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Showing posts with label Mom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mom. Show all posts

Saturday, April 3, 2021

Welcome Home, Grandieu

 What do you do on the day when the woman who has been like a grandmother to you for many years goes home to celebrate Easter with Jesus from the other side of the grave?



You talk to your bestie, and your daughter in love, and your mama, and your sister. You put on a pretty dress and go to the Farmer’s Market with some of your people. You find sweet friends to visit with, plus beautiful jewelry, freshly baked challah wreaths from your Easter table, and locally brewed coffee from small businesses. You go grocery shopping so dazed and confused that your son’s girlfriend has to come find you wandering in the auto parts section of WalMart and finish your grocery shopping for you. You celebrate the birthday of a dear friend’s miracle baby. You pick up a surprise gift from a generous friend of a t-shirt that you’ve been wanting. You laugh with a friend over your haphazardly made Easter dinner plans. You hug your people 73 extra times. You hang out with your ridiculously handsome husband and are grateful for having someone to share life’s burdens with each day. You prepare to feed your delightful assortment of family and friends and probably a few random strangers a big meal, hope you have enough forks, and are reminded anew of the many Many MANY blessings in your life.

Welcome Home, Mary Hover Parker, aka Grandieu. Your race is finished. I’ll see you when I get there. ♥️


Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Happy Birthday Mom!

 Since we can't be together today for your birthday, I'm going to enjoy the memory of last year's birthday, which was a glorious day indeed. 

Happy birthday, Mom!
We have done ALL the things today, from being invited to breakfast by Ricky, having coffee and donuts with Karen, trashing the kitchen at least 3 times, teaching Makenzie how to make graham cracker cake, enjoying a special dinner together and laughing over some games. Good stuff!







#RememberingKaren #InTheKitchenWithKristy

Friday, June 8, 2018

#100HappyDays2018: Day 12

No photo description available.



#100HappyDays: Day 12
This is an old photo, but we had so much fun at Game Night tonight that Charlie (Charles Bruno) had to use his inhaler because he had an asthma attack from laughing so hard. Good times.
#100SummerDays
#GameNight
#Friends
#100HappyDays2018

PS. We miss you LaVonda Smith
— with Charles Bruno and LaVonda Smith at The Man Crew House.

Image may contain: Kristy Meyer, Charles Bruno and LaVonda Smith, people smiling, eyeglasses, closeup and indoor

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

It's the Little Things: Day 44

 
 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 day of home education for two wiggly silly little boys that found them working diligently and earnestly, allowing us to make some extra progress towards a half day off this Friday.
  • It's a mom who KNOWS that the thrill of the never-ending Pantry Challenge (Hello, week 6!) has totally and completely worn off and just 'happened' to accidentally make too much of a tasty egg casserole, and brings it to you so you don't have to cook one.more.meal without the benefit of going to the store for ingredients.  
  • It's getting all your necessary house chores accomplished before Hunky Dunky comes home so that you have time to hang out with him. 
  • It's your teenager chatting with you on purpose and telling you about his date he has planned for Valentine's Day tomorrow. (He's giddy, it's adorable) 
  • It's a fun online Tupperware party that I'm hosting with a new friend, where all the ladies are having such a good time. Tupperware, anyone?  
  • It's chatting with another gymnastics mama, who is new to the game, and reassuring her that competitive season DOES end, and there is life after traveling every other weekend for what feels like forever. And that it's OK to step back from the craziness and make your own decisions. 
  • It's finally feeling competent enough to run the office without Jodi to back me up (she went home sick today) 
  • It's all the details for my mom's 70th birthday tea party starting to fall into place. *squeal*  

 




