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

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

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

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

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

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.