They've got a little Gump in them

3D

If you have a child in elementary school, you quite possibly know that the Hannah Montana movie was on this past weekend. It was kind of like a documentary of one of her concerts.

Nathan had been asking for weeks when it would be on. Saturday was finally the night. We found 3D glasses at Wal-Mart and the kids were stoked.

As I said yesterday, Nathan is in Pierre at his grandparents house. We met them on Sunday so that he could stay the week with them. Saturday night Justin had a security job that he worked. I let Nathan choose what he wanted for supper since he'd be gone for the week. He, of coarse, chose McDonald's.

We ate supper and got ready to watch the movie. About 4pm that day he started asking me almost every 20 minutes when the movie would start. That was TONS of fun. (Sarcasm, sarcasm, sarcasm.)

Finally - what he'd been waiting for.

Jack was in bed, but Peach was there. Of coarse, Peach was there.

When Natey was invited to go to his grandparents house, he jumped at the idea. He was super excited. Then came the next day when he totally fell apart. He cried and cried and cried because he wanted his dad to go with him. Over and over we explained that it would just be him and his cousin going. He wanted to go, but he didn't want to leave Justin....and Jack. (Um...what about the girls you live with, Son?)

He had a brief melt down the night before leaving which made me believe that it wouldn't work out. I didn't think he'd even get in their vehicle.

I was wrong. Not a tear was shed between either of us. Justin wasn't sure he wanted me to go with to drop him off because he was sure I'd fall apart. It went fine though. He didn't really want to give us hugs or kisses. We didn't really push the issue. Short hugs. Small kisses. He was being strong.

He called 3 or 4 times on Sunday to tell us various things. Yesterday he called Justin and Claire called him. Then he called again at 10:30 to say goodnight. He's having a good time. He's almost too busy to talk.

It's only Tuesday and I miss him to pieces. I think I just might start to count sleeps for his return. ;)

My new friend + some funnies

Look at it. Gaze at it. I can feel myself tearing up. Ok, so that's not true.

Friday morning I had an extra hour at work, so I went next door to see what kind of phone I could get. My phone had seen better days. I went out for supper the other night and the girls, Amber and Tracy, made fun of my phone. I was able to get a new phone as of November, but just hadn't done it yet. Friday was my day.

I'd been wanting a BlackBerry, but didn't know much about them. Something about the Internet on your phone makes me warm and fuzzy inside.

So, this is the phone I came home with. Excitement doesn't quite explain my feelings. Elation? Maybe. I super duper love it. Maybe I should name it. SNAP! MAYBE WE SHOULD NAME IT!!!!!

One of Justin's co-workers has had this phone for a while. He came over and gave me my own private lesson on the how to's. Seriously, this phone probably brushes my teeth - I just haven't found out how yet. There isn't much I can't do on this bad boy. Did I mention that I love it? Not yet? Well let me make it clear..... I LOVE IT!!!

Moving on...

My kids said some funny things this weekend that I simply must share. Saturday night I was at the computer when Claire came over to me. Something fell off the floor and she said "Is that mine?" I was in the middle of reading something and didn't answer her as soon as she thought I should so she raised her voice and said "DUDE!" I busted out laughing. Imagine this face saying Dude to you.

Yeah. It was all kinds of funny.

Nathan's spending the week with Justin's parents out in Pierre. I'll talk more about that tomorrow. Yesterday we were watching a Dateline that I'd taped a while back about the top 10 most unforgettable 911 calls. This little girl was talking about being kidnapped and being held hostage. Nathan said "What does hostage mean?" I told him it was when a stealer (what he calls them) takes a child and won't give them back, the child becomes their hostage. He said "Oh. I know an animal like that. A Hostrich." I cried because I was laughing so hard. I told Tracy and my sister, Shannon, that story yesterday and did it again. FU-NNY!

