Here's our adventure! It was the best week of my life!

We are home!!! We arrived home late last night and we are exhausted! I have mountains of laundry to do and tons of pics to share, but for now, I'm loving on my kids! Keep checking back, more to come!

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go.....

I'M LEAVING ON A JET PLANE!!! Well in a few hours!!

Talk to you all on the flipside!

I'M GOING ON A CRUISE!!!!

Final countdown

The countdown is almost complete. We are almost completely packed, groceries have been purchased for the troops while we are away, the house is coming along nicely, and I am still sane! I'm not quite giddy excited, my guess is that will hit sometime tomorrow. For now, I'm keeping busy and staying focused. I think my little man can sense that we are leaving. He's been following me everywhere and has been asking to be held and snuggled. We've told him that Uncle Joshie and Aunt Berber are coming to stay and he seems excited about that. It's hard to tell exactly how much he gets.

A lot about this trip has surprised me. My latest surprise was about our flight. Now, remember, I haven't been on a plane in 9 years..since before 9/11....so there were many new things. My first discovery was that we had to pay for our luggage...HUH?!?!?! As if the price you are paying to fly isn't enough, pay $25 per suitcase! UGH. Then, last night, as I was viewing our reservation online, I noticed we didn't have assigned seats. Come to find out, you have to PAY if you want seats together!!! I am SOOO glad I found this as we would have gotten onto our flight and I wouldn't even have been able to sit with Matt!!! Ridiculous. But I am going to stop complaining now because in 38 hours, I'll be on my way to a dream vacation with my wonderful husband!!!!

I got an award!!! I've never gotten a blog award, so I am honored. My five little monkeys gave me this....



Apparently she thinks that I tell the truth here. What else could I do...this stuff is too crazy to make up!!! Here are the rules that came with the award: (I knew there was a catch!)

1. Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in content or design.

2. Show the 7 winners names and links on your blog.

3. List at least 10 honest things about yourself.

Oh boy...here we go!

1. I want more children, not sure if that is biologically or not, but I'd love to have more!

2. I keep a small stash of candy bars in a secret place...shhhh.....

3. I am grossed out by bugs, even ants, it's silly....

4. I dream about Edward Cullen...a lot.

5. I am very guilty of" quick judging" people by their first appearance, it's awful.

6. I cannot for the life of me figure out my son's Transformers....it's just beyond me.

7. I hate seafood, all kinds, fish, shrimp, crab, lobster....UGH

8. I am a freak about traditions, they must be upheld to the letter.

9. I am good friends with several of my ex's....some are even married to my friends!

10. I am going on my first big trip ever in 4 days...you didn't think this list would be complete without ONE thing about the cruise, did you???


And now, the winners of the Honesty award are.....

Becky R, she has such an honest heart and pours it into each blog she writes
Mindy S, she has it all together and is brutally honest

Rhen, she is pregnant with #7 and I love her funny honesty!

Misty, her honesty is beautifully written and eloquent

Becky H, I love reading about her adventures!

MckMama, she is a beautiful example of honesty

Brittany, six kids and she isn't afraid to tell it like it is!!!

Congrats!!!

Guess what I just heard??!!?!?!?! THUNDER!!! I know it seems silly to be so excited about thunder, but it means that spring really will come eventually. It's also pouring rain, and I don't mean a gentle soaking rain, I mean a flash flood sort of rain. But anything is better than snow, so BRING IT ON!!

As we were getting ready for the cruise, a few friends suggested that we go tanning to get a nice base tan so we didn't burn in the bright, Caribbean sun. I have always felt that "fake baking" was silly and I saw no need. But, I certainly didn't want to be a lobster on our trip. So off to the tanning beds I went. I was very uncertain. My friends all told me to tan nude. Now, if you know me at all, you know that I am SOOOO self conscious about myself and the thought of being naked, laying in a bed was almost enough to make me leave! But I braved it and in I went. I must say that the warm lights and the way it made me feel were wonderful. I'm still not big on the naked thing, but I'm getting better each time. It has made my skin VERY itchy...anybody have any insight on this? We did switch tanning lotions and that has seemed to help. With any luck, I will have a healthy glow by the time we leave in.......

