I was wondering why we had so many payments in such a small pool.

It's actually rather simple, as you "mine" your address will gain shares based off of how much work(hashrate) you contribute to the pool. Once a block is discovered and confirmed your balance will be updated  based off the PPLNS scheme which you can read more about in the FAQ. This balance is what the pool owes you. However, you won't see these funds transferred to the paid out section(essentially transferred to your personal wallet) until you cross the minimum payout requirements. In the case of Monacoin, you need to gain a minimum of .5 Monacoin.