Ho Ho Ho

So, you can never have enough Grandparents. This is the first Christmas we have been able to spend with the Merrills(as far as I can remember) as well as the usual crowd.
S. enjoyed Grandmas musical globe and toted it around till it was covered with playdoh and sticky finger prints.
T. never tires of the treats and especially loves to eat (and wear) chocolate everything.
N. impresses(?!) Grandpa with his indoor R/C helicopter. Watching mom untangle Z.'s hair from the blades was especially entertaining.
Z. turned her horse into a marionette of sorts, creative kids just need ribbon.

kissy kissy

Okay since I cant get the video version of this grossness to work you can view a photo instead. Its not as yucky since you cant see dog tongue all over her face. She is loving it, squealing and a giant smile. Wouldn't catch me with a dog tongue on my face!

Our family is now complete....ly crazy

What greater Joy at Christmas time than to add to your family.
We did just that thanks to a family that couldn't keep their "kids".
Thor and Izzy joined us last night.

Z. asked if she could stay up with them all night, maybe thinking they wouldnt be there in the morning. I reassured her that we would have them for like 10 more years. Then she wouldnt quit about the "Till i'm 17!! 17!! Wow!! No way!! That means N. will almost be 20 and T....."on and on . I don't think she got much sleep, again. The night before she had just met them and couldn't sleep thinking about bringing them home.

N. studies them. Telling me just how many black toenails they each have and how they treat their new toys. I doubt these sweet dogs have ever heard their names called so many times in 24 hours.

T. was the lucky one last night and got snuggly wet kisses while he was sleeping. Somehow Thor got in his room and onto his bed for the night. "Lucky!" was Z.'s response. I think it helped T.'s fears of them and now they are bonded. Tonight no more dogs in the beds though.
S. has fallen in love with Izzy, like the rest of us. She lays next to her or in her face and just watches her or pets her head. I thought it would take a little longer for her to get used to them.
What a wonderful thing to complete our family and it couldnt have come at a better time.

Where can you get blisters and think its fun?

We attended a holiday ice skating show with the kids that got them excited to try out the moves themselves. A few days later they got the chance to see just how hard those spins and jumps really can be.
N. is a speed demon who has to be a foot or two ahead of mom at all times, he also has perfected the" jump right up and continue skating like the huge wipe out never happened" move.

T. wanted to be pushed or pulled along although he got the hang of skating pretty quickly. He prefers the lobby area due to the videogames and the heating.

S. was content to sit in her stroller and have anyone push her along the ice, no stopping allowed though.

Z. is a natural but I think its because she is already so bruised up from sledding, school snow hill, and normal 6 year old clumsiness that she was trying her hardest at all times to avoid another bruise. She actually spent a good deal of her night trying to befriend a fellow skater. I think its the first time she has been unsuccessful at finding an immediate friend and that hurt even more than the uncomfortable rental skates.

In the end we had 2 blisters, a pinched hand and a bumped forehead not including all the bumps along the ice. What fun. Wish we could go every week.

Does anyone actually like Gingerbread?

The kids love the icing and all of the candies for decorating but i'm not convinced that gingerbread is a flavor of cookie that people actually enjoy.

N. has always been my reminder of traditions. Without him we would probably not be decorating much at all. He loves traditions, especially if they have to do with treats.

Z. was her meticulous self and made a gorgeous house wall with several windows and floral designs.

S. was handed a pre frosted slab and a handful of candy. She placed the candies just long enough to pick back off and eat while licking icing off her hands.

T. was worried about the mess of the icing but once he figured out how delicious it was we didn't hear another peep out of him.

D.'s wall was the most ornate. He is totally into flourishes and did a beautiful job with the jawbreakers although I think he was wanting something with less color. You just cant be choosy with a pre fab kit when it comes to candy color.

Maybe one of these years I will get motivated to make a homemade Gingerbread House but until then we are all happy with our little Christmas house. By the way it lasted a whole week with out much damage but as of yesterday you wouldn't even recognize it as a house at all. Yummy.

Sleddin' on the "Big Hill" aka "Old Main"

N. has begged us since he heard about it (thanks daredevil 4th graders) and the weather got cold. Old Main is awesome if it weren't for the ancient trees and even the lil saplings planted to replace the ones that have passed on (yes, trees are alive to me). You just don't want to get going 60mph down a sled hill backward and hit one of them. Pain, Death, stuff like that.


S. had a surprisingly fun time considering cold makes her cry,(yet she wont wear shoes and socks?!)except for the one time she gave her self a whitewash.


T. kept up right till the end when his legs just plain gave out. His spirit was willing...


Z. is the one who gave us the heart attacks and started stricter rules. I guess there is one other drawback to Old Main and that is the road the hill ends at. Not a nice parking lot or empty field but a busy thoroughfare. Z. wanted to see just how close she could get.

N. of course wanted to see if he could make it too. He differs from his sister in the sense that he thinks things all the way through and has a real gift for obedience. One holler to stay away from the road and he was bailing off like halfway down the hill, not anywhere near the cars. He's a good sport and i'm glad he begged us into going. New tradition starting, I can feel it.

Kiddos

Its a different life for boys I think. As a girl I just wouldn't be comfortable with tarantulas in my bathtub, but maybe that's just me. N. seems to think that the more creepy things the better. Ewww.

Z. surprised me this week by falling asleep with her"grandma wolf" under the Christmas tree. Kids are so sweet when they are asleep. Maybe because they cant whine or backtalk or pull attitude when they're sleeping.
T. ended up with pinkeye, again. How often does a kid need pinkeye? Anyways he must need it every month and this time around he added an injury to spice things up. I suppose beanbags could be used for sledding but its just not a good idea in the livingroom aimed directly at the chair. He learned and didn't even need stitches. The bandaid relieves the pain(?) but dad figured it shouldnt go right over the eyelashes and eyebrows in case it needed to be removed later in the E.R.

Grandma calls this one her "monkey bug" Its fitting. She is a hoot. She is feeling well enough to laugh again(its been too many months of ear pain) even if she follows Merrill tradition and gets hiccoughs afterward. Its worth it to tickle and tease her just not right after shes eaten. That can get messy.
(Sorry about the rotated pict. its too late and i'm too tired to try again)