Today was a sweet day. Breakfast out with Handsome Hercules at a local brunch place I love, the house got clean, I was available to pick up the adventurous youngsters when their tire blew out while off-roading, I had time to read, and hang out, and spend time with people I enjoy, plus Game Night was a blast. I even chatted with all 4 of my boys today. Can’t ask for too much more than that. Stay-Cation for the win.

Cute painting on the wall at Indulgence Cafe.

Charlie and Derek battle wits on the chess board.

Kelly and Alexis learning Dominion

#MamaK

#StayCation

#ManCrewHouse

#GameNight

#AdventuresWithHercules

New Board Game Alert! The Oregon Trail

 This #BoardGameNerd “accidentally” bought a new game for the gaming tables. Because we clearly don't already own enough games. *winks*

#CoronaMadeMeDoIt

Come on over this Friday and help us take it out for its maiden voyage.

It's the Little Things: Day 147

 

I want to focus on the good things this year.

All the things people get right.

All the times that everything works out just perfectly after we assumed disaster had already struck.

All the times that the right word was spoken at the right moment.

So, let's celebrate those little moments together, shall we?

• It's a lovely hour and a half long chat with your bestie after she calls to announce that she's just dropped her daughter off at my house. The last one we lived in while we were in IL. #ItsASmallWorldAfterAll
• It's using and enjoying Wal-Mart's free grocery shopping app so I don't have to wander through the grocery store on a holiday weekend. Plus, it helps me avoid impulse buys...or snacks to keep my shopping 'helpers' happy. 
• It's having friends and family to celebrate with for the upcoming Memorial Day holiday. That's not a little thing, but something to appreciate for sure.
• It's getting a new bookshelf at the LFAL office so we can bring in more books to add to our lending library. 
• It's having an overdue convo with Dan after a compelling sermon by Pastor Dennis in regards to our marriage and how we can improve it. Good stuff.
• It's having another stellar week of community group. I'm loving our study by Rick Warren- '40 Days of Love', a study based on a book called "The Relationship Principles of Jesus" and also the topic of our current sermon series. 
• It's getting a phone call announcing big news from my daughter-in-love. No, they are not pregnant, but it's still big exciting news that will be made public in the near future. Sometimes, secrets are fun.
• It's keeping the counters clean and dishes done this whole week again. 
• It's another fun, late Game Night. Adam learned how to play 7 Wonders, we all laughed ourselves silly over Bananagrams and Farkle, and then once everyone else was gone, Dan, myself, Pat and Nathan played Golf until like 3:30 in the morning. Eek! 
• It's a friend that wants to you come play paper with her and when you are too busy, she brings it to you at a more convenient time. 
• It's being invited to Little Miss's birthday party. DT and I had just been talking about her this week.
• It's a friend that wants to set up a toe-nail painting party and checks with you three times to make sure the time is good for you so you can attend. 
• It's a working lunch on a Saturday with your sister and nephews while admiring your new bookshelf, filled to the brim with books.  
• It's a nephew that comes early to Game Night to share dinner, help set up and to squeeze in some extra visiting time because he's moving away soon and won't be able to attend anymore. 
• It's your sons knowing that they can bring home friends without first asking for 'permission' and that their friend will be welcomed without question or reprimand. It's satisfying to know that our children know our home is a safe place for not only them, but for their friends that are struggling at home. 
• It's a friend that you can truly talk to about your life. Not the perfect soundbite options you post for FB fodder, but the gut-wrenching, brutally beautiful, bittersweet, take-your-breath-away moments. Everyone should have a bestie like my Lizzie. 
• It's the truly simple things, like cutting my own boys' hair. It's a happy little time every few weeks when we get to chat, just us. Or when I pop my head in their room just to say hi and end up chatting for 30 minutes. It's when they wander into the kitchen and start helping make a meal while we are laughing together. 
• It's paying off your ridiculously high library fines so you can start checking out books again. (Some day, there will be a plaque in my honor for all the fines I've paid. I just know there will. LOL) 
• It's a high capacity washer so that even know I've only done one load of laundry this week, it will only take me 2 more to get caught back up. Phew! 

