RED Ribbon Week aka Say NO to Drugs Week!

Every day this week, the kids got to dress a different way.  It is the BEST school week of the year!  They always have a lot of fun with this. 
Monday was PJ day.  They all wore their PJs to school (no picture).
Tuesday was RED day.  They wore red shirts (no picture).
Wednesday was twin day. (see pix)
Thursday was Patriotic day.  They wore their tie-dyed red/white/blue shirts (no picture).
Friday was Backyards/Crazy Clothes and Hair Day! (see pix)

  

Chelsea and her BFF on twin day!

Spencer and his buddy on twin day!

Melanie with her 2 BFF's        Melanie with her BFF

                                        Spencer, Chelsea, Melanie        Melanie with her BFF

Chelsea's Cake

Chelsea has a BFF at school name Marina.  Marina's parents are extremely talented.  Her dad is an artist and paints all the murals at Trader Joes.  Her mom makes cakes and today after school, invited Chelsea over to make a Halloween cake. Chelsea had a blast and did an amazing job. It was so yummy!

 

Sailing with Grandpa Clinger!

To see more picture from this day see this slideshow!

Post Easter Egg Decorating!

It was just way too busy this weekend! We could not find the time to decorate eggs, so we did it post Easter. The kids didn't care and they don't eat them anyway! Happy Post Easter!

Two please!

We have been promising the kids a new pet for some time now. They really wanted a dog, but we decided to keep it simple and went with another rabbit...or two! My friend Kim posted on her facebook that their rabbit had babies. I told her that if she was looking to give one away, we would be very interested. She contacted me right before Easter and said they were ready to leave their mommy and we could have one. We were going to be at Dan's parent's house for Easter Sunday, so we told Kim that we would love to get one then (they live down the street from my in-laws). Being Easter Sunday there was a time conflict in meeting them, so it was going to be easier for them to drop a couple of the bunnies off at Dan's parent's house (in a box). We could then see and play with each of them and decide which one we wanted. Well, these two adorable bunnies have been together since birth and they were so snugly with each other. It was going to be very hard to separate them when they were so cute together. So, we took both! I know, what were we thinking! Look how cute they are though. Our friends named the bunnies blackout and Oreo. Our kids loved the names and decided to keep them. There are just two things I am still very concerned about...how big are they going to get and what is their sex? We are praying they are the same!!

Spencer

Melanie

 

Chelsea still hasn't wanted to hold them!  

Merrill Easter Egg Hunt

Tradition is to take the pre-Easter egg hunt picture next to the "piano of cousin's". 

We miss you Merrill cousins!  We are only a fourth!  Crazy!

Easter Morning

 

 

Easter Clothes

So, the kids wouldn't pose for a good Easter picture this year. It was like pulling teeth! They were in so much trouble!  They were very anxious to change their clothes and get to their grandma's house. This is what I got. I think we will be doing a "re-due" next Sunday! Bad!   You can kind of see the cute dresses I made! 

Melanie's Baptism

What a beautiful day for a beautiful girl!  I can't believe Melanie is eight! The baptism was wonderful.  She had all her local family and many friends from our past and present ward in attendance.  Grandma Merrill gave the Baptism talk and Grandma Clinger gave the talk on the Holy Ghost.  Melanie had asked her cousin Maddison who is 12 years old, to play the piano and her cousin Brooke (9) to lead the singing.  They did a fabulous job!  I couldn't believe how brave they were.  We sang Melanie's favorite songs, I am Trying To Be Like Jesus and I Am a Child of God.  Dan baptized and confirmed her a member of the church.   As the program cover we used a drawing my brother Matt did for me many years ago.  It was neat to have a little of her Uncle Matt there on her special day.  After the baptism, everyone came back to our house for pizza and rootbeer floats.

 

It is Gr8 to be 8!

Dan's Sailboat Race

Dan's dad has a sailboat he likes to race.  Every year Dan and his dad participate in the "Nood Regatta Sailboat Race". They race for 4 days. Yes, that is a long time without Daddy around, we let him go to bond with his dad.  This year "Split Decision" (the name of their team) came in 3rd place over all.  It was a pretty exciting weekend in the water with the California Tsunami warnings and heavy rain storms.  I have to say I was a little scared, but they made it through...no tsunami.  They had an absolute blast like always. 

 

Dan and Dan with their 3rd place award!

The Boat

 

On the first day!  Nice waters!

This was on the last day!  Looks pretty sketchy to me!  Is it just me or does the boat look like it is half in the water?

Happy 8th birthday Melanie!

Happy Birthday to our beautiful Melanie!  

Eight years later!

 

First Birthday

 

2nd Birthday

3rd Birthday - Spencer cut all her hair off the day before :(

 4th Birthday

 5th Birthday

 6th Birthday

 7th Birthday

Spencer and his glasses!

A few months ago, Spencer was playing around with MY glasses. When he put them on, he said, "mom, I can see good through these". I then started paying more attention to him, and noticed he squinted when he watched TV and played the Wii. I talked to his teacher and his teacher noticed the squinting also. So, we took him to an eye doctor and sure enough he is very much nearsighted (like his mother and about 5 or 6 other cousins on the Merrill side). I learned that nearsightedness is inherited! We are so lucky! So, we got him glasses today. We shall see if it helps him in his school work. Doesn't he look smart and handsome!

Never leave a sick child in the bathtub!

Chelsea has been pretty sick off and on with the flu this past week. On this particular day, she stayed home with me and we cuddled all day long! At one point, she needed to take a bath. She is 5, so she can and does give herself a bath. Well, She turned the water on and then when it fill up, she turned it off. I didn't hear the splashing and playing like I normally hear, so I went in to check on her (thankfully) and this is what I found. Chelsea was SOUND asleep in the bathtub! Sooo scary right? It took a few tries to wake her. She was like died weight as I lifted her out of the bathtub and into her bed. I will never leave her in the bathtub again! I didn't think one could fall asleep in there!

Happy Valentine's Day from the kids!

These were the kid's school Valentines this year. Last year, my sister-in-law Jen made them for one of her kids. When I saw them, I just had to copy. Thanks Jen for the idea!