6 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's 55 degrees outside. It's even, dare I say it, a bit muggy! I can feel storms in the air, so can Bo bo, he's pacing as we speak. And you'd think that I would be thrilled about the warmer air and the possibility of thunderstorms...but I'm not.

We leave a week from tomorrow. It still feels like an eternity away, but I am despairing because my family is sick!!! Well not all of them. Emma was home two days, Thomas is hacking and Matt is sicker than a dog. He even broke down and went to the Dr. yesterday which is HUGE! Alas, it just viral but it seems to be a long one! I am drinking green tea at the speed of light, speaking of which hang on while I grab another mug.....ok thanks. I have every window open and am bleaching everything I can find. I am determined to NOT GET SICK. I refuse to allow any virus to keep me from enjoying this glorious vacation. So there.

As I must return to my virus eradication, I'll leave you with some pics of the girls all ready for Crazy Hair Day at school!

Five...

My baby girl is 5. I don't know how exactly this happened, since I haven't aged at all :) She was my quick mover, running by 9 months and climbing like a spider by 10 months. So literally it feels like she has been a toddler FOREVER. But, as of 11:30 tonight, she will be a non toddler.

She is our funny, beautiful, silly Boo and I just adore her. And this birthday was note worthy because it is our first NON DORA birthday in 5 years!!! We graduated to High School Musical this year! So a happy birthday to my boo, I love you more than words can say!

With the cruise a mere 11 days away, it's a good bet that I will not be speaking of anything else. Well, with the exception of Sydney's birthday which is Wednesday. 11 days away feels like an eternity, but I know that it will be here before I know it. Preparations are in full swing. We dialog with the kids every day about what is expected of them when we are gone and what it will be like. Sydney is so excited to have Aunt Berber (her real name is Amber, but the kids nicknamed her Berber because Aunt Amber was quite a mouthful) here that she keeps asking me, "Mom how much longer till you leave??" I can feel the love.

So this whole process has brought up some interesting things. Matt and I have never been away from the kids for more than a few nights and we have never flown or left the country since they've been born. As we were sitting around my mom's dining room table on Saturday night, she casually asked about our will. I blinked and said, "A will? What will?" It never occurred to me that something could happen on this glorious vacation that I have been waiting ten years to take trip that would make a will necessary. That really caused some major discussion between Matt and I. Who would we want to inherit our children? A quick call to a lawyer friend made us aware that if no written instructions are left, the state removes the children. I burst into tears at the thought of my children trying to process losing both parents and then being split up and put with strangers. Now, I know that God is in control and that, if He decides it's time for Matt and I to come home, than He will take care of my children. I also know that my huge family would sweep in and love and care for our children. But we really had to pray and decide who to ask to be guardians. My parents aren't getting younger and they do have a 12 year old child with CP to contend with already so it seemed unfair to ask them to take guardianship of our kids. After much discussion and prayer, we asked my brother and his wife (the ones staying with the kids) if they would consider taking on that responsibility. They accepted. I have peace now that, in the event of a tragedy, our children will be safe.

Ok, back to the lighthearted side of things....

I LEAVE IN 11 DAYS!!!

Shoes

Shoes...I love them. I could spent LOTS of money on them, well let me correct that. I cannot stand to pay more than $25 on a pair of shoes, but if I had lots of money, I would own thousands of pairs of shoes. Especially high heels, I adore them.


I got a very fancy dress for our "formal" night aboard the cruise. I really didn't want a black dress, but the one I loved turned out to be black. So I thought it would be great to find some really fantastic red shoes to spice it up a bit. Yesterday, my loving husband and I (and Thomas) set out to the mall yesterday to find the perfect shoes. After 5 stores, I was starting to despair that I'd never find THE shoes that were meant for this dress. We tried one last stop and I found these...


Please forgive my lack of painted toe nails :) They are definitely NOT something I would have chosen for any other occasion, but I cannot wait to see how they look with my dress. The best part? They were on clearance from $75 to $15!!! Matt was so happy about that part that he let me get ANOTHER pair! I was one happy lady!

