It's the Little Things

I've discovered as I make this journey through life that it's not the huge things that make or break your day, week, month or life. It's the little things. So in honor of the little things, list a few with me that made your day, week, month or life brighter or sweeter.

• It's a sweet chat with your oldest adopted son, who called to ask first for permission before offerring his little brother a gift.
• It's my oldest biological son washing the baseboards, which was HIS idea, and is the very chore that has been looming on my mental to do list for weeks.
• It's knowing the my middlest of middle boys is in good hands in IL between my parents, 'Shua and Lauren, Dan's family and all our friends that live up there.
• It's the snuggle that my youngest son gave me when he got back home after 2 days with Auntie Karen, and the whispered, 'I love you, mama."
• It's a label-making machine to label EVERYTHING as I organize all the homeschool items. *winks*
• It's Netflix entertaining the kiddos for a while with an semi-educational program so mama can get something accomplished this evening.  
• It's a lovely little chat with my Sister-Girl who called to see how I was doing on my to-do list of projects for this weekend.
• It's the wonderful little luxury of a jacuzzi tub to enjoy!

I like the idea of this style of post. If you like it too, add your little things! I'm making it a goal to focus on the positive this year...Join me!

August Catch Up Post

August is always a fun, busy month at the MeYeR House. It begins and ends with a special day for us, so how could it not? Let's dive right in.

~Derek's birthday is the 1st, so we begin the month with a holiday. I was off that week from work, so we made a day of it. Dan even took the day off (a much needed break after more than a month of 60 hour weeks) to join us at the Wet-N-Wild Water Park in El Paso, TX. Such fun we had! Up and down, around and around we go! Wave pools, water slides, kiddie pools, tube slides and MORE! Fun fun fun!
~DT enjoyed a 2nd chance to enjoy birthday fun on his game night party. Cake, presents and more friends.

~I think we went to the 'card shop' 78,213 times this summer. We were hosting another Magic Tourney this month and the big boys wanted to be READY. We frequented the card shop, traded cards, organized cards over and over into the BEST decks possible, bought cards at Wal-Mart, Target, and on eBay. Goodness, what a LOT of time we spent fussing with Magic cards!

~Hayley (our niece) came to stay for a week with us. She arrived the night of the second Magic tournament and got to meet most of the boys' friends right away. I think by the end of the week, she was sick of Magic and tired of boys. HA! Poor thing, she might not want to come back next year. However, after a few nights of shopping with Uncle Dan, she found a car that met all the needs, including price and so getting a car while she was here MIGHT make up for the Magic mayhem. Dan will be driving it to MN for her sometime in the next month or so.
~I think we went to the dirt track one more time this month, but don't quote me on that.
~School went largely out the window with the arrival of guests, guests and more guests. D wasn't working at the gym this month, so we went back to getting some done before work each day, and some reading. P was happy to abandon all pretenses of doing "REAL" school and just read-read-swim-read-read-swim-read-read all day long. DT was probably doing the most school with 4 days of summer literacy/math camp each week, plus his reading for the summer reading challenge.

~We went with all the Benson kids, my kids, Jodi and her kids AND Jayson to White Sands before Jay left. Good times were had by all. (Have I mentioned that their fancy schmancy car has air-conditioned seats? Best.Invention.EVER)
~Patrick left on the 13th, travelling with Jayson to IL to visit the grandparents for a few weeks. He enjoyed a full week with the local Smith cousins before they had to head back to school, spent a fun day at the Volo car museum with 'Shua and Lauren (and got to help them move into their new house), saw the air show in Chicago with Uncle John while on a huge speed boat, and other such exciting activities. I'm not sure he is going to want to return home. I may just have to pack the rest of his belongings and his school books and ship them all to IL. *winks*
~I got to turn a FB friend into a REAL LIFE friend this month as a friend (Kimberly Terrill) was moving from Cali to Ohio and made the detour to swing by with her husband and her youngest son. It was a great visit (plus she didn't turn out to be an ax-murderer which is always a bonus. LOL) Actually, it was one of the best visits ever. They walked in and instantly felt like family. They even unloaded the dishwasher and refilled it before they left the next morning while I was at work. Good times!
~Once I was finished with my summer job, and Dan was finished with the crazy 60 hours a week, things started to settle back down to the regular level of chaos we enjoy around here. I started cooking and baking again, the house got actually CLEAN for the first time all summer, we got caught up on some sleep, some lingering home/car maintenance projects and even had the time AND energy to paint David's purple room so it was a more acceptable near white. Life was back to 'normal' or at least whatever passes for normal around here.

~I got to spend a full day with sweet little Ollie while Ryan and Kelsi were moving. I had a ball! I wore him, D wore him, DT played with him, he tried to crawl after the cat and dog, and we chewed on EVERYTHING. Good reminder of how much I love babies, and how much fun they are, AND how much work they are. Phew. Also a good reminder of why I'm grateful I don't have an infant or toddler anymore :) Took some really great pics of him which worked out well as his 6 month pics as he turned 6 months the next day.

