Life to the Last Drop

Nick's 16th Birthday

2010-11-26T23:19:00.004-06:00

Nick turned 16 on Thursday. His mom threw a big surprise party with good food and a fancy cake.

Jack and Nick

the whole family

7 years ago.....

Tessie

2010-11-26T19:28:00.010-06:00

Tessie is the weirdest dog we've ever had. She sounds and acts just like the Tasmanian Devil. She burst awake at 5:30 every single morning. She is relentless. And for the next 4 hours terrorizes our family.

She's excited that it's finally morning so she can emerge from her crate and play ball.

Luckily John takes pity on her and will play ball or frisbee with her for hours every morning.

She absolutely lives to fetch and chase things. And since we dont' have any sheep

this generally means a soccer ball, her flying toy thingee, or one of her hundreds of balls.

She's very serious about her play. She's not like a goofy playfully retriever. She's all business. And obsessive. And if you don't indulge her she'll drive you plum nuts.

If we can make it till 9:30..... she's a nice fairly normal dog the rest of the day. She loved her first hike a few weeks back. And she's loving her puppy kindergarten class. Every Saturday, she's one of nine little puppies learning how to be social and nice.

A Special Anniversary

2010-11-26T18:11:00.005-06:00

25 years ago my Mom married Harold. At the time we were happy for them but we had no idea how much we had to celebrate. So when the chance to celebrate their silver anniversary came around- we threw a big western themed party!

One of the hidden benefits of having Harold join the family, was the fringe benefit grandparents. Grandma Vernie immediately accepted that she had two new granddaughters. She bought us Christmas presents that year- pajamas and a jewelery box that I still have. Then she kept my college mail box full with letters from Iowa. Today she's happily Grandma Vernie to an entire generation of little people. And there is nothing "step" about it.

Gina is my oldest friend. We've been friends since we were 2. Our Mom's served in the PTA and the Girl Scouts together. They joined about 60 other family and friends at the big shindig.

My boys looked handsome. And they can trust that I do indeed keep my word. You will notice that no pictures of the boys dancing the YMCA or dancing with their mom appear on this blog. Although this opportunity certainly did present itself!

Jackson's 15th Birthday

2010-11-26T14:06:00.010-06:00

Jackson turned 15 in October. We celebrated with a road trip to Omaha's Strategic Air & Space Museum. Jackson's new found love is aviation and aviation history.

We also spent an afternoon at the amazing Omaha zoo.

We all had a great time hanging out together, and checking out the animals. And have promised to never ever mention that unfortunately incident on the Skyfari. (a better name would have been scarefari- cause one of us bout had a meltdown about how high it was and how inherently unsafe it is to put us up there with only one tiny little bar holding us in. One guess who it was. But I am betting they'll tell the story at my funeral. They laughed all the way home.)

Then as a gift for his fifteenth birthday Jackson started learning how to fly.

It was a bit nerve racking watching the little boy I gave birth to flying into the heavens in that little plane. But he absolutely loved it. Jackson actually did the take off.

They flew over the house, the stadiums and downtown KC.

Fall

2010-11-26T13:34:00.009-06:00

First Day of School. Erin started kindergarten this fall. Lauren is now in third grade. And Jackson is now a freshman.

Fall Festival. at Missouri Town.

The festival had a great wagon ride.

Soccer. John coached Erin's kindergarten soccer team the "grasshoppers." (The kids got to vote on the name!)

John is a great coach who always makes it fun for the kids.

Halloween. We went trick or treating with my favorite rock star and mermaid.

Freshman Football

2010-11-26T13:05:00.004-06:00

Jackson played left tackle for the LS North Bronco's. He was officially listed in the program as 6'2" and 207 pounds.

The freshman offensive line.

The team paraded down the street as royalty during homecoming.

Summer 2010

2010-11-26T12:51:00.004-06:00

We love spending time at the lake with Mom & Harold.

The girls really surprised us all - and probably themselves as well- by climbing into the big bertha water tube for a lap around the lake.

And we spent our summer nights at the baseball fields.

Tessie

2010-11-01T22:34:00.006-05:00

In September we adopted a cute little border collie pup from our local animal shelter. She was about 8 weeks old, and was absolutely adorable. Could you have refused this face?
Look how sweet she is.

We're learning all about border collies now. See that little fiercely focused look. Bordeerrr Collliie. After a brief period of the realization that we'd just added a family member that behaves as if she's just inhaled espresso coffee, we've all come to adore her. She's a quirky little thing. She fits right in!

We've named her Tessie after the Royal Rooter gal in Red Sox Nation. (It's the song they play when the Red Sox when at Fenway) Tessie Rose.

Vacation

2010-10-24T09:07:00.010-05:00

Our beautiful niece Bethany got married in June in Virginia. John helped give the bride away but standing during the ceremony and speaking for all the Myers "those who have passed away and those who were there that day" granting our blessing on their marriage.

We stayed in the most wonderful farm house with the most amazing view.

We also got to welcome Kam to the family. He's a really nice guy.

And we spent time reconnecting with family as well. John's Aunt Michelle and Uncle Ken were there from Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Elkton is home to the stunningly beautiful Skyline Drive.

At a safer viewing spot.

The White House. John's cousin Tina made the trip from Florida. She's awesome!

While we were in Washington we decided to watch the Royals as they played the Nationals. Too funny.

The return trip included a stop in Canton Ohio for the Football Hall of Fame.

Mizzou Football Camp

2010-10-24T08:55:00.005-05:00

Jackson joined the state's best football players at a three day camp at the University of Missouri.

They had long practices three times a day. And didn't wash their clothing. Yea the smell was a little ripe.

On Friday we all watched them play under the lights.

This was taken right after John told the girls the big "M" on the field was for Myers. Lauren was buying it.

May 2010 Rewind

2010-10-23T22:59:00.009-05:00

Jackson fishing at James A Reed Wildlife Preserve. One of my favorite places on earth.

Jackson joined the tournament roster for a more competitive team.

Memorial Day. Next to Christmas my favorite holiday.

I promised my Gerty that after she died I would continue her tradition of decorating graves. All 25 of them. All those flowers made for some beautiful wedding bouquets, and we walked around the graves humming the wedding march.

This year we had a Memorial Day Reunion with our Great Aunt Bet and Uncle Bo. Bet was my Granny's younger sister.

And we reconnected with our cousin Lisa.

And we spent time with Ruthie. Ruthie was my Gerty's next door neighbor in senior housing. She treats our kiddos as her own grandchildren. We are always blown away by her generosity, kindness and love. What an amazing lady!

April 2010 Rewind

2010-10-23T22:26:00.006-05:00

Easter 2010.

And the bunny visited. Erin claimed the bunny talked to her. When her confused Aunt Renie asked what in the world it said she said "uh uh uh ah uh he." (breathing very heavy sounds) Ok give a gal a break it was a very hot day in a very hot suit!

Jackson and his Aunt Debbie.

Grandma and Jackson. Baseball cards rule instead of eggs.

Erin graduated from preschool.

And the Myers spend 2 games at Royals stadium watching their beloved Red Sox.

Rooooaaadddd Trip

2010-03-20T20:23:00.008-05:00

We spent two days in Omaha celebrating spring break with a trip to the zoo. We hiked in the desert and the jungle, creeped through a swamp, had butterflies land on our arms, and walked under sharks. All on a snowy blustery day.

Jack trekking through the dessert dome. He made sure to point out every single scrawny bird. Because one of us is a tad afraid of birds. You know they could easily peck your eyes out.

Even Stanley enjoyed the zoo.

Three Months of Thanksgiving

2010-03-20T19:52:00.007-05:00

Forgive me dear blog reader for leaving you in a world of perpetual Thanksgiving. Somehow in the midst of a very full schedule I got off track. But it was three months with much to be thankful for.

First of all, Erin wanted a fish. So she and I went fish shopping. We ended up with a beautiful blue beta that she named Alison. Alie for short. Erin even wore her fish dress for the occasion. She asked me "to go very slowly on the ride home and to be careful for people throwing rocks because she was thinking about her fish." Which she had carefully cradled in her lap. And I did. Life is too short. And there are fish to protect.

Another thing to be thankful for is our new soccer team. Uncle Johnny is now coaching 10 of the cutest 4 year olds ever. Erin is so proud. The kids are a scream.

Earlier this month I took a group from my church to visit the synagogue down the street. The Rabbi was an amazingly wise man. He graciously offered to show us the Torah. He encouraged us to learn our own faith story, and to remember what binds us together. The Torah above his shoulder came from a temple desecrated in the Holocaust.

We've had the worst winter in a century. Which has given us plenty of opportunities for snowmen and sledding. My hubby made this little guy for the little flat Stanley that Lauren sent us from her school. He's about a foot tall and stood on the rail of the deck.

I do have much to be thankful for, including patient blog readers!

Giving Thanks

2009-11-30T22:09:00.005-06:00

We have much to be thankful for at Myers house. And any holiday that encourages eating is definitely hip in my book. Jackson started the day with the traditional football game at church. Check out that shiner under his eye. This ain't your grandma's touch football game.

The men of the church get together every Thanksgiving morn to toss that pigskin. Three fields full of men. Having some fun before the big bird.

John cooks our feast with a little help from Erin.

Later in the weekend we took advantage of some amazingly warm sunny weather to hike

some trails. This trail has a real name. But we call it the tick trail. Cause in the summer it's so full of ticks you can't really use it.

The Pioneer Woman Part 2

2009-11-18T17:36:00.003-06:00

When a blogger blogs about another blogger does the world collapse like one of those strange optical illusion posters. Monday I met the Pioneer Woman. The inspiration behind 100's of blogs and the face responsible for the documentation of the Myers house for the past two years. 20 years from now families across the country will have her to thank for those pictures of the sixth grade science project, the dog on the night that it hailed so bad that he stood on the back of the couch, and their young nieces on the very day they stuffed Barbie salt and pepper shakers up their noises. Yes, documentation is good.

The big book signing attracted bookoos of women. Ree kept it from getting stuffy by bringing along her two boys. Who kept it real, by being boys. If you look very carefully you can see me in this picture. I'm in that mustardy colored green sweater that is right underneath the women's nose on the right.

When I went to see Oprah last summer my left elbow was featured on the show. This time it's my right boob. I don't know where this is headed.

By the way supper tonight was Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich, a cubed steak sandwich with fried onions (page 88 of the cookbook) that was perfect for this drab, gray rainy Wednesday. The Pioneer Woman Cooks is available on Amazon.

The Pioneer Woman

2009-11-18T09:20:00.003-06:00

Deb and I saw Ree Drummond aka The Pioneer Woman at a book signing on the Plaza. (www.pioneerwoman.com) I read her blog religiously every day so it was a real hoot to see her in the flesh. She even brought along Marlboro Man and her two boys.

It's a little strange to know so much about someone, and yet never have meet them. It feels like stalking.