And last but not least, we were having lunch with Justin's parents and Nathan's cousin, Spencer. Nathan said "Spencer! My mom has a choke cherry." I looked at Natey very confused and said "What?" He said "What's your phones name?" in a whisper. HA! I said "A BlackBerry". Ok, so maybe I talked about my phone all weekend long. Get over it. It's almost my birthday and, once again, I helped Justin out with a gift.

Oh, Teresa, you asked what Justin's response was to my picture on his background. Well, he opened it up, talked to God, rolled his eyes, and laughed while telling me I was retarded. I told him it was Christmas in July. :o)

At least I think I'm funny

I've said it before and I'll say it again; I crack myself up much more than I crack anyone else up.

Last night I was on the computer and Justin wanted to jump on to check his e-mail. He's always screwing with my pictures on my cell phone, so I thought to myself, 'Self - I think Justin would [sarcasm] LOVE [/sarcasm] it if you changed his desktop background picture for him'. And just like that - I agreed with self. =o)

Usually he likes nature pictures on his background. I thought he needed a change.

So, I changed it for him. Here it is.

That's right. I put a big fat picture of myself on there. My face filled the whole screen. He's quite lucky, really. It could have been Keith Urban's face that filled the screen.

I just showed Nathan and he said "My dad is going to be mad at you!"

(giggle) You're welcome, sweetie!

Because I think you should know.....

THIS is why!

ANY QUESTIONS?

Fun weekend

We had a fun weekend. On Saturday after I got off work, we headed over to Tracy's house to grill out. Auntie Chell was home and it was finally our time to get to be with her.

On Wednesday, she took Nathan and Dawson to Sioux Falls to hang out. They had a really fun time. I'd seen Chell here and there, but we hadn't really gotten to hang out. Saturday was the day for our families to get together.

I was a bit worried because earlier in the day it rained - hard! Thankfully, Mr. Sun (as Claire calls it) came out and finished our day off right.

Lets get to some photos - shall we?

Here are Jack and I playing around before going to Tracy's for the night.

Once we got to Tracy's, Natey talked Dawson into swimming with him. They run from the end of the driveway to get MAD AIR only to do a belly flop. OUCH!

Claire, Caymen and Jack were playing with the riding toys.Claire and Caymen gave each other rides on the Trike. Jack got in on the fun too. Claire was going VERY fast and I was scared she was going to dump him off. Thankfully, she didn't.
We even had our own bartender at the party.
Shut up! I know! I know taking a picture of your baby with a beer can is ghetto. I know! (...but it's also a little funny...)

Before we made S'mores, Tracy gave us a show on Dizzy. I gave her an 8 1/2 and she thought she deserved more for sticking the landing. I couldn't help her out because the scooter fell. Better luck next time Trac. =o)
And last, but not least, Tracy, Chell and I looking as thin as ever in a side pose. Well Done!! (Sorry folks, it's an inside joke.)

The farm

Last week one of the ladies that I work with needed a ride home. She lives 20+ miles from Madison on a farm. She asked if I would give her a ride and, of coarse, I said yes.

I told her it would be fun because we could see her animals and the kids would enjoy it. She said "OH! We have 2 new baby lambs...but I'm not sure if they're still alive. Don't you think someone would have told me if they were dead?" To even appreciate that statement you would have to know this lady.

Some of you local people will know who this woman is. She's one of the nicest people I know. She and I instantly clicked. Thankfully Linda knows her and told me a bit of her background before I started working at the salon. Seven years ago this woman's husband was killed in a farming accident. Someone accidentally ran him over. This was her 2nd marriage, and his family, at his death, treated her like an outsider.

A year later, one of her children, her oldest daughter, was killed in a car accident. Can you even believe that? That's too much for one person. She said she went off the deep end - she drank too much and decided to raise sheep. Thankfully, family and friends cared for her other 4 children, because she was just mentally unable. Anyway, she's just a sweet and kind person and always fun to be around.

