Only Looks Gross

I'm not neccesarily Susie Homemaker, but I do like to try new things. These fire starters are so easy to make. I put a used egg carton by the dryer and fill up each section with lint from the dryer. Usually one filter fills each section. I then pour candle wax over each section and let it harden. My husband then pops out one section at a time and uses it for a fire starter. These will also be great for camping.

Earning Her Keep

Family Christmas

This year we celebrated Christmas with Josh's side of the family at his sister's house. It was very low key and relaxing. The kids had a great time playing with their gifts. Of course, my husband always has to find something to get the kids riled up. Nothing like a game of lasso during the middle of a Christmas celebration.

Foster is about to be hogtied here. Look at the line forming. Who needs expensive gifts when you have a rope?
No one was injured during the making of this image.

Hannah, Meredith and Lake received a Wii from Grandpa and Grandma. We have had a lot of fun playing the different games.

Random Post While I Have Time

Ok, so this post is going to be very random. I have been so busy lately, that finding time to upload pictures and actually write something about them has been nearly impossible. School is out for winter break and I am trying to catch up on as many things as possible. Today I managed to make it to the post office, Wal-Mart, Walgreens, JCPenney's, McDonald's and an oil change. In between I am trying to catch up on laundry and get some baking done. I think our house is just going to have to be a mess for one day longer. Enjoy the pictures, I'll attempt a narrative for them while time allows.

Our attempt at a Christmas card. Lake loves to pull Merdi's hair. I actually went ahead and used it for the card. No use in staging something!
Our Christmas Tree. The bottom of the tree has to be free of ornaments since Lake thinks everything is a ball these days.

Isn't Merdi just the prettiest little girl? I love her blond hair with dark brown eyes. She had a Christmas program at school and she wanted to look 'beautiful'.

Santa at the winery. What more could a mom ask for? If only Santa could come home with me!

Christmas with the Silvernail's this past weekend. The kids received such awesome gifts. It was so nice to spend time with family.

Lake loved his new Rocket Flyer. Isn't Aunt Jodi so pretty?

Merdi in her new pajamas. Can you tell she likes them?

Not sure what to do with all of the Christmas photos you receive? Punch holes in them and decorate a small tree or two.

Have you been to this blog:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/

I recently bought her cookbook and love the recipes. Seriously, should meatloaf look this good, even before it is cooked?

A Beautiful Soul

This past weekend my family visited my sister Julie at the Shrine in Alabama to celebrate her 29nd birthday. This was also her one year anniversary in joining the monastery. Julie is such a sincere, sweet young lady. She believes whole heartily in her calling and you can just see the passion in her when talking. The first time I went to visit Julie, I had many reservations about her joining a cloistered monastery, but I have come to realize that it has nothing to do with me. This is her choice and what she is called to do. If she hadn't wanted me to get married or have children, as I feel called to do, I would have thought she was nuts. So, who am I to judge what someone else wants to do with their life. We were able to have some great conversations and I was glad to see that she just seemed so "normal" for lack of a better word. She is the Julie I have always known, just a little more driven to spread God's message. I also was able to attend a very moving Latin Mass at the Shrine and join the nuns in praying the rosary. It was a great opportunity to reassess where I am in my faith and where I am leading my children in theirs. All in all, the twenty hours of driving in three days was well worth it!

Jeff, Sister Julie and I visiting

Hannah, Sister Julie and I

This picture does not even begin to show how beautiful she is. Plus, you should hear her sing!

Happy Birthday Sister Julie!

My mom and dad drove from Florida to visit. My dad is so proud and my mom is getting used to the idea. It is hard for her to see Julie behind the iron work.

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!