Matt and I were "pre packing" yesterday which really means we were trying to figure out exactly how many things we could take without going over the 50 pound bag rule. And of course, I had to choose shoes. How can I narrow it down? If it were up to me, I'd wear at least two pairs of shoes a day, every day we are on the cruise! There were some tense moments as I really had to get serious and choose only three pairs...3!!!! *sniff sniff* But I managed to get down to three...unless we have a smidgen of room and then I am totally stuffing two more pairs in!

FOR TODAY February 24th…

Outside My Window… It is sunny, but breezy. It's supposed to hit 40 tomorrow..WOO HOO!

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I am thinking… that I should be doing something productive...but this is more fun :)

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I am thankful for… coffee days, I look forward to them so much

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From the kitchen… NADA, we are going out for Chinese tonight!

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I am wearing… my gray yoga pants, a comfy blue shirt...

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I am creating… lists. Lists, lists, and wait, more lists :) Things to pack, things to get done before we go, lists for my brother and sister-in-law regarding the kids....

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I am going… to start tanning next week......never done it before...

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I am reading… nothing right now, all my books are packed and waiting to be read poolside.

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I am hoping… that the next two and a half weeks go by quickly!

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I am hearing… NOTHING! Sydney is at school and Thomas is napping..it's GLORIOUSLY quiet!

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Around the house… I'm starting to get things organized for when we are away, cleaning room by room.

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One of my favorite things… is my quiet afternoons, most of the time I get lots done. But then there is the occasional day where I do NOTHING...it's awesome!

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A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: Tomorrow is Matt's day off so we are "practice" packing to see how much we can fit into one suitcase while keeping it under 50 pounds :) Saturday we are moving my brother and his wife into a new apartment, praying it doesn't snow!

Here is picture thought I am sharing…

I didn't notice until I put this picture on here that, not only is this a picture of Sydney, but she had written her name ON THE WALL, IN PEN! You can see it just to the left of her face...stinker.

I have been a lazy blogger lately. Just sort of seems like everyone is hitting that wall of BLAH. Time moves on though...

Matt, Molli and Emma attended the Snow Fairy Ball which is the local Daddy/Daughter dance. This was Emma's first year as she had to stay home last year due to this event. She was on her best behavior this year, because she knew what would happen. A HUGE thanks to my girlfriend Mindy who discovered the girl's dresses at Meijer for a mere $1.50 a piece! We had so much getting them all dolled up and ready. Here's a peek...







They really had blast, Emma's response when asked about the night was priceless...she let out a big sigh, closed her eyes and said, "It was magical." LOL, she cracks me up!


There are less than 20 days till the cruise and to say I am weary of waiting would be an understatement. It feels farther away now than it did in December! But I know it will be here and gone before I know it. We are taking the laptop so I will try and blog while away. But for now, I'll just keep waiting....

Another round of snow this past weekend has me wondering if spring will EVER come. Of course, I know it will...it would just be nice if it was SOON!

Jonah had his first spring Boychoir concert yesterday, I'll get some pics of that up soon.
Ok, well off to find something productive to do :)

Yesterday got away from me...I was so caught up in the day. My oldest hit double digits yesterday. Holy cow. How did this happen? How did I not see this coming? He is my beautiful boy....always was, always will be. I'll never forget that moment ten years ago when the nurse handed me my first child....words can never describe the love, worry, fear, and joy that washed over me at that moment. So here's to another year with my ever changing boy...

I knew the day was coming. I knew the day would arrive and I'd have to part with another part of my youngest child's "babyhood". I wish I could report that he was potty trained :) Instead we were gifted with this last week.....


A toddler bed...and not just any toddler bed, but a DIEGO toddler bed. My plan was to put it away until after Matt and I returned from our vacation that I talk obsessively about in which we are gone for a week aboard a huge boat without our children cruise, so that my brother and sister-in-law wouldn't be chasing him back into bed at any and all hours of the day and night. But, once he got a glimpse of it, we were done for. I tearfully took down his crib....many tears...not knowing if there'll ever be another Kurtz baby in the crib that all of my other babies have slept in. The transition has gone beautifully...he is curious at nap time and has to be walked back a few times, but at night he hasn't tried to get out of bed even ONCE! So all in all, it's been fun. And how can you deny the happiness on this face???