Life is so full of little blessings, happy moments, and beauty. If we only take the time to look at it, we will realize how rich, and how deep and how sweet our lives are. Take a minute to look around. 

What's on YOUR little things list today?

It's the Little Things: Day 33

  I want to focus on the good things this year.
All the things people get right.
All the times that everything works out just perfectly after we assumed disaster had already struck.
All the times that the right word was spoken at the right moment.
So, let's celebrate those little moments together, shall we?

• It's Craft Day at work, and helping little hands make something fun and beautiful
• It's FRIDAY, and knowing the weekend starts now.
• It's knowing the house is already prepared for Game Night so there will be no mad rush to get ready on time. 
• It's watching your grandson open his gifts from you since his birthday was yesterday, and his parents are kind enough to wait for us to be able to Skype to see him enjoy it. (It makes not being there a little easier)
• It's Game Night, full of friends, laughter and healthy competition.
• It's a late bedtime because Dan wanted to keep playing games, even after everyone else cleared out. Hooray for knowing I can sleep in tomorrow! ;)

What's on YOUR little things list today?

It's the Little Things: Days 27 & 28

 I want to focus on the good things this year.
All the things people get right.
All the times that everything works out just perfectly after we assumed disaster had already struck.
All the times that the right word was spoken at the right moment.
So, let's celebrate those little moments together, shall we?

• It's when your child cleans his room and all the kitchen towels that have been missing for months magically turn up in the laundry baskets.
• It's catching up with our Reel2Real friends that have been sick for a few weeks and are now well enough to be back at church.
• It's Derek and I embracing the idea of an entire day at home. No chores, No errands, No work, No school. Just home. It's been a gift!
• It's being invited to my first paper-crafting event in over 5 years. Oh my stars, how I LOVE playing with paper! Paper Pumpkin if you are interested in playing along, it's a delightful monthly subscription service for people who love stamps, stickers and paper-crafting.
• It's time to make pizza from scratch, and to work up 4 pounds of pinto beans for meals in the coming weeks. (The Pantry Challenge continues)
• It's a child asking ahead of time if they can have command of the living room one night a week to host their own version of Game Night.
  ---Yes, yes you can! 
• It's glorious January weather that allows Dan and the BIGS to go 4-wheeling together all afternoon.
• It's a child whose birthday gift finally arrived in the mail that is delighted with it, even though it's not fancy or costly. 
• It's a child that calls late in the evening to 'demand' a haircut, but you're pretty sure he just wanted to talk about life, because haircut time when he tells you his problems. 
• It's binge-watching a show we both like with Hercules. Have I mentioned how delightful it is to have him home again?
• It's learning the art of listening to audio books while I'm in the kitchen. I've used them for many years for the boys in school, but never really implemented them for my own use. It's pretty great!
• It's being well rested enough to manage getting up an hour early to get a jump start on the week.

What's on YOUR little things list today?

It's the Little Things: Day 26

  I want to focus on the good things this year.
All the things people get right.
All the times that everything works out just perfectly after we assumed disaster had already struck.
All the times that the right word was spoken at the right moment.
So, let's celebrate those little moments together, shall we?

•  It's sneaking into your bedroom to kiss your sleeping husband goodbye for the day, only to find him awake, and propped up in bed reading his Bible. Glorious. 
• It's new games brought by Jodi for Game Night sharing. Quirkle and Dragonwood are both quite good. Jodi and I were also laughing over Speak Out today, so perhaps it will soon find it's way to the gaming tables.
• There were other things, but these were the best parts, for sure.

What's on YOUR little things list today?

#100HappyDays: Day 55

 

Day 55 of #100HappyDays
Game Night Take 2 in honor of Devin and Annabel. 💚
A second round of Game Night is never a bad thing, especially when joined with friends as dear as these.

