Ever tried to jump off your bed?

Sometimes you fall backwards, occasionally you overshoot and end up with your head in the frog's lap, and when it all works out, your face shows the glee and your squeals make Mommy look past the fact that you're absolutely not supposed to be jumping off your bed.

Naomi turnin' three...wowee!

The third birthday has come and gone, and Naomi officially loves birthday celebrations.

We had a Nemo/fish theme. Props to Matt on the cake...I had originally planned to go all-out on the cake and then got realistic. Some of Naomi's friends came over for fun with a bubble machine, fishing for prizes, food and lots of play.


















Tragically, we only got THREE pictures on the day itself. We did get some video footage, but I am disappointed in our lack of parental skills. RULE #1: take a vast number of pictures at every opportunity. Whoops!

Mom and Dad, the 3rd picture is for you. This is your gift to Naomi. She has to use the appropriate key to open each door (they are color-coded). Even Gabe loves the toy!

Pump It Up - Caden's party!

We recently went to Caden's birthday party at Pump It Up. It was nice to see the Eldredge's...it's been awhile! And Naomi loved it, of course. She spent ridiculous amounts of time going through the obstacle course, and my presence was required. I always get a workout at PIU!

In case you can't spot Naomi in the picture, she's the one with the fingers in her mouth pulling a wacky face.

Grandma and Grandpa Jones!

Grandma and Grandpa Jones showed up, and Naomi barely let Grandpa out of her sight after that. She is definitely a Grandpa's girl! Naomi was thrilled to have someone to always walk with her outside, read countless books with her, and play lots of games! We also put Dad right to work fixing the outdoor slide. Thanks, Dad!

We want them to come back! Naomi informs me occasionally that we need to go to Utah to see Grandma and Grandpa.

Jones's visit the International Wildlife Museum

My parents came to Tucson in January, and we were thrilled to have them here! Our first outing was to the International Wildlife Museum, always a fun place for kids and adults. The highlight of this visit was testing our knowledge of animal scat. We could barely tear Naomi away from that exhibit!

Squeaky chairs and leaves

A couple weeks ago, I discovered that the kitchen chair I was sitting in made a squeaking sound when I shifted my weight. Here's the conversation that ensued:

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Val: Naomi, listen to this squeak!

Naomi: Wow! (She moves around in her chair.) My chair doesn't make that sound.

Val: We'll have to get Daddy to fix the chair.

Naomi: Yes, Daddy will fix my chair so it makes a squeak!

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It's quite literally amazing to watch this little person who is filled with joy by picking up leaves, having a balloon, hearing a squeaky chair. Perhaps I should simplify my requirements for happiness!

Little Critter comes to Tucson!

We love reading books, and Little Critter is a character Naomi loves. And, lucky for us, Little Critter recently made an appearance at the UofA bookstore!

Waiting in line to have one-on-one time with Little Critter!

Giving high fives:

Naomi just can't take her eyes off Little Critter! Gabe, on the other hand, wonders why on earth we are standing next to this large furry blue thing.

Tuesday

Tuesday was a bit odd. Here are the highlights:

• In the morning while driving the van, I ran over a headphones jack. It stuck in the tire.
• When attempting to pull it out to see if it did any damage, it broke.
• When attempting to change the tire, I discovered I had no tire iron/lugnut wrench
• After borrowing one from someone in the parking lot and jacking the van up, I discovered I did not have the tools to get the spare off the bottom of the van
• I took Naomi to McDonald's while the tire store was repairing the tire; dropped her ice cream cone on the floor
• While taking the tray to the table, the water cup spilled and sloshed all over the tray, the food, my shirt, and the floor
• I slipped in the water and dropped Naomi's replacement cone on the table (it was salvageable)

Luckily I had a great friend helping me out in the parking lot (of course, we had 4 kids between the 2 of us, which kept things entertaining!). And things picked up a bit in the late afternoon and evening. :)

I'm just super-friendly!!

I am part of a moms group in Tucson, and at some events they provide us with nametags. Like the lovely nametag I am modeling above. This particular one was given to me at an event Friday morning. Matt pointed it out to me tonight. Yes, tonight is Monday. And I have been wearing this jacket all weekend. I'm sooo glad all those folks in spin class at 5:15 A.M. knew my name while I was warming up...oh, and I spent awhile in WalMart, too!

What is life, if it is not entertaining?

Christmas morning!

Santa has delivered presents, magic fills the air, toys surround the Merrell children...and they can't be torn away from the animal crackers.