The event sold out. And her new cookbook is a New York Times Best Seller! You go girl.

Birthdays and Milestones

2009-11-09T21:42:00.008-06:00

It's been a month of milestones here at Myers House. Jackson had the gall to turn 14. FOURTEEN already! We celebrated by taking the posse to Dave & Busters.

Which is like a casino for teenagers. Featuring every sort of arcade and virtual game imaginable. I tried the virtual boxing, and couldn't raise my arms for 3 days. And I got my face morphed into a cat in one of those photo booths. And for the record I can't imagine why 14 year olds are a tad embarrassed of their mama's. The boys held their own basketball tournament.

Later in the month we celebrated the 4th birthday of pirate Ben. My cousin Angie went all out with a Halloween themed party. It was a riot.

My Mom has turned into a party animal in her retirement. She had the best costume at the party. The kiddos trick or treated throughout the house and Mom was stationed to give out some silly straws. She'd moved the walker so the kids could get through.

But the most memorable milestone in the past month was on the field on a Friday night. Our own Nick dressed out for the last varsity game of the year. I could not have been prouder watching him as a freshman run onto the field.

I'm proud of both these guys. That varsity jersey was earned with an enormous amount of sweat, grit and talent.

Mustang Football

2009-10-03T14:59:00.011-05:00

Myers house is focused on football. Lots of football. 7 days a week football. Games. Practices. High school games. Chiefs games. Patriots games. Get the picture? The Myers men are particularly enjoying this season. The lone Myers woman is getting used to it.

A couple weeks ago Jackson won our local punt, pass and kick competition. So we've been practicing. Remember how Lucy pulled the ball away from Charlie Brown every single time. I understand Lucy a lot better these days. Making Jackson's accomplishments even more noteworthy. He's a lineman. Those are not lineman skills. He never touches the ball - except in the case of a fumble when things have went very wrong.

The Mustangs have done very well this season. The team is having fun. (Mustang photos courtesy of team photographer Rhonda Upman)

The Mustangs have quite a fan club. Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Debbie, Lauren & Erin. Friends that we've known since the boys were toothless kindergartners. Erin doesn't know about seventy seven, she just knows that her Jackson is the one with the two 7's on his back.

Then most Friday nights we watch high school football. Last night John helped compile stats. They called out numbers and Bill wrote them all down then went home and entered them into a spread sheet which is reported to coaches sometime after midnight. It's all a big deal this football.

a hauntingly good project

2009-10-03T14:53:00.003-05:00

Lauren and Erin hung out with me the other night. We did all sorts of fun things. Including making this hauntingly fun craft project. First we painted our feet (in the bathroom with a tub of bubbles waiting for obvious reasons)

Then you make scary footprints on black construction paper. Add a drop of black paint for the eyes and presto instant keepsake.

I did this with Jackson when he was in preschool and we still have those sweet little ghost feet in his keepsake box.

Fore

2009-10-03T14:43:00.004-05:00

Jackson has taken a new hobby, and true to it's nature he's hooked. The past few weekends he's been learning to golf. It started innocently enough with a few rounds of miniature golf. Then it progressed to the driving range. Last weekend we played a fun little 'Par 3' course.

The boys have really gotten the hang of it.

Me? I get to move and hold the flag. And keep the score. And laugh when someones very wayward shot nearly whacks Jackson in the head. Then we heard this very soft 'sorry' from some where far away. And laughed even harder.

Huzzah!

2009-09-12T22:19:00.009-05:00

We're having lots of fun at Myers house. There's something fun happening every weekend this fall. Friday some of us went to the homecoming parade. There's something exciting about a parade. Especially one that features candy. Some of us had football practice and were running drills instead of watching the parade. But in the interest of some diversion, there was a girls cross country meet that ran around the boys during Thursdays practice. By the way Erin got that new cast at Lauren's physical therapy appointment. Lauren was trying to rig up a cast for Erin using an old rubber band and a tissue. The doc thought she might like some real tape.

This morning we went to the renaissance fair. Or the ren-office as Erin referred to it. The Lords and Ladies had a grand time. Lauren was the official photographer. This was one of 10 pictures of his royal highness the King. Who I read was actually a math teacher from Independence. Which just seems funny to me. I have no idea what Mrs. Dicus was doing with her weekends. But I can nearly assure you it wasn't anything like this.

The problem with this official photographer is that it made some of us very mad. She reckoned it should be a shared proposition. And she had no intentions to smile when it was her turn already.

Something truly wonderful happened. Riding this camel was a real treat. This very kind women offered to not only ride with Lauren and Erin, but to pay for their ride as well. It was an unexpected random kindness that was as sweet as their little smiles.

The boys adventured on their own. I'm sure checking on many the wenched up bosom's along the path. Jackson is better than 'where's waldo' in a crowd. I bet it takes you all of 5 seconds to find him. He's the one right in the middle watching the joust. They fought to the death. On horseback, with swords, with their heavy metal armour. Erin declared very solemnly that "they'd better be careful."

The people watching at the fair was amazing. It's truly an eclectic group. We even came upon this group pulling ferrets in a decorated wagon. The girls liked holding them. Erin was quite taken with the fact that hers had red eyes.

The food at the fair is scrumptious. The girls ate these big old humongous corn dogs. We sat on the bench and contentedly watched the people.

Huzzah!

Labor Day

2009-09-08T20:06:00.009-05:00

Gotta love these 3 day weekends. We put ours to good use here at Myers house. I went to the Santa Cala Gon Festival not once but twice. Once to check out all the craft tents. All 8 of them. The second so that 13 year old boys can meet up with their friends.

Some of us picked out our own clothes. Red cow boy boots and a sundress that, well, fit perfectly in April. And she pulled it off beautifully.

Monday the boys sampled some golf at a local family golf park.

Jack won the putt putt by a stroke.

These guys have been friends since the fourth grade. Check out that batman cap and the random foam finger.

And I hope they'll be friends forever. We love ya Nick.

Dawg Days

2009-09-08T19:43:00.011-05:00

August has been a whirl here at Myers house. We've managed to squeeze in every last bit of summer while starting a new job, a new school year and a new team.

We loaded up the car and headed to St. Louis for a vacation. We saw the arch, the zoo, Purina Farms, Six Flags, and the City Museum. And sat three steps away from heaven to watch a Cardinals game. I guess I could have cropped out Lauren's crazy face. But I knew you needed a laugh.

This was Erin's first ever major league hot dog. Not that we are sentimental or anything. But it was.

Like every good vacation we chowed down and relaxed.

We also went to the State Fair. And for once it wasn't 101.

We had to drag these girls from the conservation building kicking and screaming. But if we didn't get another corn dog their mama was gonna start kicking and screaming.

Oh and Smokey was there. We love Smokey. Actually we haven't always. Remember the year that Lauren was like 2 and didn't realize that the thing talked. And talked with that low deep voice that nearly scared her to death. I think I still have the scars from when she clawed at my neck to get away. To make amends I gave her a little stuffed Smokey for Christmas.

And we started the eighth grade.

And we started playing football for the middle school team. And some of us started washing the nastiest clothes ever on the planet. It's been a wild August.

Splashin

2009-08-11T08:23:00.006-05:00

We spent the day splashin around at Super Splash. Jackson hung out with his friend and fellow teammate Noah.

The girls had a blast. Lauren has had a water-less summer. But now that the cast is off.... canonball!

I caught my rather un-photogenic cat Brady patiently waiting for his supper.

Family

2009-08-02T20:29:00.007-05:00

Today we celebrated something very special. It was an occasion 40 years in the making. It's an amazing and wondrous thing when two people fall in love, and an even more rare and amazing when they are still together 40 years later.

Today Dee and Cal hit this milestone. Cal was a young soldier in Vietnam. Dee was given his name as a pen pal. Their letters blossomed into love. And as Dee's sister Vicki toasted "they fell in love before they even laid eyes."

Debbie did a great job hosting the reception. Lots of good food. Two beautiful cakes. Carefully selected pictures that documented their 40 years of life together placed next to beautiful arranged centerpieces.

Mom and Harold shared the hosting duties. They toiled quietly away in the kitchen mixing pitcher after pitcher of punch, stirring meat balls, replenishing pickles and taking care of all the kitchen details. I have the best family. They show up. And they show up willing to roll up their sleeves. Once Harold hopped into a canoe and paddled up brush creek wrangling ducks for the duck derby. My cousin Angie wore a heavy mascot costume in 100 degree weather. And God only knows the number of times that Debbie and Mom saved the day.

Boys

2009-08-02T20:25:00.003-05:00

Myers house has been over ran with boys. We love it when the gang hangs out together. We hosted a sleep over last Thursday. Although strangely, there was no sleep. A video game marathon kept them up until wee hours. And perhaps the haunting movie they saw earlier kept their imaginations at work.

We pulled two twin bed mattresses together and tossed down some bedding. Add in some chips and pop and you've got a sleep over!

Strange New Things

2009-07-28T20:54:00.004-05:00

The church where I am now employed has a tradition for new hires. It's this dog.

On your first day of work this masterpiece appears in your office. He's missing a leg and is chipped and stands about a foot and half tall. I do believe that the gal who is the youth director was quite pleased to pass him along.

Change

2009-07-27T22:29:00.003-05:00

Jackson has been playing sports for 9 years or so. All that time we've been the driving force behind his practices. Either as chauffeur, or over seer. Or in John's case as coach. When he first started playing we even had to dress him from head to toe in hockey pads. The equipment bag was bigger than he was.

Last week something changed.

After working out all summer with the high school team, Jackson went to the middle school training camp. He woke up, got ready and walked to practice. Then walked home. Look Mom no parents!~ My only glimpse of the team was this strategic drive by.

This is a season of change here at Myers house. After two years as a stay at home mom, I've accepted a new job. It's a great opportunity at a church in Prairie Village. My hope is that I'll be able to connect young people to their church and to God. Today was my first day.

Lake Living

2009-07-27T22:09:00.010-05:00

We've been lounging at the lake. As you may remember we've been camping at the same camp ground at the same camp site for over 20 years now. Mom and Harold have it down.

They've been at the lake for over a week now. We just went and crashed the party for a few days.

We swim, we ride the boat, we eat good food, and we lounge. We love to lounge at the lake.

And we love it when our 13 year old son says things like "my grandpa, my dad and I went fishing." Cause that's exactly what life is about. Grandma and Mom stayed at the campsite and ate pie with vanilla ice cream. Cause that's also what life is about.

And sometimes we get a great picture that will hold on to memories for a long time. They were watching the dog in the next boat finally jump into the lake. And they were happy and they were together. Which is exactly what family is about.

After much debate we decided to bring both dogs. And they loved it. Colby's had a hard year. If she was a cat she'd be down a few more lives after a tough but successful battle with hemolytic anemia. But she marched down to the boat and promptly found a comfortable nook to bask in the sun.