#100DaysOfSummer
#TacoSoup
#GameNight — feeling happy with Annabel Bruno at The Man Crew House. — with Annabel Bruno.

#100HappyDays: Day 53

Day 53:
Devin and Annabel are in town!! — with Daniel Meyer, Annabel Bruno, Kelly Spencer and Devin Bruno.

 

This might have been the best Game Night ever. So much love in this picture. 

So.

Much.

Love.

 

#100HappyDays: Day 25

Day 25: Game Night!
     I love love love this 7 Wonders game! It's my new favorite for sure. Tonight, we had new friends over at Game Night and they tried it with us and we had a blast. I love game night, I love new friends, I love old friends, I love games that bring us all together. (PS. I also enjoyed winning, that's my score on the far right. LOL)

 If you like this challenge, head over to www.100happydays.com to sign up. You can choose a start date, your favorite photo posting platform and even a custom hashtag if you want to be more original. Do it, you might just decide you love it.

New Games at the Man Crew House

I purchased two new games for the Game Night tables this week.

First up is Pandemic, in which you play as a team to save the world from 4 illnesses that are trying to kill of all the humans. It is super fun and takes quite a bit of strategy and cooperation to save the world. Lots of  moving parts, but overall, quite simple to learn...but it takes a while to master. Several options for your role to be in the game keeps the game fresh each time for nice longevity of the game. Several of the Game Night crowd had been requesting it since I borrowed it from the B-Bunch's game cabinet a while back, so I promised them I'd have it by this week. It's a HIT!

Next up is SuperFight, where you use randomly chosen cards to create the best 'fighter' you can, out of things that range from "Your Mom" to "Chuck Norris" to "A Class of Kindergartners" and with powers like "100 stories tall" or "Superglue fire hose" to "in a potato sack". Oh goodness...the arguing, the laughter, the FUN!! I got a good deal, so I have the base game, and 5 different expansions that add things like locations, scenarios, geeky references, and a such. Just reading the rules is hilarious. (See above) This was also a huge hit this week.

I'm sure there are people that find it outrageous the money we drop on games around here, and I suppose I understand that since games are pricey. However, a few things. I can drop $75 on a night at the movies, or even a nice restaurant, or on fancy clothes...but games bring the family together. Even if we only play these games 5 times, that is FIVE TIMES that my family and/or friends came together and made happy memories. (In other news, in the 4 days that I've owed these two games they've both already been played more than that. Just sayin') Also, I always shop around a bit and make sure I'm getting the best deal I can. I got a steal on both of these and spent less than $50 total, including shipping. SCORE!

What's new on your game tables?

Is It Forbidden?

DT and I are playing lots of board games during Screen Free Week. One of them is a new one we borrowed from the B-Bunch, called Forbidden Island. Basically, the plan is to collect the treasure and escape from the island before it sinks into the ocean, taking you with it. One of the things I like about it is that it's a cooperative play game, where the people playing the game are a team, instead of competitors. I also like that the game board changes every time, and you randomly get a character instead of picking the same one over and over, keeping the game fresh since you have to plot your strategy differently depending on how many people are playing, what the game board looks like and what characters are bringing their special abilities to the game. All set up it looks a bit like this...

As the island 'sinks' the tiles get flipped over and if not shored up quickly, sink completely and are out of the game. The characters have to collect the treasures and get back to the helicopter pad before the island sinks to win the game. We've played several games and only lost once, but the others were all pretty close. It requires some strategy, serious teamwork and much situational awareness. Good stuff.

There's a companion game called Forbidden Desert, where you have to put your aircraft back together before you are buried in sand, or run out of water. Our friend Kelly has that game and often brings it to Game Night.

Both games can be found on Amazon: Forbidden Desert and Forbidden Island (for under $20 each) or at your local game retailer. Check them out!

Too Many Games?

Q~ Is there such a thing as too many games for one family to enjoy?
A~ Only if the family does not play them. And at the Man Crew House, this is not the case.

