Second Grade...

A belly full of cinnamon rolls, bacon, and berries. Jack was off for day 1 of second grade. An old pro! While all around me my girlfriends are ushering their children off monumental days of school- like the first day of Jr. High and Kindergarten. Jack and I were cool as ice. It doesn't happen very often so I will relish in it. It wouldn't be the first day of school if we didn't take pictures. Jack knew just where to stand.But opening his eyes is always a problem.

Mrs. Brock, Jack's teacher. Don't they look so happy on the first day of school? Still can't open his eyes.

Meet Carl...

The Cat.

Sweet.

Tolerant.

Cuddly.

Lost...

We eventually found him. But it wasn't looking good for our Kuhtz Cat Record. Day 1- Lost cat.

Cool Ocean Breezes...

This is as good it gets for a loving sib pic.

Last week of summer. Last chance for a vacation. A beach house provided by my ever generous in-laws. What time should we be there - right?

I love the beach. I even like being beach dirty. Even the threat of "beach hair", doesn't ruin the opportunity to wear a sweatshirt in August. Steve loves the mountains. I am not so much a lover of the mountains, elevation, hiking (I am a walker). AND I hate mountain dirty. It is good to know that the apples fall closer to mom's tree than dad's on some things. Our kids love the beach!!! Not really the water, but Jack is in LOVE with sand! (he could "kiss it" his words not mine).

Better yet we got to walk down memory lane with our kids at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and the local surf spots where Dad once surfed. Mom and Dad feel in love with Board walk because the have TALL BOYS- icy, cold, and available for less then you pay for a Coke at Disneyland!

Girls surf too!

I used to be able to ride the Pirate Ship over and over and over and over again... now? Not so much.

Don't forget vacation treats! Shirley Temples- YUM!

First Day of School!!!

I think I have adequately bored my children into wanting to go back to school. While Abby has another week before school starts Jack gets the big shove off tomorrow. Or make that I get the big shove off. My cool kid wants to ride the bus to school on the first day of school. Really? Humor me with one day of taking you to school, then you can ride the bus to and from school every day after that. 179 times 2 is a lot of bus rides. BOO! HOO!

An Open Invitation...

When Steve and I built our house we imagined family and friends from all over to come and stay with us. I think that we roll out a pretty nice "red carpet". For those of you who haven't been formally invited this is your invite...

The Kuhtz Family would love to have you!

We have much to offer.

Warm Summer night dips in the pool. Bellies filled with warm peaches, plums, and nectarines.

Cold winter days spent on the slopes or out of the fog at the beach.

Day trips, hikes, picnics, and boating if you like.

You can't beat Yosemite, Monterey, the Big Trees, or The Bay.

Of course there will be laughing, stories, and great memories!

There is plenty of space for singles, couples, and families to stay inside and out!

Rachel will cook up a great breakfast.

Steve will grill a stellar meal.

Got kids? Jack and Abby will be sure to entertain them.

What to pack?

We have a pack n play, extra car seats, high chairs, sleeping bags, toys, and books. Just bring your essentials and we can provide the rest!

I think we have your bases covered, just give us a call, send an email, or a text.

We always love to have guests! Hint! Hint!

The Backyard Beach...

Looks like Paradise to me. I guess Fresno isn't so bad after all.

My Mom Always told Me...

If you don't have anything nice to say...

Blog about it it will make you feel better.

Just kidding. I am going to keep my mouth shut on this one and rely on a very wise man.

"Of all my family, I like me the best."

James Charles Kuhtz Sr.

Fright Night is Upon us...

I know that some retailers have a very small window to convince their shoppers to purchase the items that they are pedaling. The worst in my book are the Halloween superstores, especially since every year they open their window wider and wider. I am bitter because we got our second Halloween costume catalog on Saturday. I am not joking- it was #2! Jack was thrilled as were the other 5 children that were at our house when he triumphantly returned with it from the mailbox. The mothers groaned, as the children cheered and settled in to claim what their first, second, and third choice of costumes would be for this Halloween season.

After the children lost interest I grabbed the tattered mess to see what I would not be purchasing for my children this Halloween.

First of all I am glad I am not a parent of a well endowed teen. Frightening!!!

I question the moral compass of designers. Corsets on little girls? Which prompted me to glance at the big girl version of the same dress. Yikes!No Rock Stars or Pink Ladies!I am still debating the qualities of Bakugan themselves, now there is a costume??? Aghhh!At first glance Kermit was my favorite until I looked closer at the pasted on face of this baby in the picture. Never mind!My favorite? The Ewok- the cute fuzzy heroes of the only Star Wars movie I ever liked. And a suggestion- if you are going to send catalogs to my house that have anything to do with something both of my kids want... go ahead and send 2! Laminated would be nice!

When Life Gives You LeMons...

Do you ever have a day, a week, a month when you can't even stand to be with yourself? For me it usually involves involuntarily becoming a single parent so that my present but not present husband can spend every waking moment in his garage working on the latest "piece" car that he will be racing in the not too distant future.

How do I feel about that? I think he is lucky because I don't even like being with me.

My poor children. Poor me.

School's Still Out for Summer...

While most of you have longer ago left behind the discussion of semesters, exams, grades, etc (I am talking about your own not your children's). It seems like not so long ago that August 1st meant scouring the weekly ads for promises of 50 cent pencil box, bargain basement pricing on Crayola (because I am a brand name loyalist when it comes to coloring supplies), and finding a way to make my household budget pay for my classroom back-to-school supplies. Last year I dreamt the night before school that forgot to get my classroom set up, make copies, syllabi, and attend the mandatory back-to-school meeting. I am a TEACHER! Hear me ROAR!!!

Now Abby is 4, it has been 4 years since I set foot in my own classroom. I still find myself up to my old habits. Luckily on a smaller scale, Jack needs a pencil box (preferably one that is blue and costs less then 51 cents not including tax- not to be found), red ball point pens (I can't wait to see what those are for- I hate red ink, almost as much as I hate red frosting), pencils-sharpened (DUH!), a 16 pack of crayons (not 24, but 16- do you realize that a 16 pack of crayons is hard to find and when you do find them they cost 4 times more then a 24 pack? conspiracy? I think so!) and scissors (I am going to take a stand- if you can't read the word you shouldn't get to use it). I like the slimmed down version of the 2nd grade back-to-school list.

The fun part starts when you read the teachers wish list (when I was a teacher we could only dream that there would be a parent that was willing to contribute to the education of their children by helping supply the classroom with my needs. I never thought I would see the day.):

• High Polymer Erasers (it took 2 office supply stores to find this superior grade of erasers)
• Rulers (If you were up at 6 am Sunday morning and took 3 other people with you, you too could have bought a class set of rulers at the right price- 1 penny. I was not so lucky.)
• Baby Wipes (I took care of that a long time ago, there were days that I did think he would go to school in diapers but really in the second grade?)
• Reams and boxes of paper ( Seriously! This one I have a hard time with, is the state of the California budget so bad that our schools can't afford to even buy paper for our students. We are a State that puts high stakes on standardized tests and our teachers don't have enough at the beginning of the school year to get the party started. We are in a world of hurt, if that is the case.)

I am happy to say that my back to school shopping is just about done. Last item to find a tennis shoe that fits Jack's impossibly narrow and long foot that Jack and I can agree upon. Wish me luck!