I wanted to start a new tradition....

I thought with all the things I have to do around here that I'd start a new tradition this Christmas. No Christmas lights outside (thought why not save a little money this year and forget about the lights outside) and no Christmas Tree.

I tried to sell it to the kids saying how cool it would be if we had a Christmas "rug". Santa would bring all of our presents and place them on our special rug. Why be like everyone else and put up a Christmas tree? We could be cool and have a Christmas rug! Just think about all the room we'd have for presents if we didn't put up the huge tree.

I thought for sure Sean and Brett would be on board. I knew Kaila and Brandon could care less. How great to not have to put all the lights up, drag the tree out and all the ornaments. Then what a great bonus that after Christmas we would not have to put anything away! We'd still have a great Christmas, just without all the fluff. Presents would still be here, family would still come and we'd have lot of fun times sitting around the Christmas rug.

I lost.

I spent 6 hours outside doing Christmas lights, garland and all the fluff. I am thankful that Brandon helped me the entire time and Michael stepped in to help with the garland around the door.

Christmas Rug got moved out of the room and in came the huge tree. Fully decorated by Sean, Brett and Kaila. But I will not go back in there and rearrange all the ornaments......if they like having 5 ornaments on one branch, then so be it.

Oh well....someday I'll get my Christmas Rug idea to work.

Bring home the change....

I finally gave in and decided to let Sean and Brett buy their very first tray lunch from the school cafeteria. It was cheese pizza day.

I informed the boys to "bring home their change." Now granted, it would only be maybe 75 cents, but I was trying to train them to not use the extra money to buy the extra junk they have there.

Both boys looked me straight in my eyes and said "Yes ma'am."

They both get home, they thought lunch was great!

I was informed they did not get any change back but the lunch lady said the extra change goes into their lunch account....to be used on future lunch purchases. I was fine with that.

BUT---BRETT was not happy. He wanted his change back. His teacher sees him after lunch and asks him "what's wrong?" because he looked sad.

He looks at his teacher and says the lunch lady didn't give him any change back and that he was planning on using that money to spend at the "Spirit table" after lunch. (A table full of useless junk that I won't let my kids buy from!---and yes, Brett knew that too.)

So his teacher gives him money because she felt bad for him! He comes home with a pencil that smells like fruit and sweater bottle cap pulley thing. With a Texas Longhorn symbol on it!!!

I email Brett's teacher to ask how much money do we owe her and that she really should not have done that.

She said she couldn't standing looking at Brett's sad face and that he was robbed by the lunch lady because she didn't give him his change. LOL

I swear that Brett....one look at his face and you'll give him anything.

Happy Halloween 2009

Pictured: Sean as "Thing 1", Brett as "Thing 2" and me as "Cat in the Hat".

Halloween.....I really don't like Halloween Day.

Every year it stresses me out. I think it's because the little ones keep asking me when can we get our costumes on, when can we go trick or-treating. It usually starts at 8 in the morning!!! So I just decided to keep them busy and we cleaned the house. Decided next year to skip the cleaning because the house was a wreck after having 11 kids coming in and out of the house all night!

We started our Halloween day with 3 soccer games starting at 8:00 AM and the last one was at 3:30 PM. We got home around 5 pm and we started spiking up the hair, spraying it blue and digging out costumes for the bigger kids.

I had a good time going through the neighborhoods with Sean, Brett and my mom.

Pictured: My mom, Tamae dressed as a Pumpkin. We had to stuff her full of batting to make her look big and fluffy.

We finished collecting candy and the neighborhood had a block party on our street.
If you see Sean ask him what his favorite thing about Halloween was and what the worse thing about Halloween was.

My dad sat on our front porch scaring the kids. He looked like a fake, old man. We even had kids come and sit next to him. Michael was inside (OSU vs Texas game...not a Happy Halloween for him ), and answered the door to pass out candy.


Kaila had her best friends Mercedes, Abbie and Nicole over for a girls night out. They headed out to Trick or Treat around 8 pm after several different costume changes. They may be Sophmores in high school, but they wanted candy too! I think they had a great time just hanging out. But these girls are just silly and fun. Did you know they joined the Dodgeball Club at the high school? They wanted to join all the clubs they could this year. But I think they spend most of their time volunteering.