BEFORE: I PULLED ALL THE GAMES OUT TO SEE WHAT WE HAD

I challenged myself and a few friends to go through the game cabinets in their homes today. Get rid of any that they don't play or that are missing pieces, don't work right, etc. I knew we had a bunch, but WOW, do we have a LOT! So I sorted and sorted and sorted. Came away with a few to donate to Goodwill, but mostly reorganized so that they were more usable and the ones we play the most often are at the top of the piles : )

AFTER: MUCH BETTER! Sorted them into the ones we use almost every week and the ones we play a bit less frequently and put them upstairs. (and the ones that toddlers don't need to get into as well)

October Catching Up Post

Goodness, has 3 weeks gone by AGAIN without a single post? Phew, life gets busy here at the Man Crew house sometimes and living life is more important than blogging. Anywho, just a quick recap of the last few weeks. Let's start with...

GREETINGS FROM SUNNY AND WARM NEW MEXICO. We're still enjoying upper 80s and low 90s temps most days, but truly enjoying low 60s for the overnight hours. Great weather!

• Dan is still looking for work, although he's staying busy working on projects with friends, helping people move, hanging out with the boys, and enjoying some extra sleep here and there.
• David turned 14 on the 3rd of October. Where DOES the time go? He enjoyed his birthday game night, and we went camping the weekend of his birthday.
• Pat is getting so tall and is already looking forward to his 13th birthday that is rapidly approaching. He's really missing James and Titus each day now that they aren't coming as often. His drawings are getting better, and he's loving our weekly trips to the library. He always checks out his fill of cartoon books, plus 1 educational book (per my request) 2 movies and 1 CD so he can get to know some new music. He's such a creature of habit (little like his mama that way)
• Derek is really liking school. We're making crafts, writing letters and sounding out words. So. Much. Fun! He's busy as usual with riding bikes, enjoying game night, jumping on the trampoline, chasing his brothers, playing with the cat, and just being him : )
• I finally got that rest I've been wanting. Spent last Saturday evening at the ER with what I thought was appendicitis. Turns out, thankfully that it was *just* a viral infection that was making my lymph glands in my abdomen swell and mimic the symptoms of appendicitis. So I got a lovely script for some Vicadin and spent the next two days laying on the couch drooling on myself. Dan and the boys took excellent care of me, cleaned the house and kept everyone fed and happy so I could rest. The next few days were led mostly from the couch as well, and I've now got 'real world' experience that school can be done from the couch, instead of just a hunch : )
• I also talked just this week with a dear 'old' friend (like from high school days) that I recently re-discovered on FB, and she called this week and we laughed about old times, where life has taken us and how it rarely becomes what we think. GOOD TIMES, what a wonderful time of catching up it was.
• My parents are COMING!! They've been saying for years that they're going to become snow birds and stay the winters here in NM, but it's just never panned out. This year seems to be the year, and even though it's still 2 months away, I find myself stopping at least once a day and thinking aloud, "They're coming! They're REALLY coming!!" Not only for my own enjoyment of course, but for the kids, they miss PaPa and Grma so much, and can't wait for them to get here.
• Game Night lives on. Some weeks we have 8, sometimes 20 and no matter how many we have, it's always fun. Uno, Farkle, Skip Bo, sometimes Chess, Bananagrams, Fluxx, Phase 10, Spades and a few random others grace the tables. We eat veggies with dip, chips with salsa, bean dip or cheese goo, cake if it's a BIRTHDAY Game Night, and laugh ourselves silly. It's great!

I think that's it for major updates, and I'll post some pics soon. Thanks for the love.

Blessings,

Kristy and the Man Crew

Pumpkin Patches, Faires and Fall Fun

Greetings from sunny and still warm New Mexico! What a wild ride we've had these past few weeks. We've been to pumpkin patches, the Renaissance Faire, enjoyed the fall weather, LOVED having Dan home, played with our friends new and old, ignored the 'non-specific fall holiday' without having to explain our aversion to it to anyone (that's a first) earned a few new nicknames and lived to tell the tale. Here I am armed with some great pics and some entertaining stories. Who's got a few minutes? Cozy up with your favorite warm beverage and let me regale you with some of our favorite stories from the past few weeks.