~The end of the month is another holiday for us. Happy 16th anniversary to Dan. Happy "You're Stuck with Me Forever" day. LOL! We took D and DT to Auntie Karen's house and enjoyed an evening all alone. Got to step out and see a movie together, and just enjoy some child-free hours. And that's always a good way to end a month. And an especially great way to end a crazy, hectic summer.

July Catch Up Post

 

Hello again friends! July was another busy month at the MeYeR Man Crew House, although it might have been just a touch less busy than June.
~We kicked off the month of July by celebrating Independence day, and NOT hosting a gathering this year. We always do it, and we always enjoy it, but this year we were just too tired to do anything, and so we enjoyed a lazy day at home, just us MeYeRs. In fact, David attended a friend's birthday party and was gone for most of the day. It was nice to enjoy a day of rest for a holiday.
~Work work work. Dan and I both worked our tails off in July. I continued to work with the Benson's, who are truly kind and generous bosses (plus the kids are great) and Dan started working 60 hours a week. So honestly, most of July passed in a haze of exhaustion, picking up and dropping off of kids, and umm, more exhaustion. ;)
~At the end of July, our nephew Jayson came to visit, bringing along his own version of mayhem. Life is never dull around that boy! He loves to do parkour, talk all the time and stir up activity when there is none. He is considering a move here, so it was a nice little trial run.
~We hosted our first ever 'gaming' tournament as the boys have discovered "Magic the Gathering" a game that the Bean boys first introduced us to 10 years ago. Many trips were made to the card shop in anticipation of the grand event, and much organizing of cards, and MANY practice games were played. At the end of the day, everyone had fun and a few people ended up with prizes. It was FUN!
~School really lacked this month as David spent most of his days at the gym from sun up to sun down, sometimes 11 hours a day. However, I can count that as a summer internship in his intended field of work so it's all good. Patrick was reading and socializing. Since he generally eschews both, I was content to let him do those without complaint. *winks* Most weeks, DT's 2 mornings at literacy camp was all he got aside from reading with Mama. To combat this, we added math camp as well 2 mornings a week. He enjoyed that camp as well.
~The boys continued to read day after day, in hopes of earning the BINGO BLACKOUT prize of a ticket to the Wet-N-Wild water park in El Paso, TX. Everyone is looking forward to it.
~We went to the races a few more times. It's nice to able to go as a family again since I'm no longer working evenings at Kohl's. The boys always have SO much fun!
I think that's about it for July. If there is something else, I am too tired to remember it. HA ;)

June Catch Up Post

 

June, glorious June. Let's see here, what did we do in June? Seems like a really long time ago already.
Oh yes, I remember now! In June, we enjoyed all sorts of fun activities.  
~We enjoyed the transit of Venus with eclipse glasses sent from a friend, making Transit of Venus cookies, and sharing the knowledge with friends.
~We started our summer reading programs. We are taking part in 3 this year. One at the library, one with Barnes and Noble, and one super cute BINGO style printable I found over at www.howdoesshe.com The boys are reading everything they can get their hands on. Thank goodness for our well stocked home library (thank you, homeschooling) and our weekly trips to the local library.
~I continued my 50+ hours a week with the Benson family (Isaiah "Z" 15, Grace "G" 11 and Anna "A" 2) and we took little trips hither and yon to parks, card shops, ice cream parlors and the library, but took our biggest trip in late June with a full day spent at the El Paso Zoo.
~We continued school all summer, squeezing it in when we could. P switched to a summer bridge type of activity book instead of dragging along scads of curriculum. D worked independently and generally had most of his school work finished before we headed to work each day. DT brought along lots of little activities, enjoyed being read to by everyone, and had his camp twice a week that counted as school those days.
~Derek started summer camp with Jodi. He ended up being the only student at that particular camp and while we were disappointed about not making new friends, the one on one tutoring was good for him.
~Patrick is at that age where he's too old for summer camps and too young for a job, so he spent most of his summer reading and swimming in the Benson's pool.
~David alternated between being a 'bouncer' for Jodi's tutoring company (in case she ended up with a grumpy pre-teen who didn't want to cooperate) and being an assistant coach at the Gym Magic summer day camps.
~Dan continued to work back at him beloved Wooten company with his good buddy Mike Eorio, who is always so kind to him.
~We ended several family outings including nights at the dirt track races watching the cars go zoom zoom and fireworks, and our first trim to White Sands for a Full Moon Night. However, it was cloudy and rainy that evening, so while we were thankful that the rain stopped, we didn't get to see the full moon. :)
My housewife end of life suffered greatly over the summer. I was overtired, 'touched out' and grouchy a good portion of the summer. I bought convenience items like bread, (gasp) laundry detergent, and prepared fresh veggies. Egads. LOL! I did however, enjoy all the hard work I put into filling the freezer in May (along with www.moneysavingmom.com) as I pulled casseroles, fruit and nut breads, and meal starters out of the freezer to fill our hungry bellies day after day. Dan was a great help by popping dinners into the oven, rescuing things from the crock pot, doing much of the running to and from gym with David, and offering to hang on to the kids so I could have a short break at the local coffee shop, take a quick nap, or squeeze in a workout. I sure do love that man!
I think that's about all the big news for June. :)
PS. The photos aren't wanting to work. I'll have to work on that later.