Cooper had some fun too. But not after the human's dug in the boat cushions to find Erin's little life jacket. A fellow's gotta have some pride.

Anyone who has ever owned a golden knows they can smile. And man did we see Cooper's smile. He delighted in sticking his head through the bars and taking in all the wind that his ears could carry.

Life is good.

Nostalgia

2009-07-21T21:02:00.002-05:00

9 years ago we signed our baby up for baseball. We were matched with other 5 year olds who would be in Jackson's kindergarten class. Jackson couldn't really pronounce the team name "Lee's Summit Transmission." The word transmission got all mashed up in his mouth and came out with too many "s's" The boys all ran after the ball no matter where it was hit. Coaches had to be quick to break up the pile ups. Baserunning was rarely in a linear manner.

Many of those same boys still play on the team. And all the boys can pronounce the sponsor. They can not only run the bases correctly but can steal bases, slide, chase run downs and even turn double plays.

Cue the music now. It's end of season time. Memories........

Season Ends

2009-07-20T21:32:00.004-05:00

It was a dark and rainy night, and the boys played their hearts out. 4 extra innings. Not a finger nail left in the crew. But the Mustang's season came to a close tonight in a stunning defeat to John's Barber Shop. Our crowd of die heart fans couldn't believe we cold we were. This is July in Missouri. The Royals were rained out by rain and lightening... but notice that little league a few miles away played on.

It's always sad to watch the boys after this type of lose. Their whole world crumbles. Then there was the poignant actions of the coaches as they thanked each player for working so hard all season. One by one hugs and hand shakes. And then the promise of another season. There's something about leaving the ball park for the final time of the year.

More Tournament Play

2009-07-20T11:58:00.004-05:00

The team lost a tough one Sunday afternoon. But the team looked good. Our defense is sharp, and our bats are hot. Not to mention that our pants were crispyly bleached (just kidding). The game before us went into extra innings. An underdog lower seed nearly pulled an upset of the undefeated top seed. Our team cheered them on.

John was enjoying ball on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. We've got a fun group of boys and it's been a fun year to coach.

Speaking of coaches though. The head coach for our opponents should be ashamed of himself. As the third base coach he yelled during infield pop up's to try and throw off our players. 13 and 14 year old boys. Trying to make them think that another player had the catch. I suggested that his actions be brought to the attention of the league.... but then I found out that he is the league president. So this very poor sportsmanship must be acceptable.

Ellie

2009-07-18T21:45:00.003-05:00

In August of 1969 John's aunt, Ellie, was murdered. Her body nor her killer have ever been found. John's Dad was one of the detectives who worked the case and it haunted him that he could never close the case.

Ellie Myers C. was a devoted mother of two young daughters who was preparing to leave her abusive husband a prominent local attorney. The details of her disappearance were described by police as very suspicious and unusual. Several key players in the disappearance did not cooperate with the police investigation including her husband. (according to the second article on the disappearance)

It's been 40 years. Nearly to the day. We're hoping that a cold case squad will re-examine the case and will bring justice to Ellie's killer. It's possible that new technology including DNA and things like heat seeking equipment that can penetrate concrete may shed new light on the case.

My new hobby is to persistently make phone calls and emails to stir some new interest in the case. This afternoon I went to our local library and within 5 minutes was able to locate newspaper accounts of her disappearance. John and I had never seen a picture of Ellie, who has always been described by family members as very beautiful. Her older sister was a runway and catalog model.

Summer Life

2009-07-18T21:27:00.005-05:00

Summer life is sweet here at Myers house. While John was sauteing steaks I picked tonight's veggies - 1 big tomato and lettuce.

This is where I ate dinner. And this is where I read the paper every morning. It's my favorite place in the whole house.

Tournament Life

2009-07-18T18:43:00.008-05:00

Oh the sweet days of summer. It's been unseasonably cool and we've been able to turn off the ac and open the windows. Everyone can use a little fresh air. We're in the throws of tournament time. That weird week of the year when your life is directed with an asterisk. The two tiered trajectory of win or lose. As in.... if we lose we may have a game then. Well I'm not sure we may have a game. We entered the winner's bracket with this afternoon's win. Before the game John was mentally breaking down the game. We have 4 boys on vacation this week. So Jackson ended up playing second base. Coach Bill commented that "we must have the biggest second basemen in the history of the league." It's not often that a lineman plays up the middle. But Jack held his own. Caught the attempts to throw out stealing runners. Played the pick up man for throws from the outfield.

Deb and the girls were on hand to witness the fun and bask in the delightful day.

I've become the official chauffeur of Myers house. I dutifully drive a van load of football boys home every morning after a two hour workout. Then later in the day I drive Jack and Nick to the pool, returning in a few hours to pick up their pruny, sun burned bodies. Well actually they've gotten plum bronze. But ya get the picture. This is my summer.

Fan Fest

2009-07-11T22:25:00.008-05:00

John and Jackson headed to St. Louis yesterday to check out the All-Star Fan Fest. It was big. Baseball fans from throughout the country came to celebrate their sport. Check out Jack's attire. Royals and Red Sox.

Earlier this month he got to see the rings up close and personnel. This time it was a World Series trophy.

Mascots are strange. Jackson's always kinda had a thing about them. We went to Disney World and he was the only kid in the park who wouldn't get his pic with all the mascots. But he was delighted to take my pic with them. That way he could get up close, but not be embarrassed. So we have several rolls of pictures with me and Winnie the pooh, me and Cinderella, me and Daisy. And he got so excited when we saw Mickey that he cut off my head. Fast forward say 9 years. And he still wouldn't get his picture taken with any mascots. John did his best to sneak one with the Stomper. Who evidently is not a mouse but an elephant who cheers for the A's.

Today we had our own little fan fest. Jackson's team played last this afternoon. Much to the joy of their adoring fans. Jack pitched. Struck out 5 in a row. Which was kinda fun. But the team fell just short of a win.

But the Myers fans were out in force. Deb and the girls. Plus the girls cousins. Mom and Harold. Me. The girls told their cousins that the games were "super fun. There's Popsicles and candy there and you can play in the sand."

There's an entire underworld at the ball park. Siblings. Some of the best games ever played at the park are the round up games of younger siblings on vacant fields. Erin and Lilly found that the bench made a cool terrain to play with their McDonald's dinosaurs aptly named Renie and Jackson. Erin had quite a day today. This morning she shoved the barbie's salt and pepper shakers up her little nose. The pepper blew out fairly easily. But the salt took some coaxing. Deb was in that cozy Saturday morning mode when Erin ran to her sobbing that there was Barbie toys in her nose.

Moo

2009-07-07T19:05:00.011-05:00

We spent the morning touring the Shatto Dairy. It's a working dairy farm that processes their own milk. Was named a Small Business of the Year. And went to the White House for a ceremony.

The tour required the wearing of hats. This was funny. Oh yea it was funny. The boys are wondering what in the world they've got themselves into.

One of us needed a much bigger hat.

After we saw the big processing vats and the machine that washes the glass bottles, we got to sample some milk. Fancy milk. Orange milk, root beer milk, banana milk and the universally agreed upon favorite flavor..... chocolate.

We got to see cows being milked. Lauren thanked Miss Pat for providing her calcium for these past 7 years. We also got to hand milk a cow. But when poor Lauren bent down to squeeze that udder the cow's tail whipped around and knocked her hat off. And it being a paper hat it made a crisp smack sound that 'bout made us all jump out of our skins.

We got to see adorable baby calves. Those baby calves just loved Jackson. He'd try to walk away and they'd grab his clothes, his hand anything for just a little more Jackson.

This was quite amusing. With a bit of detective work we remembered that Jack had went to football camp before we left. Cows must love that sweaty, salty flavor. Yum.

Then we headed to Watkins Mill State Park for an afternoon sauntering near the sea. Ok. It was a lake. But a nice lake with a nice grassy, shady beach.

These boys are bronze. They've spent 14 summer afternoons basking by the pool.

The girls enjoyed pretending they ran a fancy spa that provided mud baths. Check out the creative contraption that kept Lauren's broken arm out of the water.

Cracker Jack

2009-07-06T23:38:00.003-05:00

The entire clan headed to the ball park to watch Jackson pitch on Sunday. I never realized how short Mom and Harold looked.

Erin told us all that her bones were made of "um plastic." We think she might have meant steel.

Deb is Jack's biggest fan.

Celebrating

2009-07-04T19:56:00.004-05:00

Our neighborhood got an early start to the celebration. We did the 4th on the 3rd. And we'll do it again tonight. Jet lives across the street. He's a rookie at the sparklers. As is his younger brother Oliver.
This morning the Myers clan ventured back to their roots. The annual fourth of July parade in my mom's home association. I promise not to wax on about how times they are a changin'. But there were 5 kids in the parade. 4 of those in strollers with narry a piece of crete paper to be found. When we were kids...... well this was a big big deal. Elevated the fourth into major holiday category. We spent an entire night decorating bikes. Everyone in the neighborhood did. There would be about 100 kids parading down the street. Even when Jack rode in the parade there was a good crew of 50.

After the parade the crowd gathers in the neighborhood park for goodies and games. Lauren was bummed. Ya can't jump in the bounce house when you have a broken arm.

But you can eat watermellon.

Barbie World

2009-07-03T12:55:00.004-05:00

Jackson has gone into business. The business of lawn maintenance. Once a week Jackson mows Debbie's lawn. It's a start.

While he's busy mowing I get to hang out with my girls. Check out the new pink cast.

The girls have been playing Barbie's. Every day. So they invited me to play along. 'cept they gave me the Barbie that got a haircut from Erin. The ugly Barbie. We used to have one when we were little girls. Our's was named Linda. She babysat when our real Barbie's went out on the town. So what do you do when you are handed the ugly Barbie. You make the best of it baby!

Meet T.J. Tomorrow- a loud talking southern Barbie with well white trash tendencies. She hoped in that pink convertible and hollered to her friends that she was off to Aldi's to buy deodorant and then she'd run to Taco Bell for some chimmy changa's.

My nieces were dumbfounded. Mouths gaped open. Finally Lauren spoke up. "Um our Barbie's just get like ready for prom's and dates and stuff." And then it was fun nnnney.

But what was really funny was Erin's explanation for her brand spankin new toothbrush. "The cat pooped in the sink and I tried to clean it up and um I used my old toothbrush. So Mommie bought me another one."

Then we all watched Clean House. Cause man my house isn't even that dirty.

2009-07-01T22:39:00.009-05:00

Lauren was jumping on a neighbor's trampoline last night. Fell off and broke her arm. I scooped up Erin while they went to the hospital. Erin suggested that we eat breakfast. So we did. Bacon and orange juice. (a late night snack of BLT's or in her words bacon samwitches) Then we settled in to watch cartoons. She was mesmerized by Tom and Jerry. After a few minutes she broke her gaze long enough to mention "that mouse is good."