~Well, starting with Dan getting back 3 weeks ago, we've been on the run. Dan went back to work, and we immediately fell back into the familiar groove. Chores got done, schooling got learned, errands were run, work was accomplished and life was good. Game night the first week he was back was just great! Everyone was so happy to see him, we had homemade pizza all together again (even though we have it each week as a family, it's just not the same, ya know?) and we laughed and laughed and LAUGHED together. It was special. I went back to work, much to my bosses' pleasure and my team's delight since they had apparently been suffering through whoever the management team could find to fill my place. It's nice to feel like you belong. They even had ordered pizza the first night I went back to welcome me. Awww!

~The pumpkin patch was such a great day that I'm going to save it for it's own post, I think. Suffice it to say that we had a BALL!

~The party at Mike and Myra Eorio's (think OREO) house was super fun. Not only did Dan and I get to enjoy a night with no kids (thanks Jo!) but we enjoyed the company of other adults as well. Whee! Most of them were either neighbors of theirs' or people that Mike and Dan work with so he immediately knew people, but once I met a few people, I had a great time too. My banana cream brownie squares won rave reviews and I met a lady who was interesting in homeschooling so I had a ball filling her in the fun that homeschoolers have. Dan was being silly that night and so everyone was having a good time. We met some really great people, and a few really strange people that left us saying that we were REALLY glad we homeschooled since they have kids in our district...LOL! Anywho, we were one of the last ones to leave and we had such fun visiting with just Mike and Myra once most of the crowd had left. They are so fun, and interesting, and fun. Did I mention how FUN they are? Good times, and let me just say that I had almost forgotten how stunning Dan looks in his oilskin duster and hat. Phew! I got several remarks about how lucky I was...hee hee! (we even found out later that one of the other guests at the party "took a fancy' to him~LOL)

~The weather here has been just fantastic! It's nice and cool overnight, like in the 40s and then by lunchtime, the sun was warmed the air to a lovely mid 70s-low 80s range. Now that's my kind of weather! We've had a few rain showers, but mostly, sun sun and more sun : ) I love NM! And, so pretty!

~The boys are sometimes disappointed that we don't 'DO' Halloween so we generally buy them a bag of candy so they don't feel cheated and that's that. This year, the church we are attending hosted a huge fall festival so we took the boys to that. We didn't dress up or anything, but the kids had a ball. They got PLENTY of candy, played lots of games and even took a hayride. It was great fun and I'm glad that they got to do SOMETHING fun during a weekend that we normally stay home and avoid any activities.

~The Renaissance Faire was just this last weekend and it was great! Over 120 vendors, artisans and crafters come with their wares to help support the Dona Ana Arts Council that provides all the wonderful entertainment here in Cruces. Like the free concerts in the park that we enjoyed this summer, some of the kids programs, craft/art/music classes and much more. So we spent 2 days wandering about, examining crafts, enjoying the Robert the Ratcatcher show, joining in some amtguard boffer word fighting, tasty local honey, eating things like Rat on a Stick (teriyaki chicken on a stick) and looking at some of the most exquisite jewelry ever crafted. Dan spoiled my by purchasing me some fancy hair doodads called the 'mystic flower' which is the working model of the mathematical equation of PI. Coooooolio! : ) David and I worked in the soup booth that the gym had at the faire, making some money towards his upcoming competitions. Dan and the boys purchased boffer swords, and then decided that they could improve upon the design, so they spent the better part of yesterday creating sword and such. Oiy! Today was spent making shields to protect themselves...LOL!

