Halloween Parades

Today consisted of 2 Halloween Parades. Olivia's in the morning followed by a party and Erika's in the afternoon. Makenna and I did alot of walking today. It was a beautiful fall day!!!



ROAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Olivia's Halloween Parade

Makenna enjoyed the ride

Erika's Halloween Parade

 

Makenna ate lots of ice cream! YUMMY!


Nana and Papa just love her!!!!

 

Eli and Jeff

Me and Diane

Erika and I - she's my big girl!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OLIVIA
Makenna loves her cousin Lauren!
Daddy watching Olivia open her presents.
Tell me Bout your day......

 

Kids tough digital camera

My Mom and Dad got Olivia this camera for Olivia for her birthday. Olivia loves to play with my camera. Sometimes I will find mine in odd places and Olivia has taken over 40 pictures of random things in the house. Now she has a nicer camera than I do. She can take pictures until her heart is content.
*Olivia can work my camera better than Dave Kurt! 

Baby Alive

Papa Schultz sent Olivia Baby Alive for her birthday. She has been waiting such a long time for her. She loves her. This doll eats, drinks, poops, and pees. YES she POOPS!!! And it it nasty. It is all slimy! The diapers don't work that well either. While I was "babysitting her" for Olivia, her diaper leaked all over my lap. If Olivia thinks that changing diapers is suppose to be a fun thing, I am not going to argue. More power to her! She can start changing Makenna. Olivia named her Genevieve, after one of the girls in the 12 dancing princesses. 

Happy Birthday Olivia

Today is Olivia's birthday. She had a FANTASTIC day today. Joe (our church pastor), announced her birthday to the whole church. Then the whole church sang Happy Birthday to her. (THANK YOU DAVE) It was a great Mommy moment in my life. That meant so much to her for all those people to be paying attention to her. I know just looking at her face, that made her feel so special and I was so happy for her.
We spent the rest of the day over at my Mom and Dads (AKA Nana and Papa). We had a great day. The whole family got along! There were no arguments and there was nothing but laughter the entire day!
We played Texas Hold'em to see who would do the dishes. My Dad and I did NOT have to do them! We whooped some!!!!! I hate dishes!
Today was a great day in my life. I feel like I am a part of a wonderful church and a wonderful family. I have great friends and I can only thank God for everything he has done.

A Halloween Party

Bob and Anne always have great parties!!

That was Bob at the end of the night!

Eli and I went to our first Halloween Party on Saturday night. If you can't tell, Eli was a pirate and I was his wench. I had a great time. Apparently I drank a little more than I should have towards the end of the night. Watermelon schnaps don't work well with me (or the amount of it). Somehow I ended up on the top bunk of the girls bed and have no idea how I ended up there. I don't get out much. So when I do, I think sometimes I go a little overboard. Sunday I was feeling a little rough around the edges. It was worth it though!!!!!


Great picture of Dave and Cathie!

God in Olivia's eyes

Conversation with Olivia:

Olivia: "Mom, what does God look like?"

Me: "I don't know Olivia, I guess what ever you want him to look like."

Olivia: "I want him to be a girl, I want him to have a dress on with long hair in braids and look like Rapunzel and I want God to be down here and not in the sky."

I wasn't really sure what to say. I guess I could have shouted "WOMAN POWER"! But didn't think it was appropriate. I did tell her that God is down here and he isn't in the sky. I told her that God is in all of us....In our hearts and in our minds. I said he watches us like Santa Clause watches us. He can see us and be with us all the time.

Olivia said, "Will he be here for my birthday."

Joyce Meyer

"Time magazine selected her as one of the most influential evangelical leaders in America."

Ever since I switched to Direct TV and got TIVO, I have been hooked on Joyce Meyer. I thought she was great before but just heard her messages once in a while. Now I get to sit down and watch her whenever TIVO has left me something. I can relate to her. She is helping understand God in ways I never thought! She is (well technically, God is through her) helping with issues I am having about myself and my confidence right now. She has a great sense of humor and is completely down to earth. I can't get enough!

I feel really good today. I even have most of my laundry done and my house is somewhat clean. It's a good day. Eli might even get lucky. HEE HEE

Plus, the sun is shining!!!!! What a difference!

Hope everyone is having a great day!!!!

Ryan and the vacuum

Almost every time Ryan comes over he wants to vacuum and clean my windows with windex. He also likes to try on all my shoes.


JEFF - this is why I take pictures of him sleeping with a princess blankets.


OR - maybe my house is THAT dirty and he just loves to clean. Who does he get that from? It's a toss up.

Ryan was so cute yesterday.

He says, "Auntie, tell me about your day."

He made me smile!