Sunday, February 11, 2018

It's the Little Things: Days 41 & 42

 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 glorious Saturday spent completely at home, being busy about the tasks a homemaker calls her own. 
  • It's digging through every piece of Christmas decor you own, remembering happy little Christmases of long ago, deciding what to repack and what can go bless someone else's next Christmas.
  • It's several hours spent working happily alongside my mother, who can run circles around me, while we chat and laugh together.
  • It's having an old family favorite movie to watch late in the evening to laugh over together with your favorite middlest of middle children, while others are asleep or out helping someone with a project. 
  • It's an inspiring sermon at Reel2Real church that leaves plenty for you to ruminate upon during a quiet Sunday afternoon alone. 
  • It's TIME to blog on a quiet Sunday afternoon...and plan a tea party for my mom's 70th birthday, and work on a surprise for Dan's 42nd birthday, and chat with my sisters, and work in my planner, and update my computer, and prep dinner so whenever Hercules wandered back in the door I could have dinner on the table in 5 minutes. 
  • It's having sons that are nearly as handy as their father so that when Mama K or Grma need something, there are always helping hands willing and able to be of service with a smile. 
  • It's a good CD played on repeat while no one is here to complain about my repetitive musical tastes. :)
  • It's missing Caden's 1st birthday party, but knowing that there will be plenty of photos and videos coming to me across the miles via technology. 
  • It's ending a restful weekend curled up in the arms of the man I love, watching a movie before putting this weekend to bed, ready to face the coming week.

What's on YOUR little things list today?

Sunday, February 4, 2018

Catchin' Up with The Man Crew

Hey everyone, I sure blogged a BUNCH in January, didn't it? Hopefully it wasn't overwhelming for you. I'm so enjoying having the time to blog more these days and with my new Little Things posts and the Pantry Challenge, I logged many posts over the past few weeks. It's been a while since I did a Catchin' Up post, so I thought you might all enjoy a broader scope of post that covers a little bit of everything and everyone.

Dan: Dan is home Home HOME!!
He is finished with the job on Eunice and he is delighted to be home again. Doesn't hurt my feelings either. *winks* He is keeping busy by working out with The BIGS and Ricky, building a deck for a friend's nursery/landscaping business, helping Dastroyah with motorcycle projects and building a bedroom suite for some friends from our beloved community group. We're enjoying the simple things like hanging out and watching Netflix together. 


Kristy: Kristy is cooking, baking, creating!
I am back to my regular schedule at work; M, T, W, and Friday from 8-2:30 and Th until 4. I'm well again after last month's flu business and I'm excited to have done so well on Pantry Challenge 2018. Only $143 spent on food last month and it was almost all fresh dairy and produce. And surprisingly, we aren't going hungry. LOL!I had fun rolling up my sleeves and digging into the kitchen work again, after Nov and Dec left me on a first name basis with the pizza delivery man and every McDonald's in town. I played paper with a friend, saw a musical concert with Mom, toured the local art museum, had lunch with friends, slept in a time or two and in general remembered how to use a Saturday. 'Twas glorious, I tell you! I pulled some books off of shelves and am in the midst of 6 books right now (no wonder I'm always confused, HA) and am hoping to surpass my goal of 52 books this year. It has been fun learning how to use my newly acquired free time. I've noticed that with the addition of a smart phone to my life a few years back, I don't read nearly as much and my attention span has diminished greatly. So this year I am working on getting my attention span back up to snuff and remembering that I had hobbies before FB and smart phones entered my life. This MAY be the year I finally get back to scrap booking!

Dastroyah: Dastroyah is doing his "life's work"
Dastroyah is in the thick of the competitive season with his little men and they are kicking butt and taking names. He is SO proud of them and all their hard work. He and  Hercules are currently working on 3 new-to-him dirt bikes in the hopes of flipping them and turning a profit. His Datsun project parts should be arriving this week and he will then start that project. His motorcycle is running again and he is SO over-the-moon about that. His little potato puppy is growing like crazy and is still so cute! He, Dan, PattyCakes and Nathan have been out off-roading several times this past month and always come home with some terrifyingly adventurous tales to share. Manly bonding and all that. *winks* 

PattyCakes: Pat is working, lounging, repairing. 
Pat is enjoying a slightly less busy season now that holiday camps at the gym are done until Spring Break rolls around. He and Nathan are currently enjoying some uninterrupted video game time since neither of them had to work any birthday parties today. His little car, aptly named "Gold Digger" is taking on a new shine as he has a bit more time to spend fussing over her. He recently overhauled his room and magically found more than 20 of my kitchen towels/reusable napkins, donated an entire basket of clothes to the thrift store, and shared some old toys/games with DT. I think he's enjoying his abode a good bit more now that it's less cluttered and more inviting. 