~The 'Hot Tomato'~Have I ever mentioned that Dan seems to have universal appeal to everyone? Young women, old women, dogs, babies, cats, other men...doesn't seem to matter, they all love him. LOL! Well, on Friday, I asked him to accompany me to the Sam's Club for the weekly trip for the gym. He reluctantly agreed and off we all went. The boys and I have been going on our own for some time now while Dan was in Washington and the boys love to go right at lunchtime so we can taste all the samples and we've made friends with the 'sample ladies' We got a late start Friday so there weren't many still passing out samples so we were just hurrying through. One of them stopped me and asked where my biggest boy was, since David was around the corner. I pointed to Dan and she said that she wasn't talking about him, but since now we were....WHO was he?? (eybrows wagging) I said that it was Hercules, the hubbs...and she seemed quite impressed. So after she stared a bit longer, she waved a few times and told me that I was one lucky lady, then she declared LOUDLY that he was one HOT TOMATO and started winking and waving all the more. Dan's face turned about 3 shades of purple and he looked quite uncomfortable. Oh my word...I haven't laughed that hard in along time. WooHoo...I'm married to a HOT TOMATO~ I'm a lucky girl : )

So, all in all, a fabulous few weeks. Thank you Lord, for getting Dan back home to us where we can all live, laugh and love at home.

All Good Things Must Come to an End, so they say...

...And that's true at our house as well. Game night has undergone a change....there is no longer any pizza to be had at my house on a Friday night. I feel sad about the change, I feel almost guilty about the change and while most of the gang was understanding, some were actually upset over the change. Here's the why behind the change. When game night originally started, our routine was family game night on Thursday, Pizza/Movie night on Friday and Game night with the gang on Saturday. The 'gang' consisted of us 5 MeYeR's, my sister and nephew which we were living with and the infamous Charlie and Devin. We'd all crowd around our ridiculously tiny dinner table meant for 4 and play games and laugh hysterically. Then one week, we got thrown off schedule due to my new job at Kohls...and game night got mixed in with pizza/movie night. And it stuck : ) We loved it and kept it, and also started inviting more people as the house grew and we got another table, and another. So, 25 people later, preparing for game night had become an all-day process. Not one that I minded, but one that was affecting my time to teach the boys, and one that seriously impacted my energy level. After 2-3 hours of grocery shopping with 3 boys in tow, then the slicing and dicing started, then an hour of MAKING dough, then almost 3 hours of actually making the pizzas and baking them. SO, I finally discussed it with Dan because we all LOVE game night and didn't want to just end it, so we came to a compromise...we still host game night, but everyone either has to eat before they arrive or bring a frozen entree with them to pop in the oven. And so it is. On Friday, I felt a bit melancholy, but I will admit to enjoying the extra free time since I didn't have so much prep to do. I enjoyed playing games with everyone instead of fussing about in the kitchen. : ) Once in a while, I'll do pizza for old times sake. This also allow for a return to the previous routine for our weekends. One of the boys in particular is partial to routine, traditions and the like. So a good change for him especially. All in all, a good change.
Sorry about my ramblings...I'm sure that wasn't that interesting to most, but I needed to process it a bit more than in my head. Thanks for *listening*
~K~

What a Weekend!

Hello friends, near and far, in person and in cyber-space! We had such an exciting weekend that I wanted to share while it was still *semi* fresh my mind. : )

~Thursday, which is weekend warm up for us, was filled with school, tidying here and there, gymnastics for D, and Dan came home with the new movie AVATAR which we watched on the big screen. The CG in the movie is fantastic, the special effects are superb and the cinematography is resplendent, but the story itself is a bit overdone. A good movie, nonetheless. Dan really enjoyed it!

~Friday always means game night and it was a doozie! 23 people filled our home with fun, laughter and games! 5 Meyer's, 3 Starnes', 2 Balding's, 2 Bruno's, 2 Myer's 3 McKinney's, 2 Bean's and 4 Chacon's. Holy 10 pizzas, Batman! Being my mother's daughter, I WAY over did it with the pizza, assuming that everyone eats like Dan, even the babies...LOL! It was nice not to cook all weekend as we munched, and munched, and MUNCHED on that leftover pizza. We played games, the kids played outside enjoying the gorgeous weather and the adults chatted and carried on famously.

