A Noble Brother

Christopher just said this: "Okay, Nate, I'll play hopscotch with you, but I hope you realize that I am making a noble sacrifice."

I Couldn't Put It Down

And Now We Are Four

Nate just loved all the presents, cards, and phone calls today! Thank you, everyone, for remembering his special day. We are all feeling so grateful that he's so healthy now and is just working on being a normal, but very busy, little boy. We'll have a big birthday party for him here next Saturday with his friends, and that should be nice and crazy.

The Real Thing

"Nate, I see you got a drink all by yourself!"
"Yep."
"What's in that sippy cup?"
"Coke."

Eyeball Eater

Charlie has a curious obsession: to remove the eyeballs from all the stuffed animals we have. He sneaks them from the kids, then chews up the eyes, and as soon as that's done, he discards them. However, he was rather puzzled by "Tickle Me Elmo" tonight and gave up on the giggling, googly-eyed red guy.

Remember the Alamo?

We spent the weekend in Austin and San Antonio with Ted & Mary, and had a great time, despite the fact that it was Spring Break and very crowded there, and it took us almost 10 hours to get home (it's a 3 hour drive for normal people).
Nate's damage toll:

One broken glass at the Marriott

One broken pottery bowl (large) at the Marriott

One escalator alarm set off and stopped escalator at the Rivercenter Mall

One bottle of medicine cooked (and exploded) in the microwave at the Springhill Suites

We stayed at the Marriott that was on the Riverwalk, which was mighty convenient, and they had a big old pool where we spent a lot of time. Although we could have walked to the Alamo, we forgot to actually get around to that, but we did get to see the St. Patrick's Day parade, right in front of the Alamo, so we sort of saw it. Nate's favorite part of the trip was definitely the boat ride on the river, and I think Christopher's favorite part was Ripley's Believe it or Not. And my favorite part was the shopping, where I found some handblown Mexican glasses, which I love, and when I find a place in my kitchen to put them, I'll let you know.

Speaking of shopping, I must mention the outlets in San Marcos, because the one in this picture is almost the same as Shangri-La in my world: it is a combination of Pottery Barn, Williams-Sonoma, Hold Everything, and Chambers. Matt, Dad, and the boys stayed in the car while Mary and I perused the goods and picked up a few things. If only we had had room for furniture!

We're already planning a return trip, because we didn't get to see the bats in Austin, or the capitol, and we need to go to Sea World, and maybe the big gigantic waterpark in the summer. Want to join us?

Happy Birthday, Mardee

Here she is! Baby Jocelyn was born just after her dad's birthday (March 9) and just before her mom's birthday (March 20). As you can see, Ben is really warming up to her already. She has lots of gorgeous dark hair and her parents say she is a very sweet and easygoing baby.

Ta-Dah!

We have a new niece!

Jocelyn Lee Merrill was born tonight, weighing in at 6 pounds, 15 ounces.

Congratulations to James, Mardee, and Ben! We'll post pictures as soon as we get them. We are so excited!

Feliz Cumpleaños

Oh, the fabulousness that is celebrating one's birthday with one's family! It was so fun to have Lucille and Sam here for the weekend to party, eat, shop, sleep, talk, and relax together. Mom carried a Mrs. Backer's cake (thanks, Tyler!) all the way from Utah, and it was beautiful and delicious. We watched as many episodes of Lost (they're still on season 1) as we could, and Sam had to buy the series on the way to the airport so he could continue watching. Mom kept giving Charlie cheese to try and make friends with him, and just when they bonded, she had to leave!

The pictures in the first collage (with the pink background; if you want to see them larger, just click on them) were taken by us, and the ones on the blue background were all taken by Nate. He has a serious fascination with the camera, which is great, but we have to keep it out of his reach or it might end up on a bike ride with him, or in the dishwasher, or colored on with a Sharpie. We like to see his visual take on things, though!

Up next ... a weekend with Ted and Mary in Austin and San Antonio! They arrived today and will be here for a week. Woo-hoo!

Friday in the Park With Sam

We had beautiful weather all weekend here in Texas, and Sam and Charlie shared some bonding moments at the new park in town. Sam also learned that it's okay to order a large drink, especially when it's a Chocolate Coke from Sonic.

Texas Breakfast

There is no greater birthday present than having family around to help you celebrate! We started our day (after sleeping in) with a huge breakfast at ... Waffle House! Kathy, you would have loved it; Brent, you would have hated it. But love it or hate it, you've gotta admit that WH has character.

Lilacs and Azaleas

I love spring.

We Are Siamese, If You Please

Some people in this family are already concerned that there are only dog pictures to be found here, and some people think that maybe since we got a dog, we are ignoring our cats. I am posting these pictures of our lovely cats, Kida and Pierre, to reassure everyone that they are fine, well-fed, and receive lots of love and attention every day. Kida sleeps in her cat bed on my bookshelf or atop the warm laser printer on my desk, and Pierre curls up on his cat bed in the upstairs window with a view of the neighbor dog.

And for those of you who are wondering: no, it was not Grandma Mar who requested these pictures, but I could tell from her e-mails that she is really taken with Charlie.

The Birthday Boy

I tried so hard to convince Matt to take the day off to celebrate his birthday, but he would have none of that. So, the kids and I met him at Buca di Beppo for a fun Italian dinner. Christopher read his book the entire time, and Nate generally terrorized the whole restaurant (but the staff was very nice and pretended to be amused by him). Nate chose some kind of pretty little pony card for his dad, and we enjoyed raspberry cheesecake, Matt's favorite dessert, which Charlie begged for but did not receive.

Can you believe Matt is 38 years old? Neither can I.

Making Brownies

Double Trouble

I had no idea that a dog, who really isn't all that much of a puppy, would be almost as much trouble as Nate. Charlie, however, is giving Nate a little competition in the mischief department!

Nate decided that he would make a little trouble while I was in the shower the other day. I had him all settled in with his favorite show of the moment (Higglytown Heroes), and thought things were good. He had other ideas, though: he climbed up to the key rack, took the car keys, climbed up to the garage door opener, opened the garage door, unlocked the car (which was sitting in the driveway), started it, and locked the door! He is developing quite a reputation with the neighbors, as is Charlie Dog ...

Charlie decided that having his family gone to church for three hours was just not acceptable. He dug a muddy hole under the fence, terrorized the neighborhood, growled at our friend, Julie, who tried to help him back into his yard, shook his muddy self all over the front entry, and only went back in the yard when Julie coaxed her dog, Brady, to join him.

Any suggestions on how to manage these two? I am seriously considering purchasing a matching set of shock collars for them. Is that legal?