She was going to work until at least 5:30 on Friday, so I went and got the kids from Tracy's and told them about our trip to the farm. The kids were excited. They wanted to know what kind of animals would be at the 'barn'. Then, apparently, I made the mistake of saying 'we're going to run through McDonald's, go get our friend, and go to her house'. Natey freaked out and got tears in his eyes. "YOU SAID WE COULD GO TO HER FARM!!!" he said. Wow! Step back, Cowboy. "We are going to her farm" I said. I didn't realize that I'd said house when I SHOULD have said farm. My mistake. (You better believe I'm rolling my eyes.)

We had a fun time and I realized that my children are indeed city folk. They were scared of the dogs. They were scared of the sheep. They were scared of the calf. Ok, so the calf has a tongue a mile long and tried to lick them because he thought they were going to bottle feed him. Still, get over it city children. He's in a pen! They were scared of the donkey. But! They weren't scared of the chicks. Yeah, they weren't scared of those freaky little chicks that ran around the coop like they had a destination in mind. They freaked me the heck out.

Here are some pictures of the farm. By the way, Claire was very disappointed that they didn't have a pig. I'm sure she would have been terrified of it, but nonetheless she let my friend know of her disappointment. Oh right! There were horses too, but we didn't get out of the van to see them. Enjoy the farm!

A compliment in a 'not really' kind of way

Update: Claire just got up and is very cranky. She looked at me and said

"Your hair is making me choke"

Nice!

Sleepy girls

More pictures....

Ok, here are the last of the pictures. This first one is of me and my step-mother, Cora.Here are a couple pictures of Jack eating some birthday cake. It was CRACKING me up. He was eating like a little bird or something. Here he is getting ready to open up.O*P*E*N! Ohmygosh that cracks me up!

Here are the kids playing on the swing set. The kids all got along so well. It was such a fun time.
Here are Dad and Cora wit my kids....and their dog.
Doing some fireworks.We drove out to the lake to watch the fireworks this year. Izzie fell asleep on the ride, so she's MIA for the pictures.
I have no idea what Evie is doing in this picture, but it cracked me up. Looks like something her mother would do. =)
Ok, so tomorrow I have some video of Evie and Izzie falling asleep at the table that made us all laugh. Then I think my 4th of July celebration will be over.

The pictures!

Here's what Jack looked like prior to my Dad and Cora's (step-mother) visit.Then Peach helped him with a toy and he became this....It was horrible. Do you see that popper in the background? Well, Peach was going to 'help' him push it. She went faster than he did and, well, you see the results. Here is Claire on her Dora bike.I asked Natey to let me take his picture and here was his pose.Thanks dude!
Justin was trying to get the lawn mowed before everyone got here. He didn't quite make it, but the kids sure enjoyed following him as he mowed. I used to do this when I was a kid too.

I had every intention of getting my Dad and Cora greeting the kids either on video or in a picture, but I was too overwhelmed and missed it.
Cora's birthday is the 4th and Dad's is the 5th. A birthday isn't a birthday without cake!

Check out this awesome (if I do say so myself) picture I took of the flags at the Courthouse. I'm not sure why, but every time they're there, I have to go look at them.Here are some random pictures. Lets start with Izzie and Claire. Izzie is my sisters youngest daughter. She's 35 days younger than Claire.That's Evie on the floor with Nathan. Unfortunately, she was 'unrested' by Nathan. No matter how many times you tell Nathan's it's arrested, he still says unrested. Unrested it is. Sorry Ev. =o)Here are a couple pictures of Izzie. She has the most beautiful eyes.We went to the parade in Ramona this year. We've never done that before. It's a nice little parade. It was H*O*T and we weren't in any kind of shade. We didn't even think to bring a cooler. Next time we sure will. He had fun nonetheless.There were some beautiful horses in the parade.This little clown was precious. She had little squeaky things on the bottom of her shoes. Precious! (She scared the crap out of my brother-in-law...which cracked me up.)

This is how you know that the parade is over. =o)Here are the Meyer kids in their 4th of July outfits. Believe me when I say that this picture was the best out of about 7.As if it's not hard enough to get 3 kids in a picture, we kicked it up a notch and added Evie and Izzie.Tomorrow, believe it or not, more pictures.