Brandon dressed as an Ipod Touch (I had to use an old picture because he bolted out early), spent the evening with his school buddies Matthew, Oscar, Johnny, and Conner. They went through 3 neighborhoods and played football outside then went to a sleepover.

It was a late night, but it turned out to be a fun night....even with all the stress!

Swine Flu

It is important that as swine flu spreads, you know the symptoms of the disease so you can recognize it in yourself and others at an early stage.

So far, most swine flu cases have been mild, with symptoms similar to those of seasonal flu. Only a small number of people have had more serious symptoms.
If you or a member of your family has a fever or high temperature (over 38°C/100.4°F) and two or more of the following symptoms, you may have swine flu:

• unusual tiredness
• headache
• runny nose
• sore throat,
• shortness of breath or cough
• loss of appetite
• aching muscles
• diarrhea or vomiting

I would have NEVER thought anyone in our house would get the Swine Flu! For the most part the kids miss little due to being sick. But little Ms Kaila got it. She came home on Wednesday with a nasty cough, felt feverish, runny nose, 100.2 fever and was tired. I thought she just had a cold, or stayed up too late during the week and was tired, but when she mentioned her friend had it and she rides to and from school with her......then I guess she should go to the doctor.

We found out Thursday she indeed has Swine Flu. Kaila, Brandon, Sean and Brett were all placed on Tamaflu. Kaila had the high dosage and the boys are on it for preventative measures. I called my doctor and Michael and I were put on Relenza. So far everyone is doing well.

By Friday evening you could tell Kaila felt better. I think we caught it early and the Tamaflu was helping. She has spent the last few days in the Media Room catching up on her recorded TV shows and has to eat away from the dinner table : )

First Day of School and Updates.

So I'm a little behind on updating my blog!

August 24, 2009:
First Day of School!

This was Brett's first year in school all day! He is in Kindergarden. His teacher is Mrs. Roy. She is so sweet and is just perfect for him. He had a rough few days, a few tears, he wanted to know when he could come home :( At recess he would sit with the teachers and talk to them instead of the kids. But that's Brett. He likes being friends with the teachers first, then by week 2 he makes friends. I'm happy to say, no more tears!

Sean started 1stGrade this year. He loves school. His teacher is Mrs. Linenberger. She actually lives one block over from us. He will be excited when he visits her doorstep this Halloween. She is great for Sean. She seems to work the First Graders as if they are 2nd or 3rd graders, but that's great for my school loving Sean. (Who came home with a check-minus and was in tears over it! A check-minus!)

Brandon started his first year in Middle School. I can't believe it. He is playing football this year and was dressed in his athletic clothes. He is in 7th grade this year. As of today, he loves it. Especially football. We sat through a scrimmage, in the rain this past Monday. He was so cute when he got the ball and took off down the field. I was a very proud mama.

Kaila is a 10th grader this year. My big Sophmore! Where has the time gone? I didn't get a picture of her before she left for school, so I chose one of my favorite pictures of her. Smiling and goofing off with a friend. That is her. A 10th grader, but still a goofy little kid inside, who just wants to enjoy life. She and her friends have decided to try to join as many "clubs" at school as possible. You'll never guess what club she joined. Are you ready for this.....DODGEBALL CLUB! Among other things she is in National Charity League, Inc with me, then at school, Dodgeball club, Iteract Club, Student Council and I think next on her list is Ping-Pong club and Circle of Friends.

It's going to be an interesting year!

Medieval Times

August 2009: So my Dad calls me up one day and says "Do you want to go to Medieval Times?" They were having a special that with the purchase of an adult ticket, a kid would get in free. I bought our tickets and off we went! (Michael had been complaining saying he was not going to wear the hat they gave us, but as you can tell from the pictures, he did! It was a fun "Back to School" event for the kids. We don't go any where for our Summer Break so they were excited. The food was really good and the entertainment....well let's just say it was entertaining.

Mini-Family Renunion 2009

The Meyer Family - Paul Meyer, Steve Meyer, Ernie Meyer, Diane Meyer, Lynn Meyer Quinn & Michael Meyer.