The weekend

Well I did a whole lot of.....not much. Friday night we had our "family movie night". We watched Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events . Eli and Olivia fell asleep in the middle. Erika and I went to bed around 9:30. Saturday I worked, found out another co-worker quit. With another going on maternity leave in a month.....that's 3 people gone. A little scary. I'd write a little more about the whole situation if I could, but my wonderful, handsome, young boss reads my blog and I wouldn't want to say anything bad about my place of employment. It's is such a joy to work at Jeffrey Animal Hospital.....I wouldn't want anyone to think otherwise.
ANYWAYS......Saturday night, I babysat Lauren and Ryan so Diane and Jeff could have an evening to themselves. I had such a horrible headache, Diane gave me one of her migraine pills and I took it with my migraine pills and I was pretty loopy (not my intention). I ended up falling asleep with 4 children on a bunk bed around 9:00 because they wouldn't quit giggling and talking I had to stay in the room with them. I thought, "maybe I just shut my eyes for a second". Next thing I know it was 4:30 in the morning and I was squished.
Sunday morning I was up with all 5 children by 6:30. (God Bless Anne and Bob Rays, I don't know how you do it) Eli and I took them all to church in the morning. I was pretty impressed with myself.....I did get a little help from Eli. After church, we headed off to Diane and Jeffs and made lunch. Diane and I went outlet shopping and hung out just the two of us. It was great to be out without any of the kids. Then we had a spaghetti dinner over at their house and headed home. The kids were in bed by 7:30. I am catching up on laundry.


Eli is snoring extemely loud, he must have fallen asleep watching the Tigers game.
BORING....I know. Thanks for reading.

My trip to LCC

Well I didn't get lost. It took me 45 minutes to drive and park. Not bad. The seminar was a little scary. Nursing is not the easiest program to get into. The seminar was to explain why it is so hard to get into and how to better your chances of getting in. You are accepted based on a point system.....and YES your grades. Oh wow. I did horribly in microbiology (2.0), I had a miscarriage and got married that semester. I am hoping I don't have to retake it. From what I got from the seminar it is a tough program and they are making it harder to get in every year. I wouldn't even be able to apply for the program until March 2008. Start September 2008 or January 2009 and graduate June 2010 or December 2010. Which puts Erika at 11, Olivia at 9 and Makenna at 5. WOW! The great thing about it is, I am eligible for NCLEX-PN half way through school. Which means if I pass the exam, I am entitled to practice as an Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) while I finish school. That will hopefully give me great experience.
The classes I would have to get done before December 2007 are....Human Anatomy, Healthy Lifestyles, Psychology, Pharmacology, Human Growth and Development, and Human Physiology. I also have to have a current BCLS (basic cardiac life support certification). Not only do I have to take them in 3 semesters, I have probably get a 3.7 or better, so I don't have to take my microbiology over. The program director explained that the program is difficult but rewarding. Anyways, I think I'm up for the challenge.
I feel like I have ants in my pants. Now that my mind is set, I just want it to get it going. I have no patience. I know this is going to be a long drawn out process. I just can't wait for the end result!

I have knots in my stomach

Tonight is my night to drive out to Lansing and go to the pre-nursing advising seminar at Lansing Community College. I am so nervous, I can't see strait. I don't like to feel overwhelmed. For the most part, I handle it well, but I don't like it. I guess who really does. I think I am afraid that it will seem to hard and I'll find some silly, stupid little reason why I can't do it.
I was watching Joyce Meyer last night. She was talking about goals and what you want out of life. What God has in store for us. She was saying that sometimes people pray and pray. Then when God gives them the opportunity, they run from it. They find excuses not to follow through with it. Basically that people complain about their life and feel sorry for themselves, then God gives them a way out and they don't take it.....then they complain that it didn't work out. Am I that person.
This step is so huge for me. I don't like stepping into the unknown. I hate change. I am frightened of it. I don't like driving where I don't know where I'm going. I hate school. I suck at taking tests (I have no idea how I passed my boards for vet tech). I am the one who still has nightmares about having to go back to high school because I failed a test or forgot to hand in a homework assignment. I hate studying, I hate reading. I don't even have the attention span to read a book. I have some issues with dyslexia.
I am also feeling extremely guilty for even thinking about switching careers. Everytime I want to, something bad happens at Jeffrey Animal Hospital. Last time I wanted to go to school, Jeannie broke her ankle and I covered for her full time until she came back. Yet again, on Monday, our other LVT, Leah, walked off the job. Now we are short at work again. I feel guilty for not working more there and feel guilty about wanting to leave. Sue (my practice manager), keeps asking me if I can work more. I just don't know. It is like home to me there. I feel like I disobeying my parents.
SO, are these my excuses? My way out? Do I want it bad enough? Am I following my heart? Am I listening to God and what he wants me to do with my life? OR.....am I selfish.
If anyone has any words of wisdom....feel free to enlighten me.

