Never A Dull Moment

Devilishly Good Time

     Halloween is our FAVORITE holiday around here and the devil in us truely comes out during this time!!  All in good fun of course!  Some spooktacular friends of ours had a bootiful party over the weekend... one for adults and one for children, both allowing us all to let our hair down (or tuck it into a wig) and let the devil horns come out!  Reb and I couldn't resist these devilish costumes and made the most of the evening living the part!  We danced/ or should I say ROCKED the night away with good friends and good food!!

     The boys had their turn to howl at the moon as well and got all spooked up as a Evil Jester and a Zombie!  How can you not have fun during Halloween!  Especially when there really is a full moon shining down all weekend!!

Makin' the Grade!

     Yesterday was a "Pay Off" day in the world of Motherhood for me!!  Reb and I attended the 1st Quarter awards assembly yesterday morning to witness Kaine receiving an award for being on Honorable Mention and an Accelerated Reader award.  This ceremony was short, sweet and to the point but a HUGE highlight in Kaine's education!  He made Honorable Mention last year all 4 quarters, but what made this one special was how hard he worked on his OWN accord because HE wanted it and not because Mom is just overbearing and a nag about his school work.  When I told him last night "great job; doesn't that feel good", his responce was "It's OK but I'm mad I didn't make the Honor Roll".  Yes that statement seems vain from just a 10 year old but to hear this from a student who HATED school 2 years ago and struggled to get by day in and day out.... THIS statement was AWESOME!!  He doesn't know how proud we are of how hard he's worked to get here!

     To top it off we went to his Parent Teacher Conference last night and heard wonderful stories from his teacher on his work and classroom behavior.  We also discovered he just missed Honor Roll by 2 measly points!!  It goes to show that even reality can bite you in the butt when you are 10!!  So here's to Kaine on a bright future and a great start in 5th grade!!

Everyday People DO make a difference!!

     I am now home and recooped from the Colorado School Board Association Fall Conference.  My husband thinks I'm crazy and just "asking for it" by getting involved in the school board!  Let me tell you, after going to this conference I have a whole new perspective and am so energized!  I now know WHY I have taken on this task!!  WOW what an motivational insight into school systems today and the role us EVERYDAY PEOPLE can take!! 

     This conference was basically a  day long educational session on Restructuring Standards in Colorado Education and a 1/2 day legislative Delegate Assembly voting and debating new resolutions to be proposed to legislation.  BLAH, BLAH, BLAH... WHAT you say!!  I know it sounds mundane and boring but MAN whre my eyes opened up! There was an amazing motivational speaker, Michael White, that gave an inspiring address to open the conference!  If you can get him to come to your school you won't regret it!!

    Maybe it is the political side in me coming out that enjoyed this conference so much!  I made some fantasic contacts and got to rub elbows with people I feel REALLY can make a difference in MY school system!  The amazing thing is that they are like me... just everyday people, living an everyday life in rural America caring for the future of thier children and WANTING to make a difference!!

What they said about...Being Busy

So yesterday while I was running on the treadmill, while watching my boys at Swim practice and catching up on reading my magazines I get in the mail, I "ran" across this little blurb and laughed because THIS was written for me!  Just thought I would share these quotes that Woman's Health magazine undeniably wrote to make me feel better about my crazy life:

"I don't think that work ever really destroyed anybody.  I think that the lack of work destroys them a hell of a lot more." ~ Katharine Hepburn, actress

"Stress is an ignorant state. It believes everything is an emergency." ~Natalie Goldber,writer

"I am convinced that there are times in everybody's experience when there is so much to be done, that the only way to do it is to sit down and do nothing."~ Fanny Fern, writer

"Over the years our bodies become walking autobiographies, telling friends and strangers alike of the minor and major stresses." ~Marilyn Ferguson, poet

MY FAVORITE:

"The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat." ~Lily Tomlin, comedian

HAVE A GREAT DAY!!

Pumpkin Picking

Fall is the funnest time of year!  This last weekend my sis and I took the kids pumpkin hunting at a new little patch we discovered.  It was without all the fancy fall carnival and rides but that's not what we were looking for!  I hate that so many simple things we enjoy have become so commercialized in this society!  So we ventured to Klien Farms near Berthoud and found the perfect patch of pumpkins!  Of course the boys want to find the biggest ones out there and scoured the field for the biggest and best!  The girls were so cute seeking NOT the biggest but the prettiest and most uniform to create their ideal Jack-O-lanterns!  I love watching these kiddos mature and grow... just like the pumpkins on the vine, they will soon be to big for us Mommas to mangage much longer!  So I revelled in the moment that I could still take my little men and the cousins to the pumpkin patch this brisk and rainy day!  I even was able to steal a few pics of them and had the farm owner take a group shot!  Enjoy the moment for they just won't last long!!

Empowering Women

     I just returned from a 4 day Hiatis in Denver where I worked at the Scrap It Expo.  This is "my thing"... I love photography & scrapbooking but I think this weekend it finally hit me WHY I love it so much!  These hobbies...interests...past times...passions us women seek out and put so much energy into EMPOWER us.  Not so much because of the getting memories down on paper and having that chapter recorded in history!  I met women of all ages, races and backgrounds and to see the excitment in thier voices over something as simple as paper was amazing.  These ladies have taken their otherwise mundane daily lives and recorded them in history... empowering themselves.  Feeling proud and elated for the simplistic joy that surrounds them.  I myself felt so energized from the whole experience!  I had the honor to work with 3 of the most amazing women I have ever known.  To watch these ladies share a passion and empower others to believe in themselves (even if it is something as simple as scrapping a memory)!!  This was an experience that reminds me of WHY I do this and WHY I love to share it.  It is the simple everyday things in my life that empower me to do more and be more!!  There are so many women out there that give me the strength I need and empower me... now I can see where I fit into the scheme of all this and WHY!  To empower other women in turn empowers myself!!

"HELL WEEK"

This is the week in our household known as HELL WEEK!  Not only  do our lives operate in the normal chaotic fashion of 4 AM to 9 PM...getting to work, getting to school, watching the Meyring kiddos, getting the errands upon errands done that keep my life spinning in a myriad of directions... THIS is the week that everything piles onto us... 

the boys generally have 4H Livestock Club meeting Sunday;     *Monday Reb has Fair Board,  *Tuesday I have Ladies Bowling League + School Board and the boys have 4H Council... I think the boys have swimming after school as well;    *Wednesday night is Couples Bowling League;  *Thursday is out of town day and this week it is to take the Steer to Market (Oh and the boys are swimming again that day after school)  *Friday Reb has surgery on his hand! 

Could we squeeze another task into the mix??  Sure... our family has volunteered to do the concessions for the 4H Exchange group at the Friday and Saturday Football games!  AND Just when we thought we were done and were going to have a bit of a break, Sunday we attend a Club Calf Sale in Laramie and the Livestock chore chaos will be put into drive for another season!

Somehow we manage to still eat supper together in the midst of this chaos and go to bed feeling thankful that we live a life that empowers us to do these things regardless the physical or mental cost!  It sounds nuts, but I don't think I would have it any other way at this point!  I think "Someday" I'll get caught up on the sleep... when I am 6 feet under and pushing daisies!!