Yikes, it's been a while!

Okay, no excuses, I have been so negligent with my blog! A blog is like a kitten:  you need to care for it, love it, feed it and check on it regularly.  Luckily the word 'regularly' is very subjective and in my case, that means once every 6 months!

I've been inspired by my sister-in-law Liisa to care for my little blog on a much more frequent timeline.

So to catch up, this is what we've been doing lately (since March, remember those subjective terms):

1)  Andy graduated from HS
2)  3-4 trips to NY
3)  Trip to the lake
4)  Long summer for Andy of Beast at WP (many tears by Mom)
5)  Move for Lilli to a different house with different roommates
6)  Juggling of bedrooms at home as we finished the attic and kids have moved
7)  House projects for mom and dad
8)  Pete's jr. year started
9)  Pete is playing offensive and defensive line for his team
10)  An ongoing search for a puppy by Pete and Mom
11)  School back in session for everybody
12)  Many hours spent looking for airline tix by Joel


Although this is a short list of the many things the months have brought our way, it gives you a vague picture of what goes on.  Through it all we count our Blessings and are thankful for all that God provides and all of the ways he surprises us! 

Craziness!

 Things have been crazy at our house the last month. (My excuse for being so Blog tardy) A quick overview:  I've been to Florida and California for work trips.  We took a family trip to Washington D.C. where Lilli was able to fly out and meet us to go through the White House, ride the Senator's tram, sit in on a Senate session, see the pandas and eat lots of cupcakes!  We've been wading through paperwork, dr. appointments, background checks, and praying we get Andy to West Point safely and successfully.  We've been researching colleges with Pete and planning his summer of college classes, work and getting ready for FOOTBALL.  Lilli is going to Philadelphia for a week for a student nursing convention while planning a summer medical mission trip to Cambodia.  We're finishing a remodeling project of the attic and starting work on our backyard--yay Iowa weather in the 70-80s in March!  Track meets start this week with soccer soon after. Oh, yeah we try to work too.  :)  I love it all, but it does get CRAZY-as evidenced by the picture of me above. 

Most importantly all of this reminds me of how truly Blessed we are, how important it is to try to be a blessing to someone else each day and to be thankful for each day we are given!  Embrace the insanity!

Big Changes at the Meyers House

West Point Academy

We found out this week that Andy has been accepted to West Pt. and will report July 2nd, 2012.  After about 2 1/2 years of applications, essays, deadlines, interviews, physicals and tests, we can take a short (really short) break before we start getting things ready for him to go.  We are all excited for him and are trying to prepare for the big change that will be happening at our house.  When Andy got the first phone call on Wednesday night, he had a little smile on his face and I knew what was happening. Although it is hard for us to have any of our kids far away, we know that he will do great and he is ready.  As I'm sure all parents of future cadets feel, I think they're lucky to be getting such a fine young man.  We're planning on lots of frequent flier miles .

Things I LOVE right now, this very minute!

Scratch cupcakes

Lilli coming home for the weekend unexpectedly and a husband that will drop everything to go get her

Going to basketball games and seeing Andy "dunk" it

Planning a family adventure for Spring Break

Spring Break

Getting home from work at 1:30 on Fridays

Looking at baby pictures of the boys

Pete getting excited for football

One of my students who was in a homeless shelter moving into an apartment

Making mashed potatoes and gravy for dinner

A kitty app for the ipad for Meg to play with

The little things...

The First Snow......

Today was the first snow of the winter in Iowa--January 12!  This made me realize that I don't stop to notice the little things enough, so here goes. 
Some of the "little things" I'm thankful for:

*A day at school when I DON'T have to call security

*Going to the refrigerator and finding that the diet coke I had hidden, hadn't been found

*A new episode of  American Pickers

*Finding a sweater I love on clearance--extra 33% off!

*Going to an auction and getting a whole box of vintage, metal trays for $5.00! and then selling the ones I didn't want on ebay for quite a bit more  :)

*Finding a great recipe for oatmeal raisin cookies

The great thing is, all of these things happened this week!  Thankfulness is a way of living, I'm trying to get better at it.

Random thoughts

Sometimes we hear things and think, "Wow, that's so true!"  and they promptly leave our heads forever.  A few weeks ago I heard one of those things, but it hasn't left my head and it keeps popping up in my life.  I'm thinking I need to pay attention to it and look for ways to show it and share it.

The thing I heard:

It's more important to DO right, than it is to BE right.

So:

*When I want to correct someone or they are correcting me and I'm annoyed--Do right

*When I feel slighted and want to return the favor---Do right

*When I could ignore something, but my ego doesn't want to---Do right

*When I see someone in need and I can help--Do right

*When I can share what I have---Do right

*When I feel like doing nothing, but I have the ability to do something--Do right

*When I can keep my opinion to myself and listen to someone else's--Do right

The list could go on  forever, but this is where I am today.  Where are you?

                                  For:

*Pastors that preach the Word
*Awesome children
*Great people to work with                                 
*Betsy and Meg
*Husband that never balks at home projects      
 *Targets with Starbucks
*Jigsaw puzzles and a puzzle table to do them on     
*Time for baking
*Christmas music                                                       
*Christmas lights
*Friends who understand "happy" tears           
*Seeing former students who are successful
*Lowe's                                                                     
*Bezzerwizzer with the family