Taxes for 2020 have been handled! Boom...

 Well, at least that's done for another year. Phew.

#TaxesAreStressful

#OldLadyTaxFilingAdventures

#BeingAGrownUpIsDumb

#ByeBye2020

Pause 

It's the Little Things: Day 45

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 waking up to find that your Tax Refund has arrived overnight and you are able to catch up on some bills...and maybe even afford a small treat.  
• It's Sister-Girl Night and laughing our heads off together over the antics of our children/grand-babies while enjoying some very tasty food.
• It's a call from your nephew asking if he's made the right choices for his Valentine's Day sweetie. (To which I laughed and replied, "Wrong sister. Kristy doesn't do V-Day and I'm barely a girl anyway.") But it's always nice to be consulted for our perceived wisdom...am-I-right? 
• It's a good day of school for Mr. T and Slick that included a pizza party (hooray for the tax refund)
• It's being nearly ready for tomorrow's Thursday Night Games for the BIGS and it's not even Thursday! Woot!
• It's enjoying my fun online Tupperware party and making new friends.
• It's appreciating my quiet alone time in the mornings to get a few small tasks accomplished and having a few minutes to myself before the rest of the Man Crew wakes up. 

It's the Little Things: Day 36

 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 Haircut Night at the Man Crew House, which means 3 handsome boys all have new haircuts, which makes this mama very happy indeed.
• In related hair-cutting news, I love that special time every few weeks when the boys are required to sit still and talk to me for a few minutes while I cut their hair. It's a time when they share their life in a way they don't often slow down long enough to do otherwise. This week, Dastroyah told me about how God was speaking to him this week and how he was taking some actions to follow the word from God. Now, THAT makes a mama smile. 
• It's starting a new TV series via the Netflix DVD option that I think Dan and I will both enjoy. (Now to get the next disc here in a hurry, glad the warehouse is close.)
• It's being well rested enough these days to make a habit of getting up early before work and not only enjoying some quiet all to myself, but getting a few things accomplished so I can enjoy the evenings with the family. 
• It's dreaming about what to do with the few dollars that will be left over from our tax refund after we do the responsible things. *grins*
• It's a handsome hubby who shows up with dinner in hand so I can take the evening off of kitchen duty after a month of Pantry Challenge.
• It's looking forward to the return of our beloved Community Group, which has been on extended hiatus since the holidays.
• It's a son who is complaining less about his new chore load. (Future wife of his, you're welcome for a man that knows how to do all.the.things. around the house.)

What's on YOUR little things list?

It's the Little Things: Day 34

 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 Saturday that allows for sleeping in.
• It's being welcomed at Gym Magic by friends old and new. And feeling a little like I was entering "Cheers", where everyone knows your name. :)
• It's knowing that you are missed, when you leave a job. 
• It's hubby making us dinner (after he went to the store looking for ice cream, LOL) 
• It's having time to just lay around, watch TV, snuggle and not worry about how tight our schedule is for the day.
• It's going to our favorite H&R Block tax professional and finding out that we are getting back more than we've gotten in the last three years. Put together. Praise the Lord!
• It's helping a son work through his taxes so he doesn't have to pay money to have his done by a professional.
  
  
  
  What's on YOUR little things list today?

Catchin' Up with Us MeYeR's

My Oh My, what a crazy, hectic, wild few days we have had!! Life just spirals out of control some days, doesn't it? Life just flies by while we are standing around, scratching our heads, and trying DESPERATELY to figure out what just happened...HA! Among the highlights of the last 10 days or so...