Creativity at it's best..or my best anyway

I am not creative. Most of you know this about me. I like buy-able creations or things that are so simple my kids can do it on their own :) It's often referred to as lazy...but I'll call it not creative. So it's no surprise that as valentine's season approached, I joined the throngs of mothers buying pre-packaged valentines for their kids. This year, though, Jonah is in 4th grade and he turned up his nose at all of the Transformer and Spiderman valentines. So I had to be *gulp* creative.

I get the Family Fun magazine which I adore...lots of ideas for us "non creative" types. When I saw the picture of this valentine they had made I knew we had to do it. So, I bought all the supplies and we got busy. 5 hours later, here's what we had.....








ipod valentines...that are wrapped boxes of the conversation hearts with little Reese's peanut butter cups as the headphones; blue for the boys and pink for the girls. Jonah wrote on the back as you can see...so what has this taught me?

Good idea + 5 hours of cutting and gluing and taping and writing and tying + grumbling loudly at how ridiculously involved these were (out of earshot of him of course!) = One very happy fourth grader who will have the coolest valentines in his class!

Hey guess what??? I'm going on a cruise. I just wanted to remind you in case you had forgotten. But now it is truly official. This past Friday I walked into Ermisch Travel and paid for our trip in full. I AM GOING ON A CRUISE! There's no backing out now, as if I would!!! And the best part, we were upgraded. When the travel agent mentioned it, I thought..wow, maybe an oceanivew...that'd be great! But instead we get this............


IT'S A BALCONY STATEROOM!!! Can you believe it??? I still cannot. Now my husband and I can sit on our balcony and watch the sunrise, or set depending on which way we are headed. I am beyond excited. Ok, I promise to stop talking about the cruise now. Well, at least for a few minutes : )

Valentine's Day is quickly approaching. And how are we spending it you might ask? Hosting 3 boys for a sleepover to celebrate Jonah's birthday. Doesn't that sound romantic?? Actually, it will be very fun and I'm very excited for Jonah. I still have a week to brace myself for having a 10 year old in the house!

Meanwhile, in other news...wait, I don't have any other news. Except, did I mention that I'm going on a cruise? :)

A girlfriend of mine sent me this and I laughed so hard that I had to post it for you all to see...



1.YOUR REAL NAME
Mandi Kurtz

2.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME:(mother and fathers middle names)
Diane Francis

3.NASCAR NAME:(first name of your mother's dad, father's dad)
Thomas Gerald

4.STAR WARS NAME:(the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name)
Manku

5.DETECTIVE NAME:(favorite color, favorite animal)
Purple Manatee

6.SOAP OPERA NAME:(middle name, town where you were born)
Leigh Rochester

7.SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd fav color, fav drink, add "THE" to the beginning)
The Red Pepsi LOL

8.FLY NAME:(first 2 letters of 1st name, last 2 letters of your last name)
Matz

9.STREET NAME:(fav ice cream flavor, fav cookie)
Chocolate chocolate chip

10.ROCK STAR NAME:(current pets name, current street name)
Chunky Roosevelt HA HA HA

11. PORN NAME: (1st pet, street you grew up on)
Cheers Liberty

12.YOUR GANGSTA NAME:(first 3 letters of real name plus izzle)
Amaizzle

13.YOUR IRAQI.. NAME:(2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, first two letters of your middle name, last two letters of your first name then last three letters of your last name)
Arledirtz LOL

14.YOUR GOTH NAME:(black, and the name of one of your pets)
Black Bo

15. STRIPPER NAME: (name of your fav perfume/cologne, fav candy)
Beautiful Butterfinger

Oh my WORD! I almost peed myself...LOL

It has been a very busy few day around the Kurtz home. My grandma moved into my parent's house. There's a very good reason that people should not move in the winter! It was CRAZY! Friday night we started by bringing some of her furniture here. Thanks to my grandma, we got this....



a gorgeous dining room set with a matching hutch. It's beautiful!!

