Thanksgiving 2011-Part I

This week Ben and Becca were out of town so Merrick and I got to spend a whole week home together. It was a busy week with Thanksgiving and just catching up with all the things that fall through the cracks when I spend around 50 hours a week away from home. We did, however, manage to squeeze in some fun.

For me, one of the most enjoyable parts of the week was getting to spend some time with Brendon and Rachel's family. The kids were off school all week so they spent more time than usual over here and Merrick was able to enjoy lots of cousin time. They played puzzles and discovered all sorts of treasures in the playroom. It was also fun for me to spend some time with Rachel and my mom, Rachel, and I even "enjoyed" a guilty pleasure and went to see the new "Twilight" movie.



Prior to Thanksgiving, my mom, Merrick, and I were also able to spend a day at the Portland Children's Museum. I know I have posted about the children's museum in the past, but it is such a fun place I just have to recap our visit.

Merrick built a "light Lego" house with Nana


We played with clay


We played in Legoland


We played in the water



We played alligator dentist


And what trip to the children's museum would be complete without a trip to the grocery store?


It was a great week even before we got to Thanksgiving. Hopefully I will get around to posting about the rest of the week before too long. Check back soon.

PB&J

A few weeks ago I referenced the fact that Merrick likes to sing "It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time". I know that my weekly blog is late this week and things have been crazy getting ready for Thanksgiving so for now I will give you some pictures of our version of "Peanut Butter Jelly Time".

Quirky Turkey

One of my favorite things about being a mom is watching Merrick's personality develop. He is so funny and cracks me up everyday. That being said as of late he has developed a few quirks to his personality that have left us scratching our heads.

The first of these quirks is licking. Normally licking would totally gross me out, but he does not lick like a normal person would. Instead he licks you like a dog would lap up water. It catches me off guard every time and I cannot help but laugh.

The second thing is that he has decided that he needs to eat Frosted Mini Wheats for breakfast every morning. Even yesterday when we were running late for church and had to take something with us to eat in the car/at church, he insisted that he get his Mini Wheats in a bag to-go.

Merrick has also decided that many people in his life have assigned roles that they are obliged to perform. Papa is responsible for playing Angry Birds and watching Special Agent Oso. Nana is responsible for reading books, and Aunt Becca is responsible for "Sticker Time".

The last quirky habit that Merrick has developed lately is climbing into anything and everything. It started with a large pot that my mom has in the kitchen and moved on from there. Here are a couple of recent pictures (please don't call CPS)



I just love him and the new silly little things he does each day!

A Blog About Nothing

I started this blog about two years ago as a way to preserve memories and to keep out of state family up to date with the goings on in our life. Now, it is both a joy and a burden to keep it up, but my reasons for starting it are still valid so we just plug along.

In the wake of Halloween, however, this shaped up to be a uneventful week. I spent the week wrangling more children than I can count, Jeremy spent it studying, and Merrick spent it being his usual cute self (telling jokes and singing "Peanut Butter Jelly Time"). In the end, I don't really have much to say so I will just leave you with a picture of my two favorite boys.

Halloween 2011

I am sure you don't remember this, but last year I teased that I already had Merrick's Halloween costume for this year but that you would have to wait. Well, this Halloween is now over I guess I can let you in on the secret.

This year Merrick was a cowboy complete with the catch phrases "yee haw" and "Howdy Partner". Words cannot express how cute he looked and sounded (his "Howdy Partner" sounded oddly like Jackie Chan from "Shanghai Nights"). Since words are failing in this situation I will just show you.





On Halloween night all the cousins (minus Kai who we really missed) came to Nana and Papa's and we all hit the streets together. Quincy had the idea for their whole family to be glow men, but at the last minute decided he wanted to be Spiderman instead. Lauren was Paul Stanley from KISS, Julien was an angry bird, and Maude was Elvis.



Merrick was such a trooper, he kept up with his cousins all night and even wanted to keep going when everyone else was ready to go home. I will leave you with a few of my favorite moments from the night...

1) At our first house when the lady said Colvin could pick what he wanted, he responded with "I am allergic to dairy, corn, and eggs"

2) The lady who thought Merrick was so cute that he should have two full-sized candy bars

3) Lauren being the little mommy at every house, making sure the little ones took only what they were offered and always reminding Merrick to say his catch phrases

4) Quincy routinely asking if he could have two at every house