Just a post to show that I can never have just a normal week...

My parents are at a training seminar this week so my little brother Noah is staying with us. For those of you who don't know, he has cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair. So his bus for school picks him up at my house while he is here. This morning was pretty normal, got Noah all ready and took him down the driveway to wait for the bus. The bus comes and his bus driver gets off to open the door that the lift uses. It's frozen shut. So she tells me to pull from the outside while she pushes from the inside. It's the bottom of the door that is still frozen and that part is covered by the lift. So she sticks her hand down there. Well when the door opens, the lift automatically releases. So the door budges just enough for the lift to start to move pinning her hand between the lift and the door!!! Now she's screaming hysterically so I run onto the bus. She's yelling for me to turn off the lift motioning to all of the buttons on he control panel. Have you ever seen a bus control panel??? THERE ARE ABOUT 50 BUTTONS!!!!!!!!! Now I'm starting to panic. I finally find the button and shut it off but it doesn't release so she is stilled pinned. I am now completely panicking.....Noah is still outside in the -3 windchill, she's screaming, there's other children on the bus. WHAT DO I DO???

So I grabbed the mic and yelled, "BUS GARAGE! WE NEED HELP!" They immediately respond with who is this?? What's going on? So I tell them the driver is pinned and hurt and I need help NOW! I drop the mic and go and start pulling on the lift and she can finally pull her hand free. Her hand is in bad shape. Dispatch is calling for me to answer them. SO before I know it, there are four buses and a truck from the garage and an ambulance in front of my house. Holy cow.....meanwhile my other children are in the house with no knowledge that anything was happening!

What a crazy life I lead!!

I just wanted to repost this here for those of you who've asked for an update on Emma!

Emma and Sydney spent the night on Saturday with Aunt Carol. Sunday morning they went to Nonny's (my grandma) for breakfast. Emma and Sydney got playing a running game and collided. Emma hit her nose on Sydney's head. It bled for a while and got somewhat swollen but I didn't really think anything of it. Fast forward to last night....

We took her to the ER as she had HUGE clots coming out of her nose and profuse bleeding. There they confirmed what I had suspected, her nose is broken!!!!!


They did an exam and x-ray to make sure she hadn't fractured any of the bones in her face, but it's just her nose. They can't do anything for it, it just has to heal on it's own. She looks like she's been in a prize fight but did very well with it all. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. And leave it to the Kurtz's to always have to try new things!

P.S. Sydney's show and tell today was that she broke her sister's nose with her hard head!

1. I've come to realize that my last ex:
is in jail for a while, so glad I didn't marry him!

2. I've come to realize that when I talk:
I am rather loud

3. I've come to realize that I like:
harmony

4. I've come to realize that my friends:
are few but that's ok by me.

5. I've come to realize that I've lost:
my sense of caring

6. I've come to realize that I hate:
people who need to validate themselves by whining about their lives....SUCK IT UP!

7. I've come to realize that marriage is:
such a gift and yet SO hard

8. I've come to realize that somewhere, someone is thinking:
I wonder what Mandi is doing

9.I've come to realize that I'll always:
need other people's approval

10. I've come to realize that I have a crush on:
George Clooney and Richard Gere

11. I've come to realize that the last time I truly cried was:
Last week

12. I've come to realize that my cell phone is:
a necessity

14. I've come to realize that before I go to sleep at night:
I need Matt to kiss me goodnight

15. I've come to realize that, right now I am thinking about:
Dinner

16. I've come to realize that I get on my blog:
too much!

17. I've come to realize that today:
was a fairly good day with new realizations

18. I've come to realize that tonight I will:
Go to practice and come home and go immediately to sleep

19. I've come to realize that school is:
OVER! Thank God!

20. I've come to realize that my life is:
blessed

21. I've come to realize that tomorrow I will:
Start all over again!

We had this plan, Molli and Emma were going to grow out their hair and donate it to Locks of Love. It was a great plan, however, we hit a snag. Emma DESPISES having her hair brushed. And when you have very long, VERY thick hair, it must be brushed. I was so tired of having to sit on her (literally) to get her hair brushed that I threatened to cut it. Well she came home from school that day and asked me to cut her hair. And so I did. Then Molli said that maybe she didn't want to wait for her hair to be 10 inches and maybe I could cut her hair too. I am NO professional but I think they look darling...what do you think???

We spent our New Year's with Matt's brother and his family. We had such a blast. It was so great to catch up and let the kids play with Landon, their cousin. Here are some great shots!

Landon and Thomas size each other up













Then they share!


















The big kids loved Landon!

















Emma gives him a smooch
















Matt and I at midnight, our first pic of 2008

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!