You have to understand it

In order for you to appreciate the visit from my dad, you have to understand our relationship. Believe me when I say that I wish the word effortless was involved, but it's not.

My parents divorced when I was almost 9. My dad remarried quickly. In August, my dad will celebrate his 25th anniversary to my step-mother.

I was affected deeply by my parents divorce. It's made me a very, very insecure person. Insecure not only in relationships, but insecure in almost everything I do.

I'm not going to get into my childhood or teenage years, but if I had a choice to relive them, I wouldn't. Most days I don't even want to think about them, much less relive them.

Don't get me wrong, there were good times. But there were also some very bad, confusing times as well.

All I've ever wanted from my dad is acceptance. I never felt like I got it until May 10, 2002. That was the day of Nathan's birth. I was stunned beyond belief when my dad made the trip from Texas to welcome his first biological grandchild into the world. My dad was the first person to hold Natey when I came out of surgery.

It was the first time I felt like he was really proud of me.

Maybe dad was happy with me prior to that date, but that day was the first day I felt it. I really felt it.

My dad and I went 5 years without talking to each other. From 1993 until 1998. I had a ton of built up anger towards him. I had questions and I wanted answers.

Our feud started after I was in a car accident. I was on my way to take my state board test to be licensed in Cosmetology. I on my way to Pierre with 2 of my girl friends and one of the girls mom's. Outside of Redfield, we got into a head on collision. We all took a ride in the ambulance and spent a few hours in the hospital. I hurt my back pretty bad and was put on pain medication.

I called my mom to tell her about the accident, and, of coarse, she called my dad. He said some things to her that I thought were unkind and they made me angry. The next day, my dad called to see how I was doing. As I was telling him the story, I could tell that he'd gotten side tracked and was no longer listening to me. I was telling him how a semi truck came past our accident scene about 5 minutes after we wrecked. Instead of saying to my dad 'I'm sure glad that semi didn't hit us' I said "It's too bad that semi didn't hit us, right?" My dad said "it sure is".

Silence.

I was pissed. This had happened one too many times. I was done with my dad not listening to me. I said good-bye to him and that was that. A month went by. I didn't call him. He didn't call me. Another month went by. Nothing.

It became a stand off. I wasn't going to call him - and he wasn't going to call me.

My sister stayed in contact with him. She usually kept him up to date on what was going on in my life - much to my dismay.

Months of silence turned into a year.

A year turned into five.

It was painful. Very painful.

I would speak to his family from time to time and they would encourage me to 'patch things up with my dad'. 'You're kidding, right?' were always my thoughts. HE'S my dad. HE'S the adult.

Finally, in 1997, I met a man who would change my life forever. This man reminded me of my dad. He reminded me of all the good qualities that my dad had. His humor was just like my dads.

He could see my heavy heart. He knew that I wanted nothing more than for my dad to pick up that phone and to call to say he was sorry. He knew. He got it.

After another birthday came and went in silence, he said 'maybe you could just write him a letter and not send it'. I'd done it before. I'd done it a couple of times before, actually.

This time, I wrote the last address I knew of my dad, put a stamp on the envelope, and sent it. I did it - at Justin's request.

I have Justin to thank for reuniting me with my dad.

I mailed the hate filled letter to my dad. I didn't get the fight that I thought I wanted back. All I got back was a letter saying that he wasn't going to talk about the past - because it was in the past. Neither of us could change it, so why dwell on it?

Why dwell on it? By that time I'd been living it for 24 years.

Sometime after I got his letter back, I decided to be what I thought was the bigger person, and called him on the phone. When he answered, I didn't recognize his voice. I asked the man on the other phone for my dad and he said "speaking".

I cried.

He didn't know who I was either.

I told him who I was.