Late documentation of Christmas festivities

We had a great time preparing for Christmas! Naomi enjoyed decorating the tree (with shatter-proof ornaments!), she was the assistant decorator for the gingerbread house we made at the Slivka's, and she helped decorate sugar cookies for Santa. Naomi even dictated the note for Santa which was by the cookie plate. She loved the Christmas season! She still occasionally breaks into renditions of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer".

Froggy sleeping bag

Naomi's too wiggly to stay in this long, but she loves pulling out her froggy sleeping bag and "pretend camping".

Playing at Jenny's & Keira's

We spent a morning with friends last week, and it was well documented! Normally I post 1 or 2 pictures, but Matt is always requesting MORE pictures. So here goes!

Gabe got in on the fun, crawling around to snag his toy of choice from anywhere in the room. He posed a serious danger to the train!







Naomi enjoyed playing with LadyBird.








Here is Naomi, rescuing Luke from the cupboard of the disappearing head. This is actually the second time he needed to be rescued.











A huge highlight was the Cinderella music box. That entertained the girls for quite some time.

Merrell craziness

Mustard!

Naomi's quote of the day:

"My finger fell in the mustard!"

Context:

Naomi had her first corndog today. Along with it, we had ketchup and mustard. Naomi tends to treat condiments as side dishes, and sometimes even the main dish. We're working on that. As you can see from the quote of the day, we're not succeeding. Since her finger "fell" in the mustard, naturally she needed to lick it off. Rather suspiciously, her finger fell in the mustard multiple times.

"Fun" winter pops

I found a recipe online for "fun winter pops" which kids can make. So I invited Sammy and Caleb over to join Naomi (they are sometimes our guinea pigs with projects!) in making these tasty treats.

Here's the procedure:
1. Put peanut butter or caramel between two vanilla wafers
2. If using caramel, stick the cookie sandwich in the microwave
3. Insert popsicle stick between cookies
4. Dip in melted white chocolate
5. Dip in sprinkles

Sounds fun for kids, right? Here's how each kid did:

Naomi stayed by the peanut butter jar and ate...and ate...and ate...

Caleb played with toys in Naomi's room until he was forced to pour sprinkles on one

Sammy danced around the kitchen, asking if we were done yet
so that I could teach her how to play the piano

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The evening ended well with the kids marching around the house in a parade. (By the way, I wouldn't particularly recommend the recipe listed above. They didn't taste very good. )

Thanksgiving trip to Concord, CA

We spent Thanksgiving in Concord, CA at the home of Matt's aunt Lyn. Lyn & Kevin were terrific hosts, and we had a wonderful time! Today (December 15th) we hopped in the car and Naomi said "I need to go to Aunt Yin's house!".

There were so many great moments not documented with our camera- if anyone has additional pictures (like Thanksgiving dinner!), please email them to me and I'll add them!

Me and my sunshine!

Trains!

Who doesn't like trains?? Here we are, pictured with our friends the Slivkas at a simply fantastic train museum. It was...beyond cool. Each of the displays had a different train size ratio. The sets were elaborate with incredible details. And the kids got to watch lots of trains, some of them geared towards Christmas and some with steam coming off them. Plus they got to push lots of buttons which made fun things happen (a bulldozer moved, lights came on and off, a trolley car moved, etc.).

This sounds like kid heaven to me. We gotta go back!

Naomi & Adrian

Naomi is not one to initiate physical contact with other children. In fact, she tends to shy away from it. Today at the mall, we were walking with friends, heading toward the play area. Adrian was looking for a hand to hold, and since his mom was holding his baby sister in one hand and pushing the stroller with the other, Naomi was the next best choice!

Visiting teaching at the zoo

Sometimes you just gotta do things a little differently!

Cold spell hits Tucson!

That's right, we actually dug out our very lightest jackets a week or so ago and used them once or twice! Being from Utah, thinking about wearing short sleeves to the park during November and playing there for hours seems absolutely nuts. Yet here is the proof (from a distance).

We love going to the park and playing with friends. Naomi enjoys slides, climbing ladders, playing with steering wheels, playing on benches, but her favorites are definitely hanging from bars and swinging!

Naomi baby-sits the Humphries' fish

We watched the Humphries' fish while they were at Disneyland for Halloween. They brought the fish over while Naomi was napping. Later that day, I hadn't reviewed fish rules with Naomi when I realized she was being VERY quiet and was in the same room as the fish. I called out, "Naomi, what are you doing?" She said, "I'm going to CATCH. THAT. FISH." Yup, her hand was in the fishbowl!

I am happy to report all the fish survived the week.