A long week

I can't believe it's been a whole week since I actually sat down at the computer and caught up on my favorite blogs and wanted to write in my own. It has been a long and tiring week. Makenna and Olivia have been sick. So dealing with them and going to the doctors has been exhausting. Olivia had a sore throat and Makenna had an ear infection. Between the two of them I have been a little sleep deprived. Today was Olivia's first day back at school. Makenna is still sleeping. It is actually quiet in my house.

Upside Down

OLIVIA AND I LOVE THIS SONG!!!!


Who?s to say
What?s impossible
Well they forgot
This world keeps spinning
And with each new day
I can feel a change in everything
And as the surface breaks reflections fade
But in some ways they remain the same
And as my mind begins to spread its wings
There?s no stopping curiosity

I want to turn the whole thing upside down
All finer things they say just can?t be found
I?ll share this love I find with everyone
We?ll sing and dance to Mother Nature?s songs
I don?t want this feeling to go away

Who?s to say
I can?t do everything
Well I can try
And as I roll along I begin to find
Things aren?t always just what they seem

I want to turn the whole thing upside
All finer things they say just can?t be found
I?ll share this love I find with everyone
We?ll sing and dance to Mother Nature?s songs
This world keeps spinning and there?s no time to waste
Well it all keeps spinning spinning round and round and

Upside down
Who?s to say what?s impossible and can?t be found
I don?t want this feeling to go away

Please don?t go away
Please don?t go away
Please don?t go away
Is this how it?s supposed to be
Is this how it?s supposed to be

The Kurt Family

This family is so great!!!! I have never met a family, in all my life, that has so much love and respect one another. Not only for each other but for everyone surrounding them. (I technically haven't met all of them, but being so close to Cathie, I feel like I know them all) This family lost such an AMAZING and wonderful piece of their family to cancer. Instead of being angry and fighting. They surrounded each other in love. I am in awe!
Dave and Susan in their blog, talk about how thankful they are to have all this support from everyone around them, like friends, neighbors, and family. The reason is, because they are so wonderful to everyone! It goes to show that there is a God, and there is love!
I was told by someone a couple of years ago that death puts us in perspective and shows us the things we need to be thankful for. This, to me, is a great example. This family decided to come together and be in the moment with each other to celebrate the love Lynn had for each of them and the wonderful things she has taught them all.
SO - Here's to the Kurt family! Lynn is so proud of each and every one of you!!!!! You have shown people like me, that it is possible to have ultimate love in a family!!!! THANK YOU for who you are and showing ME what God is all about!!!!!!!

Gerald Marshall - Vice President of Operations

Gerald Marshall AKA "Daddy", has been working so hard. He has been commuting from Buffalo, NY to Brighton, MI for over a year now. Living mostly in New York getting a new business on their feet. He was interviewed by the buffalo News, here is the article.
Now that the company is well on it's way. I am hoping he will be home more. We miss him so much!!!!
Eli was there a couple of months ago doing some of the training.
My brother David also works at this plant as shipping and receiving supervisor.

One thing you have to know about my father is that he is the most hard working man I have ever met. He has always supported and taken care of our family. He works just as hard today, if not more, than ever.
He is very tired......he needs a vacation.
I am so proud of my Daddy!!!!

Martina McBride - Blessed

Need I say more?

The angels are asleep

The girls did great...they were in bed and asleep by 9:00. I was so proud! They seemed exhaused. Emily did fall asleep in my bed with the lights on and music on. (Olivia, of coarse, was jealous!) Didn't take much! They were exhausted!!!! GOODNIGHT-SLEEP TIGHT! 

My mom

My mom....where do I start! She finally made it over for dinner, oh around 9:30. Eli made beer butt chicken and I made of coarse...cheesey potatoes. I tried to take a picture of her and she yelled at me...."I HATE PICTURES, STOP IT" I got one though.....reminds me of someone.
We had a great night! 

Little Emily!!!

Emily had her first sleep over at our house tonight! She had a great time! Tonight she have Eli a big hug tonight and told Eli a pierogi story.....we all love her......my dad loves her curly hair!

My favorite quote from Emily tonight.....

"I know what the devil likes.......he likes when people mess up"

It is amazing what you can learn from a 5 year old!!!!

Emily said, "Miss Dana, after we walk Erika and Olivia to the bus stop tomorrow....can we color leaves like we did before"

I can't wait...I am so excited to do something special with her!

My boys!!!

This is the greatest picture of my boys....Eli, Bill, and my Daddy!!! (notice the difference in height, Bill is actually bending down). Tonight was a great night! We had a blast!!!! HOW HANDSOME ARE THEY!!!! 

Riley and Titus

Riley and Titus are the boyfriend/girlfriend.....at first, Riley had put Titus in his place....now they are in love! They are having a great time!