Needless to say, the conversation was awkward. I couldn't tell you what we talked about. It didn't matter. It was only 'the next step'. Something I do remember is at the end of the conversation, my dad said "Ker, don't go so long next time without calling me". I asked him to do the same.

Justin got home from work that night and I told him what I'd done. He wouldn't accept any credit that he deserved.

In the 5 years of silence, my dad missed a lot of my life. I missed a lot of his. I wondered who would walk me down the aisle at my wedding. I wondered if I would forgive myself if something happened to him while proving my point. Would he care if something happened to me? I wasn't sure.

On May 27, 2000, my dad walked me down the aisle at my wedding. Not only was I marrying a man that I love, I was being given to him by someone I adored.

Seeing my dad always gives me crazy feelings. Feelings I described yesterday. It usually causes me a great deal of anxiety as well. People say that absence makes the heart grown fonder. Well, I don't always think that's so.

I'm grateful to have had Justin in my life to convince me to write that letter. I'm also grateful to have my dad. He's not perfect - that's for sure. But he seems to appreciate me and the woman I've become.

Tomorrow - pictures as promised.

It was. . . .beautiful

For the first time in a very long, long time, Keith Urban isn't pictured on my desktop background. Let me show you what is:
Only one guess who that is. Of coarse - it's my dad. He and my step-mom arrived about 8:30 on Thursday night. Nathan couldn't stand waiting for him.

Nathan sat by the door and said "I think this is him!" - then seconds later "maybe not" as the vehicle drove past. Finally when my Dad and Cora arrived, tears came to my eyes as Dad parked on the wrong side of the street so that he could rush out of his pick up to greet his grandchildren.

The kids ran to him as if they'd known them all their lives. My dad did the same - as did my step-mom.

Earlier in the week, as I discussed over and over with my clients what I'd be doing for the 4th, people would say 'how do you feel about not seeing your dad for 5 years?'. It was a really good question. I felt so many emotions wrapped into one; happy, excited, nervous and angry.

I was SO happy that he was finally going to meet Claire and Jack.
I was SO excited that he would be reunited with Nathan, Justin and myself.
I was SO nervous because I wasn't sure how everything would go.
I was a little angry that it had been 5 years since I'd seen him last. As a result, he'd never met Claire or Jack.

The anger quickly melted away when I saw the greetings of two people who'd never met - and the obvious love oozing all over the place.

About 45 minutes later, my sister and her family arrived.

Her family was greeted in the same manner. That too brought tears to my eyes.

We picked up where we left off, all of us, and continued on like we'd seen each other last week.

We laughed. A LOT!

Dad told stories about us when we were little. It seems to be one of his favorite things to do.

I have a ton of pictures to show you. Tune in tomorrow for more.

For now, I need to take in all the love that I felt. It was - beautiful.

The day has come

He's coming.

TODAY!

My Dad

is coming

TODAY!!!!!!!

Experiencing it Kerrie Meyer style

You know, I have a pretty great life. I have a family who loves me and friends who are awesome - well - most of them. Anyway, I'm not sure when or how my luck turned into Murphy's Law - but it has. It's the craziest damn thing ever.

I don't have to go over the birth and lives of Claire and Jack to remind you when I think it really started. I'm just wondering when it will all even out. I mean, I realize that my life could be worse. You don't need to tell me that. I really, seriously know this. I'm just saying - I'm a little bit done with waiting for the next thing to happen.

Let me explain.

Ok, so last Monday night, shortly before I went to bed, my throat felt as though something was trying to pierce it. It got really sore. For the past couple of weeks I've had this strange thing that I thought was maybe allergies, but that had all but cleared up.

I'm getting a little ahead of myself. The weekend that Tracy got sick, I was supposed to go to Aberdeen for my nephew's 1st birthday. The night before (Thursday night), Jack started coughing like a seal. I saw Tracy at the t-ball game and she said the just got back from the doctor and had strep. She was only there to disperse her daycare and to figure things out with Grandma Sandy.