Lauren had to stay at the hospital for surgery to put two pins in her broken elbow bone. So we made plans for a big play day. We went to the park and chased our shadows.

Then we picked up the boys for a picnic at the lake. We ate fried chicken and macaroni. Then walked down to a dock tucked away in a cove.

We sat on the dock and soaked in the summer sun. Nick saw a dear on the shore doing the same thing. (photo by Nick and credited by his request!)

Then we went to the marina to feed the fish. And the ducks too. Although there are enormous signs saying "Don't feed the ducks." Well how in the heck are you supposed to avoid that. So we fed the fish but the ducks may have gotten some of the cat food we threw the fish.

Then it was off to feed the Buffalo. We love the buffalo. Although the poor things eye's were crusted with flys and were mangy from shedding their summer coats. Erin liked the 5 new babies.

There evidently was one carrot that had bad structure and was "bendy."

But wait there's more. We spent the evening at the ball fields. It's a perfect night for baseball, and the Mustang's were victorious. A good time was had by all.

Talking Baseball

2009-06-28T23:36:00.004-05:00

We spent a delightful day at the old ball park. The boys staged a come back but fell just short of a win.

John and Bill have coached together for a long time now. They work well together.

The team is starting to gell. We have a lot of new guys. They've learned to get behind one another. Jack has even offered to cut his hair if the team makes the championship. Cut his trademark hair. Shave it actually. With each teammate getting a chance at the clippers. I'll alert the media. No really. That's what I do. The PR in me just can't stop it.

This team should play well in the end of season tournament that determines championship rights. We have 6 good pitchers. Could it be the end of the curly rock star era?

Speaking about dreams....... check out Jackson's face. He's in complete awe. His hands were actually shaking. Those are Boston Red Sox world championship rings. Their owner plays softball at the park John manages.

Maybe someday he'll wear one of his own. I just hope he still has that look on his face.

Summer Life by the Numbers

2009-06-27T22:46:00.009-05:00

Number of rows in my garden: 7
Number of veggies: 4 (tomatoes, green beans, lettuce & carrots)

Number of 8th grade boys attending May meeting for football: 137
Number of 8th grade boys working out with the high school team: 10
Number of hours per day boys work out with high school team past two weeks: 4 (including 2 hours of football camp one week, and 2 hours of speed camp the next)
Number of boys in the carpool: 7
Number of people my van seats comfortably: 6

Number of pounds Colby weighs: 87
Number of pounds vet says she should weigh: 50
Number of red blood cells in her blood work in January: 21
Number of Red Blood Cells in her blood work now: 42 (yes!)
Number of weeks she's been on steroids: 21
Number of steps her very arthritic joints have to climb every day: 14

Number of boys on the baseball team: 13

Number of boys who are pitchers: 6

Number of boys who are also offensive lineman: 4

Number of times the boys have been to the city pool :10

Number of times the boys have been to other pools: 3

Number of after hours pool parties the boys have attended: 2

Average length of stay at the pool: 3 hours

the Natural History of the Chicken

2009-06-27T22:37:00.003-05:00

We don't really rough it much when we camp these days. We have this little apartment that we park next to the tent. It's got a sweet flat screen tv, which we used to watch the funniest documentary. We laughed until we flat out cried. All cuddled up on the bed made out of the table. It's the Natural History of the Chicken. It's on You Tube. It's a collection of the strangest chicken lovin' people you will ever meet. And you'll never forget them.

One lady gives her chicken mouth to mouth resuscitation. Another brings her chicken with her everywhere. I highly recommend it. You'll thank me for the laugh.

the Camping Trip

2009-06-27T22:03:00.008-05:00

You've been neglected dear reader. I'm very sorry for the oversight.

We've been camping at the lake. We've camped at the same camp site at the same camp ground at the same lake for over 20 years. Of course Erin's only been for the past 4 years so it's all new to her. She slit open just the very bottom of the tent door and slithered in and sat watching.

The boys liked hanging out with grandma and grandpa. And hanging out by themselves. And watching girls in bikini's cause well that's what they do. Sometimes while they are supposed to be pulling the boat up to the shore. And yea we all noticed and laughed.

Harold is a great camp cook. He was the one who introduced us to the campground. Just another good reason to love Harold.

We have lots of good camp memories. 20 years worth of memories. This trip will forever be remembered for the naturalist program on caves. This campground is ran by the state parks and features an awesome naturalist who presents programs on all sorts of natural things. We've been to a lot of them. Jackson earned his junior naturalist badge which required that we attend oh 7 or 8 of them back when he was about 9. We once played nature bingo for like 4 hours much to his utter delight. Now it's the girls turn. So Deb and I hiked up to a rousing presentation on Missouri caves. She was talking 'bout some cave crickets that eat hairworm eggs and then the eggs grown in their bellies until they get a bubble and the bubble explodes hatching the worm. And she went on with the presentation without telling us at all what happened to those poor little crickets. It ate at me until I finally had to ask. And the girls about fell over laughing "Um did the cricket die?" Maybe it was the fact that just before I asked Erin, having grown bored, was trying to eat her toe nails. Oh it was a good laugh.

The best part of camping is just hanging out together. It's very common for many generations to come to the lake together. This weekend there was a 95 year old women celebrating her birthday with all sorts of camping family. How fun is that?

Jack and Nick rode 'big bertha' the big inter tube.

We all rode under Mom's watchful eye. Jackson took a turn as flag man.

Lauren's HS Musical Birthday

2009-06-10T19:53:00.006-05:00

My beautiful Lauren turned 7 over the weekend. She and her friends rocked out with a high school musical theme.

The girls put on a show and "auditioned" for our musical.

And played games like the kiss troy one. Kinda like pin the tail on the donkey. But it was plant a wet one on Troy. A wet one with lips smothered with bright red lipstick. Blind fold them and spin em and the giggles went wild.

All this bored Jackson to tears. He finally went downstairs and hung out with Hank the dog. Notice however that Jackson has HS Musical hair.

This week my baby officially started working out with the high school football team. They invite lowly 8th graders to work out in the summer. He's making some muscles and getting to know the coaches. And hanging out with his football friends. This week is also football camp so he's getting a double dose.

That's not big Pa pee.

That's Brady the cat being tormented by the boys. Everyone in our house dresses as Red Sox nation even the cat.

Swimmingly

2009-06-01T10:32:00.009-05:00

The summer has gotten off to a swimmingy good start. We celebrated my cousins daughter Mallory's birthday at a swim party. I love this picture. It's got a lot of personality.

Happy 6th Birthday Mallory!

That crazy Aunt Renie went on the big slide! Much to the delight of her little fan club who cheered wildly from below.

Erin was so pleased to pose with the big girls. What a little bathing beauty! Now the other girls looked like they got hit with the silly stick!

My cousin Angie, my aunt Bev and my cousin-in-law Stacee soak up some sun.

I took Lauren to the deep side. And without my noticing Erin came to join us. She exclaimed that she was "um sinking."

After the party we had a real treat. A recital. Lauren was wonderful. She plunked out her little happy song with the utmost of confidence and beauty.

Then my beautiful sister played her piece accompanied by teacher Mrs. Fry. The recital was held at a local nursing home much to the joy of the dozen or so residents who came to watch or to catch up on their sleep.

Baseball Night in America

2009-05-30T21:03:00.004-05:00

It's baseball night at Myers house. Our team took home their second win of the season (we are now 2-1). Jackson had a monster hit. John did a cracker jack job as third base coach. And I kept accurate and complete stats for the team book. But please let me know if the baseball police are coming cause I'll have to explain what happened in the second inning when I was admiring Erin's green tongue, and then was digging for some money to send a sibling child to the concession stand for a coke. What a convenient thing it must be to have more than one child. Anyway I get the meat of the game at 100%. Maybe not all the balls and strikes. After all a gals got to have a cold drink.

Baseball is a community affair. The entire sports community spends their nights and their days on these fields. After playing nine years (and counting two seasons of fall ball- 11 total seasons of baseball) you get to know people. People that you've played with before. People that you go to school with. People that played football. People that have played on opposing teams for nine years. And that' s not even taking into account all the people that John gets to know from his Parks and Rec gig. It's a great baseball community. My next door neighbor and good friend Trish was on the field next to ours watching Cameron play.

And now for something completely different. And completely ridiculous This is the cat in the fire place. What might make a cat curious enough to thread himself into the fireplace. Birds. For the past several years we've had a bird built a nest in the heat vent of the fireplace. We can hear the little one's chirp when the mama brings a worm. Poor Brady's determined to figure it all out.

I noticed something when the boys were gone and I would sit quietly and contently watching tv. There is a bit of war going on between the birds and Brady. They sit and look in the house. Like a lot. Which if you happen to be afraid of birds, like I am, is very very creepy. I felt like I was being stalked out of some horror movie. The robin peering in at me from the kitchen window. The sparrow stalking me from the tree in the living room. I tell myself they are really just looking for the cat who obliviously must sit by the windows and glare at them. But who knows. Maybe I'm starring in some bird double feature.

Minnesota

2009-05-29T17:01:00.008-05:00

The boys just returned from a road trip to Minnesota. Their beloved Red Sox were in Minneapolis for a few games against the Twins and the boys journeyed over 7 hours to watch.

Jackson reported that Iowa was full of corn, and that the cokes at the Metrodome were "salty." The wonder of travel. Watching baseball in a dome took a bit of getting used to.

Jackson wears this jersey all the time. It's an Adrian Peterson Viking football jersey. With hand sown lettering. Did I mention that it has to be hand washed. And that he likes to wear it like all the time.

I stayed home to glory in chick flicks and peace & quiet. Just me and the dogs. With only one interruption when the neighbor kids knocked on the door for assistance with a dog that was eating baby rabbits. The boys took these pictures so there were like 20 pictures of pitching ace Jonathon Papelbon. Jackson loves Paps. Ok. So do I. Except when it's April and it's 30 degrees out and I've sat through 8 innings of baseball and I can't feel my feet or my nose even though I'm piled in winter coat, gloves and even an ugly hat. "Let's leave Papelbon won't pitch today." And then just as we hit the car we hear the announcer say "now pitching Jonathon Papelbon." I don't think Jackson will ever let me forget it.

Evidently they race fish in Minnesota. These five assorted fish run the bases for entertainment. Here in Missouri we race sausages. It's a big deal. A local dj was the mustard for a game and it sold out. Remember we haven't had much to cheer about for a number of years so the sausages do it for us.

It's just so funny. Run trout run. (say it like run forest run and you'll laugh too) There was a bear in the race. T.C. the bear ran after the fish and tackled them. This may have just been worth the 7 hour drive.

the Iris Festival

2009-05-24T20:30:00.005-05:00

Deb and I journeyed to Powell Gardens today. We met this fascinating 93 year old man. He's an acclaimed horticulturist who is responsible for their Iris hill. He's been a member of the "Iris Society" since the 1940's. He greets visitors and easily shares his vast knowledge.