~Saturday Dan went to work as did I and the boys enjoyed some open gym while I wrapped up the concession stand duties. Then I realized that I had missed my Angel Food Network pick up and that some OTHER needy family had gotten the order I placed. Well, that was disappointing, but God will provide for us this week. : ) I went and had a lovely chat with Lauren, then headed home to rest. Dan arrived home later with 'Shua and the boy invited me out to dinner....yeah! David had his gymnastics banquet that evening, so I dropped him and then met up with 'Shua and we spent 2.5 lovely hours chatting over dinner while David got awards and played with his friends. He got a small trophy, and 2 small awards for getting the best haircut, and for getting the most rips from the high bar. (Boys are so weird) Went home and watched Avatar...again. Dan had bought a high def cable and the colors were so much more vibrant. So pretty! When we headed to bed...we still had a surprise waiting. As we prepared for bed, we heard a scratch at the door and some loud meowing. To our shock, Harley had returned! He looks none the worse for being gone 3 months and came right in and settled right back in like he was never gone. He's even warmed up to Sophie...well, a little : )

~Sunday....Oh sweet Sunday! Happy 74th Birthday Dad...we LOVE YOU! I woke up feeling terrible, as if I'd pulled a muscle in my right shoulder. OUCH! So, we decided to stay home and have a movie day. We did a few quick chores and then settled in to watch movies. We watched "Fireproof" *which is excellent, by the way...we BOTH cried* "Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves" "Kate and Leopold" and "28 Days" We laughed, we cried, we played with the pets, we goofed with the boys and we just enjoyed being together. Dan spiked my morning smoothie, rubbed my back and attached me to the TENS unit to make my shoulder loosen up...he's the best. The boys watched some, watched a movie or two on their own while folding clothes and played outside. It was a a great day.And to make the day just about perfect, Dan caught the mouse that has been enjoying my pantry a little too much.

So, it's been a super great weekend. It means that I was ready for Monday when it arrived this morning. I didn't feel overwhelmed, behind or frustrated by it's arrival...and that's ALWAYS a good thing. Thanks for sharing our happy weekend with us!

**And the best part of the whole weekend is that Dolli and Ryan are in town...yeah!!**

Lost boys...I have been missing you so much! Dariel, Ricky, Tony and Alec...love you boys!

Mama K

Long time, No Bloggy! LOTS of pictures ; )

Oops, life got in the way again...as often happens around the holidays (err, holi-DAZE) so for today, just some pics of recent happenings and I'll post another catch up post soon. Love to all, and hope you are enjoying the busy-ness of the season as much as we are!

Christmas Blessings,

Kristy and the Man Crew

Happy birthday to me, I'm the most blessed of all, I had TWO birthday cakes, one courtesy of 'Shua and Lauren, and one courtesy of my dear Sister-Girl, Karen!! Yeah for wonderful family!!

Christmas party+birthday party+game night= F~U~N!!

Awww, Karen gets into the spirit of Christmas as she counts the days until she heads to Cali for the holidays.

Oh...look at the pretty ornament Tracy made me for my birthday...Oooo, Ahhhh!

Lauren and Rusty are feeling festive...poor dog! Love this pic, though!!

Decorating the tree...what a bunch of handsome boys!! Not that I'm prejudiced, at all! ; )

Coffee and Doughnuts with Auntie Karen on a sleepy Saturday morning

Kelly and her sweetie-pie, Jared

Ty and Pat get into the spirit of "Peace on Earth" ..well, sorta!

I spent 3 happy days in this little hotel room scrapping, reading, sleeping in and spending time with Dan....more about that in another post

Titus gets INTO his food...LOL

Merry Christmas to all and a Great Holiday where we remember the reason behind the season! May God richly bless you this coming year!!