I asked Justin to call the doctor to get Jack in because something wasn't right with him. It turns out he had croup. I don't need to tell all of you how contagious that is. So, Justin took Nathan and Claire to Aberdeen on Saturday for Zachary's party while I stayed home with Jack.

Jack responded very well to the medication and was better by Sunday night. The next week was fine. Then last Monday is when my throat started to hurt.

I got up on Tuesday and expected my throat to be fine. I really did. Go ahead - laugh. Really. It's ok. I'd gotten up at either 3 or 4 that morning to take some Tylenol because I was in such pain. By the time I got to work I'd started getting another really bad headache. It wasn't long before my body started to ache. I through I had the flu. I've never had my body hurt so bad when I had strep.

Finally, I marked myself off of my book. One of the ladies called my clients while I finished the ones that I was doing (sisters - highlights). I was done with work at 12:45 and SERIOUSLY thought I needed to go to the ER. I was in such pain. I called the clinic and I could be seen at 2:30.

I went home and laid down. I was freezing cold. When I went to sleep I had a temp of 99. I woke up and it was 100 (underarm). I got to the clinic and was freezing in the waiting room. I waited and waited and waited.

Finally I got called back. My headache was now a migraine and it was KILLING me. The nurse was asking me her nursey questions and took my temp. She said "I knew you had a temp because your heart is racing". Then she took my blood pressure and I started bawling. It hurt my body so much. My body was in such pain I couldn't understand what she was saying anymore. She wanted me to take my shirt off to my neck, wrap a gown around me and just leave my shirt on my neck to try to stay warm.

NO IDEA. I didn't have a clue what she was talking about.

I laid down and cried and cried. The doctor came in and said "Who gave you this?" Who gave me what? What the hell are you talking about? was my thought. She said that Jack probably got strep from Tracy and then gave it to me. He didn't show signs of strep because the medicine for croup killed it.

She told me about the medication she was going to give me and I COULD NOT! follow her. I was bawling and bawling. I said 'I have no idea what your telling me. I just can't understand you.' I'd met my pain level - something that I don't think I've ever done before. It was beyond horrible.

Ok, so you know the rest of the story. She gave me 2000 mg's of an antibiotic and I got better quick.

This past weekend we were supposed to go to Aberdeen as a family for a get together with some of Justin's high school friends. On Wed. Tracy called me to see how I was doing. I asked how the kids were and she said "I think Claire might have impetigo." I had no idea what that was and didn't really think much of it. Claire had a couple little bumps under her runny nose - and I just thought it was irritation.

Then on Thursday I saw Trac at the last day of football practice. I asked her how the kids were doing and she said "Ker, I really think Claire has impetigo." I still hadn't done any research on it yet. Again I didn't think much about it - until I picked her up on Thursday. The 'rash' has spread to her chin and they are little blisters. I told Justin at supper that I was going to try to get Claire seen first thing on Friday.

He took her to the doctor at 11:20 that morning. He called me later to tell me that she couldn't go to daycare until Monday and that she was highly contagious. She had impetigo - which is Strep on your face. So, I stayed home this weekend with Claire and Jack while Justin and Nathan went to Aberdeen.

I know. I've got MAD luck!

So here is a picture of Claire posing to show you her 'owie face'.

So twice a day we've been putting cream on her 'owie face'. Well, Saturday was pretty crappy, so I decided to clean out Nathan's closet. I got it all done and Claire said she wanted to hang from his closet rod - thing. I told her no because it wouldn't hold her and she'd fall and get hurt. I turned around to pick something up and she was flat on her back, screaming, with the rod on top of her. FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! I JUST told her not to do that!

It was time for lunch, so I brought the kids down to the dinning room. Clarie was goofing off and fell off the dinning room chair and landed right on her face. Seriously! I couldn't even make this shit up.

Notice the bump on her right eye? Yeah, well now it's kinda black.

Deep breath in. Deep breath out. Deep breath in. Deep breath out.

Sometimes - you just have to Experience it to - well - even understand it.