Cousins - Kaila Meyer, Kevin Quinn, David Meyer, Anna Meyer, Kendal Quinn, Sean Meyer, Brett Meyer, Brandon Meyer, Kara Quinn and Jimmy Meyer

The "Out-Laws" as Matt called us: Mika Meyer, Matt Quinn and Eileen Meyer

My oldest niece, Anna Meyer was on her way to her first year at Oklahoma State University. But before she got settled in, she and her dad made a stop here in Texas! Michael's sister Lynn and her family, his parents, his older brother Paul from Houston and his family and his oldest brother Steve from Pennsylvania and his daughter Anna came to visit for a few days.

We enjoyed just hanging out eating, talking and playing cards. On Monday we spent the day at NRH20. I didn't think I would enjoy it, but I had a really nice time just hanging out at the wave pool watching Sean and Brett play in the water. It was a nice mini-family reunion. We missed seeing Bethany, Steve's wife and their oldest son Mason. They were not able to make it this time around : (

B-random Man!

My little Boo aka Brandon also has another nickname. We call him "B-random Man" because he says the most random things at the oddest time.

I really should just leave a notebook out and write down all the funny, random things he says. We get a few great laughs out of them.

So today's random thing was:
I'm outside running on the treadmill. He comes outside to tell me his sister is being mean to him. Then he looks over at the treamill readings and says "Hey Mom...you can drink 2 cokes now because you ran off enough calories for 2."

I had to think for a few minutes what he was saying because we were in the middle of discussing what his sister was doing to him that was so mean.

I love my little Brandom man. Thanks Boo for the great funny memories.

Ugh...the "E" word!

EXERCISE.

Brandon started running almost 2 miles to prepare himself for upcoming Middle School Football. Michael decided to join him (he usually jogs on the treadmill and out of everyone is the one who exercises on a regular basis.) Then Kaila started walking the 2 miles with them!

So that left me to decide if I was going to (ugh) EXERCISE. I'm not really a big fan of it. You get all sweaty, your sore for a few days, it's hot outside and I could go on.

But as everyone was out running, I was watching a tv show and they were talking about what you eat and how your heart rate beats really fast (because it's struggling.) They said exercise helps this and that, blah, blah, blah.....so that's what got me up and going on the treadmill. I started out with 1.31 miles the first time. It's my first week at it. I've been on the treadmill 4 times this week with a total of 5 miles. I hope I can keep it up as I know it's good for me, even if it sucks at the time!
Now if I could just give up my Coca-Cola habit.

Kaila is awesome!

Kaila, Jenna, Mercedes and Ciara.

Kaila and I belong to a great volunteering organization called "National Charity League." We have been doing alot of volunteering this summer and Kaila wanted to go a step further.

So we decided to do a Food Pantry Drive that would benefit the Keller Community Storehouse. A Philanthropy that we often work at and truely enjoy helping them in anyway possible.

Her fellow classmates got together and created a flyer, got brown bag donations and passed out bags in their neighborhoods. The girls collected over 60 brown bags full of items to donate!

Go Kickers!

Michael stepped up and coached Sean and Brett's indoor soccer team called "The Kickers." It was a very interesting season. We had 8 players on the team and we were lucky to get 4 to show up for a game! (keeping in mind 2 of those players were my own kids!)
Sean plays like Brandon...it just came natural to him. He is the sweet, lovable kid around the house but on the soccer field WATCH OUT!! If he knocks you down, he is not stopping to help you up. He will jump right over you and go for the ball! (It was a proud soccer mom moment....if your a soccer mom, you
understand : )
Brett was funny to watch. He would smile at you and wave and just run along side the ball. We did make him play up with Sean on the indoor team.
In the Fall Brandon, Sean and Brett will all play on 3 separate outdoor soccer teams. Not sure how I'm going to get everyone where they need to be, but I'm praying for a miracle when their practice and games schedules come out. I'm looking forward to watching them all.

Country Living!

June 4, 2009:
Every year I invite myself out to my very best friends home....she lives in the country. I say it's the country because if you have to drive more then 5 minutes to get to the grocery store, that's in the country.

This year I took Michael along with me. The kids love going because my friend Becky always has something new to see or do at her home.

So we kicked off our summer with a road trip to Cleburne, Texas. It was about an hour away. Becky always makes a wonderful lunch and then we just sit and catch up while the kids play. Michael and Jack (Becky's husband) ran around doing man things.

