Random Journaling

As I mentioned in an earlier post, our family has been keeping busy with our regular routine this year, but we haven't done much out of the ordinary lately.  So, we are happily learning and growing and working and playing and progressing a little bit each day.  Therefore, this blog post is dedicated to reporting some random moments that illustrate daily life at the Merrill home . . . our Happiest Place on Earth!

This is a funny little picture of sweet Trey doing one of his favorite things.  He chooses a family picture and places it on the table where he can see it easily, and then identifies each person by pointing at and naming them (he can say everyone's names now!), and then giving them kisses.  This picture was taken on a weekend when Chase and Dad were gone with the Boy Scouts on a winter campout, and Trey is giving Daddy's picture a kiss.  Cute!

Well, he is not QUITE twelve years old yet, but he certainly is growing fast and giving us glimpses of what is ahead.  Here Chase has poured himself a GIANT bowl of cereal for breakfast one morning.  That growing body needs a lot of calories these days!  Oh, boy.  We're going to need a bigger kitchen!

And I'm just putting this picture in because I adore this handsome and wonderful boy!  Sweet Avery is an awesome brother and a super cool son!

Another sweet boy!  Trey is giving me one of his MANY daily leg hugs one evening as we arrived home from dropping off the big boys at Scouts.  Trey is working on his verbal language skills quite a bit these days, and suddenly has more words than I can keep track of!  He can imitate lots of words, too, even though he doesn't know what they mean.  What a fun, loving, energetic, beautiful boy!

This is Coco's dinner plate on Valentine's Day!  It was fun finding a healthy and festive way to celebrate the holiday!  We had yummy Red Velvet Heart-Shaped Pancakes with a cream cheese topping (all sugar-free, believe it or not!), fresh strawberries cut to look like hearts, and a little turkey bacon for protein.  Rather labor intensive on those pancakes, but making a special treat for the ones I love was really fun!

I'm not sure how well you can see this, but I took this picture of Chase doing math one day, because I was excited to be teaching him the Pythagorean Theorem.  Can you believe this boy is already doing pre-algebra?  It is such a privilege to see these awesome children learn and meet challenges and do great things!

Just look at this innocent face!  I treated him to his yogurt right before bathtime for a reason . . .  .

. . . the yogurt rubbed all through the hair being the main reason!

This was a little less messy than the yogurt.  Here Trey is enjoying his very first root beer float EVER after FHE one Sunday.

Here's a funny little picture . . . and I have about 50 pictures just like it on my phone!  It is a self-portrait taken by Courtney while we were at the hair salon and she was waiting for my stylist to finish my hair.  You would think she had gotten bored or something!

Nathan and I got this amazing blender for our wedding 13 1/2 years ago.  I don't remember for the life of me who gave it to us, but one thing is for sure: I wasn't nearly grateful enough for it at the time!  It is a Hamilton Beach brand, and it has served us amazingly well for all these years.  And for the last few years in particular it has been used almost daily, often more than once, as we have become huge smoothie fans!

This is one of our favorite recipes; we call it our Tropical Smoothie.  It has a banana, a scoop of plain nonfat Greek Yogurt, strawberries, pineapple, and a little water for extra liquid.  Sometimes we use coconut milk, too!  SO yummy!

Smoothie Goodness!

"Night, night!"  Can you spot the baby cuddled up with Coco's toys and pillows on her bed?

These have been just a few snapshots of our recent goings-on.  Nothing too special, unless you consider every day life in a growing family special . . . which I REALLY DO!  LOVE these kiddos!