Derek: DT is schooling, playing, gaming. 
Derek is cruising through school with Titus and even though it took a while to get back in the groove after the holidays, they are doing quite well again. Jodi and I are so pleased with his/their progress this year. He is enjoying time after work (once his chores are finished) to just sit and play video games as our much fuller school schedule this year is consuming nearly all of his time while we are at work. (Last year we were LUCKY to get an hour at the school tables, this year he's averaging 4+) And especially since he's no longer on the gymnastics team, he has some free time to enjoy. His game playing skills, in board games and video games, are improving. In fact, he beat CHARLIE at a game of chess just last month. He's still quite intrigued by MineCraft and will play that as long as I let him. We updated his chores at the beginning of the year, much to his chagrin, and he's now emptying the DW every day, caring for all the pets except the actual feeding of the snakes, making sure the trash and recycling aren't overflowing in the house and getting them to the street for trash pick up day, doing his own laundry and keeping his game 'cubby' neat and tidy. Not that he hasn't capable of any of that for quite some time, but sometimes being the baby of the family has it's perks. LOL! Soon, he's going to start planning, shopping for and preparing one simple meal a week.

 Everyone Else: 
Karen is on temporary disability as her anxiety and several other health issues are interfering with her ability to do her job properly. She's "enjoying" the time off by spending copious hours a week at doctor appointments and therapies. I'm delighted to see her taking such steps to take back control of her health.
Mom is still here in Cruces, but after a move to escape the rats at her first apartments, she's not enjoying her second apartment much more (disruptive/scary neighbors). Poor thing, she may never come back. But her birthday is coming up this month and we are eagerly anticipating a celebration of that before she heads back to the frozen tundra.
Alex is doing very well after his motorcycle accident last fall. He's walking and driving and gaming and rebuilding engines and doing all the things he used to do, which is wonderful considering he should still be sitting in a wheel chair according to the doctors. Prayer works, y'all.
Nathan is nearing the end of his high school career and has admitted to having a serious case of senioritis, but is aware that he needs to keep his grades from slipping if he wants to get a scholarship to play football at the college level next year.

Prayer Requests:

  • Either steady side job work or an actual job offer on something local for Dan.
  • Continued enthusiasm for the school year for Kristy. It's about this time of year when the "I-don't-want-to-do-this-anymore" feeling kicks in. (I blame the warm weather and sunshine)
  • Same for Derek and for more reading progress. And for new friends, now that he isn't in gym anymore.
  • For Dastroyah to know how many projects are enough, so that he doesn't feel like he's trying to juggle flaming chainsaws ALL.OF.THE.TIME. 
  •  For Pat to decide if/when he wants to go to school, or if he wants to join the adult workforce with a full time job. 
  • For my mother's continued safety while she is here.
  • Karen to continue to fight to get well.
    

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

It's the Little Things: Day 30

 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 time that the right word was spoken at the right moment.
So, let's celebrate those little moments together, shall we?

