nights in the summer. When it actually feels good to be snuggled under the blankets but when you awake, it's already warm outside. Perfect. Nothing terribly blog worthy to write about so I'll just hit some highlights...

- A wonderful woman at our church gave me strawberry plants...I was planning to invest in some as we have this huge wonderful yard now. I am NOT a gardener but strawberries are hardy and don't need much, if any, work. My kind of gardening :)the kids are so excited for next summer when we'll have berries.

- We found LOTS of blackberries growing alongside our garage. With a little pruning, we'll also have a bumper crop of balckberries next summer! WOO HOO!

- We're going camping in a week. Matt will still have to go to work, but it gets us in a different place and some new things to do. Plus what beats a campfires and sleeping under the stars?

-Jonah starts Music Camp next week. This is for the Boy's Choir. He's a little nervous about it, but I think he'll love it.

-I spent over an hour at the Secretary of State's office yesterday...note to self- DO NOT THROW AWAY DRIVER'S LICENSE EVER AGAIN!

- My plan for peace has been working quite well. Still trying to find a good consequence for the perpetual whining...anyone have any suggestions?

- And finally, the Kurtz's have a Wii!!! We used Matt's bonus money and got one. Man, is it fun. We haven't tried any games except the Wii sports and Wii Play...anyone have any suggestions there either?

Peace. That's what I am longing for. Summer is plugging along and my children seem to be farther and farther from peace as we go along. I sat up last night, crying...trying to think of someway to help them achieve peace. There is just so much bickering, whining, anger....it's out of control.

So here's what I came up with, our Kurtz motto(for now anyway)Take a Deep Breath and count to 10! When one of their siblings bothers them or does something to them, they will take a deep breath, and count to 10. If they can do this and avoid the inevitable yelling fight or physical reaction, they get a white poker chip. For every 5 white chips, they get a red chip. For every 5 red chips they get a blue chip. A blue chip represents getting to do something with Mom or Dad. My hope is that it will just become second nature and the chip earning will cease. Perhaps not. But it's slightly worth it for some peace.

Day 1 - Sydney has one white chip as does Emma. Molli has -2...God helps us!

I have no idea why I am blogging this, but I saw something about it on Kelli's blog and it proved interesting to me.

So I am getting my hair cut the other day. And there are random bits of conversation going on around me and to me. You know how you chat to your hairdresser about all manner of things. We had chatted about the kids (and YES I got the automatic response of "FIVE kids!!!! You have your hands full!) My hairdresser overheard the gal sitting next to me and replied, "Oh, I always do!" Those of you who know me well know that I am INCREDIBLY nosy. So I say, "What do you always do?" She tells me that she always sleeps with a bra on. My jaw dropped. WHAT? I had no idea there were women out there who did this. Not that it's my place to judge, but still! She said she just doesn't feel comfortable letting the girls hang out. Hmmmm....

Ok so here's my question to my blogging friends....do you wear a bra at night? Is this some sort of boob therapy that I missed? Is this the new revolution??