We also got a new computer desk and coffee table. But boy did we have some scary moments....

Our driveway is a fairly steep slope. And it's been quite a winter here. So our driveway is tricky even for our van to get up. Now try and get a 17 ft. truck up it. NOT! I had to sit in the cab of the truck with my foot on the brake while the guys unloaded the furniture! And since we could only get the truck half way up, the guys were forced to carry the heavy furniture through 4 foot piles of snow! What craziness!

Then on Saturday we emptied my grandma's house and took it all down to my parent's house. It was a very full day, both emotionally and physically. My grandma has never moved without my grandpa making all the decisions and she's never moved into a house that wasn't hers. So there were some tears and some quiet moments as we all sensed Grandpa's absence. However it's over and we are DONE moving for a while!

Oh and 6 weeks from today, Matt and I will be on board our cruise ship and headed into the clear blue waters of the Caribbean......CAN'T WAIT!!!!

I am impulsive. It's true. I like to call it "spontaneous". My husband calls it "reckless". Sometimes, when a fancy strikes me, I like to indulge it. I totally inherited this from my dad who would come home from work, or even take the day off of work, pack us all up and head out somewhere. I love doing that now with my family. So today, when my girlfriend and I were talking about camping at the local campground this summer and how we needed to get sites soon or they'd all be full, I decided we needed to go out there and scope it out in person. She indulged my spontaneous decision and we were off. Well, one of the camping loops was plowed and accessible, the other was not. After, driving around the plowed one I decided we should try the NON plowed circle. My friend cautioned me, but I laughed and replied "Where's your sense of adventure??"

Clearly, she was right. About 1/4 mile in, I realized we were in trouble. The snow was DEEP and there were barely any tracks. I decided we better turn around. YEAH RIGHT. We were so stuck. Both she and I had slip on shoes on and no gloves. At one point, we had her five year old pushing on the gas pedal while we both pushed! Thank the Lord that we were able to get out of the mess I had gotten us into. And now I have permanently given my friend something to harass me about!

We did find some good sites though :) Totally justifies the impulse right????

Yesterday was amazing. I had no idea that I would be so excited t watch our new president get sworn into office. But I was glued to ABC and Facebook/CNN. Seriously, they were on ALL day. I made my kids watch some of it before they went to school. Jonah said, "Mom, why do we have to watch this??" I told him, "Because you will be able to tell your grandchildren some day that you saw the first African American become president." It was historic. And, while I don't agree with most of our new president's policies or beliefs, there's no doubt that I watched a piece of history yesterday. WOO HOO!

Moving on.....

I've started working out again. UGH. My poor body is so sore and mad at me :) I've resolved to lose at least 10 pounds by the time we go on our cruise. I just don't want my face to look fat in pictures! The rest I can hide.....well until I go to the pool at least :) I've started eating better too, making better choices. I must brag on myself for last night though. Tuesday nights are basically like Fridays for Matt as he has Wednesdays off. So he gets to stay up past 7:30 and we watch our favorite show together. Well, last night I wanted ice cream SOO bad. That's been our tradition. But, instead I had a glass of water...totally NOT ice cream, but so much better for me, especially right before bed! So yay me!

Tomorrow night I'm headed out with a bunch of gals from church to see Last Chance Harvey. I adore Emma Thompson and can't wait to have some "girlie" time.

My latest annoyance.....my little son is obsessed. With what, you might ask. The Red Wings. For those of you "non Michiganders" the Red Wings are Detroit's hockey team. Hockey is the only sport my husband watches and he loves the Red Wings. He thought it would be great to introduce Thomas to the Red Wings. So at the beginning of the season, Matt taught him to say, "hockey". It was SOO cute. Then we started working on saying "Red Wings". Well all Thomas could say was "Hot wings". :) But now he has it down pat. And he is obsessed. He has a Red Wings coat that MUST be worn every time we leave the house. He got a Red Wings outfit from my mom for Christmas that must be worn every other day. And then Matt came home with this.....




And now we can't get him out of it. Today he stood by the washing machine, hysterically crying for his red wings. We have created a monster!! Wait till his new hat and socks get here!