  • It's oversleeping, but still waking in time to get to work on time.
  • It's OWNING Pantry Challenge 2018 that's almost 4 full weeks in.
  • It's a chat with your favorite oldest adopted child on his way home from work.
  • It's you mom dropping by to bring you all the things you forgot at work because you're a scatterbrain. ;)
  • It's fresh baked bread. Fresh bread fixes nearly everything that's not right.
  • It's a chat with your favorite oldest biological son about a 'wacky plan' he has hatched with Hercules about rebuilding dirt bikes that he hopes will turn a profit.
  • It's finding ingredients in your pantry to create chocolate mocha frosting to schmear on graham crackers for hubby's evening chocolate fix.
  • It's your favorite middlest of middle children announcing that the whole house smells good when he walks in after work. (refer back to the comment about bread.)
  • It's laughing with Mr. T and Slick over cat board games while you're 'at work'. Here, Kitty Kitty is a hoot, just saying.
  • It's helping your favorite youngest biological child build a blanket fort and being so glad that even at 12, he still finds these amusing. 
  • It's getting the email reminder that your grandson's birthday gift will arrive on time. (In other news, how is it already his 1st birthday later this week?)
  • It's getting to the electronics first in line today and getting to listen to beautiful music for nearly 2 hours before someone else took control of the electronics. 
  • It's your mom nonchalantly putting food into your fridge since Handsome Hercules is currently unemployed. She's the best. 



What's on YOUR little things list today?

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Catching UP with Us Meyer's

Catching up with us these days is getting harder and harder. Let's see if a brief synopsis will suffice for the past few months as an overview.

July: Mom went to IL for an extended trip. My Aunt Janet (Dad's sister) passed away and Mom made the trip to Massachusetts for the funeral and then back to IL. Dan left for an extended work assignment in Iowa and will be gone somewhere between 8-12 MONTHS. (don't ask) He got to pop over to IL one of the weekends and surprise his mama and brothers at the Walter's Family Reunion.



August: Derek turned 10 and joined the double digit club. Dan and I celebrated (separately) our 19th wedding anniversary. Mom returned from IL just in time to welcome Uncle Jerry and Aunt Marion for a quick visit in Cruces and then joined them for a visit to Idaho. Once she was finished visiting the family in Idaho, she drove through Cali on the way home to visit Dolli, RyRy and Wyatt. Tony Bean got married, and even after we'd said we couldn't come, Dan made it to the wedding and had a great time.



September: I spent 8 glorious days in Iowa with Dan to actually celebrate our anniversary. 8 days + hunky hubby + no responsibilities + first kidless week together in 18 years = BEST VACAY EVER. Period. Mom stayed with the boys (thanks Mom!) Mom them packed up and moved back to IL. I miss her desperately. We purchase Dan's plane ticket home for Thanksgiving. Pat and Derek start school.



October: David turned 18 and joined the newly adult club. (Mama K has feelings about that) Pat and David seriously consider a trip to Iowa but determine that now is not the best time. Joshua turns 27. David quits second job in favor of taking on more hours at first job. Fall Festival (I did a trunk this year) is a smashing success serving more than 8,000 people from our community. 



November: Renaissance Faire comes to Las Cruces. I opt to only volunteer one day so that I can enjoy the Faire for one of the days. Our church again does Feed My Starving Children Manna Packs. David moves out of our house and into Jay, Rachel and Maddie's apartment. Pat signs up to get his driver's permit. Hannah Ruoss comes to visit for 5 days. Patrick decides to get baptized the weekend that Dan is home for Thanksgiving...in the Rio Grande. (Brr!)  Kimberly makes plans to come visit in December. Dan decides that for Christmas, he will drive home and take Pat back with him (hooray for online school) Mama K opts for a non-traditional Thanksgiving meal of Dragon Soup, green bean casserole and pre-made pies so she can spend the extra time with Dan while he's home for Thanksgiving. Derek and Mama start making holiday plans and switch to Unschooling until after the New Year. 



See what I mean? I thought having a house full of littles was tiring and super fun. And it was. But in a completely different way than having a house full (and now not so full) of BIGS can be exhausting, exhilarating and exciting all in one day.
Thanks for trying to keep up with us. Goodness knows I can barely keep up and I live here. :)
Oh, and one more thing. For those of you not on FB (but isn't everyone these days?) my hair has undergone a small transition since Dan's departure in July. In July my hair looked like this.