Deb loves, loves, loves Irises. She plans on making beautiful cards with all the great pics she took today. We asked the Iris man which was his favorite out of the 100's of color combinations on the hill. He replied "the one I looked at last."

This was my favorite. And the velvety dark purple ones. Oh and the soft buttery cream ones. And those exquisite black ones. And the Coral one's. And the soft yellow combined with the velvety purple ones.

Gone Fishing

2009-05-24T00:33:00.008-05:00

It's the first day of summer here at Myers house. I don't care what the calendar says Memorial Day weekend is summer. We piled in the van and went fishing. Except in Cooper and I's case this meant taking a long leisurely hike in the woods. Yea right. There is nothing leisurely about a walk with Cooper. He pulls like a locomotive when he gets a wiff of those intoxicating smells of rabbit and birds. I always imagine my arm snapping off like a Barbie's. Or something off a SNL skit. Sometimes when I'm being tossed about I think about all the money we spent on doggie obedience. That all goes out the window when one little bunny has crossed the trail anytime in the last month. And I wonder for a few seconds why I didn't pick some tiny little breed like a pug. But ya really can't walk in the woods by yourself with a dinky dog. And I love big athletic dogs.

Cooper is a weird dog. He doesn't like water. Baths are torture. Remember he's not all golden. And what ever part isn't decided doesn't like water. But it's hot. Really hot. And he just wanted a cool drink and somehow he kinda fumbled into the lake. And discovered cool feels pretty good and must have thought I'll just kinda hang out here a bit.

The boys set up for some serious fishing.

And for some serious contemplation. Like "wonder why Cooper never liked the water before."

Remembering

2009-05-24T00:20:00.006-05:00

Memorial Day is one of my favorite holidays. It was always a big deal to my Grandma Gerty too. She had a lot of death when she was young. Her Dad died in the big flu epidemic that struck in 1918. She was just 2 months old. Then her Mom died of ovarian cancer when she was 12. I inherited her Memorial Day gig. 21 graves. This year Deb and Erin shared in the duty.

It's a bit amazing that nearly all of my family is buried in just two country cemeteries. Three generations of Grotjans, Botts and Newsoms.

It's still very new to us to visit our beloved Grandma's graves. Especially Granny's. Feels like we should be bringing them a malt from the Dottie Delight and not flowers to decorate their graves stones.

And even the memories of going to the cemetery is one that we shared often with each of our grandma's. I wonder where it will fall in Erin's memories of child hood.

Scouting out a hike

2009-05-24T00:06:00.007-05:00

I was a girl scout forever. Then I was a Brownie leader for two years ~ while I was still in college. So I was prepared when my sister asked me if I might help her take these cute little daisy girl scouts for a hike. Were they ever energetic. Man those little buggers burned rubber on the hike.

My sister is a fantastic leader.

My favorite part was when we did that friendship circle and sang about keeping friends "one is silver and the other's gold." The girls were so enthusiastic. The passing of "the squeeze" undertaken with such focus. They were truly committed to being a "sister to every girl scout."

2009-05-24T00:01:00.003-05:00

It's been a busy week here at Myers house. Little Miss Erin gave a star performance at her preschool program. She was so proud.

Miss Lauren was there to cheer her on. And there was cake. The good stuff with the thick icing. I can't think of a better way to spend a Monday night.

Mom's Day

2009-05-11T15:37:00.004-05:00

Did you see the world's best mom yesterday? Well if you were at Myers House you might have. I have the best Mom. And I have the best step-grandma too. And the best Aunt to my child. Let's just say I love my family. We gathered in an entire pew at my Mom's church yesterday. I grew up in that church. Played hide and seek in every crevice as a youth group member. Knew every cubbard as a Sunday School teacher. Knew every color in the stain glass windows as I was planning my wedding. And knew every face in the pews as I presented my baby to be baptised. And as far as churches go it was certainly good to be home again.

Afterwards we grilled a feast at my Mom's. Grandma Vernie was able to hang out with three of her great grandbabies.

Lauren was able to be silly in the way that only six year old girls can be.

And Erin was able to play with her beloved Uncle Johnny.

A good day was had by all.

In the Game

2009-05-02T22:15:00.007-05:00

Colby's been at war these last four months. She has a disease called Auto Immune Hemoyltic Anemia, where her immune system attacks her red blood cells. It's bad stuff. 50% of the dogs who get it die within 2 weeks. My dog Elwood had the same rare blood disorder and died 16 years ago. But Colby's a warrior. We don't know if we are winning the war- but so far she's won every battle. This is her second "episode" of the disease. Her first was four years ago, and it's laid dormant in her body since then. No one knows what causes it to attack. It's treated with steriods. These make her puff up like a sheep. Maybe we could find some medicine that would make her head grow.

My boys are ate up about basketball. They've played it all winter long. So when we saw them head off for the court, Colby and I decided to join them. Colby really can only handle short walks. She's not up to full speed yet. And she's licked her front paw obsessively and has it sore and raw.

Colby wanted in the game. She just loves the boys and they love her. So they had to stall the game a bit for a love fest.

But she sat sweetly on the sidelines so the boys could finish the game.

These games have a lot of bragging rights. Well at least until tomorrow when they'll all go at it again.

2009-04-27T21:00:00.005-05:00

Every week I have lunch with the ladies. My sister, niece and mom. I once lived 1,000 miles away. And I cried the first time I picked up the phone to call my Mom and got a nasty message cause I didn't dial the area code. So I really appreciate this blessing of an afternoon together.

Erin picks out some macaroni and cheese and applesauce.

One of the restaurants that we go to gives a free cookie with the children's menu. And every week Erin puts hers in a bag and brings it home to her sister Lauren who misses our lunch because she's in school. Isn't that the sweetest thing.

This past week we headed out afterward to purchase a daisy garden. Deb's daisy girl scouts were making the world a better place by planting a delightful little garden of daisy's at church.

Speaking of delightful.

a plague of frogs

2009-04-20T19:51:00.007-05:00

Much of the happenings here at Myers house lately aren't very photogenic. Things like cleaning out the frig, folding underwear, and continually mopping the floor. (with 18 feet in Myers house it's a never ending job). Last week Cooper ate a frog. Well kinda. He would take a few healthy chews and then let it down to hop a few times before picking it up and chewing again. I caught a glimpse of this when I looked out the window and screeched. I ran outside to give said frog time to escape. This was maybe 3 o'clock.

By 7:00 poor Cooper had thrown up at least 6 times. We think it was the wrath of the frog. Luckily all but two soggy piles were outside. John and I went on a frog hunt to find said frog to make sure it wasn't something exotic and poisonous. But it really did look like a regular old frog. And Cooper got over the episode fairly quickly. But it was surely the plague of the frog.

One very photogenic thing that happened this week was the annual Pet Expo. We love the pet expo. Look how sweetly Erin is listening to the Bassengi's owner telling the dog to "look."

Uncle Johnny loves to show his girls things. He points out things he thinks would be interesting. Hey look at this turtle.

This is funny. As someone whose daily chores involve large amounts of well poop this was a fantasy!

Happy Easter Let's Go

2009-04-14T17:14:00.007-05:00

Happy Easter Y'all. Easter is one of those holidays at Myers house that is just plumb full of good memories. We added some new one's this year. We started out worshipping at church. Singing those old hymns that we sang as little girls in itchy Easter dresses at my grandma's little white country church that stands in the middle of the corn field. Christ the Lord has risen today. He lives.. He lives. My Gerty's grandpa Louis donated the land the church stands on. Services were originally held in German. Gerty played the piano like nobody's business and did it by ear. She played ragtime jazz on Saturday nights. But on Sunday mornings she held the small congregation on beat with those songs. Sometimes I can hardly sing them on Easter cause I miss my Gerty so much.

Anyway. John and Jackson don't sing. They stand there looking contemplative. Actually Jack helped hide eggs for the younger kids during the service. And then they matched up with a little person to help them on the hunt. Jack said his was like "2 feet tall" and was named Matthew.

After church we headed to our friends Artero and Jona's for dinner. They hosted all sorts of family and friends. And had a great feast. Their youngest daughter has a new bird named Lisa. She was so proud of Lisa. One Easter Deb and I got beautiful white bunnies. And I named mine Ann. Debbie named her's thumber. But she couldn't get out the "th" sound so it was forever bumber. My Granny's beagle Pooch ate bumber in a great tragedy a few years later. But Ann survived living in great comfort at my Granny's for many years.

Then for super we headed to Deb's for a family dinner. Grandpa Harold had the Easter spirit. He and Mom had attended her 50th class reunion the night before.

Erin shows off the basket that Uncle Johnny and I gave to her. Man the hiding of the eggs is a fun game when you are 4. Over and over and over.

20 years

2009-04-14T17:05:00.002-05:00

20 years ago these kids got married. They had a lot of hair and could run down the street. Like on purpose and not because they were chasing a wayward dog or child. They were soooo in love. The story book romance. She spent a year waiting for her prince to return from the far off country of Iceland for them to begin their life together.

And twenty years later they are still at it. Wiser. Stronger. Larger.

a very messy birthday

2009-04-06T16:18:00.007-05:00

Erin's marvelous messy party was Saturday. Turning 4 was a great occasion to make a mess. A really big mess. All manner of mud, slime, pudding, shaving cream, paints, and silly string were used.

Cousin Mallory was a lady bug. A very dirty lady bug. Her little brother Ben won the mudcakes eating contest with 4. The chocolate hardly made a dent in his dirty crusty clothing.

Anthony was willing to get a pie in the face and then some cheetos to boot.

So often all kids hear is "don't get your clothes dirty." This was the day to feel squishy mud between your toes. And when looking clean made you look rather out of place. Pig pen would have been proud of these kids. The goodie bags even included a bar of soap and a wash cloth!

Angie and Jackson enjoyed checking out the shinanagans.

Spring Flurry

2009-04-06T16:07:00.006-05:00

It's a busy time here at Myers house. We're planning a carnival for Jack's school. It's gonna be a big hum dinger of a festival complete with rides, inflatables, food, and all sorts of fun stuff.

We're battling weird weather. Freak spring snow storms that delight young golden retrievers. When the snow melted bright green long grass emerged. Proms were canceled. And basebal games. Weird.

And we're playing catch up. Jackson earned this honor roll bumper sticker last quarter. But I forgot to 'blog' it. He's working really hard and we are very proud of him.

Lastly I'm publishing my blog. Yep. I'm terribly excited. It's through a web site called blurb.com and it's fairly inexpensive. I'll be able to have a bound copy of this crazy site and a printed diary of 2008.

the best zoo

2009-03-20T10:37:00.006-05:00

We're off to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha. It was amazing. We spent over 6 hours watching animals up close. We even saw silverback gorillas in full-on stand up and thump the chest activity. Boy do those suckers move fast.

