Archive for March, 2008

“Beautiful Wisconsin” by Emma R. Meyer

Monday, March 17th, 2008

This story was written by Emma, and shared with us during her 2nd grade parent-teacher conference.  [Written letter for letter, spelling and grammar as well]

Beautiful Wisconsin

6 hours it takes.  Hurry!  We’re almost there! 

I see a sign to Wisconsin!  The air smells fresh.  The sun is beaming down on my family and I.  I see the North Woods.  I see the cool water splashing onto the shor.  Beautiful Wisconsin is around me! 

I’m still in my car, oh yes I am.  6 hours hasn’t gone by yet.  I’m bored the road is rocky.  I feel like a little speck in the big, long, wide, world. 

Just then the car stops.  “Are we there yet?” I ask?

“No” said my mom, we’re just stopping to get gas’!

I feel bored again.  It’s getting late.  My mom says, “Do you want to watch a movie?”  My sisters and I said, “yes.”  I got to pick first and I picked Matagasgar.  After the movie I fell asleep.

The next morning… we were there!  We were at beautiful Wisconsin!

Smiley Miley

Saturday, March 8th, 2008

See, didn’t I say Lauren was a cutie patootie pie?  Seriously, she is happy all the time.  She obviously takes after her Father.

Smiling Lauren

Leap year time capsule

Saturday, March 8th, 2008

When Scot and I were kids, we made a time capsule and put it inside the brick of our fireplace when the addition was being built. 

With our basement renovation, we are covering a wall that has the fireplace ash cleanout in it.  So we decided to have the girls put a time capsule together and put it in there.  When I was a kid, I was pretty sure that the items we put in included the most valuable stuff in our household.  I can’t say the same for the random items my girls decided would be important to share with future generations.  I sure hope the kids of the future enjoy that rubber ball Gracie left for them!

 The time capsule went in on February 29th.  Yep, it is the tin in Gracie’s hands.

The next day, Gracie was looking sad, so we asked her what was wrong.  She said, “I already miss my rubber ball.”

Time capsule

Emma is 8!

Saturday, March 8th, 2008

For her birthday, she invited friends to go to a place called Kids Kitchen.  They made pizza from scratch, and had a very nice time. 

Emma turns 8

Working from home

Saturday, March 8th, 2008

One of the nice parts of Brian’s new job, is that he is able to work from home sometimes.  The disadvantage, is that each time Jenny finds out Brian is working from home, she immediately leaves all the kids with him and goes to the spa.

Working at home

The Usual Suspects

Saturday, March 8th, 2008

We caught this gang as they were planning to rescue all of the fish from Shedd Aquarium.  It was clear that the leader was the one they called “Lucy.”  However, their plan was poorly designed, since all they had were ziploc sandwich bags on them.

The usual suspects

Christmas with the Meyer Families

Saturday, March 8th, 2008

On Christmas eve, we spend the day with the Meyer side of the family.  We could only fit 8 of the kids in this picture, but between the two families, there are actually 739 children. 

Clockwise from top left: Joseph, Abbey, Ethan, Claire, Lauren, Emma, Olivia, Gracie

Christmas Eve

What have I been doing with all my free time?

Saturday, March 8th, 2008

The actual reason I am able to write these posts today, is because for the first time since September 2007, I am taking a weekend day off of working on our basement.  Today, we are having a family birthday party for Emma and Olivia, and we decided to spend the day getting the house in some reasonable shape.

Well, while Jenny is doing just that, I decided I’ll sneak off and play on the computer.

As far as the basement goes, I hired a general contractor named Slowsky, and have sinced formed a home renovation company called “Slowsky and Sons.”  The quality of work is excellent.  However, as with all of Slowsky’s projects, it is taking much much longer than we estimated. 

Several months ago, I needed reinforcements, so I brought the girls in for some help.  Slowsky and I had just sawed and hackhammered though the foundation, to put in the bathroom plumbing.  The girls were actually a huge help, and we cleared out the rubble and stone in a very short period of time. 

And remember, safety first.  See how Brian is wearing workgloves to protect his hands from the sharp stone?

Girls at work in the basement

Girls at work in the basement 2

Lauren lifts her head!

Saturday, March 8th, 2008

Yes, if we actually posted this photo when we took it, in December, this would indeed be big news.  But by posting it in March, it just seems like Lauren is very delayed in her development.  She’s not.

As you will see in some other posts, she is a cutie patootie pie, and just smiles all the time.  I am sooooo glad I convinced Jenny that we should have her!

Lauren lifts her head

Yes… we are alive

Saturday, March 8th, 2008

So it has been a little while since we posted.  And I am sure the 10s of devoted readers we had out there have moved on to other, more regularly updated, blog sites.  

But, we are now back.  Since my last post, we have had three more children.  All girls of course.  That brings our total to 14.  Also, we have moved 6 times in the same time period, and each time, we had the help of our family and friends.  Jenny is expecting our 15 child, (it might be a boy!), and she is due next week.  We then plan to try again a few weeks after than.  Oh, and I have another job opportunity, so we might need to move in the next 10 days or so.  I’ll be calling everyone to keep next weekend open to help us out.