In August and the first part of Sept, it looked like this.

In late September and October, it looked like this. 


And now in November, it looks like this. 


Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Alone Again

...and just like that, I'm back to living alone in the land of men.
 

*le sigh*

Have a safe and enjoyable trip, Mom. I'll be waiting when you return to us!
     


     ~K~

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Catching UP with Us MeYeR's



Catching up with the MeYeR family is a hard thing to do. Most of the time, we're so busy, we can't even catch up with ourselves. *sigh* (as Jen Hatmaker would say, "For the love of Barnum and Bailey!")
We are working on scaling back, but it's a challenge. I've read Jen Hatmaker's book "7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess" so many times that I nearly have it memorized, but putting it into practice in our hectic lives is proving to be more challenging than I had hoped. Sometimes I feel like Lucy from the Peanuts comic strip hollering, "Stop the world, I want to get off." And most days, I know that this is just a season of my life and that someday soon I'll be an empty nest-er, or only have 1 at home and I'll be so lonely and bored that I'll be longing for this insanity that is currently my life. But at this exact moment, I can't even imagine being lonely or bored, and quite frankly, the idea sounds lovely. So, we're continuing to work toward simplicity wherever possible and hanging on for dear life everywhere else. Mom has been great at helping not only pick up my slack (and there is plenty, I assure you) but in helping and encouraging me to find new ways to simplify.
~Less is more.
~Less is better.
~Less is of higher quality.
So we've been decluttering like our lives depended on it. We've packed the first several boxes for our upcoming move. (more on that in another post) And I'm feeling good about those changes. I've actually had time recently to even have a conversation or two with Handsome Hercules, without one or both of us running in opposite directions. We've got a good ways to go, but progress is always something to be appreciated and applauded. As we head into the 2 busiest seasons in our life (the holidays and gymnastics seasons) it is good that we've scaled back some. We're running the boys hither and yon less. With a few notable exceptions, my routine at work has calmed down. Mom has taken over the dinner shift, and while I miss cooking for the family everyday, I do enjoy eating at a reasonable time so that there is a little family time before DT gets shuttled off to bed. We're signing up for things at church and the gym that we can do as a family instead of one parent always being gone and the other at home with the kiddos.
Apparently the 2 hardest-headed people are finally learning a few things. Guess that means if we can do it, so can you. :) So hang in there friends, there IS light at the end of the tunnel, and it's NOT an oncoming train.
In other news,
~We are still house hunting, but have one picked out that should have an offer on it before the end of the week. We were hoping to pull off a move before Christmas, but that's not looking good, so possibly right after the new year rolls around.
~My nephew Jayson will be here by the week's end to stay with us for 6-8 months while he gets a job and saves money before his lovely lady can join him down here in the Land of Enchantment.
~We are rapidly approaching the 1 year anniversary of my dad's death, so if you have a minute, please say a prayer for my mama. She's a trooper but she still gets sad sometimes.
~Dan nearly lost his thumb in a work related accident a few weeks back and it is healing beautifully. He never even missed a day of work. Praise the LORD!
~Dan is currently between jobs. Looks like he will be going back to Wooten in just a few days, but if any of my local friends have a small job they need done this week, he's available.
I think that's all the big news right now. I'll keep you posted :)
     As always, thanks for reading this and sharing our journey. Lost Boys, Mama K misses you like crazy.
       ~K~

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

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. In celebration of those little things, list a few things that made your day, week, month or LIFE sweeter or brighter.


  • Dolli was here for 2 full weeks with her daughter Ryan. Both are rays of sunshine that light up any room just by being there, so 2 weeks of them was quite a treat!

  • I think we are all well again. We've been passing around a cold for quite a while now and it's a relief to be on the mend, and feel capable of putting a full meal on the table, teaching a quality day of school and cleaning the pigsty that my home has become while I was sick and/or tending to the sick.