The best exhibit was the Desert Dome. And underneath the Desert Dome was the Kingdom of the Night, the cave and my favorite exhibit the swamp. Ok. I had more than one favorite.

After lunch we explored the jungle. This involved a rope bridge. How cool is that.

Ack. What kind of creature is this.

Spring Break

2009-03-19T22:17:00.010-05:00

We're off. It's spring break, the sun is warm and bright, and we've been itching to explore a little. So we loaded up the truck and headed north to Omaha.

Our first stop was the Omaha Children's Museum. Lauren really enjoyed the theater and it's costumes.

They had a great exhibit about presidential campaigns. Jackson is practicing his hand shaking.

This is my beautiful sister and best friend Debbie. We journey together not just on spring break trips but in life.

Hotel pools are great. Whole vacations of our childhood were planned around hotel pools.

Bodies that have sat in the car for hours need to wiggle and jump.

This was Erin's first stay in a hotel. She was wild. The rest of us were nestled in our beds with the covers to our ears and our eyes were heavy. But not Erin she was demonstrating jumping jacks. She was a bit confused. She thought maybe we were all just napping or something. She announced "ok guys 2 minutes." Jackson finally hopped up and opened the curtains to show her that it was dark outside and tried to explain once again how the hotel thing worked.

Not Your Typical Tuesday

2009-03-11T19:30:00.010-05:00

The Myers won tickets to the Blue's game from the Blue's web site. So off we went, on a not so typical Tuesday. Yowser were they good seats. Not only did we have a perfect view to watch the Blues just hammer the Stars, they gave us free food. Oh yea they did. Ushers went up and down the isles offering all sorts of delictables. Anybody want a hot dog? Peanuts? An ice cold beer or soda? I was Cinderella at the ball baby.

I just love wearing my jersey. It's such an amazing feeling being in a crowd of 19,000 plus people who love the same thing that you do. People who go to bed wondering about the need of a better back up goalie. (no offense Ben) Who sit in traffic hoping that Murray will play the kid line together. Who find themselves suddenly cursing perfectly good cities like Columbus or Nashville. And there is no prettier place in the spring than Market street. It's lined with pretty little pear trees that bloom in the race to the playoffs and rain down soft petals and the smell of spring. We saw their fresh little buds and know that spring is coming.

Before we went to the ball we went to the zoo. St. Louis has a great zoo. And it's a great way to enjoy a perfect spring afternoon.

The animals were almost giddy with spring. This adorable baby elephant ran and played, flipping his sweet little trunk around in delight, and even swam in his little pond.

These penguins had just been fed and were in the middle of a roising game of tag. It's not every day that penguins or hippos or elephants play within a few feet of you. But what was even more breath taking to this midwestern mama......

was this. We haven't measured Jack recently but John is 6'2". Oh Lordy. That's my 13 year old. All grown up right before my very eyes.

The Coaches Dinner

2009-03-02T08:07:00.004-06:00

Every year the Mustang coaches get together to celebrate their season. This year at a great Japanese steak house. The kind that throws your food and carries on with knives. Ok. I do this in my kitchen most every night but we just call it clumbsy. Seriously though we had a great time with some good friends. And had a great steak. We were all gussied up so we had Jack take our picture. Evidently it wasn't much of an eye opening experience for John.

Somehow in our reporting of the trials and headlines of February we left off Moses. And he just might have been the best part of February. The boys brought him home on a Friday after school. John had seen him running in the neighborhood the day before. He stayed with us the weekend while we frantically tried to find his owners. The whole bang... posters in the neighborhood, ad in local paper, listing with lost dog registry, even a trip to the vet to check for microchip.

We did find Moses owner. Our friends and next door neighbor fell in love with him. And boy is it easy to do. They've named him Moses cause he was lost in the wilderness. He's loved and is loving his new crib. Well everything but that darn frilly sweater and that was a pretty cruel thing to do to a fellows privates. Clip clip. Little Moses is best friends with their beagle Shiloh. We can look out the window and watch them playing in the yard. And instead of having to sleep under someone's porch he gets to curl up with his new human pack. Don't ya just love a good ending.

No More Monkey Mountain

2009-02-26T15:56:00.010-06:00

Ok. Enough of the Monkey Mountain. Sorry to have kept you hanging for so long.

It's Oscar time here at Myers house. Which means the annual Oscar party. The same group of friends have been gathering to watch the Oscars for a long time now. We used to dress to the nine's in the most gawdy prom dresses we could find. But ya know it's like a 4 hour show. Sitting in sequins with a neckline that pinched just wasn't cutting it. Some years we dress according to the movies. One year my sis and I went as cowboys with fishing poles and arrived inseparably hugging ala Brokeback Mountain. This year's theme was comfort. My friend Diane K. does it up right. I won the Oscar for guessing the most Oscar winners.

I love the Oscars. More so this year because I've actually seen 6 of the movies nominated.

Last fall Jackson studied the Dave Ramsey fianncial management series for teens. His Sunday School teacher challenged the kids to spend $5 in a way that would honor God. Jackson used his to buy dog bones. Then this weekend we visited the shelter and loved on some of God's sweetest creatures. Including the very long and lanky Pistol Pete. He just loved Jackson and his neck. His light little kitty dough action tickled. Jackson just might be a really good dog trainer but he could easily be the cat whisper. He's got a way with the kitties. By the way it took him about 3 minutes to get to the usual "hey could we keep this one" question.

I've been researching family history. The Midwest Genealogy Center nearly caused me to collapse in an overwhelmed heap. A place with an entire shelf of books on little old Keytesville, Missouri. Oh my. John was a good sport and came along for the grand tour. For some reason I thought it might only have records from Missouri in a part of a regular library. Oh no. It houses records of all 50 states. Census records, passenger list, hundreds of thousands of obituaries, civil war records, revolutionary war records, and even slave and plantation records.

And now something completely different.......

Just for the record a tornado has not swept through my neighborhood. But the kids have been having a blast making various forts and unexplained creations in the trees behind the house. They spent the better part of a Sunday afternoon plunking around out there. Can't quite describe what the heck it is. But they are having an awful good time being kids.

A Day on Monkey Mountain

2009-02-02T19:02:00.006-06:00

Jackson and I climbed Monkey Mountain. It was a steep climb to a beautiful prairie vista like open space.

With a beautiful view.

The next day was super. Well it was Super Bowl Sunday. We watched the big game with Mom and Harold. Deb and the girls joined in the party.

Catching Up

2009-01-29T11:42:00.003-06:00

It's been rather quiet on the Myers home front. We're hunkered down from the cold and in pursuit of good tv. And/or entertaining ourselves. I live with two of the worlds funniest comedians. One night I responded to Brady's bleating calls for food. And this is what I found. John is just too funny. Part two of his jinks was discovered the next day when Jackson went to get in his backpack and discovered the head of this picture sitting in his binder.

We do on occasion venture out into the world. We gotta eat after all. Sunday I journeyed out to welcome a new baby to the family. Grandma Vernie and grandma-to-be Laura enjoyed watching the sea of pink presents.

We on occasion welcome a visitor into our cozy little cottage. One day last week Erin came a- visiting. We got down and dirty. She suggested that we make worm pies like we did last summer. And since that for obvious reason just wouldn't work we did the next best thing. We made a mess of the kitchen. We put food coloring on bubbles. We made a little mud and we made a goopy egg mixture mess. Complete with a dash of pepper.

My Favorite Things

2009-01-14T20:52:00.007-06:00

Between PTA meetings, library duty at Jack's middle school and all the other things that take place here at Myers house, I was able to squeeze in some time this afternoon with my favorite girls. Which of course meant hanging out with Hank. He's grown a bit since Christmas but he's still just a little bit of a thing. Uncle Johnny bought him new teeny little tennis balls just his size. And we played and played.Then he did that doggie thing.... he curled up and went to sleep nestled in his aunties arms. Then their sweet little kitten Grayson climbed on up and snuggled in my other arm. Time spent on a very cozy chair with two little critters warmly in your embrace while listening to Lauren's new piano lessons and while watching Erin's new ability to do a somersault. Hey guys doesn't get better than this.

Someone forgot to tell Hank that he's supposed to be a little foo foo dog. He's got some serious personality. I don't know how Deb gets anything done.

Doesn't look like we had an ounce of fun huh. Check out Lauren's especially toothless grin. Wonder how Theadora is tackling those thistles off of thumbelina isle. Just wondering.

Hemolytic Anemia Part 2

2009-01-13T21:39:00.006-06:00

This family has a thing going with a canine disease called Auto-Immune Hemolytic Anemia. The wretched rare blood disorder took the life of our first dog. Our beloved Elwood. Five years ago it snaked its way into our lives again through our Colby. She won her battle through steroids and a medication used to treat MS in humans. And with the help of a doggie internist. Betcha didn't even know there was such a thing. I didn't either. The disorder causes Colby's system to attack her own red blood cells. And steroids caused her to gain a whooping 20 pounds in about a month.

About a week ago Colby took sick. This morning the vet got her blood results and she's having another episode of Hemolytic Anemia. So we're back on the 'roids. Hopefully she'll respond well. Last night the fever broke. And she's a happy camper again tonight. She even played with Cooper.

Gotta tell ya Colby just may be the world's best dog. She's the sweetest thing. She walks contentedly right beside you. Even at the dog park when most dogs go every which way. Everyone needs someone who just walks right beside them. And next to John & Deb that's my Colby. She's taken to sleeping right next to my bed. Which my sweet Rayna did no matter where in the house I dropped to sleep (she's been gone now for about 2 years- but she lived through all those early morning baby feedings!) John reminds me that Colby was a sassy little in her younger years with a penchant for Jackson's little hockey gloves. Something 'bout that smell of fresh leather combined with the rubbery sweat smell of a little boys was just irresistible to her. Not only did it mean having to buy another pair of gloves (the folks at the hockey store thought this was hysterical) but it meant having to clean up recycled pieces of hockey gloves all over the back yard!

Now for something completely different. With the final Alaska quarter firmly in place, I have completed an entire state quarter book. My Granny bought me this book- and for many years she made sure that we had the newest quarters thanks to her niece that worked at the local bank. This one's for you Granny. That's the thing about grief and lose. You're sailing along dealing with it. Then you get shot with an intensity of pain that takes your breath away and brings such a stab of pain the tears literally burn your eyes. Granny's been gone for just about a year now. She'd have gotten a kick out of the quarters.

Happy New You

2009-01-05T17:42:00.008-06:00

Happy New Year! I hope, dear blog friends and readers, that 2009 will bring all sorts of good things to your world and to mine. The Myers continued our New Year's Day tradition of hiking in the woods. Nothing beats pondering resolutions and the year ahead like the quiet of the woods.

This past weekend we celebrated an amazing accomplishment~ my great Aunt and Uncle's 60th wedding anniversary. Their daughters hosted a beautiful reception.

Speaking of beautiful..... doesn't my Aunt Bet look great.

