Go Cougars!

Brainwashing your children is an appropriate outlet for pride for your alma mater, right?

Thanks for the idea, Elise. I love them! Gabe may not appreciate them fully yet, but I feel a sense of pride in having made them.

Really? She plays with friends?

Occasionally it does happen! Normally Naomi doesn't really play WITH friends, but here they had an all-out picnic!

Sabino Canyon

I've taken the kids to Sabino Canyon a couple times recently. We love it! We do some hills while they are in the stroller, find a picnic area for lunching, and then Naomi gets to splash in the (cold, cold) water. Fun for all! Last week we went with friends and got a few pictures.

It was in November, but they are sporting their Halloween shirts from Grandma & Grandpa Merrell, which came in super handy since they don't have many cold weather clothes.

Star Wars Halloween

(Check out Naomi's eyes)

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the pumpkin patch with Richie and Angie and Miley. Had a great time, saw some animals, got some pumpkins. Aside from the long, windy, bumpy road there, it was great.



Naomi got to feed and hug a sheep.
Inspect a goat.
Climb hay bales.
Pick a pumkin.
And ride in a wagon.

Gabe's antics

Gabe: Hey, Mom! How's it goin'?
Mommy: Sweetie, will you do your newest trick?
G: Hmmmm...(munches on bottom lip while he thinks)








G: Nope, I'm going to play with this ball instead.
M: Please??? (Wheedling)














G: Okay, here goes! I'll even look at the camera if I can play with toys afterward.
M: It's a deal. Wow, look at you! Good job, Gabriel!
(If you can't tell, he's using only his feet and hands and has some serious clearance under his tummy.)

Matt the Handyman (just like Bob the Builder!)

On Saturday, Matt pulled out the work gloves and put in new kitchen countertops. We had gotten approval from our landlords, and I was SO EXCITED! The old countertops were beyond ghetto...I probably won't believe if you say yours are worse than those ones. Matt started by ripping out the old ones. Wow, it looked like a disaster area!

Unfortunately, the stock countertops that are supposed to fit everything didn't fit...most things about our house are uneven or installed oddly (like the bedroom fan which has no inside switch, so it has to be turned on and off from the breaker outside), so it shouldn't have been a surprise. That meant a lot of extra work for Matt as he custom fit the counters. He did a fantastic job!

I LOVE my new counters! I can't count how many times since Saturday I have walked into the kitchen just to admire them. Even more exciting is the fact that I can put food on the counters without paint flaking off and attaching itself to our food! (Yeah, I told you they were ghetto before!)

Love those toes!

Julie, I hope this post doesn't drive you away from our blog forevermore!

Quite possibly my favorite part of a baby's body is the foot, or more specifically, those darling toes! They are teeny tiny and perfect. Even when they get bigger, they're fun. I love cleaning between Gabe's toes! (How does he get dirt there, by the way? Perhaps when I think he's napping, he has secretly hopped out of bed and is running around outside.)

Who needs Disneyland...

...when you have laundry baskets? Our neighbors are heading to Disneyland for some Halloween fun, and I was wondering what age is a great age for taking kids to a place like that. For now, Naomi is thrilled with a carousel. And Gabe...well, Gabe just likes riding around in a laundry basket!

We sold our car!

We sold our Ford today. I've never been a huge Ford fan, but it was really a good car for us! I am not an emotional person, so I was surprised to feel a surge of emotion to see someone else drive it away. We've sure had some great memories in that car (both Naomi and Gabe got their first car ride in it!) and in places that car has taken us. Of course, we have the bad memories too (paying to fix something expensive RIGHT after we bought it, having two screaming kids in it, etc.)!!

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, we are thrilled it's gone and we can pay a chunk off our new car loan! Matt's just excited to be able to park his car in the carport again.

Pumpkin fun!

October is pumpkin-carving time! We had a fun evening carving pumpkins with Angie, Richie & Mylie. Thanks, guys! Matt's pumpkin was really cool (should have done a close-up; it's a haunted house with a tree by it). I went with basic triangles - can't mess those up, right?

Naomi had her own pumpkin-decorating event with friends, using stickers, paint, glue, and other random materials to create her masterpiece. She was happy with the outcome...and I am happy with whatever keeps her entertained!!