Brandon asked if Becky was related to us. I thought it was funny because I've known Becky since Brandon was probably 5 years old. He thought she was his Aunt. It was really cute. I know when a package arrives on our door step everyone says "Aunt Becky" sent us something! Everytime!
Sean, the only person in our house that is not allergic to animals! He LOVED Becky's cats.
Here come the chickens! I took the pictures from a distance. This city girl was too "chicken" to feed them.
The cat was the only animal interested in eating from them.
Momma Chicken could feed them!

First Grade Here Sean Comes!

HOW CUTE IS HE??
I bought that adorable blue suit last year at Kohls for $19 with Kindergarten Graduation in mind. (Now he was the only kid dressed up, but I thought he was absolutely adorable!)
He did an amazing job singing and I smiled so big all the way through. No tears! I'm sure tears will come next year when my baby, last born Brett sings his song.
Congratulations Sean....First Grade here we come!

Meyer Family - Menu Planning

I have been working on this for months now and finally completed it! I believe if you create a weekly menu with what you already have in your home, you end up saving money and time. This summer I am planning on letting Kaila cook a few her favorite meals from my Menu Planner. So when she grows up and leaves the house she will know how to make her favorite meals!
I purchased a large D 3 ring binder and embellished it to make me want to look inside : )

I have dividers for all categories (chicken, beef, turkey, pork, side dishes, desserts, soup and salad, appetizers and miscellaneous). Some pages have cute dividers that I did during a recipe swap with a few moms.

I put the title of the meal on the top, then I found a picture online that came closest to what my meal looks like! Some meals I listed the items I need to make that meal along with suggestions on what to serve with it. Some meals have the actual recipe/directions listed on them.

In the back of the planner I inserted clear 3 slot photo protectors I found at the store. I cut strips of different color card stock to fit inside. They are used for recipes I find in magazines that I want to try. I went through all of my magazines I've been collecting for years and tore out articles I want to read and recipes I realistically will try. The articles went into a basket that's next to my bed and the recipes get glued onto the strips of card stock and the magazine gets tossed. Once I try the recipe, if it's good enough to make again, I'll turn that into a larger recipe page and it will get filed under a tab then the magazine cut out will be tossed. If I tried the recipe and I know I won't make it again, it gets thrown away.

I keep a pen, post it notes, scissors, glue stick and a grocery list pad inside the binder at all times. I also have dividers that have pockets to keep coupons in.

I'm loving my menu planner!

Next project is purging the toys!! I'm thinking black trash bags?

I love my parents!

I have the best parents! They come over probably 1-2 times a month during the school year and during the summer I see my mom alot more.
They came out for Kaila and Michael's birthday and we went to eat at Kaila's choice of restaurant. She chose "Shogun" in Southlake. We thought she wanted to go for their hibachi food, but she only wanted their chicken fried rice that they cook in the back kitchen!
This is Tamae. Pronounced Tuh-My. She is the perfect mom. I can not think of one thing wrong with her! Even when I was little, I never had a problem with my mom. We would sit and watch soap operas together in the summer, go shopping on her only day off from work and eat out on that day. She is the reason Kaila wants to attend TCU so she can live closer to her Grandma and have a shopping buddy. We still shop till we drop during the holidays.

This is Bruce. He is where I get my sense of humor from. I have never met anyone that has met him that doesn't like him. He is just a great guy to be around! He has this tattoo on his forearm. It, I believe is of an eagle and has USAF (United States Air Force). I remember growing up and was often scared of my dad because he had that tattoo....then one day I thought to myself "Why am I scared of him?" If I ever wanted anything or if I wanted to do something, he 90% of the time said YES! It's weird how seeing a tattoo as a little kid can make you be scared of someone for no reason.

I just love my parents!

Today's Horoscope - Capricorn

I came across my horoscope for today....so true, so true!

Life has been busy with errands and running around but now the Moon is in your fourth house it's time to retreat and nest. De-clutter and redecorate your living space. Create order in your private world. Sorting out family matters or home to do's helps build a foundation for the next fortnight. The fourth house is the bottom of the chart and represents things that are hidden. You may find secrets and mysteries fascinating, though if you find out anything juicy, it's best to keep it to yourself. Family events or relaxing nights at home help you recharge in preparation for the outstanding achievements promised in the coming two weeks.