Santa's Surprise

2008-12-22T19:53:00.005-06:00

Santa's bringing something special to Lauren and Erin and that something special is hanging out with me until that big day. He is just adorable. My sister adopted him from a local rescue group- he's part Rat Terrier and part whatever visitor the mom "entertained" perhaps a cattle dog. And he's only about as big as two baked potatoes. Or as big as Cooper's entire head.

Our baby went to visit Santa today. He was very curious about all the Christmas commotion. And he chewed on Santa's fur. Need you think I'm completely crazy. We weren't the only dog in the line with all the children. A pretty yellow lab was a few folks in front of us.

a Missouri Town Christmas

2008-12-13T14:36:00.009-06:00

One of my favorite places is Missouri Town. A living history example of prairie life in 1850. And today they celebrated Christmas. It was so beautiful. Greens and red hung against the prairie.

Authentic, rugged and simple. Warm fires to brace against the winter's wind. Cozy cabins filled with Christmas bustle. Fiddles and banjos belting out Christmas hymns.

Christmas traditions from the people's that settled these parts.

Fun things to learn. Deb's teaching Lauren how to string popcorn. We also made home made pot pouri bags, pulled taffy, put cloves in oranges, drank hot cider, sang lots of carols, and ate the best lemon drops in Jackson County purchased from the little mercantile store.

My beautiful sister Debbie.

Snow Day

2008-12-11T13:32:00.003-06:00

The boys were home yesterday for a snow day. Jackson spent hours the night before thinking about the possibilites. If it only gets a little colder, maybe melts and then freezes, or snows a bit more. Then about 10 pm we got the phone call ..... no school. Remember the pure joy of that announcement.

Nick and Jack tried out the sledding.

First Snow

2008-12-09T17:46:00.003-06:00

The weather outside is frightful. But we are cozy and warm here at Myers house. Cooper likes to eat the snow.

Christmas Fun

2008-12-08T11:37:00.007-06:00

We're having lots of Christmas fun here at Myers house. On Saturday we went to a Kris Kringle Market at a beautiful church in Brookside. They had a wonderful German Christmas festival complete with food, crafts and activities for kids. Father Christmas greeted us.

The kids made these great gingerbread houses.

Jackson's featured candy cans and gummy bears.

Erin used a lot of red hots and green gummy bears. Oh and marshmallows. With about every other marshmallow ending up in her mouth!

We then traveled a few blocks west to "Journey to Bethlehem" at a Presbyterian church. It was simply amazing.

We became travelers awaiting the census. We appeared before magistrates to declare the number of goats, sheep and cows. We ventured through a market place complete with live animals. Spent time with King Herod just as the wise men appeared before his court. Saw the shepherds keeping watch over live sheep (one of whom pooped tic tac turds to the great giggles of the kiddos), saw the angel Gabrielle appear from what appeared to be layers and layers of sheer curtains and talked with some inn keepers who offered their manger to the very pregnant Mary. And then finally we found the baby Jesus. The entire experience made a big impression on every body. The girls just loved it. Lauren nearly raced to the front after each scenario because she couldn't wait to see what would be next.

Then for our evening finale we went to a KC landmark "that house on Falmouth Street." This couple has outfitted their house into the most amazing Christmas display ever. Folks come from far and near to gawk at all sorts of animated characters. Every inch of their garage is stacked. The side of their house has been fashioned into a nativity. Then the front of their house has about 10 store window displays. You stop, park and then walk on the yard to get the full view. There must have been about 30 people at any given time just enjoying the displays.

It's Christmas in Kansas City!

the new kitten

2008-12-03T21:11:00.005-06:00

A sweet little kitten has joined my sister's clan. The as yet to be named ball of gray and white fluff is just adorable. And the girls are so excited. He was saved this morning from our local animal shelter and Santa just couldn't wait to give him to the girls.

Jackson's always had a special touch with animals, especially cats. So it was no surprise that the little fluff ball became his good friend.

the Gingerbread Capers

2008-12-03T13:09:00.005-06:00

Last night we went to a rousing performance of the Gingerbread Caper featuring our own Lauren and the rest of her classmates. Songs of the season and cute kids are two of my favorite holiday indulgences.

Lauren gets congratulatory greetings from Grandpa Harold and Grandma Joyce.

The Gingerbread man ran away because he was lonely. So the kids came up with the idea of making more gingerbread men so that he wouldn't be alone. And with the pull of a hoodie every kid in the first and second grade became whola a gingerbread man. Very cute.

Lauren and Erin attend almost every one of Jackson's football and baseball games. (Even that frigid cold one with wind chills in the 20's) So this was a chance for Jackson to be a part of her fan club!

Uncle Johnny was the president of the fan club!

Santa Claus

2008-11-29T18:35:00.007-06:00

It's snowing big wet flakes of snow today. So we thought we'd retreat inside to a nice winter lodge. Well sorta- we went to the Bass Pro Shop. In addition to all the normal fun, they did a great job of bringing us the magic of Christmas. The girls visited with Santa without the long lines and stress of the mall. Lauren is really pondering her wish list. But we all know what's on her heart...... a kitten.

Erin told us over and over in her most boisterous 3 year old self that she was NOT going to sit on Santa's lap. But that's just what she did. Popped up there like it was her plan all along. I think it was the candy cane. Tops on her list this year is a puppy. Santa told them he liked to get the parent's permission before leaving a furry friend. Deb is actually on the lookout for one~ whichever one she finds first. And she'll know she's found it but she just hasn't found it yet.

Jackson enjoyed playing at the shooting arcade. And stayed as far away from the Santa scene as possible. You "don't want sometone to think you are a dork."

Thanksgiving

2008-11-29T18:18:00.004-06:00

Myers house has much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. We celebrated in grand style on a beautiful balmy November day. Daniel and Jackson joined about 25 men of the church in some spirited football. This is an annual tradition that this year drew enough men for 4 teams.

Jackson and Daniel joined Milt and his 2 sons and his son in law to form a team.

After we feasted on an amazing traditional dinner. Erin presented herself as pilgram girl. She was so pleased. Grandma Vernie made this costume for her daughter Judy nearly 60 years ago. It was discovered last winter when they were clearing out Vernie's house to move her to an assisted living center in KC.

Pilgram girl sided up to her beloved Uncle Johnny. Uncle Johnny out did himself to create a superb meal for about 20 people.

The Team Party

2008-11-26T13:27:00.007-06:00

The Mustangs gathered together last night to celebrate their season and their three years together. We feasted on pizza, listened to team presentations and then the boys played a rousing game of dodgeball. As is our tradition each player was honored for their contribution to the team. Each player in turn stood on a chair (when we started the tradition they were itty bitty and we needed to be able to see them!) and then the coaches have the opportunity to share each boys strengths and talents as well as an occasional funny story.

This is Jack's official team picture. We watched the official team video highlighting the season and the players. Jack was recognized as one of the six "original horseman" who have been with the team since they were a little bitty flag football team. The coaches told Jack that he had served his role on the team with excellence, and had greatly improved his game by playing with a more competitive edge. And then Bill couldn't refuse to mention oh yea this kid through a "near perfect game for me this summer." Jack says "oh he tells everyone about that."

We also returned our league equipment including the helmet. Every little horse shoe was carefully removed and then the helmet scrubbed of sticky stuff. Transferring their accomplishments from this season to another venue. Kinda like what we hope the boys do with all the lessons they've learned through the season on the football field.

Most of these guys have been together as a team for 3 years. Many of them also play baseball together. Go to the same school. Six go to the same church. Most live within walking distance to the football field where we both practice and play. And all but three go to the same school. And we hope that most will end up playing together on Friday nights some day. Playing football on Friday nights is the ultimate goal for these guys.

S-A-TUR-DAY Night

2008-11-23T14:30:00.005-06:00

Our city has a great indoor pool. Well normally it's great. But last night the heater broke in the big room that houses the pool. The water was warm but the air wasn't. This fact certainly doesn't bother 13 year old boys. And it didn't bother their mother who was neck deep in the hot tub trying to melt.

A fact of my life is that I live with boys. I'm surrounded. Even occasional forays with my nieces doesn't change the fact that there is a lot of testosterone in Myers house. My husband, my son, and a rotating cast of 3 surrogate sons. So when it came time to purchase a toy for the Church's' toy drive I picked a baby doll. Deb and I went to US Toy and found this beautiful African American baby doll. They had dolls of every nationality and heritage. She was the prettiest. Then I get her home and find that, gasp, she's a boy.

Her little tag read African American Boy. But I loved her, gender identity questions and all. I bought him/her some little bottles and made he/she a little crochet blanket. The boys have had a lot of fun with my sweet little black baby doll. I found her all over the house. She was in my bed when I pulled down the covers one night. One day she was in the bathroom and someone had tied a string around her plastic bag so it looked like she was suicidal. This morning my little gender neutral baby sat on the alter at church. This afternoon she was delivered with her little goods to a local agency that will help her find a little girl to love for Christmas.

Meet me in St. Louie

2008-11-23T14:17:00.006-06:00

Last Sunday the Myers loaded into the van and traveled to St. Louis to partake in one of our favorite things. A St. Louis Blues game. And because it also involved one of the favorite things of a good friend. Namely the Montreal Canadians. We also included Nick.

We've done a good job of turning this kid into a hockey fan. But some how he got off course and his favorite team is the Canadians. We love him anyway. Even when he had more to cheer about than we did.

This photogenic moment was completely lost on 13 year old boys. The Myers are a bit crazed about our hockey. We drove 4 hours to watch the game. And then piled into the van which was piled high with pillows and blankets and drove the 4 hours home. We do this every once in a while.

Another high light of this trip was a stop at Gus's pretzels. I do believe that John would have driven the 4 hours just to get those pretzels. Notice there is no picture of Gus's pretzels. This is because I was unable to get the blaze of image that was John running into the store. And he ate 6 (six!) pretzels. He's an amazing man. Amazing enough to drive his wife to the ends of the earth to do something she loves. And to buy the good seats in honor of her birthday.

Surprise!

2008-11-17T12:32:00.007-06:00

Surprise! We had a party to celebrate Jackson's 13th birthday. He had no idea that 8 of his buds were gathering at my sisters house to chow down on pizza and pop. Remember his birthday was like a month ago. But we couldn't figure out a good time for a party in the throws of a busy football season. He was very surprised.

My sister was brave enough to invite this herd of 12 and 13 year old boys to her house. Notice that just to Jackson's left is tiny little Lauren trying to hold her own. What do 12 and 13 year old boys like to do? Talk. All at the same time. And loudly. And fart. And then laugh. Continuously.

We had some great prizes. Sam's mateys came up with some good stories about Jackson.

Jack's been friends with most of these guys for a long time. And because he's an only child we grab one or the other just about every where we go.

But that wasn't the only birthday to be celebrated this week. I turned 44 on Wednesday. We all got together to feast on John's potato soup and Deb's chocolate cake. And it doesn't get better than that.