Powdered sugar addiction

Naomi has a powdered sugar addiction. She discovered the canister with powdered sugar and has learned how to work the latch on it. One morning we were scrambling eggs (or I thought "we were", but apparently "I was") and turned to see her chowing powdered sugar...for breakfast no less!

The first picture shows Naomi at the end of a piano lesson. While I was teaching, Naomi escaped the babysitter and delved into the powdered sugar. The second picture shows Naomi immediately after she informed me that yes, she was aware that we only use powdered sugar for cooking. Then she stuck her hand in the container again and pulled out another heap of powder to shove into her mouth.

Hangin' with Gabe

Here Gabe is displaying his sitting skills. He's occasionally a tad wobbly so I like to have the pillows around him. And of course the picture wouldn't be complete without the drool on his chin. We don't go for picture-perfect here...we're all about how it really is!

Flower lover

Naomi's job is to help put the silverware away. The other day, she said, "Sure I'll help!" Then she proceeded to stand on her bench and take every piece of silverware OUT of the drawer and put it in the dishwasher silverware container. I wasn't watching her, so I turned around and saw this end result, which made me chuckle.

Merrell children

Moments in Utah

We had a great time while we at the Jones house in Utah! Here are pictures from a few fun moments:

Driving to Utah

We went to Utah for Labor Day. It was a nightmare! Naomi apparently has a touch of my extreme motion sickness, and she threw up more times than we could count. As yucky as it was for us, I wanted to cry for her. How do you explain to a 2 year old that she has to stay in her carseat for LOTS more hours of driving?

The 10 hour drive stretched into many more hours...and we finally gave up and spent the night in a Kanab hotel. Here we are the next morning, checking out the wagons outside our room before heading on to Monroe.

Matt saved the day here. He sat in the back of the car for 99.8% percent of the trip. He dealt with the screaming infant who spit out his pacifier over and over. He comforted Naomi, got soaked over and over by her vomit, and sang songs to her. We might have survived the trip without him but I highly doubt it. THANK YOU!!!

I must admit I always thought my parents had some intelligence issues. They knew how carsick I get (apparently one time on a 13 hour drive, the only time I stopped throwing up was when the car was stopped), yet they still stuck me in the car every year and hauled me off to Iowa, California, or some other destination which was states away. I now sympathize with them. There is room for debate: is it worse to throw up for 13 hours or to have someone throwing up on you for 13 hours?

Toddler Olympics

I am an assistant organizer for a moms group here in Tucson, and we have all kinds of fun! We have over 150 members, so the big events are pretty crazy. Last week, in honor of the 2008 Summer Olympic games, we put on our own Toddler Olympics!

I was in charge of the obstacle course. It was staged on a splash pad, and the kids hurdled pool noodles, dashed through tunnels of spraying water, and weaved around buckets. (The younger tots opted to wave the pool noodles around instead of jumping over them. That just meant the kids behind them had a different obstacle: getting through without being smacked with a pool noodle!) Above is a picture of Naomi and I leading off the obstacle course event.

Other events included races (airplane, backwards, hopping, etc.) and a ball toss. When the kids needed some down time, they painted hats (see Naomi below). And once they were all done with the events, they received a medal and an Otter Pop (see Taylor below).

The cunning of a 2.5 year old

Yesterday Naomi trotted into our bedroom and said "Daddy wants to put on a movie for me!". Thinking Matt had a specific reason for wanting to do that, I said, "Okay!" Then Matt came into the room laughing and told me the whole story.

Earlier in the living room, Naomi had said, "Daddy, can I watch a movie?"

Matt said, "Let's go ask Mommy."

Apparently my 2.5 year old already knows how to manipulate language well enough to get the answers she wants. I knew I should have taken that debate course in college...

Naomi's bench

Grandpa Jones made this bench for Naomi, and she hauls it all over the house. She also uses it to reach things which are best not reached!

Winnie the Pooh

We attended storytime with Winnie the Pooh at the University of Arizona bookstore early in August. Naomi colored pictures of Pooh & Friends characters, and she held hands and danced with Pooh Bear; unfortunately I didn't get pictures of the dancing!

Sibling love

Impromptu hand-holding is always fun to witness!

Naomi's artwork

We haven't posted in awhile. What to tell you...how about Naomi's latest art projects?

Crayon on fabric (cleanup pictured)...and crayon on whatever material is used for oven doors (not pictured). As she would say, "Naughty naughty!".