• Dan is still working...we are so grateful. When he got assigned this job in Tularosa, he said he would be surprised if it lasted until the new year. Here it is the middle of February, and God is still providing him with work....AMEN!
• David is doing so well in gymnastics that the coach is starting to pressure him to compete. While this annoys me since we have made it perfectly clear that he does NOT want to compete, this gives D a chance to learn to say no and mean it...a valuable life lesson : )
• Pat is working very hard on his self control and starting to want 'privileges' enough to want to take on 'responsibilities' so that he can have them...and that's HUGE for him! (We are also cutting HFCS and Red Dye #40 completely out of his diet and are seeing some of the benefits of that for him...and he's finally old enough to understand why we are doing it, and not be too annoyed by it, YEAH!!)
• Derek has started recognizing letters well enough that he is starting to ask what things spell, and can consistently spell his name with his refrigerator letters. His coloring is improving by leaps and bounds and I know that soon he will be writing letters on his own...WOW!
• 'Shua and Lauren made it safely to IL and back to have a nice visit with friends and family. Call us all selfish, but we sure are glad to have them back : ) We had an adventure both dropping them off at the airport and on the way to pick them up. I won't bore you with retelling the story but if you want to read about it, it's here. As for on the way to pick them up, ironically it was raining again and I asked Dan to go with us since I didn't want to get stranded on the way to pick them up. He graciously agreed even though he really needed to be in bed and away we went. Along the way, we saw several cars in ditches, since no one knows how to drive in poor weather down here. Before long, the car in front of us started driving erratically and within 5 minutes had managed to do 3 spins crossing all lanes of traffic and smash into the median right in front of us. Surely the Lord protected us form being any closer to him or we would have been hit as well. Then just about the time our adrenaline wore off, we hit a puddle and the serpentine belt came off...AGAIN! Let me repeat, I AM SO GLAD Dan was with us. He pulled off the highway, put it back on and off we went, but there was no entrance ramp back to the highway....grr! So we drove in circles, got lost and then had to backtrack once we stopped for directions. We managed to pull up to the airport exactly at the time they landed which was odd since they were due to land some 40 minutes before then. Thankfully the ride home was uneventful as we listened to them tell us about their adventures from IL. Oh my...what a wild ride! The boys are still talking about it : )
• Me? I got my long awaited kitchen aid mixer this week. Thank you Tax Refund! I am also going to order the grain mill attachment so that I can grind my own flours...I am such a dork, but I'm so excited I feel like clapping and jumping up and down every time I think of it!
• Speaking of the tax refund...we have really enjoyed it this year. All the boys have new games or systems. David bought a PSP and can play games with Dan now, Pat got new headphones and several new gadgets or gizmos for his birthday DSi including a carrying case, an external flash kit and a zoom lens. Derek got a new DSi and a game. The family got a PS3 and several new controllers....so I think we bought all our technology for the year...LOL! Credit cards got paid down or off, everyone got new shoes or clothes...some got both and we filled our nearly empty cupboards to overflowing again! I got 2 new cartridges for my cricut machine, plus several other scrapbooking items, Dan got his long awaited electric razor and I bought several months worth of inks and photo papers for the computer printer. Dan's motorcycle is in the shop for a tune up and we will still have enough money to order next year's curriculum. Is God good to us or what? Not that God isn't good to us when we don't have much money, but I want to give extra praise where it is due. The Lord provides for our needs...and our wants. We even have some money set aside for taking care of others...now THAT feels good!
• Speaking of caring for others, I just want to give a little shout out to my Sister-Girl Karen. Last night she ordered pizza for the WHOLE game night crowd which includes....Karen and Tyler, Charlie and Devin, Kelly and Jared, Robert, Tracy and Little Izzi, 'Shua and Lauren, Jodi, Aaron, James and Titus, plus us 5 MeYeR's....just so I could have a break from kitchen duty. Is she great or what?? Not that she doesn't do wonderful things for me all the time, but this was huge...and so sweet. Sister-Girl, thanks!!
• In that same vein, Tracy has been super about taking the boys a few days here and there so I can get things done, work on Saturday morning, or so I can have a few hours with Dan and that's a wonderful gift to any mother, right?? : ) AND she's the wonderful teacher of the *all new* craft class on Friday mornings.
• The new job at the gym is going really well, as of next week, I am on my own to run the concession stand on Saturday mornings...I'm pretty excited!
• Kohls continues to be a good job and even though I'm pretty tired some days, it's a job that allows us to continue to enjoy our homeschooling lifestyle and I can still bring in some money. I call that, a God thing.

I think that's enough news for one post, don't you?? Oh, one more thing...Alec is coming to visit us next week, and I'm really excited about seeing him again. We didn't have much chance to visit when I was there in Sept, so it's really catch up time!! Spinal Tap, anyone??

Have a great week and thanks for being interested in our lives!

Blessings,

~K~