Yes We Can

2008-11-05T09:37:00.011-06:00

Myers house is celebrating a new hope for America. I spent the day yesterday at the local Obama headquarters. This Hockeymom for Obama was greeted with a donkey donut and a pretty new blue Obama election shirt. That sweatshirt couldn't last long in the almost 80 degree weather.

I organized drivers who drove people to the polls. What an amazing morning. Wave after wave of people arrived to help. All sorts of people. White. Black. Young. Old. Haves. And have nots. All united. I talked to people who told me over and over "well I've never done anything like this before." We took calls from people who had obviously not voted before.

Later I canvassed with Chris an Opera singer from Oakland, California who is appearing this week at the Lyric theater. We had a targeted list of voters who had expressed an indication they would vote for Obama. Our job was to motivate and encourage them to actually go vote. It wasn't an easy job- we worked a subdivision where every street was named winter. Winterpark, winterpark blvd, wintergreen, winterfountain.

After school Jackson joined the campaign. We canvassed another neighborhood. His job was to help navigate. Read the addresses off of the clipboard, and to help locate house numbers. And he knocked on half the doors. When we returned to headquarters we were meet by councilman Alan Gray on the left, and Larry who I worked with side by side all day.

Jackson met Carol a retired third grade teacher from Long Beach, California. Carol is a veteran community organizer and lent her skills to the Missouri campaign. And just for the record Mr. Giuliani community organizers are the backbone of this great country. (you butt head)

After our lesson in election politics, we were off to his schools family literature night to celebrate books. They had food, fun and lots of books. Jackson made a wallet out of duck tape. A usable wallet. But the highlight was Chief's player Maurice Leggett. It was a little startling to see Jack standing almost shoulder to shoulder with a Chiefs player. But Jack pointed out that he wasn't as tall as a Chiefs player he was nearly as tall as a Chiefs corner back. They are normally small but lightening fast.

On Sunday we had one of those bright, warm Autumn days that makes you glad to breath.

So we loaded up the van with child'ens and turned them lose in the woods. This particular trail criss crosses a nice little creek.

Children don't have as many opportunities to just explore. Lauren screeched when she found "a lobster" in the creek.

Every Saturday is game day at Myers house. The fan club comes out in force. Erin insisted that she wanted to wear one of Jack's jerseys.

Grandma and Grandpa are awfully proud of their grandson!

Autumn Life

2008-10-19T14:09:00.002-05:00

We are enjoying the rhythm of autumn life here at Myers house. Football practice, homework, cool mornings, laundry.

Jack got a haircut on Wednesday. Check out those styled curls.

The boys had a half day of school on Friday and staged a mammoth Madden tournament fulled by boxes of pizza and pop.

the Chili Cookoff

2008-10-12T20:12:00.003-05:00

We celebrated a beautiful fall day today with a big chili cookoff party at church. They had all sorts of fun things for kids and all sorts of great food. The girls and I on the hayride.

The boys hanging out on a hay ride.

Sam ate his way through the pie eating contest.

Mustangs 14 - Bengals 12

2008-10-12T20:07:00.006-05:00

And it's a sack by big Jack Myers.

Going down.

down, down.

John's laying it out for the boys.

Bath Day

2008-10-09T09:40:00.006-05:00

We have the only golden in America that's not that fond of water. He likes creeks & the edges of lakes ok but the water part he only tolerates. The first time we bathed Cooper was an all out disaster. The only thing worse was the time I tried to bath the cat. (oh yea collectively now... what were you thinking?!) And by the way cats completely think you are trying to drown them. And if I'd have fell full throttle into a thorn bush I would have emerged less battle scared. The cat bat was only slightly less of a war than that first bath with Cooper.

But as the weather cools comes the inevitable..... bath day. Only one day a year are baths scheduled. The rest of the year if you get dirty or ya stink you get a bath. But only one day a year whether you appear to need it or not.... you're getting a bath. That last warm day before winter.

Oh the humility. But a 2 year old golden is an entirely different creature than a 1 year old golden.
And the deed got done. Now Colby she's too much of a lady to cause much fuss. But ya know under her breath she's letting us have it. Damn the people and their soapy water.

The other inevitable thing in life is seventh grade science and their experiments. We had to design a science experiment that uses the "scientific method."

So we plowed ahead. This little experiment was "how does carbon dioxide affect oxygen." Baking soda, vinegar and a candle. Add the vinegar and it creates a bubbling froth that produces carbon dioxide and uses up all the oxygen. (think fire fighters battling big wild fires) The funniest part was when Jack ran from the room returning with a big old towel over his mouth to scream. Mom carbon dioxide will kill you. What were you thinking. Carbon monoxide deary breath easy.

A day in a Missouri town

2008-10-05T16:35:00.006-05:00

Missouri Town is one of my favorite places on earth. It's a living history settlement from 1855. And it's about 5 minutes from my house. It's an incredably peaceful place. The fall festival is their biggest festival of the year. Deb and I loaded up the van with all these chil'dens. That little sassy one on the end was full of tarnashion too.

The boys decided to foresake their normal Sunday position in front of the boob tube watching football to spend an afternoon bathed in warm sun, with the sounds of mountain music lofting through the hillside, the smells of campfire and lots of interesting things to look at.

Oh and there was food. Old fashioned rock candy, curly fries, kettle corn, cotton candy, root beer. That's what the boys bought. There was lots more yummy stuff including the best ever apple cider made over an open fire with big chunks of apples.

Rule #1 of festivals. Never ever buy those $2 recorder things. They will drive you plum nuts. You'll run screaming in front of trains to escape that shrill sound. For some reason small people with normally short attention spans will blow on those things for hours. Maybe the thrill of that piped pipper is that he promised the children that they could blow on the flute next. Anyway poor Erin had a major melt down over not being able to play her stupid recorder. Lauren had one over taking turns with a jump rope. Other than that..... a good time was had by all.

Check out my beautiful Lauren.

Just a few more

2008-10-04T23:45:00.004-05:00

Beast boy.

I love this one.

And this is what happens when you break the line. That's Jack having to battle not one but two yellow dawgs.

some action of Jackson

2008-10-04T23:17:00.004-05:00

The Mustangs have an awesome team photographer, Laurie Malcolm. She just posted this week's pictures on-line and she got a great series of Jackson breaking through the defensive line.
That's Jack in red on the left battling number 90.

Check out that determination.

Now he's got his eyes set on that quarterback.

Run quarterback run. Jack's on the lose.

Dawgs 28 - Mustangs 7

2008-10-04T23:03:00.003-05:00

Another devistating lose. But no reason to hang our heads the Mustangs will regroup and take command again.

the lion and the lamb

2008-10-04T22:56:00.006-05:00

There was a minor miracle at Myers house. These two have been playing tom and jerry for two years now. But somehow the prospect of hanging out with their boy led them both to Jack's bed. But to lay side by side. Wow. What's got into them. By the way see that cute wall paper - we love that wallpaper. But it's soon to be replaced with Red Sox paper. It came in on Friday.

Cats who live with packs of dogs have somewhat of an identity crisis. But it's just so unseemly to find this. It's bad enough when the dogs grab a drink but my cat........ and there's perfectly nice water in the bowl in the kitchen.

Pie Day

2008-10-01T20:41:00.002-05:00

I dare ya to try and watch the movie Waitress and not want to make pies. For over 20 years John was a chef. When we married I was a little bitty young thing. Well now. We'll you've seen the pictures. I used to say I was the poster child for my husband's culinary talents. Today John taught Jackson how to make pie crust. The key is to use ice cold water like with ice cubes in it cold. (not as I thought when I just let the tap go until it's at it's coldest- the ice isn't an adjective here it's a part of the direction!)

Anyway I caught this delightful little father son experience. And most definitely caught the result- fresh apple pies lathered in brown sugar and cinnamon and I don't know what else. Ok. I know but it's the chef secret.

Saturday: The campout

2008-09-29T21:12:00.003-05:00

Saturday Jack's friends Daniel and Brant camped out in the backyard. We have this great pop up camper with lots of ventilation for farty 12 year olds. The boys head off to our local Octoberfest with one of their parents. And while I am busy putting out fresh linens and blankets and washing the camper floor (whose idea was it to let Cooper and his muddy feet into the camper?) John was busy scarring the bee geezers out of the boys.

We had much fun devising things that would scare them. In fact we did such a good job the boys wouldn't sleep on the beds in the camper for the first hour of the night. They slept in a clump in the middle so that no one could get them on the sides. Then they started getting very uncomfortable and moved onto the beds. This milk jug and sheet perfectly moved in the breeze and someone caught just a glimpse of it. aaauuughh. Ok. Scaring 12 year olds is great fun. And listening to them laughed themselves silly was priceless.

Friday: Homecoming

2008-09-29T20:57:00.004-05:00

Remember homecoming? Ah the memories. Sticking crepe paper in chicken wire for nights on in while flirting with the current crush. Thinking that those college freshman who returned where so old and worldly. I have a very vivid memory of running up the hill from the stadium with my dear friend Rhonda in the pouring rain- oh yea and she was dressed like a bee. We were the mighty yellow jackets. Bee's. I think she was a bee from the German club float. I had ridden the key club float. Oh my. In the annals of silly memories that ranks right up there. One of those laughs that just seers themselves deep into your memory bank. To be so carefree and joyful. To laugh that hard in the torrential rain with a friend dressed like a big bee.

Anyway. It's Jackson's turn for the memories. Homecoming was Friday. His memories are gonna be different. I had forgotten how the football team rocked. Kings of the castle. Studs of the ball. etc. They came riding in on the big truck looking tough and unbeatable. In a few short years it will be Jackson's turn to ride in the big truck or gasp next to some pretty little thing gunning for home coming queen (almost everyone was escorted by a football player)

Another thing that I'm having trouble getting used to is this. Jackson and his friend Matt watched the parade from the other side of the street. He's growing up and finding his own way. That means not wanting to hang out with your mother at the homecoming parade. I mean she might do something embarrassing. He mentioned clapping excessively in particular. Or looking all gooby and emotional. (ok I sometimes do this) It's part of growing up. And I'm having some growing pains. How can I hold my little boys hands when his hands are bigger than mine. Ok. Sorry it's that gooby and emotional thing again.

Monday: Hockey Night in KC

2008-09-24T17:01:00.007-05:00

Hockey made a rare appearance in KC Monday night. And you gotta bet that the Myers were there in force. Even if it was a minor league pre-season game. (the Blue's sent only 5 players who made the roster last year and the Kings sent a split squad & kept their stars in LA) But hey it's hockey. The Sprint center was beautiful and will make a great home for a team of our own. Myers butts will occupy two season tickets if it ever happens. Provided that we aren't so old and crippled that we can't even walk to our seats.
No it wasn't an errant puck. Aren't red snow cones a blast?