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. 

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