  • My father has officially handed in his letter of resignation to the church where he has been custodian for 21 years. It's a mixed feeling knowing that he really isn't capable of doing the work anymore and that he NEEDS to retire and yet feeling like he can't be THAT old, right?? On the upside, they will have LOTS more time to come and stay with us now and we are really looking forward to that!

  • I continue to be tickled pink by Skype. Karen and I had coffee 'with' mom this week, the cousins have had a ball visiting back and forth and we've even had a chat with Dan's mom.

  • Mother's Day is coming up, and it's nice to take a moment to think about our mothers and how blessed we all are! In my case...my mom rocks! I've had moments when I was so humbled that she didn't kill me as a child, that I've called and apologized for the child I once was. Yikes! But in her gentle way, she just shrugged it off and said it wasn't that hard. Yeah, right...but I'll take a compliment where I can get one!

  • Game night continues to be a hit. In fact, it's such a hit with Derek that I cannot get him to say Friday. It's 'Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Game Night, Saturday, Sunday.' HA! Almost every day, he wakes up and asks me if it's game night yet. : ) The crowd continues to grow...we are blessed to have so many to call friend.

I like the idea of this kind of post. If you do too, add a few of YOUR little things. I'm making it a goal to be more positive this year, join me!


~K~

Monday, February 2, 2009

My Mom, she ROCKS!


Today's post is about my mom. LaVonda Ann McCracken Smith...She rocks! She is a great example of a Godly woman, Elizabeth George would be proud of her...LOL~ Gosh, I don't even know where to start...hmmm.... She has been married to my dad for just over 40 years now and they are happy as two peas in a pod! My mom is one of the most helpful people you'll ever meet...she can whip up a meal for the family that just had a baby, run the church office and keep the house presentable all at once. Just don't look in her bedroom...hee hee! She is a GREAT grandma and they kids LOVE spending time with her...she always has some small activity or craft planned to make the visit special. Like when she was here for the holidays, she taught David and Patrick how to crochet. They loved it! She grew up on a dairy farm on the NW side of Ohio and knows the value of a hard earned dollar and can stretch her grocery dollars until they beg for mercy (where do you think I learned it??) She has a lovely voice and we used to wake each Sunday morning to the sounds of her practicing the organ and singing...ahhh, sweet melodies! She gardens, she cans and freezes, she bakes awesome caramel rolls and makes a mean lasagna. She isn't afraid of hard work, difficult people or Depressing economic times because her trust is in the Lord God Almighty. She is a big, brave, dog...LOL! She is compassionate, loving, honest, dependable, a cheer-er of underdogs, tender without being a sissy and once in a great while she makes a snarky comment that is soooo unexpected and funny that she only has to do it about once a year...LOL! Have I mentioned that I love my mom?She is a great friend, always ready to run to the rescue of whoever is in need at the time. If there was a way to save the whole world from itself without messing up free will, she would have figured it out long ago! She is the proud mother of us 3 (Kelly, Kristy and Jodi) the "fairy step mother" of 2 (Karen and Debbie) Grandmother to many (Dolli, Tammi, Leesa, Christopher, Tyler, Jayson, David, Ellyn, Patrick, Mady, Opal, James, Mikey, Derek and Titus)...and Great Grandma to 2 (Alexis and Ryan)...phew! Not bad for only being 60. She has been a member of the same church for almost 40 years and plans on continuing...talk about a charter member! She's played the organ, worked in VBS, led Sunday school adventures, taught our GA class, been on the hostess committee, put in MANY years behind the nursery door with my dad, and run the church office. Besides preaching, I'm not sure there isn't much she HASN'T done at the church, since now she helps my Dad as custodian. Alright, I better quit as I'm sure she is mortified that I'm braggin' on her so much already...LOL! Anywho, suffice it to say that my mom ROCKS!! Thanks Mom!!

~Kristy~
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