Birthday Surprise!

I have been planning this little birthday surprise for a month! The kids had no idea we were going. I took them out of school early on Thursday and I told them we had to take something to their Dad's work and then we were going to take him out to lunch for his birthday. As I got closer to Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, the kids started saying they wanted to go their some time. So I whipped into the parking lot and said "SURPRISE!" We stayed Thursday, Friday and went home Saturday afternoon. We had a great time!

Holy Cow!! Mike is 40!

Happy Birthday to my 40 Year Old Man!

The boys and I put out balloons!

The kids wished their Dad a Happy Birthday!

Still looking good after all these years!

National Charity League, Inc. Keller Chapter

I am on the Board of Directors of the National Charity League, Inc. Keller Chapter. I am currently their Vice President of Communications. I have always known that I was meant to be a stay at home mom and a person who volunteers whether it be at the kids school or through an organization. April 22-24, I went to Atlanta, Georgia to their National Convention with my fellow Board members and friends: Debbi, Margaret and Tracy. This is us at the Tailgate opening ceremony. I am blessed to have a wonderful husband who took vacation days to stay home and take care of the kids while I went to have a little girlfriend time! I could not do what I do without him.....!!

Our new running joke "Can I get a high five on that!!???" The guest speaker, I swear said it 6 times. So it sort of grew on us.

We enjoyed dinner together.

And a black dress night!

Then we crammed everyone in a photo booth and laughed our way through 6 photos!

This is just one of the many things Kaila and I do together! Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Fort Worth. We cheered on 17,000 runners as they started the race and stayed until the last person crossed the finish line! It was worthing getting up and being their at 5:30 in the morning!

We were the Cheer Crew!

Mothers and Daughters Serving the Community Together. It's been an amazing first year and I look forward to many more.

Easter 2009!

HAPPY EASTER FROM THE MEYER FAMILY!
We kicked off our Easter by opening up a wonderful Easter surprise box we got from Ms. Becky and family!! My kids LOVE Ms. Becky. She is like an Aunt to them and showers them with goodies. Anytime we get a box on the front porch they always assume that it's from Ms. Becky!
On Friday we colored our Easter eggs. Brandon was at a birthday party so he missed it and Kaila was still out with friends so she missed coloring eggs too! Sean, Brett and Michael seemed to enjoy their time together.Their masterpieces that were later turned into Sean's favorite---Deviled Eggs!

Then on Saturday Kaila and I got up at 4:00 AM to attend the Susan G Komen - Race for the Cure in Fort Worth. Over 17,000 people were in attendance! We were there volunteering through our charity group - National Charity League, Inc. Keller Chapter. We were their "CHEER CREW". It was so much fun cheering on racers as they started and then we ran to the finish line to cheer them all on to the finish. We screamed "Great Job, You did it!" for almost 2 hours straight! What an amazing day to be a part of something like that. We are looking forward to doing it again!
We did get home just in time for our "Neighborhood Easter Party". That's me pictured with the cutest Easter Bunny---any guesses on what beautiful, brown eyed girl was inside???
Before the party was over the parents participated in a balloon blowing contest. We had to blow a balloon up, tie it and give it to our kid who then had to run down, pop it and run back. That's my neighbor Heather in the black. Her son, Brooks and Brandon are friends and we were all competing against each other. Thank goodness Heather can not tie a knot in a balloon : ) Because if she had tied the knot correctly I would have lost! Momma came through for her boys!! I won all 3 times! Blowing air....I can do that....just don't ask Heather and I to race on kids toys...we are accident prone.


Easter Morning---3 boys were happy it was Easter. The oldest child, Miss Kaila felt she was too big to hunt for Easter eggs. But she was informed that if she did not participate, then she would not get to enjoy what was in the eggs.
I had to grab her to take a picture because she was not thrilled about being up so early! (I wish you could have seen how many eggs she had in that bag! For someone who did not want to play....she had a lot of eggs!)
The kids went through 5 clues from the Easter Bunny and finally found their baskets! I think they all had fun!

To end our Easter celebration Michael pulled strawberries from our backyard and found this strawberry....what does it look like to you?