The Sleep Fairy

This blog carnival was started by MckMama. Be sure to click on the Not!Me! Monday link above to check out her site.

I did not tell my daughter that there was a sleep fairy and that if she stayed in her bed all night, the sleep fairy would put a present under her bed each night. But if I had, it would have worked like a charm! She would have slept in her bed all night until about 5:40 when she called out for me. I would have offered for her to come snuggle with me and she would have replied, "No, because then the sleep fairy won't come."

Watch out for the Flames!

Do you ever live through your children? I have to be careful about this with Hannah. I have this overwhelming desire to give her all of the things I never had. There is a such a fine line to be drawn with this. I try to encourage her to try all kinds of activities and to be the kind of person who can be friends with anyone. Eight years old has definitely changed in regards to what goes on. Friendships are so fragile at this age and feelings can be hurt so easily. The amount of bullying is also overwhelming. Hannah and I are continually having the conversation about not worrying about what others think and that there are times not all of your friends are going to get along. This is really hard for her to grasp, but I am lucky because she has chosen to be friends with a core group of really good girls. We try to find ways for them to foster their friendships outside of school, but this can be difficult since you don't want anyone to feel left out.

Recently, we organized a team for the local K-Life Dodgeball Tournament. Hannah and her friends had a blast tie-dying their shirts and practicing for the big day. They wanted to look fierce, but it just didn't work. The Flames were the youngest team in the tournament, but they played their hardest. It was a great day to hang out together and develop friendships with good hearted children and their parents. I know Hannah may not always choose friends that I approve of, but for now I am blessed to have a child who isn't worried about cliques or popularity. She just wants to be friends with everyone and what more could a parent ask for?

What a fierce looking team. We were YouTubing 'Dodgeball' the night before so that the girls had some clue about what they were doing.

Pretty cool looking uniforms though!

The Meyer Family

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama.

Oh, where to begin. I have so many Not Me! mentions that I better limit them.

I most certainly did not stalk MckMama's blog last week, wait for every twitter update and cry uncontrollably in my office. Since this did not really occur, I did not have to explain myself to co-workers who thought I had finally lost it.

I am definitely an assertive person, so of course I did not go ahead and order more food from the Schwan's man even though we have plenty of food. Seriously, how hard is it to say "No thanks, we don't need anything this week".

I have not been going to bed at 8:00 with Lake. Of course, I rock him to sleep and then place him in his crib. I then always go downstairs and finish laundry, dishes and get all of the clothes set out for the next day. On that same note, since I always lay out the outfits, my 4 year old has not been picking out whatever she wants to wear to school.

Last night, after completing all of the above tasks, I did not stalk about fifty blogs to see what other people write about. I wonder why I was so tired this morning then???

And lastly, I loved every minute of brushing My Little Pony hair for over an hour with my sick little girl today while answering one million questions!

Life's Blessings

I have been reading a blog for several months now and have been reeled in by the author's story, her outlook on life and the questions she raises in your own beliefs. The site is mycharmingkids.net. A very long story short, the author has a little boy Lake's age who was given a dire diagnosis while still in the womb. Recently, this miracle of a little boy survived a procedure that was very touch and go and now he will be able to live life like a baby boy should. There were days I would read her entry and be in tears for a child I have never met. I always believe that there are reasons why things happen. By coming across this blog, I have been so much more appreciative of the health of my children and find myself wanting to spend much more time with them. God works in such mysterious ways. Even when times are tough with the kids, I try so hard to keep in mind what a miracle they are and how fragile life can be.

I would be lying if I said having a third child was easy. Things are so much more hectic, there's more cleaning to be done, more laundry (you get the picture). Plus, with the kids age differences, it is often hard to find things to do as a family where everyone has a good time. Thanks to a chance happening of running across this particular blog, when there are millions out there, I have such a renewed sense of family and togetherness. How awesome is that?

One of our little blessings!

Halloween and Fall Pics

We had a great Halloween with weather to be thankful for. Started off with a quick trip around the square where area businesses had stations set up. Aunt Jodi and Uncle David came from St. Louis to trick or treat with the kids. Amazing how much smoother things go with an extra set of hands. Every time one of my sisters visit, we think about how awesome it would be to have a nanny. Hannah was a witch, Meredith was a princess (although she kept telling people she was a pumpkin) and Lake was a lion. We made it through about half of the neighborhood before Meredith became too tired. It was a quick night, but everyone had fun. Lake enjoyed handing out candy with Grandma Lysle and Aunt Sabra. Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!