Veteran's Day Program

The First Graders at Bright Beginnings put on a Veteran's Day program for the parents and vets. Catalina invited her Papa Bill to the Friday afternoon Program.

Catalina performed with a "ribbon" to the song, "Oh Beautiful." Ahhh, this was right up her alley!

She LOVES to sing...

I think her Papa really enjoyed the program. We all were thinking of Papa Tim that day, wishing he could of joined us too!

Halloween

Ava's pre-K class had a special Halloween celebration. They made light up jack-o-lanterns and we read a Halloween book using them in the dark classroom. Everyone dressed up in costumes...except Ava. She did not want to wear her costume or bring it to school, "just in case."

Ava and her jack-o-lantern...getting ready to read.

The class sung "Five Little Pumpkins" to us!

Halloween night...Ava was Ariel again...different costume. She was fine, as long as none of the costume touched her skin. She is wearing long pants under her skirt.

On Halloween Eve, I went to look for Catalina's costume. She was going to be a ladybug (from the Bugz Play last spring in kindergarten). But guess what, I could not find it anywhere! I search and searched and searched. So at 8:30pm, the night before Halloween, I ran to Target and found a Flapper's costume among the leftover Halloween crap. Catalina loved it!

Catalina and Grey (Dracula)

The girls and I made a gingerbread Haunted House. We bought a kit from Williams Sonoma and it was truly a pain in the butt-kick to assemble. They didn't care and ate many sprinkles during my frustration. It really turned out cute!

Happy Halloween!

Hardwood Floor

When the girls and I were in Wisconsin this summer, Todd did a lot of work on the house. When we arrived home, he surprised us with putting hardwood in the last two rooms! He completed the girls room and the toy/guest/grandma's room. He did an awesome job and we loved it!

Ava in the kitchen...she is always busy making something!

This is the new bed we put in the guest room and for Grandma Dorothy. It's a full bed so it gives the girls a little more room to spread out.

Todd designed the girl's closet and we moved all of their clothes in their room from the guest room closet. I bought the clothes organizer for the girl's and on Sunday nights we pick out an outfit for each day of the week. It saves tons of time in the morning and many arguments!

Here is a good shot of the floor...Ava sleeps on the left and Catalina's bed is on the right. They love sharing a room and look at me puzzled when I tell them that one day they might want their own room!

Papa & Mimi's Visit

Can I just say that life is good when Papa and Mimi come to town? The girls counted down the weeks, then the days, and then the hours before their arrival. Papa spent 3 hours at the park with them, took walks and collected 3 bags of ine-ones (pinecones), and played hours of cards with them. His name was always called first when it came to seating arrangements..."I want to sit by Papa!"...in the car, at dinner and on the couch. Papa and Mimi took the girls to the mall for a merry-go-round ride, lunch, gumballs and clothes shopping. We all went to the zoo for snowcones, a camel ride, to feed the giraffes and another merry-go-round ride. Did we see any animals? Well, some...

Playing cards...Ava always admitted when she was cheating.

Hurry back...we miss you already!

Cute Haircuts

Last week the girls got haircuts. They LOVE getting their hair done...shampoo, conditioner, cut, blow dry and style. Did I hear anyone say, "high maintenance?" Catalina had the same cut done but Ava May had 3 inches cut off and her hair straightened. Look at these cutie-patuties!

Where Have We Been??

Where have the Merrill's been? A lot has happened since July, so let me catch you up!

In July, we went to Encinitas, CA to spend a week on the beach with our friends (The Tolar Family). Fifteen of us slept under one roof! It was a week full of good food (each family cooked dinner one night), fun on the beach, games, naps, visits to the corner doughnut shoppe, and beach time. We look forward to this trip every year.

July 26th, 2010, was the girl's first day of school! They follow a year round schedule but it still seemed so early to start! Catalina started 1st grade with a bang and Ava started pre-K, 5 mornings a week.

And then the roof caved in....no really...

...it did. After a lot of rain one night, the ceiling in the BRAND NEW kitchen, yes, you heard me, the brand new kitchen, started leaking. So we called the roofing company...only to find out it was our air handler. See, a couple of years ago we had a BRAND NEW air handler installed and it was installed incorrectly. The overflow pan was leaking right into our dining room.

Then, my van was hit in a parking lot by a hit and run driver. Had to have the passenger door replaced with a $500 deductible...thank you very much. Finally, our computer stopped working, only to find out it would cost $900 for a new logics board. After returning to the Apple Store a month later with the iMac to have my data transferred to my laptop, they were able to find a way to fix it for free!!

And now I am back to blogging...I have a lot to post so stay tuned!

Summer in Wisconsin

The girls and I went to Wisconsin for three weeks this summer. It was the best summer ever! The girls are at a great age to entertain themselves and enjoy the simple things in life. We visited Julie & Scott in Madison (I forgot my camera) and the girls picked raspberries and caught fireflies in their backyard. We walked around campus and ate lunch at the Union on the lake. Ava asked me, "Do they have this ASU?" and made a mental note in her head.

We celebrated Catalina's "real" birthday at a favorite pizza and game spot. Dona and I dressed up for the occasion (not sure why we always wear the same thing?).

The birthday girl and her sister enjoyed lunch before the fun begins!

Grandma Dawn and the girls.

Daddy had flowers and balloons delivered to Grandma Dawn's house. It was a great surprise!

We had so much fun with Geramiah this year!

We packed up Dona's car and drove to the Wisconsin Dells. We stayed at the Wilderness Hotel that also had a waterpark. Amy and Elizabeth drove down from MN to join us!

The girls absolutely adored Elizabeth and she rode a lot of water rides with them. She also took them to the hotel arcade.

Here's a picture you don't see often!

The girls stayed over night at Jane & Thad's house and had a blast! They took them to the 4th of July parade in Oak Creek and they came home with an enormous amount of candy.

Roasting marshmallows with Uncle T.

We rented bikes at Frame Park and took turns riding them around.

We went to the 4th of July parade in Waukesha too!

Geramiah was in the parade...he walked with his Park and Rec group.

Finally, the fireworks. There was no rain until the fireworks show started. Ava does not like rain...or fireworks...so she sat in the car.

Catalina's 6th Birthday

Before we left for Wisconsin, Catalina celebrated her 6th birthday by having her first sleepover! Kaylie came over to spend the night but first we had many things planned. We went to see the movie Marmaduke, ate dinner at Chick Fil a, and then home to swim with dad.

Finally, an ice cream cake to finish the day! The first sleepover was a huge success. Kaylie spent the entire night and slept in Catalina & Ava's room. Catalina can't wait to spend the night at her house!

Oh Oh...Mexico

The weekend before we left for Wisconsin we traveled to Rocky Point (Puerto Penasco) in Mexico. It's about a 3.5 hour drive and we had to go over the Mexican border. We stayed at a friend's newly built, 5 bedroom, 6 bath home on a private beach....very few homes around. It was beautiful! We stepped off the stairs and onto the beach. The water was warm and the beach was full of shells and washed up sand dollars. Needless to say, we had a blast!

The girls wanted their hair braided in town. So the ladies set up a make shift salon and started braiding. It only took about 20 minutes each and did not hurt at all.

Ava May really wanted her hair done but cried for the first 10 minutes of getting it done. I felt terrible and kept telling her the ladies could stop. But Ava cried, "No!" so the ladies kept braiding.

Then Daddy bought them ice cream to match the beads in their hair!

Beach beauties!

This was our view for the weekend! We can't wait to be invited back!